Page 12 of Don’t You Dare Marry Me (Love in Massachusetts #3)

nine

Nicola twisted the screw on the nipple clamp and then pressed the clamp to release her nipple from its grasp. Blood and sensation flooded into the nipple, a wave of pain following it in an instant. She cupped her breasts and massaged her nipple lightly before she released the second one.

She sighed and lay back into the comfortable bed that Abagail had given her in the room that she’d unofficially claimed as hers. What the hell was she doing there again? Why had she agreed to any of this?

It had felt right and wrong at the exact same time, and yet tonight…

Tonight left everything Nicola had thought about Abagail flipped upside down.

Warren had always talked about her being ruthless, that she was the one who controlled everything and put the kibosh on so many things in their lives that they wanted to do—vacations, trips, purchases, business opportunities, significant others.

And yet Abagail had refused to fuck her because they were both upset and angry and had shitty days.

That didn’t scream of the ruthless woman that Nicola had come to know through her ex and his mother.

She groaned as she massaged her breasts again, trying to rid the pleasure and the ache from her skin.

She had been ready to fuck, and it had taken her longer than she’d anticipated to convince her brain and her body to work together for that.

So when she dipped her fingers between her legs to check, she was still wet.

But the desire to continue to touch herself was gone.

This house was so quiet. It unnerved her in ways that Nicola hadn’t anticipated.

Even when she’d been with Warren there was always some sort of party or event that he was taking her to, noise and people surrounding them.

But Abagail was silent. In fact, if Nicola closed her eyes, she was pretty sure that the only thing she’d hear was her own breathing and heartbeat.

Not the sound of cars passing by as she tried to sleep, or the fear that some cop would knock on her door and wake her up to arrest her, or the constant chatter of the bars that she worked in.

Silent.

And it was compounded by the fluffy, warm bed that she found herself lying in.

Nicola threw the nipple clamps onto the nightstand and sat upright.

What the hell was she supposed to do with herself?

Abagail was paying her to fuck, but then she’d refused to let Nicola even do her job.

Which was a conundrum that Nicola hadn’t anticipated.

She listened to the sounds of the house, finally taking the time to immerse herself in them.

But she couldn’t really hear anything. Not people milling around, not Abagail moving through the halls or in her bedroom, which was only a couple doors down from Nicola.

Sighing, Nicola turned on her side and closed her eyes.

She wasn’t going to be able to stand it here, was she?

It was too damn quiet.

Her phone buzzed on the nightstand. Frowning, Nicola dragged her upper body over so that she could snag it. Immediately she tensed. It was the rehabilitation facility where Alanna lived. Were they calling to demand the rest of the payment that she most definitely didn’t have?

“H-hello?” Nicola stuttered.

“This is Thrive Wellness. I’m calling because there was a medical event with your sister, Alanna Bolsinger, and you’re listed as her emergency contact.”

“Yes?” Nicola’s heart was instantly in her throat, her entire body closing in on itself as the tension took over her. “What happened?”

If this person didn’t start speaking faster, then Nicola was going to start screaming. She needed answers right now. Immediately. No, she needed them yesterday.

“She had a seizure.”

Well that wasn’t entirely odd. Alanna had had seizures since the car accident, and while Nicola was informed of all of them, they usually weren’t calling at eight in the evening to tell her about them either.

She was still tense, her stomach still doing that funny thing when she didn’t know what she was supposed to be doing or how she was supposed to be acting yet.

“We’ve transported her to the hospital.”

“The hospital?” Nicola frowned, already standing up and staring around the room. She didn’t have any of her things. She’d managed to buy three outfits that day, but she couldn’t see any of them to put on in her panic induced blindness.

“We couldn’t stop the seizures like we normally could. The ambulance just left the facility two minutes ago and she will be treated at the hospital until she can return here.”

“Fuck. All right. Which hospital?” Nicola memorized the information, her hands trembling as she hung up the phone and quickly dressed in the clothes she could now miraculously find.

She hated this panic. But ever since the car accident that had killed their parents and injured Alanna so badly, these calls always put that pit into her stomach, and it’d take ages for it to recede and vanish again.

If it ever really did.

Nicola stepped out of the bedroom before the world came slamming down on her again.

She didn’t have a car.

And it wasn’t like she had money to even call for a rideshare or something. She wrung her hands together, turning toward Abagail’s bedroom, dragging her feet heavily.

Nicola lifted her hand and knocked on the closed door, praying that Abagail would actually answer for her. They’d left off from that conversation so awkwardly, and she had no idea where Abagail stood on everything.

“Come,” Abagail said, her voice firm and confident.

When Nicola stepped inside the bedroom, she had to squint to make out Abagail’s form on the bed. She was propped up against the pillows and the headboard, a low light next to her and a book pressed against her legs, reading glasses on her nose.

“What is it?”

“I uh… do you have a car I can borrow? Since mine’s not here.” Nicola put her hands behind her back and clasped her fingers together. She didn’t want to come off as nervous.

“Where do you need to go?” Abagail pulled her reading glasses off, setting them next to her thigh, and she narrowed her gaze at Nicola.

“The store, to get some… feminine hygiene things.” Nicola rolled her eyes and gave a chuckle. “Who knew my horniness last night was a direct result of my period coming on?”

Abagail hummed, and the sound moved straight through Nicola’s body in between her legs.

