by Opal Carew
He drew her folds apart with his thumbs. The coolness of the air washed over the newly exposed flesh, but heat flared through her. He smiled as he leaned in closer. When she felt his lips touch her, she moaned.
His tongue dragged over her folds, driving her wild. She curled her fingers through his sandy-brown hair and held him to her. His tongue flicked over her clit. Pleasure flashed through her. When his fingers found her opening, she widened her legs, welcoming his thick digits as two slid inside her slick passage.
“Oh, God, Austin, that feels so good.”
They glided inside her again and again as he lapped at her clit. Pleasure spiraled through her, higher and higher. His tongue vibrated for several seconds, then he suckled. Blissful sensations quivered through her, and she moaned.
His mouth drew away, but his fingers stroked deeply inside her.
“I’m going to make you come, sweetheart. I want you to say my name when you do.”
She arched against his hand, needing him deeper. Wanting his mouth back.
She nodded. She’d do anything for the release he promised.
He chuckled and swooped down on her again. His tongue teased, then he began to suckle her little button again.
“Yes,” she groaned. “That’s so good.”
He suckled harder, and she felt a tidal wave of pleasure sweep through her. It rose higher and higher.
“Oh, I’m going to…” She gasped as ecstasy claimed her.
Through the haze of delight, she cried, “Austin, you’re making me come.”
His fingers glided into her faster. She rode the wave … on and on. When it started to subside, he stroked her clit with his finger, his others still moving inside her.
“Oh, God,” she squeaked as the pleasure rose even more.
The orgasm flowed through her with ease, a fast and steady stream of pure euphoria.
After a long time, his fingers slowed, and her body relaxed. When he finally settled on the couch beside her, she was sucking in air.
Then Austin leaned in and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately.
“Thank you,” she murmured against his ear.
He drew back, his eyes glowing. “The pleasure was totally mutual.”
Austin shifted back onto the couch. She smiled, then sat up, smoothing down her dress. Then she saw Quinn and froze.
How had she forgotten he was watching?
12
At the sight of April’s enormous eyes, Quinn chuckled.
“Don’t worry, baby. That was the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.”
So hot he’d almost come watching, pumping his cock at the incredible sight of her face in blissful surrender. But he’d forced himself to slow down, anticipating when he could plunge inside her and take her to ecstasy all over again. He’d tucked away his cock when Austin had leaned in to kiss her.
It bothered him that Austin was getting so close to her, but it shouldn’t. Austin wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize their friendship.
April chewed on her lip as she picked up her champagne flute and sipped. Her eyes lit up.
“This is delicious.” She tipped back the glass again.
Quinn sipped his, appreciating the floral and fruity components with a light and elegant finish. He wouldn’t tell her the champagne cost more than his first car.
Austin picked up the bottle and refilled all their glasses, then held his up.
“To what’s shaping up to be a fabulous month together,” Austin said.
April and Quinn lifted their glasses, too, and they all clinked together. April drank, then set down her empty glass. Austin picked up the almost empty bottle and refilled her glass almost to the rim, draining the last of the bottle.
She picked it up and took a couple of sips. Then she giggled. “This really is good champagne.”
“Be careful,” Quinn said. “It’ll go straight to your head.”
They’d all been drinking steadily this evening, and April had had a couple of glasses of the rose absinthe. He wanted her alert and cognizant when he finally took her to heaven. He wanted her to be swept away into exquisite ecstasy and to know it was him who was giving her such intense pleasure.
April turned to him, and with a flash of defiance in her eyes, tipped the half-full glass back and drained it.
He was tempted to call her out for it. To order her to come over and lie across his lap so he could spank her. The thought of pulling up her skirt and revealing her naked ass had his cock swelling. He could imagine her smooth, round cheek under his hand, the skin silky smooth. Then the feel of it heating up as he smacked it until it glowed red.
He sipped his champagne, resisting adjusting his aching cock as it strained against his pants.
He could just walk over there right now and pull up her dress, then drive into her. He’d enjoy the warmth of her soft body around him as he pumped deep, filling her over and over until her face glowed in ecstasy. She would call out his name, like she had with Austin. And when she did, he’d explode deep inside her, coming so hard she’d never forget it.
But he didn’t want their first time to be on the couch in a gaming suite, no matter how luxurious. And especially not right where she’d just given his best friend a blow job and been pleasured by him in return.
“Why don’t we take this party back to our suite?” Quinn said.
* * *
As soon as they stepped outside and breathed in the night air, Quinn’s head started to spin. Whoa, and he’d been worried about April and the champagne. It was having a bigger effect on him than he’d thought. As they walked, April tripped, then stumbled against Austin. His friend’s arm slid around her, stopping her from falling.
She giggled. “You’re right. The champagne did go to my head.”
Quinn was very conscious of the fact that Austin’s arm stayed around her as they continued walking. He wasn’t jealous as much as he wanted to be the one taking care of her. April seemed so comfortable with Austin. So willing to let him do things to help her, but with Quinn, she insisted on paying him back.
