Chasing Temptation: Forbidden Series #7, page 3
The room is in darkness and the windows have been closed up for some time, if the musty smell is anything to go by.
A noise—a moan—breaks through the ringing in my ears, and when I slam my hand down on the light switch, the woman it belongs to comes into focus but only barely, the dim bulb hanging in the centre of the room dull at best.
“Quinn, fuck.” Running towards her, I drop to my knees beside her lifeless body. My heart aches in my chest; it damn near feels like it’s going to split in two as I stare down at her.
There’s a dirty rag wrapped around her face, cutting into her mouth, halting her from speaking. I make quick work of untying it and pulling her weak body into my arms.
Quiet sobs fall from her lips as she shivers against me.
“It’s okay. You’re safe now. I’ve got you.” Her body is limp in my arms. She’s exhausted; clearly she’s been locked in here for a few days. “I’m going to get you out of here.”
I push to stand with her wrapped tightly in my arms, but I don’t get to full height.
Dropping back to my knees, I lift the blanket covering her to find that her wrists and ankles are bound together, the rope around her delicate skin then tied to huge hooks in the floor.
“Motherfucker.”
Gently lowering her, I search for something to cut the rope with. Coming up empty, I realise I’m going to have to leave her. My stomach turns over at the thought of her being alone in here once again.
“I’ll be right back and we’ll get you out of here.” As I gently caress her cheek, her tears wet my fingers as I stare into her blue...wait, blue eyes? She moans in pain, pulling my focus. Releasing my hold on her, I race to the door and back to the kitchen. My heart pounds, my legs not able to move me as quickly as I want to go.
Eddie’s nowhere to be seen, but his disappearance doesn’t even really register. My entire world is tied up upstairs, and I can’t think of anything aside from getting her away from here. There’s a knife rack on the counter, I pull out what I hope will be the sharpest of the set and race back to Quinn.
“I’m going to get you out of here, babe. It’s all going to be okay.”
My harsh breathing fills the room as I saw through the rope keeping her here. My heart’s in my throat as images of me walking out with her in my arms fill my mind. I’m going to take her home and keep her safe. She’s never going to have to worry about this lunatic ever again.
The knife slides through the rope at her feet before I start work on her hands. I’m just about to cut through the last few fibres when a whimper rumbles up her throat, her eyes going wide in fear.
I turn to look at what has her attention before something hard slams into my head and I’m knocked off my feet. The knife falls from my hand, clattering to the wooden floor at my side. Everything goes fuzzy. Darkness threatens to consume me as I look up to the person yielding a baseball bat.
“She doesn’t deserve to be rescued. Elizabeth's nothing more than a filthy whore.”
“Motherfucker.” By some miracle, my body follows orders despite the burning pain in my head, and I jump to my feet. I use his shock to my advantage to get a good look at him. He’s dressed like he should be heading to a golf club, not a fucking poker match, with his jumper tied over his shoulders.
He’s not expecting me to get up so easily, and his eyes widen in shock. I step towards him, the muscles in my neck straining, the need to feel him break beneath my bare hands all-consuming.
I’m on him before he’s even had time to blink, but I’m already on the back foot with my head swimming.
I get a few solid punches in before he manages to duck around the side of me. My vision’s still blurry at the edges, and it seems like it takes forever to turn around and see where he’s gone. If he’s touching her, I swear to god I’ll kill the motherfucker.
“Joe,” Quinn’s bloodcurdling scream fills my ears and makes me move a little faster, but it’s too late. The knife I was using to free her is firmly in his hand and he’s moving towards me faster than I can compute. I don’t feel anything as the cold metal cuts into my abdomen, but I do hear Quinn’s continued screams filling the room.
I don’t feel anything until he pulls the knife from my body, then the pain hits.
A roar fills my ears, and it’s not until I find myself flying at him that I realise the noise actually came from me.
