Page 38 of Conquer
Chapter Eleven
Ifeel so warm. So peaceful. I almost dread opening my eyes because it feels damn good to just float in this colorless ether. At least until I hear the voice.
Hisvoice.
“Look at me, beautiful,” he commands in a tone that cuts through the peaceful haze like a knife. “Open your eyes. Please, open your eyes.”
When I do, the world returns in blurred snippets of color and contrasting shadow. Even in this dreamy state, I’m convinced the face coming into focus will from here on out be the most beautiful sight I’ve ever witnessed.
Dark eyes framed by dizzyingly long eyelashes fixate on me, narrowed with worry. That same concern tightens the line of a gorgeous mouth, the lips so pink. The face of an angel, his expression contorts with relief as I blink to take more of him in.
“Thank God.” He seems closer, his gaze tortured. “Can you speak? Say something.”
A tattered giggle edges his words. From me? My body feels loosely connected, as if threaded together with the thinnest string. Somehow, I manage to make my lips move, my voice high-pitched and breathy.
“You are so pretty,” I tell him seriously. “The prettiest personever.Like ever. In forever…”
He frowns, glancing beyond me. “What did you give her?”
“Due to the position of the wounds, the doctor ordered a mildly strong sedative to prevent further trauma during the suturing process,” a woman explains in crisp, hilarious tones. “The effects will wear off in a few hours.” Her voice drifts away, and another tattered giggle bubbles from my chest.
“Drugged?” I ask Vadim, amused by his worried frown. He’s sexy in his normal resting state, but when emotionally aroused—even with concern—the man looks divine. “I probably would have married you if you asked nicely,” I blurt, too warm and comfy to care about how the confession may land. “You didn’t have to drug me.”
“Drug you? I should haveprotectedyou.” He smooths his fingers through my hair as more of our surroundings come into focus. We’re in a room—plain, with light blue walls—but I don’t recognize the style as belonging to his house. Or his bedroom, for that matter…
And I have tentacles, I realize with a dazed, childish bit of horror. Tubes snake out of both my arms, feeding into various blinking, beeping machines.
“Uh, oh,” I say, still giggling harder now than ever. “Did I have an accident?”
“Get some sleep,” Vadim urges, apparently deciding that the hazy, dreamy darkness is the best place for me to be. “Sleep. I’ll be here. Always, I’ll be here.”
But will he? A voice in my head is telling me no, using one painful fact as the winning argument.
“I could give you a baby,” I tell him out loud, watching his face change as the boast registers. Rather than hopeful, he looks stricken. Like I’ve struck him. Mortally wounded. Because he knows I might be lying? But deep down, I don’t think I am.
Even if I may or may not be totally high.
“I could,” I insist, my voice breathier than ever. “I mean it. Iwantto—”
“Stop talking, beauty,” he commands, stroking his fingers through my hair. “All I need now is for you to rest. That is all I want from you. Your health. Nothing else.”
I nod obediently, letting my eyes close as exhaustion washes over me like a wave—but one last thought tickles my conscious mind before I can drift off completely.
“Are you shady, Vadim?” I ask him sleepily. For some reason, a bitchy voice is in my head, implying as much. Taunting as much. “Do you do bad things—”
“Sleep.” His voice resonates with way more authority this time.
But even as I comply, I sense his presence surround me persistently, more potent than any drug.
* * *
My second attemptat waking up isn’t as fun as the first. I groan even before I blink my eyes open to a dimly lit room and a tired, handsome face.
“Better?” Vadim asks, his fingers stroking my cheek.
I nod and wince. “I’m not high anymore,” I confess, my voice rasping. “But the tradeoff is that I feel like I got hit by a truck.”
And in a way, I have—a psychotic, blond, beautiful truck my memories tell me. I shiver at reliving them, choosing to focus on Vadim instead. He’s frowning, his jaw clenched, that muscle twitching.
