“I was right, you are a sadist,” I hiss, trying to jerk my head back and close my eyes, but she quickly puts her hand on the back of my head, pressing gently on the tender spot there from where Vlad’s man hit me, which has me stilling and my eyes flying open once again. Yep, I called it. Sadist. I glare at her, but she just smirks at me. “I’d say that makes you a masochist then with the amount of times you want me to be around,” she returns drily, and thankfully, pulling the light away. Then she gives me a wink and adds, “And I’ve got a good look at everything you’re packing, big guy, so I think you can take it.”
I should be embarrassed at that statement, but instead, I just smirk at her. “Aren’t there rules about nurses looking at their patients while they’re vulnerable?” And did she like what she saw?
“Good thing we’re not in a hospital, isn’t it?” she returns as she moves around the bed, but her eyes burn back at me. Oh, yeah, she liked what she saw. I can work with that. “Roll onto your belly, big guy, so I can check on your back,” she orders.
I’m sweating and shaking from the exertion, but it also feels good to lie on my stomach, despite the pulling of the stitches in my back. “I can feel you checking out my ass, Rose,” I rumble, turning my head slowly to look at our President’s Old Lady, whois indeed staring at my ass barely covered by the sheet with no shame. “Your Old Man is going to spank yours.”
“Why do you think I’m making sure you tell him?” Rose laughs, winking at me.
I chuckle, and a pang fills my chest. I know I wasn’t gone for long, but fuck did those couple of days make me miss this. Rose doing shit to piss off Bullet is just a daily occurrence around here. I turn my head to see Avery peering at my back, eyes narrowed in concentration, but there’s a small flash of something there. Jealousy? I can hope. When her eyes connect with mine, they hold briefly, before she looks away. Not quick enough that I don’t see the confusion and irritation. At me? At Rose? I want to ask her, but I doubt she’d answer me. Not with others around, anyway. “I’m already acquainted with your ass and how smoothly I was able to press those injections into it,” she reminds me lightly, then she winks quickly. “But as a woman, I agree with Rose, that it’s definitely worth checking out.”
“As long as it’s only you and not Medic checking out my ass, you go right ahead,” I tell her with a wry smile. I close my eyes and sink into the pillow, needing just a second.
“Brother, I’ve seen your ass far too much for comfort the last week,” Medic announces suddenly, making my eyes pop open and turn my head to look at him. He has a grin on his face as he wraps his arm around Rose’s shoulder and drawls, “Darlin’, why are you wasting time on him when you have me to ogle?”
“Hands off my woman,” Bullet growls as he steps into the room as well. Medic lifts his hand away, but he presses a kiss to the side of Rose’s head, the crazy bastard. Most think of Medic as this easy-going doctor, but I swear the man has a death wish with the way he acts sometimes to piss Bullet off. Rose giggles, but turns to Bullet and wraps her arms around him when he steps toward Medic, a dangerous glint in his eye.
“Mmmm, I do love when my man acts all possessive,” Rose purrs, pressing a kiss to his jaw, and running her hand over the front of his cut.
“Your ass is going to pay the price for teasing me,” Bullet rumbles, pulling her tight against him and lifting her up to press a hard kiss to her mouth.
“Ewwww, why do you keep doing that?” a young female voice asks in exasperation. Wait, I know that voice. I turn my head and see the teenage girl that Nikolai dragged into my cell walking inside, her lips twisted a grimace, Thea right behind her, trying to hide her laughter, though apparently not carefully enough because the girl turns to glare at her and huffs, “Don’t think you’re off the hook on this. I saw you kissing your man when you thought I wasn’t looking and acting like you were going to eat each other’s face off.” Then she looks back toward me and I see her looking at Avery. “I need to get some noise-cancelling headphones. I don’t know which one it was, but one of these two couples is not quiet, and I don’t need to hear that. I still don’t know how Sawyer slept through it. You know what, I’m making all of you pinatas if I don’t get some sleep.”
