Broken Justice (Justice Brothers) by Suzanne Halliday Page A

behold. His body was so hard and uncompromising that saying he had abs of steel seemed like an understatement. As she swiped the cool wet cloth across his torso and down his massive, muscled arms, she studied the dark tribal looking tattoo that wrapped around one bicep. Even the ink marking him seemed dark and dangerous.
    She kept up the slow languid strokes of the cooling cloth across his fevered skin, telling herself all the while that she was simply doing what anyone in her position would. Liar , her conscience screamed as she tried desperately not to enjoy the way his skin felt under her fingers. Laying the palm of her hand against his temple once more to gauge his temperature, she couldn’t help but brush the long hair back from his forehead while enjoying the softness she discovered when her fingers swept through his black mane.
    He moaned at her touch, turning his face toward her hand as if seeking comfort. She highly doubted that was something he would do if not for the fever. He very much struck her as a man who didn’t look outside himself for anything. Seems familiar, she snorted wryly to no one but herself.
    Lacey glanced at the clock and then back at a severely weakened Cameron, whose temperature was showing no signs of abating. Sitting by his side on the double bed, she considered her options, trying to decide what she should do next. She spied the first aid kit he’d brought out earlier.
    “Oh, thank God,” she muttered upon finding a package of liquid fever reducer in handy single dose packets. She wondered why he travelled with a complete first aid kit that was something of a mini-triage set-up. Deciding it was none of her business, she set about ripping the top off of one of the packets and carefully dribbling the gooey liquid into his mouth. She followed that with a slow, thin stream of cold water to flush the fever reducer down his throat. Relieved to have accomplished this task so easily, Lacey crossed her fingers and prayed that the medication worked quickly.
    The next hour passed with his body still shivering even though he was under several blankets. In his delirium Cameron was mumbling and thrashing about the bed, obviously running from whatever demons his fever produced.
    “Drae, Drae,” he muttered in an anguished groan. “Find Alex. Oh my God! Oh my God! Everyone is dead,” he cried out as his body shook and shuddered. “No, nooooo!” he choked out as the fevered nightmare took over. Lacey looked around the room, wondering what she could do. He couldn’t continue on like this without possibly hurting himself and as big as he was she seriously doubted her ability to restrain him should he get out of control.
    “Oh, pooh,” she muttered tersely as she came to a hasty decision. Quickly peeling off her jeans and Cameron’s old sweatshirt, she slipped under the covers and pulled his sweat covered, cold, quaking body close to hers, wrapping him in her arms as she willed her own body heat to ease his suffering. He seemed to relax almost immediately while Lacey, in nothing but an old stretchy camisole and plain cotton undies, wrapped herself around him as best she could.
    She whispered to him quietly and calmly in his fevered restlessness so he would know she was there and trying to do all she could to help him. Cooing to him as a mother would to a sick child, she spoke in hushed tones trying to ease his pain. “It’s alright Cameron. I’ve got you. Relax. Relax.” Cuddling his body close while stroking fingers gently across his fevered brow, she noticed that he responded to the sound of her voice, going still and turning toward her.
    It wasn’t all that unpleasant to have the huge, muscular man in her arms. They seemed to fit together in some odd way. As she soothed him with inane words he calmed even more, eventually curling into her body with his head on her shoulder and a knee thrown over her leg, effectively trapping her in place. The crooked leg pressing between her thighs made her