Quinn closed the watch and squeezed his big paw around it, then drew her closer. ‘I can honestly say that this is the best gift I’ve ever received.’
‘You’ve got one more coming to you. After all, tomorrow is your birthday. That’s going to involve a little more unwrapping.’ She reached around and ran her hand along the curve of his ass, and grinned as he pushed forward. ‘Oh, hello, Mr Pattengale. Do I have time to unwrap you a little?’
He shook his head with a low groan. ‘Not tonight, and I wouldn’t want to mess your make-up.’
Molly rolled her eyes and sighed as he clipped the watch to his pocket and slipped it in. ‘You’re going to have very little regard for messing up my make-up when I’m trying to get out the door for work and you’re looking for a little something in the morning.’
‘You’re probably right about that, but for now …’ He ducked at her bedside and picked up the two pairs of shoes she had narrowed it down to. ‘Time to make up your mind: red or black?’
‘You decide.’
He dropped the black shoes and grinned. ‘Black panties and red shoes are my second favourite, right behind no panties and red shoes.’
‘Good choice,’ she said slyly as she took them from him, and was secretly relieved that the shoes that turned him on were also the ones that were more comfortable.
Fully dressed now, both moved into the living room. A few minutes later Molly gasped in the crisp evening air as they left her cosy house behind. Quinn had brought his car and she was grateful for the luxury of heated seats as the interior quickly warmed up.
‘So, who are they?’ she asked once they were on the road.
He reached across the gearshift and took her hand. ‘No names.’
‘Are they famous?’
‘Seriously?’
‘Seriously. Remember you told me about the politician and his wife. Don’t tell me your roster of clients doesn’t include a few A-listers.’
He rolled to a stop at the intersection leading out of her subdivision and covered his smile by kissing her hand. ‘How long have you been waiting to ask me that?’
‘A couple of weeks,’ she admitted, and gave him a poke in the shoulder. ‘How many?’
‘A few, and no, I’m not naming names. Our clients aren’t famous, but they are notorious.’
‘Are they bi? Or just looking to swap?’
‘All right, listen,’ Quinn said and raised their hands between them. ‘It’s not even six o’clock. That means we have five hours before the action starts, and if you don’t mind I want to make the most of those five hours. You look great, I look great. I’ve got reservations for dinner and tickets to the party at the Hilton. Please, just for five hours, can we have some fucking fun?’
Her curiosity remained unquenched, but Molly let it go.
‘Fucking fun’ with Quinn for the night sounded like a perfect way to spend the evening.
The city teemed with cars and people, as though the buildings had taken the night off and just thrust them all out into the streets. It took four spins around the parking garage before Quinn found a spot. Parking in his own garage and taking the fifteen-minute walk had been out of the question, a decision confirmed during a cold five-minute trek to the restaurant that left her teeth chattering, her ass frozen and her nipples like pebbles. She stole some of his warmth in the foyer of the restaurant as they waited to be seated, burrowing against him, wrapped inside his coat. The wine at the bar melted the chill under her skin, and a second glass over dinner warmed her bones and turned her frisky.
‘I’m going to cuff you to the chair in a minute,’ he teased, chasing her hand away from where it had strayed to his thigh for the umpteenth time, but he dragged her chair closer. ‘How does a bit of dancing feel?’
She let out a delighted laugh. ‘Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I’ve gone dancing?’
‘Not as long as I have, I bet. I once took a ballroom dancing class because I got it into my head that I could pick up some business there when I first moved here.’
‘How did that work out for you?’
‘Horribly. None of the women could afford me, but I did learn to dance.’
‘Are you sure it’s a good idea?’
He tilted his head. ‘Sorry?’
Molly slung her arms around his neck. The restaurant had been merely buzzing when they’d first come in, but, as the clock ticked closer to midnight and the liquor flowed, the volume went up.
