Page 62 of The Warrior Priest
Either I fell asleep or slipped into unconsciousness because we seemed to arrive quickly at his secret room. I didn’t even notice if we’d been seen. He set me down on the armchair and crouched before me. He tore open my shirt at my side.
“Jac,” he said, pressing his hand against the wound. “Jac, stay with me.”
“I’m fine. It’s just a small cut.”
“Then why did you faint?”
“Because I’m a girl?” It was meant as a joke, but once again it fell flat with Rhys.
“You’re not a girl. You’re a woman.”
I smiled and tried to sit up.
“Don’t move. You’ll make it worse. Give me your hand.” He took my hand and pressed it against the cut. “I’ll be back in a moment. Keep the pressure on it.”
He left.
That’s when the pain truly set in. Where before the cut had stung no worse than a bee sting, it now felt like a blacksmith had set up a forge in my side. It throbbed and burned all at once.
It was a relief when Rhys returned carrying a bowl of water and an armful of supplies. He crouched at my side again and cleaned the wound. Or tried to.
I jerked away. “It really hurts.”
“Good.”
“Sadist.”
The corner of his mouth lifted with his half-smile. “Pain means you’re alive and fully conscious. So pain is good.”
“No, it bloody well isn’t.”
He went to clean the wound again, but I moved once more. He scowled at me. “I have to clean it before I can apply the salve. The salve will numb the pain, but until then, I’m afraid it will hurt a little.”
“A little! It seems you’ve become the master of understatement while I was away.”
“And you’ve become dramatic. Didn’t you get injured in Giselle’s training?”
“I was never cut.”
“Then your training wasn’t hard enough.” When I shrank away for the third time, his voice gentled. “I only need one hand to do this, so hold my other. Squeeze it when the pain becomes too intense.”
“Will you stop then?”
“No, but it’ll make you feel better to inflict pain on me.”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Rhys. I never did.”
He lowered his gaze. “That may be so, but I deserve it after the way I spoke to you yesterday.”
“You were upset and in shock.”
“That’s no excuse.” He took my hand and rubbed his thumb across my knuckles. His gaze lifted and locked with mine. “I’m sorry, Jac.”
I sucked in a sharp breath as the pain spiked again. I’d been too distracted by his beautiful eyes to realize it was a tactic. I clenched my back teeth and tried to stay as still as possible. Holding his hand helped. Although it wouldn’t make the pain stop entirely, I squeezed anyway.
When he finished, he grunted. “Can you let go now? I need the bones in my left hand sometimes.”
I released him. “Now who’s being dramatic.”
