Sugar & Spice

Chapter 29

Kenneth hadn't skimped on their hotel room...It was more like a suite, huge and spacious, with a complimentary bottle of champagne, chilled and waiting for them. Crissy dropped her suitcase by the door and immediately dragged Quinn off to explore the massive walk in shower, much bigger than the shower at Quinn's house.

As Quinn's hands trailed over her skin, slick with soap and water, she closed her eyes and tipped her head back against his chest. The day's events kept replaying in her mind and she couldn't stop thinking about how Andrea had actually agreed to run interference for her against their mother. She still couldn't quite wrap her head around the completely foreign concept that Andrea had been concerned for her...

Quinn hands drifted down her waist and over her hips as he kissed down her neck, nosing at her ear. The expanse of his chest was impossibly warm and solid, pressed to every inch of her back.

Then he hooked an arm around her waist as he slid into her and every rational thought and every worry flew from Crissy's mind.

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When Quinn had long since fallen asleep, Crissy pushed her knee between his and sidled closer. His arm came tighter around her, his fingers flexed against her back. Even when he was dreaming, he still wanted to touch her, to hold her a little tighter. Crissy closed her eyes and focused on the steady, even rhythm of his breathing. When everything was quiet like this and Quinn was wrapped around her, keeping her safe and protected and warm, she didn't have a problem falling asleep.

But her thoughts started to wander again and once she started, she couldn't stop. Minutes stretched into hours as she tried not to think about tomorrow, about what was in store for her. Andrea and Kenneth might have been able to head off her mother for a little while but eventually, Crissy was going to face her and she would hear everything her mother had been holding back for months. It was becoming impossible to ignore the thunderstorm waiting on the horizon, boiling and black.

By the time the first glow of sunlight slipped through the curtains, Crissy still hadn't slept. Again. And the exhaustion was starting to seep into her muscles, into her bones, making the impending day even harder to face.

Quinn's breath hitched as he woke and nuzzled against her ear, peppering her shoulder and neck with kisses.

"You didn't sleep at all, did you?" he mumbled.

She hummed and buried her face in his shoulder. His hand smoothed over her hair as he kissed the top of her head.

"I'll order some coffee," he said.

She slid her hands up his back. "Not yet," she said. "Just a few more minutes."

He smiled as he kissed her forehead and his hands skimmed down to her waist, pulling the blankets up around her as he slowly extracted himself from Crissy's arms. She caught his hand and pressed a kiss to his knuckles before she finally released him and burrowed deeper into the warmth of his body heat still lingering on the sheets.

After a minute or two of listening to his muffled movements in the hotel room, Crissy's phone blared to life somewhere in the depths of her purse. She groaned and buried her head under her pillow. Quinn's hand settled on her ankle as he peeled a corner of the blanket away. He tucked the phone in next to her and pulled the blankets over her again before he headed for the shower.

Crissy squinted at the glare of her phone screen to see Amy's number.

"Good morning!" Amy chirped.

"It's even earlier for you there than it is here," Crissy replied.

"I know you didn't sleep, sugar, so it's not like I'm waking you up. Besides, I wanted to catch you before you were swept off into the chaos today."