That was easier said than done, however, because I could sense his tension, and he was quiet, but I heard the way he sucked in a breath when I undid the harness for his prosthetic. Loosening it, I slid it off and gently took the leg and brace, setting both aside because they would need to be wiped down. I couldn’t help but take a quick glance over the remains of his leg and sigh when I saw the bright red irritation.
“Sorry,” he muttered, trying to avoid eye contact.
“I was sighing because it’s obvious you’re not taking good care of yourself,” I said, raising a brow. “Now I know they had to have given yousomethingfor the leg.”
He was still staring at the wall. “Bathroom drawer.”
They had at least given him a cream to help with the irritation. I glanced at the instructions and the date it had been handed out and repressed the urge to yell at him. Apparently, he had been going for treatment for a couple of weeks now and hadn’t bothered to break the seal on the bottle. It was a miracle it was just a red mess rather than broken skin and bleeding. I suppose it was a boon that he didn’t do any cardio when he worked out, and avoided moving too much since the two of us were pretty lazy together.
When I came back, he had shoved a pillow under his head but was still refusing to meet my gaze. I sat down and got to work applying the ointment. “This is going on later too, just so you know.”
“Fine,” he grumbled, and I repressed a smile. I knew he was self-conscious about his leg, but I also knew part of it was that hehatedbeing a patient. I now understood it was because of some noble need to seem perfectly fine, to show no weakness to those he thought might rely on him. Noble…but stupid as hell. He was at Arete for a reason, so clearly he wasnotfine, but again, now wasn’t the time to bring that up.
“How is the muscle pain?” I asked, and when I didn’t get an answer, I sighed. “All your muscles, Cade. Not just the leg, which I assume isn’t feeling great. Is it aching, or is it tightness?”
His eyes flicked to me and then away. “Both.”
“Good, then if you stop pouting like a toddler who was told he couldn’t have a third cookie, I might get some lotion out and give you a massage,” I said, raising a brow.
His eyes didn’t quite flick to mine, but they almost did. “A sexy one?”
I smiled. “Maybe, but first it’s to help you not hurt as much.”
His eyes remained on the wall for several seconds before he grunted. “Fine.”
“You’re such a stubborn child sometimes,” I told him affectionately, leaning forward and planting a kiss on the patch of skin where his shirt had ridden up. I knew that wasn’t helping my case of making him wait for the sexy part of the massage because his waistline was pretty sensitive. That too was something I’d discovered recently, just the other day in fact, when I had been kissing my way down his body to give him sloppy head…he loved it sloppy. The messier the better, as far as he was concerned.
And it wasn’t like I was going to deny him.
“Good,” I said, shoving his shirt up and slapping his stomach hard as I got to my feet.
“Oof!” he grunted, hands going to his stomach as he winced. “I wasn’t ready!”
“You weren’t supposed to be,” I told him as I returned the ointment and retrieved the Arete lotion from the bathroom. I came back to find that he had shed his shirt, leaving him in only a pair of boxer briefs. Clearly he was eager and ready for the massage and wanted nothing in the way. I wouldn’t complain, as much as I was used to seeing him in various states of undress, it still sent a thrill through me to see him lying there in a thin pair of underwear, his soft dick making an impressive imprint on the front of the fabric.
God, this man’s body was going to be the death of me, and that wasn’t covering his personality; that was a weakness on a whole new level.
“And apparently you haven’t been using this either?” I asked as I held up the bottle, and when he shrugged, I cocked my head. “Just what the fuck have you been using to jerk off?”
He stared at me in confusion before raising his hand and wiggling it back and forth. “I mean?—”
I stared at him. “You’ve been jerking off dry? Jesus, Cade. There’s lotion, and they offer condomsandlube here.”
He shrugged. “Just got used to it. Not like there was always stuff like that when we were in the field or at camp.”
I got on the bed. “You were jerking off in tents with us?”
“You weren’t?” he asked, and when I shook my head, he laughed. “All the guys were doin’ it. We just, ya know, tried not to be obvious about it. And if ya woke up and found out someone was doin’ that, ya didn’t.”
“Don’t ask, don’t tell,” I said wryly as I squeezed some of the lotion onto my hand and got to work rubbing my fingers into his leg to get a sense of just how tightly corded the muscles were.
Oh boy, I was going to be here for a while.
“I guess,” he said with a snort. “I mean, gettin’ it all slick is nice for a bit of variety, but it’s not like I need it to enjoy myself.”
“I usually just tried to wait until we were back at base, or I had a quick moment when no one else was around,” I admitted. “I really wasn’t comfortable with someone finding me like that.”
“Hmm,” he said, his face twitching as I found a knot and began digging my fingers into it. “And what would ya have done if I had found ya?”
