Taking Chances (Blackrock Book 2) (35 page)

“Darlin’.”
Opening my eyes, I see we are home.

Knox
hands me a makeup wipe so I clean my face, and strip, then go to the
kitchen for my pain meds. I feel drunk even though I haven’t
drank anything. Crawling into bed, I wrap myself around Knox.

“Night
darlin’,” he sighs and I giggle.

“What’s
wrong babe?”

“Nothing,”
he moans.

Reaching
down, I can feel what is wrong with him. “Awe. Do you miss me,
babe?”

He
groans as I rub him. “Yes,” he hisses through his teeth.

“I
miss you too,” I whisper against his chest. Within a heartbeat
I am on my back and Knox presses his body to mine.

“Are
you sure?” he asks, trying to hold himself together and I nod.
“Oh thank god,” he says, kissing my neck again while his
hands run wild over my body, seeking out every part of me that they
have missed.

Knox
kisses every inch of me, including each aching rib. His hands are
gentle in their exploration as his lips cover where his hands leave.
Reaching my legs he kisses each bruise on my thighs, mumbling curses
as he goes gently. He moves me legs apart as he kisses me deeply,
causing my body to shatter around him.

“Umm
I love you,” he says, kissing a path up to my neck as his
fingers push inside, teasing me with each stroke. My hand grips his
hair as I move my hips. “Do you want me?” he asks his
voice laced with desire.

“Yes,”
I breathe against his shoulder.

Removing
his fingers, he sinks deep inside of me and I wrap my legs around his
waist. “Damn darlin’, I missed you.” He pushes
deeper making me moan. Our hips move together in a sensual dance. We
thrust against each other, finding release together both of us
panting as my ribs scream at me.

“Babe,
my ribs.”

He
quickly lifts up. “Sorry.” He smiles down at me. “I
really want to kiss you,” he tells me as his lips kiss the side
of mouth.

“I
know, babe. I miss kissing you too.” Taking his weight on his
forearms, he stares down at me. “What are you thinking?”
I whisper, brushing my fingers through his hair feeling his heart
beat against his chest.

“I’m
goanna marry you,” he says grinning at me.

Rolling
my eyes, I laugh. “Yeah I know, you said that before. Now go
asleep.” he kisses my neck again while I press into his chest.
His hands brush my hair as he hums the wedding march. “Knock it
off, babe.” He chuckles at me, finally shutting up.

Waking
up, my body is stiff and sore; my ribs hurt. Turning my head, I see
Knox still asleep with one hand under the pillow and the other beside
me. Reaching for my phone, I snap a picture of him.

“You batter not be taking
photos of me in bed,” he mumbles and I laugh.

“No
just checking my texts.” He groans turning over and pulls the
comforter up over his head. I get up to make coffee bringing him back
a cup. “Here sunshine.” He tells me to go away from under
the blanket, so I put his coffee down smiling.

“What’s wrong, babe?
Normally you’re up and ready to go?”

He
peeks out. “I’m tired, woman,” he grumbles at me,
making me laugh again.

“Okay
babe, I’ll leave you alone.”

Standing
in the shower with one arm hanging out is difficult but I do it.
Walking back into the bedroom, Knox is still in bed so I walk over
frowning at him.

“Babe,
are you feeling okay?” I ask pulling the blanket down from his
head finding him fast asleep, so I leave him alone.

I
pull on my denim skirt and tank with my ballet flats. Grabbing my
phone and purse, I leave the room. It’s weird seeing Knox so
tired. I leave him a note then head out to meet Paige. Knocking on
her door, I am greeted by a messy haired Max.

“Hey
sis.” He rubs his face motioning me inside.

“Man,
you too? Knox is out; he won’t wake up.”

Max
frowns. “Does he have a headache?”

I
shrug, walking into Paige. “Ready to shop?”

She
smiles. “Yep, let’s do this.” We leave Max on the
sofa zoning out.

At
the mall we really do shop till we drop. It’s been four hours
since we arrived and we both are laden with bags.

“I
think we need to get a new purse,” Paige tells me as we pass by
the handbag store.

