Chasing a Legend

  Quinn just offered Fiona a small smile, turning his attention back to Shea as she kneeled in front of Ace and placed her book down on the floor next to her. Ace’s head was still in Clare’s lap, but Shea leaned over him and kissed the top of his head before pausing over his ear. She lifted his ear and began whispering to him.

  “My sister told me what happened, Ace,” Shea whispered directly into his ear, her voice loud enough for Quinn to hear, though he pretended not to. With her diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, she was rarely aware of the volume of her voice, or how that compared to her surroundings. “And I want you to know it’s okay. I’m not mad you left me. I love you and I’ll miss you, but you’re still my best friend.”

  Clare sniffed as Shea leaned back on her heels, gently petting Ace’s body.

  “It’s going to be okay,” Shea said, talking to Clare this time. “He loves us. Right, Uncle Quinn?”

  “Right, Shay-Shay,” Quinn replied. “He loved us very much.”

  “So it’s going to be okay. Uncle Quinn says it is,” she repeated, almost as if she was convincing herself more than she was them. “It’s going to be okay.”

  All three of them sat silently for a moment—Clare still holding Ace, Quinn still on the floor next to her, and Shea gently petting Ace’s chest. Fiona cried quietly in the doorway, her face downcast. Kieran appeared behind her, rubbing her shoulders as she leaned back into his chest. He nodded slightly at Quinn, who nodded back.

  The rest of the family trailed in slowly, one or two at a time. They took turns thanking Ace for being a part of their family, for loving them with everything in him, for sacrificing so much to keep them safe, and for holding on so long.

  Stories were passed around and weighted laughter sounded throughout the room. Even Kiera joined in, holding Quinn’s hand as she shared her own happy memory about Ace from the last time she’d been to one of their Sunday dinners years ago.

  The big, lovable, black-and-white dog with patchy fur and too many scars to count was gone, but the impact he’d had on all of their lives never would be.

  Goodbye, Ace. Thank you. We love you.

  Chapter 9

  Steam hung in the air and clung to every surface as Quinn stepped carefully from the shower and grabbed a fluffy white towel from the rack on the wall. As he dragged the towel over his wet flesh, it soaked up the moisture. He paused as he caught sight of his distorted reflection in the fogged-up mirror and stared, not completely surprised at how tired and worn down he looked.

  The entire family had stepped in to help Rory and Clare with the burial arrangements for Ace yesterday after saying their goodbyes. His mother had cooked them enough food for the remainder of the week, and everyone planned to check in on them occasionally. As a family, they mourned together, they comforted together, and they healed together.

  It’s who they were, and Quinn loved them all the more for it.

  Quinn wiped the mirror with his hand, one clear swipe through the fog. A warmth in his chest began to radiate out across his entire body as he thought of Kiera and how easily she’d blended into the family she’d always been a part of, of their friendship that had really never ended.

  And now? Maybe more than friends.

  He wanted more.

  Quinn grabbed a pill bottle from the back of the bathroom counter, shaking out a dose of his pain medication into his palm, then swallowing it. His swim this morning had left the muscles in his legs tense and aching. Collapsing onto his bed in the next room, still only in a towel, he considered whether he should wait until his next physical therapy appointment to talk to Kiera or go find her right now.

  If yesterday had taught him anything, it was that time was short. Kiera had been there for him, and for his entire family. She was the same woman he’d fallen in love with, and after kissing her, he knew he still was.

  He was ready to put his heart out there again. For her…maybe he always had been.

  A loud, rumbling sound came from beneath the floorboards. Quinn paused, trying to decipher what he’d just heard. The sound came again, then a slam, and he recognized that the garage door leading into his studio had been opened and closed.

  Quinn pushed up from his bed and tightened the towel around his waist. He wasn’t expecting anyone to drop by, and prevented his family stepping foot into his studio at all costs. Hurrying into the living room, he was ready to use his cane to beat a robber to death—hobbled style. The knock on his front door, however, convinced him it probably wasn’t an ax murderer.

