I made sure to thank her for all the help she’d given us.
“You’re welcome. Do you need anything? You haven’t left the room at all,” she said and clipped her pen to the top of her little clipboard. I shook my head no. I just needed them to wake up.
“I have a feeling today is the day.” She was trying to be positive, and I appreciated that.
“Fingers crossed.” I crossed my fingers to show her, and then she left.
Wanting to be close to my sleeping Leon, I got up and sat next to him.
“I know you like your beauty rest, but I’m getting a little impatient here, Star. I’m ready to talk about that boat you’re going to buy, and all the things you want to do once you wake up. I wanna take you to go get a juicy burger, and sip a milkshake even though I swear I saw some snow outside the window today.” I touched his cheek, where his normally trimmed beard had grown fuller. I kinda like it. Made him look all rugged.
“Plus, it’s been forever since you’ve played with my tits, and they are feeling very neglected,” I fake whined as I kept touching him.
I swore I saw a twitch of his lips, but his eyes didn’t open. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, but maybe they weren’t.
“I know another part of me that’s feeling pretty neglected. Could use a good pounding, if you know what I mean.” I watched him for another twitch but got nothing. Feeling a little down, but still with hope, I started to stand but then felt something caress my arm. Instantly my head whipped around to see if he was awake.
Glad that I was still over the bed, my body fell back before launching myself at a waking Leon.
“You came back to me,” I whispered while hugging him, not caring if it hurt him or not. Pain equaled alive right now.
“I came back to my wife.” He kissed my head, and I pulled back to look into his eyes.
“Don’t go all sugar on me now, Star.” I smiled and leaned in to kiss his lips.
“Sugar would be telling you that I love you back.” His fingers delved into my hair, keeping me against his lips, like I had anywhere else I wanted to go. He loved me and wanted to stay married. We survived a lot this month, and we would keep surviving the rest of our lives as long as we were together.
“Jesus, you guys are too much.” A groan came from the other bed, and we both laughed at hearing Charles’s voice. He was okay too. All was good in the world right now.
“Oh, good, they are awake. See, I told you today was the day. It’s my birthday, so it’s a special day.” Esme came walking into the room. She had both the men sit up to check them over, making sure everything looked good so we might be able to get them out that night. She did Leon first, then moved over to Charles.
“Okay, now let me get a look at your leg, Charles.” She lifted the cover he had and moved over the catheter bag so she could move his legs where there had been slices from a knife. Both wounds had healed up and looked good as far as I could tell.
“Wait. Did you see that?” Charles said quickly, and everyone in the room stopped.
“What’s the matter?” I jumped up and moved to his bed.
His eyes were staring at his toes. Which moved.
“No fucking way,” he cursed, and then tried the other foot, on which all five toes moved.
“I don’t believe what I’m seeing,” Esme whispered, and helped Charles move around so he was sitting on the side of the bed. She inspected him and checked his reflexes. Both legs kicked when she hit below his knee. I could tell Charles was about to cry and freak the fuck out but was holding it in just in case it wasn’t real.
Leon was sitting up in his bed, watching everything with complete focus.
“I wanna stand,” Charles announced, and both Esme and I grabbed hold of his arms, ready to catch him should he fall. With uneasy legs, he did the impossible. He stood, and truly without our assistance.
Those tears that were so close to falling broke free in rivers down his face.
He tried to take a step, and he could, but his legs were very wobbly.
“Okay, let’s take it easy. You still have atrophied muscles and will need to do lots of physical therapy to learn to walk again,” Esme told him, and I helped her sit him back down.
Glancing over at Leon, I saw his face glistening with tears for his friend.
I don’t know how it happened or why, but it was a debt we could never repay.
“Hey, you have a card,” Esme said to Charles, pointing at a little card that was beside his bed that I hadn’t noticed.
Through his tears he grabbed a hold of the card and looked it over. More tears burst from him in an emotional outpour as he read it then handed it to me.
Thanks for saving my life; this was the least I could do. Thanks, Hero Society.
No signed name, and the message was printed so I couldn’t tell if it was male or female.
“Has anyone been in while I was sleeping?” I asked Esme, and she shook her head no. But they were a busy hospital, it could have happened.
“Let me see,” Leon demanded, and I handed him the card.
“I’ll take it. Charles, buddy, you can fucking walk again.” Leon gave the card back to me, and I set it on the bedside table.
“For fucking reals,” Charles laughed and kept touching his legs, making sure he could feel the movements.
“Well, Leon, I don’t see why you can’t go home tonight, but, Charles, with this new revelation I think you should stay one more night. We can get you set up with a physical therapist to get you moving again.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Lilith
Leon’s mood couldn’t be any better as we sat in the chill room with the others of the Society, minus Charles, who had to stay at the hospital for another night but was so elated that he didn’t even care. Even Mina was here, sitting near her brother, sipping a soda, looking peachy to be here. We just got back to the apartment when Phillip asked if we could come down to chat briefly about everything that happened in the past week. Leon agreed and wrapped my hand in his as we rode in the elevator together.
