by Parker, Ali
More than pleasant.
“Yes,” I breathed.
Rhys worked me over until I was a breathless mess upon the bed. I wanted all of him everywhere, and when I begged him to fuck me, he chuckled and told me to wait.
“Waiting is torture,” I moaned.
He rolled me over onto my back and ran his hand down my stomach. He circled my nipples, which grew hard at his touch, and then trailed his fingers down the middle of my stomach, straight to my pussy. “Waiting is half the fun.”
“For you,” I groaned.
“Perhaps.”
He inched his way down until he was between my legs. He pushed them apart so that the outside of my knees rested on the bed. Then he licked me. I flinched as he grazed my clit. I was terribly sensitive.
I rolled my hips against his mouth as he started lapping at my juices. He rolled his tongue over my clit and drank from me as I sank my fingers into his hair.
Then I was moaning with delight as he pressed his finger back into my ass.
“Oh God,” I breathed.
His tongue flicked, and his finger worked. The pressure and the soft caress of his tongue were too much. I came undone. My body bucked beneath him. He kept licking and fucking me through my entire orgasm. My legs shook, and my knees felt like putty.
I stretched my arms over my head and smiled into my forearm when he kissed my hips. He trailed his way up, his lips against my skin softer than velvet. His kisses danced up my throat to my ear, which he pinched between his teeth. “Are you ready, baby?”
“Yes,” I sighed.
“Are you sure?”
I smiled. I’d been ready for a long time. Not just for this moment right now, but for everything we were going to share together. Our lives. Everything. Finally.
“Yes,” I said.
He grabbed a condom from his nightstand and slipped it on.
Then he picked me up and tossed me down on the bed on my back. I laughed as he climbed up behind me, pushed my legs apart, and stood between them.
He dropped his hips to mine. I lifted upward. His meaty tip pressed into me, and I opened up for him. I spread my legs a little farther, and he pressed in a little harder. Then he slid the rest of the way inside me.
I moaned and collapsed down on the bed.
Rhys rocked his hips against me, moving them in a fluid motion like a wave. I reached up and ran my hands over his shoulders. I followed the lines of muscle and traced the pattern of his veins in his arms. I could barely make out his face in the dark, but I knew he was smiling at me. I was smiling at him, too.
Soon, it became impossible to smile. I was reduced to nothing but mush as he drove deep inside me with slow strokes. The way he ground his hips had his cock hitting all the right places. I reached my hands above my head, and he grabbed my wrists and pinned them in place.
I playfully tried to lift them, but he held fast. His grip was tight but delicious. He was so strong, and I loved it. He tortured me with kisses and suckled on my nipples as he fucked me. Soon, I was grinding my hips too, desperate for more as he maintained his slow and practiced rhythm.
He gently pinched my nipple between his teeth, and I gasped.
Then he slid out of me, took me by the hips, and turned me over.
I wiggled my ass in the air, and he grabbed on to me to hold me in place. I hung my head and waited. He cupped my pussy in one hand and dragged his finger through my juices. He swirled it around and then went up to my ass.
I held my breath as he rubbed his cock between my ass cheeks, and I remembered what he’d told me. I had to relax.
I exhaled slowly and closed my eyes as he started to enter me.
“Fuck,” he growled. “You’re tight.”
I whimpered and gritted my teeth.
“You can do it, baby,” he said.
I knew I could. I pushed back, taking more of him inside me. He drew in a short breath of surprise, and I rolled my hips. Then he put his hands on the small of my back and guided me the rest of the way down.
“Oh God,” I groaned.
“You’re all right. You feel so fucking good.”
He slid in and out of me. The first few strokes hurt, but the pain was temporary. I looked over my shoulder at him. “Fuck me harder.”
He obliged. I gripped the sheets and arched my back as he fucked me for all I was worth. Soon, I was unravelling, and I reached between my legs to rub my clit as he fucked me from behind like a madman. His breathing quickened, and he groaned with pleasure behind me. I pressed my face into the sheets and cried out his name as I came, and he blew his load right after me.
His thrusts slowed, and we broke apart. He fell to his side on the bed and wrapped an arm around me to pull me into him. His body was hot. It felt good.
He kissed the side of my neck. “I love you, Quinn.”
“I love you too,” I whispered as my eyes closed of their own volition.
My heart was full. My body was light.
I had never felt so happy, and I owed it all to him.
Chapter 29
Rhys
2 Weeks Later
Liam was up inside the moving truck. He pressed his shoulder to the side of the sofa and then pushed, walking it right to the back of the truck so Aiden and I could grab it. We balanced it, got our grip, and were guided across the strip of grass between the road and the apartment building by Owen. He propped open the lobby door for us and told us to wait for him. Then he hurried in behind us and pushed open the door to the stairwell.
Thank God Quinn and Nancy’s new apartment was on the second floor.
Getting it up the stairwell was a big job, but after some precise maneuvering, we made it to the apartment.
Nancy was waiting at the door for us. She clapped her hands together enthusiastically as we went in and deposited the couch in the living room.
