With Ties That Bind (The Broken Bonds 4)
I nod. “Something that’s going to make me crawl out of my skin here in about ten minutes,” I answer honestly. I’m lucid—rational enough to understand the effects taking place—but it’s as if I can’t make myself care.
A frown pulls at Sadie’s pretty mouth. “Okay. Let’s go.” She links my arm around her shoulder. We reach the back of the van, and I hear a loud groan followed by a curse.
Quinn has the other guy on the ground, his knee pressed into the middle of the man’s shoulder blades. The guy—the one I stabbed with a pen—looses a string of swears into the gravel.
I’ve never seen Quinn get so…physical before. It does something to my insides. Watching him thrust his body weight on top of the guy stirs a primal and raw craving deep within me.
But true to Quinn’s compulsive nature, he doesn’t take it any further. He promptly stands, releasing the man and says, “Get up.”
Beside me, Sadie sighs. “Quinn, we don’t have time for this. Avery needs—”
The guy throws a punch at Quinn, shocking her silent.
“Okay,” she says. “Do your thing.”
My mouth pops open, but either the chemicals inside me or the fact that Quinn is shedding his coat, revealing straining muscles against his dress shirt, has me promptly biting my lip.
The guy spits dirt from his mouth, an angry scowl etched on his face. “I’m not through with you, pig.”
Quinn leisurely strides to the back of the van, where he folds his coat neatly and lays it on the bumper. Then, rolling up his sleeves, Quinn returns to face the guy. He hauls back and lands a blow to the man’s face. Right in his nose.
Blood covers the guy’s face before he drops to the ground. Quinn drives his foot into the guy’s stomach. The resounding choking is followed by the gasp of the man sucking all that dirt back into his mouth.
My chest explodes with heat.
Fiery currents zip and tangle, building into a roaring inferno deep within my core. I squeeze my thighs together, needing pressure to ease the ache.
As if in a trance, I start toward Quinn, but Sadie snags my sleeve. “Down, girl.”
I have to settle for watching Quinn rough the guy up as he clamps handcuffs on his wrists and forces him to stand. It’s a nice view, all that male testosterone cording his muscles tight…the way his slacks hang low on his hips…the determined look in his eyes.
Quinn gets the man to the car as we follow behind, and Sadie says, “Avery needs to get to a hospital. You take them in. I’ll help her.”
This gains Quinn’s attention, and after he locks his perp inside the car, he nails me with a concerned look. It hits me like a wave, crashing into my being with a brutal force.
Desire to have him stare at me like that for hours…days…thrums through me with vicious need. “I want Quinn,” I hear myself state.
His thick eyebrows hike up to his graying hairline, and it’s sexy as hell, the way this tough man nearly blushes. But Sadie’s the one to respond. “Not a good idea,” she says, starting to lead me away.
“You can’t take the bus,” Quinn says. “It has to be processed.”
Sadie doesn’t talk back, but the icy look she sends Quinn conveys more than words.
Squad cars pull up, sirens blaring, interrupting the impending standoff between them. Carson parks ahead of the two black and whites and quickly heads toward the van.
“Look,” Sadie says, lowering her voice for Quinn’s ears only. “There’s no time to radio in a bus. She needs a doctor now. Have Carson process the van. I’ll take his car.”
This isn’t right. It’s not what I want. What I need. I’m the one who designed the drug. I’m the only one who understands it. And the thought of having some young ER doctor fresh out of med school prod and probe me while I’m feeling like this… No way in hell.
I pull out of her grip and clasp onto Quinn’s strong arm.
Sadie blows out a long breath. “All right, then. I guess that settles it.”
I feel Quinn tense beneath my hold. “All right then—what?”
She nods to me. “Avery’s safer with you, anyway. I’ll take the perps in. I’ll handle the paperwork and interrogation.”
“No.” Quinn’s voice is a dark boom. It sends chills skittering over me. “