  “Hello?” Kiera’s voice came from the other side of the door. “Quinn?”

  “Kiera?” He moved to the door and swung it open, the strawberry-blonde now in front of him. “What are you doing here?”

  Her eyes widened, traveling down to his bare chest before she quickly looked away. She smoothed down the sides of her light green dress and cleared her throat. “Can I come in?”

  “Um, yeah, sure.” He stepped to the side, leaning his weight against his cane and the doorframe. “Come on in.”

  Kiera turned and leaned over several grocery bags sitting on the ground behind her. She looped her arms through the handles and picked them up all in one go.

  “Do you want some help with those?” he asked, even though he wasn’t in much of a position to carry heavy objects around at the moment. “And did I forget you’re moving in?”

  She rolled her eyes as she plopped the bags down on the island countertop in the middle of his kitchen. “It’s groceries, not a suitcase.”

  “I still feel like I have questions.” He walked over to the island and pulled out one of the barstools that lined one side, sitting down and hanging his cane off the stool’s back. He took special care to tuck his legs under the counter and out of sight. Logic reminded him that she’d already seen them, but emotion argued that out of sight was out of mind.

  “I want to ask my question first,” she said, leaning against the counter as she crossed her arms over her chest.

  His brows lifted, a smirk forming on his lips. “You have questions, too?”

  “Yes.” She tipped her chin up. “And I deserve an answer.”

  He surveyed her for a minute. She was close enough to grab and pull to him, but he stopped himself so she could have the floor. “All right, Keeks, what’s your question?”

  She uncrossed her arms and smoothed out her dress again, even though it wasn’t wrinkled. “I want a real answer, Quinn. No holds barred. Okay?”

  He nodded, feeling a change in the air between them. Her expression sported a level of seriousness he hadn’t been expecting, and after their impromptu kiss the other day, she’d proven she could definitely catch him off guard. “I promise.”

  “Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath. She was obviously nervous, and he wanted to wrap her in his arms and kiss away her anxieties. He wanted to fix everything for her just like he’d spent his entire childhood trying to do.

  Finally, she leveled her bright blue eyes at him and spoke. “Do you like me?”

  His brows furrowed. “Do I like you? That’s your question?”

  “Yes.” She tipped her chin up again, as if that made her look more confident. “That’s my question.”

  “Well, it’s a dumb question, Kiera, because of course I like you. You were my best friend for the majority of my life.”

  “And now?”

  He exhaled slowly. “Now…what, Keeks?”

  The words jammed in his throat, and he barely got them out. He looked away when he realized how strangled he’d sounded. His heart was pounding so loudly in his chest that he could hear it in his ears. He wasn’t sure where this conversation was going, and he was both thrilled and terrified to find out.

  Kiera moved closer, resting her hand on his forearm and squeezing gently. “Quinn, do you like me? Because I sure as heck like you, and not at all in a just-friends way. I like you in an I-want-to-cook-you-dinner-and-see-where-tonight-takes-us kind of way.”

  Quinn’s smile spread wide acr
oss his face. It wasn’t exactly the declaration of love he’d dreamed of his whole life, but it was Kiera all the way. There was absolutely no denying how he felt after she’d just laid it all out in front of him like that. “Fuck yes, I like you.”

  “Oh.” She moved her hand off his arm and shrugged. “Well, good. I’ll start making dinner, then.”

  She began to move back toward the bags, but he swiveled in his seat to face her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her against him. “Are you kidding me, Keeks? You don’t get to walk away right now.”

  “No?” she said breathily, her chest rising and falling faster as she looked from his eyes to his lips and back.

  “Hell, no.” His lips were on hers in seconds, his arms around her back pulling her tighter and tighter against him. She smiled against his mouth, and his heart leapt at the sweetness of the moment. They kissed for seconds, minutes—he wasn’t sure.

