Flames of Attraction

chapter 9



Cheyenne sat in the hospital’s waiting room and closed her eyes against the rush of emotions ripping through her. Everything had happened so fast. Quade had taken Venus from her arms and had begun resuscitation procedures while Vanessa had called 9-1-1. The rescue service had arrived within minutes and now she and Quade were here, waiting for the doctor to tell them what was wrong with Venus. Vanessa and Taylor had been left behind to care for Troy and Athena.

“Our baby girl is going to be okay, Cheyenne,” Quade said, taking her hand in his.

She glanced over at him and found comfort in his solid presence beside her. She loved this man, who less than an hour ago had taken their child from her arms and breathed life into her lungs. She had been in a state of panic and didn’t want to think what might have happened if Quade had not been there. She tightened her hand around his and leaned over to place her head on his shoulder, finding even more comfort in doing so.

“I want to believe that, Quade. But she is so little and she looked so helpless.”

“But she’s a fighter, baby,” he said, wrapping his free arm around her shoulder. “She can’t help but be a fighter, because she has Westmoreland and Steele blood flowing through her veins.”

“Yes, she’s a fighter.” She had needed to hear that. She needed to have hope.

“Cheyenne?”

At the sound of the feminine voice, Cheyenne glanced up to see the wives of her cousins entering the waiting room. Kylie, Jocelyn and Lena were not only her cousins-in-law, she considered them close friends, as well. And since marrying into the Steele family, they had made their husbands very happy. Quade released her to stand. Cheyenne stood, also, and gave the women hugs. Then she introduced the women to Quade.

“We came as soon as we heard. The guys are on their way, as well,” Kylie was saying. “Have you spoken to the doctor yet?”

“No,” Cheyenne said, shaking her head. “We’ve been here for almost an hour but no one has come out and told us anything. That has me worried.”

No sooner had Cheyenne said the words than the man who Cheyenne recognized as one of the babies’ pediatricians entered the room. She quickly raced over to him. “Dr. Miller, how is Venus?” Quade was right by her side. “This is Quade Westmoreland, my babies’ father.”

The man shook Quade’s hand and then gave them both a reassuring smile. “We have an idea of what’s wrong with Venus, but I’ve ordered more tests to make sure. Hyaline Membrane Disease or HMD or RDS, as it’s often referred, is one common problem of babies that are born premature. Usually it’s detected within the first few hours of birth, but, as in your daughter’s case, sometimes later.”

“What causes it?” Quade wanted to know.

“Usually from an insufficient level of surfactant in the lungs. Babies begin producing surfactant while they’re still in the womb and usually before they are born they have developed an adequate amount. Evidently Venus did not.”

“So what’s being done to help her?” Cheyenne asked in a frantic voice.

“Venus’s age is in her favor. I’m hoping her condition isn’t a severe one, and there won’t be any lasting effects once we begin treatment. However, in the worst case we could be looking at damage to other organs, possibly even her heart.”

Cheyenne swayed against Quade and he wrapped his arms around her waist. “When can we see our daughter?” he asked in a low voice.

“Not for a while yet. She’s still having difficulty breathing. I’ve placed her on a ventilator.”

Cheyenne gasped and the arm around her tightened as Quade continued to hold her close to him. “Thank you, Doctor,” Quade said softly. “Please let us know as soon as we can see her.”

* * *

After the doctor walked away Quade took Cheyenne’s hand in his. “Excuse us a moment,” he said to Kylie, Jocelyn and Lena, and gently pulled Cheyenne with him out of the waiting room. They walked down the hall until he suddenly turned and entered an empty room and closed the door behind him.

Still holding Cheyenne’s hand, he placed her in front of him and met her gaze. The eyes staring back at him appeared grief stricken, in shock, afraid. “Get it out, Cheyenne, get it out now.”

At first she just stared at him and then as if she suddenly realized what he was asking her to do, she dropped her head on his chest and began sobbing. And he held her while she cried. He closed his eyes while the weight of what the doctor had said sunk in.

He never knew, had never understood, the full extent of fatherhood until now. Fatherhood had nothing to do with a name change or wanting to create a family atmosphere for his children. It had everything to do with being there for them when they needed him, giving them what was required for them to grow and live. And, he thought further, being there for their mother, the woman who had brought them into the world, the woman who had taken his seed into her body, and kept it safe until his babies had been born.

It was about Cheyenne, the woman that he knew he loved. Some people would actually think it was crazy considering their history, but as far as he was concerned, it made perfect sense. A part of him had known it would take a special woman to capture his heart and it wouldn’t take months or years for her to do so. His parents had met and fallen in love rather quickly, so had his uncle and aunt. Then there were his brothers and cousins, some of whom had claimed they had fallen in love with their wives the moment they had set eyes on them. Now he was a living witness that such a thing was possible. Cheyenne had been a part of his life, a part of him from the moment they had made love. He had probably fallen in love with her the exact moment they had met on the beach.