The apartment was big by New York standards. The floors were dark-stained wood, and the whole place was an open concept. When you first walked in, the apartment greeted you with open space as you made your way into the kitchen, which overlooked the living room, a flex room, and a dining area. New light fixtures hung from the ceiling and gave the place a modern feel.
Quinn would be happy here. When she initially decided that she was for sure going to move to New York, we had considered moving in together. It would be so easy for her to just move into my house with me.
But that would be moving pretty quickly. We would have gone from not speaking for eight months to suddenly living together. Things were good with us, but we still had some shit to work through.
Well, I did. I would forever be a work in progress.
Aiden wiped his hands on his jeans. “Is this the last of it?”
Quinn emerged from the bedroom down the hall and smiled at the sofa. “It looks so good in here. I knew it would.”
Nancy walked over to her and hooked her arm around Quinn’s. “I think we’d better order pizza to celebrate. I’ll run out and grab beers.”
“I’ll drive,” Owen offered.
“Perfect,” Nancy said, grinning. “Does anyone else need anything?” We all shook our heads. Pizza and beer would suffice for us. We weren’t hard to please. Nancy grabbed her purse off the kitchen counter, and she and Owen headed out the door. “Call me if you change your minds!”
They closed the door behind them, leaving me, Quinn, Liam, and Aiden standing in the middle of her new living room.
I looked around. “What else can we help with, Quinn?”
She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Um, I think it’s all good. All the heavy lifting is done.”
“Do you want us to try to get the living room arranged how you like it?” I offered. “That way, you and Nancy don’t have to fight over it. I remember how much of a headache it was setting up the last place you two shared together.”
Quinn giggled. “Sure. Now that you mention it, that’s a good idea.”
“And I suppose you know exactly how you want everything?”
/> “I knew how I wanted everything as soon as we saw this place for the first time,” Quinn admitted.
She directed us on where she wanted all the furniture. We followed her orders and moved everything. Then we made some adjustments as she found herself unsatisfied with the vision she had in her head of how the living room should look.
By the time we were done, we’d broken a sweat, but the place looked good.
We had angled the sofa toward the fireplace, where we would be installing their TV on the wall mount above. We arranged the coffee table and the dining room table. We ended up unpacking some of her office supplies and setting them up in the little den area.
By the time Nancy and Owen got back from picking up beer and pizza, the apartment looked much different than when they left.
Nancy was thrilled.
Quinn came over to me as I sat down on the sofa. She sat on my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Thank you for helping. And for suggesting we get the living room set up. That was some quick thinking on your part.”
“I have my moments,” I said.
She grinned. “You sure do.”
She got up and grabbed us each a beer. She came back and went to sit beside me, but I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her back onto my lap. She giggled, and we cracked open our beers and drank greedily.
As we sipped our drinks, the others dug into the pizza. We waited our turn before grabbing a slice each, and all of us sat around the coffee table stuffing our faces. It had been a long day. There was nothing more vigorous or tiring than moving.
But it was worth it. My girl was close to me, just a ten-minute drive away. She and Nancy both had interviews set up at tattoo parlors over the next couple of weeks, and Quinn was excited to get the ball rolling. She was ready for change. So was I.
Quinn leaned back to whisper in my ear. “I can’t stop thinking about later tonight.”
I squeezed her ass. “Don’t tempt me, woman. I’ll carry you down the hall right now.”
She giggled softly and pressed her beer to her lips. Then she kissed my neck and moved up to my mouth.
We both heard Nancy sigh and broke apart. She was sitting on the sofa, watching us with her chin in her hand. “I need to find myself a man,” she muttered.
Everyone chuckled, except for Nancy. She was being serious. She scowled around at all of us and took a massive bite of pizza. A bit of marinara sauce clung to her cheek, and she wiped it away with the back of her hand. “Laugh all you want, you jerks. Just wait. I’ll find my prince charming one of these days.”
“We don’t doubt it, Nancy,” Liam said.
“As soon as I have a new job and I’m settled in here, I’m going to throw myself back into the dating world. And this time, I’ll find someone a bit better for me than the last guy.”
“A bit better?” I asked. “Please aim higher than that. I don’t want to have to break any more noses.”
“Or kneecaps.” Owen winked.
She rolled her eyes at us. “You know what I mean. Maybe I can meet a guy who, you know, isn’t into the sort of things we used to do. Someone straight and narrow. A good guy.”
“You deserve that, Nancy,” Quinn said, smiling. Then she lifted her beer. “To Nancy.”
“To Nancy,” we all said and sipped our beers.
Nancy shook her head at all of us. “To a fresh start, more like,” she said.
So we toasted to that too.
We all spent the next hour goofing around. Quinn was on our asses to keep the noise down. She didn’t want her neighbors to hate her on the first night that she moved in. We did our best to keep our voices down, but every now and then, we’d get excited about something, and we’d make a bunch of noise. Then Quinn would be furiously shushing us all over again. It almost became entertaining.
Soon, the beers were all gone, and the pizza boxes were empty. I was sitting on the floor, leaning against the sofa and between Quinn’s legs as she ran her fingers through my hair. Liam had passed out on the other sofa and was sleeping at a crooked, haphazard angle with his neck bent over the back of the sofa. The kid could sleep almost anywhere. It was a talent. Owen was sitting on the floor in front of the sofa Liam was sleeping on. His long legs were stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles. He too was sleeping soundly.
