Stepping back, he dropped his shoulder and threw his weight against the door. The cheap particle board groaned and the hinges rattled in the joints. Again he hit it, and this time the door bowed inward. He sucked in a deep breath, ignored the twinge of pain in his spine and charged again. This time the door buckled and popped open, a crease down the middle where the material had given under the strain.
Kellie stood there, gape-mouthed, staring at the former door.
“You broke my door!”
“Yeah.”
She growled and predictably launched herself at him. Quin grabbed her hands, swept her feet out from under her and carried her back onto the sofa. Kellie squirmed and fought him before her spine touched the cushions, but he had the upper hand and the cooler demeanor.
“I’m going to call the police!”
“Fine, call the police after I talk to you. I’ll fix the damn door, just listen.”
She twisted one of her arms free and clocked him in the jaw with a wildly aimed blow. His teeth knocked together and he grunted. Wrenching her other arm over her head, he captured the flailing appendage and forced it up as well.
They’d tried this game once before as foreplay, and it had been hot as hell. Despite knowing she was pissed at him, being pressed against her at knee, cock and chest, he could feel all of her. The way her muscles bunched right before she wiggled one way or tried to kick out her leg.
“Kellie,” he growled.
She glared back, the fight leaving her. He exhaled and dropped down to his elbows, squishing her generous breasts against his chest.
“Get the fuck off me.”
“Will you talk to me?”
“Fuck you.”
“Then we’re doing this right here.”
Her eyes widened.
He dropped his head forward. “No, not that. Shit.”
Kellie smashed her head into his, pain blossoming along his brow and his already busted-open gash. Curses spilled from his lips, training alone keeping his hands firmly locked around her wrists and her from bucking him off.
He pried one eye open and looked down into Kellie’s dazed face. She hadn’t hit him right. Two red dots marred her cheek. His blood from the new stitches.
“Fuck, doll. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I bought the gym. Did I know who you were when I came in here? Yes, and I deliberately didn’t tell you I bought the gym at first, but then it was easier to not tell you.”
“It just never came up, did it?”
“I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“You didn’t know how to tell me you have a wife and a kid either, did you?”
“I did not cheat on anyone.”
She marshaled her anger and it was clear if she could have sliced into him with her eyes, she would have. “Really? Then what do you call kissing that blonde woman?”
This was going to suck. He drew in a deep breath to fortify himself. “That blonde woman is Penny. Three years ago we had a kid together from a one-night stand.”
“Ha!”
“We never dated or had a relationship. Up until this year we didn’t even live in the same state. I moved here so I could co-parent Josie, my daughter. Penny was at the gym picking her up last night when you saw me.”
“Yeah, sticking your tongue down her throat is totally platonic.”
He frowned. “I kissed her cheek. Penny is married, I wouldn’t fuck that up.”
She continued to glare at him but she no longer strained against his grasp. Pity, because he wanted to be closer to her. Despite being intimately embraced, they couldn’t have seemed farther apart.
Resigned to his fate, Quin released her hands and pushed up to his feet. Kellie sat up and scooted across the couch. He didn’t know if she was trying to get away or make room for him. Regardless, he sank down next to her.
“I didn’t mean to tell you about the gym like this. I didn’t know how to tell you after I met you.”
“Why did you keep that from me?”
“Because I’ve been having problems. Mailbox was broken, deliveries trashed, someone who knows the layout of the gym broke in and messed some stuff up. The building’s been tagged twice. My security cameras smashed. It was a long shot that you might be connected. I just came in to feel you out, and you were so prickly I wanted to needle you a little.”
“You’re an ass.” And yet she didn’t seem any more angry about his lying than kissing Penny.
“I know. I’m sorry.” When she didn’t reply, he continued, “I didn’t tell you about Penny because she’s never been anything to me except the mother of my kid. She’s more like a sister to me than a chick.”
“A sister you boned?”
