Sworn to Protect (11 page)

“So, how is it that you’re a virgin?” He asked the question quietly and she automatically stiffened before she realized his tone was just curious. He proved that by continuing. “I’m not saying it’s a good, bad or abnormal thing, I’m just…curious. You’re a smart, beautiful woman.”

Shifting against his chest, she looked up at him, wanting to see his face. Unlike the exterior room adjoining their suites, her bedroom had a jaguar print/jungle theme going on. The headboard was a fabric print with what she assumed was fake amber jewels lining the top. They glittered against the lights from the city through the sheer privacy drapes. Even though the bed was shadowed, Quinn was perfectly illuminated as well. “You first, when did you lose yours?” Not that she’d lost hers yet, but that would hopefully happen soon.

“Ah, the week I turned sixteen.” He grinned almost sheepishly. “It was cliché too, with my girlfriend in the back of my car.”

She let out a short laugh, relaxing at his honest answer. “Part of the reason is my family dynamics. I wasn’t even allowed to date until I was sixteen and even then it was only in groups. Since I wasn’t really rebellious and I went to a private school where I had male cousins in grades above and below me, even if I’d wanted to get involved with someone…” She shrugged, debating if she should tell him the real reason.

“Nothing can stop sixteen year old hormones,” he murmured knowingly. When she snorted, he continued. “At least not in my experience.”

She shifted again, this time rolling back over so that she was still tucked in the crook of his arm, but looking over his chest and out the window. “Okay, being completely honest, I was overweight in high school and the first two years of college. I didn’t want anyone, especially a guy, to see me naked. Sex and dating just weren’t a concern to me because of my own issues.” She’d never told any of the guys she’d dated this truth and it was freeing.

“My third year of college I guess I semi-rebelled—according to my over-protective parents—and decided to move out of their house. I roomed with this girl who was a fitness nut. Built like a freaking goddess, no joke. Her name was Candy, also not a joke, and she was—is—awesome. She started dragging me with her to jog in the mornings using the excuse that she wanted a workout buddy. I think she just picked up on my insecurities and wanted to be a good friend. From there I started making little changes and…” Athena shrugged again, not needing to give him the breakdown of all the changes she’d made in her life. “I shed twenty pounds that year and started toning and watching what I ate.”

Quinn kept stroking, his hand steady and strong. “That’s impressive…though twenty pounds isn’t…” He trailed off, as if maybe unsure he should continue.

She looked up at him. “It’s not a lot, if that’s what you’re going to say, but when you’re five feet, two inches, it kind of is.”

“I bet you gain it in your tits and ass,” he murmured, reaching down to squeeze her butt.

She blinked, taken off guard by the blunt statement. “Oh my God, you’re such a guy!”

“I’m glad you noticed.” The glint in his dark eyes was purely wicked. He turned his body now so that they were flush against each other, his erection pressing insistently against her abdomen.

She threw her leg over his hip, savoring the closeness. “Now that I’ve been honest… Why did you freak out when I told you I was a virgin?”

For a long moment, he was silent, his expression so neutral she hated it. Thankfully he answered. “It wasn’t exactly that you were a virgin. But I used that as an excuse.” Now he looked almost sheepish.

“Why?”

“The only real relationship I was in was back in my Marine Corps days. It didn’t end well. And I take some of the blame, I’m certainly not perfect, but…she just got pissed at everything I did. Things I had no control of, like training or deployments. We fought more than anything else near the end and it was so damn tiring. Once we broke up it was like a weight had been lifted.”

She nodded slightly. “Okay, I’m sort of following.”

“I…I didn’t think I wanted anything serious and since her I haven’t looked or really even contemplated getting serious with any woman. Until you. It scared the hell out of me. And I know that sounds like bullshit, but when you told me you were a virgin, it was easy to make an excuse and end things.”

“Okay. I can deal with that.” When he half-smiled, she continued. “Now you get to tell me something else real about yourself. Before you said that whole thing that happened with White is part of why you left the police department. What’s the other reason?”

Sliding his hand up from where it rested on her hip, he cupped her cheek, his thumb gently stroking over her skin. She liked the feel of his faint calluses.

“I got out of the Corps after six years and going into law enforcement afterward seemed like the logical next step. I started working on my degree while I was in, but it was becoming clear that the job wasn’t for me even before White. I respect the men and women who can do it, but the stuff you deal with day in and day out…” He shook his head, his expression dark. “It was starting to wear on me, so when Harrison offered me a job, I took it.”

She thought there might be a little more to it than that, but wasn’t going to push. “So you were in the Corps six years, with the police department for two and Red Stone for six… How old are you exactly?”

The corner of his mouth curved up, the grin so ridiculously sexy it made butterflies take flight in her stomach. “Thirty-two.”

“Hmm, eight year difference. Not exactly robbing the cradle, but I think I might have to rethink this whole thing between us.” She kept her voice light, teasing.

He snorted and pinched her butt, making her yelp. “Think all you want, I’m not going anywhere.” Oh God, his voice dropped a few octaves when he said it, sending a shiver skittering down her spine.

She wasn’t exactly sure what he meant by that and she didn’t want to ask. Back in Miami he’d told her he wanted to take her out again, but that didn’t mean they were dating or anything more serious. And yeah, she was too chickenshit to ask him. Her dating experience was limited and if this was just a fling she didn’t need it spelled out for her now. She’d ask later, she told herself. Because right now she was feeling too relaxed to let anything ruin her mood.

When he suddenly rolled over, pinning her beneath him, she was glad she hadn’t asked. The feel of him stretched out over her was…indescribable. She ran her fingers over the muscles of his upper arms, stopping at his shoulders. The man was so built it was hard not to get hot feeling all that power beneath her fingertips.

