Torrent of Tears (Scourge Survivor Series Book 3)(47)

Avoiding his stupid smile, I distracted myself by fishing around in the little box. “Was your mom handy with all this happy homemaker stuff?”

Rowan focused on the wide gash running about five inches down the outside of my hip and curving across my backside. “She was. Quilting and needlepoint were her favorite, but she could sew just about anything.” He pulled the handle of his doctor bag and set the thing on the floor by my feet.

“So, you get it from her?”

“What’s that?” He tapped a small syringe and clear fluid squirted into the air.

“The flare for stitching things. I’d like to keep the scar as small as possible.”

Rowan met my gaze in the mirror, his smirk far too sexy. “I’ll do my best. Little stick now while I freeze this.”

“You’ve been a pain in my ass since I met you. Why stop now?”

Rowan poked me a couple times, probing and prodding my flesh. As he waited for the freezing to take hold, his eyes took a slow and steady inventory of the rest of me. He traced the outline of the giant red-tailed hawk tattooed on my opposite hip. “This is nice.”

“Jade, and I got them when we were accepted into the Talon.” His gaze continued a slow, heated sex-ploration of my valleys and curves. “It’s not polite to stare, Doc.”

He smiled, his eyes lit with a flirtatious light. “You got your fill when I was at the forge the other night. Only seems fair I get the same opportunity.”

I thought about that. Man, the way the glow of the fire glistened off the sweat on his skin, his thick muscular arms and shoulders tapering down to those slender hips. I bit back a moan as my nipples hardened against the silky leopard print of my bra and warmth started to spread from my core.

He was focusing on me, gauging his effect on me. This was soooo not good. If he didn’t start sewing me up soon I was liable to turn just a little and—

“Did you feel that?”

I swallowed and opened my eyes. “Sorry, what?”

Rowan chuckled and cupped the globe of my ass in the palm of his hand. “I asked if you could feel this. I’m guessing the freezing is working.”

“Seems so.”

“Bend over the counter a bit so I . . . uh, yeah. Yeah that’s good. Just. Like. That.”

I bit back a growl and focused on not thinking about my derriere being propped in front of him in my next-to-nothing panties, not thinking about his calloused fingers caressing my body just inches from where I wanted him to be. The urge to drink hit me hard. I tipped the bottle back and let it burn a happy trail down my throat.

“Did you get your revenge?” Rowan’s voice was husky and rough. “On the ones who killed your . . . Tham?”

“Three of the four.” I hissed as he dug into a particularly tender spot. “And he wasn’t my Tham any more than he was Galan’s or Jade’s or Aust’s. We were friends, not dating.”

“Uh-huh?” The surprise in his voice was only surpassed by the disbelief.

“Okay, friends with benefits might be more accurate. He was family though. I loved him like that.”

“Seemed like more.”

I arched a brow. “Well, it wasn’t.”

He worked along in a mind-numbing silence while my head whirled and swirled in an uncoordinated dance. “Not that it’s any of your business, but Highbornes are an affectionate race. Tham was on his Ambar Lenn, his coming-of-age journey to find his place and prove himself a male of worth. He was enjoying himself, tasting the flavors of realm life.” I smiled, thinking about his survey of what kind of woman he liked best. “All the flavors.”

He hooked the curved needle through my skin and pulled again. The dull ache of my flesh tugging together seemed negligible compared to the pain I’d been living with lately.

“What about Rowan?” I asked. “When you first left home to study medicine in the outer rings, you must have been tempted by all the different kinds of women?”

He frowned and pulled the stitch tight. “I wasn’t looking to get laid.”

“It was just a terrible by-product of being a rich, sexy, med-student Noble, I’m sure.”

He turned away, taking an unusually long time to pull the scissors from his bag.

I’d struck a chord and not in a good way. “Sorry. I was teasing.”

He shrugged but didn’t look at me. “It galls me that I squandered that time when I could have been here with my family. It’s pretty hollow to remember, when I know what it cost me.”

“You couldn’t know. And I bet your parents were crazy proud of you the whole time.”

After he cut the end of the thread, he peeled open a package and pulled out a wide gauze pad with sticky edges. With exacting attention to detail, he smoothed it over the wound. His palm lingered as it cupped my ass, setting the protective layer.

I met his stare in the reflection of the mirror, his faint blush bringing on a hot, hard lust from somewhere deep inside me. He cleared his throat. His hand slid to the outside of my hip as he straightened behind me. He had that look again—that panty-combusting, wantonness that I’d seen and had a taste of at Terran’s family home.

“Uh . . . I’m finished here. Let’s get you cleaned up so I can check you over properly.”

“Cleaned up?” I pivoted, but he didn’t step back. As a result, I was pinned between the vanity and a very large, very aroused man. He really was in sublime physical condition. My hands came up and traced where his heavy shoulders sloped down to rock hard pecs. I swallowed. “What are you suggesting, Doc, a sponge bath?”