Was that breaking the rules? Could I kiss her when we weren’t fucking?
Would I be able to stop myself?
My swallow was audible. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she whispered and pressed closer. “Did you…did you enjoy it?”
I froze at her tentative question. How could she not know? “Did I enjoy it?” I asked in disbelief.
She somehow missed the stunned note to my voice and went on, voice soft, unsure. “Bevan didn’t think…well, it was obvious what he thought about our sex life—he went and found someone else. I just, I want to make sure you’re getting what you need as well, that it was good for you, too.”
Laying that motherfucker out wasn’t near enough payback for the damage he’d caused. I wanted to tear his balls off and feed them to him.
I tipped her head back gently and looked into her beautiful but unsure eyes. “Your ex was a piece of shit. He never deserved you. Not one damn moment of your time. But, baby, what we did just now…fuck, Quinn, I’ve never experienced anything like that, as good as that. You rocked my fucking world, baby.”
She flushed.
“What he did, the shit he said, was about him, not you. Never you.”
She ducked her head again and pressed back in tight.
Quinn could be soft and quiet. She could also throw attitude, loved to tease me, and had a wicked sense of humor. I liked it all. Everything. But there was a reason I called her sweets. Not everyone saw that side of her, but I had the first time I’d met her. A little girl lost, vulnerable, trying so hard to take care of her father and brother. I’d wanted to protect her even then.
There was nothing but sweet coming from her at that moment, and it was…doing things to me. Things I didn’t know how to deal with.
“What are you thinking?” she said when she looked up at me again before pressing her thumb just above my nose between my brows. “You have this frown going on, your thinking frown.”
“My thinking frown?”
“Oh yes, you also have a pissed-off frown, a concerned frown, and my fave—a have-you-lost-your-damn-mind frown. Dane and I get that last one a lot.” She grinned. “The one you’re giving me now, it’s new. So what’s this one?”
I toyed with the ends of her dark hair. “It’s my I-really-want-to-fucking-kiss-you-again frown.”
Her lips parted, a little “oh” escaping. She shook her head. “Why would that make you frown?”
“You like to be touched, and I sure as fuck like touching you. Not sure after tonight I can restrict my touching and kissing…shit, getting you under me, to your bedroom.”
“No?”
“I need the rules again, sweets.”
“You think you’ll want to touch me and kiss me when we’re other places?”
No point in playing games, that’s not what we were doing here. “I know I will.”
She ran her hand down my chest and over my stomach, and my cock started getting hard again.
“Okay, well, I think if we’re alone and you’re feeling it, you should go with it.”
In other words, make sure to keep what we’re doing under wraps first. I already knew that, of course. I’d agreed to it, this wasn’t a real relationship, I didn’t get to claim her in public. And I was fine with that, I was. That wasn’t what this was about, but the caveman in me was struggling with the concept. Not letting every guy know she was off-limits.
I couldn’t tell her that, though, because I didn’t have a right to. So instead I went with it. I cupped the side of her face, leaned in, took her mouth, and kissed her for a long fucking time.
* * *
I woke to the sound of Quinn’s phone ringing—and her hands on my chest, struggling to get out from under me to answer it.
Shit.
Grunting, I rolled to the side and watched as she scrambled naked to the other side of the bed, all but diving on the thing. Her bare ass was all I could see of her. My brain was still half asleep, but my dick woke right the fuck up.
I listened to Quinn with half an ear. Lots of uh-huhs and mm-hmms.
Finally, she put down her phone and turned to me. “That was Mason—”
I bolt upright. How the hell could I forget about my best friend and the fact that he was in town—and I was in his sister’s bed after fucking her all night.
“Don’t panic,” she said.
I flopped back.
“He will be here in about five minutes, though.”
“Shit.” I sprang out of bed and started dressing. Quinn did the same beside me.
“Dane’s bringing him home.”
I shoved my fingers through my hair. “How am I going to explain being here?”
