Authors: Stacy Gail
Yes.
He was inside her so deep, so magnificently deep…
She barely heard the low sounds coming from her with every shallow, panting breath. She was too fixated on the growling grunts he made as he buried his fingers in her hair and brought his mouth to her neck. The sting of the suction of his mouth was delicious, and the rhythm of him filling her again and again became a feverish cadence that held her world together.
She couldn’t get enough.
She’d
never
get enough.
She wanted it to go on forever.
Desperately she rolled her hips, seeking more pleasure, more sensation, more
everything
, and if she didn’t get it the wildness inside her would drive her insane. Tension twisted tighter in her muscles, and it was so excruciatingly rapturous she never wanted it to end.
His breath bordered on tortured and his thrusting rhythm increased, impaling her again and again in a kind of driven madness. Frantically she chased after the elusive bliss that teased her by matching him movement for movement, until the heat from the friction they created burned her beautifully alive.
So close.
So
close.
Yes…
All at once the ever-tightening tension deep inside of her released in every cell. She cried out at the force of it, and tears—actual freaking tears—leaked out of the corners of her eyes to dampen her hair while she was pierced with the sweetest ecstasy she’d ever experienced. This wasn’t just sex, or a really spectacular orgasm. This was madness. Otherworldly pleasure. It sent her right out of her mind and showed her unequivocally that perfection could truly be found.
And she’d found it, amazingly enough, in Quinn Kingfisher.
Her breathing was still labored when he collapsed against her, though he shifted just enough so that he didn’t crush her. She wouldn’t have minded taking the weight of him in the least. There was nothing about him she didn’t approve of in the most emphatic way, a fact which belatedly reminded her of one of his earlier statements.
“Just so you know,” she offered breathlessly, looking up at the ceiling and wondering if she’d ever felt this outstanding, post-sexy times, “I don’t mind if you sleep naked. You’re very sweet to think of my comfort level, but really, I’m good with it.”
“Glad to hear it.” His voice was muffled as he fit his face into her neck and blindly pulled the covers over them. “Because we’re both going to sleep bare-ass naked from this point on.”
The last thing Quinn wanted to do was get out of bed. All the priorities on his To-Do list had been shoved aside the second he heard Mia on the phone, and spending the day with her in the sack had become his number-one goal.
There were worse goals to have.
The weather was cooperating with his plans. The howling of the wind could be heard even through the thick, insulated windows of the chalet, and the world beyond had once against turned a stark and unrelenting white. It was obvious to him that it was the perfect day to stay under the covers and fuck each other until they could fuck no more.
As if that could ever happen.
With that in mind, he was drifting off to sleep with Mia curled into him, those sexy, long legs of hers tangled with his, when his phone went off. Half-asleep, he plucked it off the nightstand out of sheer habit, then was fiercely sorry he did when he finally hung up about a minute later. What he wouldn’t have given to say to hell with everything, bury his face in Mia’s wild fall of hair and sleep until they were ready for round two.
Instead…
“Mia.”
She stirred, nuzzling her face into his neck before kissing him there.
Shit, that felt sweet.
“Red.” Turning onto his side he faced her, enjoying how she hitched a leg up over his hip to accommodate his new position and giving him a kind of cozy, cute leg-hug. Ah, damn. She was such a good sport. “You awake?”
“Huh-uh.” She stretched, her body moving against him, and he closed his eyes to better enjoy the sensation. “Sleep, Boom.”
It was crazy, how much he loved it when she called him that. “I want to. Then I want to wake up and get inside you again, then sleep some more, then do it all over again.”
He could feel how her eyes remained closed while her mouth curved in a smile. “Nice.”
“But I can’t do that.”
Her smile turned into a sleepy chuckle. “Don’t doubt yourself, champ. I don’t.”
A sassy redhead, he thought, shaking his head. What a gift. “No doubt on that score, Red. I could do that and more, until you didn’t have a voice left from screaming and your legs wouldn’t be able to hold you. But as of now, I don’t have the time to do that, and neither do you.”
At last she pulled her face out of its hiding place and blinked sleepily up at him. “What are you talking about? Why don’t we have time?”
“That was Olivia on the phone. A spontaneous family brunch-slash-gathering is happening over in the main building, and since it’s my building and lot of the people who are currently over there haven’t seen either the resort or me for the past two years, my presence is sort of required.”
She was silent for a heartbeat. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope.”
“It’s blizzarding.”