“Whatever. I have a good relationship with the mother of my child that lets me see her whenever I want, without supervision or limitations. If you want to be pissed at me for being a dad, go ahead.”
“You should have told me.”
“When? Between the times we fucked at my place? Or before I did you in my truck? We haven’t exactly made a lot of time to talk.”
Kellie ducked her head and didn’t meet his gaze.
They’d begun this mutual booty call at her insistence to keep it to sex. There had never been any discussion of getting to know each other beyond what it took to be comfortable getting naked, and that hadn’t been much. He hadn’t exactly pushed them in another direction either.
“Doll, I admit I screwed the pooch. Should I have told you about the gym? Yes. I regret not telling you the moment I walked in the doors. Should I have told you about my daughter? If I’m just a fuck buddy to you, I don’t see how it’s any of your damn business. Seeing as how you saw us together, I do owe you an explanation, but that’s all I owe you.”
Kellie leaned back against the armrest, examining him as if she’d never met him before. The puzzled look on her face was unnerving.
“Do you want me to leave?” He gestured toward the door. “I can come back later and fix that.”
She glanced at the broken particle board. The damage they’d done was already fading from his memory. “Um, whenever you have time.”
He sat where he was. She wasn’t telling him to get out. He stretched one arm out across the back of the sofa and studied her. She was all sharp lines and soft curves, kick-ass attitude and wanton woman, contradictions. It was her strength, her willingness to not back down and stand toe-to-toe with him that drew him.
He slid his arm down the cushion and took her hand from where it rested next to his. She allowed him the touch, to curl his hand around hers.
“Come on, doll, say something.”
“It’s complicated.”
“I know.”
She took her hand back and cradled her face. “I can’t do complicated.”
His gut clenched. He wasn’t ready to let go of her. Maybe in a week or a month, but not now. “It doesn’t have to be. Nothing has to change.”
“What does that even mean?”
“I like you. I like what we have, even if it’s not a full relationship. We’re both busy, the timing isn’t perfect, but we can still do this. Keep it casual, if that’s what you want.”
“I don’t know what I want.”
“Then how about I tell you what I want?”
She turned her head toward him, one brow lifted.
He scooted closer until their hips touched. “Same terms. We’re with each other only, we can do just sex, and if we don’t want to have sex, we can hang out. No expectations though. If one of us is busy, I won’t ask you to change what you’re doing, and I won’t change what I’m doing.”
“What do you want out of this? A fuck buddy? A babysitter?”
“What? I just want you.”
“Really? Because I’m not petite or blonde.”
“Are you jealous of Penny?” He looked Kellie over, from the panty covers she called shorts to the low-cut, billowing tank top that showed off a healthy amount of cleavage. What did she have to be jealous of?
�
�I’m not jealous of her, but I do have to wonder why you’d want me over her.”
“I’m not attracted to Penny. Shit. She was a drunken one-night stand. That’s it.” He grabbed her hand and placed it over the hard line of his cock. “Penny could flash me her boobs and I wouldn’t react this way.”
Kellie flexed her fingers around the semi-hard length beneath the nylon shorts. Quin locked eyes with her and challenged her to deny what he was saying, but her thoughts were too scrambled to decide one way or the other.
She wanted him.
He was complicated.
There wasn’t enough time in her day to wonder whether he’d cheat or if she was giving him enough time. But they weren’t asking for a lot from each other, and he would be hers. Someone who didn’t want her time, her money or her talent—outside bed at least—and they both got something out of this deal. It was a good business decision, but she wasn’t crunching the numbers in her head. Her heart was stuttering and lurching like a drunken butterfly at the thought of letting him walk out of her life.
Maybe she needed support, someone she could be selfish with.
Quin moved her hand against him, rubbing her palm against his dick. She clenched her thighs together and wrapped her hand around as much of him as she could through the layers of fabric.
“I can’t make promises,” she said as she leaned toward him, her gaze dropping to his mouth.
