Despite the telltale ache in her lower regions, Mick hungered for him and moved to straddle his lap. Quest groaned, he wanted her more every time he had her. Somehow, this time, he found the will to resist. Pressing a kiss to the end of her nose when she watched him disappointedly, he turned her away from him. “I don’t want any excuses tonight,” he whispered close to her cheek.
~~~
“I can’t believe you’ve never shared this place with your family,” Mick noted, stretching her bare legs out against the lounge.
“What for?” Quest focused on the scene of the sparkling lake before the trees in the distance that afternoon.
Mick watched him in disbelief. “Look at this,” she ordered, waving her hand toward the beauty they enjoyed from their spots on the deck. “It’d be an incredible place for family reunions, birthday parties, barbeques…”
By the time Mick was done with her events list, Quest sat watching her as if she’d gone mad. “Michaela, that is something I’d never consider. My family is a disaster waiting to happen,” he admitted, pressing one hand to the front of his burgundy T-shirt as though confirming the sincerity of his words. “I’m not exaggerating here. Disaster can and always does strike whenever we all get together.”
Mick waved her hand. “But that’s forgivable where family is concerned?”
“Hmph, that’s because you’ve never been around us,” he explained, leaning back against the lounge while crossing his legs at the ankles. “There’s always someone arguing over money or insurance or who got richer, who cheated who and with who and who did what fifty years ago. I could go on.”
“Spare me,” Mick tiredly urged, tugging on the hem of her gray and baby-blue tank top.
“So you don’t believe me?” he asked, looking over at her. “Alright,” he turned to face her across the small wooden table between their lounges, “let me just start by telling you about my cousins. I’ve got one who’s a bounty hunter and was so low he once courted the woman of the man he was trying to capture just to get the guy out of hiding. One who’s intentionally gone after the lovers of his enemies just to stick it to ‘em and prove who’s the more powerful adversary. One who’s done time, one who’s made his fortune from all the senators and governors he carries in his pocket and then there’s my brother who has a temper so foul it’s actually frightened people to the point of not wanting to leave their homes.”
Mick propped her chin against her palm. “And just where do you fit into this collage of rough riders? Are you telling me you haven’t been so terrible?”
Quest’s expression darkened like the gray in his eyes. “I’ve probably been the worst of all,” he admitted, looking down at his hands clenching and unclenching. “I’ve intimidated, used muscle to get my way, unnerved people sometimes without merit-by showing them that silence can be just as potent as a loud temper. I’ve ruined quite a few engagements, but none of that holds a candle to helping conceal certain things my brother and cousins have done. In doing that, I may have contributed just as much in preventing them from having a better shot at being better than what they were.”
Mick offered no words of wisdom, knowing Quest needed to vent. She felt it was something he’d rarely, if ever, allowed himself to do. In spite of all the luxuries at his fingertips, she could see the horrors as well. A life of privilege could be as destructive as one of poverty, she guessed. Still, for the chance at having a family of her own, she would gladly have chosen his life over hers.
~~~
Quest carried Mick right back to bed following a late supper that evening. Her arms were linked around his neck in much the same fashion that her shapely legs were locked around his back. They kissed slowly- deeply savoring every thrust and caress of their tongues. Soft moans filled the air and added more sensuality to the darkened scene.
Quest kicked the bedroom door shut and Mick broke the kiss. She gave a start, seeing the transformation the room had undergone.
“So this is what you were doing when you left the dining room for fifteen minutes,” she said, taking in the sea of candles that cast their wild flickering shadows across the walls.
“Surprised?” he queried while lowering her to the center of the stunning bed.
Mick could offer no response, she was so in awe of him. Lying there, she watched him shed the T-shirt he wore, leaving him clothed in a pair of black cotton sleep pants. Her fingers flexed, eager to graze the solid molasses wall of his chest.
Quest joined her on the bed, intending to massage every part of her body- first with his hands and then with his mouth. His fingers penetrated the supple line of her leg, traveling onward until he cradled a small foot in his hand.
Mick arched and moaned, feeling his fingers provide a soothing massage to her toes before he suckled them one by one. Her eyes opened to thin slits and she watched him, looking even more darkly gorgeous as he focused on pleasing her. His fingertips began to play along the sleek line of her calf, stopping to tease the soft flesh behind her knee. Soon, his lips were charting the same trail. Slowly, he brought himself closer until he was smothering her bare, silken form. They shared another deep kiss, only the faint snap of flickering firelight mingling with their whispered words of desire.
Mick’s moans of disappointment transcended into sighs of pleasure when Quest broke the kiss to glide his mouth across her neck. She leaned into the sweet treat, unconsciously holding her breath when he tongued the base of her throat and curve of her breasts. At last, he was fulfilling her with the most intimate kiss. His tongue delved deeply inside her as his hands cupped her bottom to settle her more snuggly against his mouth.
