the art of discipline.

6. S T A Y

"No, you shouldn't. I don't want you to be by yourself, without any supervision when you have broken ribs and bruises everywhere--not to mention that you're coming down with some kind of cold too. You can't look after yourself."

Lily felt her cheeks heat up slightly. She wasn't going to deny that she felt like she could be getting sick--but she knew the reason she had a fever wasn't because of that. Coen must've heard her sneezing last night and this morning.

Lily felt guilty. She felt as though she was soaking up all of Coens time like a sponge. She felt like a pity case he'd plucked from the streets to fix. But she wasn't just a pity case. She could handle herself. She was just fine. She didn't need Coen--or his brother. She'd been with them for days now! Lily had decided it was time for her to get back to her life. But she didn't think these mystery men would agree on that without some convincing.

"I...*aaachooo!* am...*acho!*...fine!*aaachoooo!*"

"You don't sound very fine." Blaine wandered around the corner in a crisp white dress shirt with black pants and black leather dress shoes. His shirt emphasized the ridiculous size of his chest and biceps. His stethoscope was draped around his neck. Lily almost gawked at him. Coen was a work of art too--she felt her panties become soaking wet every time she saw him. They were definitely brothers!

"You want me to check up on her before I leave for work, Coen?"

Coen nodded his head in response.

Lily decided her best bet was to hide under the covers--so hide she did. She quickly threw the covers over her head and began wriggling further and further down the bed. She heard a giggle from Blaine, "how old are you again?" Coen let out a deep, raspy laugh.

"Twenty-three." Lily replied.

"And you're still scared of doctors?" Blaine asks.

"Shut up!" Lily's reply is only just audible, it's muffled by the blankets.

"How about...I make a deal with you. You let me change your bandages and do a general check up--and I'll buy you some Ben & Jerry's after work."
Blaine offers.

Silence.

Lily slowly, sheepishly emerges from beneath the blankets. Coen pulls back the blankets except for one, which he wraps around Lily.

"I'm going to go find some dressing for your leg. I'll be right back."

Coen cooed into Lily's ear, telling her to relax. She laid on her back, eyes fluttering closed. Blaine came back, he sat cautiously on the edge of the bed before moving closer. He lifted the blanket off of Lily's leg, quickly spotting the bandage--half covered by a much too big pair of boxers. Blaines fingertips brushed against Lily's inner thigh--she shivered gently. He pushed up the leg of them until her wound was exposed and began removing the bandage.

"Can you lift up your leg a tad bit for me sweetheart?"

Lily lifted it slightly, hoping it would be enough.

"Thank you." Blaine responded.

He placed her leg on his lap and began to unravel the fabric bandage that had been tightly wrapped around it. With every brush of his fingertips, she felt a small jolt of electricity.

But there was something bothering her too...

Why are these people helping me?

They could just be genuinely good samaritans, without rhyme or reason. But there aren't many of those on this earth.

What if they had some kind of ulterior motive? But what would it be? And wouldn't she have realised that by now?

Coen and Blaine had been treating her like a princess since the minute they met, it was odd to her. The fact that they'd taken her in, without knowing anything about her, insisted she stayed with them and let them take care of her...

"What did I do to deserve this?" She wondered to herself.

Blaine had already removed the soggy gauze from lilys leg. He wiped around her wound, cleaning it up a little. The position of her injury made it a tad too easy for Blaine to brush his hands against more than just her inner thighs. It was softer than a butterfly kiss--but Blaine must've felt something similar to what she felt, because he caught her eye for a brief moment.

"Lily..." Coens voice trailed off, he sighed heavily--as if to say that he couldn't find the right words.

"I know it's going to be a sensitive subject for you, especially right now. We understand that it's still quite likely very fresh in your mind--what happened. But, I suppose what I'm asking is if you'd mind telling us what happened the night we found you. And whether you want to get anyone involved--"

"No, no. I don't want to get law enforcement involved if that's what you mean." Lily sat up straight, pulling her body away from Coen and Blaine.

"I wasn't raped. It was just heading that way. To be honest, I don't know what would've happened. I think if you two hadn't have come along, I wouldn't still be alive. They would've left me there, I know it. There's no question about it. I was almost unconscious, about to be raped--likely by more than one of those...creatures. I don't know. I don't...I don't want to think about it. I'm fine, that's all. I'm fine."

"The first step in moving through this is accepting the opposite. You're not fine. You can't be. You'll be scared, you'll be on your toes all the time--for a while at least. Looking over your shoulder, wondering who you can trust and who you can't. I suppose we just wanted to know if you wanted the police involved--if there was any action that really needed to be taken."

"What were you doing there?" Blaine asked. He was gazing straight into lily's eyes.

She blushed and bit her lip, rolling it between her teeth.

"Women have needs too. I, uh. I've been exploring some light bdsm. That club is...well--"

"It's a kink club. There are private rooms, public classes. Mostly the idea of it is to draw likeminded people together over a few drinks--a top and a bottom, whatever it may be. But it's not the kind of place you should be. Stay away from it, Lily. It's far from your best bet at meeting a decent partner."

Lily frowned.

They knew more than she thought...were they into bdsm themselves?

What were they into?

What aspects?

Were they both dominant?

Did they share partners?

Lily had far too many questions to ask all at once. For now, she crawled closer to Blaine and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you, for helping me, taking care of me. For all of this. It means a lot."

_______________________________________

GUYS, I'M BACK.

Holy guacamole, it's been a while.

Enjoy this, I'll be back with more in no time.

- Lily