“You’re safe, Nadia.” Bones’ words were soft, his eyes even more so. “You are here to get better, stronger. I thought you might feel overwhelmed with Bear being in the room. If you would like me to bring him back, I can.”
I brought my legs up to my torso, keeping the blankets wrapped around me. The smell, the heat left over from Bear’s warmth, soothed me enough to where I didn’t feel so vulnerable.
And why was that?
Because he rescued me? Carried me out like some motorcycle gang Viking warrior person?
Bones nodded and pulled the stethoscope from around his neck. “If you are okay, I would like to listen to your lungs, make sure they are clear?”
I swallowed and nodded, unfurling my legs.
Bones spoke just like any physician as he checked my breathing on my back and my chest. I didn’t mind him touching me, and he kept it professional. He also did the other tests, such as my reflexes, and checked my eyes, mouth, and throat. He explained the feeding tube that was threaded down my throat and gently removed it, saying since I was awake, I was in charge of filling my own stomach now.
He even pulled out my IV, carefully placing a hot pink band-aid on top of it, chucking to himself as he did so. “I do it to piss off the other bikers, but it looks good on you.”
I smiled and swung my legs on the bed. As the minutes went on, I was more comfortable with Bones. I don’t know if it was just a faux feeling and if I should put my guard back up, but after being locked away with no one to listen to but an evil boss for so many years, it was nice.
The large shirt hung over my tiny body. From what I could tell, there was a picture of a skull splattered with blood. The shorts I wore were oversized and rolled up but still came to my knees. They all smelled heavily like Bear, as did everything else on the bed.
Did he sleep in here with me?
“Do you know how tall you are, what you used to weigh before you were put in that terrible place?” Bones jotted down some notes on a clipboard, and I nodded.
“And you cannot talk? Did they—do something to your vocal cords, your throat?”
I shook my head, pursed my lips, and looked away from him in shame.
I can talk—
Bones patted my hand. “It’s fine. We will work through it.” He handed me the clipboard and had me fill out my height. Bones cursed. “Four, eleven, shit, you are tiny.” He chuckled. “I’d like to get your weight now; do you think you can walk?”
I’d always been tiny. My parents were strikingly taller than me, closer to six feet, while I never grew. We were in the poorer lower middle class, lived in a modest two-bedroom apartment in New York, and they never had reason for concern about me being unhealthy, especially since I never went hungry. I was quieter than most kids, the weird introvert, but my parents didn’t care.
I was loved.
My feet dangled as I stared at the floor, lost in thought. I sighed heavily, pushed myself close to the edge, and slipped off. Bones was right there, grabbing my upper arm and holding me to his side when I swayed. It was then we heard the door slam open and a heavy-breathing Bear staring at the both of us.
His hair was still wet from his shower. Water dripped on his bare chest; he didn’t even bother putting on a shirt. Small pieces of white tissue paper dotted his chest with red dots staining the middle of them. He—shaved his chest?
As my gaze roamed down his chiseled physique, I noticed the glistening droplets of water trickling along his carved muscles, drawing my attention to his gray sweatpants. My quickening breath echoed in my ears as my heart thumped relentlessly against my chest, sending a rush of heat coursing through my body.
Woah.
I didn’t remember a time in my life when I wasaroused. I’d never found men attractive, good-looking, yes, but nothing that would get my body hot and needy. For a while I thought I might be into girls, but yeah, I didn’t find them overly attractive either.
This sight, however, turned on an engine that had never been on before.
I bit my lip, trailing my gaze back up his body, and did not see a smiling face but a furious one. Bear’s eyes were wild, brightly lit with gold sparkles until they dilated completely to black. His wet hair fell in front of his face, nostrils flared. His large white front teeth bared when he snarled, and my heart flipped in my chest.
He was savage-looking, very wild, and for a reason unbeknownst to me, I found it extremely arousing yet scary at the same time.
I stepped away from Bones, my hands fumbling with the bed to keep me standing. I kept my eyes on Bear while doing so. I rounded it until I put enough space between me and the angry-sexy-confusing-grey sweatpants-wearing Bear.
“Easy there,” Bones soothed. “We were just going to get a weight on her, get some vitals. No harm done.”
Bear snarled again, his muscles rippling under his skin. I took in his body once more, and man, he was completely ripped. A claw mark tattoo dominated one side of his chest, and a full sleeve of tattoos on the other. Chills radiated up my spine at the sheer power this guy held. I couldn’t help but find his strength alluring.
He held me with those big muscles.
