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Chapter Nine

So her out of a deep sleep She tried to sit up, and found she was trapped She started to panic, kicking with her leg, trying to escape

"Cassie, it’s just led for a y et coherent words past herover her She looked fro he wasn’t wearing a shirt The sight of him was both a relief and a worry

"What are you doing here?" she finally re until you nearly beat the crap out ofover her with his head propped on his hand

"That’s not what I meant Why are you in bed with me?" she demanded

"It’s my bed," he said simply

"I’m sure this house has other rooms, so why not just put me in one of those?" she asked

"Cassie, it’s not like we haven’t slept together already What’s with the panic?"

"First of all, I felt trapped when I woke up and it scared er be sharing a bed," she said in her most prim tone He actually had the nerve to s

"Soet your way," she said in a huff He chuckled She was close to hitting him, which surprised her, since she’d never been violent before

"So, you’d be upset if I ranyour sto her belly, slowly aped at hi him

"Or, you’d probably be real upset if I bent down and ranyour neck like this," he practically purred, before he bent down and s her pulse juet lost in his embrace She couldn’t reain, but she knew, somewhere in the back of her ure out why later

"My foot hurts," she blurted out In truth she hadn’t thought about her foot once since waking, but now that she’d used it as an excuse, she realized it was throbbing He immediately stopped and looked into her eyes

"Looks like a cold shower forfro only a pair of loose sweats that did nothing to hide his aroused state from her He went to the bathroom and came out with a cup of water, then took a pill frohtstand and sat next to her Her eyes lowered to his pants, before she realized what she was doing, and she jerked her head back to his face He save her a wink

"Later," he proht She took the pills, then sat with hirab you some toast and juice, then you can take a bath," he said, before leaving the rooave herself a pep-talk, and waited for his return She was grateful when the pills kicked in Max returned with a tray and she quickly ate the toast She figured the sooner she finished, the quicker he’d leave her to bathe and dress

"Ready?" he asked

"For what?" She looked at hi to let him help her bathe She absolutely had to put her foot, even the hurt one, down at so back the covers and lifting her in his ar tired of his cave-ain set her on the edge of the tub, then turned on the faucet She watched as he added some vanilla scented bubbles to the tub He carefully unwrapped her bandaged foot and looked it over

"I’ll be back in ten," he told her before slipping froht she could finish bathing in tento help her She didn’t want to find out the answer

She quickly placed her hair atop her head, brushed her teeth and stripped, then gingerly climbed into the tub She wouldn’t adet into its luxurious depths She broke out in a sweat before she ainst the cushioned back, a sigh escaped The teood

There was a tap on the door, then Max alking in, heading straight for the tub She sunk down a bit deeper, even though the bubbles were covering her from the neck down

"I’ hi aid in the asleep in the tub Plus, I’m sure your neck and shoulders are a bit tense, since you’ve been sleeping so many hours," he said

He knelt next to the tub and brought his hands up to her neck, gentlythe area, before he moved down to her slick shoulders She let out a little ht, but she was tense She didn’t know if it was fro so many hours, or because he was next to her as she lay naked in the tub, but his ers felt incredible, especially with the hot water surrounding her body

He s her into al paood to her, how could she possibly be angry about that?