Page 13

PATIENCE

P atience’s hands slid from Quinn’s cheeks over his scratchy beard and grasped his shoulders. Clutching his heavy jacket, she was worried if she let go he’d pull back from their mind-blowing kiss.

Oh. My. God. Quinn was kissing her. His firm lips possessed hers as his tongue learned the inside of her mouth.

It was better than anything she’d imagined.

For months, she’d thought about him, fantasized about him.

Holy hell. There had been so many times she’d gotten herself off as she imagined his hands and mouth on her.

But not one of those fantasies compared to the real thing.

As she inhaled his citrus scent and his minty flavor, the heat radiating from him lured her closer.

Wait until she told Livie. Her bestie would lose her shit for sure.

With a growl, Quinn pulled his mouth away, his chest heaving against hers. He rested his forehead against hers as she tried to catch her breath. Desire heated her core as worry washed over her. Would he pull away? Storm out of her apartment? Never talk to her again? Or…

“This was a mistake,” Quinn said. His voice was rough with passion.

And there it was. Before her eyes, his demeanor changed. Quinn pulled into himself, and a pained expression crossed his face. He would try to brush this off, push her away.

Patience wouldn’t allow it. Nope. As a young child, she’d learned from her parents that if she wanted something, really wanted it, she’d have to fight for it. She wanted Quinn. More of him. A lot more.

“Why is it a mistake? You’ve been pushing me away for months. I don’t understand why.” Her voice sounded breathless in her own ears. Inside, she quaked with need and apprehension as he shut down in front of her.

“Do you really need me to lay it all out for you, little girl?” He sighed and took another step back.

Her fingers fell from his shoulders. Hope dropped like a lead ball in her stomach. As his expression closed off, putting distance between them, her dreams melted away. Patience shivered and wrapped her arms around her waist.

“No. No, don’t do that. Don’t pull away. I know you like to call me little girl, but I’m not one. I’m twenty-six, almost twenty-seven. I’ve lived more than most women my age and seen a lot of awful shit in my life. You don’t get to tell me what’s not good for me.”

As she stared up into his light green eyes, she tried to control her ragged breathing. That was a lost cause when Quinn smirked. Damn, he was hot when he did that.

“I don’t do relationships, little girl.” His eyes narrowed.

The way he emphasized it sent a wave of heat to her core. Damn, her panties were a lost cause.

Quinn exuded hotness. Every molecule in her body craved his scent, his touch, to feel him buried inside her.

Did she want a relationship? No. Between school and her upcoming summer trip, then starting her residency in the fall, there wasn’t time for anything else.

Although, if he offered it, she would have tried to figure something out.

After pining for him for months, Patience never thought they’d get this far.

Patience straightened from the wall she’d been leaning against, her fists clenched at her sides, and huffed. “Who said I wanted one?”

He quirked an eyebrow at her as his mouth twisted in a wry grin. “Really? You don’t seem like the one-night-stand type.”

The heat spread over her neck to her cheeks. She definitely wasn’t that, or she’d have taken care of her virginity years ago. Oh man, she could only imagine the steam that would come out of his ears if he found that out. Patience couldn’t hold in her snort.

“Are you?”

Did he look intrigued?

“No, you’re right, I’m not. But it doesn’t mean I want a relationship. I’m busy, too, you know. After this semester, I’ll be going to Swuyji for the summer with my parents before I start my residency somewhere. But it doesn’t mean we couldn’t have fun.”

“Fun?”

Now his eyebrow looked like it was crawling up his forehead. “Yeah.”

Quinn shook his head and mumbled something that sounded a lot like, fuck, someone save me, please .

“I don’t do fun. I fuck and leave. I don’t sleep with anyone, or cuddle, or any of the romantic things you’d expect.

Fuck—” He ran his hand through his hair.

“I don’t even know why we’re having this conversation. I shouldn’t have kissed you…”

“You didn’t. I kissed you.”

