Owned & Untamed (Back Down Devil MC #11)(23)

I lost it. I broke down into tears.

“Shit,” Duke said. He threw his huge arms around me and hugged me. “Sweetie, it’ll be okay.” He kissed the top of my head. “I need to check on him. If he’s down, he’s got to get to a hospital. I could call in a favor to keep it off the record…”

He broke away from me and I grabbed at his hand. I felt the roughness of his palm, the calluses on his fingertips. I wondered how many people he had hurt and killed with those fingers.

Then I looked up to his eyes.

“Duke, thank you.”

“Always, sweetie,” he said and broke my hold on him.

I couldn’t help but follow him inside to see what he was going to do.

When he got to the bedroom, Jim was back to sleeping. Duke looked left, right, and then grabbed the trashcan in Jim’s room.

He looked back at me. “You might not want to watch this part.”

“Why?” I asked.

Duke didn’t respond. He grabbed Jim by the hair and pulled him to the edge of the bed.

“Goddammit, soldier,” Duke yelled. “What the f*ck are you trying to prove? You don’t f*cking drag others into your hell. Not your goddamn sister. You understand me?”

“Duke?” Jim asked.

“Time to get that shit out of your body.”

I stood in shock as Duke forced his fingers into Jim’s mouth. Jim heaved and then his stomach started to empty. I turned my head and couldn’t watch. But I heard it. The sound of Jim getting forcefully sick, heaving, groaning, and crying.

“Stop being a f*cking *!” Duke yelled.

I looked and saw Duke coming at me. I jumped out of the way as he walked right by me. I chased after him as he walked to the bathroom and cleaned up the trashcan and his hands. He then grabbed a washcloth, wet it, and rushed right by me again.

By the time it was all said and done, Duke had Jim face down on the bed, a washcloth next to his mouth, and the empty trashcan next to the bed. He then took a chair from the dining room table and sat next to the bed.

He stuck his fingers into Jim’s neck and looked back at me. “He’s fine.”

“You sure?”

“I’m not a doctor, sweetie, but I’ve seen crazy shit. He probably took one or two more than he should have.” Duke took his fingers from Jim’s neck and grabbed the pill bottle. “These are strong but not the strongest. That’s a good thing. I’m sorry you had to go through this.”

“I’m numb,” I whispered. “To everything.”

Duke rose up and walked to the doorway. There was just inches between us. I blinked fast and a tear fell from my eye. Duke was there to catch it, spreading it across my cheek.

“There’s a million things I could say right now, Belle,” he said. “But none of it would matter or would be true. I hate that part of everything. And there’s a million things to say to your brother and none of that will matter or be true. It’s like staring down a river and you can’t stop flowing. What’s at the end? A little slide into a new current or a f*cking waterfall?” Duke leaned in and gently kissed my lips. “Go upstairs and sleep, sweetie. I’ll be here.”

“All night?” I asked.

“I’m going to sit with him for a little bit. I have plenty of my own demons next to me. Why not add in the regret?”

“Duke…”

“Get some sleep. It’ll be okay. If anything happens, I’ll take care of it. I promise.”

I started to inch back but stopped. I grabbed tight to Duke’s leather cut. I moved up to my toes and planted a kiss to his lips. It felt good to steal one from him. Like I had some kind of power over him.

Not a chance in hell, Belle. He’s always had your number.

I went upstairs, changed, and climbed into bed. I had a long t-shirt on, panties, no bra. Who the hell sleeps in a bra? I figured I’d wake up to find Duke gone. Or sleeping on the couch.

I never thought in a million years I’d wake up with Duke in bed with me.

**

I was mid-dream when I felt something touch my face.

“Hey, sweetie, it’s me.”

I thought I was still dreaming. A dream I had quite a bit. One where Duke would show up, home from war, never changed, never leaving.

Then reality hit me and I remembered what had happened with Jim.

My eyes popped open and Duke’s face was right there.

“It’s okay,” Duke whispered.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“It’s late. Really late. Jim is fine. Okay? I just wanted to check on you before I take off.”

“Take off?” I asked. “Can you stay? See Jim in the morning?”

I saw the hesitation creep across Duke’s face. I propped myself up and wondered how much like crap I looked like. Messy bed hair. No makeup. Half asleep.

“Sweetie, I shouldn’t do that.”

“You can sleep on the couch. Or one of the bedrooms up here.”

“That’s the problem,” Duke said.

Our eyes locked and I knew what that meant. Together. So close. The flames of temptation already ignited. If he stayed…

I moved forward and kissed him. I was desperate, longing to be touched, loved, made to feel important.

“Stay,” I whispered, knowing that with one word I was sealing my fate for the night and beyond.