Free The Wells Brothers: Luke by Angela Verdenius

whispering!”
    “So?”  He stiffened slightly as
they went down the stairs, taking them a little slower than his usual bounding
energy.
    “Who in his right mind whispers in
the dark?”
    Not answering, Luke just leaned on
her a little heavier.
    Mikki had a suspicion he wasn’t as
incapacitated as he appeared, was maybe punishing her a little by putting some
more weight on her, but when she glanced up at his face he was looking ahead.
    Looking, that was, until her aunt
got to the bottom of the staircase and swung around, flashing the torchlight
right into his eyes.  “How are you doing, sweetie?”
    He flinched, shutting his eyes
before whipping up his hand to shield the glare.
    Mikki winced.  Crap, first she’d crushed
his family jewels and now Elspeth was trying to blind him.  Way to go.
    Realising immediately, Elspeth
shifted the torch.  “Sorry!”
    “It’s okay.”  He lowered his hand
from his eyes at the same time he shifted away from Mikki, lifting his arm from
her shoulders.  “I can go from here.”
    Coolness invaded the area where
his body had been against hers.  Following behind him, Mikki couldn’t believe
that oddly enough she kind of missed his nearness.  As he moved ahead of her,
so tall and muscular, she couldn’t help but put her nose to her shoulder and take
a sniff.  Yep, whatever deodorant he used was on her shirt.  Smelled good, all
man and cleanliness, and combine that with the warmth of his body-
    “Mik?”
    Looking up, she caught Elspeth
watching her.
    “You okay?”
    Mortified at being caught sniffing
her shirt - hells bells, what was wrong with her? - Mikki glanced down at her
shirt and brushed awkwardly at the shoulder area.  “Just some dust or
something.”
    “Well don’t worry about that now,
dear, we have to look after poor Luke.”
    The light flashed on in the hallway
leading to the servants’ quarters, illuminating Luke waiting for them.  Even
with the back glow shading out his features, she could feel him watching her.
    Glaring, probably.  His eyes hurt,
his nuts ached, and she just bet he was wishing he was home instead of stuck in
this old mansion with two women he was possibly thinking were either jinxes or
trying to maim him.
    That last one she’d done a pretty
good job of doing accidentally.
    With a sigh, she walked to the
hall.
    Luke gestured for Elspeth to go ahead
of him, but instead of following he continued to watch Mikki approach.  She
slowed down, regarding him a little worriedly.  Maybe he wanted to ream her
quietly without Elspeth hearing.  She couldn’t blame him, after all she had
dropped him to the floor in a foetal position, but honestly, she hadn’t meant
to do it.
    Preparing for a tongue-lashing,
hoping he’d just let her pass in silence, she straightened her shoulders,
lifted her chin and crossed the last few feet to the doorway.
    His gaze never shifted as she
neared, and when he opened his mouth she couldn’t stop an involuntary flinch. 
But all he did was shake his head with a resigned expression, place his hand at
her back and usher her past him, falling in behind her.
    She felt his eyes on her every step
of the way, making her feel distinctly uneasy.  Man, she almost wished he would
yell at her, his silence was a little unnerving.
    They walked down the hallway,
through the door into the servants’ hallway and on into the kitchen where
Elspeth was putting the kettle on the stove.
    “Now, Luke, you sit right there.” 
Elspeth pointed at the chair he’d sat in at dinner.  “I’ll bring you a frozen bag
of peas.”
    He sat gingerly.  “What’re the
peas for?”
    “Your…er…you know.”  She flapped a
hand towards him while crossing to the freezer.
    Blankly, he looked from her to
Mikki standing on the other side of the table.
    How could he possibly forget?  She
pointed towards his crotch hidden under the table.
    “What?  No.”  He shook his head. 
“No peas.”
    “But, dear.”  Elspeth looked at
him from