by Force, Marie
“So this is something you’ve done a lot of?”
Smiling down at her, he shook his head. “Never on this boat.”
“I hate to miss out on things.”
Using his arms, he pushed himself up and off of her and then extended a hand to help her up. She took note of the huge bulge in the front of his pants and licked her lips in anticipation of what might happen next.
Mallory followed him into the cabin, giving him an extra minute on the stairs. He seemed to have the most difficulty navigating stairs and big steps, such as the one from the dinghy to the boat or the dock to the dinghy. Otherwise, except for the slight limp, you’d never know he’d lost part of his leg. He’d adapted amazingly well, and his upper-body strength was obvious when he used his arms to propel himself onto the V-shaped berth that was his bed.
When he extended his hands to her, Mallory stepped forward, took hold of his hands and moved into the space between his legs.
“Hi there,” he said.
“Hi.”
“Welcome to my bedroom.”
“It’s nice.” With navy accents and shiny wood on the walls, the small room had a cozy, nautical vibe that Mallory found charming.
“You should’ve seen it when I first bought it. I had to refinish all the woodwork and re-cover all the cushions. It was a mess.”
“You did a great job.”
“It was a fun project. My brother and Lizzie thought I was nuts for taking this on at the same time I was overseeing the renovations at the facility, but this helped to keep me busy in my free time.”
“You like to be busy?”
He nodded. “Keeps me from thinking too much.”
Mallory thought about that for a second. Was that why she’d always kept herself so frantically busy when she was working? So she wouldn’t have too much time to think about the things that hurt too much? Was that why her emotions, past hurts and new ones, had been so close to the surface in the last few months? Because she didn’t have the enormity of her job to occupy most of her waking thoughts?
“What’re you thinking?”
She shared her thoughts with him.
“Losing your job was a big deal in more ways than one.”
“Months later, I’m still figuring out all the many ways it was a big deal.”
He released her hands and raised them to frame her face. “There’re lots of ways we can keep you busy so you don’t have too much time to think.”
“Like how?”
“More of this, for one thing.” He kissed her softly, gently, tentatively, as if it were their first kiss all over again, as if they hadn’t just been kissing each other’s faces off outside. The sweetness totally disarmed her and had her swaying precariously on her feet. “Does that take your mind off your worries?”
“That takes my mind off everything, except you.”
“Perfect. Come up here with me.”
Using those strong arms, he scooted backward and made room for her to join him. Mallory kicked off her flip-flops, put aside her concerns about too much too soon and reminded herself that in the Summer of Mallory, there was no such thing as too much or too soon.
His pillows smelled like him and the cologne she would forever associate with him. He lay on his side, looking at her, seeming to wait for her to make the first move. Watching him watch her, Mallory decided that while this might be the Summer of Mallory, she wasn’t about to become someone totally different overnight.
“What is it, exactly, that we’re doing here?” she asked.
His eyes lit up with something resembling amusement, which she supposed was better than anger or disappointment that she would ruin such a moment with probing questions.
“What do you think it is?”
“You can’t answer a question with a question.”
“Yes, I can. I just did.”
She scowled playfully at him. “I don’t know.”
“Do you always need to know what something means before you try it?”
“Usually.”
He curled a strand of her hair around his index finger. “What do you want it to be?”
“I don’t know that either. I’m not sure I’m in a good place for it to be anything other than fun. I don’t even know where I’m going to be living in a few months—here or back on the mainland or what.”
“That’s fair enough.” To his credit, he made no mention of the job offer. She appreciated that he wasn’t pushing her on that. Not yet, anyway.
“Maybe so, but that doesn’t tell me what you want it to be,” she said.
“Last night, after I got back here, I realized that was the best night I’ve had since before I got hurt. Being with you and your family and friends… It was good.”
“It was a fun night.”
“I haven’t done anything like that in a long time.”
“Like what?”
“A date in which I make an actual effort to get to know a woman—and her family, in this case.”
“So what’s your normal routine?”
“I haven’t had a normal routine in a couple of years, but before that, it was sort of hit and run. I deployed a lot, and when I wasn’t out of the country, I liked to party, among other things. The seeds for my addictions were sown long before I got hurt.”
“What else besides booze and pain pills?”
“I liked sex a little too much.” He looked directly into her eyes. “Is that a deal-breaker?”
“Only if you haven’t dealt properly with it.”
“I haven’t had sex in three years, if that tells you anything.”
Three years? Holy cow. “Ummm, it tells me a lot of things.”
He laughed—hard, harder than she’d seen him laugh yet. “Like what? Do tell.”
“Like you must be about to blow.”
That made him laugh again. “I’ve learned to control myself a lot better than I used to.”
“What do you suppose was at the heart of that?”
“I had a big opinion of myself. Bad-ass trauma surgeon, saving lives for a living. I deserved to blow off steam in my free time, and I never had any problem attracting women who were willing to help me out with the steam-blowing.”
Mallory tightened her lips, suspecting he wouldn’t appreciate her laughing at his choice of words.
