Quinn Read online

  Not with Quinn. His mate pulled those emotions to the surface and Stevie hated that fact. It was as if Quinn saw right through his bullshit and wouldn’t let Stevie hide behind the façade that he’d perfected over the years.

  “I can’t even give you babies.” Stevie turned his head, refusing to cry in front of Quinn. He’d been terrified of becoming a parent, yet now, that was all Stevie wanted.

  “Is that what this is all about?” Quinn used his knuckles to turn Stevie’s head back around. “Sweetheart, I already told you that I can live with that. I just want you to be happy. And this isn’t a one-shot deal. We can keep trying.”

  “And what about you?” he asked. “Your happiness counts, too. I know how badly you want a family.”

  “So we adopt if it turns out we can’t get pregnant,” Quinn said. “They’re plenty of kids out there who need a good home.”

  Stevie folded his arms. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

  “I’m saying that because it’s true.” Quinn pulled Stevie into his strong arms. “We get this ordeal over with, and we’ll look into adoption.”

  “Can I make a request?”

  “Anything.” Quinn gave him a quick kiss.

  “Can we get a kid who’s already potty trained and off the bottle?”

  Quinn chuckled. “Afraid of diapers?”

  “Afraid of poop,” Stevie admitted.

  This time when Quinn kissed him, it was longer and more thorough. Stevie groaned into his mouth, curling his arms around his gorgeous mate.

  Quinn gave a tiny growl as he backed Stevie to the bed. “You ever think of leaving me again and I’ll tie you to our bed.”

  “You promise?” Stevie grinned.

  Quinn rolled his eyes. “It figures you’d be turned on by my threat.”

  Stevie lifted his arms when Quinn grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it upward. His mate removed his own shirt, leaving them in their pants and underwear.

  Dropping to his knees, Stevie unfastened Quinn’s pants and drew them downward, his mouth watering when Quinn’s cock popped free. He arched a brow. “Commando?”

  “I need to do laundry.” Quinn grabbed the base of his cock and anchored the head toward Stevie’s lips. “Suck my dick and I’ll wash both our clothes.”

  Stevie laughed. “You didn’t have to bribe me, but now that you did, you’re stuck with the chore.”

  He parted his lips and took the head of Quinn’s cock into his mouth, groaning when pre-cum touched his tongue as Quinn wrestled to get his pants the rest of the way off.

  “Do you need a moment?” Stevie asked after he pulled Quinn’s length from his mouth.

  Quinn bent and pulled them the rest of the way off. “Not anymore.”

  Stevie ducked his head and mouthed Quinn’s sac, lapping at the wrinkled flesh. Quinn hissed, spreading his legs farther apart. “I think we should take this to the bed. I’m getting a leg cramp.”

  “Oh my god,” Stevie said as he got to his feet. “Do you always interrupt getting your dick sucked?”

  Quinn tossed the suitcase aside, grabbed Stevie, and tossed him on the bed. “Won’t do it again. I promise.”

  Somehow Stevie didn’t believe him as Quinn rolled to his back.

  “One more interruption and I’m leaving to take a shower,” Stevie warned. “I’ve never had to work so hard to suck a guy off.”

  Quinn’s canines descended. “Can you not mention other guys?”

  “I didn’t!” Jeez. Stevie was gonna smack Quinn if he didn’t pipe down. He settled between his mate’s legs and gave him a look that said Quinn better not move and then engulfed his mate’s cock.

  “Shit,” Quinn groaned. “Get me off, babe. I need to get off.”

  Quinn wasn’t the only one who needed release. Stevie had too much pent-up frustration, and he was about to take it out on his mate. He tightened his jaw, creating suction as he bobbed his head up and down, playing with Quinn’s nuts at the same time.

  “That’s it. Oh god, that’s it,” Quinn groaned.

  Stevie worked Quinn’s cock until his mate erupted down his throat. Quinn gave a strangled cry as he pumped his hips. When Quinn quieted, Stevie climbed up his body and straddled his waist.

  “I think I’m in love with you,” Quinn joked. He sat up, making Stevie do the same. Stevie clung to Quinn and studied his face, looking for that teasing smile that had just been there.