She managed to not press her thighs together, but she really wanted to.

In fact, if she had time and brain power, she’d just climb into that bed with Abagail and try to forget the world of chaos and pain and tragedy outside.

“Cal can take you, but his shift ends in an hour, so don’t take too long.”

“Right. Thanks.” Nicola bit the inside of her cheek. She should probably be doing something, right? Something that would pay Abagail back for this? With a deep breath, Nicola flounced her way toward the bed and bent down, pressing their mouths together.

She deepened the kiss, parting her lips and sliding her tongue along Abagail’s.

She gripped the back of Abagail’s head and held her there tightly.

She scraped her teeth along Abagail’s lower lip.

Moving the book to the side roughly, Nicola palmed Abagail’s breast and gave her a squeeze hard enough to elicit a squeak and a grunt from Abagail.

Nicola pulled back sharply and raised her eyebrows in quick succession.

“I’ll have more of that for you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Abagail’s cheeks were tinged red and her breathing was coming in shorter rasps. “I thought you said you were on your?—”

“See you!” Nicola interrupted with a broad smile and quick wave. She turned on her toes and spun out of the room, swaying her hips extra as she went.

As soon as she was outside, she pressed a hand to her heart and held back the tears.

She didn’t need Abagail to know what was going on.

She didn’t need anyone else to be in the middle of business that was solely and squarely hers.

This was her responsibility, and she needed to take care of her sister.

She found Cal downstairs in what was clearly the employee lounge area—although it looked much nicer than any lounge area that Nicola had access to when an employee. She smiled and waved Cal over.

“I need you to take me somewhere.”

“Sure thing, Miss Nicola.”

He nodded at her and then started to leave the room.

Nicola’s heart raced. The drive to the hospital wasn’t long and she didn’t tell him not to tell Abagail.

If she made a deal out of it, then he’d likely tell Abagail anyway.

His loyalties were definitely to his boss and not to the woman who was only going to be living there for a few weeks. Paid as a sex puppet.

God, she hated the feeling that had settled into her belly.

Surely it’d go away eventually, wouldn’t it?

As soon as Nicola got to the hospital, she raced to Information to figure out exactly where Alanna was.

They took her back to the small area where Alanna was.

She was hooked up to an IV already and her body was still, which meant that they likely had the seizure under control—at least Nicola hoped that was the case.

But her sister wasn’t moving at all, and she definitely wasn’t awake.

The next few hours flew by and dragged on.

Nicola tried to process all of the information that she could.

Alanna was still having a seizure. They’d just given her medication to make it look like it had stopped.

Nurses were in and out constantly, doctors every once in a while, but more frequently than Nicola had seen any other time when Alanna had been hospitalized.

Once they did finally get the seizure to stop, they admitted her and moved her to an entirely different floor and room.

Nicola’s head spun from all the information she’d been given in the last few hours.

Some of it had been given and then taken back as plans changed.

And she’d completely forgotten all about Alanna’s binder of medical information that was sitting in the backseat of her car that she didn’t have.

She really needed to get her fucking car back.

Nicola turned sharply when she saw Alanna’s eyelids fluttering open just as the sun breached the sky.

She grinned as she leaned closer onto the bed and snagged Alanna’s stiff and permanently clenched hand in her own.

Alanna moaned lightly, clearly struggling to get her eyes open, but Nicola was never happier to see this kind of life from her sister.

She waited patiently until Alanna started to move her mouth slightly, her tongue peeking out to wet her lips and her breathing increasing from the regular pattern she’d found in sleep. “W-where am I?” Alanna croaked.

“Hospital,” Nicola answered, finally squeezing her sister’s fingers. “You had a nasty seizure so they ended up transporting you here.”

Alanna hummed her response, closing her eyes again as she seemed to relax. “Time?”

“It’s like six in the morning.”

Alanna didn’t have to say anything else as she processed that information.

Nicola knew she was working through it in her head, figuring out what had happened and just how bad it was.

Her sister might be halfway paralyzed, physically damaged from the car accident, but she’d never been stupid.

And the number of nurses, doctors, and staff that the two of them had run into over the years who didn’t understand that was astronomical.

“How long will I be here?” Alanna said finally, her voice far stronger than it had been before.

Nicola breathed in deeply. “Now that you’re awake, they can work on telling us that. My guess is a day or two at least.”

Alanna hummed again. “Your new job.”

“Is fine, I promise. I still have it.” Nicola hoped she did anyway. Especially when she wasn’t going to be around much in the next few days.

“Go to work if you need to.”

Nicola shook her head, her eyes watering. “No, I’m not due in today. Tomorrow.”

The lie was so easy as it fell from her lips, but she couldn’t have her sister thinking that she was the cause of all of this.

She wasn’t. It was the fault of some drunk who had decided to get behind the wheel.

Nicola pushed that thought and anger deep down inside her.

She didn’t need it to surface right now.

What she needed was to focus on Alanna and her recovery.

And fuck, she hated how easy it was becoming to lie lately.

She squeezed Alanna’s hand and smiled at her. “The nurses said to call them when you woke up, but I thought you might like a few seconds before the flock descends.”

Alanna barked a laugh, the sound dry and raspy in her throat. “Thanks. I wouldn’t mind a few more minutes.”

Nicola nodded and held her sister’s hand tightly. She would give up the whole world to make sure that her sister was happy and healthy. Nothing else mattered.