Retribution (24 page)

She jolted as her lungs hiccupped, and while her head still worried, he’d gotten her body’s attention. She sobbed with relief, so happy that, through all the darkness, she still had the ability to enjoy his touch.

He returned his hand to her chin, urging her to face him. Then he softly kissed away her tears. She slid her fingers into his hair to keep him close, and he blindly reached for her skirt, hiking it up her thighs while vanishing his shorts. Her bare legs found his hips, and the tingles stretched, simultaneously soothing and arousing her.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

He drifted his lips across the tip of her nose while shaking his head. “I’m not done.”

The pad of his thumb swept over her closed lids. Then his fingers trailed through her curls, sending chills across her scalp. Taking her by the thigh, he pulled her closer, intensifying their electric connection. Then he gave her a long kiss while sliding his hand up her leg. His knuckles skated over her hip. Then his palm covered her pubic bone as his thumb dipped between her thighs. She still wore her panties, and the satin stimulated sensitive areas as his thumb pressed and rubbed. Her breathing quickened, and she felt his lips curve into a smile, his thumb stroking her panties until they were wet.

Yes, her body had definitely forgotten their troubles. Now she just wished her head and heart could do the same.
 

“More,” she whispered, and his chest rumbled as he moved the moist satin aside and slid his fingers over bare flesh.

His lips left hers and trailed down her throat, and as he took one of her nipples into his teeth, two of his fingers dipped inside. The heavenly appendages curled as his thumb pressed and swirled, and like a cleansing flood, moisture rushed his fingers, washing away the world and all its troubles.

“More,” she gasped, desperate to stay lost in him, in his physical, mental and emotional bliss… his heaven.

His fingers slid away, taking her underwear with them, and as her nipple slipped from his lips, his erection emphatically filled her.

Her body quaked, her core a delightful mess of fluttering muscles and tingling nerve-endings, and her eyes popped open to his flexed neck and shoulder. Moving her mouth to his throat, she slid her palms to his hard pecs, and he grasped her butt, lifting it from the couch as he took her, his rhythm steady and powerful.
 

A hum rolled from her diaphragm and vibrated her lips, and the fire inside burned hotter. She was reaching another orgasm, her body a receptive pool of emotions and adrenaline, but she wasn’t ready to stop. If she came, he’d come. Then he’d have to stop and catch his breath. And she wasn’t ready to give up her rediscovered heaven, not yet.

“Don't stop…” she breathed, dipping her nails into his chest. “Please.” Then her plea flowed into broken moans as she fell over the edge.

He quietly growled into her hair as she came, but he didn’t stop, and the pounding on sensitive nerves was half torture, half divine. With every thrust, squeaks burst from her chest, and her skin twitched around convulsing muscles. The acute sensations were almost too much, and she squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself to endure them.

Apparently he noticed her struggle, because his movements slowed, but she quickly protested. “No, Quin… Please don't stop.”

He mumbled a few profanities as he throbbed inside her. Then he grasped a fistful of curls and picked up the pace.
 

“Yes...” she breathed. “Keep me there.”

“Damn.”

Tightening his grip on her hair, he tilted her head back, and she opened her eyes, finding his smoldering stare. His lips came down on hers, hard and hungry, and she reached her pinnacle again, moaning into his mouth while trembling around his manhood. He kept going, and her moan built into a scream as she drowned in a potent concoction of torment and rapture.

Near bursting with overwhelming sensations, she didn't know how much longer she could take the flames licking her tender and susceptible insides, so when she felt herself peaking again, she grasped his butt and pulled him deep inside, urging him to stay there.

Her muscles rolled and stretched as a wave of fulfillment crashed over her. Then her core rippled as more than mere tension rushed from her body. He left her mouth, his fist flexing in her hair, and the fingers dipping into her backside squeezed and pulled, forcing his arousal deeper as a string of profanities skipped from his tongue.

