by Skye,Marie
“Now, remember: no heavy lifting, take the pain medication at the first sign of pain, stay hydrated, and your first post-op checkup is in one week.”
I smiled, thanking her before shutting the door and heading home.
I tried taking a deep breath, but even that was painful. I wanted to laugh at the bitter reality that I was going home half a woman. After carefully walking into my apartment, I called out to Chloe, letting her know I was home before making my way to bed. I was still a bit groggy from surgery. It wasn’t long before a tiny white ball of fur gathered on the side of my neck and purred.
“Emmalin? Where were you just now?”
I glanced up at Grayson before picking up my fork. “Nothing, I was just thinking. I had a lot of stuff going on at the time.”
“None of it required taking care of yourself?”
I sighed as I stared forward. “I don’t want to get into it with you right now Grayson.”
“Why not? I wish you would.”
I could feel his anger starting to rise, even though he was trying to keep it calm. “Because I don’t want to fight with you on our last day together. Is that really how you want to spend our last day together? Arguing?”
He sighed and stared forward. “I don’t want to argue, but we have to talk sooner or later Emmalin.”
I cupped his face and kissed him gently. “And we will. Just not now okay? Let’s just enjoy the rest of our day before I leave in a couple hours.”
Chapter Forty
Grayson
As per usual, I fought with Emmalin the rest of Sunday, because I didn’t want her to leave. I felt like shit about it, and I found myself making a surprise visit to Quincy in the middle of the week.
Now, here we are in the middle of her living room. My hand was bloodied and bruised, from beating the shit out of a man that’s had his hands on Emmalin, as I stare at her across the room. She’s looking back at me in complete shock.
It had just started to pour rain when I pulled up to Emmalin’s job. I could see through the glass window that she was talking with someone. She looked deep in thought as she listened to every word he was saying. He gently placed his hand on top of her arm, and there was something about the way he placed his hand on her arm that was almost intimate. Who the fuck was this guy? I felt my hand gripping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white. Then he reached up and brushed her hair across her face, and she moved her head to the side. She was rejecting him, but that didn’t stop him from trying again. I got out of my car and swung open the door so hard I was surprised it didn’t fall off the hinges. Before anyone could react, I pulled him up from the booth and immediately started punching him.
“Grayson!”
I wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. I wasn’t letting anything or anyone come between us again. I finally felt someone pull me up. The guy on the ground slowly started to get up and Emmalin tried to rush to his side, but I grabbed her before she could get to him. It pissed me off even more that she even considered checking on him first.
“I need to see if he’s okay!”
“The fuck you do!”
“Emmalin, it’s okay.”
Emmalin peered around me to look at the guy that was now fully standing. His face was bloodied, but clearly not enough if he was still standing. I kept my eyes on Emmalin as I spoke.
“Who is he?” Before Emmalin could speak, that fucker did.
“Emmalin’s been seeing me,” came the voice from behind me. Emmalin’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. I felt my jaw ticking. Before anyone could say anything else, I grabbed her upper arm. “Let’s go.” She practically had to run to keep up with me as I dragged her out of the café.
The rain hadn’t let up as I practically shoved her into the passenger side of the car before getting in the driver’s seat. I was busy telling myself to rein it in and not drive so recklessly and carelessly when she started to speak. I held my hand up, and she immediately quieted.
We continued to stare at each other for a few moments. Fuck now. Talk later. I needed to claim back what was rightfully mine.
“Strip.” My voice was quiet, but I knew she heard it. She didn’t move. Instead, she decided to defy, as usual.
“Grayson, what you did back there was—”
“You’re making me wait?” I arched an eyebrow, almost daring her to challenge me. If she wanted to play, we could fucking play. She lifted her shirt up over her head and tossed it to the side then slowly removed her jeans. She was left in just her bra and panties. She finally took a deep breath and removed the bra, and finally her panties. Her hands clenched at her sides was a telltale sign that she was pissed off at me, but since I could smell her arousal from across the room, I would have said she was about damn well over it.
