Cruel Temptation

by Callahan, Kelli

  I closed my eyes, mortified, wishing I could bury my head in the sand and turn invisible. Invisible would be better.

  “Teresa, not everyone likes to have sex in public,” the man argued, and I risked a glance at him as they stopped a few feet away from us. His face turned a few shades of red, but not from embarrassment.

  “Well, maybe we should spice things up,” she said.

  I felt like the guy was getting backed into a corner. “To be fair, he asked me to marry him up there, and we let our hormones get the best of us. Other than that, it wouldn’t have happened.”

  “Yes, it would have,” Jaxon leaned down and whispered in my ear. There was no way the other couple could have heard it.

  “Congratulations,” she said, a genuine smile curving her lips, but for some reason, I had the feeling I only made matters worse for the guy.

  It was time we got out of there.

  “Well, we have to be going. Enjoy the view.” The words were lame, but I needed to get the hell out of there. Those people might not have seen us having sex, but they heard us, and I didn’t know which one was worse. I reached behind me and took Jaxon’s hand and started walking. There was only an hour left before it got dark. We needed to hurry.

  The trail was up ahead, a dirt road between the trees.

  “Why haven’t you asked me to marry you yet? Do you not love me anymore?” the woman cried to her boyfriend.

  “Let’s pick up the pace,” Jaxon said, and we quickly jogged to the trail until we were out of their sight. “She was so whiny.”

  “That’s not nice. You don’t know their situation. Don’t judge,” I scolded and bumped my shoulder against his arm.

  “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He tossed his arm around my neck as we enjoyed the quiet path. An owl hooted somewhere near us, and crickets started to sing by rubbing their wings together.

  The path opened to the rock quarry, but I was hardly paying attention. My gaze was on my huge diamond ring. I had never seen anything like it before. It had to be over five carats and had two white diamonds on either side of it.

  “You like it?” he asked the most stupid question known to man.

  “Are you kidding? I love it. I love you,” I said, placing my hand on top of his as it laid just above my breast.

  “Good. I’m glad. When I get back from the job, we will get married if you want. I don’t want to wait too long to make you Quinn Steel. It’s been long enough. You need to have my last name,” he said, like a true alpha-male seeking his official stamp.

  “You act like you want your name tattooed on me,” I snorted. All I could imagine was telling the tattoo guy I wanted Jaxon’s name in cursive on my left butt cheek, and I’d bet anything Jaxon would punch the guy in the face for having to look at my ass. A woman would have to tattoo me.

  “I plan on getting your name. It’s why the only space I have free is the one above my heart,” he said.

  I stopped near the quarry, speechless, and grappled with his shirt so I could see his chest. He didn’t stop me. His flesh was warm, and his nipples were hard, reacting to the air, and as sexy as he was, my eyes were on the bare patch of skin that was free of ink. I rubbed my fingers over the silken flesh. His skin broke out in goosebumps, and I dragged my eyes away from his chest and stared at him, flabbergasted.

  “You’re serious? Tattoos are forever. You can’t just erase it, Jaxon.”

  “The last thing I’d ever want to erase is you, Quinn.”

  I stepped back to get a better look at him, but my boot slipped. I reached out to grab Jaxon, but it was too late. My body fell backward into the quarry.

  “Quinn!” Jaxon screamed, and our eyes met as I fell through the air, and if fear was enough, Jaxon would be able to stop me from falling, he was so scared. His face was grim. He jumped inside the quarry and slid down the embankment. “Quinn!” he called out for me again.

  I closed my eyes, a tear dripping down my cheek as the fresh memory of him proposing flashed in the front of my mind. The wind whipped around me and I succumbed to the reality that when I landed at the bottom, I might die.

  The happiest day of my life might turn into the last.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Jaxon

  Watching her fall to her death was the worst moment of my life. Worse than prison, worse than getting arrested, worse than the false accusation that I killed my sister. Her head smacked against a rock, and her body hit the ground with a thud. A snap sounded, and by the way her leg was bent, I’d assumed that was what broke.