“Thank you, guys, for being a part of this. For giving the Society a chance, despite it being threatened with death all the time.” He tried to make his ice breaker to this speech a little funny, but no one really laughed.
“Let’s just get to the point then.” He clapped his hands, and then we went over all the new information we’d learned.
“Well, I heard the men at the fort tower talking about how we were set up to be outed to the world with that burning school.” Their faces now were as confused as mine when I heard it.
“Strange. I wonder why they would want us being out there like that?” Rose asked, and we all agreed. As of now, there wasn’t an answer to that.
“I think the bigger question is, who is the actual bad guy we thought Emanuel was, instead of being a pawn?” Draco asked, and that was indeed the question of the week. No one knew that answer either.
“Another waiting game until the bad guy reveals himself. I hate waiting games,” AJ groaned, and his sister rolled her eyes at his theatrics. He was probably learning them from me.
“It seems we don’t have another choice.” Draco’s words were the truth. We didn’t have jack right now.
“Do you see anyone else in the future? A foe?” I asked Phillip, and he shook his head.
“I see a figure. I’ve always seen a figure but I can’t make anything out about it. I don’t know if it’s a male or female. It’s like it’s been blocked to me since I could see things. That’s why I thought Emanuel was it.” Phillip was frustrated, and I think we could all see why. That was tough. Seeing the foe and what they do, but not being able to see who they are.
“We’ll get whoever it is. We will stop them because that’s what we do.” Rose sipped her tea and smiled at us.
“We’ve been through this before. We keep moving, keep training, and keep searching for more like us. Hopefully with word getting out about us, others will join. We are out in the light
of day, and now we can fight back the shadows as they come.” Rose did have a way with words, and I felt calm about them. She was right—there wasn’t anything that could be done except keep moving forward. Bad guys can’t stay hidden for long; the need to cause chaos would overcome them sooner or later.
“Keep going,” Draco murmured and relaxed back into the chair he was in with Rose.
Phillip agreed, and we all fell silent.
“I thought we’d have more to talk about than that. But I guess that’s really all we can do. Wait and see, and fight when it comes.” Phillip ran his fingers through his hair.
“Yep, now do we have any new leads on our next recruit?” Leon asked with a grin on his face.
“I’ve seen a few, so we can check them all out. But I think this Saturday will be the best to go see one. I’ve seen something crazy, and I want to look at it for myself. We don’t need everyone going though, that might be scary. Leon didn’t like it when we all came at him in the beginning,” Phillip chuckled and looked at my love with a grin.
“I vote Rose and you go. I’m still shit with people.” Draco put in his two cents, and then we took a vote on who our emissaries were when it came to recruiting people. Rose and Phillip won by unanimous vote. They were perfect. Everyone else would probably scare them away with first impressions.
We talked for a little bit longer before Leon stood and pulled me up with him.
“I’m ready to clean the hospital off me, so unless you guys need anything else, we’re leaving,” he announced to the room, and everyone shook their heads. Sweet.
We walked to the elevator, and his hands moved to my chest once the doors closed.
“I recall you saying something about these feeling neglected,” he purred, and my head fell back against the elevator wall.
“They missed you so much,” I moaned, and his fingers drifted down to my yoga pants.
My eyes widened with mischief as I lifted my head back to see his gaze on me.
“Wife?”He was asking permission to keep touching me with a big grin on his face, and a giggle burst from my lips.
“Oh, yes, please.” I kissed him as his fingers ripped my pants and panties for easy access as we became the first couple to christen the elevators in the ways of love between a husband and his wife.
The End
Sneak peek of Dusk, book three in the Hero Society Series.
I was grateful, don’t get me wrong. But I was annoyed that I still hadn’t been able to change back into a human for two weeks. So I may have been acting out a little bit as of late, which I didn’t feel the least bit upset about at all.
The man who took me in was nice, as far as I could tell. He found me sick and practically dying on the sidewalk. He brought me to his home and nursed me back to health. I was too weak to do anything other than nap beside him and accept all the help he offered. I was one hundred percent fine now, but I was still stuck as an animal.
“Snow White.” He called out the name he gave me, which was stupid, in my opinion. But I sauntered over to see what he wanted nonetheless.
I jumped up on the coffee table where his glass of water sat. He looked at me with sweet eyes, and if I could roll mine, I would.
“Come sit with me.” He patted the seat next to him, and I turned, giving him my backside as an answer. He wanted a companion in me, and I was not a companion at all. In fact, when I was a human, I was the best damn detective there was in Seahill. I didn’t need anyone, and I didn’t want anyone. Especially with the big case I landed before I was kidnapped by those people and experimented on.
