by Leela Ash
“Hold on a second, I’m coming.”
“...thanks.”
She grabbed a few from the stack and headed to the shower room, her heart pounding hard in her chest. She squeezed her eyes closed and stepped inside, waving the towels around blindly in front of her.
To her horror, her hand collided with a firm, wet bicep and she dropped the towels on the wet floor. Her eyes opened instinctively, and she caught sight of Apollo, who was unable to repress his grin.
“Thanks for that,” he said, amusement giving his already handsome features an irresistible charm.
“I’m so sorry,” Quinn managed, trying her hardest not to let her eyes venture down Apollo’s incredible body. He was standing confidently in front of her, not even bothering to conceal himself. It wasn’t that he was trying not to show off. It just seemed that this type of modesty didn’t occur to him. He simply was what he was. And he gave her the option of accepting that.
“Well… it’s okay, but I think I’m going to need a different towel.”
Quinn blushed furiously.
“Yes, of course…”
She caught his eye and that same overwhelming intensity between them seemed to glue her in place. She knew she was supposed to be scurrying off to the closet to remedy her mistake, but right then, all of that was pushed back as her main priority turned to lingering in that incredible feeling. The wholeness of Apollo.
“Quinn…”
Apollo gritted his teeth. It looked like he was struggling with something. Maybe that same incredible energy between them was holding him captive as well. Or maybe it was something else.
“I… I think I’ll go get you a fresh towel,” Quinn stammered, heading out. She could almost sense Apollo wanting to chuckle at her, which made the whole situation that much more embarrassing.
She returned, a few moments later, with the new towels and did just as she had done before; came into the shower room with her eyes closed and the towels extended.
A warm caress over her hand surprised her, and Quinn’s heart quickened. She swallowed hard as she felt Apollo’s strong fingers close over hers and gently tug her forward. Soon, his muscular arms were wrapped around her, and she could feel her body slowly surrendering to the deep desires that being near Apollo stirred within her.
“You can look at me,” Apollo said, his voice deep near her ear. His warm breath tickled her neck, and Quinn shuddered against him. He tightened his grip a little, and she let out a deep breath before venturing to open her eyes.
“Hi,” she murmured, catching his gaze. His eyes were more intense now than she had ever seen them before. There was something strange about them. Exotic somehow; almost as if she were looking into the face of a wild animal. But he was being so calm. So gentle.
“Are you okay with me touching you like this?”
Quinn was caught completely off-guard by the question. Most of the men she had been with had just done what they wanted when they wanted to do it, and if she had resisted, most of them acted as if she were unforgivably bitchy.
“I... I don’t mind.”
She wanted to say she liked it. Tell him how deeply his touch resonated within her. But those were things best left unsaid. Somehow, she sensed she didn’t have to say them for him to know. He seemed able to sense how she felt. What she wanted. And now, the resistance between them was slipping away.
It would never work. Neither of them genuinely believed this was going to be a relationship. She hadn’t gotten any signals that he was interested in anything like that. He was a busy guy, and this was probably just another way for him to relieve the tension. And it wasn’t like she was out looking for a guy to get involved with. She’d gotten her fill of trying. But the moment felt good and right.
The details of what it meant, where it was going and where it might lead could be worked out later. Right now, the most crucial thing was to figure out what in the world they were doing with this feeling. It was overwhelming. It begged to be explored.
Suddenly, Apollo’s dark eyes flashed with need, and she could feel his body tensing up against her in the most sensual way. His lips dropped against hers, and they kissed deeply. She closed her eyes as quiet anticipation spread throughout her body. She wanted him. She was ready for this.
Apollo seemed to sense her response and met it in kind. His grip tightened around her waist, and she was soon gratified with the sensation of his member pressed against her. She trembled as he slowly undressed her, dropping hot but tender kisses down her neck and along her shoulders as he went. He grinned mischievously and pulled her back toward the nozzle of the shower, then turned the water on.
The water fell over their bodies, intensifying the bliss that Apollo’s skilled movements left as his hands traced along her skin. She let out a soft moan when she finally felt him press between her thighs. His arms reached around her and lifted her gently from the rear, parting her legs just enough that he could push against his destination.
All she could focus on now was the steady throbbing of her desires; like a heartbeat that spurned her on toward the most blissful release imaginable.
Apollo could feel her responding to his touch; he was a gifted lover, attentive and doting. But not all of him was here. He was holding back a part of himself, and they both knew it.
But she was glad for what he was willing to offer, and he extended his body to her like a life raft to the drowning.
Quinn gasped, electricity creeping through her body at Apollo’s every touch; strong hands roaming her ribcage, cupping her breasts. A soft, involuntary moan escaped her lips when he found her nipples, and a rush of heat thundered between her legs.
Apollo grunted approvingly, and Quinn was pleasantly surprised by the hulking muscle that was eager for her warmth; there was something exotic even about his manhood. Something she couldn’t quite pinpoint, excluding, of course, its size.
