“Right.” I walked backward. “Good night. See you in the morning.”
“Good night, Taran.”
Och, even his growly voice saying my name made me horny.
Bloody hell.
“Night,” I squeaked out, whirled around, and marched to my room.
I fumbled to get inside, almost slamming the door behind me as I fell against it, breathing hard, trying to calm down.
Except I couldn’t.
It was like the adrenaline from this morning still coursed through my body.
I stared at the bed in the tiny hotel room.
What if … what if whoever tried to take me this morning had followed me and Quinn today? I could fall asleep in this room and they could break in and?—
I shrugged out of my rain jacket, dumped it on the bed with my purse, and then threw open the door.
Facts were that I couldn’t be alone. It was too dangerous.
Well … that was my excuse, and I was sticking to it.
31.Taran
The pulse at my neck beat hard as I walked down the short corridor to Quinn’s room. My palms were a wee bit clammy and that insistent throb between my legs only intensified the closer I grew to him.
I stopped at his door and raised my hand to knock.
The door flew open before I could and Quinn faltered in his stride forward, his lips parting. “Taran.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Where were you going?”
A look I knew all too well darkened his countenance. “To find you.” His arm hooked around my waist, and he hauled me inside his hotel room. Quinn’s lips crashed down on mine as I heard the door slam shut.
His kiss was beyond hunger.
It was exactly what I’d imagined nineteen years of longing should feel like distilled down into a kiss.
I couldn’t catch my breath, and I didn’t care as I tangled my fingers in his hair, my senses overloaded with the feel of his beard on my skin, his tongue in my mouth, his groans in my ears, his hard body holding me tight. Suddenly, I was falling, and as he bounced against me upon impact with the bed, that imaginary warning siren from earlier blared a wee bit too loudly.
I turned my head on the duvet-softened mattress, panting for breath on the call of his name.
Quinn’s breathing was ragged and he rested his forehead on my temple, his heat overwhelming as he caged my body with his own.
“I …” I turned my head again, forcing him to lift his, our eyes connecting. The need in his almost stopped me, but not quite. “If we do this, it doesn’t mean I want to be with you.”
His expression hardened abruptly. “Taran?—”
“I want this.” I gestured between us. “But not … I’m not ready for anything more than this. If you’re not in agreement, we need to stop now.”
“I’m not in agreement.” Quinn huffed in disbelief. “I’ll never be in agreement with that.”
Disappointment cooled my blood. “Then you need to get off me.”
“No.” He bent his head to mine, our noses almost touching, his beard tickling my skin. “I promised you nothing but honesty from now on. Sex with you will never just be sex for me. But … I still want you even knowing that’s all you can give me.”