  “Quinn? Quinn, baby,” I cried out for her as I ran down the steep dirt cliff. I tripped over my feet and tumbled, rolling down the hill. My face smacked against the ground and I inhaled the earth. My upper back hit against a boulder, but it wasn’t as hard of a hit that Quinn took. I groaned, and the ache between my blades grew, spreading like flames through my nervous system. I got on my hands and knees and shook my head when my ears started to ring. “Quinn?” I tried to stand, but my back still hurt from hitting the rock. I fell, but I refused to give up.

  Quinn needed me.

  I got back up again and zigzagged my way to her prone body. “Quinn?” I fell when I got two feet away from her and then crawled the rest of the way. “Oh, fuck.” My hands hovered over her body. I didn’t know where to touch. The last thing I wanted was to bring her more pain or injury.

  I couldn’t call anyone. There was no service. There was still a mile to go before we got to the car. This wasn’t good. Blood dripped down her temple, and while she was unconscious, she was breathing. Her chest rose and fell evenly, but that didn’t mean anything else wasn’t wrong.

  “Quinn? Baby? Can you hear me, beautiful?” I pushed her bloody hair out of her face and bit back my own emotion. I couldn’t lose control now. She needed me to get her out of her because if I didn’t, she could die. “I’m not about to lose you now, not when I just got you back. Do you hear me? I’ll do anything in this world. I’ll give up everything. Just please be okay.” I placed a kiss on her lips, hoping it was enough to wake her up, but she didn’t move.

  She didn’t kiss me back.

  “Okay, this is going to hurt. I’m so damn sorry, Quinn.” How could a perfect day end so fucking badly? How were shitty things always in the cards for us? It pissed me off, and it made me more determined than ever to give her the life she needed, the life we deserved. My hands roamed her body to check for other injuries, but I wasn’t a fucking doctor. I didn’t know what was happening internally. What I did know? I had to set this leg if I wanted to carry her out of the quarry.

  And I hoped like hell she stayed unconscious because this was going to hurt. “I’m so fucking sorry, baby.” I straight her body out and got her head away from the rock. A piece of bloody scalp stuck to the rock, and my stomach turned.

  I was okay with blood, with guts, with death. Hell, half the time, I was the one making sure my target felt pain, but when it was Quinn? I had never seen a more disturbing thing. Her right leg was straight, but her left leg snapped to the side from her knee. Touching her could do more damage, but not touching her meant I couldn’t carry her.

  “Fuck it. I’m doing it to save your life. I don’t give a shit if they have to take the leg,” I told her, waiting for her to snap at me, to give me a dose of that fierce attitude I loved so much.

  Silence.

  I grabbed ahold of her leg and took a deep breath. “On the count of three,” I said. “One, two—” I twisted leg to the correct spot, and it crunched, whatever that meant, but her leg was straight.

  Her eyes were still closed. I was sweating, nearly gasping for breath from how dizzy I was. I wasn’t going to stop now. I bent down and slung her into my arms, keeping her head stable, so the blood didn’t escape from her more than it already had. The cliff was too steep. I couldn’t climb it without my hands.

  Glancing around, the sun was setting, and the moon rose to the sky, hiding the dangerous rocks in the mistress of the night. There was no other
way up. I had to try. I dug my feet in the dirt, making a nook with each step to gain support. I grunted every time I lifted my leg and rammed into the ground. I was about halfway when I stopped. I’d fall if I kept going.

  “Here!” The guy and his girlfriend from Strawberry Rock were there. I was still too far down to reach his hands. He tossed down the rope that people climbed to get to the top of Strawberry Rock. “Wrap it around your waist, and we will pull you up,” he shouted.

  “I’m too heavy,” I gasped. “She’s first. She’s hurt.” I wrapped the rope around Quinn’s waist, my arms shaking, and my head spinning from the adrenaline rush. “You’re going to be okay, baby.” I tightened the knot and gave a thumbs up to him.

  He pulled with a long tug, keeping the line smooth and gentle. Quinn looked dead with how her body was bent right now. Arms to the side, back bent, and blood trickling down her face. I collapsed against the wall and dug my hands into it and started to climb. There was no way that guy and his girlfriend could lift me. I was too damn big.

