Mace’s Madonna (Pagan Souls of Cherokee MC #5)

Mace

This couldn’t be real. I must be having a nightmare. It was what I thought when we went from her begging me to take her to her telling me the bunnies were no more than sex slaves like she almost became. As I grew more appalled and furious, she didn’t respond to my questions and assurance. Then she couldn’t breathe. I switched to trying to help her when the screaming started, and she fought to get away from me. The faraway look in her eyes told me she wasn’t entirely with me. I tried to snap her out of it, only to have her start screaming bloody murder and then passing out. I caught her as she slumped. I eased her flat on the bed. Panic welled up inside as I tried to wake her. I gently tapped her cheek.

“Jessamy, baby, open your eyes. Look at me. It isn’t what you think. I swear.”

The pounding on the bedroom door got me moving. I knew they’d kick in the door if I didn’t answer.

“Mace, Jessamy, open up!” Agony shouted.

“What’s wrong?” Bones hollered.

Stumbling to my feet, I staggered to the door. I threw it open. There was apprehension on their faces. More of my brothers were crowded behind them, wearing the same look. They pushed me back into her room, following me inside. They scanned the room until they saw her on the bed. Bones moved around me and hurried to her. I didn’t try to stop him. I was wavering between numb and panicked. Agony gave me a hard shake, and Twisted, my best friend, smacked my chest. It snapped me to attention.

“There he is. Tell us what happened. We heard Jessamy screaming, then nothing,” Dare said.

“She was. Things got fucked up. I don’t know how. Bones, is she alright? What happened to make her pass out?”

“She seems physically okay, but I’d need my stuff to be sure,” Bones muttered.

“Tell us what the hell went on after you left church?” Hulk demanded.

Haltingly, I told them everything. When I was done, Bones had his travel bag. Cyclone had run to get it. Bones was checking her over. The others were standing there, stunned. I ignored them and went to the bed. She was still out. I lovingly pushed her hair away from her face. She lay there, the covers tucked up over her. Her face was serene. She reminded me of a peaceful angel. Wait, no, she reminded me of a Madonna.

“Jessamy, Madonna, please, wake up. Tell me what I can do to fix this. I want only you,” I whispered in her ear.

Bones eased away from her. “I can’t find anything wrong. Her blood pressure is a little high, but nothing dangerous. From what you said, I believe she got overwhelmed and had some kind of flashback, which was too much. She couldn’t breathe, so it made her faint, and now her brain is keeping her out until she can deal. We should’ve gotten her someone to talk to. We need to get her set up with Dr. O,” he said firmly.

Dr. O was Dr. O’Herron. Why hadn’t I thought of having her talk to someone? Jessamy was older than Aliya, but she’d gone through a similar thing.

“I’ll call him after she wakes up,” Twisted said.

“What the hell do we do? She thinks the bunnies are glorified sex slaves,” I reminded them.

“Well, they are,” came a firm voice from the doorway. Glancing over, we found Eliana, Joli, Natalya, and Zari standing there. We knew they all despised having the women here.

“We’re not going to get into this right now,” Agony stated sternly.

“If not now, when? You know Terror got rid of theirs. They cause issues. It’s not like you don’t get enough hang arounds to make up the numbers,” Eliana said.

“And God knows we’ve had issues,” Joli said as she stared at Dare.

“Doll, please, don’t. What Ciandra did was awful, but she’s gone. Not all of them are like her,” he reminded her.

“No, they’re not. Okay, we’ll leave it, but it’s your fault if this costs Mace or one of you a chance to have someone special. I think we need to clear this room. She’ll be disoriented and probably embarrassed when she wakes up. A room full of gawkers is the last thing she needs. I’ll stay with her,” Eliana said firmly.

She was right, but I couldn’t leave until I knew not only was Jessamy okay, but so were we. Her words scared me. What if she refused to be with me because we had bunnies? The others began to vacate the room reluctantly. Bones paused.

“If she wakes up and you have any concerns, come get me right away,” he instructed Eliana.

“I will.”

Bones was the last one to leave. He pulled the door shut. Eliana went to recheck Jessamy’s blood pressure.

“How long will she stay like this?” I asked as I paced.

“As long as she needs to.”

“Hey, you know me, Eliana. You know I’d never have her and still touch those other women. Just like Agony and the other guys with old ladies don’t. We’re faithful. But our single brothers deserve to have their fun until they decide to settle down.” I was attempting to remove the pinched expression she wore.

“You guys don’t know how hard it is on us to have them here. It’s due to more than petty jealousy. However, I’m done talking about it. It might be smart to tell your friend, Christie, to stay away. Jessamy won’t give you a chance if she keeps hanging on you.”

“She’s not my friend. Yeah, she hung on me one night when I was playing pool. I ignored her, thinking she’d leave. When she didn’t, I told her to get lost in no uncertain terms. She’s tried a few times since, but I’ve always turned her away. I’ve never touched her, Eliana.”

“I’m not the one you have to convince. After what almost happened to Jessamy, she will always be sensitive. Mark my words that Christie is trouble waiting to happen. It might not be for you, but it will be someone. I get Ciandra vibes off her. I wish if you guys keep insisting on having bunnies, you’d let a few old ladies interview them or something. Women feel things you guys don’t. You think with the little brain.”

