The Harder He Falls: 2 (So Inked) (11 page)

“Yes.” But he didn’t let her go.

She transferred her hold from his balls to his cock and stroked from root to tip.

“Fuck,” he growled.

“Condom?”

Quin sucked in a deep breath before answering. “The box from the other night.”

“Where is it?”

He drew back, his brows drawn down. “Shit, I’m not sure. Stay here.” He pushed up from the bed, and with his raging hard-on bobbing in front of him, left the bedroom.

She rolled to her back and cupped her breasts. If they had the time for more than this, she’d bury his face between them and demand the use of his hands. She bit her lip to hold back the moan as she rolled the peaks between her fingers and squeezed them.

“That’s fucking hot.”

Her eyes snapped open and she froze. Quin stood at the edge of the bed, a hand on his cock, condom already in place. She forced herself to relax. So what if she touched herself? She plumped her breasts and arched her back. “You like this?”

“Hell yeah. Don’t stop.”

So she didn’t. Kellie explored the underside curve of each breast with her fingertips, circling the areolas and staying away from the tight nubs. She watched him grab a pillow and bring it to her. It wasn’t something he had to do, and that he did it made something uncomfortable unfurl within her chest. She couldn’t like him, could she?

He lifted her head and pushed the pillow under her. She adjusted it while he crawled between her legs and grasped her hips. The evil gleam in his eye shouldn’t have turned her on, but it did. He cupped the backs of her thighs and brought her legs up over his, until her ass nestled between his legs, her knees over his elbows.

She watched him grasp his cock and press it to her entrance. With her legs spread, she was open to him, and wet. They both groaned as he slid deep, the heat of him searing her.

“You good?” he asked through clenched teeth.

“What?” She blinked up at him, trying to catch her breath.

“Are you comfortable?”

She tried to move but her hips and legs were at his mercy. She wiggled as much as she could in his grasp and clenched his forearms with her hands. “Fuck me already.”

“That I can do, doll.”

He slid his hands to her ass and lifted while rocking up and down on his knees. His cock settled even deeper within, hitting seldom-touched nerves and firing off a whole new kind of sensation. She moaned and gripped his wrists as more fireworks burst behind her eyelids.

She wrapped one arm below her breasts and toyed with one nipple with her other hand, knowing he was watching her and that was what he liked. His thrusts were forceful and she loved it. With her other hand she reached down to where their bodies were joined, caressing the base of his cock with her fingertips and flicking her thumb over her clit.

“Do that again.” His voice dropped to a low, primal rumble.

“This?” She switched to the other breast and rubbed her clit, no longer gentle.

“Fuck, yes, that.”

Quin’s thrusts grew more frenzied and her calves clenched around his shoulders. She tried to keep her eyes open, she wanted to. Her gaze locked on his, the intensity commanding her.

“You’re going to come.”

She shook her head. She was close but not yet there.

“Fuck,” he growled as his movements jerked and he froze.

His features stretched taut. She could feel the twitch of his cock deep within her channel. He grunted and sighed, lips parted and eyes wide open. She moved her hips in a circular motion, grinding her clit against his pubic bone. Quin seemed to realize what she was doing and arched his back just enough for her to get her hand between them. She tipped her head back and he kissed the column of her throat as she rolled her clit between her fingers. Her body rippled with her release and Quin groaned, more obscenities flying from his lips as her body squeezed his.

He fell forward into her arms, each wrapping the other in as many limbs as they could.

“Holy fuck,” she muttered as exhaustion set in and her muscles turned to jelly.

“Doll, I’ll kiss your pussy any time.”

She tilted her head back and laughed. So maybe she did like him. There were worse things in the world.

Oni Mask—This depiction symbolizes the Japanese version of the devil, a creature that represents all that is evil and destructive in the world and pulls souls to hell. As a tattoo, the detailed mask with its menacing eyes is a symbol to ward off evil.

Kellie rolled to her side, willing herself to go back to sleep, but a light was shining in her face. Cracking one eye open, she glared at the streetlight shining through the window.

Except…

There wasn’t a streetlight outside her bedroom.

She sat up and glanced around, taking in the bed as big as Rhode Island and the dresser, which were the only two pieces of furniture in the room.

A warm hand grasped her forearm and slid to her elbow.

“Lie back down.”

Quin.

She breathed a sigh of relief and flopped onto her back. Quin grumbled and threw his arm across her stomach. He tugged her closer and turned toward her.

“You have a dragon tattoo on your back,” he muttered.

She snorted. “Just now saw that?”

“Yup. Go back to sleep,” he mumbled.

How she wanted to. His bed was comfortable and the sheets were soft enough she’d consider selling her soul for those alone. Quin wasn’t too shabby either. But Grandma was at home, and even though she slept through the night, Kellie didn’t like her being unsupervised. Natalie would be leaving soon.

She hadn’t expected a full three rounds of sex with him. For the first time in months she was exhausted with something besides stress and grief.

She put her hand over his. “Can’t. I need to leave.”