Mick could scarcely breathe, especially once he added the touch of his fingers. She gasped his name softly yet uncontrollably as wave upon erotic wave engulfed her. Quest pleasured her shamelessly as though her breathless cries were fueling his desire to do so. His fingers manipulated her firm nipples with intermittent squeezes and strokes, and he groaned every time his tongue delved deeper inside the fragrant warmth of her femininity. He satisfied her with one orgasm after another- each more powerful than the last. Mick was as limp as a wilted flower when he was done, yet her surprise was obvious when he pressed a gentle kiss to her temple and ordered her to sleep.
“What about you?” she whispered, feeling his unsated arousal nudging her thigh.
He smiled and kissed her mouth that time. “I’m fine,” he said and pulled her into a spooning embrace. “That was for you.”
Mick blinked, completely shocked by him. Shaking her head in disbelief, she tugged his hand from where it lay next to her hip and kissed his palm. she would never love another man as she loved him.
~~~
The rest of the week passed in much the same manner. Mick never realized there were so many ways a man and woman could love each other. She found that physical pleasure was so much sweeter when the real emotions of love and respect were there. And she did love him, knowing he’d been waiting to hear her say the words. She feared if she did, the magic would end. Something would sour.
“Tell me about Driggers,” Quest asked one evening they danced in the den while waiting for his quiche to finish baking.
Mick laughed, fiddling with the tassels on his Howard sweatshirt. “You tell me. What’d you think when you found out I had a houseman?”
“I thought his voice was too deep,” Quest answered without hesitation, linking his fingers at the small of her back. “I had to see him for myself.”
“And when you did?”
Quest rolled his eyes. “I didn’t care if he was fifty-something. The man’s too ripped for his age.”
“Try sixty-something and yeah, he is a handsome devil,” Mick sighed, her amber eyes sparkling as though she was envisioning Driggers then.
“No family?” Quest asked.
“They died one night in a fire,” Mick’s expression clouded. “Kerosene heater malfunctioned. I’d been looking for someone and when he interviewed for the position, I asked about his family. He t
old me that story and he had my heart. Over the years, I’ve loved him more every day. He’s like the father I never had the chance to know.”
Quest stroked her back, left bare by the cut of her blue and green striped sundress. “What happened to him?”
Mick blinked and shook the curls from her face. “He died shortly after I was born. At least that’s what she told me.”
“She?”
“My mother,” Mick grimaced when she uttered the word. “I really believe she never knew who he was.”
Quest heard the pain in her voice and knew she was only pretending to be unaffected by it. “Where is she now?”
Mick shrugged. “I don’t know. She left when I was eight. I remember that day so clear,” she looked as though she couldn’t quite believe it. “I cried so hard. My mother never told me she loved me, but the day she left I told her. I childishly believed those three words held some power that would change things. They didn’t. She didn’t even act like she heard me even though I yelled it at the top of my lungs.” Her hands tightened reflexively across Quest’s forearms.
“Did she leave you with friends?” he asked.
Mick’s lips curved into a dark smile. “That would’ve been too loving. Instead, she left me in a rat-infested apartment where I spent a week before a concerned teacher came looking for me.”
Quest had stopped swaying to the music long ago. Now he pulled her to sit with him on the sofa. Mick continued to talk about her foster homes, foster fathers who were more interested in sleeping in her room than their own. She was always fighting to stay ahead of their games. Fighting and winning, but fighting just the same.
Quest felt his jaw muscle tightening with murderous rage. He let go of Mick’s hands, afraid that he would crush them out of the anger he felt over what she’d had to endure.
Mick laughed nervously and wiped at the tears pooling her eyes. “I’ve been fighting to hold onto my virginity for years.”
The left dimple flashed when Quest smiled. “I still find it so unreal. I hope that doesn’t offend you?”
Mick shook her head. “I found it unreal myself. Lots of times,” she admitted, toying with the edge of a throw pillow. “I just couldn’t let go and be with a man that way if I didn’t truly believe he could be with me-always.”
Quest nodded, understanding why she’d feel that way. After all she’d endured- all the loss she’d experienced. “Did anyone else ever come close?” he had to ask.
Mick shrugged. “A few, but they didn’t stick around long once they realized I wanted to know them better before going to the next level. Then I realized they wanted to know me on that basic level first before moving forward- if they ever intended to move forward,” her gaze appeared distant then. “I watched my mother dish out sex like it was ice cream in hopes of keeping a man. It never worked. The men always ate and ran and I swore I’d never be used that way. Especially when the stakes could be so high. Facing that sort of reality growing up, virginity, or the loss of it, was a huge deal to me.” She blinked and smoothed her hand over Quest’s forearm. “You frightened the hell out of me,” she told him, “I didn’t give a damn about knowing you first. I wanted to know you and cursed myself because you could make me feel that way, desire-filled and only complete in your arms. You’re the very first man who ever appealed to me so soon and on every level.”
Quest leaned close and pressed his forehead to hers. “Then that’s something we definitely have in common because that’s exactly the way I feel about you.”
Mick searched his beautiful eyes. I love you, she wanted to tell him. Still, she feared the beauty and everything else the word implied would fade if she spoke it.
On cue, the oven timer sounded in the distance and she was more than grateful for the interruption.
~~~
The weather was warm enough that Saturday for Mick to enjoy the delightful pool in the backyard. She sat on the edge, trailing her toes across the water.
