Becoming His Slave (12 page)

“Because she’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman and more.” It was far more than a feeling; he had that when he first met her. But when she was his charge during the expo he knew then she was meant for him. She would belong to him.

Trenton finally looked, his eyes finally catching his and Harper could tell Trenton was serious. He raised his brows in a disserting expression, “Well I hate to break it to you brother, but your fairy princess turned out to be a real Cinderella and its long past midnight.”

Trenton turned leaning back on the wall, crossing his arms over his chest, “Even Cinderella got her prince.”

“Yeah—well, fine. Come on Prince Charming let’s get her things and get out of here. I’m starving and its Marcus’ turn to buy.”

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LONG ISLAND GENERAL: THREES DAYS AFTER HER ATTACK

Katianna woke up uncertain of where she was, some faint memory of being scared, but hell she was always scared, but fleeting flashes of a large red truck coming at her and something else she couldn’t quiet recall convinced her more had happened this time. More than just her own mind tricking her to be scared. Something she was certain she didn’t want to remember anytime soon. Her eyes were finally adjusting to the dim glow of the room not quiet dark, but amber enough that it had allowed her to sleep all this time without rousing her. A little more than twilight that she could make out the details of her room.

Nothing seemed to ring a bell as to where she was, but she recognized the man slumped over on the chair next to her bed. She tried to sit up but the effort to do so seemed too much. She glanced around for other recognizable details to give some indication to her presence. There were rails on her bed, a monitor just off to the side with a green flashing light that had wires running towards the bed she was in. A stainless steel stand with an IV bag that dripped into a line in her arm. And she realized her arm felt very heavy.

Hospital. She was in a hospital.
Oh god what’s happened?

Her lips were bitter dry and she pushed at her tongue to lick at them, but her mouth wouldn’t move. She clenched her jaw; still nothing—it felt locked up. Panic rushed her—
why couldn’t she move her mouth?
Her hands felt like a club as it rushed up to find the reason, but in doing so something stabbed her face. She held out her hands finding the cast caged with thin metal rods that weighted down her left hand heavily. Her eyes followed the rods attached to stainless steel pins drilled into her hand. Panic was an understatement now.

Katianna screamed, but the scream was no more than a groan forced past clenched teeth.

The scream yanked Trenton from his exhausted sleep pulling him from the chair and was at her side in a flash. He catching her cast arm, cradled it over his lap in firm control while he wrapped around her and held her gently against his chest and rocked, “
Shhh
—I got you—I got you. You’re safe now.” He kissed her forehead then spotted the small cut on her nose that was starting to bleed, where she must have hit herself with the pins in her cast.

“What happened?” She tried to force the question past her wired jaw, her pronunciation was muddled, but understandable. “What happened?” Her question came again.

“
Shhh
—I’ll tell you. I’ll explain everything, but first I want you to calm down, so you don’t hurt yourself further.” His voice was deep and soothing, so calm. Not a single edge of anger or impatience was there, but had its way of controlling her.

She felt his hand stroking lightly at the back of her head. His other hand holding her cast in his lap, keeping her under tender, but firm control.

“Just relax—your safe now.” He whispered to her and kissed her forehead again. She slipped into his hold while his deep voice spoke to her, like dark chocolate. She had never forgotten that. That tone the strength in his voice. Surrendering, her eyes sank heavily.  Already she was tired, exhausted like she had been at it for hours, when she’d only just woke up.

There was a beep that echoed quietly in her room and she turned finding a small pump like device on the other side of the monitor, a red indicator showed the small pump was activated pushing something into a tube that merged into her IV line that went to her arm just over the cast.

Within seconds she felt groggy, the room seemed darker even and her eyelids felt so heavy she could barely keep them open. She tried to look up to see his face. So strong and warm as he watched her.

“Sleep now. I’ll watch over you and keep you safe.” He whispered warmly as she fell limp in his arms.