‘I said, are you sure it’s a good idea?’ she said close to his ear, and took a moment to breathe him in before continuing. God, he made her mouth water. ‘We’ll get all sweaty. You’ll show up tonight with pit-stains and I’ll have raccoon eyes and everything will be ruined.’
‘Sweetheart, you are going to look as gorgeous at midnight as you did when you walked in the door. Indulge me. I want to show off tonight.’
‘I can’t ballroom dance.’
‘You can if I lead. Trust me.’
She kissed him just below his ear and tittered. ‘You keep saying that.’
‘And you keep on doing it.’
Dessert was served in a nearby coffee shop, a paper cup filled with scalding espresso and hot chocolate, topped with a mountain of whipped cream, and they split a cinnamon roll between them. Her liquor buzz was replaced with sugar buzz, and by the time she linked arms with him and headed to the Hilton for the party she was ready to trust him again.
‘Here. Give them to me so your feet don’t give up on me,’ he said, gesturing to her shoes, as they left their coats. ‘You can put them back on when you’re ready to take the rest of it off.’
‘Then you take that tie off,’ she countered, giving it a tug. ‘Put it in my pocket, and I’ll give it back to you when you’re ready to take the rest of your clothes off.’
‘Deal.’
He wrangled a shoe into each of his coat pockets and tucked his tie into hers, and they headed for the ballroom.
As the music poured out, Molly gave him a sideways look. ‘That doesn’t sound like ballroom music.’
‘I was going to say …’ He cocked his head and laughed. ‘Swing music? Really? I thought this crap had its day back in the 90s.’
She laughed. ‘Thank God. I was trying to humour you, but I really didn’t want to go all Dancing With The Stars tonight. This I can dance to. All you have to do is jump and wiggle around a lot. Trust me.’
He rolled his eyes and made a face once they were on the dancefloor, but it only took one song for him to get into it. She watched him come undone as she predicted, with wet patches under his arms and across his back, and during trips to the bathroom she saw her veneer peeling.
During an intermission at the bar, Quinn pulled the watch from his pocket and tapped the surface. ‘Soon.’
‘It can’t be that late.’
‘It’s only ten o’clock, but we’re getting soggy and I could go for a shower before things get moving. Besides, I want a quiet moment alone with you tonight to keep me going.’
She offered him the last few sips of her water and looked around the ballroom. ‘In case I forget to say it, thanks. I’m having so much fun, and I’m kind of sorry we didn’t get to do this sooner.’
He drained the bottle and swallowed hard. ‘Do what?’
‘Go on a date. This is our first, you know. We’ve popped out to grab a bite before, but this is something else.’
‘Well, we are the most unconventional couple in the room.’ He left the empty bottle on the bar and groaned as he rolled from the stool. ‘God, my body can’t take much more of this. Promise me if I wake up before noon tomorrow you’ll club me back to sleep.’
* * *
At a quarter to ten, Molly noticed something familiar on the short route they took to their rendezvous point. As soon as he signalled to turn into his parking garage, she sat up straight. ‘Please don’t tell me we’re going to the St James.’
‘We’re not going to the St James,’ he said playfully.
&
nbsp; ‘We’re meeting them at your apartment?’ It was less a question and more a statement of disbelief. ‘I didn’t think you did that.’
‘I don’t, but tonight is the night I make an exception. I want this to be on my own territory.’
‘Is that OK? Isn’t this like Batman inviting folks over for tea at Wayne Manor?’
‘They won’t tell anyone.’
She wanted to ask how he could be sure, but just breathed out. She was in his hands and she put her faith in him. Tonight was his night, and, even though he’d collect his payment for the last time, this was his scene to set.
Once they were inside, pockets were emptied and purses were left on the kitchen counter. Jackets were discarded on the sofa, and clothes left on the bathroom floor. After so much movement and noise, the sanctuary of Quinn’s shower was just what was needed.
Under the spray and the steam, lips moved nonstop but there were no words. He shielded her from the brunt of the spray and Molly drank him in. Alcohol and sugar had nothing on the high she got from being this close to him.
