Twenty-Nine
I was woken the next morning, after a fitful night of regularly waking because of random noises around the ward, and freakish dreams that I didn’t even want to think about.
What woke me though? A warm hand suddenly grasping mine, and one word…
“Woman…”
My eyes popped open, and blurred briefly, before they settled on a face I never thought I’d see again. He was really here. Alive, and here with me!
“Reacher…” My voice was barely a croak, and his face tightened angrily, as he took in the bruising on my face, and throat.
“I’m so sorry, woman. I fucking failed you.”
I took in his appearance, now that my vision was clear. He looked worn out, paler than normal, his beard was even more grizzly than normal, and he was leaning on the bed a little more heavily than he normally would.
“Sit, please.” He moved slowly around the bed, and dropped with a heavy sigh into the chair beside me, taking my other hand.
“I was so scared,” I blurted, watching his face fall.
“I’m so sorry. You should never have been in danger like that, should have never been within that bastard’s reach. I talk up a big game, but I let you down.”
“Jesus, will you shut up?”
He frowned and glared at the same time, which was pretty impressive, and made me smile.
“I meant I was so scared because they told me you were dead. I didn’t want to live without you.”
He cursed, leaning closer to press his lips against my hand, his beard tickling my skin.
“He’s gonna pay for that, woman.”
“I don’t understand what happened to get me away from him, but I’m grateful. More than that, I’m so fucking relieved that you’re alive. You’re a fucking asshole for scaring me like that.”
His eyes widened. “Damn, woman, I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“I guess you’re gonna have to avoid sex and stuff now, being old and weakened.”
His grip tightened on my hand.
“Don’t fucking push me right now. You’re right that I’m weakened right now, and you’re not up to it, but make no mistake…” He stood up to tower over me.
“When you are… you’re getting fucked, and I’m not going easy on you.”
“Oh my god!” A nurse covered her face, and let out a heavy sigh. Oh god. As soon as she uncovered her face, Reacher cursed.
“Jesus, we keep doing this to you, nurse, I’m so sorry.”
She shook her head wearily.
“I should learn to check if you’re in a room before I risk going inside.”
I desperately wanted to know what that was all about, but I also wanted exactly what he’d described, even though my body was aching and sore, and exhausted.
“How soon before I can take her home, nurse?”
I stared at Reacher, drinking my fill of the sight of him, still finding it hard to believe that he was right beside me, alive and well. Mostly well.
“Sure you shouldn’t sit down again, old man?”
He smirked at me.
“You’ll pay for that, woman. So, nurse… what’s happening?”
She sighed heavily, her cheeks still a little pink.
“You’re just impatient in general, aren’t you? I thought it was just you being fed up with being stuck in a bed on the ward… you realise that you’re supposed to be resting too?”
“You’re from the cardiac ward? Am I… did I…” Hell, was there something wrong there too?
She smiled gently at me. “I’m moved around as needed, and lucky for me, I seem to be following Mr Reacher around. Now, the doctor will be in shortly to check on you, so please feel free to pepper him with questions when he does.”
After she left, I looked at Reacher again, taking in every detail of him once more, just because I could. His intense eyes, those studs in his eyebrow, the wide smile as he watched me watching him.
“What did you do to that poor nurse?”
He laughed. “She has a habit of walking in at really inconvenient times, that’s all. She also has the hots for Stitch, but then, don’t most women?”
I shook my head. “Nope. Some of us like our men older and uh… kinda grizzly.”
“I’m not fucking grizzly!”
“That’s the only one you’re denying?”
Reacher
I didn’t mind the sassing, and the jokes, because it all proved to me that she was doing okay. I was still fully planning to fuck all that sass out of her, as soon as my body didn’t feel like it’d been hit by a ton of bricks.
“Woman, just keep pushing me. I’m keeping count.”
She sighed, squeezing my hand.
“Please do, Reacher. God, I can’t believe how much I missed you, missed this.”
