by Honor James
“Mm,” he hummed, looking like he was thinking really hard. “Well, I suppose,” he grinned. “But I should warn you. The person that’s been helping with my mouth care hasn’t exactly been as diligent as the last lady. But she was a cut above all others in her skill and her handling of me.”
“Well we will just have to ensure that you are very well taken care of from here out,” Susan whispered and leaned into Quinn. “Are you sure? Last chance to back out.” She was teasing him, he knew it and so did she. She liked this, teasing the awake Quinn. “I do care a great deal for you, Quinn. I barely know you but I feel as if I’ve known you my whole life.” She whispered honestly as she leaned into him. Brushing her nose to his she lay a hand on his chest. “Meet me halfway?” She was testing him, seeing what he could do, but he didn’t need to know that. She just plain and simple wanted her kiss.
“I’m very sure,” he said softly. Quinn managed to get his head a little closer but it was shaky at best. Definitely weakness of the muscles but he was trying, hard. “You may need to come a little more than halfway, sweetheart,” he said on a groan.
“I can totally do that,” she said and with her hand on his chest pushed him back once more, allowing him to relax and leaned into him. Her lips teased at his, her nose brushing to his. “I am so going to enjoy this,” she whispered only half a second before she allowed their lips to meet in a kiss.
His lips were soft and yet firm under her own. He parted his lips when she applied just a little bit of pressure and moaned into her mouth. Susan could feel his one hand, the one at her back, curling into her shirt ever so slightly. Not a strong or powerful grip, but definitely one signaling that she’d better now leave him.
When she pulled back from him she smiled. “I think I could get used to kissing you, often. Perhaps we should use those as rewards for when you are working and you don’t want to move another inch?” she asked and moved back to lay at his side once more.
He let out another groan, but this one definitely sounded tortured. “Seriously?” he asked, not sounding at all happy. “You are a cruel, cruel woman,” he muttered.
A snicker from the doorway announced Jordan’s returned. “And I would have thought that wouldn’t be heard until at least tomorrow. Torturing him already are you, darling?” he asked, stopping just inside the room. “If you’re done screwing with him, come and see the list before I bolt out of here will you please?”
Susan grinned and gave Quinn another kiss on his cheek before sliding out of the bed. “And I’m not torturing him. I’m giving him incentive,” she teased. Taking the list from Jordan she perused it and then frowned. “No, I don’t think that we should introduce red meats yet. So no steaks. I know it sucks, but we need to ensure that we do all that we can to bring Quinn back up to full working order and red meat at this moment in time would be bad.” Well it wasn’t proven, but that’s how she felt about it so that’s what they were going with. “And are you kissing me before you leave, too?” she asked with a smirk, a tease to her words as she leaned into him.
“Uh, the steaks aren’t for him,” he said with a laugh. “They are actually for me. And maybe for you if you ask nicely. But I know he’s not up to full solids yet. Thus why all the other wonderfully soft and mostly unsolid stuff on this list, for tonight anyway. I do have a vague clue about what I’m doing here, Susan, trust me.” He smiled and leaned in to brush his lips to hers before kissing her full on. One of his arms slid around her waist and he moved in a way that pushed her back just a little and slightly off balance.
Susan didn’t even hesitate. She wrapped her arm around Jordan’s neck and pulled him closer. She leaned into the kiss and gave as good as she got. If the man’s agenda was to make her forget everything, it worked. Pulling back from him she licked her lips and looked up at him with a silly grin. “Okay then. And yes, I like steak. I prefer marbled rib eye if you don’t mind? That actually sounds delicious,” she said with a soft sigh of a sound. “Goodness you can kiss me like that anytime at all and you will likely get your way,” she confessed without meaning to.
He gave an evil-sounding chuckle and wiggled his eyebrows. “Excellent,” he said with a grin. “My evil plot to distract and confound you has worked. Note to my evil genius self, kiss the lady whenever I want to get my way.” Pressing another kiss to her lips he smiled and gave her a squeeze. “I will be back in about an hour. If you need anything my cell number’s up on the fridge though you should really put it into your phone, ‘kay?”
