Hunted

Chapter 18: In His Arms

I awoke with a headache the size of Texas. I whimpered and set my hand on my face tenderly, trying to not squeeze my eyes shut tight because that just made the pain worse.

"You're hurting?" Rykan asked.

Right. I was in bed. With Rykan. I nearly forgot. I opened my eyes and found him staring at me in concern, his arm draped over my waist. I nodded and he kissed my forehead before he suddenly wasn't in bed anymore. I frowned and sat up but soon enough, he was back with the pain killers and water.

"Wow," I breathed, rubbing my good eye. Damn, he was fast.

"Here," he said, handing me the water and taking out three of the pills before holding them out for me.

"Honestly, I don't know if I should take these without eating. I have a weak stomach," I admitted.

"Let's eat something," he said, taking the pills and water back.

He was gone. Again. I barely even saw him move. Then suddenly I was off the bed and in his arms, being carried downstairs.

"Um," I said, blinking a few times. "I can walk, you know. It wasn't my leg that was hurt."

"I know."

That's it. He didn't set me down. I decided to let it go because being in his arms made me feel nice. We walked past the kitchen to another room where he sat on the couch, keeping me in his lap.

"What would you like, angel? I'll get you anything you want," he said, stroking my hair.

"I don't know. Anything is fine. I'm not hard to please," I shrugged. "I don't have any allergies. Whatever is ready fastest. I just want to take the painkillers."

"Are burgers all right?" He asked.

I nodded and almost no time passed before a breeze passed by and disappeared again. I frowned and looked around the room, my eyes widening when I saw two burgers sitting on a plate on the couch next to us.

"What the hell just happened?" I asked, looking around the room. "Maybe I do have a concussion."

"It was just Elizabeth bringing the food," he said, picking up one of the burgers and handing it to me. "She made them for the others not long ago so it didn't take her long to get some to us."

"Oh," I said, frowning. "But she moved so fast I didn't get to thank her. And what others?"

"Angel, you've been through a lot today," he said, running his finger along where Evan hit me "Do you really want me explaining everything right at this moment?"

Well, he had a point.

"I guess not," I admitted, sinking against his lap and nibbling on the burger.

"Don't worry. We'll get there," he said, running his hand up and down my arm. "Elizabeth has some fries as well, would you like some?"

I nodded and the blur returned only briefly.

"Thank you!" I called out.

There was no response. Rykan chuckled. "Relax, angel. No one thinks you have poor manners. Here," he said, holding up the plate of fries.

"Why are they avoiding me?" I asked, taking one of the fries.

"They aren't," he said, pressing a gentle kiss to my hurt cheek. "I ordered them to stay away unless needed. I didn't want them overwhelming you with all that's happened."

"You didn't have to do that," I said, wondering if he had any idea how much his little gesture meant to me.

"I know. Stop worrying. I know you don't know what it's like to be taken care of," he said, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "But get used to it because I'm going to be doing it a lot."