Page 11 of As You Crave It

“What?”

“I know I’m going to end up hating myself for this. But do you want to come in?”

“I do.”

Celia knew it was stupid as she led Quin into her new house. She’d tried to be strong, to leave him behind on the beach and in the past, but he just came charging back into her life whether she wanted him to or not. And it didn’t seem like he’d be leaving anytime soon.

But tell that to her body, which had wanted him since that first day in freshman computer-science class. Then, she knew she wasn’t Quin’s type, she’d been on the bookish side, not glamourous like the girls he’d dated for short periods of time. They’d had almost nothing in common at first, but they’d developed a fast friendship. Yet every day they’d been together, she’d wanted more. Finally telling him how she felt had blown up dramatically in her face, and as he followed closely behind her now, she knew that this time would, too. But she just couldn’t help herself.

“Where’s your bedroom?” he asked, his lips against hers.

“In the back.” He walked her to the bedroom.

“Condoms?” he asked.

“In the en suite,” she told him, almost breathless from his kisses, as his fingers pushed her skirt up and her panties down.

They ended up in the bathroom, ripping at each other’s clothes, and she pulled the box of condoms from the medicine cabinet. “Here.”

“Thank God,” he said. “Not fucking you on that beach was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.”

She pushed down his pants and boxers. He rolled the condom over himself and lifted her against the glass wall of the shower. Celia reached above her and gripped the metal railing of the door. Before she even had a chance to breathe, Quin was inside of her.

Celia closed her eyes and reveled in how he filled her. She knew she would live to regret this moment. She knew that Quin would wind up breaking her heart, but there was no way she wasn’t going to have one night with him. This was what she’d waited for since the first day she’d met Quin, and it was as amazing as she’d hoped it would be.

He thrust his hips, filling her, withdrawing, entering her again as she held on for dear life in her small, cramped master bathroom. He pulled her away from the shower door and, still inside of her, gripping her ass, his lips stealing the breath from hers and her legs wrapped tightly around his hips, he walked her to her bedroom.

Quin pulled her stretchy dress over her head, and she was now naked. He lowered her on the bed and followed her down. She felt vulnerable—not because she was naked and he was still fully dressed, but because she was with Quin. He was dangerous to her, and she knew it, but as her orgasm built, she knew that for this one time with him, she would probably pay the price with her heart for the rest of her life.

Using his lips and his skilled fingers, Quin played her body like he’d been doing so his entire life.

With his lips he made a trail up her throat, his tongue flicking the sensitive hollow there. He nipped her earlobe between his teeth. “What do you like?” he asked, his voice a breathy whisper that tickled her ear.

Her whole body responded to his touch. Did he want her to say it out loud? “This,” she sighed. “I like this.”

“What do you like?” he repeated.

What did he want her to say? She didn’t want anything else. Everything he was doing was perfect. “Just don’t stop,” she told him, choking out the words in desperation. “I’m so close.”

“You got it,” he told her, his voice hoarse. He sped up his thrusts, adding a slight swivel to his hips that hit her just right. The sensation rose in her, starting deep in her core, spreading through her limbs, pleasure blooming until it grew to a fevered height. There was an explosion within her, and she cried out, gripping Quin’s back, squeezing him closer to her, taking his weight as he found his own release, his low moan rumbling in her ear.

He stayed inside of her as their breaths slowed down. “That was incredible,” he told her. He looked down at her with such a tender expression that it almost broke her heart. It was how she wished he’d looked at her when she was a younger woman. And if she was younger, she might have fallen for it. But not now, she realized as her heart rate slowed to a normal pace.

She shifted underneath him, and he rolled off her. The moment passed. Without saying anything, he stood and walked into the bathroom. When he came back, she was pulling back the bed covers. He leaned against the doorframe, his shirt open, revealing his tight, trim chest and stomach. “You’re going to bed?”

She lowered the blinds of the window, blocking the orange morning light. “I’ve got to get some sleep,” she told him. “I’ve got a long week coming up.” With Jared out of town, she was looking forward to getting her work done without him hovering over her shoulder.

“I guess I’ll get out of your way then,” Quin said. She noticed that things had again become awkward. And she hated that more than anything.

“Do you want to stay?” As long as she was making questionable choices...

He paused buttoning his shirt halfway up his chest. “I didn’t expect that.” He hesitated before speaking again. “You want me to?”

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.” It wouldn’t be the first time they’d shared a bed—they’d had overnight study sessions and movie nights—but it would be their first as lovers.

He smiled and walked to her. “Yeah, sure. I’d love to.”

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