Page 24 of Green Ravens

Sawyer gave Oakley an incredulous look when he pointed to his lap.

“Lie down.”

Da fuck?

“Don’t look at me like that,” Oakley rumbled. “Lie your ass down so I can treat those burns.”

“With that?” He pointed at the slimy leaves.

“Yes.” He frowned. “People all over the world have been usingthatas antiseptic for centuries.”

Sawyer shook his head.

“What do you think anti-inflammatories, analgesics, and astringents are made from? Huh? You think they magicallycome in pill and liquid forms. Then just suddenly appear on the shelves at Walgreens.”

Sawyer rolled his eyes.

“Exactly. A lot of medicine is harvested from right here in this rainforest. This Cordoncillo leaf has tons of antiseptic properties and will disinfect those open cuts.Andit also has numbing agents that are used in making Novocain.”

Numbing sounded good.

Sawyer sat, then turned and laid his head on Oakley’s thighs. Staring up at him from that angle made him think of what it’d be like to have Oakley stretched out on top of him and buried deep inside him.

“The heated Matico plant is an anti-inflammatory and will also reduce the pain and swelling.”

Oakley kept talking like a scientist as he rubbed the leaves from Sawyer’s temple to his throat, oblivious to Sawyer’s increasing arousal.

“There are plants all around us that act as aphrodisiacs too.” Oakley smirked. “But I didn’t pick any of those…unless you want me to.”

When he didn’t laugh, Oakley’s smile faded as they stared into each other’s eyes for a long time.

Sawyer had never met anyone as smart as the man holding him.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Oakley whispered.

“I can’t help it.” Sawyer ran the pad of his thumb across Oakley’s eyelids. “It’s those damn eyes.”

Add the fact that intelligence was his biggest turn-on, and Sawyer wouldn’t need any aphrodisiacs.

He hummed when Oakley ran his fingertips through his wet hair while he dabbed pieces of the warm leaf along his singed scalp.

It was almost dark by the time Oakley was done, but he’d be damned if he didn’t feel ten times better. His skin felt moisturized as if he’d been massaged with aloe lotion, and the pain was minimal, enough to give him a glimmer of hope.

How would he thank Oakley for all of this when they made it out of there?

“Where are we sleeping?” he asked, glancing up at the trees around them.

None of them looked able to support them.

“We’re gonna sleep on these rocks.”

“On the ground.”

“No, on one of those big ones over there.”

Oakley pointed to the smooth stones beside the pond before he began throwing more sticks on the fire.

“I’ll just have to make a big enough fire to keep the animals away.”

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