  Her hands slid through his hair, cupping the back of his head and holding him against her as she moaned into his mouth, her lips parting for him. His tongue slid inside and he growled against her, her body shivering in his arms as he spread his knees and she stepped in between.

  Quinn’s hands slid down her back, scooping under her ass and pushing her pelvis against the front of his towel. He was already rock hard, and she gasped when she felt it, which only made him harder. He stopped their kiss long enough to kiss a hungry path down her jaw to her neck, nibbling on the flesh above her shoulder as her back arched.

  She moaned, her hips pressing forward. “Ohhhh.”

  Sudden pain shot through his leg, and his growl took on a different meaning. His leg complained as she leaned against him on the stool. He needed a new position. Grabbing her hips, he lifted her up, sitting her on the edge of the island counter so that her knees were on either side of his bare chest.

  “Quinn!” she squeaked. “I’ve got all the groceries up here!”

  “So? It’s a big counter.”

  She lifted her fingers to her lips, nibbling on the edge of one nervously. “So…I don’t know. I promised you dinner. Aren’t you hungry?”

  “Starving,” he said, a mischievous thrill racing through his veins as he pushed her knees wider apart. Lacy, white panties peeked back at him as he slid the hem of her dress up her legs, which trembled lightly under his touch.

  He placed one palm on her stomach and gently urged her to lie back. Biting her bottom lip, she pushed bags out of her way and dropped down to her elbows, still staring at him between her legs. He hooked his fingers on either side of her panties at both hips and slowly slid them down her legs, dropping them to the floor once they were off.

  Pulling her hips forward to the edge of the counter, her dress around her waist now, he stared down at her center. Their short make-out session had her already soaked, and he shifted on his stool as he eagerly leaned forward, ready for a taste. And yet…he wanted to draw out the moment first.

  She gasped at his touch, shivering against his mouth as he kissed the inside of her thigh and slowly made his way closer, before switching to the inside of her other thigh. He glanced up at her, her lids heavy and her chest heaving, as she watched him.

  “I can’t believe it’s been six years since I’ve touched these thighs,” he said, the timbre of his voice gravelly and low.

  He saw her swallow hard, her cheeks flushing red. “Have you…have you ever thought about it?”

  Quinn sank his teeth into her thigh, and she yelped. He smiled wickedly at the red mark it left as he kissed away the quick moment of pain, moving up her thigh, closer and closer. “Have I ever thought about being inside you? Is that what you’re asking me, Kiera?”

  She nodded slowly, her eyes widening with every image he painted with his words.

  “I never stopped thinking about you,” he told her before trailing his tongue across her core for the first time.

  Her body jolted beneath him, but his hands held her still as he tasted her, wanting more. He would always want more. He’d taken her virginity years ago, but they’d been so young and he’d wanted her for so long that they’d skipped right to sex with only a little foreplay. He’d never gotten the chance to enjoy her fully, and he planned to do that tonight.

  Quinn pushed every thought of the past out of his mind, focusing only on the woman in front of him, the woman he loved so desperately…always had, and always would. His tongue slid inside her as she gyrated her hips against his mouth. Small moans passed her lips, urging him on.

  Her hands flew to his head, her fingers smoothing through his hair as her hips bucked against him. He moved higher, flicking his tongue across her most sensitive bundle of nerves as she cried out. Pulling it between his lips, he sucked hard as her body began to shake.

  The moment she exploded against him, he pressed harder, taking everything she gave him and still wanting more.

  “Quinn!” she cried, waves of tremors causing her thighs to shake against either side of his head. When her body stilled, he slowed—small laps against her clit as her breath slowly returned to normal. When she started to pull away, he knew she was probably getting too sensitive, so he began kissing down her thigh to her knee.

  He lifted his head, trailing his fingers up and down her legs as she pushed up onto her elbows to look at him. Her face was flushed, and her lips ever so slightly swollen from her own teeth biting down—she looked radiant and the throbbing he felt between his own legs only increased.

  “Wow,” she breathed.

  He grinned, resting his arms on her thighs. “Good wow?”

