He rested his head on the bed, his forehead touching hers. “I’ll never leave you. I promise. But I have to follow the rules or they won’t let me back in here.” He lowered his voice. “We’re already pushing it telling them Tilly is your sister.”
“Please, don’t call my family.”
“We haven’t. Tilly texted them from your phone and pretended to be you and said you needed to rest. Your mom’s sick with a cold anyway, so it’s moot. She’s told them next week, when you’re back home, you’ll call them.”
Her eyes fell closed again. “Thank you.”
A nurse came in and gave her a dose of pain meds through her IV. John leaned in and kissed Abbey’s forehead.
“Go to sleep, sweetheart. You’re safe here. You just get better.”
She fell back into the void of her nightmares.
Chapter Sixteen
Abbey awoke to the feeling that the world was moving, spinning. When she forced her eyes open, she saw it was. More accurately, she realized her bed was moving, turning. She closed her eyes when vertigo tied to take over.
“Abbey,” a woman said, “you’re being moved out of ICU to a room.”
“Sir,” she whispered.
“I’m right here, sweetheart,” John said from what sounded like somewhere behind her head. “Tilly and the others are waiting right outside.”
Relief filled her. She wasn’t alone.
Someone put something small, round, and hard in her hand. “That’s the control for your morphine pump,” the woman said. “Your thumb is on the button. When you’re in pain, push that. It can’t give you more than it’s programmed for, so push it as much as you need to.”
Abbey pushed it and heard a long beep.
“There you go.”
She kept her eyes closed, her teeth gritted against the small bumps and jolts as they rolled her out of the ICU and down hallways, through doors, into and out of an elevator, and then, finally, into a room.
She tried to push the button again, but this time it didn’t beep.
At least the pain had subsided a little, not nearly as excruciating as it had felt the last time she’d been aware of it.
She heard nurses talking, and Tilly’s voice, too, discussing her chart and condition. Finally, the sound of a door shutting, muffling noises from the hall.
“Sir?” she whispered.
“Right here, sweetheart. Tilly, Landry, and Cris are here, too.” His hand engulfed hers.
It was a little easier to open her eyes this time and keep them open. At least John had shaved at some point.
She reached up and stroked his chin. “Did you sleep?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
The door opened again, Tilly’s voice filling the room. “They said she can have little sips of water. I brought her some.”
She walked around the bed and handed John the cup with the straw. He held it to Abbey’s lips and she took a sip. It hurt going down, but the cool water felt good in her parched mouth.
“Here,” Tilly said, pulling a tube of lip balm from her pocket. “I just bought it downstairs.” She unwrapped it and handed it to John. He swapped the cup for the tube of lip balm and coated Abbey’s lips with it.
“Can you stay?” Abbey asked him.
He nodded. “I’m sleeping here tonight with you.
Relief filled her. “What time is it?”
“It’s a little after six o’clock Sunday evening.”
Holy crap. A whole weekend lost.
“What happened?”
Tilly filled her in. “Long story short, you’re lucky John was paying attention and called me Friday night. If he’d waited until morning, they might not have been able to pull you back.” Her expression looked grim. “I feel responsible for not taking your temperature Friday morning when I stopped by. I would have had him drive you to the doctor then and they would have caught it sooner.”
The lip balm tasted vaguely like cherry and helped soothe her chapped lips a little. “You can’t kill him.” Abbey managed what she hoped looked like a smile.
Tilly laughed. “Hell, no, I’m not killing him. He’s taking care of my bestie. Don’t worry, he’s safe.” She patted him on the shoulder. “Doesn’t mean once you’re feeling better that I might not beg you to let me go after him from time to time, but he’s family now. He’s earned immunity from outright murder by me.”
Abbey squeezed John’s hand. “He certainly has.”
* * * *
They kept Abbey in the hospital for another three days before discharging her this time. With orders from both John and Tilly not to rush it, and not wanting a repeat of the problem, Abbey didn’t fight them or push to go home sooner.
That night, Abbey lay snuggled against John in their bed, finally able to relax for the first time since the nightmare started. No alarms to startle her out of a sound sleep, no people leaning over her to take her vitals in the middle of the night and scaring her, no worrying about her safety or privacy.
It felt good to be home, with John.
The next morning when she awoke, he was waiting and ready to help her up and out of bed and to the bathroom.
“Can I take a shower?”
“We can’t get your dressing wet. Tilly loaned me a shower chair they used for Landry. You can have a sponge bath.”
Ick. She was sick of sponge baths and wanted a real one. She decided to push a little. She felt drastically different now than she had the first time around following her initial surgery and knew she was healing.
After the brush she’d had with Fate, she didn’t want to dick around and delay things with John any longer.
“I can’t even shave my own legs right now,” she said. “Will you please help me? I want more than just a sponge bath. I want to wash my hair, too. The shower’s big enough for both of us.” She opted to play dirty. “Please, Sir?”
There went the eyebrow. “Why do I get the distinct impression you’re up to something?”
“Please?” She fought the urge to hold her breath.
