“Uh…baby? Whatcha doin’?”
“Nothing?”
“Come on, Lawrence. What’s the problem?”
“I can’t say it.”
“Spit it or I’m bringing Didi in here to ask.”
The comforter moved just enough so that he could clearly see two beautiful black eyes glare at him.
“Well…” he prompted when she continued to stare at him.
Sighing, she said softly, “I’m funky.”
Yager frowned. “You mean musically?”
“No, you geek!” she snarled. “I mean…I haven’t bathed in a few days ‘cause of the stitches and…”
Yager was off the bed. “Come on, I’ll give ya a bath.”
“No!”
“Why not?”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Ya know, Neecy, if this were a permanent situation, I could totally understand the movie-‐of-‐the-‐week theatrics about independence and all. But you’ll be back to your usual dangerously quiet self in a couple of days. So why can’t you just relax and enjoy a little Yager care?”
Neecy pulled the covers tighter around her body. “No.”
She could be so stubborn. And over the weirdest crap, too. Turning on his heel, Yager walked into the bathroom and ran a bath. He didn’t fill the tub all the way up, since he had to make sure her stitches didn’t get wet. Once he was satisfied, Yager went back to the bedroom and froze.
The birds were back.
Neecy sat on the bed, the covers still wrapped around her.
“Neecy?”
“I swear I didn’t call ‘em…they just sort of…” She looked around the room.
“Came.”
Stupidly, Yager’d left one of the bedroom windows cracked. Well, he wouldn’t be doing that again. Good thing he had central air and heat.
Yager took a step forward and an enormous raven moved in front of him. They were protecting her.
“Neecy, you need to stop being freaked out by me. That’s what they’re responding to.”
“I’m not freaked…”
“Neecy.”
“Okay. Okay. Sorry.” She thought for a moment. “I know. How about you tell me something that will make me feel…calmer.”
“Nothing I ever say to you makes you feel calmer.”
“Well you better think of something.”
The raven at his feet moved closer. But so did a raven on each side of him. Uh-‐ oh. The thought of life without his eyes ran through his head. Not good.
Desperate, he grabbed on the first thing he could think of.
“One night, me, Tye, and Mike got really drunk and named our cocks.”
Blinking, Neecy looked at him. “Excuse me?”
“We named them. We were really drunk.”
He saw a smile tug at the corner of her lips. “And what, exactly, did you name them?”
Well, this was awkward. “Mike’s was ‘Mr. Lovespussy.’”
“Of course.”
“Tye’s was ‘Dangerous Dan.’ ”
“I’m not even going to ask why. And yours?”
He scratched the back of his head. “Remember. We were really drunk.”
“Cough it up, Yager.”
With a shrug, “Master and Commander.”
When the laughing got so bad she started wheezing, the birds flew back out the window they came in.
Neecy leaned forward, one arm around her knees the other held close to her chest as Yager carefully washed her back and argued with Morgan on the phone.
“Don’t yell at me. No, I’m not keeping her awake. No. I’m not getting ‘frisky.’ And stop calling it that. It’s freaking me out. Look, she wanted a bath. I’m being careful of her stitches. How do they look?” Yager leaned over and studied her back while Neecy stared straight ahead and tried not to think too much about his hands all over her body.
The fact that they felt really, really good, didn’t help. Most of the time she’d been here, Neecy sat around worrying about her wing. She felt certain she’d never fly again. If she couldn’t fly, she couldn’t remain second in command. She’d end up doing administrative work. The thought terrified her, eating away at her like acid. Foolishly she’d taken her wings for granted.
But for just a few minutes, Yager helped wipe her fears away simply by distracting her with those amazing hands of his. They were so big and she’d seen him do much damage with them, but when he touched her it wasn’t merely gentle. It was more than that. It was…reverent. Like his hands were worshipping her flesh.
“Yeah. The stitches look fine. You want me to what? No. Forget it. Yeah, the wound looks completely healed, but no. Uh-‐huh. Uh-‐huh. Good.”
He released her long enough to turn off his cordless phone, then his hands were right back, stroking her, caring for her.
“Morgan’s coming by tomorrow.”
“I hope that means I can get rid of the sling.” Yager insisted she keep her arm in the same position it was in when tied against her body. He refused to risk her healing process, even though she felt like there was no hope. The first day, there was so much pain and movement around the area where her wing was. But now there was nothing. She knew Morgan might have to take her wing and the thought sickened her.
“That’s my hope.” He poured a palm full of expensive shampoo on her hair. The kind one could only buy at a spa. She normally used stuff from the local pharmacy. Two-‐for-‐one deals were her favorite. “She wanted me to take those stitches out myself. I told her no way.”
“Why?”
“You’re not Mike, ya know. I’d actually care if I left you fucked up.”
Neecy grinned. “That’s very sweet, in a Nordic sort of way.”
She closed her eyes as Yager’s hands massaged her scalp. Man, what a delicious feeling.
“Look, I know my limits. I don’t do medical stuff. I leave that to the professionals.”
She wouldn’t exactly call Morgan a “professional,” but as a healer the woman rocked. Hell, she was still breathing, wasn’t she?
“As it is,” he continued, “I hate anything medical.”
He rinsed out her hair and then put more shampoo in.
“You’re a big pussy when you go to the doctor, aren’t you?”
“No. I just don’t like needles. And no sane person should.”
“What about vaccinations and stuff like that?”
Yager shrugged. “My doc’s an Elder. When he knows he has to give me a shot, he calls Mike and Tye. They hold me down.”
Neecy laughed hysterically as Yager again rinsed her hair. “I can’t believe,” she spit out, “you’re admitting this to me.”
He put his expensive conditioner on her hair and finger-‐combed it through. Well…that’s one way to come.
“I figure you should know all my major flaws up front.”
“Why?”
Yager sat on the floor beside the tub. “We gotta leave that in for three minutes.
And what d’ya mean why?”
“I mean why do I have to know about your flaws?”
He shook his head. “We are not having this conversation now. We’ll wait until you’re better.”
“Have what conversation?”
“The conversation I was going to have with you last weekend when you came over. After I’d fucked ya passive, of course.”
“Oh, of course.” Neecy looked up to find Yager staring at her. “What?”
“Do you have any idea how hard it’s been…” He shook his head. “Forget it.”
“How hard it’s been to what?”
Taking a deep breath, “Keep my hands off you.”
“Oh.”
“But that’s not the priority right now.”
“It’s not?”
“No. It’s not. First we get you better. Then I fuck ya senseless. Then we’ll track down the motherfuckers who did this to you and wipe them from the face of the earth. That’s my plan.”