17. Chapter 17 #2
Lark assumed their son was going to argue—because that’s what he normally would have done—so she was surprised when he nodded and helped his father up the stairs, then left with Carter, but not before glancing back one more time, his expression full of hope and fear.
Lark was torn. The mom in her wanted to go with Kal and comfort him. It was hard letting her child walk out that door knowing how scared he was. But Mike needed her right now, too. So, she was just going to have to trust her pack and Mike’s to look after him.
As Mike began to pull off his bloodied uniform, Lark covered the bed with several large bath towels in case things got messy.
By the time she was done, Mike had stripped down to his boxer briefs.
He climbed on the bed, lying on his side so his back was fully exposed to her view.
If it wasn’t for all the blood and lacerations, she would have appreciated how muscular and sculpted his body was from this angle.
Unfortunately, there was no looking past all the damage. Or what she had to do.
Her hand shook a little as her eyes took in the first wound on his lower back, just to the left of his spine.
The scar had sealed over and stopped bleeding for the most part, which was kind of surprising.
She’d seen wounds like this in her own pack, and they hadn’t closed up this fast. That meant getting the debris out was not going to be pleasant.
Taking a deep breath, Lark determinedly went to work removing the fragments from the wounds, trying not to think about what she was doing. As she moved up his back, she couldn’t miss the series of thin overlapping scars that ran diagonally from his right shoulder to left hip.
“These long scars along your back,” she murmured, running one finger down the raised skin. “Did you get these when that gang cut you with the machete?”
Mike glanced at her over his shoulder. “Yeah. It’s been so long that sometimes I forget about them.”
As Lark gently ran her fingers down a few more of them, he leaned into her touch.
“You’re pretty good at this,” he said softly, under her ministrations.
“My father insisted we all learn how to do things like this in case a hunter ever shot one of our pack. I never thought I’d have to use the training, but now I’m glad he had us do it.”
“I’m glad, too.”
“I think that’s the last of the shrapnel,” she announced a few minutes later.
“Thanks,” Mike said, rolling over and sitting up, then getting to his feet.
“Do you need help getting in the shower?” Lark asked, images of soap and water running down Mike’s muscular body suddenly popping into her head.
“I’m good,” Mike said, only to waver a bit as he took his first step toward the en suite.
His knees might have held, but Lark wasn’t taking the chance. She darted in to slip under his right arm to take some of his weight, then started toward the bathroom. Once there, she turned on the shower, making sure it was warm enough before stepping back, careful to make sure Mike remained steady.
“You just going to stand there watching?” Mike asked softly, brow lifted as he glanced toward the big walk-in shower, then back at Lark.
“I wouldn’t want you to get woozy and slip in the shower,” Lark pointed out, heat blooming in her at the thoughts racing through her head. “Unless I’d make you uncomfortable. If so, I could leave.”
Mike’s eyes flashed gold for a moment as he slowly pushed his boxer briefs down over his hips, letting them drop to the floor before he casually stepped into the shower, giving Lark an epic view of his spectacular butt through the clear glass.
As he started running soapy hands over his body, Lark decided Mike was a specimen of male perfection. He was broad in the shoulders and chest, and slim in the waist, with long and powerful legs. Watching the suds and water sluice over all those muscles truly was an awe-inspiring experience.
Mike glanced over his shoulder at her. “I could use some help scrubbing my back. I can’t seem to reach.”
While Lark didn’t believe that for a minute, she also didn’t hesitate.
Moving closer, she took the bottle of shower gel and squeezed some into her hand.
Then she began to wash Mike’s back, taking special care as she came to each of the recently healed shrapnel wounds.
Dried blood and dirt washed away to disappear down the drain, leaving beautiful, clean skin behind.
Even though he was wet from the shower, she couldn’t miss the heat pouring off him. A subtle peek around front told her that he was definitely enjoying her touch. It was only the fact that their son was waiting downstairs in a scared tizzy right now that kept her from climbing in with him.
Sighing, Lark took a step back and went over to stand by the door, leaning against the jamb as Mike rinsed the last of the soap off him.
When he was done, he grabbed the towel from the hook and dried off, then stepped out of the shower and walked over to her.
The urge to close that final distance and to press her body up against his was nearly impossible to resist.
But Mike moved before she could, bending his head to kiss her. Lark rested her hands against his chest, returning the kiss with all the feeling in her soul. She was a second away from letting her hands wander south when he broke the kiss to gaze down at her.
“Thank you for taking care of me,” he murmured, resting his forehead against hers.
“With the first-aid. And the shower. And while I’d like nothing better than for us to keep doing what we’re doing, I don’t think that’s a good idea.
Not with Kal waiting for us downstairs. Once we get started, I don’t think either of us would appreciate the interruption. ”
“Agreed,” she said with another sigh. “You’d better get dressed before Kal comes running in here wanting to know if we’re done. But after our son goes to bed tonight, we’re definitely picking up where we left off.”
Mike flashed her a grin, then leaned forward and kissed her again before heading for the bedroom. Lark followed, shamelessly watching as he got dressed. It was a shame to see that beautiful body hidden away, even if he did look ah-mazing in jeans and a T-shirt.
They’d barely made it out of the bedroom and down the hall before Kal was running up the stairs, shouting with barely contained excitement at the sight of them.