I can’t believe what I did with Danny in this room. My reflection reveals messed up sex hair, a swollen lip, and clammy skin.
Butterflies take flight as I remember when his beautiful teeth had my lips stretched out like a strip of candy. And I wonder when I’ll see him again even though he just left.
My hair is still visibly out of place, even though I’ve tried everything to make it look like I didn’t get fucked against a wall by a very much starved, deprived man.
My muscles tremble from holding onto him, and I can still feel what he left inside me. I make a mental note to clean myself up before I go back to work.
The height difference is not a disadvantage…not one bit. It’s a freaking blessing with the way this man tackles and folds me into the positions he craves.
Is there any part of me that he hasn’t fucked already?
I’m sure he’ll think of something, or maybe he even has other positions in mind we haven’t done yet. He’d have a long list of other forbidden public places he’d like to venture into that could potentially get me killed or even fired.
I squeeze my thighs when I remember his cock between my breasts.
He could make me come with just the tip of his dick inside of me, and I almost did, but when he pushed more of himself in me, hitting that one spot that sent me into a world where I only saw gold stars…I came.
The sex with him gets better and better.
I’ve got to push these thoughts out of my head. I need to focus on getting through the rest of the day without thinking about what we did in this room. Or the empty hole in my heart that weighs on me whenever he has to leave.
I hold my wrist up, looking at my watch, and that’s when I realize I had spent almost an hour not working. My eyes bulge, and my heart sinks with disappointment in myself. I lost track of time because I was too busy with two Rider men.
Damian and Danny.
If I thought Danny was cold-hearted…his father won by a landslide. I never want to be around that man again. Danny intervened just in time. Who knows how badly that could have escalated?
Then I was “re-hydrating” my boyfriend.
I drop my arm and rush out the door, looking for any missed text messages from Lori through my watch. My feet scurry out of the room, my shoes squeaking against the tiles. My watch vibrates with an alert. I hold it up, but then I hit something hard, bumping into a man’s chest.
“Oh, I’m so sorry! I should’ve been paying attention to where I was going,” I ramble, but a pair of familiar hands stop me.
Kane.
“It’s okay, Ari. It’s just me,” Kane reassures me with a hard look, rubbing my shoulders. I meet his dark blue eyes, and that’s when I realize I’ve been caught. His eyes scream, I know what you just did in there.
I want to run away now.
He looks like he was in a terrible fight or a car crash. He has little cuts and bruises under one eye. I want to reach out and touch him, ask him what happened, but the words get stuck in my throat.
“Sorry about that. I need to get back to work before my boss and co-workers kill me,” I apologize again, waiting for him to let me go. I lick my swollen bottom lip from where Danny bit me. Crap, it’s so obvious. He doesn’t let go of me right away. Instead, he studies me a few seconds longer, pursing his lips when he watches my own.
Then he scoffs when he sees the blood on my tongue.
“I’m sure they won’t,” he says casually, releasing his grip on me.
“What are you doing here? Don’t you have to go? Danny just left, didn’t he?” I ask, looking around.
“Exactly. I do have to go. But not without saying goodbye to my favorite nurse, Paul’s little sister.”
I take in his blackened eye and grab his wrist softly.
“Kane, what happened to you? Are you okay?”
“I’m great,” sarcasm evident, and I glare at him, crossing my arms.
“Kane…don’t tell me I have to worry about you too?! Have you been looked at yet? Is that why you’re here?” I shake my head. “Danny told me you guys are leaving on another mission…” My voice breaks because I constantly worry about Danny’s return. Even Kane’s. I feel like I’ve grown attached and invested in every man on Danny’s team.
I pray for them all to come home safe to their families.
“Yes, I’m fine…and of course. This job never stops, but we should be back soon.” He sighs, running a hand through his dark hair. His eyes pierce mine with intensity. He doesn’t flash his cheesy, warm smile I’m accustomed to. He reads me like a book, taking notice that I’m basically begging him for something positive to say. His brows raise and he flashes me a forced grin, exposing his perfect teeth. “But it’s okay, Ari, don’t worry. We will stop these guys before they can lay a finger on you or us. They won’t even get a chance to get within walking distance of you. We won’t allow it.”
