“That’s not nice. You don’t know their situation. Don’t judge,” I scolded and bumped my shoulder against his arm.
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” He tossed his arm around my neck as we enjoyed the quiet path. An owl hooted somewhere near us, and crickets started to sing by rubbing their wings together.
The path opened to the rock quarry, but I was hardly paying attention. My gaze was on my huge diamond ring. I had never seen anything like it before. It had to be over five carats and had two white diamonds on either side of it.
“You like it?” he asked the most stupid question known to man.
“Are you kidding? I love it. I love you,” I said, placing my hand on top of his as it laid just above my breast.
“Good. I’m glad. When I get back from the job, we will get married if you want. I don’t want to wait too long to make you Quinn Steel. It’s been long enough. You need to have my last name,” he said, like a true alpha-male seeking his official stamp.
“You act like you want your name tattooed on me,” I snorted. All I could imagine was telling the tattoo guy I wanted Jaxon’s name in cursive on my left butt cheek, and I’d bet anything Jaxon would punch the guy in the face for having to look at my ass. A woman would have to tattoo me.
“I plan on getting your name. It’s why the only space I have free is the one above my heart,” he said.
I stopped near the quarry, speechless, and grappled with his shirt so I could see his chest. He didn’t stop me. His flesh was warm, and his nipples were hard, reacting to the air, and as sexy as he was, my eyes were on the bare patch of skin that was free of ink. I rubbed my fingers over the silken flesh. His skin broke out in goosebumps, and I dragged my eyes away from his chest and stared at him, flabbergasted.
“You’re serious? Tattoos are forever. You can’t just erase it, Jaxon.”
“The last thing I’d ever want to erase is you, Quinn.”
I stepped back to get a better look at him, but my boot slipped. I reached out to grab Jaxon, but it was too late. My body fell backward into the quarry.
“Quinn!” Jaxon screamed, and our eyes met as I fell through the air, and if fear was enough, Jaxon would be able to stop me from falling, he was so scared. His face was grim. He jumped inside the quarry and slid down the embankment. “Quinn!” he called out for me again.
I closed my eyes, a tear dripping down my cheek as the fresh memory of him proposing flashed in the front of my mind. The wind whipped around me and I succumbed to the reality that when I landed at the bottom, I might die.
The happiest day of my life might turn into the last.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jaxon
Watching her fall to her death was the worst moment of my life. Worse than prison, worse than getting arrested, worse than the false accusation that I killed my sister. Her head smacked against a rock, and her body hit the ground with a thud. A snap sounded, and by the way her leg was bent, I’d assumed that was what broke.
“Quinn? Quinn, baby,” I cried out for her as I ran down the steep dirt cliff. I tripped over my feet and tumbled, rolling down the hill. My face smacked against the ground and I inhaled the earth. My upper back hit against a boulder, but it wasn’t as hard of a hit that Quinn took. I groaned, and the ache between my blades grew, spreading like flames through my nervous system. I got on my hands and knees and shook my head when my ears started to ring. “Quinn?” I tried to stand, but my back still hurt from hitting the rock. I fell, but I refused to give up.
Quinn needed me.
I got back up again and zigzagged my way to her prone body. “Quinn?” I fell when I got two feet away from her and then crawled the rest of the way. “Oh, fuck.” My hands hovered over her body. I didn’t know where to touch. The last thing I wanted was to bring her more pain or injury.
I couldn’t call anyone. There was no service. There was still a mile to go before we got to the car. This wasn’t good. Blood dripped down her temple, and while she was unconscious, she was breathing. Her chest rose and fell evenly, but that didn’t mean anything else wasn’t wrong.
“Quinn? Baby? Can you hear me, beautiful?” I pushed her bloody hair out of her face and bit back my own emotion. I couldn’t lose control now. She needed me to get her out of her because if I didn’t, she could die. “I’m not about to lose you now, not when I just got you back. Do you hear me? I’ll do anything in this world. I’ll give up everything. Just please be okay.” I placed a kiss on her lips, hoping it was enough to wake her up, but she didn’t move.
She didn’t kiss me back.
“Okay, this is going to hurt. I’m so damn sorry, Quinn.” How could a perfect day end so fucking badly? How were shitty things always in the cards for us? It pissed me off, and it made me more determined than ever to give her the life she needed, the life we deserved. My hands roamed her body to check for other injuries, but I wasn’t a fucking doctor. I didn’t know what was happening internally. What I did know? I had to set this leg if I wanted to carry her out of the quarry.
And I hoped like hell she stayed unconscious because this was going to hurt. “I’m so fucking sorry, baby.” I straight her body out and got her head away from the rock. A piece of bloody scalp stuck to the rock, and my stomach turned.
I was okay with blood, with guts, with death. Hell, half the time, I was the one making sure my target felt pain, but when it was Quinn? I had never seen a more disturbing thing. Her right leg was straight, but her left leg snapped to the side from her knee. Touching her could do more damage, but not touching her meant I couldn’t carry her.
“Fuck it. I’m doing it to save your life. I don’t give a shit if they have to take the leg,” I told her, waiting for her to snap at me, to give me a dose of that fierce attitude I loved so much.
Silence.
I grabbed ahold of her leg and took a deep breath. “On the count of three,” I said. “One, two—” I twisted leg to the correct spot, and it crunched, whatever that meant, but her leg was straight.
Her eyes were still closed. I was sweating, nearly gasping for breath from how dizzy I was. I wasn’t going to stop now. I bent down and slung her into my arms, keeping her head stable, so the blood didn’t escape from her more than it already had. The cliff was too steep. I couldn’t climb it without my hands.
Glancing around, the sun was setting, and the moon rose to the sky, hiding the dangerous rocks in the mistress of the night. There was no other way up. I had to try. I dug my feet in the dirt, making a nook with each step to gain support. I grunted every time I lifted my leg and rammed into the ground. I was about halfway when I stopped. I’d fall if I kept going.
“Here!” The guy and his girlfriend from Strawberry Rock were there. I was still too far down to reach his hands. He tossed down the rope that people climbed to get to the top of Strawberry Rock. “Wrap it around your waist, and we will pull you up,” he shouted.
“I’m too heavy,” I gasped. “She’s first. She’s hurt.” I wrapped the rope around Quinn’s waist, my arms shaking, and my head spinning from the adrenaline rush. “You’re going to be okay, baby.” I tightened the knot and gave a thumbs up to him.