“I mean it when I say rest, okay? Don’t make me meet you at the hospital because you wouldn’t listen.”
She snickered. “I’ll do my best Doc.”
“That’s all I can ask.”
I expected her to kick me out of the bed once Doc closed the door behind him. So, I started to shift. I unraveled my arm from around her and pulled my leg out from between her gloriously comfortable thighs.
And to my shock, she grabbed my wrist and tugged me back.
“Just a few more minutes,” she whispered.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
She nodded softly; her hair splayed against the white pillowcase. “I’m sure. I just… don’t want to be alone right now.”
It didn’t take her long to drift off to sleep. As I settled back down next to her, drawing in the scent of whatever she used for shampoo, it took every single shred of self-control inside of me not to flip her over, pin her down, and take that pillowy ass of hers as mine. She was so beautiful and smelled so divine. She was a hell of a firecracker, too. Always willing to get into trouble and rarely ever complaining about the consequences. I knew she wanted to go home. She had to have missed her family throughout all this time. But we couldn’t relinquish her. Not until we knew she was safe. Not until we knew that the bitch still running around out there wouldn’t come after her simply out of spite.
So, I held her. I held her and felt her rocking against me with soft movements that eventually ceased. And after ten or so minutes, she was out like a light. I couldn’t sleep, though. Not after what had happened. My mind raced with all sorts of thoughts. All sorts of what if’s and different nightmares that could have come straight from a scenario like the one we had found ourselves in.
No matter what, though, I knew one thing for certain.
I sure as fuck wasn’t leaving her side until she was ready to kick me out.
The sun sank beneath the horizon, filling her bedroom with rays of darkness. Stars hung low in the sky beyond her bay window, and I found myself gazing out over the endless, cracked ground of the desert. There was a beauty to the old, weathered peace we got out there. The clubhouse had taken years for us to build, and there were still things we wanted to do with the place. It served its purpose, however. It kept us concealed, it kept us safe, and it kept us off most people’s radars.
Which meant that bitch of a twin couldn’t have found us without the stunt she pulled at the gala.
The soft rapping against the door made me draw in a deep breath. “Come in, Dee.”
He cracked the door open. “You awake?”
“Does it sound like I ever fell asleep?”
He inched the door open more. “She sleeping?”
I rolled over and looked over at him. “Has been for a few hours now.”
“And… you’re not?”
“Waiting for you.”
He chuckled as he peeked his head around the corner. “Awww, didn’t know you missed me so much.”
“If I had something to throw right now, I would.”
He smiled, for once in his fucking life. “Just wanted to let you know that everything has been taken care of. The guys are home safe, everyone’s settling in, and Mav thinks it’s smart to have church in the morning.”
“Me, too. See everyone at ten.”
“I’ll let them know.”
“And Dee?”
He paused. “Yeah?”
“Get some rest. Some actual rest. Because we’ve got a lot to do to dig ourselves out of this hole.”
His sigh told me everything about his state of mind. “You got it.”
