Braelyn looked back up and I could see the pain and fear in her eyes. “I didn’t have my cell phone, so I ran to where you said the party was.”
“You ran ten miles?”
She nodded. “I had no choice.”
I could pretty well fill in the blanks from there. It took a minute for me to tamp down the anger that threatened to spill. The mere thought of Jimmy nearly getting his hands on her…
I wanted to kill the bastard.
“Ransom?”
I shook off the thought, forced a smile. “You doing all right now? Talon treating you well?”
She smiled and it was right on the cusp of genuine. “Of course. He helped me at the party, made the security guys leave me alone. Then he called Tiegan and had them search for you.”
Well, that made a lot more sense. It meant that I was right, Talon had been tracking me, but perhaps they hadn’t been following my every move.
“Are you hurt?”
Braelyn shook her head. “Just some scrapes on my feet. I didn’t have shoes, so I was running in my socks. Talon let me shower, let me borrow his robe.” Her smile was shy. “He’s been kind.”
How kind, I wanted to ask but refrained. I hadn’t considered the possibility Talon might take an interest in my sister. Considering what I knew about him, anyway. However, the conversation we’d had in his office had left me questioning my assumptions. Had me thinking back on the fact that I had seen Talon at the club with women. Submissives. Not often, but on occasion. Why I hadn’t considered it before, I didn’t know.
Later, when I was feeling better, I would wonder whether or not that sparkle in my sister’s eyes was something more than gratitude for his help.
“The man who broke in…” The fear returned to her eyes. “I didn’t recognize him at first, but then he called me doll face. That was…”
“I’m so sorry, Brae,” I whispered as remorse threatened to choke me. It was my fault he’d found her, and I hadn’t even been there to protect her. “Are you sure he didn’t hurt you?”
Her eyes softened. She never did like when I worried.
“No, but I hurt him. You know my tiger?” A small smile pulled at her lips. “The one you got me for my twelfth birthday?”
“I remember.”
“I hit him with it. I think I broke his hand.”
“That’s my girl.” I knew there’d been more to the story than simply she managed a clean getaway.
“You trained me what to do, Ransom,” she tacked on softly. “I’m fine. Really.”
I believed her, though it still pissed me off that I hadn’t been there when she’d needed me.
“What are we supposed to do now?” she asked.
“Right now, we’ll go to Talon’s island. Regroup. Figure out how to proceed from there.”
“We’re never going back, are we?”
While my sister deserved all the answers, I just didn’t have them. Not the ones that would make a difference.
“We’ll discuss it. Figure it out together. But later, okay?” Yes, that was me procrastinating. I was in pain, but it wasn’t affecting my ability to talk. I merely didn’t want to go into it yet. This wasn’t the time or place to tell my sister that, in the very near future, the two of us would cease to exist. Again.
At least on paper.
My sister’s eyes narrowed in that way that said she knew I was evading.
Usually she would persist, so I was surprised when she sighed and said, “Can I get you anything?”
That was just like Braelyn, always worrying, always wanting to take care of me. I think she figured it was her duty since I’d been the one taking care of her for so long.
“Just need to rest.”
Her eyes skimmed my face. “Did they give you something for pain?”
“Not yet.” Hopefully that was next.
She nodded, standing tall. “All right. Well… if you … uh… I’ll check on you in a bit.”
“Thanks, Brae.” As she passed, I reached for her hand, squeezed it. “We’re gonna be okay.”
The smile she offered was one I’d seen before. There was hope there, but Braelyn wasn’t a believer yet.
Relaxing back into the seat again, I exhaled and closed my eyes. Sleep wasn’t coming, wouldn’t until I took something for the pain, but until then…
“Ransom.” The voice was low and familiar, spoken quietly near me.
“Hmm?” That was all I could muster for the moment, my eyes unusually heavy. It took a moment for my brain to come online, to remember where I was, and yes, for the pain to register, more intense than before, my entire body one giant throbbing heartbeat.
Car wreck. Dead guys. Airplane. Braelyn.
“I know you want to rest, but I need to examine you.”
“Mm-hmm,” I mumbled, letting my heavy lids remain closed.
“Ransom? I need you to wake up.”
Was I asleep? When had that happened?
“Who are you?” I asked, my words somewhat slurred from sleep. Evidently, the pain hadn’t won out and I had drifted off.
Of course, now that I was conscious, it was back with a vengeance.
“Dr. Tate,” came the response.
“Mmm.” I found myself smiling. Or at least I thought I was. “I knew a Dr. Tate once. Didn’t obey worth a shit.”
“Yeah? Well, I’m pretty sure he was merely a med student back then. He is a doctor now, though.”
Frowning, I let the words register as I dragged myself the rest of the way awake.
“Jasper?” I whispered, forcing my eyes open.
“The one and only.”
There before me were the same light green eyes, the same chiseled cheekbones, clean-shaven jaw, and perfect lips from my past. His brown hair was shorter, there were a few more lines near his eyes, but the handsome man in front of me was definitely my Jasper.
Jasper Tate.
“Well, hell,” I muttered.
“Good to see you, too.”
