Page 22 of Dangerous Affair (The Phoenix Three #2)

L iam awoke to the feel of Quinn’s body wrapped around his with her head on his chest. She was mumbling in her sleep, something about coconut pies. Smiling, he pressed his lips against the top of her head. Lord only knew what she was dreaming.

He tried to think of something he didn’t like about her or that annoyed him, but he couldn’t think of a thing.

She was brave, funny, incredibly talented, and sexy as hell.

They’d made love, and it had been amazing.

She was comfortable in her body and her sexuality.

She preferred to sleep in the nude. She loved pizza and beer.

Pretty much the perfect woman, and he didn’t want to give her up when what she insisted was only a fling came to an end.

He didn’t want to think of her not being in his life.

What he did want to think about…losing himself in her body again.

He slid his hand down her bare back to one round butt cheek.

“Sweet,” he murmured. He shifted his body toward her and brought his other hand to her breast. They were on the small side, but they fit perfectly in his hands.

He flicked his thumb over a nipple and got a soft moan.

The gray light of dawn chased away the night. He turned his head and eyed the clock. It was only six in the morning. He should let her sleep another hour, but he wanted…no, needed to bury himself inside her.

She stirred, her eyelids fluttering a little, then her eyes opened and met his. She smiled. “Good morning.”

“Yes, it is, and it’s about to get even better.” He trailed kisses down her neck to her shoulders. “Do you want this? Me?”

She rubbed against him. “Morning sex is the best.”

The perfect woman. He dipped his fingers between her legs. “I love how wet you are, and it’s just for me.”

She lowered her hand to his erection and wrapped her fingers around him. “I love how hard you are, and it’s just for me.”

“You got that right.” He nuzzled her neck. “I want to be inside you right now, but if you need a little foreplay, we can start with that.”

“You foreplayed me enough last night to carry some over to this morning. Just slide right on in, hot stuff.”

How could he not laugh? This woman was something else. She checked all his boxes and some boxes he didn’t even know to wish for. He reached over to the night table where there were still a few condom packages left from the night before.

“Let me.” She took the condom from him and scooted to her knees between his legs.

He put his hands behind his head and watched her. Her tongue stuck out to the side as she concentrated on rolling the condom on him, and when she finished, she looked up at him and grinned.

“All covered up and ready for me.”

Was he ever. “Ride me, Quinn.”

Her eyes lit with pleasure, and she lifted and moved up until she was positioned over him. “Giddyap,” she cried out as she slid down on him.

When they’d made love earlier, it had been deep and emotional, both of them stunned by the hot and heavy chemistry between them. Well, he had been anyway, and he was pretty sure she’d felt it, too.

This morning, she was full of fun with mischief shining in her eyes.

He let her play until he was on the verge of climaxing.

When he was close, he flipped them so that his body covered hers.

“Playtime’s over.” He rested on his elbows and put his hands along the sides of her face. “Beautiful girl.” And for now, his.

Her eyes softened, and she ran her fingers through his hair. “Beautiful boy.”

“Let’s make some magic.” He kissed one corner of her mouth, and then the other.

When she parted her lips, he slid his tongue inside, and with their bodies joined, he began to move.

Their rhythm built, and their movements became more frenzied, their hearts beating in sync, their lovemaking raw and untamed.

Her fingers dug into his back as she gasped his name, and he let go, joining her as she arched up, her body trembling with the aftershocks of her climax. He buried his face against her neck, put his mouth on her throbbing pulse, and felt his heart pounding as hard as hers.

“Wow,” she said. She gave him a soft smile as she nestled her head against his chest. “Did you see stars?”

“Still seeing them.” He wrapped his arms around her and rolled them over so they were on their sides.

As his heart slowed back to its normal rhythm, contentment washed over him.

Surely she felt this connection between them, but he didn’t ask, too afraid she’d dig in on her insistence that this was nothing more than a fling, soon to be over.

The trick was to consider this a mission, the end result being to win her heart. He would not fail.

* * *

They arrived at Grayson’s ten minutes late. He blamed their lateness on the shower they’d taken together. Not that he was going to share that with Grayson.

“Good to see you again, Quinn,” Grayson said after opening the door to them. “Harlow’s dropping Tyler off at school and should return any minute. Come on back.”

“What about me?” Liam asked.

Grayson raised his brows. “What about you what?”

“Isn’t it good to see me again?”

“You’re a needy one this morning, but if it makes you happy, sure, it’s good to see you again.” Grayson smirked. “Happy now?”

“Ecstatically so,” Liam answered with a silly grin. “Love you, too, bro.”

Grayson leaned close to Quinn. “The boy’s a cute one, isn’t he?” he stage-whispered.

“He is, but don’t tell him I said so,” she said, also stage-whispering. “It might go to his head.”

“You two are hilarious.” He slung his arm around Quinn’s shoulders.

“Come here, you.” She tucked herself into his side, right where he liked her.

If she didn’t have a dangerous threat hanging over her that they needed to discuss and make a plan for keeping her safe, he’d turn her right around and take her back home, where he’d spend the day loving on her.

But keeping her safe was the only thing that mattered, so he didn’t throw her over his shoulder like a caveman and carry her off to his lair.

Grayson’s phone dinged, and after reading what was on the screen, he said, “Cooper’s on the way. You two go on out to the deck while I finish up breakfast.”

“Can I help?” Quinn asked.

“Thanks, but it’s pretty much done. Go enjoy a morning on the beach.”

“Well, hello. Who are you?” She bent over to pet the cat winding around her feet and talking up a storm.

“That’s Einstein,” Liam said. “He always has a lot to say.”

“Nice to meet you, Einstein. You’re a fine-looking boy.”

