Across The Hall (48 page)

and took a drink of his beer, and then continued.

“I told them about Beau harassing Sylvia, and how we were looking at getting some form of protection order. They took pictures of my bruises

and the ADA came in and I had to retel it al again. While I was talking to the ADA, there was word from the hospital that Beau was conscious and

was going to recover. He has some broken ribs and his nose was broken. There was some severe damage to the ligaments in his knee. Aside

from that, there was the nasty concussion he got when his head hit the door frame. Al in al he wil recover. So no worries that I kil ed him, Reed.”

Reed had a guilty look on his face, and I wondered what that was about.

“What about charges? What are they going to charge him with?” Kerri got to the matter we were waiting for.

“Wel , he was already wanted for a whole slew of things. He wil probably be extradited back to Texas, where he’s wanted for smuggling drugs

across the border. There was some other stuff that they were looking for him for, too. He probably won’t be charged with anything in connection with

today unless I decide to press charges, which I’m not going to do because he can counter them. They are looking into the possible break-in into

Sylvia’s apartment.” He squeezed me tighter and looked at me to see if I knew about that.

“They showed me the pendant. I don’t know how else he would have gotten it other than breaking in for it,” I answered Quinn.

“Wel , he’l be charged for that then. They were also going to take another look into Kel y’s accident. They had the reports faxed in and Officer

John said that it looked like an accident, but that they would fol ow up on it. Other than that there real y isn’t anything to tel .”

“Can they charge you with anything? I know it was self-defense, but I don’t know how it works.” I was stil worried about him. We’d just gotten him

back. I didn’t want to lose him again.

“No. Because he choked me I had reason to believe that my life was in danger. I didn’t use deadly force on him, either. I just did what I needed to

defend myself. You have nothing to worry about, Sylvia. Believe me, it’s over. Beau could go after me in civil court, but the ADA and my attorney,

Randy said I would have nothing to worry about. It would likely get thrown out but they didn’t think Beau would even try for it. He has enough legal

stuff going on.”

I was final y able to breathe easily. Quinn wasn’t going anywhere and Beau wouldn’t be coming back. I looked around at everyone in the room

and was thankful for each of them. There was some more questions and Reed and Sloane teased Quinn some more about his ass-kicking skil s.

Final y, everyone was ready to leave. I made Marie leave the dishes, tel ing her that I would do them in the morning. I just wanted to get Quinn alone.

I hugged each of them as they left. I made tentative plans with Marie and Kai to go to lunch with them soon. Once they were al gone, I turned to

Quinn. Neither of us moved. We just looked at each other, al our love and desire for each other shining in our eyes, flowing freely between us. We

both started towards each other at the same time. Each of us realized it and chuckled lightly. We reached for the other and pul ed in close. It was

just what I’d needed. My arms were fil ed with him, as was my heart. I sighed against him and just absorbed the feel of him in my arms.

“Sylvia, love, I was so worried about you. You were al I could think of. I didn’t know if he had hurt you or if he would go back to find you if he

managed to get away. Al I could think about was you.” Quinn’s voice was thick with emotion. “I just couldn’t live without you again.” He kissed the

top of my head and continued down to my check and onto my lips.

I met his kiss eagerly. Our kiss shared everything our words couldn’t. At some point during the kiss, my thoughts shifted from relief to desire. The

picture of him as he walked out of the apartment appeared in my mind. The image turned me on and caused me to groan against his lips. I

visualized him al tense and cat-like as he strode out into the sunlight, the pure maleness of him as his muscles moved with each step. Then I

remembered that I never asked why he was shirtless. I pul ed away and looked up at him.

“Why didn’t you have a shirt on or shoes before you left? You looked like you should have been on an episode of Cops.”

Quinn stepped back as he laughed at that. He walked over and locked the door and turned back to me.

“I had just gotten out of the shower when he knocked on the door. I thought it was Sloane, so I just pul ed my jeans on before I went to answer it.”