Susan snickered and shook her head. “Oh god you are too funny. I mean seriously.” She patted his chest and stepped back from him. “Okay, you go and do what you need to do okay? I would very much like to have some chocolate chip cookies too while you are out. Oh, and I wouldn’t argue some Oreos either.”
“Right, cookies, got it,” he nodded. Turning he muttered to himself as he headed back up the hall.
“You do realize that with Jordan you need to be specific, right?” Quinn asked, amusement in his voice. When she looked at him she saw him grinning wide. “You either must be specific, excruciatingly so, or accept whatever shows up when he returns.”
“How can he go wrong with cookies?” Susan asked and crawled into bed with Quinn once more. “Are you still okay with me being here in the bed with you? If you aren’t then tell me now and I will go and do something else.”
“I’d jump on you to hold you down if I could, sadly,” he heaved a breath and pouted. “Sadly I cannot do this, yet. But if I could, I would, so take that as what I mean. Which would be that yes, you should most definitely stay just where you are. If you don’t, well, hell.” He frowned and pursed his lips. She could practically hear him thinking, the wheels were spinning so quickly. Then his face cleared and he smiled, slowly and with a definite if slight wicked edge. “I will throw the biggest temper tantrum of the century and attempt to bodily stop you. Which we both know, in my current condition, will only do more harm than good.”
“Well then I will remain here. This is where I want to be. I would like to be here with you.” She liked being close to him, she enjoyed it a great deal. “I love being close to you so I am perfectly fine with being right here with you where I am.”
“Good, because to be perfectly honest”—Quinn chuckled—“I don’t think I actually have the energy for a full blown temper tantrum. It just sounds exhausting truthfully. And I need to conserve as much energy as I can for whatever evil tortures you have planned for the next while. Speaking of which, just what evil tortures do you have planned?”
“Well then I think that you should nap for now. Later we will be able to think of whatever it is that I’m going to do to you. Later,” she said simply. “I don’t want to ruin your naptime with your worrying about what we are going to do to get you back on your feet, literally.”
“Oh yeah, cause not telling me will make me rest easier,” he muttered. “Come on, a hint at the very least. A peek, a tidbit, a little nugget of information at the very least. Please?” he was begging, flat out, straight up, begging her. “Please, Susan. Pretty please with a cherry on top.”
“There will be lots of work. My hands on you a great deal. And Jordan helping me to help you walk. I’m going to make him help you shower as well. No more sponge baths, darling, you need to start to shower so that you can get clean. It’s time for you to start to work on getting yourself together. This is going to be the best thing for you, even if it’s only holding your toothbrush that’s what is necessary.”
“Okay,” he said, a frown on his face again. “So basically I get to be propped up in the shower while my best friend, and a guy to boot, moves things around to wash them? Uh, you may want to run that by said best friend. I may need to put out an ad for another one otherwise,” he muttered, rolling his eyes.
She grinned and rubbed her cheek to his chest. “Would it make it easier if I were to be there with you? I just know that you are a bit more than I can handle in keeping you up. He won’t be upset with me, I will
break it to him. I have a feeling he will do it, if for no other reason than to simply be able to get you up and moving faster.”
“You know nothing about men do you?” he asked, amusement in his voice. Shaking his head slightly, he let out a slow breath. “Men do not touch, move or otherwise think of another man’s junk unless they are gay, which then totally rewrites the bro-code so we won’t go there yet. Men have been trained from a very young age to never let their eyes go below another man’s sternum or above his knees. Everything in between is a mystery, plain and simple, it just is.”
“Okay then I will shower with you as well. He can help me get you into the shower and then I will shower with you so that you can get clean. He can then help you get out and I can get you dry and get you dressed. Sound like a better plan to you?” She was amenable to change.
