Awakened Desires (35 page)

“I will continue to care for him medically while we are here. And we will help with everything that’s needed.” Levi looked around the room and everyone agreed.

“Sounds good,” Quinn replied firmly.

“But Quinn…,” Josie pleaded.

“Enough, Josie.” Quinn glared at her. Josie snarled back, crossed her arms, and sat down by the fireplace.

“Well, let me introduce everyone then,” Levi murmured. “This is my wife, Janny. This is Reid and his wife, Shannon. You know Mitch and that’s his wife, Eve. We all met up along our travels.”

“Very good then. Well, I have an injured man to tend to. Josie, do you want to stay in here or with us?” Josie looked around the room, leveling a nasty glare at Mitch. She scooped up all of her bedding and marched into the bedroom.

Josie stumbled into the bedroom with a snarl plastered across her face. Grumbling, she threw the blankets down on the floor. I heard her drop a few “fucks” and “bullshits”. I quirked a brow, listening to her grumble on and on.

“Something bothering you, lass?”

“Oh, shut the hell up,” she growled while adjusting her bedding. I was taken aback a bit. She stood and faced me, her hands balled into fists. “I don’t understand why you are allowing them to stay! That idiot shot you!”

“There two reasons, Josie. Number one, Levi fixed my wound and I feel I owe them for that. And two, I need the doctor to stick around to care for my leg. There
is
a method to my madness.”

“But that douche shot you!”

“Believe me, more than anyone, I understand I was shot. So bite your tongue and get some rest.” She snarled at me, plopping down on her blankets on the floor at the foot of the bed.

Quinn walked back in with an armload of supplies and shut the door with her foot. After she set everything down, she locked it. I’m sure she could feel the tension in the room. It was thicker than it needed to be.

“How are you doing?” she purred as she walked up to me. She was so bloody sexy in the muted lantern light.

I flashed back to her coming apart under me. My J.T. responded to my thoughts. I had to shake it off since we weren’t alone. “Well…I don’t think I will be participating in a triathlon anytime soon.” I smirked, but that faded. “Quinn, I can’t stay in this bed. I’ll turn into a nutter.”

“Who’s to say you aren’t already a nutter?” She smirked at me.

“Thanks.” I shook my head.

“I was just kidding.”

“I know. I’m sorry. Here…” I rubbed the mattress next to me. She sat down gingerly so she wouldn’t disturb my leg. “I promise to stay in bed as long you promise me a sponge bath once a day.”

“Oh, my god! Shut up! You two are so fucking disgusting.” Quinn and I laughed at Josie’s response. Then I hissed when the sudden onset of laughter jostled my leg. Quinn took my hand and rubbed her thumb over the back.

“I’m sure we can work out something like that.” She leaned in and gave me a kiss, causing me to groan. It was an uncontrollable reaction to her. She made everything in my body dance.

“Please, don’t mind the other person in the room,” Josie snarled. I shrugged and gave Quinn another kiss. “You know, I’m still not thrilled with you.”

“Let’s discuss my sponge baths later, once we’re alone again,” I murmured with our lips touching. I looked past Quinn’s shoulder at Josie, holding my finger up to my lips to indicate for her to shut the fuck up.

“I can’t believe you had sex with him,” Josie let out in an angry whisper.

Then Quinn whipped around. She was furious, as was I. “This is
my
life, and if I want to be with him, I will. Don’t you
dare
pass judgment on me. It is my choice to do as I wish with my body, which is none of your concern.” I ran my fingers down her arm.

“How can you? Look what he did to you…to me…
to everyone
!”

“I know what he did! Don’t you think I realize what’s going on? I’ve lost people, too, Josie.”

“I think you are stupid.”

Quinn’s jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe the disrespect she was getting. “You are out of line, young lady,” Quinn warned.

Josie rolled her eyes. “Well, I think you are insane.” And that’s what did it for me.

“Watch your mouth, lass,” I harshly whispered. I was livid that she was speaking to Quinn in that manner. I didn’t want anyone to disrespect her, let alone someone who was getting cared for as if she was her own daughter. “If you have an issue with our relationship, you need to speak to me about it, instead of acting like a defiant child.” Josie glared into my eyes. I could feel the daggers she was throwing.

