by Carrie Cox
My hands flew to my mouth, and I started shaking. All I wanted was to get away.
Nick was shaking too. I didn’t know whether that was because he was sick or because he was so mad, but it looked like I was about to find out.
He tugged on my arm, pulling me along the corridor away from the interested eyes that the fight had attracted. The crowd started to disperse now that the action was over.
“What the hell were you doing? Could you not just keep out of trouble for one night until I was better? I can’t look after you if you insist on doing stuff like this!”
“What do you mean doing stuff like this? I just went to get a drink.” I lied. I wasn’t going to tell him I was trying to make a phone call to escape. I wasn’t that stupid. I knew it would get straight back to Damien.
He shook his head. “I know you don’t trust me. I get it. I really do. You don’t have any reason to trust me. I don’t know what to do to prove it to you, but I promise you that while I’m around, you won’t get hurt. But you’ve got to try and help me out with this. You’ve got to keep your head down and not attract attention.” He stared down at me. “And you have to promise not to try and escape,” he added pointedly.
I shook my head. This situation was ridiculous. “I don’t need you to look after me. At least I wouldn’t if you hadn’t kidnapped me from hotel in Las Vegas. I don’t know who any of you are. I’ve only just met you, so why the hell would I trust you?”
Too late, I realized I’d raised my voice. I was practically screaming at him. Nick looked anxiously around.
I’d gone too far. I’d drawn the attention of Damien Blackthorne, and he was walking down the corridor towards us.
I had to act quickly. The only thing I could think of doing was telling everybody in the bar what had happened and hope that there was some good Samaritan who would have the courage to stand up to Damien and help me.
“They’ve kidnapped me,” I yelled.
“They are holding me against my will. I just want to get home. Can somebody call 911 for me, please?”
I yanked my arm from Nick’s grasp. He looked so disappointed, but I ignored him and ducked past Damien.
I was surprised that they hadn’t tried to stop me, but I kept moving and ran into the main bar. Somebody had turned of the music and everyone was now looking at me curiously.
I saw the man Chad had spoken to behind the bar. I ran up to him.
“It’s Johnny, isn’t it? Please let me usual phone. I just want to call 911. I won’t get you in any trouble I promise. I just want to get home.”
Johnny made no move to get the phone, and there was no change in his expression at all to even indicate that he’d heard what I’d said. He just kept polishing the glass he held in his hands. I reached out to try and grab him and get his attention. But he stepped back, and at that moment, his eyes met mine, and I saw something in them that made me realize that none of these people here would help me. I saw absolute terror.
They were all scared of the Blackthorne gang. That much was obvious. None of them would go against this gang in order to help one girl they’d never even met before.
Behind me I could hear boots stomping on the wooden floor, but I was too scared to turn around and see who they belonged to. Every person in the room stopped looking at me and looked at the person behind me, but I still refused to turn around.
“Well, that was one hell of a show, Ella,” a voice said in a low gritty voice that I recognized as Damien Blackthorne’s. “I guess you’ve had a fair bit to drink tonight. You’ve never been able to hold your liquor, have you?” He put a hand on my shoulder and I flinched.
He pulled me closer to him and his fingers gripped into my shoulder, pinching my flesh.
“Everyone can go back about their own business,” Damien said. “Ella can be a little odd when she’s had a drink. There’s nothing to worry about. I’ll look after her.”
And just like that somebody turned the music back on and the general buzz of conversation in the bar started up again.
I swallowed and looked up at Damien. His eyes glinted dangerously.
“I see we’re going to have to keep a closer eye on you, Ella. I was considering giving you a room of your own tonight, but I think that’s out of the question now, don’t you?”
I couldn’t reply. I was devastated that nobody in this whole bar would help me, and I was absolutely terrified of what Damien was going to do next.
What the hell kind of place was this anyway? A whole bar under the control of a motorcycle gang! And what did any of this have to do with me or my friend Claire? I felt tears prick my eyes as I thought of Claire. Was she safe at home now? Was she worrying about me?
