The poor guy remembered a lot of things, but he couldn't just jump out and start moving again. He felt how Duke covered his ears again. However, his pounding heart was making a louder sound than the thunder. Also, the heat in his face made it harder for him to appear normal. His quivering was now rooted in the fact that he couldn't whine.
At least, he was only embarrassed—not deadly scared for his life.
Rowan began working on the dinner again after a few more minutes. On his fingers were paper bandages to keep them from bleeding. Duke would dress them properly later since Rowan needed to work on the dinner before everything cooled. Also, a song was playing in his ears just to keep him from hearing just how loud the thunderclaps really were. He didn't even realize they already stopped.
"All right… just needed to let this cook longer slowly." Rowan had a smile on his lips after propping the casserole inside the oven again. He then cleared the used places and cleaned the tools he touched. Aside from the lit oven, everything else was just as they were before he entered this place that evening.
"Duke, I'm all done!" Rowan called out as he turned off the music, but he caught sight of Duke running to the back door next to the kitchen's entrance. Amidst the torrential rains that followed the thunderstorm, Duke pulled a man from outside and into the kitchen.
Duke, in a somewhat scary tone, commanded without looking, "Rowan, push the island out of the way. Boil some water and get my kit from the room."
Rowan didn't question things. Seeing how Duke was a doctor, he figured those men came to ask for help. Right, there were two more who followed the injured man inside. The poor guy fetched the heavy black bag from inside Duke's bedroom. He brought it to the kitchen, seeing how Duke pulled out a gurney from under one of the cabinets.
"Load him," Duke told the men as he rolled his sleeves up. He then noticed Rowan walking with the bag. "Please set it on the rolling table."
"Okay." Rowan saw how the other males looked at him, but he only worked on getting the rolling table out from the side. He long noticed those things hidden there. So that was how it was. He just made sure the movable island was not in the way of anything. The oven shouldn't be disturbed as well.
Just like that, Rowan watched Duke operate on the man on his table. Blood started dripping down the gurney, and Rowan watched the blood stream down the drain at the end. So… in place of the animal blood that Rowan butchered, Duke would have his patient's blood.
However, the man was not even responding anymore. In the end, the person just died even before Duke was done. He just glanced at the sour-faced men. "He lost too much blood. Also, you forgot to call me as soon as he was run over."
"Do you know how important that man was to us?" One of the burly men took out a gun, making Rowan gasp in terror. However, Duke only stared at it as if he was not scared of it.
"It's not my problem anymore. I can't save everyone, especially if they were beyond saving." Duke slowly moved to take a scalpel from the tray nearby. "I won't ask for payment anymore. Leave my house if you want to keep your lives."
The second man took out another gun, but before he could even get it out of his wet jacket, a knife flew to pierce right through his eye. He instantly died at the hit, shocking Duke and the other man at what happened. The first man moved his gun in Rowan's direction, but Duke swung his hand and drew a deep cut across the man's neck. He felt how his neck was filled with blood, soon dying in a few seconds.
It was just that Duke only turned to find Rowan who flattened himself against the counter, the knife stand within his reach. Duke only smiled in his direction.
Rowan murmured, "Sorry, I panicked."
"How was it? Is this the first time you had to kill someone?" Duke walked toward the trembling man and used his clean hand to caress Rowan's cheek. "Did they scare you?"
"…are you okay? He was going to shoot you…" Rowan answered in a whisper again.
Duke looked down at his own body before pinching a part of his sweater and bringing it up for Rowan to see. "He did spray some blood on me, I guess."
Rowan used two hands to touch the stain and rubbed it to make sure it was just a blood bead. He then sighed in relief before smiling at the other. "That's good… I thought you'd be hurt. Uhm… what do we do about them now?"
The poor guy looked over Duke's shoulder to find the three dead bodies in their kitchen. It was good that the oven was on Rowan's side of the room, or else blood might have gotten on its window. Then again, he felt Duke use his hand to hold Rowan's chin. Duke made Rowan face him as he smiled at the poor guy.
"Don't worry, Reeva will take care of those."
That was all he said before leaning down to seal their lips again. Unlike earlier, however, Rowan didn't freeze and moved his head to accommodate more of the kiss. His arms even circled around Duke's neck, his mouth reciprocating the ravishing Duke was giving him. Duke pressed Rowan against the counter, making the other cling to him harder.
It was just that—ding! The oven finally finished cooking their dinner. At the breakage of his reverie, Rowan felt like a blush covered his face again.
Duke pulled back a little and licked his own lips. "I guess we need to have dinner first before having desserts. Don't you think so, too?"
"…uhm, I think we should call Mr. Reeva first."
…
Present time…
In the end, the police still came to check up on the people. After all, someone died. Rowan and Reeva were sitting at the side, cleared from the interviews by the police. They just needed to collect that knife Rowan concealed under his belt.
Everyone in the venue spoke about how the gunman shot Rowan first. Even if it was suspicious, Rowan only protected himself from the person. He could also get arrested for the injury, but that was for another day. Rowan didn't kill anyone; he even saved the survivors after dealing with the gunman.
"I'd have to make this disappear." Reeva got up from his seat and rubbed Rowan's head. "I'll just get someone to drive you back to your hotel. Just wait for Duke to come home, okay?"
"I won't open the door for anyone else," Rowan promised. He just hoped he kept that one intact.