“Okay. Just, please, stop looking so pitiful. That’s not fair.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll get my bathing suit.”
“Why?”
Another arched eyebrow. “Why? Seriously?”
“I don’t mind,” she said. “I’ll be naked. You’ve been seeing me naked in the hospital.”
“Abbey, you’re still recovering. Are you really sure this is a conversation you want to—”
“Please?”
“No more pouty lip.”
She clamped her lips together.
That made him laugh, the smile a welcomed sight on his handsome face when he’d looked worried for too long. “Okay, but I apologize in advance for any inappropriateness on the part of my cock. It’s got a mind of its own, ya know.”
That was what she was hoping, but she wouldn’t admit it. If she admitted it, he would overrule her and put the kibosh on her whole plan. “No problem.”
He got her into the shower and seated on the shower chair. Then he disappeared for a minute and returned with a rain poncho. “We’ll wash your hair first,” he said, helping her put it on and tucking a towel around the inside of the neck opening to keep water out. “Then I’ll shave your legs for you.”
“Thank you.”
She watched as he stripped off his T-shirt, shorts, and briefs and stepped inside the shower with her.
Oh…my.
The man was hung.
She closed her eyes as he used the handheld shower massage head to wash her hair, having her hold it between rinses, when he needed both hands. His fingers massaging her scalp felt goood.
When he finished that, he wrapped her hair in another towel on top of her head and carefully got the poncho off her without dislodging that towel. He had her hold the showerhead again while he knelt in front of her and started lathering her left leg with shaving gel.
Despite her pain, her clit throbbed. She knew she was wet, and knew th
ere wasn’t really a damn thing she could do about it right then, but she didn’t even care.
This was the closest she’d gotten to sex since she got hurt, and she wasn’t about to let him stop.
She didn’t miss, despite his attempt to hide it from her, that his cock had hardened.
He tried to stop shaving her leg at the knee, but she scooted forward as far as she could on the shower chair without overbalancing. “No,” she softly said. “Farther.” She spread her legs for him.
He was staring straight at her pussy.
It seemed to take him a moment to realize where his gaze had fallen, and when he looked up at her, she smiled. “Want to try shaving that, too?” she asked.
“Not today,” he croaked, sounding like it was taking a severe force of will to hold himself back. “Ma’am.”
Just like that, the switch flipped inside her. She reached out and grabbed his hair with her free hand, tugging him up and closer. She grabbed his right earlobe and pulled him in for a kiss while she trailed her right foot up the inside of his thighs.
“Spread your legs for me,” she whispered, power surging through her. Hell, she hadn’t felt this good in months. She damn sure wasn’t wasting the energy.
At first, she wasn’t sure he would comply. Then, his knees edged apart on the tile floor and she caressed the underside of his cock and balls with her foot.
“Such a good boy for me,” she whispered.
* * * *
This…holy…fuck…
John had suspected she had something up her sleeve, but when Abbey took back control in the shower, he felt it. Even the air’s charge shifted, her energy overwhelming him.
He couldn’t deny her if he wanted to.
And damn, he did not want to.
He had to trust that she wouldn’t do something to hurt herself.
As her toes gently stroked his cock, his sac, his eyes fell closed. She did that for several minutes before he felt her pull her foot back.
“Finish shaving my leg,” she said.
She let go of his ear.
It took him a moment to gather his wits about him and open his eyes. She wore a wickedly playful smile, a gorgeous sight after weeks of pain creasing her face.
Hell, she looked ten years younger.
Her green eyes sparkled with light that had been dim for far too long.
He took a deep breath and finished shaving her left leg up to mid-thigh, as far as he could without her standing up.
Before he could start shaving her right leg, she reached out and grabbed his earlobe again and urged him to stand, bent over in front of her.
He didn’t have to look to know his cock leaked pre-cum. Couldn’t be helped. He hadn’t been able to rub one out for several days, between his worry over her and spending nights at the hospital with her. In fact, it’d been well over a week since he’d last come. And not only was she sexy, he wanted her.
Keeping her hold on his earlobe, she pushed the showerhead into his free hand and then reached between his legs.
He let out a long, low moan as she cradled his cock and balls against her soft palm.
“I’m not a fan of CBT,” she said. “But I bet you’d look good in a chastity cage.”
He swallowed hard. He had one or two of those in his collection. He wasn’t fond of wearing them, but he’d had past partners who’d enjoyed using them on him. “Yes, Ma’am,” he said.
“But not today. Didn’t you say you normally walk around naked at home?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Then from now on, unless you’re in Sir mode, or Tilly’s here, or something like that, I think I’d like it if you were naked. I want you to be comfortable.”
Oh…fuck. “Yes, Ma’am.” The words fell from his lips, unable to stop them.
Whatever she wanted, he knew he’d give it to her. Anything. Everything. All he wanted was her, to please her, to show her how much he loved her.
He knew that was how he felt about her. To the depths of his soul. Not just as a friend, but as way more than that.
If she’d have him in that way.
