Chapter 23
23
Malik
I couldn’t believe I’d fucking agreed to this. I blamed it on my dick. I always agreed to stupid shit when my dick was hard.
I blew out a soft, nervous breath as I watched Rurik sterilize the needle he would use to pierce my ear. He had alcohol wipes set out along with some kind of saline spray that he said I would need to use for a few weeks while my piercing healed. And sitting on the nightstand was the earring that would go in my ear—an R with tiny, glittering diamonds.
When he’d said he was marking me, he hadn’t been fucking joking. While I’d been napping after taking more pain pills earlier, he’d apparently gone out and gotten all this shit. When I’d woken up, he’d been sitting in a chair beside my bed, his eyes on his phone. But he knew the moment I woke up because he’d set that phone aside and gave me his undivided attention, only asking one thing: “You ready?”
No… No, I was, in fact, not fucking ready to be goddamn stabbed in my fucking ear.
“Do you even know what you’re doing?’ I asked, frowning at him, tension bubbling in my gut. “Have you ever pierced someone before?”
“Nope,” he said, even going as far as popping the P. And while that freaked me out a little, I also refused to look too closely at the relief that flooded me. While I was a bit terrified of being pierced by someone that had never pierced someone before, I was also happy that he’d never touched anyone else like that.
He had me all fucked up… and dammit, I didn’t hate it.
He turned to face me, and I sucked in a sharp breath when he suddenly straddled my thighs, though he didn’t sit down. Instead, he gripped my chin with his free hand and turned my head so my right ear was facing him. I gripped his thigh with my one good hand and blew out a soft breath, hoping it would calm me.
It didn’t.
“I swear to fuck, Rurik, you better know what you’re doing,” I muttered.
He didn’t answer me. I listened as he tore open an alcohol wipe and began to sanitize my ear. Then, he was gripping my earlobe. My fingers tightened on his thighs, my grip no doubt leaving bruises. But I couldn’t bring myself to care. He was about to stab me with a fucking needle, after all.
“On three,” he told me. “One. Two.”
“ Fuck !” I barked when he stabbed the needle through my earlobe. “What the fuck happened to three?!” I shouted at him as he slid the earring into the hole he’d put through my flesh.
“You would’ve tensed,” he said as if I was overreacting. I growled at him as I glared at the floor. He cleaned my ear and stepped back, a dark gleam glittering in his blue eyes as I turned my head to face him. “Fuck, you look hot as fuck, Malik.”
I reached up to touch the earring in my ear, and my heart jolted all while my cock thickened. Before I could open my mouth to say anything, I suddenly heard my mom shouting from downstairs. My face paled a little.
“Oh, fuck,” I whispered, that sense of calm I’d found immediately leaving me. She sounded angry .
Rurik chuckled. “Man up, baby, and go face her. You’re the one who hasn’t called her. You think when you went silent for days, she wouldn’t find out what happened?”
“Malik fucking Quinn Carter!” Mom bellowed, calling me by my full name. I winced. Yeah, she was pissed alright. “You get your ass down these stairs right now !”
Sighing, I stood from the bed, hurrying to the door. Steeling myself, I made my way downstairs. Mom was standing in the middle of the main area, her hands on her hips as she glared at me. I grimaced.
“Hi, Mom.”
“ Hi, Mom ?” she echoed, her voice shrill as she raked her eyes over me, taking in my arm, which was in a sling. I hated the damn thing, but Rurik forced me to wear it when I was awake because otherwise, I moved my arm too much for his tastes. “That’s all you’ve got to fucking say to me after getting shot ?!” she shouted. “I think you took twenty damn years off my life, boy!”
I sighed and reached up to scrub a hand down my face. “Ma, I’m sorry. To be honest, I’ve been kind of out of it. The hospital kept me doped up, and the pain meds keep me really tired.”
“I don’t give a single fuck,” she snapped. “I should not have found out you were shot from Rurik.”
I spun around to face the traitor in question, who had one shoulder propped against the wall at the bottom of the stairs, his hands shoved into the pockets of his perfectly pressed slacks. His lips quirked in amusement at my glare. “What, baby?”
