Page 22 of Wicked Obsession

Her chin came up, but she remained silent.

For a moment, he did nothing but stare at her. Langley appeared pathetic, but even coated in dirt with cobwebs in her hair, he thought she looked beautiful and regal. “Are your wrists bothering you?”

“No, they’re fine, thank you.”

She’d saidfineagain, but this time he didn’t think she was lying. “Is the problem with the dress? You sat down, and now you can’t stand up?” He was guessing.

“That’s a problem, yes.” The New Zealand was strong in her accent right now.

Ryder ran a hand over the back of his neck. She’d saidaproblem, but nottheproblem. What other—? The shoes. Those fucking idiotic shoes. “It’s your feet.”

“I’m not used to wearing heels this high,” Langley admitted. She pulled up the bottom of her skirt to display the shoes.

“Why do you still have them on?”

Her smile was anything but amused. “I’m afraid of how badly it will hurt once I removethem. I’m frightened that when I flex my feet, I’ll have charley horses in both calves. Ryder,” she said softly, raising her gaze to his, “I ran in them. The balls of my feet, my toes…” She trailed off with a shrug.

“You didn’t break anything, did you?” He came deeper into the room and crouched in front of her.

“I don’t believe so, no. I’ve been wearing them, though, for more than twelve hours. I was sitting for most of that time, but I’m not certain that means much.”

“Yeah, not with your foot arched like that.” Ryder studied the architecture of the shoe and shook his head. He nearly asked her why the hell she’d worn those fucking things, but she’d go polite on him if he said something like that, and it didn’t matter. “If I guessed your lower back and hips were hurting, too, would I be wrong?”

“My knees as well, but those are aches more than pain.”

Which was Langley-speak for she was in agony because of her feet and calves. “I could try rubbing your legs and see if that loosens up the muscles for you. Okay?”

“Yes.”

To say her calf was tight would be understating it. The muscle was damn-near seized. His fingers got caught in the back of the skirt andRyder had to push the fabric out of his way. Langley didn’t make a sound as he massaged her, but her eyes were closed and she clutched the blankets hard enough to turn her knuckles white. “Am I hurting you?”

“I think it’s helping. Please continue.”

Ryder did, but he didn’t like causing her pain. To keep her mind off it, he started talking. “Sometimes, Langley, you amaze me. I watch what you accomplish and think, wow, how’d she do that? Like escaping from that house tonight. Other times, I watch you and get pissed off over the chances you take. Like trying to go back into that house to rescue your friend.” He felt her stiffen. “I know. You thought there was no one else there to do it. I understand, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get frustrated.”

“Would you leave a friend of yours behind?” Her voice was tight, but Ryder chalked that up to the pain she was in.

“That’s different.”

“No, it’s not.”

“It is,” he insisted, “because I wouldn’t have gone off half-cocked and rushed inside without a plan. That’s exactly what you were doing. You didn’t think about tactics. You didn’t think about stealth. And even though your only weapon was a piece of rotted wood, you were going to charge inside, damn the consequences.” Ryder looked upand met her gaze. “You know what would have happened if the kidnapper hadn’t been dead, if we weren’t there, if the SEALs weren’t there?”

Her lips tightened, but she didn’t respond.

“What would have happened is the kidnapper would have shot you as soon as you went in the door. You’d be dead and your friend would be in the same situation that she was in already. Damn it, you need to think before you act.”

“I do think.”

“Not tonight you didn’t.” Ryder struggled to keep his tone neutral because if he became accusatory or angry, she might not listen. “I know adrenaline can make people feel superhuman, but I’m asking you to temper your impulses with some careful, clear-headed thought before you take action.”

“I heard the gunshot as I went out the window. What if Sarah had taken the bullet?”

“So the smart thing was for you to get shot too?”

Langley hissed in a sharp breath as he rubbed a particularly tight part of her calf. When she had her voice back, she said, “Stop twisting what I say.”

“I’m not twisting anything. I’m pointing out what the probable outcome would have been.” He worked on her shin. “Of course, you had no way of knowing the gun went off because your friendwas enacting her own harebrained scheme. I hope to hell Taggart is chewing her out for trying to disarm the kidnapper.”

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