Now all he wanted to do was keep her and his babies safe. He had to believe that Venus would get better and return home to them and everything with her would be all right.

He took his finger and lifted up Cheyenne’s chin to look into her tear-stained eyes. Her tears were for his baby—their baby. “We have to believe she’s going to be okay, sweetheart. If we both believe it, then it will happen. We bring it into existence. Do you believe me, Cheyenne?”

Cheyenne nodded. For some reason she believed him. More than anything she wanted to believe him. At the moment he was her rock, she needed his strength. And one day, she would have his love and if not, he would have hers whether he wanted it or not. Needing to be connected to him in an intimate way, she reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck and then stood on tiptoes and brought his mouth down to hers.

His kiss was gentle yet deep, passionate. He made her feel protected and cared for—even cherished and loved, although she knew she was imagining those two. But still, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that he was here with her, the father of her babies, and they had to believe that everything would be all right.

She broke off the kiss and met his gaze. He took her hand in his and kissed the knuckles. “You and I are a team,” he said. “Right?”

She smiled through the tears that continued to mist her eyes. “Yes, we are a team.”

“And we believe everything will be fine. Right?”

She nodded. “Yes, everything is going to be fine.”

And then he pulled her into his arms and kissed her again.

* * *

Cheyenne clung to those words when she and Quade were able to see their little girl hours later. It took all of her strength, as well as some of his, to look down at Venus and see all the tubes that ran from her little body and not cry out in pain.

Quade’s arm tightened around her shoulder and he brought her closer to his side before leaning over to place a kiss on Cheyenne’s lips. “Remember, she is a fighter.”

Cheyenne nodded. She then forced a smile and said in a soft voice, “I’ll never consider Troy a troublemaker again. It was his crying that brought me to the room to find Venus in respiratory distress. I don’t want to think of what might have happened if for once he hadn’t made a sound.”

Quade didn’t want to think about what would have happened, either. He was trying to hold his emotions in check and was finding it difficult to do so. At that moment he knew how it felt to love someone so much you would willingly give your life to save theirs. He felt that kind of love for his offspring. He felt that same kind of love for their mother. The woman he wanted for his wife.

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave for a moment while I make some adjustments with the machines,” a nurse came up and said in a soft voice.

Instead of answering, Quade nodded and took Cheyenne’s hand in his and stepped out of the room and began walking down the hall. He knew her family would be in the waiting room. They’d want an update. Quade would give them the same message he’d given them earlier. Venus’s condition hadn’t changed. The doctors were still waiting for some of the test results.

One thing he had discovered about the Steele family during this crisis was that they were like his family. When times got tough, they all came together. Since that morning not only had Cheyenne’s four cousins been there for support, Vanessa’s and Taylor’s husbands, whom he had met for the first time, had stopped by, as well. Cameron Cody and Dominic Saxon seemed concerned and their sincere kindness and thoughtfulness touched Quade. He hadn’t had a chance to call his family to tell them anything, which would be quite a chore since no one knew about his babies other than Chase.

They stepped into the waiting room and Quade came up short. He caught his breath, surprised, when he looked across the floor and saw several of his cousins and two of his brothers.

He shook his head, grinning when the group crossed the room to him. “How did you know?” he asked them, in a voice filled with emotion.

It was his brother Jared who spoke. “Chase had these vibes about you being deeply worried about something and when he couldn’t reach you, he contacted us. He told us where you were, so we’re here. You can expect Chase, Thorn and Storm later tonight. Durango and McKinnon are arriving in the morning. Ian wanted to come, but with Brooke due to deliver any day, he thought he better stay put.”

Quade nodded as he glanced over at Clint, Cole, Reggie and Stone. “Thanks for coming.”

A grimace appeared on Reggie Westmoreland’s face. “Don’t thank us yet, there’s someone here that we haven’t told you about yet.”

Quade raised a brow. “Who?”

“Mom. She refused to be left behind, especially after hearing about the triplets.” Reggie paused a moment and then said, “Get prepared. She plans to box your ears for keeping that from her. I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”

Reggie then switched his gaze to Cheyenne, slowly looking her up and down in an appreciative glance, and said, “But then again, I do want to be in your shoes.”

* * *

“You certainly have a big family,” Cheyenne said to Quade hours later after she had returned to the hospital. She had gone home long enough to breast-feed the babies. While there, she had met Sarah Westmoreland, Quade’s mother. Her mother and Quade’s had relieved Vanessa and Taylor of babysitting duties and the two older women were getting along beautifully.

