“I want some fucking pudding too,” he grumbled, and I almost laughed. His one eye narrowed in on me and I quickly hid my amusement and went to help Jenna.
“I’ll do the right side, you do the left,” she said, all business, and I nodded.
The right side of his body was covered in raised red scars that were still trying to heal. Purple bruising still shadowed most of his body too, and I soaked a sponge and gently lifted his arm up before wiping his skin down as carefully as possible.
His hairs stood on end and goose bumps formed in the wake of the sponge. “Is the water okay?” I asked, trying to make the experience as pleasant as possible for him.
He grunted a yes and I finished off his arm and moved over his hand and in between each finger before moving back up his arm to his armpit, where the scent of sweat was coming from. It should have been gross, but it was entirely masculine and strangely attractive.
Jenna pulled the thin cotton cover back from his chest and set straight to work cleaning him, and I worked on my side. He was a big guy. Built like a bodybuilder and at one time had been covered with intricate tattoos across his chest and arms. Now it was hard to work out what the designs had ever been. Between the burns and the scars and the bruises, his body was a maze of pain.
I dipped my sponge back into the water and softly wiped down his right side all the way to his hip, my eyes and hands roving over his body to make sure I cleaned him well.
“Little lower, darlin’,” he grunted as my sponge paused on his hip bone, and I realized he wasn’t wearing any underwear.
“Beast,” Jenna warned, and I blushed harder than a hooker in church. I glanced over to her and she nodded, because yes, I needed to clean all of him. Legs, butt, man bits and all.
I reached for the cover hiding his crotch from me, ready to slide it down, when he reached over and grabbed my wrist in his hand. My gaze shot to his, my eyes going wide.
“You got a good firm grip, girl?” he asked, his chest rumbling, his gaze holding me hostage.
“I uh, I guess so.” I shrugged, my knees knocking together.
“Good, because I’ve got a real big cock under there that could do with some attention from a sweetbutt like you,” he said with a lascivious laugh.
“Beast!” Jenna snapped.
“Oh!” I said in surprise as he thrust my hand down under the sheet and wrapped it around his soft girth. I quickly jerked my hand away, my cheeks burning with humiliation.
“Beast! I warned you,” Jenna tutted.
His chest rumbled with laughter and I stumbled back, not sure where to look or what to do.
“Belle, I’ll finish him off,” Jenna said.
“Now there’s an offer, but I’d much prefer her touch, Nurse,” Beast said with another sardonic laugh, even though I could see that every laugh hurt him.
“Do you see what I was telling you now?” she asked me, ignoring Beast. “Some people don’t deserve the kindness. You fix them up and send them back out. Job done.”
Beast stopped laughing now. “You sayin’ I don’t deserve your kindness? That’s shitty bedside manner if you ask me.”
Jenna’s gaze shot to Beast. “I’m saying you’re a job. And that’s all some patients are. We fix you up and send you out and we’ll see you again real soon.”
Beast sneered. “Real soon if you’re lucky, bitch.”
Jenna shook her head and looked back at me. “Some men can’t be saved. They don’t want to be.”
“Sure as hell don’t need saving from some uppity bitch like you,” he spat back. “Fucking clean me and get this shit over with.” He looked over at me. “And get the fuck out of here. This ain’t a motherfuckin’ circus, bitch!”
I stumbled backwards, grasping for the handle on the door before throwing it open and getting the hell out of there. I slammed it shut behind me, feeling awful at leaving Jenna in there on her own but glad to be away from that horrible man. He was ugly both inside and out, and I didn’t want to spend any more time with him.
Gauge, the man outside, began to chuckle and I glared over at him, my chest heaving with the need to shout or cry, or both.
“He’s a fucking peach, ain’t he?” he sneered.
“He’s such an—”
“Yeah, yeah, he’s that as well,” Gauge cut in with a laugh. “Don’t take it personal. He hates everyone, not just you.”
