“Nothing like this,” was the answer he gave her. An answer that she was barely able to process when he was moving his thumb across her lower lip at the same time. “Nowhere near as good as being with you.”
He moved closer and with their lips only a breath apart, heat rushed through her. He looked at her for a long and heady moment, letting her see how much he desired her—and she was positive that he had to be able to read in her eyes that she was just as wild for him.
Shelley was already moving to kiss him when he sealed his lips over hers. Greedily, she took her fill, fisting her hands in his hair, giving in to the fierce wanting that had been pulsing between them for days. Desire overrode her every other sense—desire for more of his taste, his scent. The feel of his hard muscles thrilled her as he licked over her bottom lip, and she had to sink her teeth lightly into his in response.
He let out a groan that echoed off into the night sky, his body crashing down upon hers on the padded bench, and she’d never loved anything as much as she loved his heat coursing down the entire length of her. She felt white-hot on the inside, like all of her could just melt around all of him and that every moment in Quinn’s arms would be perfect. Beyond perfect. As perfect as the feel of his tongue slicking over hers, consuming her, claiming her as his own.
His hands tangled in her hair as his lips ran a devastating path across her cheeks, then back to her mouth, then down over her chin and the soft underside so that she was arching her neck back even as she began to beg. A breathless please, which he immediately answered with a light flick of his tongue against her sensitive skin and then the slight edge of his teeth over her collarbone.
One powerful arm swept behind her, holding her close as his other slipped beneath her sweater to stroke the bare skin beneath it at her waist. With his mouth, he captured her gasp of pleasure at the way his touch turned her inside out, and when she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, he groaned again with appreciation. The guttural sound brought her hands beneath his shirt and over his gloriously hard muscles.
“Shell,” he said in a heated whisper before taking her in another mind-blowing kiss. He’d never before called her Shell, but it felt right. Made her feel even more special.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, questions about whether or not she could actually handle a fling remained. But when Quinn nuzzled in against her hair to take her earlobe between his teeth and shivers of desire racked her head to toe, all of her worries and fears blew away on the night breeze.
Raining kisses over her cheeks and lips, he found her other earlobe, and though she should have been prepared this time, she felt as if fireworks were lighting off inside of her. One gorgeous explosion of color and light after another.
Nothing in her life had prepared her for kisses like these, for wild and sweet, for rough and soft, for bliss that rode through every inch of her, head to toe, all from the touch of his lips against her skin.
Then again, how could she have ever been prepared for Quinn? For her solo honeymoon tumbling upside down until she was here on a boat in the moonlight wrapped all around a gorgeous island man whose smile made her heart swell with happiness, whose hand over hers filled her with such warmth, and whose kisses were pure electricity.
More. She wanted more!
But instead of moving faster, instead of reaching for her clothes to strip them away, instead of dragging her hips even closer to his the way she wanted them, he drew back to look into her eyes again. In his gaze she could read his questions—he was afraid of pushing her too fast, too hard. Her heart clenched at the realization that he truly didn’t want to hurt her again. Not in any way. Which meant that despite the desire she could feel vibrating through every inch of him, he was waiting for her to give him a signal that she was one hundred percent okay with what they were doing.
She did it first with a kiss and then by saying, “Touch me, Quinn. Taste me.” And then she held his gaze and let him see everything she was feeling as she whispered, “Take me.”
QUINN WAS LOST in sensations. The feel of Shelley’s soft, supple body beneath him. The hungry way she devoured his kisses and kissed him right back. The sound of her voice—God, he loved her sexy, heady whispers.
He wanted Shelley so badly that he could hardly remember how to breathe, could barely think straight when he was with her. All he could do was want and then want more, and more again. With every kiss he gave her. With every sweet little sound she made as their tongues slicked against each other. With the way his heart swelled when their hands slid together, their fingers linking as they held each other tight.
He couldn’t get enough of her, but instead of stripping away her clothes the way he was dying to, he forced himself to draw back and search her eyes one more time to make absolutely sure she wanted this as much as he did.
“Quinn.” He loved the way she said his name, in a voice that was heavy with need even as her lips curved up at the corners. There was so much warmth in her eyes as she looked at him, more than just passion—a deeper emotion stirring in their green depths—as she pushed at his shirt. “I want to feel you against me, skin to skin.”
It was the warmth, the emotion, and her smile that told him it was okay to move forward into even deeper pleasure. “I want it, too, Shell. More than I’ve ever wanted anything else.”
He reached behind him and pulled his shirt over his head in one swift move, and when he looked back, her eyes were wide.
“You’re—” She swallowed hard as she reached out and pressed her hands to his chest. “You’re amazing.”
He could feel his heart beating hard and fast for her, harder and faster with every rapt stroke of her hands over his chest. It was heaven—and hell, too, on his self-control—watching her eyes, her face, as she touched him, driving him crazier, making him hungrier for her by the second.
When he couldn’t take it anymore, he took her hands in his and lifted them to his lips, pressing kisses to every fingertip and then to the soft skin of her palms. “Now you, Shell. I need to see you, need to touch every inch of you, need to kiss you all over.”
