Lost the Handle (Nashville Assassins: Next Generation #8)

Chapter 23

Chapter

Twenty-Three

Quinn

I’m shaking everywhere as I wait outside the door to the bathroom, where I know Emery just disappeared to. This whole night has been a shitshow of epic proportions. Ava is fucking pissed, and that’s not good for me. She hasn’t texted to ask if she should pick me up. We need to discuss the fact that I haven’t kicked Emery out. I didn’t plan to anyway, but I don’t want Ava using that against me.

We also need to discuss the fact that she’ll never speak to my sister like that again or attempt to dictate what is or is not appropriate in my mother’s house. I don’t know who the hell she thinks she is, but I won’t allow her to be disrespectful to the people I love. I can’t stand by and allow her to command things anymore. She wants to marry me, fine. But I’ve allowed her too much fucking power. I have sat back because I didn’t have anything to lose.

Now, I do.

She’s gaining everything, and I’m losing it all.

But all that isn’t what has my head pounding.

No. It’s the fact that Emery offered to carry a baby for my sister.

I am fully aware that she is kind and would do anything for my family, but over my dead body will she carry anyone’s baby but mine. The pure fury I felt when she offered that to my sister and her husband is something I’ve never experienced in my whole life. I felt this need to jump over the table and fuck her right there. Knock her up so no one else can. I’ve never felt so damn possessive in my life, and while I know that makes me a dick since my sister and Boon really want another kid, I don’t care.

Emery Brooks is mine.

Once I convince her to wait for me.

Yup. This is all a huge clusterfuck.

Thankfully, the door opens, pulling me from my confusing thoughts, and Emery looks up, her eyes widening at the sight of me. Fuck, she’s so beautiful. Her eyes are glossy, not like she’s been crying, just shiny and happy. She’s tied her hair back, a few tendrils falling along her shoulders. She slowly shuts the door behind her before leaning against it, her chest jutting out, and from how much taller I am, I can tell she’s not wearing a bra. My cock roars to life, but I ignore his one-track mind and set her with a look that lets her know I’m not happy. Her brows pull together as she glances down the hall that I know is empty before looking back up at me. “Quinnifer.”

“Shut up,” I demand before crowding her body until her shoulders hit the door. She tips her head back so her eyes don’t break the connection we’re sharing. I know this is wrong. I know I need to put space between us, but I swear it’s as if we’re two magnets being drawn together. The kind that are difficult to break apart, no matter how hard you pull. My breath catches when I feel the heat of her sexy little body. I press my hand against the wall beside her head and lean in, my eyes never leaving hers. “You just can’t behave, can you?”

My hips press to hers automatically, and her softness against the hardest part of me has me groaning low in the back of my throat. Her eyes widen only a fraction before a sneaky smirk pulls at her lips. “When have I ever behaved?” she asks, her eyes burning like embers, and I’m begging to feel the sting. “Also, is this another moment when you ask me to behave, but you don’t really want me to?”

I shake my head free of the thoughts of her being my naughty little lovebug, and I glare. “You just couldn’t let me handle it. You know I will protect my family?—”

“You don’t have to do it alone,” she breathes, her voice all husky and sexy. “I know you’ve got your family. But Quinn, I’ve got you.”

My heart trips over itself. “I had it under control.”

“I don’t care. I won’t have anyone call what we have inappropriate.”

“But it is. Right now, this is inappropriate,” I grit out, and her eyes go wild. She takes a deep breath before lifting her hips to rub against mine. My eyes drift shut as I let my head fall to hers. Our breaths intermingle, and fuck, she’ll be my downfall.

But I always knew that.

I move my free hand up, pulling the hair tie free, letting it drop beside me as her hair tumbles over her shoulders. I reach out, wrapping her curls around my fingers and rubbing the silky strands. Her eyes never leave mine, her chest rising and falling almost violently as she watches me. I lean in, and her mouth parts as I bring her hair to my nose, inhaling deeply.

Cherry. Bergamot. Emery.

My eyes drift shut, and I breathe out shakily.

“You can change that,” she whispers, her breath hot against my lips.

