“Well, look at it this way. At least no one will still think that you’re a virgin.”
Colette gulped as she took in the bleeding mess that she was supposed to clean up. The sight of all that blood and ruined skin turned her stomach. Bile splashed up into her throat and a shiver chased its way up her spine.
“Stop it,” she hissed. “Jesus, Blaze, there are rocks in here. I don’t know what you want me to do with this. You need to go to the hospital.”
“Nah. Just wrap it up and I’ll find a pharmacy with some real bandages and get us a hotel room.”
“You’re impossible!” Colette ground out. “Why the hell would a hotel room help?”
Blaze turned, eyes twinkling even though his face was a mask of seriousness. “Because then I could have a shower and wash it out properly. Why? What were you thinking? If you’re open to more, I can always make that work.”
“You’re a dick.” Colette pressed the soaked cotton ball to Blaze’s mushy skin.
He let out a hiss of breath and his arm jerked beneath her fingertips. She thought it would be satisfying, teaching him a lesson, but it wasn’t at all. Hearing his low grunt of pain only twisted up her stomach into a mass of knots.
“I have a nice dick,” Blaze rasped, chest heaving. “If that’s what you meant?”
“I wouldn’t know. I don’t want to know. Now hold still. Let me clean you up a little.”
“Just bandage it. Unless you get some sick satisfaction out of torturing me. It’s not every day you meet a virgin who is also a masochist, but I’ll take it.”
“Ugh.” It wasn’t a very dignified response, but she couldn’t come up with much better.
“Fine. Have it your way. I’ll throw the bandages on so you don’t bleed all over the rental and we’ll find you someplace to shower. I’ll wait in the car.”
“No. You can’t do that. It’s hot as hell out.”
“Last time I checked, it had AC. Or drop me off at the mall and come back for me later. I might as well salvage something out of the day.”
“The mall?” Blaze stared at her like she was a fourteen-year-old girl demanding that her dad drive her and all her friends so she could blow her allowance.
“Okay, what I really meant was some cool vintage or antique store, but I’d settle for anything, just as long as it’s away from you.”
Blaze let out a pained grunt as she grabbed the roll of bandages and began to wrap them tightly around his arm. He was right. The iodine wasn’t going to do anything other than sting. He needed to wash the grime out of there. She didn’t envy him the job at all. He might be a douchebag who thought about sex constantly, was probably an egomaniac too, but she wasn’t the kind of person who wished pain on other people.
Even those she couldn’t stand at the best of times.
Honestly, she must have been out of her mind to have blurted out that she wanted him to take her v-card. Just because he had a reputation for being good in bed didn’t mean she’d just be able to jump in there with him, no matter how good looking he was. Or how much she might want to. Because yeah, he might be some kind of god when it came to sex, but she wanted it to at least mean something. Or at least, less than nothing. It was a terrible idea as an abstract notion, but now that she’d spent a little bit of time with Blaze, it was even worse.
“You know, that hurts” he muttered as she wrapped the gauze around his other arm. “You’re a little rough, nurse. Are you frustrated with something? Anything I can do to ease that for you?”
“No. Not ever. Especially not now. You’re in no shape to even think about anything like that, though it seems like you have a one-track mind.”
“Don’t doubt my prowess. I’ve been through a hell of a lot worse than this.”
“When?” She tied off the bandage and stalked around so she could face Blaze.
He blinked at her then dropped his eyes to his hands. Her jaw nearly hit the floor. It was the first time she’d seen him fazed. He clearly hadn’t wanted to share that bit of information with her. She could have let it go, but now that she’d seen a crack in Blaze’s perfect armor, she couldn’t help herself.
“Blaze?”
“Nothing.” His head whipped up and he was grinning at her, but it seemed forced. She didn’t know him well enough to say for sure, though. “I was snowboarding when I was fifteen. Biffed right into a tree at full speed. I broke my arm. That hurt much worse. And it was a pain in the ass. This- this is nothing.”