Chapter 40
forty
After one night on an extremely uncomfortable wooden bed, I’m cleared for discharge.
It was a big deal, apparently. While I stood with my mom at the main nursing station, waiting for my paperwork, we heard Dr. Walter arguing passionately with someone on the phone about not keeping me longer.
“Am I the physician here? Did I go to medical school, or did you?” she snaps. “That’s what I thought. License? Fire me then, Julie. I have documented every reason why this patient should be discharged. She was falsely admitted in the first place. I did my evaluation—”
Every spit word surges within me like a stoked flame. Not of indignation, but of purpose. That woman is giving me a new leaf on why I want to practice medicine.
“No. She doesn’t need medications. I’m not prescribing anything. I don’t care. You want to give her a bunch of benzos? Go ahead. Wait…you can’t? Why? Oh…because you’re not a doctor, I see.”
The more she fights, the better I feel. Mom scans my face for a reaction, and I give her a solid grin. Tucking me under her arm, we aim for the metal elevators, and I wave goodbye to the nurses.
“Now that’s taken care of.”
I slump against the back wall, a lingering sort of paranoia creeping back in. “For now.”
Mom takes a deep breath. “For now.”
Looking at the numbers as we descend, I carefully ask her, “Are you all ready?”
She nods slowly. “Things are falling into place.”
I can sense her fear underneath, and I have it, too. Everything has to go off without a hitch. Or else?
We’ll all be dead.
I sigh. “I have to somehow explain to Evie and Amelia that I lied about the pregnancy. They don’t know.”
“They’ll understand. They’re your friends.”
“Yeah, but Amelia will be really disappointed in me.”
Mom snorts. “Yep. She will be. She’ll have to cancel the baby shower I’m sure she’s already planned in her head. Oh, shit. I’ll have to call her mother and tell her it’s not real, too.” She sighs, then kisses my temple. “At least you’re safe.”
Once the doors ding open, Mom leaves me on the first floor with a tight hug. “I love you, my Scout. You have my heart tucked inside you. Your father loves you. Your brothers love you. We’ll get through this.”
Tears heat my eyes. Although I know my parents love me, it’s like sunshine breaking through the dark clouds to hear it. “I love you, too, Mom.”
We give each other one last solid look before she turns toward the opposite hall. The kind of look people share when they’re both pretending this might be the last time they see each other.
Cold air blasts me in the face as I stroll through the darkened space. My flimsy sweatpants and T-shirt aren’t enough to cover me from the February chill.
Footsteps echo mine every time I move forward, and I pause, my pulse racing. When I pass a concrete pillar, a scream ravages my lungs. A tall, dark figure emerges in front of me, arms wide.
“Tulip! Shh, it’s me!” Apollo freezes until I realize it is him.
Then I rush into his waiting embrace. My body recognizes him before my brain even catches up. His scent, one of amber and wood and fire, immediately makes me melt. He smells of warmth. Comfort.
Home.
He gathers me up until my legs wrap around his waist, and he’s tossing his coat over my back. “I got you. You’re safe. Tell me they didn’t do anything—”
“I’m okay,” I sniff. I’m not even sure why I’m crying.
Except one night without him felt like something vital had been cut off.
Who am I?
I was so independent before this man came into my life. Now? Being next to him is like breathing. Necessary for my survival.
“I’m putting you in the truck.”
Mind focused on his broad muscles beneath his button-down, I barely register what he says. In fact, I don’t want him to put me anywhere, so I cling harder.
He chuckles. “I have to drive us away from here. We’re too exposed.”
“Mm-hmm,” I half-agree. “Wait, what truck?”
I glance up just as he opens the door to a huge Dodge pickup that looks brand new. Even has the tags.
Apollo sets me down on the passenger seat and buckles my belt for me. “Your dad,” he snorts, then rolls his eyes like he’s embarrassed. “Thought we should have one. I tried to tell him I could get something—”
“But he insisted his little girl should have it?”
Apollo smirks, and it’s the most handsome thing I’ve seen. Dimples deep. Dark eyes sparkling. We gaze at one another for a long moment. I don’t know if his belly is flipping as fast as mine, but he knows how to make my entire body tingle.
“It’s almost as if you know him well.”
When he gets into the truck and starts it, the speakers blast out a loud song I instantly recognize. He scrambles to lower the volume, eyes glancing over at me sheepishly.
Apollo heads out of the lot, and I stare at the side of his face in shock.
“Is this what you were listening to?”
He continues to stare at the road, then flicks his gaze to the rear-view mirror, like he didn’t hear me.
“Hmm?”
I laugh. “Apollo? Stallion?”
“What?” His big hand slips across the cab and covers mine.
“Are you listening to Tyla Silk now?”
He doesn’t respond for so long that I wonder if he’s not going to. Finally, he replies, “Her lyrics are deeper than people realize.”
I lose it. Laughter loud and unhurried bubbles from my chest.
“Is this because you know I love her, too?”
He shrugs one shoulder and gives a nefarious grin. “I started listening to her. It’s not a big deal. Just…please don’t tell the guys.”
I tuck the nugget of new info away to use if necessary.
“I realized something last night, Scout.”
The way he says my name has me straightening in my seat like he just took roll call. “What’s that, Apollo?”
