Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.
You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.
Click here
"He's got you there, buddy," Cooper chimed in, grinning like a wise-ass.
It was then that Tabby took notice of Jaz's unusual accent. She hadn't noticed it before because it seemed to get thicker when he was at ease and joking around, like he had just done with Marcus. He hid it better when he was being more formal, like when he was in cop mode, taking her statement. It sounded like an exotic mix of British English and slight East Indian accents that made his pronunciation and cadence sound almost lyrical. There was just something fun and friendly about the man when his natural accent shone through, Tabby thought.
She studied him closer now, her eyes taking in the light toffee hue to his skin that she'd somehow overlooked before. He was smiling brightly at her and had eyes the colour of warm milk chocolate that were currently bright with mischief and amusement.
Tabby grinned back at him and blurted out the first thing that entered her mind. "I love your accent. It sounds really cool." She groaned immediately after the words had left her mouth, embarrassment making her cheeks flush brilliant pink. She suddenly wondered what the hell had happened to her stupidity filter. Apparently the knock on her head had broken it and her mouth was now operating unsupervised.
'What a lame thing to say,' she thought. 'You've known the guy, for what? Five minutes? And that's the best you can come out with?' Tabby felt like her mind had developed ADD - she kept skipping tracks and wandering off topic, unable to stay focused on any one thing for very long. She rubbed her aching head again, glancing back at Marcus who seemed to be waiting for something from her and was watching her flounder about with a curious eyebrow raised.
'Did I forget something? Did he ask me a question?' Tabby had the feeling that the thing Marcus wanted, had gotten lost in the murky mess that her concentration had turned into. Whatever it was that he'd asked her, she couldn't remember it for the life of her.
"Ta luv. It's definitely a source of curiosity. Let's just say that I have a mixed heritage." Marcus shot him a "you can shut up now" look and Jaz gave a little cough and nodded. "I'll tell you about the family scandal my father created another time, but I think you still have a question to answer."
"It's nice...different. You should talk more," she added, trying to buy time while she searched her fragmented memory for Marcus' mysterious question. She was so focused on trying to remember, that she barely heard Cooper and Diego groan together and slap their foreheads theatrically. Marcus closed his eyes and slowly shook his head with another of his stellar smiles warming Tabby and instantly distracting her again.
God he looks so sexy when he smiles, she mused, her thoughts turning to cotton candy in her mind - sickly sweet and tangled up. Her eyes had focused on his lips and she suddenly wondered what they'd taste like if she kissed him.
"You didn't just say that! Now he'll never shut up!" Cooper and Diego whined at the same time.
"Bloody tossers," Jaz grumbled with a grin and turned to Tabby. "So luv, will it be a ride with big and ugly or shall we call you some handsome paramedics to escort you to the hospital?"
"Shut it, Jaz or I'll shut it for you," Marcus growled, with more irritation in his voice than he intended to reveal. Jaz's playfulness with Tabby rubbed Marcus' possessive streak the wrong way and he had to stifle the urge to drive his fist into the face of one of his closest friends.
'Get a grip! He yelled at himself. 'The bastard's only fooling around. You don't need to get your alpha male shit up in his face!' Thankfully, Tabby hadn't really taken notice of his gruff comment and was still smiling absentmindedly at him with a dreamy look in her eyes. Marcus' cock ached, wishing he could get into her head and see what thoughts were putting that sweet smile on her face.
She really wasn't even seeing him or Jaz at the moment. Her mind was too busy switching between how badly she really wanted to kiss Marcus and debating which of his ultimatums she'd prefer. She pondered and weighed her options, realizing that the stubborn look on Marcus' handsome face meant that she really didn't have any in the first place. She finally decided that if he was going to make her go, she'd rather go with someone who wasn't a total stranger to her.
Her decision had nothing to do with her new found desire to spend more time with Marcus.
Nope. None at all.
"You," she finally said, honestly too tired to protest any longer. "I'll go with you." She wilted as her head started throbbing in earnest. She felt like there was an entire road crew inside there, jack hammering her skull into jigsaw puzzle pieces. She almost whimpered from the pounding pain and hoped that maybe they'd give her something to make it stop when she got to the hospital.
Suddenly feeling insecure, she turned to Petra, guilt squirming uncomfortably in her gut for what she was about to ask when she saw how tired her friend looked.
