Start Me Up

by Victoria Dahl

  When he tried to pull away, she didn’t hesitate to twist her fingers into his hair, hard.

  Quinn’s gaze flashed up to meet hers, his eyes sizzling with furious passion. Lori met it with her own. She wanted to hurt him, make him cringe even as he moaned with pleasure, so she squeezed her fists as hard as she could, trying to force him back to his task.

  He growled, but didn’t obey. Instead of bending his head, he surged up and lifted her from the table. “Bedroom?”

  “Can’t we do it here?”

  “Bedroom. Now.”

  She pointed and he moved, apparently unimpeded by the way she wrapped her legs around his waist. He was still fully dressed in a suit and tie, and the fabric rubbed against her naked skin, pointing out her vulnerability. Lori didn’t mind at all. As a matter of fact she felt good and dirty. She leaned up and bit Quinn’s neck, happy that it made him stumble a little.

  He lurched into the small hallway where her bedroom door stood wide-open and waiting, and Quinn headed straight for the bed. She dug her heels into him to urge him on.

  It worked. He kept going until his knees hit the bed, then he let them both fall to the mattress, bracing his own weight on his hands. Lori didn’t want his weight at a safe distance. She wanted it on her, in her, pressing her down, down, down.

  But when she reached for him, he slipped away. Before she could catch her breath to shout a protest, she noticed that he was struggling out of his suit coat.

  He caught her eye. “Take off those panties, Lori Love.”

  She blinked and blinked again, caught between surprise and a tiny whisper of self-consciousness.

  “Now,” Quinn clarified, and what could she do but obey? As his hands rose to tug off his tie, Lori reached for her underwear. She wanted to close her eyes but didn’t. Somehow his surety made this so much easier. So, eyes wide and locked with his, Lori got up on her knees and slid her panties off.

  For a long moment, his gaze didn’t waver. His eyes burned into hers. And then he looked down.

  His hands continued their work on the tie as he stared at her nude body. He pulled the end free of the knot in a long, whispering motion that seemed almost threatening. Lori shivered, and he met her gaze once again.

  His shirt parted as he popped the buttons open. “You are going to take back what you said tonight. About this being a grand sacrifice on my part. A handout. You will take that back.”

  “I…Mmm…” Did he want an answer now? Because she was slightly distracted by the skin being revealed. The muscles of his chest worked as his hands moved. They bunched and relaxed, and when the hell had Quinn grown muscles? Amazingly, when he tugged the shirt from his pants, a six-pack marched down in faint lines beneath his skin. And then his shoulders shrugged free of the pale blue cotton, and—

  “Oh, my God,” Lori gasped. Those shoulders. Wide and tight and…wide.

  “Something wrong?” he asked, glancing back toward the hall.

  “You lift weights?” she asked.

  “No. Why?”

  “You did not look like that on the basketball court in high school.”

  “Like what?” He shook his head. “I swim.”

  “To where?”

  The male ego kicked in, if a bit belatedly, and Quinn’s laughter sounded very pleased. “I swim sometimes when I can’t sleep.”

  “Mmm. Molly says you have insomnia.”

  “I do.”

  “I can see that.”

  That chuckle again, like the sound of sexual promise. “You’re making me blush.”

  She meant to say something funny, something about giving him a real reason to blush, but Quinn reached for the button on his slacks and the words turned to mush in her mouth. When he stopped with the button and failed to reach for the zipper, the mush turned to concrete. Lori watched like a tiger eyeing its prey. Come on. Come on. One step closer and I’ll have you.

  Quinn made a humming sound. “I like you looking at me like that.”

  “Great,” she croaked. “Let’s look some more.”

  “You look hungry.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  He stalked toward her, pants still firmly in place. “But I want you starving.”

  “What? No. Come on. You’ve been reading too many books.” She wanted him naked and hard and pushing into her right this moment. He put one knee on the bed. “Take your pants off, damn it!”

  “Shut up,” he answered just before his mouth caught hers.

