Chapter Eighteen
He was so done with being in the hospital. A day and a half of doing nothing but watching television and lying in bed was about all he could handle. But he wasn’t well enough to leave yet. Not until the poison wore off and he could shift.
The doctor called it their goal, as if they were experiencing it together. He was pretty sure the doctor had been nowhere nearby when Giant Dickwad beat the shit out of him. Fucking bastard.
Griffin raised his eyebrows when Toby growled. “What’s going through your pretty head, baby?”
Toby huffed. “You’re the pretty one. Not me. And don’t disagree. I’m in a shit mood.”
Griffin had the nerve to chuckle. He stood and closed the distance, sitting on the side of Toby’s bed instead.
Toby raised his eyebrows when Griffin boxed him in.
Griffin smiled in the way he did when he thought Toby had done something cute.
Toby rolled his eyes, but he really wasn’t annoyed. He loved it when Griffin looked at him like that. “You’re one of those people who like punishments, aren’t you?”
“You mean a masochist?” Griffin grinned.
Toby shrugged and averted his gaze. “I don’t want my bad mood to rub off on you.”
Griffin raised his eyebrows and leaned forward. He kissed Toby, keeping it just a press of lips. “Hold on to me around my neck, baby.”
Toby did as Griffin said.
Griffin lifted Toby off the bed, taking the blankets with them. He even grabbed Toby’s IV pole.
Griffin carried him across the room to an uncomfortable recliner chair. It had wheels and stretched out. Griffin had slept on it two nights in a row so far. As painful as the chair was, Griffin hadn’t complained once, and he refused to go home for the night.
“I’m not leaving you,” he’d said, and he hadn’t. He even used the bathroom in Toby’s hospital room, which Toby was pretty sure the nursing staff didn’t want him to do.
“Are you in any pain, baby?” The blankets covered them from neck to feet. They probably pooled on the floor around the base of the chair a bit, too, although Toby was too comfy lying against Griffin’s wide chest to find out for sure.
“Not even a little.” His lack of pain was partly because of the pain meds. But Toby had needed them less and less. He was sure he was healing a little faster than he had before. And last night, he thought he had dreamed about his fangs dropping. The dream seemed real.
“That’s good because I think what you really need is to relax.” Griffin pulled the blanket up around his shoulder, creating a tent around them.
“I feel relaxed.” And Toby was, but he still wanted out of the hospital.
As soon as possible would be preferable, but he understood the doctor’s reasoning for not releasing him.
What if the poison left him with half of himself missing in the darkness?
Or, gods forbid, the poison causes some other situation in his body.
But understanding why didn’t make lying around any easier.
“No. I mean really relaxed.” Griffin pulled out a bottle of lube seemingly from his ass because where else could it have come from?
It was in a similar type of bottle as the other toiletries in the wash basin.
Toby had washed his body but not his hair yet because of the concussion.
He hoped he’d be able to soon. “I snooped around when they wheeled you out for testing yesterday and found this.”
Toby met Griffin’s gaze and nodded. “Okay. Yes. I want to. Whatever you want. Of course.”
“Help me squirt some onto my hand.”
Toby fumbled to get his hands above the blanket, but he did as Griffin said. He winced when the bottle made a farting noise. The last thing he wanted was for the nurse to come in and catch them. How embarrassing that would be.
But then all thoughts went out of Toby’s head when Griffin snaked his hand under the covers. Toby did the same. He moved his hospital gown, giving Griffin easier access to Toby’s cock. Griffin’s slick hand wrapped around his shaft. He moaned.
Griffin’s strokes were slow and lazy. He took his time, studying Toby’s reaction. Griffin was probably making sure Toby stayed pain-free.
Toby couldn’t remember the last time he had jacked off. It wasn’t in the last few days. That was for sure. No one had ever done it for him before.
Griffin played with the head, running his thumb over it, coating it with lube. “Is this still okay?”
Toby nodded. He knew the nod was frantic, but he just didn’t want Griffin to stop. That would be almost as bad as someone catching them. “Don’t stop. Please.”
“Not going to.”
Toby could feel Griffin’s hard length against his ass cheek.
Even through Griffin’s jeans, feeling it made Toby’s hole flutter.
He wanted it inside him, but he knew Griffin wouldn’t do it until after Toby healed.
Griffin would never do anything to hurt Toby, even if it meant sacrificing his own pleasure.
The moment was more intimate without penetrative sex in some ways, although Griffin could make every sexual experience feel special. They could be the only two people in the world. Nothing else mattered but their time together.
Toby put his hand around Griffin’s, wanting to feel the movement. He tried to keep his hips still, but they had a mind of their own. He pushed into it as much as his stomach injury and his position would allow.
Griffin tightened his hold just enough to make Toby’s body tingle. His orgasm built in his core, getting ready to crescendo.
When it happened, Toby forgot to give Griffin any warning, but Griffin must have known because he kissed Toby, quieting his moaning.
Toby didn’t stop moaning or panting even after it was over. His body felt liquid. He was a puddle on Griffin’s lap. He probably wore a goofy smile, but he didn’t care.
He shut his eyes. “I want to touch you, too.”
“Later. When you’re feeling better.” Griffin grabbed some tissue from the box on Toby’s tray table and wiped his hand. “Sleep now, baby. When you wake up, we’ll try giving you some of my blood and see if it helps get rid of the poison.”
“Why can’t we do it now?”
“Because I don’t have anything to cut myself with, and you don’t have fangs.”
But Toby was sure he’d had them last night. “It will start the bonding process if I take your blood.”
“I know. Unless you don’t want to bond.”
“I do.” Toby’s cock jumped in a valiant attempt at getting hard just thinking about sex with Griffin. “I want to bond. So very much.”
Griffin laid his cheek on the top of Toby’s head. “Let’s rest, and then we’ll talk about it.”
Toby yawned. “I wish we could go home and make love there instead of here in a hospital room.”
“I’ve already talked to the doctor. She said my blood might help. But she still wanted to keep you here.”
“I’m still on board with bonding.”
A comfortable silence fell between them.
The only thing he heard was the sound of the television, which he hadn’t been paying attention to but had been on for the duration of his stay.
It was just background noise. The sun streamed through the window, hitting Toby’s face.
He hadn’t been outside since the paramedics had brought him to the hospital. He missed the fresh mountain air.
“Thank you. Not just for… you know. But for staying, too.”
“I don’t know if you realized this yet, but you’re not alone anymore.”
Emotion lodged in his throat. He’d been going through life by himself since his father died. Sometimes he thought he would always be alone. He really didn’t know how to rely on someone else, but he was learning.