“Yes,” she gasped out. “Yes.”
Together they stripped her bare, both of them teasing and tempting as each new soft patch of skin was revealed despite their frantic need. He had to touch, had to taste every bit of her as she was revealed.
As they drew fabric away, both of their hands shaking now as cotton was thrown across the deck and silk and lace fell to the deck, he ran kisses over her shoulders, her arms, her hands, then back up to her breasts. His tongue left a wet swirl of heat over her nipples, then down to her rib cage and the sweet indent of her belly button.
That first night he’d seen her naked, but though she’d stunned him with her beauty and had been so soft and sweet in his arms, tonight was truly their first time together. Tonight was the first time he was stripping her bare with his own hands while knowing that they both needed each other with a passion that was fierce and unstoppable and beautiful.
So damn beautiful that when she was finally fully naked beneath him, he needed to take a minute to reach deep for his control. But he knew he was just fooling himself to think he could ever be in control with her when she made him want, crave, need absolutely everything—body, heart, and soul.
Touching his forehead to hers, he whispered, “Shelley.” He was so awestruck by her beauty, by her scent, by her bravery—by every single thing about her—that he almost couldn’t remember how to form words, could only remember how to say her name.
She whispered his name back, and when she pressed her body to his mouth and hands and hips, he couldn’t stop himself from lavishing her skin with feverish kisses and caresses.
“You’re stunning, Shelley. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Beyond beautiful.”
She pressed her lips to his chest, kissing a path along his pecs, and when she swept her tongue over his chest, the animal in him took over. Took them both over, as their mouths crashed together, tongues slic
king, hands groping. He stroked her where she was slick and hot, and her head tilted back with a sexy little noise that short-circuited whatever synapses he had that were still firing.
Desperation rode him, the desperation to take her right then, right there beneath the stars. But even more than that, he wanted to pleasure her. Needed to see her come apart for him. Needed to feel her quiver, hear her gasp, taste her pleasure on his tongue. He wanted her to remember his caresses, his kisses, when she woke up in the morning.
And he wanted her to crave them when she closed her eyes at night.
Quinn wanted to take the time to explore, to arouse, to pleasure her like no other man ever had. He drank in her flushed skin, her tantalizing scent, as he ran his lips from the gorgeous swell of her breasts to the sensitive dip beside the ridge of her hip, over her stomach. She arched her hips up into his hands, into his mouth, but he hadn’t had enough yet. Hadn’t given her enough anticipation, enough yearning, enough desperation yet.
He moved back up her body, feasting on her soft skin, loving her uninhibited response to the slicking tease of his tongue at the underside of her breasts, to the tug of his lips over her nipple, to the gentle scrape of his teeth over her pulse point. Intensity grew by the second, the moon shining brighter above them, the water going darker beneath them, as what was left of his control gave way to need that he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to fully quench. Not even if they had a thousand nights like this.
Following the path of his hands down her torso with his mouth, he traced her hips with his hands, wanting to memorize every lush curve. And when her legs fell open wider, welcoming him, beckoning him, Quinn brought his mouth to the inside of her thigh. She gasped a breath as he teased her with his fingers, and she met each tease with a lift of her hips.
Needing more, wanting to see her so full of desire that she thought she might burst, he slid two fingers into her velvety heat, sinking deep inside.
So good. So, so good.
The blood was rushing so loudly through his brain that he might have missed her sweet words if he weren’t so utterly attuned to every breath she took. To every degree that her skin was heating up as she gave herself over to him more and more by the second. To the trembling of her limbs as he took her higher. Took both of them so damn high that he didn’t ever want to come down.
Her words echoed everything he was feeling, both of them gasping with the pleasure of their connection. He whispered the same thing against her skin—so good, so, so good—and then he lowered his mouth to her sweet, hot center. The first taste of her was pure heaven, and he couldn’t stop himself from taking more, and then more still.
When she panted out his name, he nearly lost it then and there on his boat, even with his pants still on. And the way her body responded eagerly to every stroke of his tongue, to every caress of his fingers over her, inside of her?
Nothing had ever been hotter.
Nothing.
She was so sexy, rocking into him as she got closer and closer to the edge, her head thrown back so that moonlight bathed her gorgeous curves in a warm glow. Her muscles tensed and her nails dug into his shoulder as he licked and loved her until her body shuddered, her inner muscles pulsating around his fingers as she cried out his name. Lifting his mouth back to hers, he took her in another hard kiss, needing to brand her as his as she rode out the last of her climax against his hand.
His heart was beating faster than it ever had as her eyes fluttered open, and she looked sated and so incredibly beautiful. “That was…” Her lips curved up into another one of those smiles that made him want to do any and everything he could to keep her smiling. “That was amazing.”
“You’re amazing.” He kissed her again, intending it to be a sweet press of their lips this time, but he was unable to hold back his passion for her. “Your body’s so responsive and you’re so damn beautiful. I need to see you come for me again, Shell.”
