The fact that Christian wasn't pacing back and forth in anger or ripping the hotel room apart by the time Quinn stepped out of the bathroom again was a good sign that Caine had told him everyone they cared about was okay. Relief washed through her. Liam, Sophia, Melissa, Grayson, Caine ... they were all okay. And Caine would be sending someone to come and get them and take them back to the safety of the packs.
Running the towel through her hair in an effort to remove as much water from the long dark locks as possible, Quinn silently watched the Alpha in front of her. He was sitting on the bed, just where she had left him, with his back up against the padded headboard. In his lap, he had a notepad and pencil, which he must have found in the bedside cabinet's drawer, the scratching sound of the pencil cutting the quiet of the room as it moved along the surface of the paper.
His brows were furrowed in concentration and even from where she stood just outside the bathroom door, she could tell he was drawing out what looked like a floor plan. Specifically, the floor plan of the facility they had been kept in. Perhaps his phone call with Caine had prompted the action, getting him back into Alpha General mode. Which meant that the food he had been starting to eat when he had called Caine now lay beside him on the mattress, seemingly forgotten as he focused on this random new task.
Shifting her gaze from the notepad back to his face, Quinn took in every tiny detail. In the yellow light of the lamp next to him, the dark shadows under his eyes seemed more prominent and he looked more drawn and haggard than she had ever seen him before. Although she had let him sleep in the car before, it wasn't nearly enough. He really needed to rest, more than she did and she felt like she was dead on her feet, but he was putting it off to get down the details of the facility while it was still fresh in his memory. And he still needed to finish eating.
God, he was stubborn.
With a sigh, Quinn tossed the towel back into the bathroom and then padded over to the bed. It looked like she was going to have to be the responsible one and make sure he ate and then got some sleep. Even if she had to pry the notepad and pencil from his hands and keep it out of his reach.
"I can do that," she said as she purposefully flopped down on the mattress beside him. "I'm more familiar with these places than you are."
"I've got it, little wolf," he replied absently, his pencil still scratching away at the notepad as he added details to his drawing. "You go ahead and finish getting cleaned up."
Quinn rolled her eyes. "I'm already finished."
Christian looked up from the notepad and glanced over at her in surprise, taking in her fresh clothes and damp hair. "That was quick."
"I was in there for almost an hour," she pointed out. "Have you been stuck into this the whole time?"
The Alpha lifted his free hand and ran his fingers through his hair. "I guess so. I figured it was best to give the Alpha Prime everything we know about that place."
For the next few minutes, Quinn watched him carry on with the floor plan. She wanted so badly to take over so that he could actually take care of his own needs, but she held herself in check for now. She'd give him another few minutes and if he wasn't finished, she would make him stop.
When he lifted a hand to rub his tired eyes, she decided enough was enough.
"That's enough," she said as she gently pulled the notepad and pencil from his hands and placed one of the hamburgers he hadn't touched in his hands instead. "You can finish this up once you've eaten and had some real sleep, Alpha."
"I'm fine," Christian insisted, reaching for the notepad. "I need to get this down while it's still fresh in my head. You settle in and get some sleep."
Quinn made a point of placing the notepad and pencil on the cabinet on her side of the bed, where it was out of his reach.
"You're not fine," she argued. "You're exhausted and starving. And I told you I can do the floor plan. The trip back to Caine's is going to take a while from here, so I can get the plan down on the way."
He made a soft growling sound and tried to reach over her for the notepad behind her, but Quinn grabbed his face and forced him to look her in the eyes, something that was taboo in the werewolf world. No matter what their connection was, as his subordinate, looking eyes with an Alpha like this could be seen as disrespectful to the extreme.
"Christian," she said patiently. "I know you're the Alpha and I know you think you need to be the one who's always in control and you like to put duty before anything else. That's extremely admirable and one of the things I love about you. But you're not infallible. The longer you go without eating, without resting, the less control you have. How many times have you told me that exact same thing?"
Christian's gaze slipped past her to the notepad, looking as if she had stolen his bicycle. "But―"
"But nothing," Quinn said firmly and then softened her tone despite her growing frustration. "You might be able to fool everyone else, but I know just how exhausted you are. And I don't mean just physically. When's the last time you really got any real sleep? Please, for me, eat something. Get some real sleep."
The Alpha's gaze slid back to hers and she made her expression as pleading as she could. "Please?"
He looked slightly taken aback, most likely caught off guard by her expression, since she had never used that with him before. Then he was stroking her cheek in a gentle caress.
"Do you have any idea how much power you have over me?" he asked softly.
"Not nearly as much as you have over me," Quinn replied. "Now, quit changing the subject and stalling. I'm not going to get some sleep until I'm satisfied that you eat something and settle yourself down to sleep, too."
The Alpha chuckled softly. The hand stroking her cheek slid behind the back of her neck and the next thing she knew he was pulling her face to his. The kiss was as gentle as his touch, tender and affectionate.
"Christian," she said breathlessly, breaking the kiss. "Eat and sleep, remember?"
The Alpha drew her lips back to his with a playful growl. "Later."
It was difficult to keep a level head, to hold onto the fact that she was supposed to getting the man to eat and rest. All the wolf inside her seemed to want to focus on was the way Christian was holding her, how close he was to her. And where things could potentially go from here.
The human part of Quinn wanted to roll her eyes. Of all the things to focus on right now. Not even twenty-four hours ago, they had been prisoners in a cell, completely at the mercy of their captors. It was only due to sheer luck that they had managed to get out of there. If it hadn't been for the fact that their captors were so inexperienced, that the compound was so poorly manned, there was no telling what would have happened to them. Especially Christian. Once the Council found out that the Alpha General was in their grasp, they would have done anything to break him, to get him to reveal the secrets of his people.
The thought had Quinn's blood running cold, and she stopped responding to Christian's kisses.
"You're obsessing again," he said softly, drawing his lips down the side of her jaw. "Can't you try to stay in the moment for a change?"
"How can I?" she pointed out, trying to ignore how good his lips felt as he drew them down her throat now. "It could have been so much worse back there. And it's not like it's safe here either―"
Christian let out a low growl that had a sharp edge to it and he brought his face back to hers so that he could look her in the eyes. "You're safe here with me."
Then he was practically attaching her lips with his, drawing the very breath from her. This kiss was deeper, more passionate, with an urgent edge to it that Quinn had never felt from him before. With a low growl that rumbled deep in his chest, his grip on her became tighter and she felt his arm slide around her waist to pull her body tight against his.
The next thing she knew Quinn suddenly found herself lying on her back beneath him. He had settled himself between her thighs, but held the bulk of his weight off of her. And she could feel the evidence of his desire pressing against her thigh, bringing with it an answering surge of desire from deep within her.
There was no question where things would be heading tonight and she found she wasn't afraid. She wanted it and she could sense he wanted it, too. When Christian finally drew his lips from hers, he looked down at her seriously.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked softly. "You need to be sure, little wolf, because once we take this step, there's no turning back. We'll be tied together for good."
Quinn considered for a moment. If she let this continue, their lives would change forever. He wouldn't just be an Alpha anymore. He would be mated, responsible for more than just his pack, but for his mate as well. And she wouldn't be a pack member without rank anymore. She would be Christian's mate, his equal. Most importantly, he would be her family.
The feeling that thought gave her was indescribable. A missing piece inside her seemed to slot into place and the wolf inside her howled happily. They wouldn't be alone anymore.
Without a word, she reached up and drew him down to her.