THE SIGHT OF Alyssa struck me when I reached the top of the narrow stairs leading up to the clinic from the restaurant below, and I was glad we’d left Collins and Hill downstairs watching the entrances when I felt warmth fill my cheeks. The fluorescent lights cast her in a pool of light, highlighting the fiery cloud of her hair that tumbled over her shoulders. My entire body came alive at the sight of her, my palms suddenly sweaty and my fingers tingling with the desire to touch her.
Damn, why would anyone ever want to break up with her? I wondered, able to pull my gaze away from her just long enough to look back over my shoulder at Holbrook.
“Men are such idiots,” I muttered, shaking my head as I stepped through the doorway.
“What?” Holbrook asked, but I ignored him when Alyssa turned at the sound of my voice.
“Riley? Is everything okay?” she asked, puffing a stray lock of burning ember hair out of her face.
“Hey, Alyssa,” I said, blushing at the thrill of arousal that swept through me simply from being in the same room as her. “I err…wanted to say thanks for the other night.”
Crap, I sound like a lovesick teenager.
“No problem. Always happy to help a friend of Darius’s,” she replied, lowering her gaze to look at the stack of freshly rolled bandages cradled in her arms. The tinge of pink that suffused her cheeks made me want to touch her all the more.
Behind me I heard Holbrook shifting from one foot to the other.
“Is everything healing up well?” she asked, setting several rolled bandages on the shelf in front of her. “How’s the pain?”
“Yeah, healing fine. Pain’s not too bad,” I lied.
Glancing over a slender shoulder she gave me a skeptical look before turning back to her work.
“Busted,” Holbrook whispered at my back.
Smug bastard, I thought, shooting him a withering glare. Smiling wide, he just shrugged his shoulders.
“Take your shirt off,” Alyssa commanded, something in her liquid velvet voice making my insides quiver and my mouth go dry.
“What?” I squeaked while Holbrook choked on his gum.
“Let me get a look at those ribs.”
“Oh. Uh... sure.”
Biting my lip I unbuttoned my shirt, exposing the swath of bruises across my ribs and the new ones already blooming in vivid shades of red and purple on my stomach.
Donning a mask of professional detachment, Alyssa ignored my lack of a bra and noted, “These are new.”
Goosebumps rose all over my skin at the soft touch of her fingers sweeping over my stomach. Fighting to keep my breaths even, I felt the muscles in my stomach jumping beneath her fingertips while every hair on my body stood on end and my nipples tightened.
“It’s been an eventful day,” I heard myself say, my voice husky.
“I see.”
For several torturous minutes she surveyed and palpated my collection of injuries, her lower lip caught between her teeth in concentration. The sight of that ripe strawberry lip being so ruthlessly tormented made my fingertips tingle with the desire to soothe and caress it. My hand was already halfway to her face before I realized what I was doing, the butterflies in my stomach shifting to embarrassment in the blink of an eye.
“Sorry,” I said, dropping my hand to rub my sweaty palm on my jeans.
“It’s okay, it’s my fault. I didn’t get a chance to feed before I came in. I should have known that touch would intensify the effects.”
“Feed?”
“She means fuck,” Holbrook spat, his voice dripping with uncharacteristic venom.
Turning to look at him, I found him as far away as possible while still remaining in the same room. His arms were crossed over his chest, the muscles in his forearms bulging and his shoulders singing with tension.
Well, isn’t he just a giant ray of sunshine?
“That’s unfair, Darius,” Alyssa said, her voice holding the first icy traces of anger, and beneath it the unmistakable echo of an old hurt.
“Don’t talk to me about fair,” he shot back, fists flexing against his chest.
“I um…think I’m good,” I said, cautiously breaking the tense silence that had descended on the room.
“Yes. I think you’ll be fine. Looks to be healing up well,” Alyssa said, obviously flustered.
Snagging my shirt from where I had tossed it on the bed I turned my back on them both, hiding the pained expression on my face as I pulled it on.
“Let me help,” Holbrook said in a gruff voice, his sudden closeness making me jump.
“Thanks,” I murmured, turning around to face him, grateful for his help as he settled my shirt in place.
“Do you want me to take a look at that?” Alyssa asked, tilting her delicate chin towards his bandaged hand.
“No. Its fine,” he replied in clipped tones.