Next, he inspected the scrapes on his hands and chest, and they too felt immeasurably better; they looked better too. The salve she used, she had called it White Oak, had the healing process already begun. This Clara was quite the accomplished practitioner in herbal remedies. He would have never expected it, but the proof was in right in front of him. The scratches on his chest were pink and closed, and his hands were not far behind.
Blaze stretched a few more times and then got up. He needed to relieve himself, and searched around for a bathroom. He saw no door other than the front door and hoped beyond measure that perhaps there was one behind the absent staircase to the loft. He'd noticed Bella climbing the ladder where a staircase should have stood. It was probably one of the repairs she had yet to accomplish.
He gingerly took his first step. He tested his weight, and other than the first few steps felt minimal pain. He'd need to baby it one more day, and then he should be fine.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he rounded the corner and saw a door. The place did have a rest room. He opened the old wooden door in need of paint and faced a very small bathroom. It had a tub that had seen better days, a shower head, a small sink and toilet. He turned on the tap, but nothing came out. Shoot, no running water in here. Then he remembered Bella saying she didn’t trust the plumbing in the bathroom because of all the rot. She had a pump in the kitchen that was connected to her well outside. He noticed a pitcher sitting beside the sink, and a gallon water container sitting along the back of the tank. He presumably could use the facilities, he just needed to fill the tank after each use. So he did that.
Seeing a small pile of washcloths on the counter, he took one and dipped it into the basin, and managed to freshen up as best he could, but he desperately wanted a shower and left the bathroom regretting he couldn't have one. His tumble down the embankment had left him feeling pretty grimy. But, at least in his duffle bag in the trunk of the inoperable rental, he'd be able to get fresh cloths. His shirt had been torn to shreds, and his light weight blazer had seen better days. His cargo pants which he had slept in were filthy. He needed to make a trip out to the car and get a change of clothes.
Finishing up with the wash cloth, he was determined to get his clothes. He set out for the front door when he heard a blood curdling scream that immediately set his nerves on edge, and then a loud thud beside the cabin made him jump. Despite his injured ankle, he allowed instinct to kick in and headed straight for the noise.
He flew out of the cabin and what he found when he rounded the corner was Bella waist deep in weeds and an upended twelve foot ladder. He first looked to her and then the house. He saw a few strokes of paint along the upper part of the house under the soffit and quickly put two and two together. She had cleared the weeds, and then had decided to start painting, tackling the higher parts of the house first.
Apparently in her gusto to get started on the painting she had placed the ladder on uneven ground without bracing it on a flat enough surface, and had come tumbling down when she reached.
"Are you okay?" he asked as she attempted to claw her way out of the weeds. Already up and moving, with weeds and dirt in her hair, she seemed okay, but he asked to be sure.
"Yeah, but I feel like an idiot. I fell off the ladder. Sorry, I woke you," she sighed as she grabbed his proffered hand to pull her out of the three foot tall grass. She stumbled that last foot, as her ankle get stuck in a rabbit hole, and despite his best efforts to prevent it she went down.
"Ow, oh, " she shouted clutching her injured ankle.
"Oh no, are you okay?” he asked for the second time in less than ten seconds stooping down beside her.
"I don’t think so," she answered. She was rocking gently and still clutching her ankle.
"Do you think you can get up?" he asked, voice full of genuine concern.
“I don’t know. It really hurts.”
Blaze took her arm and put it around one of his shirtless shoulders. He felt the heat between them and tried to ignore it. His reaction to her today was just as fierce as it had been the night before. It bothered him, but he needed to focus on her now.
He helped Bella up to her feet and carefully pulled her away from the tall grass. When her body came even more into contact with him he felt his cock stir in his pants. It seemed his body liked what it was feeling with her pressed up against him and he couldn't help his reaction to her. Even filthy dirty and with weeds in her hair, there was something about Bella he just couldn't resist.
"Ouch, oh! It really hurts," she muttered taking her first step right into his waiting arms. "God, you would've thought it would have been the fall from the ladder that did me in, not trying to walk three steps out of the weeds." She tried to joke, but he could tell she was in serious pain. Her words were uttered through clenched teeth.
“Let’s get you inside and that boot off and see what we are dealing with,” he suggested. With each footstep Blaze could see she was really in pain and not just because the grip she had around his back was getting tighter. Each step forward, he noticed her face became tauter. "Do you think it's just a sprain? You don't think you broke it do you?"
"I don't think so." Her voice came out scratchy.
Bella tried to put more weight on her left ankle but it was just too much. A sharp pain emanated from her ankle all the way up her shin. God, it hurt like a son of a gun. So much for walking into town later to get Blaze help. Now they were both injured.
Blaze couldn't stand to see that pinched expression on her face any longer. He made a decision and he acted on it. In one fell swoop, he swung her up into his arms and began to walk her the last few steps to the house and carried her up the few stairs to her porch taking two steps at a time.
"You shouldn't be carrying me like this," Bella complained. "You'll make your ankle worse."
