Page 111 of Syncopation
Zavier tightened his grip yet again. “Lean back and relax.”
Ray tried. Hetried. But he wasn’t kneeling at Zavier’s feet, so the tension didn’t leak away like it should, at least not at first.
“Don’t move.” Zavier’s order was sharp, even as it was low volume.
Every nervein Ray’s body jumped.
“Ray...” That was Zavier’s one warning.
Breathe. He had to breathe. Inhale. Count to three. Exhale. He willed himself into jelly and sank into the bed.
“Yes, very nice.”
The murmur of approval played along those same nerves, warming them and softening Ray’s muscles. He was totally unprepared when Zavier ran the back of a fingernail up his instep. Electricityto every limb. He twitched and shook and hissed.
“No moving.” Amusement in Zavier’s voice. Bastard knew exactly what he was doing. But after a few minutes, the touch, the command put him elsewhere, to that heady, thinky place he ended up in whenever he and Zavier played.
Felt like home. They could have been anywhere—a hotel room, in the back of a tour bus, in ahospitalroom—and it would’vefelt like home. All he needed was Zavier’s touch and his voice. After a while, the lovely torment stopped, and Ray floated, happy and relaxed until a doctor knocked on the open door and breezed into the room.
Zavier let go of his leg, and Ray missed his touch immediately.
The doctor was on the younger side and black. Fit, with short hair and a deep voice. There were the perfunctory introductionsand the doc performed all those simple tests that had already been done to him a thousand times that day—he listened to Ray’s heart, took his blood pressure, and looked over his chart. “Well, Mr. Van Zeller, you seem to be past your scare and everything checks out. Your system has had quite the shock, though, so feel free to relax for a few days. I’ll have your discharge papers writtenup shortly.”
So, still not free. “Do you think I could get this fucking thing out of my hand?” He waved his hand with the IV.
The doctor didn’t even blink. “I’ll have a nurse come and take care of it.” He breezed out with the same speed he’d come in.
Of course. Which meant it would take another fifteen hours. Ray closed his eyes. “I’m never getting out of here.”
“You will,” Zaviersaid. He patted Ray’s leg again.
“God, I like that. You touching me. Feels like I can take on the world when I know you’re there.”
Zavier grunted. “Here.” He picked at one of the leather bracelets that always seemed to be tied around his wrist lately, except in the shower, and freed it. Next thing Ray knew, it was tied around his ankle. “A little reminder of me for when I can’t touch you.”
Like the string that was gone, but better. Fire was chased by calm, and Ray settled back against the bed. “I like that.”
“Like a tiny cuff.”
“Exactly.”
Didn’t take fifteen hours, but it did take nearly forty-five minutes before a nurse came to remove the IV catheter from his hand, and then another forty-five before Ray was handed his discharge papers. He’d also been prescribed amedicine to take to help counterbalance the shit Carl had given him. Getting that took time, too. But eventually he was allowed to leave.
Thankgod.
By the time they got a cab and drove back to the hotel, the medicine had taken effect and Ray could barely keep his eyes open. “Not fair,” he murmured as he leaned against Zavier as they rode up the elevator. “I spent most of the day in bed.”
“But it’ll be a giant hotel bed with no machines and no IV.”
“You won’t stick any needles in me.”
A laugh. “No needles. No. Not at all my kink.”
“Good.” Ray couldn’t be happier about that. That kind of pain wasn’t his thing. “Join me in bed?” He missed Zavier. Wanted him near. Needed to feel his warmth.
“It’s still pretty early. I’d be a mess in bed. Tossing and turning.”
True. It had been after five when they’d left the hospital, far too early for most people to sleep, unless they were hopped up on drugs.
