The Ramseys Boxed Set

by Altonya Washington

  “With bubbles,” she called before he could walk out the door.

  “Get undressed,” Quay grit his teeth once the words were spoken.

  “Quay?” Ty pointed when he finally turned. “The foam bath is in the overnight case on the dresser,” she told him.

  He muttered a soft curse and practically snatched the bottle from the bag before he left the room. On his way to the connecting bath, he prayed that he’d be able to remember that she was recovering. She didn’t need him coming on to her. That seemed fine as a thought, but in practice it would be murder on the more sensitive parts of his body. Play it cool, Quay. She didn’t trust him not to hurt her. Winning back that trust had to be his top priority. Again, the words sounded fine in his head. Remembering them when all he wanted was her entwined with him beneath the black satin sheets on his king-sized sleigh bed, would be an almost impossible feat.

  “Yeah?!” he heard Ty calling to him from the bedroom.

  “Bring me a towel, please!”

  Quay massaged the bridge of his nose. “Help me,” he groaned.

  ~~~

  He returned to the bedroom in time to watch her maneuver the wide legs of her black sweats across her ankle cast. Leaning against the doorframe, he watched her intently. His seductive black stare slid across the sensuously long length of her legs and he grimaced; actually jealous of her hands where they smoothed along the molasses toned thighs. How he longed to replace her hands with his own.

  Ty gave her hair a quick toss and was about to pull the sweatshirt above her head when she realized Quay had returned. She smiled when she heard him clearing his throat and extended her hands for the towel he waved.

  “Thanks,” she pulled the shirt over her head.

  Quay turned his back before he caught a glimpse of…anything. He was about to walk out of the room when she called to him again.

  “I’m ready to go to the tub,” she said.

  He kept his eyes closed for a second or two before turning. Every single one of his hyperactive hormones responded to the sight of her on the bed in nothing but a towel- and that damned cast- with her gorgeous hair tumbling to the middle of her back. No way would he let this woman walk out of his life. He would not survive letting her go again.

  Tykira’s stare was narrowed inquisitively as she focused on the expression tightening his face. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m good,” he managed the lie. “Let’s do this,” he smirked and tried again. “Let’s get you to the tub.”

  “Quay?” Ty pressed a hand to his chest when he leaned close. “Are you truly okay with me staying here? I can be a handful,” she admitted.

  Don’t I know it, he took note of how much of a ‘handful’ she was. Her supple curves, the full breasts, firm ample-sized mounds that a man could lose himself in… “Your water’s getting cold,” he knew that his thoughts were taking him into dangerous territory.

  Ty was only focused on a hot bath and a good meal. She was totally unfocused on how she was affecting the man she leaned on. The trip to the tub was achingly slow and Quay cursed and savored every minute. Tykira Lowery had the body and face of a goddess yet one could quickly see that she was a force. She was not someone who could literally be pushed aside without very harsh consequences like a black eye or bruised…extremity. But; as overtly as that aspect of her persona was, there was that subtle aura of intense femininity.

  As she leaned on him, her hands curled trustingly around his forearm, her temple brushed his shoulder. She pressed her lips together and looked every bit the determined little girl while hobbling her way to the tub.

  With gentle words, Quay coaxed her to the bathroom. Once there, Ty stopped, her lips parting as a gasp escaped them.

  “What’d you do?” Her eyes widened.

  Quay shook his head. “I figured you’d want to enjoy your bathtime.”