He clearly had to think about it for a time since he was quiet for long enough she had to look to see if he’d fallen asleep. But his eyes were open and he suddenly nodded. “Yup, that works. Though you may need to throw a towel around me from point A to B and then back again if he’s to be close enough for contact. It’s not just not looking, but even the hint of contact is like the worst thing to ever be considered. Heated fires of Hell would be needed to burn off any such contact, just FYI.”
“Well don’t worry I will make certain that he remembers just how much he enjoys women,” Susan teased him. “He won’t have to touch you. I will ensure that he doesn’t have to touch you. I will do all of the moving of your junk.”
Quinn let out a groan and shook his head. “No, no, no. Guys refer to it as ‘junk’ while women usually use more anatomically correct terms. Sometimes not so anatomically correct and yet still accurate, but a woman should never refer to a guy’s junk as ‘junk.’ It’s just wrong, so very, very wrong.”
Susan was laughing, she couldn’t help herself. “Okay, then what would you like for me to call it? How about I will move your cock and balls, wash your front and back and make you eager to want and need to be moving on your own. Right? I think that you would like that, wouldn’t you?”
“I’m already liking it.” He grinned at her. “A lot actually.” He chuckled and then groaned. “All right, time for a nap before I really embarrass myself. You will stay, right?” he asked softly. He was watching her closely and she could see the worry in his eyes.
“Yes, I will stay,” she assured him and pulled the blankets up and around them both. “Sleep, Quinn. Rest right now is the best thing for you. Just rest and relax and know that I’m right here with you. When it’s time for a shower I will be right there with you, promise.”
“Don’t let go,” he said softly, rubbing his chin to her hair. “If you need to get up, wake me please,” he requested. “I need to know when you leave the room, at least for a little while. It likely seems silly but go with it, if you would.”
“Don’t worry. I will make sure to wake you. I promise,” she assured him. “It doesn’t sound silly at all. It really doesn’t. I get it. You were asleep for a great long time so it only makes sense that you would worry that you would be alone. I get it,” she said softly. “Don’t worry. I will tell you, promise.”
“Thank you, Susan,” he said nuzzling her hair. She felt him release another breath, the loose bits of her hair fluttering softly around her face for a moment. He let out another and then completely relaxed next to her as sleep claimed him.
Chapter Seven
“You want me to do what?” Quinn asked, staring at her in horror. It had been two weeks and, while he was regaining some strength, it was slow going. To be expected of course after two years of no voluntary movement of his own. And, really, with him lying flat on his back on the mats, what she was asking him to do might sound rather daunting. But if he could get to a sitting position then she’d know if they were actually making any progress or not. It was so hard to tell in the first days.
“You can do it, Quinn. Come on. I have faith in you.” Susan sat on the mat between his legs. “Come on, sit up and you will get a kiss.” She teased him, trying very hard to keep him in the moment. “Come on, Quinn. You know that you want a kiss from me. Get yourself up in a single sit-up.”
He was now glaring at her. Thankfully Jordan was at work or she’d have to deal with his running commentary and Quinn’s rebuttals. While it was usually amusing, it wouldn’t have been right then. Quinn let out a muttered, not so nice, comment and settled into position before he began to strain.
“Come on.” Susan moved so that she was up on her knees, watching him as he strained to lift himself. “I know you can do this, Quinn. Come on. If you do this you will also get to take a shower with me, all alone. Come on, you know that you want to so that you don’t have to listen to Jordan’s running side speak.”
He shot her another dirty look before focusing on some point she couldn’t see. His face was tense, tendons bulging, and he was sweating quite profusely. Slowly, oh so slowly, he was pulling himself up with his abdomen muscles alone. But he was slowing down, she honestly wasn’t sure if he was going to make it past the midpoint, the point where it got easier.
When he finally made it up she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and moved in closer to him. “See, you did it. I knew that you could.” She praised him and rubbed her nose to his. “Now, do you want that kiss?”
“Damned straight,” he said, panting hard. “But give me a second to catch my breath. Otherwise you may need to give me CPR instead,” he told her, a small grin on his face. Quinn shut his eyes and rested his forehead to hers as he breathed.
