Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
“So, you’re saying that if I want to leave now, I can?”
“Absolutely.” His response was immediate. When I glanced at Morgue, though, he was frowning at Stitches.
“She’s not ready to go yet.”
“It’s her decision, Morgue.” For some reason, Stitches looked amused. I wasn’t sure if it was on my account or something Morgue had said.
“She’s not ready.” He lifted his chin stubbornly, like his word was law and he meant to enforce it. For some odd reason, his attitude was comforting when otherwise I might have really decided to leave. I didn’t think I was ready to leave their care. Not yet. I was hurting enough to know I couldn’t make it anywhere on my own. Let alone all the way to Kansas.
“He’s right,” I said softly. “I’m not ready, but when I am, I expect you to let me go.” It sounded as stupid as I felt, but I meant every word.
“Absolutely.”
“I’ll follow you.” Morgue looked angry. Not like he was about to kill someone though. More like someone was trying to take away his favorite toy or something. Gun, maybe. His favorite gun.
“Morgue.”
“I’ll. Follow. Her.” Yeah. No compromise there. I probably should have been horrified, but it kind of settled something inside me. I was sure I’d chafe at this strangely possessive man, but for now, I might need him. Just the thought of willingly leaving him made me nauseous. Yeah. I was fucked.
“I won’t leave,” I said softly. “I don’t want to do this alone just now.”
“She doesn’t want to be alone.”
“Jesus, Morgue. What the fuck’s wrong with you? I know you can sound like a non-Neanderthal. I’ve heard you.”
I looked from Stitches to Morgue and back. “This is amusing to you?” What was I missing?
Stitches snorted. “Not sure amusing is the word I’d use, though it is kind of funny listening to him trip all over himself. It’s annoying. Not to mention embarrassing as hell. I’m not sure I can be in a club with a man who can’t even hold a conversation around a woman.” Morgue took a threatening step toward Stitches, clenching his fists and making his biceps threaten the material of his shirt. “See?” Stitches hiked his thumb over his shoulder at Morgue. “Just call him Captain Caveman.”
Whoever that was. “Look, I trust you to take care of me and I thought I might like you, but if you don’t quit trying to make Morgue look stupid, I may have to stab you in the eye with a spork.”
Stitches barked out a laugh and winked at me. “Keep him on a short leash. Man needs to be tamed before he hurts himself. Now. I’m sure you don’t want me poking around to fish out this catheter. So what I’m going to do is deflate the balloon holding it in place. After that, all you have to do is pull it out. There’ll be some pressure and maybe a little sting, but it shouldn’t hurt. I want to keep the IV fluids going and have you drink as much water as you feel comfortable with. You need to use the bathroom before I can leave you alone completely.”
“Why? Can’t we go on to wherever we’re going? Though, I really need to go back to Kansas.”
“Right,” Stitches said. “I remember. Liberal, Kansas. You got family there?”
“No. But everything I have is there. I was with friends for Spring Break. We were going to Cancún.”
“Did you make it there?”
“Yeah. We got there, but she took me to a really poor part of town. It’s where Maria lived and where we were staying while we were there. The last thing I remember was going with her to a rave. Whatever happened, happened there because that’s where my memory ends.”
“You’re pretty calm about this whole thing. Do you often get kidnapped?”
Had he slapped me, I wasn’t sure Stitches could have surprised me more. If I’d been able, I’d have attacked him. I wanted to strike out at his callousness as much as the implication none of this had affected me or that I wasn’t terrified out of my Goddamned mind.
The strength of my emotions must have shown on my face because the next thing I knew, Morgue had Stitches by the throat and slammed up against the wall. “Morgue!” I cried out, stumbling out of bed and toward the two men.
“Dorothy, stop!” Stitches croaked. As he let out his breath to speak, I saw Morgue’s grip on his neck tighten. Stitches wasn’t struggling. In fact, he’d gone almost limp.
“Morgue! He’s not fighting back! Stop!” Morgue looked over his shoulder and gave me a pained look. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was denying him a kill or because he wanted to defy me but knew he wouldn’t. “Please!” I got tangled up in the damned catheter tube and tripped. I would have hit the ground, but Morgue moved so fast he managed to catch me. I was relieved, but not so much because I hadn’t fallen as I was that with Morgue’s arms around me, it meant he wasn’t busy strangling Stitches to death.