Right before her eyes she watched, as Rick seemed to make a decision. The pain and confusion previously harbored in the deep turquoise vanished. What replaced it sent a shiver throughout her body. It felt as if her nerve endings awakened and desire flared up inside her. That look, she recognized it on his face. Rick wanted her. Desperately.
“Listen,” Rick couldn’t, or wouldn’t, mask his longing as he stared at her. His lustful gaze sent hormones zinging through her bloodstream. “Why don’t we have lunch tomorrow. We can talk then. Now—” his eyes shifted towards the great room where Mara and Clint could be heard laughing, before returning to Quinn, “now isn’t the time for this discussion.”
She gave a small nod. At the very least, she owed him a chance to talk about everything, and frankly, she wanted to talk too. “Tomorrow?”
He sighed, sounding relieved that she agreed. “Yeah. I’ll pick you up. Noon okay?”
Rick carefully slid a hand up over her cheek, cupping the side of her face, the depth of his feelings conveyed through his gentle touch. Ocean-colored eyes searched hers, looking for something—what — Quinn didn’t know.
“I’ll be here for you, Quinn. As a friend. I don’t like it, I don’t understand it, and I… well, I want more. But obviously you have something you think you can’t tell me.” He moved closer, his mouth only a few inches from hers. His warm breath caressed her skin as he spoke, giving her goose bumps. “You can tell me, Quinn. When you’re ready. Believe me, I understand secrets. Until then, I won’t press you for more than you can give.” She shivered under his touch.
Rick gave her a small smile, dropping his hand back to his side.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. No hiding.”
Quinn made a noise that was more like a squeak than a yes. When he left the room, she braced her hands on the edge of the sink, needing the support to stay upright. Her legs were shaking, on the verge of giving out.
God, he affects me so much. Just his touch makes me an incoherent mess. Why am I resisting this?
Rick’s deep voice traveled from the great room, saying his good-byes to Clint and Mara. A minute later, the front door closed and Quinn sagged against the countertop. The warring feelings she had been hiding from Rick were about to burst out of her against her will. Tears welled up again, demanding to be released, burning the back of her eyes as she held them in.
Mara entered the kitchen, putting an arm around Quinn’s shoulders and pulling her into a hug.
“It’ll be okay, Quinn. Like I said, whatever it is that makes you happy, you need to acknowledge it and take it. You deserve that much. Don’t hold back because of your asshole ex.”
Quinn hugged her friend back as the tears came, needing the warmth of human contact to allay her fears about Travis, about Rick, about the direction her life was headed. She loved Mara, but in the back of her mind, she selfishly wished that Rick were the one holding her.
Chapter 8
Quinn stood up from where she was anxiously sitting on the couch and marched into her tiny bathroom, checking her hair for what felt like the millionth time. She glanced, again, at the clock on her nightstand. Eleven fifty-five.
God! Why am I so nervous! It’s just lunch with Rick, not a date with the firing squad. Get yourself together, Quinn!
Even though she had been expecting it, the knock on her front door made her jump. For a brief second, Quinn hesitated, unsure if she was doing the right thing by meeting Rick.
She wanted to go to lunch with him. She wanted to be with Rick pretty much all of the time. But what she wanted and what she needed were two completely different things and leading him on seemed cruel.
Another knock, louder this time, ended her pointless deliberation. She agreed to lunch with a friend and he was here, waiting on her doorstep while she argued with herself like an idiot. There was no way she was going to back out on him now, especially since the last time she bailed on Rick, it caused a rift between them a mile wide.
Quinn forced herself to open the door and her traitorous body responded to the sight before her just like it always did. She shuddered as a delicious tingle rolled down her spine, gathering at the juncture of her thighs in a frustrating knot of desire. No man had ever caused this blatant of a sexual response in Quinn. It was as if Rick were created specifically to push every single one of her buttons simultaneously, bringing out every shameless, dirty thought she ever had and replaying them over and over in her head with Rick as the star performer.
“Hey. Are you ready?” Rick stood stiffly on her doorstep, clearly as uncomfortable as she was.
