Forbidden Jewel of India (Harlequin Historical) by Allen Louise

Author:Allen, Louise [Allen, Louise]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-01-01T02:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

The fact that the infuriating woman was right was no consolation. He should have redressed his shoulder at least three days ago, it was going to be a devil of a job doing it himself and Anusha’s cabin had the broader bed and the better lamps.

It also smelled of the jasmine oil she used on her hair, the myriad of feminine potions and lotions that she seemed to have acquired in Kalpi and, most distractingly, of herself.

It would be simplest to take the line of least resistance, do what she wanted and then escape.

‘Lie down,’ Anusha said, wriggling past him with a jug in one hand and a basin in the other. The pressure of a rounded backside against his thigh was more than enough incentive to obey. Nick lay down, swamping the hollow her body had made in the thin mattress, his head on a firm, Anusha-scented pillow.

‘Lie still.’ She sat on the edge of the bed, her hip against his, snipped through the loose length of bandage with a pair of tiny scissors, then leaned close to peer at the part that had dried on to the wound. Nick closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. ‘I haven’t done anything to hurt you yet,’ Anusha protested.

No, but that shift is virtually transparent with the lamp behind you, your right breast is squashed against my chest and I am fantasising about simply rolling over and crushing you into this mattress. ‘Lying down must have jarred it,’ he lied with an heroic effort of self-control. Why he was bothering to pretend when she only had to glance below his waist to see what the problem was, he did not know. He was rock hard. For all her theoretical knowledge she would be terrified.

Anusha got up and began to set things out on the shelf. ‘It is a good thing I packed my medical box.’

Nick opened a cautious eye. ‘Do you know what you are doing with it?’

‘Of course.’ She dropped a small sponge in to the basin and picked up a sinister sharp object. ‘It is part of our lessons in the women’s mahal, to know how to care for our man if he is sick or wounded.’

He realised that she was speaking Hindi again, as though what she was doing was taking her mind back to Kalatwah. Our man. She said it with complete unconcern. She was not flirting, it had been an unconscious slip. Nick felt his groin tighten again and locked eyes with Anusha. The thin, loose trousers were no shield for his all-too-obvious thoughts.

‘Now, I’ll just put these towels here and sponge the dressing free,’ she said, settling beside him again.

She was good at this, he realised after a minute. She did not dab, overcautious and hurting him more as a result. She was firm but gentle, her hands moving on his body with an assurance that only served to fuel his hopeless fantasies.

‘There,’ she said with a final wriggle of the probe to lift the dressing free.

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