Of course she was fretting about other things, but maybe she could just rest here in this calm, quiet house with this handsome man fussing over her for a few hours and then she’d go back through the looking glass to her real life.
She closed her eyes—or rather, stopped fighting so hard to keep them open—and then opened them again when Doctor Southerland—no, he’d told her to call him Eric—when Eric took her hand and shifted her arm with his gloved fingers, rubbed something wet and cool over the sensitive skin of the inside of her forearm.
“Just giving you some IV fluids. I’m sure you’re dehydrated if you haven’t been able to get anything in your tummy and running around like nothing’s wrong. Plus vomiting can contribute to dehydration.”
She should protest. This seemed like a lot of trouble for someone she barely knew to be going to. Yeah, she definitely felt lethargic and weak, but she always did during the unpleasant days of her monthly migraines. She’d survived it before.
But Eric genuinely didn’t seem to feel that she was imposing. If anything, he seemed to care more about her wellbeing than anyone she knew. Of course the kids would be concerned if they thought she was actually sick but she didn’t like to worry Chase, and Logan was wrapped up in his teenage world of lacrosse and video games plus she suspected he was starting to notice girls. So maybe she just wouldn’t get in Eric’s way.
“There’s going to be a little pinch, okay?”
She nodded and turned her head. Needles were not her favorite and she didn’t like to see them puncture her skin. She’d never passed out but it definitely made her feel faint.
Eric was right that there was a pinchy-stabby sensation and she winced as the needle went in but it was over as quickly as it started and then he was taping a square of gauze over where he’d slid the needle into her vein. Then he checked the tubing and the bag he’d hung on a stand she hadn’t noticed and nodded to himself as he stripped off his gloves and tossed them in the trash.
Sleep was about to claim her again when her head began to lower as the bed flattened and she blinked her eyes open.
“What—”
“Since you can’t tolerate anything in your stomach, we’re going to get you some calories and nutrients and medicine in your system a different way. And take your temperature too.”
Mindful of her IV, Eric drew down the covers, turned her over with no more effort than if she was a child and settled her over a firm foam wedge that forced her bottom into the air. The short gown that hadn’t felt so small when she was under the covers slid over her hips, leaving her backside exposed to the air.
Mortified, Devaney tried to reach back and cover herself but Eric held her down while she squirmed. And when she didn’t stop, there was a sharp smack on her backside that made her gasp.
“Devy, no. I’m going to strap you down to help you behave. Be still while I restrain you or you’ll get a real spanking. You promised to be a well-behaved cooperative girl and you need to be still right now.”
Being strapped down? A spanking?
She still felt like crap, but there was a definite pulse of arousal as he chastised her. A pulse that grew stronger as he drew a strap across the bottom of her ribcage and fastened it snugly, and more insistent still when he buckled some sort of padded cuffs onto her ankles and fastened them to the edges of the bed. It was electrifying to have her legs spread this way with her ass in the air—thrilling but humiliating at the same time, knowing Eric could seeeverything.
“Can you behave now or do I need to restrain your hands too?”
“I—I can behave,” she insisted, even though part of her didn’t want to. A very loud part of her was shouting that it wasn’t that she wanted to be disobedient, but she did want the feeling of having any control of her body taken away. If she didn’t have any control then she couldn’t fight back, couldn’t leave, and she’d just have to let Eric do whatever he wanted. She’d simply have to lie here and let him take care of her.
There must have been something on her face or in the tone of her voice that betrayed her most secret wishes because Eric clucked at her and shook his head.
“I don’t think I’m going to take that chance. Little girls can hurt themselves if they’re too squirmy.”
She mewled wordlessly but didn’t otherwise protest as he buckled more cuffs around her wrists and tugged those to the edges of the bed too, fastening them to attachment points.
Devaney really did not remember hospital beds being equipped like this when she’d delivered the boys. To be fair, she’d been a little busy at the time but she couldn’t believe she’d forget something likethis.