My hands drop to my sides in anguish, my shoulders stiffen and I watch Kane’s face drop into shock, a frown replacing the million-dollar smile. I look around us, over my shoulder, at the thought of Shane breathing down my neck again. I shudder as chills rapidly spread across my skin, and my knees begin to buckle.
“What did you just say?”
Kane looks taken aback. He jerks his head, pinching his brows together, matching my confused expression.
Lori enters from behind him, leaning over his frame to the side at the end of the hallway, waving her arms to catch my attention.
“Where have you been?” she mouths.
She points to her watch hysterically, but I ignore her. I lean forward, blocking her out of my vision with Kane’s frame.
“Grim didn’t tell you?” Kane says.
I shake my head vehemently. “He didn’t tell me what?”
“I thought he would tell you something like this.” He looks away from me, nervously running his hand through his dark hair.
It doesn’t sit well with me, but I still vouch for Danny’s heart. Maybe there’s more to the story… perhaps he just forgot?
“Tell me, Kane. Tell me right now.”
He looks around, and it seems like he’s searching for some privacy. Or maybe he’s making sure the Admiral doesn’t come grab him by the neck.
“Fuck it, you deserve to know.” He leans into my ear, whispering, his breath sending more shivers up my spine. I’m paralyzed, waiting for him to spill. “People are after Grim. The same people that killed your brother.”
This can’t be happening.
I gasp, bringing my hand to my mouth. My stomach turns into a thousand knots, my world spins, and nausea grips me tight.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I push him away, my palm firmly against his vest. The force manages to make his over six-foot frame take a step back. He tries to grab my hands to stop me, his fingers attempting to curl with mine. His lips flatten when I pull my hands out of his grasp.
“How is this possible?”
“Grim has a fucking bounty on his head. We’re all at risk. They won’t stop at anything to have us dead, the whole team, specifically Grim. They’ll even hurt you if it means they can capture him. If it means they can hit him where he’ll hurt the most, and that’s you, Ari.”
The blood drains from my face. My vision blurs immediately with fear, black clouding the edges. Suddenly, my hearing goes to silence, and the only thing I can hear is my heart drumming against my neck.
They want to kill Danny?
Teary-eyed, I tremble, my lips quivering for a response.
My heart begins to race harder and I flinch when Kane calls out for me, snapping me out of the spiral violently.
Teardrops streak down faster onto my cheeks, falling on my scrubs, and I can’t blink. I can’t move…all I can do is breathe.
It just won’t ever end, will it?
If what Kane’s saying is true, that means Danny has been keeping things from me when I’ve repeatedly warned him to let me in. That means…he’s been lying to me.
We can’t possibly move on with each other when things are still hidden.
My eyes shake side to side, searching for relief in Kane’s dark blue eyes, hoping this is all just a bad dream again. Maybe if I close my eyes, I’ll wake up pregnant at Danny’s ranch like I did after Emilia’s wedding.
After such an amazing moment when we shared such a serene reunion underneath the moonlight and waves crashing against the shore.
But when I blink and open my eyes again, I’m met with a softened Kane Slaughter, and I’m still in the same hallway of this freezing hospital.
It’s not a dream. It’s my horrid reality.
Danny’s integrity has been fractured.
Someone is after my boyfriend. Someone who will go to great lengths to hurt me just to get to him.
Shane is gone, Nora’s in jail.
Now, there’s someone else out to hurt me?
“I don’t want you to worry. I know this is the last thing you want to hear right now, but you have one of the best security systems installed in your home and it’s encouraged by the Admiral that you continue to live your life normally. We got this. We got…you.”
I laugh, rolling my eyes.
“Live my life normally? Really, Kane? Has there been anything about my life that has been normal lately?”
He swallows and looks away from me like he can’t bear to see me like this.
I have nothing more to say to him.
I resent their jobs.
I hate this lifestyle.