She was seething, but I held my ground. Damn it, I wasn’t going to give in. I was thankful that the other crew was being so noisy, they couldn’t hear the confrontation that was happening.

“You took advantage of her in her weakened state. Besides, I would rather not talk to you about your sex life.” Her words were quiet, but so venomous. I could barely hear them, but I could feel them—every single fucking one of them.

“You are sadly mistaken. She initiated tonight. However, what Quinn and I do in private is not anything for you to be concerned about.”

“You could have said no. And it was hardly private.” Josie rolled her eyes. “You are both mental.”

“Apologize to her for your obnoxious tone and obstinate behavior,” I said.

Josie grumbled under her breath. She looked over at Quinn, who was standing next to the bed with her arms crossed. “I refuse to apologize for how I feel.”

“It’s not worth it, Gunther,” Quinn murmured.

“Whatever,” Josie growled. Teenage angst was proving to be very unentertaining for me. It reminded me of the attitude I used to get back in the program. I always took care of it with a few punches, but I would never do that to Josie.

“Come on. Let’s try to get you comfortable.” Quinn started peeling back the blankets that were under me. “You are going to have to lift up.”

“Fuck…” My shirt clung to me from all of my sweating just from thinking about moving my body.

“As slow as you need to.” I nodded. I took a deep breath and lifted my body up using my good leg. As soon as I lifted my big arse off the bed, Quinn yanked the blankets down. “I’m going to lift your leg.” I wiped the sweat off my brow. “I wish I had pain killers for you. I don’t like seeing you this way.”

That made my heart jump. She really did care about me. I still couldn’t believe it. “Thanks, love. I appreciate the thought.” She gently took my ankle and lifted my leg just enough to pull the blankets out from underneath.

“Jesus suffering fuck,” I growled.

“Slide down so you can lie down.” I braced myself for the pain and, with my arms, pushed myself down.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I barked out.

“Shhh…” Quinn hushed me, putting her hand over my mouth.

“Sorry,” I mumbled. She grabbed a few extra blankets and folded them up. She laid a towel on them and, with precision, put them under my wounded leg. Then, because she was brill, she pulled up the blankets around me, leaving my leg uncovered.

Then I watched Quinn strip off a layer or two and crawl into bed with me. What I wouldn’t have given to take her again, but
someone
was in the room.

“Are you all right?” She ran her fingers over my lips. I nodded and wiped my forehead again. She curled up into my body and laid her head on my chest.

It felt so good to have her cuddled up at my side. I trailed my fingertips over her shoulder and laid there listening to the night, the pain radiating through my body. I hadn’t been in that much agony since the last beating I had at the complex.

Quinn shifted, then looked up at me. We laid there, staring at each other. I couldn’t believe I was actually lying with her. I was still in shock over what was happening between us. It was fucking glorious.

There was so much to discuss, but I couldn’t bring myself to talk about what occurred out in the woods. I scared the hell out of her and, quite frankly, I scared myself. I never had an urge like that before. I had thought about it several times, but was never that close to actually doing it.

I nearly ate a bullet. I ran out far enough, hoping she wouldn’t catch up to me. I didn’t want her to see it or find me.

I sat down against the tree and put the business end of my Sig in my mouth three times before I heard the undead coming. Off in the distance, I heard Quinn screaming for me. Then I held it up to my temple, knowing that if I shot myself, I would have been a snack.

What the fuck am I doing?
I thought. My chest ached, my mind felt scrambled, and my body felt like I was run over by a fucking tank. Quinn’s voice was getting closer. I needed to make a choice.

I chose her. I lifted my arm and shot the undead stumbling toward me. I sagged against the tree and she appeared in front of me a mere minute later.

I sat straight up in bed and sucked in a sharp breath.

“What? What’s wrong? Is it your leg?” Quinn grabbed me.

“Sorry. Thinking too much.”

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah.” I turned and looked at her. The moonlight pouring in the window lit up her stunning face. She couldn’t possibly look more beautiful than she did at that moment.