“I seriously don’t know if that’s a word.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yeah.” He sighed and kissed her temple. “I gotta admit, my life was so much more peaceful when no one was speaking to me.”
She rose up on one elbow. “So… let me get this straight. Everything is supposed to go back to normal and everyone pretends you weren’t thoroughly dissed for two frigging years? Just like that?”
“Ah, there she is, my sweet, raving redhead who goes from zero to bloodthirsty in half a second. And it’s not
just like that
,” he went on when she opened her mouth to no doubt inform him that she was neither bloodthirsty nor a redhead. “I’m still pissed. And I’m not going to forget who supported me from the get-go, and who did their damnedest to pretend that I’d suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth. But if they’re willing to try, I have to set aside my issues and man up, not dwell on the past and move forward, because that’s what matters.”
“You’re willing to be the bigger man, and I appreciate that. But after the way they’ve treated you, how do you know that
they’re
going to appreciate it?’
“They will, because they’re
here
. Their willingness to meet me on my own turf is their way of conceding that they were wrong. They’re showing up in person, and that means they’re taking that first step in bridging the gap. I might still be pissed as hell, but I’m not such an epic asshole that I’d throw their offered olive branch back in their faces. Hostilities have to end at some point, and if they’re big enough to offer a cease-fire, I’m big enough to accept it.”
“I suppose you’re right,” she muttered, looking torn, and it made him grin. “It was probably hard for some of them to come to you today to admit that they were wrong and idiotic for thinking only of their own problems, and selfish, disloyal jerks for not supporting you as you worked your ass off to build your dream.”
“I kinda doubt anyone’s going to use those exact words, babe, but let’s go with that.” Laughing and feeling a crazy lightness in his chest, he wrapped his arms around her and rolled so that she was on the bottom and he was on top. “I’m glad I have
your
support, Red. You’ve got the damnedest talent for making me feel like I can do anything.”
Her eyes widened in what looked like surprise. “You
can
do anything, Boom. I have nothing to do with that. It’s obvious to me that you were born that way.”
He lowered his brow to hers and closed his eyes as the lightness ballooned inside him. “God help me, you’re cute.”
“I thought I was bloodthirsty.”
“That too. From my point of view, that’s an irresistible combination.”
“I think that makes you weird.”
“I’m good with that.” He kissed her long and deep, then groaned when she stroked her silky, long leg over the outside of his. He rolled away before he could give into temptation and settle himself more firmly into the welcoming cradle of her hips. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”
“Wait a minute.” More tousle-headed than ever, she peeked up at him from the edge of the comforter with those ice-chip eyes of hers, looking so damn cute it took all his strength not to rejoin her. “What do you mean,
let’s
? Isn’t this a family thing?”
“Lady, you’re out of your frigging mind if you think I’m going into that lion’s den all by myself.” He reached down and flung the covers back, then grinned when she gave a high-pitched girlie squeal when the cool air hit her naked flesh. She was one hell of an eyeful, and his self-control nearly buckled right then. Flawless porcelain skin stretched over a graceful, feminine frame that made him finally understand why some women were described as
willowy
. He couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the subtle curve of her hipbones and the delicate flare of her breasts tipped with rosy nipples that felt so fucking good in his mouth...
She tried to dive back under the covers. “Remember, I can’t be trusted to not go batshit crazy around your father and brother. You don’t want me there, trust me.”
Before she could make a grab for the blankets, he hauled her up and held her tight, rubbing her against his hardening cock to torment himself. “Yeah, I do, and you’re going to behave yourself, just like I expect you to. They want to make nice, and I’m cool with that. But I want to have someone by my side who I
know
is in my corner, and that someone’s you. Like it or not you’re going, so get a move-on. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get back in bed and be all over each other. Deal?”
Her eyes went soft before she smiled up at him, and it was the sweetest smile she’d ever given him. Then she rested a hand against his cheek and brought her mouth close. “Deal,” she whispered a scant second before her lips closed over his.
His arms tightened fiercely on her, and he had to consciously remind himself that crushing her into him wasn’t physically possible. Walking away from the family business and knowing he was probably letting them down had been hard. Building his dream out of nothing while most of his family and friends either ignored his existence or told him it couldn’t be done had been damned near impossible.
But not heading back to bed with his armful of sweet, responsive Mia almost broke him.
