Chapter 2 Pagan
My head was foggy as I tried to blink, groaning when I felt pressure in my head, chest, and left leg. It fucking hurt like a son of a bitch. Everything throbbed and ached like I’d just been plucked from my bike and slammed into the ground by some invisible force.
Fuck. My Harley.
My ears rang as I blinked, coughing as I tried to move.
“Hey, don’t do that,” a sexy female voice ordered. “I’ve got my fingers pressing down on your artery. I don’t want you to bleed out.”
What? Shit!
I turned my head and spotted the sexy brunette I’d met an hour earlier and helped load a heavy box into the back of her SUV. How the hell did she end up at the same intersection at the exact time I did?
A wave of nausea flooded my gut, and I leaned my head back, hoping like hell I didn’t die with her fingers pressing on my thigh. “Fuck,” I spat as my vision tunneled.
This wasn’t good. I was losing too much blood.
“My bike,” I managed to say, wondering if it was totaled. I fucking loved my Harley. I just picked it up after a custom paint job only a few months earlier. The motherfucker who hit me would pay for this.
“You’re worried about your bike?” She sounded flustered.
“What’s your name, gorgeous?” I asked, noticing my words had slurred. I was getting tired and fading fast. Exhaustion pressed in. I struggled to keep my eyes open.
“Hey!” She patted my cheek. “Stay with me, Pagan.”
The pressure on my leg increased. I ignored it as I stared into her pretty blue eyes filled with alarm. “Your name.”
“Snooki,” she blurted. “That’s so not important right now.”
“It is to me,” I argued. My eyes closed, and some of the tension and pain left my body. I felt a sharp prick in my arm.
What was happening? I wasn’t sure if I asked out loud or only thought about it.
“An IV,” Snooki explained. “You’re going to be okay, Pagan.”
That was the last thing I heard before I got pulled under into blissful, pain-free dreams. The best part? A sweet, sexy brunette with blue eyes straddled my hips and fucked me like a goddamn porn star.
Sometime later, I slowly returned to awareness. The first thing I noticed was the consistent beeping from a machine close to the bed I was resting on. Then the clean, sterile scent of a hospital room. When I tried to move, every fucking muscle in my body ached.
A groan slipped from my mouth as I blinked, struggling to open my eyes. It was dark outside. I could see through the partially open window where the blinds weren’t completely lowered. My gaze swept the room and landed on Snooki.
She leaned forward, holding my hand as I caught her worried, concerned expression. “Hey there, big guy.”
“Snooki.”
“Ah, so you do remember my name.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked, tensing as my head throbbed and I closed my eyes again. Fuck. I was still exhausted.
“You were sort of out of it after the accident,” she explained.
I grunted, too distracted by the tight feeling in my chest and along my ribcage. Did I crack a few ribs? Sure felt like it.
“Are you in a lot of pain? We can call the nurse and get more meds into you.”
No. I hated feeling like I couldn’t think on my own or didn’t have control. Heavy medication dulled the senses, and I didn’t plan on staying in a fucking hospital longer than necessary.
I moved and winced, sucking in a breath.
Fuck. Frustrated, I yanked on the hospital gown and managed to rip it off one shoulder, tugging the fabric down until I could see my chest. Fucking hell.
No wonder it felt so tender, and my lungs struggled to fill with air properly.
Bruising and discoloration covered my chest. “I’m gonna kill that fucker who hit me,” I growled.
“I don’t blame you for feeling that way, but I don’t think you’re going to find out who it was unless the police catch him. It was a hit and run,” Snooki explained.
“The fuck?” I asked with more force than I intended.
She flinched. Shit.
“Sorry. I’m just pissed.” I’d find that asshole as soon as I left the hospital. If the police couldn’t help, then I’d do it on my own.
“I know. It’s okay. I would be too.” She patted my hand, and I caught her stare as it lingered on my body, tracing the indentation of my abs until it slowly dragged higher to linger on my mouth.
“Still feeling neglected?” I asked, unable to help, returning to the one thing she said that I couldn’t seem to forget.
Air hissed from her lungs. “What?”
I ticked my chin at her, careful not to move my torso since every breath I took fucking hurt. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean.”
Her slim shoulders lifted in a shrug. “A conversation for another time when you’re not lying in front of death’s door.”
I snorted. “I’ve been through much worse, darlin’. Trust me.”
“Well, I can’t.” She pointed at me. “We don’t know each other. Just met. Remember?”
“Yeah, I remember.” How could I forget her killer smile or sexy as fuck ass as she flirted with me in the parking lot? This woman had no idea how much she already affected me. Snooki had power over me, and she didn’t have a clue.
Why? Because she was here. She fucking showed up. Stayed. Put her finger on my artery and kept me from bleeding out on the goddamn asphalt. She remained at my side while I slept and stuck around so I knew she was there when I woke up.
Who was this angel?
That fucking fast... she became my obsession.
“WHY DO YOU LOOK SO grumpy?” Snooki asked as she entered my room, visiting me for the fourth time in three days.
If I wasn’t having trouble breathing, I’d fucking walk out.
I almost forgot to answer her as I took in her tight jeans and the cropped shirt she wore that exposed her stomach.