Damien shoved me forward so that I was facing back towards the corridor. Nick stood in the doorway. His face was expressionless, his skin was pale and he had dark circles under his eyes.
“As you two seem to get on so well, you can stay with Nick tonight.” He gave me another shove in Nick’s direction and then he said as he walked off, “Don't let her out of your sight.”
I waited for Nick to speak. I expected his words to be full of anger and reprimands, but instead his voice was soft when he asked me, “Are you okay? Do you want to go somewhere quiet?”
“I just want to go to sleep,” I said, and that was the truth. I was absolutely exhausted after everything that had happened today. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get to sleep with all this stress, but right now, lying on a bed with my door locked against Damien Blackthorne, Chad and Tom seemed like the best idea in the world.
8
I followed Nick across the building, and the sound from the bar faded behind us. We travelled along the same wooden paneled corridor until we came to a green door. Nick opened the door and gestured for me to enter first.
I took a step inside and then felt my stomach tighten.
Crap. There was only one bed.
Normally I’d expect Nick to be a gentleman and let me sleep on the bed alone, but right now Nick needed sleep even more than I did. He was badly hurt, and I wasn’t convinced that the doctor had done a good job.
I stood in the centre of the room and sniffed back the tears that were threatening to fall. Why was this happening to me? I just wanted to go home.
“Don’t cry, Ella, please,” Nick said softly behind me.
“I’m not!”
I felt him lift a lock of my hair away from the back of my neck as he moved behind me. “I will make sure you get home, I promise. Just be patient for a couple more days.”
I felt him behind me and I leaned back against his hard body. I hated myself for it, but I yearned to feel his arms around me. I wanted any amount of comfort I could get.
“Why can’t you just let me go now?” A tear wound its way down my cheek, and I turned around and buried my face in his chest so he wouldn’t see. He smelled so good, of some kind of citrusy cologne. I breathed in the scent of him as my fingers ran over his abs and up his back. I felt his muscles under his shirt tense, sending a flash of lust through me. I wanted him. I wanted him more than I had ever wanted any man. I needed to feel him inside me. I wanted him to whisper in my ear and tell me everything was going to be okay as he thrust himself into me.
I felt his lips brush my hair as he pulled me against him. I could feel his hardness against my belly, and my fingers inched down, eager to hold him in my hand.
But Nick took a deep breath and then put a hand up against the wall to steady himself. He really didn’t look good.
“What is it?” I moved towards him, cupping his chin in my hands and looking up into his eyes.
“It’s nothing. Just a little tired I guess.” He looked spaced out and his skin felt burning hot.
I was sure Nick had an infection and he needed more antibiotics.
“Here sit on the bed,” I said, guiding him to sit on the corner of the mattress.
“No,” he said with a husky voice. “You can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the chair.”
/> “Don’t be ridiculous, Nick. You are not well, and you’re not in a position to argue.” I kept my tone bossy to hide my nervousness as I reached for the bottom of his T-shirt. As I pulled the fabric up, his eyes shot up to meet mine with a questioning look.
“Don’t get any ideas,” I said primly, even though I was having quite a few ideas of my own just from being this close to him. “I want to check on the dressing.”
“Oh, yeah,” he said and smiled. “I forgot you’re a medical student.” He helped me lift of his T-shirt.
I licked my lips. I’d already seen his body, but that didn’t stop me wanting to reach out and touch him. I wanted to run my hands along his muscles and feel every inch of him. I pulled my hand away quickly as if his skin burned me. I needed to focus.
I gently pushed on his shoulders to make him lie down on the bed and he grinned at me. “Well, this is nice. I like it when a girl takes charge.” He winked at me, but his voice sounded weak.
I tried to ignore him and focused on the dressing. It had come loose and there was some evidence of bleeding, but that seemed to have stopped now. The skin was very red and inflamed around the wound. I decided to go back and get the doctor. He would be able to give Nick another shot of antibiotics.
