by T. L. Reeve
“I know.” The rasp of his zipper echoed in the room, then the tearing of a foil wrapper accompanied it. “I want you to stand very still, Quin. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Okay.” Her voice, though shaky, remained strong. He fitted his tip at her entrance, and her knees went weak. He pushed into her, inch by inch, forcing her to her tiptoes to accommodate him.
“Fuck,” Joaquin groaned. “Heaven. Just like fucking heaven. Stay with me, sweetheart.” He pulled back and filled her, forcing a cry of pure, unadulterated pleasure past her lips.
“Joaquin,” she whined, trembling from head to toe. Her pussy flexed around him, rippling as she accommodated his size. He paused a moment, then began to move. Her climax raced through her, pushing her to the edge and holding her there for what seemed like an eternity.
“Easy, baby. I’ve got you.” His deft fingers found her swollen clit and rubbed the aching ball of nerves, sending her headlong into a cataclysmic release. She screamed his name, jerking her hips as ecstasy shot through her. His growl of approval sent a bolt of lust crashing through her.
When she stilled, he began moving once more. His grunts and groans spurred the euphoria flowing through her. He clung to her, whispering sweet words of encouragement as he fucked her from one orgasm to the next. His thrusts quickened, and his grip on her hips tightened.
“Together,” she whispered. He should take his own pleasure as well. “We go together.” Quin glanced back over her shoulder, and saw the sheer determination in his eyes. His cheeks were tinged with pink, his lips parted as he continued the frantic pace. Crying out at the erotic image of him, she could feel her release building. “So close, please.”
Joaquin’s big body leaned against hers, reigniting the burning of her ass, which intensified everything racing through her. He slid his tongue down her neck and nipped at the sensitive flesh behind her ear before biting the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Quin screamed as her orgasm crashed over her in glorious waves. Behind her, Joaquin grunted her name and stilled, grinding her down on him. Both of them panted for breath. She didn’t want the moment to be over.
Quin’s chest ached, her eyes burned. Emotions long hidden deep inside her threatened to overwhelm her after such a climactic scene. She didn’t realize she was crying until Joaquin brushed the tears from her cheeks and shushed her. Within minutes, he brought her down from the cross and on his lap. His big body surrounded her, protected her in ways she couldn’t even attempt to imagine. “You were perfect,” he said, praising her. “You are an amazing woman, Quin, and I will cherish this moment forever.”
Chapter Seven
Quin slept next to him in his bed. Her chestnut hair fanned out over the pillow while her features were relaxed, unmarred by the stresses of the day. Last night had surpassed all his expectations. She’d come alive, flourishing with each fall of the flogger. Pride filled him. He worried once Quin woke up, she would hide again, and he already started planning how he would keep her open to his touch. He also examined his feelings for her and if at the end of six weeks he would keep her by his side.
Perhaps it had been a little impulsive on his part, giving her the contract. He’d known the day he met her he wanted her more than life itself. However, seeing her in the club, the delicate sensuality she exuded—the way she debated her answers or picked her words, solidified his decision. Though she’d said submission didn’t appeal to her anymore, he’d pushed—coaxing her in the right direction. Quin capitulated better than any sub he’d ever worked with, and he craved her submission.
Quin stretched and yawned, blinking several times. Unfocused, sleep-filled eyes lit on him. “Good morning.” His dick stirred to life.
“Good morning,” he murmured, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her near. Her lithe body pressed to his. Joaquin leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Need pulsed between them as he sipped from her mouth, teasing her awake. He rolled her under him and lifted her hands above her head. Settling between her legs, he kissed her jaw. “Did you sleep well?”
“Like a baby,” she answered. “Did you?”
“I did.” Joaquin bent his head and nuzzled her neck, pressing kisses down toward her collarbone. He reached into the bedside table and grabbed a condom, donning it before coming back over her.