“Snow.” He clicked his tongue, trying to get me to come over. It only made me feel bitchy, which had been my go-to lately when it came to him. Asher was his name, and I was currently stuck in his home until I could change back into my normal form.
I walked over to the glass of water and touched it lightly. I miss sipping from cups instead of using my tongue.
“Don’t knock that off the table,” he warned lightly and my head turned toward his. Did he just challenge me? I mentally scoffed at him while pushing the glass closer to the edge of the table.
“Snow.” His voice was deeper, and as attractive as that was with him, I didn’t care. I pushed the glass right to the edge and looked him right in the eye before knocking it completely over.
“Dammit. You’re such a bitch.” He got up to grab a towel to clean up the mess when a knock on the door stopped him. He opened it, and there stood two people who were obviously siblings, looking at him with smiles on their faces.
“Hi, my name is Phillip Griffin, this is my sister Rose. We would like to talk to you about your cat,” the man said and then looked to me. I could tell he wanted to laugh, but kept it in at the sight of me. Strange. I didn’t know these people.
“Uh, sure?” Asher let them in, and then asked what this was about.
“Well, I’m ninety-nine percent sure your cat is actually a woman who can shift into creatures, but for some reason is stuck in this form.”
More Books by Jessica Florence
The Final KO
I fight bitches for a living.
Which makes finding a decent guy hard when you're a female MMA fighter. None of them have been my equal. I yearn for a man who can push me to reach new heights and challenge me. A man who will treat me like a lady then lift me up by my ass and impale me against the wall.
But when Arson Kade, MMA's top fighter and notorious manwhore, declares he's that man for me I have my doubts. Any sane woman would.
There seems to be more to Arson than the rumors that surround him, but will it make me fall hard or run for the hills?
I know I've got no choice but to hold on for the ride.
It's the main event and my heart's on the line.
But will it be the Final KO?
The Final Chase
I never thought a wallaby, Henley shirts, and a horse’s rectal exam would have anything in common.
Turns out they did.
Jake Wild. Owner of Wild Rescue for exotic animals.
He’s everything I’m not, my polar opposite.
I’m heels and my salon,
he’s dirt and his creatures.
But much like the animals he cares for, he’s got that carnal edge.
He’s the type of man you crawl on your hands and knees for with your ass up in the air.
He bites, he's on the hunt, and now I’m his prey.
A chance meeting and a bet started the undeniable attraction between us.
But I’m not giving my heart and soul away that easy, he’s going to have to catch me first.
It's the ultimate game of cat and mouse.
But will it be the Final Chase?
Long Drive
There is a long road in everyone’s journey in life.
For some people, it’s a way to get from one place to another.
For others, it’s a search for one’s purpose in existence.
For me, the road was where I could find peace.
When everything in my life had shattered, I turned to the road.
And that’s where I met him.
Killian Lemarque.
A beautiful truck driver, and my salvation.
One month on the road together is the deal, and when it’s over, I will have hopefully figured out what I’m going to do about my torn reality.
But sometimes the road can change everything.
One Month. One Truck. One Long Drive.
How You Get The Girl
As Hollywood’s hottest actor, getting a woman in my bed is never a challenge.
Then I spotted her at a bar—she wanted a man for the night, and I jumped at the chance to fill the role. I gave her Joel Kline’s best, and she smacked my pretty face.
But don’t worry, that’s not the end of our story. Her brand of crazy inspired me, and I had to see her again, no matter the cost.
Now, Alessandra Rose is my lead makeup artist for the next four months.
Literally, her job is to touch me every day for the duration of filming. Sounds like a win, right?
Nope, she stops me at every hint of a flirt. I’m in uncharted waters for once.
Joel Kline’s famous techniques to get the girl are failing me. It’s no longer about those sexy Brazilian lips, or her fiery spirit that gives me a hard-on.
It’s about making her banana pancakes after she spends the night in my home.
It’s about knocking down those walls around her, claiming her as mine.
She’s going to fight me, of course, unwilling to accept that it’s not all an act.
But I’m not going anywhere; that’s how you get the girl.
Guiding Lights
He sings of suffering. His eyes hold the pain of living in sorrow.
The moment our gaze meets recognition flares within.
We are tortured souls drifting in a sea of darkness.
He knows I have secrets that I'll never tell.
I am numb.
I am broken.
I am dirty.
I can never be the guiding light through the darkness he thinks I am.
I have forsaken my past, I rely on keeping myself shut off.
But he has secrets too, secrets that would destroy everything I have left.
I wish things were different, that maybe we could be each other's lifeline.
But destiny drags us down like an anchor.
The broken can only drift in the sea barely staying afloat.
Blinding Lights
She dances with a passion I'll never know.
Seeing her again tears me at the seams.
She was never mine.
My soul is stained with the darkness of death.
I have killed.
I have tortured.
I have lost.
Her soul is too bright for the shadows within,
Day Page 15
