Read Online The Wells Brothers: Luke by Angela Verdenius - Free Book Online Page B

on her thigh.
    She wasn’t sure she’d heard
right.  “What?”
    “Just give me a couple of minutes,
then I’ll get up.”
    Over his prone body, Elspeth
looked at Mikki and shrugged.
    Blowing out a sigh, Mikki relaxed
back on her heels to gaze down at him.  Lying on his side, knees drawn up, one big
hand clamped on her thigh, the other clutching his abused family jewels, Luke
should have looked vulnerable.  Well, he kind of did, but the strength in his
hand gripping her thigh was a little intense, or maybe that was just the pain
rolling through him.  Man, she felt so bad.
    Not knowing what else to do as the
silence dragged on, Mikki shifted her gaze to her aunt.  “So, did you see the
cameo brooch on the dressing table?”
    Elspeth’s mouth fell open. 
“What?”
    Feeling stupid, Mikki shrugged
helplessly.  “Look, we’re sitting here, he doesn’t want an ambulance, we have
to wait.  I don’t know what to say apart from maybe discuss the stuff on the
dressing table.”
    Elspeth stared at her.
    “Or maybe the coming court case
when he sues our arses off for assaulting him.”
    “No one’s suing anyone,” Luke
ground out.
    Immediately Elspeth smoothed his
hair back from his face.  “Shhh, dear.  Just relax, take it easy.”
    Mikki studied him.  Surely there
was a little more colour back in his cheeks?  Surely his hand was clutching his
privates a little less rigidly?  Maybe - just maybe - there was a little easing
of the tension in his body?
    After another several long
minutes, Luke finally opened his eyes to gaze directly up into hers.
    Immediately she leaned close. 
“Luke?” One of her long curls spilled down to brush across his mouth and she
quickly flipped it back over her shoulder.  As he blinked up at her, she patted
his cheek gently.  “Hey, how are you doing?”
    “You poor love,” Elspeth murmured.
    Luke turned his head, his lips
grazing Mikki’s palm.  The sudden warm, moist breath against her skin made her
stomach dip unexpectedly and she drew her hand away quickly.
    He didn’t seem to notice.  “Better.”
    All of a sudden he started to push
upright, the movement seeming to make him go a little paler again, though in
the glow of the torches it was a little hard to say, especially as the women had
to leave them on the floor while helping him to his feet.
    As soon as he gained his balance,
Mikki moved to his side.  “Here, let me help.”
    Luke glared down at her.  “Wanting
to finish the job by pushing me down the stairs?”
    “That’s a mean thing to say.”  Not
that she could blame him.  Grabbing his wrist, she pulled his arm across her
shoulders.  “Come on.”
    “I’m not an invalid.  Yet.”  He
rested some of his weight on her.  “But I’m sure you’ll fix that.”
    Relieved that he was returning to
normal and not writhing on the floor in agony, she steered him towards the
door.  “Geez, you’re going to hold a grudge, aren’t you?  I can tell.”
    Luke grunted.
    Holding the torches, Elspeth
stepped around them.  “I’ll light the way down to the servants’ quarters where
we can switch the lights on and fix you up.”
    “I’m fine.”
    “I thought you were going to die
back there,” Mikki muttered.
    “I sure as shit felt like it,” he
retorted.
    She rolled her eyes.  “I didn’t do
it on purpose.”
    “So why did you do it?”
    Manoeuvring him through the door,
she couldn’t help but notice how gingerly he was moving.  “I wasn’t expecting
anyone behind me.”
    “Do you always react like that? 
Because if so, Red, you’re in danger of getting sacked from your job.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “You attack all your customers
like that and your shop manager isn’t going to be happy.”
    “I expect shoppers to tap me on
the shoulder.  Mind you,” she steered him towards the staircase, “they don’t
usually tap my shoulder, they just talk to me.”
    “I was talking to you back there.”
    “You were