Read Worth the Trouble for Free Online Page B

limbs were shaking violently, but somehow he managed to push himself back up to standing.
    Terri had been torturing him for six weeks now.  This huge room she called a gym was his personal hell.  The worst of it was the lack of results.  He still wasn't able to stay vertical easily. 
    Working his ass off in here six hours a day, two hours at a time after every meal had produced exactly nothing.  The muscles in his arms burned, his legs weren't fucking cooperating, and his back hurt like a bitch. 
    Ethan was done.
    Hell, his sister had missed her calling.  Instead of a nurse, she should have been a dominatrix.  All that was missing was a leather bustier and whip.
    T he more feeling he got back in his legs the more they hurt, the more he hurt the grumpier he got with the woman causing him that pain.  Huffing out a frustrated breath, he shouted, "Look, Broonhilda, My legs don't fucking work, and my arms are about done too!"
    "Oh, stop whining and start working," she replied unsympathetically. 
    Every time he complained or wanted to stop that was her mantra.  Ethan heard it in his sleep now, when she let him sleep, which wasn't often. 
    "You 're almost done--one more rotation, then another set on the weight machines," Terri told him and put a hand on her hip.
    Ethan groaned, "Give me a break, will you?  I'm toast, this is my third time in here today and I'm exhausted."
    "No breaks...now push it !  Swing your damned hips!" Terri yelled, then pointed a finger at him.  "The therapist gave me this workout routine and you're gonna do it."
    "Remind me to pay him a visit when my legs do start working again," Ethan grumped, then balanced himself again and worked his way to the end of the bars where he pivoted and started back the other direction. 
    He was sweating like a hog in summer. 
    S alty rivulets ran down his face stinging his eyes and his palms were slipping on the bar again.  Halfway to the other end of the bar, his arms began shaking again and he couldn't get them locked quick enough to catch himself from falling.  The floor came up to meet him and Ethan landed with a loud thump face down on the mat.  A sharp agonizing pain shot through his back and he moaned, gritting his teeth to fight the nausea seesawing in his stomach.
    "Ethan!" Terri shouted then ran over to him to kneel beside him.  "Are you okay?" she asked with concern in her voice.
    "No. I. Am. Not . Okay," he grated.  Rolling over onto his back, he threw his forearm over his eyes.  "I'm exhausted, I'm frustrated, my back is broken, my legs don't work, and this isn't doing a damn thing to make that better."
    A loud snort was followed by a sarcastic female voice that asked, "Are you always this much of a cry baby?"
    Ethan lifted his arm from his eyes and his gaze traveled up very long blue jean clad legs, across perky breasts in a tight white tank top before skidding to a stop at the laughter-filled gray eyes of the last woman in the world he wanted to see. 
    "Are you laughing at me?" Ethan asked incredulously.
    "Hell, yeah," Roxanne told him with a short laugh then looked at Terri.  "Sorry I'm late, Terri.  One of the horses is lame and I had to call the vet."
    "No problem, Rocky.  Thanks for coming," Terri replied then stood over him frowning.  "Can you grab his other arm so we can get him up?"
    Rocky nodded then walked to the other side of the bars.  The women leaned down and grabbed him under the armpits.   There was no way he was going to sit there and let two women lift his ass, especially these two.  A man had to draw the line somewhere to maintain any scrap of dignity he had left.
    "Back off!" he ground out then jerked his arms out of their grasp.  "I can do this," he mumbled as he sat up.
    Ethan reached up and grabbed the bars then gritted his teeth and tried to pulled himself up.  His first try was unsuccessful, and he plopped back to the mat jarring his back.  Determination filled him, and he changed the position of his hands