Private Property: a Contemporary Romance Novella Read Free

shoulder with her good hand and ma ssaging it .  The relief was instantaneous and she looked up to thank the ingenious man who’d fixed it.  He was looking at her with a stunned expression, one thick slash of an eyebrow arched in question.
    “ Fudgesticks and popcorn?”  He repeated.
    Tabitha felt the flush steal over her cheeks and got hit with embarrassed giggles.  “It’s something my grandmother used to say.”
    “Interesting.”  He nodded curtly and held out two white pills for her to take.  “Place these under your tongue, they will dissolve.”
    “What are they?”
    “ Xanax , 2.5 milligrams , to calm your nerves.”
    Tabitha obeyed as Jared unwrapped and examined the cut on her hand.  “I’ll need to use a local to deaden the area, but the cut doesn’t look big enough to warrant more than a few stitches.”
    Tabitha’s heart plunged and she squeezed her eyes shut.  She heard him snap the gloves into place over his hands.
    “This will sting, but only until it becomes numb.”
    The needle pricks were multiple, quick and irritating but in no time the area was completely dead to sensat ion. Tabitha risked a look ( one was enough ) and she quickly shut her eyes again at the sight of the small hooked needle being pulled through her skin.  She felt the tugging as he stitched up her hand.
    “Okay.  Well, that doesn’t look like it was inflicted by Sam and I removed quite a lot of debris.  I suppose you fell rather hard at some point.”  Tabitha nodded mutely to confirm his assumption.
    Next, he moved on to the tender area at the back of her arm repeating the process of deadening, cleansing, and sewing up the skin.  Here, Jared pointed out that the area was torn and ragged where she had tried to pull herself free of Sam’s locked jaw.  He worked more slowly, taking care to mend the area as best he could.
    The tugging on Tabitha’s arm stopped and she heard a sigh escape him.  She peeked out and found him staring at her.
    “Now, I need to get you turned over.  I really should move you to a table or some place higher and steadier , but since the couch is already ruined and you’re comfortable – you’ll stay.”
    The leg turned out to be a more harrowing deal.  Just turning over expended Tabitha’s remaining energy .  The stitching process was more intricate because of the amount of damage the dog had inflicted and the process seemed to take forever.  But she had relaxed immensely since ingesting the pills and now she was beginning to feel the heavy amount of physical drain her ordeal had cost her.
    Jared removed the gloves and repositioned the blanket and quilt to fully cover her.
    He patted her back.  “Get some rest; I need to attend to my next patient.”  She heard him gather the box and exit the room.  He flipped the switch on the wall, which except for the dim light coming from the doorway, sent her into darkness.  Something about the lack of light made her aware that the storm was still raging outside.  The electrical flashes showed the trees bent with the howling winds.  The rumblings of thunder still sounded with anger, but being sheltered calmed Tabitha’s fear.
    A sharp yelp brought her out of her mental fog momentarily; she was lulled back into her stupor by the sound of a deep, calming voice murmuring in the distance.  It was almost a purr.
    “Tabitha.”  The sound of her name jolted her awake.  She snapped her head up, automatically pulling the back of her hand across her mouth in a very unfeminine gesture.  She tried to push off her stomach into a sitting position, but that hurt so she flopped back down, smushing one side of her face into the couch in order to look at him.  Unfortunately, that only gave her a view ranging from his knees to his stomach – and although she wasn’t complaining, it didn’t help her discern why he’d woken her.
    “Help me up, please.”  She said, trying not to talk to his crotch.
    “What?  You’re mumbling.”