I see red and take him down to the floor, my fists pounding into his face over and over. The need to end this motherfucker is all I can think about. A red haze descends on me like I haven’t felt in years, and I find myself totally out of control. I’ve no idea how much time passes as I lay into him. He has no chance of fighting me off. I’m like a man possessed as blood sprays from his face and his ribs fracture under my force.
It’s not until a pair of hands land on my shoulders that I’m dragged from the moment.
I spin, my fist ready to continue fighting, but I falter when I find a copper standing behind me.
“I think you can stop. He seems to have got just a little bit of what he deserves,” he says with a wink. More amusement fills his voice than it probably should, given the situation.
Looking behind him, I find Eddie standing in the doorway with blood running from his lip and an already swollen eye. He looks between me and something behind me, and it’s then that reality comes back.
“Quinn, fuck.” I run over, falling to my knees at her side and pulling her to me. I’m amazed the coppers allow it, but when I look back one of them nods at me, a small smile on his lips. It’s only as I wrap my arms around her and the blanket falls away from her trembling body that I realise she’s naked beneath.
I don’t care that the man who did this is currently unconscious on the other side of the room. The knowledge that he might have touched what’s mine makes me want to do it all over again.
She must sense where my thoughts are, because her cold hand lands on the side of my neck.
“It’s done. It’s over.” Her voice is weak at best. She needs a hospital, that much is obvious, but as paramedics rush into the room, the last thing I want to do is let her out of my arms.
I hold her tighter to me as they tend to his body and wheel him out on a gurney, although admittedly they don’t put a lot of care into their actions.
“Shit.” Quinn’s soft, concerned voice fills my ears as she lifts her hand from my side. It’s bright red and the reminder I need about the knife. The sight of my own blood on her hand makes me feel a little queasy.
“I’m fine. It’s just a scratch.” It’s a lie, and we both know it.
I shift us so I can rest my head back against the wall and keep her tightly in my arms. I’m vaguely aware of voices in front of us, but I can’t make out any words.
My limbs feel heavy, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let Quinn go. I’ve got her back now, and I’m never letting her out of my sight again.
I fight the darkness that wants to consume me, but eventually I lose and everything fades. A weight is lifted from me as I’m totally consumed by darkness. Her blue eyes and soft curves fill my mind, and I just about remember thinking that there could be a worse way to go.
Chapter Four
Beeping is the first thing I notice before the ache that starts somewhere in the middle of my body and radiates out to the very tips of my fingers and toes. What the fuck is—shit.
I can hear movement in the distance, but as I try to figure out what it all means, darkness claims me once again.
I’ve no idea how much time passes before my senses come back to me once again, but when they do, a few memories hit me.
Quinn.
Before I manage to even attempt to drag my eyes open, I’m out cold again.
The next time I come to, I hear a vaguely familiar male voice.
“I hate leaving you like this, but I’ve got to get back.”
“It’s fine, I get it. I’m fine.” Quinn. My heart aches at hearing her voice, and I want more than anything to be able to look at her, but my eyes won’t cooperate.
“I know you are, and so is he.” My skin heats, knowing they’re looking at me.
“I-I know.” Quinn sniffles, and it breaks my heart that she’s hurting.
“You heard the doctor. He was lucky and will be back to his usual self soon. Plus those two dodgy coppers have somehow managed to ensure there’s no investigation so he’s in the clear.” I’m not sure if Eddie is happy about that or not, but as long as Quinn is, that’s all that matters.
“I know.” Her quiet sobs fill the room, but the darkness starts to claim me once again.
The next time I come to it’s quiet, aside from the fucking beep, and I panic.
Quinn.
My need to know if she’s okay has me trying to move.
“Argh,” I cry as I try to sit up, my eyes flying open for the first time. The electric lights above me burn, making me squint as I attempt to curl myself into a ball in the hope that the pain stops.
“It’s okay, just relax.” The sound of her soft voice calms me down instantly, and the warmth of her hand landing on my cheek makes every tense muscle in my body relax.
