Quinn coughed, sputtering slimy eggs. Liquid fire seared its way up her sinuses, molten in her nose as she hunched over her plate. A swift smack between her shoulders sent a congealed yellow lump splattering over the counter.
“I’ll clean it up, I’m so sorry,” Quinn said, blubbering through a cascade of distraught sorrow that had no place in that moment. Too many dangerous eyes were fixed on her, weighing her response to Andres’ news.
Lee hauled her back into the chair when she tried to scramble down, pinning her against the counter with the breadth of his body. Under lying touches and deceptive purrs, he gave the impression of soothing as he caged her in.
“Worried about your friend?” Randy sneered with an ugly, vicious turn of his lips on a baby face.
“Maybe she misses him,” Maurice said, voice soft and rich, full of death and mayhem.
“Quiet.” Lee’s low command rippled through the room, a slap to the face to the males, but that had Quinn cowering. The stench of her fear was overwhelming. Turning the rich chestnut of his gaze down to her, a dark brow arched in question.
It took seconds for Quinn to make her decision and act. Falling into his chest, clinging to the crisp folds of his shirt, she began to babble. Fear of Alton, what had happened, her baby. It wasn’t a complete lie. If Alton was caught by Kahler, and she had no doubt it was him who drove Alton from his empire of trash, would he tell? Would he spew the information of where Quinn was?
Within moments she had made her awkward way into Lee’s arms, hugging his neck as she pressed her face into him and sucked down deep draughts of his scent as the half lie spiraled into true fear. If Kahler found her, found the baby…
“Oh, pet,” Lee crooned, lifting her from the stool altogether and cradling her to his chest. “That won’t happen. We’ll keep you safe, won’t we, gentlemen?”
The murmurs of agreement from the other males rose and fell in a wave that blistered her ears. But there, just at the edge of her field of view was Ilya. His pale eyes were eager, hungry.
Quinn shuddered and snuggled deeper into Lee’s arms.
Once stripped and tucked back into the nest, Quinn was ordered to sleep more. With Lee’s sooty heat engulfing her, she drifted off into fitful nightmares. Choking on the taste of decadent chocolate and delicious spice, she woke in smeared minutes that seeped back into dreams. Furious howls and unhinged roars faded into racking sobs and back again until Quinn wasn’t sure what was real and what was imagined.
Childish laughter, intoxicating and contagious, followed her up from the last.
Squirming her way out from under the heavy pile of blankets, Quinn looked around at the empty room. Shadows were stretching their fingers across the floor, gathering up the corners in their embrace. There was no sign of Lee anywhere. Sniffling back unexpected tears, she settled into the pillows and tried to drift off again.
By the time the darkness swallowed the edges of the room, a static charge was itching under her skin. Restless and agitated, she climbed from the bed. Scrubbing the rank sweat from her skin and scouring her scalp didn’t help. Stalking back into the room, she went around and turned on every gilded lamp. Examining the space bathed in a golden glow, her lip curled.
Nothing was right anymore.
Flowing into motion, she set about making it right.
Hours of back breaking labor later, she hissed and snarled at the heavy dresser in the nursery that refused to budge. It was wrong. It didn’t belong there. There was no way she could move it.
She’d already rearranged what she could in her bedroom. The nest had been ripped apart, restructured into something far more pleasing. Fresh softness added in lofty layers, it would be scented the next time Lee came to her. Delicate furniture had been hauled stuttering over the floors, a wide berth given to the bed. Everything had been scrubbed clean.
However the nursery was far from satisfying. Boxes still cluttered the corners, unpacked items strewn atop their eventual homes. Toys littered a bright aqua rug, no order in the chaos of jumbled parts and pieces.
The dresser had to go to the other wall. Now.
Something demonic howled in her ears, scraping bloody claws against the soft tissue inside her chest while something outright evil twisted her back into mangled knots.
Screaming through clenched teeth, diminutive feet clad only in pink flesh stomped to the second story bannister. Carrying her anger in a tight wad to stifle the sounds only she could hear, she leaned over and snapped at the first male who dared to come into her sights.
“Where the fuck is Lee?”
Maurice crashed to a halt on the expanse of marble tile crossing the foyer. Craning his neck to look up at her, she saw the flash of bright white teeth between his full lips. Baring hers in response, she swung her attention to the sign of movement behind Maurice.
“Well, where the fuck is he?”
Darryl’s scarred face showed his confusion and a hint of surprise. The pale brow that remained whole slid down and nudged the thick bulge of a scar.
“He’s out, princess,” Randy called up to her. Sneering, he struck an indolent pose against the large table sporting decorative bare branches.
“What the fuck does out mean?” It came on a vicious growl, a rattle in her chest that reverberated through the open space and ricocheted back to challenge anyone who could hear it.
“Meeting at the office.” Darryl’s voice was far more cautious, scarred face slack as Quinn emitted another scream of frustration, hands clenched and yanking on twisted snarls of her hair.
