Love, Diamonds, and Spades (12 page)

His grin spread wide as he slid a smiling kiss over her temple. “You do have a tendency to go all out when you put your mind to something.”

“But tonight, I’m
not
wearing granny underwear,” she said meaningfully, before quickly returning her face to her nice little hiding spot against the crook of his neck.

Every inch of him went granite-hard for several heartbeats.

Then his deep, smoky voice—huskier than she’d ever heard it—asked the inevitable, “And you’re telling me this because…”

“You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

“With respect to the perpetual judgment-clouding hard-on I’ve had since the moment I first saw you, I think that might be best.”

She leaned back to see if he was being serious.

And then scooted forward to gather more evidence.

The very male hiss that resulted when she straddled what was undoubtedly a very big cloud impairing his judgment had her reaching down for his belt.

“What are you doing?” he graveled through clenched teeth.

“Un-clouding your judgment.”

Groaning, he caught her hands and pinned them on the couch cushions on either side of him. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

A hungry gasp escaped her when she rocked against him and felt him grow even harder. What was he asking her? The sound of her throbbing heartbeat had reached deafening decibels.

“Sweetheart, are you sure?” he repeated. “I don’t mind waiting. Honest.”

Waiting? Was he insane? Right now, he was vying for top honors as the sweetest, most sadistic man alive. “I can’t wait.” She wrestled her hands free and slid his shirt up his torso, dragging it off him seconds before her lips found the pulse at the base of his neck. His hands gripped her hips and slid down her thighs, reducing her brain to mush. “Need you. Now.”

Not eloquent, but wholly accurate. She was going up in flames.

His fingers slid along her thighs, slipping under her skirt until she heard him curse softly.

Now that his shirt was off and she was able to slide her hands all over his sculpted muscles, she was wrapped up in a hazy, erotic calm that gave her back the ability to think in full sentences. “I told you I never listen to Penny.”

“No panties,” he rasped out on a guttural groan.

She’d bypassed the sexy lingerie altogether.

His fingers were impressively quick as he unbuttoned her sweater. When she felt him release the clasp of her bra, instantly she covered herself back up.

Golden eyes blazing with heat, and heavy with lust snagged hers. “Don’t hide yourself from me.”

“I’m not as young as your groupies,” she explained lamely, keeping one arm over her breasts while she reached for the lamp switch beside the couch. “And I had a kid. I’m not as…perky as all those gorgeous women who throw themselves at you.”

His eyes narrowed, and he managed to catch her hand before she could kill the light in the living room. “You think those women are gorgeous?”

Well, duh. She nodded and reached for the throw blanket to cover up after he somehow used his secret third and fourth hands to get her bra off.

“If you think they’re gorgeous, it’s because you’re not seeing what I see.”

“What do
you
see?”

“You.” He rumbled in her ear before leaning her back and sliding his lips down the valley between her breasts. “I told you. All I ever see is you. Even when you’re not in the room with me. Since I met you, I can’t remember the last time I actually saw a woman enough to commit her to memory. Every pair of blue eyes I see are dull compared to yours, every smile completely forgettable.”

His tongue circled a nipple and they both groaned. “All my brain can and wants to see is you. All my body wants is to feel you in my arms. When you’re not, I spend all my energy and focus looking at every inch of you and imagining my hands all over you. You’re an addiction, Quinn Christiansen.”

“My addiction.”

He sucked hard and she cried out his name, arching when she felt his rough thumb tease her other nipple as well. Back and forth he alternated, completely stealing control of her body, sentencing her to what felt like an eternity of mind-erasing pleasure.

Panting and writhing, it took her a moment to realize that the delicious heat was suddenly gone, and cool air was now the only thing touching her nipples. “You’re so beautiful,” he growled.

She opened her eyes and saw him staring down at her, passion burning in his eyes, his jaw clenching and unclenching as his hands slid over her skin.

“God, Quinn, you’re perfect.”

The rough declaration was rasped against her breast as he pulled her upright and gently scraped his teeth against her nipple.

She scored her nails down his back and heard herself begging for more. Just…more.

Seconds later, he was gently laying her down on the couch.

And then ripping her skirt off.

If she thought his eyes had been hot with lust before, they were outright scorching now.

When his calloused fingers ran over her soaked core—close, but not close enough—she whimpered and he immediately stopped.

“Are my hands too rough, baby?” he asked, voice heavy with concern.

“No,” she managed. “More.” She slid her thighs apart and felt herself get even more wet when he released a feral growl and brought his mouth down to her skin.

Still not close enough.

“Please, Rylan.”

His hands gripped her thighs. “Again,” he demanded roughly as his tongue swiped along her drenched flesh, dipping lower and causing him to release another rough sound from his chest as he tasted how much she wanted him. “Say my name again, sweetheart.”

She was floating in a riptide dragging her sanity away. With all the tenderness in the world, his work-roughened thumbs spread her wider for his gaze, his mouth.

“Again,” he breathed, right against her exposed sex and she nearly came right there, his question the last thing on her mind.

He slipped her legs over his shoulders and licked her mere inches away from where she needed to feel him.

Then he pushed two thick fingers deep into her and she screamed his name.

Just like that, an animal was unleashed. His mouth clamped down on her and sucked the last of her inhibitions right of out of her until finally, she was coming in his mouth.

