KNOCK ME OFF MY FEET

  "Great. Uh, what gets you … well…"

  "Hey! You told me you weren't sexually repressed!"

  "I'm not! I just … fine, let me backtrack a bit. How do you like to talk about sex?"

  "What do you mean, 'how'?"

  "I mean do you like flowery words and vague references to, you know, body parts and things people do with them when they make love? Or do you like to talk about sex directly?"

  "I wouldn't know. I've never had this conversation before, exactly."

  Audie crossed her arms under her breasts and looked out at the shiny river of cars. "I've talked about sex, of course, but usually afterward, and it was stuff like 'That felt nice,' or, 'I liked this or that,' so I'm not sure how I prefer to talk about it right now, with all my clothes on, riding in an unmarked police car." She turned to face him. "How do you like to talk about it?"

  "Directly, I suppose."

  "Then let's be direct. Keep asking."

  Quinn turned up the air conditioning and shifted in his seat. "Are you sexually attracted to me, Audie?"

  "Oooh, yeah." She pursed her lips and nodded.

  "So it hasn't been all wishful thinking on my part?"

  "Not hardly."

  "That's a huge relief."

  "I'm glad."

  "All right. Let's take care of the paperwork first. I'm healthy. No HIV. No herpes. No nothing. The department tests every six months and the last one was in June and since then I haven't been at risk, if you know what I mean. I'm good to go. How about you?"

  Audie laughed nervously. "There's been no one since Russell, and I got tested again just a month ago. I'm completely healthy. And I know you're Catholic and everything, but I'm on the pill."

  "Wow. Then we could do some serious sinning."

  "We could."

  "So tell me what gets you sexually aroused."

  She laughed. "We're moving right along, aren't we?"

  "No point in dawdling." He grinned at her. "I've sinned before, you know."

  "Fine. Being within a hundred miles of you gets me aroused, Quinn. Hearing your gravelly voice. Feeling you touch my hand or my cheek or my feet and legs—well, you already know what happens with that."

  He did know. Yes, Lord, he did. And Quinn looked at her over there, glowing, round and soft and refreshingly honest, and realized that if this was going where he thought it was, tonight was going to be one hell of a good night.

  At that instant, Connelly's warning came to mind, and he knew that no matter how much he wanted Audie, how crazy she was making him—this probably was not a smart move.

  But then she turned toward him, those dark eyes sparkling, those plump lips turning up at the corners, and Quinn didn't give a damn what Connelly said. He couldn't even remember what the man looked like.

  "And talking about sex with you, Quinn—now that gets me plenty aroused."

  "It does?"

  "Yes."

  "Did you say my voice is gravelly?"

  "Yes, I did."

  "All right then. And how do you know you're getting hot for me?"

  "Hot for you?" Audie laughed and then sighed deeply. "Mmmm. Well, I start to tingle all over and I feel all warm inside. My stomach does a little flip. I want to touch my own breasts." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Then I feel myself getting wet and slippery and I start thinking about how I'm going to get something big and hard inside me."

  She heard Quinn take a loud gulp of air. "Holy God in heaven, that was a fine answer."

  "Ask me some more."

  "Whoa," Quinn whispered. "So when you're like that—all hot and slippery—goddamn!" He turned up the air conditioning another notch. "What do you imagine happening first? What would you want to start off with?"

  "Are we talking about right now, with you? Can I answer it that way?"

  "Yes."

  "I'd like to start with a long, slow kiss. Then lots more of them, because I really like the feel of your mouth on mine—have you noticed we seem to fit really nice on each other?"

  Audie heard Quinn gulp. "That I have. And as I recall, my mouth fits real nice in a few other places you got."

  "I know it does," she breathed.

  Quinn was quiet for a moment, trying to get his synapses to fire. "OK, so we've kissed. What next?"

  "Next I'd want you naked, Detective Quinn. I'd want to take your clothes off—with no help from you—and watch your expression when I look at all of you for the first time … when I put my hands on you."

  "That could be arranged."

