Chapter Twelve
“Eat.”
Tobias left her no choice, shoving the flaky bite of biscuit into her mouth. Sprawled over his lap on the small couch in their bedroom, he refused to let her up to feed herself. Not that Quinn was in any condition to sit upright, let alone eat by herself. Feeding her tidbits with his own fingers, he’d emptied one plate and now forced her to eat more. Grumbling the entire time, harsh words tempered with gentle touches and conspicuous care.
She’d been out for several hours after her little exploit, so she tried not to blame him for his fussing. The kids had come and gone, Quinn’s strength flagging too soon to go and play with them and Tobias far too protective to let her try. It had perhaps been a mistake, but one she didn’t want to take back. Not with him coiled up inside of her chest, the knotted threads tying them together more tangled than ever.
Still, it grated her nerves to be babied.
“I’m going to explode. I can’t eat as much as you, you know.”
“You’re nowhere near full. Do you know how I know that?”
“Are you angry that I did it or that I did it?”
“You’re not making sense. Drink.” He held the glass of water to her lips, tipping it up until Quinn had to gulp to keep it from overflowing her mouth.
“You know what I meant,” Quinn said between panting breaths, slapping his hand away when he tried to push more food at her.
“One fucking day out of the hospital and—”
“So you’re angry that I did it.” Quinn squirmed as upright as she could, using his body for leverage until she could swing her feet down to the floor. Feeling boneless and weary, she stretched out all akimbo with exhaustion.
“Do you even know how a claim works, Quinn?”
The solicitous tone made her wary, but still she turned to him though she had to hug his arm to keep from falling onto the other half of the couch. “Obviously I don’t. No one’s ever bothered to tell me, even though I’m supposed to be half of the equation. Except… and even he only told me a little of it. You know, they don’t teach us that stuff. You’re supposed to tell us how it all works and what happens and—”
“All right, I get it.” Tobias took a deep breath, fingers sweeping over his eyelids before pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’re tying your soul to someone else’s.”
“No shit.”
“It’s the intent behind the bite, the claim itself,” he said, opting to ignore her. “You’re ripping yourself open and giving them a place inside you.”
“That’s not true. If that was the way it worked, then I’d have power over you when you bit me.”
“No, because I’m an Alpha. Say whatever you want, little bird, but my will is stronger than the average Omega.” Taking hold of her arm, he hauled her back into his lap, cradling Quinn against his chest before offering the sausage once more. “Not you, but there’s never been anything average about you.”
“Oh, now comes the sweet talk.” Lips curled into a smirk, they both knew she was pleased. Warm and damn near fuzzy with it, she snatched the sausage from him and ate it.
“The point is, you were already weak, and you put unneeded strain on your body.” The growl that emanated from his chest was quiet, a steady vibration felt more than heard as his hands tightened to the point of bruising. “What were you even thinking?”
“Wasn’t, really,” Quinn said with easy nonchalance, adding a flippant wave of her fingers before reaching towards the waiting plate. Grumbled when he tugged her back and offered the toast she aimed for.
“You were thinking something,” he murmured against her hair. Possessive touch becoming questing, he slipped warm fingers under her robe. Gliding along her skin, tracing the curves he could reach with ease. “Otherwise it wouldn’t have worked the way it did, hm?”
“Oh, Gods, there’s going to be no standing you now. Your ego is more than big enough,” Quinn snarled, flinging the toast in the general direction of the table to bat away his hands.
“You like how big it is, among other things.” Grasping her hip, he rocked Quinn’s ass against the growing bulge. Ground her down into it until his warm sigh scattered over her shoulder he bared with newfound urgency.
“What happened to me being too weak to do anything,” Quinn asked before her thoughts tripped and fell flat on their face. With a few careful caresses, he had her nipples hard and aching. His pinching twist stealing cognizant thought while lurid images and sensations bombarded her.
“You just have to lie there.”
A flash of something else, something cold and unexpected shot through her synapses. Another stumbling crash that she jerked away from to concentrate on the here and now. His hands already stopped, the moment crumbling around them. Sifting to dusty ash that clogged the back of her throat, he didn’t touch her at all for a few thundering heartbeats.
He began to purr, quiet and unassuming, so unlike him that it startled her more than when he fetched her abandoned toast and held it up to her. Collapsed back into the couch, he tried to make himself inconspicuous and unthreatening, failing with miserable flair.
“Eat, little bird.” When she didn’t take the offered food, he grunted and tossed it back to the plate. A second later he unfolded his bulky height, easing Quinn into the warm void. Settling her blankets and things around her body before standing back, stiff and seeming uncertain for a change. Twilit evergreens indecipherable, he took her in. “I’ll get fresh sheets. Check on the children.”