Which confused him because if she really were a gold digger, why wouldn’t she just take the money? He’d thought it was pride, or more likely she’d make a lot of noise about paying him back while they both knew it would never happen because she didn’t have the means.
Back in college when they’d been dating, he never would have believed that she’d be the type to go after a man’s money. Not until she’d broken up with him and within weeks was hanging on Maurice’s arm.
He stopped walking. A moment later, Austin and April stopped, too, and stared at him inquiringly.
“April, why did you break up with me in college?” Quinn asked.
She frowned and drew away from Austin. “I told you, it just wasn’t working between us.”
It had been a shock to him when she’d ended it, simply saying that the relationship wasn’t working. He’d thought it was more because she thought he was frustrated about them not having sex. He’d even brought it up, assuring her that he was okay with her reasons for waiting, but she’d denied that was the problem.
“Was it because you’d already met your next boyfriend?” The accusation flashed through his mind and out of his mouth before he could stop it.
Her eyes widened, and the pain in those depths told him he’d hurt her. His heart compressed at his callousness.
“April, tell him the truth,” Austin said.
She gazed at Austin, then bit her lip as she turned back to Quinn.
“The truth?” Quinn glanced from Austin to April. “What’s going on, April?”
Then she shook her head and stared down at her hands.
“Then I’ll tell him,” Austin said. “April broke up with you because she was afraid of being hurt. You didn’t understand it back then, and she was just trying to deal with her issues, but you were throwing yourself into your work, as usual, and she felt abandoned. She didn’t want to make you choose
between her and your work, so she chose for you.”
“That’s not fair. If I had known—”
“There are a lot of ifs, buddy. But April was struggling with new feelings. Of belonging. Of being cared for. Being with you prompted needs in her that she didn’t know how to deal with. When you seemed to be pulling away, she was afraid. So she decided to end it before she fell in love with you. But in my opinion, it was too late.”
Quinn remembered that during their conversation this morning, she’d commented on how hard he’d worked in college. He’d taken it as an accusation that he had neglected her, but she’d denied that was why she’d left. Austin’s words gave him more insight. Of course she wouldn’t admit that was the reason, because she wouldn’t even consider laying blame on him for the relationship ending.
“I don’t understand. I wasn’t gone that much.”
Then he remembered canceling their date on the night she’d wanted to make a special dinner for him. He’d finally figured out a bug in his software program, and he’d wanted to fix it right away. He’d wound up working through the night. Then he’d canceled the concert a week later.
But he hadn’t been neglecting her. He’d loved being with her.
He also knew, however, that when he was really caught up in a project, he was so focused he tended to lose track of time.
“Was I really gone that much?” he asked, more of himself.
April didn’t answer, still staring downward.
He stepped toward her and took her hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Slowly, she raised her face. Her blue eyes were haunted with sorrow.
“Because I would never ask you to change who you are for me.”
“Ah, fuck.” He pulled her into his arms. “I was such an idiot back then.” He hugged her tightly against him, pain searing through his chest. “If I had known…” He nuzzled her hair. “You were the most important thing in the world to me. I would have given anything to keep you in my life.”
“I know,” she whispered.
And she’d already said she wouldn’t ask him to.
“Fuck, it was my fault.” He held her tighter, never wanting to let her go.
Several long moments passed while he clung to her. Finally, Austin cleared his throat and rested his hand on Quinn’s shoulder.
“Let’s get back to the hotel,” Austin said.
Quinn drew back, but then slid her to his side and kept his arm around her as they walked.
Why hadn’t he been able to see what was happening back then? He had lost so much. She had lost so much.
He had to question everything. He’d labeled her a gold digger because … well, fuck, it had been easier to believe that than anything else. His whole world had tumbled off-kilter when she’d left him, and that was the only explanation that had made any sense to him.
Maurice might be a total asshole, but he’d lavished April with attention back then, and that had been exactly what she’d needed. He could see how she would convince herself she was in love with the guy.
Fuck, Quinn now realized it had been his fault she’d wound up with Maurice. That meant everything that happened after was his fault, too. Like the predicament she was in now.
Hell, she wasn’t in his debt. He was in hers.
Sure, he’d paid off the bill the asshole had left her with, but she’d lost so much more than that. This arrangement they had … it wasn’t fair to expect her to honor that.
But how could he give it up? He thought he’d die if he didn’t satisfy his primal need to be with her.
She leaned her head against his shoulder with a sigh, warming his heart.
The hotel was two blocks away. He felt his pulse accelerate as they walked, knowing they were getting closer to that moment. When he finally had her in his bed, he’d show her how much she meant to him.
A couple ahead of them turned and entered a neon-lit wedding chapel. Before they reached the door, another couple burst into the night, laughing, the woman clinging to a small bouquet of flowers wrapped with lace and ribbon.
April slowed to a stop as she watched the couple hurry away, holding hands and laughing. Quinn gazed at her wistful eyes.
