Kellie was numb. Her hands were frozen, her ass had long since gone to sleep and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt her toes, but her heart, it ached. She watched the still form of her grandmother and inside she wept. Her eyes were grainy and swollen from tears already spent.
Grandma hadn’t moved since they’d made the trek from the ER to her room in ICU. Her head and neck were braced because the doctors weren’t ruling out some sort of head trauma, and a tube was stuck down her throat to help her breathe.
“Here, eat something.” Quin put a package of toaster pastries in her hand.
She glanced from the food to him. “I’m not hungry.”
“Yeah, you told me that already. Humor me, please?” He rubbed the side of his face, which was still red and imprinted with the textured wall he’d leaned against. He’d slept for maybe half an hour, which was more than she’d managed.
Eating was the last thing on her mind, but she needed to pull it together. Grandma depended on her to make sure things were taken care of, but for once it was nice to lean on someone else for a change.
“Thanks,” she mumbled, pulling out one of the frosted squares. Quin had opened the packaging for her, as if he knew even that was beyond her.
“Think they’ll make us leave?”
She glanced at the clock. Visiting hours were every other odd hour between seven and seven. It was nearing eight o’ clock.
“Maybe. I need to call Mary and let her know I won’t be in today. Shit.” She rubbed her face and leaned forward, putting her elbows on her knees. “I have three appointments today.”
“Move them.” He rubbed her back.
“Yeah, I guess.” The dollar signs hurt though. How much was this hospital visit going to cost? What about long-term care? What if Grandma died? How was she going to pay for all of this?
She dug her phone out of her pocket. Mary would be getting home from taking Sam to summer school. Usually it was Mary she would call to hold her hand through the rough times, but she had enough going on without Kellie’s problems. It didn’t change the fact that she wanted her best friend there with her. She put the call on speaker and propped her chin on her fist.
“Aye, chica, what are you doing up so early?”
Kellie sucked in a deep breath. She wouldn’t cry. “I haven’t been to bed yet.”
“Hm?”
It would be harder if she dragged it out. She needed to just tell her and get it over with. “Hey, I’m not going to come in today. Grandma’s in the hospital.”
Mary sucked in a breath. “What happened?”
Kellie squeezed her eyes shut, the images of Grandma out cold in the bathroom, being put on a stretcher, in the ambulance and at the hospital playing on a reel in her head. “We don’t know yet, but it doesn’t look good.”
“Do you need me to come up there? I’ll be wherever you are in half an hour.”
It warmed her heart that Mary would drop everything for her, but she already had support in place. She reached for Quin’s hand and twined their fingers. “No, Quin’s here with me. I’m fine. Take care of the shop. Can you call my appointments for me?”
“Consider it done.”
They chatted for a few more minutes and she filled Mary in on where they were, but held off relating the exact order of events. She wasn’t ready to talk about that again. She hung up and leaned against Quin. The narrow bench set against the window was only mildly comfortable. She curled her legs under her and let Quin pull her against his chest to cradle her.
“It’s Monday, isn’t it?” Quin sighed.
“Yeah. Forget something?”
“Shit. I was supposed to be at Penny’s in half an hour.” He held his phone up and tapped in the pass code.
“1, 2, 3, 4? Really?”
He chuckled. “It’s so Josie doesn’t accidentally call China on me.”
The background of his phone was his face mostly obscured by blonde curls and the chubby face of a little girl she recognized now. He dialed a number and put the call on speaker, as she had.
It rang three times before it was answered.
“You’re calling to cancel, aren’t you?” Penny’s voice was flat, pissed-off female.
“Yes, but not for the reason you think.”
“Oh? So you didn’t go out last night and get trashed?”
Quin stroked Kellie’s side. There had been drinking, but neither of them had been drunk. “Penny, I’m at the hospital with Kellie.”
Penny gasped.
“We’ve been here all night and I don’t think we’re leaving for a while.”
“What happened? Is she okay? I’m guessing it’s not one of the guys?”
Kellie pressed her face against Quin’s shoulder and inhaled the lingering fragrance of his cologne.
“The guys are fine and so is she. It’s a family thing on her side.”
“That’s terrible.” From the sound of it, Penny was genuinely concerned. “Do you guys need anything? Breakfast? Toothbrush? Cards?”
Quin nudged her but she shook her head. She wasn’t up for an official baby mama introduction.
“No thanks. We’re fine for now.”
“Well, give her a hug for me, okay?”
“Will do. Let Josie know I’ll see her later?” When Penny hesitated to reply, he added, “I mean it, Pen. I’ll come see her. I’m serious.”
She sighed. “How about you surprise her?”
“Fine, but I’m coming over.”
“I’m not saying you can’t, I just don’t want to get her hopes up.”
“I’m going to do better.”
“I want to believe you, but you have to show me. You’re a good guy, Quin, but you’ve never had to be a dad before. When you can, come by and we’ll work it out. Be with Kellie.”
“That’s where I am. Tell Josie I love her?”
“I will. Keep me updated on what’s going on, okay?”
“I will. Bye, Pen.”
