“Tell me what you need, Piper.” His fingers brushed over her cheek and her eyes fluttered closed. “I’ll give you anything you ask.”
“You.” She rose to her tiptoes, placing featherlight kisses along his jaw. “Right now, I need you. This…” Her lips traveled across his chin, down the side of his neck. “Just love me, Quinn.”
His body went rigid with shock. Did she mean…?
No. Surely not. She was conflicted, confused, and hurt over the things she’d learned about herself here. Things about herself she’d tried to ignore and push away. At this moment she needed to feel grounded, protected, and loved…even though she didn’t truly want the love part. She wanted to feel it, if only for a moment. At least that’s what he was betting on.
His finger caught her chin, forcing her eyes to look at him directly. And there it was…the unmistakable flash of hunger in her depths. While he knew this wasn’t the answer to what was bothering her, Quinn wasn’t going to turn her down or push her away and force her to discuss it. He was going to give her what she asked for.
He was going to love her.
His lips hovered above hers as he whispered his response. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Her entire body shuddered in his arms. He caught her lips, gradually, carefully, drawing out his own need for this woman. His own dying devotion and love. Slowly. He was going to love her slowly. Like his very life depended on it. Because if he wasn’t mistaken, there was more than hunger in those nutmeg eyes. There was an unspoken question, perhaps an emotion that Piper was fighting.
He didn’t want her fighting anything tonight. He only wanted her to feel.
His kiss slanted, probing deeper, needing more. She opened for him easily, swiping her tongue across his, causing a groan to rumble up his throat. While he searched her luscious mouth, enjoying the heat of pleasure tumbling through him, his fingers found the zipper at the back of her dress. To tease her, he slowly he eased it down, allowing his thumb to graze the silken skin along the middle of her back. When she moaned in his mouth, it was all he could do to not rip the dress the rest of the way off.
With his tongue never leaving the hollows of her mouth, he helped her shimmy out of the dress, allowing it to crumble carelessly to the floor. Piper tugged at his tie and pushed his jacket off his shoulders. Frantic movements, jerky.
Quinn caught her wrists, making her still instantly. She looked up at him in confusion.
“Slow down, precious. I have all night to love you.”
She blinked, her cheeks bursting in deep pink. He drew her arms out and up, making them horizontal to her body.
“Stay like this,” he said, his voice darker and hungrier than he’d intended.
She obeyed without question.
Tamping down his own need to ravish her, Quinn stepped back and drank in the sight of her body. Perfect cream skin, the curve of her hip begging to be touched, the swell of her breasts begging to be kissed. And her lips. God. His eyes flicked to the thin sliver of lace panties covering her succulent mound. That part of her body didn’t beg. It screamed. It was as obvious as the gentle quiver in her thighs as he stared.
Piper licked her lips, drawing his attention back up.
“God, Piper, looking at you is enough to drive a man insane.”
Her smile was careful, but sexy. She still didn’t believe that she deserved to be loved, to be truly cherished. He would show her that was an utter lie.
His hand brushed along her stomach as he ducked under her outstretched arms and stepped behind her. As he pressed himself against her back, his fingers glided up her rib cage, tracing the line of her matching bra. He ran his hands along her shoulder blades, up and down the side of her neck, before taking a long sweep across both her arms.
“Quinn.” Her voice cracked.
“Hold on, precious.”
Her skin was hot to his touch, igniting his nerves, making his pants feel like they were a few sizes too small. He nipped at her collarbone as he unsnapped the clasp of her bra. With self control he didn’t even know he possessed, he drew the thin strap down her bare arms, allowing Piper’s limbs to rest at her sides. Kneeling behind her, he hooked two fingers in each side her panties. Again with unhurried movements, he guided the lace down her hips, stopping to kiss the perfect curve, before his fingers helped the fabric dance the rest of the way down her legs.
Finally she was completely bare. He rose, shucking off his jacket, then his shirt, leaving only his pants. He drew her back against his chest, needing to feel her velvet flesh against his. Needing the spark that erupted over every part of him when they were skin on skin.