I’m over having to look over my shoulders constantly. I’m over my boyfriend leaving me all the time. I’m done having to wait for his return constantly. Having to put my plans on hold because I can’t get out of bed some days because all I think about is him. The worry that clouds the back of my mind when he isn’t near me, sleeping next to me, holding me.
I’m over it.
I need to take care of my patients.
“Well, gee, thanks.” I brush past him, my shoulder grazing against him. I’m coming off rude, but this time, I want to and I don’t care. “Thanks for letting me know, but I’ve got to get back to work,” I snap, wiping away more tears from my eyes.
“Ari, wait.” He grabs my forearm, his fingers pressing against my skin, pleading for me to stop.
I discover things I need to know by Kane again. First my brother’s death, and now this? I find out by his teammate and not the man that always makes me feel safe, the man I’ve fallen in love with mindlessly.
I twist out of his grasp and jog away, continuously drying the waterfall of sorrow that pours down my eyes.
I have to stop by Ms. Salem’s room before I go home for the day to check if she’s made any progress with her recovery.
Apparently, Doctor Reese was aware of Damian and Danny stopping by to see me, so he let it slide, which was odd.
Lori told me Doctor Reese was a family friend of the Riders. There’s no way in hell he doesn’t have some connection with them because that’s the only reason I still have my job. No yelling, no scolding or belittling came from Doctor Reese when I returned.
I don’t know when I’ll see Danny again, but this is the first time I don’t want to be around him.
I’m livid and broken; betrayal burns through my bones, and I don’t know what I’ll do if I see him.
How could he keep this from me?
How could he not tell me after everything we’ve been through?
After Damian’s horrid welcoming, and then Kane’s revelation a second time…
I’m just…angry.
I walk into Ms. Salem’s room, and she’s going through a magazine, her legs underneath the blankets as if already tucked in for the night.
It’s getting late, and she’s my last patient.
“Hi, Ms. Salem. How did physical therapy go?” I look over her vitals, ensuring her blood pressure and oxygen levels are stable. I can go home knowing my last patient is on her way to sleep. At least this is one part of my day I don’t have to worry about.
Her dark brown eyes look tired, and she yawns, stretching her arms over her head.
“It went well. I didn’t curse at him this time. He’s actually cute now that we’ve gotten past our initial tension.” She wags her eyebrows up and down before shooting me a giddy smile.
I chuckle, and it feels good to forget my harsh reality, even for a couple of seconds.
“Although I walked for a few minutes, but the pain was unbearable for some odd reason.” She shrugs, reaching for her ankle over the covers. “So they’re keeping me here longer to try to find out why and if the surgery had any post-operative complications.”
“Oh no. I’m so sorry about that.”
“Ehh, it’s okay. I get to spend more time with the cute physical therapist.” She blushes, lying back on the bed and crossing her arms. She looks at the ceiling as if she’s daydreaming.
“There we go. Think of the positive. Always try to remember that,” I say, checking my watch.
She catches on, shifting in the bed.
“I know that look. I used to have a boyfriend, too. Who is he and what has he done to you?” she playfully teases, but my hackles rise.
“It’s nothing, Ms. Salem. Please get some rest and I’ll see you when I come back for my next shift.” I force a smile, pivoting toward the door, but she stops me.
“I guess we have more in common than I thought. I used to have boyfriend troubles all the time. He was a cop…always leaving me and kind of an asshole.”
“Yeah, men…” I shake my head. Danny is kind of an asshole, but an asshole that I’ll be forever tethered to.
An asshole I’m in love with.
“First, we bond over losing our loved ones, and now? Boy problems.” She taps her jaw, and my emotion cracks when I think of the siblings we lost.
“Men are trash. That’s why I’m single.” She shrugs nonchalantly, looking away from me and back to her magazine.
My lips curve.
“Not all of them are, though.” I instantly think of Kane and how he’s always been good and kind despite his occasionally overstepping, which is quite overwhelming. Like today.
“Whatever. In my mind, they all are.”
“Good night, Ms. Salem.”
“Good night, Ari, and remember, you’re too beautiful to be sad.”
Waving goodbye with a smile, I close the door to her room and take a sigh of relief. Last patient of the day is stable and in good spirits. The best way to end a shift.