Thea and Rose burst out laughing, while Bullet and Medic share a look. I can’t quite make it out, but I do see a mixture of amusement and exasperation. There’s a story there somewhere.
“Isla, tone down the crazy,” Avery says mildly as she starts to apply something to my back. It’s cold and I shiver, making her smirk at me when I turn my head to glare at her. “What other people do is not your business, but yes, if someone is willing to go out and get a pair for you, then maybe that would be for the best. And the only one who’s going to be a pinata is you if you try to kick me out of bed again like you did before.” I hiss when she presses a little too hard on one of the spots on my back, but she just gives me a mild stare and says, “Don’t be a baby, that was barely anything.”
“Says the sadist,” I grunt. Still, it feels nice to have her hands on me again. There’s something calm and soothing about them.
“See, I’m not the only one who thinks you’re too rough,” Isla states righteously as she moves closer to me. She looks down at me when I turn my head to look at her, her eyes the same matching blue as Avery’s. Then her gaze moves over my exposed back and I see her eyes flash with sympathy and a little bit of horror, before they move back to mine. “That looks like it hurts. But I can see why Avery and Rose keep ogling your butt. It’s really muscular, and from the size of you, I say you probably work out, right?”
“Isla,” Avery warns, gloves snapping as she pulls them off.
“What? I’m fifteen and I have eyes. I can see when a man’s good-looking.”
Avery sighs. “Well, this one is too old for you. Go, ogle one of the Prospects. They’re at least closer to you in age.”
“I prefer my man older,” Isla replies slyly. “Crypt especially. You’ve seen him, right? He’d give this guy a run for his money. No offense, big guy.” She pats my shoulder lightly, careful to avoid any of the areas cut up. “You’re good-looking, but Crypt looks a little less…walking dead and more living.”
Thea and Rose are almost on the floor laughing now, while Avery looks at her sister like she’s not sure if she should laugh or send her to her room. I can’t see Medic or Bullet anymore, but I’m sure they find this whole thing interesting. Personally, I find it equally entertaining and concerning. She’s like an older version of Macy, but just a couple steps down from Rose. “None taken,” I answer finally, because what else can I say?
“Out,” Avery orders. “Everyone out so that the patient can get some sleep.”
I hear a lot of movement as people start to leave the room, but Isla doesn’t move, she just looks down at me and smiles. “I’m Isla, by the way, and if Avery gets too bossy, let me know. I’llmess with her shit and she’ll be too pissed off at me to bother you for a bit.” Then she pats my shoulder again and walks away, whistling softly.
“It’s like looking into the future, isn’t it?” Medic snickers, and I turn my head to see him grinning at Bullet. “Just think, Macy, the two that Quinn is cooking up, and Syn’s little one. Not to mention the others that will probably come along soon enough. And that one, if she’s around long enough, she’s going to lead them all. Well, until she’s off at college and Macy takes over her rightful place as leader.”
“I’ll be retiring to a hot sunny place where I can spend the days sexing up my wife and leaving all that shit to the rest of you,” Bullet drawls before he moves toward me, ignoring Avery who is watching him critically. “We’ll talk later when you’re more awake, alright?” he says quietly.
“Got it, Prez,” I murmur, already feeling myself getting sucked back under as my eyes get heavy.
The room blessedly goes dim and I hear someone else moving around before Medic comes over. “I need to get some sleep, but Avery said she’ll stay with you to make sure that you’re good. If you need me, she’ll get one of the guys to come and get me.”
“I’m good,” I whisper. Then he’s gone, and I start to drift off until I hear Avery moving around close to me, and force my eyes back open. She’s cleaning something up, not paying attention to me, and I just watch her for a moment. She’s so confident in everything she’s doing, her movements sure and efficient. “Thank you,” I say quietly, making her still and look over at me in surprise.
“What?”
“Thank you,” I repeat. “Without you, I’d never have gotten out of there.”