He propped his head on his folded arm. “My bed isn’t good enough for you?”

“Please.” She snorted and punched his shoulder. He didn’t even move.

“Why do you have to leave? I thought breakfast would be a good idea in a few hours.”

“My grandma will kill me if I’m not home before she wakes up.” The lie usually slid easily off her tongue. This time it tasted bitter.

“You still live with her?”

“I do. She’s kind of old school like that.” She chuckled and turned toward him so they faced each other. “She was really not happy when I moved away for college. She kept asking me,” she narrowed her eyes and pinched her lips, imitating the way Grandma had spoken to her all those years ago, “who will take care of you? Who will cook? And do your laundry?”

Quin laughed and settled his hand at the dip in her waist.

“What about your family?” Kellie bit her tongue. They shouldn’t talk about family stuff. They were using each other for sex, not relationship topics.

He lifted a shoulder. “Mine’s not so great. Typical military brat. Parents divorced when I was a teen. I did the expected thing and joined the Marines for eight years, because that’s what the men in my dad’s family do. Mom wasn’t as impressed. Makes for interesting holidays.”

“Are you an only kid?”

“No, I have a younger brother Kirk, who I don’t talk with too much. He’s still enlisted, probably going to be in until they kick him out. He’s the poster child, whereas I got in plenty of trouble.”

She snickered. “You? A troublemaker?”

“Hard to imagine, huh?”

“Impossible.”

Quin wasn’t the kind of guy she typically dated. For one, he had his shit together. There were skeletons in his closet, but she doubted they could rival hers. He slid his hand back and forth and gazed at her. He was the perfect plaything.

“Sure you have to leave?”

“Yeah.”

The arm around her waist tightened, bringing her closer to the hard wall of his chest. His lips whispered over her cheek. “And I can’t convince you to stay?”

“Nope.”

He sighed and sat up, looming over her in the semi-darkness. “Let me at least see you to the door.”

He gave her space while she dressed, though his gaze made her want to linger. He emerged from the bathroom wearing only basketball shorts and met her at the door to his room, kissing her.

“So when can I see you again?” he asked.

Her stomach clenched. That was a very relationship kind of thing to say. She turned and walked out the door, heading down the hall. “I don’t know,” she said when he followed her. He was the kind of man who would want an answer.

“What are you doing tomorrow?”

She stopped at the top of the stairs and glanced over her shoulder at him. “Working. I thought we weren’t going to do this.”

“Do what?”

“Anything more than sex.”

He scowled, hands on his hips. “I’m supposed to call you for a quick, anonymous screw and not speak to you? Should I give you a tip too?”

She rolled her eyes. Why was it always men who had to be the biggest pussies?

“I don’t sleep with women I don’t at least like.”

“Look, you’re a cool guy, but I told you up front that I don’t have time for relationship stuff. If that’s a problem, tell me now and we can both walk away.” The idea had her muscles tensing. He was definitely one of the better lovers she’d had.

“And that means I’m only good for sex? Or can dinner be included?”

She threw her hands up and stomped down the stairs with him following her. “I don’t care. Food is fine, but I can’t promise more or regularity.”

“Fine.”

“Fine!”

He shook his head and grinned. “This is the most ridiculous argument ever.”

She glared up at him from the bottom of the stairs. “You started it, with your manties all in a twist.”

He snorted and descended to where she stood, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her to his chest. “Yeah, well, one of us has to wear some. I’ll take a rain check on breakfast. Call you later to work it out?”

No. Absolutely not. Worst idea ever.

“Okay.”

“Let me know you make it home okay?”

She pulled away and turned to slip her shoes on. “Yeah, sure.”

“Kellie.”

The sharp way he spoke her name had her turning to face him.

“I’m serious. It’s ungodly-a.m., I want to know you get home safe.”

“Fine.” She made a show of rolling her eyes and flipped the locks.

He opened the door for her and leaned against it. “Cool. See you later.”

The humid air wrapped around her, smothering her lungs and causing sweat to break out along her spine and hairline. She lost no time in starting her car and turning the air conditioner on high. When she looked up, Quin still stood in the door, watching her. She waved for lack of something better to do and reversed out of the drive. It wasn’t until she turned off his street that his front door closed and the lights in the house went off. Not that she was watching in her rearview mirror or anything.

Quin lived surprisingly close to her house. Near enough she didn’t have to get on the highway. Though she and Quin hadn’t gotten off on the best foot, she had to admit she liked the guy. It wasn’t every day an almost stranger cared enough about her well-being to make sure she got home okay or was safe at work. That the sex was scorching made it even better.

She didn’t doubt for a minute that some other woman would snatch him up and wrap him in commitment. He was a dependable kind of guy. She could practically smell it on him. Maybe someday that would be her kind of man, but her quota for dedication was overtaxed.

The familiar Japanese maples that lined her street had her sighing in relief. Her own bed would be a welcome sight. She was only going to get a few more hours sleep, but she could already tell tomorrow would be one of the best days in a while.