Mia didn’t have much time to get nervous about meeting more of the Kingfisher family, but she did take extra care in getting ready. Aside from putting on full makeup, she wore the thin ice blue blouse with the infinity scarf to cover the hickeys Quinn had given her—and took a precious minute to read him the riot act for marking her like a horny teenager—skinny jeans and her much-adored high-heeled boots. She left her hair down to cover up whatever marks the scarf didn’t hide, so in the end she wound up with half-casual elegance, half-Merida without visible weaponry.
Her only real weapon was her mouth, and she was seriously worried it would go off like a landmine if someone stepped out of line with Quinn. She knew it was none of her business how his family had let him down; she had no right to get angry on his behalf.
But there was such a thing as being loyal, damn it all. Loyalty was a virtue that meant everything to her, right behind love and trust. If the world’s population felt the same way she did about being loyal to the people in their lives, there wouldn’t be problems like family ostracizing its own members, parents abandoning children who weren’t a priority, or fiancées who proposed to other women. The world would be a better place if people just showed a little more loyalty. Less dramatic, maybe, but a better place.
“Damn, Red.” In the process of zipping up his jacket, Quinn paused to take her in, and with his gaze heating up she was suddenly very glad she’d taken extra care with her makeup. “Never knew icy blue could be so hot.”
A crazy little thrill zipped through her as she dragged her own jacket on. “Thanks, Boom. Do you think I’m going to have any trouble getting there in these boots?”
“If you do, I’ll be happy to carry you. Those legs and that ass are way too sexy in heels to make you change.” His arm came around her waist and he buried his face in her hair. “We’re there an hour, tops. Then you get a headache, and I get you back in the sack, moaning my name and begging me to make you come. Sound like a plan?”
“Yeah.” Her heart—and girlie parts—were throbbing so much she barely felt the cold as she headed out with him toward the main resort.
The heated walkways were getting overwhelmed by the vast amount of snow the storm had dumped so far, but it wasn’t too bad as they made the trek from the chalet to the main building. In the short time that had elapsed since she’d done an evaluation of the resort, there were already coat racks lining the walls of the vestibule, and as they were hanging up their outer gear, Olivia hurtled through the inner automatic doors.
“Hey, uh…wow. So. Mia. You brought Mia.” Eyes wide and looking uncharacteristically anxious, Olivia looked from Mia to her cousin, and there seemed to be something she was trying to communicate. “That… I wasn’t expecting that. Damn.”
“What the fuck, Olivia,” Quinn growled, even as the horrified awkwardness of suddenly finding herself in the role of uninvited guest washed over Mia. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”
“It’s okay, Quinn. Family only. I get it.” Mortified, Mia stepped back, but Quinn’s arm snaked around her shoulders and pulled her firmly against his side, when she wanted to make a grab for her discarded coat and run for it.
“Of course I brought Mia with me,” he went on as if she hadn’t spoken, glaring daggers at his cousin. “Why the hell wouldn’t I? She can go any fucking place she wants to at Whiteout, as both my guest and my woman.”
Even while Mia’s cheeks burned with embarrassment, his statement made her catch her breath and dart a shocked glance his way while those words resonated in the air. Her stomach fluttered so frantically she forgot the heavy awkwardness of being someplace she wasn’t welcome, while Olivia held out both hands, palms out.
“Whoa, slow down, that wasn’t what I was getting at. It’s just…geez,
your
woman
? Could you have worse timing? I mean, I get it, and if my door swung that way and if I weren’t a happily married woman, I’d totally go for Mia too. But let me reiterate—your timing fucking
sucks
, dude.”
Though Mia hadn’t thought it possible, Quinn’s scowl got worse. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Lorette. She’s here.”
Mia wasn’t sure how she knew a bomb had gone off, but she was certain one had. Maybe it was in how Quinn went statue-still, or how he seemed to lose a drop of color, or the way his upper lip inched up at if he’d caught a scent of something foul.
Or maybe it was how his arm suddenly dropped away from her, and all at once she was uncomfortably aware of how chilly it was in the drafty vestibule.
“You’ve gotta kidding me.” Quinn’s tone matched his look—blank, without any hint of identifiable emotion. The sound of it made a block of ice fall into the pit of her stomach.
Olivia shook her head with a disgusted roll of her eyes. “I thought maybe she was with Garth and he’d brought her because, you know, he’s kind of an idiot and never thinks things through. But they’re not together anymore. That bitch got her chunky ass over here to Whiteout all on her own like she thinks she has a right to be here. Thomas wants to throw her out, so if that’s what you want, just give him the high sign.”