Aiden yawned and stretched, and his movement prompted Nancy to do the same. Her eyes were heavy with fatigue, and she blinked around at the rest of us. “I think I’m going to call it a night, guys. Aiden, you can crash on the other sofa once Rhys and Quinn move. Do you need a pillow or blanket or anything?”
“Nah, I’m good. Thanks, though.”
She nodded and got to her feet. “I’ll see you guys in the morning?”
“Yep,” Quinn said behind me. “Good night, Nancy.” Nancy headed down the hall and disappeared into her bedroom. I craned my neck to look back at Quinn. She smiled down at me. “Yes?”
“What do you think? Is it time to call it a night?”
She gave me a sleepy little smile. Damn, she was cute. “Yeah, I could sleep.”
“Who said anything about sleeping?” I asked.
Aiden groaned. “All right, you two. Get the hell out of here. You’re on my bed. And the last thing I want to do is listen to the two of you fawning over each other. Beat it.” He shooed us away with one hand.
I stood up and offered Quinn my hand. She giggled as Aiden slid across the sofa to take up the space she had just been occupying. He let out a contented sigh and closed his eyes. “That’s better. Now scram, love birds.”
We scrammed. We scrammed all the way down the hall to the master bedroom, which Nancy had insisted Quinn take. It was her way of making amends for the whole Kyle disaster.
The bedroom was beautiful, with gray walls, dark wood floors, and a chandelier that hung above Quinn’s bed. All of her stuff was still in boxes, but I knew she’d have the place looking like something out of an interior design magazine in a matter of weeks. She was good at making a house a home.
I flashed her a smile when she turned to face me. “What do you say we break this new room in?” I asked as I followed her around the bed.
She giggled. “I like the sound of that plan.”
“Get your ass over here then.”
She let out a delighted shriek as I took a swipe at her. She hopped up on the bed and scurried across it. I followed and bounded over it. I caught her around the waist, and she bubbled over with laughter. I kissed the side of her neck and nuzzled her hair out of my way. I breathed in the smell of her, and we both fell still as I kept my arms wrapped around her.
“I’m glad you’re here,” I said.
“Me too,” she whispered, pressing her cheek to mine. “It feels really good. It feels right.”
“Yeah. Definitely. And maybe when Nancy gets this man of hers she keeps talking about, you and I will take the next step and move in together.”
“I’d like that,” she said.
“You don’t think it’s moving too fast?”
She leaned away from me. “Not at all. Do you?”
I shook my head. “Hell no, baby. Hell no.”
Epilogue
Quinn
2 Months Later
“I’m nervous,” I muttered.
Dani, Ryder’s girl, was sitting beside me in her bedroom. I had just finished applying my red lipstick, and she had just finished changing her baby’s diaper. He was a beautiful baby boy named Jason. He had shockingly thick black hair for a six-week-old baby, and his eyes were almost as dark. He was currently being swaddled in a dark blue blanket. Once he was wrapped up like a burrito, Dani scooped him up in her arms and rocked him.
“Trust me, Quinn. You’ve got this. It’s not a big deal at all. It’s just a ritual of sorts.”
“A ritual?” I asked. A big ugly knot formed in my gut.
She nodded and laughed at my pale expression. “Yes. Don’t worry. You don’t have to drink blood from a chalice or anything.”
<
br /> “Why doesn’t that make me feel better?”
Dani stared down at the now sleeping baby. His little breaths were the softest coos in my ears. “It’s all right, Quinn. Ryder isn’t as scary as he seems. He’s a big softie on the inside.”
“But this is different. I’m different.”
“Yes, you are. And that’s what makes this so exciting. You’re making history tonight.”
I swallowed. “Okay. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
There was a knock on the bedroom door. Dani called for them to come in.
The door opened a crack, and Rhys flashed me a wide smile. “You ready, Quinn?”
I stood up. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
Dani grabbed my hand. “You’ll do great. Trust me. Just keep your chin up, and walk straight through, and it will be over before you know it. We’ll catch up after, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks, Dani.”
Rhys held out his hand to me, and I took it. Our walk through the Moretti house couldn’t have taken longer than twenty seconds, but it felt like it lasted an eternity. We stopped at the sliding glass doors to the backyard.
Rhys squeezed my hand. “I have to go first, and I’ll meet you at the front. Wait about fifteen seconds, and then you come out, okay?”
I licked my lips and nodded.
He turned me to face him and held my face in his hands. “Quinn, you can handle this in your sleep. I promise you. You locked yourself in a safe, even though tight spaces are your biggest fear. You can walk through a bunch of dudes to get a new jacket.”
“It sounds a lot less frightening when you put it like that,” I said. My voice was thin with anxiety.
He kissed me. “Because it shouldn’t be scary. This is a big deal. But not scary.”
I wrapped my arms around him and hung on tight for a couple of seconds. Then I let him go. My arms fell to my sides, and he put his finger under my chin. “Chin up. It’ll be over before you know it.”
“Okay,” I breathed.
