going to be able to get any relief with his own poor hand tonight. Loneliness took hold, made it hard to breathe. For once, he didn’tcrave release. What he wanted was connection.
He’d gotten the prosthetic and compression sock off when the floorboards creaked. Quinn had ten toes perfect for quiet movement.
“What are you doing?” he snarled at her outline in the doorway, acutely aware he was exposed, his stump on display to ruin everything.
“I rolled over and you were gone,” she whispered. Her eyes weren’t fixatedon his leg. For some reason she stared at his chest.
His back muscles tightened as his ears grew hot. “Go away.”
Instead she came closer.
“Dear God, do you bench press sequoia logs or something?”
“Huh?”
“Seriously.” She licked her lips. “How do you have such an amazing body? You’re like a statue or something. I used to keep a D encyclopedia under my bed, to check out Michelangelo’s David and—”
“Please, go. I can’t stand it.” He sank his hands into the blanket, a freight train running through his head.
“You are beautifully made, don’t you know that?” She bent, bracing her hands on his thighs and lowering herself down to her knees.
He made himself well acquainted with the area where the opposite wall met the ceiling. “You’ve got a sweet-looking mouth for a liar.”
“I speak the truth. I don’t want a one night stand,” she said, “but I also can’t deny that I want you. Badly.”
His muscles coiled as tightly as springs.
“Can you please look at me?” she whispered.
“Can’t.” It was all he could say with his throat in a vise.
She was quiet a moment. From this room he couldn’t hear the falls, but the memory of the laughing water echoed in his skull.“What are you so afraid of?”
“I’m not afraid.”
“Wilder. You’re trembling.”
Shit. He was. Toss another log on the pyre. Tonight this woman was going to burn him alive and he didn’t mind a bit.
“Is it this?”
He jerked as she touched his leg, stump, whatever you wanted to call the useless appendage.
“Your injury isn’t an issue for me,” she murmured. “You survived a terribleaccident. I’m sorry for what you suffered. But that doesn’t subtract anything from who you are, the man I see.”
He snorted. “Man? I’m not a man anymore.”
She reached, her fingers tracing his chest hair. “You look plenty manly from where I sit, just saying.”
Her damn hand kept moving, down over his chest, his gut tightening as she reached his navel, the place where the hair began again,the thick arrow, an unsubtle guidepost.
She reached the elastic of his boxers and stopped. “I won’t go further unless you say it’s okay.”
“Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”
“Right now I feel like the seducer.”
He seized her with a groan, lifting her easily, falling back on the mattress and carrying her with him. It was short work to get off her shirt. Her jeans were a littletrickier. They were tight, which was good and meant she had to shimmy her hips to get them lower, which was better.
He groaned and clasped her ass, the little scrap of lace doing not much more than framing the high perfect swell of her ass.
“I don’t have a condom,” he rasped.
“I’m on birth control.” She kissed him again. “But we’re barely acquainted.”
“Never mind, I can make youfeel good in other ways.” He ran his thumb down the center of her panties. No hiding the wetness. No hiding anything. Her entire body was a live wire. She trembled against him and he shuddered once.
“Wait.” She jerked up, shoving hair from her face. “I forgot. I have a condom in my purse. For emergencies.”
“Emergencies?”
“I was a Girl Scout—always come prepared. It’s stashed in myfirst-aid kit. I have a pocket-sized one.”
“In case you get a cut, need a Band-Aid and then a fuck to make things better?”
She narrowed her gaze in mock ferocity. “Listen, buddy, I saw this
He’d gotten the prosthetic and compression sock off when the floorboards creaked. Quinn had ten toes perfect for quiet movement.
“What are you doing?” he snarled at her outline in the doorway, acutely aware he was exposed, his stump on display to ruin everything.
“I rolled over and you were gone,” she whispered. Her eyes weren’t fixatedon his leg. For some reason she stared at his chest.
His back muscles tightened as his ears grew hot. “Go away.”
Instead she came closer.
“Dear God, do you bench press sequoia logs or something?”
“Huh?”
“Seriously.” She licked her lips. “How do you have such an amazing body? You’re like a statue or something. I used to keep a D encyclopedia under my bed, to check out Michelangelo’s David and—”
“Please, go. I can’t stand it.” He sank his hands into the blanket, a freight train running through his head.
“You are beautifully made, don’t you know that?” She bent, bracing her hands on his thighs and lowering herself down to her knees.
He made himself well acquainted with the area where the opposite wall met the ceiling. “You’ve got a sweet-looking mouth for a liar.”
“I speak the truth. I don’t want a one night stand,” she said, “but I also can’t deny that I want you. Badly.”
His muscles coiled as tightly as springs.
“Can you please look at me?” she whispered.
“Can’t.” It was all he could say with his throat in a vise.
She was quiet a moment. From this room he couldn’t hear the falls, but the memory of the laughing water echoed in his skull.“What are you so afraid of?”
“I’m not afraid.”
“Wilder. You’re trembling.”
Shit. He was. Toss another log on the pyre. Tonight this woman was going to burn him alive and he didn’t mind a bit.
“Is it this?”
He jerked as she touched his leg, stump, whatever you wanted to call the useless appendage.
“Your injury isn’t an issue for me,” she murmured. “You survived a terribleaccident. I’m sorry for what you suffered. But that doesn’t subtract anything from who you are, the man I see.”
He snorted. “Man? I’m not a man anymore.”
She reached, her fingers tracing his chest hair. “You look plenty manly from where I sit, just saying.”
Her damn hand kept moving, down over his chest, his gut tightening as she reached his navel, the place where the hair began again,the thick arrow, an unsubtle guidepost.
She reached the elastic of his boxers and stopped. “I won’t go further unless you say it’s okay.”
“Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”
“Right now I feel like the seducer.”
He seized her with a groan, lifting her easily, falling back on the mattress and carrying her with him. It was short work to get off her shirt. Her jeans were a littletrickier. They were tight, which was good and meant she had to shimmy her hips to get them lower, which was better.
He groaned and clasped her ass, the little scrap of lace doing not much more than framing the high perfect swell of her ass.
“I don’t have a condom,” he rasped.
“I’m on birth control.” She kissed him again. “But we’re barely acquainted.”
“Never mind, I can make youfeel good in other ways.” He ran his thumb down the center of her panties. No hiding the wetness. No hiding anything. Her entire body was a live wire. She trembled against him and he shuddered once.
“Wait.” She jerked up, shoving hair from her face. “I forgot. I have a condom in my purse. For emergencies.”
“Emergencies?”
“I was a Girl Scout—always come prepared. It’s stashed in myfirst-aid kit. I have a pocket-sized one.”
“In case you get a cut, need a Band-Aid and then a fuck to make things better?”
She narrowed her gaze in mock ferocity. “Listen, buddy, I saw this
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