The houses along this street had once been predominantly Korean families, but over the last decade they’d thinned out until the community was more diverse. It still had the cozy quarters that sometimes bordered on claustrophobic, but she knew most of her neighbors and had played with them as children.

Ahead of her, someone was taking a late-night stroll wearing a flowing white nightgown. It was odd, but at this time of year daytime activities were hindered by the heat. She pulled past the person, parked in her own driveway and noticed paper lanterns hanging between the trees. She must have missed the arts and craft day.

The headlights illuminated the front of the house and the door swinging on the hinges. Open.

Her focus centered on the brass deadbolt glinting in her headlights. Grandma couldn’t turn the bolt, her hands shook too much and she wasn’t strong enough. Kellie had made sure that the fit was tight enough to make it difficult.

She scrambled to unbuckle her seat belt and threw herself out the door. She vaguely realized that she was leaving the Cube idling in the driveway, but it wasn’t going anywhere.

“Grandma?”

Her flip-flops slapped the sidewalk as she ran. Each step jarred up her legs painfully.

Ahead of her, Grandma had stopped to examine one of the trees. Her face was pressed close to a knot in the wood and she muttered something to herself. She glanced at Kellie, her gaze narrowed in suspicion.

“Bad spirits have eaten its soul,” Grandma said in Korean.

Kellie slowed to a walk and peered at Grandma, looking for any injuries or sign she’d had an accident. Her pajamas looked clean, if a little rumpled.

Grandma’s hand darted out and grabbed Kellie by the wrist, hauling her closer to the tree. She slapped Kellie’s hand against the gnarled wood. It was easy to see Grandma as a frail old woman, until she reminded Kellie that before her time she’d been a tae kwon do instructor.

“It’s dying.”

Kellie looked at their overlapping hands. Wrinkles punctuated each joint and knuckle compared to her hand. She placed her other hand over Grandma’s and turned to her.

Kellie swallowed down the poisonous cocktail of emotions and focused on what really mattered. She needed to get Grandma inside and make sure she wasn’t injured.

“We’ll save FernGully, but it has to wait for morning.”

“But…”

Grandma blinked up at Kellie, brows drawn together and wrinkles marring her forehead. Grandma’s memory was running away like a herd of lemmings, and she was floundering. Kellie had seen it happen often enough over the last few years.

Kellie wouldn’t cry. The waterworks upset Grandma, and right now Kellie couldn’t handle her being difficult.

Grandma’s face relaxed and her chin tilted up. “What happened to the sun?”

“It’s nighttime.” Kellie wrapped an arm around Grandma’s waist and urged her back onto the sidewalk.

“It can’t be. I just made breakfast.”

Kellie forced a smile on her face. “You took a nap, remember?”

“No.”

Breathing was difficult. Her throat constricted and her eyes stung.

“Where are we going?”

“We’re going home, G—” Kellie swallowed her words. It was still habit to call her grandma, because that was who she was to Kellie, but she didn’t remember that anymore.

“Can you read me a bedtime story? The one about the bears? I like that one.” Grandma shuffled along happily. She tilted her head back and looked up at the wide-open Texas skies. “Once there were three bears. Papa Bear, Mama Bear, Baby Bear. Papa Bear was chubby and fat. Mama Bear was slender and tall. Baby Bear was the cutest one of all. That’s because he was so small.”

“She was so small,” Kellie mumbled. She missed the old version. She missed her grandmother. She missed having her own life.

* * * * *

Scalding-hot coffee burned the back of Kellie’s mouth. She’d checked on Grandma several times during the remainder of the night, never fully able to go to sleep herself.

She jabbed in Natalie’s number. At eight a.m. it was time for some answers. She really should call Natalie’s boss, but they were friends. Or had been.

“Hello?” Natalie’s voice croaked over the phone. Something wasn’t right. Relief and anger warred within Kellie.

“Hey,” she barked out, unsure of how to begin.

“Hey, Kellie, sorry about last night. Did Shin tell you everything?”

She set the coffee cup down on the counter. “Shin? What does he have to do with this? When I got home the front door was open and Grandma was out almost in the road trying to save FernGully. I want to know what the hell happened, Natalie, and I really hope there’s a good explanation for why no one fucking called me.”

“Wait, what?” Natalie’s voice wavered through the phone.

“Grandma was by herself when I got home.”

“Oh my god, Kellie, I thought your neighbor called you. I thought— Shit, hold on.”

Rustling crackled over the line and then the unmistakable sounds of vomiting serenaded Kellie’s morning cup of coffee. She wrinkled her nose and pushed the cup farther away from her.

How was Shin involved? Why?

She could hear a male voice in the background, probably Natalie’s husband. After several minutes the phone was picked back up.

“Sorry, Kellie. I wanted to tell you this later, but I’m pregnant. We just found out. Mrs. Gang came over last night and we all had dinner and I got really sick. Shin stopped by and they said they would call you and stay with Grandma until you got there. I’m so sorry, Kellie.”