It took me the better part of twenty minutes to peel Torran out of his armor and cut away the base layer he wore. Underneath, his skin was livid with bruises. I gently traced my fingers over a particularly bad one on his ribs.

“What happened?” I breathed. “Why didn’t your armor protect you?”

He chuckled without humor. “It did.”

I looked up and met his eyes. “Explain.”

“The telekinetic figured out pretty quickly that I was more interested in protecting you than myself.” He gestured at the bruises. “She tried to break my concentration. She failed.”

“Was she caught?”

Torran’s expression hardened. “No. The guards caught a pair of humans, but Morten and the telekinetic were not with them.”

I sighed and dropped my gaze to the floor. “If only I’d been faster. I had her. Another second and my blade would’ve done more than piss her off.”

Torran tipped my face up with gentle fingers. “You overrode a powerful telekinetic, injured her, and made her lose concentration long enough that she stopped using you as a shield, giving us a chance to attack. If not for you, we would not have escaped so easily.”

I huffed a laugh at him. “I don’t know about easy. I can still hear my bones cracking.”

His expression darkened until something dangerous lurked in his eyes. “I failed to protect you.”

“We’re both still alive, so let’s call it a win, okay?”

Torran looked like he wanted to argue, but when I just stared at him, he reluctantly nodded.

I pulled out the salve we used to treat bruises and unscrewed the cap. “This will ease the pain until Havil can heal you. Do you need help applying it?”

Cunning lightened some of the darkness in his eyes. “If I say yes, are you going to apply it for me?” Without waiting for an answer, he lay back, and pointed at the vibrant bruise over his ribs that dipped all the way down until it disappeared beneath his underwear. “I’m not sure I can reach it all. Would you mind?”

From his expression, I knew exactly what he was doing, but I would take the flimsiest of excuses if it meant I got to put my hands on him. I warmed the salve between my palms, then smoothed my hands over his bruised body.

He sucked in a breath between his teeth.

I jerked my hands away. “Too much?”

“You didn’t hurt me,” he said, which didn’t answer the question. His fists clenched. “Please continue.”

“If you are uncomfortable—”

“If I’m uncomfortable, it’s because I want to pull you on top of me and drive us both to the edge of sanity. I thought the pain would blunt the need, but it seems my body has other ideas. If proof of my desire makes you uncomfortable, then I will do it myself.”