Across The Hall (38 page)

reached down to feel her warm wet heat.

I had to have a taste. I let go of her nipple with one last flick of my tongue. I pul ed her hips to the edge of the couch and brought my lips down to

her. Her taste was something I’d craved while we were apart. Now that it was in front of me, I felt like a parched man at a drinking fountain. I took

long, slow licks, teasing her as she had teased me. I licked up and circled her clit before licking back down. She arched her hips to me every time I

passed her pearl. Final y I gave in and sucked on her. She cried out and pul ed my hair, pushing herself against me. I pushed her hips back down

and went back to tormenting her. She tasted so good. I just wanted to enjoy every minute I had with my mouth to her.

Soon her little cries and moans had me ready to bring her over the edge. I slipped my hand down and slowly slid a finger in, hooking and pul ing

back out, only to slide two back in. I pressed my tongue flat against her clit and felt her tighten al around me. She thrust her hips up once again and

pressed my head down into her. There was no better feeling on earth than knowing that I could make her body react like that. I held my tongue

against her until I felt her slowly relax. I gave her a few more gentle licks as she came down. I couldn’t wait any longer, and I pushed my boxers off as

I rose up to my knees.

“Sylvia, I don’t have a condom, love.” I didn’t want to stop but I would if she needed me too.

“It’s okay; I’m stil on the pil . Please Quinn. I need you inside me.” That was al the encouragement I needed.

With one swift stroke, I was in her. She was so hot and wet around me. She whimpered as I moaned her name. I couldn’t take it slow. I had to

have her. I gripped her hips as I slid back out. I thrust into her hard and fast. Her legs wrapped around my waist and she circled her hips, timed with

my thrusts. She brought her hands up to her breasts and I watched her pinch and rol her own nipples. It had to be the hottest thing I had ever seen. It

wasn’t long before she was cal ing out my name and tightening her legs around me. She pul ed me hard against herself with her legs as she went

over the edge. I groaned and came, too, shoving myself into her again.

We stayed just like that for several seconds. I reveled in the feeling of her surrounding me. Final y I pul ed away and joined her on the couch. She

curled up next to me, kissing me sweetly. We enjoyed the slow kisses while we let our bodies calm back down.

“Sylvia, I love you.” I whispered between kisses. I felt her lips curve up into a smile. Even though she didn’t answer me, I was sure it was just a

matter of time before she would.

I found myself in the window seat in the Lobatos’ family room, watching the lights glint on the cold glass. I couldn’t sleep, and I knew that my

restlessness was keeping Quinn from sleeping wel , so I had decided to get up and read. I had wandered down to the Lobatos’ family room but

once I was there I didn’t want to ruin the stil ness of the room combined with the faint lights from the tree. I had been childishly breathing on the glass

and drawing patterns in it.

I stil felt like crying over Dad. Coming to the Lobatos was both a blessing and a curse. It was good to be social again and they let me know I

belonged there with them. It was bad because the family setting made the pang from the loss of having none of my own more acute. I tried not to

think about what I would have been doing with him throughout the day. Everyone was wel aware of my internal struggle, even though they didn’t

mention it. They kept the conversations light and no one asked me how I was doing.

I drew in a deep breath and released it against the window again. I started over with a new design. I didn’t real y pay attention to what I was

drawing; I just moved my finger along the glass. I thought over the day and smiled. Quinn had come back for me. He hadn’t left me again, even

though I had given him reason to. The morning with him had been wonderful. It was exactly what both of us needed.

I only hoped that Quinn wasn’t upset that I stil hadn’t told him I loved him. I knew I did, I just couldn’t bring myself to say it yet. I knew that whatever

my future would bring, Quinn would be in it. That was just what I wanted. I was grateful for al he had done for me, yet there was stil a smal piece of

my heart missing. I knew he wouldn’t leave me again. I just didn’t understand how he could have left like that in the first place.