  A punishing kiss. How many times had she read that stupid phrase in books? It had always seemed ridiculous to her, but if there was such a thing as a punishing kiss, this was it. Hard and demanding and hot. Quinn’s tongue licked roughly against hers, and his muscled arms forced her down to her back. This kiss didn’t ask for anything, it demanded that she yield. A punishing kiss. And Lori was suddenly a dirty girl who needed that control and correction. Oh, God, yes. Yes, I am dirty. Finally.

  Quinn didn’t stop kissing her, but he did start exploring her body, trailing his fingers down her side, then back up to tease her breasts. Shivering, she reached for him, thrilled to finally get her hands on his nakedness. God, his skin felt like silk stretched over the strength of his arms. She slid her palms everywhere—up, down, around to his back. He was hard and smooth until she got to his chest, where crisp hair trailed down to the waistband of his pants.

  His fingers teased and teased, venturing as low as her navel before dancing away again. By the time he lifted his head, she was gasping, her heart sucking too much oxygen from her blood. When he licked at one nipple and then the other, Lori pressed her mouth to one big shoulder and bit down to try to stifle her need.

  Quinn grunted, but neither the direction of his hands nor the pressure of his mouth changed. She was wet and tight and empty, and she needed him to touch her sex now. His fingers teased over her hip bone. Now, now. Please. She let her knees fall open. Please.

  His fingers—those elegant, artistic fingers—slipped into her dark curls, setting her nerves on fire. Her jaw trembled as she panted into his shoulder. “Quinn,” she begged. And then finally, finally he touched her, the tips of his fingers sliding along the wet line of her sex, up and down.

  Lori gasped hard, but she still heard his sigh. As if the feel of her relieved something deep inside him.

  “Damn, you’re wet,” he whispered as he dragged one finger over her clit.

  Her hips jerked, rising up, desperate to get more of his attention. Her body’s plea worked. Quinn circled her clit once more—Oh, God—and then he slid one long finger deep inside her. She thought that felt good, but then he withdrew and pushed two fingers into her body, stretching her tight.

  Lori broke. “Oh, God, Quinn. Oh, that feels good.”

  He fucked her with his hand, and Lori gave up her hold on his shoulders and grabbed for his wrist.

  “Yes. Yes. Ah, Quinn.” He’d curved his hand in some miraculous way so that every movement rubbed her clit at the same time as he thrust deep inside her. She dug her nails into his arm, making him hiss. He repaid her by closing his mouth over one nipple and sucking hard.

  “Quinn,” she cried as all the nerves in her body began to shimmer. A vague sensation of floating lifted her away from the world for a long moment, and then her body pulled Lori back down into her skin just as she shattered into a million glittery bits. Her own scream floated to her ears as her hips jerked against his hold.

  When she finally went limp against the bed, his touch left her and the mattress shifted. Lori wanted to open her eyes to see what he was up to, she really did, but she was too busy wondering how she could have lived without that for three decades. That…that climax. So much more than just an orgasm. That impossible melding of strength and utter weakness warring for control of her body.

  The sound of a zipper lowering floated through the haze. Lethargy vanished like a bubble popping, and Lori’s eyes flew open.

  “Well, hello there,” Quinn said.

  “Hello.” She sighed, stretchi
ng hard, muscles sighing with pleasure.

  “My God,” he growled. “You’re gorgeous.”

  “Mmm. I think you’re just horny.”

  “That, too.” He sat on the bed to tug off his shoes and socks, and Lori couldn’t resist shifting close to press a kiss to his back.

  He growled again.

  She liked that, so she licked a little way up his spine, then back down. This time he hissed. Lori liked that even more. When she wrapped her arms around his waist, the skin of his back pressed against her cheek, and she nuzzled him, breathing him in, the warm scent of skin and hint of fresh sweat. He was sweating for her. For her.

  Spreading her fingers wide, Lori smoothed her hands down the front of his thighs, then dragged them back up, letting her nails scrape against the fabric of his pants. The deep breath he took echoed through his body and into her ear, then it froze; he was waiting.

  Smiling against his back, Lori pushed her hands slowly toward the open zipper. She held her breath, too, anticipating this first touch. The metal scrape of the zipper, then the soft, hot fabric of his boxers, and beneath that…His thick, solid length filled her hand. Oh, yeah. Lori stroked.

