Paradise Fought (Abel) (16 page)

“Abel?” I said. He didn’t respond, so I tried again with more conviction. His eyes sprang open, and he said my name, as if surprised to see me.

I reached for his forehead and pushed back his damp hair. He was definitely burning up with fever. I wasn’t a nursing major, but I knew the signs. I’d had to take care of my mother when she first let herself go and got sick on more than one occasion.

“Abel, when was the last time you ate?”

“Uhhh,” he moaned, shaking his head. Eating obviously did not sound appealing.

“How about a shower?” I asked. He didn’t respond and I sensed he had fallen asleep. I decided to take the liberty to search his cupboards for soup, or medicine, or anything to help me break the fever. When I discovered nothing of use, I called Lindee. She said she didn’t know where Creed was after she saw him that morning. I was on my own, again.

I made a quick drive to the store and returned to find Abel in the same position. I’d left his place unlocked, on a chance that nothing would happen to him. I needed to get him in the shower or at least a cool bath. Filling the tub, I looked around his sparse bachelor pad to find the place rather neat for two guys. I wasn’t certain which room was Abel’s, until I saw a photo in one room that was clearly Creed’s family. Abel’s was the one with a large fish tank in it. Filled with fake greenery and tons of rocks, as well as natural colored pebbles along the bottom, I only noticed one solitary fish in the tank. It was a bright blue color with airy looking fins. A dark streak of red hung from the chin, if fish had chins. The creature floated, exerting no energy. Strangely, I felt sorry for the beautiful water life. He seemed lonely.

Abel had a double bed; slightly rumpled looking. Visions again of him with Keli flashed through my head, and I decided to change his sheets. Then I worked on getting him to the tub.

“You poured me a bath,” Abel slurred. “I haven’t had a bath since I was a kid.” His eyes were half-mast and the weight of him on me was heavy.

“Abel, I have to undress you, unless you can do it yourself.”

He smiled at me with a sly smile.

“You just want to see me undress again, don’t you?” he teased then swayed through the open door.

“Well, as much as I’d like that, I think we need to work on the fever first,” I said, trying not to laugh at the cute face he was attempting to make. I removed the loosened pajama pants but realized there was no way I could touch the boxer briefs before me. Black, packed and oh-too-sexy, I couldn’t do it.

“Get in,” I encouraged him without taking off his underwear. He followed my lead and sank into the warm water. His body shivered. His skin was warm. While he sat, head pressed against the cool tile, I was able to get him to swallow two Tylenol with some water. He moved like a child, incapable of doing more than small motions. My heart broke. Then I noticed his shoulder. The wound where he’d been bit looked red, raw, and possibly infected. The skin around the opening radiated and a pocket of puss seeped from it.

“Abel, didn’t you get this checked?” I asked, tenderly touching the skin around the teeth marks. He rolled his head then hissed when I pressed a particular spot. I used a warm washcloth to cover the wound, knowing it wasn’t going to do much good for him unless the acetaminophen kicked in soon.

I had a good look at those tats. His right arm was covered in an intricate aquatic design in bright blues and red that matched the lonely fish in its tank. The left upper arm was a giant purplish sea creature, fighting the bright turquoise waves that stormed over and around it. I wanted to discover each detail but then Abel shivered.

“Cold,” he whined, crossing his arms slowly over his chest. I decided he needed to get out. I wiped down his face and helped him stand as best I could. He slipped down his wet boxers with no shame, and I had to look away again. The sight of a naked Abel was too much for me.

He entered his room and fell onto his bed. Seeming to snuggle into the fresh sheets, he wrestled briefly with a pillow then instantly passed out. Still naked, a fine rounded ass pointed upward as he hugged the pillow in his arms. A school of baby fish swam in my belly as I longed to be that pillow.

I didn’t want to leave him unattended, so I decided to stay, in hopes that Creed would return. As the night grew later, I was growing sleepy from working late and waking early for class, not to mention my self-induced stress over Abel and another girl. I decided to curl up next to him. I’d tucked him in with a sheet, but my body was hyperaware of what was underneath that thin covering. I didn’t want to disturb him, but I took off my boots and my dress. I found a clean t-shirt of his and curled up behind him. My hand reached out for him. He was like a hot-water bottle, toasty and comforting, while my skin was cooler. I pressed more intently against his broad back. He didn’t move, but he said my name.

I didn’t think he was conscious, so I slid closer, wrapping my arm hesitantly around his hip. He stirred slightly, reached for my hand and dragged it over him to rest on his upper chest. He flattened my palm on his warm skin then covered my hand with his. I could feel the rapid beating of his heart through that tight chest. He breathed slowly and I relaxed into him. As I drifted off to sleep, I heard him mumble, “Thank you, Elma.”

