Blood, Body and Mind by Kathi S. Barton Page A

body ached. She did not believe that there was one inch on her that did not hurt in some way. She wanted to get up, needed to really, but did not have the strength to do it. She had little choice but to ring downstairs and ask for help. She picked up the dark blue phone on the table next to the bed. At the dial tone, she pressed four for Duncan. He answered on the first ring.
    “ Good morning, miss,” he answered in way of a greeting. She smiled at his obvious chipper tone.
    “ Mr. Duncan, I was wondering if you could help me to the bathroom. You don’t have to come up now if you’re busy. Just, you know, whenever you have the time.” She hoped it was soon, as she really had to pee.
    “ I’ll be right up. Can I bring you something? Dr. Thomas said that you can only have liquids for now. How about some nice tea or some broth, maybe?” There was so much hope in his voice. She so did not want to think about anything liquid right now.
    “ Maybe later, after…I think after my shower. I like tea.” She liked iced tea without sugar, but did not want to think about that either.
    Within two minutes, Aaron was knocking at her door. When she told him to come in, he opened the big door and went right to the bed beside her.
    “ What are you doing in here? Where’s Duncan? He said he was coming up.” He, of course, ignored her questions.
    “ Let me see if I can get you something to wear first. There should be a robe hanging—ah, here it is. Can you stand at all, Sara? There’s a good girl, up we go.” If she did not need to use the bathroom so badly, she would just stay where she was.
    Aaron was very careful with her, for which Sara was very grateful. She felt the pull on the stitches again and was careful how she moved. Once she was completely upright, she stood for several seconds until the room stopped spinning before she moved on.
    Sara looked up into his eyes. Aaron was an incredibly handsome man. And when he smiled, like he was doing right now, her heart kicked up a notch and her body responded like it was starved for him—some part of him.
    “ If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to finish what we started in the kitchen, Sara.” He moved his mouth closer to hers, just close enough that she could feel his warm breath gently move across her skin. “I want to kiss you right now, taste you, but I fear that I won’t be able to stop once I start.”
    “ Why?” She was not sure if she was asking him why he wanted to kiss her or why he would stop once he started.
    Aaron did not answer, but pulled back from her just as Duncan came into the room. She did not look at the other man. All she could focus on was how suddenly hungry she was for a taste of him as well.
    “ Duncan, could you please see that our guest gets to the bathroom? I have...other business that requires my attention.”
    “ Of course, my lord. You can depend on me.”
    Aaron left the room as soon as he handed Sara off to the very capable Duncan. He turned to look at her before stepping into the hall. She felt him whisper through her mind.
    “ We aren’t finished, you and I. I want you, Sara. I want you with a desperation I’ve never felt before. And I can feel you want me as well, smell your need on your body when I’m near you. And I intend to sample that very lovely mouth and so much more of you when you’re better. Count on it.” Then he swept out of the room, leaving her dizzy with a need for him to do just what he said.
    Sara tried to not lean too heavily on Duncan, but she was still very weak. They didn’t make any record breaking time getting there, but she was in one piece when they got to the sink. She assured him that she would be fine for the next few minutes and closed the door on him. She could tell he did not want to leave her alone, but he could see the wisdom in letting her have her privacy. While she was attending to herself, she could hear him fussing around on the other side of the door.
    Sara looked into the huge