He turns onto an unfamiliar street down a block in a suburb. The houses are cute, simple ranch-style with brick faces. When I think of asking him if it’s one of his brothers’ places, he pulls into the drive of one with a Sold sign up front.
Reaching through the space, he gathers my hands in his and presses a kiss to each of my knuckles. I lose a breath. And get soaked. “What’s going on?”
“I realized that I can’t sleep without you. It’s impossible. Not only that, but I don’t want to.” Shaking his head, some of his longer black locks fall across his forehead as he states plainly, “And I won’t.”
“I agree with you, but what— Where are we?”
He looks out the windshield as if he’s also surprised where we are. “Oh. This is our new place. The one the university doesn’t know about.”
A place the president can’t touch.
A place the rules can’t reach.
My jaw drops. Shock and confusion surround my brain. Before I can speak, he breaks in. “Oh, but not…” He clears his throat. “I know you want Johns Hopkins. This was just a house Leo bought and was going to turn into a rental. So, we can leave, but I’m going wherever you go. Just-just so you know.”
Tears well up in my eyes. That warmth he provided me earlier sears my heart like a branding iron. A Griffin-sized one. I wasn’t even looking for love. And I got a whole mass of it next to me.
Scrambling over the center console, I leap into his lap and throw my arms around his neck, then pepper him with kisses. “I love you. So fucking much.”
In a flash, somehow my sweats are off and his trousers are unbuttoned. He growls, “I can’t wait. But we don’t have much room. Hang on…”
He leans his seat back, and I reach for his cock, stroking him with a fevered hand. His kisses become hungry. Needy and rough. For once, his unshaven stubble scrapes across my skin like sandpaper. And I want the burn.
“Come here. Hurry…” he moans with desperation. “I need you. Now.”
Part of me wonders if I should draw out the moment. Escalate his desire.
But I can’t wait, either.
As soon as I slide down his length, enveloping him? We both sigh with relief. Like we’ve been waiting for a cure to an illness neither of us knew we had.
“Fuuuuck. I missed you,” he groans.
It breaks through me all at once. Not just the pleasure of the sensation. Something inside me. Like everything that scared me last night finally lets go.
He slows me just enough to meet my eyes. Like he has to see me in front of him. Still his. Still here.
“I love you, my wife. And every day, I need you more. Every single thing I learn about you is another hit off my new addiction.”
I bite his neck, and he groans deep, holding me tighter to him. When I’m not going fast enough for him, he grips my ass, lifting me off his lap and slamming me full force back down.
I yelp as his thick dick stretches me full. Taking my breath with every plunge.
My lips suckle on his earlobe until he shivers. “Fill me with everything you have.”
“Oh, baby. You have no idea what that does to me.”
Nails digging into his skin, I writhe against his abs, letting my clit bounce off him in a way that I crave. Claiming my own orgasm. My fingers delve through his hair to hold on as we continue to work each other into a frenzy. But my body seems to be waiting…waiting for his permission.
“Let go. Let it go… Come, my girl. Come for me.”
My brain reaches that platform of nothingness I long for. Bliss ricochets down every limb. Ecstasy floats through my body until I’m a doll for him to use. To finish in.
I’m not sure how long we wait there. Just me hugging him tight. His cock throbbing a few final waves inside me. Our wetness seeping between us.
“Fuck…” he breathes out, panting from the exertion. “I can’t go a day without that, I think. Basically, what I’m trying to say is, last night, I was miserable.”
“I could barely look at you when they took me away.”
His jaw clenches. “I know you asked me to allow it. I know it was part of the plan, but…” The rich brown of his eyes grows glassy as I look between them.
“I can’t do it again, Scout.” He presses his forehead to mine, breathing me in like he needs proof I’m real.
When his voice cracks, so does my heart.
“Don’t ask me to do something like that again to you.
Because I won’t be able to stop myself from shattering and killing everyone between us. ”
“Okay,” I whisper.
I brush my thumbs over his cheeks, then pinch one until he smiles again. The one only I get to see. “Ready to see inside?”
“Yes!” I shout, sliding off him.
We straighten up and head in. The cottage is nice. Fresh paint. Two bedrooms and one bathroom. An updated kitchen. It’s small and useful. Perfect for a first rental.
“Leo says he’ll let us be here rent-free for the rest of the school year. But if I’m late on the money by one day after that, he won’t hesitate to throw us on the street.” He grimaces. “I believe him. But I have something he doesn’t know up my sleeve.”
I lace my fingers through Apollo’s as we take in the bathroom together. “What’s that?”
A devilish look crosses his face. “I’m the youngest son.”
Apollo had gathered a bag of my clothes and toiletries. Even blew up an air mattress for us to sleep on. But my heart soars when I see our dining room table. And the chairs. Set up as a desk for me, just like it was at our university-approved apartment.
“I made this big deal out loud for their recordings,” he says as we sip coffee from paper cups. “Said I was getting you a new table for after your discharge so that you could focus on your studies. Slipped the bags out as a distraction, saying I was bringing them to you. Valen was with me.”
I nod. “Hopefully, they buy it.”
“If not? I’ll get him to mess with the videos. Switch out the evidence or just destroy it. Either way.”
“Either way?” I ask.
He presses his lips against my temple. “We’re not alone in this.”