I couldn’t believe how well she looked for having been kidnapped and stabbed, but that voice in the back of my mind kept trying to push me to ask her things. Like what they’d done to her. If that bastard had fucking touched her. Had she been raped? I had no idea. I didn’t want to know, but I also needed to know, because I had to take that fucker apart, and if he’d done anything like that to her, I wanted to make sure I made him pay with every scream, and every moment he spent begging for death.
“Reacher?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you trying to break my hand now too?”
I blinked, staring at the tight grip I had on her, forcing my hand to loosen on hers.
“Jesus, sorry.”
“What’s on your mind, old man?”
Hell… I’m just gonna have to ask.
“Did he… uh… did he, you know… hurt you?”
She swallowed hard, staring at me.
“I was stabbed, but I’m not even sure that was him. One of his guys was coming at me with a knife, and…”
She frowned, thinking back, blinking rapidly with the memory.
“Raoul tackled him, to try and stop him from raping me, and he fell on me with the knife.”
It sounded like a b-movie storyline.
“Fucker…”
“Reacher… I… I know what you’re wondering, and I don’t think so, but he did choke me out, so I’m not… I don’t remember…”
“Fuck! I’ll kill him, I’m gonna tear his fucking spine out!”
She slapped at my hand.
“Will you calm the hell down? Don’t go keeling over on me, old man! I woke up covered in his… Jesus… his cum, so I don’t think he did anything other than jerking off over me.”
I felt so many things at once. Anger, no pure black rage. Pain, because she should never have been in his grasp. A deep possessive fury, because she was MINE, and he had no right to put any filthy part of him near her.
“Reacher, look at me, dammit.”
I met her eyes, but I could feel all of these things overwhelming me, and I knew she could see it, feel it.
“Please, don’t make yourself ill. I need you, Reacher. I joke, of course I do, because I know you enjoy it, but honestly, I… I love you, and I can’t lose you.”
My breath rushed out of me at her words, at the reminder of her love. At the fact that she accepted me for the train wreck that I was.
I took a deep breath, sitting beside her once more.
“Can’t wait to get you out of here, and show you just how fucking much I love you, woman.”
Her eyes closed, and she sighed.
“Except your club doesn’t want me, remember? I’m persona non grata with your brothers, and with good reason. I probably caused Ice to get injured, and I forced more contact and threat from the cartel when I got myself kidnapped. I nearly killed you!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. The cartel needed to be taken down, and it would have happened either way. The fact that I wasn’t there when we went in, that part is fucking killing me.”
“I… the club went in?”
I stared at her in wonder. Where the fuck does her head go sometimes? She really thought we’d just leave her in their hands?
“Of course the club fucking went in. You were taken by those bastards, and we weren’t about to leave you there!”
“But they hate me.”
Jesus Christ. “Can you just shut your mouth for a few minutes and listen? I can’t silence you with my dick right now, but just pretend it’s there, filling that sassy mouth, and rendering you quiet.”
She glared at me, but clamped her mouth shut, and I wished… fucking wished … those lips really were around my dick.
“As soon as we knew you were missing, and I’d had my little ‘event’, the rest of the club were on the case, starting with Stitch bullying the hospital security staff into letting him see their security camera footage. Once we knew who’d taken you, it was just a matter of tracking them down, and that’s where our uh… allies… came in handy again.”
Her eyes widened. “Not…”
“Yeah… fucking mafia. Honestly, right now they’re being really helpful, but god only knows what they’re gonna want in return at some point. Surely the goodwill for keeping Tori safe has worn off by now.”
“So… so you must have really wanted me back, huh?”
Her face was sly, and it made my poor dick twitch, even though he couldn’t manage more than that right now.
“Yes, woman. Obviously.”
She eyed me, licking her lips.
“Probably need me to help you at home, right? Like helping you to the bathroom, and stuff… old man…”
Jesus . “Still keeping count, woman.”