Start Me Up (18 page)

So she gave the correct answer. “No.”

His hands, falling away from the knot he’d tied, froze in their descent. He paused for a moment, then she felt the rush of his movement as he jerked his hands back up to undo what he’d done.

“I’ve already apologized,” Lori said. “Please don’t do this.”

This time his hands fell away entirely. She felt him move back, away from her, and her shoulders were cold without him there. She couldn’t hear anything, not even his breath. Certainly not her own, because she wasn’t breathing.

Finally, he let out one long, soft sigh. A tug on her dress, a brush of warmth, and her zipper slid down.

She remembered to breathe then, and the expansion of her ribs pushed the dress open. It slipped off. And Lori was wearing nothing but her panties and heels and two silk ties.

Quinn turned her and helped her sit on the bed so he could take off her shoes, as well. Her lips were parted as he knelt down and slipped the heels off, her nipples hard and deep pink. The tie gleamed black against her pale skin, darkness against light.

He slipped his hands between her knees, parting them so he could kneel between her thighs. “You’re mine tonight, Lori.” Surprisingly, the words felt sincere on his lips. He
had
been jealous. He still was. To know that she’d let that rich old bastard between her legs? Quinn wanted to push her so far that even the memories of other men would cease to exist. The strength of his feelings didn’t bear examination. Not now.

“You’re mine,” he repeated, slowly exploring the curves of the tops of her thighs.

“Yes.”

He’d never been interested in domination before and wasn’t even sure he was interested now. What excited him was Lori. Her response. The thought that he could do this for her, turn her on in a way no one else had…that was what made his dick throb. That and the idea that his doing whatever he wanted was part of her fantasy. Definitely a game he could get into.

Putting his faith in the belief that Lori would stop him if he went too far, Quinn slid one hand past her hip and up her back. He wound his fingers into her curls, tightened his fist and pulled her head back. The movement arched her breasts forward, and Quinn took quick advantage.

Her nipple was a hard pebble against his tongue and it only got harder as he sucked. He set his teeth gently to her flesh, scraping. Lori’s soft cry filled the room and swelled louder when he applied more pressure. After licking the pain away, he moved to her other breast to do the same.

“Oh, God,” she gasped. “Oh, God.” They’d barely started, and she sounded out of breath and nearly out of control. Each time he bit, her gasps got more strained. “Please,” she begged. “Please don’t.”

Quinn’s dick swelled to unbearable tightness. Surely he’d never been so hard. “Please don’t what?”

Lori pressed her lips together.

“You want me to stop?”

Her lips turned pale under the pressure. She didn’t answer.

Quinn swirled his tongue lazily around one peaked nipple, then sucked hard and fast to make her gasp. “No? Tell me how much you like it,” he ordered.

“No.”

“Your job, Ms. Love, is to show me how sorry you are.” He dragged his tongue up the curve of her breast and kept going all the way to her throat. “You’re not doing a very good job.” He nipped her neck.

“I’m sorry!” she cried.

“Show me.” Holding her still, he finally put his lips to hers and kissed her deep and hard. Lori kissed him back as if she wanted to devour him. When he broke away, she tried to follow, but he pulled her head back. “Convince me,” he growled.

She nodded against his hold. Quinn let her go and stood. He shouldn’t like this so much. His hands definitely shouldn’t be shaking with desperate, angry need when he reached for his belt. But when the belt buckle opened with a clink…Lori licked her lips. She
licked her lips
as if she could already taste him there, and Quinn gave up even the idea of restraint. Once again, her fantasy had become his.

When he lowered his zipper, Lori’s breath hitched and quickened.

He wasn’t going to last. Hell, he could probably will himself to an orgasm right this second. And there’d be no chance to indulge all of Lori’s needs if he spent the next hour obsessed with trying not to come. A strategic, temporary surrender seemed in order.

Smiling, Quinn wrapped his right hand around the base of his dick and slipped his left hand behind Lori’s neck. “Convince me you’re sorry,” he growled, and Lori took him eagerly into her mouth.

He’d used her. Thrust himself into her mouth until he exploded. And Lori had loved every second of it. She was squirming, aching, throbbing, and each thrust of his hips had pushed her closer to climax. She’d swallowed every drop of his come, then licked at him until he’d finally shuddered and jerked away.

Where was he? Was he coming back? She had a vague notion that isolation and abandonment played a part in bondage, but this aspect of S and M was no fun to her. She didn’t want to be a slave, she just wanted to be dominated for one night. Okay, maybe two. Once a week, tops.

She was enjoying it just as much as she’d feared she would.

“Here.” His voice startled her into a little jump. “Sit up.”

