Entwined by Elisabeth Naughton Page A

in.”
    “It’s already healing.”
    “I see that, but—”
    He grabbed her wrist, stilling her motion. A jolt ran through him at the connection, but he ignored it. The last thing he needed was her hands on his body more than was already necessary. “I said leave it.”
    Her eyes slid from the wound to his face and held. And before he realized it, he was staring into eyes like a Caribbean sunset in the human world. Eyes he’d looked into countless times before as they’d made love. Eyes he’d dreamed about numerous times in the years since, until he’d woken in a cold and aching sweat.
    Thoughts vanished from his mind. The connection they’d had from the first sparked deep in his chest, burned in the bottom of his soul. Tempted him to reach for her and find out if she felt it too. He couldn’t be the only one who remembered, could he? She had to feel something when she saw him. When she stood this close. When she touched him.
    Thoughts, memories, feelings he’d kept buried for a long time pushed in as he stared into her gemlike eyes. A movie of their time together flickered in front of his face. And then, when he got to the part where she betrayed him, that blaze went out. Leaving behind nothing but charred ash and ruins.
    It didn’t matter what she felt. Their past was over and done with. The Fates had screwed him in more ways than one. There wasn’t anything about her now that could change what had happened back then.
    He dropped her hand as quickly as he’d grabbed it. Then glanced back at her sweater. “Finish the exam.”
    Which—dammit—didn’t do shit to cool him down because her breasts were now all he could see. Oh, man, they were as round and plump and gorgeous as he remembered, and he was almost sure he could see her nipples straining against the soft cotton. If he lifted his right arm, just a little, he could touch one. Could feel the nub swell and harden beneath his fing—
    She stepped back slowly. Set the supplies and her stethoscope down. Cleared her throat. The sound brought his thoughts back where they should be. But the quiver to her voice when she spoke told him his harsh command had gotten through loud and clear. And why that made him feel like an ass, he had no clue.
    “We’ll just go on with the brunt of the exam then. There’s no need for the standard poking and prodding.”
    Relief swept through Zander. That suited him just fine. He only wanted out of this room. Preferably sooner rather than later.
    “Sit up tall,” she said. “And close your eyes.” He did as he was told, gripping the edge of the desk with his hands and straightening his spine, thankful her voice was once more level and direct and that now, at least, he didn’t have to look at her. “Good. Now, you’ll likely feel warmth as I search for any abnormalities, maybe a pinch there in your shoulder, but for the most part this shouldn’t be painful.”
    Maybe not for you.
    He drew in a deep breath, tried not to frown, and though Callia didn’t touch him, he felt her hands hovering mere centimeters from his bare chest. As a healer, she had the ability to seek out problems within the body and focus her energies to restore balance and health. Argoleans were less susceptible to disease than humans and healed faster, but at the core they were still mortal. Though Zander knew she wasn’t going to find anything wrong with him.
    “Easy,” Callia murmured. “Breathe slowly, in and out. That’sit. Just let your mind wander and your body relax. Good. That’s…good.”
    There was something oddly calming about her voice—always had been—and the heat radiating from her fingers warmed first his skin, then seeped deep into his muscles, and finally, his bones. She was probing his body, searching for ailments, but it almost felt as if she were reaching inside him with her bare hands, crawling into his skin and making herself at home. Warmth slid through his chest inch by inch as her fingers shifted and her hands moved