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My sluggish mind was slow to comprehend what was happening. All I noticed were the eyes of the man who held me in his arms, cradling my weak body against his chest as he lifted, ensuring I was secure in his strong embrace. That would have been alarming if I was coherent enough to put two rational thoughts together in my head. The stranger’s eyes betrayed emotions I couldn’t afford to indulge or consider ––compassion, concern, confusion, and even rage. What a weird combination battling for top position in eyes that I could sink into and never want to leave.
It was the color that took me by surprise the most. A stunning dark blue like the deepest fathoms of the ocean framed by dark lashes any girl would envy. Such striking mirrors of his thoughts and soul. They bled through into the blue, and I’d never been able to read someone so openly as this stranger who stared back with equal intensity.
The connection was instantaneous, and I sighed, breaking the invisible link to lay my head on his shoulder.
“Do you worst,” I whispered hoarsely, “I’ve got nothing left.”
There was a light squeeze as my eyes closed, and I welcomed the nothing back with open arms.
Time held no meaning when I awakened again. There was no concept of how many hours or days lapsed when I spotted the stranger and his hypnotic eyes. Both of us remained quiet as we sized one another up, determining our reaction. My arm was throbbing, agonizingly hot beneath the soiled bandage, and the pain that radiated from the burns was so intense that tears filled my eyes, and I had to blink them back.
Show no weakness, Mimi.
He must have read the indecision on my face because he lifted his hands. “Hey! It’s okay,” he replied calmly.
Nothing was familiar. I was resting in a room filled with dark mahogany furniture, including the massive bed where I huddled in the middle, close to the headboard. I spotted a bathroom to the left and a walk-in closet directly across. The door was to the right. I always made sure I knew where an exit was as soon as I was taken somewhere new. My life depended on learning details most people found insignificant.
“Hey, sunshine. Don’t worry. You’re safe. I promise.”
I didn’t get a good look at the rest of him before I passed out. It was late and dark. My cluttered, poisoned brain was clouded when we met under such strained and unbelievable circumstances. Dumped and left for dead, I would never have survived without his intervention.
The biker was so tall his head almost brushed the ceiling with a thick, heavy build which proved he worked out often. A bandana wrapped around his head printed with an American flag, thick dark hair peeking over the top. By his right eye was a jagged scar in addition to the tattoos creeping up his neck that ended just under his jawline. A black t-shirt stretched over taut muscles as his arms flexed and revealed more black ink reaching to his wrists.
I was five-five and small-boned. Patriot was as tall as a California redwood as he towered over me, twice as wide in the chest and in those sculpted, rounded shoulders. His face was handsome in that classic, old Hollywood heartthrob way my mother used to drool over with actors like Rock Hudson or Marlon Brando ––chiseled angles, five o’clock shadow along his jawline, and a cocky, confident smile. Not to mention a sexy swagger that could literally melt panties.
His tanned skin was kissed from the Nevada summer sun. A leather vest stretched over his broad chest, leaving plenty of bronze, bulging muscle beneath, but the most impressive part was the arms as thick as my thighs as he bent over me, staring into my eyes with those hypnotic blue orbs.
I had a thing for arms.
Some girls liked a guy’s ass or his abs. I didn’t object to any of it, but a sexy pair of arms did me in.
I could get lost in a man like him. Happily surrounded by strength and immovable steel, I would never want to leave his embrace.
Too bad it was all too late for that now.
“ARE YOU TIRED, MIMI?”
My sister’s voice brought me back into the present.
“A little.” I wasn’t. Just woke up from a damn coma, but I didn’t feel like talking. Words were pointless. Wincing, I shot a glance at the window and sunny day that threatened to bring up more memories.
“I think I’ll close those blinds,” Patriot announced, walking over and shutting them completely.
I offered a small smile of thanks at his observational skills as I sank back against the pillows, relaxing for the first time since my eyes snapped open an hour ago.
“I’ll stay as long as you want,” Nylah announced, leaning back in her chair, and stifling a yawn.
“Did you just get off work?”
She shrugged, but I caught the truth in her weary expression that she tried to hide.
Looking at Patriot, I narrowed my eyes. “Send Rael a text and tell him to pick up my sister. She needs to sleep.”
“I can do that right here,” she argued.
“No, you can’t. Hospitals suck to sleep in. You know that. Go home with your man. I’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, she will. I’ve got Shadow here with me. We aren’t leaving her side, Nylah.”