  Ty was speechless after that. The room was already exquisite and spacious, but now it possessed the added effect of sensuality. Candles lit the perimeter of the sunken black and gray marble tub. Their delicious unique aromas swirled throughout the air. Soft music just barely vibrated from the speakers and the huge tub overflowed with white, coconut scented foam.

  “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”

  “I don’t want to hear it,” Quay grumbled softly, knowing she appreciated it. “Just don’t get too wild in here. You have to keep this cast dry. It’s crazy to even think about a bath anyway.”

  “Thanks anyway for helping me to bend the rules a bit,” she said.

  With her gaze soft and lingering, Quay knew she had only to ask and he’d have done anything she wanted.

  Her mind still on the bath, Ty straightened and let the towel slip to the floor.

  “Tyke…” Quay almost lost his hold on her arm.

  “Are you okay?” the raw emotion in his striking pitch stare had taken her by complete surprise. “You’ve seen me naked before,” she said.

  “You don’t have to remind me,” he spoke through clenched teeth.

  Ty nodded, decided silence was best. Quay finished helping her into the tub of foamy water. He propped her casted foot on the stack of fluffy bath sheets he’d perched on the edge of the tub.

  “Do you need anything else?” he came to kneel beside the tub.

  “There’s a hairpin on the towel,” she looked past him. “Could you…thanks,” she said when he placed the clamp into her palm.

  Quay watched, helplessly fascinated as she wound the magnificent black mass into a loose updo and pinned it tight.

  “Mmm…thank you,” she sighed, reclining in the sunken tub.

  Quay didn’t vacate his spot. He longingly studied the bubbles and wanted to delve just one hand beneath the surface and stroke her with his most intimate touch. He wanted to watch her lashes flutter and her lips part as she enjoyed the pleasure he would bring.

  “I’ll be fine,” she felt him watching her, and thought she sensed his concern.

  Quay nodded and patted his hand against the tub. “Call me when you’re done,” he motioned towards a navy cordless phone that was mounted to one side of the black tiled wall above Ty’s head. Standing then, he reluctantly left her alone.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “I’m sorry,” Quest uttered for the fifth time before the weak apology was followed by another round of laughter.

  Quay needed something to take his mind off the woman lounging naked in his tub. It was either call and vent to his brother or have a few drinks and build up the nerve to go and take what he wanted. Of course, he realized the latter would probably earn him a busted lip or a shove down the stairs.

  “Thanks a lot, Q,” he sighed, his dilemma not stopping him from chastising his twin’s bouts of chuckling.

  “I am sorry, man. For real,” Quest swore and cleared his throat in hopes of swallowing what remained of his laughter. “I just can’t believe you left her up there without making a move on her.”

  “I’m losin’ my edge, Q.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re gaining one, if anything.”

  The perception didn’t put Quay at ease. “Gaining what, man? Some punk mentality? Maybe a better word is stupidity.”

  “Wrong. You’re gaining a sense of what it means to love and respect one woman so much that you put what she needs above what you want.”

  Quay massaged his eyes. “What the hell does that mean, Q? I’ve always loved and respected Tyke.”

  “But not enough to keep her close- to be honest with her, right?”

  Silence.

  “You’re in a different place now, my man,” Quest pointed out, “this time, you won’t be able to just walk away. Not for any of the thousands of reasons you could find to justify it. You’re gonna stay and you’re gonna fight to keep her.”

  “What if she doesn’t want to stay?” Quay had to ask. “What if she’s finally had enough?”

  “Dammit man, just tell her how you feel.”

  “But I already told her about Wake-”r />
  “Not Wake, fool. You. You and how you feel about her. No beating around the bush this time. Tell her. If that doesn’t convince her…then you’re in trouble.”

  “Thanks.”

  “There’re no easy answers, here, Quay. You really screwed this up royally. I don’t blame Ty for being suspicious.”

