Page 15 of Final Reckoning

8

I’ll Keep You Warm

“Quinn,”he snarls. I ignore him. “Quinn.” Then, “Oh, fuck, Quinn.” And he grabs my head and pours himself down my throat.

I swallow him down, every last drop. If someone had told me, before I met Matteo, that I would not only be willing to do that for a man, but would love doing it, I would have laughed. When I’m finished, because I’m sorry that it’s over and I’m not tired of having his cock in my mouth, I lick him clean.

Only then do I remember that he’s standing here stark naked in temperatures that are barely above freezing. Greedy girl that I am, I’m not sorry. And anyway, he started it.

Standing, I lean into the back of the SUV to hunt for clean clothes. Behind me, he says, “We’ll need to sleep in the back. It’s too cold outside.”

Wait. What? I turn around with my hands full of clothes. “How long are we going to be staying here?”

“Until I can get a sense of Santiago’s movements. I just went to the top of his hit list, so you’re not safe with me. We’ve got to be cautious.”

My heart squeezes so hard in my chest that my vision starts to gray. The next thing I know, Matteo’s patting my cheek. “Quinn. Hey.”

I blink as the gray recedes. “You got put on his hit list for me,” I whisper. It’s agony to think of him getting hurt at all, let alone on my behalf.

“It was only a matter of time before I ended up there. Another couple weeks, he would have had it in for me anyway.”

I’m no longer holding the clothes; he must have taken them from me while I was trying not to faint. He starts to put on his briefs, but it’s quickly apparent that he can’t bend over without it causing a lot of pain around his ribs.

I take the briefs and kneel down, holding them so he can step into them. This puts me at eye level with his cock again. I stare at it, a little dreamily, and it twitches.

Smiling, I stare some more. Matteo growls, “Do not tempt me.”

Tempting him sounds like an excellent idea. I give him a look that says so and he shakes his head. “Swear to fuck, I’m gonna spank the hell out of you.”

“What?” I say with only partially feigned indignation. “Why?”

Matteo sends me a look that makes my pussy tingle. “You want a list?”

“Hmph.” I shake the briefs at him. He steps into them, and I tug them up until he can reach them. We do the same thing with his jeans, but when I reach for a long-sleeved t-shirt he stops me.

“Not sure how easily I could get it back off, and I’d just as soon not have to cut up all my clothes. This’ll do.”

We get the back set up next. It’s starting to snow again, so putting most of it on the picnic table is not a great idea. But the SUV is one of those jumbo-sized ones, so we can fit things on the floorboards under the folded-down back seat and also line the edges.

There’s only one sleeping bag. But Matteo brought blankets and a thick foam pad, so we can make up a sort of bed, using the unzipped bag like a comforter on top.

By the time we’re done, I’m starving. There’s a barbecue adjacent to the picnic table and I cast it a doubtful look. “Do you want me to try to cook something? I didn’t see any charcoal in your gear.”

“Nope. And we better not risk building a fire. There’s no dry wood, and smoke could draw attention. We’ll have to make do with protein bars.”

Not my favorite thing – or his either, probably – but I’m hardly in a position to be anything but grateful. “Are you sure you don’t want a shirt? It’s awfully cold out here.”

In answer, he climbs inside the back of the SUV and lies down. “I need to rest anyway. Give myself a chance to heal.”

“Oh. Right.” I fidget, not sure what to do. Now that his big, masculine body is in there, the remaining space looks much smaller.

I’m confused by my own feelings. A little while ago, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on him, not to mention my mouth. Why am I all nervous and jittery now?

Maybe because that behavior was completely out of character for me. Not that I blame myself: being kidnapped, being rescued, Matteo getting hurt, being chased by Santiago’s guys … all that danger, and the rush of still being alive, made me giddy, reckless.

But now the adrenaline has had a chance to wear off, and regular me is a little bit horrified. Not sorry, but not exactly eager to carry on in the same vein. I’m back to being cautious and circumspect and worried about getting hurt.

“Quinn.”

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