  Air rushed into his lungs, then just as quickly out. She curled her fingers as far as she could past the barrier of his underwear. He felt big. Excitingly big. Yes, yes, yes. Please let him be big.

  She normally didn’t care about such things, but this was her fantasy. Fantasy did not accommodate normal or average or reasonable. She wanted everything.

  Eyes shut tight, Lori sneaked her hand beneath the thin fabric and finally touched him skin to skin. Another hiss from Quinn. Lori answered with a pleased sigh.

  Hot. God, he was hot. And so damn hard.

  Lori scooted up to her knees and pressed her breasts against Quinn’s back. They both moaned, though Quinn’s moan could have been the result of her firm grip on his cock. Didn’t matter. It was all good. Really, really good.

  To reward him for having such a lovely erection, Lori slid her hand all the way up, then slowly back down. She caressed him, pumped him, teased him. She rubbed her thumb over the head, dragged her nails down his shaft, teased her fingertips over his balls.

  Something crinkled loudly. Crinkled?

  “Uh, Quinn? What was that?”

  He held up a condom, the wrapper creased from being clutched tightly in his hand. “Condom,” he gasped.

  She grinned. “What are you doing to that poor thing?”

  “Hanging on. Very tightly.”

  “Mmm.” She stroked him some more, rubbing her breasts against his back with each motion. She didn’t stop until she could feel him shaking. Then she let go and scooted back on the mattress.

  Quinn stood with a speed that shocked her. His pants seemed to disappear, revealing only a brief glimpse of taut buttocks before he spun around to follow her across the bed. “If you were trying to drive me crazy, you’ve succeeded.”

  Lori giggled, surprising herself. She never giggled. But she’d also never driven a man crazy before.

  His fingers curved around her ankle and tightened, sending a shock up her leg. Then he grabbed her other ankle, and the shock went farther than her leg. Her sex seemed to forget that it had been nearly numb with satisfaction just minutes before. It wasn’t numb anymore.

  Quinn tugged her closer, then he rose up on his knees and it was Lori’s turn to forget to breathe.

  Oh, yeah, he was big. Not gargantuan or freakish. Just…“You’re gorgeous,” she whispered.

  He gave a quick shake of his head, eyes roaming over her body.

  “Yes, you are. Perfect.” Lori sat up to trail her hand over him again, just for the joy of seeing her fingers on the dusky flesh of his erection. His cock jerked at her touch.

  He growled her name and leaned in, forcing her to lie back again. When he followed her down, his weight was like the sun against her naked body, hot and soothing and happy.

  Lori wrapped her arms around him, bent her knees so her thighs framed his hips. She kissed him with all the joy and relief that coursed through her blood, and Quinn kissed back with hot desperation. Then his fingers wound into her hair and tugged her head back.

  Wow.

  When his teeth closed on her neck in a less than gentle bite, Lori yelped, but her cry turned to a groan when his fist tightened in her curls.

  Oh, wow. This was almost…rough. Goose bumps pushed against her skin, setting it tingling.

  “I’m going to fuck you now, Lori.”

  “Okay. Yes, absolutely.”

  The head of his cock brushed her wet flesh, and Quinn let it slide against her before grunting, “Shit,” and pulling away.

  “No, no, no,” she muttered, but Quinn was a good guy, and he ignored her. The plastic crinkled again as he ripped open the protection. He was right, of course, but that one touch of his naked flesh made her greedy and unwise. That made her smile, too. She’d never, ever been so horny she’d turned stupid.

  It occurred to her that maybe she should be doing something more than lying there awaiting his services. But she didn’t want to do anything else. Despite that she was on the fast road back to crazed horniness, her limbs were still liquid. So Lori lay there and watched him work, watched him hold his impressive erection in his hand as he rolled the condom on, watched him turn his attention back to her with a predatory glare.

  “Now?” she breathed, trying not to sound too eager even as she begged for it.

  Quinn wasn’t fooled. A smile spread slowly across his face. His eyes glittered. “Now? Hmm, I’m not sure…”

  “Quinn Jennings—” she lifted one leg and pushed her toes none too gently against his stomach “—you get down here right now and do me, damn it.”