  It was hard, but when I made it to the top, he grabbed my hands and dragged me to the rest of the way until I was flat on my back. “I owe you my life,” I said, licking my dry lips. My lungs burned, my chest ached, I felt like I was about to have a heartache.

  “Are you okay? We heard you screaming her name, and we came as fast as we could,” he said.

  “I’m fine. I need to get her to the hospital.” I managed to stand and reached into my pocket to grab the leather wallet that held my cards. It only had a number on it. “Call this number whenever you need a favor. Ask for Steel. Whatever the problem, I’ll do it.” The guy took the card from my hand, questions lingering in his eyes, but I didn’t have time to answer questions. I picked Quinn up and started running down the path we came up on, leaving the couple behind me. I was forever grateful to them, but Quinn was a priority.

  I jumped over the familiar tree laying across the path, nearly falling when my damn ankle gave out. The air hurt as I inhaled hard, and my throat screamed for water. It didn’t make me feel any better when I heard water splashing every time my feet landed in a body of shallow water. I wanted to bury my face in the creek and drink until I was full.

  If I stopped, I was afraid I wouldn’t get back up. The path between the fence posts came into view, and I could have wept with joy— if I had the time. The car was there, and I dug into my pocket, grabbed the key, and opened the backdoor, laying her on the seat.

  “I got you. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” I should have caught her when she fell. She reached for me, and I swore our fingers skimmed each other, but I couldn’t get a hold of her. She slipped right through my fingers. I climbed into the driver’s seat, pressed the hazard lights, and tore out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell. The back end fishtailed, and I sent a cloud of dust into the air, which clouded my view as I drove. Rocks hit the undercarriage, no doubt ruining the car. Like I cared.

  The tires squealed when I got onto the road, the smell of burning rubber drifting through the vents. I glanced into the rearview every few seconds to check on Quinn. She laid so still, and it scared me. Too still. A shaking hand reached for the Bluetooth button, and I called Sebastian.

  “Come on, answer!” I snapped after the first ring blared in my ear. I was impatient, but I was also doing something that was so unlike me, I almost didn’t know how to place the feeling. I was panicked and panicked people never thought with a clear mind.

  “Hey, I was wondering where you were,” he answered finally.

  “Listen to me. Get to the hospital, okay? Quinn fell. It’s bad, Sebastian. It’s fucking bad. She won’t wake up. I’m barely keeping it together.” My voice shook, and my eyes went to the rearview mirror again. I should have never taken my eyes off the road, but my concern was in the backseat.

  A car horn honked, stealing my attention from Quinn. Two headlights blinded me, and I jerked the wheel to the right, barely missing the semi-truck.

  “Jaxon! Jaxon! Are you okay? Talk to me.”

  “I’m fine. Just get to the hospital,” I rubbed my hand over my face and sighed. “Please, Sebastian.” He inhaled when I said ‘please’. I didn’t ever say please.

  “We will be there.”

  I hung up the phone by pressing the red button and drove like I did when I was young. Careless and urgent, only this time, I was trying to be careful, and it was fucking urgent. Rain started to patter against the windshield, and it made my temper fly through the roof. “Of course it would rain. As if anything else needed to get in my way right now,” I didn’t recognize my own voice. It was the darkest I had ever heard it like something sardonic had possessed my vocal cords.

  Ten minutes later, I pulled into the emergency room entrance and left my car half parked on the curb, flattening a bush, while the other half was on the road. I didn’t give a fuck. They could tow it for all I cared. Her weight was a feather in my arms as I carried her inside the hospital. The air conditioning breezed over us, sending a chill that could only be described as death down my spine.

  Wasn’t that what hospitals were? Death.

  “Help me! Please, she needs help,” I tried to shout, but my voice gave out. I guess I had been yelling more than I thought. “Please!’

  Doctors and nurses both came to my aid. A tidal wave of blue and green scrubs flew toward me, threatening to run me over, but their shoes squeaked and stopped just in time before flattening us to the ground.

  “What happened? What’s your name?” a younger doctor, maybe my age asked. He looked fresh out of his mother’s fucking womb. No way was he going to touch her.

