Chapter 4
BANE
“Bane. Bane. Wake up,” a voice above me says.
I blink my eyelids open and groan, my head throbbing. Everything comes flooding back to me, and regret sours my stomach.
Damn Henry. He was a good fuck, but not worth the trouble.
“Bane, hey, you okay?”
It’s Kit, his red hair falling over his freckled cheeks.
“Mmph,” I say as I try to sit up, only to end up falling once more.
“Shit. You’re really hurt,” Kit says, sounding slightly panicked. I see him pull out his phone, and then he swears when he realizes he can’t make calls down here. I have a secret hotspot that allows me to do so, but I don’t let people connect to it.
“Fuck. I’ll be back,” he says, and then an indeterminate amount of time passes before a gruff voice wakes me.
“Get him upstairs,” Anthony bites out. I feel hands on me, lifting me, and I curl into the strong, protective chest.
“I can walk,” I murmur as I’m hefted and jostled, and I peer up to see it’s Teddy who’s carrying me.
“Who did this?” Anthony asks, his face drawn with worry. No one usually worries about me. Only Agatha. But fuck, Anthony cares.
I shouldn’t be this surprised that he cares.
“It was Henry.”
“How the fuck did he get in?” Anthony growls. “How the fuck did he get in here?”
“He stole Virgin,” I murmur. “Henry took her.”
“Who the fuck is Virgina?”
“Virgin,” I correct, and Anthony nearly shouts.
“Fuck this. Virgin. Virginia. I don’t give a shit! Get everyone outside. I want you to fucking find them. Find out how he got in and then secure it. God fucking dammit!”
Anthony’s voice trails off as Teddy carries me through the tunnels and back inside the house. I’m set gently on a bed as Agatha rushes in, her eyes narrowed in worry.
“What did they do to you, little bug?” she asks, and I let her touch my face gently. “Who did this to you?”
“Henry,” I murmur, and Agatha’s eyes grow stormy.
“I’m going to poison him,” she hisses, and that just warms my broken heart. I’ve always wondered how many people she’s killed in her free time. I bet it’s more than we realize.
Kit appears next to me as Doc rounds the corner into the room.
“Hello, sexy,” I rasp, and Doc shakes his head.
“No flirting when you’re injured,” he replies. “Let me take a look.”
I sigh as he runs his hand across my face, taking in the injuries that Henry stamped onto me. He got my cheek real good and my head aches, but what’s worse is my ego. He stomped that to bits.
“Nothing seems broken, but you have a concussion,” Doc says as he shines a light into my eyes. “You’re going to need to be watched for the time being.”
“And cuddled,” I add, and Doc huffs a laugh.
“All right. And cuddled. I’ll stay with you for a few hours to monitor you.”
I shuffle over with a grunt and then pat the space next to me.
“I’m ready to be monitored.”
“I can do that from the chair over there,” Doc says, but I pout intensely enough that he ends up kicking off his shoes and sitting in bed next to me.
“You’re a mess,” Doc says as I snuggle up next to him.
“I’m the most beautiful mess. At least that’s what someone once told me.”
Doc huffs as he pats my back gently.
“All right. Get some rest. I’ll make sure you don’t die.”
“Thank you. I’m not ready to die. Not until I find Henry and peel the skin from his body.”
Doc huffs his approval, and I let my eyes shut, my head throbbing as I try to find some peace. But all of it comes rushing back in heavy waves. Henry. The way he fooled me. How stupid I was.
You’re just a fucking waste.
Useless piece of shit.
My eyes water, and I sniffle loudly, making Doc stiffen beneath me. I must have wiggled right on top of him in my effort to find some comfort from my past demons.
“Why are you crying?” Doc asks softly. “Is it the pain level? Do I need to adjust your meds?”
I shake my head, wiping my teary eyes on his shirt, knowing I’m making a mess of him. But he’s a doctor. He shouldn’t care about bodily fluids.
Unlike Georgiy, who is always so neat. He never likes a mess.
Where is he now?
Maybe I should tell him what happened. He must care. He put a trademark on my ass. That has to mean something.
“I’m okay. Been through worse. Just upset about Henry.”
“Hey, you couldn’t have known,” he says, squeezing me gently. And that’s when I hear it. A throat clearing. A slight growl. Feral, unhinged.
I push up slightly and gasp when I see Georgiy standing in the doorway, looking murderous.
“Oh. Hi,” I breathe, my pulse thundering in my neck as Doc pats my back.
“Seems I have a replacement,” he murmurs, shuffling out from beneath me and standing up. Georgiy doesn’t take his eyes off me, something dark and threatening moving through those depths.
I feel my cock perk up at how lethal he looks.
