Chapter 11
ELEVEN
Quinn
I’m expecting to feel satisfied and sated when I wake up, but instead, I’m as horny as I was last night.
I stretch, wincing at my sore muscles as I turn to look for Christian. I don’t have to look far. He’s still sound asleep, right next to me in bed.
I take a moment to admire him, skimming my gaze over the strong lines of his face, his abs, the smattering of hair that leads down and disappears beneath the sheets. My body heats the longer I look at him, and I decide to wake him up with a bang.
Literally.
I smirk as I kneel beside him and throw my leg over his waist until I’m straddling him. His cock is already hard, and I grip it with one hand, guiding him to my entrance. He moans, his eyes fluttering open as I sink down onto his length inch by inch.
“Fuck, mate. You’re so damn sexy,” he rasps.
I sigh as I take all of him. “I need you,” I pant. “Sorry if I woke you up.”
“Never apologize. This is what I’m here for.”
I laugh. “For me to fuck?”
He grins. “No, well, yes, but I meant that I’m here to take care of all your needs. You need to come, you tell me.”
I nod, rocking on top of him. My body is already primed and needy. My orgasm is approaching fast, and he’s only been inside me for a minute.
“Oh, jeez,” I cry out, bracing my hands on his chest and slamming down on his cock harder, faster.
He grips my hips tighter, lifting and lowering me as we chase our release.
“You’re so deep,” I moan.
“So wet,” he groans. “Fuck, you’re about to come, aren’t you? I can feel it. Goddamn, the way your pussy squeezes my cock.”
“Christian!”
He lifts his head, licking over my bite mark.
I shudder, my mouth opening on a silent cry as I come.
“That’s it, mate. Such a pretty girl, coming all over my cock.”
I cry out again as my orgasm seems to go on and on. I can barely tell which way is up when Christian rolls me under him and pounds into me.
His phone rings, but we both ignore it. His eyes, his attention, are locked on me. He looks so fierce, so determined as he thrusts into me over and over.
“Need to feel you come for me again,” he grinds out.
I whimper, already so close.
His head bows, and he sucks my nipple into his mouth. I arch, clinging to him as he loves my body.
His phone stops ringing and starts up a second later. I wonder if he’ll answer it, but his movements don’t slow or stop.
“Mine,” he snarls. “Mine, mine, mine.”
Each word is punctuated with a hard thrust.
I wrap my legs around his waist, taking him deeper into my body.
“Oh, Christian. Oh, I’m—” I suck in a sharp breath and bury my face in his neck as I come.
I scream his name into his skin. He jerks inside me as he comes.
His phone stops, then rings again. We both ignore it, too wrapped up in each other.
“Mate,” he murmurs reverently. “How did I get so lucky?”
I melt against him as he rolls us to the side, wrapping his arms around me. I shiver as the air conditioner kicks on in the room, and he tucks the blankets around me.
“Want me to lick your pussy now?” he asks hopefully.
I giggle. “I—”
His phone rings again.
I prop myself up on my elbow and smile down at him. “Maybe you should get that. It seems important.”
“You have all my attention, mate,” he says seriously.
I cup his cheek. “Yeah, I get that, but honestly, I need a minute to recover.”
He smiles and raises his head to kiss me before climbing out of bed to grab his phone. Lying back against the pillows, I admire the view of his spectacular body.
“Hello?” Christian’s eyes lock with mine, heating when he sees that the blanket has slipped, exposing my breasts.
He licks his lips, and my whole body heats.
“What?” He tenses at whatever the person on the other end of the phone says.
My smile drops. Oh no. What now?
“Shit.” He sighs. “Yeah… okay, I’ll be in as soon as I can. Did you already call Claire and Melanie? Good… okay, yeah, see you.”
He hangs up and gives me a grim look.
“What is it?” I ask anxiously.
“There’s been more shootings. I…”
“You have to go,” I fill in.
He nods, looking torn. “I placed an ad for help, but they need me until I can find someone else.”