I needed her again. I grabbed her face, pulling her up to me, and aggressively crammed my tongue into her mouth. She moaned softly. Her upper thigh gently landed in just right the spot. A few rubs and I was as hard as a bloody rock.

I ran my hands up and down her body. “Gunther, we can’t,” she whispered.

“Why?”

“Josie…”

Shit. Caught up in the moment.
“Right. Sorry.” Then we heard a soft snore coming from the floor. She reached up inside my t-shirt and started tracing my abdomen with her fingertips. It felt so good for her to touch me. Her hand moved down until she grabbed onto me. I let out a gasp.

“Shh…” Then she slithered under the blankets.

Oh fuck, no. No, she isn’t… Oh, yes, she is.
She pulled my shorts down just below my bollocks. Her warm mouth wrapped around J.T.
How does she expect me to be quiet when she is giving me a blow job?

I guess I was going to have to learn how to be because she was working me big time. Then she raked her teeth up my shaft and nipped my tip. I just about came off the bed, it felt so bloody good. “Jesus Christ…”

Then she tapped my rock hard thigh. My muscles were so tense, I could have cracked a walnut with them. I grabbed the pillow from behind my head and covered my face, hoping that it would stifle anything that came out of my mouth.

She continued to rake her teeth up me again and again. My good leg started trembling and I bit into the pillow. If I had suffocated myself or had a heart attack right then, I would have died a happy man.

The panting began and I was about to come. I reached down, grabbing at her so she knew what was about to happen. The only thing I could grab was her hair, so I fisted it. As I thrust my hips up into her brill mouth a couple times, forgetting about my wounded leg, I exploded. Pulse after pulse, I didn’t think I was going to stop. She took me amazingly well.

Once my body shuddered for the last time, I relaxed back into the mattress. I resituated my pillow before she crawled back up and laid her head on my chest. Stunned, I laid there, running my fingers up and down her back.

My Quinn—such an amazing woman. I was in shock for quite some time before I finally drifted off to sleep.

Quinn woke up, still lying on Gunther’s chest. She was embarrassed when she saw the giant wet spot on his t-shirt where her head was resting. He moaned and brushed at his chest. She waited until he seemed to be settled again before getting out of bed. She didn’t want to disturb him because he needed to rest.

She quietly pulled on her pants and shook Josie awake. “Wha’?” she groaned.

“Shh… Let’s get up and do some stuff around the house. I want to let Gunther sleep. We need to collect firewood.”

Josie rubbed her heavy eyes. “Okay,” she whispered.

With finesse, Quinn opened the bedroom door and snuck out, Josie following. Everyone else was already awake. “Morning,” Quinn said as she shuffled to one of her bags and pulled a brush out. She quickly brushed out her brown locks and tied them back.

“Morning.” Eve had a smile plastered on her face.

Quinn still missed having coffee. She hoped to find something soon, even the instant, dirty water flavored stuff would have been a blessing.

“You all sleep okay?” Quinn walked over and sat down on the floor next to the fireplace.

“Yes, we did,” Eve murmured. “Thank you for letting us stay. Mitch and I were just talking about going out to find some firewood. Is Gunther still sleeping?”

“Yeah. Let me get a sweater and shoes on and we can head out.”

Minutes later, everyone had geared up and headed out the front door.

The sun warmed my body. Cracking open one eye, I felt around the bed, looking for Quinn. Discovering that it she wasn’t there made me groan. I wanted her next to me all the time. I tried to sit up, but my leg hurt so bad, moving wasn’t an option.

“Quinn?” I said in a gritty rasp. No answer. I tried to see if Josie was on the floor at the foot of the bed, but even the slightest movement made me want to die three times over. My entire body was drenched in sweat. I was pretty sure I had a fever. “Quinn?! Josie?! What the fuck?”

I struggled, pulling myself into a sitting position, leaning against the headboard. I tried to look down at my leg, but I wasn’t able to lean forward that far. Even breathing hurt.

“Quinn?” Where was she? A cell phone would have been really useful, but I fucked that up, as well.

