“I live in a hick town in the middle of nowhere, but it’s home,” I breathe back, starting to get a little hot under the collar at the feeling of his hard body pressed up against mine.
It was an easy decision when deciding on room choices, Sam wanted us to room together and Connor and Hunter were going to get rooms by themselves, but I vetoed that idea straight away. I’ve slept in a bed with Hunter more times than I can count and we’re no strangers to each others bodies. But tonight isn’t about the sexual tension I can feel between us, he’s encased me in his arms to make me feel safe.
I shiver as I feel his breath blowing across my neck. He pulls me closer and kisses me on the back of the neck, but it makes me wince with the pain.
He pulls back and looks at the bandage. “Why didn’t you tell me you have one back here too? We need to clean and dress it.”
He’d appointed himself my nurse and had done exactly that to every one of my cuts or stitches, all apart from this one. “It’s okay. I forgot it was there, we’ll get it tomorrow.”
Truth is, this one I just don’t want him to see. I know he’ll go off like a flashbang and demand to know what happened, and I’m just not sure I’m ready to tell him.
“Steely, it could get infected. I ain’t risking that, sit up.”
I sigh, determined not to show any emotion. “You’re not gonna let up until you do this, are you?” He shakes his head. “Fine. But just so you know in advance, it isn’t gonna be pretty.”
His brow furrows and he reaches up to peel the bandage off gently. I hear his hiss of breath and he leaps off the bed. “What the fuck is that!”
I close my eyes, trying not to remember the moment that my Uncle butchered me. “Please, just clean it up and cover it again. I can’t stand that you’re looking at it.”
He bends down and grabs my face. “Don’t do that, not with me.” He bites his lip, looking like he’s struggling to keep his anger under control.
Wanting to distract him, I press me lips to his and he growls and deepens it, lifting me straight off the bed like I don’t weigh a thing. I wince at the pain in my limbs but I swallow it down with every movement of his lips against mine.
He kneels on the bed and lowers me down, lying between my legs, keeping his weight off me with one arm resting on the bed.
“I’m trying to be a gentleman, Steely, but you’re makin’ it fuckin’ impossible,” he growls out.
I run my fingers down his chest. “No one said you have to be a gentleman.”
He grabs my hand and lifts it above my head, running his fingers down the sensitive skin on the underside of my arm, finishing at my waist. “There’s nothing gentle about what I want to do with you. So until you’re fully healed, that’s exactly what I need to be.”
A shiver rolls through me at the promise of his words. “Well in that case, let’s get a bandage back on my neck and get an early night.”
He groans and presses his forehead to mine. “I’ll have you whatever way I can right now, so let’s get to it.”
He lifts off me and holds out his hand so I can scoot along to the end of the bed, giving him access to my neck. “You gonna tell me why you’ve got an inch long patch of skin missing from the back of your neck?”
I squeeze my fists tight. “Not unless you agree to not talk about it again after.”
He starts cleaning the area and grunts.
I fight with the memories.
“Now who holds the key to your destiny, bitch.”
I know he’s gone for good, but the fear that I still feel is all too real. “Two months after my dad kicked me out, I got a tattoo on the back of my neck, a key. I got it to symbolize that I held the key to my own destiny, I know it’s super cheesy but it made me feel like I was back in control. After I left, it wasn’t easy for me but I found Sam and she made things feel alright again. Anyway, enough about that. Merl saw the tattoo and asked why a key, so I told him. I guess he didn’t like my answer so he pulled out his knife and well… you can guess what he did.”
A growl leaves his throat and I hear a thud as he hits the wall. “If only you hadn’t ended him! I can’t believe he did that to you!”
I watch as he paces the room and I wait for him to calm down. Seeing him visibly start to relax, I slide off the bed as he turns to me and wraps his good arm around me, kissing me on the temple. “I’m sorry, beautiful. The thought of him doing anything like that to you has me on fire. I can’t think of his hands all over you without wanting to rip them off.”
“I know how you feel, I wish I made him suffer. But I just wanted to get rid of him.”
He nods and goes to wrap both arms around me but shakes out his shoulder in pain. “You need to take your pills, you’re doing too much,” I say.
“You don’t need to worry about me, I’ll be fine. We have three hours of travel left and then that’s me. Relax and recuperation with my Old Lady is on the cards from there on out.” I give him a look and he raises his hands up in surrender. “Sorry, Old Lady is just a habit.”
I roll my eyes back at him. “Yeah, we’ll break that habit.”
“Is that a promise?” He challenges.
“Sure is. Come on, get me patched back up and we’ll call it a night.”