She felt him surge inside her, a sturdy dam reaching its breaking point, and his grip on her didn’t ease until his twitching did. His lungs emptied as the pressure ebbed, and the arm holding him up shook.

Running his hand up her spine, he pulled her to his chest. Then he sat up and leaned back, propping his head on the armrest while settling her weight on his torso.

Filled with more than physical relief and sexual indulgence, Layla floated in a sea of tingles as her heart soared. She’d been terrified she wouldn’t find her heaven again before the grim reaper tracked them down, a thought that scared her more than death. She'd found life in Quin. Not just in the emotional connections they shared, but in the physical connections as well. The two went hand in hand. She'd found her lungs and her heartbeat in him. She'd found herself in him, so without him, without the things he did for her, the words he said to her, the way he touched her, and the things he made her feel, she’d be breathless, heartless... lifeless, scraps ripe for Agro's dogs.

“I guess you're not angry with me,” she whispered, attempting to trace the contours of his pecs, but her flimsy muscles wouldn't allow it.

His lungs slowed as he peeked at her with one incredulous eye. “Why on earth would I be angry with you?”

“Well… because I was demanding and selfish, making you wait while I got mine. That wasn't very fair of me.”

“Layla, Layla, Layla. What am I going to do with you?” He took her by the waist and slid her up his torso, pulling himself from her body while laying her cheek on his shoulder. “Hey.”

“Hey back.”

“What you just did to me was incredible,” he assured. “Hearing your demands shot my arousal and ego through the roof, and giving you what you want turns me on in ways that wouldn't make much sense to anyone else. I get a full-body high when I please you.”

Moving a forefinger to one of his dimples, she
finally found her smile. “No one pleases me like you do, Quin. You're amazing.”

“You amaze me every day, Layla. You're like an eclipse, but somehow, at the same time, you're like the sun. Everything's shadowed by your beautiful face, and the rest of the world fades away when you express your lovely heart, yet somehow, you shed light on everything around you, effortlessly nurturing the people you choose to share your soul with. There's nothing else like you out there. There never has been. You're the brightest star that's ever burned, and I'm beyond blessed you choose to burn me.”

“You say such beautiful things to me, Quin. I'm the blessed one. You never fail to give me what I need.”

“Well that's exactly what I need, so we're in good shape.” He tucked her hair behind her ear then stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I love you, Layla. You’re my life, and I’ll spend whatever time I have left on earth making sure you’re taken care of.”

“I know. Everything you do proves that.”

“Good.”

“You know, right?”

“That you love me?”

“Yeah.”

“Of course, angel. You show me constantly. There’s not a doubt in my mind I have the love of the most perfect woman who’ll ever walk this earth.”

“So if I'm perfect, and you're perfect, maybe we should be immortalized in stone.”

“Makes sense. Where should they put it? In the city of love next to the Eiffel Tower? Or in front of Lady Liberty? Or they could carve us into Mount Rushmore.”

“Hmm... how about on top of Lady Liberty's flame? It can represent our burning desire.”

He laughed as he gave her bottom lip a gentle tug. “Perfect. There's nothing more welcoming or more beautiful than you.”

“Not everyone feels the way you do,” she countered, moving her face closer to his. “But it would be better world if they did, because you have the most amazing heart of anyone I've met.”

“Only because it's beating your name.”

“That’s not true. I’ve seen evidence otherwise; people you left your mark on long before I came around.”

“I'm sure you've touched more lives than you realize, love. Oklahoma lost a star when you left.”

“I'm a different person now, Quin. You don't know what I was like in Oklahoma.”

“I know this heart,” he replied, rubbing the left side of her back, “and it's always been beautiful. Nothing can change that.”

“But it has changed. It's bigger now, and it grows every day. It feels things it never felt before, and it’s so full, it seems more susceptible to pain. I'm like a walking puzzle that hasn't been glued together. If you touch me wrong, I crumble as my heart bleeds the excess weight.”

