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him before. He rarely spent more than a few minutes in the company of others, and her close proximity was unsettling. She made him feel vulnerable in a way he couldn’t understand.
Rachael looked with some surprise at her swollen wrist. The pain radiating up from her leg consumed her to the point she hadn’t noticed her wrist. “I guess it is. Who are
you?”
She watched him take his time before answering, pulling the leech from his stomach with the ease of practice and disposing of it. His strange eyes immediately focused fully on her. “Rio Santana.” He obviously was expecting a reaction to his name.
Rachael blinked at him. The intensity of his gaze made her heart pound. She’d never heard his name before, she was certain of it, yet something about him seemed familiar to her. She shifted position and pain knifed through her.
Impatience flickered across his face. “Stop moving around. You’ll start bleeding again, and I haven’t even cleaned up the first mess.”
“You spend a lot of time working on your manners, don’t you?” she observed.
“You tried to bash in my head, lady. I don’t think I need you to lecture me on manners.” He stalked across the room to draw the knife from the sheath.
Her heart jumped, then settled into a steady pounding. Everything about the way he moved reminded her of an animal. The flames from the fireplace made the blade of the knife glow an eerie red-orange as he held it up.
“Stop looking at me like I have two heads,” he snapped, sounding more impatient than ever.
“I’m looking at you like you’re waving a big knife around,” she said. Her leg was throbbing with pain, forcing her to grit her teeth and try to relax. How was she supposed to keep from moving around when it felt as if someone was using a dull saw on her flesh? “And I didn’t exactly try to bash your head in. It wasn’t personal.”
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“The knife is to remove the leech from my back. I can’t reach it any other way,” he explained, although why he felt compelled to explain what should have been perfectly obvious, he didn’t know. “And I always take it personally when someone tries to remove my head from my shoulders.”
She made a face. A silly, feminine expression of exasperation. And she did it with little white lines of pain etched around her mouth. It fascinated him, that wholly feminine expression. His stomach did a weird flip.
“You don’t hear me complaining that your little pet chewed off my leg. Men are such babies. It isn’t even that big of a gash.”
He had the urge to laugh. It came out of nowhere, blind-siding him, bursting over him unexpectedly. He didn’t laugh, of course; he frowned at her instead. “You put a hole in my head.”
“You’re going to put a hole in your back with that knife. Stop being macho he-man and let me take that horrible thing off of you.”
His eyebrow shot up. “You want me to put a knife in your hands, lady?”
“Stop calling me lady, it’s becoming annoying.” Pain was beating at her so strongly now that she wanted to throw up again. It was definitely making it hard to think. She kept fear at bay with her usual chatter, but she wouldn’t be able to keep it up for much longer. And she dared not think what might happen then.
“I don’t exactly know your name. Where I come from, lady is a compliment.”
“Not in that tone of voice,” she objected. “Rachael Los…” she trailed off, casting around for a name, any name. She couldn’t think clearly; she’d already forgotten her new name, but it was imperative she hide her identity. Pain throbbed in her head, beat at her body. “Smith.”
If it were possible, his eyebrow went higher. “Rachael Los Smith?” His mouth softened for the briefest of moments,
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a rusty attempt at a smile. Or a smirk. She couldn’t tell. Her vision was beginning to blur.
Rio moved closer to her, his mouth once more twisting into a frown. “You’re sweating.” His palm settled on her forehead. “Do not get an infection. We’re stuck here without help for the duration of the storm.”