Page 18 of Dirty Little Convict
“Get some towels.” I snag a couple towels, then hold one open for him to pass her to me. He gently turns and places her in my waiting arms, she falls into me as I wrap the towel around her quivering body. Hux comes forward and helps her take the pills. She coughs and struggles to swallow them down, but manages to do it. Hux and I have barely finished drying her when my dad steps out and strips his soaked clothes off. A groan escapes her before she passes out. I catch her with ease and lift her into my arms.
I stalk out of the bathroom and head down the hall to my bedroom with Hux on my heels. He draws the covers back on my bed for me. I gently lay her down and growl at the sight of her shivering. We tuck her in as best we can. Dad comes in with another blanket and places it on top of her for extra warmth, but her lips are still blue and the shivering hasn’t lessened.
“Body heat,” Hux mutters.
I turn to him and frown. “What?”
He rolls his eyes. “Body heat is the best thing. We need to strip down and climb in with her.” I nod and begin stripping off with him. We both climb on either side of her. When my skin comes into contact with her I hiss.
“She’s burning up,” I state.
“We need the fever to break,” Dad announces.
“How do we do that?” I ask.
He keeps his gaze on her as he answers me in a tight tone. “We can’t, she has to do it on her own.” I balk at him.
“There has to be something we can do!” I snap.
Dad shoots me a sympathetic look. “No. She has to do this on her own. We just have to try to help her through it and keep her fluids up so she doesn’t get dehydrated.” It’s only then I notice he is standing there in nothing but a towel.
“Go change before you end up like her.” My tone is firm and filled with anger but I can’t find it within myself to care. It’s wrong of me to place blame on him but I can’t help it. When he leaves the room, Hux and I press in closer to her so she is sandwiched between the both of us. For the first time having her naked and pressed against me doesn’t make my cock hard. Huxley snaps me out of my inner turmoil when he reaches over and cups my cheek, pulling my gaze to him.
“Are you ready to admit that this game of revenge is over?” he asks softly.
My brows bunch in confusion. “What are you saying?”
He smiles sadly. “I love you, Stone. Always have and always will, but I love her too and I know you feel the same way I do. She fucked up and cost us all something we can never get back. I think it’s time we all stopped lying to ourselves and admit that Lennon St James is here because we want her to be, not because we want to hurt her.”
I mull over his words for a long while and allow them to sink in. I look down at her and stare at her pale face. I was so hellbent on making her pay for taking my dad from me that I didn’t realize I was falling in love with her all over again.
“She will never forgive us for what we have done to her,” I whisper.
Hux smiles knowingly. “Baby, that girl has been in love with you and your dad since you both walked into her life. If it’s forgiveness you’re looking for, then get on your knees and pray for it because nothing you have done to her isn’t something she didn’t want.”
Forgive me father for I give no fucks about passing those pearly gates as long as I get keep her.
SEVENTEEN
KINCAID
Four days.
Four-fucking-days!
She has been in bed, unmoving, not eating and only managing to keep down the water we are forcing down her throat. The fever has yet to break. The three of us are taking turns laying with her and keeping her warm. Huxley and Stone have headed into town to grab some supplies, leaving me alone here with her. Having her in my arms feels so right yet wrong at the same time.
“Mom.” I tense at the sound of her voice. She keeps mumbling incoherent things and we haven’t been able to make sense of what she is saying for days.
“Shhhh,” I coo as I gather her up and pull her against me, then run my fingers through her hair. She’s still burning up and I just know that if this fever doesn’t break soon we’ll need to end this thing and take her to the hospital.
“Don’t… make me lie…” I tense and close my eyes, biting back my anger, now is not the time for me to lose my shit over her sending me to prison. “Not Stone.” My eyes snap open at the sound of my son's name. My breathing turns erratic as I wait for her to keep muttering but she’s silent for so long I fear she won’tspeak again. “Kin…” My name sounds like a plea and the urge to comfort her and take away her pain is fierce. “He didn’t touch me.” The oxygen inside me evaporates.
I wait with bated breath for her to keep speaking. I’m hanging onto every word yet she remains tight lipped. I didn’t realize how much I wanted to hear her reason why she lied about me until now. I want—no, I fucking need to know why she lied. The one night she came to me after her mother took off on another one of her benders, shit got out of hand. I knew she was sleeping with my son and that he and Hux loved her, but I never stopped her when she dropped to her knees in front of me and sucked my dick.
I wanted her so fucking badly but she was off limits. She was my stepdaughter, and me lusting after her was wrong. But then she turned eighteen and everything changed.
“Dad?” I shake my head to clear my thoughts and look over to see Hux and Stone standing in the doorway with worry lines marring their faces. These boys are here because of me. I made them put their lives on hold for my revenge. I stole Lennon from her life at college and I had no fucking right to do that to any of them.