"Will you come with me?" she whispered, hating that she was nervous about leaving with Marcus. Being in his presence did things to her body that she didn't understand and her nerves were more about her strange reaction to the man, rather than from fear.
"You couldn't stop me, sweetie," Petra said, giving her another hug. She stood up and offered Tabby her hand. "C'mon, let's go harass us some cute ER doctors!"
"Over my dead body," Diego growled playfully, wanting to smack his mischievous submissive on her pert little ass, but didn't want to risk upsetting Tabby.
Petra pouted prettily at him. "Spoil sport," she huffed.
"Watch it, pet. You know how much I love helping you adjust that bratty attitude."
Petra brightened noticeably, getting excited at what Tabby thought should have been a threat. Petra fluttered her long eye lashes at Diego coyly. "Promise?"
"Ugh, come on Tabby." Marcus helped her off the sofa and ushered her to the front door, Jaz and Cooper following closely behind.
"We'd better go before Diego hauls her away like a caveman. Hey, you two coming...?" Cooper smirked, leaving the innuendo hanging in the air. Petra collapsed into fits of giggles, while Diego glowered at her, trying to keep a stern expression on lips that were trying hard not to curve up into a smile. Tabby grabbed her purse and let them lead her out of the apartment surrounded by an entourage of big men.
When they got out to the parking lot, Marcus dug his keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Diego who caught them like he had been expecting them to come sailing through the air to him.
"You drive, I want to sit in back and keep an eye on her. I don't like her colour." Marcus spoke quietly to him, watching as Petra helped Tabby into the back seat of his monster SUV.
"Cooper, you and Jaz head to the station and get the ball rolling on finding that slime-bag who assaulted her. If you need anything else from Tabby, you can call my cell."
"You got it, Sarge. We'll let you know what we find out." Cooper called back with a wave and climbed into a red pickup truck with Jaz.
The ride to the hospital took twenty minutes and Tabby began to doze five minutes into the trip. Lulled to sleep by the warmth of Petra's body cushioning her on one side and Marcus' comforting bulk on the other, she didn't stand a chance of staying awake. Every few minutes, Marcus' voice and a gentle shaking would rouse her, but it was getting harder and harder for her to wake up. She was so exhausted that it felt like she had to claw her way through wet cement every time he tried to force her to wake.
Before she knew it, her body had slumped from a sitting position, to leaning on his big shoulders, to finally settling her head on his warm thighs. Comforted by his presence and surrounded by his scent, Tabby's last defences crumbled and she quickly succumbed to the pull of sleep. Within minutes, she was snoring quietly on Marcus' lap, her tiny hand gripping his huge one in a way that calmed the possessive beast raging inside him.
Petra watched curiously as the quiet Master stroked Tabby's hair in a way the belied the percolating violence she had seen in his eyes earlier. Something was happening between her friend and the big man and Petra had the strangest feeling that she was witnessing something beautiful and fragile being born. Somehow, Tabby had managed to captivate the reserved Master in a way that neither had realized, nor expected.
This is what love at first sight looks like, Petra mused, a subtle smile on her face. A warm sense of amazement filled her heart and she had to turn and look out the window to hide the wetness that had sprung up in eyes. Her sense of wonder dulled as reality dumped on her glowing ember of hope. How damaged was her friend going to be once the initial shock of her attack wears off? Would she even be able to accept Marcus?
Petra had a funny feeling that Marcus wasn't going to go away easily if her friend proved to be emotionally unable to accept him in her life; he had the look of a man who was holding something precious and unexpected like a treasure he'd dug up from under an X in the sand. Unfortunately, this gift came in the form of a traumatized young woman who may not want to have anything to do with him.
The "train wreck" potential worried Petra. At the rate that Tabby and Marcus were hurtling towards each other, the collision was either going to be spectacularly beautiful or a disaster of epic proportions.
Petra put her hand on Marcus' bicep and squeezed it lightly. "Sir?" She spoke softly, glancing at the back of her own Master's head as he drove them through city streets that were just beginning to fill with the early morning commute.
Marcus cocked a dark eyebrow and murmured, "Hmmm," in response.
"Promise me that you'll be careful."
"Pardon?" Marcus blinked his tired eyes in confusion, not sure what Petra was trying to get at.
