Chapter 89 Pain
ALEXANDER POV
Pain.
That was the first thing I felt. A jagged, white-hot reminder that I was still anchored to this earth. I forced my eyes open, but the sterile white lights of the medical wing blinded me instantly. I hissed, squeezing them shut before trying again.
When my vision finally adjusted, I tried to sit up. A sharp pull in my gut made me wince, the stitches tugging at my skin like barbed wire. I fell back against the pillows, my breath coming in shallow hitches.
What the fuck happened to me?
The memories flooded back in fragmented, violent bursts.
The breach. The silenced gunfire. The weight of the Beretta in my hand.
And then... Aurora. I remembered the sheer, unadulterated panic in her eyes as she ran toward the muzzle of a gun. I remembered her voice-that beautiful, broken sound-begging me to stay awake as the world went black.
She had cried for me.
The mystery of it hit me harder than the bullet.
After everything l'd done, after the ways l'd broken her, she still cared. It was a weakness I didn't deserve to exploit, but I was a selfish bastard. I'd take every tear she shed and tuck it into my pocket.
I turned my head slightly, the movement sending a dull ache through my neck.
Two heads resting on the edge of the bed. Both asleep. Aurora’s hair spread across the mattress near my hip, her face turned toward me, her breathing slow. Liam curled beside her, his small hand somewhere near hers.
Something moved through my chest that I didn’t examine too closely.
I lifted my hand carefully, slowly, so the pain didn’t spike again and ran my fingers gently through Aurora’s hair. She released a soft breath in her sleep and leaned into my touch without waking, her body finding it even unconscious.
My dick twitched.
I have been alive for approximately two minutes and I am already getting hard. God help me.
“Daddy!”
Liam’s head shot up. I put a finger to my lips immediately — too late. Aurora jolted awake beside him, blinking fast, and the moment her eyes landed on me they filled.
“Oh my God.” She sat up straighter. “You’re awake!”
The tears started instantly. I hated them, yet I craved them. My focus shifted to her face, she looked hollow. Her cheekbones were too sharp, her skin too pale. She looked like she hadn't touched a plate of food since I fell.
"You didn't eat," | rasped, my voice sounding like it had been dragged over gravel.
She looked at me like I was insane, and in one swift, desperate movement, she threw her arms around me, burying her face in my neck.
My heart did something acrobatic and undignified that I will be taking to my grave.
For the first time in my life, I felt a genuine flicker of fear toward death, not because I
valued my soul, but because I couldn't stand the thought of her mourning me.
I inhaled her scent-vanilla and something metallic-like it was pure oxygen.
“Get off me, Aurora.” I waved her off. “I’m a patient.”
She pulled back. Her eyes were glistening. “I’m sorry. I was just excited.”
I still couldn't believe she was actually talking to me. Note to self: if I want her to find her voice, I just have to get shot.
"Daddy, are you okay?" Liam asked, his small voice strained with sadness. My brother must have brought him back once the house was cleared.
"Come here, buddy. Give Daddy a hug." He moved with agonizing care, terrified of hurting me. I rubbed his hair, pulling him close.
"The Lord preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full," | muttered, a verse from the Psalms echoing in my head. I wasn't a faithful man, but I was a vengeful one. And whoever did this was going to pay until they ran out of blood.
Aurora watched the two of us, a tight, fragile smile on her lips. "I'll get the doctor," she announced, moving to stand.
"Don't. Just stay."
I wanted this. I wanted to soak in the sight of my family before I went back to being the monster who had to hunt down the rats that invaded my sanctuary.
Liam sat beside Aurora, clutching her hand.
"How long was I out?" | asked.
"A day," she explained, her fingers fidgeting in her lap. "The doctor said the bullet didn't cause permanent damage. You were lucky."
"I don't believe in luck," I hummed.
After a few minutes, I sent Liam on a fool's errand to my room to fetch a specific book and told him to bring the doctor back on his way. I needed the boy gone.
