Dangerous Desire

by Sebastian Ex

  “Daisy, I’ll handle it. Just go sit down for a moment,” I say as I run my hands down her arms, comforting her. Daisy lets out a huff, her eyes red and puffy from crying and nods once. “Go catch your breath, I’ll handle it.”

  Daisy walks a few steps away from me, and I talk to the nurse.

  Within moments I discover Jackson’s awaiting surgery. The nurse explains to me what’s happening with Jackson and his arm.

  I walk over and sit beside Daisy, who’s a wreck. “Hey,” I say trying to calm her. “It’s not as bad as you think, come on, they’re going to show us where he is.” I stand and offer her my hand.

  Daisy takes it and looks up at me. “It’s not?” she asks, and we begin to walk toward the entry where the triage nurse is waiting for us.

  “No, it’s a broken ulna. One of the two bones in the forearm. The break is near the wrist. They need to insert a metal pin to help it heal. Straightforward and apparently common in active kids.”

  The nurse walks ahead of us and shows us to Jackson’s bed.

  There’s a woman sitting beside him, I assume she’s Jasmine, and Jackson’s on the bed with an I.V cannula in his arm looking all drugged out.

  “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I should’ve been paying better attention. I’m so, so sorry,” the brunette says to Daisy.

  Daisy throws her arms around Jasmine, giving her a hug, and I take another step back to avoid interfering with the women. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s once women bond together, they’re a force to be reckoned with. I’ve seen it many times with Penny, Ella, and Bianca.

  Daisy lets go of her friend and sits on the bed beside Jackson. Her friend eyes me up and down, and walks over to me.

  “You’re the boss?” she asks, so full of confidence.

  “I am,” I answer as I put my hands in the pockets of my suit pants.

  “You’re the guy at the strip joint.”

  “Again, I am.”

  “She’s good people, you know. She’d do anything for her boy. Anything.”

  I look at her and nod. “I know. Which is why she’s working for me now.”

  “Do you wanna fuck her?” She’s brazen, I’ll give her that. But I can see she’s just trying to protect her friend and the boy.

  “No.”

  “Good, ‘cause she’s not interested in you that way, either.” I chuckle and take a step back, so as not to interrupt Daisy talking to her half drugged-out son. “Don’t laugh. I won’t let you walk in here with your expensive suit, light brown hair and big brown eyes to fuck her and leave her. She doesn’t need any more of that shit in her life. You hear me?”

  I chuckle at her again, take my right arm out of my pocket and gesture for us to take this into the corridor, where Daisy and her son can’t hear us. Jasmine crosses her arms, and walks in front of me, back straight, chin up. I turn to her in the corridor and say, “Pleased to meet you. Brandon Edwards.” I hold my hand out to her to shake it.

  Hesitantly, she looks at my hand, then to my eyes before she puts her small hand in mine. “Jasmine Foster,” she says.

  “I can assure you, Miss Foster, I have no interest in Daisy. She’s a lovely young lady, but there is someone else I’m interested in. She’s merely an employee at my club.”

  “She told me what you did for her. Hiring her, giving her the money for Jackson’s trip, and fixing her car.”

  “Yes.”

  “She’s been screwed around by so many people in her life. She just needs some stability.”

  “I agree.”

  “Has she told you about her past?”

  “Not everything, and nor do I care to hear it. All I need is for her to work hard for me, show me loyalty and I’ll ensure she and her son are cared for.”

  “Just don’t fuck with her. She wouldn’t survive another prick fucking her over.” I laugh at her statement, basically calling me a prick. “Oh shit, I didn’t mean you. Oh crap.” She looks away, worried about what she said.

  “Can I buy you a coffee?” I offer, as I keep laughing at how over-protective she is of her friend.

  “You can’t fuck me either,” she blurts and her mouth quickly drops open, clearly horrified at her own outburst. “I’m sorry, you just finished saying you’re not interested in her and you have someone. I was rude.”