“I know.”
“I promise it won’t always be like this. I’ll hire someone else as soon as they apply.”
“I know.”
He walks to my side and tilts my chin up to look at him. “I need you to stay inside where it’s safe. We don’t know where the shooter is.”
“I’ll go to the clinic with you.”
He looks relieved. “Good. It will be safe there.”
The next ten minutes are a blur. We pull on our clothes and race out the door, jogging the few blocks to the clinic. By the time we get there, I’m out of breath, but Christian is barely winded.
God, he’s so hot.
“Are you okay?” he asks as we approach the front door.
“Yeah, just thinking about how hot you are.”
He gives me a heated look. “As soon as I’m done here, I’m taking you home and showing you just how hot I can be.”
“I can’t wa—”
“Dr. McAdams!” a nurse shouts.
Christian tenses next to me as we both turn.
“It must be bad,” I whisper.
He takes my hand, and we rush into the clinic.
The place looks like a bomb has gone off. Blood pools in the lobby and trails down the hallway. Bloody handprints are streaked on the walls. People are everywhere—sitting in the lobby, crying in the hallway, rushing in and out of rooms.
“Operating room,” the nurse says.
Christian squeezes my hand, gives me a hard kiss, and takes off.
I watch him go and wonder what the heck to do.
Think! What first aid do you know?
I move further into the clinic, walking tentatively down the hall. Peeking into the first room, I see a guy with blood covering his shirt.
“Excuse me,” another nurse says. “I need to get an IV going.”
“I… Can I help?”
She seems surprised as she looks me over.
Then she nods. “Yeah, we need it. Come on, I’ll show you how it’s done.”
I watch as she disinfects the area, finds the vein in the man’s arm, and glides the needle in.
“Blood type is here. Blood and supplies are stored in the back,” she explains. “I need to help in the operating room. Can you do the girl in the room next door?”
She’s already leaving the room as she asks, so I don’t bother answering.
Moving into action, I grab supplies from the back room. I wash my hands, glove up, and enter the room next door.
My first attempt at finding a vein is rough, but by the third patient, I’m doing pretty well.
Things seem to slow down then, and Christian comes out of the operating room, wheeling a patient into a different room. I watch as Claire wheels the next patient into the operating room. Christian waves at me before he disappears inside the room again.
All the patients are stable now, at least until they can be brought into the operating room, so I focus on cleaning up.
I find a mop and some disinfectant spray and get to work on the walls and floors.
By the time I’m done, Christian has finished surgery on another two patients, with only one more remaining.
I head for the front desk, exhausted after the trauma and chaos of the day. But as I sit there, I realize I’m not just tired. I’m… proud. Of myself.
I accomplished something important today. Made a real difference by stepping out of my comfort zone and helping people. Maybe even helped to save someone’s life.
I never gave nursing or any other medical field any thought. It was always business. Now, I wonder if I made the wrong choice. I like being useful and making a difference. I’ve never felt this way after working on a spreadsheet or updating a website.
“Hey.”
I look up to see a familiar guy. He’s the one who brought us clean clothes the other day.
“Hey, uh…”
“Abe,” he answers. “How’s Christian?”
“Still in surgery.”
“Yeah, it was a bad one.”
“What happened?”
“They were all volunteers for Midnight Haven. They were on patrol when someone opened fire.”
“Did you catch the person who did this?”
“Not yet.” His expression is dark with fury. “But we will.” He clears his throat. “I brought Christian’s car. I figure he’ll be too tired to walk home.”
“Thanks.” I take the keys from him.
“Of course. Do you need anything?”
Just Christian.
I smile. “No, I’m good. Thanks.”
He nods and knocks twice on the desk, then heads out.
Melanie and Claire appear a few moments later, both looking dead on their feet.
“Hey,” I greet them.
“Thanks for your help today,” Melanie says warmly. “We wouldn’t have made it through all that without you.”
My cheeks heat at the compliment. “I’m happy to help.”