“What’s wrong, April?” Austin asked.
But then understanding flared in Austin’s eyes as he saw where she was looking. At the same time Quinn figured it out.
She chewed her lip. “Nothing. It’s just … today was supposed to be my wedding day.”
Fuck, he knew she’d lost a lot, but all he’d thought about were material things. And the loss of a guy she was better off without.
But there was so much more. She’d lost the promise of a future with a man who loved her. Someone who would be there for her and support her when she needed it.
“That’s true.” Quinn squeezed her hand. “And you know what? You deserve to have that special day.” He led her toward the chapel.
13
“What are you talking about?”
Confusion swirled through April as Quinn clung tightly to her hand and hurried her toward the neon sign.
“You and I,” Quinn said. “We’re getting married.”
She stopped dead in her tracks, pulling Quinn to a stop.
“You can’t be serious. You’ve been very clear that’s not what you want.”
“I am serious. And don’t worry. We can have it annulled later. I just want you to be a bride today. I don’t want you to lose that, too.”
“Hey, that’s a great idea,” Austin said. “I want to marry her, too. Then her wedding day will be twice as good.”
Quinn chuckled. He leaned in and whispered, “I haven’t seen Austin drunk very often, but when he is, he makes terrible decisions, and he’s very exuberant about them. Clearly, tonight is no different.”
“And your decision isn’t bad?” she asked.
He grasped her shoulders and stared at her intently. “No, baby. Marrying you could never be a bad idea.”
She gazed into his decisive blue eyes. The warmth and caring there left her speechless.
Oh, God, she knew she should protest as he tugged her into the building, but her head was so foggy, and deep down, she didn’t want to stop this.
What happened next became hazy, but she remembered saying, “I do,” and Quinn slipping a ring on her finger. Then she was walking outside again, and it was Austin holding her hand. They went a block or so, and there was another building and another “I do.”
Austin kissed her, and they walked into the night again, April clinging to a bouquet of lovely pink roses. When did she get those? The first wedding, she was pretty sure. She remembered clinging to them as they walked to the second place. She held them to her nose and breathed in the delicate scent as they walked.
Finally, they reached the hotel. When they stepped inside, the lights and noise from the slot machines, paired with the thrum of voices and frenetic energy around them, revived her.
Quinn hurried her into the nearest elevator, and the doors whooshed closed behind them.
* * *
Quinn held on tightly to April’s hand as if afraid that somehow she would slip away. Austin pressed the button for their floor, and the elevator started to move.
Quinn couldn’t believe she was his wife now. Legally married. His ring on her finger.
And now they were headed to their suite. On their honeymoon.
His body ached at the thought of finally being able to make love to her. To hold her close. To touch her. Feel her soft, naked skin. To caress her breasts and stroke her intimate places.
His groin tightened. He couldn’t wait to pull off her clothes and see her completely naked. Then to explore every part of her. His cock swelled at the thought of sliding inside her.
His urgent need for her pulsed through his body. And knowing she was his wife made the anticipation more intense. She leaned her head against his shoulder, and his cock pulsed with need. He slid his arm around her and drew her soft body close to his.
Fuck,
he could take her right here in the elevator.
She gazed up at him and smiled. He couldn’t help himself. He cupped her cheek with one hand and captured her lips, thrusting his tongue inside. He pulled her against him as he stroked her tongue, then suckled it into his mouth.
Her arms slid around his neck. The bouquet still clutched in her fingers brushed the back of his head. He arched, pressing the bulge of his straining erection into her belly. It was heaven having her in his arms like this.
Austin chuckled. “I’d tell you two to get a room, but we already have one.”
A ding signaled that the elevator had arrived, then the doors slid open. Austin was out first, and Quinn grabbed April’s hand again and hastened her down the hall. He needed to get her behind closed doors.
Austin slid the key card into the slot, and as soon as the green light flashed, Quinn dragged her frantically into the suite. Once Austin was inside, Quinn grabbed the bouquet from April’s hand and tossed it to his friend, then surged forward, trapping her between his body and the heavy wooden door.
He felt like a wild man, desperate to be inside her. Now.
He kissed her deeply, then arched his hips, pressing his hard cock against her. She whimpered.
“This dress is in the fucking way.” He reached around and unzipped it, then slid it down until it fell to the floor.
His gaze fell to her naked pussy, and his cock lurched. He reached around behind her and unhooked her bra, then stripped it away.
Oh, God, her breasts were full and round, with beautiful dusky rose nipples blossoming to tight buds as he watched. He cupped her soft mounds, heat jolting through him at the exquisite feel of them. His thumbs glided over her hard nubs, teasing them lightly.
Austin stood a few feet away, leaning against the wall, watching them. He was clearly mesmerized by the sight of April’s glorious breasts, too.
Quinn found her mouth again, pulling her tightly to his body, loving the feel of her bead-hard nipples pressing into his chest. He loved how soft and surrendering she was in his arms. Against his mouth.