by Sophia Gray
“Beth. You’re still here.” Cassidy grinned as she tore of her scrub hat and mask. “He’s fine. The bullet was deeper than they could reach in the trauma room. Bleeding stopped, no muscle or nerve damage, he should be fine in a few weeks. They are keeping him for at least tonight, maybe tomorrow. I guess the cops are going to be hanging out to talk with him.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I shot at her. “I gotta go, I’ll see you tomorrow. I have the afternoon shift. You in?”
“Yep, three to eleven. You know, I got a good look at your Casanova as they were putting him under…you could do a hell of a lot worse for a boyfriend.”
“Cassidy! He was shot. I don’t think he’s the right kind of guy Madison and I need in our lives right now.” I slung my purse over my shoulder and headed toward the exit. “See you tomorrow!” I waved and headed home to my warm bed.
Rafe was fine. No serious damage. Why the hell did I care so much?
***
When I started my shift the day after Rafe’s shooting, I expected to find the ER in the usual Sunday lull. Things didn’t usually pick up until later in my shift on Sundays. Maybe folks wanted to get their prayers all said before they headed to the ER for their coughs and sprains.
What I didn’t expect was to find Dr. Wilkins standing at the nurse’s station with an angry glare pointed in my direction as I walked up. “Hi, Dr. Wilkins.” I forced a smile as I put my coffee down. Madison woke me up at the crack of dawn to get her breakfast and play dress up with her dolls all morning; I needed the coffee. “Everything okay?” I looked around for Cassidy, surely he was looking for her.
“No. That patient from last night, the gunshot victim. If you can call him a victim.” He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “He’s up in room 305 demanding to see you. He won’t let the nurses redress his wound until you are there.”
Rafe wanted me in his room? He must have seen me when they wheeled him in the night before. “Can’t you just give him a sedative?” I asked weakly. If I had to see him, I’d lose my nerve to forget all about him. He was dangerous, I reminded myself over and over again.
“That would be the easy way out. However, I have a feeling we’d be going through this each time someone entered his room. You know that man?” I could see the disapproval in his eyes as he swept them over my face. As if I hadn’t already been low on his scale of people by being a single mom and a nurse, now I was a single mom who was connected to a biker.
I let out a deep sigh. “Not really. I mean, I met him once, I don’t know him really at all.”
His lips scrunched up into a pucker and his left eyebrow raised as he gave a little humph. “Well, I need you to get up there. His bandages need changing and his discharge papers can be started after that. I assume he’ll want you there for that, too. See if you can tear yourself away to get back down here as soon as possible. Other patients need your attention as well.”
I was left standing at the nurses' station with my mouth dropped open and my temper starting to boil up in me. Who the hell did that asshole think he was to talk to me like that? I may not be a doctor, and just a lowly nurse, but I hadn’t done anything wrong. It wasn’t my fault Rafe was demanding my presence.
Rafe. At least that was something I could control. Well, maybe.
The elevator stopped at every floor on the way up to his room, leaving me feeling a bit nauseated once it finally dropped me off. Ignoring the motion sickness, I marched down the hallway until I found his room. Ready to give him hell.
When I tore back the curtain that shielded him from the door of the room, my breath caught in my lungs, and every angry word I had stored up fled the scene. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Rafe’s entire torso was uncovered. Other than the white bandage covering his shoulder, I could make out every firm muscle in his arms and chest. Dark black tattoos covered his arms and half of his chest. His deep brown hair was tussled from lying on the bed, but otherwise he looked even hotter than he had at the bar.
“Finally!” He stood from the bed and faced me. His jeans were already on, hugging his narrow hips and showcasing his abs too well for my comfort. Already I felt my cheeks heating up with a blush I knew he would see.
“I don’t work on this floor; you can’t just demand whatever nurse you want.” I finally found my voice. I tried to look menacing, but from the slow way his lips curled, I figured I didn’t hit the mark.
“I didn’t demand whatever nurse. I asked for you.”
I rolled my eyes. “How did you even know I worked here?” Before he could answer I threw a hand in the air, stopping him. I didn’t want to know, the less I knew about him would be better for me. “Don’t answer that. Never mind. Let me get your actual nurse so she can change your dressings. I have to get back downstairs; Dr. Wilkins is pissed enough at me.”
“For what?” His eyes narrowed.
“What do you think?” I turned to walk to the door, but he was on me in a flash, a strong hand on my shoulder spinning me around.
“It’s me, because I’m a biker. A low life scum to him, is that it?” He didn’t try to hide the anger in his expression, and I was relieved it wasn’t aimed at me.
“He feels that way about everyone.” I patted his good shoulder. “Sit down before you tear your stitches. I’ll get your nurse.”
“You can change them yourself. Fuck that doctor.” He grabbed my elbow and half dragged me to his bed.
