Read 01 Winters Thaw for Free Online Page A

On your stomach.”
    Daniel spread the towel out and crawled to the center of the mattress, while trying to discreetly adjust the hard-on that emerged the moment Sienna had entered his bedroom.
    Her knee lightly grazed his hip. He watched as she scooped some of the salve onto her hands and rubbed them together before pressing on his shoulder. Daniel groaned in relief.
    “God damn, that feels nice.”
    She deepened her touch, digging her fingers in and hitting all the right spots. “You’re wound up as tight as a spring. Try to relax.”
    “That would be easier if you’d move those sweet hands a little lo—” He paused, cutting off his dirty joke midstream.
    Her hands stopped moving. “A little what?”
    “Nope. Not saying it. I don’t want you to leave.”
    She chuckled and began caressing his stiff muscles again. “That bull did a number on you.”
    He nodded, her soothing massage taking effect quickly. A few more minutes with her talented hands and he’d be sound asleep. “Yeah. I guess so.”
    “I realize my dad brought you here to help the boys train for their rodeo competitions, but—” She stopped speaking. Daniel waited a few seconds, then he realized she wasn’t going to finish.
    “But you hate the idea of your brothers growing up to ride the bulls.”
    “It terrifies me.”
    He could understand her concerns. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think James will pursue a life on the circuit. It’s just a hobby for him. Sort of like the guys who play football in high school. They’re in it for the camaraderie, the fun, not the long run.”
    Sienna added more balm to her hands, then started rubbing his other shoulder. He didn’t bother to tell her that arm was fine. Her caresses were addictive. “It’s not James I’m worried about. It’s Doug.”
    “He’s young. A million things could come up between now and the time when he’s old enough to decide where he wants his life to take him.”
    His words didn’t seem to comfort her. “Maybe. But maybe not. Doug’s a lot like me. Once he latches on to something, it’s next to impossible to sway him. He seems hell-bent on riding the circuit as soon as he’s old enough.”
    “Does that mean you always knew you’d be a nurse?”
    She nodded. “Aunt Lucy swears I came out of the womb with my future predetermined.”
    Daniel wasn’t surprised. “Lucy is the aunt who is a nurse too, right?” Even after two weeks, he was still trying to put names with all the Compton faces. It was a big family.
    “Yeah. She is. I used to love to follow her around when she made house calls. She’s an amazing caregiver, so compassionate, patient, kind. I spent every summer from the time I was twelve until I graduated from high school as her assistant.”
    “You’re lucky.”
    “How so?” she asked.
    “I never really knew what I wanted to do with my life. Hell, I still don’t.”
    Her hands left his shoulders, moving lower along his back. If he were a cat, he swore to God, he’d start purring. She was working her magic, alleviating every bit of tension in his body, offering him comfort, relieving the pain. Lucy was right. She was born to be a nurse.
    “You didn’t always plan to ride bulls in the rodeo?”
    He shook his head once, too lethargic for much more motion than that. “No. I guess I was just your typical kid, full of crazy dreams about futures that wouldn’t happen. In elementary school, I told everyone I was going to be a famous football quarterback with a handful of Super Bowl rings. Then, in middle school, I figured I’d make an awesome rock star even though I’d never picked up a guitar and my singing sounds more like frogs croaking.”
    Sienna laughed. “Wow. There’s a perverse side of me that would like to hear you sing.”
    Daniel grinned. “Seriously toyed with the idea of being a cop in high school, but I have an aversion to guns.”
    “Really? So you aren’t a hunter?”
    Daniel knew hunting was a popular form of