“But I’m not a doctor,” she replied. “I only stitch things up when a doctor isn’t available.”
He shrugged, ignoring the pain it caused in his shoulder. “You’re the best I’ve got right now. I trust you,” he said, looking directly at her.
Isla took a deep breath and picked up her materials. She started to give him something to ease the pain, but he shook his head. “I’m not done tonight. I can’t have my muscles frozen. Just go ahead. I’ll get something for the pain tomorrow.”
She hated the idea of sewing his skin closed with no anesthetic. “Are you sure? Pulling stitches is a bit more painful that you might think.”
“Yes. I’ve experienced the lovely pleasure before so consider me forewarned. You’ll do fine.”
She couldn’t believe that the man was trying to reassure her. That was normally her job when someone was bleeding. But this man just sat there watching her, occasionally glancing at the wound but completely unconcerned about the blood that was soaking up his shirt and seemed to be oblivious to the pain the knife would must have caused.
“Fine,” she replied and cleaned the wound once more to get rid of some of the blood. She carefully pinched the sides of the wound closed and applied the needle, pulling the thread through carefully and glancing at his face to see if this was affecting him at all. Thankfully the knife had gone in straight and clean so the edges were easily closed, but she still worried that something might be inside the wound that would become infected. He really needed to get to a doctor to do this and make sure that it was done correctly. She didn’t have enough light and anything could go wrong.
Instead of focusing on the negative, she worked quickly to sew things up. She wanted to get away from this man. At the wedding, he’d been several feet away which was completely different than being this close to him. His skin was warm with little give because of all the muscles. No fat on this man, she thought, impressed despite herself. And boy did he smell good! Wasn’t he supposed to be all hot and sweaty? Stinky? Well, he was sweaty, but the scent wasn’t bad. It was very good. Too good!
She had the crazy thought that she’d like to rip away more of his tee shirt and find out what was underneath.
When he reached up and tore more of the fabric, Isla gasped and couldn’t look away. “Why did you do that?” she asked, her mouth suddenly dry and her eyes transfixed on the gorgeous chest covered with muscles and tanned, incredibly glorious skin.
He looked into her eyes, watching her reaction carefully and he knew that she was just as interested in him as he was in her. He could see it in the way her eyes kept straying to his chest, and the fact that she glanced into his eyes, then quickly away again. In better light, he suspected that she might even be blushing and he wanted to smile at the thought. Instead of stating that he wanted her soft, delicate fingers to touch his chest, to move along his skin and set him on fire with her gentle, teasing touch, he said simply, “There’s blood all over the shirt. Can you clean up the rest?” he asked, wondering if she noticed that his voice was deeper as the lust for her increased with each passing moment.
Rashid watched as the beautiful woman glanced down at his chest. He couldn’t believe that he was getting turned on while she was sewing up his wound but now that her heated gaze was looking down at his skin, the feeling was intensifying. Damn, he wanted this woman.
He was already devising a plan to have her too. He knew her brother well and had contacted him throughout the war. They had collaborated against Hussan’s uncle, neither of them believing that the older man should be allowed to rape Silaria simply because he was had the right bloodlines. A few years ago, Rashid had even suggested that Isla would be a good wife, offering her up as his bride to help support Hussan’s claim to rule. At the time, he’d turned Rashid down, not sure what the future of his country might be. But now that things had stabilized, he was ready to take on a bride. Well, more specifically, he was ready to take this one on. He’d never really thought about his future until he’d seen her at his friend’s wedding yesterday. Now that she was close, he wanted all of her.
And she wanted him too. He could feel it, sense it in the way she was standing. It might be just his imagination, but he thought he could actually smell her arousal and that thought sent his body into overdrive.
Yes, it was definitely time to get back with Rashid and take him up on the offer. There was always the possibility that Rashid had selected another husband for his sister. If that was the case, he’d have to do some negotiating. He wasn’t even above stealing her out from under his friend’s back but he was suddenly determined that Isla would be his and his alone.
Isla took a deep breath as she pulled the needle through for the last time, relieved that the task was over and she was even proud of the neat stitches she’d done to hold his wound. “There. That should stop the bleeding until you can get to a real doctor.” She stepped back and kept her eyes only on his wound. She took another step back when he stood up, having trouble breathing with him so tall and male right there in front of her.
When he eliminated the distance between them, she gasped and looked away. “I need to get out of here,” she said softly and turned to leave but he caught her hand and captured it in his strong one.
“What’s your name?” he asked softly, even though he already knew her name. Rashid had been trying to convince him to take this little lady for his wife for the past two years. Hussan wondered how long she’d been slipping out of the palace to do things like this.
It occurred to him that he could stop her whole team right now and bring them back to his palace but something held him back this time. It wasn’t just the way the team moved so efficiently, or the fact that they were doing good things for his people and his conscience wouldn’t allow him to kidnap people who were trying to help. It was more the fact that capturing Princess Isla was probably not the smoothest way to start off their relationship.
He’d contact Rashid in the morning. Or in the next hour, he thought as he noticed the sun rising over the horizon.
“Until we meet again,” he said and lifted her hand to his mouth, kissing the tender flesh of her wrist and feeling the racing pulse. Good, he was glad she was feeling the same thing he felt for her. Their desire was already powerful. That would start off their marriage well.
Isla pulled her hand away, grateful when he allowed it because he was large enough and strong enough to hold her here if he wanted. “I doubt we’ll ever meet again, but I’m glad I was here for you tonight.”