He cupped her cheek and released her hand to palm her thigh. “I’m not asking for any.”
Fireworks went off across her skin as their lips touched, mouths opened and they each tried to shove the other down on the sofa. Kellie laughed around his tongue. They might set themselves on fire, but they’d fight over who laid the tinder and struck the spark. She gripped his shoulder and swung a leg over his lap. Quin grasped her hips and pulled her closer. She rotated her pelvis in a circle, grinding their sexes together.
His voice was a low rumble against her ear. “I want to fuck you.”
She shivered, loving the roughness of him. She glanced at the clock, responsibility and selfishness warring inside her. “It has to be quick. Do you mind? Pandora will be here in half an hour at most.”
“Fine by me.”
He cupped her ass with both hands and stood. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. She closed her lips around his earlobe, giving the soft piece of flesh a swirl of tongue and a scrape of her teeth. He groaned and set her on the edge of her desk. Her makeup was pushed to the side, some of it falling on the floor.
“Do you have a rubber?”
“Purse.” She jerked her head toward the monstrously huge silver bag sitting on top of the filing cabinet next to the desk.
Quin grabbed the bag and dumped it in her lap. She rolled her eyes and stuck her hand inside, feeling around for the retro cigarette case she’d once used for smokes and now repurposed for condoms. She pulled the case out, shoved the bag to the side of the desk and popped the case open. Quin chuckled and plucked one out, only to lay it on the desk in easy reach.
Instead of messing with the condom though, he unbuttoned her shorts and pulled them off with her thong. The worn wood under her ass was rough but not uncomfortable.
“What are you doing?” She reached for his waistband, only to have her hands shoved away.
“I’m getting my taste,” he said with a glint in his eye as he sank down to his knees.
“Oh…”
He kissed her inner knee on one side, the tender part of her thigh on the other. Her breath caught in her throat. He was so damn handsome.
Quin parted her folds, exposing her pussy, and set his mouth to her clit. She gasped and clenched her hands into fists as pleasure unfurled low in her stomach. His tongue swirled around the sensitive bud and Kellie’s body went limp.
She sank back on the desk until she rested on her elbows and wrapped a leg around Quin’s shoulders, her ass hanging partially off the edge. He hummed his approval and pressed against her harder. Fingers found her entrance, dipped into her channel. She shuddered and dug a hand into his thick hair and pulled. She needed it harder, and he could give it.
Quin slapped her thigh, startling a yelp out of her. She glared even as he chuckled against her, the vibrations spiraling her desire higher.
“What the fuck was that for?” Her leg tingled but not painfully. He curled his fingers and she forgot all about the spanking. Her delicate muscles fluttered for a moment before clamping tight around his fingers. She tossed her head back and groaned as ecstasy rippled through her.
Quin stood, sliding her leg from his shoulder. She panted for breath and watched him tear into the condom through eyes too heavy to keep open.
“This is going to be quick,” he warned, pushing his shorts and boxers down around his thighs and sliding the condom on.
“You’d better be.”
He pushed her thighs farther apart. “Tell me if I hurt you.”
“As if,” she snorted.
Quin grinned and thrust into her slick pussy. Still sensitized from her orgasm, Kellie moaned and rolled her hips. “Fuck. Me.”
“Gladly.”
She locked her ankles at the small of his back and lifted her head to watch him. Quin’s gaze was focused on their joined bodies, his eyes dilated and his breathing heavy. He slid in and out in short, measured strokes.
“Mm, harder.”
His grip on her thighs tightened, lifting her for a new angle. He glanced up at her, an evil grin on his face as he drew out of her, leaving just the tip nestled between her lower lips. He thrust hard enough her teeth rattled together and she scrabbled to hold on to something.
Jolts of electricity shot through her body. Her nipples chafed against the cups of her bra and her pussy spasmed around him.
“How did you like that?”
“Again,” she panted.