  “Get me a doctor that knows what the hell he is doing!” I barked, but none of the health workers flinched.

  I wasn’t used to people not flinching.

  “Sir, I can assure you that Doctor Flemming is more than capable of taking care of?”

  “Quinn. Quinn Taylor. Please, she fell into a rock quarry. There’s blood, and her leg was broken. I had to snap it back in place.”

  “Get me a gurney. I want a head CT and MRI. Right now,” the young doctor ordered the nurses, and they ran to do what he said.

  Instead of listening to me and doing what I said. I wasn’t used to that. I wasn’t the boss here. The doctors were.

  I laid Quinn on the gurney, and the nurses rolled her away. “Wait, where are you taking her?”

  “Sir, we are going to take good care of her.” Doctor Flemming reassured me, but it wasn’t enough. “We are going to check you out too. You’re bleeding.”

  “I’m fine. Focus on her. If you save her, I’ll donate ten million dollars to your department. Just do it and stop standing around!” I roared, and my dominance finally fell into place. Doctor Flemming saw dollar signs, his young blue eyes that had probably never seen a pair of tits before widened, and he grinned, like cat finally catching a fish.

  “Yes, sir. She’s in good hands?”

  “Steel. Jaxon Steel.”

  The doctor left through the swinging grey doors where they took Quinn, and now all I could do was wait. I sat down in one of the chairs and groaned when my back pinched where it landed against the rock. I had dirt all over me and blood all over me.

  Blood that wasn’t mine, which never bothered me. I’ve bathed myself in a man’s blood before, but it didn’t scare me like this. I was haunted. My hands violently quaked, and I laced my fingers and pressed my palms together to stop the tremors.

  All I could do was wait.

  I had never been good at waiting.

  Prison did not teach me patience. It only made me hungrier for what I really wanted.

  “Jaxon!”

  I saw Sebastian, Heaven, Grayson, and to my surprise, Owen. They jogged toward me, and Heaven’s eyes looked me over to see just how serious this was. The guys looked tired, and Heaven had new bruises along his knuckles. Owen looked like hell, which made sense. He had been paralyzed for twenty-four hours.

  “What the hell happened, Jaxon?
” Sebastian sat down next to me and took in my haggard state. My pants were torn, blood and dirt mixed on my skin to form a paste, and I couldn’t stop shaking my leg. My anxiety was through the roof.

  “You look like shit,” Owen grunted. “Is the pretty thing, okay?” Owen stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets and stared down at his scuffed boots. He had his mouth tilted to the side in a puckered frown, a face he made when he knew he had been in the wrong. “I’m sorry.” He didn’t say why, but men like us hardly did. If we said sorry, we knew what it was for, but we were too damn proud to say the words.

  “Thanks,” I acknowledged, hung my head. “I don’t know what happened. We were standing there. She said ‘yes’ to marrying me, and then she was falling. She fell right out of my reach. I could have caught her. It was my job to keep her safe, and I failed.” I hit my chest. “Now, she’s probably fighting for her damn life.” I tried to straighten my back to stretch out the cramp, but I couldn’t move. It hurt too much.

  “She’ll be alright. She’s a tough, cookie,” Ingrid said, trailing along with Louis.

  “You told her?”

  “She came out of the room when we were leaving, so I said something,” Heaven shrugged. “Did you know they are bumping uglies? Gross, right?” Heaven kept his voice low, but Ingrid still came around and smacked him on the back of the head. “Ouch.” He rubbed the spot, then sat down in the chair on the other side of me, crossing his arms.

  I ignored Heaven and thought about Quinn. “She said she would marry me,” I repeated. It sounded like a faraway dream, a wish that would have burnt out with the shooting star flying across the sky. “And then she was gone.” I kept thinking about it over and over, obsessing about the exact moment she fell. Did I have time to catch her? Why did she fall? What else could I have done? We shouldn’t have been standing so close to the fucking ledge. It was blinded by happiness and everything that was Quinn, her eyes, her smile, her lips that were still swollen from the primal kiss we shared on Strawberry Rock.