“Yeah,
sounds good.” We browse the store; I find a beautiful two-toned
doctors bag with python skin edges and a creamy pink leather. “Wow
Paige, look,” I call holding my find up in the air. She gives
me a thumbs up from the other side of the store and laughs holding up
the black version. We end up buying them and the wallets to match.
“Oh my god Paige, I need to go home. I just spent half of my
savings,” I joke with her.

By
the time we get home, it is after four in the afternoon and my only
free hand is loaded as I trudge up the stairs to the apartment.

I
walk into the kitchen dumping my bags on the floor and instantly take
my pain meds. Walking back through, I find Knox still in bed.

“Hey
babe, you okay?” I ask sitting beside him.

He
opens an eye. “What time is it?” I tell him after four
and he curses at himself “Can you call Max over?” he
asks, covering his head again. I leave the room and call Max.

“Hey
sis, what up?”

“Hi
Max, Knox is still in bed and he wants you.”

“Okay, on the way.”
We hang up and I wait for him to arrive bringing Knox a glass of
water. “Hey babe.” I stick my head under the covers and
smile at him.

“Sorry
darlin’, my head hurts.”

I
kiss his head. “Max is on the way.”

He
nods, closing his eyes. I open the door to Max and frown, pointing to
the room.

“Did
you give him his pills?” he asks me and I shake my head no.
“Jesus Bailey, you left him all day like that?” He
brushes past me, walking into the bedroom. I follow him, not
understanding what the hell he is going on about. “Hey bro,
where’s your stuff?” Max asks, opening the drawer in the
nightstand.

“None
left,” Knox grumbles.

“Okay,
I’ll be back in a few.”

I
grab Max on his way out. “ Can you tell me what is going on?”

He
frowns. “Did he not tell you?” Shaking my head, I look at
him waiting for an answer. “He gets really bad migraines
sometimes. He is out for days.” I nod, feeling a little pissed
off that he didn’t share this with me. “I’ll be
back in a few.”

Walking
back into the room, I stick my head under the covers. “Babe, I
know you’re sick, but you should have told me about this and
now you just pissed me off.” Leaving the room, I close the door
but I really want to rip it off the hinges.

Max
comes back ten minutes later with a prescription for Knox and I leave
them to it. I know I should be more sympathetic but right now I am
feeling too annoyed. Max walks into the kitchen to me.

“Hey
sis, I thought he told you this when you moved in.” Shaking my
head no I sip my coffee through my straw. “You mad at him?”
He smirks at me.

“A
bit.”

Helping
himself to a coffee, he sits down. “He should be fine in an
hour or so.” I shrug like I don’t care and he laughs at
me. “Don’t be like that, sis. He is good to you.”

Slamming
my cup down, I glare at Max. “I know he is good to me, Max. You
don’t need to remind me, but it would have been nice to know
that my fucking boyfriend has a medical condition that can
incapacitate him for days. So forgive me if I am feeling a little
annoyed.”

He
raises his hands in surrender. “Okay, killer. Relax. I’m
not the bad guy here.”

We
finish our coffee in silence as Max watches me, chuckling to himself.
“What the heck are you laughing at?” I ask, trying not to
smile.

“You
sis. You’re gonna kill him, huh?” I shake my head no,
which makes him laugh harder. “Yeah right. I’d love to
stay and watch but I have to get ready for work and check out Paige’s
crap she bought today,” he sighs standing then waves at me
before leaving.

Picking
up my own crap, I haul it into the sitting room and turn on some
music while I go through my bags. I cut off tags and fold my new
clothes. By the time I am finished, it’s time to wake the
beast. Walking into our room, he is still under the blanket.

“Knox, get up for work.”
I hear a muffled “no” coming from the bed. “Whatever.”

I
settle myself onto the sofa and turn on the movie channel trying to
find something good to watch. I hear him moving around then walking
up the hallway.

“Hey darlin’,”
he whispers, sitting beside me. Laying his head back against the
sofa, he closes his eyes again.

“Are
your tablets not working?”

He
nods. “Yeah, it just takes a while.” I watch as he
massages his temples and then runs his hands over his face finally
looking at me.

“So how did shopping go?”
He smiles making me raise an eyebrow.

“You want to know about
shopping while you just ignore the fact that you should have told me
about this.”