  “I didn’t mean for it to come out like that,” Quinn said. “As a joke. It’s not a joke.”

  Stevie’s heart hammered. “What’re you saying?”

  “That I love you.” Quinn rested his forehead against Stevie’s. “Why do you think I was about to lose my shit when I saw you packing?”

  “I—”

  Quinn took Stevie down to the bed, placing him on his back. He spread Stevie’s legs and pressed the head of his still-hard cock to his hole. When the lube pulsed against Stevie’s entrance, Quinn worked his way inside.

  Stevie threw his head back, gasping as he curled his legs around Quinn’s waist. His body hummed with need and desire. Stevie slid his arms around Quinn’s neck and smiled up at him. “You’re not the only one who’s fallen in love.”

  With a devilish smile, Quinn thrust hard and deep, making Stevie’s orgasm crest. Ripples of pleasure shot up his spine as Stevie arched his back and hissed.

  His mate’s cock stretched him wide as Quinn sank his canines into Stevie’s shoulder, making his climax explode as Stevie cried out Quinn’s name.

  He shook and shuddered as waves of cum erupted between them. Quinn snarled, removed his canines, and reared back, grabbing Stevie by his ankles and spreading his legs. Quinn pounded into Stevie’s ass, his gaze locked on where they were joined.

  “So fucking beautiful,” Quinn groaned.

  Stevie was spent, but his cock was trying to come back to life. It twitched as Quinn picked up his pace, punching his hips forward. Then he threw his head back and shouted, his cock pulsing deep in Stevie’s ass.

  There was no way Stevie could walk away from Quinn. As much as he wanted to spare his mate the anguish of dealing with Cliff and Lara, Stevie didn’t have it in him to leave.

  He loved Quinn with all his heart and would fight his parents to keep Quinn out of their lives. Stevie had started to fall asleep with those thoughts, but then nausea hit him and he raced for the bathroom.

  Chapter Nine

  “I don’t get it,” Quinn said to Keller over the phone. “If the pregnancy test was negative, then why is he getting sick?”

  “Clearly the test got it wrong,” Keller said. “Did you get the one I told you to get?”

  “No,” Quinn said. “They had a sale, and I grabbed the one that was ten dollars cheaper. You didn’t tell me they would be so expensive.”

  “Dude, you just inherited half a million dollars and you skimped on a fucking stick test?” Keller made a groaning noise. “Remind me to smack you when I see you.”

  “I was being frugal,” Quinn argued.

  “I got a few vacation days coming,” Keller said. “Just wait until I get there and we’ll find out. Don’t pay some homeless guy to wave a pencil on a string over your mate.”

  “That’s to find out the sex of the child.” Even Quinn knew that much.

  “Just wait 'til I get there.” Keller hung up.

  Quinn lowered the phone and sat on the closed toilet seat. Stevie might actually be pregnant. He didn’t want to get his hopes up or Stevie’s. His mate had taken it pretty damn hard, and the last thing Quinn wanted to do was let him down again.

  It had gutted him the first time that Stevie had been so distraught, and there hadn’t been anything Quinn could do about it.

  He got up and left the bathroom. Stevie was already downstairs having breakfast. Quinn stopped in his tracks. What the fuck was Lara doing in his room?

  She jumped when she saw him. “I came to see if Steven was here.”

  Quinn bit back the curse words tha
t threatened to spill from his mouth. “You could’ve knocked.”

  “I did,” she said.

  That was bullshit. Quinn would’ve heard her. As a panther, his hearing was better than that of humans. Even if he’d been deep in conversation with Keller, a knock would’ve drawn his attention. If she was lying about that, what was her real reason for being in there? Hayward had already caught her trying to break into Keller’s bedroom. Now Quinn’s?

  He didn’t like having someone in the house he couldn’t trust. If Quinn set a thousand bucks on the kitchen table, he expected it to be there when he returned. Trust was very important to him, and he had none for Lara.

  “He’s downstairs having breakfast.” Quinn snatched the clean shirt off his bed and pulled it over his head. “If you don’t mind, could you leave my room?”

  She stood by the door, eyeing him. “I couldn’t help but hear my son getting sick last night. Is he okay? Is there anything I need to worry about?”

