Page 1 of Resisting Royal

CHAPTER 1

ROYAL

“Mr. Russo, you need to sit still,” the doctor told me, her mask covering her face—hiding the disapproval that I knew was there—but fuck that. She couldn’t come at me with a needle longer than my own damn fingers and expect me to sit calmly.

I sucked in a deep breath and tried to be calm as she tried again. She made it closer this time before I started to squirm. Really, who would blame me? I’d seen many bouts of torture that began just like this with long needles and pretty ladies. Well, I mean, I assumed she’s pretty. Otherwise, the body that was on display before she put on her coat would be a waste. A damn crime.

She pulled back. “I’ve seen toddlers act better than you.”

I swallowed the spit that had pulled in my throat. “Toddlers don’t know any better.”

“They know enough to realize that a little needle prick is only a small step in removing the bigger problem. In your case, a completely disgusting, infected tooth. Do you want to die, Mr. Russo? Because leaving an infected tooth is a sure way to let it happen.”

I never imagined my death to be from something as mundane as an infected tooth. A stab wound to the chest as I fell dramatically to the ground? Maybe. Five gun wounds pouring blood onto the floor as I fell to my knees and waited for the final executing blow? More than likely. An unexplained warehouse explosion scattering body parts of various unknown subjects five hundred yards in every direction? Hopefully wouldn’t happen.

But an infected tooth? Absolutely not the way to go. I held my body rigidly. “Fine. Do it.”

“Are you going to stay still? If you need to be put out, I can refer you to a specialist.” Her eyewear slid low on her nose as her moss-colored eyes peered over them.

“I can do it,” I informed her as I closed my eyes, waiting for the torture to continue.

“Okay, I’m going to need you to stay really still.” I felt her body hover over me, her breast unintentionally brushing against my arm. “You will feel a pinch, so just keep breathing through your nose. If you have issues, raise your left hand. You do know your left from right, am I correct, Mr. Russo?”

I grunted. Dr. Moretti had a sassy little mouth on her, a mouth that begged to be silenced. Thoughts about the ways I could silence her, including one involving my cock base deep in her mouth, immediately came to an abrupt halt the moment I felt the needle pierce my skin. Tiny pinch? If that was a tiny pinch, I would hate to see what a big fucking pinch was to this woman.

“Good boy,” she told me as she leaned in, angling her head and body in various ways as she moved the needle. I grunted again, convinced that if I was any less manly, I would be passing out under the care of this condescending female.

She pulled back, placing her syringe on the metal tray with a clank, before pulling off her glove. “I’ll be back in a few minutes after you are fully numb.”

She disappeared through the door without a backward glance, a move I most definitely wasn’t used to. I tended to draw women like a moth gravitated to an open flame. To have one not even bother to pay any attention my way, well, it wounded me a bit. She most definitely would be filed away as married, or a prude, or a married fucking prude because not even professionalism had stopped a girl from giving me fuck me eyes or the come-hither finger.

She came back a few minutes later, her eyes still twinkling with laughter from some inside joke I wasn’t privy too. She cleared her throat. “Feeling numb?”

I went to answer her, then stopped to slurp up my own drool. Humiliation, that’s what this was. “I’m numb.”

“Good.” She pulled on a new set of gloves after washing her hands. “Let's get this tooth out.”

She pulled out what had to be the biggest set of pliers I’d ever seen. It wasn’t until she was leaning over me again, her hands heading toward my mouth, that I realized she was planning to use those pliers on me. “Hold on.”

I held up my hand to stop her movement. “You’re using that on me?”

Her eyes rolled upward and stayed there for a minute before her gaze came back to mine. “How else do you expect us to remove your tooth?”

I thought about it for a second, but the truth was, I actually didn’t really know. “A scalpel?”

“Would cutting it out of your mouth with a scalpel make you feel any better?” she asked with a sigh.

“Well, no,” I confessed, but getting it yanked out wouldn’t be much better.

“Your mouth is numb, you won’t even feel it. Look, you might be used to people working on your time, but here, in my office, you are wasting mine, Mr. Russo. Do you want it removed or not? I have other patients that are waiting and willing to get their work done.”

More patients? More important than me? The chance of that was unlikely. But for the sake of avoiding conflict, I let her proceed. Despite the fact that the whole removal process seemed a bit barbaric for a highly rated dental practice, I gave her the go-ahead. In seconds, she was over me again, instructing me to open my mouth, her tool already poised at my tooth.

“You will feel some pressure, no pain,” she explained seconds before I felt a pop. She pulled back, her tool tossed onto the metal tray again. She grabbed a few tools and a thick black thread, and I closed my eyes, unwilling to look at what she was about to do next. “Alright, there you are, leave the cotton in your mouth for a few minutes. If it bothers you over the next few days, you can take some acetaminophen, as well as gargle some salt water. Liz will show you to the front desk for your payment.”

That was it?

Then she was gone. Like a fuck you blow off, abandoned at the bar type ghosting. Completely disappearing before I could even process who the fuck Liz was. I stood, pulled off my paper bib, and looked around, seeing a homely girl that I could only assume was Liz, standing in the doorway waiting to lead me out.

“How was your experience today, Mr. Russo?” The girl held a folder with some papers attached tightly to her chest as I held my cheek, a weird tingle taking over my mouth. “Would you rate us a five as highly satisfied?”

This time it was me who was rolling my eyes. Was she kidding me right now? They’d just stuck a needle into my mouth, then yanked out a precious tooth like I was a torture victim. I didn’t enjoy a fucking second of it, Liz, not a damn second.

But I was a sucker for a girl with a smile, so instead of telling her it was the worst dental office in the world, I nodded. “This place is great.”

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