She curled her fingers around his now rock-hard cock but didn’t stroke him. “I know you said we’d have a talk, but I want to do more than just talk with you,” she said. “There are a lot of things I’d like to do with and to you. Things I want you to do with and to me,” she said. “And times I’ll want Sir to do things with and to me.”
He forced his eyes open again at that, meeting her steady gaze.
“Now that I have your full and undivided attention,” she said, smiling, “I want to know if you’re good with that. Are you willing to switch it up with me when I need to not be Ma’am, and I need Sir?”
He took a deep breath and a calculated risk. He let the razor fall to the floor and cupped that hand around the back of her neck, being careful not to pull on her even as he firmly curled his fingers around her flesh and gently squeezed.
“I can be whoever, whatever you need me to be. And I’ll gladly be it.”
Dropping her hand from his earlobe, she leaned in and kissed him hard. But the hand around his cock slowly began stroking him, pulling a moan from him and making it difficult for him to think.
Her free hand trailed up his arm, across his chest and back again, then up to his throat, caressing. Her fingers snaked around the back of his neck and she pressed her forehead against his.
“Then come for Me,” she said. “Because right now, I want to know I can make you feel good.” Her fingers tightened on his shaft, her strokes quickening.
He had no time to try to hold back. He let out a gasp as his cock exploded, ropes of cum splashing across her flesh, landing on her stomach, her right thigh.
“Such a good boy,” she cooed, not letting him go. “Such a good boy for Me.”
John stood there, shaky, his emotions boiling inside him. Anger at himself for losing control like that, but joy that she’d demanded it of him.
Pure, unadulterated joy, for the first time in a long, long time.
* * * *
Abbey wanted to let out a triumphant cry of her own, but decided that might startle him.
Finally!
She felt strong again, in control.
Sexy.
She let go of John’s cock, letting him sink to his knees in front of her. She tangled her other hand in his hair, tugging. “You need to clean up your mess,” she joked. “I’m a good girl when I give a blow job. I swallow. If I swallow, so can you.”
John wore a delicious, glazed subbie look in his eyes as he leaned in and started licking his juices from her flesh.
Her clit throbbed, but she knew if she tried to push him that far, to do more, that might make him balk out of fear of hurting her.
One more step forward, at least, and she was happy with that. Tom had always balked at doing this, but here was John, eagerly licking his cum off her as if his life depended on it.
Fuck. That was so goddamned hawt!
When he finished, he knelt there with his head laying in her lap as she stroked his hair.
“Such a very good boy for Me,” she said, meaning it.
And she wondered how fucking damn sexy he’d be once she turned him loose on her in his Dominant mode.
“Thank you, Ma’am,” he said.
“Now you can shave my other leg.”
She was happy to see that when he finally sat up and handed her the showerhead, he still that subbie glaze in his eyes. This time, after he finished shaving her leg and he rinsed all the shaving gel off her, she held up her right foot, wiggling her toes at him.
Without further prompting, he started sucking on her toes, his eyes falling closed again, a look of bliss on his face.
Okay, I am going to have to find my vibrator.
He had damn good oral skills. Screw her surgical pain. She wouldn’t have to move much. At this point, she was so fucking horny it would probably take less than ten seconds for her to get off. Hell, it’d been…well, since right befo
re her fall since she’d last come.
Or…
Another plan formed in her brain.
She pulled her foot away. “We need to finish my shower,” she said.
John wobbled a little as he stood, but seemed to regain his footing quickly. His cock had also started inflating again, she was happy to note.
I’m an idiot.
When they’d scened together years ago, there’d been no discussion whatsoever about sexual play. He’d asked only for impact play, hard, heavy scenes with implements and pummeling.
Had she known he was this goddamned sexy…
Fuck. I wasted four years with Tom.
No use complaining about it now.
She shifted position on the shower chair, spreading her legs, and when he started running the washcloth over her chest, she clamped a hand down on top of his over her breasts, making him squeeze as she looked up into his eyes.
“Do a good job,” she said.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
He took his time, working slowly. When he reached her lower stomach, she took the washcloth from him. With one hand, she put his hand on her pussy.
“Don’t stop until I say you can.” With the other hand, she grabbed his earlobe again. When he hesitated and started to open his mouth, she tugged on his ear. “I didn’t tell you to speak.”
It worked. He dropped into full-on subbie mode, and in less than a minute, his fingers had pulled the best damn orgasm of the last several months out of her.
Hell, her first damn orgasm in over two months.
She pulled his head down to kiss him. “Thank you. You can stop now,” she said, knowing she might pay for this in a little while in terms of pain once the endorphins petered out, but feeling glad beyond her ability to say so how much it had meant to her.
He was still hard when he finished rinsing her and shut the water off. He helped her stand, wrapping a towel around her as he assisted her out of the shower.
Then he started drying her off, even dropping to his knees as he dried her legs, leaning in and kissing the top of her feet, kneeling there, waiting.
She smiled. “Such a good boy. Put my T-shirt on me and then dry yourself off.”
A Lovely Shade of Ouch Page 14