Chapter Fourteen

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Rico

B lood trickled down my neck from where Anurak was gripping me, his freshly manicured nails biting into my skin. I ignored the sting of pain as I quickly strode to the car, needing to get him home so I could take care of him. My boy was slowly spiraling, and I needed to prevent it.

Now .

I opened the passenger door, grunting when he dug his nails in deeper and his legs tightened around my hips to the point the belt on my pants dug into my skin uncomfortably. “No. No, no, no.” He sobbed, shaking his head, his tears soaking my shirt. “Papi, no. Please no.”

“Okay. Okay, perrito ,” I soothed, cradling the back of his head as I kicked the passenger door shut. My heart was in my fucking throat. I didn’t like that I couldn’t fucking calm him. “I won’t let you go. I promise. I’ve got you.”

I hated seeing him like this. It was fucking shredding me. I’d never hurt this goddamn badly in my life. I was meant to protect him from shit like this, but I hadn’t. I thought he’d be okay. I had no idea what the fuck triggered him, but if I’d been with him, I’d probably have slaughtered everyone within proximity to us just to eliminate what he thought might be a threat, even if they truly weren’t.

The love I felt for my little puppy was the feral kind. It was all-consuming and made me bloodthirsty when it came to protecting him, even if I was only protecting him from his own mind.

Striding around the hood, I snatched open my door, then settled into my seat with Anurak still wrapped around me. He snuggled further into me, his blood-stained fingers slipping over my skin. A miserable sound rattled from his throat that made my vision tint red for a moment before I blinked it away.

He was safe. He was with me. And I’d never let anyone fucking hurt him again.

Ace knocked on the window, making Anurak jump and a whimper rip from his abused throat. I tightened my arm around him as I quickly rolled the window down, arching a single questioning brow at Ace. He frowned at Anurak, worry glimmering in his blue eyes.

“When he’s feeling okay, can you have him call me?”

I nodded, then rolled the window back up. As soon as Ace stepped back from the car, I peeled out of the lot, quickly hitting the highway and heading home. I flinched in surprise when Anurak suddenly began fumbling with the buttons on my white shirt. Once he had five of them undone, he pushed my shirt aside. A low groan crawled up my throat when he wrapped his lips around my nipple.

But fuck the way he settled. His body went lax, and he made a soft, contented sound that went straight to my heart. I tightened my arm around him and lowered my head just long enough to drop a kiss to the top of his. After a few minutes, his mouth went soft, the sucking ceased, and he let loose a soft snore.

He stayed just like that for the rest of the ride. I had no doubt he was drained. Hell, I felt like the life had been sucked out of me, and I wasn’t even the one who had a full-blown panic attack. Just the fucking fear of not being able to make it to him in time to help him had drained me of any energy I had left.

When I pulled up to the house, Bento quickly got out of the SUV he’d been following us in and opened my door. “I’ll park your car, sir,” he said quietly.

I nodded once and gently lifted Anurak higher on my body before I strode for the porch. Niran was already there unlocking the door. I nodded once at him in thanks before I headed up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

My little puppy lifted his head, looking up at me with sleepy eyes and whining when I set him on our bed. “Papi?—”

“Easy,” I soothed, leaning over him. Slanting my lips across his in a soft kiss, I murmured, “Lay back for me.”

He quickly complied, laying back against the pillows and watching me through bloodshot, tired eyes. I slipped his shoes off, then stripped him out of his clothes. After grabbing a baby wipe out of the drawer—I kept them on hand for when we had sex—I cleaned the blood off his soft hands.

His nostrils flared when I began to strip out of my clothes. Once I was as naked as he was, I slipped between his spread thighs on the bed, pressing my fingers between his cheeks. A low sound of approval rumbled from my chest when I found him still slick from this morning.

Like the good boy he was, he lifted his thighs, letting me slide into him. His arms and legs wound around me, and he clung to me, soft, broken sounds spilling past his sweet mouth as I slowly fucked into him so he’d feel safe again.

So he would feel like mine again.