Pierce~
Pierce and Natalie sat in the grass, leaning on each other while they breathed the clean oxygen from the tanks until their breathing became less labored and more even. After confirming no life threatening injuries, the fire paramedics offered to have them taken to the hospital, but both declined, knowing that being under Caleb's medical care was just as good and twice as comfortable.
Natalie leaned forward and pivoted her head around looking at the ground.
"What are you looking for?" Pierce asked.
"My shirt. It's out here somewhere I just don't see it."
In all of the commotion it had barely registered with him that she was only in her shorts and a bra.
"Jeez Nat, I'm sorry, I didn't even realize," he said, determined to find the missing shirt and turning to his teammates who were all standing around in front of them watching the fire fighters finish up.
"Hey Marcus, have you seen Natalie's shirt?"
Marcus drew his brows in and then looked as if he'd had a realization.
"You mean the one that was wrapped around your face? Yeah it's right here."
Wrapped around my face?
Marcus brought the shirt to Natalie.
Why did they wrap her shirt around my face? Why didn't they take care of her over me?
He was on his feet immediately and eyed his teammates in disbelief.
"Which one of you assholes wrapped Natalie's shirt around my face instead of hers?" he barked.
All eyes went to Natalie who slowly stood and meekly raised her hand as if she were asking a question in school.
"This asshole," she said referring to herself.
"What?" he asked, visibly confused.
"You were unconscious and you were mouth breathing big breaths of smoke. I wanted to make sure you inhaled as little of it as possible, so I covered your face with my shirt."
He smiled as she explained, realizing the only asshole at that moment was him, as he listened and instantly regretted his words.
"I didn't mean that the way it came out." he said, awkwardly eating his words.
The corner of her mouth curled up slightly, showing the tiniest bit of enjoyment in watching him struggle to pull his foot from his mouth.
Thank God for that sense of humor.
"What I meant was that they shouldn't have let you. Someone should have made you cover your own face or given you one of their shirts. You should have been the priority, not me."
"Yeah, well we would have if we had gotten there in time." Hunter said, low and even.
Pierce's brows drew together at Hunter's words and waited for someone to explain what he meant.
"You really think, we'd choose you over her? We don't even like you that much." Caleb joked.
"Hunter, Caleb and I were the first ones on scene, and by the time we got there she had already pulled the two of you out of the garage and into the kitchen." Marcus said, shifting his gaze to Natalie.
Pierce turned to face Natalie staring down at her petite frame in disbelief, trying to run weight ratio analytics in his brain.
"You pulled me out of the garage?" He asked with a mixture of amazement and confusion.
She nodded in confirmation as she maintained his intense gaze.
"How?" his voice was barely over a whisper, sweeping his eyes over her from head to toe as if to verify that she was still half his size.
"We've all been wondering the same thing." Caleb admitted.
She gulped audibly, preparing herself to relive and describe the terrifying ordeal to the men around her.
"I ran, just like you told me to, but I didn't quite make it to the kitchen door. When the package exploded it knocked me to the floor and busted the lights so I couldn't see you. When the gas canisters started exploding the flames gave enough light for me to find you, but you were unconscious. You were taking big breaths and inhaling a lot of smoke so I wrapped my shirt around your face and started pulling you across the floor."
"You dragged me across the garage?" he asked softly.
"I had to. I was so scared that we were going to die in that garage Pierce. I couldn't leave you to go find help. There was no time. I had to move you so I made myself. I forced myself to move you because I couldn't bear to leave you in there."
The second her voice cracked, Pierce pulled her into him and wrapped her in a tight hug. He saw Marcus reach out and gently palm the back of her head and Caleb run his hand up and down her back as they comforted her as a team. The men stood there for a minute or two, letting her draw off of their strength and soak in their gratitude hoping she knew how meaningful her actions were to them.
"You did good, sweetheart." Pierce said into her ear.
"I was so scared." she admitted in a shaky voice that sounded like she was fighting against tears.
"It's okay to be scared. Hell, we all get scared, Nat." he soothed.
She scoffed against his chest at his words.
"You don't get scared." she said with a chuckle as if he were invincible.
Lifting her head, he cupped the sides of her face and tilted her head up at him.
"I was scared tonight. I was scared when I realized that package was a bomb and that you were in the room...I was scared that I might lose you after I'd just found you."
A sweet smile stretched across her face at his admission.
"Well it's going to take a lot more than a bomb in a box to get rid of me." A small chuckle escaped her sweet lips as she spoke.
He lifted his head and let out a deep laugh amazed that her light and playfulness were still intact despite what they had just been through.
"Well that's good to know." he laughed.
"Can I ask you a favor though?"
"Anything."
"Will you help me get this shirt on? I'm freezing, but my arm is almost too sore to lift."
Despite her smile and lighthearted voice, his brows drew together and he made eye contact with Caleb.
"Which arm is too sore to lift, Nat?"
She motioned to her left arm that she had been cradling with her right, holding it in place, which he should have noticed.
"Can I see?" Caleb took a step forward as Pierce took a step to the side.