Oh yes, he’s here. He’s fucking here.
I sniffle loudly, and Georgiy takes a step toward me, moving past Doc without even acknowledging him.
“What happened?” he asks no one in particular.
I hear Doc give him a quick rundown before he leaves, and Georgiy pulls up a chair next to my bed and sinks into it. He looks impeccable. Dark suit, perfectly ironed, not a hair out of place, his face hard and stoic. Like some kind of gothic creature standing sentry in a graveyard.
A Grim Reaper.
“Like Doc said, I’m fine. Just feeling stupid. I can’t believe he got in and took her. Right under my nose.”
Georgiy’s nostrils flare, but he doesn’t say a word.
“Who did he take?”
“A girl named Virgin. Said she was a bartender, but she must be more than that. She fooled me. Just like he did.”
“He hurt you very badly,” he finally remarks, and I sigh.
“Mostly my ego. I’m resilient, though. It’s nothing I haven’t experienced before.”
His jaw clicks. “I see.”
I wiggle a little on the bed, my head throbbing from the movement. “I mean, I told you about my past. It’s not rocket science.”
His eyes narrow, and I bite down on my bottom lip in concentration. I can’t fucking read him. Never know what he’s thinking.
It drives me crazy.
I have no idea how he feels, what is spinning around in his mind. Where I’m an open book, he’s a locked grimoire.
“And this was Henry? Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” I say. I want him to reach out and touch me, but he doesn’t. He just folds his hands in his lap and continues to watch me
It seems I’ve disappointed him, too. I let a bad man into the safe haven Anthony built, and it’s no longer secure.
You’re down here because that’s what you deserve.
“All right,” he says and then reaches for his bag. “I’m going to check you over myself.”
My heart thunders in my chest as I process this. Oh, this means he cares. It must. The tattoo on my ass and now this.
“Doc already did,” I reply, pretending to protest, but he could flip me over and spank me, and I’d ask for more. I want anything he’ll give me. Like a desperate dog with a bone.
I should feel ashamed, but I’m not.
It’s who I am.
I crave it.
“Irrelevant. I want to see for myself.” His eyes sweep over me. “Clothes off. Actually, no. I will remove them.”
In a matter of minutes, I’m naked, my head spinning from the speed at which he cut the fabric from my body. He uses a scalpel, slow and with a steady hand. But it’s enough to have me vibrating with need. So much so that my teeth clatter and my body aches.
With a groan, I flop down on the pillow as Georgiy stands over me, his cool fingers settling on my abdomen and pressing on it gently.
“Oh yes, more of that please,” I murmur as he trails his fingers over my stomach, making my skin erupt in goosebumps.
My cock is rock hard just from him taking an interest. It wants to be touched, stroked, but of course he ignores it.
Instead, he puts his stethoscope in his ears and listens to my heart and lungs.
His eyebrows are furrowed, probably wondering why my heart is pounding a mile a minute. He has to know it’s him.
I have the biggest crush.
Obsession doesn’t even begin to describe it.
“Your heart and lungs are fine.”
He pulls a penlight from his jacket pocket and shines it in my eyes, looking at my pupils.
“Dilated pupils. Uneven. Signs of a concussion.”
Duh, I think, but I don’t say that. I want him to keep looking at me, looking at me like I matter.
“You should check my dick, too. Make sure it’s okay.”
He huffs, but ignores me and pushes his fingers through my hair, checking my scalp for any abrasions. But the only part of me really injured is the side of my face that Henry stomped on. I’m no stranger to pain, but damn, he got me good.
“Everything else is okay,” he murmurs and then sits back. His eyes move over my body, stopping for a moment on my dick. He wets his lips, and I feel my length jerk from the admiration. What I would give to have him wrap that mouth around me.
Just once.
“Am I going to live, Georgiy?” I ask breathlessly.
“Yes. You’ll make a full recovery.”
He reaches into his bag once more and pulls out a latex glove, snapping it on.
“Now I have something else I need to check. Spread your legs.”
I moan loudly, and his eyes flick up to meet mine. Something sinister sparks in those dark depths as my thighs flop open.
“Not a fucking sound,” he growls as he grabs a container of lube from his bag and smears it on his fingers.
“Hands above your head. You know the rules. No touching.”
His eyes move down to my groin, his palm pushing down on my thigh and spreading me open even further, almost to the point of pain.
He points his chin down, and his eyelids droop slightly.
And then two of his fingers push into my ass, making my mouth open in surprise.
Oh yes, fuck a duck, that feels nice.
I bite my bottom lip to keep my moans inside, but it’s hard when I want to scream. I want to beg. I have no shame when it comes to him.