Page 65 of Delicious Prey

She kisses my hand and shakes her head. “You saved my life.”

I give her a wink. “You’re worth it.”

She laughs and the sound of it does more for me than that hit of morphine I’m resisting. I don’t want to fall asleep again so soon. I look back to the doctor. “When can I leave?”

“Told you,” Vadim says with a laugh. “I told them it would be one of your first questions.”

I smile at him, already making plans for the huge bonus he’ll be getting for all this. “Thanks for looking after her.”

He pats my foot and says in Russian, “Of course, man. She hasn’t left your side since you got here. She even asked the nurses to teach her how to change the bandages.” He gives a soft laugh. “And she insisted on being the one to give you your sponge baths. She was downright feral about making sure your dick remained unseen by any other female eyes.”

I laugh and then groan when it sends a spark of pain through my body that’s nearly blinding.

“It’s going to go against your nature,” Dr. West says, “but you’re going to really need to baby yourself for a while.”

“I’ll make sure he does,” Lydia says, and her no-nonsense tone lets me know that I’m in for an interesting few weeks. I wonder if she’ll even allow me to get out of the damn bed.

“When can I go home?” I repeat. “If I agree to rest a ton,” I add, giving Lydia a smile.

“Let’s give it a couple of days,” Dr. West says. “I want to see how you feel when all the sedatives wear off, make sure you can keep solid food down, all that fun stuff.” He looks down at my bandaged chest. “That bullet was damn close to your heart, Mr. Chernikov. The fact that you’re even here talking to us right now is kind of a one-in-a-million thing.” He hesitates and darts a quick glance at Lydia. “Maybe you can get out of this particular line of work soon.”

“I’m already out, Doc.”

“Glad to hear it.” He turns to leave and says, “I’ll check on you again later. Try to get some rest and don’t be afraid to use the morphine. There’s no reason for you to be in pain if you don’t have to be.”

“Will do,” I tell him, but I’m not hitting that button anytime soon. I want to spend time with Lydia.

After he’s left, Peanut hops up onto the bed and licks my hand. I pet him while Lydia keeps looking at me like she can’t believe I’m actually here in front of her. I feel the same way every time I look at her.

Vadim laughs and says in Russian, “I feel very much like a third wheel, so I’m going to get the hell out of here. Let me know if you want me to bring you anything. Their room service is crazy good. I can’t imagine what your bill is going to be. I’m not going to lie. I ordered steak every night you were unconscious.”

I smile but force myself to not laugh because I don’t want the pain that comes with it. “Fucker,” I tell him, but he knows I don’t really care. “Thanks again, man.”

“No worries. Your dogs miss you, by the way.”

“They’re all okay, right?”

“Yeah, but now they really have a taste for human blood,” he says with a laugh. “Like more so than usual.”

He gives me a wave and squeezes Lydia’s shoulder before leaving the room. I hear the door shut, but I barely register the sound. All my focus is on the woman in front of me. I’m too weak to do much of anything, but I run my thumb over her hand and bring it to my face, kissing the palm and pressing it against my cheek, needing to feel some part of her against me.

“I was so scared,” she whispers, leaning closer. “I was terrified that I’d lost you.”

“I’m here, zaika. I’m not going anywhere.”

Her fingers run over the light beard I’ve grown since I’ve been here before her eyes dart to my chest. “Do you need more morphine?”

“No, I don’t want to fall asleep. I’ve gone long enough without seeing you.” I reach up and run a finger along her jaw. “I’m sorry about what I had to say in front of Enzo. It took everything I had to not show how much seeing you hanging there was affecting me.”

“I know,” she whispers.

“How badly did they hurt you before I got there?”

“I’m fine,” she says, not answering the question.

I remember the way Enzo had cut her, and when I reach down to lift the bottom of her T-shirt up, she grabs my hand to stop me.

“Really, Kirill, I’m fine.”

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