He stared down into her emerald gaze and shifted his hips, filling her. She arched to him while clenching on his intrusion. Slick, hot, and ready, she rippled around him, forcing his whole body to stiffen in order to stave over his release. By the time he got balls-deep, he was on edge. Gathering Quin up in his arms, Joaquin changed the angle of his penetration.
They made love slowly. No rush, or need to find their completion. Joaquin found himself falling into her. Six weeks would never be enough. He rolled his hips against hers, her breath hitched, her eyes fluttered closed. The long, delicate column of her throat was exposed to him and he leaned in, placing kisses to it. She moaned his name then ran her fingers through his hair, keeping him in place. A growl of need passed his lips. “Look at me, Quin.”
Her gaze connected with his, and his pace quickened. “Together, Joaquin.” Her head fell back on her shoulders and a cry passed her lips.
His balls tightened. “Together.”
When her pussy went molten around him with her release, he lost all control. Her sweet moans as she took her pleasure were music to his ears. Joaquin grunted with each thrust until he stilled and a strangled cry passed his lips. They clung to each other, consumed by the moment, and after he pulled out to dispose of the condom, he came back to bed, holding her tight in his arms.
***
“It’s time, Quin,” he crooned. “Why don’t you tell me everything about your relationship with Tony?”
“There isn’t much to say.” She shrugged. Once again her past would enter at an inappropriate time.
“Oh, I believe there is plenty. You give bits and pieces away when you’re bound and writhing.” She tingled from head to toe. “I would rather you tell me, than force me to drag it from you.”
Joaquin made it sound so easy. “It’s complicated.”
“So you’ve said. Why don’t you try me?”
She cleared her throat. “Okay. Well, I met him at the club. I was new to the scene, and I guess he picked up on it. He approached me and said I looked like a deer caught in headlights.” She gave a little humorless chuckle. “I suppose you could say he was right. Never having stepped inside a BDSM club before, I felt lost. So, I allowed him to show me around and explain what happened there.”
“He picked you out.”
“Yep. Of all the women in the club he could have latched onto, he found me,” she snapped. “A fool. A naive little girl who had no clue what she got herself into.”
“Then what happened?” he prodded.
“He told me he didn’t do things like the others. He wouldn’t share my submission with anyone else. Wouldn’t put me on display like the others because he claimed it was—”
“Let me guess, disrespectful to the sub?” Joaquin asked.
“Yeah. He said a submissive taking her pleasure belonged to her Master. It was a special gift that shouldn’t be shared with others.” Looking back now, she could kick herself. He had been isolating her. Going forward with his own agenda. “So, when we did meet at the club, we met at the bar and went straight to the room.”
“What did he make you do?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary. Blow jobs here and there.” She shrugged. “Learn how to present myself. He restrained me a couple of times, but when I complained the bindings were too tight, he said to suck it up and I should take it like a good little sub. So I did. When I went to work with cuff burns on my wrists, my coworkers asked what happened, so I lied to protect him and to keep my secrets.”
Joaquin’s gray eyes darkened and his jaw clenched. “He abused you. Abused the submissive inside of you.” He didn’t ask, he told her the plain and simple truth. A truth she learned on her own over the last few m
onths.
“Yes,” she replied.
“What happened next?”
“He would leave me tied up and say we were playing a game. He timed me. Said if I could go thirty minutes in the restraints and blindfolded while letting other men touch me, he would reward me.” Joaquin hissed. “I endured it. I fancied myself in love with him. I thought he could do no wrong.” She hurried on, not wanting to give him a chance to interrupt her. “I figured if I could prove myself, he would see I wanted to learn, but it got worse instead of better.”
“How so?” Joaquin asked.
“About a month later he started telling me to stay home, not come to the club. So, being the ever-doting collared sub, I did as he requested. My schedule started revolving around him. I met him at different locations and different times of the day and night. I became his slave. Yet, some sick, twisted part of me thought I was proving myself.” She realized she was crying when he wiped away her tears.
