The truth was, as far as he was concerned, his injury could be filed under the heading of “nothing more than a pain in the ass for the next few days.” However, Robert was Robert and the biggest mother hen he knew when it came to those he considered “his.” Family and friends as well as every damn patient who walked through the doors of the emergency department back into Chicago all fell into that category. The man had been a walking heart attack waiting to happen until Jordan Fitzpatrick had met him and taken him under his wing.
David came back to the present. Jillian kept looking back at him, as if she expected him to keel over at any time.
Note to self. Doms and subs process some events in almost exactly the same way.
“Does it hurt, honey?”
David heard the sympathy in Jillian’s tone and smiled. He had been reassuring her and Robert both that he was fine at least once every few minutes since he’d sliced his hand open on that stupid light tube. Hopefully they’d be over it soon.
He supposed there were worse fates in life than to be fussed over by people who cared for him so deeply.
He decided to be perfectly honest. “It does a bit. I’ll take some Tylenol when we get home. But I’m fine, baby. Really. You’re sweet, but you don’t have to fuss over me.”
Robert looked over at Jillian. “You do know that doctors make the worst patients, don’t you, sweetie?”
“I had heard that. I guess it’s kind of like the same way mothers tend to make the worst nurses—mainly because they keep thinking about what
could
have happened. You know, things like, ‘Okay, you sliced your eyebrow, but you could have put your eye out.’ Or, ‘Okay, it’s just a few cuts in the palm of your hand, but you could have severed your tendons.’ That sort of thing.”
“I understand completely.”
Well, fuck. Not concern, then. Payback?
David felt snarky, which didn’t happen very often. “So what’s the plan? Get me home, put me flat on my back, with one of you spooning broth into my poor, invalid mouth while the other wipes my pale, fevered brow?”
From the backseat he could see Robert’s mouth twitch. Jillian’s face he couldn’t see that well. She didn’t turn around, but he could tell she held herself tensely, probably so she wouldn’t laugh out loud.
“Well, deciding what to do was a real dilemma for us. Yes, it was a toss-up. Do we go to
Lusty Appetites
for dinner, where by now all the family knows what klutz you are—”
“I hear the dinner special tonight is an extra large serving of crow accompanied by a side of humble pie,” Jillian interjected.
“Yum, yum,” Robert said. “The other choice, of course was simply to go home, where you can watch as Jillian and I prepare a simple meal—you’re injured, after all, and can’t be expected to help. Then you can watch as Jillian and I clean up afterwards—you’re injured, after all, and can’t be expected to help. Then, once the kitchen is in order you can watch as Jillian and I fuck each other like rabbits. Did I mention that you’re injured, after all and—”
“Fuck you. And by the way,
Lusty Appetites
is back that way,” David used the thumb of his uninjured hand to indicate the direction behind them.
“Yes.” Robert grinned. “I know.”
David snorted. “It’s my hand that’s injured, people, not my cock.”
Robert visibly shuddered. “I didn’t need
that
particular visual in my head, thank you very much, brother of mine.”
“I would have volunteered to hold it while you stitched it,” Jillian said.
“You’re a good little sub, sweetie.”
“I live to serve, Sir.”
David laughed when he’d been certain he couldn’t. “Admit it. There is a streak of perversity in you, Robert. Lying within you is a bit of the Dom who likes to crack the whip and inflict pain upon all within his domain.”
“Not me, brother.
I
wasn’t the one indulging in glass play today. That’s taking kink a bit too far, I think.”
Until he’d laughed, David hadn’t truly realized how tense he’d been. He’d been so worried about his brother and his woman, and they’d already turned the corner toward getting back to normal. Then it hit him. “Fuck. I’m never going to hear the end of this, am I?”
Robert pulled the vehicle into the driveway, shut off the engine, and looked at Jillian. She returned his stare. David watched his brother’s eyebrow go up, and Jillian shake her head.
“No,” Robert said. “At least not until I do something incredibly juvenile and or stupid, and then we can deal. But that will probably be…”
“Never.” David finished the sentence with him even as he shook his head.
He smiled as he got out of the Jeep. Jillian turned and stretched up and gave him a sweet kiss.
“It’s good to see you smiling. I didn’t care for that other guy who was here for a while. He looked like you but he acted like a grump. I like this version of you much better.”
Robert slung his arm around his shoulders as they headed up the steps. When he unlocked the door, Jillian preceded them into the house and headed straight back toward the kitchen. She stopped when she was nearly there and turned on her heel. “I’m going to have to go home tonight, guys. I need clothing.”
“We’ll go get you clothing. I want you to stay here, at least for the next few days.”
Robert’s response had taken on that edge that David recognized. Jillian seemed to as well. It was his Dom voice.
She tilted her head to the side. “It’s not that far from there to here after…well, just after.”
“It’s not about convenience, sweetie. I want you here.”
David watched Jillian and saw the emotions that came and went on her face, and in her eyes. It pleased him that she seemed as capable of reading his brother as he was, himself.
What David had just heard Robert
really
say to their woman was, “I need you here.” Apparently, Jillian had heard the same thing.
“I’ll go with you after dinner and you can bring back whatever you need. Okay?”
Jillian nodded at Robert’s suggestion, and then went into the kitchen. She’d already told them she intended to cook dinner tonight.
He and his brother were both pretty good cooks—a skill they’d cultivated while still in medical school, as they were too tired, and too cheap, to eat out every night. He’d bet Jillian would be surprised when she discovered that they had no intention that she cook for them every night.
Robert turned to him. “Do you want a drink?”
“Yeah. I was going to take some pain pills but I’ll wait on those until bedtime. A shot would probably do just as well right now.”
