Page 21 of Sinners’ Appetite
“Nikki—Nikki, you’re okay, wake up…”
I shoot up in the bed, and when I open my eyes, I see a nurse hovering over me with a concerned look in her eyes.
“You were having a nightmare, I think. Are you feeling okay?” she asks.
“My head hurts a little.”
“I’ll see if we can give you another dose of hydro-morph.”
“No, I’m okay, I might need some water, if you could.”
She smiles. “For sure. I’ll be right back.”
I reach over for my phone, sighing heavily when I see that it’s four in the morning. I need to hear his voice. I should have asked him to stay with me.
Regardless of the time, I scroll to the last message between us and start typing.
I know you’re not awake, but—I just thought I’d message you anyway, just in case you are…
I click my phone off and set it back down. As the nurse walks back into my room with my water, my phone dings with a notification.
I’m awake now. I had my ringer turned way up. Are you okay, baby girl?
I’m okay. I think.
Call me.
“I’ll leave this right here for you. Ring if there’s anything else you need,” the nurse says, placing my water down on the table.
“Thank you.” I wait until she walks out the door, then dial Malachi.
“Hey,” he answers, his tone exhausted and raspy.
“I’m sorry for waking you.”
“Don’t be. I’m glad you did.”
“I’m so tired and my head is killing me.”
“They aren’t giving you anything for the pain?”
“I don’t want to take anything. Pain meds fuck me up,” I whine.
There’s a brief moment of silence before either of us say a word.
“Is it weird for me to say that I miss you?” I blurt out.
He lightly snickers. “Not at all. I miss you too…”
I breathe a light sigh of relief. “I should have asked you to stay.”
“I can leave now.”
“I can’t expect you to drive all the way back here again.”
“Grabbing my keys. Do you need me to stop by your house to grab anything?”
“You’re too sweet, seriously. You don’t have to do that.”
“I’m on my way out the door…” I hear him unlock the car doors and start the engine.
“I guess I’ll see you soon, then,” I giggle.
“See you soon, baby girl,” he says, ending the call.
Why is it that none of this feels like its happening too fast? I feel like I’ve known him for way longer than I have. The walls I’ve built to protect myself are non-existent when I’m around him. I trust him, and that’s the only part that scares me.
I’m not a clingy person. I never really have been but—he makes me crave being touched.
I hear a knock at the door before Malachi peeks his head in. “You’re here!” I quietly squeal.
“You’re still awake?” he asks as he walks over and gently wraps his arms around me.
“I’ve been playing solitaire.”
“You play solitaire?” He smirks, gently kissing my forehead as his fingers runs through my hair.
“No, I had to download it.”
He starts to laugh, sitting down on the edge of my bed. “It was too early in the morning to buy gummy bears anywhere, so I found the next best thing, in the vending machine.”
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small package of rainbow gummy strips.
“I love pulling those apart by color…” I chuckle, reaching for them and ripping them open.
He smiles and gets up to pull a chair up beside my bed. “I have something to ask you.”
“Ask away…”
“Since Paul is still out there somewhere… I want to take you out of town for a while.”
“I can’t leave Sa—”
“Hear me out… Sammi and Jeremy can come with us. My best friend owns a property and there’s several cabins.”
“What about our jobs?”
“We can figure it out. I’m sure Jeremy can take a few days off. Jeff won’t be expecting you for another few weeks… it’s just until Paul has been dealt with.”
“Please tell me there’s a lake near the property somewhere?” I smile. A vacation doesn’t sound half bad. I need a break from this city and people.
“There’s a beach.” He smiles. “It’s private, so it’ll be just us there at all times. It’s all basically off grid.”
“And this friend—he’s okay with us coming?”
“He will be. I’ll talk to him sometime today. We should probably leave as soon as Sammi is allowed to go home. I’ll talk to Jeremy tomorrow.”
“I’ll go—if you let me find a new bikini first. You broke the string on mine…” I snicker.
“Deal.” He grins. “Sorry about that,”
“I’m keeping it. As a reminder.”
“A souvenir?” He laughs, reaching over to grab one of my rainbow strips.
“Exactly.”
“Oh—I spoke to Sammi last night. She was awake when I left your room.”
“How is she?” I ask, glancing at the door to her room.
“She’s still pretty shaken up. I had her smiling though, so that’s something.”
I sit back against my pillow. “I wanted to go see her last night but the nurse said she was sound asleep. It was the first time her heart beat was regulated since we came in, so they advised that I wait until tomorrow.”
“I made a promise to her before I left.”
“She seems to like you, which is odd because she’s never really been a fan of anyone I’ve taken interest in. She hated Nolan with a passion,” I explain.
“Maybe she’s just more in-tune with the aura people give off.”
“I always thought she was just a little snobby, but—maybe she’s onto something.”
Once I’m finished with the rainbow strips, I pull the blankets up over my chest and press the button beside me to lower the bed a little.
“I can ring the nurse to see if they can bring you a cot,” I offer.
“No—it’s okay. I’ll be fine here,” He insists, leaning back in the chair and spreading his legs apart.
“You need a blanket, at least.”
“Or—you could just move over a bit and I can squeeze in behind you.”
Just the thought of having his hands on me again gives me butterflies in my stomach. “Do you think you’ll fit?”
“I’m pretty good at fitting into tight spaces, baby girl,” he chuckles.
“That you are.” I laugh, feeling my face go flush as I think about how it felt to adjust to the size of his cock.
I slide over, laying on my side with my face close to the guard rail on the side of the bed. He slips in behind me, covering us both with the blankets as he slides his hand up under my shirt and across my waist.
“Is this okay?” he whispers into my ear as he squeezes me lightly.
“It’s perfect,” I say, finally closing my eyes. “Thank you for coming back.”
“Like I said, anything for you.”