“Son of a bitch, sweetheart,” he whispered. “I can see why you wouldn’t want to try again.”
“When he uncollared me in front of everyone in the club, I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. And as soon as the collar came off, another woman took my place. I hated myself. I hated him. I switched everything off and hid.” Embarrassed by the scene in the club, she’d cut off contact with Harley.
“If I told you, your reaction to what happened was normal, would you believe me?” When she looked up at him through her lashes, his expression turned gentle, sympathetic. “You were taken advantage of, used and abused. You had your trust thrown away along with any respect you may have had for him and those around you. You were allowed to be angry. I am surprised you’re not still angry. Fuck, I’m angry for you.”
“My anger makes me bitter. I promised myself I wouldn’t do this again. Enter the lifestyle again, but there is something about you, Joaquin. I’m safe. I can feel it. I should have my head examined, since it hasn’t been very long.” She snorted then lifted her chin. “You’re nothing like him.”
“You can’t be so sure. I can be overbearing and stubborn. Charlie calls me thickheaded and I’d hate to know what Harley calls me on a bad day,” he murmured, pressing his lips to her jaw. Need raced through her. “It would be so easy to lose myself in you, Quin.”
“I know,” she whispered, turning her head to give him access to her neck. “I feel the same, and it scares me how quick I am falling for you.”
His hand tightened on her hip while he continued to kiss a path down between her breasts. “It would be so easy to ply you with sex and love and devotion to get you to stay, but I want you here because you want to be with me.” Joaquin slipped his hand between her legs and ran his finger through her slit. Electricity snapped through her, sending bolts of pleasure straight to her clit. “I’m an asshole of the highest order.” He groaned. “After everything you told me about Tony, I should be holding you, letting you cry or vent or scream as much as you need, yet I need back in you. I need to fuck you until we’re both sated and spent.”
“Yes,” she moaned when his lips wrapped around her nipple, licking the hard peak. Her fingers raked through his hair, holding him in place. “I don’t want to think anymore. We can think later.”
“Indeed.”
Chapter Eight
Monday morning came too soon for Joaquin. He treasured the time he’d spent with Quin. When she left his place Sunday afternoon, he’d kissed her good-bye and looked forward to going to work. The little bit she told him about Tony allowed him glimpses of the man who’d stolen a part of Quin’s soul. A part he wanted to help her regain.
He sat down behind his desk and pulled out the auditing report he and Charlie had been going over before he left on Friday. The meeting they’d scheduled with accounting would begin in less than an hour. Anyone found to have been in contact with Rafael would be dealt with. The rest would be monitored for the next several months to make sure no one let the asshole back in.
Charlie sat in his office next door engrossed in a video chat with a detective friend of his, going over the case against his brother. If they could get a jump-start now, perhaps they would be able to catch the bastard. His brother didn’t have very many places he could go without people knowing him.
“I found three firms for you,” Quin said, bringing him out of his thoughts. “Sorry, I know you want me to knock…which I’ve been doing, but you seemed, out of it. So I came in.” While they’d lounged in bed, Quin had come up with an interesting idea. She wanted him to consider a private investigator in conjunction with the police. Someone who could discretely follow his brother and be able to pinpoint his exact location for the authorities. He’d been inclined to agree.
He crooked his finger at her and she walked around the desk. Joaquin took her hand in his and pulled her close, brushing a kiss across her cheek. “Thank you. Now sit. Tell me what you’ve found.”
Her cheeks were tinged pink as she took a seat across from him. “Since I’m still new here, I pulled a few different companies from the area surrounding Madrid. No more than twenty miles at most, so as not to alert your brother if he’s still around.”
Smart. “Very good. Did you ask for bids yet?”
“No, I wanted to go over the choices first.” She pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear and opened a blue folder sitting on his desk. “This is Hancock Security. They have a high customer rating. Their client ratio is a subtle mix of high-dollar clients along with the common man.”