Running my hand over my head, I touched the stitches Quinn had used to close up the jagged split from the pistol. That had been all but forgotten with everything else that had happened. Feeling around my scalp, everywhere I touched made me want to piss myself. I called out for Quinn again and again, to no avail. She must’ve been off gallivanting somewhere. Maybe she finally realized I was bad for her.

I waited several minutes, willing myself to get up. It wasn’t working. I was pretty much stuck. Finally, I heard voices. Listening carefully, I could hear Quinn and one of the other women talking.

I was losing my strength at a rapid rate. I kept calling out for Quinn, but my voice was growing weaker and weaker by the second. I heard someone come through the front door and I hoped with everything that it was her.

“Quinn…” My voice was so hoarse, I was positive that I swallowed glass at some point.

I heard hurried footsteps coming toward the bedroom. “Gunther? I’m here. Oh god, look at you.” I turned my head toward the door and the sunlight lit up my beautiful Quinn. She looked like an angel standing in front of me.

“Quinn…”

She rushed to my bedside and I felt her hand rest on my forehead. “You have a fever.” I swallowed hard and more glass shards tore at my throat. “Let me get you some water.” She jumped up and ran out of the room. She was like a blur in my vision. Things seemed to be slowing down and I wondered if I was hallucinating. Maybe she really wasn’t there. Maybe this whole thing had been one epic nightmare.

It felt like hours had passed before she came back to me. “Here, open up.” She held a cup to my dry lips. “Come on…please drink.” I cracked my lips open just enough for her to pour a little liquid in at a time. The first time that I swallowed, I hissed. “Come on, I need you to drink more.” I lifted my hand and placed it on hers.

“Quinn…,” I rasped.

“Shh… Save your energy.” She pushed my hand back onto the bed. Her voice was echoing in my mind. I was sure I was close to turning. My eyelids were heavy, so she pried one open to check. “You’re still green.”

“I…love…”

“Hush. I know. Just drink more.” She tipped the cup to my lips again and I did my best not to choke on the water. “I’m going to go get Levi.” I didn’t want her to leave me and grabbed her thigh before she got off the bed. “It’s okay. I will only be a minute.” It was as if she could read my mind. Then I felt her presence leave my side, making me feel empty.

In my mind, more hours had passed before she came back to me. I felt the mattress push down next to me. It wasn’t Quinn, but I couldn’t open my eyes to have a look.

“Can you tell me what you’re feeling?” A man’s voice. It was hard to hear the words because of the echo that was beginning to turn into a muffled hum. I felt a hand rest on my head. I moaned and parted my lips. “I need to get him on a course of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories immediately.” I felt the bed rise again.

I was drowning in the repose when a disturbance erupted beyond the bedroom door.

Levi made a mad dash out to get his bag.

“What’s wrong?” Josie asked when she saw his frantic state.

“He’s bad. Very bad. It’s not looking good.” Josie dropped the wood that she was carrying to the fireplace, the load crashing to the floor. “I’m going to give him some of our meds. I will do my best to get him well.”

“Wait, Levi, we only have so many doses of antibiotics! You can’t give him what we have!”

“Mitch, I have a patient in there who is in grave danger. You are the one who put him in this predicament. He could very well be dying in there because of your trigger finger.” Levi grabbed his bag and headed back toward the bedroom.

Mitch grabbed his arm. “Sorry. I won’t allow this.”

“Get your hands off me. It’s not your decision. I treat as I see fit and, right now, he is in desperate need.”

“What if we need them?!”

“Then you will remember what you did to cause our shortage of proper medicine.” Levi yanked his arm out of Mitch’s hand and hurried back into the bedroom, Josie on his heels.

Quinn was trying to get more water into Gunther. He was trying hard to drink, but he was losing steam by the second. He looked to be in so much pain. Her worry was taking over.

“Come on, Gun. I need you to help me help you.” He was only responsive when the water would hit his tongue. Quinn’s hand shook more and more every time she lifted the cup to his lips.

Levi and Josie rushed back to Gunther’s bedside. “Do you think he can swallow a pill?”