‘Find me at midnight,’ she said against his skin. ‘Whatever happens, I want this when the new year comes.’
He cupped her cheeks with his wet hands and lifted her face. ‘I’ll find you. You know I love you, don’t you?’
His admission hadn’t left her enough breath to speak above a whisper. She stroked the brawny expanse of his chest and smiled up at him. ‘I know, and I love you, too.’
They fused together, chest to chest, mouth to mouth. The point of burning light in her chest spread outward, along the arms that clung tighter, to the tips of the toes she stood on to deepen their kiss. His firm embrace squeezed her, python-like, and a deep sound of need rumbled out of him and hung over them, trapped like the steam.
After what seemed an aeon but she supposed was only a moment, his grip softened and moved over her body, down her back and across her buttocks, and then he reached past her for the small caddy suctioned to the tile. The warmth left by their emotional admissions turned hot as slippery palms and fingers cleansed and explored.
She leaned back and let the shower wall support her as Quinn fell to his knees. She thought back to the first full night they’d spent together when, in the tub, they’d opened the door to this togetherness. It overwhelmed her, and as soon as he got to his feet she held onto him again.
‘Wait for me in the bedroom,’ he whispered when they broke at last, and he opened the shower door. ‘I’ll never wash off this stink with you in here to play with.’
She looked down to where his erection strained away from his balls. ‘You’re not going to …’
‘If I was going to, I would do it before I put you out of the shower.’
‘Just checking.’
She dried off at the foot of his bed, and by the time he emerged she had moved down into the living room. Red shoes back on, she had also slipped on his tie. She had adopted his pose and was channelling the man who for over a decade and a half had charmed women from one coast to another.
Shrugging into his robe, Quinn descended the stairs with a grin. At the bottom he stopped and leaned against the banisters. ‘The tie looks much better on you.’
‘I wouldn’t say that, but it does match my shoes.’
‘And the lips, and probably other places.’
She thought about uncrossing her legs to give him his answer, but she wanted to fulfil her role of the master seducer, so she merely cocked her head at him.
‘Nice robe. You look like some billionaire sugar daddy and I’m some treat you get to yourself after a hard day at work.’
‘If you think about it, it’s not that far off, is it? I’m no billionaire, but I’m not hurting, and you have been the little treat I get to come home to at the end of the day.’
She turned to look at the digital clock on the oven. ‘Ten fifty-six. Either your clients are going to be prompt or they’re going to be late.’
He crossed towards the door, pausing en route to tug the tie around her neck. Molly didn’t break her pose until she heard him throw the bolt on the door.
‘Actually,’ he said once she’d twisted around. ‘I think we’re ready.’
Chapter Twelve
Dumbfounded, she watched as Quinn went from the door to the kitchen. He pulled out a drawer and withdrew a white envelope. As he brought it into the living room, she could see it bore the letterhead of her hotel.
He passed her and went to the dining area, where he turned on the light over the table before tossing the envelope into the centre of that glass and iron abomination.
‘When we first met, I gave you the gist of it: my time is very valuable. Not everyone can afford me. In past New Year’s Eve nights, I walked away with ten thousand dollars. That was my price for the evening, and I’m worth every penny. Not this year. This year, I’m taking the night off. I’ve had dinner, I’ve had some fun, and now I’m going to ring in the new year by spending some of my hard-earned money.’
He gestured for her to join him. Molly didn’t move. She stared at him, mouth open as she tried to make sense of his spiel.
‘Right,’ she said, and sat on the edge of the sofa. Then: ‘Wait – sorry, what?’
He crooked his fingers at her again. When she still didn’t move he shot her an impatient look and pointed at her, then at the floor in front of him.
That commanding gesture yanked her to her feet. Every part of her body simmered as she watched him rip into the sealed envelope and show her the fat stack of bills inside.