“What’s your safe word?”
“Attic,” she whispered.
I nodded. “Go get in the shower.”
She started to say something, but I held my hand up, stopping her. “Go, get in the fucking shower, and scrub off another man’s touch from your skin Emmalin!”
She froze at my words. “It wasn’t like that Grayson. Fuck you.” She stormed past me, toward her bedroom, slamming the door shut.
I smirked. She had no idea the amount of fucking that was about to occur.
Fuck. Claim. Own.
I may have let thirty seconds go by before I was stripped and had her against the wall in the shower.
“Who does this body belong to?” I growled in her ear.
“You,” she said as she breathed out.
“Then why the fuck was someone else touching what was mine?!” I wrapped both her legs around my waist and thrust into her. She moaned. “No one touches you but me, isn’t that right?!” She nodded as she pulled me closer to her. “Did you lie to me when you told me no one else had had this pussy?”
I felt her tightening around me. “No! I didn’t lie.”
“Don’t you fucking dare come!” I growled into her ear.
Fuck. Claim. Own.
I pushed into her harder, and debated with myself about whether she deserved to come. I fucked her ruthlessly, and I could feel her straining back with each punishing thrust I gave her. I knew I was being rough, and was probably even bruising her, but I didn’t care. She knew how to make it stop. I needed my marks ingrained on her, not anyone else’s. I bit down hard above her breast, and she let out a pained screamed. As long as she didn’t safeword me, I was going to keep going.
I looked at the mark I made, satisfied then moved to her shoulder and bit just as hard, and sucked at the tiny beads of blood. I finally looked at her. “This is my body.”
“Yours,” she whispered out.
I knew she was dying to come, but wasn’t going to until I gave her permission.
Fuck. Claim. Own.
“I need you,” she whispered.
Those words suddenly brought me out of my haze, and I sealed my mouth to hers as I rubbed her clit, coaxing her into an orgasm. I needed her as much as she needed me.
Fucked. Claimed. Owned.
She stared at my bruised hand, and I put it behind me. "It's nothing."
She scowled. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“And I can’t believe you allowed someone else to touch you!” I threw back at her. She was quiet as she stared above my head. “Tell me, Emmalin. Now!”
She shut her eyes briefly before moving closer to me, and then she held out her arm. I was confused at first. She lifted her arm higher, and I took it in my hand. It was the one with the tattoo. “I was never one to get a tattoo,” she whispered. I traced the black ink gently, going over each thin line of the wing. No, she wasn’t one to get a tattoo. She had never even talked about it. I stopped when I got to the body of the butterfly. The skin was raised above the rest. I could feel the change in Emmalin’s body as she tensed up.
I peered up into her eyes, and she looked back at me, completely nervous, but most of all, sad. God, no.
She cleared her throat
and swallowed nervously. “I need you to listen and not speak, okay? Because this is really hard for me.”
I nodded as I walked us over to the bed, but I didn’t let go of her hand. She took a minute before starting. “I wanted to die during surgery. I was prepared to. I was tired. So, so tired. Tired of you. Tired of everything that’s happened to me. I was just done with it, and I thought me not being here would be the final relief I needed.” She took a deep breath. “The surgery went well, obviously. I was told to go home and have someone take care of me. I returned to work after two days.” She stopped talking when my grip tightened on her hand. Keeping my word to not say anything, I instead kept my focus on our hands. She was purposely putting herself in harm’s way. “Everyone had left, and it was just me in the back. I later found out it wasn’t just me. I’d started to not feel good, and while I was washing dishes, I broke a glass. At first it didn’t phase me that I had cut myself, but then I started to wonder, what if I kept cutting? I already knew I was feverish because I hadn’t taken any of the antibiotics that were given to me, so I started thinking that maybe a cut was the best way to help speed things along. I kept sliding the glass, and I watched the drops of blood trickle into the sudsy water. Then I heard it, and you’re going to think I’m crazy, I swear you are, but I swear for a brief moment…I heard Tyler’s voice. It was so comforting.” I watched as a faraway look entered in her eyes.