As I moved away, Nick called after me. “Hey, where are you going?”
“To get the doctor.”
Nick struggled to sit up, and I couldn’t help noticing the strong muscles in his arm tense under his weight.
Jesus. I needed to snap out of it.
Nick shook his head. “You can’t leave the room. I can’t let you out of my sight.”
“Look, I promise I’m not going to try and escape. I really am just going to get the doctor. Damien won’t even know.”
Nick fell back against the bed. “Okay, I’ll trust you, Ella. Don’t let me down.”
It took me five minutes to find the doctor, and when I eventually did, I was unsurprised to find him in a back room playing poker. He waved a hand in my face as I tried to speak to him.
“Not now, sweetheart. This is an important hand.”
“I need your help. It’s Nick. I think he has an infection.”
He looked at me for a moment, then sighed. “I’ll just finish up this hand,” he said.
I looked over his shoulder at his cards and said, “You can’t win with those cards. You may as well come with me now.”
His mouth dropped open and the other people at the table looked like they would like to murder me, but I didn’t care. I needed to get the doctor to Nick and fast.
The doctor followed me to the room, muttering something about a fussy woman overreacting.
“I have a year of medical school,” I informed him haughtily. “And he’s really sick.”
“Wow, a whole year,” the doctor said, sarcastically, taking a long drag of his cigarette.
I decided to ignore him. He wasn’t worth bothering with.
“Perhaps you could take a few more years at school before you start lecturing me about…” His words died on his lips as he saw Nick laying on the bed. Even to someone without any medical knowledge at all, it was obvious he wasn’t doing well.
The doctor removed the dressing from Nick’s shoulder. “He must have dislodged it somehow,” he said defensively. “And it was probably already infected when you got here,” he continued when I didn’t respond.
I felt incredibly guilty. The dressing would have become loose during his fight with the biker when he was trying to protect me.
“Instead of making excuses, perhaps you should clean the wound again and give it a new dressing and give him more antibiotics. You do have some don’t you?”
“Yeah, yeah,” the doctor said, nodding and looking down at Nick with concern. “I’ll go and get some now.”
After the doctor left us alone in the room, I stared down at Nick.
He looked so beautiful lying there. He could have done anything with his life. He didn’t have to be tied up with this biker gang. I wondered how he had gotten involved in it all. Had he joined as a young kid and not been allowed to leave? Had his father been in the gang?
As I stared down at his handsome face, he stirred and looked up at me.
“Ella,” he said urgently and reached out for my hand. “Be careful. Don’t trust them.”
I felt icy trickles of dread creep along my spine. “Trust who?”
“They think you saw something,” he said. “No matter what you saw that night, tell them you saw nothing. Your life depends on it.”
“What?” I shook my head. He wasn’t making any sense.
“Are you talking about something that happened last night? I can’t remember anything. I had too much to drink. What did happen?”
Nick didn’t answer. His eyes fluttered shut.
It was probably just his fever talking. At least I hoped it was. What the hell had happened last night? What was I supposed to have seen? And did involve my friend Claire?
I felt a tug of guilt because I knew he was feeling very sick, but I shook his arm, trying to wake him again. I needed to know what had happened.
“What happened last night, Nick?” I asked urgently. “Did something happened to Claire? Is she okay?”
He blinked up at me and looked confused, and then the door opened and the doctor entered the room.
After the doctor gave Nick another shot of antibiotics and a sedative, I refused to leave his side.
“He’ll be out for the count until morning,” the doctor said. “So you may as well get some sleep.”
I nodded, but I had no intention of sleeping.
After the doctor left, I sat on the edge of the bed holding Nick’s hand and prayed he would survive this. I needed him in more ways than one. He held the key to everything, and I was starting to realize he was the only chance I had of getting out of this mess.
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A Note from Carrie
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed reading about Nick and Ella as much as I enjoy writing about them. You can add your email address to my mailing list and I will email you as soon as my next book is released.
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Well, I’d better get back to work. I’ve got books to write…
Carrie x
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