All That Matters (12 page)

Train didn't wait for anyone else. He walked into the room. Caroline was in a hospital bed, her lower arm in a cast. She was pale, but she looked like she was okay. Train didn't realize how nervous he'd been for her until he laid eyes on her.

Buster looked like he'd been in one hell of a fight. There was a bandage on his forehead to cover the stitches. “Hey, guys. Sorry for the scare,” he told them.

“What the fuck happened?” Train demanded.

“We were coming home from a movie,” Buster stroked his finger over Caroline's arm. “Granny in a minivan had some kind of episode and passed out with her foot on the gas. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The passenger side took the hit.”

“You're sure it was random?” Danny asked. “We're in bed with all sorts of new people. One of them could have...”

“No.” Buster cut Danny off. “Don't go making this into something that it's not. It was an accident, and we're going to be fine. Caroline's going to have the cast on for a bit, but it could have been a lot worse, right? ” He looked over at her with a smile that said everything he felt about her.

“Right,” Caroline confirmed. “Like he said, wrong place at wrong time. Last thing I remember is being in the car, and then we were here.” She looked down at her arm. “Bright side is, I don't have to look at my scar for a few months.”

Train grinned at that, some of the tightness in his chest eased. It had just been an accident; things weren't going bad again. Just as importantly, Caroline was her usual self. He admired the hell out of her; she was the strongest woman he'd ever met. No matter what was thrown at her, she took it and threw something right back.

The five minutes passed by quickly, but when they left the room they were all under strict orders from Buster to get out of there and go home. He asked that someone come back in the morning to take them home; he'd relented to staying overnight on the condition that he was in the same room as Caroline.

Trina was in the fifth floor waiting room when they came down the hall. Obviously, she'd been waiting for them. Her scrubs had been swapped for a pair of low-rise jeans and a shirt that barely skimmed her navel. “Hey. I came up and you guys were gone.”

“Someone got us in to see them,” Train replied. “And that someone wasn't you.” He didn't like people who promised things that they couldn't deliver.

“That's why I was up here. My friend Chris just went on duty and she...”

“Save it.” Train cut her off. He had no doubt she had a friend on the floor; she just didn't have the pull to get them into the room like Maggie did.

“You're still going to take me home, right?” Trina lowered her voice into a purr and batted her eyelashes again.

She probably thought that it was sexy, but to Train it just seemed desperate. “Wrong,” Train shook his head. He'd never had any intention of taking her home. Danny was the one who'd promised, so he could take her home.

“If he doesn't want to take you home, I will,” Cane called out. “Maybe even take you for a drink first.”

“That's the best offer that you're going to get,” Train said. “I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm out of here.”

“Hold up, let me talk to you for a minute, Brother.” Danny motioned towards the elevator. “Let's go downstairs. I need a smoke.” They rode down together silently, remained that way until they were outside the hospital. “Do you want to tell me what that was about?”

“What what was about?” Train took his cigarettes out and offered the pack to Danny.

“You not wanting to take Trina home. Aren't you the one who used to talk about how great she was with her mouth?” Danny took and lit a cigarette.

“I've had better,” Train replied. Immediately he recalled the sight of Meg kneeling in front of him for the first time. It had surprised the hell out of him when he realized what she was going to do. The memory of what she could do with her lips and tongue was enough to get him hard again. “What do you care if I didn't take her home?”

“I don't really. It's just not like you. You good?” Danny looked concerned.

“Yeah.” Train lit his cigarette and exhaled a stream of smoke. “I'm good.” And it was the truth. He was good. Everything was good.

“What were you up to tonight before I called?” Danny asked.

“I'd just got done watching a movie,” Train replied. Who he was watching it with was none of Danny's business. He had a strange feeling that this conversation was about to delve into his personal life. He had no interest in that conversation. “What were you doing?”

“My wife,” Danny said with a grin. “Anyway, Amelia's got it in her head that she's going to have people over for a cookout.”

“It's freezing outside,” Train pointed out.

“She knows that it's freezing out. She says that we don't have to all be outside for someone to cook on the grill. And I assume that someone will be me. I don't want to tell her no. She went to the doctor the other day.”

“What's wrong with her now?” Train asked. He'd never gotten along with Amelia. She'd always been a combative little bitch to him, ever since the first day that they met and he hadn't realized she was the one Danny kept going on about. He'd hit on her. She'd taken offense. Since that day they were more at each other's throats than not. Train enjoyed it. She did, too.

“She's pregnant.” Danny took a long drag off of his cigarette. “About eight weeks. And you're part of the reason.”

“I've never touched the bitch.” He held up his hands.

Danny laughed. “Yeah, I know that. Don't call her a bitch. You're the one who got through to her after we lost the last kid. If you wouldn't have pushed her buttons that day...”

“I didn't get her through shit.” Train tossed his cigarette.

“Yeah, you did. Thank you, Brother.”

“Whatever.” Train stuck his hand into his pocket, felt the cool metal of Meg's key. “I think it's time for me to head out.”

“You sure you don't want to come to the house? I doubt anyone is going to get any sleep tonight.”

