AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And I wanted to take them on, to share in the burden of them, with a desperation I didn’t understand.
My legs shook from the adrenaline crash, and I had to let go of Mason’s hand when I climbed into the back of the ambulance.
Whatever else had taken place at the hotel faded from my mind as I focused solely on the man laid out and being fussed over by the EMT. Mason struggled to answer questions, grimacing and twitching as though pain riddled his body.
I longed to wrap him up in my arms and soothe his aches. Kiss him until his discomfort faded.
My mind tucked away information as it left his lips. Thomson, he’d replied in answer to the inquiry of his last name. He was only forty-two, five-foot-eleven, and one hundred ninety pounds. He lived in the North Shore area. His health was excellent except for his current situation, and he didn’t take any medications.
When asked if there was anyone else who needed to be contacted, Mason glanced at me and shook his head.
While I wasn’t rich in family and friends, the fact he looked at me as though I was his person, hisonlyperson after we’d become aware of each other’s existence a half hour earlier, made my chest ache. That desire to hold him in my arms tripled, and my fingers itched to entwine with his once more as thoughhewould keepmeon sturdy ground.
At the hospital, we were taken to a curtained-off cubicle and finally left alone a few minutes later.
I leaned over Mason, needing a closer look at his face to make sure he was really going to be okay. That sense of him being lost remained in my mind as I took in the haze over his greenish-brown eyes. Had his brain been rattled? Did he not fully understand what was going on?
“Wallet,” he whispered. “Back pocket.”
“You want me to get it out?”
“Yes.”
Swallowing hard, I weaseled my hand beneath his lower back, chiding myself for eventhinkingabout feeling up his ass that was perfectly rounded and juicy as fuck. His cell was still shoved in the first pocket I encountered. I pulled that out and went beneath his other side for his wallet. He shifted slightly with another wince, allowing me room to slip it free.
“D-Do I have any messages?”
I held his cell to his face to open the lock screen. “You’ve got two. One from Kellen, and one from Micah. They’re both wondering if you got home alright.”
“Figured they would check in,” Mason murmured, his eyelids fluttering shut. “Could you answer yes then turn it off, please?”
I did as told and leaned forward to brush Mason’s hair back from his forehead.
“Stay?” he murmured, his eyelids fluttering shut.
“I will,” I promised, having zero intention of moving from his side unless a doctor demanded it.
An hour later, I finished filling out a few forms thanks to the wallet Mason had asked me to retrieve. I’d realized his brain hadn’t been too addled by whatever had clobbered him upside the head, and he’d meant for me to take the wheel in acting as his partner.
His trust, his desire for me to look after him, intensified my yearning to get to know him better.
X-rays and an MRI confirmed he had a concussion but no internal injuries. The knife wound on his shoulder ended up being a shallow slash, only needing a few stitches. Head also sutured and bandaged, Mason finally rested, eyes closed and hand once more clinging to mine.
Luckily, he wouldn’t have to be admitted overnight.
Not wanting to disturb Mason, since he’d been given some pain meds that made him loopy, I studied his face, thankful for the lack of a grimace on his full lips that appeared petal soft. My insides settled slightly over the assurance I’d been given by the nurse caring for him.
Mason had escaped his attacker intact—he would be all right.
However, with the intense emotional draw I felt toward him, I expected my heart wouldn’t remain unscathed.
Chapter3
Mason
Ifloated in sweet darkness. Resting. Relaxed. My mind lay quiet for a change, and I wanted to sink deeper into the sweet oblivion and forget about the shit I’d been wrestling with for weeks.
Warmth surrounded my hand, filling me with calm. Perhaps it was the firm yet soft touch that kept me cognizant.