  “You were, incredibly rude, though you took responsibility and admitted you were wrong. It’s a good trait to have, very admirable, as is protecting your friend from dickheads who just want to fuck her for a night or two.”

  “You get it,” she says and takes a deep breath.

  “I do.” I lead her toward the cafeteria so we can get a coffee. “First, I just need to stop off at the nurse’s station.”

  “What for?”

  I smile at her, and talk with a nurse about Jackson’s medical bill. I make arrangements for them not to talk to Daisy about it at all. I’ll take care of it.

  When I finish, we start toward the cafeteria again. “Why would you do that? You don’t know her. You don’t know Jackson. No one would do something like that if they don’t have an ulterior motive. No one. Not even family members would do what you just did.” I just smile at her.

  As we enter the cafeteria, there are a few people milling around. “Do you want anything to eat?” I ask Jasmine.

  “No. What I would like is an explanation. You trying to be all suave so she falls for you? What is it?” I pay for the coffees, take them to a nearby table, pull out her chair and wait for her to sit. “You’re way too much, no way do you really exist. You’re an alien species, right?”

  I sit opposite her and have a sip of the God-awful black coffee. “Not all men are created equal.”

  “You can say that again.”

  “I’m helping her because that is what Matthew and I do.”

  “Matthew’s the one who blew up at her for calling him Matt, right?”

  “He didn’t blow up at her. He simply stated what he expects of her.”

  “You know, the night you gave her a job, she came home and told me everything that happened. She told me about you, and Matthew. What he said to her.”

  “Good.”

  Jasmine sips her coffee and sits forward in her chair. “She told me everything,” she whispers as she looks over her shoulder.

  “If you’re trying to save me from embarrassment by whispering, then you’re wasting your time. She told you about the almost blow job, and I’m sure she told you I believe she’s submissive. But again, she doesn’t interest me.”

  “You know…” She’s interrupted by my phone ringing.

  I hold a finger up to her, get it out of my jacket pocket and see it’s Nathan calling. “Nathan,” I say as I answer the call.

  I can hear a lot of commotion in the background, people talking, and the tell-tale signs Nathan’s at work because of the sirens closing in. “Where are you?” he asks with a lot of urgency in his words. Just the sheer tone of his voice tells me something’s not right.

  “I’ve brought Daisy to the hospital where her son’s being treated for a broken arm.”

  “Good, don’t leave.”

  “What the hell’s going on, Nathan?”

  “Penny’s been in an accident. Her car rolled, and she’s in bad shape. Paramedics are here and just trying to cut her out of her seat belt.”

  “What the fuck?” I stand to my feet and start running toward where my car’s parked.

  “Stay where you are, she’s going to be coming to the hospital once she’s out. But Brandon,” he pauses. I can tell there’s something he’s not telling me.

  “What is it?” I stop in the corridor, straighten my back. I become every bit the Dominant I am.

  “I have to tell you, she’s banged up pretty bad.”

  “If her car rolled, of course she’d be bruised.”

  “There are also older bruises on her face, some yellowing. Bruises that aren’t consistent with the accident she’s been in.”

  Every hair on the back of
my neck stands. An icy cold feeling of rage slowly snakes its way through my veins.

  Being a Dom means I need to be completely in control, refined and disciplined in my own actions.

  But if I find out anyone has put their filthy hands on her, with the intent of causing unwanted hurt, I will destroy him.

  SEVEN

  I’ve been sitting in this damned hospital chair waiting to hear something, anything, about Penny. I’m sending Nathan messages, and I can see he’s read them, but clearly he can’t respond or he would have. I called Matthew and told him, and just like the man he is, he insisted on coming down here.

  I stand from the chair, and go over to the triage nurse. Again asking if Penny’s been admitted yet. The answer is always the same, “I’ll let you know the moment I can.” What the fuck does that even mean? ‘The moment she can?’ – does she mean Penny’s back there but she can’t say anything? What the fuck?!

  The door opens, Matthew and Ella walk in hand in hand.

  “Brandon,” Ella says as she throws her arms around me in a hug.