He walked over to me and took my hand, leading me to the bedroom, turning the lights off as we went.

“That’s why you didn’t answer when I cal ed.” I said it more to myself than to him. I knew there had to be a good reason he didn’t have his phone

on him.

“Yeah, I left it lying on the dresser. I was just going to shower quick and come to pick you up.”

We reached the bedroom and he pul ed his shirt off and tossed it in the laundry basket. I got another look at his muscles rippling as he moved in

the moonlight. He wrapped an arm around me and pul ed me with him towards the bed.

I ran my hand up his back and over his shoulder and back down again. As soon as I reached for the zipper on his jeans, it hit me. He said he just

pul ed his jeans on and went to answer the door.

“So you don’t have anything on under these?” I raised my eyebrow.

“Nope,” he answered as he began to nibble along my neck.

“Mmmmm,” I liked the visual that popped into my head. I tugged the zipper down and pushed the jeans off his hips before pushing him down onto

the bed.

He pul ed me with him and rol ed us so I was on my back. His kiss was long and deep. I was truly alone with Quinn in my happy place, and it was

al so very real.

It had been a hel of a week. We’d final y gotten confirmation after three long months that everything with Beau was indeed over with. Sylvia’s

pendant was returned and she was final y able to put it al behind her. She never real y came out and admitted that she stil worried about him, but I

noticed she often looked around careful y whenever we left the apartment. She would hesitate before opening text messages, too. I never said

anything to her about it. She never real y wanted to stay at her apartment. She had more or less moved into mine. I knew it was just something she

needed to work through. I hoped now she would be able to get over that fear.

They also put Kel y’s accident to rest, too. There was absolutely nothing to tie it to Beau. I stil had a seed of doubt in my mind about that, but I

guess I just needed to let that go. From al accounts it was just ice and speed and just a tragic accident. Sylvia accepted that, and was real y trying

to let it al go. With Mom’s help, she final y put his house on the market. She stil had his ashes to spread on the lake, but she was waiting for it to get

warmer and go out on the boat with Jason’s dad to do it.

To top off the week, Sylvia had been sick with a sinus infection. I never did get her to go the doctor. She kept insisting she was fine, that it was

just a cold. I kept asking her to go, and final y she relented and let my dad look her over. The antibiotic helped, and she was doing better by the end

of the week.

It was spring break and Easter weekend, but no one left town. Kerri and Kai had taken a couple day trips shopping for wedding stuff, but Sylvia

stayed behind because she wasn’t feeling wel . Mom had gone with them one day and she was excited to have us al over to their place for a big

Easter dinner. Mom and Dad had taken to al of my new friends. Even Jason came around some. I didn’t have the type of friendship with him that I

had with Sloane and Reed, but we could be in the same room without it turning into a pissing contest. I think he final y accepted that I wasn’t going

to leave Sylvia again, and that she loved me.

I put down the textbook I was pretending to study and picked up the remote. Sylvia was due back any minute. I couldn’t wait. I missed her

whenever we were apart for a whole day. She’d gone to the spa with Kerri and Kai and then they were going shopping. They’d final y made use of

the gift certificates from Christmas. Sylvia hadn’t real y wanted to go, but with a little coaxing she gave in. I was worried about what mood she would

be in when she got home. She would probably be tired after having to fol ow Kai’s pace al day. If I’d known when she was going to be home I would

have ordered supper or something, but I had no idea when she would return.

I flipped mindlessly through the channels, hoping that Sylvia would feel up to something that night. We hadn’t real y done anything since she got

sick, and I was about at my breaking point with wanting her. After the morning at the spa she would be al soft-skinned and would smel so good. I

didn’t even think about what I was doing. I was too lost in my thoughts on Sylvia and what I would like to do to her that night. I heard the key in the

lock and froze, realizing I had my cock out and in my hand.

