Jaxon lay onthe massage table, his face nestled in a donut.McKenna admired the long lines of his back and brought her hand to his skin to feel the temperature differences of the points.She’d already given him another dose of elderberry syrup and colloidal silver.Now, she stuck a few needles in his back.Once satisfied, she sifted through the cups, looking for the right size.
“Are those glass things the cups?”
“Yup.”
“How does it work?”
“I swipe a small flame inside the cup, and the heat creates suction.I place the cup quickly on certain points, and the heat on those areas draws out blockages and stagnation.It also increases blood flow, which of course aids in healing and moves your qi.”She squirted some arnica cream into her hand and worked it over his upper back.
“What’s my qi?”
She chuckled, imagining how strange it must sound.“Qi, spelled q-i or c-h-i is the life force of our bodies.It’s our energy, which constantly needs to move and flow.Many things can cause imbalances in our energy that lead to ailments and diseases.By moving our qi, stimulating it at different points, and preventing or clearing blockages, we can achieve overall health.”She lifted one of the larger cups, weighing it in her hands.His back would benefit from four, easily.Especially on the lung and liver points.
She picked up a piece of gauze using metal tongs, lit a match, and held the flame under the material until it caught fire.Then she swirled it around the inside of the cup.After slapping the glass down quickly but gently on his shoulder blade, she watched as his skin was sucked into the glass lip.It immediately turned a deep red.“Wow, you needed that.”
“Yeah?What did it do?”
Before responding, she clapped three more glass cups on his back, so there were two on either side.The liver points moved much slower, the color a slight pink, but the points on the lungs became as purple as a concord grape.
“It’ll be easier to see when I remove the cups, but you’ve had some fast movement, which is good.It tells me whatever’s bothering your lungs is right at the surface.This should really get rid of the last of the cough.”
“Good.The weight in my chest is annoying,” he grumbled.
She smiled and watched as one of the needles popped out of his back.
“What was that?”
She picked up the needle and stuck it back in.Again, it popped out.“That’s your body telling me it’s done with that point.”She returned her attention to the cups and slid the ones on his lung points back and forth.They held strong but slid nicely, further moving the blockage.“How do the cups feel?”
“Good.”His muffled voice held a hint of fatigue.“It’s relaxing.”
“Not too tight?”
“Nope.The one on the left is really itchy though.”
She bounced on her toes.“That’s a good sign.Relax for a few more minutes.”She left him on the table and made her way to her bedroom with the flashlight.A glance at her cell phone showed it was almost 9:00p.m.She stepped into pajama pants and a Henley shirt then headed to the bathroom, where she smoothed coconut oil over her face and brushed her teeth.She stared at the image of herself in the dim light provided by the flashlight and toyed with a lock of her hair that badly needed to be woven into a braid or straightened.
It felt as if months had passed in the last twenty-four hours or so.Last night she’d slept with a shotgun near her bed with the intention of shooting Jaxon if he tried anything.Her view on him had certainly changed.There was still a lot to learn about Jaxon Murtaugh—she wanted to know everything about him.
More than that, she wanted to be close to him.She rolled her eyes to the ceiling.
What’s wrong with you?You can’t be this strung up over him.Not yet.
Some force deep inside her chest drew her to Jaxon.She couldn’t deny the attraction, couldn’t avoid the pull.She’d never ignored her instincts, and she sure as hell wasn’t about to now.
A rustling sound outside the bathroom window made her snap her gaze to the glass.She pressed her hand to her chest and clicked off the flashlight, moving to lean her back against the wall.The wind kicked up and the long, wispy arm of a tree branch scratched the window.She swallowed and relaxed her shoulders.This storm needed to end, and quickly.
Exiting the bathroom, she saw Jaxon still lying on his stomach, the cups clinging tightly to his back.She approached and placed her palms on the skin around the cups.Some spots were flaming hot, others cool to the touch.She grabbed the end of a cup, slid it to the dip of his shoulder blade, and broke the seal of suction.After repeating the motion with the other cups, she set them facing up on the cart as a reminder to sterilize them when the power returned.
She plucked out the needles and placed them in her biohazardous waste container then patted his back.“You’re free.”
He pushed his arms into the table and sat up with a long grunt.She waited for him to position himself on the edge then lifted her eyebrows.“How’s your chest?”
He inhaled slowly.“Feels pretty damn good.I think the weight is gone.”
She stroked her hand down the length of his arm.Good god, could she stop touching him?No, it wasn’t even a possibility.Not with him so close.So warm.So masculine.
“Good.Now you need sleep.”
