He nodded. “Yep. I came back and you were out.”
“Did you sleep at all?”
“After a while. I came out here to lie down. I didn’t want to disturb you getting into bed.”
“Don’t lie, Blade.”
He glanced at her. Then he nodded. “All right. I didn’t want to get into bed with you because it was going to be sheer fucking torture.”
Heat blossomed beneath her skin. “I’m not sure how to take that.”
“Take it like I’m a man who’s attracted to you, Quinn. That’s definitely how it’s meant.”
She took another drink. Her heart was racing like she was that desperate high school girl again. And yet she wasn’t. She’d done so much to improve herself. She was pretty now and she knew it.
“This is awkward, isn’t it?” she asked.
He laughed. “Uh, yeah. Definitely.”
She toyed with the bottle. “For a lot of reasons. I had a crush on you, but you thought of me as a little sister or something. Then we lost touch. And now my husband just died and I’m sitting here thinking about how you look without your shirt on.”
“Yeah. You feeling okay about that, by the way? I don’t mean about the way he died. Just that he’s gone now.”
“You think I should feel sorry he’s gone?”
“I didn’t say that. It’s been a few hours and your thoughts could have changed. That’s all.”
She shook her head. “Nope. I would have preferred a divorce and never to see him again, but I’m not going to miss him however he left. I’m sorry for Darrin. I don’t think they had the best relationship, but I think maybe it’ll be a blow since his mom is gone too.”
“She died skiing in France.”
Quinn shouldn’t be surprised he knew that, and yet she kinda was. “Yes. Hunter used that to elicit sympathy from me when we were dating. When we married, I found out how he really felt. He said she was a gold-digging cunt.” She laughed bitterly. “It took him a few months to say those things about me, but he did sometimes.”
“You make me wish I’d kicked his ass.”
“Okay, well, enough about me,” she said brightly, because this was starting to get to her. “Maybe we should talk about you for a change.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Why aren’t you married?”
He practically choked on the swallow of beer he’d just taken. “I haven’t met anyone willing to put up with me and the life I lead.”
“You wouldn’t give up being a bodyguard?”
He pressed his lips together in a flat line. “I’m not a bodyguard, Quinn. I’m a private contractor who gets things done. The assignment varies.”
“Okay. And that means you can’t get married?”
“No, it doesn’t. I have teammates—er, friends, who are married or getting married. It’s a hard life though. Takes a special relationship to weather it.”
“So there’s hope for you.”
“Yeah, there’s hope.”
“That’s good.” She sighed. “I can’t imagine I’ll ever get married again. Though I suppose it’s possible. With the right person. And believe me, I’ll make damned sure it is the right person if I ever say yes again.”
The cat sauntered over and let out a big meow. Quinn jumped.
Blade laughed. “He wants out.” He picked up his phone, tapped a few buttons, and then got up to open the door. The cat darted out. “User!” Blade called after him.
He thumbed the screen of his phone and then set it down. “Alarm system,” he said at her look.
“Oh.”
“Don’t open any outside doors if you wake up before I do.”
“I won’t.”
“My cameras are on the exterior. I’m not spying on anything you do in the house.”
“I didn’t think you were.”
“It crossed your mind for a second.”
“Okay, yes, it did.”
“Did you know much about Hunter’s business before you married him?”
“I read up on him after we met, so yes, I knew. I thought he was brilliant. But later I came to realize he really wasn’t as smart as he wanted everyone to think. He had a business partner early on. Jasper Door. He was the one who designed the machines they used to build their business. Hunter pushed him out years ago. If not for Door, I don’t think Hunter would have been as successful as he was. He had the connections, but Door had the technical skills.”
“Door had a massive heart attack about ten years ago.”
“Yes. And Hunter started taking credit for much of Door’s work after his death. Even some of the articles I read said Hunter had been the visionary. But he wasn’t. I learned that through simple observation.” She set the beer bottle down, though she’d only finished half. “It’s going to be a huge mess when everyone finds out he’s dead. A lot of people didn’t like him. And a lot thought the sun rose and set around him. He was very polarizing.” She clasped her hands in her lap as she thought about everything that was still to come. “I’ll have to go to his funeral and pretend to be the grieving widow. I’ll have to listen to those people offer sympathy and wax on and on about him being a great man while I just want to scream inside.”
“You won’t be going to his funeral. It’s too public. We can’t take that risk, Quinn.”
“You really think someone is going to want to kill me too?”
“I think it’s possible. You have access to his money, at least for now. And there are a lot of people who’d like to get their hands on some of it. If he didn’t pay his debt to the triad, they’ll be first on the list of people looking for you. And we don’t know who else he might have owed money to.”
“People die owing money. It’s not a crime.” But she knew it was more than that. So much more.
And so did Blade. “Depends on who you owe the money to, doesn’t it?”
Quinn wished she could hibernate through all this and then wake up and her life would be normal again. Just her and Blade and nothing else to get in the way. No danger, no propriety, nothing.
“So how long do you think I’ll be in hiding?”
Blade frowned. Then he shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Don’t leave me. Please. You’re the only one I trust.”