“I'm not thinking about sleep,” Train regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth, because Danny's eyes widened with interest.

“Who were you with? Claire? Always thought that the two of you might find something more than just fucking each other.”

“There wasn't,” Train answered. “And I wasn't with Claire. I was at my neighbor's house.”

“Neighbor? Wait, Meg?” Danny frowned.

“What the fuck is that face about?” Train felt the anger he'd swallowed down about Danny taking the reins earlier resurface, along with the urge to punch him in the face.

“Nothing. I just thought that Monroe was the one sniffing around her, not you. Or is it both of you? I've heard he's got some freak tendencies along the lines of yours.” Danny grinned.

“She's not with Monroe. And he sure isn't sleeping with her.” Train stated facts.

“Is she with you?” Danny asked. At Train's silence, a smile slid across his face. “Holy shit, you're into her for more than just getting off, aren't you?” He let out a laugh. “That's priceless. How many times have you called us idiots for getting involved? 'Poor bastards' is how you like to say it, right?”

“You done?” Train asked.

“No, probably not, but it can wait if she's waiting for you. Hey, you should bring her to Amelia's cookout thing. She's going to want to meet her. You might wanna warn your girl that my old lady hates you, though. Good luck explaining that.” Danny laughed again.

The sound grated Train's nerves. He got people who acted like assholes, he did it himself, but when Danny was an asshole, it was nails on a chalkboard. It always had been. Maybe part of it was Danny had reminded him of himself, a kid with junkie parents who managed to get out alive, and he hadn't liked the reminder. “I'll see you here in the morning.”

“I'll text you with the time. Have fun,” Danny said with a chuckle.

<#<#<#<#

The house was quiet; he came in the back door. Train tried not to make any noise, so of course he ended up walking straight into the kitchen table. The sound didn't seem to have woken anyone; he didn't hear any other sound. Carefully, he made his way to the stairs with the light from his phone. On the way, he passed the thermostat and saw it was set at sixty degrees. No wonder it was freezing. He cranked it up to seventy and continued up to Meg's room.

The door was shut but not locked. There was a box fan propped up on the dresser, blowing cool air towards the bed. Train thought that it was too cold, but Meg didn't seem bothered by it, at least the part of her that he could see. She shifted on the bed; one leg was out from underneath the covers, as was most of her upper body. Her legs were bare up to where the tee shirt skimmed the middle of her thighs.

Train stood there for a while, watched her as she slept, before he took off his boots, stripped down to his bare skin and joined her on the bed. He got under the covers and immediately felt the warmth of Meg's body. He pulled the covers over both of them, pressed against her. She stirred again, went suddenly stiff when he pressed his lips to the exposed nape of her neck.

She must have realized it was him; she relaxed against him. “You came back.” Her voice was thick with sleep. “You're cold.”

“It's freezing in here.” Train kissed the back of her neck again. “You're going to have to warm me up.” He snagged the hem of her shirt. “Take this off. Body heat is best. It works the fastest.” She shifted against him, pulled the shirt off and tossed it.

She lay back down, her back flush with his front. “Like this?”

“Or like this,” Train let his hand skim over her hip. Her skin was soft, smooth and supple, his fingers caressed their way over her stomach and up to her tits. They really were great tits, round and heavy in his hand. Her nipple tightened against his fingers. Meg whimpered as she pushed back against him. “I'm warmer already.”

“Me too.” She purred the words and slid one of her legs over his. The move opened her to him, and he could certainly take the hint.

Train slid his hand down her body, groaned as he realized she was already wet for him. He shifted his hips, the tip of his cock against her heat and his hand on her clit. He rubbed his fingers back and forth until Meg's hips started to twitch against them. His cock strained to get closer to her as the muscles in her stomach began to jump. “Come on. Come on.”

Meg cried out, her head flew back and her hips flexed down hard on him. Train groaned as the tip of his cock slipped in her. Fuck! His mind screamed at him to stop, he was in her bare, but he stomped the thought down. Without the thin layer of latex between them, being inside of her was so intense he couldn't help but push further into her.

“Yes. Yes. Oh.” She moaned the words and worked her hips with him. “Train!” He recognized her tone, knew she was close. He wanted to be buried inside of her when she came, to experience how her body would feel clenched around him. Train slid the last few inches inside of her with a grunt. He nearly came. She was so tight around him that he'd worry it was painful if she wasn't moaning like a porn star.

Train moved them so that she was flat on her stomach and he was even deeper inside of her than before. He had to still his hips so he didn't come as her body tightened around him like a fist. He used his hands to spread her legs wider and then reached up to grab her wrists. “Train!”

“Trust me.” He was consumed by the idea of her being immobilized while he fucked her. He bent her arms and held her wrists against the small of her back. Train slid nearly all the way out of her and then back in completely.

Meg cried out. “Train!”

“You want me to stop?” He slowed down in case she did.

“No!” She all but shouted the word. “Don't stop. Don't.”

Train didn't stop, not even when she came so hard that he thought she was going to squeeze him right out of her. She liked him holding her down and fucking her. It made him wonder what else she liked. He didn't expect that she'd be into everything that could get him off, he just wanted to know everything that she did.