  "Because you've seen a lot more of me than I've seen of you."

  "True enough."

  "And then you'd take off my clothes."

  "Yes, I would."

  "And you'd put your hands all over me."

  Quinn sucked in air.

  "Keep asking. I'm liking this."

  "I noticed." He sat for a moment just listening to the sound of his own blood pounding in his ears. "What makes you come, Audie?"

  "Wow. That's a complicated one." She turned in the seat to get a good look at him. His face was very serious and his jaw was tight and hard above his collar. She wondered what else of his might be hard. "You want the honest answer?"

  "Honesty is good."

  "Well, honestly, it doesn't happen all that often. It can take some time and a lot of direct attention, you know?"

  "I do know."

  "I think you were on the right track the other night."

  "Without a doubt."

  "But every once in a while it just happens all nice and mellow for me."

  Quinn turned to her with a smug little smile. "That's all going to change, Homey."

  "How do you mean?"

  "I mean, what you just described doesn't sound all that tremendous."

  "It can be nice."

  He chuckled lasciviously. "Nice is nice, but here's what I want to know: Has it ever been so fucking hot that your screaming made the neighbor lady call the cops?"

  Audie's eyes flew wide. "Um, not that I recall."

  "I think you'd recall something like that."

  "I guess I would."

  "Well, that's the part I'm gonna change, Homey."

  She laughed.

  "Or die trying."

  She laughed again.

  Quinn checked the road, then turned to face her, waiting until their eyes locked in the faint light. "Tell me how you like it, Audie."

  "Like what?"

  He stared at her, and his voice came out rough and low. "Tell me how you like your sex."

  "Oh, boy." She whipped her head around and looked out her window. She wondered if anyone else driving on the Dan Ryan Expressway at nine-thirty on a Sunday evening was having this discussion, in just this way. Somehow, she doubted it.

  "I wasn't expecting that one."

  "Too bad. You wanted direct questions—I'm asking them."

  She turned toward him slowly, and she could barely get the words out. "I've been thinking about this a lot since that night on my couch."

  "Me, too. Nonstop, really."

  "And I just want the sex to be with you, Quinn."

  "Great. Now exactly—"

  "Wait! Here's Lake Shore, but you're in the wrong—"

  He squealed across three lanes of traffic to make the curved exit ramp, little electric sparks flashing as the front left bumper scraped along a retaining wall.

  "Sorry."

  Audie hooted. "Man! This is great! OK, next question?"

  Quinn shook his head, his heart slamming against the inside of his ribs. "No way. No more questions—I just want the actual sex now."

  "But—"

  "I need to get inside you—right now."

  She couldn't stop laughing. "That doesn't sound safe."

  "You'd better not be yanking my chain, woman, because I've got no more gentleman left in me."

  She was quiet for a moment, then said, "Oh, Quinn. It's ten minutes to my place. Do you think you're gentleman enough to wait that long?"

  "That I can
handle." He looked over to see her smiling quite brightly. "Have pity on your man, Audie. There's not enough blood in my brain to carry on this conversation."

  "That's OK." Audie reached out and touched Quinn gently on the side of his face, trying not to panic at the way his words had just slammed into her heart—your man, your man—trying not to panic at how much she wanted him, all of him, everything he had to give her, everything he'd show her.

  She let her fingers trail along his jaw to his throat, and she hooked her fingers inside his shirt, circling in the soft down below his collarbone.

  "How about I ask the questions now?" she whispered. "I think we've got time for a few, all right?"

  The silky touch of her finger caused tiny flashbulbs to pop in front of Quinn's eyes, making driving an even greater challenge. "Just make 'em easy—like ones I can answer with a grunt."

  She giggled. "Okay. Here's one I think you can manage." She leaned over and put her lips against his ear. "Are you hard right now, Quinn?"

  He swallowed. Her hot breath made him shudder. "God, yes, I'm hard."

  "How hard?" She brought her lips to the tender spot under his jaw and kissed.

  "Extremely hard."