The way she rolled her eyes made me snort. I wasn’t in much of a mood to laugh, but her idea and the eye roll amused me. “You should tell Agony and the rest your idea,” I prodded.

“Don’t think I won’t,” was her sassy reply.

Before either of us could continue on the topic, Jessamy trembled, and a tiny moan left her. I got on the opposite side of the bed from Eliana and hunkered next to my woman. Her face scrunched up, and then her eyelids twitched. I ran my fingers down her cheek.

“Jessamy, babe, it’s alright. You’re safe. I’m right here, and so is Eliana. We need you to look at us. Tell us you’re alright and back with us,” I coaxed.

It took her several more seconds to open her eyes. When she did, she was squinting, and she looked slightly confused. She looked from me to Eliana and back. She tried to sit up, but I tenderly held her down. I didn’t want her moving too fast and passing out again.

“Hi there, honey. We’re glad to see those pretty eyes. How do you feel? Are you hurting anywhere? Your head?” As Eliana asked her that, she proficiently rechecked Jessamy’s blood pressure.

“I-uhm, my head hurts but not as much as it did. I already had a headache, you know. Nothing else feels any different than it did. What happened?”

Eliana moved to take her pulse and then listened to her chest. When she was done, she smiled at her. “What was the last thing you remember?”

My woman sat there frowning as she thought. I was growing concerned when she answered. “I was talking to him. I was upset. Then I couldn’t breathe, and things went black.”

“Do you remember screaming?” I asked.

She didn’t quite meet my gaze when she answered softly, “Yes, I remember. I feel fine. There’s no need to fuss. I think if I take something for my head and get some sleep, I’ll be good as new. Thank you for playing nurse for me, Eliana. It’s late. You should be at home with the twins and Agony.”

I sat there, not saying anything else. I’d wait until we were alone. If she thought I was leaving without us clearing the air, she was wrong. There was no way I’d leave her with this huge misunderstanding between us. Eliana asked her a few other nurse-type questions. She seemed satisfied with the answers she got. She stood up and smiled at both of us.

“I think you’re good. If something changes, call me. Try to get some rest. Don’t stress yourself out too much.” That was a warning for me. I gave her a subtle chin lift to show I understood. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow. Sleep well,” Eliana said.

I got up and went with her to the door. I heard Jessamy sigh. It wasn’t until I let Eliana out and closed and locked the door that my woman tensed.

“Mace, there’s no need for you to stay. I plan to take the medicine Bones brought earlier and go to bed. I don’t need a sitter.”

“I’m not staying as a sitter. I’m staying because we have things to get straight. You had a panic attack, and we think it was due to a flashback. That made you end up screaming and passing out. You scared the hell outta me, babe. It did the same to the rest of the club. Before you did, you made some hurtful allegations against the club and me. We need to talk about those. However, the big talk can wait until tomorrow. Right now, I need to ask you one thing.” She tensed up when I began talking, but she relaxed when I said the big talk could wait.

“What’s that?”

“Do you feel you’re unsafe with me? That I’ll hurt you physically?” I didn’t ask about emotional hurt because I knew that was harder to answer.

She thought for several moments before she answered. “I don’t think you’ll physically hurt me, Mace.”

“Good, because I won’t. I’d rather cut off my own hands than do that. Here, let’s get that medicine into you.” I got the bottle Bones left, took out a dose, and got a bottle of water out of the mini-fridge in the room. She sat up and took it. Once it was down, I sat on the edge of the bed.

“Now, snuggle under the covers. Can I get you anything else?”

She did as I instructed, shaking her head. “I’m good. Thank you. If you shut off the light when you go, that’ll be perfect.” She yawned. The lamp next to the bed was on.

I got up but didn’t leave. Instead, I dragged one of the chairs in the room to the bed and sat in it.

“What are you doing?” she asked as I bent to take off my boots.

“I’m getting comfortable. I’ll turn off the lamp in a second.” I sat the boots by the chair and shrugged off my cut, hanging it over the back.

She was sitting up, staring at me in alarm. “Why are you taking those off?”

“I’m getting into my spot to stay. I doubt you’re willing to share that bed with me, even though I promise to keep my hands to myself. I’d never take advantage of you, especially when you’re ill. This is the only other option.”

“No, it’s not. You can leave. I told you, a sitter isn’t necessary.”

“I know you did, but staying with you is my need. I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I left. I’d be up worrying and pacing all night.”

“Why is it your need? You’re making no sense.”

“I’m making perfect sense. Before things got off course, you and I were about to commit, Jessamy. I’m not letting that go. As your man, it’s my responsibility and desire to look out for you when you’re sick. That’s what I’m doing. And you can save your breath arguing because it won’t work. Go to sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Without another word, I stood and bent over to kiss her. I didn’t make it overly intense since we couldn’t appease the ache it caused, but I let her know I was all for her. Breaking it reluctantly, I snapped off the lamp after tucking the blanket higher up on her and sat back in the chair again. I stretched my legs out in front of me and let my intertwined fingers rest on my stomach. There was enough light coming through the blinds from the outside security lights that I could see her watching me. Her expression wasn’t clear enough to read. After a long minute or two, she sighed and rolled onto her side. I smirked. The first scrimmage was won, and only God knows how many more were to come, but I was determined to be the winner of the war. Jessamy was mine.