He swept her hair off her shoulder, taking pleasure with his lips against the sensitive skin. He suckled, kissed and nipped, while Piper squirmed. When his hand found the mound of her breasts, she arched, moaning. While his lips searched every inch of her back and neck he could reach, he allowed his fingers to work their magic. Piper’s breasts were firm and full in his hands, and he squeezed them gently. Her nipples hardened beneath the tweaks of his fingertips. He plucked at them, nipping her neck and twisting the hardened points at the same time.
She sagged against him, her head falling back onto his shoulder. “Quinn.”
One hand skimmed down her stomach, sliding into the rich curls of her sex. He continued to caress her collarbone and neck with his lips and teased her nipples, as Piper’s slick heat surrounded him the instant his finger found her sweet spot.
He worked her mercilessly, scrapping his teeth across her back, rubbing the button between her hot folds, and never letting go of her tighten peaks.
“Is this what you wanted, Piper?” His voice rasped along her shoulder blade, his tongue dipping out and tracing the arch of her spine.
“Yes.” She hissed the word, practically bucking against his hands.
His own erection throbbed beneath his constricting pants, but he didn’t care. This was about Piper. Her pleasure. Her need.
His arms tightened, crushing her against him as his fingers worked Piper until she cried out, shuddering, breathless and boneless in his arms. He stopped his assault instantly, quickly guiding her to the bed. He laid her down so that she faced him, her legs hanging over the bottom. Her faced was gloriously flushed, her breaths quick and her eyes dazed with her high state of arousal.
He briefly wondered how many other men had been able to make Piper look like that, but quickly pushed the thought away. It didn’t matter, anyway. He wasn’t going to make Piper see that he was the only man who could make her feel. Make her want. Make her need…him.
With a flick and click, he allowed his dress pants to fall to the floor. His erection sprang out, his eyes never leaving Piper.
She was panting now, her eyes heavy. He bent, trailing kisses up her stomach, licking those perfect rosy peaks on her breasts, nipping the side of her neck, and finally capturing her lips in the kiss that shattered him completely.
If Quinn had thought he’d been in love before, he’d been wrong. Because as her scent surrounded him, consumed him, as her tongue danced along with his, as her hips arched, legs curling around him like a blanket, he knew he’d never felt like this before. And he’d never feel like this again. Not without Piper. Never without Piper.
She was the hard that went perfectly with his soft. Her detachment was an act, and Quinn savored in watching it slither away each time she was in his arms. He knew he affected her in ways she wasn’t ready for, just as he knew she did the same thing to him.
Quinn eased back, needing to see Piper. Her expression was one of lust and longing. God, he could see that face every night and never get enough of it.
Piper’s legs dropped as Quinn latched his hands around her waist and drew her to the very edge of the bed. His swollen erection bumped along those sweet folds, and Quinn ground his teeth, trying his best to keep his need controlled.
Piper moaned, tossing her head to the side as her legs spread wider for him.
“Look at me, Piper. I need to see you.”
Again, she obeyed. He lifted her hips slightly, easing himself inside her. Inch by slow inch. Piper arched, sucking him in deeper, locking her legs around his hips. She surrounded him. Consumed him.
Broke him.
Her hips bucked, causing his body to tighten and his fingers to bite into Piper’s flesh. With her eyes locked on his, he began to move. Long, slow thrusts, drawing out the most wonderful sounds from Piper. Her hands bunched into the sheets as he picked up the perfect rhythm.
Everything around him fizzed out, until Quinn could only hear Piper’s cries of pleasure, could only feel her heat engulfing him as he continued to draw out their ecstasy. Each thrust was met with a wonderful grind of her hips.
Each beautiful moan falling from her lips was met with a hungry groan from his. They were so perfect together. So in tune with what each other needed. How could he get Piper to see that?
Piper’s body clenched, and Quinn felt the tremors build within her. His thighs bunched as he picked up the pace, needing to feel her release, needing to capture his own. Needing them both to happen at the exact same time.