  Quinn couldn’t help but notice how her hands shook. Lara was going through withdrawal from the alcohol, and he wondered if making her go cold turkey had been the best idea. He’d heard somewhere that some alcoholics died from not having any booze in their system.

  “He’s fine.” Quinn wasn’t going to tell her jack shit. He didn’t trust Lara. His gut kept telling him she was up to something, and he wasn’t going to let her use Stevie for her own agenda.

  Whatever that was.

  He really wished she wasn’t there. At least not today. Quinn had to leave Stevie with Nash and Layne so he and Hayward could track Mr. Bodega down. He felt as if he was leaving an enemy among them. Lara tried to appear sweet and concerned, but Quinn recognized the cunning in her eyes. He’d seen it many times before while working as a bouncer, a bodyguard, and muscle for hire.

  He’d have to have a talk with Nash before he left.

  “As long as Steven is okay, then all is well.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

  Lara walked out, and Quinn sat to put his boots on. He’d have to have a talk with Stevie, too. He needed to tell his mate to keep their bedroom door locked. Quinn didn’t have anything of value in there, but he didn’t like the idea of anyone snooping around his room.

  “Are you sure about this?”

  Quinn looked up and saw Nash in his doorway. Just the man he needed to see. He had baby Connor with him, and Quinn couldn’t resist. He got up and scooped his nephew in his arms. “There’s the handsome fellow.”

  “Hayward is downstairs with Stevie and Lara.” Nash closed the bedroom door. “Again, are you sure about this?”

  Quinn rubbed his nose against Connor’s. It was rare the baby was awake, but he was now and staring up at Quinn with wide gray eyes. God, he smelled so good. Quinn loved the smell of babies.

  “It’s the only way to get Stevie out of this.” Quinn rocked Connor in his arms. The baby wasn’t crying, but it was an instinctual thing to do. “But I need you to keep an eye on Lara. I still think she’s up to something. She was in here when I came out of the bathroom.”

  “Seriously?”

  “She didn’t even knock, though she swore she did.” Quinn made funny faces, and he was pretty sure Connor was smiling at him. It was probably gas, but Quinn chose to believe his nephew found him hilarious.

  “I still think having her here is a mistake,” Nash said. “The Tuckers are pariahs in Kendall.”

  Quinn narrowed his eyes. “I know you’re not talking about Stevie.”

  “You know I’m not,” Nash snapped. “He’s the only good thing about Cliff and Lara.”

  “Keller’s on his way here.”

  “Why?”

  Quinn looked toward the door and lowered his voice. “Because Stevie might actually be pregnant, and Keller says he has a few days to burn. He wants to do that test himself.”

  “I knew using a store-bought test was a dumb idea.” Nash arched a brow. “You bought a cheap one, didn’t you?”

  “It was on sale,” Quinn argued. “Will everyone stop riding my ass about that?”

  Nash chuckled. “Stevie is downstairs eating like food is going out of style. Either he’s pregnant or has the munchies. You two been smoking weed up in here?”

  Quinn handed Connor back but not before kissing his tiny hand. “You know I don’t believe in doing drugs. Just don’t say anything to Stevie until Keller does his test.”

  Nash nodded. Quinn’s brothers knew how hard Stevie had taken it when he found out he wasn’t carrying Quinn’s baby.

  “I won’t say a word, and I’ll keep an eye on his mom.” Nash headed toward the door. “Hayward made breakfast. Might want to get some before it gets cold.”

  Quinn was too anxious to eat, but he couldn’t pass up Hayward’s cooking. Besides, he might need the energy for later if shit went south with his meeting.

  * * * *

  “What’re you guys doing here?” Stevie came from the kitchen, stuffed from breakfast, so glad to see Horace and Stanton. He’d felt disconnected from the world without his best friends, though he still had Layne. But Layne was so busy with the baby that they’d hardly hung out.

  “We missed you.” Horace crossed the room and hugged Stevie. Stevie noticed a bag in Horace’s hand.

  Stanton just stood there, looking around, appearing uncomfortable. Stevie pulled from Horace’s embrace and hugged Stanton, whispering, “Please settle things with Layne. This has been killing him.”