Lori sat up, and Quinn pressed something cool and smooth into her hands. The wineglass. She raised it to her lips and gulped the wine. Not to wash the taste of him from her mouth, but just for the pure liquid courage. The cold wine quickly pushed more heat into her veins. Quinn took the glass away.

“Are you done?” she blurted without meaning to.

“Done?”

She swallowed, mouth dry despite the whole glass of wine she’d just downed. “Are you done fucking me?”

The clink of Quinn’s glass touching the table seemed loud enough to echo. “I haven’t started fucking you yet.”

“I know, but—”

“And it’s insulting that you haven’t noticed. Stand up.”

When she stood, knees trembling, Quinn immediately pushed her panties down. Any worry that he’d lost interest in this game vanished when Quinn slid the edge of his hand roughly along her sex. Though the movement was rough, the sensation wasn’t. She was wet enough to turn anything into a smooth glide. A hum vibrated up her throat.

“I guess you haven’t gotten what you wanted yet.”

She shook her head, goading him as if he really were some volatile sadist, but Quinn just chuckled.

“Lie down,” he said, and she did. When he reached for her wrists and tugged her hands over her head, Lori tried hard not to smile. But she failed. She’d been waiting a long time for this, and as his fingers tied another knot and secured her to the headboard, she couldn’t help a grin that was half delight and half nervousness.

Quinn kissed her, a friendly peck on her smiling lips. “Stop it,” he whispered. “You’re ruining the mood.”

“Sorry.”

Her giddiness faded when he stood, the bed dipping and then springing up at the loss of his weight. She was stretched out on the bed, totally naked, blind, hands tied above her head. A quick tug confirmed that she couldn’t move.

Was Quinn watching her? Was he undressing now? Did he have more ties? Would he spread her legs and pin her down? She didn’t even know if he was in the room.

The vulnerability of her position washed over her, and any urge to smile was swept away on that wave. Instead of grinning, she squirmed.

“Spread your legs.” His voice came from the foot of the bed. She squeezed her thighs tight together. “Open your legs, Lori. I want to see you.”

The clink of his belt confirmed one of her questions. He
was
undressing, and though her lust had faded to a simmer, it sprang back to a full boil at that one tiny sound.

“No,” she whispered in answer. A faint shushing sound to her left warned her just a moment before his hand closed over her thigh. Lori wrenched away, rolling to her side, and when she did, adrenaline exploded into her bloodstream. Nerves she’d thought already raw shrieked up to a higher level of awareness.

He reached for her more roughly, fingers digging into her hip, pressing sparks of pleasure through her whole body. Suddenly his hot, naked chest was pressed to her back and his heavy thigh pressed her own legs tight together.

“Where do you think you’re going, sweetheart? You’re tied to my bed.”

Yes, she was. Oh, God, she was tied to his bed, hands stretched above her head, and his strong arm curled around her waist to pull her flush against his body. He was hard again already, full and long and pressed to her ass. His hand cupped her lower belly, fingers just brushing the dark hair between her legs.

“I can do anything I want.” His words tickled her ear. “Anything. And you can’t stop me. So open your legs.”

Lori bucked against him, trying to get away and not moving an inch. He thrust his hand between her clenched thighs and found the wetness he’d inspired. When he rubbed her clit, Lori cried out.

“Jesus, you’re wet. You can act like you don’t want this, but you do. Admit it, Lori. Beg for it.”

“No! Don’t.” Her own words crashed through her body, making her shake. “
Please.
Please don’t.”

His stroking grew rougher. She was so close…. And then he let her go.

“You want me to stop?” His hand slipped up her stomach, away from her sex, and Lori cried out in sorrow. He cupped her breast and plucked at her nipple as he ground his erection against her ass. She arched into him, silently begging.

“You want to be fucked,” he growled, voice rough as an animal’s in her ear.

Jesus, she wanted him so much, she was losing track of the story. Her body rebelled. It wanted him and it wouldn’t let her mouth form the word
no.
But she wouldn’t say yes. She wouldn’t.

Quinn rolled away and left her alone, air cooling her burning back.

Please,
she mouthed into the sheets. The faint rip of plastic tearing caught her attention, and Lori rolled to her back to try to track him. A condom wrapper? Was he going to take her now? She tugged on her hands just to feel the dig of the restraints.

God, this was so good.

He jerked open her knees before she could resist, and then he was between them as she bucked and arched, pressing her shoulders back as she lifted her hips away from his.

She was trying to fight him but he was too strong. Quinn gripped her ass in his hands, keeping her high off the bed, and rose to his knees to meet her. Suddenly, his cock was sliding into her in a shocking invasion. He buried himself to the hilt in one brutal shove, eased by the wetness he’d caused. Lori screamed.

He jerked slightly at the sound, freezing as if waiting for her to shout out the safe word.