He hung up and wrapped Kellie tighter. Things were terrible, and it was an odd turn of events that the one person who she wouldn’t have expected to be a strong support was the one person she wanted with her the most.
* * * * *
“Hey, doll, wake up.”
Kellie blinked up at Quin, disoriented and aching.
“The doctor is here and wants to talk to you.”
Grandma.
The hospital.
Things sucked.
She pushed up, not completely sure how she’d wound up mostly on Quin’s lap. She rubbed at her eyes, feeling more befuddled than refreshed after her nap. A doctor she hadn’t met yet and the nurse on duty stood in the door to the room.
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
“It’s fine. You’ve had a rough night. I was just telling your boyfriend here that we want to run some tests, so we’ll be taking her to prep for that. She’s not going to be back here for a few hours. You might want to take the chance to go home and get some rest. I understand you’ve been here all night.”
“But what if something happens?” And what if she wasn’t there if it did?
“Nothing will happen. It’s perfectly normal, but if you’re needed we will call you.”
Quin stood and offered her his hand. “Come on. Let’s go home and grab a shower. We can come back up here in a few hours.”
The correct decision was beyond her. What did one do in a situation like this? She was torn between staying with her grandmother and recognizing that at some point she needed to take care of herself.
“Okay.” She took Quin’s hand and let him pull her to her feet.
After squeezing her grandmother’s hand, Kellie followed Quin through the halls, down the elevator and out to his truck. She didn’t even remember pulling into the parking lot. Hell, it wasn’t that long ago she’d been here for Carly and the people hurt in the fire.
The drive back to the house was a blur. A few hours had passed, not enough for things to change, but the house was different. Forei
gn. The energy was gone, leaving behind a husk, a shell that had once contained the vitality that made her want to push forward.
Quin opened her door. Somehow she’d missed him cutting the engine and circling to her side of the truck.
“Come on, doll.”
She stepped out onto her driveway and squinted at the old house. It looked sad with its peeling paint and emptiness. Digging the keys out of her purse, she crossed the paving stones and went to the front door.
Things were going wrong, but she needed to get her feet back under her and get it together. Quin was a saint for putting up with her through the night, but she had to be able to handle it on her own, even if she didn’t need to.
“Are you hungry? Do you want me to leave you alone? Should I stay?” Quin shut the front door behind him, plunging them into near darkness, at least until their eyes adjusted. The house was oddly silent.
She didn’t want to be alone. Pivoting to face him, she flattened her hand against his chest, his heart beating against her palm. “I want you to stay. Can you?”
“I’m all yours, doll.”
The light filtering through the half circle of glass made a halo around his head. He was no angel but he’d proven himself to her. She couldn’t love him now, but given time she would. She’d been attracted to his strength and confidence, it hadn’t hurt that he was easy on the eyes, but it was the way he cared about her that kept her there, wanting him.
Though he’d hugged and held her time and time again while at the hospital, she wanted to feel him surrounding her again. She needed to remember that she was alive.
“Is it weird I want to have sex? Right now.”
She couldn’t make out his features, but his body language didn’t change. He lifted a hand and pushed her hair behind her ear. “No. Sex makes you feel alive.”
His words echoed her thoughts.
He stepped closer and cupped her face in his hands gently, as if she might break. She turned her face away and fisted his shirt in her hands.
“I don’t want easy.”
One hand slipped up into her hair, fisting it until she felt a prick of pain. He kissed her cheek. “You like the hard way, don’t you?”
“You wouldn’t like me if I didn’t.”
He grabbed her ass with one hand and jerked her forward. The hold on her hair allowed him to force her face to his for a deep kiss. She dug her fingers into his shoulders, the hard muscle yielding very little to her tight grasp.
She wanted him naked, she wanted to fuck, to feel. She shoved at his chest and snorted when he so easily gave up. Silly man. She backed up into the living room, pulled her shirt over her head and let it fall to the ground. Quin followed her, the gleam in his eyes predatory, but she was not prey. She allowed him to come to her, and at the last moment she grabbed the hem of his shirt and jerked it up and over his head, revealing the rippling muscles honed by hard use. She slid her hands down the planes of his chest, scraping her fingernails over the dark discs of his nipples.
Quin groped for the catch on her bra. “Stupid fucking things are guyproof.”
“You need more practice.” She pushed his hands away and looped an arm around his neck, pulling him in for a toe-curling kiss. He thrust his tongue into her mouth and pulled the elastic band holding her hair up so he could get a better hold.
Lust, better than any coffee, coursed through her veins. She was going to fuck him. They should have been making sweet love after their emotional non-admitting how they felt about each other, and instead they were about to have hot monkey sex in her living room.
She cupped his dick through his jeans and rubbed the length. Her pussy clenched, wanting him to thrust hard and deep. Maybe it was the wrong time, maybe she should act with more decorum in the wake of everything that had happened, but for now she was shutting off her brain and just feeling. And he felt good.
Twisting her arm behind her, she flicked the closure on her bra open and shrugged it off. Almost immediately Quin covered a breast with his hand and rolled the tight peak between his fingers. She moaned into his mouth and squeezed him.
“I want you,” she said, shoving him back.