“My ankle feels better. Don't worry about it. Let's just get you inside and see what you've done to yours." The porch which extended across the whole front of her cabin was a good size and he needed to cross it in order to get her inside. Even though she was slight, his ankle did feel the extra weight. This definitely wasn't babying it like he'd planned.
He reached with one hand for the screen door, pulled it open, and then stepped inside. Blaze immediately made his way to the kitchen table, and eased her down onto one of the kitchen chairs. Bending on one knee before her, he quickly lifted up the leg of her pants. He was going to examine her ankle. Just as he was about to lower her sock she must've had the same idea. Bang! Their heads clanged together. He saw stars.
"Oh my God!" Blaze cursed. He looked up just in time to see Bella rubbing her forehead.
"What a pair we are," Bella winced. "Holy heck, I seriously think we should just stay away from each other," she teased.
Blaze smiled at her joke. And it was true. Ever since they'd met, one or the other of them was getting hurt. He held up one finger. "Let me look at your ankle, Izzy. You stay put."
He waited for her to nod before he proceeded. As soon as he lowered the sock he could see the swelling had already begun, and just shook his head. "I think you're right, Izzy. We are quite a pair." He untied the laces of her boot and removed it carefully. Then he took her sock off completely. She had cute feet he noticed, but shook his head and reminded himself to focus once more. He began to feel around her ankle. Like his own ankle, nothing seemed broken. She had no ice to put on it as she didn't have a refrigerator, so the only thing left for her to do was to elevate it and possibly use some of the salve she had which he suggested.
She agreed. “I’d like to wash up first though,” she suggested. “No sense putting it on right now. I’d also like to change out of these clothes.”
He figured she wanted to go into the restroom and clean up like he had this morning. "Want me to help you into the bathroom?" he asked.
"No. I'd actually like to take a real bath." Blaze was confused. He'd seen the condition of her rotting tub. She must have realized what he was thinking because her next words cl
arified the situation. "I have one of those old-fashioned metal tubs over there in the corner behind those curtains."
Blaze looked in the direction she was pointing. He'd seen the curtains before but hadn't realized there was something like a tub behind it. He’d assumed it was storage. "There is a bathtub behind there?" he asked sounding doubtful.
"Yes. Actually it was upstairs. I lowered it down here with a rope."
"Resourceful," he quipped, imagining Bella accomplishing that feat. She was quite a remarkable and efficient woman. The longer he spent with her the more he wanted to get to know her, and that bothered him too. Another thing to add to his list of disturbing things when he was around Bella.
"A cool bath might help reduce the swelling," she added, looking at him sheepishly. "But . . . I’m going to need some help." Her lowered eyelashes told him she was embarrassed to ask. And that made him want to help her even more.
"What can I do?" came his quick reply.
"Maybe six or seven buckets of water from the well," she asked, wincing. "I've got a couple gallons here so maybe . . . two or three trips."
"Okay," he shrugged and began to turn.
"Wait," her voice stopped him.
"Yes," he turned just as he reached the screen door.
"Can you help me over to the tub before you go out?" She hated to ask for his help, but knowing she’d really screwed up her ankle even the short trip was going to be excruciating.
Blaze just nodded and came to her assistance. Instead of giving her his arm like she thought, he once again scooped her up into his arms and carried her the twenty-five feet across the room.
He didn't know why he picked her up again; told himself it was because she was in pain, but knew he just wanted to feel what it was like to hold her again. Again there was the heat. He inhaled her scent as he went and his body reacted. This time when he set her down on to her feet, he couldn't help but let her slide down the entire length of him.
Bella’s body reacted to the contact. Having him carry her gave her jitters, but this had been totally hot. Her nipples hardened under her shirt, and she was glad it was one of her baggier ones. She’d forgotten her injured ankle for a moment until he released her completely. She knew she was powerfully attracted to this man and that just wasn't good. She was in no frame of mind, and in no place to get involved with anyone just yet . . . if ever, she thought despondently.
"Here you go," his voice was like a guttural whisper. It was her first sign this man was as attracted to her as she was to him. True, he had said she was beautiful yesterday, but the man had just been clobbered over the head with the hood of a car. His words weren't supposed to make sense. Today was different.
Bella blushed. "No, I think I can manage here on my own. If you could just bring the buckets and then set them here on the other side of the curtain that would be great." She kept her eyes averted. She didn’t want to reveal to Blaze just how powerful her reaction to him had been.
"Just call if you need me, Izzy." Blaze smiled and turned once more. He fled like the devil was chasing him. He needed to get away from her. He had this overwhelming desire to crush her to him and take what he wanted since he first laid eyes on her. That would not be good—not good at all.
***
As soon as the door closed behind Blaze, Bella stripped quickly and gingerly stepped into the tub bearing her weight on her good ankle. The cool bath would do wonders for her injured ankle and her sagging spirits. When Blaze had laughed and called her Izzy she’d wished he’d said her own name. But she couldn't use her own name again, ever. Even though Izzy was a derivative of her name, Isabella, it just didn't feel the same. She’d been called Bella since she was a little girl. Having these thoughts made her feel guilty too. She had nothing to offer a man, especially a man like Blaze. A life on the run and in hiding wouldn't be fair to anyone.