A rush of excitement heated her, and she finally looked up to Apollo. He was waiting for her attention before he gripped her by the thighs and mounted her against his waist. She wrapped her legs around him as he teased her opening, slipping closer and closer to his prize. Wave after wave of pleasure crashed over Quinn, and her fingers gripped his shoulders hard. She bucked her hips invitingly, anxious for the moment the tease might turn into something more fruitful.
But Apollo was an attentive lover and knew exactly what she wanted. With a guttural growl of possession, Apollo buried his face into Quinn’s neck, sending a delicate tickle from his mouth and teeth to contrast the power of his shaft sinking deeply inside her.
“Oh my god,” Quinn gasped, shocked by the overwhelming sensations. She could feel her nipples growing rock hard against Apollo’s firm chest, and she held onto him helplessly as he began to utilize the force of his power against her body. She closed her eyes, a deep moan swelling from inside her chest as the smooth rhythm of their bodies ushered her to her peak.
There was something incredibly carnal about all of this, animalistic. Quinn could hardly identify what she was feeling; only that it was the rawest delight she had ever experienced. Her entire body was on fire as Apollo worked tirelessly to gratify them both, his member swollen so hard that she could almost feel every vein as it massaged her insides.
Quinn gasped in a combination of surprise and pleasure as Apollo slowly entered her. There was something different about the way he felt. She’d had sex with a few different men in the past, but none of them had given her a sensation quite like this. She closed her eyes, lingering in the immediate bliss that Apollo’s attentions had stirred within her. He let out a grunt of approval when he was finally hilted, and Quinn gripped his broad shoulders tightly as his hips began to thrust in a steady, rhythmic motion.
Again, she caught sight of his face and it seemed as if he was struggling with something. What on Earth was it? What had he gone through? Or was it something else? A personal conflict of some sort? Why was he holding back?
Almost as if to silence her thoughts, Apollo looke
d suddenly at Quinn. She felt almost as if he could see straight into her very soul and she quieted her mind, captive to this intense look from this painfully handsome creature. Creature? No. Man. Why had she thought creature?
It didn’t matter. He was taking her body on a beautiful trip, scaling something unlike she had ever experienced. She felt a jolt of pleasure from her toes to her fingertips as Apollo began to unleash his full power inside her. She gasped, her fingernails digging into his back as he held her firmly in place, a heady, lustful expression clear on his face as he entered her repeatedly.
She could feel herself climbing toward her peak, and somehow could sense that her pleasure was fueling Apollo’s. This man would take her as long as she wanted him to, and she soon found herself surrendering to this incredible animalistic desire.
The delicious friction between their bodies made every slight movement radiate through her body. She could feel him everywhere. With every thrust, a new jolt of bliss. In her abdomen, in her chest, in her fingertips. Apollo’s hand found its way to her hair, gripping it gently to pull her face back so he could look into her eyes.
She was startled, but only slightly, when she saw the reptilian gaze of his deep eyes gazing at her, the power, the animalistic longing, it was all there. All part of this creature disguised as Apollo.
And he held her gaze just like that until suddenly, she could hold back no more, and her body began to quake around him.
Suddenly, the reptilian gaze vanished, and she was seeing Apollo again, his brow creased in a blissful expression as her climax milked a wave of euphoria from his body. She collapsed against him, hot moans climbing through the trenches of her throat and escaping against Apollo’s neck as he emptied himself inside her.
He maintained his hold on her, stepping backward to collapse against the couch of the cabin, his chest rising and falling heavily with exertion. When she finally composed herself, Quinn sat up, her body still trembling with the force of her climax and looked sheepishly into Apollo’s eyes.
“Just this once, right?” she whispered. She knew the answer already, somewhere deep in her heart she knew that right now was not the time to be holding on to childish fantasies about falling in love with this man and raising his child. No, that kind of thing wasn’t meant to happen to a woman like her. She was the nanny, not the lover. The outcast and the weird yoga teacher, not the wife and the mother.
Apollo gazed at her, his face impossible to read, then cast his eyes away. He gave a nod, and Quinn returned it. She inhaled shakily, planting a kiss on his cheek before dismounting from his body to go find her clothes. He had things to do, and she wasn’t going to be the one to get in the way of that.
***
“You know my daddy?”
Quinn smiled gently at the little girl. She was clinging to Apollo’s shirt, the soft-looking grey fabric that clung to his chest balled up in her little fists. There was something unmistakably sexy about this man but seeing the tenderness he displayed around his child had been a very unexpected treat.
“I do,” she said, shifting her attention from the man holding the child to little Vera, who was apparently never planning on letting her daddy get any work done at all.
“She’s a little wound up from a trip she just had. We were separated for a while,” Apollo explained. His muscular arms tightened around the little girl a little more snugly into a comforting hug. The child relaxed against her father, but her curious, amber eyes remained fixed on Quinn.
“My daddy is a hero.”
Something about the statement made the air around Quinn, Apollo, and the five men surrounding them grow tense. She quirked her brow, choosing not to question the child on why exactly she found her father to be heroic.
Quinn laughed off the strange energy, hoping to break the tension. “I think everyone thinks that about their daddy when they’re small.”
