Page 102 of The Devil's Revelation
FORTY-EIGHT
IZZY
Compromise. We need to meet in the middle sometimes for our relationship work.
“You comfy?” Torque asks me for what has to be the tenth time in the last hour from his side of the bed. It’s sweet, but also annoying.
“I’m fine,” I say patiently. “I’m just sore, Torque, not an invalid.”
“Don’t care,” he says firmly. “I told you I would take care of you and that’s what I’m doing.”
I roll my eyes. No, he’s being an overbearing pain in the ass. “Torque, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry. Medic gave me a clean bill of health and said I’ll be able to do everything again as soon as tomorrow. I can even go to work.”
“No,” he snaps, glaring at me. “You’re going to rest and recuperate.”
“Is that an order from my boyfriend or my boss?” I ask him tightly, irritation flaring inside me.
“Both. You almost died twenty four hours ago, Izzy,” Torque growls at me. “You need to rest and heal. I don’t give a shit what Medic says.”
“So you’re just going to ignore a fully trained doctor’s advice?” I say sarcastically. “Oh, yeah, real smart, big guy.”
His eyes go flinty. “Izzy,” he says with strained patience, “I’m not asking a lot from you, and I would appreciate if you would give me this.”
I fold my arms over my chest and stare at him stubbornly. “I’m a grown ass woman, Torque and I know when I’m pushing myself too far. I’m tired, but I’m not deathly ill. I don’t want to lie around and be lazy. That’s not who I am. You should understand…”
“I understand that in the last week you have almost died twice,” Torque snarls, bolting from the bed to pace. With each word, his voice gets louder. “I understand that I ran in to find you dead on my bedroom floor with my mother doing fucking CPR to try and get you to breathe again, Izzy,” he roars at me. “You weredead. Do you not understand that? Do you not know what that did to me? How I thought I lost you already after I just found you? Only just got to call you mine? All I’m asking you is to give me this one thing and rest so I can know you’re safe and still goddamn breathing.” His chest is heaving when he finishes, and I feel guilt beat at me.
Here I am only thinking about myself and not realizing what a toll this has all taken on everyone else. Especially Torque. “Torque,” I say softly, quickly dropping my arms, and crawling over the bed to kneel in front of him on the edge of it. “I’m okay, Torque.” I try to reassure him, reaching out to touch his chest. He doesn’t pull away from me, but he doesn’t move towards me either. Just stares at me. “I’m breathing, and I’m sorry I haven’t thought of it from your point of view. I just want things back to normal and to live my life without having to worry about who’s coming through the door all the time.
“Even when I was a kid, I hated being sick and lying around doing nothing. It makes you vulnerable, and some of the kids in the foster homes with me were assholes and picked on others at their weakest. I know it’s not the same here, but I still struggle with the idea of lying around and doing nothing without helping in some way. I’m still vulnerable here, because whoever did this to me hasn’t been caught yet.”
“I’ll never let anything happen to you, Izzy,” Torque vows vehemently.
I give him a small smile. “I know you’ll do your very best, Torque, but you can’t be with me every second of the day. You need to be able to do your own thing or we’ll kill each other. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing,” I tease.
“Not the case when it comes to you,” he says seriously. “I’d be happy to have you with me every second.”
“You say that now, but eventually you’ll need a break,” I predict. “It’s not healthy to spend too much time together either,” I add quickly when he opens his mouth to argue. “You have your brothers and friends, and I have your mother and the girls. And don’t try and tell me I won’t be safe with them.”
“Debatable with the way they are,” he grumbles reluctantly. “They’ll rope you into their crazy schemes and I’ll be bailing your ass out of jail.”
I chuckle. “Or I’ll keep them from going to jail,” I reason.
He gives me a bland stare. “Have you met my mother? Or was that not you who was shooting tiny dildos the other day?”
“That was more Syn than your mother,” I point out. “And I proved I could handle a gun, right, so I’m not helpless.”
He sighs and steps into me, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me up against him. “I’ve never thought you were helpless, Izzy. I just want to make sure you know you can rely on me and not have to be so damn strong all the time. Zeb said you didn’t have many people to rely on when you were growing up, and I don’t want you to think I’m going to leave you to fend for yourself.”
“I know you’re not. You’re not like those people, Torque, and I know that. We’re partners, that’s what a relationship is. If I need to lean on you, I will. If you need to lean on me, then do it. I know I can come to you with anything, but I know we’re going to struggle to find our groove too. We barely know each other. So until we do, we need to compromise. So how about I spend tonight in here with you, and you can wait on me hand and foot. Then tomorrow, I get up and move around a bit, hang with your mother and the girls, and then you can come and grab me for a nap.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, I think we can do that.”
“Maybe even a sexy nap,” I say with a seductive smile.
“Only if Medic gives you the all clear,” he says firmly.
I want to roll my eyes, but instead I say, “Okay, I’ll check with him. Should I ask for which kind of sex? I’m sure oral is fine, but we should make sure regular sex is allowed, along with different kinds of positions, right? I know of this one position that might be fun. It’s called…”
Torque presses his mouth against mine to shut me up, but I smile against it. “Damn, Zeb is right,” he drawls when he pulls away. “You are a smartass.”
“But I’m your smartass,” I say sweetly as I pull away and lay back down on the bed and make room for him.
He chuckles as he crawls back into bed with me. “Yeah, you are,” he agrees. “Just make sure I’m there when you ask him so I can see his face.”
“I can do that. Now, turn out the light, cuddle up with me and let’s get some sleep,” I order him. “I need to save up my strength for all the stuff I need to get done tomorrow.”
He does as ordered and holds me close. “Love you, baby,” he whispers into the darkness just as I drift off to sleep.
“Love you too,” I say sleepily and let myself burrow in as close as I can before I fall.