  His gaze traveled from her foot to her knee to her thigh, and then to a very specific spot between her legs. “All right,” he said simply. And then he was on top of her, kissing her, sliding one hand between their bodies to be sure she was ready. Completely unnecessary, of course. She was more ready than she’d ever been.

  His kisses got rougher, as rough as his fingers plunging into her, and she arched up to him, trying to hint, trying to urge him on. When his fingers left her, she whimpered in anticipation, nearly frantic by the time he guided his wide, blunt head to her opening.

  Every neuron in her brain focused on that glorious pressure, the stretching of her sex. She couldn’t be distracted with kissing anymore, so she turned her face aside and struggled to breathe as Quinn filled her up.

  And fill her up he did. She thought he must be as deep as he could go when he drew back and thrust even deeper. Lori gasped as his hips pressed snug to hers.

  “Lori,” he whispered. “Fuck.”

  “Oh, God.” Her breathing was too loud and too fast, and she felt so…different. Overwhelmed. Full of Quinn and pleasure. “God, you’re so big,” she gasped. “So big and good.”

  His laugh was more of bark really, crowded with tension. “Men pay women to say things like that.”

  “Hell, I’ll pay you. A lot.” Her voice cracked on the last word, because he was drawing back, pulling out, and when he thrust into her it was just as rough as his fingers had been.

  He’d been right about one thing: this was no gentle sympathy screw. He fucked her hard with long, steady strokes, each one seeming to sink deeper than the last. Lori clutched at his shoulders, pulling him closer, luxuriating in the feel of his muscles rolling beneath her hands.

  Her mouth formed the word Yes, over and over again, a whisper or a shout, she wasn’t sure.

  “God, you’re tight.”

  “Yes,” she answered.

  “Christ.”

  “Yes.”

  Quinn thrust harder. “Is this what you wanted?”

  “Yes!”

  His body shifted up, slipping free of her hands. He reached for one wrist and pressed it to the bed, then the other, and she was trapped against the mattress.

  Jaw trembling with shock, Lori opened her eyes to find Quinn
staring down at her. His hips pumped faster, harder. “This is what you wanted,” he growled, not a question this time.

  And it was what she wanted. Oh, it was. His strong arms held her down while he used her with no love or tenderness, just lust. Lust that made him so rough that his hips slapped against her with every thrust.

  Lori curled her hands to fists and pulled her knees higher. Everything was tightening around her, winding up like a coil. She didn’t want this to end, she wanted to hover here forever.

  Minutes passed, or seconds, or no time at all. Quinn’s hold on her arms grew tighter. A rasp took hold of his breath.

  “Not yet,” Lori muttered. “Not yet. More.”

  “I…”

  “More. Please, just a little more.”

  A drop of sweat rolled down his hairline. “Okay. Yeah. Sure.” He clenched his teeth together. “More. No problem.”

  “Oh, God, thank you.” She pressed her heels to his thighs to pull him tighter.

  He obliged, but his arms began to shake.

  “Yes. Don’t stop. Don’t.”

  “Damn it, Lori, you’re killing me here.”

  Suddenly, it was all too wonderful. Not only was she having the best sex of her life, but she was pushing Quinn to the edge. She began to laugh. Out loud.

  “Wait a minute,” he muttered.

  Lori laughed harder.

  “Wait, are you laughing at me?”

  “I’m sorry!” It wasn’t funny at all, it was just perfect. Delightful. Delicious.

  “Well, this makes it easier for me to hold out, anyway.”

  “I’m sorry!” she cried, laughing so hard now that she couldn’t see him past the tears. When she blinked them away, Quinn’s smile was the first thing she made out. He leaned down to kiss her nose.

  “You really know how to hurt a guy.”

  “You want a little more talk about how big you are, cowboy?”

  He kissed her lips this time. “You’re getting sassy, Ms. Love.”

  When he slipped all the way out of her body, Lori lost most of her sass. “Hey!”

  “On your knees, Lori.”

  “Pardon?”

  He was done messing around, apparently, because he very calmly picked her up and flipped her to her stomach. Before she’d recovered, he shocked her even more. Quinn Jennings slapped her ass hard enough to make it sting.