Page 76 of Retribution
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Dakota
Pushing her waythrough a curtain of cobwebs, Dakota couldn’t grasp what had happened. The only thing that seemed real was the searing pain in her head. Through the discomfort, she was becoming aware of a sound coming from somewhere in the depths of the blackness shrouding her. Voices, maybe? As hard as she tried to focus, Dakota couldn’t hold on to a thought for more than a few seconds. And as she struggled to gather them, a hand caressed her cheek. She swallowed hard and tried to scream. No sound came out; her mouth and throat were dry as leaves in the winter. She needed water badly.
“Sweetheart, can you hear me?”
The voice sounded muffled and distant, as if it were echoing from the end of a long tunnel.
“It’s okay—I’m here, darlin’.” Another stroke against her cheek.
Cobra?Dakota gathered what strength she could muster and attempted to open her eyes. After several tries, they finally flickered open. Shapes formed in her line of sight, and then, as the drug-induced fog that had enveloped her brain began to lift, her gaze landed on him. Cobra’s brows were knitted from worry, but his eyes shone with adoration, the color reminding her of the forest after it rains.
He leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips. “I was so fuckin’ worried about you.” Relief washed over his face as he kissed her again. “Do you want anything?”
Her arm felt as though it weighed a thousand pounds as Dakota lifted it and put it over his shoulder. “I need some water.” Her voice sounded like a foghorn.
Cobra leapt to his feet and went over to the cooler and pulled out a bottle of water. “Do you want some aspirin or Tylenol?”
“Aspirin’s good.” Her throat felt like sandpaper, and when he came back with a glass of water, she curled her fingers around it and drank deeply.
“Let me get you some more,” he said, taking the empty bottle from her. “I’m glad you finally opened your eyes, sweetheart.”
“Everything’s so fuzzy, but I’m starting to remember what happened. That fucking manager arranged all this. What’s his name? Dammit … I can’t remember—my mind’s a wall.” She took another water bottle from him, closed her palm around the two white pills, then put them in her mouth and swallowed.
“The motherfucker’s name’s Jake.”
“That’s right.” Dakota struggled to sit up and Cobra was by her side in less than a second, stuffing pillows behind her as he settled her against the headboard cushioned in a cloud of softness. She groaned and lifted her hand to her aching head. “Why the hell did he do that?”
“Don’t try to figure it out, darlin’. He was a fuckin’ bastard.”
“Was?” Dakota’s hand fell into her lap.
Cobra darted his eyes away then brought them back to hers. “I set him straight. He’s not working here anymore, so you don’t have to worry about him.”
“But he’s still a bastard.”
He laughed then went over and sat on the bed next to her. “Yeah, the fucker’s still a bastard.”
“Why did that Big Pat guy want to hurt you?” The images from her ordeal were now coming back in full force.
Cobra shrugged. “Lotta guys got a problem with me. It goes with the territory of being in an outlaw club. Don’t think about it. The important thing is that you’re okay. You are, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. I was pretty scared, but Big Pat wouldn’t let anybody mess with me. Strange, huh? I mean, he’s the one who was behind the kidnapping.” Dakota shuddered and brought her knees up. “I still can’t figure it out.” She reached out and grasped Cobra’s hand in hers. “Through the whole thing, I just knew you’d come for me.”
Cobra pivoted and tugged her to him, embracing her tightly. “Fuck yeah, darlin’. I’ll always have your back.”
And Dakota believed it. Gone were any of her concerns that Cobra wasn’t into their relationship as much as she was, and when he sealed his mouth to hers and gave her a kiss that trumped all other kisses in her life, she fought back the tears of happiness that threatened. His kiss was passionate, tender, and filled with yearning, and Dakota knew exactly where she stood with him the second Cobra pulled back from her and she saw his eyes brimming with emotion.
He turned away and cleared his throat.
Dakota laughed weakly, nearly coughing up a lung in the process. He jumped and patted her gently on the back as the fit subsided. It seemed strange after everything she’d been through, but she couldn’t keep a smile off her face.
“Fuck. I don’t think you’re okay.” Cobra made small, smooth circles with his palm on her back. His gaze seemed to survey her body from head to toe and back again, several times, as if searching for some kind of possible injury he could’ve missed in his assessment. “Do you need anything?”
“Really, I’m okay,” Dakota managed to wrestle out from her scratchy throat. “Nothing hurts too bad. The drug is definitely starting to wear off. How long have I been out?”
She did a mental assessment of her body and realized that was mostly the truth. Where she’d been tied still burned, her muscles twitching with a dull, bone-deep ache, but that was nothing compared to what Cobra must have done to the sick and twisted fuckers who had taken her in the first place.
