Until Autumn - Sheridan Anne Page 0,60

little whore for Mayson, but you won’t touch me?”

“You’re a pig,” I say, slamming my hands against him again, this time more forceful with all my strength. He stumbles back a step, but it only makes the darkness in his eyes shine that much brighter.

“Oh, you like it rough, huh?” he says. I try to run, but his hand snaps out, gripping my elbow and slamming me back against the open fridge. I half tumble inside it, the contents from the door falling out and dropping around my feet.

My back aches as it slams against one of the shelves of the fridge and I scream out. “HELP.”

Dr. Harding’s hand is pressed against my mouth, but as I struggle against his hold while trying to save myself from having the whole fucking fridge fall on top of me, he frees himself from the confines of his scrubs. “Stop making this harder than it needs to be,” he says, leaning into me and making the fridge rock back and forth.

Harding dives for my scrubs again but as his hand is removed from my mouth, I scream again. “HELP,” I yell, my vocal cords straining as I desperately try to fight him off.

The door is thrown open and Thorne comes racing in with Suzi and two other nurses right on his tail. Dr. Harding whips around, his eyes going wide, but he hardly gets a chance to even let go of me before Thorne is on him.

He grabs Harding and tears him away from me as Suzi rushes into my side, checking over me. She asks me something, but all I can focus on is the way Thorne throws Harding down to the ground and starts pounding his strong fists against his face, intent to cause as much damage as possible.

Thorne grunts and roars with each delivered blow and it’s not until he gets at least five punches in before I realize that a move like this could cost him his career, no matter what the circumstance.

“THORNE,” I yell, racing in behind him and grabbing his arm as he pulls it back to throw another punch. “Stop. You need to stop.”

“Autumn,” he warns, wanting nothing more than for me to back up so he can beat the living shit out of Dr. Harding without putting me in danger.

“Please,” I cry, tears springing to my eyes. “You have to stop. It’s not worth losing your career over this dickhead. Please, we’ll fuck him up in a courtroom and take everything from him, but not at the risk of hurting yourself. Stop. You’ve worked too hard.”

Thorne pulls against my hold once more until a heavy sigh finally has him pulling back. He looks back at me, his gaze sweeping over my tear-streaked face. Devastation shines in his eyes, and within an instant, Harding is forgotten on the ground and Thorne wraps his arms around my body, crushing my face into his chest. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “You’re right.”

“Don’t apologize to me,” I tell him. “I’d like nothing more than to watch him bleed out, but you’re so much more important.”

Thorne’s head rests on top of mine for a brief moment, and I listen as he takes slow calming breaths before taking my shoulders and pushing me back. “Are you hurt?” he asks, his eyes roaming over my body.

“He pushed me into the fridge and the back of my ribs hit a shelf, but I don’t know if it’s done any damage. Maybe it’s bruised.”

“Okay,” he murmurs, his hands soothingly running up and down my arms. “We’ll get you checked out. Suzi will take care of you.”

“What about you?” I ask, taking his hands from my arms and looking down at his split knuckles.

He shakes off my concern. “I’ll be fine.”

“Don’t be stupid. You’re a surgeon. You can’t have split knuckles. You need to get this looked at and cleaned up,” I tell him, looking over at one of the nurses, more than ready to look after my man. “Go and find someone who can fix him up, and not just anyone. Dr. Mayson deserves the best.”

The nurse nods and practically runs from the room as Suzi steps into my side and indicates to my shirt. “May I?” she asks, using a tone that is usually reserved for patients who have fallen victim to a horrific crime, though I guess that’s me now.

I nod and grab the hem of my shirt before cringing as I try to raise it over my head. Thorne captures my hands