Page 3 of Shrouded Desires
“Yes...” she sobbed.
“Hand them the phone.” He shoved his feet into his sneakers. A few seconds later, a male voice came on the phone.
“Hello?” The male voice had almost the same amount of tremor in it that Lizzie’s had.
Fuck, must be Max’s other sub. The one that lives at the club.“This is Storm Peters. And you are?”
“Raine.” The man didn’t provide his last name, but the name came out stronger than the greeting at least.
He grabbed his leather jacket off the back of the kitchen table chair. “Max’s other sub, right?” He pressed the phone between his shoulder and ear as he shoved his arms into the sleeves.
“Yeah.”
“Are you stable or do I need to call another dominant from the club? Max will have my ass if something happens to you or Lizzie.”Translated to if either of you backslide and start self-harming again.Max always had a way with finding the neediest subs.
“I can handle Lizzie.”
Storm could hear the defiance through the phone. Under other circumstances it might have made him smile. But with his best friend’s life on the line, he didn’t have time for humor.
“Good. I’m holding you to it. What hospital are you at?” He jogged down the steps into his attached garage.
“University of Colorado. The one in Aurora.”
Opening the door to his Escalade, he slid across the leather seats and shoved the key into the ignition. “Gotcha.” The engine engaged with a purr. After buckling his seatbelt, he hit the door opener on the visor. “Make sure you stay with her. I don’t want to find her bloody. I’ll be there in less than two hours.”
Chapter Two
Storm cursed under his breath at the clock on the dash of his Escalade. The red numbers taunted him as it slowly ticked off the wasted time. It’d been nearly four hours since he’d left Colorado Springs, and he still had over thirty minutes to go to reach his destination. He slammed his fist down on the steering wheel. The two hours he promised had been blown to hell by an accident on the I-25. Ahead of him a jack-knifed semi had not only tangled with the guardrail, it’d also collected two cars and another box truck. The tangled mess had completely blocked both northbound lanes – and with construction equipment in the median there was no place for him to even try to turn around. Emergency road crews were on the scene, using a jaws-of-life to pry open one of the cars. On the other side of the wreckage, he could see the flickering lights of the waiting ambulances and police cruisers. He hoped to God they wouldn’t be needed but was realistic enough to realize that more than likely the EMTs would have their hands full with any survivors’ injuries. He prayed that there were no casualties, but knew it was highly possible. Which only added to his bad mood.
“Fuck.”
He glanced in the rearview mirror. Behind him the traffic was backed up as far as he could see. He couldn’t go forward, nor could he turn around and go back. It just pissed him off. Between the scene with Tony and not being able to get to Max, he was about to blow a gasket. He took a few deep breaths, reminding himself everything would be okay. Max was at the hospital - a damned good one that specialized in heart patients. He knew that from his web surfing while he’d been sitting in the damned traffic jam.
The soft playing classic rock on the radio paused before a sharp beep signaling an incoming call echoed through the interior of the SUV. Seeing the familiar number, he didn’t hesitate to answer. “Hey Lizzie, I know I promised two hours but-”
“It’s not Lizzie. It’s Raine.” The male voice from earlier interrupted. “Lizzie asked me to call and let you know that Master made it through surgery. They just moved him to CICU for observation. They are gonna keep him heavily sedated for a while.”
“Sedated?” Storm was starting to feel like a parrot.But damn is it even normal to keep a patient under after an operation like that?“Is he gonna be okay? CICU is serious shit.” He pushed the words through his suddenly tight throat. He couldn’t lose his best friend since middle school – he just couldn’t.
“The doctor is optimistic.” Raine assured him. “A stay in cardiac intensive care unit is routine. It’s normal procedure evidently. It’s a precaution, I guess.”
“What else did the doc say?” Storm gripped the steering wheel tighter. He should’ve been there when the doc came out to talk to Lizzie – the fact he hadn’t been pissed him off.
“Just a lot of mumbo jumbo medical crap.” Raine suddenly sounded tired. “Listen, man. I just saw the news. I’m assuming the accident on I-25 is why you haven’t made it here yet.”
“Yeah. We’re gridlocked.” He squeezed the bridge of his nose. “I promised I’d be there, but…”
“But nothing. You can’t control traffic. Don’t kill yourself trying to get here, is all I’m saying. Master is in good hands. He probably won’t be coherent until sometime tomorrow.”
“I...” Frustration grew inside of Storm. “Fuck, Lizzie. She shouldn’t be alone…I should be there. It’s what Max would want. He’s gonna be pissed when he finds out.”
Raine sighed. “And shit happens. Master understands that. Not even an almighty dominant like yourself can control crazy ass drivers on the I-25.”
Storm had to chuckle. “Only ‘cause they don’t know who they are dealing with.”
A husky laugh teased Storm’s ear and he ignored the way it made his cock stir. Now wasn’t the time nor the place for his damned dick to act up. He controlled his body, not the other way around. He was a dominant.
“Of course not.” Raine’s tone became more serious, jerking Storm’s attention back to the conversation at hand.
