Chapter 5

Layla was called into the hospital to help out with the people who had been hurt while scrambling away from the mad woman who held the gun. Most of the wounds were injuries like a broken arm. One had to have several stitches when she'd fallen over a broken chair. Nothing major for those people. It was the officers who had taken the biggest hits.

No one was sure how Mary had gotten it right away, but she was dead, and it didn't look good for the three officers who had been shot. They were still trying to figure out how she'd managed to shoot one shot and get three men at the same time.

"There are two children coming in. One has a broken leg, no doubt about it. The other one is…well, she told us that she fell, but I no more believe that than you have wings." She didn't know what to say to that. Layla had woken up this morning with a dragon curled around her body like it was giving her a big hug.

She'd not told anyone yet, not even Madison. But it freaked her out all the same. As she was examining the little girl first, she could see that she'd fallen down a flight of stairs. Having her records brought to her, she was surprised that she'd not been seen before. To her, it looked like she had said, she'd fallen down a flight of stairs when she'd been at home.

The little boy, his name was Roger, did indeed have a broken leg. After giving him something for the pain, she spoke with the parents. It was the best and most believable story that she'd ever heard.

"He broke his leg on the trampoline about an hour ago and didn't move but continued to sit on the stupid thing without calling for help. He didn't want to add to what was going on, he told us." The mother was sobbing, and it was the father that was telling her what had happened. "Lucy had just fallen down the stairs, prancing around like a child will do when she'd fallen. We were…we were trying to see if she'd broken anything when my wife decided that she might need more than we could handle. That's when we found Roger sitting in the middle of the trampoline, hurt and crying. I can't imagine the kind of pain he was in when he did that. It broke my heart how much he worried about his sister. He actually said for us to go on to the hospital so that she could be looked at."

The father cried then. Layla had to fight hard in not joining them in their sorrow. She usually wasn't such a softy, but the tone of their voices and the way they were holding onto each other made her believe everything that they had told her.

It took her all of two hours to get done with the shift she was on. The hospital was very busy for the better part of the day into the evening. When she was clocking out, she had a moment of pause when there was a code blue called out for the fifth floor. David was standing there, just outside his office, when he told her to go home. She'd worked more than enough today. Thinking that he was right, exhaustion slammed her hard, and she barely made it out to her car. She was so tired right then.

For the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening, all she did was lay on the couch that had been delivered the day before and got caught up on some of her emails. At six, when they were to have dinner, she made her way to the kitchen to see what was on the menu. Anything she decided as she was famished by then.

Madison and Kyle had shown up while she'd been resting, and Layla was so happy to see them. After getting hugs and seeing the clothing that Madison had gotten for the young man, she relayed the information that she'd gotten from the boy's attorney.

"So I have to go into the system, and that system is you and Mr. Madison. I didn't know that was an option." She told him that she hadn't known either. "But he's also telling me that this is a temporary situation and I shouldn't get too comfy."

"I don't think that I said that, Kyle. He said that he wants the best for you, and they have to find out if you have any other relatives out there and he didn't know how long that would take. See? I never mentioned you not getting comfy." Layla hugged Kyle when it looked to her that he still didn't believe her. "We'll talk about this and the options that we have and see what we can do about this."

"I would like this to be my forever home. I mean, you already know what a stellar kid I am. Right?" She looked at Madison. There was no way that she was—

"If we can, would you like to adopt him? I'm all for it if you are. I know that we have a lot of stuff to sort out, mostly about your sleeping down the hall, but that would be an easy fix, don't you think?" When she looked at him, he winked at her, and she had to smile.

Madison had been flirting with her for the last few days. Touching her softly. Curling her hair around her ear when he was around. He'd even massaged her feet when she came home from a particularly long shift. Telling him that she'd love to be a mother before becoming a wife, he suddenly stood up only to get down on one knee to hold a beautifully wrapped box in front of her.

"I should have done this weeks ago. I know you would say that I've been a prick, mean ass, and even a bastard, anyone that has been around me would attest to that." She didn't say anything, not agreeing or disagreeing with him. He laughed. "All right. But since I've realized that I'm in love with you I then wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. And with Kyle, if you'd like."

"I would like that. Are you getting to the point sometime soon? My dinner is getting cold and I'm—" Madison told her that he was getting there, that she needed to hush. "Yes, of course. Get to the point, however."

"I think that I've picked the most unromantic woman in all the world." Kyle kicked him, and they both laughed. "All right. I saw this ring, and I knew that it was perfect for you. The color of the diamonds were the perfect color of your blue eyes. The band even has that slight curve to it that reminds me of your lovely hair. Layla Jean Marks Walsh, will you settle for me? Have as many children as you wish with me? Make me not just a better man but also to take me as your partner, whatever trouble that you wish to get into? I love you, my darling wife."

Kyle kicked him again, and Madison turned to the younger man, telling him that he'd forgotten what he'd told him. About the house and, for heaven's sake, put the ring on her finger.

