The temperature change felt fantastical.
At first, the shock of it had reminded Lucy of jumping into a lake in the fall. Cold enough to feel like a burn before it settled into the sensation of numbness. The air teased over her through the thin covering, no longer making her feel as if she were cooking from the inside out. Her skin still felt a bit too tight for her body, but the itchiness she’d experienced earlier had gone away.
Rubbing her thighs together, she frowned when the movement tweaked her ankle. She’d almost forgotten about the sprain, with everything else her body was trying to process.
“Try not to move. Let me do the work,” Sparx ordered softly, the words drifting across her forehead as he leaned over her.
“What happened?” she asked, cracking one eye open to peer at him. “Why do I feel like I’ve been run over?”
“That would be my fault,” he answered, giving her a guilty look before reaching into a bowl on the table beside the bed. Lifting up a small piece of cloth, he twisted some of the water out before swiping it over the front of her shoulders.
Lucy stiffened. His attention woke her body fully as she wondered what area he was going to wipe down next.
“When I arrived, you were so warm I panicked.” Sparx freshened the cloth, and then moved to her arm, washing all the way down to the tips of fingers. “I called for the healers before remembering that the Phaetons put these bands on the volunteers.” Tapping his fingers against the cool metal around her wrist, he let out a deep sigh. “Normally, I question the wisdom of the Phaeton’s dependence upon technology, but I’ll admit that this gadget has shown its worth.”
“What’s wrong with me?” she asked. Her body aches seemed to indicate she’d been drinking her ass off or she was fighting the flu. Possibly both, she considered, given how wretched she felt—although she was feeling better with every second that passed.
“Nothing is wrong with you,” he answered without really answering, while continuing his journey with the cloth.
Lucy caught his fingers as he wiped down her other hand. Squeezing the thick digits, she refused to let go until he looked at her.
“I doubt I could wipe any further,” he said with a shrug, turning his hand in hers to hold it. “You’re much too tempting.”
“Am I sick?”
“No,” he said with a shake of his head before running one hand back through the hair that had fallen over his brow at the movement. He looked down at her with a worried expression, his brows low. “You’re not sick. Well…I guess you are having symptoms that would make you feel like you were sick, but that’s simply because you’re human.”
Lucy puzzled at his non-answers but found herself distracted by the way his fingertips stroked the back of her hand. Compared to her own hands, his were ginormous. Much like the rest of him, she thought as she eyed the entire package that was the gorgeous warlord presented before her. Sitting next to her, his thick thighs seemed as solid as tree trunks, urging her to try to climb.
“I won’t run a fever because I’m Djaromir. Since you’re human, it’s affecting you differently,” he said, pulling her attention back to his struggled attempt to explain the situation. “Does that make sense?”
Sparx lifted her hand and kissed the back of it, the action surprising her, yet also…not. Not only did she crave his touch and attention, she felt she was owed it on some level. As if were not only natural but expected.
Which was weird. Right?
“No,” Lucy said aloud, answering both his question and the internal ones with which she struggled. He’d said something about her being human… “I have a fever because I’m human? But you don’t because you’re… you.”
“Yes,” Sparx said with a nod, his face relieved. “Everything should be fine from now on, as long as we stay together. No more fever, I promise.”
Now it was Lucy’s turn to frown. She liked the idea of them staying together, but she had no idea how that had any impact on her feeling like hammered dog shit. She must have missed quite a bit more than she thought she had.
“Scoot over.” Letting go of her hand, Sparx nudged her hip.
“Okay,” she said before automatically following his instructions.
Wiggling toward the center of the bed, she kept her hands planted on the sheet draped over her front. Holding onto her titties to not only make sure they didn’t slip but also to hide what was going on under the sheet. The cold, which she’d craved earlier, now started to feel a bit too chilly.
Which made her nipples hard enough to poke holes in the fabric covering them.
Lucy didn’t have a chance to let Sparx know she was uncomfortable before he’d partially wrapped himself around her, taking the complaint right out of her mouth. Lying as close to her side as he possibly could without climbing on top of her, he wrapped one heavy arm around her middle. Pulling her into the curve of his body, he was careful to avoid bumping her bum foot.
“Comfortable?” he asked as if their position were the most normal place for them to be.
Which is what it felt like.
“Ummm, yeah,” she said, unable to stop snuggling back into him. She had absolutely no idea what was going on, but she went with it anyways. It wasn’t often she had the stuff her wet dreams were made of crawl into bed and want to snuggle. “Warm.”
“Too warm?” he asked, stiffening up.
“Not at all.” Lucy patted the thick arm wrapped just under her breasts. “Stay.”
“Good.” Sparx’s breath tickled the back of her neck, making her more