  She scraped her teeth along his neck. "As hard as that night on the sidewalk?"

  "Harder."

  She bit his earlobe. "As hard as that night on your deck?"

  "Harder."

  She flicked her tongue under his jaw. "As hard as the other night on my couch?"

  "Harder. Longer. Thicker. I've been saving up."

  "Excellent," Audie breathed, flopping back against the passenger seat. "That does it for my questions."

  * * *

  They barely looked at each other and they didn't speak and they didn't touch—not while they parked the car or rode the elevator to the twenty-eighth floor or walked down the hallway and opened the door to Audie's place.

  They didn't talk as they entered the apartment or when Quinn put his hand over Audie's to stop her from flipping on the light switch.

  They said nothing to each other as Quinn took her by the hand and led her to the huge black windows overlooking the lake and the northern edge of city lights—the John Hancock Tower, Water Tower Place, Michigan Avenue, all spread out before them like diamonds tossed on black velvet.

  Finally, Quinn smiled down at her and broke the silence. "We're going to finish what we started."

  She stared into his eyes, bright with reflected light and intense desire.

  "I'm going to take down your hair. Then I'm going to kiss you."

  Audie nodded helplessly. He wasn't asking her if he could do any of these things—he was telling her. That worked for her.

  Quinn released the clasp she'd used to pull back her hair for the soccer game. The heavy waves now tumbled onto his wrists like warm satin, and he breathed her in. She smelled like spice and flowers and musk. She smelled just like she tasted, if he recalled correctly.

  Audie stood very still, breathing fast, watching the restrained and slow way he moved around her, the ravenous gleam in his eyes. The lion at breakfast was back, but this time she was showing him to the all-you-can-eat buffet.

  She closed her eyes and felt the tingle as his fingers moved up into her hair and his palms cradled her head. Then his lips came down on hers, all hot, all wet, all Quinn—and all was lost.

  Where did she go right then? She couldn't say, because her world suddenly turned to nothing but sensation, no thought, no care for where her feet were planted. The only thing she knew was that this man's mouth was on hers and his hands were on her and she wanted it bad. She loved it.

  She felt Quinn rock her in his arms, back and forth with the press of his loins, his tongue tasting her, taking her. She loved that, too.

  Then he stopped kissing her and held her in front of him. He took her hands and pressed them against his shirt, and her fingers began working down the column of buttons.

  She stopped and frowned.

  "Your gun. I don't know what to—"

  "That's the only thing I'm going to help you with, Homey." He reached behind him and removed the nine-millimeter automatic pistol from his waistband, walked away, and placed it on a side table. He came back. "You're on your own now."

  She pulled the shirt from his belt and spread it apart across his body, then settled her palms flat on his ribs. She slid her hands up and over his hard chest and flat, silky nipples, across his wide shoulders, and down his arms, feeling each warm, solid inch of him as she went. The shirt fell to the floor.

  Audie leaned in and put her lips on his breastbone. She nuzzled close and kissed him, feeling the tickle of his chest hair against her cheek, breathing in the scent of him, sighing with relief to finally be this close to him.

  But it wasn't nearly close enough.

  She brought her hands to his waist and down across the solid ridges of his stomach, leaving a trail of southward-bound kisses as she moved. She dropped to her knees and looked up at him.

  "I love your body, Quinn."

  He seemed surprised by that. "This'll work out pretty good then."

  She put her hands at his belt and tugged, then felt the zipper slide open under her fingers. She kept watching his face so far above her, seeing the storm clouds gather in his eyes as her fingers pushed away his shorts, as she welcomed him in her hands.

  "Oh, God, Quinn." She took a deep breath and let her eyes embrace what she already cradled in her hands—all thick, silky head and stiff flesh. "You're very big."

  "Told you I was saving up."

  She looked up to his face again, his eyes glittering with the city lights. "Hurry. I want my turn," he said.

  She slinked her hands down his narrow hips and along the hard line of his legs, yanked off his sandals, and stood, seeing him there in front of her, all lean and solid and wearing nothing but a lopsided grin and a raging hard-on.