“I’m kind of a hot mess, sweetheart. You might want to think twice before you cast your net with me.”
“I appreciate the warning, but I don’t see a hot mess when I look at you.”
“Oh no? What do you see?”
“A man who has traveled a difficult road and has taken positive steps to get his life in order and his body back in working condition.” She squeezed his biceps. “Did you have arms like these before you were injured?”
“Not so much. They weren’t flabby or anything, but I worked out hard in rehab to build up my upper-body strength to compensate for the loss of my leg.”
“That doesn’t sound like a hot mess to me. You’ve conquered addictions and lost your leg, and yet here you are, overseeing a huge new professional endeavor in a place that’s all new to you while restoring a boat in your spare time and raising a very nice puppy. I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.”
“I kinda like the way I look to you. It’s better than my view.”
“I like the way you look to me, too.” She ran a finger over the light stubble on his jaw and along his bottom lip.
He surprised the hell out of her when he pounced, biting her finger lightly but hard enough to startle and arouse her.
“You’re so cute when you’re surprised,” he said, pushing up on one arm to kiss her nose and then her lips.
“I hate to tell you, but nearly forty-year-old women are not cute.”
“You are.” All signs of humor and teasing were gone when he zeroed in on her lips. “You’re also gorgeous and sexy and funny and smart.”
Mallory was so incredibly drawn to him, despite his past, despite the worrisome things he’
d shared with her about his sex addiction, despite everything her better judgment might be telling her. She reached for him and brought him down to her, drawing him into a sexy, tongue-twisting kiss that quickly went from just another kiss to hands moving frantically, legs intertwining and bodies pressed tightly together.
Something had been decided between them in the last few minutes. What, she wasn’t entirely sure yet, but it felt like it had the potential to be monumental. She hadn’t expected anything quite like that when she accepted his invitation to dinner and then sailing, but it was happening nonetheless, and she wasn’t exactly trying to stop it as she sent her hands on a greedy quest under his T-shirt.
He sucked in a deep breath when her hands connected with his skin and then quickly recovered his mojo with deeper, hotter, more intense kisses. His hand coasted over her ribs to cup her breast, his thumb rubbing her already hard nipple until it ached. Right when she was about to beg him to do that under her shirt rather than on top of it, he got the message, his hand moving fast to dip under her shirt and up to caress her breast. “Ah, damn, no bra?”
“It’s built into the shirt.”
“Best. Shirt. Ever.”
Mallory’s laugh quickly became a moan when his talented fingers went to work on her already rigid nipple as he pressed his erection against her belly. Was she really prepared to throw all caution to the wind and let this play out to its natural conclusion?
He squeezed her nipple.
Hell, yes, she was prepared for all sorts of natural conclusions.
Then he was lifting her shirt over her head and replacing his fingers on her nipple with his equally talented lips. She could barely breathe as he worshiped her breasts, moving from one side to the other, as if that was the destination rather than a stop off on a much more significant journey. He seemed perfectly content to stay right there, to torment her with his lips and tongue and even his teeth. God…
She grabbed a handful of his thick hair and held on for dear life while he kept up the sensuous torture. “Quinn,” she gasped, “you’re making me crazy.”
“Am I?”
“You know you are.”
“What could I do to make you feel better?”
Incredulous, Mallory raised a brow. “Do I really have to spell it out?”
“A little direction would be welcome.”
She reached for his hand and put it between her legs.
“Ohhh, third base. I’m a big fan of third base.”
Even though she was insanely aroused, she couldn’t stop the laugh he drew from her. “You’re funny.”
“Not usually. That’s your influence.”
Her heart gave a little jolt, knowing he’d had little to laugh about in recent years. “I’m glad to give you a reason to laugh.”
His fingers found the heart of her desire and began to caress her through her jeans. “You do. I laugh more and smile more with you than I have with anyone in far too long.”
“If you keep saying things like that to me, I’m going to forget that we’re supposed to be having casual fun here.”
“What would happen then?”
“I might get attached to you.”
“I’d be okay with that.”
Mallory closed her eyes and released a deep breath. “I’m afraid of getting too involved when I don’t know for sure where I’ll be in a few months.”
“You said this is the Summer of Mallory, right?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Maybe it could be the Summer of Mallory and Quinn?”
“That could get messy.”
A dirty smile unfolded slowly across his handsome face.
“Stop! You know what I mean.”
He tugged at the button to her jeans and drew the zipper down slowly, going for maximum effect—or that was how it seemed to her. Laying his hand flat on her abdomen, he said, “What do you say? Should our summer of fun start now?”
How was she supposed to make a decision like that when his hand was so perilously close to the place that throbbed with desire for him?
Without moving his hand, he drew her nipple into his mouth, licking and sucking on the tip until Mallory arched into him, all but begging him to make the next move. He didn’t disappoint. He yanked her pants down and drove his hand inside her panties, nearly finishing her off before he ever touched her. Then he made it better by actually touching her and proving he knew what he was doing.