“Vera,” Apollo said gently, “this is Quinn. She’s a genuinely nice woman and she will take very good care of you. See? She has really nice eyes.”
Quinn found herself blushing at the compliment. But, of course, it wasn’t a genuine compliment. He was just trying to get his little girl to trust her. Then again, maybe he did think so. They had slept together, after all. But that didn’t have to mean anything. Apparently, it hadn’t. Which was for the best. She couldn’t stomach another alpha jerk in her life anyway. Not intimately, anyway.
“I want her to come with you, so we can stay together.”
It was clear, the child was used to making, what she believed, were reasonable demands, which her father bent over backward to see to. Quinn felt suddenly nervous. What had she gotten herself into?
“Vera, you already know that isn’t possible. We are doing especially important, extremely dangerous work, remember?”
Quinn perked up. What kind of work were they doing exactly? But when she looked to the other men for answers of any kind, all their eyes seemed to be cautioning her against asking questions. Were they part of the military or something? That would make sense with how in-shape all of them seemed to be…
“I remember. But I don’t like it and I want to be with you!”
The child’s amber eyes were welling with tears again and Apollo sighed.
“I will be home for supper, how about that? Then we can eat together and talk all about our days. How does that sound?”
“Can we have spaghetti?”
Apollo chuckled. “Sure.”
He glanced over the child’s head. “We can cook in the cabins?”
“Definitely,” Quinn confirmed. “Everything you might need is there. Except… you know… groceries. Generally, though, all appliances work. Nothing to worry about in that regard.”
“Wonderful. So, we will come home, and I will make you spaghetti.”
“Okay.”
Apollo kissed his daughter on the top of her head, then turned his piercing gaze to Quinn. She got goosebumps when he looked at her like that; as if he trusted her implicitly. And yet it was obvious that he was trying to determine whether he was making the right call. He clearly valued his daughter and her safety immensely. It was saying something for him to leave the child with her. Then again, he was obviously desperate. Especially considering the amount of money he was willing to drop on her.
“I’m going to go now,” Apollo said finally. “We will be back after dark, before your classes are to begin.”
“All right. Be careful.”
Apollo nodded. “You can use my room if you need somewhere to contain her. She’s very energetic. She will move around as much as she can.”
Quinn smiled privately. That was something she could relate to.
They headed out, and Quinn held Vera as they waved goodbye to the van that the child’s father was driving.
If someone would have told her, the day she met Apollo, she would be holding his child for an enormously generous sum of money, she wouldn’t have believed it. But now that it was happening, she was beside herself with the complexity of the universe. How did this happen?
The last person she had expected to see come striding through that door was Apollo. He had been just as surprised to see her, from what she had gathered. But life had a funny way of working out at times. She wasn’t quite sure what had led them to cross paths like this, but whatever it was, she was grateful for it.
“Well. Since you have never been here before, do you want to take a walk with me, and we can look around?”
Vera nodded; her cheek planted dejectedly against Quinn’s shoulder. The child was having quite the case of separation anxiety, so Quinn set out immediately to distract her.
“I know all about the animals here. Do you like animals?”
Vera nodded again. Quinn headed down one of the paths that did a big circle around the bed and breakfast cabins. The cabins were all separate, but the lots were relatively close together so that, if desired, the occupants could come together in the yard for a campfire or grilling.
“See that tree? A
n eagle lives in it.”
“An eagle?” Vera perked up, following Quinn’s finger to the tree, where a huge nest was resting.
“That’s right. Do you see it?”
Quinn and Vera squinted up at the tree, when a sudden flourish of wings rustled in the nest and the eagle took off, soaring into the air.
“Wow!” Vera exclaimed. “Bird!”
“A big bird!” Quinn agreed.
The child was smiling now, and Quinn took it as a good sign. She smiled too and continued the little tour of the bed and breakfast, finally ending up in the room she had set aside for Apollo specifically. She knew, firsthand, that it was probably the most furnished of all the rooms in the whole place and had hoped that maybe giving the room to him would help the child adjust a little bit.
A small amount of added hospitality couldn’t hurt, right?
Once inside, she looked around at the place. Even with the extra work her father had put in, it wasn’t the nicest of places. But she was skillful and artistic in her own right and sat Vera beside her little pink suitcase.
“I have a big job for you,” Quinn said, looking seriously at the child.
“A job?” she asked, her amber eyes wide and curious.
“That’s right, a job! I want you to unpack this suitcase for me. Put all your clothes into that little dresser over there. Can you do that for me?”
Vera looked from Quinn to the suitcase, then finally beamed. “I can do that!”
Quinn helped her open the suitcase, and a small flurry of toys spilled immediately onto the floor.
“When you’re done with your job, maybe you can play with some of those toys. How does that sound?”
Vera nodded enthusiastically and set to work as Quinn began cleaning the kitchenette in Apollo’s cabin. She worked until it was shining. She liked things set to her standards, especially if there were children around. Not that she didn’t trust he would get there. She just knew he had a lot of other things on his plate. It wasn’t like she had anything else to do.