I gasped and jumped when an image in white floated in the reflection of the window. I turned, clutching my hand to my heart and looked at Quinn’s

grandmother standing beside me. She looked a little ghost like in her long white pajamas.

“I’m sorry dear,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

I smiled weakly at her. “That’s alright. I didn’t realize anyone else was awake. You just surprised me.” My heart rate was slowing back to normal. I

had met Marie’s parents in the past. They used to come visit several times a year when the Lobatos lived in Quarry Springs.

I had always liked Mildred and Martin Spencer. They were exactly what I thought grandparents would be like. I barely knew my own. Both sets had

died before my twelfth birthday. Mildred always brought cookies when she came, and took tons of pictures. She was always helping out in the

kitchen or finding something to do around the house. Martin was just as busy. He would spend his vacation tinkering with al sorts of little projects

around the Lobato house. He would fix things like a squeaky door or a broken rain gutter. Neither of them sat stil for long. Both absolutely adored

Quinn. He was their one and only grandchild and they showered him with attention and praise.

Mildred reached out and placed her hand on my shoulder. “Are you thinking of your dad?” Her voice was sad, but stil offered comfort.

“Some. I’ve come to terms with it, but I stil can’t seem to stop the tears when he crosses my mind.” She squeezed my shoulder.

“It wil be a long time before you wil . You can never replace someone you love like that. Eventual y the memories won’t be so hard on you. With

time, the memories wil make you smile and you wil be grateful for having them.” Her voice was a little louder as she moved the chair by the wal

closer to me and sat down in it. She was stil close enough that she picked up my hand and held it.

“I know that wil happen. It did with my mom. I just don’t want others to have to walk on egg shel s around me, worrying over how I’m doing or afraid

they wil say something wrong. I feel guilty for the way I’ve been this past month. Al of them were so helpful and I just blocked them al out. I stil can’t

believe Quinn stayed by my side with me being as moody as I was.” I didn’t know how much I should say about Quinn staying with me. I’m pretty

sure his grandparents were aware of it, and I was sleeping in his room. But I didn’t know how Mildred would feel about it.

“Dear, that boy understands what you’re going through. It wasn’t so long ago that he spent the summer at our place going through the same

thing.” I looked at her curiously. “Oh, he wasn’t grieving a death, but he was grieving over the loss of someone close.” I knew then she was referring

to our breakup. “I had never seen Quinn so emotional. He was a mess. We never real y knew which Quinn we would see. He was angry, withdrawn,

sul en and just al out il -tempered. Some days he refused to leave his room. He wouldn’t even eat. Other times I caught him staring at the phone for

an hour. I think he wanted to cal someone but never did. Then there were al the letters I found wadded up in the trash. At least I think they were

letters, I didn’t read them. Some days he wouldn’t say anything to us and other days he snapped our heads off at any little thing. If I hadn’t known

what happened, I would have thought he was on drugs. He was so different.”

I stared at her wide-eyed. Quinn had said that he never real y got over it but if he acted like that it must have been just as heartbreaking for him,

too. “You make it sound as if he stil loved me. If that were true he wouldn’t have left me like he did.”

“Have you asked him why he left?”

“Yes, he said it was so I would take the scholarship. I would have had to take out loans for Princeton and he must have been worried about paying

them back. He left me so we wouldn’t have to do that in our future.”

Mildred gave a smal dry chuckle. “Oh, child, money was never the issue. I don’t know why he did it. You wil have to talk to him about that. But I

assure you that money doesn’t matter to Quinn. If I had to venture a guess, I would say he left you for some altruistic motive. He is so much like Alex

that way. The pair of them are always putting the needs of others before themselves. You are like that too.”

I pondered her words. Could there have been more to it than what he told me?

“Wel , dear, I need to be going back to bed now. Maybe that old buzz saw in there wil have quieted down by now.” I giggled. It was wel known

that Quinn’s grandpa could wake the house with his snores. I stood with Mildred. She hugged me to her. “You talk to my grandson. The two of you

were made for each other. It’s not every day you get a second chance.” She stood up and I stood with her.