Mallory grasped his arm, her fingernails sinking into his skin while he kept up the suction on her nipple and coaxed her to an orgasm that had her crying out and thankful there was no one around to hear her—except him, of course. Her pleasure came to a sudden halt when Brutus landed on top of them, knocking the air from her lungs at a critical moment.
“Damn it, Brutus,” Quinn said, removing his hand from between her legs to fend off the excited puppy. “Your timing sucks.”
Mallory laughed even as she gasped for air. “He shouldn’t be able to make that jump yet.”
“There’s a lot of things he shouldn’t be able to do,” Quinn said with a scowl for the dog, who yipped playfully at him. “Spoiled brat.” Looking down at Mallory, he said, “Sorry about that.”
“No apology necessary.” She glanced at Brutus and then at Quinn. “Is there any chance he might take another nap?”
“Not for a while.”
She could see the genuine regret in the way his mouth twisted with displeasure. Letting her gaze travel down the front of him to the bulge in his pants, she licked her lips and then looked up at him again. “I guess I’ll just have to owe you one, then.”
His eyes heated with desire. “I guess you will.”
Mallory pulled her pants up and tried to find her shirt.
He took her by surprise when he cupped her breast and dragged his thumb over her nipple. That was all it took to restart her recently satisfied libido.
Brutus whined and then barked.
Moaning, Quinn dropped his head to Mallory’s chest. “That means he has to pee.”
While laughing at his distress, she caressed his hair. “Your baby needs you.”
“My baby is a pain in my ass.” Quinn found her shirt and handed it to her, his regret apparent. “Come on, Brutus. I’ll take you to the beach.” At the word “beach,” Brutus leaped off the bunk and headed outside. “You want to come?”
“You guys go ahead. I’ll stay here.”
He gave her a quick kiss. “Be right back.”
Chapter 14
Mallory watched him go, noting the way his jeans molded to his sexy ass. She’d wanted a moment to herself after the earth-shattering orgasm. She hadn’t experienced anything like that—with a guy, anyway—in years. It was nice to know it was still possible. The kind of craving desire she’d experienced with Quinn reminded her of being with Ryan. It had been like that between them from the start, and she’d never had that kind of physical connection with another man, until now.
That was kind of scary to acknowledge. She’d only recently met him, had spent time alone with him exactly three times, and already she recognized feelings she’d had only once before. The idea of having what she’d had with Ryan and potentially losing it again made her entire body cold with fear.
She put her clothes back to rights, sat up and smoothed her hair with trembling hands. If there was one thing she knew for certain, it was that she couldn’t possibly survive that kind of disaster a second time. She’d barely survived the first time.
Being with Quinn was fun and exciting, but it was also risky, and she needed to keep her eye on the ball where he was concerned. Protecting herself and her damaged heart had to be paramount. Brutus had actually done her a favor by interrupting them before things went any further.
She needed to take a step back, to really think this through before she got any deeper into a relationship she hadn’t expected to have. The Summer of Mallory was about having fun, not getting serious, and this thing with Quinn, whatever you might call it, had serious
written all over it.
By the time he and Brutus returned from the beach in the dinghy, Mallory had regained her composure and her determination to consciously control whatever happened next rather than going with the flow and being sucked unwittingly into his alluring web. If she was going to end up in that web, she would do so intentionally, not because her hormones went spastic whenever he kissed her.
Brutus came bounding up to the cockpit well ahead of Quinn, who moved slower and more carefully as he went from the smaller boat to the bigger one.
Mallory put all her focus on the puppy, who licked her face with an exuberance that made her laugh. He was so damned cute.
“He’s salting on my game,” Quinn muttered.
“What does that mean?”
“He’s getting what I want.”
“Which is?”
“More of you.” Reaching for the hem of his T-shirt, he pulled it up and over his head, revealing a spectacular man chest, chiseled abdominal muscles and tattoos that banded around his biceps that she hadn’t noticed the first time she saw him shirtless the day they met.
Mallory went stupid in the head as she took in the perfection before her and quickly forgot her resolve to be deliberate and intentional where he was concerned.
Screw that.
Quinn saw the way she looked at him, and it had a predictable effect on him. Goddamned Brutus. If it wasn’t for him, Quinn might still have his hands and lips on her naked body. But maybe Brutus had done him a favor interrupting them before things got completely out of control.
He hadn’t been with a woman since he lost his leg, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to let someone see his stump, to make himself that vulnerable, even if Mallory would be the ideal person to be the first. She was a nurse. She’d seen it all. Nothing about his injury would be new or particularly revolting to her.
Even knowing all that, he wasn’t sure he was ready to go there. It was ironic, really, when you considered his sex-addicted past when the notion of being afraid to have sex would’ve been so foreign to him as to be laughable. He used to get laid so much and so often that he’d forget who he’d slept with and who he hadn’t. He certainly wasn’t proud of that chapter in his life, but he’d learned through a lot of therapy to own it as part of his history.