‘You’ve got one hell of a mouth and once you get going, you’re insatiable,’ he told her, ‘and nothing is sweeter to look at than your ass after you’ve had a good smack, but you’re still a rookie. You’d never get ten grand, and I’m not going to give it to you either. You get my Monday-to-Friday rate tonight, with another thousand on top just because I’m fair.’
She shook her head. ‘I can’t take your money.’
‘You took Simon’s, you can take mine.’ He placed the envelope in front of her. ‘I don’t care what you do with it, but you’ll take it and you’ll give me a night to remember.’
She tucked her finger into the envelope and peered inside. All those pink fifty-dollar bills, so clean and unblemished, and all hers if she wanted them.
And she did. It wasn’t just the money, but it was what the money meant: tonight, she’d be Quinn’s. She’d always been Quinn’s, his to push down and raise up, to touch and to taste, to bring to the brink and hang over a flashing, stormy abyss only to pull her away and begin the journey again.
If she took his money, she’d be his to fuck.
‘Count it out,’ she said, and slid the envelope back in front of him.
He raised his brows at her. ‘You don’t trust me?’
‘No, no, you have a face I can trust. I just want to hear you count it out.’
One hundred. Two hundred. Three hundred. She kept her eyes on the growing stack of money as that rich, husky voice counted out every second drop. He didn’t let them fall into a pile like she had. He made a neat stack of a thousand and slid them forward before starting on another.
‘And that makes four thousand.’ He pushed that last stack to the middle of the table and crossed his arms over his chest. ‘Make sure you give me my money’s worth.’
Molly fiddled with the end of the tie and looked up at him. ‘Where do you want me?’
‘I’m feeling nostalgic.’ He pulled out the chair closest to him and sank down. ‘To start, get on your knees and suck my cock.’
Ever the gentleman, even when the crassest direction came out of his mouth, Quinn held his hand out to her. She took it, and reserved a moment to slide her fingers along his and underneath. The marred surface bumped beneath her fingertips, having the same effect on her as it had all those weeks ago. A gentleman for now, maybe, but once the blood began to pump and the need began to build, that man with the jagged edges and unrelenting hunger would be unleashed.
She claspe
d his hand and knelt, a mere peasant to this King of Sins.
As she unloosed the knot at his waist, Quinn settled back in his seat, one elbow resting on the table. ‘Did you refresh your lipstick because you knew you’d be in this position?’
‘Of course. I wanted to look my best for my client,’ she replied softly, and with sweeping movements she drew the belt apart.
‘Did it matter that you might be sucking off someone other than me?’
Molly grinned and grasped the edges of his robe. ‘It didn’t matter when I was sucking Simon.’
He clasped her wrists and leaned forward until his face was in hers. ‘But what if someone had walked in here, taken one look at you and decided he wanted a little alone time?’
‘For one, you never would have let that happen, but even if you had, I would have done it and I would have loved it.’
‘Because you love having your mouth fucked,’ he goaded her.
‘Yes, and because it would get me off to tell you about it afterwards.’
She twisted her wrists and unlocked his grip on her. He resumed his pose and opened his legs around her as she drew apart his robe.
‘I never would have let it happen,’ he told her slyly. ‘Don’t mistake me, you’d be getting your mouthful, but I would have insisted that things would be more exciting with an audience. You know how much I love watching you work a hard cock.’
‘Oh, I know. I know just what to do to turn you on.’ Molly ran her hands along his thighs and watched the dark hair stand up in her wake. ‘I would have given him more than his money’s worth, just like I’m giving you more than your money’s worth.’
Without breaking her gaze with him, she dipped down and swirled her tongue around the smooth pink crest that arced towards her. Quinn drew his brows together and his short intake of breath expelled as a moan.
She grinned at his reaction, and couldn’t close her lips around him. So she continued to grin as she ran her tongue down the smooth underside of his shaft and back up again. Then her smile vanished, wiped away by the rush of arousal that came from that first taste. She puckered her mouth and closed her eyes as inch after thick inch slid over her tongue.
Holding My Breath Page 20