She turned to me, eyes a little wild. “You go downstairs and put on coffee. I’ll make myself look less…” She glanced down at herself.
Like she’d spent all night being fucked by a horny giant?
Her eyes met mine and her cheeks turned pink. “When they get here, we’ll just say I called for a lift, that my car broke down, and since I didn’t know when Mase would be home, I asked you.”
I dipped my chin. Seemed reasonable. Still, I wasn’t sure how I was going to look Mase in the eyes and not feel like a big piece of traitorous shit.
She gave me a little shove. “Go make the coffee. I’ll be down in a minute.”
I pounded down the stairs and had just started the coffee machine when the front door opened, followed by the sound of boots in the hall.
Act normal. “Down here,” I called.
Mason, looking like he’d been driven over by a snowplow, walked in and slumped in one of the kitchen chairs, with Dane behind him looking…shit, smug.
His gaze slid to me. “You’re here early,” he said, a glint in his eyes that said he knew exactly when I got here and what I’d been doing all night.
“I asked him to give me a ride,” Quinn said, walking into the kitchen. “My car broke down last night. Bull’s going to take me to pick it up.” She gave her brother a playful shove and he groaned. “Since I didn’t know when you’d be home.”
Mason had his head in his hands, not really paying us any attention. Good thing, too, because Quinn looked…yeah, shit, she looked beautiful. Lips full and puffy from my kissing her nonstop, cheeks rosy, eyes bright. She looked like a woman who’d been fucked repeatedly and well.
It was a struggle not to puff out my damned chest, and if it wasn’t for Dane’s smirk turning into a full-blown grin when his gaze slid to her then back to me, I would have.
The coffee finished brewing and I filled a mug and slid it over to Mason.
He looked up at me, squinting. “Cheers.” He stumbled to his feet, still half drunk, and took the mug with him. “I’m heading up to bed.” He saluted us with his drink and headed down the hall. There was a bump and a curse a moment later.
“I’ll help him up,” Dane said and strode out of the kitchen.
Quinn slumped against the counter. “Do you think Mason suspected anything?”
“I don’t think Mason knows what day of the week it is.” I poured her a drink and handed it over. “Christ, you look beautiful,” I said, unable to stop myself.
Her face colored, and if it hadn’t been for the sound of Dane heading back down I would have kissed her again.
My younger cousin walked in, threw his arm around Quinn’s shoulders, took her coffee from her, downed a big gulp, and handed it back. He winked at me and pointed to the ceiling, to the guest room above. “He’ll be out all day. We had a bit of a party at my place last night.”
Quinn paled. “Did he mention Janie to you?”
“He mentioned Janie to everyone. Talking about your ex to every woman in hearing distance is a surefire way not to get laid.”
“Getting laid is the last thing he needs right now,” Quinn said.
Dane took another drink of her coffee and released her. “I don’t know, looks like it’s done wonders for the pair of you.”
“Dane,” I growled.
/> He lifted his hands. “No one’s going to hear it from me.”
I shoved my fingers through my hair. “There’s nothing to hear,” I lied. “And if you tell anyone otherwise—”
Dane laughed humorlessly. “You honestly think I’d say shit about you…about Quinn?” Something passed through Dane’s eyes, the glint vanishing completely. He almost looked hurt.
Fuck. “No, of course not.”
But honestly, sometimes I didn’t know what he’d do. Dane had been getting into trouble a lot more lately. Picking fights and getting drunk wasn’t new, but it was happening more often.
“It’s cool. We all know I can’t be trusted.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and the smile he gave me was grim as hell. He winked again and headed for the door. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”
I called after him, but the front door clicked shut a moment later.
“Fuck.”
Quinn moved up beside me, her small warm hand resting on my bicep. “Do you want to go after him?”
“Better to leave him until he cools off.” Though my gut told me he wasn’t pissed off; he was hurt at my lack of trust in him. But this wasn’t just my secret to tell, and the fewer people who knew the better.
I poured my own drink and crossing my arms, watched while Quinn moved around the kitchen.
