Page 20 of Under His Heel: A Kidnapping

“Where?”

“We’re in the hospital on Cadmus.” Tracht put his tablet on the small table next to him. No flowers or teddy bears there, just some water. In movies there were always flowers in hospital rooms.

“Thirsty,” Alex said. Tracht nodded and poured the water into a cup with a straw already in it.

Alex was grateful that Tracht didn’t expect him to hold the cup himself. He sipped from the straw while Tracht held the cup, and man, that was nice of him. That was so nice. Even Alex’s good hand felt too heavy to manage curling around a cup.

“The doctors were highly concerned with your reactions when we arrived.” Tracht said mildly. “I suggested they mind their own business, but they were concerned with the possibility of PTSD as a result of the torture you had endured.”

Torture—oh. Alex shrugged and stopped sipping. “Was the same tooth. What are…” he coughed. “What are the odds?”

“One in twenty-eight, but I helped it along by giving her the specific one.”

“Huh?”

Tracht set the cup aside and petted Alex’s hair. “That tooth had the artificial nerve. They tend to not be as deeply rooted, and they send fewer signals than real nerves. I—” Tracht grimaced. “I wanted to spare you some of the pain.”

Alex thought about it, but he couldn’t tell if it had hurt less. He just—he’d panicked. He’d panicked so much and everything after that was a blur.

“Thanks. For coming for me,” Alex said. “Sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” Tracht asked. There was enough flatness to his voice that Alex figured he was mad about something.

“Dunno. Being such a pussy.”

Tracht sighed. “No. You were nothing of the sort. You were incredibly brave and beautiful.”

No matter how often Tracht called him beautiful or handsome, it still made Alex’s chest feel funny. “You get off on watching them do that shit to me?”

“Unexpectedly, no.” Tracht kept petting Alex. “When you are discharged and feeling slightly better, I’m going to coddle you for a week straight. And after that, I’m going to punish you.”

Alex tensed, but Tracht’s petting was nice and soothing, and the fuzziness he’d been feeling hadn’t quite abated. He tilted his head and tried to kiss Tracht’s hand, and he made an embarrassing noise when Tracht leaned down and pressed their lips together.

He opened his mouth for Tracht’s tongue, and was surprised when Tracht didn’t push inside immediately. He ran his tongue over Alex’s lips and nibbled lightly, but he didn’t try to use Alex’s pain.

When he pulled away, Alex felt unmoored and completely unsure why.

“Do you know why I’m going to punish you, Alex?”

“For getting caught?”

“No.” Tracht traced Alex’s face gently. “Because you, like an idiot, jumped into a situation you had no business being involved in. Johan told us how you tried to save him.”

“That was bad?” Alex asked, bewildered. He’d kind of figured—well. He’d heard the kid yelling, and he’d seen them dragging him down the stairs, and all he knew was that Tracht would be pissed about Johan being missing. “I just—it seemed like you wouldn’t like it if I let them take Johan.”

He half expected a pinch or his hair getting pulled, but Tracht kept his touches gentle. “I suppose I can understand why you would believe I give half a damn about my family. But I’d like to make this very clear, for future reference.”

Tracht’s gaze was so intense that Alex couldn’t look away. He loved it when Tracht looked at him like that.

“There is not a single person more important to me than you. Not one. And while I am sure you will continue getting into trouble, because that is your nature, I will not tolerate you throwing yourself into danger to shield somebody who is worth less to me than dirt.”

Right. Right. Tracht had said he was invested in Alex. That he wanted Alex to stay with him.

It sounded like he cared about Alex.

If Alex started crying now, it would be beyond pathetic. He swallowed and said, “Kiss me, please,” and was so grateful that Tracht granted his request.

Even after the kiss ended, Tracht kept his forehead pressed to Alex’s, and they breathed in each other’s air. Tracht kept petting Alex, stroking his jaw and his hair, and it was so fucking nice after the hell of the previous day.

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