Page 46 of Frequency of Attraction

“Let’s go,” he said to Quinn. His voice sounded surly, but he was attempting to process emotions more potent than that day with his brother or the failure at Star City.

Quinn slid out of the swing, her smile fading. They left the park in silence, Vadim struggling the entire way to keep his emotions in check. She kept glancing at his face, probably trying to read his tense body language, but he couldn’t offer her any reassurance.

He bounced on his toes and tried not to growl as she took a millennium unlocking her door. Tears started to seep from the corners of his eyes. Inside, she turned to him. “Look, I know I should have told you that I found them, but—”

Vadim cracked open. Tears poured out into his hands, halting Quinn mid-sentence. “Did you see her?” he choked out. “Did you see how beautiful she is? Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?”

Vadim let the pent-up emotions leave his body in silent, shaking sobs. Relief. Grief for what he’d missed. Gratitude for the opportunity to know his daughter. Quinn rubbed his back, murmuring in soothing French.

Finally, his breathing normalized and the tears stopped. He wiped his cheeks and looked down at the woman who had made this day happen. He saw that she had been crying as well. “You did this for me. You gave me this gift.”

“You gave me one, too.”

Her honest, gentle expression healed some of his cracked pieces. Quinn had so much to give. Even her worry and constant work was done from love and concern. The only person she didn’t spoil with her attentions was herself. Vadim cradled her heart-shaped face in his hands. He had told himself he needed to step away from her. Instead he’d joined her on this trip. And now? “I can never repay you for this.”

“You don’t need to. Bringing you together was the right thing to do.”

Vadim shook his head. With Quinn, he could admit, hefelt. What he felt, he couldn’t name. Haltingly, he brought his lips to hers. He felt her sharp inhale like she’d siphoned the breath from his lungs. He paused. What was he thinking?

Then Quinn moved onto her tiptoes to close the space between them. Her warm lips came alive under his. Her body followed. Closeness. That’s what he had been thinking. His hands drifted under her shirt to the smooth skin of her waist. Her arms went around his neck as she molded her sinuous body to his. Her tongue was life. He needed it. Vadim had kissed women before—hell, he’d even kissed Quinn before—but not like this. Not when it meant something.

He hefted her into his arms and carried her to the second floor. He dropped her onto the bed, giving her no time to recover before he cloaked her body with his. His cock swelled from her dancing tongue and wandering hands and delicious hums. The girl could fucking kiss.

He pulled his shirt over his head, then hers. Bra? Gone. Vadim kissed Quinn’s mouth, her alabaster neck, between her perfect breasts, her pebbled nipples, then claimed her mouth one more time. As sparks flickered across his skin, he wondered why they hadn’t been kissing all along.

Quinn rolled on top of him. Vadim groaned as her breasts pressed into his chest and her tongue danced with his. He squeezed her denim-clad bum. He could fuck her. Down and dirty fuck her. But he could do that with anyone. He popped the button on her jeans and stripped her bare. She did the same. But he couldn’t stop kissing her. Caressing her. Worshipping her. He rolled back on top, propping himself on one elbow and cupping her face with his free hand.

“You’re beautiful. Inside and out.” That was safe enough to admit, he thought. He felt less safe when she smiled.

“I feel the same about you.T’es beau.”

Handsome. He chuckled. Maybe he liked it just as well when she complimented him as when she cursed at him.

Vadim dropped his lips to hers and nudged his tongue inside. His hips did the same, his cock sliding inside her warmth at the same moment. Quinn’s mouth fell away as her chin drew up. Vadim kissed her exposed throat as he slowly drove in and out. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had sex face-to-face and savoring. Right then, there was just the two of them. No games, no mirrors.

He fucked her slowly, deeply, rubbing circles on her clit. He explored her mouth and drank in the expressions on her face. Memorized the gold flecks in her irises. Relished her sharp nails and smooth calves as they met his skin. He held his pace steady, not deviating at all so she could find her orgasm. She did, shattering around him, pulling his orgasm out of him, too. He collapsed next to her and traced the outline of her body lazily while they came down. He took two detours to her breasts for good measure.

She hummed happily. “Vadim, did we just make lo—”

“I’ll go get something to clean up.”

He didn’t do the “L word,” no matter what she’d done for him. Vadim brought back toilet paper from the bathroom, pretending he didn’t see questions in her gaze. He decided to take a second shower to see if it was possible to wash emotions away. He’d felt too much today.

The sound of a piano melody greeted him as he left the steaming bathroom twenty minutes later. He’d forgotten that Quinn could play. Of course she’d make beautiful music with her fingers.

He followed the sound to a sunny room at the back of the first floor. He leaned on the doorframe and watched Quinn play with her eyes closed, a soft smile lifting her lips as her fingers flew across the keys. To him, it sounded like multiple people playing together in harmony. She was that good. Her head swayed back and forth like the music moved through her. The melancholy tune taunted him with beauty and peace and promises of happiness. Gifts he didn’t think he deserved. A fate he didn’t think he’d find.

Yet, because of this one woman, all of it seemed within reach.

23

Quinn spent the rest of the afternoon with her piano and memories of Vadim with Mila.

Even as an outsider, she could see the instant, consuming bond form between them. His love showed in his posture, softened face, and gentle movements. The memory of his hulking form on the ground with hisbébéwould never leave her.

Quinn had been terrified that she’d overstepped. She had expected Vadim to rail at her and run, especially with the squirrelly way he’d been acting on the walk home. Instead, she’d witnessed a different kind of breaking. She’d felt his tears on her skin. She’d quelled the sobs in his chest. Quinn had no idea what to do with that, or the lovemaking that came after, where she had felt a breaking of her own.

She should be afraid of the PR nightmare that would be falling for that dark star. They worked together. They were from different continents, different worlds. He’d fucked famous women all over the planet. He had demons—some she knew and some she didn’t.

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