"I don't want this to get out there, but I've been taking romantic advice from a ten-year-old. We did good, didn't we?" Kyle rolled his eyes and left them there. He came back just as Madison was standing up and pulling her into his arms as he slipped the ring on her finger. As she knew it would be, it was a perfect fit.

"I'm starving. I'd leave you now to get on with whatever you have plans for, but I'm too hungry to let you continue. Plus, now that I've seen the two of you together, kissing—gross, I don't like that the two of you are around me when you do that. Please. Let's just eat so I can go to my room. Blah." She and Madison, much to Kyle's embarrassment, kissed him on his cheek, too. She was so much in love with the kid that she found herself thinking of him as her favorite son. Even though they didn't have any children yet.

After dinner the three of them sat around the living room talking about the upcoming trial for the law firm of Schuster and Schuster. It had seemed like such a prestigious firm but it was only two brothers who had inherited it from their father. As they had no children, either of them, it was going to be sold for the name and clients. That was before all this crap started to hit the firm. Other families had had the same thing happen to them as it turned out and the people were coming out of the walls it seemed to get their portion of whatever was left of their funds.

She supposed that she was one of the lucky ones as they'd not been able to get to her money. But they did find out that they'd been gambling on the horses, thinking that with her money to cover it, they'd be rich sometime soon. Idiots. What the hell were they thinking? They weren't. That's what had happened.

~*~

Locking up the house had become easier for him. Madison knew that fourteen places needed to be checked. Now that he had a number to work with and a path that he followed, he didn't get as messed up as he had the first few times. It was the kitchen door that would get him every time. The sucker wasn't a normal door but a place where semis could back into it and bring large quantities of foodstuffs in for a gathering.

As he passed through the large pantry, sure that it was larger than his apartment, he was amazed to see that it had been filled out. Having fifty-pound bags of flour sitting on a shelf made him uncomfortable. That much baking would make a regular cook swoon.

On his way up the stairs, he thought about what Fowler had told the family this morning: That he and Amy were going to be living in the magical realm of Chilast. They were because the queen had retired a couple of weeks ago. Now, they were the king and queen of all the magic in the world. It was something that was daunting to them both but they said that it was just what they needed to do to be able to make it work. Madison thought that if anyone could do it, Amy and Fowler would be perfect.

"I know what was said, Millicent, but that's not going to happen. And I'm thinking that you know that." Layla rolled her eyes when he entered their bedroom. She was on the phone with who he thought was the woman who was in charge of the nurses at the hospital. "There is no way that the board will approve that much money to be spent on a break room for nurses only on each floor. It's a nice thought but the hospital is overcrowded as it is. You're talking about having two rooms in each department where patients need to be taken apart so that there are three breakrooms. Those rooms would no longer bring the money in."

He didn't know what was going on but he was sure that Milly was correct. A decade ago, they'd had the same thing brought up, and if he wasn't mistaken, Milly had suggested it with each floor giving up six viable rooms that would be a total of thirty rooms. No, he thought, they weren't going to do that now either.

When Layla got off the phone, she asked him if he'd like to sit in the hot tub with her for a few minutes, at least. She told him a couple of days. Making their way out onto the deck that was as much a part of their room as the one that they slept in, he laughed as he gathered up towels for them. Layla had told him not to bother with swim trunks. That made him harder just thinking about the implications of that statement.

"You know, I'm glad that we decided to get one of these when my parents lived here. I used it more than they did right up until I left home. I don't think that my brother ever did." He said that it was a nice addition, and he'd missed out. "Yes, he missed out on a great many things, dying so young."

"I'm sorry, honey. I didn't mean to open an old wound." She told him that it was simply a fact of life and the reason why there were warnings out about drugs and drinking. However, there was more to his death than they'd known. "I know but I feel like I could have taken care with my words."

"Edgar called here before Milly did. I'm not even going to go into why she called. I'm sure that you can guess." He said that he did. "My family was all killed by the law firm. Even my brother. Edgar said that even though he was cremated, someone had taken the time to take blood samples and other things from his body. He didn't go into detail, but I'm assuming that it was his heart and other internal organs. He didn't die like they said. He'd been to see his parole officer that day, and when he'd come out of the office, he'd been killed. Like immediately. The pee samples from his parole officer didn't line up with what was in his autopsy report. He'd been clean the moments before his death, then when he was killed, there was enough in his system to fell a large bear and his entire family."

"I'm so very sorry, love." She nodded and looked away, but he could see her tears as they glistened in the evening moonlight. After telling her that he loved her, she slid her body towards his and turned to sit on his lap facing him. "We don't have to do this, Layla. We have the rest of our long lives to make love in this thing."

"But I need it more than I've ever thought possible." As soon as she was settled over him, his cock hard as stone, she leaned down and kissed him. It was a powerful kiss. One that seemed to beg for more from her. And he was willing to give her anything and everything that she wanted.