She was wearing jeans that hugged her ass to perfection—they looked new and were distracting as hell—along with one of her new shirts, fitting and casual but also sexy as fuck. “What’s with all the new threads?” I asked, because, yeah, I wanted to know everything that went on in Quinn’s head. And I’d known her a long time. She’d never been into all that stuff, clothes and shit, before.
She glanced at me over her shoulder, lips curved up. “You noticed. You don’t like them?”
“You know I do,” I growled out, not on purpose, but there was no hiding how much I wanted her or how sexy I thought she looked. “Liked what you wore before, too.” I grinned. “But nothing at all works for me as well.”
Quinn laughed, eyes dancing, then she shrugged. “I don’t know, I was just sick of the old me. Bevan wasn’t only a cheating prick, he liberally dished out insults, letting me know when I didn’t look the way he wanted, when I made him unhappy. I lost myself when I was with him. I guess I’m trying to work out who I am now, on my own. I started with clothes. I wanted to try something new but didn’t know where to start. Cassy helped me.”
She smiled and opened the fridge, and I did everything in my power not to bellow my rage like a wild animal then hunt Bevan down and fuck the motherfucker up so bad he’d have trouble throwing insults at anyone ever again.
“You want something to eat?” she asked.
I shook my head, still trying to get my shit together. What I wanted was to take Quinn back upstairs and spend the day in her bed, inside her, showing her exactly how perfect and amazing she was.
The thought of going home, of being there alone—of not seeing Quinn until later, maybe not for another few days with Mason here—twisted something in my gut. I didn’t like it. Not one bit. “You want to go fishing?” I blurted, surprising my damn self when the words burst out of my mouth.
She turned to me, a sweet little frown on her face.
I felt mine heat. Fishing? What the fuck, Bull?
Christ, I was clueless when it came to women and dating.
You’re not dating, you’re fucking.
“Forget I said that. Stupid idea…”
“No…I mean, I like fishing. I haven’t been in a really long time. I’m kinda crap at it, if you want the truth. Mason and Dad used to go all the time but never really took me with them.”
I’d gone with them as well fairly often, and I could remember more than once seeing Quinn’s face pressed against the window as we drove away. “You want me to teach you?”
Why did my voice sound like that, all raw and deep? And why the fuck was my heart beating so hard? This was just Quinn.
But when I looked into her eyes across the kitchen, I didn’t just see Quinn, not anymore. No, staring back at me was the woman I’d spent the night with, the sexy-as-fuck woman who made me feel drunk simply from kissing her.
“I’d really like that,” she said, her gorgeous lips pulling up in the corners in a wide smile.
I cleared my throat. “Ah, good. You’ll need to dress warm. It’ll be cold on the lake.”
This was probably a terrible idea. It had to be against the rules somehow.
She’s still your friend. This is the friends part of the whole friends-with-benefits deal.
Nothing to freak out about.
And I kept telling myself that when we left her place a little while later.
After I stopped myself from kissing her at least ten times.
Chapter Fourteen
Quinn
It was cold, like really cold. My nose was red for sure. But I didn’t care. It was stunning out here on the lake, the sun shining, the sound of water lapping softly against the side of Bull’s boat. From out here, Rocktown and the complete opposite side, Springhaven, looked so small, insignificant. Smoke puffing up from chimneys was the only sign of life.
Snow-covered mountains and white-topped misty pines surrounded us, and the air was fresh and crisp and clean. Unlike the city. God, I was glad to be home.
It’s only temporary. You can’t hide from your life forever.
The thought of going back suddenly made me kind of nauseous, so I shoved those thoughts right out of my head.
Today was a good day, a really good day, and that’s what I was going to focus on. Not that picture of Bevan and Tonya, and not the way I’d freaked out on Bull last night. Instead, I was going to think about the way my body ached in a delicious way, reminding me of what Bull and I did last night. And how I felt more rested than I had in so long. When Bull was with me in my bed, or on my couch, or on the phone all night keeping me company, I slept like a log.
