Page 47 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 1-4

Sadie gasped when she felt his tongue against her, exploring, licking its way into her and finding that cluster of nerves that throbbed with exquisite pleasure. He reached up and tugged down one strap of the dress, so it fell, exposing her breast. He palmed her flesh, finding her nipple and trapping it between his fingers.

That was all it took to make Sadie fly so high that she couldn’t speak or breathe or think. She could only stand in Quin’s embrace as she shattered against his mouth.

Quin was drowning in Sadie’s scent and taste. He’d dreamed of this on long nights when he’d wake filled with frustration and a kind of pain he never wanted to experience again.

He stood and gathered Sadie into his arms, feeling a rush of emotion that he ruthlessly pushed down. Not emotion. Just sex.

He put her on the bed and looked at her. The dress was like a golden fountain around her body. Her hair was loose and wild. Mouth swollen from his kisses. Cheeks flushed. One breast was exposed, its nipple hard, making his mouth water all over again.

He would never get enough of this woman.

The assertion slid into his head before he could stop it or refute it. But he was too wound up to care right now.

He came down over Sadie, hiking the dress up over her waist, exposing her to his gaze. He pulled down the other strap to expose both breasts and lay beside her, using his hands and mouth to make her ready again, because he knew he wouldn’t last long.

She was panting, legs moving, her hands finding every piece of skin she could touch on his body, finding where he was so hard and wrapping her hand around him.

Quin reluctantly took his mouth from her plump flesh, where the hard tip of her nipple was an incitement never to stop feasting on her, but she was going to send him over the edge before he’d even found the bliss he was craving between her legs.

He moved over her and she took her hand off his flesh. With one smooth thrust he was seated inside her, all the way to the hilt, and it was an exquisite torture to exert all the control he had to move in and out and not explode on contact, to eke out the pleasure until their skin was slick with perspiration and Sadie’s nails were clawing his back like a hungry cat. But finally he gave in to the gathering storm, letting it wash them both away...

Sadie wasn’t sure how long they lay entwined, but she savoured every moment. Quin’s big powerful body was in hers, on hers, crushing her. It was a beautiful crush as their hearts finally returned to regular rhythms.

Quin seemed as loathe to break the embrace as she was, only moving after long minutes. Sadie winced a little, but it wasn’t from pain—it was from breaking the contact.

Quin lay on his back beside her. The silence was only punctuated by the sounds of sirens, distant and far below, and their breathing. Sadie turned her head to look at Quin and took in his noble profile. It made her think of something.

She pulled the sheet up to her chest and turned on her side. ‘Do you know who your real father is?’

Quin said nothing for a long time, and his eyes were closed, so Sadie assumed he must be asleep.

But then he said, ‘No. I’d have to ask my mother, and I have no intention of pursuing any contact with her. The rumour mill has it that he was either the pool boy or her personal trainer.’

Sadie’s heart clenched for him. She knew he wouldn’t want to hear it, but she said, ‘She had a lot of miscarriages...she might have been traumatised.’

Quin opened his eyes and turned his head to her. ‘Not so traumatised that she didn’t seek solace in the arms of another man. Under her husband’s nose.’ Quin let out a harsh laugh. ‘God knows, he was no saint either, and he pretty much abandoned us emotionally, but at least he didn’t actually leave.’

‘I’m just saying that perhaps things aren’t so black and white. Do you even know where she is?’

Quin shrugged. ‘Primo mentioned something a while back about her being in Italy with a new husband.’

‘Are you close to him?’

‘Probably closer than most brothers in our situation. It helped that I never had any desire to go into the family business. We never had to compete. I think he respects what I’ve achieved on my own.’

‘So is he in touch with your mother?’

‘No, but I think their paths have crossed at an event.’

‘It must have been so confusing and devastating when she left...’

‘Yes, it was.’

His meaning was clear: Sadie should know that because she’d done exactly the same thing. Except...she hadn’t.

Emotion made her voice thick. ‘If I’d known... I can’t believe that I re-enacted the worst thing that ever happened to you...and did it to Sol...’

Sadie half expected Quin to get up and leave, but he rolled towards her and put a finger over her lips. He said, ‘No more talk of the past. Like I said, all I’m interested in is the present.’

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