Before yesterday, it was a necessity for Sadie and I to keep Quinn out of the know. I agree with her, that Quinn isn’t built for secrets. That he wouldn’t be able to shoulder our—my—guilt, trying to exist in a realm somewhere between his black and white belief system.
It would break him.
This much I do comprehend, but it still doesn’t change the fact that he’s possibly the only one besides Sadie who can connect all the puzzle pieces. There’s only one choice to make, really. As I’m even thinking this, watching Quinn pace the living room, I’ve already made it.
It’s what grownups do. It’s what responsible medical examiners do. We face our consequences, even when those consequences suddenly take on new meaning we never fathomed. How could I have known I’d find this…whatever the hell it is…with Quinn? And now, the chance of losing his respect and this connection to him is more terrifying than facing a prison sentence.
Oh, there’s definitely that, too…but just how much punishment would he feel I deserve? How much do I feel is enough? Retroactively speaking, what I suffered at the hands of Wells should count toward that sentence. I believe I bore more than any future punishment could hold for me—but the law doesn’t work like that.
Quinn doesn’t work like that.
Timing is everything, however. And there’s a selfish part of me that wants to hold on to this moment just a while longer—just to feel what it’s like to be with Quinn, no blurred lines between us.
Too bad we didn’t figure this out before my abduction. Before I was so irrevocably changed. At one time, I think I was the perfect girl for Quinn. Maybe that’s still what he sees in me… But he won’t see that anymore once the truth comes out.
Just how selfish am I? Right now, selfish enough to grab ahold of Quinn the second he ends the call. Push him against the wall and kiss him, tasting myself still lingering on his lips.
“My turn,” I whisper against his mouth.
His strong hands capture my shoulders, holding me too far away. “Avery, you don’t have to—”
“I know,” I say, raising an eyebrow. “This is absolute want.”
He sighs, but I can see and feel his resolve weakening. “That sketch you sent? The one of the partial brand on the first vic? There’s been a hit. About fifty miles from here, a prostitute was found dead, abandoned in a Dumpster. Sound familiar?”
“Quinn—”
“Because of her profession, there was no autopsy. A large amount of opioids were found in her system, so the coroner recorded COD as a drug overdose.”
I clasp his hands, moving them down my body to rest at the small of my back, as I push up against him. Tenderly, I press a kiss to his neck, inhaling the scent of his woodsy cologne, and revel in the feel of him pulling me closer.
“I promise,” I say. “I’ll be right there with you. We’ll figure it out. We’ll stop the bad guys, and we’ll save lives. I just don’t want this moment to end so soon—I just want us to stay here for a little bit longer.” I bite his ear, loving the way he grabs my ass, grinding his cock against my belly. “Because when we leave through that door, we might not get it back for a while.” Or ever…
That thought pangs my chest and I squeeze my eyes closed, savoring Quinn’s strong hands holding me.
I ease my palms along his chest, sinking my hands beneath the leather harness and sliding it off his shoulders. As I push the leather straps down his arms, the feel of his muscles cording tight beneath my touch elicits a thrill inside me.
He catches the strap before the harness hits the floor and dutifully sets it on the shelf. “What are you doing to me?”
“This,” I whisper, gently tugging his black tie from his neck. I wrap it around my hand as it comes free of his collar. “Put your hands behind your back, detective.”
A cautious expression crosses his face before he follows through. “Cop clichés?”
I nod. “And a little incentive to help you relinquish your control.” Keeping his tie in hand, I back up enough to pull my T-shirt over my head. The way his shameless gaze takes me in bolsters my next move.
I press up against his chest, my nipples pebbling at the friction, as I maneuver the tie behind his back and link his wrists together. “Now I know you can get free, but if you want me to keep going, then you have to be good and stay in your cuffs.”
I pop onto my toes and taste his lips, sneaking in a little bite as I undo his belt.
I wrap my fingers around him, and he releases a sharp hiss. “Jesus…I’m not going to make it.”
Against my better judgment, I let a laugh slip. His severe frown cuts through me. “Quinn, like you keep saying to me, just relax.” Then I give him a wink before I drop to my knees, pulling his pants and boxers down with me.
The fact that I’m staring at Quinn’s cock should feel surreal. And it does, but at the same time, I can’t deny that I’ve never been this thrilled before. Rumors circulate around the precinct, and I’ve heard things. Like how Quinn lost his marriage. How he hasn’t dated since. And I’ve also sensed his attraction to Sadie.
So the thought of wiping his mind of every other woman and bringing him to his knees with my touch more than arouses me, and I’m taking him into my mouth with that very mission in mind.
He’s rock hard as I wrap my hand around him, his veins swollen, his shaft hot and thick. A salty taste of pre-cum hits my tongue, and I swirl it around the soft tip. He rocks his hips into me, and I let him fuck my mouth, taking him in deep.