“You've always had a big heart, Layla. You just have more people to share it with now. And even though I hate to see you hurt, your emotional capacity is one of the reasons I fell in love with you.”

She grinned and cuddled closer. “When did you know?”

“Know what?”

“That you were in love with me?” She loved hearing his stories. They wrapped her insides in a warm and blissful cocoon.

He returned her smile and gave her a kiss. “I loved you the moment I met you.”

“No you didn’t.”

“I did,” he insisted. “I loved your aura, your face, your voice. Then I learned your name and loved you even more. You were the witch I'd never known but always loved. However, it's not quite accurate to say I instantly fell
in love
with you. That happened gradually. Every minute I spent with you made me want to stay, and with every word you spoke, you managed to work deeper into my heart. You still do by the way. That hasn't changed. But back to my point. Yes, I fell for you constantly and gradually, but I can tell you the moment I realized I was in love with you, the moment my life became crystal clear. I guess you could say I saw the light.”

He paused, running his fingers through her hair while studying her face. He already had her features memorized; his brain could summon a perfect replica of her. But it was a mere reproduction, one that could never equal the work of art it attempted to emulate. The moments he spent looking at the original were the most amazing moments of his life.

“I told you as soon as I knew, Layla. I didn't hide it. You were so happy, jumping in the wave you'd summoned up the cliff, and as I watched you, I felt you, not just in my heart, everywhere. You’d taken over and become as vital to my happiness as air is to my life. In that moment, I found everything I’ve ever wanted and more. Your resilience, your spirit, and a heart like no other, all wrapped up in the most beautiful package imaginable. Then you smiled up at me and... well, of course I fell in love. Anybody would have.”

Tears swarmed her eyes as she laid a hand on his cheek. “That's a lot more beautiful than my story.”

He grinned and kissed her nose. “That's because you're more beautiful than I am.”

“No,” she disagreed. “It's because I'm a bumbling idiot who doesn't know how to interpret my emotions, let alone express them.”

“You were never a bumbling idiot, but you did have a hard time expressing yourself.”

“To say the least.”

“You're much better at it now.”

“To say the least.”

He laughed, which made her smile, and he took the opportunity to kiss her grin. “So,” he whispered, “now that you can express yourself, tell me – when did you realize you were in love with me?”

Her cheeks flushed, and he laughed again.

“You're laughing at me,” she accused.

“I think it's funny you still blush around me,” he confessed. “I like it, though, so don't try to change.”

“It's good you like it, because I can't change.”

“May I ask why you're blushing?”

She sighed and slid her fingers into his hair. “Because my story isn't very good. I didn't have any epiphanies while standing on a magical cliff.”

“I know you struggled with your feelings for me, Layla. You don't have to be ashamed of that.”

“I'm not ashamed. I just wish I had a beautiful story for you.”

“I see. But I’d rather live the beautiful story than hear it, and I was there every day. I'm still living it.”

“But...see, the thing is...” Her nose wrinkled as the rest of her sentence rushed out. “It was the one time you weren't there that made me realize I was in love with you.”

His eyebrows furrowed as his heart and arms squeezed. “Regrettably, I wasn't there on more than one occasion, so you'll have to be more specific.”

“There's only one, Quin. The one time I had to wake up in my bed without you next to me. That's when I knew. I've never felt so empty. It was horrible, and I knew then I’d never get over you. You were there to stay, whether I had you or not.”

“I'm sorry I wasn't there,” he whispered. “That was my fault, and I never should have let it happen.”

“Don’t apologize, Quin. You've more than made up for your absence that morning. Besides, you can figure in some time served since it took me a while to tell you I love you. That's another reason my story isn't pretty. Even after you'd said those beautiful words on our cliff, even though I already knew I was in love with you, I didn’t tell you. Not until I faced death did I regret my silence. When I thought my time was up, the thing I wanted most was the chance to tell you how I felt… how I feel.”