“But you did it,” she said proudly. “You did it and that’s something to be so very proud of. You have done something that not many people in your position could say that they were able to accomplish. Be proud, Quinn.”
“Okay, but can that happen after I’ve rested?” he asked, slowly grinning at her. “But I will take my kiss now. I made it up here, how I’m still not sure, so I damn well want the prize I was promised from the gorgeous, if evil, woman that I adore.”
Susan leaned into him and brushed her lips to his, smiling happily. “I will always kiss you,” she whispered just before she did just that. Susan kissed him deeply and with great feeling. She kissed him with the desperation and need that she felt for him and ensured that he felt it as well. When she parted from him she asked, “So was it worth the work to kiss me?”
He smacked and licked his lips lightly before squinting at her. “Dunno, I think we should try that again. I just didn’t feel like you were really emoting into the kiss. Maybe try a little more feeling, darling,” he suggested. Then he grinned and wrinkled his nose up.
Susan laughed. “Oh honey,” she teased and moved in closer, her legs over his and wrapping around his waist to hold him close. “So I didn’t show enough emotion?” she teased and ran her hands over his shoulders and down his arms. “How about you lead the kiss and I will try my hardest to keep up with you?”
“Mm, now that is a damned fine plan,” he said. Quinn slid his hands over her thighs and to her waist, looping them behind her. Leaning in closer he brushed his lips to hers lightly a couple of times. “You need to draw the other person in with the promise of what’s to come,” he explained softly.
She felt the wet, soft brush of his tongue to her lower lip and then just a hint of teeth as he tugged. “Make them wonder what you are going to do next. Have them anticipate anything, everything and then, when you move in for the full-frontal assault of their senses, have their mind short circuit.” She could feel him smiling against her skin as he teased the corner of her mouth before brushing his lips to hers again. Just as she opened her lips a little he swooped in and kissed her. Deep, hard and with plenty of tongue as he teased her into playing with him.
Susan didn’t hold back, she teased him as well. Her tongue brushing against his, her smile against his mouth as she moved in closer to him. She felt the heat of his body against hers, the need that he was feeling as well. When they finally parted she was p
anting, literally. “God I hope that you are able to move soon Quinn. I am terribly desperate for you. I want you so badly that it’s killing me and I can feel that you want me as well.” She just didn’t want to push too hard too fast.
“Trust me, it’s killing me, too,” he said with a groan. Licking his lips he leaned back a little to stare at her, his gaze moving over her face. “I also realize that I really don’t want to not show well, especially our first time out.” He grinned. “A man needs to at least feel like he’s keeping up with his part of a loving when he gets the girl of his fantasies in his bed, naked and all to himself. Right now, I’m about ninety-five percent sure I’d fall flat on my face. Which, for reference, is incredibly bruising to the fragile male ego.”
“We have all the time in the world, Quinn,” Susan assured him. “We will ensure that you are very up for the challenge of being with me when it’s that time. For now we will simply love each other, we will be with each other and spend time with each other. I’m good company, aren’t I?”
“The best,” he assured her. Leaning in he pressed a quick kiss to her lips before drawing back with a smile. “The fact that you’re sexy and look good in shorts definitely helps, too,” he teased. Laughing when she gave him a look he shrugged. “Hey, I’m a guy, we notice shit like that. Besides, I really haven’t had a hell of a lot to do and you are far more interesting to watch than the wall, the ceiling or the damned TV.” She understood that given the fact someone had leaked that he was awake and it was making the news rounds. Especially given the fact that no one seemed to know where he currently was. Which led to a lot of speculation.
“Well at least no one has found you as of yet. I’m ever hopeful that they don’t find you either.” Jordan was being even more careful now, which was a good thing because now the press was starting to watch every coming and going that he was making. “Do you think that Jordan is running into more issues with keeping away from the media? Now that they know that you aren’t in the hospital and someone leaked who you really are, they are in force looking for you. You do know that you will eventually need to make a statement, right?”