Page 12 of A Convenient Ring to Claim Her

He snorted. This was also why she was friends with his sister. Even when she voiced strong opinions, she never took herself too seriously.

He enjoyed her company. He always had. In that moment, he couldn’t help admiring her as an introspective, self-possessed adult who knew exactly what she wanted out of life.

For just a moment, he let himself wonder if her passion and playfulness extended to the bedroom. How would it feel to be the recipient of her intensity if it turned sensual? Hellishly good, he would bet.

When his gaze climbed from the open button at her throat, her blue eyes were waiting for him. The sexual awareness he had ignored since Paris was suddenly a glowing fire between them, impossible to hide or smother.

Her short lashes flared wide, then fluttered in the briefest moment of disconcertment. Just as quickly, she made up her mind and lifted her chin. One ribbon of red-gold hair sat against her freckled cheek. Her eyes were flickering between the hot center of a flame and the inviting hue of a tropical sea.

“Would you like to have sex?”

For a frozen second, he wondered if she was reading his thoughts.

His scrambled brain tried to find a reason why she was off-limits, but they were consenting adults with an empty house.

Nevertheless, he was compelled to clarify, “Are we still debating the pros and cons of marriage?”

“Are you still expecting me to wait until I’m asked?” Her tone was lightly mocking, but he noted the tension across her shoulders.

This had taken some courage on her part, given the fact that he had rebuffed her the last time she’d acknowledged the attraction between them.

He did not have the strength to do it again.

“You really want to have sex?” His voice had descended to the bottom of his chest. “Why?”

“I believe they’re called orgasms,” she said with a bland smile.

“I would have thought an independent spirit such as yourself wouldn’t need a man for that.”

“Too right.” She rose. Her mouth was a tight line of indignation. “I’ll see what I can manage on my own.”

He was on his feet before he knew it, catching at her to draw her back in front of him. He hadn’t expected the simple act of setting his hands on her to send hunger sweeping through him, numbing his brain to rational thought.

There was a flash of vulnerability behind her startled gaze, then her hands alighted on his chest like nervous, light-as-air hummingbirds.

“What about Eden?” he managed to ask.

“She won’t be back for at least an hour.”

Not long enough. That was his basest thought, but, “I mean she’ll think—”

Quinn was already shaking her head. “I don’t want to give her any wild ideas. This is only for today. We’ll keep it between us.”

That caused a small schism in his head, but he let it go because if he only had today, only a single hour, he wouldn’t waste it talking. He suddenly had a lot of fantasies to explore.

He might have replayed every one of them while he lay here coated in mist off the falls, but an abrupt silence yanked him back to the hotel room.

The sound of running water hadn’t all come from outside. Some had been flowing from a tap into a tub and now it had shut off.

Quinn was still here.

Being human was so wonderfully annoying.

There were the decadent man-made pleasures like a deep tub of warm water, the luxury of a tall building overlooking a stunning view, and the cool tang of wine on her lips. Then there was the animalistic fascination that slithered through her when Micah appeared, naked and heavy-lidded, the latent smugness around his mouth reminding her that this languorous bliss in her veins was all thanks to him.

Quinn always felt very raw and defenseless after sex. Anytime she interacted with him, really, but especially after he dismantled her with her own needs and desires.

“Do the jets not work?” His hand went to the dial on the wall.

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