Chapter 8

8

BLADE

" C hill, Blade," Dahlia sighed and rolled her eyes. "She's safe on the compound, and no one here will touch her while she's wearing your cut."

I frowned, still not convinced that I should go to work and leave Elise. I'd had another day off from the hospital yesterday and having her help in the clinic here the day before meant that I'd gotten way ahead on my to-do list, so we'd spent it cosseted in our room, mostly talking and getting to know each other, and leaving only to get food, then returning to our private little bubble. Everything I learned about her just made me even more certain that she was meant for me. She'd been pretty sore, so I'd told her no sex until she'd recovered. The little minx kept trying to tempt me, so I got creative with ways to make her come, but later that night, she'd woken me up by climbing on top of me and dropping down onto my cock.

Even though I'd lectured myself to be gentle, Elise tended to smash my control to smithereens. She'd bounced on my dick, squeezing her pussy and cupping her big tits, holding them up like an offering. I'd knifed up and latched onto one rigid peak while gripping her hips and lifting her up before slamming her back down.

Afterward, I'd let her recover, then turned her onto her stomach and spanked her ass for disobeying me. However, that had made her so fucking wet that I couldn't resist pulling up her hips and fucking her from behind.

Unfortunately, I was due back to work today and was scheduled for a twelve-hour shift in the ER at Old Bridge General. That was too damn long to be away from my woman when we hadn't found the bastard who'd hurt her yet.

Elise stood from the couch where she'd lounged beside Dahlia and slipped her arms around my waist. "I'll be fine. Your patients need you." She kissed my jaw sweetly, and I sighed, burying my face in her hair. She smelled like fresh, crisp apples, and I was completely addicted to her scent.

"Don't like leaving you when you're in danger," I grunted.

"Am I really, though?"

I raised my head at her exasperated tone and glared at her.

"Is there anywhere safer for me to be than locked up on the compound, surrounded by your brothers, who you know will protect me as fiercely as you would?"

I wanted to argue that the compound had been breached before, but it was a thin excuse since they'd only made it just past the gate. "No," I grumbled.

"Go to work. Save lives like the sexy hero you are, and I'll be waiting when you get back."

"Sexy, huh?" I asked with a grin.

Elise winked and murmured, "So sexy I'm gonna let you give me a very thorough physical when you get back."

Laughing, I hugged her close before kissing her on the forehead, barely suppressing the urge to tell her I loved her. I wasn't sure if she was ready to hear that yet.

"Blade."

I glanced up to see Fox walking into the room. "Got a few minutes before you take off?"

After glancing at my watch, I nodded. "Ten," I told him.

He jerked his chin up in acknowledgment, then turned his focus on his wife as he stopped in front of her. Bending low, he rubbed her protruding belly and whispered something in her ear that made her blush. Then he kissed her before standing and glancing over at me. "Let's go."

"Any news?" I asked as we headed to his office.

"Deviant found the fucker's car in a body shop one town over. Sent Racer and Hawk to check it out. Shop didn't have any info on the seller because they bought it for parts, no questions asked."

"Dammit," I snarled, furious that we'd hit another dead end.

"Don't lose your shit just yet," Fox grunted as we entered the room. He rounded his desk and sat while I stood in front of it, arms crossed and feet braced wide.

"You tell him, yet?" Whiskey asked as he strolled in after us.

Fox shook his head, then looked at me again. "One of the employees—Ned, according to his coveralls—was unusually quiet. Doing his best to be invisible, then slipped out the back. Racer said he was pretty sure the guy was on something, so while Hawk talked to the manager, Racer caught up to Ned as he was getting on his bike. Asshole was about to ride while he was high as a fucking kite. For that alone, I had him brought back here to get his ass kicked. Racer knocked him out while they waited for Stone to show up with a van."

A knock on the door caught our attention, and since it was open, Racer ambled inside. "You tell him?"

Fox rolled his eyes. "Ned woke up on the way here and started crying like a little bitch."

"Didn't make much sense," Racer interjected. "Too fucking high. But he mumbled something about his dealer and the car being in an accident."

My brow rose. "You think he's the customer Elise saw?"

Racer shrugged. "Could be. Or it could be a coincidence. Either way, the asshole deserves a beating. That or the withdrawal should get us our answers."

I frowned, again wondering if I should call out to work.

