The Pet🐾 (Completed)

Chapter 20

Ashley

I wanted more—I wanted him to... but reality came crashing back when he squeezed my hand. I looked at him.
"W-what did you say?" I stammered.

He laughed softly. "I said, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Oh... uh, no, I guess not. You kissing it made it all better, though," I admitted, feeling my face heat up.

"Okay... time to look at your chest," he said.

Chest? What does he mean by that? Is he asking to look at my... oh no. "W-what?" I stammered.

"Your ribs," he clarified, frowning slightly as he looked at me. "I saw them bruised back in the cell."

Oh right... Stop being such a pervert, Ashley. He has no interest in you; he could go find a girl ten times prettier.

I glanced at Sophia, then at Jasper. "Uh... could you guys, um..." I started.

Sophia nodded knowingly. "Say no more." She grabbed Jasper's arm and dragged him out of the room.
"Let us know when you're done," she said with a smirk, wiggling her brows as she shut the door.

I looked back at Roman. He nodded seriously.
"I won't touch anything you don't want me to," he said.

I blushed and slowly pulled up my nightgown. I was wearing white lace panties and a matching bra. I set them lightly beside me and sat back down, staring at my stomach. A big bruise ran from my upper right side down toward the left of my stomach.

I looked at Roman. "I'm fine, I swear," I said, trying to smile convincingly.

Roman studied me, then looked back at the bruise. "I'm going to send Jasper and Sophia to get some ice," he said, and for a moment, his eyes glazed over.

"Hey... you did that weird eye thing, like Jasper," I said, puzzled.

"You noticed? I was mind-linking with Jasper," he said, tapping his temple.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"I was talking to him through my head," he explained. "Our eyes can signify many things. Black means anger—really intense anger. There's also silver and gold."

I remembered Jasper's eyes shifting like that. "And those mean...?"

"Many things," Roman said, leaning forward slightly. "High alert... or most commonly... lust."

He moved closer, our noses almost touching. My heart pounded as I felt his warm breath near my lips. I wanted him to kiss me so badly. A sparkle of gold flashed in his deep blue eyes, and my stomach fluttered...

Suddenly, the door burst open. I jumped, knocking our heads together. I grabbed my gown, covering my lower half while rubbing my head. Sophia strolled in.
"I have brought the—oh, uhh... was I interrupting something?" she asked, as Jasper followed behind.

As soon as Jasper saw me, he spun around and ran out of the room, covering his eyes.
"I didn't see anything, I swear!" he said, holding up a hand as he closed the door.

Sophia approached the bed and saw the bruise on my chest. Her eyes widened.
"Holy hell, Ashley... what the f... happened?" she exclaimed, handing Roman the bag of ice. "I hope this is enough."

Roman nodded. "Thanks."

I explained, "I woke up when they were driving away with me, and I jumped out of the car—knocked into a tree."

They both looked at me. Roman chuckled, grabbing a roll of bandages.
"That's... pretty clever," he said. "Okay, now this might hurt again, more than last time, so be prepared."

I slowly grabbed his hand.
"You should hold her down," he instructed Sophia.

Sophia quickly crawled onto the bed, placing her hands firmly on my wrists and shoulders. She nodded at Roman, who rubbed healing cream over the bruise. It felt fine at first... and then pain shot through me. I tried to lean forward, but Sophia held me down. I squeezed Roman's hand tightly as he massaged the cream in. It felt like forever.

When he finally finished, Roman instructed, "Sit her up so I can wrap it."

Sophia helped me sit upright, and I winced at the pain.
"Don't worry," he said. "The hard part is over." He grabbed the bandage. "All I have to do now is wrap it up—you should be fine in a day."

"A day?" Sophia and I echoed in disbelief.

He nodded. "The cream has special herbs—it heals faster."

Roman started wrapping from the bottom of my stomach up to just under my chest. I nodded, giving permission to continue. The back of his hand lightly brushed my chest. I looked away, cheeks burning, as he tied off the bandage and put everything away.
"You can sleep here—in my room," he said.

This was his room. It was amazing. But... why did he already have women's clothes here? My mind raced. Does he already have someone? My eyes began to water, and I pulled the covers up, hiding under them.

"What's wrong, Ashley?" Sophia asked gently.

I rubbed my eyes. "N-nothing... I'm fine. My chest started hurting a little," I said, trying to sound normal.

Jasper came back in, eyes still covered.
"Can I look this time?" he asked with a smile.

If it weren't for the dream, I never would've thought he could be a danger. I saw Sophia's face light up when he walked in.
"Yes, she's fine," she said.

Jasper peeked through his fingers, checked me, then stood next to Sophia.
"I think it's time we let her rest," he said, hand on her shoulder.

"They really would make a cute couple," I thought.

"Yeah... I'm getting tired myself," Sophia said, standing. "I'll see you tomorrow. If anything happens, just yell for me," she added, leaving me alone with Roman.