He’d taken the Neuroprofin, and we waited a few minutes until I was sure it was kicking in. I hoped like hell it would take some of the edge off, but I wasn’t confident it would do much. I’d asked him if he wanted something stronger, but he’d declined, saying he couldn’t risk being under the influence of anything for the demonstration later.
So, all my perfect baby had to help him manage the pain were over-the-counter painkillers and my belt between his teeth.
“Open up,” I murmured, folding my belt in half and gently placing it between his lips. He bit down on the soft leather, and I tried not to cringe at the fact that I was about to basically torture the man I was pretty sure I was falling in love with.
Strapping his arms into the retractable stirrups that normally sat unused beneath the chair, I resisted the urge to place a small kiss on the inside of his wrist, not wanting to touch him until it was absolutely necessary.
I’d retrieved the first-aid kit that was standard issue for all Neurovance labs and used some antiseptic and a cotton swab to disinfect Milo’s arm. Even with the cotton between us, he winced. My stomach bottomed out at the look of pain on his face as I gently cleansed his soft skin.
We had surgical kits as well, as earlier versions of the extractor had needed small implants to operate properly. When I’d first started working on the extractor with my father, the process had been much more invasive, so this wouldn’t be my first time performing minor surgery to extract tech from a person.
Itwouldbe my first time hurting someone like this, though.
Snapping on a pair of latex gloves, I pulled out a scalpel and slipped it out of its disposable wrapper.
Milo looked up at me with those big, trusting eyes that always seemed almost cartoonishly large behind his glasses.
He couldn’t speak with my belt clenched between his teeth, but he didn’t need to.
I could see everything he wanted to say to me on his face.
You can do this.
I trust you.
It’s going to be okay.
Biting the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted blood, I nodded.
“Alright. I’m just… going to do it.”
He nodded, and I took a deep breath, turning my attention to the small, offensive bump in his arm.
Only allowing myself a few extra moments to hype myself up, I reached out and wrapped my gloved left hand around the inside ofhis elbow to hold him steady, and he immediately stiffened beneath my touch.
He let out a horrible, keening whine as the chip fired off, lighting his body up with pain, and his head slammed back into the chair as he seized.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!
Instinct had me wanting to rip my hand away, but I knew if I did, I would just need to touch him again and hurt him more anyway.
I had to push through this. I just needed to do this as quickly as fucking possible and get it over with.
“I know, baby, I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” I rasped, gripping him tighter as I tried to hold his arm as still as possible while his body seized and shook uncontrollably in the chair.
Quickly, I pressed the tip of the scalpel against the tiny lump in his arm, and heshriekedinto the belt.
I was sweating, and bile rose up my throat as his flesh split beneath my blade, spilling bright red blood in vicious streams down his pale skin.
“You’re doing so well, baby. Almost done. Almost done…” I choked as he continued to scream into the belt.
I glanced up briefly, only to quickly look away again at the sight of all the veins straining in his normally smooth, delicate throat.
Tears welled behind my eyes, and I forced myself to focus on what I was doing.
Once I’d split his skin enough to see the device, I pressed down on either side of the incision to expose it further. It was a tiny, metal rectangle with four prongs on each side that curled into the raw muscle of his arm. These were definitely tiny neurotransmitters, sending signals through his nervous system to hurt him.
“Fuck,”I hissed. “Baby, I need to pull this out. Just breathe for me. Almost done.”
