Page 83 of The Vampire's Mate

I tossed and turned all night. Well, as much as I could with the IV coming out of my right arm and the wires attached to my right. Not to mention the incessant beeping from the monitor and the blood pressure cuff inflating every ten seconds.

Okay, maybe it wasn’tthatoften, but it sure felt like it. Maybe they’d installed a sensor to know when I was dozing off, because the moment my eyelids grew heavy, sure enough, the damn thing would inflate.

Having your arm strangled doesn’t make for a decent night’s sleep.

By the time I started to get fed up, I was convinced it had to be close to morning and I was minutes away from being discharged so I could sleep in my own bed. I didn’t see why I had to stay overnight anyway—I’d sustained worse injuries after my fight with Dani a year ago.

A glance at my phone dashed my hopes: it was just after three.I dropped the offensive device with a frustrated groan, and James shuffled in his chair. I looked over in time to see him stand up.

“Why aren’t you asleep, love?” he asked, approaching the uncomfortable hospital bed and brushing my hair away from my face.

His simple touch made me relax. I leaned into him and closed my eyes. “Can’t get comfortable. Sheets are too scratchy, machines are too loud, and these fucking wires!” I picked my arm up to prove my point, only to wince as the IV tugged uncomfortably.

James leaned down, brushed a kiss to my forehead, and whispered, “Sit up.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so.”

Exasperated, I sat up with his help. He raised the top of the bed, then nestled in behind me. “James, I don’t need cuddles right now. I need sleep.”

His strong arms pulled me against his chest. “I swear to all things holy,” he growled, “if you don’t shut up and let me hold you until you fall asleep, then there’ll be hell to pay when I get you home. Have I made myself clear?”

I grumbled but relaxed into his hold. My eyelids grew heavy, and I fought against closing them to prove a point. “You’re a sex-crazed vampire. That doesn’t seem very holy to me.”

“Ryder Bailey?—”

“I regret telling you my middle name.”

“You didn’t have to. It was on your paperwork when I hired you.” His hand dropped from my shoulder to slide down my stomach, our fingers twisting together. “Now sleep.”

And damn it if I didn’t drift right off.

It only felt like minutes had passed before I was jostled awake.James was no longer behind me, having returned to his chair and pretending to doze.

A nurse stood at the side of my bed. “I’m sorry to wake you,” she said in a gentle voice, “but I have your discharge papers. I can always come back if you’d like to let your partner sleep.”

“Hell no.” I sat up, perhaps too fast, and took the papers from her hands. Once they were signed, she disconnected my IV and left to let me get dressed.

James waited for her to leave before he “woke up” and helped me into a change of clothes. I closed my eyes during the drive home, and with his hand stroking the back of my neck, I was in danger of falling asleep again. Unfortunately for me, it was a short drive.

When James opened the front door and voluntarily put himself between me and the bouncing ball of fluff rampaging through the house, I swore I fell a little more in love. “Are you hungry?” he asked.

“Starving,” I said, collapsing onto the couch.

James crooked a brow at me. “I guess that means I’m making breakfast then.”

I peered at James through my batting eyelashes. “You love me, right?”

The smile on his face said he read right through my shit. “I do.”

“And I’m so, so tired…”

“All right you little shit! I’ll make breakfast.” He bent down to kiss my cheek. “I’d have done it anyway; I didn’t need all the drama.”

I snorted and relaxed onto the couch. “Have you ever known me to do anything any other way?”

I didn’t get an answer but truth be told, I was hoping for things to quiet down for a while. I was getting sick of all the excitement. I had James, and I had my daughter, and I wanted nothing to take my attention away from them for the foreseeable future.

---