Free Micah by Kathi S. Barton Page A

once the women came into
her life, the wives and mates of her sons, she’d shine again, much
like she had when his son had been alive.

Chapter 5
     
    Reggie opened her eyes and realized
that they’d drugged her again. Sitting up, she moaned at the pain
and nearly lay back down. But the big man sitting close to the bed
had her full attention. Micah Bentley was certainly worth looking
at when he was awake. Asleep, he was simply gorgeous. Almost as if
she’d said his name aloud, he opened his eyes and looked at
her.
    “ I want to go home.”
Nodding, he sat up and stretched. She could see the bandage on his
shoulder and wondered about it until he stood up. Christ, he didn’t
have a shirt on. There was more to this man than just a simple cop.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
    “ But I want to be here.”
She nodded, and when he took a step toward her, she moved as far
away as she could on her bed. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just
wanted to check to see if you’re still bleeding. Nolan said you
could leave if the bleeding stopped.”
    “ And Nolan would be who?
The guy who shot me full of drugs when I was brought here?” He told
her it was his brother. “Just how the hell many brothers do you
have? I’ve heard of three so far, counting you. Your mother must be
a saint to put up with you three.”
    “ There are six of us.
Boys, I mean. And my mom is a saint. Just ask her.” If there was a
joke there, she didn’t get it. But when he pulled her gown back to
look at her shoulder, she turned her head away. Blood was not her
favorite thing, especially not her own. “It looks like it might
still be seeping. I’ll make sure he looks at it when he comes
in.”
    “ I’m not going to be
here.” When she tossed back the covers, she saw that there was a
cuff on her ankle and all she could do was stare at it. Her
breathing started to hurt; her head pounded hard enough that she
couldn’t hear. Micah was speaking, saying something, but she had no
idea what it was. All she could see was that she was chained up
again. Grabbing the piece of chain, she heard screaming. Reggie
knew it was her, knew that she was screaming, but for the life of
her she could not stop. The pain in her face made her turn, and
when she was jerked around, her chin in a firm grip, she tried to
focus on Micah.
    “ I’m taking it off.” She
felt the chain give and the tightness around her body, her mind,
and heart lessen. “It’s gone. You’re not held anymore.”
    “ He hurt me. They all hurt
me. Chained me to the wall and they hurt me.” He nodded and pulled
her head to his chest. Reggie knew that she should just shove him
away, tell him she was fine, but like before when he held her,
things just felt right. The noises in the room had her pulling
back, but he held her there.
    “ I had to remove the
handcuff.” Someone said something, and Micah laughed. “No, I didn’t
have time to wait for a key. Didn’t you hear how upset she was? I’m
taking her home today. Can you call Nolan and let him know he has
to come see her?”
    “ I can’t afford Nolan.
Just give me some release on-my-own-good-behavior papers.” Micah
pulled her head back by gripping her hair, and she looked up at
him. “I want to leave here before the bill is more than I can
handle. Not that I can handle too much more, but I can’t have it
run up because you say so.”
    “ There won’t be any charge
for you being here. You were hurt in the line of duty.” She frowned
at him. “You saved a few people yesterday. My mom said you did
field work all the while you were talking to the police. Had you
not given them the information needed to take that man out, he
might have killed more. The city is picking up the tab.”
    She pulled away from him. It was
getting to be much too comfortable to be pressed up against his
body. This time he let her go, but he didn’t move away. Reggie
found herself wanting to lick him, just to see if he tasted as good
as he looked. Shaking her