I stared at him for a long moment as he glared back up at me. I wasn’t going to win, even if I called his nurse, he’d just stop them from doing their job. Letting out an annoyed sigh, I gave in. “Fine.” I left him sitting on the bed while I went out to get the supplies I needed. Even though no one said anything to me, I could feel their disapproving stares.
When I returned to the room three other men were standing around the bed in a heated argument with Rafe. I pushed through two of them and laid out the new bandages and medications on the tray beside his bed.
“You didn’t see anything?” the tall one with ultra-white hair gelled up into points all over his head demanded.
Rafe’s jaw clenched at the man’s tone, but he kept his eyes on me as I started opening packages. “If I had, don’t you think I would have told you? I had my back to the fucker; he got me as I turned around to see him. Jason saw him though, he knew him.” He looked away from me to point at the shorter of the two guys. “I need you to get the club together, we are having a meeting tonight.”
“Gray already called one.” The shorter guy adjusted his leather jacket, a nervous jitter to his voice.
“Yeah, seven tonight,” Spike said.
I tried to ignore their conversation as I removed his bandage, taking a look at the ugly black stitches in his shoulder. No signs of infection, just swollen and red. Other than a small jolt in his body when I applied the cleaning solution to the wound, he made no show of feeling any discomfort. I’d had a cut cleaned with that stuff, it burned like hell.
Once I had the new bandage on, I started cleaning up the mess of wrappers. Tearing off my gloves, I tossed everything into the trash bin and started to make my way out. “Hold on. Beth, don’t you go anywhere just yet.” Rafe’s voice stilled my movements.
When I turned to give him a piece of my mind, two sets of eyes settled on me. Both men had a smug grin on their face, like they were daring me to defy him. “You two get out of here. I’ll see you tonight.”
“You gonna get out in time?” Spike asked.
“Beth here will take me home after her shift ends. When’s that, Beth?”
“I’m off at six.” I found myself answering him. Take him home? No way. “I’m sure your friends would rather pick you up. Besides I’ll have your discharge papers ready within the hour.”
“That’s fine. I’ll wait.” Rafe waved off the two men. “Go. Make sure Stephanie’s okay. Make sure her mom’s with her, and I want two men at the house. I don’t want to take any chances this asshole is going to go after Jason’s family. H
is little sister, too—get someone with her.”
“You got it.” Spike nodded. “We’ll leave you in Nightingale’s hands.” He gave me a smug grin as he walked past me, as did shorty.
“I’m sorry about your friend,” I said softly once we were alone. His face tightened at the mention of his friend’s death.
“Yeah. Me, too.” He looked away, out the window, and ran his hand through his hair. “I’ll find who did it.” He vowed in a strong voice. “And they are going to fucking pay.” He was hurting, even with the tension in his jaw and the straight laced way he held himself, I could see the pain in his body. And it had nothing to do with his flesh wound.
Stepping back over to him, I rested my hand on his good shoulder, sitting down beside him. “You can’t just go all vigilante, you know. You could get yourself killed.”
He flashed a grin at me. “Don’t worry about me, sweet cheeks. I’ll take care of myself.” The arrogance laced his tone again and I shook my head.
“Well, you can’t just sit here all day after you’re discharged. You should have asked your buddies to take you home.”
“We have some unfinished business you and me.” He turned on the bed, facing me. His face was too close to me, his lips too tempting. I swallowed hard and tried to look away, but he captured my chin in his hand and tilted it until I looked back at him. “You never sent me that text.” His harsh whisper caught me off guard. “What did I say would happen if you didn’t text me?”
The fluttering in my stomach didn’t help matters. “You were kidding.” I tried to pull away but his grip was too tight.
“I never joke about a good ass spanking.” His eyes bore into mine. My skin tingled beneath his touch, and damned if my pussy didn’t react to being so damn close him again.
“I’m not your girlfriend,” I blurted out.
He let out a short laugh. “Like that matters. I promised a spanking and you earned one. You’ll be getting it when I’m ready to give it to you.” He let go of my chin. “And for the record, you may not be my girlfriend, but you sure as hell belong to me.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I jumped up from the bed. The last thing I needed was more drama. I had enough of that just by being a single mom of a five-year-old.
“It means you’re mine. Now go get back to work before that doctor comes in here and makes me tear my stitches from punching him in the face.” He leaned back against his pillows and slid his bare feet onto the bed.
I glared down at him for a minute, trying to think of something to say to him to make him change his mind about waiting for me to get off my shift, but the look he gave me back suggested I leave it alone. “I’m sending in your real nurse to do your discharge. You can wait in the ER waiting room if you want a ride.” Not my best work, but it was enough to get me out the door.
The man was as arrogant and cocky as the day was long. I had to stop giving into him.
Chapter Five
RAFE
Beth almost looked surprised to see me sitting in the waiting room when she walked out at seven o’clock. Almost. The rest of her looked relieved, as though she worried I wouldn’t be there. That damn discharge nurse took so long to get everything straightened out, and then the fucking cops came back for a few more rounds of questions I didn’t have answers to. At least none that I was willing to give them. By the time that circus ended I only had to wait half an hour for my girl to finish her shift.