“I need it, too,” she said. “And I need to make you feel as good as you just made me feel.”
Holy hell, she wasn’t the only one who needed that. But as she reached for the button on his jeans, he gently took her wrist. “Tonight…” He held her gaze, made sure she could see what her pleasure did for him, that he could easily survive on nothing but a steady diet of her gasps of pleasure and the feel of limbs wrapped around him. “Tonight’s for you, sweetheart.”
And this time he wanted to be right there, watching her, holding her as she found her release. Needed to be right there as he laced his right hand with hers and held it up by her head as he used his left to stroke her again. It didn’t take long for her breathing to become shallow, especially when he slid lower to take her breast in his mouth, grazing his teeth over her nipple as his fingers entered her.
“Oh…God…Quinn…”
“That’s it. Come for me. Let me see how beautiful you are when you’re giving yourself to me, Shell.” Every word was raw with need. He knew he had no right to ask for this—not yet, not until he’d proved to her that she could trust him always—but he still had to say, “Everything, sweetheart. Give me everything.”
Her hips rose off the bench, and her free hand gripped his biceps so tightly he was sure she’d cut deep moons with her nails. But he could watch her come all night long and would gladly carry her marks on his body into the next day.
He held her close, loving the feel of her heart beating against his as both of them worked to catch the breath they’d just lost. Her cheeks were flushed in the moonlight and her eyes were bright when she looked up at him.
“Make love to me, Quinn.”
He couldn’t speak for a long moment, couldn’t do anything but press his mouth to hers and wish their night didn’t ever have to end. Wish that there wasn’t a real world to return to. And most of all, wish that he’d never hurt her.
But he had, so nothing was simple, not even when desire rode this hot between them.
Every ounce of him throbbed with need as she lay naked beneath him, open and so very trusting and beautiful that it made reining in his desire even more difficult. But Shelley deserved more than a few nights of fun, and he knew he should pull back, give her time to be sure before they went that far.
This was new territory, and it came wrapped in new feelings that scared him and excited him in equal measure. He wouldn’t do one more damn thing to blow it, even if slowing down the pace for at least another night was nearly going to kill him.
“I’ve never wanted anything more than I want to make love to you. But I want you to be sure. To make this decision to be with me with a clear head.” With her taste still on his tongue and the heat of her skin still tingling on his fingertips, it was hard to get his synapses to fire all the way. But this was too important to screw up, so he worked to find both his focus and the right words. “This feels real between us. More real than anything I’ve ever felt, and I don’t want to mess that up. I don’t want you to wake up tomorrow and regret being with me. I hurt you once. I can’t risk doing that again.”
“But I’m leaving soon.”
She was obviously as desperate to be closer to him as he was to her, making this an even more difficult—and even more right—decision. But what he felt for her was too big, too real, separating tonight from every sexual experience he’d ever had. He reluctantly sat up, gathered her in his arms, and gave her the truth.
“I know. Trust me. I’ve got the date you’re leaving ingrained in my mind. I’m leaving, too, possibly sooner.” The light in her eyes dimmed, and he had to pull her closer again. “That’s why I want you to be sure. I don’t want you to regret being close to me.”
“I thought guys loved no-strings-attached flings.”
“We usually do, but this…you and me. Do we feel like a fling to you?” He felt like he was already in too deep to turn away.
“No,” she whispered. “Maybe it started out that way. Maybe we were both just wanting to have some fun together. But today, tonight, it feels bigger to me, too.”
“I’m glad,” he said, showing her just how much it meant to him with a kiss that went deep again. But knowing he needed to take her home before he went back on his promise to give her more time to be absolutely sure, he made himself draw back and reach for their clothes. “Are you free tomorrow night around seven?”
“Like I said, I’m not a big planner when I’m on vacation.” She smiled and asked, “What did you have in mind?”
“I’d love to watch the fireworks with you at the cove. And then we can see how you feel about everything tomorrow night.”
The fireworks were a big event on the island, and Quinn knew his family and the whole town would turn out to watch them at the resort. But he and Shelley would have privacy at the cove.
“I love fireworks,” she said just above a whisper. “I even have the perfect dress already.”
He pressed her hand to his lips, knowing that if he took her mouth again he wouldn't be able to stop. “Good, then it’s a date.”
As they sailed back to the dock, Quinn knew he was putting himself in a difficult spot by committing to meet Shelley when he had been putting off his work for so long already—but right now he just didn’t care.
Shelley’s bright light filled all the empty spots he hadn’t known he had. She made him feel something beyond stress and irritation and made him see a world beyond the walls of his office—a world filled with vibrant colors, unbridled laughter, and boundless pleasure.
And only a total fool would miss one single second of the time an amazing woman like Shelley was willing to give to him.
Chapter Fourteen
SHELLEY LAY IN bed early the next morning replaying her date with Quinn over and over in her mind. Being intimate with him had felt so unbelievably good, so natural, so right. And yet, when he’d stopped them from going further, despite the fact that she’d been ready to tear his clothes off, she’d felt herself falling even deeper for him.
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