  “Speaking of Ty,” Quay said after he was silent for a time. “I asked her to call me when she was ready to get out of the tub. Q, man I need to go,” he knew Ty would most likely try getting out of the tub on her own.

  After ending the call with his brother, Quay headed back upstairs. He recapped the talk with Quest. It was true- he needed to come completely clean with her. Of course, he knew why he hadn’t. It was something he could only admit to himself. He was afraid. Afraid that she really wouldn’t believe him and then he honestly wouldn’t know what to do. Shaking the unsettling thought from his mind, he took the steps two at a time until he was on the wing to the guest bedroom.

  He approached the bathroom from the hall entrance and knocked. “Ty? Tyke?”

  There was no answer and he guessed she’d gone and gotten out of the tub on her own. He twisted the knob and stepped inside the bathroom. Sensual shock washed over his face when he found her still in the water and asleep. The bubbles were long gone and there was nothing covering her svelte dark frame lying prone beneath the fragrant water.

  “I can’t do this,” he backed away from the tub as he spoke. “Ty?” he called, hoping to rouse her without having to touch her. “Tykira?” he tried again.

  She never stirred.

  “Dammit,” he muttered, kneeling beside the tub then. He bowed his head in a vain attempt to keep his gaze averted. She was in a deep sleep, tiny snores slipped past her throat as she slumbered.

  Quay rolled his eyes and faced the obvious; there was no way he could leave her there any longer. He took a bath sheet from one of the unfinished oak cabinets and carried it to the bedroom. Then, he tossed another across his shoulder.

  “You’re a gentleman, Quay,” he chanted. “You’re a gentleman,” he kept telling himself as he removed his watch and rolled the sleeves of his shirt above his muscular forearms. Effortlessly, he took her from the lukewarm water. His every hormone sizzled in response to what he was viewing- what he was holding.

  Ty had obviously washed her hair, for it was damp and hung in wavy, black ribbons. He held her close to his chest and carried her from the bathroom. His grip was firm in order to prevent her slick form from slipping from his grasp. The sound of his own teeth gritting filled his ears as he fought to keep his composure.

  Tykira didn’t stir once during the brief trip, that seemed to last for an eternity to Quay. He placed her on the bath sheet, he’d spread upon the bed, and would not allow himself the treat of letting his eyes linger over her incredible form. Instead, he focused on the cast she wore and remembered that she was recovering. Dutifully, he began to rub the other bath sheet across her body. He performed the task in a brisk, efficient manner until his baser instincts strengthened. Then, the strokes slowed and became more lingering. Soon, he was smoothing the sheet across spots he’d already dried.

  Ty fidgeted in her sleep and mumbled something inaudible before tossing one arm above her head. The movement thrust her breasts more prominently upon her chest.

  Quay stopped pretending to still be focused on drying her and simply watched. The bath sheet fell from his hand when he lost patience with sight. One hand clenched into a fist and he hid it inside a deep trouser pocket. The other, he used to trace the curve of one breast with the tip of an index finger. He leaned close, pulling the hand from his pocket and bracing it against the bed while brushing his mouth across her temple. He palmed the plump, chocolate mound of her breast more possessively. His thumb just barely grazed a tender nipple.

  “Mmm…” she responded in her sleep.

  The sound was like a dash of cold water to Quay. He snatched away his hand, muttering harsh curses to himself. Quickly, he found a cute, but concealing pair of pajamas. He dressed her rapidly, gritting his teeth again as he eased a pair of lacy panties over her hips. Once done dressing her, he almost sprinted from the room.

