Vengeance (The Protectors 5)

And then he’d been there. I’d been told after the fact that he’d killed the second intruder in the apartment – the one I hadn’t even been aware of, but I didn’t remember any of that. I only remembered rich, dark eyes boring into mine as strong fingers had wrapped around my hand.

Memphis.

The name didn’t fit his dark, exotic looks. With his darker skin tone, straight black hair and equally dark eyes, I suspected he was of Middle Eastern descent. But there hadn’t been an accent and with an American name like Memphis, he was a complete and total enigma.

And I was completely infatuated.

Hell, that wasn’t even the right word. The physical need Memphis stirred in me without even touching me was unreal and unlike anything I’d ever known. But it was so much more than that, because I’d been in too much pain to notice his physical beauty that day he’d saved my life. It wasn’t just his hand I’d been clinging to as I’d struggled to draw oxygen into my lungs, the pain in my side spiraling out to my entire body until it had felt like I was being burned alive.

I didn’t remember much of what I’d said to him, but I’d clung to his words just as strongly as I’d clung to his hand. There’d been a moment as I’d struggled to draw in breath after breath that I’d asked him if I was going to die. I could only assume he’d told me no, but I couldn’t be sure because the fear had consumed me at that point as the pain in my chest had exploded. Images of my family had gone through my head along with a feeling of relief that they would have each other to hold on to after I was gone. And then there’d only been one person left remaining in my mind’s eye.

Tristan.

I hadn’t gotten to dwell for long on the warmth that had flooded my system as I’d thought about my childhood friend, since Memphis had started yelling my name, demanding I keep my eyes on him. I had no idea how long I’d used Memphis as an anchor to keep me from giving in to the agony of knowing I’d never see the people I loved again, but when I’d finally started the process of drawing in my last breaths, I’d heard him say those words…those words that had made me want to hang on to him forever, despite my body’s need to give up.

I’m not letting you go.

I had a few vague memories of what had happened next, but it was Eli who’d had to fill in the blanks when he’d visited me in the hospital after I’d gotten out of surgery. While Memphis had killed one of the intruders, it had been Baby who’d killed the man who’d actually shot me. Eli’s lover, Mav, and another man named Ronan, had been the first ones to arrive after Memphis, and I’d learned that Ronan had also saved my life that day. The bullet I’d taken had done considerable damage, including collapsing one of my lungs, which was why I’d been struggling to breathe. Ronan, a former trauma surgeon, had been able to re-inflate my lung after inserting a makeshift chest tube. But that had only bought me a couple of minutes, because according to Eli, my heart had stopped by the time paramedics had gotten me loaded into the ambulance, and it had once again been Ronan who’d saved my life by performing CPR until they’d gotten me to the hospital.

Considering how close to death I’d come, I’d actually walked away from the whole thing with nothing more than a missing kidney that had been too damaged by the bullet to save, and a couple of fresh scars that would be a reminder of how close I’d come to losing everything.

Baby nudged my hand insistently and I chuckled and carefully stood. While my body was on the mend, I still had quite a few aches and pains to deal with as I recovered. I remembered the reason I’d come to Mav and Eli’s and went back to my car to grab the package of hot dogs I’d forgotten. Baby immediately perked up at the sound of the plastic crinkling and then he was sitting patiently at my feet. I was glad the animal was polite enough not to jump on me because he would have knocked me on my ass for sure with his brute strength. I ripped the package open and then carefully sat down on the ground and pulled out a hot dog and gave it to Baby who swallowed it after just a couple of chews.

“How’d you know?” I heard a voice ask behind me and I saw Eli coming down the walkway towards me. He sat down on the ground next to me and motioned to the hot dogs. “How’d you know they were his favorite?”