“Quinn?” My throat is so dry that her name is barely audible. My eyes crack open and her blurry face fills them.
“Shhh. I’m here.”
Her other hand squeezes mine, and it’s enough for me to relax and drift back off to sleep.
I have no idea where I am or how I got here, but she’s beside me. That’s all that matters.
The next time I come to, the pain has subsided slightly, but the most obvious difference is that there are two female voices softly speaking, both of which I recognise.
“I can’t believe he turned up like that expecting just to walk out with me.”
“I can. He’s pretty hard headed. Once he gets an idea he doesn’t generally stop until he gets what he wants.”
“Damn fucking straight.” My voice is rough and my throat burns as I say the words, but I can’t lie here listening to them talk about me.
Silence falls around us, but I’m yet to open my eyes, seeing as my eyelids feel like lead weights, but I know they’re there, and I know they’re both staring at me.
Both of my hands are grasped.
“Don’t you ever do that to me again, you hear me?” Lauren chastises, squeezing my hand tighter.
Mustering up as much strength as I can find, I drag my eyes open to look at her.
Concern and exhaustion covers her face, her brows pulled tightly together.
“If you hadn’t just come out of surgery, I’d put you in there myself for scaring me like that.”
“Wha—”
“Here, have some water.” Looking to my left, I find Quinn holding out a plastic cup with a straw.
She looks beautiful. She always will to me, but it’s clear to see that she’s been through a harrowing experience. She has huge, dark circles under her eyes. Her skin is a pale grey colour, and her cheeks look a little sunken. But it’s the cut lip and the angry bruise high up on her cheekbone that have a burning need for revenge raging through my body. The thought of what he could have done to her in that dark room has the little contents of my stomach threatening to make themselves known.
“Not now,” she whispers, her eyes pleading with mine to let it go. She can clearly read my thoughts, making me wish I could read everything she’s feeling in this moment, but my head’s too fuzzy to know my own thoughts let alone hers.
After drinking the entire cup, I turn back to my best friend. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but why are you here?”
“Nice,” she says with a laugh. “I’m your next of kin. I got a phone call to say you’d been stabbed and I damn near crapped my pants. Why didn’t you tell me about any of this?” She gestures to Quinn, and I immediately feel terrible for shutting her out of this part of my life.
“I did. I told you...this morning?”
“Friday morning,” she says after looking at her watch. “That was probably a little late though, don’t you think?”
I shrug. Quinn was a huge part of my reason for keeping us secret, and I’d go to the ends of the earth to protect her. I hope I’d proved that.
Quinn sits silently beside me. Her hand might be in mine, but with her legs curled up under her in as small a ball as she can manage, she looks more closed off than I’ve ever seen her. I want to pull her into my arms and never let her go, but even turning to look at her fucking hurts.
A firm knock sounds out in the small room before a young female police officer pokes her head in.
“Good to see you awake, Mr. Kingsman.” A small smile twitches at her mouth before she turns to Quinn. “Could we have a chat please, Ms. Davenport?”
My brows draw together. Davenport?
Quinn uncurls her legs and stands. It’s then that I really see what her few days captive have done to her. The pair of leggings she’s wearing are hanging off her, and the hoodie’s hanging loosely from her shoulders. How is that possible after such a short amount of time?
I’m too confused by everything as she kisses my forehead and follows the copper from the room. My head spins with the hazy memories of what happened for me to end up here.
“What did she just call Quinn?”
“Ms. Davenport. Why?”
The name Elizabeth pops into my head for some reason, but I can’t pinpoint why.
“N-nothing.” I’m too confused to even attempt to make any sense of it.
There’s another knock on the door and I’m forced to push my thoughts aside as a doctor and a nurse make their way into the room.
“Mr. Kingsman, it’s so good to finally see those eyes,” the nurse coos softly. Her tone makes my spine stiffen. I don’t need anyone to talk to me like a fucking child.