  ~~~

  Ty woke about two hours later, content yet mildly confused as she studied her surroundings. Then, she remembered she was at Quay’s. She remembered something else too: she’d been in a tub of bubbly water. Now, she was deliciously cozy in a new pair of PJs. She couldn’t recall making the transformation, so he must’ve done it for her.

  Her groan filled the room then. She experienced her embarrassment post haste as she thought of what a delightful sight she must’ve been- all seductively nude with a big cast on her foot.

  But what about Quay? Had he taken advantage of her submissive state? She didn’t think he had, she would’ve felt certain after affects…she recalled the deliciously bruised state of her sex following their previous…romp Should she ask him? Would she embarrass him? Hmph. It’d serve him right for making her stay with him; knowing all he had to do is look at her long enough and she’d most likely beat him to the bedroom.

  Gingerly, Ty pushed herself up and eased her casted foot to the floor before slowly following with her other leg. Switching on a nightstand lamp, she smiled. Her crutches and wheelchair waited across the room. Tossing her hair, that had dried to a wavy tangle down her back, she made her way to the crutches and headed out the door.

  ~~~

  “What are you doin’?!”

  Ty was halfway downstairs, when she heard him bellowing to her from the bottom.

  “I don’t believe you,” Quay ranted, curving a hand across the banister as he glared up at her. “Coming down here in a cast, on crutches and by yourself no less? Do you want that damn ankle to heal, Ty?”

  “I can’t stay up there all night. I have to eat,” she was too hungry to be fazed by his voluminous reasoning.

  “I was going to bring it to you,” he came up the stairs to finish helping her down. “You can relax in the living room while I get everything heated.”

  Ty’s hand tightened around his. “I hope you weren’t waiting on me to eat?”

  “I wasn’t hungry,” he led her to a huge, worn black suede armchair. He set a pillow behind her back and made sure she was comfortable before leaving.

  Ty dozed in and out completely at peace in the mellow room with Marvin Gaye crooning in the background.

  ~~~

  “It smells great,” she complimented when Quay came to collect her from the living room about thirty minutes later. “Did you cook?” she teased.

  “I never cook,” he eased her curiosity with a haughty look. “That’s Quest. But my ordering skills are gourmet.”

  Ty laughed, allowing him to help her from the chair and out to the kitchen. Quay had set the cozy round table for two and the meal it carried looked as wonderful as it smelled. Quay had ordered Italian and there was a veritable feast. For the next ten minutes, they contented themselves on filling wine glasses and loading their plates with Chicken Parmesan and angel hair pasta tossed with perfectly seasoned steamed vegetables.

  “I can’t seem to remember getting back into bed after my bath,” Ty mentioned after they’d been eating a while.

  Quay continued eating and only offered a shrugged shoulder for reply.

  “Do you happen to know how I got there?”

  The bath was the last thing Quay wanted back at the forefront of his thoughts where it had been for the better part of the evening.

  “Quay?”

  “Hell Tyke, yes I know how you got there. Who else would’ve gotten you out, I’m the only other person here.”

  But Ty was taking great pleasure in torturing him, seeing him so out of sorts. Besides, she had a nagging curiosity to hear him tell her exactly how he’d managed.

  Quay could feel her staring and gave in. Growling a curse, he slapped his fork to the table. “I took you out of the tub, I dried you off.”

  Ty smiled when his onyx stare w
avered and he coughed.

  “I um, I dressed you.”

  Slowly, she nodded. “Thank you.”

  Quay bowed his head, slicing off another morsel of the succulent Chicken Parm. “I did what had to be done.”

  “Mmm…and you always do what has to be done.”

  “Mistaken again. That’s Quest, I’m far more selfish.”

  “Ha! You get no argument from me there.” She took a sip of Riesling.

  “It wasn’t intentional,” he set aside his fork, “not where you were concerned.”

  Ty kept her eyes trained on her plate.

  “Our conversation in the car,” he folded his arms across the front of his shirt. “You asked about that weekend- if it meant anything to me? Did I just want sex from you because you were there?”

  “Quay stop,” she looked up from her plate, “you don’t have to-”

  “You asked if my taking you there was really about Wake Robinson. You asked if I was trying to protect you then, too.”

  “Quay I mean it,” Ty’s warm brown gaze was then fiery with determination. “I don’t want you to get into that. I should’ve never brought it up in the first place. I don’t need an explanation. I don’t want one.” She stood and immediately stumbled on her cast. She waved a hand when Quay moved to help her. She shook her head and hobbled over to the hutch where the crutches leaned.

  Quay knocked a fist to his forehead, “Fool,” he cursed himself when she’d gone from the kitchen. What was he thinking? Hitting her with that her first night out of the hospital? He sat there in silence for a few moments when a thud and then a curse reached his ears.

  “Dammit Ty,” he found her seated on the stairs where she’d taken another stumble.

  “I’m fine,” she insisted, tugging on the frosty pink top to her PJs. “Quay no,” she whined when he lifted her against his chest.

  Ignoring her, Quay carried her back to the guest room. He tucked her in, before taking a seat on the edge of the bed.