Damn. I wish more curvy women showed off their fucking assets like that.
Snooki wasn’t shy about her body or wearing clothes that hugged every inch and drew my eye whenever she walked into the room.
The impulse to reach for her and drag her onto the bed with me was so strong that I only resisted because of my bruised torso.
“Tired of hospital food,” I grumbled, saying the only thing I could since my thoughts centered on her rockin’ body and that sweet smile she seemed to wear just for me.
Where have you been all my life, baby?
She snickered. “Well, what are they feeding you?”
I pointed to the covered tray nearby. “Slop.”
“Pagan.” She shook her head and lifted the lid, smirking when she saw yogurt, a salad, grapefruit, and half a hamburger that I managed to choke down. They fucking burned it.
If I wanted charcoal, I’d have asked for it.
“Leafy greens, dairy, and lean meats help promote healing,” she pointed out. “It’s a sensible meal. High nutrients.”
I stared at her like she had three heads. “Darlin’, they won’t have to worry about that because I’m gonna starve in here before I ever leave.”
To prove that point, my stomach chose that moment to rumble. Loud. I gestured to my belly.
“I see.” She tilted her head to the side and winked. “Why don’t I go see what I can find?”
“Any real food you can smuggle in, I’d be grateful.”
I planned to show her just how generous I could be as soon as I could convince her to straddle my face. I’d take the pressure on my ribs without complaint. She was worth it.
Snooki gave me a look like she knew what I was thinking. I probably didn’t hide the desire I felt for her. It had only multiplied since we met.
“I’ll be back soon,” she promised as she left the room, plunging me back into boredom the second the door shut behind her.
I tapped my fingers on my thigh, staring out the window of the hospital. My gaze lingered on the unfamiliar buildings outdoors, and I realized that I wasn’t in Tonopah. I should have figured that out before now, but I’d been drugged and in pain and fucking pissed I was stuck here.
There wasn’t a hospital in Tonopah. The town was too small. I knew that since this wasn’t my first trip through Nevada. I’d passed through dozens of times as I rode Hwy 95 and visited friends from the GBMC.
It was Grim I came to see, finally taking his offer to check out his clubhouse and meet the rest of the Tonopah Graven Bastards. I’d heard the rumors, and I couldn’t deny something was different about Grim and his club. Up to now, I hadn’t felt the nudge to stop at The Crossroads.
That changed when I heard he was looking for new members and prospects. Intrigued, I decided to ride into town and take a room at The Clown Motel. Mostly because scary shit was fucking fun. Lots of creepy clowns and a cemetery next door. Just the sort of distraction I needed.
But I never got to spend the night in the most haunted room in The Clown Motel. Pity. Maybe I could convince Snooki to stay there with me.
She sauntered into the room a short time later, carrying a tray from the cafeteria loaded down with something that smelled a hell of a lot better than the crap they were feeding me. I sat up straighter and ignored the pain that followed, focused on her and the tray she placed beside me.
“I’ve got a loaded cheeseburger, fries, pudding, chocolate milk, peanut butter crackers, and mixed fruit. It’s the best I could do.”
“It smells fucking fantastic. Give me that burger, darlin’.” I reached out, and she picked up the burger, unwrapped it for me, and placed it in my hands so I could eat without making a mess.
Too fucking adorable.
“You keep being this sweet, Snooki, and I won’t ever want to let you go.”
I wasn’t joking.
She hummed a reply, and I took a giant bite of my burger, unable to help the moan that escaped. It tasted so fucking good. She opened my chocolate milk and gave it to me. I finished my burger and chugged the milk as she handed over the fries, opening ketchup packets as I smirked at her.
“Baby, you’re too fucking cute.”
She paused. “Why?”
“Because no woman I ever met opened my condiments for me.” I’d probably have been insulted if it wasn’t for this situation. But then again, if I wasn’t busted up in a hospital room, she wouldn’t be trying to take care of me.
I sure liked the idea of her gettin’ fussy over me.
“I’m just a sweetheart. Remember?”
Yeah. I could see that from the moment we met.
“Feelin’ better now that you’ve got food in your belly?”
“I do.” I gestured to the tray. “What else have you got?”
“Chocolate pudding and fruit.” She popped the tops and handed them over with a spoon. “And the peanut butter and crackers.”
Christ. I could fall hard for this woman. A nomad like me, hardly putting down roots and preferring it that way, didn’t look too far beyond where I’d be next week. She made me want to consider my entire future.
I ate every scrap of food as she took the cup beside my bed and emptied it, refilling the big plastic cup with fresh water and ice. When she pushed it into my hand, I drank a good portion of it before she placed it within my reach.
“You’re the best nurse I ever had,” I joked.
She grinned.
“And the fucking sexiest.”
The corners of her lips twitched. “You say that to all the ladies?”
“Just the ones who save my life.”
Her features softened. “Any decent person would have done the same.”
Sadly, I didn’t agree. Met a lot of good people on the road, but more assholes than I cared to mention. “Well, I’m glad you were there.”
“Me too.”
I stared into her eyes and made a vow.
She was gonna be mine.