Unable to stop herself, Quinn’s gaze dropped to the bulge in the front of Rick’s jeans. The thick package she discovered there was cradled perfectly by the tight denim, making her mouth water. By the looks of things, Rick was just as affected. She flicked her gaze back up to find his pupils blown with lust.
“Ummmm, I’m ready. Just let me grab my purse.” Quinn fumbled with the door, almost shutting it in Rick’s face.
Nervously laughing, he caught it before it could hit him. “Trying to break my nose?” He slid inside the apartment, closing the door behind him.
“Yes… I mean no! I didn’t mean to. It slipped. My uh, hands are sweaty from the heat.” An image of Rick all sweaty and naked, grappling another man in the ring flashed through her brain, causing her to stumble. Quinn cursed her nerves and her dirty, dirty mind.
“Sure thing, Quinn. It slipped.”
She eyed Rick cautiously, looking for any sign of sarcasm in his reply. All she could see was his usual easygoing expression. Maybe a bit tighter around the eyes and mouth, but that was easily explained by the stressful situation and the hard-on he was sporting in his pants. Quinn decided to let the comment go, slinging her purse over her shoulder with false confidence.
“Let’s go.”
Rick reclined in a small booth tucked away in a dark corner of the restaurant. So far, this lunch was a disaster. The conversation was forced, from the look in her eyes Quinn was either anxious as hell or incredibly horny, his view of two pert nipples poking through her dress meant she wasn’t wearing a bra, and if the throbbing between his own legs wasn’t a clear signal of how he felt, he didn’t know what was. All Rick wanted to do was skip the meal, bring her back to his condo, and spend the day with her naked on his bed.
“So, you said you had to sort out everything with your dad’s estate. Did that go okay?”
No matter how much he wanted to get the fuck out of here and rip off her clothes, Rick was still curious to know more about Quinn’s father and how it related to her bailing on him three months ago.
Quinn stared at her glass of water, aimlessly pushing the ice cubes around with a straw. “It went fine.”
“Fine?”
“Yeah.”
More pushing with the straw.
“Quinn, look at me.”
Rick waited several excruciating seconds for Quinn to drop the straw and lift her gaze to his. Those big doe eyes, long black lashes fluttering around the golden amber depths, turned him inside out just like they did the very first time he saw them.
“Talk to me, doll. I’m the same guy as I was before. The one who laughed with you at the grocery store as we discussed the pros and cons of almond milk.”
Quinn smiled. “Almond milk. I forgot about that.”
Rick shook his head with a chuckle. “How could you forget one of the strangest conversations to ever take place?” He reached across the table and covered her hand with his. “Your father’s estate?”
To Rick’s surprise, she didn’t yank her hand away. Instead, Quinn laced their fingers together. “There’s not a buyer for the house yet. There was one, but the contract fell through. I’m tired, Rick. I mourned my dad three years ago when he died. Now it feels like I’m doing it all over again.”
He squeezed her hand reassuringly. “I’m sorry. If I can do anything to help you out, let me know.” He wanted to know why she waited three years to take care of her fathe
r’s estate, but the waitress chose to deliver their food before he could ask.
Quinn pulled her hand back onto her lap when their plates were set down. Rick missed the contact, the warmth he felt from her touch, and not just in his hand. Being close to Quinn made his entire body vibrate, giving him a reassuring, floating feeling that made his skin hum with pleasure.
Neither of them needed anything else, so the server left them alone. Miraculously, Quinn continued their conversation without him having to spur her on for details.
“Once I get a buyer, I still have to get the rest of the furniture out. My realtor and lawyer said a furnished house sells better so—” Quinn shrugged, letting the sentence trail off as she took a bite of her sandwich.
Is this really what they were going to talk about? Real estate?
Rick wanted to ask what was going on between the two of them, about their relationship or lack thereof. He wanted to know if she felt the same overwhelming pull that he did, if she wanted him the way he wanted her… permanently.
Instead, he continued discussing Quinn’s future, a future that didn’t appear to include him.