  “An I-can’t-believe-I-waited-six-years-for-this wow.” She pushed up into a seated position and pulled the hem of her dress down. He didn’t look at her directly, her words stinging him slightly because those six years had shattered him. There was no way she’d ever understand how much, nor did he want her to. “Never, Quinn? You never stopped thinking about…” She waved her hand between the two of them. “About us? About this?”

  He swallowed hard, his heart pounding in his chest. “You meant a lot to me, Keeks. You still do.”

  Sliding down from the counter, she stood between his legs again, her hands on either side of his neck sliding up to cup his face as she kissed him. It was sweet and slow, and there was a sadness to it that pained him. “I’m sorry, Quinn,” she whispered against his lips. “You mean a lot to me, too.”

  He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back, smothering her words because he didn’t want to hear it. He couldn’t hear it. He couldn’t confront what she’d done six years ago, or how badly it had ripped him apart. If they could just have here and now, if they could move forward and be what he’d always wanted, then all those years would have been worth it.

  Kiera pulled at the edges of his towel. “Let me show you how much.”

  Quinn leaned backward, not about to stop her.

  She positioned herself between his legs as his towel fell to the floor, revealing how turned on he was. Kiera grinned, and a thrill passed through him at the look of excitement on her face as she dropped to her knees and slid her tongue along his length.

  “Fuck, Kiera,” Quinn groaned, closing his eyes briefly at the feeling of her mouth surrounding him, sucking on him, kissing him. Warm and wet, she was better than he’d ever imagined.

  She moaned lightly, the sound vibrating against his length as her fist surrounded the base and moved in unison with her lips. A minute or two later and he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to walk again.

  “Keeks, I’m going to come,” he told her, but she didn’t let go. Kiera held him tighter, closer, encouraging him on as he finally exploded in the back of her throat. Quinn grunted as he finished, his eyes closing as euphoria spread throughout his body.

  She was better than he’d ever imagined—in every way.

  Kiera pushed back on her heels, a smile on her lips as she looked up at him. “Still hungry for dinner?”

  Still coming down from his climax, Quinn chuckled at her change of topic and slowl
y nodded his head. His stomach growled. “Starving, actually.”

  “Good, because I’m an amazing cook,” she boasted, getting to her feet and pulling ingredients out of the grocery bags, lining them up on the counter. She reached into her purse and pulled out a gingham patterned apron and slid it over her head, tying it around her back.

  It took all the self-control he had not to groan audibly at the sight, because she looked downright beautiful in all her domestic glory. He’d never been one for gender roles, but there was something really exciting about feasting on a woman, only to have her feed him afterward.

  “I don’t remember you being much of a cook before,” he said, reaching for his towel and pulling it back around his waist. He stood and headed for the bedroom to get dressed, still within earshot of her. “I need to get some clothes on or we’ll never eat.”

  “There’s a lot you don’t know about me now,” she teased, waving a large carrot at him before he stepped into the bedroom. “I’m all grown up, you know.”

  “I think I found that out a few minutes ago,” he joked back, speaking loud enough for her to hear him as he pulled on pants and a T-shirt.

  When he rejoined her in the kitchen, she was headed to the sink with a handful of vegetables, washing them off under the faucet. “You know, the last time I saw you before I became your doctor was in Vegas.”

  “Kieran’s wedding,” he confirmed. “I thought you’d come to Rory’s wedding the following summer, but I didn’t see you there.”

  “I know.” She frowned. “Couldn’t get out of the internship I had. Seattle is great, though. Have you ever been?”

  He shook his head. “No, but I’ve always wanted to visit.”

  “Why didn’t you?” she asked, dropping the clean vegetables onto a cutting board and pulling out a knife. “You knew I was there, and you could have always stayed with me.”

  He didn’t respond for a moment, plucking a piece of chopped carrot off the cutting board and chewing on it. She didn’t push the subject either, and he wondered how she felt about the last few years apart. “Are you back in Woodlawn for good now?” he asked.