Was it? Considering how we’d left things, I wasn’t sure how I would react to ever seeing this man again.
We were both older now. Almost a decade, in fact. I knew this because it had been nearly nine years to the day since I’d last seen the surly submissive who had captured my attention and held it for longer than anyone had before him. Or after, as a matter of fact.
Not that I was keeping track of the passing time.
Definitely not.
It was just that I wasn’t the sort to play with a lot of submissives, and those I had, I remembered clearly. Then again, I loved even fewer of them, and Jasper Tate had been the exception.
“According to Zion, you were in an accident,” the sexy doctor said softly, a hint of concern in his tone.
“Seemed more intentional to me,” I told him, letting my gaze rake over him from head to hips and back up. I couldn’t see his legs because he was standing at my side; otherwise, I would’ve gone all the way down.
He looked good. Still just as wickedly handsome as I remembered, still lean and muscled. He’d probably look damn fine naked.
Not that I wanted to see him naked. Nope.
“You don’t look like a doctor,” I groused.
“Would you like to see my license?”
Yep, still ornery. “Maybe.”
“Perhaps another time. Right now, I’d like to recline the chair so I can take a look at you.”
“A little forward for a submissive, no?” I countered, opening my eyes fully and meeting his.
We were locked in that moment for long seconds, neither of us moving, no one saying a word. I tried to force back the memories of a time better forgotten, but it was nearly impossible. Of all the people I’d ever expected to see again, Jasper Tate was not one of them.
“If I recall correctly, I’m no longer your submissive,” he stated firmly, his tone reflecting the hurt and anger I remembered from so long ago.
True. He wasn’t. However, it hadn’t been by my choice.
I attempted to sit up s
traight, the move making me grunt.
“Just give me something for the pain,” I told him, closing my eyes once more and relaxing into the buttery-soft leather.
“Not until I check you out.”
Only because it hurt to breathe did I relent. “Fine.”
I was aware of Jasper lifting the armrest, then my chair beginning to recline fully until I was completely flat.
Huh. Would you look at that? This chair made into a bed. Would’ve been nice if someone had clued me in earlier.
“You were run off the road?”
“Something like that. It’s all a bit fuzzy.”
Gentle fingers brushed my forehead and my eyes shot open. I stared up at Jasper and suddenly the pain dissipated almost instantly. Emotions swamped me. Memories of that long ago time, the hours I’d spent with this man, all the ways he’d submitted to me for the few years we were together. The defiance, the punishment, the amazing sex.
His hand shifted to my head, pressing lightly as though feeling for…
“I’m not concussed,” I stated, trying to turn my head away.
Jasper was having none of it, his other hand pressing against my jaw and holding my head still. “Headache?”
I met his gaze once more, and my inner Dominant sat up straight, rejecting the firm hand keeping me in place.
“Yes,” I bit out, reaching for his hand, curling my fingers around his wrist, intending to pull it away, but he stopped me, his grip loosening.
“I’ll be gentle, Ransom.”
He stood there, staring down at me as though he was waiting for my approval. I gave it to him in the form of a quick nod before I closed my eyes again.
If he expected me to get through this examination, no way could I watch him while he did it.
*
Jasper Tate
From here on out, I was going to insist Talon give me more information about the people he wanted me to check out. Had I known Ransom Bishop was the injured man who needed my attention, it was possible I would’ve donned a parachute and jumped out of the plane. Hippocratic Oath be damned.
Okay, maybe not. But at the very least, I would’ve prepared myself for seeing him again. Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected to come face-to-face with the sexy Dominant who’d turned my world upside down and left me flailing.
Not in this lifetime.
But this wasn’t a social call, and I didn’t need to know what the man had been doing for the past nine years just to diagnose what plagued him. My IQ was in the genius range; surely I could accomplish this task without being sucked into the past, dredging up memories better left buried. Hell, I’d graduated high school at fourteen, finished medical school by the time I was twenty-two. This I could handle.
When Ransom’s grip loosened on my wrist, I lightly swept his hair back from his forehead, inspected the small gash near his hairline. It didn’t look too bad. Mostly superficial. Stitches weren’t needed, but I would clean it and keep an eye on it.
“Where do you hurt?” I asked as I gently swept my fingers over the bruise on his face once he stopped glaring up at me, his eyes closing tightly.
“Everywhere.”
“More specific.”
“Every-fucking-where.”
Despite my efforts, I smiled. The man was very much the same as I remembered. Still ridiculously attractive even when his hard-chiseled face was slightly rounded from swelling, tinged black and blue, his brown hair longer than I remembered and currently sticking up every which way.
“Back, shoulders, legs?”
“Yes.”
“Head?”
“Both of them, yes,” he growled softly.
Of course Ransom would go there. I hadn’t been referring to that part of his anatomy, but leave it to my former Dominant, and the only man I’d ever loved, to turn a perfectly innocent examination into something sexual. That was the way Ransom Bishop operated. From the first day I met him, his internal setting had been adjusted to sex, and it looked like it was still dialed there.
Not surprising. This man was one of the most sexual beings I’d ever come into contact with. Sometimes to distraction.
“You going to help me with that, too, Doc?”
