The sadistic parts of me are enjoying his pain and anger, but there’s still something that squeezes in my chest when he looks at me this way. Something that misses the way he used to.
“Why are you here, Officer?” I ask, gripping his neck harder. “If the sight of me sickens you, then why agree to come?”
“I had as much choice as you did in coming here,” he spits. “And what I want from your father is far more important than putting up with his pest for a few days.”
Releasing his throat, I bark out a laugh.
“A few days?” I beam. “Neither one of us knows fuck all about what is going on to put a time limit on our little getaway here.” I tilt my head to the side and run my finger down the planes of Liam’s hard chest. “If you want a pest, Liam Brenner, I’ll show you a fucking pest.”
With a wink I saunter away toward the kitchen to look for the medical kit. Since the cabin is small the first floor is open. The sitting area only divided by an island. The closest thing to a dining room is the bar stools lined up against it on the opposite side. Tucked away in the back of the cabinet under the sink I strike gold and find the medical supplies.
When I straighten, dumping the box on the island, I notice Liam still stands where I left him. Only now he’s facing me. I smirk to myself knowing the perfect way to start my promise as a pest. Pulling my shirt over my head, I hold back a wince from the movement in my aching body.
My wound is bleeding from the torn stitches, so I carefully unwrap the gauze to assess further. I felt them tear when I pulled my bag from the car. Movement catches my attention, as Liam storms into the kitchen, grabbing my waist and spinning me to inspect the side of my abdomen.
“The bombing,” I say, nearly losing my breath when his gaze snaps up to mine with a flicker of concern before turning back to ice. “I was thrown during the explosion and landed on some glass.”
I don’t miss the way his eyes unwillingly glance at my tits before returning to my now reopened wound.
“I’ll stitch you up,” Liam mumbles. “Lay on the island.”
Both of his hands rest on the curve of my hips. Liam watches my blood cover his hand that holds onto me softly as if not to cause me more pain. The other hand is holding onto me with bruising force, like I might slip away if he lets go. Both grips a war like the one he’s fighting inside his head.
The war to help fix me or sit back and hope I bleed out.
Realistically it’s just severed flesh, there’s not enough thread in the world to sew all my broken pieces back together. Another scar on my body, another scar on my soul.
Liam slides his hands slowly along my ass and I hate myself for the way my breath hitches. Gripping my cheeks he lifts me up and places me on the island while settling between my thighs.
“Lie back,” he croaks, pulling his hands away to rifle through the contents I dumped out.
Grabbing a bottle of liquid, I don’t miss the way his lips tug at the corner knowing he’s going to enjoy playing doctor so long as he’s inflicting pain. He uncaps what I’m guessing is alcohol and turns it bottoms up, letting the searing liquid wash over my wound.
I swallow a hiss when it makes contact, feeling his eyes watch me for a reaction as he douses me with an unnecessary amount.
“It’s deep,” Liam says, dropping the now empty bottle of alcohol on the floor.
“Paper cuts don’t normally call for stitches, Officer,” I volley back. He smirks knowing my sudden snappiness is from my wound, I grind my teeth to keep from punching him in his smug face. “Smugness doesn’t look good on you, Officer.”
He snorts, readying supplies to begin suturing my skin back together.
“I think you’ve always enjoyed my smugness, Cupcake,” he says with a smirk while threading the needle. “Like a beacon showing that I was onto you and your feelings for me. Relax.”
Liam presses his hand softly on my lower stomach urging me to relax before he gets started. My belly pulls in at his warm touch, his fingertips skating along the bare skin causing a blanket of goosebumps to erupt.
He smirks again, of course taking notice of how his touch affects me.
“Just like now,” he says.
“If you hurry the fuck up you can go back to hating me,” I snap, catching the way his face falls into realization.
Fucking with Liam Brenner is going to be harder than I thought it would be when my traitorous body lights up like a firecracker when he’s in the room. As hard as it is to admit to myself how I feel,whatI feel… he’s not safe in my world.
Liam clears his throat and goes to work stitching me up. I let myself get lost in his touch, the way he’s gentle and seamless as he meticulously puts me back together again.
“All done,” he says, securing the final suture. I inspect his handiwork slightly impressed by how well he did, a job nearly as good as Delaney when it first happened.
Liam watches me look at his work as he lays out paper towels to clean up the alcohol and blood on the counter and floor.