He reached over and took her hand. Warmth flooded her. “I’m not leaving you, Quinn. I’m in this until the end.”
Blade wanted nothing more than to protect her. To make Quinn’s world safe again. But there were so many variables, so many possibilities, and the reality was they didn’t know who’d killed Hunter Halliday or what they might do next. Maybe they wouldn’t give a shit about Quinn. Maybe the triad had gotten their money and they were done. Or maybe the estate would be resolved immediately and Darrin Halliday would inherit, which meant the triad would go after him.
Or, if it had been Chinese intelligence agents who’d killed Hunter, they might not care what happened next at all.
Yeah, too many fucking variables to see a clear path. Which meant Quinn was safest when she stayed hidden.
Her gaze dropped to their hands. His did too. He didn’t know why he’d reached out, but now that he had, he was having to deal with the electricity sizzling through him. The hot need pounding into his veins. It was crazy that he could be so affected by this woman. His brain told him that he knew her, that there’d never been a spark between them in high school, but his heart and his cock told a different story.
There was definitely a spark now. A glowing coal deep down inside that threatened to catch fire and burn all his inhibitions about her to the ground. He was on the verge of withdrawing his hand when she put her other hand over the top of his, encasing his fingers between her palms. Her touch was warm.
“Do you feel that?” she asked softly.
He was in the process of dragging his eyes from their hands to her face when he got stuck on her nipples. Nipples that made little points in the T-shirt he’d loaned her. Her breasts weren’t small, but they
were firm and round and her nipples were like the cherry on top of the sundae. He wanted to see them more than he wanted to draw his next breath.
“Blade?”
He jerked, forced his eyes to hers. “Uh, yeah.”
“I lusted after you in high school, but it never felt like this. This is… intense.”
“Yeah, it is.” His cock was already swelling. Aching.
“You know what I think?”
She could think? Hell, he couldn’t string two thoughts together at the moment. “What?”
“I think, maybe, we should give in to it. Just this once. Get it out of the way. Maybe it’s nothing and we’ll feel normal once we release this pressure.”
“And if it ruins our friendship?”
She laughed softly. “Oh, Blade. Do we really even have that anymore? I mean, I care about you a lot, and I don’t want to lose you again, but we’re relying on an old relationship to call ourselves friends. I hope we will be real friends again. I sincerely do. But right now I can’t think of anything but what it would feel like to have you inside me.” Her gaze dropped. “God, I can’t believe I just said that. I’m scared to death right this moment, but I also feel like I’ve been caged for far too long and now I’m free. I want to do what feels good and to hell with the consequences.”
He was a little in shock at that speech. And a whole lot turned on. “I care about you too,” he said. “It’s important to me that I treat you right this time, Quinn.”
His feelings were such a tangled jumble right now. He cared about her and he wanted to wrap her around his cock and drive her crazy too. He wanted to erase her bad experiences with Hunter Halliday, not that it was possible, but he wanted to. He wanted Quinn to be happy.
“Then kiss me and let’s see what happens. Maybe nothing will. Maybe we’ll both be like, eww, this is my bestie, I can’t do this. Or maybe we’ll be like holy hell, where have you been all my life. Besides, friends can have sex. It happens all the time.”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. First of all, there was no eww about this. Not from him. He’d tried to conjure up those little-sister feelings he’d once had, but they were forever changed. Quinn was not his sister and never had been. His cock knew it even if his head kept trying to throw ice water on the flame.
And second… “Wait a minute—are you suggesting we can be friends with benefits?”
“I’m saying it happens. People get lonely and needy and they may not have a romantic attachment, but they can have sex to relieve the loneliness and make themselves feel good. Having sex isn’t a commitment.”
He snorted a laugh. “Okay, who’s the guy here? Because you sound a lot like you’re trying to talk me into it. And, Jesus, I sound like the reluctant girl who thinks you won’t respect me in the morning.”
Her eyes sparked at that, but she didn’t let go of his hand. She scooted closer to him, but not so close she was touching him anywhere but their hands. Shit, she was only wearing a T-shirt. He could have it up and over her head in a split second. And then he could be sucking those tits and filling his hands with them.
“You won’t regret it, baby,” she said, making her voice deeper before it cracked with a laugh.
“You’re crazy, Quinn. But I fucking adore that about you. Always did. Seems I missed the shit out of you and I didn’t even know it. So, yeah, I’m cautious because of that—and because you’ve been through a lot. I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
“Take advantage of me. I want you to.”
His dick wanted him to as well. Badly. “When was the last time…?”
“The last time Hunter and I had sex? About six months ago. He preferred professionals.”
Blade frowned. He couldn’t imagine. The man had Quinn—classy, sweet, funny, beautiful Quinn—and he’d preferred to fuck whores? It didn’t make a damned bit of sense.
“But the other night when he…”
Shit, why bring that up right now? Dumbass.
“When he said my lipstick wouldn’t show up on his dick?”
“Yeah.”
“That was the first bit of interest he’d shown in months. And it terrified me, I admit it. I was glad when the Chens arrived instead.”