"With Tabby." She looked at her sleeping friend and could see the purple bruising darkening the skin around her eye, it stabbed Petra in the gut. "She's so strong...always fighting, you know? Even when she's breaking inside, you'd never know it. This is the first time I've ever seen her so vulnerable and so fragile. Promise me that you'll handle her with care."
"Petra, I'm not..." he trailed off, Tabby had let out a soft sigh and the sound had immediately distracted him. Petra gave his arm another gentle, knowing squeeze.
"Whatever you do, or don't do, just remember that she's more fragile than she'll ever let on, okay?" Marcus could only nod, though in truth, he'd barely heard her. His attention was focused on the sleeping woman in his lap and the overwhelming sense to protect what his beast was screaming was already his.
Diego pulled in to the ER's emergency parking area and Marcus reluctantly extricated himself out from under a sleeping Tabby without waking her up. He climbed out of the vehicle, then reached back in, unclicked Tabby's seatbelt and gathered her gently into his arms. She grumbled quietly at being jostled but stayed asleep as Marcus cradled her body to his chest and headed for the entrance to the ER.
For the first time since Marcus had laid eyes on Tabitha, his beast was soothed into blessed somnolence, content that he finally had his woman in his arms and everything was right in his world. She felt so light and soft pressed warmly against his chest that he couldn't help imagining how she'd feel naked, her skin sliding against his as he made love to her.
The shock of that stray thought almost had Marcus tripping over his own feet as he strode across the parking lot. He didn't make love. He fucked. Hard. Making love required a vulnerability that he was never going to open himself up for again - not since Daria, his ex-fiancé had taught him that love was for suckers. The strength of that conviction wavered ever so slightly when he glanced down on Tabby's angelic face and he felt a stab of longing pierce his crusty heart. He couldn't think of her in terms of love so he pushed the traitorous emotion away, not ready to face that possibility yet.
Love. Fuck him. He wasn't going to fall into that trap again. He'd go after Tabby once she was recovered, of that he was certain. Nothing, except maybe her, could keep him from satisfying the insane need to claim her for himself. When he took her, he would do everything in his power to ensure that it would be his name that she screamed as he made her cum over and over again. It would be him that she gave her submission to and him that she craved inside her until it drove her as crazy as wanting her was making him. In return, he would care for her, cherish her and make her his - she would lack for nothing; he would make sure of that.
But love?
He didn't think he could ever trust that openly, not after Daria had betrayed him. It was the one place that his wounded, jaded heart was not willing to venture again.
Not even for Tabitha.
Tabby remained fast asleep as Marcus carried her into the ER. By some miracle, the normally bustling Emergency department was pretty quiet, the rush of the nightshift was over and other than a few stragglers still waiting their turn, the ER waiting room was empty. The triage nurse saw them walk in and hustled out to greet Marcus and he quickly explained what had befallen the woman in his arms. Petra dug Tabby's medical card from her purse and went off with the nurse to admit her and fill out the paperwork.
Tabby mumbled something and her face scrunched up in anxiety. Marcus held her tighter to him and followed another, older nurse to an exam cubicle.
"Shhh, little one. You're safe. No one's going to hurt you." The sound of his quiet voice soothed the stress from Tabby's forehead and she relaxed back into deep sleep, snuggling her cheek against the leather of Marcus' jacket. Something about being able to calm her filled Marcus with sense of satisfaction so deep that even his alter ego purred in pleasure.
The nurse pulled the curtain back on an empty cubicle and indicated for Marcus to place Tabby onto the bed. An odd panic suddenly gripped him as he found himself at odds with himself. He knew he needed to put her down so that the medical staff could attend to her but his arms seemed to have locked themselves around Tabby's warm, soft body, refusing to let her go. He could tell that the nurse was getting impatient by the irritated way she crossed her arms and tapped her toe on the linoleum floor as she waited for him to comply, but he just couldn't do it.
Marcus was torn but eventually forced his arms to obey. He had finally gotten Tabby in his arms, the one place where he'd wanted her to be all evening and it killed him to lay her gently on the bed and back slightly away. Even Tabby noticed the lack of his contact because the minute he let her go, her face scrunched up in fear and she moaned softly in her sleep. He stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers and immediately she turned into his touch. Her need for him only made it harder for him to do the right thing and allow the nurse in to start checking her vitals.