He nipped her bottom lip teasingly, his breath warm against her face, his spicy scent a total aphrodisiac. As he kissed a hot path along her jawline, she raked her fingers down his back. Whatever he had in mind, she was game.

“I don’t think I got a good enough taste of you the first time,” he said in a dark whisper that sent a shot of hunger straight to her core.

His words left her speechless and heating up to scorching levels in seconds. She’d never had a guy go down on her before, but her female cousins had been right. It
was
amazing. This time she planned to taste him too.

She pressed against his shoulder, making him raise his head, those midnight dark eyes seeming to gleam against the backdrop of the Vegas nightlife. “I want to taste you first,” she said in a rush, sure her face was crimson. At least the room was dim enough to hide her reaction. She wasn’t ready for full-on sex just yet, not when things were still so new between them, something he seemed to understand without her having to say anything, but she still wanted to make him as crazy with pleasure as he’d made her.

He stilled, almost like a statue for just a moment, before he swallowed hard and rolled off her. She was under the impression that it was unusual for him to give up control like this, which made the whole situation even hotter.

“On your back, hands behind your head.” She attempted to make the statement as an order, but it came out more like a shaky whisper.

Which wasn’t a bad thing considering his eyes went pure molten. “Take off your shirt and I’ll do it,” he said after a pause. That edge to his words sent a shiver streaking up her spine.

Pausing for just a second, she did as he instructed. He’d already seen her naked and tasted her, but he still sucked in a breath at the sight of her. It did something crazy to her insides that she affected him like this. “Flat on your back.”

His eyebrows raised just a fraction, but he stretched out, showing off that gorgeous ripped body. Instead of straddling him right away she drank him in.

She should have gotten her fill in the shower, but her mouth was practically watering as she raked her gaze from the hard lines and striations of his chest and stomach down to his thick cock. His upper legs were like tree trunks, all built and…her nipples pebbled tight as her gaze swept back up to his impressive erection.

His breathing was unsteady now as he watched her, those eyes heated and hungry as she settled between his legs. Right about now she was incredibly thankful for her oversharing cousins because she was feeling pretty secure in what to do. One cousin in particular—with six kids so she was clearly doing something right—had been so blunt about it when Athena had asked.
Watch the teeth unless you’re being playful, wrap your fingers around the base hard and stroke with your hand as you use your mouth, and don’t neglect the balls.
She’d given Athena a freaking visual with fruit—something she’d tried to erase from her memory—and had been very explicit about a massage technique but Athena wasn’t trying
that
her first time.

Feeling more powerful than she imagined to have this strong, sexy man at her mercy, she lightly gripped the base of his erection and inwardly smiled as he let out an unsteady, strangled moan. Oh yeah, she could do this. And she loved that he was letting her take the reins.

Instead of jumping into it, Athena leaned down and rubbed her cheek against the head of his cock. He rolled his hips and she realized his hands weren’t behind his head anymore, but gripping the sheet beneath him. His breathing was ragged, but clearly he was okay with her doing what she wanted.

She inwardly grinned at his growing lack of control, liking this side to him. She flicked her tongue over the tip of his thick length, tasted pre-come. Tasting him like this made her damper between her legs. She was turned on, but this took things to a new level she hadn’t expected.

Since she’d liked it when he’d feathered kisses all over her, she decided to do the same to him. Keeping her fingers wrapped firmly around his base, she stroked her tongue up the length of him, unable to fight the pleasure that ran through her as he shuddered again.

She wanted to tease him, but she really wanted to taste all of him. When she sucked him fully into her mouth he muttered a savage curse before groaning phrases like “So fucking good” and other variations of that.

She took him in her mouth as she stroked, in and out, sucking gently then harder, seeing what worked for him. It seemed clear he liked everything she did, but harder got more of a reaction so she took that advice she’d been given years ago and stroked and sucked until he fisted a hand in her hair. Not hard, but enough to get her attention.

“Shit, Athena. I’m going to come.” The words came out a growl. A warning.

She knew he was telling her to pull back so he could come on his stomach, but she was having none of that.

He quickly realized it because his grip loosened, but he didn’t let go. She swallowed as he climaxed against her tongue. His fingers threaded through her hair as she finished, taking all of him until he’d dropped his hand and his body had relaxed more or less boneless against the sheets.

Grinning, and okay, feeling proud of herself, Athena straddled him and shimmied up his body until she stretched out on top of him.

Moving like a fast predator, he took her off guard and had her pinned beneath him once again. She couldn’t be sure but she figured he had a bit of a dominant streak. She’d thought that back when they’d been dating, and experiencing him in the bedroom now, yeah, she could see it. She liked that he’d let her explore his body all she wanted though.

“That was incredible,” he murmured, dropping kisses onto her mouth, and along her jawline again.

The man seemed to already know the nuances of her body, seemed to know exactly what she liked and needed. So when he reached between her legs to cup her mound, she wasn’t sure why he pulled back in surprise. Maybe because she was so freaking wet it should probably be embarrassing.

He slid a finger inside her, making her breath catch. She was tingling all over again, already wanting more. “This is all for me.” There was a possessive note in his words that made her clench around his finger.

“Yes,” she whispered.

And
that
made something dark flare in his gaze before he captured her mouth in a frenzied mating. One thing she was sure of, they wouldn’t be getting to sleep for a while.

* * *

“This looks great,” Athena said, scanning the food list for tomorrow. “Just make sure you replace the cucumber canapés with the cheesy canapés—the ones with the roasted tomatoes—and veggie pinwheels. Those have both been a hit so just double up.” The cucumber finger-foods had ended up getting soggy and looking all around disgusting by midday. It was almost five now and no one had touched them. No need to waste all that food or space.