Page 17 of Ash

With my upbringing, I wasn’t very familiar with motorcycle clubs, but I knew enough that I wasn’t surprised the Hounds of Hellfire didn’t want the cops notified about a bullet hole in one of their members. The situation when I met Eli was different because the woman who shot him was the head of some con ring who had targeted him, judging from what the media said about the whole thing afterward. How that woman had thought Eli would be an easy mark baffled me, but I didn’t expect to ever learn what truly happened.

Either way, that must not have been the type of business that could get Eli’s club into trouble. If he called me for help, this must be. I wasn’t exactly the best choice, considering I was an EMT who was studying to be a paramedic and had limited experience with things like bullet wounds, other than stopping the bleeding and getting the patient to a hospital.

Luckily, Mark had been a combat medic. He’d taught me all kinds of stuff typical paramedic training wouldn’t go anywhere near. My biggest concern was if the bullet was still in the guy…I’d have to insist they go to a hospital because they needed a surgeon to dig it out.

However, despite my internal struggle, I didn’t want Eli to think he couldn’t count on me. So I squared my shoulders and put a confident expression on my face.

“I’m guessing it’s safe to assume that you’re not going to be able to answer any of my questions even though my medical training has gotten me pulled into club business?” I asked after he parked his motorcycle in front of the clubhouse.

He flashed me an apologetic smile and shook his head. “Sorry, baby girl. There’s always gonna be stuff I can’t share with you, including the rare times when you have the right to be curious about what’s going on.”

Climbing off the bike, I heaved a deep sigh. “That’s what I figured you’d say.”

He waited until he grabbed my first-aid kit from the saddlebag to ask, “You gonna be able to live with that?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I could handle it.”

Some of the tension eased from his shoulders at my answer, but any concern that either of us had about how club business might impact our relationship was shoved on the back burner while I followed him inside.

“Where’s my patient?” I asked the first guy I saw.

He jerked his chin toward the hallway on the far-left side of the large room and answered, “In the medical clinic.”

”Medical clinic?“ I echoed once we were out of earshot of his club brothers.

Eli interlaced our fingers while he led me past several doors. “Two of the guys are doctors, Razor and Flint. They made sure that we were equipped to handle any kind of medical emergency.”

“And yet, here I am about to take care of a freaking bullet wound for you,” I muttered, wondering why I was surprised that their ranks included a couple of doctors when Eli was a lawyer.

“I’m sorry I had to ask you to risk your career for me, baby girl.” He squeezed my hand. “Couldn’t pull either of them out of the hospital fast enough to take care of Ink. I swear, I won’t make a habit of this.”

As he reached for the knob on the door at the end of the hallway, I tugged on his other hand so he looked at me over his shoulder. “I might give you crap for making the call, but if you’re ever in a similar situation again, I expect you to do exactly that. My job is nothing compared to someone’s life.”

“Fucking hell,” he growled before turning toward me. Cupping my cheeks with his large hands, he tilted my head back to claim my mouth in a passionate kiss that took my breath away.

Unfortunately, it ended too soon…when Echo flung open the door behind him and grunted, “Do that shit on your own time. Ink needs her help now.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled, my cheeks filling with heat.

“You got nothing to apologize for,” he reassured me, jerking his chin toward Eli. “He’s the one I was dishing that shit out to.”

“Damn well better have been me,” Eli retorted, pressing against my lower back with his palm to guide me into the room filled with equipment any clinic would envy. “She’s risking herself to help us out.”

“I sure as fuck appreciate it,” the man sprawled on the exam table rumbled. “Really don’t want any of you to have to tell mymammathat I got shot, let alone died.”

“Nobody is dying here today,” I reassured him, rushing over to the sink to wash my hands before tugging on a pair of gloves. Then I began my examination of him.

“I’m Ink, by the way,” he said through gritted teeth while trying to smile. “Figured you ought to know if you’re gonna be getting up close and personal with my body.”

“You got a death wish, Ink?” Eli snarled.

“No, sir,” he replied immediately.

“Then keep your fucking mouth shut and your eyes and hands away from my woman.”

I held back a smile at Eli’s display of jealousy. It probably should have bothered me…but it was so hot.

“Nora,” I told Ink.

---