“Hold on, precious,” he growled. “Hold on tight.”
He propelled himself into her over and over, and she met him thrust for thrust.
“Quinn!” Her voice was like music, caressing the very depths of his soul.
They exploded at the same time, the earth spinning and tilting around them, the very bed shaking beneath their shudders and quick breaths. Quinn’s body twitched as Piper dropped her hips to the bed, his erection still buried to the hilt. All his thoughts splintered in that moment of pleasure. Her face was like an angel, her body glistening with sweat. She was shivering with pleasure, her lips quivering.
He bent, his body still snug inside hers, and plundered her mouth. God, he couldn’t get enough. He licked and nipped at her tongue, winded and hot. And ready to never, ever let her go.
“Piper.” His voice was hoarse as he dragged in ragged breaths between long kisses.
Her hands dove into his hair, pulling him closer. Her legs curled around his back, locking him inside her. Not that he ever wanted move. He couldn’t focus, couldn’t think. All he could feel and sense was her.
“I love you, Piper. God, I love you.”
Piper’s hands froze in Quinn’s hair, her body like cement around him. Her eyelashes fluttered open wide.
“What did you say?” Her voice was barely there, like a whisper on a windy night.
His forehead fell against hers as his breath rushed across her face. “God, Piper…I’m sorry.” What had he done?
His kissed her, gently, knowing that action wouldn’t help with the promise he’d broken. But he’d needed to be truthful. She had to know how he felt…even if she never did feel the same way. He understood that, could deal with it. But he couldn’t hide any longer. He heaved a deep breath and pulled himself away from Piper. Away from her warmth. Away from her shock. Piper curled the sheet around her body, clutching it like a shield.
She broke her stare, dropping her gaze to the tight weave of the tan carpet. “I’m sorry? That’s all you have to say? You promised me, Quinn.”
“I know, and I—”
“Don’t.” Her hand shot up.
He knelt in front of her, his hands clasped around her knees. “I didn’t mean to tell you like this. I didn’t mean to tell you at all. I thought I could keep it inside and love you silently…the way I had been. But you…” His voice broke. “Look at me, Piper. Please?”
She didn’t.
“I need…” Her voice was frayed. “To get out of here.”
Without sparing him a glance, Piper hauled herself off the bed, jerked her clothes from the floor, and made a dash for the bathroom. Quinn rose and stomped behind her, jutting his hand into the door before it could slam shut.
“You’re not leaving,” he said, his voice as calm as he could make it. She wasn’t going to run from him. From this. She had to deal with it. With him. It was the only way their relationship was going to work. And by God, Quinn swore he would do whatever it took to make this work. He was not letting her go.
“Piper?”
The door to the bathroom eased open, releasing Quinn’s arm. Once he dropped it, the door swung the rest of the way open, giving him full view of the fear in Piper’s face. Her knuckles were white from clutching the sheet so tightly around her body. She blinked rapidly, her face flush.
“Are you all right, Piper?”
She straightened, looking like she was taking deliberate moves to look strong at the moment. Quinn knew better. He knew her better.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re lying.” His kept his expression solemn, soft. “I can’t let you leave like this. I don’t want you to think—”
“What I think doesn’t matter.”
“It does, Piper. More than you can ever know. Please, come out of the bathroom. Talk to me.” He held out his hand, allowed a weakness to show through in his voice.
Silence stretched between them. This was the moment where Piper could walk away from him, breaking his heart, or she could somehow accept it—and him—into her life. Accept his love even though he was loving a woman who couldn’t love him in return. Right now, that was a chance he was willing to take.
Without responding, she simply slipped her hand into his and allowed him to lead her to the bed. She tucked her legs beneath herself. He sat next to her, noticing how her body went stiff when he did.
“I know you’re upset, Piper, and for that, I’m sorry.”
“Why?” Her breath hitched. “Why did you say it?”