“Oh, you fucking asshole ,” I growled.
His eyes lit up at my rage. “What? She called me asking if you were okay when you didn’t answer her calls. Did you think I would lie to my future mother-in-law?”
“Future mother-in-law?” I spluttered, my mind fucking spinning. “What the fuck , Rurik?”
He snorted. “You thought I put a chain around your neck, a tracker in your lock, and a piercing through your ear without every intention of turning you into a Tarasov, Malik? Sorely mistaken if you thought that, baby.”
I shook my head and stormed toward the bar. “I need a fucking drink.”
“Oh, no, you don’t,” Mom snapped, jabbing her finger in my direction, making me halt in reaching for a Vodka bottle. I scowled down at the bar counter, feeling like I was crawling out of my skin. “One, you are on parole, Malik.” I sighed. Rurik would never allow me to get carted back to prison, especially not over something as stupid as drinking, but I didn’t dare open my mouth to argue with her. “And you’re on pain pills, boy.”
“Listen to your mom,” Rurik taunted. For a brief moment, I thought about punching him in his face.
Instead, I pointed a finger at him. “Shut the fuck up,” I growled. My head was spinning, and my shoulder was throbbing. My goddamn chest was aching. I drew in a deep breath, trying to steady myself. “I’ll deal with you in a minute.” Turning to Mom, I blew out that same breath I’d just sucked into my lungs. “I’m sorry, Ma. And I mean that. I really am.” I leaned heavily on the counter, suddenly extremely tired and just wanting a goddamn nap. “Fuck.”
Mom was suddenly in front of me, and she gently led me to a chair to sit down. She pressed her fingers to my forehead. “You’re sweating, Malik.”
“Just not feeling good,” I told her honestly. I was in pain and tired and all of this was too much to handle.
“Here.” Rurik appeared behind her, holding a bottle of water and one of my oxys. “You’re due for pain meds.”
“They make me loopy, and Mom is here,” I told him, shaking my head. “I’ll take it later.”
“You’ll take it now,” Mom snapped at me before Rurik could open his mouth to probably tell me the same. Or force the pill down my throat. Who knew what choice he’d make. “The least you can do for me after scaring me half to death is take your medication and not be in pain. You’ll heal much faster if you keep your pain levels under control.”
I sighed. “Fine,” I grumbled, opening my mouth so Rurik could plop the pill in my mouth. Mom moved aside, and Rurik cradled the back of my head, holding the water to my lips. Once I had the pill down, he moved away again.
Mom ran her hand over my hair, her features softening. “You go on back upstairs and get some rest,” she told me, her voice much calmer now. “But—and hear me fucking clear, son—” she leaned in close to me, our noses almost brushing and making me go cross-eyed as I tried to focus on her, “if you get injured again and I have to hear about it from someone else other than you, I will take a belt to your ass.”
I gaped at her. “I’m an adult.”
She scoffed. “Then act like one, Malik.”
“Daaaamn, Mama Carter is a beast,” Malachi said, whistling low.
My mom swung her hard gaze to him, and he cringed. “Malachi,” she said calmly, and he looked at her, “shut your mouth, or I’ll take a belt to your ass, too.”
He nodded once, not daring to argue with her. “Yes, ma’am.”
Mom kissed my cheek. “Go upstairs,” she told me, her voice soft and soothing. “I’ll be back later tonight with your favorite casserole.” She looked at Rurik as I stood and wrapped my one arm around her in a hug. Immediately, she enveloped me in her embrace. “Take care of my son, Rurik.”
He nodded at her. “Always,” he promised her. He held his hand out to me once I released her. “Come on, baby. Upstairs.”
“I still haven’t forgotten about your mother-in-law comment,” I muttered as I gave him my hand, the pain medicine already making me sleepy and unsteady on my feet. I did not do good on narcotics.
He hummed. “Be mad about it all you want, Shadow. Just remember, I’ve got all the patience in the world when it comes to you, and I always get my way.”