She bit her lip and forced her breath through her nose in a slow and even rhythm.
“Your stocking.”
The rough nature of his voice drew her gaze to his face, but he remained focused on the task at hand. With the pain becoming more and more unbearable, she carefully reached beneath the pile of skirts in her lap to release her garter before hooking her fingers in the stocking and sliding it down over her knee. She had to lean forward in order to slip the garment off her foot, which brought her dangerously close to the man crouched at her side. Breathing his scent through her nose, her attention was once again snared by the steady pulse in the side of his throat.
Heat rushed swift and distracting through her blood.
Why did this man affect her so viscerally? She’d never experienced anything like it before. And she wasn’t sure she appreciated it now.
Once the stocking was removed, she straightened and stared over his head to the window across the room. She did such a good job of concentrating on everything but his hands on her bare skin that it took her a bit to notice the care and efficiency in his touch as he spread the noxious smelling mixture over her throbbing ankle.
After a short while she found herself relaxing back into the pillows. When he shifted his hands to her foot, it took a significant amount of willpower to keep her eyes from drifting closed as she luxuriated in the feel of his thumbs pressing into the taut flesh of her heel before sweeping along the soft arch to circle over the pad of her foot.
“Loosen your gown.”
His voice sent shivers down her spine. Delicious shivers. Enticing shivers. When she didn’t answer right away, his eyes sparked and his lips twisted subtly at the corners. “I need to see to your shoulder.”
Vulnerability rushed through her. It was an uneasy, unfamiliar feeling. “That won’t be necessary.”
Tawny brows lowered over an intent stare. “Loosen the frock, Lady Katherine.”
A long pause followed his bold command while Katherine struggled with the uncertain fluttering in her belly and the urgent need to regain some semblance of control over the situation. As the thoughts in her head twisted and turned around the sensations he’d inspired by his care and attention in his dealings with her person so far, he simply watched her with a weighted stare.
Katherine wanted so badly to refuse further assistance. If not for the sake of propriety—which seemed long gone already—then as an attempt at regaining some autonomy. She was not accustomed to putting herself literally in someone else’s hands, and she could feel her anxiety increasing by the second. But her tortured shoulder needed attention and Hale was right—he was all she had at the moment.
“It fastens up the back,” she finally answered stiffly. “I cannot reach.”
He smiled—a particularly wicked sort of grin—and her insides twisted. “I reckon I can manage as lady’s maid.” His voice lowered as he added, “Though I can’t say I’ve ever had my hands on anything so fine.”
As he rose to his feet, she leaned forward, making sure to cradle her arm as she did so. Though the pain in her shoulder was significantly reduced and the numbness was gone, she still felt a distinct instability in the joint.
He shoved the pillows out of the way once again so he could take a seat behind her. As the mattress sank under his weight, she had to lean even farther forward to keep from tipping right back into his lap.
Once he was settled, she felt his touch at the side of her neck as he swept the full length of her hair to one side then over her shoulder to better access the buttons running down the back of her gown. The light drift of his blunt fingertips across her nape caused a tingling rush of chills down her spine.
With her breath held and her lower lip caught between her teeth, she remained tense and still as he released the fastenings of her gown. His fingers were defter than she’d expected, and the neckline of her gown soon gaped enough that she had to press a hand between her breasts to keep it from falling to her lap.
Cool air brushed the bare skin of her back above the chemise and corset she wore. Every nerve in her body was drawn taut as he eased the shoulder of her gown down on her injured side. He did the same with the thin strap of her camisole. At least he wouldn’t have to loosen her corset to access her shoulder. The stiff, unyielding garment felt like a necessary piece of armor she couldn’t afford to lose.
In the pause that followed—as she felt his gaze moving over her bare skin—she thought she heard him make a low sound, but she couldn’t be sure.
Then he picked up the jar from the bedside table. The pungent scent of the medicinal mixture filled her nostrils as he began to spread it over her skin. Starting at the curve where her neck met her shoulder, he worked his way down.
Though she’d already experienced the unexpectedly gentle efficiency of his touch on her ankle and foot, she was still surprised by how utterly languid she became under his hands. Even as the wide flat of his roughened palm smoothed over the most tender area of her injury, he did not cause discomfort.
And when he expanded his attention to the muscles that ran along either side of her spine, she couldn’t stop her posture from softening into his touch any more than she could hold back the deep sigh that released from her lungs.
But then his hands left her. Suddenly and completely.
Katherine stared straight ahead, noting how the air around them felt charged in an odd way. Though she was compelled to turn and look at him, she resisted. Not because she feared what she might see in his