As soon as the door clicked shut, the air in the room changed. Aurora and I engaged in a staring contest. She was fighting so hard not to cry, her eyes swimming in a blurred haze. A single tear escaped, and she wiped it away with a frantic chuckle.
“Why are you crying?” I asked. “Are you sad I didn’t die? Upset your chance to run back to your little boyfriend didn’t work out?”
She rolled her eyes.
God, I love it when she does that. I would end someone’s life for rolling their eyes at me in any other context. When Aurora does it my brain stops functioning and something else entirely takes over.
“No,” she said. “I was just glad you’re awake. I wouldn’t know what I would do if —” She trailed off, catching herself before she said too much. She was scared I'd throw her words back in her face.
The self-preservation instinct she’d developed around me. I’d noticed it. I wasn’t proud of the fact that I was the reason she needed it.
I rolled onto my back and looked at the ceiling.
She’s so stupid. So genuinely, bafflingly stupid — and I mean that in the only way I know how to mean it with any softness, which admittedly isn’t much. I have not been good to her. Every choice I’ve made since she walked into my life has cost her something and she knows that and she’s sitting three feet away from me crying because I didn’t die. Nobody in their right mind would do that. Nobody sane would love someone the way she loves me.
Nobody except Aurora.
“Come closer,” I said.
She stood, moving to the bed, looking at me with appropriate suspicion. Smart girl.
“Bend down,” I told her. “I need you to check the back of my head. It hurts.”
She leaned toward me, her eyes scanning my face carefully, angling to look past me. Her shirt fell forward with the movement, a loose top, nothing structured, and from where I was lying the view was exactly what I’d calculated it would be. The soft swell of her breasts, the lace edge of her bra. I took my time.
She was holding her breath. Trying not to breathe on me while she looked. Very considerate.
I raised my right hand and yanked her top and bra down in one clean pull.
She jolted back, her face going red immediately, her hands flying to fix herself.
“What was that for?”
“Put your breast in my mouth.”
Her eyes widened in shock.
I don’t see why that’s surprising. I just came back from the dead. A man has needs.
She looked toward the door, her chest heaving. "What if the doctor comes in? Or Liam?"
"They won't. I won't take long," | grunted, the fire in my gut shifting from the wound to my groin. "Don't waste my time, Aurora. As much as l'd love to stand up and take what's mine, I'm practically useless right now." I pointed to my bandaged stomach.
"But you're wounded," she pleaded, her eyes darting everywhere but at me. "You should focus on recovering."
"I'll recover after I taste you."
She swallowed hard, her resistance crumbling like it always did. She leaned back over me, trembling.
"Right breast. Out," | commanded.
She reached into her bra, and her breast sprung free, soft and pale against the sterile light. I hissed at the contact, the heat of her skin making my head spin. I locked my gaze on her eyes-the little kitten was blushing from ear to ear.
I latched my mouth onto her nipple, and a strangled moan escaped her throat. God, she tasted like heaven. I took my time with it. Flicked my tongue slowly, felt her breath hitch above me, felt her lean into it despite herself. I squeezed the other breast through the fabric and she bit her lip trying to keep the sounds in.
I pulled back just enough to look up at her. Her face was flushed all the way to her ears, her lip caught between her teeth, her eyes half-closed and trying very hard to look like she wasn’t affected.
"I can't wait to get out of this bed and fuck you senselessly."
I gave her nipple a sharp tug with my teeth. She winced, a sound that was half pain and half pure pleasure.
"Mr. Mill-"
The door swung open. The doctor froze in his tracks, his eyes bulging as he took in the
scene.
Aurora went stiff against me, and I almost laughed.
I gave her nipple one slow, deliberate lick before letting her tuck herself back in. She scrambled back to her seat, her face a shade of pink I wanted to paint the walls with. She refused to look at the doctor or me.
Cute little thing.
“Doctor,” I said pleasantly, like nothing had happened. “Good timing. Let’s talk about when I’m getting out of this bed.”