Part 12 (2/2)

”Lester tried to-” He stopped, glared at her.

”Did tonight have something to do with me?”

”Not everything I do these days has to do with you.”

His voice was hard, filled with hostility, hostility toward her. Why? ”I'm sorry,” Kristen said softly. ”I didn't mean-”

”I had a life before you showed up in Poke Alley four days ago and pulled that gun on me. There's more to me than you think. Don't be so naive. If I tell you I like hitting people, believe it. And get some backbone. n.o.body likes a mouse.”

Kristen tried to keep her chin from quivering. She didn't know why Blu was saying such hurtful things, but she had no desire to ask. He was in pain, maybe...

”Are you going to toss a bandage on this or watch me bleed all over the bed?”

Kristen turned to the first-aid kit, opened it, and promptly froze; every bandage size and shape ever invented was inside. Why would he have such an extensive first-aid kit? He just said he liked fighting. Was he telling the truth?

When she didn't move, he glanced at her, then at the first-aid kit. ”Haven't you seen bandages before?”

He flipped through the sizes, pulled out one that would service the wound on his arm and tore it open. Sick of his rude and uncalled-for hostility, Kristen s.n.a.t.c.hed the bandage from him and peeled back the protective plastic. As he stuck out his arm, she slapped it on with enough force to make him holler.

”Ouch! h.e.l.l, what are you trying to do?”

”I'm practicing getting some backbone,” she snapped. ”And for an encore I'm out of here.”

She spun around to leave, but he reached out and s.n.a.t.c.hed her back. ”You can't leave! Don't be a little

idiot. You need me to-”

Kristen jerked away from him. ”Let's get something straight. I don't need you for anything. I managed to

get away from Salva on my own, and I certainly don'tneed another man in my life telling me I'm naive, orhow weak I am. When I leave here, I'll-” He was immediately in her face. ”You're not leaving, dammit! Not until I say it's safe.” Eyes narrowed, Kristen dodged the bed to stay on her feet as he stalked her. ”Why do you care? You have another life, remember?”

He didn't say anything to that, just stopped and stepped aside. ”Okay, then go, dammit!”

Chin raised, Kristen hesitated only a second before she started for the door. Two steps is as far as she

got before he reached out and lifted her off her feet and dropped her onto the bed.

”G.o.d, you're naive. Did you really think I would let you walk out of here? You're a sitting duck for this

creep.”

”A naive duck with no backbone,” Kristen snarled.

Suddenly he was smiling. It was a real smile that seemed to surprise him as much as it did Kristen. Her

pride still stinging, she sniffed. ”So you really do have teeth. I was beginningtowonder.”

Amus.e.m.e.nt filled his eyes. ”She's got fangs and claws. Now if I can just teach her how to use them.”

Kristen stared up at him, angry, yet unable to stop admiring his smile. Finally she said, ”You have

another cut on your arm. It needs a bandage, too.”

”Are youoffering?”

Yes, she was, but she really didn't know why; after all, he had been downright nasty. She stood and

shoved him down where she'd been sitting. Once again she glanced at his arm. The cut was on the same arm she'd already bandaged, only not as deep and higher up, slashed lengthwise on his thick, bulging bicep.

Kristen rummaged through the various bandage sizes until she found the one that would fit the best. When she turned, she caught Blu rubbing his thigh. His eyes were closed, and as he worked the muscle, his face visibly expressed his pain. This time when she applied the bandage, she gently laid the strip over the cut. ”I'm sorry for being so rough before.”

”I goaded you.”

”Yes, you did.”

He opened his eyes. ”Then it's my turn to say I'm sorry.”

He closed his eyes again, then leaned back and flattened out on the bed, again rubbing his thigh.

”What can I do?” Kristen eased onto the bed. ”Your leg... You never said what happened.”

”No, I didn't.”

”And?”

”It's an old wound.”

”It can't be too old if it pains you so much.”

”Some wounds never heal,” he answered, his eyes still closed.

And some just need the right touch, Kristen thought, reminded of how easy it had been for Blu to wipe

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