Page 32 of The Starry Knight

“Oh, I noticed Ms. Brooks has a bandaged hand. Should I take a look at that?” he asks.

“Actually, that would be great. She cut her palm on glass. She had some stitches put in but some of them opened up the other night.” I mention, thinking back to the night when I first had Stormy pressed up against the shower. I shake my head to get the images of her naked from my head. I need to focus on getting her better before I can do that to her again.

“Okay, I will check it out. Hey, are you doing okay?” Dr Peterson asks.

I shrug my shoulders. “I just have a lot on my plate at the moment.” He nods his head in understanding.

“I’ll be here when you get back,” He goes to Stormy and begins to unwrap her hand. I turn and walk from the room down the stairs to my gym. The lights illuminate all the exercise equipment that I have. I drop my clothes on the bench after I shed them from my body. After I redress in my workout clothes, I walkup to my free-standing punching bag. Sliding on my gloves, I begin pounding away at the bag. Each punch melts away some of the stress I have building inside me. After I exhaust myself with the punching bag, I jump on the treadmill. Setting the speed to a jog, I try to keep my focus solely on the task at hand. The pounding of my feet on the machine grounds me to the moment and it helps. Once I finish, I’m physically and mentally exhausted. All I want to do is shower and climb in bed. I grab a towel to wipe my face and grab my old clothes, leaving the gym. I walk back to the main level of the apartment and toward my bedroom. Steve is sitting in the corner of my room on a leather chair that my interior designer insisted I needed. I guess it can come in handy.

“How’s she doing?” I gesture to Stormy as I wipe the towel down my face.

“She’s going to be fine. I’ll go ahead and take the IV out and I’ll get out of here,” He stands, putting away the paperwork he was looking over. “Make sure she gets plenty of rest. I imagine she will have a nasty hangover in the morning. I left some Motrin on the nightstand for her to take when she wakes. I’ll call and check in with you in the morning.” He removes the IV and leaves a small bandage on her arm.

“Thank you again for coming on such short notice. She scared me when she passed out in my arms,” I think back to tonight and a chill runs up my spine.

“You did the right thing. Now, try and get some rest as well,” he remarks.

“Will do.” I reply as he leaves the room and soon I hear the front door close behind him. I turn from him and walk over to where Stormy is lying on my bed.She looks good in here. If only it were under different circumstances. I take a seat beside her, building questions in my mind of things we need to discuss when she comes to. I want to know what the hell she was thinking. She was fine at work this afternoon, so something must have happened to her to set her off after she left. I can’t help but to tighten my fists at the thought of someone hurting her. I hear her phone chime from the living room, and I know it must be her roommate checking on her. I get up and grab the phone, responding to the message as I walk back.

Picasso:Is she alright?

Stormy:Yes. The doctor just left. He said she would be fine. He hooked her up to an IV drip and said she needed rest. Do you have any idea what happened to her to cause her to need the medicine?

Bubbles appear and then disappear. Over and over until she finally responds.

Picasso:I think you need to ask her about that.

Stormy:Oh, I definitely will when she wakes up.

Picasso:Don’t give her a hard time. She went through a lot, even if she tells you she is fine.

I stare at the screen for a moment, not knowing how to respond. I want to call my private investigator to do an extensive background check, but maybe I should wait for her to tell me.The fuck with that. I need to know if she is in danger or what she is hiding. I place Stormy’s phone on my dresser and retrieve mine from the living room, shooting off a text to my PI. I need to know everything about Stormy Brooks. She’s hiding something and it’s time for all the cards to be set on the table.

I check on Stormy again and I decide to showerbefore I curl in behind her. I just need to rinse this day from my mind, not to mention all the sweat I just worked up. The shower feels amazing on my muscles. The heat seeps into my body and I feel relaxed once I’m finished. I step out of the shower as the steam billows out around me. Pulling on a pair of boxers, I settle in behind Stormy. Tomorrow I’ll get answers. I kiss her forehead and wrap my arm around her waist. Even though she’s asleep, she snuggles into me, making a soft whimpering sound. I check to make sure she is alright before turning off the bedside lamp.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Angel. You scared me tonight. And tomorrow, I want to know everything.” I kiss her again and close my eyes listening to her breathing. The stark realization hits me that I would do anything for this woman. A woman that I barely know anything about. Stormy has already gotten under my skin.Can I be what she needs?

Chapter 18

Stormy

I wake from a harrowing dream. One that took me to the past and made me relive my worst nightmares. I couldn’t escape it. I was there again, begging Blaine not to go. Movement on the bed has me cracking open my eyes to see who’s there. What I find it both startling and insanely hot. Sebastian lies asleep beside me in what I presume is his bed. It’s huge and definitely not mine. I take a moment to look at my surroundings and I’m dumbfounded as to how I got here. Last night is hazy to say the least.

I slap my hand over my face as images of last night surface in my mind. Fuck, I was not myself. I was exactly who I was a year ago, drinking to numb the pain. I know the cab ride triggered my past trauma, but I never meant to take it this far.

I try to slide out of bed, but I’m hoisted into place by a large hand wrapped around my waist.

A low husky growl comes from beside my ear, “Good morning, Angel.”

“Good morning, Sebastian. What am I doing here?” I ask. Trying to make sense of everything.

“You mixed meds and alcohol together making you pass out in my arms. Thank fuck I was there,” he says with a groan as he pulls me back against him. “Now be a good girl and go back to sleep. I’m not ready to wakeup yet,” he murmurs softly. A tingling sensation shoots through my body at his words. How can he get me this worked up a crack thirty in the morning?

“I have to use the restroom. So, if you’ll please let me go,” he opens his eyes to look at me and it looks like emeralds shining back. He lifts his arm, releasing me from his grasp. I walk into his bathroom and the lights come on automatically. The floor is oddly warm as well.Are you kidding me? He has heated flooring!Wow, how the rich live. I shut the door behind me and do my business. Washing my hands, I look in the mirror and am horrified by the person staring back at me. I can’t believe he didn’t throw me out of bed looking like this. I find some soap and wash my face, ridding myself of the smeared black mascara. I realize that I have new bandages on my hand as well as one on my forearm.Seriously, what the hell happened last night? Did he seriously take care of me?That counters everything, I thought I knew about him.I know he’s going to want to talk about what happened last night and I don’t know if I can tell him all that. I don’t know what he would think of me, knowing I’m a widow, was in a rock band, changed my hair color and moved to a different state to escape the sympathy stares. I sigh to myself. This isn’t going to be a fun conversation.

I open the drawers looking for a spare toothbrush. There is no way I’m going back out there with tequila breath. Ugh, gross. I feel gross. I think my pores are bleeding liquor. I need a shower, greasy food, Motrin, and water. Not necessarily in that order but all of it, nonetheless. I give up my pursuit of a toothbrush and peak my head out of the door. I watch Sebastian as he sleeps, and my heart beat drums in my chest. Heelicits this flame inside me.

“Are you going to keep staring or come back to bed?” he chuckles softly.

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