“And he knows it,” Grayson said. “He’ll talk to you all day if you let him. Go on out to the deck and enjoy the beautiful morning.”

Quinn gave him one last pet. “I’ll come talk to you later.”

“This is awesome,” she said when they stepped out on the large deck. “I want to live on the beach.”

His place was on the beach. She could come live with him. A few minutes after he and Quinn were seated, Cooper came around to the back of the house. “What’s that?” Liam asked as Cooper walked up the stairs to the deck.

Cooper glanced down at the creature that was glued to his leg. “Have you never seen a dog before?”

“Yes, but not one that looks like it was patched together like a quilt of many colors.” The dog was seriously weird. Long-haired with a patch of black, another of brown, one golden, with some red and white thrown in. He’d never seen anything like it.

“Aww, he’s strangely cute,” Quinn said.

“She.” Cooper put his hand on the top of the large dog’s head. “She’s on the lam and a bit afraid of everything.”

“Who’s on the lam?” Grayson said, joining them on the deck.

“Ruby.”

“Who?” His gaze fell to the dog trying to hide behind Cooper’s legs. “What the hell is that?”

Cooper rolled his eyes. “Has no one ever seen a dog before?”

“Are you sure that’s a dog?” Grayson said. “And why is it on the lam?”

“Yes, it’s a dog, and if you’ll give me a minute to get a cup of coffee, I’ll tell you Ruby’s story. It’s a good one.”

“Harlow’s here now and bringing out the coffeepot in a minute, as soon as she takes the breakfast casserole out of the oven.”

“I’ll go help her,” Quinn said.

“That’s why I came out, to tell everyone to come help.” He pointed a finger at Cooper. “You, though, can stay out here with whatever that is, because that is not a dog.”

“You’re hurting Ruby’s feelings. Tell her you’re sorry.”

Liam laughed when Grayson rolled his eyes before walking inside.

With everyone helping, it only took a few minutes to have the table on the deck set and the food and coffee brought out.

Once they all had their coffee cups filled and food on their plates, Liam said, “Story time.” He leaned back and glanced under the table, where Ruby was curled up in a tight ball next to Cooper’s feet. “Why is Ruby on the lam?”

“Not sure, but I suspect she was being terribly mistreated. She’s not in bad shape physically, no ribs showing or anything like that.

I’m taking her to the vet this afternoon and getting her checked out to be sure.

But I think she’s been mentally abused, maybe even used to being hit.

She shies away if you make a sudden move. ”

“Poor girl,” Quinn said.

Grayson pointed his fork at Cooper. “How’d you come to have her?”

“Funny story. I was gassing the car up, getting ready to leave Hope Corner. I’d left my door open, and here comes this animal…

” He grinned. “At first glance, I honestly thought it was a wild boar or something. Then I saw the chain she was dragging and realized it was a dog. She jumped into the car and parked herself right on the passenger seat.”

Harlow put her hand on her chest. “A chain? Like she’d been chained up?”

Cooper nodded. “Yeah. It was around her neck, and she was dragging about three feet of the chain. It wasn’t a heavy one, and it looked like she’d pulled on it hard enough to break one of the links.”

“Thinking of her chained up like that makes me want to cry,” Quinn said.

Liam reached over and clasped her hand. She had to be thinking of being chained up herself and the fear and helplessness she’d experienced.

“I was trying to urge her to get out of the car when her ears suddenly perked up,” Cooper said.

“I looked up and saw a piece-of-junk pickup truck in dire need of a new muffler coming down the street. She whimpered, and let me tell you, it was about the saddest sound I’ve ever heard.

She scrambled to the floor and tried to crawl under the seat.

She could only fit her face just past her eyes under there, but I guess she thought she was hidden. ”

Liam glanced around the table and guessed that, like him, everyone was on the edge of their seat, waiting for the rest of the story.

“I got in the car and closed the door. As I was leaving, the pickup stopped next to me, and this dude with the meanest eyes I’ve ever seen wanted to know if I’d seen an ugly-assed dog.

At the sound of his voice, Ruby whimpered, and afraid he was going to hear her, I told him I hadn’t seen any dog, then took off. ”

“You saved her,” Quinn said.

Cooper shrugged. “I guess I did. About a mile down the road, I pulled over. She was violently shaking, and I started softly talking to her. The Stones’ ‘Ruby Tuesday’ came on the radio, and I just started calling her Ruby. She seemed to like it, so I guess that’s her name now.”

“I think it fits her,” Quinn said.

Cooper nodded. “I looked up the lyrics to ‘Ruby Tuesday’ last night. There’s a line in it, ‘She just can’t be chained,’ and Ruby felt like the right name for her.”

“What are you going to do with her?” Liam asked as he set his silverware on his empty plate.

“The only thing I can do. Keep her.”

Quinn smiled at him. “You’re a softy, Cooper.”

“Only for pretty girls in dire need of a bath. She’s getting the works at the vet, an exam, a bath, and toenails clipped.

It’s going to be traumatic for her, so I’m going to hang there with her.

” He looked at Quinn. “I need to leave for her appointment in about an hour, which leads to let’s talk about your situation. ”

Harlow stood. “I’ll clear the table while you guys talk.”

“I can help,” Quinn said.

Grayson pushed his chair back. “We all can.”

“No,” Harlow said. “Cooper needs to leave soon, and this is important. Sit. It won’t take me long.”

Quinn picked up her plate, handing it to Harlow. “Thank you. Breakfast was delicious.”

“Yes, it was,” Liam said, handing Harlow his plate. He sat back, thinking about how easily Quinn fit in with his friends. They all liked her, but then, she was easy to like. He was pretty sure she’d be easy to love, too.