Page 87 of Cuffed By Your Love
But the moment that flipped the whole ER upside down was when the nurse walked in.
She was a short, pale lady with thin lips and a tight ponytail, cleavage showing. She’d been eyeballing Elias since we rolled in. At first, I thought it was curiosity. You know, a lil “wow, he fine as fuck” type glance. But nah, the air changed, and her nostrilsflared when he moved too quickly. She side-eyed him when he adjusted his badge and whispered to me. I could feel her judging him before she even opened her mouth.
“Is this… the man who assaulted you?” she asked, pen poised, looking straight at him.
The room went cold.
Elias straightened up real slow, like a lion rising from crouch, steady and lethal.
He blinked once, twice, then took a step forward.
“Now, see…” His voice was soft, way too soft. It was the calm that made the walls lean in, waiting for the storm. “I was gon’ let you make it with the lil’ side-eyes and clenched jaw. I peeped it.”
The nurse looked confused. “Sir, I’m just following protocol?—”
“Nah,” he cut her off, his tone sharp but even. “You think ’cause I’m a Black man, and because my voice done elevated a few octaves since some bitch-ass nigga put hands on my queen, you think I’m the one that did it? That I’m the threat?”
“I never said?—”
“You didn’t have to,” he snapped, then took another step, now inches from her. “You assumed. You judged. You profiled me. And that would’ve been strike one if I was counting. But what makes this worse is that you came in here, saw me holding her hand, saw me kiss her forehead, saw the way she leaned into me for safety, and you still opened that chalky-ass mouth to accuse me?”
“Sir, I didn’t accuse?—”
“I’m a detective. I arrived at the scene. I’m the reason the asshole that did this is sitting in a cell right now, wondering if he’ll be able to chew his next fucking meal.” He stepped back and let his badge flash. “I’m not just her man. I’m the loaded clip behind her smile, the locked gate between her and danger, and the quiet threat that’ll burn a whole block down for her peace.”
The nurse swallowed, red flushing up her neck like shame on a stopwatch.
“Now apologize, floozy,” Elias demanded, his voice low and lethal. “Not for me. For her.”
She looked at me, guilt twisting her expression. “I’m… I’m so sorry, ma’am. That was inappropriate and out of line.”
I didn’t say anything, just nodded, feeling both power and pain sitting heavy on my chest.
Elias turned back to me, all softness again. He ran a hand down my locs like he was smoothing out the trauma strand by strand. “Ignorant fucking floozy. You alright, baby?”
“Yeah.” I whispered and smiled at his old soul having ass for calling that damn woman a floozy. “Thanks for checking her.”
“Don’t thank me for doing what the fuck I’m supposed to do, my love,” he muttered, kissing my temple.
Later, when the exam was done and I was sitting in a room waiting for my discharge paperwork, he slid a bottle of water into my hand and pulled up a chair right beside me.
“Say it again,” he murmured.
I blinked. “Say what?”
“That you with me.”
I looked down at our hands, fingers tangled like roots, strong and unshakable. “I’m with you.”
He sighed like he’d been holding that breath all day. “I’ll kill him if he ever comes near you again, Jonay. I swear on everything holy.”
I didn’t flinch. I believed him.
“I’m not ever letting you walk in fear again, baby. I’ll air this whole city out if a breeze so much as brushes you the wrong way. I’ll post outside your job in a hoodie and badge, sipping coffee with my Sig in my lap like it’s my fucking morning devotion. I’ll follow you to the grocery store with one hand on my weapon and the other on your ass just so the world knows who you belong to.You hear me? Ain’t shit about me normal when it comes to you. I’m obsessed in the holy way—Psalms in my chest and violence in my veins. You are my sanctuary and my sin, my peace and my provocation. I’ll lose every ounce of professionalism if somebody try you. I’ll get fired, locked up, or laid in the dirt if it means protecting what’s mine.
“And you are mine. I don’t care who sees it, who hates it, or who doesn’t believe in it. I’ll say it in a church pew or in court with cuffs on. I’m yours. I’ll ride for you when I’m broke, bruised, or breathing my last breath. I’ll push the whip with no wheels, walk through hell barefoot, or tongue-kiss karma if it keeps you safe.
“Baby, I’ll lose my mind over you in public and still hold your purse like a gentleman while you shop till you drop. I’ll switch from ‘yes ma’am’ to ‘bitch, watch your tone’ in the same sentence if somebody gets slick with my queen. You’re my soft spot and my trigger. My favorite prayer and my worst impulse. I don’t just love you. I worship you in ways I’m not even comfortable explaining. And I’ll protect you until the Earth cracks open, and God Himself calls me home.”