Leaning
forward, he puts his head in his hands groaning. “Please
darlin’, I don’t want to fight right now.”

“I
am not fighting Knox, but you should have told me that you have a
medical condition.”

He
stands up, leaving the room without answering me. Turning off the TV,
I just sit there listening as he showers; no singing today, no
running commentary on our lives and I want to hear it. Getting up I
walk into the bathroom as he wraps the towel around his waist. I
drink in his body as my eyes roam freely over his chest and stomach.

“See
something you like, darlin’?” He smirks and I’m
done. My insides melt and I walk into his out stretched arms.

“Babe,
is there anything else I need to know?” I ask, kissing his
chest and running my finger over his tattoo.

“No darlin I only get them
when I am stressed out or tired.”

Raising
my head, I look into his eyes. “It’s me, huh? I’m
causing you stress.”

“No
Bailey, it’s not you.” He kisses the tip of my nose
looking at me.

“Maybe so, but this whole
drama is stressful.”

He
nods but smiles at me. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you
but it’s not really something I tell people.” He shrugs.

I
roll my eyes, which hurts and I hug him tight. “Okay, get ready
for work,” I tell him, slapping his ass.

“How
are you feeling?” he asks while drying his hair.

“Fine
babe. I had a good day with Paige and spent half of my savings.”

He
laughs, shaking his head. “I think I need to send you out to
work.”

“Babe,
they couldn’t afford me.”

He
looks at me and laughs again. “Damn straight darlin’. No
one is getting you. I laid claim a long time ago.”

One month later

The
smell of burning tingles my nose as the doctor cuts the cast off my
arm. I watch as he saws through the thick plaster, feeling the
vibration all the way up my arm. Eventually he stops, cracking the
cast he pulls it free. My hand feels naked and small. I flex it a few
times and rotate my wrist,

“How
does it feel?” he asks, taking hold of it moving it all around
and feeling each bone.

“Good,
weird,” I reply smiling.

“Yes,
it will for a few hours.” I watch as he flexes my wrist and
feeling no pain I smile even wider. He told me if it didn’t
heal properly I would have to get it broken and reset.

Clearly,
I panicked but now it’s all good. He takes out the metal kidney
dish and the squirty bottle to check my eye. This is the part I am
really dreading; my eye has not healed like it should. We do the
routine of cleaning it out and him stretching my eyelid beyond its
capabilities. Next he dilates my eye and looks into it. Pulling back,
he smiles.

“There
is still some swelling inside, so we will continue the rinsing and I
have some medicated eye drops for you.” I nod as he puts a
patch of gauze over my eye, reminding me to use my sunglasses every
time I step out side of the house.

Leaving
the hospital, I drive home then walk on to campus to meet Knox. After
his final exam, we will have two weeks together before I have to take
my month of classes. I watch a few people trickle from the building
smiling now that the school year is over for them. I spot Max and
wave him over.

“Hey
sis.” He gives me a hug.

“Hey,
how did it go?”

He
shrugs, sitting on the table beside me both our feet on the bench.
“Knox is still in there. I thought he would be out well before
me,” he says watching the doors. We wait in silence for about
ten minutes when Knox walks out of the doors smiling. He strolls over
to us dumping his bag on the ground.

“Thank
god we are done for three months.” He points to my eye.

“Oh
yeah, not healing too well.”

“Sorry
darlin’.” I wave my cast free hand at him and he smiles.
Taking it, he kisses my knuckles. “Lets eat and celebrate.”
Max jumps down off the table while Knox lifts me down.

“Where’s
Paige?”

Max
points up to the second floor of the main building. “She just
started her last exam about” he checks his watch “twenty
minutes ago.”

I
feel bad for her because each exam is three hours. “Okay, food
it is.” We walk into town, all of us wanting something
different to eat. “Come on, guys. A light lunch then we can go
out tonight with Paige.” With heavy sighs, they agree and we
end up in the diner.

“I wish I had a Rosie’s
milkshake,” Max says looking through the menu.

Knox
removes his sunglasses throwing them on the table and rubs his eyes.
Since the whole headache thing, I have been on high alert watching
for any signs of over tiredness or stress.

“Man,
my eyes hurt from staring at that computer screen for the last three
hours.” Max agrees and I relax a bit.