The morphine they had her on was timed in strong doses, but it had needed to be. The driver of the truck had said he was probably going around fifty to fifty-five when she ran out in front of him. The man had reported the little woman had tried to jump, but the upper grill struck her like a battering ram and rolled her up over the hood and then slammed into the windshield, before sending her flying when he came to a stop and she landed on the bike.

Katianna had taken quite a hit, even for the parts that weren’t broken the entire side of her body was bruised from the impact, far worse was her abdomen where she had gotten impaled by the motorcycle, the tender rolls of flesh that should have been a sweet tawny pink were now black and blue. Along with the stitches under the surgical bandages.

When the nurse came in that morning to give her a sponge bath, Trenton couldn’t help but get agitated by it. The man was too rough, he was indifferent about the whole process, for him it was just a job. Trenton could only imagine the pain it caused her had she been awake to tell him so. She was too fragile and deserved far better treatment than what he was giving. Trenton had had enough and sent him away, so that he could do it himself.

“Did she wake up again?” Trenton looked to see Nurse Helen strolling in. Helen was a large heavy set black woman with long curls that she kept pulled back in a pony tail. She was strict, but kind all at the same time. She was the epitome of everyone’s mother. He liked her best above all the other nurses in ICU.

Trenton eased Katianna’s doped body down on the bed, made a few adjustments to her position and pillows, sweeping her long wavy hair over the side, then rested her cast arm over her chest.

“Ya—a little more this time. She was aware and panicked when she discovered her jaw and cast.”

Helen went up to the monitor and hit a few buttons and instantly the monitor began printing out a history like it was a grocery receipt. “You know the girls said you ran off Julio this afternoon when he came in to give her a bath.”

“She shouldn’t be getting a bath from a man for one, especially when she’s sedated and secondly he was too rough.”

“She needs to be washed and her skin anointed so it will heal faster.” An in-kind reprimand.

“And I took care of it.”

“You washed her?” She looked at him with a raised brow.

“Washed her, brushed her teeth, brushed her hair. Would have shaved her legs but I didn’t have any razors. About an hour later that nurse with the reddish hair came in and changed out her bandages. I threw the orderly who came to bathe her yesterday out too.”

“Orderly? What orderly?” Helen planted a fist on her broad hip, “Don’t no orderlies give ICU patients hygiene care.”

Trenton stilled, not certain if it meant anything.  “No one ordered a bath for her yesterday?”

She pierced her lips and shook her head softly but then shrugged, “Honey—in this hospital damn near anything is possible. Chances are he got his files crossed. They do that sometimes. Sometimes on purpose.”

“Why would a nurse or orderly do that?”

“Who wants to bathe old Mister Wilcox across the hall?” She curled up a lip in a playful grotesque expression.

“Well you can put it in her file that from here on only I will do her sponge baths.”

Helen raised both brows then, “Honey you wanna go home with me and give me the spa treatment?” She hummed while she changed out the IV bag with a fresh one and replaced the morphine line.

“Sorry I’m already taken.” He grinned at her.

“
Uhm hum
—” She hummed some more as she moved over to the bed and glanced over Katianna’s sleeping body. “I hope she knows what she’s got.” She mused.

“Actually she doesn’t even know I’m all hers.”

“Well what are you waiting on?”

Trenton looked down at his sleeping beauty, and carefully brushed the shorter strands of hair that framed around her jaw from her face with his fingers. Why was he waiting? He let out a humorous huff. For one he had been waiting for her to come out of her hole.

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CHAPTER FOUR

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QUEENS GENERAL: TEN DAYS AFTER THE ATTACK

Katianna had finally been moved into a private room out of ICU, while remaining under the care of Dr. Wheeler and of course Trenton was always there micro managing and taking over where he could and his care came complete with bags full of panties, bras and ultra soft nightgowns. Spoiling her with lush brushed cottons and microfibers to replace the coarse linens of the hospital gowns, but none too revealing to spare her some modesty while she was there. All except the panties—they were quiet elegantly intimate, the kind you’d expect to receive from a man like Trenton Leos if one was so lucky to call him a lover.

