Bound to my Enemy novel Chapter 79

Chapter 79: Chapter 79.

"That makes two of us."

Another voice speaks behind me.

"I gave him whiskey for the pain, Elaine."

Aaron.

I turn and he’s standing near the doorway, shirt stained with blood. There’s another bloodied shirt tossed over a chair in the corner.

"Good," I say. "That’ll help."

The man I don’t know comes back in with the kit and hands it to me.

"Here you go, doc," he says, trying to grin.

I open my mouth to correct him, I’m no doctor.

"Nurse doesn’t sound right," he adds quickly. "Doc feels.... I don’t know it has a better ring to it."

"Don’t push it," I mutter, snapping on some gloves.

Thomas lets out a humorless laugh that turns into a groan. "Whatever you want to call her, just hurry."

I clean the wound carefully, working through the blood until I can see properly. My hands are steady. They don’t feel like mine, but they’re steady.

"Do you want something stronger for the pain," I ask. "There’s morphine here."

"No," he snaps. "Just get it done."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Fine."

I thread the needle.

He swears the entire time. Loud and very impressive in its own way. The other men tease him to keep him talking, to keep him breathing through it and distracted from the pain. I focus on the work. Stitch by stitch.

By the time I finish, his face is pale and slick with sweat, but the bleeding has slowed to nothing.

"There," I say quietly. "Now you’ll live."

"Damn shame," Aaron mutters.

The men help him up, steadying his weight between them.

"We’ll take it from here , thank you ma’am." the unfamiliar man says, nodding at Aaron.

Aaron gives me a look before following them out. Something unreadable passes over his face.

When the door closes, the room goes quiet.

I don’t realize how tense I am until I exhale, I turn to leave the room when I see Zane a startled yelp leaves my lips.

Zane stands a few feet away. He’s stripped off his jacket, shirt gone, skin marked with streaks of dried blood. He looks tired and angry?.

My pulse kicks up.

"Are you hurt?" I ask, the words slipping out before I can stop them.

He shakes his head. "None of it’s mine."

I nod, swallowing. "You’re bleeding on your arm."

"You were looking at me."

I bark out a laugh but it sounds fake even to my own ears. "You’re delusional."

He leans down, his mouth close enough that I can feel his breath against my cheek. "Don’t insult my intelligence Wife."

"I hate you," I say. "I wouldn’t be caught dead looking at you in that way you’re insinuating ."

"Hatred doesn’t cancel out attraction," he says calmly. "And you were staring."

Heat rushes up my neck. I hate that my body betrays me.

"Let go of me," I say through my teeth.

He doesn’t.

Instead, his other hand slides to the back of my neck. Not choking me exactly but it’s not gentle either. Just enough pressure to keep me exactly where he wants me.

My breath stutters. That’s my weak spot

His eyes narrow.

"There it is," he murmurs.

I shove at his chest, weak compared to him. "Let me fucking go I’m not in for whatever this is."

"You don’t need to decide," he says. "Your body already did."

"That doesn’t mean anything," I spit. "It doesn’t mean I want you."

"Maybe not," he says, leaning close and sucking at my earlobe. "But you’re not as unaffected as you pretend."