  “You holding up alright?” Matthew asks.

  Ella lets go of me and goes to stand beside Matthew. “I don’t have any fucking idea what’s going on. I’m so fucking…” I don’t even know what to say. “Nathan’s not responding to my messages, so other than his initial call, there’s nothing else I can tell you.”

  “You told me Nathan said some of her injuries don’t match up to the car accident. How would he know? Especially considering he said her car rolled,” Matthew asks.

  “What he said was, ’they’re not consistent with the accident.’ He said she has bruises on her face. If that cunt at Velvet Room beat her, I’ll fucking ruin him,” I say as I run a hand over my face and through my hair.

  “Ella, kitten, can you go get us all coffees?” Matthew hands her twenty dollars, and Ella takes it, kisses him, and leaves.

  “What the hell is wrong with you? We don’t talk about anything like that in front of the girls.” Matthew says.

  He’s right, of course, we don’t. Matthew killed a man for Ella, but no one knows other than Nathan and me. The girls don’t know because we’ve never mentioned it in front of them. “Sorry, my head’s not on right. I’m just worried.”

  “I know, and if we find out who hurt her, we’ll deal it with it.” I sit and Matthew sits beside me, clapping a hand on my back.

  Matthew and I sit in silence. There’s not much to be said. I know he’s got my back. A few moments pass and Ella returns carrying two coffees and a bottle of water tucked under her arm.

  “Have you heard anything yet?” she asks. I just shake my head and take the offered coffee from her.

  Ella sits beside Matthew and opens her water. “Has Penny called you lately?” I ask.

  “Matt told me you two broke it off, and since then I haven’t heard from her. I tried calling her to see if she’s okay, but she never answered any of my calls or texts. First time I saw her was at Velvet Room.”

  “Thanks, Ella.”

  “You’re welcome.” She smiles.

  Half an hour passes and I’m going out of my fucking mind. Matthew’s been on the phone trying to find out what he can about the accident, and Ella’s sitting beside me in silence. I know what she’s doing though. She’s watching me and making sure I’m okay. It’s in her nature to care. Matthew told me when they were first together, she was just as protective of him as he was of her. She was willing to sacrifice herself and go back to the treacherous lowlifes who controlled her, just to protect Matthew.

  And now, she’s sitting beside me, keeping an eye on me, willing to protect me, too. I bring my elbows to my knees and drop my head in my hands. Today has been one huge clusterfuck. First Daisy’s son and now Penny.

  “Nathan,” Ella says, just as I feel a tap on my shoulder.

  I stand immediately and look at Nathan. “What the fuck’s happening?” I ask. I’m frustrated and it’s obvious in the agitated way I delivered the question.

  “We got a call about a car that had rolled. There was a woman trapped and people were trying to get her out. When the name of the owner came over the radio, I got there as fast as I could. Paramedics were already on their way too. I got to the car, and...” Nathan shakes his head.

  “What?” Matthew asks as he comes back from wherever he was.

  “She was unconscious when I got there. She was hanging upside down. We cleared the ‘helpers’ and waited ‘til the paramedics got there. We couldn’t do anything because we didn’t know what injuries she had suffered.”

  “But you said some of her bruising isn’t consistent with the accident,” I say.

  “She has bruising around one of her eyes, around her throat, and there were a few cuts on her arms which had started healing over. She looks bad, but not all of the injuries look like they came from the accident.”

  I simply nod, and Ella rubs her hand on my back. “Did she come to at all?” I ask.

  “She did, only briefly. She looked at me in a haze, but when she recognized me, she asked for you. She fell back under again the moment she said your name. She’s still out of it, has been ever since.”

  “Okay,” I say, my voice clearly stressed. Nathan’s told me everything he knows, so now all I can do is wait.

  It doesn’t take long before I’m called by the nurse.

  “The doctor would like to see you,” she says as she leads me to where the doctor’s waiting for me, just outside a room where Penny’s laying in a bed. The sight of her broken body knocks all the wind out of me. Her blonde hair is all matted and bloody, her face has bandages on it. Her right eye is completely swollen shut, her mouth has ballooned to look unrecognizable.

