She didn’t want gentle and she told him so. “Hard. I want it hard.”
He growled and began to thrust. He plowed into her, giving her exactly what she wanted. She was buffeted by the winds of desire, by the overpowering need rocketing through her.
All her awareness was focused on where they were joined together. Heat. Moisture. Her softness giving way to his hardness. Female and male. It was elemental and timeless.
He angled his body so his pelvis grazed her clit. Her climax hit her with the speed of a runaway train. She cried out his name. Her body convulsed again and again. Still he pounded into her and her orgasm continued. She felt the hot flood of semen inside her and had a fleeting thought that they hadn’t used a condom. Then it was lost as she drowned in a sea of pleasure.
It was a struggle for her to catch her breath. At some point Quinn had fallen facedown on the bed beside her. The last thing she remembered was him still pumping into her.
She moved and groaned as her muscles complained of mistreatment. She felt well loved and well used. A hot bath or steamy shower would help. She felt replete, yet the always-present heat simmered just below her skin. She had no idea how much longer it would persist. Meredith had told her it lasted a week, but when it was the first time, it sometimes lasted a few days longer.
Quinn pushed himself up onto his forearms and stared at her. He looked tousled and sleepy. The grim expression was gone from his face, at least for the moment. She was glad she’d given him a reprieve, no matter how brief.
“I didn’t use a condom.”
She couldn’t tell if that bothered him or not. “I know.” She matched his tone, trying to be calm and mature. Truthfully, the thought of having a baby, a little boy with blond hair and blue eyes didn’t freak her out as much as it ought to. In fact, it gave her a warm fuzzy feeling in her stomach. A baby. Quinn’s baby.
He brushed back a lock of hair from her face. It stuck briefly before sliding off her skin, reminding her she was a sweaty mess. “We’re not susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases. And females don’t usually get pregnant until after they’ve mated. At least that’s what I’ve been told.”
Bethany felt uncomfortable. Did that mean he was glad the odds were she wouldn’t get pregnant? She should be happy, feeling relief that there was little chance she’d get pregnant. Now was definitely not the time. Not with her life in such upheaval. Still, she couldn’t suppress a twinge of disappointment.
“It’s probably for the best.” There, that was the right thing to say, the mature adult thing to say.
“Yeah.” Quinn rolled up and raked his fingers through his hair. “I need to get showered and go to work.”
Their interlude was over. Bethany pulled her tattered defenses back around her. “Sure. Me too.”
He turned to her and cupped her cheek. “Want to share the shower?”
She smiled and felt her puny emotional defenses crumble. “I’d like that.” She took his hand and rolled out of bed, leading him into the bathroom.
Chapter Seven
Hours later, Quinn’s body was still vibrating with pleasure. He could still taste Bethany’s skin, salty and hot. Her arousal filled his nostrils, spicy and sweet. Hell, he was still sporting a semi-erection just thinking about her.
He’d been totally discouraged when they hadn’t found Chris in any of the abandoned buildings they’d searched. Sick at heart, it was all too easy to imagine his sister at the mercy of her captors. The frustration of being so close to Chris only to have her slip through his fingers made him want to beat his fists through a wall and howl his fury to the world. He’d almost found her. After all these long months, he’d missed her by a matter of hours. It was enough to drive a man mad.
But Bethany had opened her arms to him and offered him respite from his never-ending torment. He felt guilty as hell, like he was taking advantage of her when she was entering into heat. He didn’t deserve to find such exquisite release from the anguish eating at his soul. But he wasn’t stupid enough to walk away and let one of the other males offer to ease her body.
Bethany was his.
His wolf growled in agreement. Since Bethany had arrived he’d been having a much harder time keeping his wolf in check. The beast was always right there at the tip of his consciousness, wanting to escape and run free. That was only natural from all that he’d heard, considering Bethany was almost in full-blown heat.
He glanced across the floor of the bar from his seat in a dark corner. The object of his desire was wearing a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved V-neck shirt with the Haven logo printed on it and a pair of sneakers. Not overly provocative clothing. Yet Quinn wanted to throw a blanket over her and drag her out of the bar and up to his room. He didn’t want any other males looking at Bethany, seeing her soft smile, listening to her warm laughter.
He was seriously fucked up. He wanted Bethany with a fire that burned to the depths of his soul. But he didn’t feel worthy. His sister had depended on him to keep her safe and look what had happened to her. He felt guilty enough simply sleeping with Bethany while Chris was missing. It seemed wrong for him to find any kind of happiness when he knew his sister was a prisoner of some mad scientist and his werewolf flunky.
It was stupid to think that way. Intellectually, he knew that. One thing didn’t have anything to do with the other. Just because he acted on his attraction to Bethany didn’t mean he’d stop looking for Chris. Ever.
A car backfired outside on the street and Quinn flinched, his hand automatically reaching for a weapon that wasn’t there. He hadn’t worn a gun tucked in the back of his belt since he’d left the bounty hunters.
For a brief moment, his mind slipped back in time. Gunfire erupted around him. Men yelled. Werewolves howled. So much blood spilled. So much death and destruction. And he’d had a hand in much of it.
Quinn shook away the flashback and sought Bethany, needing to simply look at her to calm his ragged soul. He found her easily, hustling around the club serving drinks and food to the customers. She smiled and laughed easily. He was amazed at how quickly she’d been able to put the kidnapping behind her.
A little voice in the back of his head told him she hadn’t dealt with it at all. She simply had too much to handle with her werewolf heritage and going into heat. The kidnapping would have to wait. But eventually she would have to come to terms with it.
His own experiences had taught him you couldn’t outrun your past forever. Eventually it caught up to you, giving you nightmares and memories you could only pray would fade over time.
He watched Bethany hurry to the bar, empty tray in hand. The slightly worn fabric of her jeans cupped her heart-shaped ass to perfection. He licked his lips as hunger roared through him like a tsunami. He wanted to take her like that. He wanted her naked, ass in the air as he drove into her from behind, claiming her as mate in the way of their people. He might be half human, but the werewolf side of his nature ruled supreme.
What he was thinking was crazy. Impossible. He wanted Bethany, but he couldn’t offer her anything permanent. Not until he found Chris. Maybe not even then. He couldn’t simply erase his past and all the things he’d done. Bethany deserved better. He knew he should just walk away from her and allow the other males to court her. That was the right thing to do.
Damned if he was going to. It might be wrong but he didn’t care. He wanted Bethany too much to walk away.
Michael leaned closer to Bethany as she placed her order for more drinks. Quinn’s eyes narrowed. There could be trouble there if he wasn’t careful. Michael was a pureblooded werewolf with a good job and a future to offer Bethany. There was no doubting the fact he found her attractive. Who wouldn’t? Bethany was an incredibly sexy and intelligent woman.