Read Edge of Sanity: An Edge Novel for Free Online Page B

weren’t. One of them was a bit red and inflamed, indicating a minor infection. She cleaned it well and added some antibiotic ointment, forgoing the bandage for fear of him freaking out when he saw it.
    With a heave of effort, she rolled him over enough to inspect his back, seeing more of the same. Lots of bruises, plenty of scratches, and a couple of cuts.
    She picked up his hands one at a time, noticing the rough calluses along his knuckles and palms. There were a couple of small lacerations, but nothing that would have raised any red flags. He just looked like a man who worked with his hands.
    Her gaze skimmed down his body, purposefully ignoring the bulge in his boxers. There was no professional reason for her to peek under there, no matter how curious she might be.
    His wrists were thick, his forearms hard and ropey but not bulging with muscle. Inside his clothes, he would have easily passed for an average, athletic guy. Without that disguise, she could see the truth: Clay was a man who possessed the strength of steel and the resilience of rawhide. A lesser man would not be walking around after taking the kind of beating that would leave behind marks like these.
    Some antiquated part of her found the notion exciting, while the clinical, detached part of her rolled its eyes.
    He was just a man. The fact that he had a nice body under all those bruises and made her want to feed and pamper him had nothing to do with reality.
    She started to get up, but Clay’s arm wrapped around her hips, pulling her back down to the bed.
    Leigh let out a startled squeak and clutched his hard arm.
    There was no grogginess in his eyes—no sign of lethargy at all. Which meant . . .
    “How long have you been awake?”
    “Long enough to enjoy you petting me.” His gaze was hot as it slid from her face, down over her breasts, and finally to where his arm crossed her hips, pinning her to the bed. She couldn’t tell if that heat came Kat herfrom anger or something deeper she refused to acknowledge.
    “I thought you hated doctors.”
    “I do, but even I’m not strong enough to turn down a chance to have the hands of a woman as beautiful as you on me. Now, if you’d pulled out another needle . . . let’s just say I wouldn’t have cared how beautiful you were.”
    His flattery surprised her, leaving her floundering for how to handle it. In any other situation, she would have been irritated, but she couldn’t seem to rouse the appropriate level of indignation—not when his words sent such a thrill sliding through her.
    She lifted her chin and stared down her nose at him, searching for some kind of armor to wrap around herself. She was feeling things for this man she had no right to feel. Sympathy? Sure. Worry? Absolutely. But interest? Inexcusable.
    Leigh forced her tone to come out frosty. “I’m not sorry about the tranquilizer. Keeping you here may have saved your life.”
    He sat up in a move that made muscles in his shoulders and arms flex. His face was only inches away from hers. She had to tilt her head back to keep looking him in the eye, and she knew if she looked away, he would take it as a sign of weakness.
    With this man, weakness could be dangerous. Even if her heart was racing out of control, she had to pretend that nothing he did affected her. If he thought he had the upper hand, he would be more likely to get himself into trouble, thinking he no longer needed the help of one weak woman.
    “Don’t expect me to thank you,” he said. “This was a violation of trust and you know it.”
    “You don’t trust me, so I don’t see how I could have violated anything.”
    “If I hadn’t trusted you, I wouldn’t have opened the door and let you in. But don’t worry. I’ve learned my lesson. I’m leaving, and if you try to stick me again, you won’t like what happens.”
    Chapter Five
     
    C lay used every bit of acting experience he had to deliver that bluff.
    He couldn’t stand the thought of hurting her, but he