Caught off guard, he fell onto the couch, his breath whooshing out. She tabbed his jeans open and knelt between his legs.
“Damn, I’m not arguing.” He lifted his ass and pulled out his wallet as she hooked her fingers into the band of his jeans and underwear and pulled them off. She had to pause to get his shoes and socks off as well, but she had him naked and on her couch by the end of it.
“You want to screw, don’t you?” Quin pulled her up and stared into her eyes. They had the same bug, the same itch to scratch.
“Yup.” She pushed out of his hold and stood. He was hard and she was ready. Quin grasped the button on her jeans and jerked it open. She kicked out of her shoes and helped him shove her clothes off.
This time she wanted to be on top. She straddled his lap, his cock standing at attention between them. He flipped his wallet open and pulled out a condom. She took it from him and opened it using her teeth.
“You’re going to break your teeth doing that,” he grumbled.
She smirked.
“What’s that look for?”
She rolled the condom on. “I just realized you’re a DILF.”
“A what?” He blinked.
“A DILF is a Dad I’d Like to Fuck.”
“Well, fuck me.”
She rose up on her knees. “I think that’s the point.”
He grasped his cock and slid the tip through her folds. She rocked her hips, wanting his length inside, but he teased her, pulling it forward and over her clit instead. She wrapped her hand around his wrist and held him steady, their gazes locked as she lowered herself onto his hard length. She groaned and closed her eyes, relishing the feel of him touching her inside and out.
Their breath mingled. He feathered light touches over her clit, his other hand squeezing her ass. His lips traced a line over her collarbone. She dug her hands into his hair and forced his head back for a kiss. It was his turn to groan when she lifted and thrust back down hard. He helped her, lifting her hips in both hands and slouching down just enough so he could thrust up to meet her.
She rolled her hips and his cock hit just the right spot, sending off little ripples of pleasure through her body.
“Mm, again.”
The muscles in his arms stood out in thick cords. He was waiting for her.
Reaching between them, she rubbed her clit as he guided the pistoning motion of her body. Quin pushed her hand aside and rolled the sensitive bundle of nerves between his fingers.
“Oh!”
Mini bolts of ecstasy pierced her. Quin moved her hips in a circular motion, rubbing her mound on his pelvic bone while his fingers continued to strum her even higher.
She tossed her head back and groaned as release hit her. Quin continued thrusting, light and shallow, drawing it on and on until his flesh jerked and twitched deep within her channel. He grunted and leaned his head against her shoulder while they both struggled to catch their breath.
Several moments later they still sat, stacked like pancakes. She ran her fingers through his hair and stroked his shoulder.
“Thank you,” she murmured against his temple.
“No need to thank me for anything.”
“Still, thanks for being with me tonight and holding my hand.” Her heart ached in pain and swelling emotion she wasn’t ready to face.
“I’m not good at this kind of stuff, but I’m trying.” He leaned back, his hands still creating trails of warmth across her body. “Why don’t we take a shower and get some sleep? We could both use it.”
As shitty as her day had been, that was the perfect ending, however Quin’s phone rang. She leaned over and grabbed it from where it had been discarded on the side table and offered it to him.
He grimaced. “I do not want to be the boss right now.”
She kissed his temple. “Answer it.”
&
nbsp; He sighed and tapped the green button. “Hello?” This time he didn’t put it on speaker but she caught a few words, enough to scowl along with him. He didn’t look at her but his grip on her thigh tightened. “Shit. Have you called the cops? Good. I’ll be there in a bit.”
She didn’t want to let him go. She wanted to keep him there with her, but couldn’t. Disentangling their bodies, she gathered their clothes and pulled the minimum requirement of underwear and shirt back on before padding to the kitchen. While Quin might not be staying, she could offer him something to eat and a shower before he had to leave and she crashed for the duration.
He followed her to the kitchen, jeans and underwear mostly in place.
“What was that about?”
He leaned against the counter and watched her assemble two sandwiches. “Someone trashed the A/C units at the gym. Totally wrecked them, like with a baseball bat or something. This is getting out of control.”
She handed him a sandwich. “Eat, then go take care of it.”
“I want to stay here with you.”
“And I want everything back to normal.” She kissed his cheek. “Eat.”
* * * * *
The next morning, Quin pushed the front door of Penny and Chad’s house open and tiptoed in.
“Penny, have you seen my keys?” Chad strode past the entry toward the kitchen. A second later he hit reverse and backed into view. They couldn’t be more different. Chad was husky, blond and brown-eyed to Quin’s leaner build, black hair and blue eyes. “Hey.”
“Hey, Chad. How’s it going?” He stepped into the living room and offered his hand.
“Pretty good. Penny—”
“I told you your keys were in the laundry room. You left them—” Penny paused in the hall and stared at Quin. “Hi.”
“I get it. You didn’t think I’d show up.” He’d given them plenty of history to make that assumption valid, but when he said he would do something, he did it.
“That’s not true. I didn’t know if you would still be with Kellie. How is she?” Penny wrapped her arms around him and planted a kiss on his cheek.
He squeezed her against his side. “Not good. A lot of wait and see.”
The Harder He Falls: 2 (So Inked) Page 26