He pounded into her until her spine was arching and incoherent words spilled from her lips. She was close, reaching for the edge all over again. A hard smack on one side of her ass pushed her over. Her muscles tightened and she groaned as her body orgasmed harder than before. Quin worked his cock in and out of her tight sheath in frenzied thrusts. She reached for him, digging her hand into his hair and yanking him down for a kiss.
She felt the twitch of his climax and the warmth of his seed through the latex barrier as he devoured her mouth. She nipped his lips and bit his tongue. They were rough with each other and she loved it.
He leaned over her, braced on his elbows, their heated breath mingling. “That was fucking fantastic.”
“Not so bad yourself.” She planted a kiss on his cheek before she pushed him away. Her bones had the consistency of pudding, but they were out of time.
Quin stepped back, peeling off the condom.
“Bathroom,” she said sharply when he would have tossed it in the office trash. “Don’t leave that in here.”
He blinked at her, then chuckled as he realized leaving evidence of their coupling for her coworkers to find probably wasn’t a good idea. He tucked himself into his shorts with one hand and ambled off to the bathroom. Kellie grabbed her clothing and yanked it on. Her shoes were where she’d left them under her desk before their confrontation. She jammed her feet into the flats and bent over to look in the mirror.
Warmth and skin slid along her thigh. Quin blanketed her from behind, his hands gripping the edge of the desk. She turned her head as he bit down on the juncture of her shoulder and neck.
Pounding from the back door made them hesitate.
“Did you close the door?” She straightened, but Quin merely wrapped an arm around her waist and held her against him.
His mouth pressed against her neck. Her already well-used body perked up. “Of course I did. You shouldn’t be here by yourself. Anyone could come in here.”
“Ugh, you’re ridiculous. Stop.” She pried his hands from her breasts and stepped away. “That’s going to be Pandora. Thank god you shut the door though. Speaking of doors…�
�� She put a hand against the cracked door. One hinge was almost completely off the wall.
“I’ll fix that.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “Yeah, but how am I going to explain it?”
Quin grinned. “The truth?”
She shook her head and stepped into the hall, groping through the darkness for the doorknob.
“I’ve been standing out here pounding on the door for five minutes,” Pandora huffed as she passed. Waves of heat followed her in.
“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” she muttered to Pandora’s back.
“What the—? Oh, hello.” Pandora stopped in the doorway, glancing from the door to Quin, no doubt.
“Pandora, this is Quin. He was just leaving.” She pushed Pandora into the room and arched a brow at Quin.
“Right, I’m leaving. Nice to meet you.” He waved at Pandora and headed for the door, grabbing Kellie’s hand as he slipped by.
“I’ll be right back,” she said over her shoulder as Quin led her to the hallway.
In the semiprivacy, she pushed him up against the wall before he could do the same to her and planted a kiss on his lips.
“Go. Now,” she growled, a hairsbreadth away from his mouth.
“What are you doing tonight?”
“Closing and then going home.”
“Want to come to my place?”
She shook her head. There would be no one to watch Grandma, and after her latest stunt Kellie didn’t trust her. “Not tonight. We’ll figure it out.”
“Okay, cool. I’ll see you tomorrow still, right?”
She paused, scrambling to remember what tomorrow was. Thursday. “Oh, the tattoo. Right. Yeah, come by whenever.”
“See you.”
He pushed out the back door and she took his spot leaning against the wall. She didn’t know what to think, but she felt good.
Chapter Ten
Cherry Blossoms—In Japan, these spring flowers blossom on the sakura tree, and have nothing to do with the cherry fruit. The fragility and brief life span of these pink-and-white flowers symbolize mortality. They are a very popular design.
Kellie sliced open a box, ignoring the sidelong looks Pandora had been giving her for the last half hour. The shop doors were unlocked, the Open sign lit, and still they had not touched on Quin or what had happened to the door.
The Harder He Falls: 2 (So Inked) Page 15