Page 26 of Nanny's Mate

“I’m sorry. We’ve been waiting so long. I was so afraid.”

She shook her head and smiled, feeling delirious from the drugs but compelled by his fierce affect. She sat herself up in the bed, her body aching mildly every moment.

“Trust me, I want you to touch me,” she said, a salacious look casting over her expression. “I think that’ll heal me quicker than anything else.”

He tenderly reached for her cheek and stroked it. Beatriz felt like she could finally breathe again. She closed her eyes as his other hand ran up her arm to her shoulders, and he brushed his fingers along her neckline. It was an intimate gesture that caused a spark to ignite within the deep recesses of her belly.

No one ever made her feel that. No one in her entire life. Despite the pain in her body, she wanted him. She wanted him all over her. That would make the agony disappear like a spell. It was truly otherworldly.

“I was so fucking worried, Beatriz,” he whispered, his touch growing more firm. “I thought you were gone.”

Beatriz swallowed hard, the memories slowly rising in her mind like smoke to a ceiling. She didn’t want to think about what happened. She wanted to bathe in his presence, his touch. But it all came fast, like a train about to fly off the tracks.

She opened her eyes, the emerald of his stare intense and radiant. She was ready to tell him, but first, she needed to know what happened to her body.

“What happened?” she asked.

“You were being attacked in the alley outside Indulge. You seemed pretty out of it as soon as I got there.”

Beatriz ruminated, and it all started to come together. Mike noticed, stopping the stroking of his thumb that ran down her jawline. She loved it when he touched her like that. It was so incredibly soothing.

She hated that he stopped moving his hand. She didn’t realize that she had missed him that much while she blacked out. It was awful.

Beatriz lifted her hand to his, trying to encourage his touch once more. But he was stern.

“What’s wrong?” he said curtly.

“Can you call Tristan and Barbara in here?” she asked, laying her head back on the pillow. “I don't feel great, and I don’t want to have to repeat myself. I have to tell you all something.”

Mike moved into action mode, his eyes sparkling with intrigue and conviction. He parted from her, leaving her arms vacant.

“No need to call,” he said in a clipped tone. “They are already here in the waiting room.”

Mike left the hospital room, but not before checking that she was comfortable and satiated. His care for her made her swoon, especially since she was in such a vulnerable state.

“I’m fine, darling. Go get them. What I have to tell you is crucial.”

He nodded. God, he was such a caretaker. She could tell that no matter how much she assured him that she was okay, he wasn’t going to leave her side. There was a special kind of beauty to that certainty, as rare as a pearl in an oyster shell.

Mike did as he was asked and retrieved Tristan and Barbara from the waiting room.

Barbara was the first to come in, cradling a gift basket in her arms brimming with snacks and homemade goodies. Tristan trailed behind her, along with Mike, who closed the door promptly behind him.

“God, sweetheart, we are so happy that you are okay,” Barbara exclaimed, placing the basket next to Beatriz. “I know you’re probably not hungry for treats yet, but sometimes it's good to have some around for visitors."

Her eyes narrowed at Mike.

“I’m fine,” he growled. “Don't worry about me.”

“Let’s get to it then,” Tristan said, pulling up a chair next to her and taking her hand in his. “Tell us what happened, honey. We are all listening.”

Beatriz told the three shifters everything that she could remember, detail after detail. She mentioned how she had texted Mike before leaving Karla and the triplets and how she had intended to help out Ellie. She mentioned the intuitive sensation that something was wrong. She said that she took it upon herself to investigate what the two people near the delivery van were talking about.

That was when she dropped the bomb about what she had overheard.

“They were talking about dealing drugs out of the bar,” she said, her heart galloping wildly in her chest. “That they hadn’t worked at the other clubs and such, that Indulge was the best place to start again.”

The reaction was as explosive as Beatriz anticipated. Barbara stared thoughtfully at Beatriz, strategy dancing in her eyes. Tristan and Mike exchanged looks, fiery anger burning in their glares.

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