  “Mr. Edwards, you’re listed as Penny’s next of kin on her medical records.”

  “Yes,” I respond, my eyes unable to look away from the mess that is the woman I love.

  “She needs surgery. Her pelvis has been shattered and I’m sorry to tell you, but she lost the baby.”

  My eyes snap to him. The baby? What fucking baby? “What?” I ask as I feel a cold chill settle over me.

  “She was ten weeks pregnant.”

  Fucking what? Ten weeks pregnant. We were pregnant? “She was pregnant?” I say in more of a whisper then in certainty.

  “I’m sorry, I thought you knew.” I shake my head at him. “I need your approval to operate on her. She was lucky she was wearing her seat belt or it could’ve been much worse than it is. But I’m concerned about something.”

  “What is it?”

  “Here, look at these.” He clips an X-ray on a light-board and points out some cracks. “See here?” He shows me a crack.

  “Yeah.”

  “This is a broken rib. Looks like it happened in the accident.”

  “Okay.”

  “And this here,” he points to another, but it looks different. “This here is a hairline fracture, you can see the tissue around it, which means it had already started healing. Had she hurt herself recently?”

  “I...what?”

  “Has she hurt herself recently?”

  “I don’t know,” I answer honestly. But if she has a small fracture, it would probably be at the hands of an inexperienced Dom.

  “Either way, we need to reconstruct her pelvis.”

  “Go ahead and do it.”

  “I’ll go ahead and get her into surgery. The nurse will be out to speak to you about everything you’ll need to take care of her when she gets home.”

  “Before you go, how long will the surgery take?”

  “It’ll be a few hours if there are no complications.”

  I can’t help it, I need to know she’s in good hands. “Are you the best surgeon in this hospital?”

  His eyebrows fly up and he looks at me as if I’m a prick. And I don’t give a fuck. “I can assure you, I’m very good.”

  “Very good and the best is not the same.”

  “I’ll look after her,” he says snidely.

&nb
sp; “You’re not to touch her until I find out how good you are.” Without stopping I turn and run out to where Nathan is. “The doctor who looked after Ella, his name is Richard, right?” I ask.

  “Yeah.”

  “Get him on the phone and find out everything you can about the doctor who’s going to operate on Penny.”

  “On it,” he says as he walks away, digging his phone out of his pocket.

  “I’ll make a call too. I’m owed a favor,” Matthew says as he pulls his phone out.

  Ella stays beside me and smiles warmly at me. “Did you see her, Brandon?”

  “Yeah I did. She doesn’t look good.”

  “It’ll be okay. She has you protecting her, she’ll be alright.”

  “Did you know, Ella?” I ask her, referring to the baby.

  “Know what?” She looks at me with her big eyes. I can tell she genuinely didn’t know.

  “It’s okay.”

  “Richard made a call, the doctor looking after her is good. Quite well-respected, but there’s a female doctor who’s considered one of the best,” Nathan says as he comes back in a few moments later.

  Just as he finishes his sentence, Matthew appears too. “I got in contact with the Hospital Administrator. He wasn’t too impressed I got his number, but I don’t give a fuck. He’s sending his best surgeon to operate. The doctor’s name is Simone Chambers and she’s one of the best in the state. She’s already on shift.”

  I turn and run back to Penny’s room. The doctor who spoke to me is in her room not looking particularly impressed.

  “Doctor Chambers just called me. She’s scrubbing in and I’ll be assisting her,” he says stiffly, as the orderlies and nurses begin to wheel Penny away.

  “Thank you,” I say to him, “it’s not personal. But I won’t let someone other than the absolute best touch her.”

  Penny’s wheeled away and I’m left in a starkly cold room.

  While Penny’s gone, I go out to wait with the others. I don’t really want them around, but I know there’s no chance in hell they’ll leave me alone, either.

  When Ella sees me, she immediately comes to me and hugs me again. “You holding up okay?”