Once she let go over her arm and let it hang by her side, it was obvious her shoulder was out of place. The ball of her shoulder hung unnaturally low and the socket strained against her skin.
She yanked her arm clear out of the socket to get me to safety.
"That's not just sore Darlin, that's dislocated." Caleb said without any doubt in his tone.
"Does that mean I have to go to the hospital?"
"Nah, I can reset it here if you'll let me."
"Of course. I trust you if Pierce does."
Bringing her eyes to his for affirmation, her words warmed his heart and made him want to beat his chest like a caveman.
"Whatta-ya say, Hollywood? Trust me?" Caleb grinned, already knowing the answer.
"Of course, but let's move this party inside. We can use one of the conference rooms since they are in a different building all together." Pierce instructed.
They entered one of the conference rooms allowing Caleb to examine Natalie's shoulder under the bright fluorescent lights.
"Alright Darlin. This is going to hurt like a bitch, but only for a second, okay?" Caleb grasped Natalie's wrist.
This was not their first time to pop a shoulder back into place and the two men moved in tandem, positioning Pierce in front of Natalie and Caleb to her side. Unbeknownst to Natalie, Pierce wasn't only there to comfort her. His primary responsibility would be to hold Natalie tight against him to stabilize her body as Caleb forcefully pulled her arm to the side.
"Take a deep breath. I'm going to pull your arm out and push it back in, but I am going to do it on the count of three."
Caleb held up two fingers with his other hand, out of Natalie's view, signaling to Pierce that he was going to pull on two instead of three. The element of surprise often kept people from bracing against the pull.
"One..."
He maintained eye contact with Pierce.
"Two!" Caleb grunted as he jerked Natalie's arm out to the side so forcefully it made a popping sound.
Pierce clutched her tight to his chest and held her small frame in place against Caleb's pull. He felt her take a fist full of his shirt and she let out a whimper and a small muffled cry of pain that his chest absorbed.
I hate that fucking sound.
Caleb released his hold on Natalie's wrist once her shoulder had returned to its rightful place in the socket and nodded to Pierce that it had been successfully reset.
Lifting her head from Pierce's chest she let out a hard breath and immediately brought her hand to her shoulder.
"See good as new, it'll be sore for a few days and I'll bring by a sling for you, but you should be fine." Caleb said happily.
Her eyes cut to Caleb with a playful smile as she clutched her shoulder.
"I'll remember that." she sassed.
Pierce helped her put her shirt back on and scooped her tired body off of her feet and into his arms.
"Let's go home," he said.
"You don't have to carry me."
"Oh believe me, it's the least I can do," he joked as he headed toward his truck with his tiny hero in his arms.
*****
Once they got back to Pierce's apartment, he wasn't surprised at all when she headed immediately for the shower and he salivated when she emerged wearing nothing but a tank top and panties.
"You're up." she said as she exited the bathroom.
His eyes immediately shot down to his crotch before fully registering what she meant.
"Oh you mean the shower...right." he stammered before taking the fastest shower of his life.
She was already half asleep in the bed when he entered the room and climbed in next to her. Once she felt the bed sag, she closed the space between them and rested her head on his chest which was quickly becoming his favorite way to sleep.
She fidgeted and sighed next to him and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that something was clearly bothering her.
"What's on your mind, beautiful?"
"Nothing...it's stupid." she huffed.
"Oh yeah? I love stupid shit. Let's hear it." he said enthusiastically.
"It's kind of embarrassing." she admitted with a half smile.
"Ooh even better, lay it on me." his body language was playful as he turned to face her in the bed, being extremely mindful of her hurt shoulder.
"It's just...well...we were having such a good time at Nates, you know...under the blanket...and I was just looking forward to...I mean we were on our way here to..."
The smile that smeared cross his face was uncontrollable as she admitted how excited she had been to sleep with him and how disappointed she was that it didn't happen.
"Anyway, now my shoulder hurts, and my whole body is sore, and you've got a cut on your head, and we're both coughing up shit which is not attractive." she rambled on and on which only caused Pierce's smile to widen.
She is so damn cute.
"I'm just disappointed that we didn't get to enjoy each other tonight...the way we wanted to."
Shifting his weight, he rolled over until he was hovering over her, bracing himself with his arms so as not to put too much of his weight on her sore body.
"You know, I always wondered if God would be able to find a woman that's as horny as I am, but boy did he deliver when he brought me you," he said with a flirtatious smile before he dropped his mouth onto hers in a sensual kiss. His kiss was slow and lazy, nothing rushed, nothing frantic or hurried, just slow...rhythmic...deep kisses that brought out the sweetest sounding moans from her throat as his tongue plunged deep and massaged hers. He pulled away slowly and watched her eyes flutter open and lock onto his.
"I don't want any part of you to be hurting when I make love to you Natalie," he whispered.
"Tonight, let's sleep, and we'll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow."
The most beautiful, accepting smile spread across her face and she planted one last kiss on his lips before she agreed.
"Okay then," she said, smiling up at him. Perfectly content.
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