“Christian is finishing up with the last surgery. Then he’ll do rounds to check on everyone. Shouldn’t be too much longer.”
I stand as they head into the break room, making my way to the operating room. It’s empty, so I grab my cleaning supplies and get started. I’m almost done when Christian comes into the room.
“You didn’t have to do that,” he says, taking the mop from me.
“I don’t mind. I’m glad to help.”
He gives me a tired smile, and I wrap my arms around him.
“Abe dropped off your car,” I say, holding up the keys.
“Good. I need to get you home. You’ve been on your feet too much today.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you were running around doing something every time I checked on you.”
“I liked it,” I admit as he lifts me into his arms and carries me out of the clinic.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He sets me in the passenger seat of a fancy SUV. “I regret not checking out nursing school when I first went to college.”
He smiles down at me, brushing my hair away from my face.
“You can help at the clinic anytime. You have a business degree, right?” I nod.
“You can run the front desk, or heck, I’ll train you myself to help out with patients.
You can go back to school. There’s a good medical and nursing school not far from here. I can drive you to classes.”
“I don’t have the money to go back to school, Christian.”
“We have plenty of money, mate. You can do anything that you want.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Leaning in, he presses a kiss to my lips. “Let me know what you decide.”
He closes the door and circles the hood to slide behind the wheel. Taking my hand in his, he intertwines our fingers as we leave the parking lot and drive up the mountain. It’s a short drive, and we’re soon pulling into a driveway.
I turn to look at him. “This is your house?”
“Our house. Unless you hate it. We can move.”
“It’s nice,” I assure him.
“Let’s get you inside.”
A second later, I’m in his arms.
“I can walk. I’m not that tired.”
Christian ignores me.
We enter the house, and I look around, taking in the simple furniture, the blanket tossed over the couch, the books on the end table.
“I’ll give you the tour after I feed you,” he says.
I smile as he carries me into the kitchen and sets me gently on a stool at the counter.
“You cook?” I ask.
He nods. “Nothing fancy, but I make a mean grilled cheese. Or eggs. I’m good with eggs.”
I smile at his excitement in taking care of me.
That’s when I realize how much I need someone like him in my life.
I’ve been alone for so long, pushing myself to be better and better, and all for nothing.
Christian is proud of me for simply being who I am.
He loves me, all of me. He doesn’t care if I got perfect grades. He just wants me to be happy.
He loves me. Truly loves me.
And I love him.
I can’t believe I almost ran away from this. My life would’ve been so sad and lonely if I’d chosen to go back to New York.
I take out my phone while he cooks dinner, pull up my return flight, and cancel it. I know I’ll have to deal with everything at my apartment at some point, but for now, I want to be here with my mate.
“Here you go,” Christian says, setting a plate stacked with grilled cheese in front of me. “We also have some salad stuff if you want. Although the lettuce looks a little sad.”
“This is good,” I say gratefully.
We grab a sandwich, and he watches me as I eat.
“What are you thinking?” he asks quietly.
I decide to be honest, to take a leap of faith with him.
“How much I love you,” I whisper.
His sandwich hovers halfway to his mouth. “Mate…”
“I love you, Christian. I think I started falling for you that first day, and I’m so tired of fighting it. I trust you. I want to be with you. I love you.”
“Quinn,” he chokes out. “I love you. So much. More than I ever thought possible.”
He drops his sandwich and wraps his arms around me.
For the first time in my life, I’m totally at peace.
For the first time in my life, I’m fully loved.
I lift my face, and he smiles down at me. He looks so happy, so handsome. I cup his face in my palms. His head lowers, and we kiss, the embrace slow and gentle because we know we have a whole future together.
“What now?” I ask against his lips.
“Now we do whatever you want,” he says simply.
“Then take me to bed.”
“Mate,” he growls.
I grin as he swings me into his arms and does as I ask.
I know we have a lot to figure out and get organized, but right now, being with my sexy shifter doctor is enough.
It’s perfect.