“Watcha doing baby girl?”
My eyes opened. “Tyler?”
He smiled. “You don’t look so good.”
I shifted slightly against the wall. “I must not be feeling so good. I’m talking to a dead guy.”
He chuckled and moved a strand of hair off my face.
“I need you to get up.”
I turned my head. “This is my space. Get your own.”
He spoke more sternly. “Get up Emmalin. You’re not dying today.”
I laughed weakly. “Shows how much you know.”
He sighed. “Actually, I do know, and today isn’t that day. I know you’re hurting, Willow. I do, but I’m not going to let you do this. Not like this.
I felt myself crying. “I didn’t want to.”
He stroked my hair. “I know. You’ll get better. I promise.”
I felt myself drifting off.
“WAKE UP!” someone yelled, followed by a loud clap and me jumping.
I pulled her close to me, pained that she had gone through this. She wiped away a few tears. “That’s when Dr. Nolin Adams came in the back room. He heard the glass drop. By then, I’d lost more blood than I realized. He helped me without making it a big deal. I didn’t want it made into a big deal. He agreed, on the condition that I got help.”
She looked up at me with her big green eyes. “I’m not sure if I meant it Grayson. Part of me wants to say that I didn’t, but I’m not a hundred percent sure.” I watched as she stood up and started pacing. “Dr. Adams helped me. He’s the reason I stayed, and haven’t returned yet, because I wasn’t ready. He’s been helping me with therapy.”
I stood, crossing my arms. “From my view, it looked like more than a doctor-patient relationship.”
“There was one night I started to hyperventilate shortly after therapy, and I couldn’t calm down.” She took a deep breath, not meeting my eyes. “So, he kissed me.”
I took a sharp inhale of breath. “And?”
“That’s it.”
“Did you kiss him back?” I asked quietly. I knew I had no right to ask, but I needed to know.
Her eyes shot up to mine. “No. I didn’t. I stopped it.”
She stood there nervously after telling me what she had been holding back from me. I glanced down at the butterfly that held the secret that would forever mar her wrist. I stepped forward and lightly traced the outside of her wrist before pulling her to me tightly. “Listen to me okay? Don’t ever feel like you’re not needed. You are too damn important to too many people to go down that path, do you hear me? Promise me.”
She nodded, eyes glassy with tears. “I swear.”
“I’m not losing you Emmalin.”
I turned and pulled back the comforter, tucking her in my side, then paused. “I don’t want you seeing him again.” Emmalin moved out from under me and I was about to prepare for our usual argument, but before I could reach for her, something white and furry landed on my stomach. I jumped as it jumped off me just as quickly.
“What the hell was that?!”
Emmalin started giggling as she got off the bed and bent down. She came back up a few seconds later with a little ball of fur, and I looked at her, stunned.
“What is that?”
“Shhh, you’ll scare her.”
I sat up to get a closer look, and it meowed. A goddamn kitten. “Has it been here this whole time?”
She nodded smiling. “Yeah. She’s been hiding since you’ve been here, but I guess she recognized your scent enough to come out. I sleep in your shirt.” She held her up to me and I leaned back, as if it would attack me.
“Her name is Chloe. I think she was the runt of the litter because she had been abandoned when I found her.”
I watched as the fur ball curled up against her and purred.
“Anyway, she’s really good, and she keeps me company. She’s mine.”
I noted the slight hardness in her tone when she said ‘she’s mine.’ I wasn’t fond of cats, but I was in love with the girl that had one, so apparently I had a cat too.