  Hartley, a guy who Stanton had been fucking and had fallen in love with, had been stalking Layne. It hadn’t been Layne’s fault that Hartley had been a lunatic. At the time Layne had been pregnant with Connor, and Hartley had been determined to steal Layne away, saying he would raise Nash’s son as his own.

  Only Stevie and Horace had known how much Stanton had loved Hartley, and it had been hard on all of them when Hartley showed his true colors and had been arrested. Stanton had blamed Layne, and they hadn’t spoken since.

  Stanton gave him a weak smile. “I’m here, so that’s a start.”

  Horace held up his bag. “I know it’s still early, but I brought some drinky-drink so Stanton could celebrate Connor’s birth.”

  Even though Stevie’s mother was upstairs lying down, he still didn’t want any alcohol in the house. She’d slipped up once since she’d been there, but Stevie was proud that she hadn’t had a drink since.

  “We can’t.” Stevie looked toward the stairs just as Nash was descending them.

  “Nope, no booze,” Nash said. He cut across the room and took the bag from Horace’s hand.

  “We’re all of age,” Horace argued, trying to wrestle the bag back. “What’s the big deal? The time of day? No one has to work today, and I promise to sober up before I drive.”

  “Stevie can’t drink.” Nash’s brows rose as he looked from Stevie to Horace. “I meant his mom is here, so we have to stow the wine coolers.”

  Now Horace’s brows were at his hairline. “Why is your mom here?”

  Stevie watched Nash walk out of the room with the bag. What was up with that? Was his brother-in-law afraid Stevie would become a lush because his parents were? But he’d said that Stevie “can’t” drink, not that he shouldn’t.

  There was something squirrelly going on, but Stevie dismissed it. “It’s a long story,” he said to Horace. “One that I don’t want to go into right now.”

  “Is it because of…you know what?” Stanton asked.

  How had Stevie forgotten that he’d told Stanton about the night Neal had gotten into his car and threatened his life?

  “In a roundabout way,” he answered.

  “You two stop talking in code around me.” Horace stomped his foot. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  Just then Lara came down the steps and smiled at them. “Harry, Stanley, so good to see you guys.”

  Stevie didn’t bother correcting her, not when he saw Layne coming down the steps behind her, Connor in his arms. He wasn’t an idiot. Stevie knew Quinn had asked Nash and
Layne to keep an eye on Lara.

  And he hated the fact that they had to do that.

  “Hi.” Layne came to them but looked at Stanton. “How’ve you been?”

  Stanton cleared his throat. “Is that your son?”

  “I think it’s wonderful that they adopted.” Lara clapped her hands. “Don’t you? He’s such a cutie pie.”

  Layne turned sideways when Lara tried to touch Connor. She gave Layne a tight-lipped smile and wandered into the kitchen.

  “What in the hell is going on?” Horace went to the bookcase in the corner of the living room and started straightening everything on it.

  Nobody tried to stop him. Horace would just find something else to do.

  “We’ll talk later,” Stanton said to Horace.

  “Would you like to hold him?” Layne asked.

  Stanton’s eyes rounded. “I don’t think…I shouldn’t—”

  Layne handed Connor over, and Stanton looked as though he’d freak out at any second.

  “You got this.” Stevie patted Stanton’s back, but a hard, burning lump formed in his throat. Layne had what Stevie was desperate for. It was strange how quickly things had changed for him.

  At first Stevie had been against getting pregnant, and now that was all he wanted.

  “Why don’t we go up to my room so everyone can talk?” Layne said. As if he knew the turmoil inside Stevie, Layne hugged him.

  It was a nice and kind gesture, but Stevie didn’t think anything would make him feel better.

  Layne glared at Horace. “Don’t even think about cleaning my room. I like the messy look.”

  The skin under Horace’s eye twitched. “No promises.”

  Stevie chuckled. It felt just like old times with all four of them together. He just wished Quinn were there. His mate knew all the right words to say to make Stevie feel whole again.

  * * * *

  “How’d you get the information so fast?” Quinn asked from the passenger seat. He didn’t like leaving Stevie behind but no fucking way would he have brought his possibly pregnant mate with him.