My girl. I took to thinking about her in that way. I’d never wanted to see a girl the following day after I got a good fuck out of her, but Beth wasn’t my usual conquest. She had a fire inside of her that matched mine. She had said earlier she wasn’t my girlfriend, but she didn’t understand the way my world worked. I claimed her. She belonged to me, and she wanted it, too. Something held her back though.
When we got to her shit car I couldn’t help but laugh. She’d given me a sullen look and gotten into the beat up shitwagon. The damn thing sputtered so much at the red lights I wondered if it would even get us to the club. I wanted to tell her to wait for me, to hang out in one of the bedrooms in the back of the building, but she looked worn out from her shift. Besides, I didn’t know how long this meeting would take. We had to make plans, figure out who exactly was behind Jason’s murder and elect a new president.
When she pulled up outside the club gates, I leaned over and pulled her toward me for a kiss. I meant it to be a soft kiss, something gentle, but once I had her lips beneath mine all bets were off. My hand slid into her hair, holding her firmly against me as I pushed my tongue past her lips. She didn’t try to pull away, instead she leaned into me, her hand resting against my good shoulder. When I broke it off, her eyes were dark, ad her breath hit my face in short bursts. Fuck, I wanted her bad, right there in the car.
“Text me when you get home. And I promise you, if you disobey me a second time, it will be more than a spanking you get.” Her shocked gasp made me grin, and my cock get even harder in my pants. I needed to get inside her again, and fucking soon.
“You’re going to be late for your cub scout meeting.” She pulled back from me, a grin playing on her lips. She thought she was clever.
“Sass will only make your punishment worse,” I promised, but I couldn’t stop my lips from betraying my threat. I gave her one more hard kiss then threw open the door to her rust bucket and hopped out. “You have thirty minutes to get your ass home and send me a message,” I warned her, and shut the door.
“We’ll see.” She waved a hand out the window and tried to peel out, but her car sputtered again and she ended up rolling away barely hitting the speed limit. I shook my head and put my focus on the club. I’d worry about her car later, and plan out that spanking she had coming.
***
Most of the members were already in the main room sitting at the table. The president seat was left open and I took my chair to the left of it, as I always did. The mood in the room was somber as we all took in the enormity of the evening. Our leader, our friend, our brother, was dead, killed by some coward on a bike.
Across from me sat Gray, his narrowed eyes fixed on me as I began the meeting. “We’ve lost our president, but more than that, we lost our brother,” I began, looking around the room at the faces. Some looked back at me, others looked down at the table. Jason had been close to every member. No one sitting among us that night didn’t feel the impact of the loss. “Hell’s Spawn will pay for what they’ve done tenfold. I will make it my mission to find the shooter, but the whole fucking club will pay for what they did.”
“Why jump to that conclusion?” Gray stopped me as I continued to speak.
“Are you shitting me? The fucking Hell’s Spawn have been up our ass for years, wanting more of our territory. And Jason told me he thought they were starting to get back in bed with Javier.” I slammed my hand down on the table.
“I think we have bigger fish to fucking fry than the Hell’s Spawn.” Gray shoved away from the table and stood up, walking to stand behind Jason’s chair. The hand carved wooden throne-like chair represented the power and respect the club handed over to our president. Gray standing behind it, with his hands on the back, made me want to throw him out the window.
It was no secret that we didn’t get along. He’d had a bee in his ass since his woman left him a few years back and he found her walking out of my bedroom the next morning. I had no interest in her, fuck, I barely even remembered fucking her, but he never got over it. She was a free woman as far as the club was concerned. She’d broken it off with him, she was unclaimed.
“You think someone outside the Hell’s Spawn wanted Jason or any of us dead?” I demanded.
“No. I’m saying right now the club needs leadership. We can’t be running off like a bunch of halfcocked assholes. Jason was stepping down; we all know this.” He started walking around the table, making eye contact with each member who would look at him. “He was going to announce tonight that he was backing me in the vote for his replacement.”
I burst out of my chair at that moment and pointed a finger at him. “You fucking lie! Jason would never back you!”
“He was talking about the possibility,” Jared piped in as Gray slapped him on the back.
“He told me himself he was backing me. Said the club needed a fresh look and you would only be an extension of him.” Gray continued walking around the room until he reached Jason’s chair again. “That’s why he called you out to the warehouse, to tell you in person.”
My blood ran hot through my veins. No way was that what he was talking about, no way. I looked at the faces of the members at the table. The vote could go either way, and I didn’t need to fuck things up by forcing my hand. But I never had the chance.
“Jason was backing me, and now he’s dead.” He looked square at me. “He wasn’t backing you, but you were with him when he got shot.”
“Hey! No way!” a few members called out from the back of the room.