AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Breathe.” She grabs my hand and forces me to sit on the bed. Squeezes, though there’s no strength in the movement. “You’re shaking.”
"Of course I’m shaking. You’re hurt.” I fumble my phone in my effort to speed dial the doctor.
“I’ll talk to the doctor.” Adira takes my phone before I can drop it and makes a beeline for the door. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do while I’m gone.”
“What if that… I just made everything worse?” I cover her hand with both of mine. I need her to be able to trust me. But how do I accomplish that, when I can’t trust myself not to get carried away?
“I’m fine.” She eases her hand from mine and tries to sit up. “Let’s just get ready to go shopping.”
I stand up and fluff her pillows. “You’re not to leave that bed until the doc says you can.”
“Rogue, that’s ridiculous." Her mouth grows stubborn. “I’m fine now. She’ll probably just tell me to take a couple of Tylenol and be a bit more careful.”
“This isn’t a discussion.” I walk across the room.
“You’re being a jerk,” she tells me, and I turn in time to watch the pillow she tried to throw at me land on the floor beside the bed.
“And right now, you’re weak, baby. And you’re hurting. If I need to I can keep you right where you are. Don’t think I won’t hold you down if you try to leave that bed.”
“Yeah, well, I have Adira.” She pokes her tongue out at me. “He won’t let you treat me like this.”
I chuckle. Fuck, she’s cute. “I don’t think the queen who made the call to the doctor is going to disagree with me on this.”
“Bah. Fine,” she yells as I close the door on her.
Chapter Fifteen
Ivy
Ibrushmyfingersalong the toe of the thigh-high boot with the periwinkle sole. The navy suede is studded with Swarovski crystals. They’re reminiscent of the night sky and absolutely beautiful.
I used to have a closet full of beautiful things that my mother bought me over the years. They were handed to me as “gifts,” but the price on them was far too high. It wasn’t only obedience my mother wanted. It was my silence when it came to Alec. It was my future. It was a marriage I could never be happy in.
I guess I showed her when I exchanged vows with Rogue Maddox.
“You would look amazing in them,” Adira tells me.
“They are beautiful.” I glance over my shoulder at the man currently sitting on a love seat by himself. He is doing something on his phone, but his gaze drifts to me every few minutes. It’s like he’s frightened that I’ll disappear if he eases up on the hovering.
It was worse before we left the apartment. My rib stopped hurting almost immediately, but Rogue had still looked like he was about to have a breakdown. And then he’d threatened to hold me down if I tried to get out of bed before the doctor arrived. Threatened to hold me down like the warning wouldn’t conjure images of him doing just that. And after that kiss…
Lucky me. The doctor gave me the all clear to go shopping as long as I didn’t overdo it. Suggested I pop a couple of Tylenol and rest if I needed to. I’d almost stuck my tongue out at Rogue again because I was right and he’d overreacted.
Now he’s trying to be more covert about his mild-ish stalker tendencies.
“He would trip over his own jaw if he saw you in those,” Adira tells me. “And I have the perfect outfit in mind to go with it. A little midnight blue number under a chunky cardigan that you’ll wear in such a way as to tantalize the man with just a few inches of shoulder.”
I’m not sure that’s what I want to do. “I still don’t know where we really stand.”
“Of course you do, honey.” Adira smiles at me fondly. “You’re in love with him. Head over heels. Surely you can tell. It’s written all over every glance… every move you make.”
That kiss… It had been something else. Even now I can’t help but imagine where something that had started off as such an innocent peck might have led if it weren’t for my injuries getting in the way. Maybe it’s a good thing that they did. We have this connection that can make it hard to think straight. I drop my hand to my side. “But I don’t know him.”
“I understand.” Adira squeezes my shoulders. “It must be hard to be told what your thoughts and feelings were. What your life was like… but feel like you didn’t get to live it.”
“Exactly,” I say. “It feels like I’m in someone else’s life right now.”
“So trust me.” He takes both my hands and holds them up between us. “ You and that man need some time to get reacquainted. That’s all. I would never steer you wrong.”