I quickly tried to get it back in and zip up before she opened the door. I felt my cheeks get warm and knew I was blushing at almost getting caught

by her. It wasn’t that she didn’t know I jerked off. In fact, she’d even watched me. It was more getting caught doing it in the afternoon on the living

room couch that had me flustered. Hel , I wasn’t even watching porn to justify it. What was on TV? I glanced over and groaned. I had Discovery

Health on. They were showing some random surgery.

Al thoughts left when the door opened and I got my first glimpse of post-spa/shopping Sylvia. I knew it was al Kai’s doings, but I could have

kissed that girl right then and there for what she’d done to Sylvia. Sylvia was standing in the doorway, biting her lip, looking the picture of innocence.

Her strawberry blond hair hung in loose curls down her back with a few tendrils over her shoulder in front. She had just a light touch of make up on.

Nothing over the top, just enough that it drew my attention to it. I continued my perusal. She had some white button-up sweater looking thing on with

a pink and brown argyle pattern on the front. It was slightly tight and cut low enough that it gave a nice view of the milky skin of her col arbone and a

hint of the roundness of the top of her breasts. Fuck, she was even wearing a pearl necklace. I had no idea how Kai managed to talk her into the

skirt she had on. It was pink and appeared to be denim. It was short as hel , leaving her legs bare and tempting.

“You look so good, Sylvia. How was your day out with the girls?”

I met her eyes after taking her al in, and knew that she was aware of my thoughts as I looked her over. Her eyes grew dark and a light blush rose

up from under that revealing sweater and continued to climb up her throat and over her cheeks. That was a blush I knew wel , and I knew Sylvia’s

thoughts weren’t too far from my own. It wasn’t embarrassment that caused the blood to rush through her. It was lust. Her gaze turned predatory as

she stalked towards me. The phrase
something wicked this way comes
flitted through my mind. It may have been something wicked, but it was

going to be oh-so-good.

She slipped out of her shoes before she got to me, leaving them lying in the middle of the floor. She licked her lips as she stood before me.

“My day was good, but it’s about to get much better.” Her voice was husky and low and my dick stood up and took notice.

I shifted a bit and she peeked down at my lap and smirked. Without warning she straddled my lap, her tight skirt was pushed up around her hips. I

could feel the heat from her as she ground down onto me, simultaneously tormenting and pleasing me. She was al sorts of hot as she lunged

forward with a little growl and attacked my throat just under my ear. The little nips and licks sent torrents of electricity shooting through me. She

made a little groaning sound and I moaned in return and threw my head back on the couch, letting her have her way with me. I thrust my hips up to

her and she pushed back down on me harder.

Sylvia was demanding and seductive and hot as fuck. It was such a contrast to the angelic visage she had on. Her fingers threaded into my hair,

digging in slightly before she pul ed my head to her. She licked the shel of my ear and sucked on my earlobe, pul ing on it with her teeth before she

let it go. Her hot breath caressed my ear as she whispered, “You were al I could think about today. I couldn’t wait to get home to feel you against

me.” She slowly rotated her hips as she rubbed against me, eliciting a moan from me. “And in my mouth,” she ran her tongue over me again, “and in

me.” With each word her voice became lower with wanton need. She grabbed my hands as she hummed in my ear, “I need to feel your hands on

me.” She brought my hands up to her waist.

She leaned back and arched her back and took a deep breath in. I was captivated by her movement, watching her chest rise in front of me. She

circled her hips again before unbuttoning her sweater. I was torn between watching her eyes as they promised me delicious things to come, and the

unveiling of the pale pink lace bra that was hidden under the sweater. Once the sweater was completely unbuttoned she slid it off her shoulders and

let it drop to the floor behind her. She brought her hands back to her sides and slid them up until they were cupping her breasts. She didn’t remove

the bra but it didn’t exactly hide anything, either. Her dark pink nipples were hard and just begging to be taken between my lips. She rubbed her