Page 86 of Rescuing Nathaniel

Didn't they understand? She wasn't safe. She wanted to be safe. Couldn’t be safe until she got the tracking device out of her.

“Nathaniel,” someone called out. “Get over here. She needs you.”

Hearing that she needed him must have cleared the haze of anger clouding Nathaniel’s mind because the next thing she knew, his hands were framing her face. The warmth of his palms pressed to her cheeks seeped into her, and his thumbs brushed lightly across her cheekbones, soothing a little of the panic.

“I’m here, honey. I'm here. They’re not going to hurt you again. You're okay, we’re going to get you to the hospital and patch you up. You're okay, you're going to be okay.”

His words, while meant to soothe, didn't solve her problem.

With a sob she shook her head. “Not okay.”

“They cut you, honey, and it looks deep, but you're not going to bleed out, I swear.”

Wasn't what she was worried about. “Not okay,” she whispered again.

“You are, honey. I'm here now, and I will kill anyone who even looks at you wrong.”

Somehow she believed that. And the thought—macabre though it was—made her smile. “Tracking device. In me,” she told him as her body trembled violently. Whether it was from fear, shock, or pain, Ava wasn't quite sure. Maybe it was all three of them.

Nathaniel swore, but his hands never left her face, his thumbs never stopped caressing her skin. “Okay, honey, we’ll get it out at the hospital. Unless you know where it is?”

When she shook her head, he offered her a smile and leaned down to touch a kiss to her forehead. His lips lingered there, and she felt a shudder ripple through his large body. He hadn't just been angry she’d been taken again and hurt, he’d been terrified of the possibility of losing her.

“I’m going to untie you now, okay, honey? But I need you to stop thrashing about, because you're making your wounds worse. I know you're hurting, and I know you're scared. I get that you want that tracker out of you right this second, but we can't do that, okay?”

Lifting his head just enough that he could meet her gaze, he searched it, and Ava did her best to stifle the panic still pulsing inside her. Logically, she got what he was saying. They couldn’t take the tracker out until they knew where it was, and she couldn’t actually just start randomly slashing at her skin in the hopes she’d find it.

But that didn't stop her wanting it out right now.

Obviously satisfied she’d calmed enough, Nathaniel let go of her and she mewed a protest before she even registered it.

“Not going anywhere,” he assured her as he made quick work of untying the bonds at her wrists and ankles. “Not ever again.”

A seriousness to his tone warmed her. They had a lot to talk about. Ava had no intention of being Nathaniel’s emotional punching bag or having to deal with his hot and cold behavior indefinitely. It wasn't okay to treat her like that, she’d worked hard to figure out who she was and become that woman and she wasn't going to change into someone she wasn't, not even for Nathaniel.

Once things calmed down, she absolutely intended to tell him off, then she’d hear him out, and they could talk things through. But for now, the feel of his warm hands on her body, and his steady presence at her side calmed her in a way nothing else could.

Rex appeared behind Nathaniel, a blanket in his hands. “It safe to come closer?” he teased.

Offering up a smile she nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think I'm going to be delivering any blows today.”

“You did amazing, just like we all knew you would,” Rex said as he kept a little distance between them, obviously sensing she was still balancing precariously on the edge and could lose control at any second.

Draping the blanket over her, Nathaniel then took a wad of bandages from Rex’s hand and slipped them under the blanket.

When he pressed them hard against her wounds, Ava cried out, her body arching off the bed as she tried to escape the pain. Only of course that was impossible. The pain was inside her and it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

“I’m going to unhook this IV and set up my own, is that okay, Ava?” Rex asked as he held up the kit.

Eyeing it suspiciously even though she knew these men were safe and would never hurt her, she fought against her terror and gave a sharp nod.

“It’s fluids, pain relief, antibiotics, and a sedative,” Rex told her as he rounded the bed and unhooked the IV that was currently delivering the muscle relaxants and whatever else these people had been pumping into her system.

The sedative part made her tremble in fear. She didn't want to be unconscious. Couldn’t quite get out of her mind the idea that as soon as she went to sleep, she would never wake up again.

That wasn't going to happen now that she’d been rescued, she knew that, but she didn'tknowit. Not that that made the slightest bit of sense.

“I’m going to be right with you the whole time,” Nathaniel assured her. “I won't leave your side not even for a second. Doesn’t matter what happens, I learned my lesson already, and I hate to inform you, honey, but you are now stuck with me for the rest of your life.”

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