Cheyenne and Quade had met with the doctor and his update had brought smiles of relief. The tests had revealed that Venus had had a mild case of HMD, which had been treatable with the use of surfactant replacement. The ventilator had been removed a short while ago and their daughter was now breathing on her own. The doctor wanted to keep her in the hospital another day for observations and then she would be released.

Quade grinned as he settled back on the cot the nurse had brought into the room for him and Cheyenne to share for the night. They had decided they would stay at the hospital since they didn’t want to leave Venus alone. “Yes, there’re quite a few of us and like I told you that first day, we’re very close.”

“And you and Reggie are the only single ones left?”

He looked at her, smiled and said, “Yes, but I won’t be single for long if you agree to marry me.”

“Just to give me your name?”

Quade took her hand in his and decided now would be the perfect time to tell her how he felt. Whether she believed him or not was another matter altogether. She might feel that she didn’t know him well enough considering their history. His response to that would be she knew him in a way no other woman did. While making love he’d always bared his soul to her, as well as his heart.

“Yes,” he said, meeting her gaze. “To give you my name. But there’s something that goes along with my name.”

She lifted a brow. “What?”

“My heart.”

She stared at him with disbelief written all over her face. “Are you saying that you love me?” she asked quietly.

“Yes, I am. So what do you have to say to that?” he asked. He expected her to say a lot—most of which he preferred not to hear. Especially if she was going to argue with him about how long they had known each other. That didn’t matter to him. What mattered was that she was the woman he wanted to share his life.

She snuggled closer to him. “The only thing I have to say is that I love you, too.”

A shocked looked covered his face. “You do?”

She smiled. “Yes, I sure do.”

He leaned over and kissed her in a way that soon had her purring in his arms. When he released her, she looked into his eyes. They were ablaze with desire. “Don’t even think about it, Quade.”

He chuckled. “You sure?”

“Positive.”

“You’re right, but when I get you and Venus home, I plan to have a party to celebrate. I also plan to have my way with you.”

She smiled. “You think so?”

“Baby, I know so.”

She got quiet for a moment. Deciding now was the right time for them to be completely honest with each other, she said, “Quade?”

“Yes?”

“I have an idea as to why you were in Egypt.”

He suddenly went still for a moment. Then he said, “I told you why I was in Egypt.”

“But you didn’t tell me everything. I think you left a few details out.”

He met her gaze. “A few details like what?”

“You tell me.”

Quade studied the look in her eyes and figured that she knew something, but how? He then remembered he had finally dozed off to sleep that night after making love to her countless times. Had she searched through his belongings? Was she a...?

“Don’t even think it,” Cheyenne said as if she had read his mind.

He held her gaze steadily when he asked, “Then how do you know so much about my business?”

“Because it seems a part of your business is entwined in mine.”

He lifted a brow. “Meaning?”

A smile touched her lips when she said, “You got paid to put your life on the line for the president and I did the same for the first lady.”

An incredulous look appeared on Quade’s face. “You worked for the PSF?”

“Yes, but only on a part-time basis when my modeling jobs just happened to be in or near a place that needed checking out. I had been a model for almost a year when I was pulled into the organization. I thought it would be daring and fun, as well as a way to serve my country.”

He nodded. “And now?”

“And now I just want to raise my babies and take care of my husband.”

A huge smile touched his lips. “Does that mean you will accept my marriage proposal?”

“Is it still out there?”

“You bet.”

“Then, yes, I accept it, but I would love hearing you ask me again.”

“No problem.” He reached for her hand and took it into his. “Cheyenne Steele, will you marry me? Be my best friend, lover and the mother of all Quade’s babies?”

She lifted a surprised brow. “You want more?”

“Yes, although it won’t surprise me one bit if you’re already pregnant, pill or no pill. And I figured Venus, Athena and Troy ought to break me in real good for any others that follow. Besides, I love being around for breast-feeding time with you.”

She chuckled. “You would.”

“Now let’s get back to our wedding plans.”

“We’re making plans?”

“Might as well. My family, at least the ones that are not already here, will be showing up this weekend. Think we can plan something small by then?”

“Small?” she said laughing. “With your family? I don’t know about small.”

“Then I’ll settle for large as long as it’s this weekend. Besides, because you put Mom up in your guest room, I’m going to have to do late-night sneak-ins into your bedroom until we’re legally married.”

“Poor baby.”

“Yeah, so see what you can pull off this weekend.”

“I’ll try.”

He grinned and leaned up over her. “Don’t sound too convincing. Maybe I should give you a little encouragement.”

Cheyenne looked up at him, into the eyes of the man she loved. “Um, maybe you should.”