Falling With Grace

My thunderous heartbeat clanged against my chest. My ears are ringing like bells on the highest tower.

There was blood.

So much blood.

“Elias.” My voice broke, my feet moving of their own volition until I came to a forced stop at hisdoor.

He turned, his bloody hand smearing the door.

“Are…” I shifted my gaze to Javier, his glare searing through me, before returning my attention to Elias. “Are you OK? Is there anything I can do?”

Elias swallowed, his gaze darkening with a slight growl emanating from his throat.

He shot forward, brushing Javier aside. His hand gripped the back of my neck as he yanked me forward towards him through the cracked door and into his room before the door slammed closed behind me.

His lips hit mine, his tongue piercing through my closed lips. They danced together, warmth flooding my core, his bloody hands roaming my body as he pressed me against the door, abandoning Javier and my guards.

He tugged on my shirt, inflicting shivers across my flesh, my insides liquefying.

“Elias.” Javier beat against the door, vibrating my back. “Don’t do it.”

He pulled away, slamming the side of his fist on the door, mirroring Javier. “Go away.”

“This is a mistake.”

What’s a mistake?

I gasped for breath as the nauseating metallic scent hung in the air, harboring the aroma of death and decay. “You’re bleeding. Let me help you.”

“You are helping me.” He shucked off his suit jacket, then tore the buttons on his shirt, revealing a sliced abdomen as though someone tried carving out his liver and a faded Grim Reaper tattoo on his pectoral muscle. “And it’s just a graze.”

I leaned against the door, my head swimming as he pressed the shirt to his oozing wound.

My knees wobbled. “I think…” Blood rushed from my face in a violent whoosh. “I’m going to…”

“Oh, whoa.” His hand pressed into my shoulder, pinning me to the door. “Hang on.” Elias dropped his shirt, dipped down, and hoisted me in his arms. “It’s okay.” He carried me to the bed in the center of his master suite. “Lay here for a minute.”

“I want to help.” My mind spun like a vortex, twisting my tongue into a heavy weight as he set me down.

He kissed me back.

“You won’t be of any help if you pass out.” He turned and walked into the bathroom.

Bright lights flooded the room like a soft blanket.

I’m going to pass out, or vomit…or worse.

A muffled grunt echoed through the massive bedroom.

He needs my help.

Swinging my feet off thebed, the waves in my belly shifted. I held my stomach, placing one foot in front of the other until I breached the bathroom threshold and crept around the corner.

Elias stood at the dual vanity, running a washcloth under the water, his gun holstered into his suit pants against his bare back.

My eyes swept over the blood smeared across his chest and torso. I gulped. “Can I help?”

He jumped, his fist squeezing the water out of the washcloth as his body went rigid. “Merda.”