The nurse began taking Tabby's blood pressure and temperature then fixed Marcus with an unhappy look. "Are you family?" she asked gruffly.
Marcus shook his head, continuing to stroke Tabby's cheek. "No, just a friend.
"Then I'm afraid you'll have to go wait in the waiting area. Someone will be out to speak to you shortly." The nurse demanded, strode up to him and pointed her finger in the direction of the exit.
Tabby was oblivious to what was going on around her or how her body was reacting unconsciously to Marcus' presence. It would have embarrassed her the way she naturally sought out his touch but she was safely ensconced in the world of dreams to be bothered by it. She slept on, innocent and peaceful until raised voices disturbed her slumber. A heated confrontation between Marcus and the ER nurse roused Tabby back into a world of confusion and pain.
Angry voices forced her gasping awake to a head that was being pounded from within her skull by heavy boots made of grogginess and pain. Through the buzzing in her ears, she could hear an imperious voice insisting that because Marcus wasn't a family member, he needed to leave and return to the waiting room - only immediate family could stay. The rough growl of Marcus' adamant refusal filtered through the haze smothering Tabby's semiconscious mind and drew her further away from the numbness that sleep had protected her with, making her feel every ache and agony that her body was experiencing.
There was no way in hell, Marcus was going to be leaving Tabby anywhere he wasn't and he informed the bossy nurse that he was staying put. Tired from a long night shift, the nurse dug her heels in and a battle of wills commenced.
Tabby heard the argument and tried to open her eyes too quickly and it proved to be a very bad mistake. The bright light above her bed sliced through her parted lids and drove spikes of pure agony into her brain taking her breath away. Through squinting, watering eyes she saw flashes of Marcus standing toe to toe with a nurse who was half his size. She had one hand crooked on her hip and the other was holding a finger jabbed into the center of Marcus' broad chest. The nurse was glaring up at him like a pit bull defending a prized bone while Marcus did a perfect impression of an immovable mountain, glaring right back at the diminutive nurse.
Tabby tried again to get her stinging eyes to focus, not quite believing what she was seeing. When she did manage a quick, clear look at the two combatants, she almost burst out laughing. The ridiculous scene looked like something straight out of a newspaper comic strip and in her concussed state, Tabby found it utterly hilarious.
Nobody had noticed that she had awoken so Tabby attempted to sit up. Her skull violently protested the change in position by trying to evict her brain through her ears. Her stomach rolled alarmingly, threatening to join her mashed brain on the floor. The gruesome picture her imagination had just concocted, did nothing to help settle the burbling nausea trying gate crash its way into the party. The throbbing ache in her head forced her back down to the pillow, making it impossible for her to do anything more than to curl up into the fetal position and whimper in pain.
Marcus was the first to hear the soft, desperate sobs that Tabby was making behind him and spun on his heel, abruptly leaving the nurse arguing with empty space. The air compressed beside her as he returned to her side and his addictive scent suddenly surrounded Tabby like a comforting blanket. She tried to open her eyes again but her vision wouldn't cooperate, going in and out of focus, making her weak stomach rebel at the spinning motion in her head.
"Shhh, angel. You're in the hospital." His comforting voice sent an army of butterflies fluttering in her stomach and tiny shivers racing over her skin. His mouth was so close to her ear that his warm breath tickled the tiny hairs on her neck making her wish that she didn't feel so sick so that she could enjoy the pleasurable sensation. He picked up her hand and began caressing the back with the roughened pad of his thumb and once again, Tabby delighted in the friction caused by the calluses on his fingers.
'He must work with his hands," the errant thought percolated into her mind. Manual labour would explain the toned muscles she had seen outlined under his black t-shirt, he had the kind of body that only natural exercise could produce and damn, if it didn't make him sexy as hell. Another stab of pain ripped through her head and she winced and moaned, unable to cope with the pain.
His gentle grip tighten on her hand and his warm, soft lips pressed to her temple, sending a shock of arousal straight to her core and momentarily distracting her from her splitting headache. Marcus didn't care who saw him kiss Tabby. It was something he desperately needed to do and judging by the way she relaxed when he'd done it, it had been something that she had needed as well.
