"All right," I said. "Let's do this."
She nodded but didn't respond immediately, instead tapping needles into my shoulders. She moved rapidly, too quick for me to process every individual prick.
"How are you doing?" April asked. I heard her footsteps on the floor as she moved around the table, and sensed her near my knee. "Some of these points will be more sensitive than others."
"Ma'am," I said, holding open my palm. "I've been in active war zones. There's nothing you can do to me that I can't handle."
"Is that your background?" she asked. "The military?"
She pressed a needle into the fleshy part of my inner thigh, and fire licked at my nerves.
"Uh, yeah," I said, struggling through the burn. "The Navy. I'm in private security services now."
"Mmhmm," she murmured, her fingers pushing one pin after another into my skin. "Keep breathing. Let your body heal itself."
"I read the book," I offered, swallowing a snarl as a needle pierced the tender side of my knee.
"I'm not surprised. I get the sense you take duty seriously."
Her gaze pinged to the scars on my leg. That she understood it to be a war injury, and one that required no additional explanation, was the saving grace of this treatment regimen. Even after all these years, the details of that mission were still classified above top secret.
"I've been wondering about this all day, Jordan," she continued. "What did you think ofCharming the Duke? Don't break my heart if you hated it. That series is one of my all-time favorites."
"I didn't hate it," I confessed. "It was a departure from my usual diet of financial reports and newspapers, but I didn't hate it." Another needle near my eyebrow, and it wasn't an uncomfortable sensation, but not an ordinary one, either. "Why do you enjoy it so much?"
"I'm all done," April said. She flattened her hand on my belly. "They'll stay in place for about twelve minutes. You might feel heaviness, perhaps some numbness or tingling. Tell me if you notice that."
"Yes, ma'am," I said. "Why is it one of your favorite books?"
"I loved that Helena was independent," April replied. She took my hand, and started massaging my palm and fingers. "She'd taken charge of her life, and she wasn't troubling herself with any of society's expectations for a woman of her station. And when the bad-tempered duke showed up at her castle, she went ahead and kicked his ass for trespassing."
"But the duke was blind," I argued. "Rafe didn't know he was trespassing. He didn't deserve the beat down that Helena gave him. It was that fuckwit solicitor of his, Mallory, who screwed him over."
"Yeah, Mallory was a douche," April said, rounding the table to work on my other hand. I was started to feel loose, and somewhat disconnected from my body. It was a sensation similar to that of pushing too hard at the gym, and walking out on wobbling legs. "However, you must agree that Helena was extremely generous to let him crash at her castle while he sorted out his affairs."
"Generous? No. That girl wanted to get in his pants," I said. Wobbling legs, wobbling arms, wobbling everything. "She was hot for him from the first minute, even when she thought he was a vagrant."
April paused her ministrations and gave me a sharp stare. "It is possible to look at someone and think,I want a piece of that fine ass, but then also think,You're going down, motherfucker."
"That's pretty much how you scored me," I said. "Except it was the ocean delivering the beat down, and not you."
"If that's how you want to tell the story, you go right ahead," she said.
"April, honey," I mumbled. I was long past loose, now sliding into thickness. It was like a dream, or sleepwalking. But sleepwalking through mud and sand. "Is this supposed to feel—uh—um—"
"Yes," she replied, squeezing my hand. "It's known as theDeqisensation. Some patients describe it as a thick, sleepy feeling, and others say it's like slipping into a warm bath, or experiencing a rush of emotions or relief. Some report burning or heat. It varies, and some don't experience it at all, but it's normal."
"I had all of these plans," I said, reaching for her and settling my hand on the curve of her waist.So luscious. "I was going to fuck you, like, a dozen times tonight. Now I'm worried that I won't be able to stay awake for that, and you deserve someone who can stay awake."
She chuckled as she resumed the hand massage. "We have plenty of time," she said. "Keep breathing, and just let it happen, Jordan."
"Letting it happen is not one of my tactical competencies, ma'am."
We were quiet for several minutes, and then I sensed her leaning over my body. "I'm going to start releasing the pins," she whispered. "It will be quick, and you shouldn't feel a thing."
"I wasn't prepared for the more, uh, romantic scenes," I said after she'd plucked the pins from my forehead. "I kept looking over my shoulder at the beach, thinking someone would walk up and find me reading about Helena's first time."
"And what a first time it was," she murmured. She was near my knee, and I couldn't reach her.