“I wil .” I surprised myself when I reached out to hug her, yet it just felt right. “Thank you.”

I slid her chair back against the wal and we turned together towards the door. That’s when I saw Quinn standing there watching us. He looked

incredibly sexy, standing there in just a pair of black sleep pants. His eyes were heavy lidded and his hair was al over the place. He had a very

bemused look on his face. I’m sure he was wondering just what I was talking about with his grandmother in the middle of the night.

Mildred squeezed my hand. “Speak of the devil.” Quinn walked over to us.

“Grandma? What are you and Sylvia doing up?” He sounded like such a confused little boy that I couldn’t help but smile.

“Just trying to catch Santa.” Mildred dropped my hand and patted his cheek. He looked at her in utter confusion. She pul ed him into a hug and

whispered something in his ear. I’m not sure what she said but he looked at me with his eyes wide open.

“I’l just leave you two young people to this late hour. I’l see you both in the morning.” With that, she made her way out the door and -- I assumed --

back to her room.

“Sylvia, what are you doing up? I rol ed over and you were gone. I was worried.” Quinn reached for my hand as he spoke with me.

“I couldn’t sleep.” He nodded. “I had an enlightening conversation with your grandma.” He quirked an eyebrow at me, waiting for me to continue. “I

think we need to talk.”

He sighed deeply and ran his hand that wasn’t holding mine through his hair, and then rubbed his eyes. I felt guilty for keeping him up on

Christmas Eve talking about this, but I thought this was the perfect time. He led me over to the smal love seat that faced the Christmas tree and sat

down pul ing me on to his lap.

I snuggled in against his chest and ran my fingers up it, feeling his silky hair slide between my fingers. Neither of us said anything for a few

minutes. I didn’t know how to start and I’m sure he was waiting for me to begin. I watched the lights from the tree change colors against his chest,

giving it a blue tint before morphing into green then yel ow then white and back to blue. I loved the fiber-optic lights on that tree. Marie had said this

was the first year they didn’t get a real tree. She wasn’t sure if she was happy with it or not. I thought it was beautiful. Even more beautiful was the

way the light played against Quinn’s skin.

I final y gathered up the courage to ask him. “Quinn, did you stil love me when you left?”

He squeezed me tighter to him and I felt his lips brush the top of my head. “Yes, always.” He whispered it.

I continued to stare at his chest, watching my fingers play with his chest hair, afraid to look up at him. “Why did you leave then? I know you said so

I would take the scholarship but your grandma said money wasn’t an issue for you. I’m confused.” I whispered it, but I knew he’d heard me.

He let out a big breath, and I felt him pul away from me slightly. I glanced up and watched him. His head was thrown back against the couch and

he was pinching the bridge of his nose. I knew he probably wasn’t expecting this, but I had to know. Once he’d gathered his thoughts, he raised his

head and looked down at me. His dark eyes were clouded with hurt and remorse.

“Sylvia, one of the things about you that I love and hate is how independent you are. I admire your desire to accomplish things on your own without

the help of anyone else. You never expect things of people and never expect things to just be handed to you. It’s also frustrating because you never

let anyone give you anything. It doesn’t matter if we want to, if giving you something to make your life better or making you happier is, in return, our

gift.”

I was definitely confused now. I wasn’t sure where he was going with al of this. I started to say something but he stopped me by placing his

fingers over my open mouth.

“Shh. I need to tel you al of this. Please just listen and you can talk when I’m done.” His brow was creased and I reached up to rub my thumb

along the furrow, smoothing it out. I nodded and stayed silent.

“I’l start from the beginning, then. I wanted nothing more than to have you at Princeton. Yet from the time we started talking about it I always felt

that you applied there just because that was where I was expected to go. Honestly, if I hadn’t been a legacy and if Grandpa Lobato was more

understanding I would have chosen the University of Minnesota to start with. That was never a choice for me. You knew that. You knew that we went