Read Online Barging In by Josephine Myles - Free Book Online

urge to reach out and stroke Robin’s head was something Dan had to struggle against. Maybe he’d get a chance later. While checking Morris over, Robin’s hands brushed against Dan’s arms and chest, every accidental touch stirring a response in Dan’s body. He looked down at those strong hands with the network of raised veins on the back and the dark hairs encroaching from the wrists. They’d look great against Dan’s own smooth flesh. He breathed deeply, inhaling Robin’s smoky, earthy scent.
    But it wouldn’t do to get overexcited right now. Dan tried to focus on Morris instead. “I found him halfway up a tree down in the valley. I think he must have climbed up there to keep safe from whatever attacked him.”
    “He was attacked?” Robin gazed up at him with wide, watery eyes. Christ, he was really cut up about this cat, wasn’t he? “I can’t find any injuries.”
    “I think he might be lying on it. There was something matted in his fur that looked like blood. I couldn’t see any more than that because he went mental when I tried to pick him up.” He held out his right hand, which had received the worst mauling. Robin’s eyes flicked to it for a brief moment before returning to the cat.
    “We’d better turn him over so I can get a look.”
    Right. Not a lot of point in angling for sympathy at the moment, then. Not unless you had four legs and a tail. Dan swallowed his pique and helped to lift the cat, who seemed even heavier now fully relaxed. He shifted over on the sofa so that Robin could sit next to him, and held Morris gently as Robin searched through the long fur. “I think it was down by his hind leg. Yep, that’s the place.” Dan felt the cat tense in his arms, but a few gentle words and strokes from Robin soon calmed him down again. The next time Robin tried to inspect the wound, Dan distracted Morris by tickling him under the chin, which seemed to go down well if the volume of purring was anything to go by.
    “I’m going to have to clean this up to get a proper look, but I don’t think it’s too serious.” Robin’s eyes were clearer and brighter this time when they met Dan’s. “Just hold him for me a little bit longer, please?”
    “Always happy to help you out,” Dan said, and he didn’t even have to make a conscious effort to give his most charming grin—it just happened. This man with his peculiar mixture of arrogance, good manners and vulnerability seemed to call it forth from him.
    His gaze roamed over Robin’s body as he turned away and stretched in a peculiar, folded-limbs fashion no doubt adopted by all boat dwellers. Dan had already whacked his knuckles on the boat ceiling more times than he cared to recall. Must be a nightmare for a big guy. And wasn’t Robin just deliciously large?
    It probably wasn’t a good idea to mentally undress a drop-dead-gorgeous man when you had your arms full of injured cat. Made it bloody tricky to hide a hard-on, for a start. Dan could have shifted Morris over to cover it, but that just seemed wrong, not to mention dangerous, considering those sharp claws. Robin made no comment though, and perhaps he didn’t even notice with his attention focused on cleaning the wound. As Robin wrung out the cloth, rusty particles of dried blood swirled out into the bowl. Dan could feel some of the excess water soaking into his Ralph Lauren T-shirt. That was going to stain, although it was probably already a lost cause what with the claw damage from earlier.
    But Dan’s concerns about his clothing were forgotten the moment Morris sank his claws into his stomach. That fucking well hurt! He grunted, biting his cheeks to keep from giving a girly whimper. Not that Robin noticed. On the plus side, at least his cock was behaving again.
    The more blood Robin cleaned away, the more Dan could smell its metallic tang. Eventually the fur was clean and they could see what lay beneath.
    “Is that it?” Dan asked. How could such a tiny wound have bled so