“I’m just going to go and grab a coffee. Let you do your thing. I’ll be back soon.” Lauren squeezes my hand and mouths ‘be good’ before slipping from the room. As if I’d be anything but. I roll my eyes at her retreating form before glancing back at the patronising nurse.
She pulls the clipboard from the base of my bed and starts taking notes while the doctor questions me about my pain levels and checks the lines in the back of my hand, which I only now notice are attached to bags of blood hanging above my head.
He must see where my attention is because he starts explaining.
“You lost a lot of blood before you got here, but hopefully by the time this bag is done you won’t need any more. The stab wound could have done some real damage to your bowel, so we had to open you up and assess the situation. I’m pleased to say it really could have been a lot worse. You were relatively lucky, Mr. Kingsman.”
Lucky? I was stabbed by a psychopath who locked up my girl like his fucking prisoner. The memory hits me like a fucking sledgehammer.
The machine beside me starts beeping incessantly.
“You really need to stay calm, Mr. Ki—”
“It’s Joe,” I bark, hating being called by my surname unless it’s coming from Quinn. It’s the only thing I still have that connects me to my parents, and I fucking hate it.
“Sure. Please, try not to get worked up. We’d like to get you out of this place as soon as possible, so just sit back, relax, and let us take care of you.”
I’ve only been conscious briefly, and already I fucking hate this. No one’s looked after me since I was a child. Okay, so maybe that’s not totally true. I did get the flu a couple of years ago and Lauren played the part of nurse perfectly. She humoured me with my ridiculous demands but drew the line when I asked for a couple of strippers to come and keep me company while she was at work. I thought she was being a spoilsport; she said she was concerned about my blood pressure while being so ill, which seems to be a thing if the nurse’s recent words are anything to go by. My granddad and my dad had dodgy tickers, so I guess I should be a little careful seeing as it’s hereditary.
I lie there, getting more and more pissed off as they poke, prod, and ask me a million and one questions. Apparently I’m expected to stay in this shithole for a week at least as I recover from both the transfusions and surgery.
There’s no fucking way that’s happening.
I don’t know where I am. I’ve no idea if Quinn is okay after everything she’s been through. Fuck, I don’t even really know what she’s been through. I’ve got the barest of details about what happened with her dad and ex-husband. I need to get her out of here and somewhere safe so she can recuperate and figure out a way to rebuild her life.
After what feels like a fucking week, the rock hard pillows have been fluffed, the rough bed sheets are neatly tucked around me, and I’m finally left alone with someone else’s blood slowly dripping into my body,
I. Fucking. Hate. It.
I lie there alone with only the sounds of the machines around me for company as I try to drag up as many memories from that night as possible. I must try so hard that I wear myself out, because soon everything fades once again and I float off into dreamland.
When I wake again, the lights are dimmed, although I can still see every inch of the room. The first thing I notice is that the beeping is no more. I look to see if I’m no longer attached to the irritating machine, but before I find that my eyes land on Quinn.
She’s curled up in the reclining chair with a hospital pillow tucked under her head and her cheek resting on her hand. Her dark hair is all over the place, nothing like it usually is, and her skin is almost grey. I hate that I’m stuck in this bed and unable to comfort her after whatever it was she endured at that monster’s hand. She’s dressed in the same pair of leggings and hoodie as earlier. The only bit of skin she’s showing is her face, and I hate that she’s hiding once again.
It occurs to me that that was what the twinsets were. They covered as much skin as possible and made her blend into the crowd, or at least with every other woman I would imagine were in their circle of friends. Her choices of the short leather skirts and the flared dresses make so much sense. I make so much sense. She was rebelling from the life she had before, the life she hated. Was she just with me because I was the rebel to help her break free? What happens now? My heart begins to race as I consider that the strength of my feelings might not be reciprocated. I’m not sure how I’ll cope if she tells me it was just a bit of fun and that now her ex-douchebag and father have been locked up where they belong, she’s going back to her old life, her old job.
