Page 101 of Tied Over

He coughed softly, tried to speak, made a noise that was not a word, and then tried again with no better results.

But I knew him, so I could help. “You were scared.”

Shuddering breath. “We were outside, in the SWAT vehicle—not the transport one, the other one with all the monitors inside.”

I nodded.

“We could see you and Brodie on infrared, and then suddenly there’s audio and I can hear that he’s out of it and you’re being so good with him, so calm, like you always are in those situations with hostages, but he’s got a gun, and I can’t get past the thought that you’re all alone with him, and I know what he did to Ian, and if he comes at you, because you’re not at full strength, he could really hurt you… I tried to tell them you’re hurt, but nobody was listening to me.”

“You got here first.”

“Of course I did.”

I would have been there first as well. It was Bodhi. When he called, whenever he called, I would be the one to show up before anyone else. Not that we should have ever been apart. “I wish I wasn’t hurt. I hated you going without me.”

“I know but that couldn’t be helped. What kills me is that I was sure you’d be safe, just like Kage did. You were armed and I set the alarm when I left and Chickie was here.”

“It’s okay,” I soothed him.

“It’s not,” he choked out. There was so much pain and regret, it was suffocating him.

Moving abruptly so he had to let me go, I stood up and went around the side of the bed. “Come get this off me,” I instructed. “Brodie put it on too tight.” He hadn’t, it was fine, but Bodhi needed to do something for me right then. It was necessary.

He was beside me in seconds, gently removing it, careful not to jostle me. “He helped you with the T-shirt too, didn’t he?”

“Yeah.”

“The thought of him touching you, touching your skin… I want to kill him and throw up at the same time.”

So many different emotions running through him at the moment, and it was up to me to fix it, to make him better. “He didn’t hurt me. You can see he didn’t.”

He just watched me with hollow eyes, and with the sling off, I lay down on the bed, on my side, and patted the bed so he’d know where I wanted him.

Following my lead, he stretched out so we were facing each other. He had nowhere to look but into my eyes. “I don’t remember ever being that scared,” he confessed.

“Tell me the rest.”

“I announced I was going in, and the SWAT commander ordered me to wait because it sounded good, like you were in control and Brodie was calm, but I know him. I remember how he would just snap, how volatile he was back when he was on the job.”

I had too, which was why I’d kept yelling at him. We had all been on him all the time, and that part was normal for him. Treating him like he was still a member of the team had been key right then.

“I said I was going, and the SWAT commander says no again, and they’re barring the door, but then—then Kage arrived with Dorsey and Ryan, and Jesus, Jed, I’ve never been so happy to have backup in my life.”

I knew the feeling. The knowledge that you had people with you, it was overwhelming.

“And Kage brought the modified beanbag gun with him, and Dorsey gives it to me and tells those guys we’re getting you out of there right fuckin’ now.”

I smiled, and amazingly, I got one back.

“Yeah. It was pretty great. You know how Dorsey is when he’s pissed.”

“He’s loud is what he is. I’m surprised I didn’t hear him.”

“Right?”

He was sounding better, more like him. More alive.

“Kage put me in the front and told me to get in there. They were worried we would need to break down the door, but I said no, I knew you’d left it unlocked and that Brodie wouldn’t have noticed that it was.”