Locked & Loaded (Ricochet 1)

“No. I’m tired, Rick. Let’s just go to sleep.”

An odd sensation churned in Rick’s subconscious. Something was off with Quinn, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what. He didn’t want to push her to talk about it, at least, not right now. All he wanted to do was bask in how right this felt. Sex before had never been bad, but it had never been like it was with Quinn— overwhelming, emotional, and hitting him right smack in his previously empty heart.

Rick reached down and tugged the blankets up over them both, making sure Quinn was fully covered. Sleep started to drag him under. Pulling her close, Rick wondered how he would bring up the fact that he was falling in love with her.

Tomorrow, he decided. They would talk tomorrow.

QUINN WIPED AWAY the tears that ran down her cheeks as she drove up a nearly empty highway early on Sunday morning, headed towards her father’s place on Lake Lanier. She never sold the old house when he died, instructing her father’s lawyers to continue paying the taxes out of her inheritance until she said otherwise. A sizable inheritance she never told Travis about, wisely choosing to keep it hidden from him the entire time they were married.

She had been afraid to access the account until now. Worried that when Travis started looking for her— and she had no doubt he would— that he could use the money to track her down if there were any activity on the account. Now, over a year after leaving him, Quinn felt it was time to confront her past and claim what was hers.

Then there was Rick. Just thinking about him hurt her so much she thought she’d die from the pain. What she was feeling was too much, too soon. In her mind, what they did was more than just fucking, it was everything. It was pleasure, comfort, safety, and love all wrapped up in one amazing night. Quinn might be inexperienced, but she felt real emotions in every single touch, every kiss.

What shocked her the most was how safe she felt in his arms. She was tiny compared to him, fragile, vulnerable. Rick could really hurt her. Physically, he was much larger and more dangerous than Travis, yet Quinn knew that even though he could hurt her, he never would. Beneath Rick she felt protected, loved… and that was exactly why she left.

She couldn’t afford to get involved with Rick. She was still married to Travis, for god’s sake! Quinn needed to tie up her old life before she could create a new one, especially with someone like Rick. He had heartbreak written all over him. He was a good-looking player, used to fucking and running. Rick was the complete opposite of what should be her first post-Travis relationship. She must have been crazy to let emotions and desire overrule her brain last night.

A relationship with Rick was doomed to fail, not that he would even want a relationship. Better to stop now than when she got in too deep. It was less painful to be the one to leave than to be the one who woke up alone after Rick did one of his infamous midnight escapes.

Quinn turned the wheel, pulling Mack’s old Ford pickup truck into her dad’s driveway, the driveway where she learned to ride a bike, where

she used to draw with chalk and play jump rope with her friends. She put the truck in park, scrubbing her hands over her tired, tear-streaked face. Drained, Quinn trudged up the path to the front door.

Time to take care of my shitty past, so I can finally start my future.

Quinn put the key she got from her dad’s lawyer in the lock and turned.

BRIGHT SUNLIGHT FILTERED through the window, streaking across Rick’s face. He squinted, his sleep-addled brain taking a moment to catch up. Rick turned onto his stomach, burying his head into the blankets to block out the light. He slid his hand under the pillow, reaching for his Glock and jerked awake when he realized it wasn’t there.

Trained to quickly assess his surroundings, Rick oriented himself and finally recognized the room from last night.

Quinn. I spent the night with Quinn.

He turned to her side of the bed, finding it empty. With a groan, Rick swung his feet to the floor, gripping the soft wool rug with his toes. The huge scars on his left leg felt extra tight this morning when he flexed, probably because he didn’t do his stretches before falling asleep.

Jesus, I must have been tired. I never forget to do my stretches, or where I am when I wake up. If I had met this girl while I was in the Marines— shit, I wouldn’t have made it through a single mission with a clear head.

Rick walked around the bed and found his jeans, shuffling into them without bothering to locate his boxers. He smiled, thinking about last night. Quinn was amazing. They were amazing together, just like he knew they’d be. After their intense, almost desperate release, they slept for an hour or so, and made love again, slower, tasting and touching and feeling until they were both too tired to move. Rick had felt things that he never felt during sex before.

Love. Is this what it feels like?

He wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but if this was what it felt like, he was wondering why he waited so long to experience it.

Grinning, Rick left the bedroom to find Quinn. He wanted to tell her how he felt, how he was falling in love with her, how he was desperate to start the next chapter of his life with her. When he didn’t find Quinn in the living room or the kitchen, his stomach started to ache, a dreadful, churning that swirled around and around, taunting him.

He ran through the bedroom to check the bathroom. She wasn’t there either.

Where the fuck could she be?

Quinn didn’t have a car, so she couldn’t have gone far. Rick quickly dressed, sprinted down the stairs, and around to the front of the gym. Now in a full panic, he burst through the front door, swiping his badge to enter the main gym. It was Sunday, so the gym was mostly empty, but Rick saw Xavier training a huge black guy in the cage across the room.

“Xav!”

The two men stopped sparring when Rick ran up to the edge of the ring. Xavier took his mouth guard out so he could speak. His gaze flicked over Rick’s face.

“Rick? What’s going on? You look like shit.”

“Xav, shut the fuck up. Have you seen Quinn today?”