“So was I.” Because if Hunter had dragged her away, he wouldn’t have been able to let it happen. Something inside him clicked as he stared at her, like a key fitting to a lock and turning the tumblers. His feelings dropped into place, and he knew what he was going to do. What he had to do. Consequences be damned. Because Quinn deserved to be worshipped, not terrorized.
He tugged on her hands, pulling her toward him. “Come and sit on my lap, Quinn. I’m about to rock your world.”
Chapter Sixteen
A shudder rolled over Quinn. Oh dear heaven. She’d unleashed the beast and now butterflies swirled in her stomach at the look on his face. He looked intense. Hot. Focused.
But she wanted this. Wanted it more than her next breath.
Quinn straddled his lap, her legs shaking. She curled her fingers into his shoulders. His hands settled on her waist, holding her lightly but firmly. She sank a little deeper onto him, until her silk-clad crotch met the hard ridge of his erection.
She might have whimpered. He reached up and pushed her hair back over her shoulders. His broad hand curled around her neck, his eyes blazing hot as he looked up at her.
“You still sure about this?” he asked, his voice husky. “Last chance to stop.”
She bit her lip as she nodded. “I’m sure.”
He tugged her down to his mouth. Her eyes dropped closed. But he didn’t kiss her. She could feel him a whisper away, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes questioningly.
“For the record,” he whispered, “that was a lie. Anytime you want to say no, you can. I’ll respect it, even if I’m balls deep inside you. This only works when we both want it. Understand?”
A shudder ran down her spine—whether at their proximity, his words, or the specific picture of what balls deep inside her meant, she didn’t know. “Yes.”
“Good.”
He kissed her, a full frontal assault of her mouth that had her moaning softly as her body incinerated in the flames. She’d had sex with a couple of men besides Hunter, but she didn’t ever recall this deep ache, this hard, hot need that raked its claws through her over and over.
She hurt, but in a good way. She had never known it was possible to feel like this. Sex had always been a need, a pleasurable release, but it had also been disappointing in its own way. Maybe she’d read too many romance novels, but she’d always expected something more.
Right now she felt like she was getting it. And it was amazing.
Blade had one hand curled around her neck and the other on her hip. His tongue sucked hers. Every sweet tug set up an answering throb in her sex. Her panties grew damp as her body sent all its resources to prepare for an invasion she desperately wanted.
Quinn speared her fingers into his hair, curled them against his scalp, kissed him with all the fire and passion she’d been holding in for so long. His hand moved from her hip to her thigh, slipping beneath the material of the shirt she wore. She shuddered with anticipation as she thought he intended to touch her where she craved him the most.
But he kept going, his fingers sliding up her torso, beneath her breast, around the curve of it, his thumb raking across her nipple. She stiffened and moaned into his mouth. He kissed her harder, deeper, demanding everything she had to give. And then he slipped both hands to the hem of her shirt and started to tug it upward.
He broke the kiss long enough to rip the shirt over her head, spreading his hands over her back and turning her, dropping her onto the couch, coming down on top of her, his legs between hers, spreading her wide enough to accommodate his hips. And all while continuing to kiss the daylights out of her.
“Jesus, Quinn,” he said as he broke the kiss, pressing his hips into hers, his cock riding against the thin silk of her panties. “You’re driving me c
razy.”
She lifted her arms, threaded them around his back, ran her palms down to his ass and then pressed herself up, grinding against all that hardness.
“Same here,” she said. Or maybe she panted it.
He dropped his mouth to hers all too briefly before sinking down to suck a nipple. There was no preamble, no warm-up. He just went for it—and Quinn thought she might come apart any second. Her back arched as she thrust her nipple into his mouth. He cupped both breasts in his hands—big, rough hands—and then sucked each one, flicking the sensitive tips until she thought she might go mad.
“Blade… please,” she moaned as he drove her higher. She wasn’t sure what she was asking for, but when he dropped lower, dragging his tongue along her torso before hooking his fingers into her panties, her breath choked into nothingness.
His gaze met hers over the scrap of fabric separating her sex from his view. “I want to lick you, Quinn. Do you want that?”
“God, yes.”
He grinned. “Glad to hear it.” And then he tugged her panties over her hips and down her legs, stripping them and dropping them onto the floor before using his shoulders to bump her legs open.
She was torn between embarrassment and anticipation. This was Blade—Adam—her teenage crush, lying beneath her legs and looking at her like he could eat her alive. It was her every naughty fantasy come true. She might not have had the knowledge when she was a teen, but she’d figured it out since—and he’d figured into her fantasies quite a lot in the early days.
“How do you want it? Lots of teasing before sneaking up on the main course or diving right in?”
“If you don’t touch me immediately, I will expire,” she declared.
He laughed. “That’s my girl.”
And then he touched his tongue to her clit, and stars began to coalesce behind her eyes. “Blade,” she gasped. “Oh, wow, that’s so good.”
“That’s right, baby,” he answered. “I’ll take care of you.”
He spread her wide and licked her hard and fast, driving her body higher and tighter until everything exploded in a bright, hot shower of sparks that stole her breath and her voice for long moments.
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