“But?” He folded his hands on the desk and sat forward. “You seem hesitant about them. What are they lacking?”
“Time management. I know, I know. I’m pretty anal about how you manage your workers and projects. Those who didn’t like the company reported their time frames were always a week or two behind.”
Joaquin barked out a laugh and took Quin’s hands in his. “Sweetheart, you have a point there. Okay, we’ll put them on the, ‘we’ll see,’ pile. Who’s next?”
“Stallings and Redding.” She opened a red binder and began reciting their information. Instead of hesitating, she became animated, pointing out all the positives of the company.
“Okay, we’ll send out a bid sheet to them. Now, what about the company here in Madrid?” Quin dipped her chin and blushed again. “Quin, what’s wrong?”
“I asked Harley for help on this one,” she began. “I wasn’t sure who to choose, so I asked her opinion. I agree with her choice as well. Lucre. They have a great rating. Friendly. Fast. Their office is located about three blocks from here.”
Joaquin considered her advice. “Send sealed bid packets to both companies, plus a confidentiality clause. Make sure they understand if word leaks out about the bids, we will pass them over, even if they are the lowest bidder.”
“I’ll let you know how it goes.” She stood up then gathered the files before stepping away from the desk. “Anything else?”
“Yes.” He grinned. “Pack a bag. You’re going to stay with me at my place.”
“Uh.” She gulped and gave a shaky laugh. “I thought we agreed to take this slow?”
“Oh, right,” he teased. “Pack a bag. You’re stay with me.”
“Incorrigible.” She chuckled, excitement gleaming in her green eyes. “Your lunch will be arriving any time now. I ordered for you, since you’ve been working yourself to the bone.”
His stomach rumbled, and he laughed. “Thank you. Join me?”
“I suppose.” She sighed. “Is this going to be a work lunch or a regular lunch?”
Joaquin cocked a brow. “Keep the sass up and it will be an over-my-knee lunch.”
Her nipples grew hard, pushing against the front of her white shirt, and her skin flushed. A growl of need filled his chest while he adjusted his burgeoning erection. Quin gasped. “Fuck me, preciósa. You make me forget we’re at work. Any other place, and I’d be buried deep inside you by now.”
“Sorry,” she whispered. “I’ll, uh…I’ll go take care of this and be back with
lunch.” Without another word, she hurried from his office, leaving him fit to be tied.
When Quin returned with their lunch, he patted his thigh. A chuckle passed his lips at the look she threw his way. “You look like a wet kitten tricked into getting a bath. Come, sit on my lap and we’ll eat lunch.”
“Haven’t we done this before, Mr. Fuente? I sit on your lap, you feed me, and well….” She licked her lips and grabbed his plate, placing it in front of him. “We always get interrupted.”
“True.” He picked up his fork and took a bite out of the arroz con pollo. “But you have to admit, it is exciting.”
“The idea of getting caught?”
He nodded.
“A little bit,” she hedged. “Maybe.”
“Oh, preciósa. Your teasing is going to get you into so much trouble.” Joaquin wiped his mouth with his napkin.
“You say this as if I’m never in trouble with you.” She winked, sitting down next to him instead of on his lap.
He snatched her chair and tugged her closer. “Keep it up, and I’ll gag you while I eat lunch.” Her cheeks flushed, and her tongue darted out to dampen her bottom lip. “Tempting little minx.”
“I-I don’t see anything here you could possibly gag me with, Joaquin.”
“Trust me, preciósa. I have something.” He reached down and adjusted himself while smirking at her. “And I’ll enjoy making you gag on it, too.”
***
After lunch Joaquin sent Quin home to pack. Stay with him. Part of her worried what would happen at the end of six weeks, but the other part of her, the part of her gaining strength through him, didn’t worry. If anything, he gifted her with something she’d never have gotten with her asshole ex—self-worth. She took one last look around the apartment she’d spent the last few weeks in. Yes, once these six weeks with Joaquin were over, she’d be better off for them.