A mindless mass of sensations, she found herself shattering through another orgasm just as devastating as the first when his tongue started to torment her in rhythm with the three fingers now plunging deep inside of her.

He didn’t stop until she was nearly whimpering in exhausted pleasure.

“
Rylan.
”

That was the best she could manage, but it was enough to signal he’d wrung her dry. He pulled back and slid her legs off his shoulders. Gentle kisses rained down on her thighs, soft murmurs against her skin she couldn’t hear over the blood rushing in her ears.

She felt the room tilt them before she was wrapped in a cocoon of warmth, fingers massaging her scalp and a hot palm running up and down her back. Burrowing into the heat, she felt herself drift off and she tried her best to fight it.

“Sleep, baby. I’m not going anywhere. Just close your eyes and sleep.”

The soft kiss he brushed across her lips was the last thing she remembered.

* * * * *

YEP, IT WAS OFFICIAL.

He was going to have the worst case of blue balls in the history of mankind.

But frankly, he didn’t care.

Watching Quinn come apart before him was the hottest damn thing he’d ever seen in his life.

And if he’d been an addict before, now, he was beyond saving completely. He’d meant every word he said earlier. He never even saw, let alone noticed any other women anymore.

Just Quinn.

She was so goddamn beautiful; he couldn’t believe she thought she wasn’t gorgeous enough. That was just insane. Didn’t she know what she did to him? How little control he had when he was around her? Hell, he’d had to stop himself from shredding her clothes the minute he’d felt her naked skin where a pair of panties should’ve been.

Now as he played it back in his head, he realized beautiful wasn’t even the right word to describe her. There was only one word he could think of that could possibly fit.

Mine.

He repeated it to himself as he eventually tumbled into a bone-deep, comforted sleep with Quinn in his arms.

Some time later, Rylan found himself in the middle of another scorching hot fantasy starring Quinn—they seemed to be coming nightly now.

But tonight, the temptress was straight-up blowing his mind.

He watched with his mind’s eye as she crawled up onto her knees and skimmed teasing little kisses all over his abdomen. Her hands followed, and blistering hot pleasure jolted through his body when her hand closed over him.

Hands gripping the sheets, he clawed to stay tethered to the dream, fought back the need to wake up just yet. Screw his alarm, screw work. The only thing that mattered right now was that Quinn’s mouth was inching lower, and lower still, her breasts swaying over his clenched thighs, torturing him in tandem, making him so goddamn hard, he was losing his mind.

Damn it. This fantasy was quickly turning into a wet dream and he was powerless to stop it.

Her mouth closed over his head and raw, savage need flooded his veins.

“Quinn.”

He felt her smile and swipe two tiny, barely there licks across his flesh.

Something dark and feral awoke inside him, gripping him at the edge of his hunger, shoving him past his limits. A man could only take so much.

Rylan’s hands threaded through long strands of silky angel hair, and slowly registered the fact that he wasn’t dreaming…seconds before his eyes shot open to see Quinn’s now sharply dilated sapphire eyes watching him.

Waiting for him.

…Before her mouth slid down his hard, pulsing length.

He let out on a guttural groan as she drew back and gently teased her tongue over him, tormented him.

Dared him.

His fingers clutched at her scalp and drew her closer. Deeper.

At the sound of the demanding little moan vibrating all around him, he pumped harder into that hot, wicked mouth of hers.

Every muscle in his body was strained tight as she worked her mouth up and down the length of him, nearly to the root. The hot, merciless suction drew his sanity right out of him, one slow stroke at a time, until he was nudging her throat.

Instantly, she swallowed back another moan, and the rolling pressure caused him to thrust deeper into her mouth. Raw, agonized pleasure coursed through him the deeper he went.

Her fingers squeezed the base of his erection as the one and only warning he got before she plunged her mouth down his entire length and drew back to suck hard and fast, matching him thrust for thrust.

A hoarse sound ripped out of his throat as he came, harder than he ever had in his life.

Flashing lights and fractured images of Quinn pressing gentle kisses on his skin swam in his vision while quick-drying cement flooded his limbs. Even his eyelids felt drained.

Even so, when he felt Quinn’s sexy little body curl up against his, he found the strength to wrap his arms around her and pull her in tighter.

She snuggled her face against his neck, and draped herself over his torso like a human blanket.

Soft and sweet, his little hellcat fit against him perfectly.

And he had no intention of letting her go any time soon.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“
I DON’T THINK I’VE
ever loved anything more in my entire life.”

Quinn wasn’t surprised by Rylan’s declaration. She
was
amused by it though. Never had she seen a person so enamored with a set of brand new bed sheets.

Over the past few weeks, they’d had every single one of their dates at her house. This was their first time at his place, and she’d prepared for the weekend by hitting up a bunch of discount and big box stores to find the silkiest 2,000 thread count Egyptian sheet set she could afford.

She’d gotten a killer deal since the package only had the fitted sheet, but it fit her budget perfectly. After another hour of rabid bargain shopping, she’d found pillowcases that were a close match as well.

When Rylan had first opened his front door and caught sight of the shiny new sheets in her hands, his nostrils flared as he took in the scent of laundry detergent. The effect had his eyes fighting a hard, tormented battle between staring at her face and staring at the sheets.

Funniest thing ever.

Her laughter seemed to break the back and forth Wimbledon trance and within seconds, he was nabbing her elbow and rushing them over to the bedroom to swap out his sheets.