While I had endless fantasies of Elma Montgomery in my bed, being sick and finding her in it was never one of them. Her delicate hand was pressed against my chest. Her mouth slightly open while she slept. I’d shifted when I recognized someone was in bed with me, only to find the room dark and Elma behind me. I twisted to curl around her and fell back asleep.

I felt weak, sweaty, and a bit repulsive, but here Elma lay next to me and I didn’t want to move. I desperately needed a shower, to brush my teeth, and possibly eat some food. I had the sense that Elma had given me medicine, and she’d stuck me in the tub. I found the wet underwear hanging over the shower rod as proof and wondered briefly what I’d done. Showering seemed to take all my energy. I opened the door to find Elma sitting upright in my bed. Her blonde hair was disheveled, and she was running her hands through it in attempts to comb it out. I noticed she wore a t-shirt of mine. Genesis Gym, it said in royal purple. I shivered to think of Elma ever near the place.

“Hey,” she said, as she watched me exit the bathroom in just a towel. Her eyes traced my body then froze on the low line of hair exposed above the wrapped towel. I smiled slowly at her admiration, but tried to bite my lips to prevent the curve. I didn’t want to believe she could look at me as anything other than a fighter.

While I didn’t want Thor to influence my thoughts in anyway, I was haunted by his words.

You work fast, girl. Onto another fighter.

Was Thor right? Was a fighter what Elma had been looking for? Her sudden interest in keeping our deal surprised me. The timing of events could hardly be coincidental. All the same, I still needed Elma. She’d been right about the other night. As I exited the door to face the few fans that had gathered, I tried to just be myself. I didn’t say much, but found I didn’t have to. The girls gushed, the guys bragged, and I signed more autographs. It was surreal. The most exciting part had to be the girl who wanted me to sign her arm. When I finished, she reached for me and kissed my cheek. Something was slipped into my pocket and I later noticed I had her phone number. That had never happened to me before. It was a little exciting.

However, it was Elma who had cared for me last night. She was stepping out of my bed and coming toward me when I noticed the t-shirt just covered her ass. Bare legs poured below my t-shirt. Elma stretched to run hands through her hair one more time, and I could see a peek of pink underwear.

“You are so beautiful,” I blurted quietly. Elma froze, her hands holding her hair upward. Her blue eyes blinked at me and her lips slowly curled upward.

“You’re pretty nice to look at, too,” she replied, letting her eyes roam my body again, stopping one more time at the top of my towel.

“Let me just grab something to wear,” I said, walking toward my dresser.

“Oh, not going to strip for me again?”

I froze. I couldn’t have, although I did wake naked. Did I really take my clothes off in front of her again? She was going to think I was an exhibitionist. I had to have taken it all off unless…

“How do I know you didn’t rip my clothes off?” I teased.

“Honey,” she started in that sweet touch of a drawl, “if I was ripping your clothes off, you’d know it. And remember.” She winked at me, but I was still frozen in place. Medusa had just poisoned me with her glare, only this was a beautiful woman with a sassy mouth and tempting words. If I’d had the strength, I might have risked tackling her onto my bed and kissing her again, but I still felt shaky. I needed to lie down, but I also needed some food. Something must have changed in my expression because Elma grew serious.

“Right, well, let me go make you something to eat,” she said, awkwardly attempting to pull down the short t-shirt.

“I’ll…I’ll do it,” I struggled with clothes in my drawer. “What do you want to eat?”

“No,” she said, passing me for my bedroom door. “Lay back down. Let me take care of you.”

I brought him toast and some tea I found. After he seemed content to hold that in, I offered to make him eggs. He struggled with me, telling me I didn’t have to wait on him, but I wanted to help him. Abel wasn’t helpless, but for some reason I felt good about taking care of him. While my mother had become a burden, Abel was a treat.

“Who could refuse breakfast in bed with a pretty girl?” he teased, as he patted the space next to him while he balanced the bowl of scrambled eggs in one hand. I crawled up the mattress as his eyes watched me. His lips looked hungry for me instead of the eggs. I wanted to taste him again, but at that moment he needed actual sustenance and more rest. We both sat propped up against the wall with pillows and stared at the fish tank.

“He seems lonely,” I said. Watching as the iridescent fish swam back and forth gracefully in its tank. “You should put some other fish in there with him.”

“He’s a betta,” Abel responded around a mouth full of eggs.

“A betta?”

“Yeah, the Siamese fighting fish. He’d kill other fish in there with him,” he explained.