One of the newer Dommes, Mistress Hillary, complimented Raine’s cooking. The girl smiled stiffly and murmured her thanks. When the exchange was over, Raine’s brows drew together. She rubbed at a spot between her eyes. Hammer studied her pained expression. Damn it, of course she was hurting. He knew the symptoms. He’d seen them dozens of times. And from the blithe look on Liam’s face, he didn’t have a clue. Raine obviously wasn’t letting her Dom in on her problem.
Clenching his jaw, he tossed his napkin on the table and stormed over to her, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “Let me get your medicine. You need to take it and lie down.”
Raine shook her head in refusal. “Later.”
Stubborn little brat.
Gritting his teeth, Hammer marched down the hall. Her stare raked his back. Once in his quarters, he rummaged through his bathroom cabinet and picked through his toiletries until he found Raine’s medication.
Frustrated with her and wishing like hell that she was his to punish, he stalked back to the feast and slammed the bottle of pain killers on the table in front of her.
Liam raised his head, scowling as he picked up the bottle and read the label. “What the hell are these pills for?”
Hammer ignored Liam and stared down at Raine with a raised brow. “Do you want to tell him or shall I, precious?”
Anger flashed in Liam’s eyes as he studied Raine. “Tell me what?”
She lowered her guilty gaze. “Hammer, I planned to take one and explain everything to Liam after dinner,” she said in a low whisper. “Please sit down. I’ll handle it. Everyone is staring.”
They were, and Hammer didn’t give a shit. He resisted the urge to shake her. Did Liam have any idea how badly she deserved to be taken over a knee and thoroughly spanked? He stomped back to his chair, then eased down and glared at her. She raised her chin and still didn’t take a fucking pill. In fact, she whispered furiously to Liam and ignored the bottle, pushing food around on her plate. More color seeped from her face as the pain obviously grew worse.
Why was the stubborn minx refusing to help herself?
Jaw tight, Liam set the bottle aside and pinned Raine with an expression that promised confrontation after dinner. Hammer approved. If she wasn’t going to take care of herself, and he couldn’t, someone had to.
After the awkward meal, Raine served dessert and coffee. She was moving slowly, but thankfully the other subs helped. After a blessedly brief chat, most everyone agreed to follow Beck to his place for beer and football. The rest of the members headed home, leaving him alone with Liam and Raine.
The second the door shut behind the last of the dinner guests, Liam turned on her, grinding his jaw and gritting his teeth. “Are you in pain?”
“It’s not that bad,” Raine tried to assure him. “I’ll—”
“Are you in pain, yes or no?” All hint of nice had disappeared.
She dropped her gaze. “Yes.”
“Then take the damn pill.”
“I will.” She sent him an imploring stare. “Liam, don’t be angry. It’s just a headache. I’ll be fine.”
“Just a headache?” Hammer scoffed. “Yeah, and I’m Godzilla.”
He stared at her in disbelief. He hadn’t seen her this shut down in years. Before this week, she’d been making strides with Liam. Little ones, but…progress. What the hell was going on inside her head now?
“Yes, that’s all.” Then she turned a pleading stare on Liam. “As soon as I do the dishes, I promise to be a good girl, pop a pill, and go to bed.”
“No,” Liam snarled. “You’ll take the fucking pill now, sub. I’m waiting.”
Hammer had never heard Liam speak to her so harshly. But she needed it.
Raine looked like she wanted to argue, but a jolt of pain hit her again. She winced, then silently opened the bottle and swallowed down a pill.
“Good.” Liam nodded. “Now I’ll clean up the mess. You go to bed. We’ll talk about this later. And Raine, there will be consequences.”
What little color had been in her face drained away.
As raw as it chaffed Hammer to see her under another’s care, the time had come to share a bit of insight with his ex-friend. Someone needed to clue Liam in, and if she was too bottled up or independent to do it, he would. After all, Raine’s welfare wasn’t a point of contention. Which one of them got to fuck her was. But the girl’s health was by far more important than this pissing match.
“It’s not ‘just a headache,’” he told Liam. “She’s suffering from a migraine. I’ve taken her to several specialists over the years. Each said these episodes are hormone related. Every month, she gets a migraine early in her cycle. When they start, you’ll need to make her stop what she’s doing and give her a pill, then put her to bed. The medication she should have taken when I brought the bottle will knock her out. She needs that and about ten hours of sleep in a dark, quiet room to recover.”