Swinging around, he landed on his knees in front of her, his eyes pleading. “Because I couldn’t stop myself, because that’s how I feel, how I’ve felt for a long time. I don’t want to lose you, Piper. I don’t want to lose this.” His hands brushed down her arms, falling onto the comforter and clasping it tightly. “I can’t take it back. I won’t take it back. I need to know if what we have can survive how I feel. Can it? Can you be with me even though I broke my promise? Will you let me love you even though I know you’ll never love me?”
Her fingers brushed his cheek.
“Say something,” he whispered. “Anything.”
A heavy sigh blew past her quivering lips. “I think I’ve loved you since the first moment I saw you.”
His brow rose with that shocking knowledge. Was she admitting to loving him? His heart raced at the thought.
“And that feeling has only grown into something I desperately tried to stop, to hide, to make go away. It didn’t.” She folded her arms around herself. “From the first time I looked at you, from the first conversation we had, I knew you’d be the man to change me.”
He gripped her thighs, her words nearly knocking him off balance.
“And you did…”
“Piper, I—”
Her finger touched his lips. “No, please, just listen.” Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. Quinn’s heart splintered. He knew how hard this was on her.
“I love you, Quinn.”
His breathing stopped. All the muscles in his body went lax. She loved him? And she was admitting it? Thank God, there would be hope after all. His chest filled with hopefulness.
“And you love me.” Her voice was trembling now, her finger shaking against his lips before it fell away.
“Yes, I love you, Piper,” Quinn whispered, his body leaning in, trying his best to nudge between her thighs to get closer. She wouldn’t allow that. Her knees were locked tightly, her gaze drawn to the crinkled sheets. His sudden happiness mixed with panic as she slowly shook her head.
After what felt like an eternity of silence, an eternity of listening to his own shallow breaths, Piper’s head lifted, her gaze locked on him. Quinn didn’t miss the flash of expression across her beautiful face. Even with the acceptance of his love, and hers, she still had pain.
“Marry me,” she whispered.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Qui
nn rocked back on his knees, his breath all but lost as he stared back at Piper in disbelief. He’d expected a fight, to have to prove how much she meant to him. He’d half-expected her to run away. He certainly hadn’t expected that. “What did you say?”
Her lip trembled as she spoke again. “Marry me.”
He bolted to his feet, the reality of her words slamming into him. A clawing feeling of love and loss shredded through him. He tried his best to soften his expression and his voice.
“Piper…I love you.” God, did he love her. He loved her more than he wanted to take his next breath. More than he wanted to see the sun rise over the horizon in the morning. “But I can’t do that.”
Her head fell forward, her fingers drawing imaginary circles on the bed. “I know.” Her voice was distant, lost.
What was she doing? A thundering began his chest as his head began to pound. But still he stayed calm, going back down on one knee in front of her. He took her hand, rubbing his thumb over the fast beat of her pulse on her wrist. But she didn’t look at him, and at this point, he didn’t try to make her. “Then why did you ask?”
She sniffled as a tear dropped onto their conjoined hands, sending a spear straight through his heart.
“Piper.” His fingers tightened around hers. “Why did you ask?”
After several sobs she answered. “Because I wanted to see if you would be willing to break your rule for me…like I broke mine for you.”
A cold shiver raced up his back, through his veins, and made him lose his breath. When Piper’s head lifted, dear God, Quinn was certain his heart fractured into a thousand pieces. Her beautiful eyes were dark and strangely bitter. Tears clung to her long lashes and streaked down her cheeks, reddening her opalescent skin.
She tore her hand away from his, rose, and strode to the window, taking her warmth with her, leaving him cold. Keeping the sheet tight around her body, she jerked open the curtains. She spoke again, keeping her back to him. “Do you think that’s too much to ask, Quinn?’ Her voice was eerily calm. “You and I both have a past that keeps us from doing what normal people do. For me, it’s love. I told you that was the emotion I didn’t do. I couldn’t do. Not only because it brings immeasurable pain, but because to love something—anyone—is selfish. And for you, it’s marriage because you’ve already given your heart and life to someone else, and you can’t bear to do it again, yes?”
Until Next Time Page 27