  "Turn around, Audie."

  A shiver went through her. "Turn around?"

  "That's what I said."

  She felt him put his hands on her hips and turn her to face the windows. It was an amazing sight—they were reflected back, floating in all the lights, somewhere in the darkness. She watched Quinn lean down to whisper in her ear.

  "Spread 'em, Audie." She gasped.

  With a gentle nudge of his bare foot, he pushed her legs wide apart, then reached around and raised up her arms, placing her hands flat against the glass.

  Quinn saw her expression in the window—half shock and half amusement. Perfect.

  He leaned down into her ear. "I think I'd better frisk you before I fuck you."

  Audie whimpered.

  He started by pulling her T-shirt from the waistband of her skirt and pushing his hands up her back and around her ribs, feeling with pleasure how she rippled under his touch. He unhooked the tiny snap at the front of her bra, and the satiny fabric fell loose inside her shirt just as his hands swooped up to cup the freed weight of her breasts. Her nipples immediately rose to hot points in his palms.

  "Good Lord," she mumbled, feeling his big penis jab into the small of her back. She dropped her head forward and shuddered.

  Quinn's hands were all over her now—moving on the bare skin of her stomach, her ribs, her sides, running little circles around her rigid nipples. She couldn't help it—the feeling was so intense that she arched into him, pushed her breasts into his hands, and pressed her hips back against his cock.

  "Looks like we're not messing with any of that 'resisting an officer' shit, are we, Audie?"

  She started to laugh but stopped abruptly, because his hands were at the zipper of her skirt, and he was shoving down hard on the skirt and underwear until they caught on her spread upper thighs—too tight to move any farther.

  His hands were on her bare bottom now, and she heard herself moan a little, and the oddest sensation ran through her—it was almost as if she'd just had a small, friendly orgasm simply because he was touching her.

  But that was impossible.
r />   His hand went to her belly and he pulled her back against him, causing her hands to fall from the glass. Quinn pulled the shirt and bra over her head and dropped them to the floor.

  Audie saw herself then, naked breasts and wild hair, her skirt shoved down low on her hips, and Quinn's hands moving on her.

  It happened again—the little pleasant flash of heat in her blood. "Wow," she whispered.

  "Lean against me, Audie. I won't let you fall."

  He pushed aside her hair with one hand and bent his lips to the back of her neck. Audie felt him kiss her there, bite her, his lips hot and wet and his breath so close in her ear. He began rocking her again with the press of his hips, and she thought for sure her knees would give.

  He suddenly lifted her off the floor and yanked off the skirt and underwear. While she was up in the air, she flipped off her sandals. Then he set her back down in front of him, nudging her feet apart again.

  His hands went everywhere now, all over her, cradling and pinching her breasts, encircling her throat, moving down her sides and over her hips and sliding up and around her ass. She saw everything in the windows, and she felt like hot lava in his hands—no bones left in her anywhere, just heat and slick need.

  Quinn slipped his hand down her belly and toward the open split of her sex. His fingertips made the slightest contact with her wet flesh and she jumped and cried out.

  "Oh, Audie," Quinn whispered in her ear. "I've been waiting for this. I've been waiting to come to you, make you mine. I can't wait anymore. I want you so much."

  She let her head fall back against him and shivered. She liked the way his words had just spilled out thick and musical from the back of his throat and hot into her ear. She liked the sound of his voice so close, so intimate. She liked that every inch of her skin pressed back against him and that his cock was smashed up against her and his fingers were moving slow and sure along the entrance to her.

  With the lightest touch, he coaxed her stiff little bud from its hiding place, pinched her, and rubbed his erection hard against her from behind.

  "Do you feel me, Audie?" He kept moving against her.

  "I feel you, Quinn," she moaned.

  "What do you feel? Tell me."

  "I feel how good you are to me," she breathed. "Oh, God, I feel how much you want me—how much I want you."

  Quinn slid his fingers from her and pulled her up to her full height, encircling her gently in his arms.