His grunt and head shake meant she was running out of time. It might be her only chance alone with him, and she wouldn’t let him run away if she could help it.

“It doesn’t matter who started it, I’m ending it. It’s time for me to leave. We both need sleep.”

“Please, don’t leave.” Patience wasn’t above going for what she wanted, and she wanted him. She could still taste him, feel him, and she wanted more. And from the look of the hard cock pressing against his zipper, he wanted her too.

“I know you’re smart, Patience. I am not the man for you. You need to find someone closer to your age who wants to have fun.”

“I heard you and I get it. I’m not stupid and I’m not as young as you keep making me out to be. I don’t want a boy. I want a man. You, to be precise.”

Quinn sighed. “We can’t always have what we want, little girl. This just proves…”

His eyes widened as she pulled her T-shirt off and tossed it on the floor. As he watched, she reached behind her back to unfasten her bra.

“Fuck! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Patience hadn’t gotten her bra off before he’d pulled her against him, his firm lips slamming against hers, his tongue dominating her mouth, taking possession, sucking the air from her lungs. As soon as her brain caught up, she did a triumphant inner fist pump.

They broke apart when they needed to breathe. Quinn shrugged his coat off and let it drop to the floor. He reached for her, lifting her into his arms like she weighed nothing.

“What are you doing?”

“Bed or couch?”

“What?” She shuddered in his arms. She was too heavy for him to carry her anywhere. “Put me down.”

“I warned you. Now pick, or I’ll just fuck you right here against the wall.”

Patience’s pulse hammered in her chest. She’d poked him enough to awaken the beast, and she was all on board.

“Couch works.”

Before she’d finished saying the words, he growled, “Hold on.”

Her arms slipped around his neck, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, sliding her pussy against the rigid bulge in his pants. He was large, not that she’d had a lot to compare it to. Other than watching porn, she’d only seen flaccid dicks on the cadavers they used during labs.

His mouth took hers in another scorching kiss, then he bit her lower lip before letting her slide down his body to stand next to the couch.

“Take the rest off,” he ordered.

Patience knew he’d be demanding, but didn’t expect that tone to affect her insides. Without hesitation, she reached for the button and zipper of her jeans. Pushing them and her panties down her legs, she kicked them off to the side and removed her socks.

“Aren’t you getting undressed, too?” She asked as she straightened up, naked. The condo wasn’t cold, but as his gaze swept over her, her nipples tingled and tightened into hard peaks.

Patience had a second to wonder if she was out of her depth, before he reached behind his head to pull his shirt off.

That had to be the sexiest thing she’d ever seen, and she clenched her knees together.

Then she focused on his defined pectoral muscles.

Her hand went to her mouth to check for drool.

His arms were just as defined. Sure, she’d known he was in good shape as an active-duty SEAL, but holy wow.

“Just taking in the view.” He smirked. His pupils dilated with arousal, and he pulled his lower lip between his teeth.

Patience shivered and worried that she was leaking down her inner thighs. Her clinical mind couldn’t process all the feelings bombarding her as he admired her. She knew she wasn’t anything special, short, curvy, her thighs too thick. His appreciation of her didn’t track with what she expected.

“You’re fucking gorgeous. It’s a sin you’re hiding all of that under those over-sized Ready Room T-shirts.”

She didn’t know how to respond. Thankfully, it didn’t look like he was waiting for a response. Doubly good, since her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth as he unbuckled his belt and opened his jeans.

She’d thought seeing him take off his shirt was hot, but watching him slide his jeans and boxer briefs down his muscular thighs removed her ability to breathe.

Her legs gave out, and she dropped onto the couch as he kicked them toward her pile of clothes and took a step toward her, his hard cock bouncing against his stomach.

“My eyes are up here, little doc.” He smirked.

It should have pissed her off, but her brain short-circuited as her fantasies materialized in her living room.

“Change your mind?”