Chapter Nine
Karen hadn’t had time to adequately consider the bite-shaped bruise on her inner thigh though she’d seen it when he’d finished with her. She’d fingered it surreptitiously, testing its size and tenderness, whenever Steve turned away during her clean up.
Really her whole body ached, even inside. Fear that something was wrong in her belly managed to penetrate the residue of shocked numbness. But she had no time to think even of that.
Steve laid her on the bed and replaced the metal suit. He slid a sterile field under her hips and set a metal tray filled with small implements beside her. She didn’t bother to look and, as if in substantiation of her indifference, he spoke flatly, as usual. “I’m going to insert a catheter now.”
She no longer flinched when he manipulated her geni