Quinn looked up at him, tears threatening to fall. “No. He’s struggling with water alone.”

“All right, we’ll crush them up. No other option right now. You will have to force him to swallow every drop of water, though.”

“I will do whatever it takes.” Levi left the room to go crush up the pills at the counter in the kitchenette.

“Is he going to be okay?”

“I don’t know, Josie. He’s really sick,” Quinn choked. She held the back of her hand to her lips. “I don’t know.”

“We will get him better.” She wrapped her arms around Quinn. “I’m sorry about last night.”

“You are a good girl, Josie.” Quinn returned her focus to Gunther. She wet a towel and dabbed his forehead. He hissed under her touch. “Oh god…”

“What?”

“It’s his head. Look at his head wound. Levi!” Quinn shouted.

“Just a second…!” he hollered from the common area.

“Hurry, please!” Levi came barreling into the room and Quinn leapt off the bed. “He has a head wound I stitched up a day or so ago. I think that’s the issue. I had forgotten all about it when he was shot.” Levi started parting Gunther’s hair. Every time he moved a section, he moaned.

“That looks like the issue. Get these antibiotics into him. We will have to shave down his head, then I will pull out the stitches so I can clean out the wound. I’ll see what I can do with it.” Levi dumped the powdered medicine into the cup of water Quinn held and mixed it with his knife. He motioned her back to the bed. “We have a battery-operated razor. I’ll get it.”

Quinn sat down beside Gunther again. “Gun? I’m going to give you some medicine. You need to drink it all.” His lips parted as he waited. She tipped the cup to his lips and carefully poured a little into his mouth, trying not to waste a drop so he would get all of it into his system. He swallowed and groaned. “I know it tastes bad, lover, but it will help you. Keep drinking, please.”

It took Quinn about a half-hour to get Gunther to drink all of it. He groaned every time the liquid washed over his tongue, but she made sure he finished every drop. She blotted his forehead again, wiping up any sweat, then kissed him on the cheek.

“I love you so much. Don’t give up on me. I need you. I can’t lose you.” There was no response and it seemed like he had fallen unconscious, but she continued to talk to him. “Levi’s going to shave your head, remove the stitches, and clean your wound. I’ll be right here with you the whole time, holding your hand, taking care of you.”

Levi walked back in, razor in hand, along with Mitch and Reid. Quinn ushered Josie out of the room, closing the door behind her and turning back toward the bed. “All right, they’re going to help me move him, then leave the room,” Levi reassured.

“He weighs a lot,” Quinn mumbled with a sob. She wiped the tears from her face.

“We know,” Mitch and Reid said in unison.

“Sorry. I’m just scared to death. He can’t seem to catch a break. He’s been injured so many times these past couple days. I love him so much and I can’t lose him. I just can’t. I would be lost without him.”

“I can promise you that I will do the best I can to fix him,” Levi comforted. She nodded. “All right, boys. One of you at his knees and one at the torso. I will direct his upper body.” Reid put his arms under Gunther’s knees, Mitch went under his torso, Levi grabbed Gunther’s bulky shoulders. “I want to angle him to the left so I can reach him from the edge. Ready…now.” All three men strained under Gunther’s dead weight, but they were able to position him as Levi needed him to be.

“Is he okay? He’s not responsive.” Quinn held her hands in front of her mouth, trying to hold back her cries.

“I don’t know. I’m going to check his vitals before I start.” Levi was trying to use his best reassuring voice, but he was uncertain of what lay ahead for Gunther. He checked his blood pressure three times before he sighed and shook his head. “It’s low and his pulse is slow, as well.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s not great news. I will do my best. Reid, Mitch…out, please.” They both lumbered out of the room.

Levi tucked a towel under Gunther’s head and draped one over his eyes. He grabbed the razor and flicked it on, beginning the tedious process of shaving off Gunther’s hair. “All right. Now, I’m going to wash and sterilize the area.”

Just then, Janny brought in a pot of boiling water. “Anything else?” she asked in a kind voice.

“I will call if I need something,” Levi said. She pursed her lips and avoided Quinn’s sorrowful eyes. She left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.