“Do you have any plans to get a car of your own?” Rick had been wondering why Quinn was still driving Mack’s old beater of a truck. If she got an inheritance, it made sense to Rick that she would use some of the money to purchase a car.
“I want to. I don’t have a license yet.”
Rick grinned. “No license? But you’re driving Mack’s truck? Does he know this, you little law breaker?”
For the first time in a long time, Rick heard Quinn laugh. A loud, genuine laugh that rang through his heart and touched his soul.
“Law breaker? Hardly,” she scoffed. “I just don’t want to go through the trouble to get a license and then have to change my…” The conversation came to an abrupt halt. Quinn looked up at Rick slack-mouthed, with discernible fear in her wide eyes.
“Change? Change what?”
She waved a shaky hand in the air dismissively. “Nothing. I don’t know what I was saying.”
Rick knew she was lying. He didn’t even need the extensive interrogation training he received in the Marines to see the blatant lie.
What in the hell is she hiding from me?
He was getting damn sick of the evasiveness and the games that Quinn played. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the time or the place to get into an argument with her and he promised that he wouldn’t push her to discuss things. Rick silently seethed, clenching his hands under the table.
The rest of the meal was finished quickly. Neither of them touched on subjects other than safe, impersonal ones, sports, traffic, and the weather.
Fuck! I’m sitting here discussing the mother fucking weather while the girl I love slips through my fingers.
Love? A bolt of fear shot through Rick’s heart, jump starting it until it was pumping erratically against his chest.
I love her?
Rick mulled it over as they drove back to Quinn’s apartment, turning it over in his mind a hundred different ways with no clear answer. He walked her up the stairs, waiting for her to unlock the door. As he stood there watching her, the sun glinting off of the golden highlights in her dark hair, it finally hit him, sucking the air from his lungs.
Without a doubt, I fucking love her.
Quinn opened the door, turning to say good-bye. This time, Rick wasn’t going to let her push him away. There would be no more keeping him at arm’s length. He loved her, and he wasn’t going to give up. Pride be damned, he’d fucking grovel on his knees if that’s what it took.
Rick inhaled a deep breath and moved into the apartment, forcing Quinn to step back so he could fit through the doorway.
“Rick, what—”
Done with the bullshit dance they’d been doing, he silenced Quinn by crushing his mouth over hers, spinning them until her back hit the partially open door, slamming it closed. Rick pressed his weight against her, pinning her soft body against the thick slab of wood as he dominated her, thrusting his denim-covered cock against her abdomen. He could sense the exact moment Quinn stopped fighting, giving herself over to the pleasure. Her tense muscles relaxed and her mouth joined in, yet she allowed Rick to control the kiss.
Lips and teeth mashed together brutally, Rick’s tongue plunging into the depths of her mouth. This wasn’t a gentle kiss meant to be romantic. No, it was a rough display of possessiveness, of pent up desire. It was all of Rick’s love and anguish coming out in one overwhelming display of need and power.
He slid his arms around Quinn’s waist, gripping her round backside and pressing his fingers deep into the soft flesh. He tugged her hips forward, grinding their groins together almost painfully. Quinn moaned into Rick’s mouth, her desperate sounds acting like gasoline on the fire roaring through his body.
“Fuck, doll.”
His hands felt their way down from her ass to her thighs, finding the hem of her dress. Rick yanked it up and off, the material breaking their kiss for a moment as he threw it over his shoulder.
Scrabbling for a handhold, Quinn raked her nails down Rick’s ripped torso to his waist, hurriedly unbuttoning his jeans. She shoved them down to his knees along with his briefs as he continued his assault on her mouth. His thick cock fell out of its restrictive confines, pointing proudly up and out. Groaning with relief, Rick pulled off his own shirt, and then quickly pushed his pants down the rest of the way, discarding them and his shoes. He seized the sides of Quinn’s miniscule scrap of underwear and tugged, easily ripping them at the seam.
Both naked and desperate, they crashed back together, hot skin sliding against hot skin, hands grabbing onto whatever it flesh came in contact with. Rick lifted Quinn up and tilted her back, effortlessly lowering them both to the area rug next to the door.
