She went to the bedroom and lay across the bed, flicking off her shoes and pulling a pillow down into her arms to hug. This had all been too much for her to take in, and she found herself shaking, then crying. She buried her face in the pillow to keep Luka from hearing her break down.
Exhaustion won out over sadness and self-pity, and she fell asleep, but it was a restless sleep. She awakened to the sound of wood being chopped, and wanted to sleep more, but the irregular thwack of the ax kept her awake.
She was just getting up to go to the bathroom when Luka let out a howl of pain. She ran to the front door, but not seeing him, she followed the sound of curses to the side of the cabin.
Blood was pouring from Luka's shin faster than the curses were from his mouth, but only just barely. Erin ran to him, practically flipping him onto his back in her rush to get his leg above the level of his heart. She peeled off her sweatshirt, tying it around the gash, applying pressure as she held it high in the air. She didn't even notice the cold on her mostly exposed upper body.
"Use your magic," Luka gasped.
Without thought, Erin poured her will into Luka's leg, demanding it to stop bleeding. She felt a warmth in her hands, and as the power built, she saw the wound in her mind's eye. She mentally knit the edges of the sliced flesh together.
Luka had stopped cursing, and when Erin opened her eyes to look at him, he was smiling at her and breathtakingly gorgeous.
"You did it," he congratulated, pointing to his leg which she was still holding above his head. She felt that familiar warmth and hum under her hands as she swept her eyes up his muscular thigh to the calf she held bound.
She tentatively lifted her hand from his leg, pulling the sweatshirt back to reveal an angry red welt surrounded by blood. She pulled back the pant leg and wiped off the accumulated blood to assure herself there was no open wound. She looked back at Luka, eyes questioning.
"You really did it, Erin," he laughed, "It just took the right motivation."
She looked at his leg again, then lowered it to the ground and stepped away from it like it might strike her. Then she looked into Luka's shining eyes.
"Did you do that on purpose?" she asked, horrified.
"I...I was going to tell you how I was bracing my leg on the stump to pull the ax out of a piece of wood, and it slipped and slammed into my leg, but since you mention it, yeah, I did it on purpose because I thought healing might be your strong suite." He continued to grin at her as his eyes scanned her body. She glanced down, remembering she was standing there in her bra. At least it was one of her better ones.
She wadded up the sweatshirt and threw it in his face, stamping back to the porch. He jumped up, calling to her to wait. When she reached the porch, she turned on him, fury on her face.
"I can't believe you did something that asinine! What if I couldn't heal it, what if you hit bone! You are the biggest jerk I've ever met, and I've met a lot of jerks!"
"Hey, that's not fair! I knew what I was doing, and I was doing it for you! How is that being a jerk?"
Rather than answer, she turned on her heal and stomped into the cabin, slamming the door behind her. Luka followed, slamming the door open before coming through it and straight for Erin. Grabbing her arm, he swung her around so they stood chest to chest. His eyes swirled dark gray, like tornado clouds. Erin felt her nipples straining against her bra as they brushed his chest.
"Why are you angry at me? I suffered the pain to help you! You should be thanking me, kissing and hugging me for the sacrifice I was willing to make for you!"
"Is that what you expected? You thought I'd be so grateful for your stupidity that I'd throw myself at you? You really are dim! That was an idiotic stunt!"
He stood over her, staring into her eyes with an intensity that started to scare her a little, but she was so angry she was already shaking, so her fear was disguised. She wouldn't let herself be the one to break eye-contact, so she narrowed her eyes and stared back.
Without warning, the heat in his eyes changed and his mouthed dropped to cover hers. Erin was so surprised she gasped, and his tongue slid into her mouth, caressing her tongue. She reacted instantly, answering his tongue's question.
He pressed her back until she came up against the wall. His hands wrapped around her, one tangling in her hair as the other dropped to her ass, pressing her into the proof of his arousal.
Something dropped into place in her mind and she pushed against his firm chest. He didn't move, but the action seemed to force its way into his mind enough that he pulled back to look into her face.
Fury met his heated gaze, and just as quickly he dropped his arms and his gaze. He stepped back and turned away, heading to the refrigerator where he stared unseeingly into its interior.
Erin dropped onto the couch and rested her head back. She didn't know what to do. Having encouraged the kiss made her just as guilty here as he was. Maybe if she pretended it hadn't happened, so would he.
Without her sweatshirt and with her anger abating, she was getting cold. She lifted her hand and the afghan draped over the chair flew into her fist.
"You're a quick study, I'll say that much," Luka commented from the kitchen, leaning against the counter and sipping a coke.
"Shut up! I don't want to talk to you right now."
He grunted and headed back outside. Erin went back to the bedroom and continued into the bathroom where she decided a hot bath was just what she needed. She started the water running while she got a few things from her bag. Unfortunately, she had packed for three nights at the beach, and now she was going to spend an undisclosed amount of time in the foothills of the Smokies. Her clothing was not going to work well. Feeling defiant, she went to the chest of drawers and started rooting through it. In the third drawer she found some sweatshirts and pulled out a soft gray one. She headed back into the bathroom and stripped, slipping into the warm water.
The water had cooled and she had added more hot twice, and still she didn't want to get out. She had tried masturbating, but it didn't calm her or satisfy the need she felt deep in her gut.
At some point, Luka knocked at the door softly, but she ignored him.
