A word for something just within/under the surface

Sentence in question:

For a moment Orpheus’s mind was blank save for the vision of Cora’s crimson fingertips--rouged with _____ blood.

My goal here is to describe the phenomenon where some people's fingertips look flushed for some reason, but the original sentence is ambiguous, giving the impression that the fingertips might be blood-stained rather than having blood on the inside.

I want a word in the blank that makes it clear that the blood in inside the skin, if only barely.

Rephrasing is also fine, but I want to avoid using the word "blush" or "flushed" since I used these a bit earlier and have a problem with reusing the same words too many times.

Solution 1:

I want a word in the blank that makes it clear that the blood in inside the skin, if only barely.

If just inserting a word into the blank, rather than rephrasing the sentence, there are several that can make it explicit you're talking about blood under the skin, rather than on it.

Depending on how technical you want to get (this could be a sentence in a medical or science fiction story, for instance), the following are possibilities:

• For a moment Orpheus’s mind was blank save for the vision of Cora’s crimson fingertips—rouged with underlying blood.
  
  [Merriam-Webster]
  1 a : lying beneath or below
  // the underlying rock is shale

• For a moment Orpheus’s mind was blank save for the vision of Cora’s crimson fingertips—rouged with internal (internally flowing) blood.
  
  [Merriam-Webster]
  1 : existing or situated within the limits or surface of something: such as
  1 a (1) : situated near the inside of the body

• For a moment Orpheus’s mind was blank save for the vision of Cora’s crimson fingertips—rouged with subcutaneous blood.
  
  [Merriam-Webster]
  : being, living, occurring, or administered under the skin
  subcutaneous parasites
  subcutaneous tissues

Also, depending on the particular word, you could add slightly to further indicate how close it is to the skin.

In a slight modification to the surrounding sentence, you could change with to from. The use of with is more commonly associated with something external, rather than internal, whereas from more commonly indicates something that is the cause of something else.