“Good! Now stay here, I need to get some ice for your… fucking everything.”
She stands, and I reach out, grabbing her arm. She turns back to me, and I stare into her eyes. “Thank you...”
“It’s not him I want, Void.” She leans down, placing an extremely gentle kiss on my lips.
I guess she’s trying not to hurt me.
Then she pulls back, heading out to grab some ice. I have to admit, it’s good hearing her say the words. But having a fight with Dash with everyone watching, yeah, that was not my finest hour.
What a clusterfuck.
The Next Morning
There’s a pressure on my legs, or is it my groin? I can’t be sure, but I’m hungover and not fully awake to comprehend what’s going on.
My body—it’s sore all over.
Memories of fighting with Dash fly through my mind, and my lips turn up in the corners imagining Nycto has probably kicked him out of the club for going to town on the VP.
I definitely feel like a damn pussy for having Ivy be the one to stop him. Something grinds down on my cock, making it harden instantly, and my eyes shoot open. Ivy’s straddling me, wearing only a bra and her panties.
Jesus. Fucking. Christ.
She has a stethoscope around her neck, and I cock my brow. “You’re not ready to play doctors and nurses with me just yet, Ivy.”
She smirks, leaning down, kissing me. My hands slide up her silky back as she places something against my temple. I furrow my brows as it beeps, and she pulls away checking the digital thermometer. “Ninety-nine, you’re a touch high, but it could be the alcohol.” She places the stethoscope into her ears and presses the cold circle to my chest. “Inhale.”
I grin but inhale deeply as she moves the scope around my chest. “Exhale…” I let out a breath. “Inhale one more time.” I chuckle, then breathe in. She moves it to the side where most of the bruising is located, and I wince. She mouths ‘sorry’ but continues, “And out.” I exhale.
Ivy pulls the earpieces from her ears and wraps it around her neck. “You sound good. I’m pretty sure your lungs are fine. Of course, I didn’t finish my medical training, so we need Nerve to double-check, but if there was a problem with your lung, you’d be in deep shit by now, so I’m pretty sure you’re all good.”
My hands move to her thighs sitting either side of mine. I can’t help but admire her and how fucking sexy she is like this. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’ve tried telling you, but—”
“Don’t even joke about that, Ivy. You know I want you. I just…” I pause, trying to find the right words, but they don’t come easily.
Her hands rest on my chest. “It’s fine. Now’s not the time anyway. You’re hurt.”
I glance down at her left knuckles which are grazed, bruised, and battered. “You hit Dash with a mean left hook.”
Ivy grimaces. “I feel like shit for hitting him, but he gave me no damn choice.” She leans down, pressing her lips to mine again. I love the wave that crashes through me when I kiss her, it’s like everything calms down, like all the shit that’s going on melts away, and it’s just this world where Ivy and I belong. Our bubble is the only place where I feel whole, and if she’s the one coming in to rescue me every now and then, then I’m totally okay with it. Because if there’s one thing I know about Ivy, it’s that she has the heart of a lion and the tenacity of a bull. If she wants something, she’s going to fight for it, and she’ll fucking get it.
I just hope, in the end, she wants to fight for me.
***
I’m sore as shit. My face is swollen like I’ve gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson. It makes me feel inferior that I only went half a round with a fucking prospect, and the cunt laid me out. Admittedly, he had an advantage. That bastard went for my weak spot, disabling me right away, but the point remains, he took me out in front of everyone, including Ivy. And that shit doesn’t sit right with me.
I’ve had it in for Dash for a while now.
I can’t see a way through this, so I need to talk to Nycto.
Ivy’s already left for the morning after doing her little nurse routine on me, which I have to say was fucking tempting as hell. But now, I have a score to settle.
Pulling on a shirt, my torso screams at me, and I grimace. Nerve came in and wrapped me up tight with an ACE bandage. So now the constriction around my ribs hurts more than I want to let on. I should wear my cut, but I’m not going anywhere other than to see Nycto, and to be honest, I am not sure I can move my arms enough to get it over my shoulders. So, Nycto can deal with me wearing civvies. The pain’s excruciating enough to pull on this much clothing.
Traipsing out of my room, brothers take in the state of me without my club cut. I’m sure they’re wondering what it means, but they shouldn’t read anything into it. I need to find Nycto, so I head for the kitchen where Eva and Trixie are inside.
“Eva, where’s your man?” I call out to her.
She spins with a bright smile on her face, then it falls when she takes me in. “You okay, Void?”
“Yeah, hurts to put clothes on.”
Her intense expression softens, and she relaxes. “Phew! Thought you were making a statement. He’s in the chapel making some business calls. Head on in.”
I nod my head.
“And Void?” I turn back, raising a brow. “Thanks for looking out for Ivy last night. I’m sorry you got hurt in the process.”
“I’ll always look out for Ivy.”
“I know you will.”
I dip my chin, then turn to head for the chapel. When I finally make it to the door, I knock twice. If Nycto’s in meetings, I figure I better not interrupt if it’s something important.
“What?”
I smirk and think, typical asshole answer.
Opening the door, I pop my head inside. “Can I chat with you for a second?”
Nycto waves his hand through the air. “I think that’s a damn good idea.”
I walk in, closing the door behind me, and as I turn, he’s staring at my shirt. “You not wearing your cut for a reason, brother?”
I sit in my seat. “Fucking hurt to put my shirt on. Fucking hurts to walk. Figured I’m in the clubhouse, but if I go outside, I’ll put it on.”
Nycto turns up his lip in a smirk. “Don’t be a pussy. You got in a fight, a pointless damn fight. You’re the VP of this club, and you will show the club what it means to be a Royal Bastard. You’ll wear your fucking cut wherever you damn well go. I don’t care if your cock’s falling off, your cut stays on. Got it?”
“Yeah, yeah, fair call. I’ll put it on after we have words.”
“You bet your ass you will. You’re walking around without one, it’ll have brothers thinking you’re leaving or some shit. Evaluate what you’re doing, Void, you’re a walking fucking disaster right now.”
Tensing, my mind flashes back to last night.
Dash made a mockery of me.
Every-fucking-thing always comes back to Dash.
“That’s what I’m here about, actually.”