I glanced over at him. He was baiting his hook, frowning as he did it. I grinned. “Another new one,” I said.
He glanced up. “What’s that?”
“I’ve now witnessed the baiting-hook frown.”
He grinned, all white teeth and sparkling brown eyes, and my heart started banging around in my chest. He had the best smile. When Bull smiled, he did so with his whole face, including those gorgeous eyes.
“How’s it different from the others?” he asked.
“Well, the baiting-hook frown comes with a tongue poking out the side of your mouth.”
He snorted. “You make me sound like a Saint Bernard.”
I shook my head. “It’s cute.”
“Cute?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Fuck, Quinn, I have a rep to maintain. I’m the badass ex-con in this town. Don’t go spreading that shit around, yeah?”
Now it was my turn to grin. “They don’t know you like I do.” My face heated a little when I realized how that sounded. “I mean, I’ve known you a long time…” I glanced up and bit my lip at the way he was looking at me. “You’re frowning again.”
“Yeah? Which one?”
“The I-want-to-kiss-you frown,” I said.
He smirked and held out my rod. I stood and reached for it, and when I did, Bull fisted the front of my jacket and tugged me up against him. He looked down at me. “You said if we were alone and I was feeling it…”
I nodded, because that was all I could manage right then. He wasn’t the only one feeling it.
Our cool lips came together, and he kissed me until they warmed up, until my mouth tingled. Then he set me back and proceeded to give me a refresher course while I struggled to concentrate.
Thirty minutes later, I was getting the hang of things. No, I hadn’t caught a fish yet, but I’d had several nibbles.
Bull, on the other hand, had caught two rainbow trout, and I got the feeling he wasn’t trying that hard, more than likely to save my feelings. I was pretty sure he hadn’t even baited his hook the
last time. Of course, that was just another way Bull was trying to protect me. Like he thought my feelings would be irreparably damaged if I didn’t catch a fish.
God, the man was sweet—and sexy. So freaking sexy.
I felt a tug on my line, then another. “Oh! I think I’ve got one.”
Bull put his rod down and came over to me, glancing over the side of the boat. “Looks like another rainbow. Reel him in, sweets.”
Good God, I loved it when he called me that. I started to reel my fish in. “I can’t believe I’ve got one. It’s a big one, I’m sure of it.” I kept reeling and Bull grabbed the net. “This guy is heavy. It’s gonna be a monster.”
Bull leaned over the side, scooped my fish out of the water when it got close to the surface, and lifted it over the side of the boat.
“He’s a monster all right,” Bull said, holding up the net.
My fish was tiny. “What the hell? It’s a freaking baby.”
Bull pulled it from the net and carefully removed the hook. Even with his head dipped I could see he was grinning huge.
“I think we’ll throw this baby back,” he said, laughter in his voice. “He’d barely feed a cat.”
“Are you laughing at me, Logan Calero?”
He shook his head even as he started chuckling and tossed my fish back in the lake.
I planted my hands on my hips. “I was so sure it was big.”
Bull’s chuckles turned into a deep rumbling laugh that sent pleasurable tingles dancing across my skin.
I slapped his arm, laughing as well. “Hey, I was looking forward to trout for dinner. Grilled cheese isn’t nearly as tasty.”
Still chuckling, he looked down at me. “I’ve got two. After we pick up your car, you could follow me out to my place, I’ll cook you dinner.”
Oh man, I wanted that. I wanted to go home with Bull, eat the food he cooked for me then climb into his bed with him and repeat what we did last night all over again. But I couldn’t. Plus, that was a hell of a lot more than just sex. This was more than just sex. “I probably shouldn’t.” I tucked my hair behind my ear. “I mean, Mason might wonder where I am. He might…come looking for me,” I said, regret clear in my voice even though I knew it was the right thing to do.
SIN FOR YOU: ROCKTOWN INK, BOOK TWO Page 12