Quest studied her from afar, loving the daring bikini she sported, but hating the faraway look on her face. Her life had been filled with pain and all he wanted now was for her to know happiness and security. After a lifetime of protecting those he was linked to by blood, he wanted nothing more than to keep this woman sheltered from the demons of her past and any that sought to threaten her future.
Mick smiled and cuddled back into Quest’s warm embrace when he moved close behind her. His legs were on either side of her, his feet disappearing into the pool.
“You okay?” he asked against her hair.
Mick nodded. “Mmm-hmm, I’m fine,” she spoke honestly.
“So tell me about your dancing,” Quest hoped to bring her out of her doldrums.
It worked, Mick’s cloudy expression cleared at once. “I literally stepped into it. I was on campus during homecoming one year and found myself in the music hall. By mistake I interrupted their practice. If you could call it that,” she laughed, wiggling her toes in the water as she recalled the day.
Quest was laughing as well. “Quay would die if he knew he missed out on that performance I had the pleasure of enjoying.”
Mick turned a little in his arms. “And just how much of it did you enjoy?” she asked.
“All of it. All of you.”
Mick threw back her head and laughed. “Please! With all those younger, firmer girls bouncing around before you?”
Quest’s sleek brows rose as he considered her words. “Younger, yes. Firmer that you? Not a chance,” he declared.
Mick arched up to meet his kiss when he lowered his head. She cupped the back of his neck, her fingers stroking the soft close-cut hair that curled there. A delicious scene ensued in the warm sunlight and concluded in the sparkling coolness of the pool.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Michaela’s moan of disappointment echoed in the otherwise silent bedroom. She tried to push Quest’s head back beneath the covers as he emerged. She’d awakened that morning amidst sensational waves of another incredible orgasm courtesy of Quest Ramsey. Her dreams had been filled with erotic images of his potent lovemaking. Waking to find those dreams a reality made her pleasure that much more intense.
“I can top that,” Quest promised with a grin, when Mick tried to silently urge him to continue the sensational massage.
Mick’s eyes widened just as he kissed her and her delight returned as she suckled the taste of her body from his tongue.
Quest was settling himself, his hands curving around Mick’s thighs, when the doorbell rang. Slowly, he turned his head in the direction of the bedroom door. “Damn thing’s just for show,” he grumbled in reference to the bell. “It’ll go away,” he predicted.
Mick squealed when he began to nibble at her breasts. “You have to get it. It could be an emergency.”
The bell rang again and Quest uttered a savage curse before leaving the bed. Michaela giggled, watching him jerk into a pair of gray sweats. He whipped open the door before turning toward her.
“Stay,” he ordered, his gaze desire filled.
Mick snuggled back into bed, feeling more content than she could ever remember being. Quest hadn’t been gone five seconds when a tiny ring tone pierced the silence. She recognized the chiming of her cell phone, leaned over the side of the bed and pulled a black leather tote from beneath.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Ms. Sellars? This is Harriet Forman. The Forman Hotel?”
“Oh yes,” Mick breathed, propping herself up on her elbow.
“I’m sorry to be calling you so early-”
“No please, it’s fine. I assume this is about the investigation?”
“I remember something about that night. I can’t believe I’d forgotten it,” she said, sounding as though she were speaking to herself. “When I started looking through the file, it hit me.”
“I’m listening,” Mick said, already perched on the edge of the bed.
“On the night of the party, I was working the front desk at my parents’ hotel.
I took a break, and my curiosity led me to the eleventh floor where the party was being held. I remember feeling disappointed because things seemed so quiet and it looked like the party was over. So when I saw this guy going into the room, I was interested.”
“What guy?” Mick asked.
“This guy from the news photo. I’ve scanned the picture and I’ll email it to you. You could probably see him on your copy of the article, but I don’t want there to be any mistakes about who I’m referring to.”
“I appreciate that, Harriet. I haven’t been near a computer in almost a week, but I’ll call you as soon as I see it.”
“I circled his face and drew an arrow around it also,” Harriet said.
“You sound sure about this. Do you think he had something to do with what happened?”
“I don’t know, Michaela,” heaviness weighed on Harriet’s voice. “When he opened the door, a girl was giggling and I heard him call Sera by name.”
“Did you recognize him?”
“I tried to place him, but I can’t. I just can’t seem to remember who he is.”
Mick nodded. “Harriet, you’ve done a great job and I’m very thankful. I promise to call when I view the email.”
“Thanks Michaela.”
“You take care. Good-bye.”
When the connection ended, Mick tossed the phone to the bed. She clapped her hands to celebrate the break in the case and jumped up to tell Quest what she’d learned.
~~~
Quest’s handsome dark face harbored a glare as he watched his uncle down a second round of Scotch.
“How’d you find me?” Quest turned to prepare his own drink.
Marcus Ramsey chuckled. “When you’re a member of a family like the Ramseys, escaping reality isn’t only for vacation, it’s to maintain your sanity,” he shared, his dark eyes gleaming with smug delight. “The specific details on how I found you are my little secrets.”
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