Chapter 26 #2
He presses his lips to mine. “Now, behave and eat your food groups, cricket, unless you want me to flip you over and spank you against this counter with my spatula.”
He waves the metal utensil at me threateningly.
“What if I want you to spank me against the counter with a spatula?”
“Then I will, but only if you eat your food groups.”
He flashes me an evil smirk then returns to the frying pan, flipping the steaks that have been searing on the hot pan. At the same time, he puts some water to boil and cooks us pasta, before adding some sliced mushrooms to the pan where the steak is cooking.
“Do mushrooms count as veggies?” I ask. “I thought they were fungus.”
“Right. Guess I’ll have to spank you, after all, for not getting those food groups in.”
“It kind of sounds like that’s what was going to happen regardless.”
Smirking again, Quill turns off the gas and tumbles the steak, pasta and mushrooms into plates.
“I’m gonna call Josh to come eat with us,” I tell him, and scramble off the counter with the idea to hurry out and get Josh before he can prevent that from happening.
But he’s faster. He hooks his arms around me and pulls me back.
“Josh is eating with us,” I assert.
“Whatever. But you’re not leaving me, not even for a second.”
I bite down on a protest when I see the look in his eyes. I suddenly realize he’s just as scared as I am. Scared that this is temporary, that it’s fragile, that at any moment, he could lose me again.
Melting at this sign that he’s just as needy as I am, I cling to him. “I’ll never leave you.”
He wraps a strong arm around me, and I moan at how safe it makes me feel. “Then don’t. Stay with me. All the time.”
I nod, before I suddenly wonder just how literal his request is. “You want me to stay when you’re showering?”
“We’ll shower together.”
“How about when I pee?”
Why the hell does the memory of that make me wet? I definitely don’t have a golden shower kink, and I’m pretty sure Quill doesn’t either.
Maybe it was that first glimpse of the old, dominant Quill. The one I’d been wondering if I’d lost. And now, he’s back to being assertive, to showing me that he’s going to do all the hard work to make us both heal. All I have to do is let him.
“Even when you pee,” he says in answer to my question. “Especially when you pee.”
Apparently he feels the same way I do about that moment, because he squeezes me to him, though his touch remains gentle.
“How about…” I wrinkle my nose, because there’s no part about this that would turn me on. “How about when I do number two?”
He snorts. “In that case, I won’t have to see you, since I’ll probably hear you anyway.”
“Ew, Quill!” I thought I’d overcome my desire to blush, but I’m back to doing just that. “That’s so gross. I don’t make noise!”
“Doesn’t matter.” He kisses the top of my head. “Just remember that nothing about you can possibly gross me out. You can burp, you can fart—”
“I’ll have you know I don’t do any of those things!”
“Uh huh.”
True to his word about not letting me out of his sight, he keeps an arm around me, which forces him to make three trips between the kitchen and the dining room to get all the food on the table. Then he hollers, “JOSH!”
His yell is so loud, it makes me jump. A moment later, Josh comes scurrying in. “Yeah?”
“Have lunch with us.”
“Oh.” Josh looks a bit taken aback. “I wasn’t expecting that when I heard you screaming like—uh, anyway.”
“Well, expect it, and get used to it, since Piper is being very annoying about it. I mean,” he interrupts himself hastily, “thoughtful about it.”
I hadn’t even thought about getting upset at his use of the word annoying, maybe because I’ve already internalized it so much over the years. But realizing he’s correcting himself because he doesn’t want to upset me warms my heart. Just as much as realizing he’s listening to me and including Josh.
“Don’t go around acting like a scared dog with his tail between his legs,” adds Quill, sitting down at the table and pulling me onto his lap, “or I’ll punch you.”
Josh had just taken a bite of his steak, and now he nearly chokes on it. “Right.”
“That’s not entirely conducive to him not acting like a scared dog, is it?” I lash out at Quill.
“Fine. I won’t punch you, Josh. But just try to find your balls, yeah?”
“Pretty sure he had balls when he shot the guy who was about to—” I don’t finish that painful sentence, instead shoving a forkful of steak in my mouth. I’m suddenly very much not hungry, but I’d much rather force myself to eat than force myself to speak the rest of that unuttered thought.
Quill’s arm tightens around me.
“Also,” I add, doubling down on my effort to push away painful memories, “I am capable, you know, of sitting my own ass in a chair. I don’t need to be on your lap all the time.”
“I’m sure your sitting skills leave nothing to be desired,” agrees Quill, though he makes no effort to let me go.
And the truth is, I don’t want him to. After taking a few more forkfuls of steak, I nestle against him, contentedly closing my eyes.
I like feeling the up-and-down movement of his Adam’s apple as he chews and swallows each bite.
Then his other arm lets go of my back just a second to cut the food on my plate, and I know what he’s planning.
I don’t protest when he starts to feed me, no longer embarrassed about Josh seeing and possibly judging our relationship dynamic.
I’m exhausted, and it feels nice to let myself sink into Quill while he takes care of me.
“I guess it’s not such a bad thing you’re staying with us after all, Josh,” Quill suddenly and unexpectedly says. “I like seeing Piper get a little worked up. It’s cute.”
I smile into Quill’s chest, then dutifully swallow the rest of the food he feeds me.