“Oh God, Rick…”
Completely out of control and unable to slow down, Rick thrust deep into her, cursing as her wet heat stretched to accommodate his harsh intrusion, gripping his cock in its tight confines.
“So fucking perfect,” he grunted.
Quinn clung to his broad shoulders, hooking her legs around his waist and locking them at the ankles. It felt as if she couldn’t get close enough to him, wanted to become a part of him, to crawl up inside and live under his skin. She whimpered, a half-moaning half-wailing sound that he found unbearable sexy, upping his need to uncontainable levels.
Rick rolled his hips violently, bucking into Quinn over and over as they rutted like animals on the floor. The noises coming from them both were loud and primal and completely uninhibited.
“Ungh! Jesus, Quinn…. Shit, fuck, fuck, fuck!”
Without warning, Quinn shoved hard off the ground and rolled them over, sitting astride Rick with a wicked smile on her face. Somehow, he knew he was in for the ride of his life, and he couldn’t fucking wait.
Quinn had no idea how this happened. One minute, the air between her and Rick was tense and uncomfortable. The next minute, sparks were flying and she found herself at the mercy of his hard body as he pinned her against the door.
Their chemistry was explosive, both of them going at it as if they would never have sex again. It was hedonistic and raw, and Quinn loved every single second of it. It was filled with passion and emotion, not the violent punishment Travis used to give her.
Rick had her down on the living room floor before she could blink, fucking her so hard she thought they might break through the ceiling of the gym below and crash down into the training area. Hearing Rick’s enthusiastic shouts and growls as he thrust into her, gave her the courage to do something she’d never done before— assert herself during sex.
Because Rick was so intent on pounding her right through the hardwoods and sending up a litany of curses, he wasn’t paying enough attention to stop her from pushing off with one foot, turning them over until she was straddling his hips. They both froze. Quinn gazed down at his beautiful body, his defined pecs heaving, his turquoise eyes flashing with lust, his pale pink lips ope
n as he tried to catch his breath. He was stunning.
She ran her eyes over every inch of that beautiful torso, from his wide shoulders down to his rippling abs. “You look amazing,” she whispered. Quinn expected him to grin at her complement, or at least give her one of his cocky comebacks. But he stayed silent, his eyes glazed over with lust and his mouth parted as he panted with need.
The fact that Rick could easily overpower her, but allowed her to take control, made the whole scene even more erotic. The fact that he trusted her enough to let her direct their lovemaking just like she trusted him not to hurt her physically was hands-down the sexiest thing she’d ever experienced.
Taking advantage of her position, Quinn slid her greedy hands over the hard ridges of his abs, tracing each one with her fingertips. Moving further up, she raked her thumbnails over the two copper disks on his chest, watching as they tightened under her touch. Bending down, Quinn laved her tongue over one, tugging on the pert nipple with her teeth.
“Shit!” Rick’s hips bucked up involuntarily, driving his thick cock deep into her. Smiling at his reaction, she trailed her mouth over to the other side, nibbling on his dark nipple until he was babbling incoherently, thrusting his pelvis up wildly.
“Jesus… doll. Shit, shit… don’t stop! Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.”
Quinn’s hair fell in a dark cascade around them as she licked her way up his salty, corded neck to the prominent Adam’s apple on his throat. Relishing the reactions she was drawing from Rick, Quinn latched on to it, sucking the stubble on his neck into her mouth, swirling her tongue over the sensitive skin. Quinn trembled when her breasts brushed lightly over Rick’s chest, stimulating the responsive skin. His hot masculine taste burst on her tongue, shooting streaks of pleasure so powerful down her spine that she contracted around his cock from the ecstasy.
“Holy fuck.” Rick’s breath was coming faster, his hips now moving of their own accord. She could feel the vibration of his voice in her mouth and it lit her up like a solar flare. More aroused than she’d ever been in her life, Quinn traveled further up, licking Rick’s swollen bottom lip, biting it lightly then latching her mouth onto his. He was thrashing beneath her, gripping her hips tightly, attempting to move her up and down on his cock.