I lifted her into my arms and carried her into the bathroom, setting her on the counter. I cupped her face in my hands and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I’m going to run us a bath,” I told her, desperate to take care of her after I had pushed her too far. I brushed my thumbs over her cheeks. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. She reached up and cupped my cheek, her hand still trembling from aftershocks of so many orgasms. “This wasn’t your fault, James,” she tried soothing me, but it wasn’t working. “Sometimes sex is painful. It’s not your fault.”
I frowned at her. “Sex shouldn’t be painful, Emmaline – not to the point that you have to use your safe word.”
I brushed my lips to her forehead and stepped back. Something red on her thighs caught my eye, and I looked down, sucking in a sharp breath. She was bleeding – a lot more than was normal.
With everything going on lately, I’d forgotten to make her an appointment with an OB, but I wouldn’t be forgetting anymore. As soon as we got out of this room, I was calling to schedule the first available appointment.
“Fuck, little one,” I breathed in horror. I’d been way too fucking rough. She followed my gaze and only shrugged at me.
“It’s normal,” she told me, not sounding bothered at all.
I clenched my jaw. This shit was not normal. Spotting after sex was normal. All of this bleeding – the pain? This shit wasn’t okay.
“How long have you been dealing with this – bleeding after sex?” I demanded.
She sighed. “For years, James. It’s normal for me,” she tried to stress, but I wasn’t having this shit.
“Emmaline, this is not fucking normal,” I snapped at her, getting frustrated, our last conversation ringing through my head. “I’m going to make you an appointment to see a doctor. This isn’t okay. I’m almost a hundred percent sure that you have an underlying health issue, and I’m not taking any chances.”
She scowled at me, getting aggravated as well. “I don’t need a doctor, James. I’m telling you – this is normal. It’s always been like this for me. If sex is too rough, I bleed.”
I shook my head. “This isn’t up for discussion, little one. You’re going to see a doctor, and that’s final.”
“My body,” she angrily retorted, her beautiful, brown eyes burning with anger that surprised me, fueled my anger, and made me want her all over again all at once.
“My woman!” I barked back at her. I hooked my finger in her collar, yanking her face closer to mine. “I fucking collared you, little one. Remember that,” I warned her. She narrowed her eyes at me. “I won’t take chances with your health. If you won’t take the goddamn care from your boyfriend, take the fucking order from your dom.”
I released her. “Get cleaned up,” I ordered.
I stormed out of the bathroom and quickly yanked on my slacks, storming off to our room to take a quick shower and head back to my office.
I was so fucking sick of her refusing to take care of herself. Anytime something serious came up about her, she didn’t want to deal with it. Even Jaxon had told me when she’d begun having the pain in her abdomen, he had to force her to come downstairs to see the doctor.
Gritting my teeth, I bathed in record time and threw on a pair of faded jeans and a plain black t-shirt, grabbing my leather jacket with it.
I hated having to pull the dom card on Emmaline, but goddammit, she had a way of pissing me off when it came to her health. Even when I had noticed the bleeding a few weeks ago in the downstairs bathroom, she had tried blowing it off.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket as I strode down the hall, heading down the stairs to my office. I was making her an appointment, and that was that. To hell with what the fuck she wanted. I wouldn’t let her neglect her health any longer.
~*~*~
EMMALINE
It was two in the morning, and James still hadn’t come to bed. I frowned down at my phone, debating on texting him or not. I hated making him angry with me, but the bleeding really was normal for me. I couldn’t remember a time that I hadn’t bled after rough sex, couldn’t remember a time when rough sex like that hadn’t hurt.
With a sigh, I slid out of bed and shoved my feet into my house slippers. I grabbed my robe off the hook on the back of the bedroom door and wrapped it around me, tying the belt around my waist. Jaxon looked over at me as I opened the door.
“Do you know where James is?” I quietly asked him.
“In his office,” he softly replied.
I turned and walked down the hall towards the stairs. Once I was on the second level, his guard nodded once at me in greeting. “He told us to let you in if you came down,” the guard quietly spoke up as he opened the door for me. “Sir,” he said in greeting to Jaxon.
I slipped inside the office. The only light in the room was from the open curtain, the moon casting the room in a soft, white glow. James was on the couch with one arm draped over his abdomen, his other arm behind his head. His feet were crossed at the ankles, his shoes not even off of his feet.
Tears burned in my eyes as I slowly moved forward. I laid down on the couch beside him, resting my head on his chest as I wrapped my arm over his waist. A tear slid down my cheek. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, my voice barely audible to my own ears.
James silently rolled over and wrapped his arms around me, filling that void in my chest that I’d been feeling at his absence. He brushed his lips to my forehead. “I’m sorry, too, little one,” he said quietly. “Get some rest. I’ll carry you to bed in a little bit.”
“Stay with me?” I asked him as I fisted my hand in his leather jacket.
He nodded. “I’ll stay, baby.” He pressed another kiss to the top of my head. “Now rest. I know you haven’t gotten a bit of sleep.”
I let my eyes slide closed, finally feeling mostly okay now that he was holding me again.