Bella reached behind her and grabbed a towel from the shelf. When Blaze returned, she didn't want there to be any accidents. They’d had enough of them already. She shook out the beige towel she purchased at the thrift store and covered herself with it. Although the curtain hid her well, with her luck you just never knew.
Blaze entered at that moment carrying two buckets of water. “Here you go," he grunted setting them down just outside the curtain. The thought of Bella lying there naked was almost too much to take.
“Thank you,” she called from behind the curtain and then added before he could leave, “Can you bring me the two gallons from the counter?"
Blaze glanced at the sink and spotted them, but did not fail to notice Bella’s voice sounded overly bright.
"Sure," he replied. Anything to get his mind off of a naked Bella. He grabbed the two gallon containers holding her drinking water and brought those to the curtain as well. One of the buckets he had brought in had already disappeared from his view. He heard her pouring the water into the tub and couldn’t help but imagine her pouring it over her naked body. He wondered what her breasts looked like. She was wearing her clothes baggy, but he had felt her body pressed up against him and he somehow knew they would be perfect. She would be just the right size. More than a handful was too much, he thought lustily. Less than that was not enough.
He groaned his frustration at the direction his thoughts had taken. The sound seemed amplified in the room.
"You alright?" she asked from behind the curtains.
He felt like the cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz when he lied. "No just my ankle. I'm waiting for you to empty the other bucket and then I'll go fill them up." The 25 x 40' cabin was just too small for the both of them. He needed air. He needed release.
"Just a second then," she croaked. Bella knew it wasn't his ankle. The sexual tension in the air surrounded them. She quickly reached under the curtain for the other bucket and when she found the handle, lifted it up over the side of the tub. The curtain caught on her ring. The one her mother gave her and she never took off. It was too late to stop the next series of blunders about to occur. She'd already started pouring the water into the tub. And in her haste to dump the water, her towel slipped exposing her breasts to Blaze’s view. The man turned as quickly as he could, but not before she saw his eyes. This man was hungry. And surprisingly that look didn't scare her. She felt the connection between them too.
"0h, oh," she clamored as she quickly dropped the bucket and put the curtains back into its rightful place.
"I'm sorry," Blaze groaned even though this time it wasn't his fault. But what else was he supposed to say. He'd just been imagining her breasts, and lo and behold like manna from heaven there they were. And, dammit all to hell if he hadn’t been right. They were perfect. He wanted to suck them. His cock was solid.
"Not your fault. I'm sorry. Can you just get me two more buckets and I'll make do with that."
Blaze could tell from the sound of her strangled voice she was mortified. Without saying a word he just slipped back out. He went the thirty yards to the well breathing heavily and not from physical exertion. He was gulping air to try to calm down his libido. Focusing on his task, he quickly pulled up two large pails filling each of the two gallon buckets to the brim. His body was on fire and if anyone needed a cool bath, it was him—desperately. That's when the idea came to him. He'd seen it in plenty of western movies, but usually the female bathed after the man. Thinking it over, he was fine with getting into the tub after Bella. He’d give her these buckets but he’d go back for more for himself while she finished up inside. The morning temperature was climbing. He needed to wash and he needed to cool down. Way down.
"Hey Izzy!" he called as he approached the screen door giving her plenty of warning he was approaching. "I'm coming in and I have a favor to ask. If you don't mind, I'd like to get in that bath after you. I feel absolutely disgusting after my accident yesterday and everything. I'd like to go get some more buckets of water while you're finishing up in here and then if you don't mind. . ." He let the words trail off not knowing how to finish.
"Sure . . .
no problem. It's not very big though," she warned.
"Don't worry. I'll make do," he replied, trying to forget the earlier revelations. His mind couldn't help going there again, not with her so close, so naked, and his imagination still running rampant. He felt the pressure in his cock, and hastily set the buckets down once more and this time turned away from the curtains. He'd have a full-blown hard on and shoot his load if they had another one of those accidents.
"All done," she told him after dumping the second bucket of water into the tub.
This time Blaze didn't respond, he just grunted. She heard the two pails being lifted and then shortly thereafter the slamming of the screen door.
Once again Blaze filled the buckets to their capacity. He wanted the freshwater to add to her bathwater. He should've also grabbed the containers she had emptied into the tub but he'd forgotten in his haste to get away. He’d fill them for her later after he bathed, got the grime off of him, and dropped the temperature of his aching organ. He willed his offensive beast to lay low, but his cock was paying his mind no heed. There was only one way to alleviate the situation, but there was no way he was going to take care of himself with Bella so close by. Time. That's all there was to it, he said to himself, as he took several more calming breaths before looking back towards the cabin.
He stooped and lifted his heavy load. His mind was in the gutter, and he couldn't help thinking of another heavy load, one he wanted to discharge. Gah, he thought, that was something Gio would've said. His older brother was full of those wonderful one liners. He could take any innocent thought or comment and turn it into a sexual innuendo. And he was proud of that talent too.
As Blaze mounted the steps he called into the cabin to let her know he was approaching once more. “I’ll stay out here until you finish,” he called.
"Just give me five more minutes," she called out.
Beautiful Chase Page 8