"Go," Fox urged, clearly guessing where my thoughts had been headed. "Ned won't be any good to us until he's sober. Even longer if we have to wait for withdrawal to kick in for him to talk. Being at the hospital will take your mind off shit. And stop you from driving away your woman by hovering."

Scowling, I growled, "I don't hover."

"Bullshit," Racer snorted, and I tossed him a glare. He put his hands up in a surrender pose but shook his head. "That's what Prez and Mav say, but you've seen what happened ever since they knocked up their women."

I couldn't argue with that, and I had to admit that I probably wouldn't be any better when Elise was pregnant.

Annoyed that everyone had more logic for me going to work than I had for staying home, I dropped my arms and grunted, "Call me if he's ready before my shift is over. Or you find out anything else. Or Elise needs me. Or?—"

"Go!" all three men shouted.

I stomped out of the office and returned to my woman in the lounge. After giving her a very thorough kiss, I told her to be good, gave her a pat on the ass, and left for work.

Old Bridge was a decently sized town, but it was surrounded by a bunch of smaller ones that didn't have their own hospital, so we serviced a larger area. Which meant the ER was often busy because people in small towns did stupid shit and there was still plenty of crime. Which was why my day went from treating the burned hand of a kid who mishandled a bottle rocket, to performing surgery on an idiot who crashed their car into a train during a drag race, to a grandmother who thought she was having a heart attack that was actually a bad case of gas, to a teenager with a broken nose because he tried to go to second base with his girlfriend. The last emergency of the day was to deliver a healthy baby girl who didn't want to wait for her momma to be taken to the maternity ward.

I was good at compartmentalizing and used to connecting with my patients while remaining rational and emotionally unattached. But there were always days when my armor was a little weak, and the heavy shit that I dealt with weighed me down. Then some days ended like this, with the smiles of two new parents as they thanked me while holding their pink bundle in their arms.

As I walked away, I wondered if our babies would take after me or Elise…fuck, I hoped they took after her. Then again—I glanced back at the new family and grimaced—if we had daughters who looked like Elise…I'd have to buy a bigger gun collection. And figure out how chastity belts worked. Or build them a fucking tower and lock them away because they would not be allowed to date until I was dead.

With my shift finally over, I hurried to change out of my scrubs and into my street clothes. Despite receiving updates all day, I was anxious to check on my girl. When I arrived at the compound, I parked in the small lot out back between the kitchen and my clinic.

Dinner had been over for a couple of hours, so the room was mostly deserted, except for Maverick and Whiskey who were sitting at one of the tables talking and drinking beers.

"Yo," Mav greeted me when he saw me walk in.

I lifted my chin but kept walking past them, intent on finding Elise and bringing her back to the kitchen to sit with me while I had something to eat.

"She's at the clinic," Whiskey called out, halting me in my tracks.

"The clinic?" I asked, confused.

He shrugged. "Said she had some work to do."

I mentally sighed, knowing she was out there filing and shit because she couldn't just accept that I would take care of her and she didn't need a job.

Wait…she was at the clinic. It was almost nine at night. Dark. I glared at my brothers. "You let her go there alone?" I nearly shouted as I quickly moved toward the back door again.

"Of course not," Maverick growled, making my pulse and footsteps slow. "Hawk is with her."

"Hawk? Shit," I croaked as I broke into a run. He was a smooth motherfucker with a pretty boy face who had women constantly chasing him. Not that any of them were able to catch him. Hawk had been engaged to the love of his life a few years back until she called it off a few weeks before the wedding. He hadn't been on a single date since…he had trust issues, obviously, but I was pretty sure he didn't want to admit that he still wasn't over her.

Logically, I knew he wasn't interested in Elise, and besides that, none of my brothers would make a move on a woman wearing another man's cut, but jealousy didn't give a shit about that.

When I walked inside the clinic, Hawk was lounging on one of the couches reading, and Elise was at the desk typing on the computer. It was as innocent as I'd expected it to be, yet the need to claim Elise rode me hard.

Both had looked up at my entrance, but I focused on Hawk first. "Out," I said through clenched teeth.

He pressed his lips together, a sure sign he was fighting a smile, which only made me want to rip his balls off. He narrowly escaped my wrath by jumping to his feet and leaving with a wave and telling Elise, "See ya."

I sucked in a slow, deep breath, trying to calm the raging beast inside me. Finally, I turned and locked eyes with my woman.