The gift had hit such a warm spot in her, he might as well have shown up with a fluffy teddy bear or a puppy.

Get well cards arrived from a growing fan base when news made the waves of her attack and of course the frequent visits from Harper and Detective Tate Marshal. Katianna had seen her attacker’s face and that was everything to them. But because she could identify him also put her in greater danger, so Trenton had her under guard at all times, despite Dr. Wheeler’s protests to have the security detail removed.

Trenton came by after taking care of a few things at the office. The guys for the most part had been covering for him, giving him more time to be at the hospital. One of the conveniences of sharing an office building for all four brothers and their businesses with the exception of Dane’s though he had an office inside his complex too in case he felt the urge.

All four companies sharing the building complimented the other. Diesel owned the gun shop and shooting range located around the back of the office building. Harper had his private investigator business; Marcus sold, rented and serviced armored vehicles, private vehicles, limos and service trucks. With a full size show room that ran the length of the building. And then Trenton had his security guards for personal protection. Dane’s businesses provided the outlet for their unique sexual lusts.

Trenton grabbed the clip board at the foot of Katianna’s bed and read over the doctor’s notes before sitting down on the edge next to her as she still slept, watching as her nurse was finishing changing out her bandages and cleaning around the pins still in her hand.

“How’s she doing?”

“Hanging in there—she sleeps a lot and she cries a lot.” The nurse brushed Katianna’s forehead with the back of her hand gently.

“Her chart says you’ve begun to decline the pain medication, could it be from that?”

She shook her head with a tight lipped expression, “If you asked me she suffers from a broken heart.”

“Broken heart?” Trenton shifted to a tentative concern.

She shrugged, “That’s what it looks like to me.”

 “Did she wake before I got here?” It wasn’t a question of insecurity, but if the nurse had some insight he was willing to hear it.

“Not all broken hearts come from men.” She smiled light heartedly at him, “I’d say you were about the only thing that is right for her right now. You gotta remember—what she went through? The trauma from it is going to haunt her for a long time.” She jotted a few notes down on the clip board, “Someone should be in later to take her down to x-ray, she’s scheduled to have the pins removed from her hand tomorrow morning.”

“And the wires?”

“Not for another four to five weeks, she’ll have to wear those home.” She moved for the door, “Not a fun way to spend Christmas, but it looks like she might get to go home for it, at least.” She waved then, as she made her way out.

Trenton looked over Katianna’s sleeping face and it occurred to him that getting to go home for Christmas wasn’t likely to be something she might be looking forward to. She didn’t have a home anymore.

Katianna stirred then snow white blue eyes peeked out.

“Hey.” He whispered a smile to her.

She gave him a sleepy grin.

“How you feeling?” He took her good hand in his, rubbing his thumb over the back of it then raised it up to kiss and nuzzle at.

She grimaced some, “Jaw hurts more.” She mumbled with less effort in her pronunciation past her wires than she usually struggled to do.

“They’re cutting your pain medicine back before they release you.”

“Hurts—” she swallowed, “—to talk.”

“Then use the iPad more often, that’s why I brought it.”

She nodded quietly.

He could see more of what the nurse had mentioned something was weighting on her today, “Nurse says you’ve been crying a lot.”

She glanced around looking for her iPad spotting it on the roll away tray and held her hand out for it. Trenton reached for it and handed it to her, watching as she scribbled something then handed it back to him to read.

—
You saw where I lived?
—

He nodded, “Yes”

“Sorry.” The word broke in her throat and her eyes pooled with tears.

He took her hand brushing the backs of her fingers with his lips, inhaling the soft smell of her body. “Don’t be. I just don’t see why you thought you had to hide it.”

Katianna took her hand back and scribbled again,
—
I didn’t want you looking down on me.
—