“I guarantee it will. I’ll just tell Jillian we’ll be in the den. Let me do the honors, little brother.”
“Little? I outweigh you, Robbie.”
“Yeah, but I’m older.”
“Fifteen minutes. Fifteen damn minutes.”
“It’s not the years, buddy, it’s the mileage. I’ll be right back.”
David shook his head as if he couldn’t believe his brother had actually admitted such a thing. Then he chuckled and headed into the den.
They kept a beer fridge in their den just as they had in their apartment up north. That made it handy when they had their big-ass TV tuned to whatever game or movie had caught their interest. There were two large desks in here as well. The plan had been that down the road, they would be able to sit here comfortably to either read journals, or patient files, or hell, just surf the web as they also each had brand-new laptops set out, ready to be put to use.
Robert came in and headed for small but well-stocked bar they kept on the shelves above the tiny alcove that held the fridge. He got down two glasses, and poured a couple of fingers of Jack Daniel’s in each.
They both drank their whiskey neat.
Usually David sipped his liquor, savoring it. Normally he never indulged on an evening when he had to be on duty the next day. He knew that one drink in the afternoon before dinner would not impair his performance. But he’d always figured the habit a good one to have formed and keep.
“Medicinal purposes for us both,” Robert said. Which just went to prove that his brother knew him as well as he knew himself.
“I was just thinking the same thing.” David slammed the shot and barely resisted the urge to cough. “Oh, mama, that burns.”
Robert just shook his head. “You need another?”
“No.” David cleared his throat so that the rest of his words wouldn’t come out sounding quiet so strained. “No, thanks. One should do it.”
He pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and relaxed into one of the big leather chairs. He held the bottle between his knees and used his left hand to open it. “I’d be useless in the kitchen, but feel free to go help Jillian. You don’t have to babysit me.”
“I’m not. Our woman told me to leave her to it. I think we’ve been crowding her a little since Sunday, so I backed off.”
“Ah, picking your battle. Let her have the kitchen now because you’re sure as hell not going to back off about the sleeping arrangements.”
“Damn straight.”
“Good.” It was good to know that he and Robert were on the same page when it came to Jillian.
Robert had walked around to his desk and sat in his chair—something he inevitably did when he was in this room unless he was settling down to watch a movie. When the phone rang, he reached for it.
“Hello. Hey, Jordan, how are you? Actually we just got home from the clinic. Yeah, he’s right here. Why don’t I put you on speakerphone?”
Robert waited a moment then pressed the button.
“Hey, Jordan. How goes it?”
“David. The two of you all settled in down there?”
David grinned. He could picture the owner of
Reckless Abandon
, sitting back, his feet propped on his desk at the club, hands behind his head, while he chatted.
Sometimes the man wore a Bluetooth, but more often than not he just had his phone on speaker. Since his office was soundproof, he didn’t have to worry about anyone overhearing him—or the noise from the club interfering.
“We’re pretty well settled, yes. We just started our two-week rotation at the clinic in town here.”
“Did you get a chance to go to Houston yet?”
“Yeah,” Robert answered. “We visited
The Lyon’s Den
last Saturday. We both liked Christopher Lyons. He seems like a straight-up guy, and a good Dom.” Robert met David’s glance for just a moment. “I have to tell you, it surprised the hell out of us both that he gets a more hard-core crowd than you do.”
“He does, yes. But you shouldn’t have any trouble fitting in there. Just like here, there are certain club protocols, but otherwise, to each his own.”
“I actually spoke to him earlier this afternoon,” Robert said. “Our memberships have been approved.”
That was news to David. His surprise must have shown because Robert said, “Sorry I forgot to tell you, bro. I was a bit distracted shortly after the call.”
“Good,” Jordan said, “I’m glad to hear it. I didn’t think either of you would have a problem. And you’re both still welcome here, of course anytime.”
“Thanks. Maybe you, Marcus, and Chastity would enjoy a visit down here. Say the word. We’d love to have you.”
David knew if their friends ever did come down, there’d be several places they could stay, including the new bed-and-breakfast.
“We just might do that. Listen, the reason I’m calling is, I’m sending you a sub.”
Of course, David thought,
that
would be the moment that Jillian would join them. He grinned, but Robert spoke before he could.
“Thanks, Jordan, but we already have one.” Robert met their woman’s gaze when he added, “As a matter of fact she just stepped into the room and joined us.”
Jordan’s chuckle, quietly amused and so familiar, filled the room. “That was fast. Congratulations, gentlemen. Allow me to elaborate, please. I’m not sending you a sub for
you
. Her name is Marguerite Kendrick—Daisy to her friends—and she’s actually Christopher Lyon’s sub. Well, one of them at least. She needs a favor, which I’m hoping you can help me help her with.” The man paused and sighed. David could hear the amusement in Jordan’s voice. “It seems to be my fate in life—at least lately—to play Sir Galahad and come to the aid of other masters’ subs—
especially
when those masters aren’t being very…um, masterful. You may recall I had to pretend to have acceded to Molly’s request to be auctioned off to a new master when Richard Grant was having problems.”
“Completely understandable,” Robert said, “after what that sociopath Horner did to her. I understand Molly had to be hospitalized. I can see where Richard would hesitate to handle her with anything but kid gloves after that.”
“So can I, from a similar experience we went through with Chastity,” Jordan said. “But you know a Dom’s first responsibility is to see to the
needs
of his submissive. He wasn’t doing that. And neither is Christopher Lyons.”
“You sound like a man I need to get to know.” Jillian grinned. Then her face sobered. “Oops. Sorry. Was I supposed to just be quiet?”