Page 34 of Fractured Grief
I didn’t have an answer.
“I was so scared, Seb.”
“I’m fine.” He lifted my chin to gaze into my eyes. “What do you want, Indy?”
“I know what I want, but I’m scared. I’d really like to see what this is between us. I’m still worried about my job, but that doesn’t matter as much anymore. Let me check your leg, then we can talk.” Extricating myself from his hold, I turned away, giving myself a moment.
There had been a fair bit of blood when I’d wrapped my jacket around his calf, so I readied some gauze and saline. Once I cleaned up the wound, I’d know what I was dealing with.
“Shit, I forgot about Lyric.” Seb fished his phone out of his pocket.
“You can let him know where we are and have him meet us. We might need to go to the hospital.”
Seb froze. “D-do you really think I need t-the hospital?”
“Let’s see.” I carefully undid the tie on my jacket and peeled away the fabric. Blood seeped from the long gash, which was worrying with how tightly I’d tied the makeshifttourniquet. I quickly applied pressure with the gauze. “You need stitches.”
“Really? No, no, no. This can’t be happening, not again. I can’t feel it. What does it mean that I still can’t feel a gash that needs stitches? I should be able to feel something.” Seb’s speech deteriorated and his stutter became more pronounced as he kept rambling. “Even looking at it and seeing the blood, shouldn’t my brain respond and know I’m injured, so there should be pain?”
“Hey, look at me.” Placing my hand on his bearded cheek, I turned his head. “You’ve come so far, don’t let this take away all your progress.” I kissed his lips. “I’ll get you taken care of. You’ll be okay.”
Huffing out a big breath, he visibly calmed.
“Thank you,” he whispered before his mouth closed over mine again. His hand brushed my cheek, ever so softly, before moving down and around my back to pull me closer. Our kiss intensified as he wrapped his arms around me. I was trapped in the best way possible.
Next to him, I felt delicate.
In his arms, I felt cherished.
He held me close with one arm while the other slid lower, grazing the top of my jeans.
“Wait,” I gasped, breaking the mind-melting kiss. “Your leg. My work.” I was flustered and overcome. Desire soared through me, needing an outlet. I longed to be touched, desired, treasured, but it wasn’t the time or place.
I willed my cock to get on board. Nothing could happen here.
“We need to see to your leg.” The loose gauze was not doing anything to stop the bleeding. “Stay here, and I’ll see if one of the nurses can help. You’ll need to let me go for that.” I pushed softly against his hold.
“What if I don’t want to?” Seb’s arms were still locked around me, hand teasing over my ass.
“We’ll talk, I promise. We need to get you sorted first.”
Begrudgingly, Seb released me. “I’ll call Lyric.”
“I’ll go get a nurse.” With that, I left the room.
I rounded the corner to reception and almost collided with Eve. “Sorry,” I exclaimed, stepping aside. “I’m so glad to run into you. Are you in the middle of something?”
“No, just on a restock and coffee run. What do you need? Isn’t it your day off?” she asked, tucking a strand of her dark brown hair behind her ear.
“Yes, it is, but I just saw one of my clients get clipped by a taxi, and he’s got a deep gash on his leg that might need stitches.”
“Fucking taxis. Let’s go take a look.”
“Thanks so much. I owe you.” Eve knew Seb, so that should put Seb at ease.
“He’s in here,” I gestured to the shared office. I knocked before we entered to give Seb a warning. “Hey, Seb, you remember Eve?”
“Of course. Hi, Eve, I hope we’re not taking you away from anything.”