Pulling her up so that she could slide over his cock, engulfing him in her warm sheath, Madison was thrilled when her breasts were at his mouth. Taking advantage of the way her body was perfectly aligned with his, he suckled each one hard enough to have her moaning and pressing them closer to his mouth.

Layla started to ride him. Not gently, either. Water was splashing up and over the tub onto the decking. Pulling her up by her ass, he turned and laid her on the edge of the tub at its widest point. Sliding down so that his mouth was at her glistening pussy, he licked her twice before he laid his chin on her thigh.

"I'm going to eat all of you, but I want to start here." She nodded, moaning so much that he ached more than ever. "When I have all that I want, which won't be soon in coming, I'm going to slam my cock into you and fuck you until you can't walk.

"Yes, please. Give it to me, Madison. I need you to fuck me." He leaned down, sitting on his knees in the water. He pressed her knees wider apart so that he could take what he wanted and see all that she was.

Watching her clit as it swelled for him, he slid his finger into her and moaned when his hand was soaked. Fucking her this way, watching her face as she rode his fingers, Madison thought that he could go on like this forever. Leaning down again, drinking of her and nibbling on her clit, he was flooded with her cream so much that he missed some of it. Lapping at her, holding her where he wanted her, Madison was sure that before he fucked her with his cock, he was going to come several times while having his feast of her.

Madison loved watching her breast jump with the timing of his hand. Each time that she came, her body shoring up a little more each time, he was given the best view he'd ever imagined when taking a woman. It was more than he could have hoped for and so much more than he thought he could endure.

With her hands holding her plumb breasts, her body riding his mouth, it was all Madison could do not to come. He'd lost count of how many times Layla had come but was thrilled when she didn't ask him to stop what he was doing.

Aching so badly now, he made his way up her body by nipping and licking the path between her navel to her delicious breasts. Taking one of her pert nipples into his mouth and biting down had her screaming out a climax that nearly unseated him from her. Madison played with her nipples while he took her mouth. He was more than a little bit surprised when, as he was tasting her rich, warm blood, that she had bitten him as well.

Tearing his mouth from her throat, he cried out with the nearly crippling climax that took him. Coming all over her body, she hurt him once again when she began rubbing it into her skin like it was a lotion. Sliding over her, slamming his cock deep inside of her, Madison took her hard, his cock pounding her like it had a mind of its own. And when she stiffened beneath him, seemingly glowing under the moonlight, Layla screamed out her release while holding tightly onto him.

Madison came again, this time deep inside of her. His body, exhausted from his releases, nearly knocked him out when he came a third time. Dropping atop her, breathing and whizzing his way through staying consciousness, he kissed her on the mouth and held onto her. He would never admit this to anyone, but he was sure that Layla was testing his immortality in that moment.

Neither of them moved as they laid there. He could feel a tingling in his back. The dragon there, a small one, seemed to move and claw its way up to his shoulders. Moving when he felt it dig into his neck, Madison cried out when his claws, not knowing what was going on, gripped harder to his shoulders as something wrapped tightly around his leg. When he heard screams, his or Layla's, he didn't know which. The sudden and profound pain took his breath away as well as his conciseness.

Waking in an unfamiliar bed, he lay there, not even moving his eyes, when he felt every muscle in his body protest to him about his ill-treatment. No amount of begging would make the pain any less, but he was able to turn his head now and see that the room he was in wasn't any more familiar than he'd first thought.

"Well?" Turning his head quickly had him crying out. The voice was someone's that he'd heard before, but like his poorly abused body, his brain wasn't cooperating enough to let him know who was speaking to him. "It's your brother, Sidney. I can't believe that I have to tell you that after all the time we've been together. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Where is Layla?" Sidney laughed and told him that she was in the yard with Kyle. "Please tell me how long I've been lying here and that she only just got up. She nearly killed me, Sidney. I love her, but I think she broke me." Of course, his brother thought that was terribly funny.

"Sorry, bro, she's been up and around since…we're assuming she brought you up here. Is sex that wonderful or scary?" He told him both as he sat up on the edge of the bed. "Take it easy, buddy. If you fall on your face, I'm going to be teasing you forever. Just…I don't know, just take it easy."

He could hear the worry in his youngest brother's voice. Madison said that he would and promised him that he'd take a shower slowly. As soon as the water, the hottest that he could stand, started to spray on him, Madison felt a good deal better.

Getting out of the shower, standing there, drying himself, he did feel better. Looking at his reflection, seeing something along his shoulder, he was startled to see the claws there. He'd thought that it was just something that he dreamed. Turning to see his back, only then remembering that he'd felt something crawling on him, he freaked out, falling on his ass when he saw a dragon as long as he was in place of the small dragon that he'd had since birth. He was never so happy to be alone, his brother leaving him to his solitude. He would have surely laughed his ass off at him had he been around.