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“I need your hand if I’m going to massage you.”

“Oh.” Athena swallowed hard, and when she placed her fingers into Monti’s, she trembled.

Monti’s hand was warm, her skin soft against Athena’s. The touch was instantly comforting. Athena sighed, the weight of the last hour lifting. Monti started with her palm, sliding her thumb along the muscles and bones.

“Don’t you use oils?” Athena asked after a few seconds of quiet.

Monti moved up Athena’s palm to her wrist, digging her thumbs in and releasing the tension. “I typically do, yes.”

“Why aren’t you now?” Athena tried to hold in the moan when Monti hit a particularly tender spot on the top of her forearm. She worked the muscle, popping the knot several times and applying firm pressure before it disappeared.

“Was that okay?”

“Yes,” Athena dragged out, almost a hiss. She’d never been touched like this in her life. Never with such reverence. Never had it felt so good.

“Good.” Monti worked higher into her biceps. “I haven’t used any oils because we haven’t discussed oils—preferred scents, allergies, but also if the feel of them would be something you’d like or hate.”

“I…” Athena paused and looked over Monti’s contrasting face. Did she realize that she stuck her tongue out the corner of her mouth when she was concentrating? “I don’t know if I’d like the feel of it or not.”

“We can always try, Ms. Pruitt.”

“I don’t like the scent of lavender.” Athena bit back another moan, the tension in her shoulder instantly easing. It dropped like a heavy weight as Monti slid her hands back down.

“I have some oils in my van if you’d like me to get them. Or Fallon can.” Monti stood up slowly and shifted to Athena’s other side. She started the same process on her right hand.

Athena was entranced by the way Monti moved, so confident in her touches. Athena’s chest rose sharply with each breath as she concentrated on every glide of Monti’s fingers. “Next time.”

“Will there be a next time?”

“I don’t think one massage is going to solve all my problems, do you?”

Monti’s lips quirked upward slightly, a beautiful tenuous pull of her mouth. It was the first time Athena had seen it, and it made Monti that much more stunning. She had to be younger than Fallon by at least five years, but this smile made her look so youthful and alive.

“No, I don’t think one massage is going to solve anything,” Monti whispered back. “Except maybe you won’t be in as much physical pain as before.”

“I can only hope.”

“Will you allow me to massage your neck?” Monti touched her full palm against Athena’s upper arm, resting it there until they made eye contact.

Athena halted, her entire being hanging on Monti’s words. Her gaze dropped to Monti’s mouth, her lips and how they were slightly parted, her tongue peeking out from behind them. The heat from her palm soaked through Athena and filled the cold she’d become so accustomed to. She almost couldn’t bear it. She had to blink hard to break her chain of thoughts.

Moving away from the touch, Athena leaned forward and nodded. “Yes.”

Anything to stop whatever was happening in that moment. Not between them—that was the one thing Athena could deal with. But what was happening inside her. That tingling and pulling, the desire to lean in and see what Monti would do next, to maybe chase after the tip of Monti’s tongue. But that couldn’t be right. She was too broken for anything to feel good.

Monti stood next to her. “You’ll need to turn to the side. The chair is too high for me to reach over it.”

“Oh right.” Athena slowly turned, putting her back to Monti. Which was probably the biggest sign of trust she’d given yet.

Monti moved slowly, deliberately, as she pulled the clip from Athena’s hair and set it on the table, not touching Athena in any way that they hadn’t agreed to. Athena waited for what was next, knowing it would instantly set off all her alarms.

“I’m going to start at the base of your skull.”

“Okay.” Athena jumped when Monti brushed her fingers through her hair, pulling it over the side of her shoulder so it was out of the way.

“Athena?”

“I’m fine. Just ignore it.”