Emmalin and I managed to come to an agreement on her living arrangements for the rest of the week. I arranged for all of her things to be packed and brought to Chicago, and she kept just the necessities. Even though this Nolin Adams had saved her life, under no circumstances was she to see him again. I didn’t like the guy. I didn’t trust him. It was obvious he wanted her, and just in case, I had eyes on him. If he so much as went within an arm’s length of Emmalin, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t end up with broken legs. I almost wanted him to do it, just so I’d have a reason to rough him up.
I’d made sure everything was in order at home. Everything was cleaned, and then re-cleaned. The fridge was fully stocked—once she got there, neither one of us were leaving. She even made me take the fur ball home so we could get acclimated to each other. Damn thing had been following me everywhere for the sole purpose of having me trip over her and then acting like it was my fault so I had no choice but to carry her, which I was pretty sure was her plan all along. As soon as I put her down, she walked over everything, knocking shit over, as if my glass of bourbon was really bothering her. I ran my hand through my hair. One more day. I looked at Chloe. “Your mom will be here tomorrow, so you’ll be a good little pussy and let me play with her pussy, won’t you?” She lunged for my tie, hanging around my neck as a response. I sighed. I hadn’t known kittens had this much energy. She practically wore me out.
Chapter Forty-One
Grayson
I was shaking—literally shaking. I didn’t fucking like this, not one bit. I mentally calculated her four-hour drive, then added on an extra two hours for traffic. I also knew she had just left work and still had to go pick up the rest of her stuff. I sent her a text.
Me: I need you here
I waited for the bubbles to appear. After a few minutes, they finally did.
Emmalin: I’ll be there by the end of the day. Traffic will delay me a few hours
That wasn’t good enough for me.
Me: There’s a car that will be outside your apartment in 10 minutes to take you to a helicopter. You should be here in a little over an hour.
Which honestly, was still too fucking long.
Emmalin: WHAT!!??? R U SERIOUS!!
Me: Get in the car. You’re safe. Be ready to leave in 10. End of discussion.
I watched as the bubbles appeared, then disappeared. Finally she responded.
Emmalin: I’ll be ready in 15
I smirked. Always defiant. Brat.
Chapter Forty-Two
Emma
lin
Jerk face. I debated sending that, but didn’t. Lord knew he’d punish me for it later. Then again, I liked the punishments. I took one last look around my apartment. I was going to miss it there. I made sure I had the bag of fruit I had packed for Chace, placed the keys on the counter, and headed out to the awaiting car. My eyes widened at who was at the car, and I smiled.
“Luke!”
He smiled, coming toward me and giving me a hug. “It’s so great to see you!”
“You too, Ms. Ross.”
“Emmalin, please.”
He reached for my bags, taking them to the car. “I’ll be accompanying you to town, if that’s okay?” I nodded. “This is Miles Cooper. Miles here will be driving your vehicle back to Chicago.” He jerked his chin toward another guy standing next to my car, who I hadn’t noticed before.
“Be careful with her Miles. She’s brand new.”
He smiled. “I’ll guard her with my life ma’am.”
I got in the car with Luke. “So, where have you been? I just assumed you weren’t working for Grayson anymore.” He pulled out his wallet and handed me a picture. My heart instantly warmed. “You had a baby!” I looked back up at him, and he was grinning from ear to ear.
“Yup. That’s my little papaya. Ava Nicole. She’s a handful, but I wouldn’t trade her for the world.” I smiled, handing back the picture. “I didn’t realize you were married.”
He held up his left finger, which was bare. “I don’t wear it on the job. Sandra doesn’t approve so we agreed on a tattoo instead. Unfortunately, I can’t show you.” He suppressed his smile.
I held up my hands. “Hey, no worries. I’m so happy for you.” We pulled up to the waiting helicopter with the Mandrake logo on the side that was ready to go. I took a deep breath.
“Ready Emmalin?”
I glanced toward Luke, and then back toward the town I was about to leave for the last time, then back to the helicopter.