His words were slurred, which had me a little worried, otherwise I would’ve come back with a quip.
I considered giving him some pain meds and letting him sleep it off until we reached Sapphire Island. If we didn’t have six more hours in the air, perhaps I would’ve done just that. Unfortunately, based on what Zion had told me about the state of Ransom’s car after the fact, it was possible he had internal injuries and, at the very least, a concussion. Leaving those unattended wasn’t something I could do in good conscience, which meant I would have to do an exam now.
“I need you to take off your shirt,” I told him.
“Uh-uh.”
“Ransom, there’s no way for—”
“You want it off, gonna have to cut it off,” Ransom grunted.
Well, shit. “Hurts that bad, huh?”
“Yes,” Ransom muttered. “Shoulder. Ribs.”
At least he’d gotten a bit more specific.
Reaching for my medical bag, I retrieved the fabric shears I kept there. It only took a few minutes to get the ruined button-down shirt cut away. If that tux was a rental, he was screwed.
With every inch of flesh I uncovered, I did my absolute best to view him from a clinical perspective, rather than letting my body’s response kick in.
Sucked that almost a decade later, I still had this insane reaction to the man.
Even this older, more refined Ransom. He was still as ridiculously attractive as he had been back then. Maybe more so. His body was honed to perfection, his muscles defined, every cut line visible even beneath the tattoos that covered the majority of his body. Most of which were new. A new addiction of his? Something other than sex?
“Which shoulder?” I asked as I retrieved my stethoscope so I could give his lungs and belly a listen.
“Right.”
I gave it a cursory glance. No cuts or scrapes, no bruising. I would save that for last.
As gently as I could, I examined him while he remained motionless, his eyes closed except when I pried each one open to flash my light and check his pupil dilation. Minimal discoloration on his skin. Mainly a few bruises, the worst of which appeared to be where the seat belt crossed his chest. His reflexes were in order. For the most part, it looked as though he’d been lucky. I honestly hadn’t known what to expect when Zion had informed me of the state he’d been found in. Upon initial inspection, I’d say he had bruised ribs, a mild concussion, and a dislocated shoulder.
Definitely lucky.
For a moment, I thought Ransom had gone back to sleep, but he disproved that theory by speaking.
“You one of Talon’s playthings?”
“Would it matter if I was?” I countered instantly.
His eyes opened and those dark orbs pinned me in place. “No. It wouldn’t matter.”
Of course it wouldn’t. Ransom had written me off long ago.
I continued my exam, hoping like hell he would discard this line of questioning.
“You one of those other people’s playthings?”
No such luck.
I paused, holding the stethoscope’s diaphragm against Ransom’s skin. “A little personal, don’t you think?”
His heartbeat was strong, lungs unobstructed.
“Says the man who cut my shirt off.”
I hated that he made me smile. Not because I harbored any ill will toward Ransom—I’d gotten over that long ago—but simply because I was a doctor and he was, for all intents and purposes, my patient.
“Is that a no?” Ransom asked when I continued to listen to his lungs.
“I’m no one’s plaything,” I informed him.
“How’d you end up with Talon?”
“Long story.”
“Long plane ride,” Ransom countered.
“Won’t be
when I give you some drugs.” At least for one of us.
The smile that turned up the corners of Ransom’s mouth had me pausing. It had been so long since I’d seen it, but even now, all these years later, that damn smile had the same effect on me as it did back then. I had always loved seeing that dimple form in his left cheek. It usually meant…
I shook off the memories, focused on the here and now.
When he didn’t comment, I decided to hurry it up, finishing my examination. It wasn’t until I was pressing against his belly, shifting lower that Ransom moved. His hand curled around my wrist again, stopping my progression.
“I’d stop while you’re ahead, Doc,” Ransom warned.
“Something wrong?”
Ransom grunted.
“I just need to ensure there’s no internal swelling,” I explained.
“Oh, there’s swelling, but not the way you’re thinking. Go any lower and you’re gonna learn what the new problem is.”
That statement, said in that low voice, had my gaze swinging instantly to the fly of his slacks. Sure enough, the hard ridge of his erection was visible. My cock jerked in response, the fucker.
“Been a long time,” Ransom said softly, his eyes still closed.
Yeah, I knew the feeling. Too long.
Because I did not want this taking a turn it shouldn’t—any more than it already had, anyway—I pulled my hands back and focused on his face as I spoke. “Good news, I don’t think you’ve got any internal bleeding, no broken ribs. Bruised but not broken.”
“And the bad news?”
“That shoulder’s dislocated. It won’t be comfortable, but I can realign it pretty easily. It’ll offer some relief. Let me sit you up.”
As I sat the chair upright to its original position, I promised myself that once I was finished here, I would do my best to avoid Ransom Bishop.
Little did I know, when this plane landed in six hours, that would become impossible.
TEN
TALON
After leaving Braelyn with Ransom, I had returned to my office. I figured Ransom would keep her busy for a while, brother and sister catching up, and Ransom providing some explanations that were most certainly due. No doubt, once she laid her eyes on him, she would have plenty of questions.
Owned (Office Intrigue Book 8) Page 11
