It was a mistake.
The rush of heat warmed her skin, a crimson flush spreading through her chest to stain her neck and cheeks. A tempest of emotions and thoughts, of things not wholly her own, ravaged their way through her. Stomping the clarity of herself into nothingness as it trampled everything that was Quinn into the ground.
Her stuttering gasp pleased him, as did the way her body softened. Welcoming, she squirmed to accommodate his bulk. Legs spreading wider, she urged him to move with the faint twitch of her hips despite the panicked screech that writhed through the air.
“Do you not see, Quinn,” he whispered while nuzzling her temple. “You are mine.”
“No,” she gasped, writhing as she grew wetter for him. Readying to give him what he wanted, what her body demanded it needed. “You have something, but it’s not me. Never me.”
“It’ll do for now, little bird. Now show me how much you want this. Make me come.”
Quinn’s reply was lost in her groan, arms reaching back to clutch at the rolling hills and valleys of his muscled body to urge him on.
* * *
“Mama eat,” Adam shouted, slamming his cup down onto the table with rapid swings of his arm. Continuing to scream his demand as he beat plastic against wood, his cherubic face went red as tears welled in big hazel eyes.
“Adam, you need to stop. You’re upsetting—”
“Mama! Mama!” Elise joined the fray, high pitched shrieks and wails growing louder. Fists slapping against her tray, plastic rattling as it bounced across the slick surface. Chubby cheeks pink, her meltdown was imminent.
“Love of the Gods,” Quinn muttered as she snatched the cup from Adam’s small hand, lips tight in frustration. “You need to stop this.”
“Mama need to eat!”
“Fine,” Quinn half shouted, grabbing her fork and shoveling the cold, glossy eggs into her mouth. Lips twisting in disgust, her stomach began rebelling before she had even swallowed the gummy mess. Everything still tasted wrong, the well-known textures foreign whenever she tried to eat. It ended the same no matter what.
In an hour at most, she would be huddling on the floor, puking her guts out.
Meghan made a sympathetic face over Elise’s head as she tried to quiet the shrieking. Quinn jerked one shoulder in a shrug, turning her baleful stare to Adam as she forced another lump of yellow mush between her lips.
“Good,” Adam proclaimed, messy fingers gripping his fork as he stared back, attempting to mimic Quinn. Within a few moments, tantrum forgotten, he turned his full attention to the broken shreds of bacon littering the table in front of him. Smacking jaws and pleased grunts replaced his sniffles as he concentrated on the serious task of eating.
“Does he look bigger to you,” Quinn asked as she rearranged the piles of food on her plate, hoping Adam wouldn’t notice she had stopped eating.
“What did the doctor say?”
“That he was normal for his age, but I can’t get over the feeling he’s grown since then.”
“All babies grow,” Meghan said, her grin teasing as she tried to pry a smile from Quinn.
“He just seems too… big. Well spoken, too.” Quinn twisted her lips to the side, staring at Adam as he dug into the pancake disintegrating under all the syrup he’d demanded. Brows sliding down, she cocked her head to the side. “It’s been ages since health class, and I wasn’t exactly paying attention at the time, but isn’t that a sign of an Alpha? Please, Gods, tell me I’m wrong.”
“He could be a smart Beta,” Meghan said as she wiped Elise’s face. “This one is hardly a slouch. You’re no idiot, and neither is Mr. Kahler, so it would make sense you would have brilliant babies.”
Quinn hummed a noncommittal response, sliding from her chair and going to Adam as he began playing with the remains of his breakfast more than eating any of it. It was hopeless to hold back her smile as she began wiping at the tacky film of syrup that appeared to cover most of his exposed skin. Much to his dismay, she also insisted on getting the bits of egg and other miscellaneous detritus from his hair.
“Don’t be an Alpha, my love, okay?” Quinn groaned as she hauled Adam from his booster seat, hugging him to her chest where he nuzzled against her neck. He hummed his contentment, arms and legs wrapped tight around her.
“You should be honored if he is.”
Quinn jumped as Curtis’ voice swept through the room to rake across her back. Things had never been good between them, but since her return, his demeanor worsened. She knew he didn’t approve of Tobias spending so much time with her, but whether it was her own observation or Tobias’, she couldn’t say.
As if the thought summoned him, Quinn felt it. The heat pulsing through her chest swelled, seeping through her limbs. His scent, the rich decadence of chocolate and chilies, flooded her senses long before he came near enough she felt him behind her. A shiver cavorted down her spine, twisting through the vertebra as his hands slid down her shoulders to take hold of her hips. Pulling Quinn tight against his chest, he nuzzled her neck opposite his son.
“Tobias,” Quinn whispered, head lolling back onto his shoulder. Something deep inside of her screamed, but it was buried under the heavy warmth that flowed thick as the syrup staining her shirt.
“Daddy!” Adam squirmed in Quinn’s arms, struggling to reach Tobias over her back. He squealed in delight when Tobias plucked him from her straining grip with ease, cradled against his father’s chest as Quinn was no longer able to.
