Page 20 of The Bratva's Hunted Bride
“Your brothers are protective.” God knows I’d be a hundred times worse. Just thinking about another moment like tonight makes my blood rush. “But they should find a compromise with you. You’ve got potential, Talia, and you shouldn’t be kept from it.” Daring, I drop my hand down onto her thigh.
Her gaze drops to follow it and she sucks her bottom lip between her teeth, white teeth flashing in the lamplight. But she doesn’t move, doesn’t shove my arm away. Her breathing stutters. She looks up at me from behind a half-curtain of hair, and for one stupid, foolish moment, I think she’s going to kiss me. Then she jumps to her feet.
“You need pain meds,” she says, spinning away from me to dig into the first aid kit. Bottles rattle around, and she holds them up one at a time to read the labels. “Okay, there’s no just ibuprofen or anything? This is stocked with serious drugs only. Like, is this even legal? There’s no prescription for this. Never mind, that was stupid. Of course it’s not legal.”
She sighs and spins the lid on one of the bottles, pouring some of the pills into her hand before turning back to me.
“Usually we’re dealing with more than over-the-counter sorts of injuries,” I remind her.
“Right,” she replies, shaking her head. “Here, take these.”
Bossy Talia. I like it. I take the pills and toss them into my mouth, swallowing them down. “Yes, doctor.”
She blushes but looks pleased. “You probably should still see a real doctor. I don’t know if I cleaned it enough to stave off infection. Do you have antibiotics in here?”
She starts digging in the kit again, and I get the chance to soak in the sight of her. There’s no way the pain meds have hitalready, but I’m feeling just fine. In fact, I’m almost buzzing. I have Talia here all to myself, and she’s not even trying to climb the walls.
When I first met Talia, I was struck by her. Obsession hit hard and fast, and the need to possess her overwhelmed all other senses. I was frantic. Nothing about the feeling was rational, and I could’ve been all wrong about her, could’ve realized she was nothing more than a pretty face once I had her. But here she is unfurling for me like a rosebud, and every layer is more intoxicating than the last.
“Probably,” I say, remembering that she asked a question.
It’s hard to focus with the sight of her bare thighs in front of me. Her shorts are so tiny I can see the shadow of her ass beneath them when she bends down. I can still remember how it felt in my hands and the memory sends a pulse of throbbing desire straight to my dick.
When she turns around, I swing my eyes back up to her face, pretending that’s where they were the whole time. “Take this,” she says, handing me another couple of pills. “But let me get you something to eat with them. Do you have any food here? I assume it’s all in cans. This place kind of has that prepper vibe.”
“There’s food, but you don’t need to fuss over me.” I stand, but she shakes her head and plants a hand on my chest, pushing me back down.
“I don’t know how much blood you lost,” she says sharply, “and if you collapse somewhere in the kitchen, I can’t catch you. You’re unnaturally large. So sit down and let me get it.”
She rustles around in the kitchen, and I lose sight of her, listening to the opening and closing of cabinets and her quiet murmurs to herself. It’s almost homey, having her here. This is my hideout, a place I can escape from everything and everyone,and she’s the first person I’ve ever let in here. It feels intimate, even if it was borne out of desperation. There was no chance I was going to lead those men back to my house. If Talia hadn’t been there, I would’ve eliminated every last one of them, but I couldn’t take the chance of something happening to her while I did the work.
“Okay, this probably tastes like cardboard,” she says, holding up a protein bar, “and I have no idea how long it’s been in those cabinets for, but I think it’ll do the trick for now. Oh, here, I’ll unwrap it. It probably hurts to use that arm, doesn’t it?”
She unwraps it for me and hands it over, our fingers brushing for the barest moment before she draws them back. She touches them to her cheek like I burned her.
“It’s not too bad,” I promise her, and I mean it. Nothing can be that bad when she’s here.
I swallow down the protein bar in a few bites, already feeling the sedating effects of the pain medication seeping into my body. I have no idea what she gave me. Maybe I should’ve checked the bottle and the dosage to make sure that she wasn’t just drugging me enough to slip out after I passed out. But I’m a fool when it comes to Talia, too high on her doting on me to think twice about taking whatever she gives me.
There’s a chance she’ll grab the car keys and leave me stranded here. It’s what anyone sane will do. I struggle against the rising feeling of sleepiness, but it’s so heavy, dragging me down into the dark that I can barely stay upright. My head swims.
“Maybe you should lie down,” she says, her forehead creasing in concern. “You’re kind of swaying.”
She darts over and moves a pillow against the arm of the couch, then pats it invitingly. Is she being too nice? Is this allpart of the act? There’s nothing I can do to fight it at this point, as my body’s control is wrested away by the drugs, and my attempt to lie down ends up being more of a flop than I want it to be. The couch isn’t quite big enough to contain me, and my feet hang over the edge.
“I hope I didn’t give you too much,” Talia frets, chewing her lip again. I love that nervous habit of hers. If this wasn’t part of her plan, she’s a great actress. “You’re so big, and I just had to guess on dosage because I don’t have a phone to look it up. Do you feel okay?”
I blink against the weight of my eyelids, wanting to keep Talia in focus for as long as I can. She stoops down, perching herself on the edge of the couch that’s not taken up by me, and presses her hand to my cheek. Her fingers are cool, and her long hair dangles against my chest.
“I feel wonderful,” I say, knowing there’s a goofy smile on my face that I can’t wipe off thanks to these drugs.
She searches my eyes, looking for dilated pupils or some other sign of excessive medication, probably, but the feelings coursing through me are anything but clinical. I take my chances, reaching up with a heavy hand to thread my fingers through her hair. She doesn’t resist as I draw her down toward me, and I can’t help but think I’m already dreaming.
Her face goes out of focus. Her lips meet mine, hesitant and sweet, asking a question with each brush of her lips that I’m eager to answer. Yes, we can do this. Yes, it’s right. You’re safe. You’re wanted. You’re mine. The drugs yank me down into unconsciousness.
Chapter 10 - Talia
I touch my fingertips to my lips and stumble back from the couch and Timofey’s sleeping form. Did I really just do that? I did. I kissed that man who kidnapped me, twice, and I’d done it of my own free will. And it’d felt… too good. The desire for him that had swallowed me whole the night we’d met rushes back like a dam has been broken.