As if. Lori squirmed and whimpered until he lowered her to the mattress and braced himself over her body.

“God, you’re gorgeous,” Quinn said. “I could do this forever.”

Was that a threat? Or was it something deeper? Something that had nothing to do with this game? She didn’t want to think about forever, all she wanted was his body filling her too tightly, the smell of his skin hot against hers, the weight of his hips pushing her down.

He thrust, pushing a deep cry from her mouth that he answered with a growl. “Tell me you like it.”

“No,” she whimpered. “I won’t.”

Quinn pressed his mouth to hers, rubbing his tongue against hers with brutal pressure as he thrust again. He wound one hand into her hair and tugged her head back. His mouth dragged over her jaw, teeth scraping her skin. Lori let the shock of these small pains sink into her flesh like sunlight.

Sweat slicked their skin, setting Quinn gliding against her thighs when he sank himself deep again. “Tell me,” he demanded.

She pulled against the ties, gritted her teeth against the tight pressure squeezing her in so many places. Her wrists, her scalp, her shoulders pulled taut. And, of course, the tightness of her sex, filled with his width every time he pushed brutally into her.

He could be anyone. He could be a man she’d met in a hotel bar and taken up to her room. He could be a faceless stranger, using her now, doing anything he wanted.

And yet this was so much better. With Quinn.

He kissed her neck tenderly then, pressed his lips gently just below her ear. “Tell me,” he whispered, as tender as any lover, though his fist tightened, pulling her head farther back.

“Fuck me,” she finally whispered. “Please. I want you to fuck me.”

Quinn reared back and hooked his arms behind her knees to draw her legs wider. Then he gave her what she wanted, taking her rough and fast. Slamming his hips into hers so hard that she began to inch up on the bed. Lori arched up into him, taking him as deep as he could go.

“Say it,” he grunted.

She could barely hear him now. Her mind was turning in, anticipating the orgasm that was slowly washing up her body, a tide coming in, a wave hovering before it broke.

“You want this, damn it. Beg for it.”

So she did. She begged him to fuck her harder. And her desperate, vulgar words pushed the wave higher until she finally went under, screaming, jerking against the ties. Her voice cracked and faded to nothing before the last spasms had even gripped her. Quinn thrust again and again until he finally jerked into her with a guttural shout.

Time passed. Long minutes while the sweat cooled on her face. Quinn’s breath rushed over her shoulder, the sound of a man who’d poured his heart and soul into her. For the first time since the night had begun, she wished her wrists were free so she could curl her arms around his neck and pull him impossibly close. She wanted her eyes open and surveying his face to see the thoughts there.

She must have shifted, because he lifted his shoulders a few inches, the movements sluggish.

“Here,” he murmured. “Here.” The blindfold slid up, but Lori kept her eyes closed, trying to adjust to the small amount of light that leaked through her eyelids. He sat up and worked at the knot until it loosened enough to let her free. She jerked her arms free and wrapped them around Quinn’s chest, pressing her face into his shoulder.

He whispered her name and rolled her to her side so he could get his arms around her, as well. “Lori,” he said again.
“Jesus.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, wanting to apologize, needing to reassure herself that he’d liked it as much as she had. But if she asked, what if he said no? She’d have to grab her clothes and fly out the door, and God, she just couldn’t move right now.

He kissed her head. “I didn’t hurt you.” It should have been a question, but perhaps he was thinking the same thing she was. Perhaps he was thinking he couldn’t ask his question, because the answer might kill him.

Lori took a deep breath and pushed away from him. She raised her head and met his worried eyes. “Quinn Jennings,” she said, her voice shaking only a tiny bit, “that was the best thing I’ve ever done.”

His eyes went wide. Lori noticed a bit resentfully that his lashes were much longer than hers. “Ever?” he repeated.

“Ever. It far surpasses that time I talked myself into riding the tallest roller coaster on the East Coast.”

His eyes went wider still. “
That
was your best thing before?”

“I’m afraid of heights. So yeah. I was pretty proud.”

“And now you’re proud that we just screwed like crazy people?”

“Yes,” she answered before her cowardice got the better of her.

They stared at each other, silent for five or six breaths, while Lori’s stomach sank lower and lower. Until, finally…Quinn smiled. “Yeah, I’m kind of proud of myself, too. I was a fucking sex
ninja.
”

She’d thought the orgasm great, but the laughter was even better. They both had to wipe tears from their eyes before they settled into each other again, and the giggles hit Lori every few seconds for a good fifteen minutes before she finally fell asleep.

That night she dreamed of masked ninjas prowling through her room, watching her sleep. Strangely enough, despite their frightening masks and glinting eyes, they all seemed quite friendly.