Blyss (The Blyss Trilogy 1)

“We’re done here, Jared.” My tone brooks no argument. “I want ten in five,” I order him, and he knows I mean ten milligrams of his best sedative in five minutes. Despite what he gave her, it wasn’t nearly enough. She’s running on an empty stomach now, and I don’t like it. Once I get Julianna settled in her room, I’ll make her eat some crackers.

I move to lift her up into my arms and she starts fighting me again. This shit stops now. I grab her by the shoulders and shake her firmly, letting my stern voice command her to obey. “Settle the fuck down!” She stops in her tracks, frozen, fear written all over her tear-streaked face. “Don’t.” I shake my head, getting a grip on my anger. “Don’t do this. Is this what you want? Did you already forget Nick’s words from yesterday? Trust me, he doesn’t bullshit around. I let you have this little temper tantrum because I understand it’s only your second day and you still have a lot of unanswered questions, but you better start settling the hell down. Shit’s going to get rougher on you real quick if you don’t. Do you understand?” I demand an answer from her with unmatched force. She better get her shit straight, or I won’t be able to help her.

She whispers a shaky, barely-audible, “Yes, sir.”

“Now, I’m going to carry you to your room, and you will not fight me, understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

I scoop her into my arms and fix her robe, unconsciously protecting her modesty. She buries her head into the crook of my neck and wraps her arms around me. Fuck, she feels good. I nod to Jared, who silently opens the door for me so I can make my way out of the clinic.

By the time I make it to Julianna’s door, my rage has calmed slightly. The microchip detector device has the door clicking open. I walk into her room, head over to her bed, and gently lay her down. She rolls her body to face away from me, curling into a ball, wanting nothing to do with me. I climb onto the bed beside her and gently shake her shoulder.

“Julianna, let me get you dressed and comfortable. I don’t want you in this bathrobe.” She ignores me, and I let out a long sigh. “Fine, I’ll do it myself.” I get up to grab sleepwear from her dresser, and then move back to the side of the bed. She must be going into some sort of shock, because she lets me dress her without a fight. She’s a lifeless ragdoll, her eyes damn near blank, and that just pisses me off. When I’m done dressing her, I lay down next to her. I pull her emotionally- and physically-spent body into mine, wrap my arms around her, and spoon her. We stay in a mutual silence for a few more minutes, because really, what can one say at this point?

I hear her stomach rumble, reminding me she’s completely empty. “Julianna, I need you to eat a few crackers. I don’t like that you don’t have anything in your stomach.”

“Is it not enough you’re drugging me, but you want to make me sick, too?”

“What do you mean?” I ask, confused.

She lets out an exasperated sigh. “Crackers are full of gluten. Remind me to never depend on you for survival should anything ever happen to me.”

I curse at myself internally, promising myself to look that shit up and what it means to be gluten-free. “I’ll call the cafeteria and have them bring you something.”

“No, I can’t eat. My stomach is in knots. I know my own body, and it can’t handle it...please, no,” she begs.

I relent to her wishes, cooing and shushing her until she’s calm again, but after a couple minutes of silence, I hear the door open to the room and feel her tense. I see Jared round the corner, making his way toward us. Julianna whips her head around to stare up at him with a death glare, and she shakes her head frantically. “What are you doing here? I can’t do this! I can’t do this…” she begins to panic and chant, “…I can’t do this...”

I speak over her chant and look to Jared. “Just leave me the sedative on the nightstand table here beside me. I’ve got this.”

“More drugs? What? Is not doubling my dose enough?” she cries, and I feel her anger rising above her panic. I hold onto her more tightly and wrap my legs around hers, pinning her down. Her emotions are running all over the place. Jared comes near, looking like he’s going to ignore my instructions and try to give it to her himself, but it’s too close for her comfort, and she starts to struggle. I wind up having to shift my entire bodyweight over hers to keep her from killing him.