It’s that comment that knocks me out of the lust-filled cloud that only Emery can suffocate me with. I pull back, dropping my hand from her hair, but I can’t bring myself to remove my hips from hers. I open my eyes and narrow them on her. “I can’t.”

“You can.”

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “I’m marrying her.”

“No,” she almost begs. But that’s not Emery. She doesn’t beg. “Marry me.”

“Emery.” Now, I’m the one begging. “Stop.”

“No, you can’t rub your cock all over my pussy and then say you’re marrying someone else,” she throws back at me, her tone sharp and deadly. “You can’t tell me I can’t carry your sister’s kid when she needs?—”

Once more, I snap. My free hand comes up, collaring her neck as I lean in, my nose pressing into hers. We lock eyes, but I see no fear in Emery’s. Only pure lust. Fucking hell, this girl. With my voice so damn deep, so damn unsteady, I tell her, “You will not have my sister’s baby.”

“Why?” she demands, her eyes searching mine. “You’re marrying someone else. Maybe I’ll have her baby while you play house.”

My fingers bite into her skin, and she gasps, her hips arching into mine, her heat wreaking havoc on my cock. In nothing more than a whisper, I somehow get out, “You will do no such thing.”

“You keep telling me no, but not why,” she says, her hips rocking against mine, the friction of her hot center rubbing on my cock making me truly fucking nuts. “Tell me, Quinn. Tell me why it’s okay for you to marry someone else but not for me to carry your sister’s baby.”

My body is on fire, my balls are tight, and pleasure is burning down my spine, but I won’t come in my pants. I refuse. Or at least, I’m gonna try really hard not to let it happen. Through clenched teeth, I say, “Because the only baby you’ll be having is mine.”

Triumph sparks in her eyes as she grins. “Then do it.”

“What?”

“Put a baby in me,” she says in such a sultry way, I almost forget I’m engaged to someone else. “Right now, right here.”

“Emery,” I say through gritted teeth. “Please.”

She rolls her hips against me, and my fingers bite into her throat. She moans softly, and my body goes tight. Her voice is low as she pleads, “Forget everything, Quinn. Marry me, make babies with me, give me your future.”

My breath comes out harshly as I stay trapped in her wanton gaze. “Emery, you’ve got my heart in a fucking vise, and I don’t know what to do.”

“Choose me,” she demands. “I fucked up. I know I did, but Quinn, I lo?—”

“Wow.”

When it registers whose voice just cut Emery off, I swallow hard. Emery doesn’t look away from me, unaffected that my fiancée just caught me with my cock pressed to her center and my hand around her throat. We’re so close, we could be kissing. I let go of her throat and take a step back. I know I need to look at Ava. I know I need to explain, but I can’t stop myself from drinking in the sight of Emery leaning against the door, her chest rising and falling repeatedly. Her face is flushed, her lips parted, and damn it, I wish I had kissed her.

Fuck, she’s stunning.

I inhale, letting it out in a whoosh as I move my fingers through my hair. Then I turn to look at Ava, who is standing with her arms crossed over her body and her face screwed up in anger. She’s flushed like Emery is, though hers isn’t from lust, more from anger. “Is it safe to assume you’re fucking her?”

I glare at her. “Don’t start.”

“No.” She comes toward me, her eyes full of rage. “You think it’s okay to embarrass me like this, to fuck your ex in the hallway of your family home?” To my surprise, she slams her palms into my chest. I stumble back, more so in shock than from the force of her push. Before I can move or even ask what the hell she is doing, Emery roars, shoving Ava into the wall. My eyes widen in shock as Emery grabs her by her hair and tips her neck back. Ava strains under her hold, but Emery doesn’t falter.

“Don’t you ever put your hands on him again,” she seethes. “We aren’t fucking. We were talking. But don’t you dare forget, I am his future. You are nothing more than a right now for him.” She leans in even closer, her nose almost touching Ava’s. “I don’t know what you have over him, but I’ll find out. So know your fucking place.”

I said I wouldn’t come in my pants.

But that was before I watched the love of my life defend me.