I closed my eyes and inhaled. I didn’t want to know anything about Gabriel but I did need answers.
“Yes.”
I opened my eyes to see Carter giving me a hard look.
“He’s gone.”
I inhaled sharply and covered my mouth.
“You promi–”
“Not dead,” he informed me as if he regretted even having to say those words. “He’s alive. But he’s out of your life for good. And Diego’s. He can’t do anything to either one of you now.”
“How did you make that happen?”
“Nope. You’re done asking questions. Come here.”
“Hey!” I screamed when he grabbed me by the waist and brought both of us down on the couch. I sighed in contentment when he nuzzled his face against my neck, the hairs of his beard now tickling me. I shivered as goosebumps raised over my arms.
He sighed into my neck and squeezed me tighter around the waist. I could almost feel his thoughts although my back was to him.
“You’re worried about Corey.”
He pushed out a warm breath. “Yeah. He’s not taking the news well.”
A shadow of guilt felt over me. Carter had told me about Corey the morning after he’d come to me in my room. I felt terrible for Corey, his family, and the entirety of Rescue Four. All of those guys were as close as any family could be. Just seeing Carter talk about Corey losing his leg and essentially his career broke my heart. I hated even more that he hadn’t been back to the hospital because he was dealing with my mess with Gabriel. It made me despise my son’s father even more.
I turned to Carter, placing an arm around his shoulder. “You need to go to the hospital.”
“I know.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Come with me.”
He wasn’t begging but the look in his eyes told me he needed someone by his side to endure this. Seeing one of his best friends and teammates in that condition couldn’t have been easy. Even for a man who’d clearly seen a lot.
I leaned down and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I’ll go wherever you want me to.”
His hand was at the back of my head in no time, pulling me to him and kissing the good sense out of me. I took it all, let him explore every part of my mouth and whatever else he wanted.
“You have no idea what you just promised,” he stated, after he broke free of the kiss.
I licked my lower lip while staring him in those eyes that held such fire behind them.
“I know exactly what I promised. I’m all yours.”
I giggled and lowered my head to his neck when I felt the bulge in his pants grow just from my words. I willingly let him push me onto my back on the couch, just as I lifted my hips, allowing him to tug at the waistband of the sweatpants I wore. When he parted my legs and moved over me, I gratefully received him when he entered me with one hard thrust of his hips. We moved together, stoking flames that neither one of us could put out. Even as we came together, the fire of our love and of our lovemaking burned brightly.
~ Chapter Twenty-Three ~
Carter
“I need to talk to you,” Don whispered low in my ear.
I looked over my right shoulder at him with furrowed brows, wondering what he needed to speak with me about. I could tell by the bleak expression on his face this wasn’t a laughing matter. Hell, no one would’ve thought anything was worth laughing about given where we were. After I’d stopped by Michelle’s to assure her that the problems with her ex were solved, I had every intention of getting back to the hospital as soon as possible. I hadn’t planned on asking her to come with me, but once she mentioned it, I knew I needed her with me, by my side. Once we arrived, just about all of our squad that wasn’t on duty was there. Captain Waverly was at the station with Sean and a few other guys, but Don, Eric, and a few other members of our squad were all in the waiting room. Some were providing comfort for Corey’s mother. Eric’s wife, Angela, had donated food from her bar for the squad and Corey’s family.
“I need to go speak with Don,” I told Michelle. I planted a kiss on her forehead and then followed Eric as we exited the waiting room behind Don. There were about five of us from Rescue Four, standing in a huddle in the hallway.
“He still refusing visitors?” Don questioned, gesturing to the closed hospital door behind him. Corey had refused to see anyone except his mother and sister since he woke up from surgery. And even they were given minimal time to visit. He wasn’t handling any of this well.
“Yeah. His mother told him we were here and he told her to tell us to take our asses home,” Eric answered.
