No Rules(52)
“Jess.” Donovan’s words were short and interspersed with heavy breathing. “It’ll be better if you hurry.”
It would be better if she could deaden his pain. Or distract him from it somehow. And her reluctance wasn’t helping him. She needed to think of Donovan, not her own squeamish discomfort.
With sudden determination, she pulled off her gloves, then grabbed her T-shirt and whipped it over her head.
“What-?” Donovan’s voice broke. “What the hell are you doing?”
She glanced down at her bra’s lacy, demicup design—sexy, but nothing a low-cut evening gown wouldn’t show. Hardly enough to be a distraction. With a determined breath, she unhooked the bra and tossed it aside. Her nipples immediately puckered under his startled gaze.
“Sweet Jesus.”
She slipped on a new pair of gloves and met Donovan’s stare with a level gaze. “Focus on me, not the pain.”
“Believe me, I am.”
“What’s going on?” Kyle asked, his voice edged with worry.
“Nothing,” she told him. “Just making the patient comfortable.”
Without another word, she took a deep breath and a second stitch, this time without flinching. And a third. As she went on, she got faster, forgetting about Donovan’s intense stare and concentrating on pulling the stitches together without puckering the skin. His breathing didn’t slow, but it didn’t get worse, and he remained silent until she sat back on her heels with a sigh.
“Done. Thirty-four stitches. I hope that’s enough.”
“Is his stuffing coming out?”
“What?”
Kyle chuckled. “Is the wound bleeding?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Amazing.
“Then congratulations, you’re done. Grab some gauze and tape a nice fat pad of it over the cut. Then shoot him up with the antibiotic.”
“Got it.” She reached for the gauze, tape, and scissors. She almost hated to cover it up. The neat line of stitches looked professional, at least after the first few uneven ones. Far better than Pookie Bear’s had looked. She smiled, impressed with what she’d done. Despite all her fear and uncertainty, when forced to act, she’d done a good job.
“Donovan, you still with us?” Kyle asked.
“Uh, yeah.”
“We’ll be back in a couple hours. I’ll check you then.”
“Okay.”
“By the way, I hate to add more bad news, but we didn’t find anything useful.”
“Okay.”
“I mean, the island can’t be the right place.”
“I understand.”
“Which means we’re shit out of luck unless Mitch finds something.”
“Right.”
“Really, I don’t know where else to look.”
“That’s too bad. I do.”
“What?”
The odd conversation finally registered. Jess stopped admiring her handiwork and looked up.
“See ya later.” Donovan tossed the phone off his chest and grunted painfully as he propped himself up on one elbow. “Hey. I like your bedside manner, Doc.”
His quirky smile finally did it, reminding her that she was still topless. “Oh.” She blushed and crossed her hands over her breasts, instantly annoyed at herself for doing so, but unable to muster the same confidence she’d had when she’d stripped her clothes off. “This is not me.”
“Oh, I think it is.”
“No, I mean I don’t do stuff like this. I was, uh, living in the moment.”
“Uh-huh. I’m still in the moment. And may I say, incredibly appreciative.” He tugged her forward and took her mouth in a deep kiss.
“Mmm,” she hummed, intending it to be a protest. But it turned into pleasure under the delicious feel of his lips on hers, and the even better feel of her breasts flattened against his bare chest. In an instant, heat flashed through her, pebbling her nipples and settling between her thighs with a yearning ache. It happened so quickly her mind spun, aware she shouldn’t be lying across him but unwilling to pull away from something that felt so good. Besides, his hand had moved to the back of her head, holding her in place as he plundered her mouth, and his other hand had slipped between them, caressing her breast and flooding her body with more luscious heat. The kind of heat that made her squirm all over and want to take the rest of her clothes off. To press her naked body against his and imagine that with this man, sex might be everything it was supposed to be. Even injured, Donovan got to her like no one else ever had.
He was injured. This couldn’t be good for him.
“Stop.” She pushed away, then hastily jerked her hands off his chest. “We can’t do this. You’re hurt.”