Page 12 of Slay Tricksters and Silent Skeletons
When I came to, my head was pounding, and I felt like I’d been run over by a fucking semi-truck. Every muscle in my bodyached, and my shoulder burned something fierce. Slowly, I peeled my eyes open, staring up at the ceiling above me. It was white and speckled with dark spots like the typical hospital ceiling tiles. Or any business, really. And they seemed oddly familiar, like I’d seen them before.
I shifted, groaning in pain and immediately stilling afterward. I looked to the IV drip running to my arm and scowled. “Where the fuck are the drugs?” I rasped. If I had an IV drip going, whythe fuckwas I still in pain?
“The doctor took you off morphine so he could discharge you once you’d woken up,” Niran drawled from the other side of me. I slowly turned my head, drinking him in, suddenly remembering Ihadseen those ceiling tiles before. I’d woken up at some point and had seen him. He’d run his fingers through my hair and lulled me back to sleep?—
He’d run his fucking fingers through my hair.
What. The. Fuck.
I’d landed in some alternate universe for sure. Not only had Niran come to my rescue with guns fucking blazing, saying things like I was his, that no one got to take me from him, but he’dsoothedme. My head spun like a fucking merry-go-round. Because while this was everything I’d ever wanted from the cold-hearted son of a bitch, Niran hadalwaysgiven me the cold shoulder.
What the fuck was even happening?
“You look confused,” the man in question mused, cocking his head to the side the slightest bit. Dark stubble colored his jawline, and he looked like he hadn’t slept a wink in at least a couple of days. His usually pristine, tailored suit was wrinkled. He’d lost his suit jacket at some point, and the top two buttons of his white button-down shirt were undone, revealing the tiniest glimpse of his slightly pale skin and the muscles there.
“Iamconfused,” I croaked.
He stood and grabbed a Styrofoam cup. After filling it with water from the sink, he stabbed a straw through the lid and held the straw to my lips. I greedily gulped down every drop, my throat parched. Once it made that sucking sound indicating the cup was empty, Niran set the cup aside and leaned over me, bracing a hand on either side of my head. My heart skipped a beat, and my breath stalled in my lungs.
This close, I couldsmellhim—the scent that was uniquely him—and it intoxicated me. Drugged me better than anything the doctor could have given me.
“You want to know what I am?” he asked. I frowned, blinking as I came back to the present. “I’m pissed the fuck off, Bento. Instead of even attempting to save yourself, youtauntedthe mother fuckers. You weretryingto get them to kill you.Khu? s¯eiy s¯ti p? læ^w,” he bit out, surprising me by speaking his native tongue. Heneverspoke in Thai, not in the ten years I’d known him. “If you’d died, Perez, I was going to bring you back from the dead and slaughter you myself.”
My frown deepened, even while my heart slammed against my chest bone with every hard, quick beat. His words sent the zoo loose in my stomach, and the possessiveness, theobsessionlacing his words had my dick perking up beneath the thin blue hospital gown I was wearing.
“Where the hell is this coming from?” I demanded. I winced when I shifted, trying to create some distance between us. And even if I could move, apparently Niran was havingnoneof that. He lifted his left hand latched his fingers around my bruised and cut up jaw, pinning my gaze on his. I winced, but he didn’t loosen his grip, not that I expected him to. He just wasn’t the kind of man to be compassionate about my discomfort.
“I have been trying to keep my distance from you forten fucking years, Bento. Tenlongpainful years. I go through enough whiskey to fuel an army just to tolerate your presence without coming out of my fucking skin with my obsession for you. My supplier now sends me a bottle without me even having to reach out. You know how long it’s been since I’ve had to call and ask for a bottle to be sent to me, Bento?” When I remained silent, he spat, “Seven fucking years.”
He’d been drinking himself stupid forten damn years? Jesus.
My eyes widened. “That can’t be good for your liver, Niran.”
“Fuckmy liver,” he growled, leaning in even closer. So close, our noses almost touched. My breath hitched in my throat at his proximity. I couldsmellhim—gun oil, blood, and teakwood. Saliva pulled on my tongue at the smell of him, and my dick filled out the rest of the way.
Now wasnotthe time to be getting hard and horny. I was injured and laid up in a fucking hospital bed, where a doctor or nurse could walk in at any fucking moment.
“I’m done fighting this,” he warned me. “I’m claiming you, Bento. You’remine. You can either cooperate and get on board, or you can fight me on it. But I’m warning you that Iwillget my way. If you wanted me to keep my distance, you shouldn’t have gotten yourself kidnapped.”
It was everything I’d ever wanted, but now that I had it, hadhim, I couldn’t wrap my mind around what the fuck was happening.
“What about Rico?” I managed when he dug his fingers tighter into my jaw, squishing my cheeks together.
The smirk he leveled me with was anything but playful. It was cold and calculating—the look a man got when he’d locked in on someone he consideredhis. A shiver rolled down my spine, and my cock leaked precum. I barely bit back my whimper. When Niran looked at me like that, I was ready to let him do whatever the fuck he wanted to me. Consequences be damned.
“Rico knows,kon-dii—” I had no idea what that meant, but the way it rolled off his lips had my eyelids fluttering— “and he’s already organized time off for me, which means there’s no escaping me,” he warned. “You’re stuck with me.”
Because I just couldn’t fucking help myself and my smart-ass mouth, I asked, “What if I don’t want that?”
He loosened his grip just the tiniest bit and brushed his thumb over my bottom lip, pulling at it until it popped back into place, settling my lips into a pout that made his eyes heat. Tension coiled low in my gut.Christ. “Don’t lie to either of us,kon-dii,” he murmured. “You can lie to everyone butme. I know all your tells.” He leaned in and skimmed his nose along my jaw. I sucked in a sharp breath. “I’ll give you some time to wrap your head around the sudden change, but I’m not going anywhere. The games are over, Bento.”
With that, he straightened and released me, settling back into the chair he’d been residing in when I woke up. I released a shaky breath as I stared up at the ceiling, my aching throat bobbing as I swallowed.
I’d always wanted Niran but had never thought it was possible. At worst, I’d assumed he’d thought of me as a thorn in his side, and at best, a mere coworker. But to know he’d been drinking himself stupid just so he wouldn’t… I don’t know, eat me or something, made my aching head spin.
“I have one request,” I uttered, turning my head to look at him. When he simply arched a brow at me, waiting for me to spit it out, I said, “You have to stop drinking so much. I’m not spending the rest of my life with you if you’re just going to drown your liver.”
He shrugged one shoulder, his eyes twinkling like heknewhe had me right where he wanted me. But joke was on him because honestly, I finally had him right where I wanted him, too.
