Full Color (ORCA #3)

Chapter 15

CHAPTER

FIFTEEN

DIMITRI

“Oh my god. I am such an idiot.” I pushed off the little couch and started pacing.

After meeting Quin’s brother, his twin brother, I started drawing him. Not the brother, at least not since the first couple of sketches, but Quin. I’d felt pulled toward someone I’d never met, but every time my pencil touched paper and the lines of his face appeared it felt like I knew him.

The iridescent glow around my hands started on the day I met him. I remembered now that Dasselaar had been distracted by the chime at the front of the gallery. It had to have been Quin walking in right as I started to reach out toward the painting.

His painting.

Until Quin’s confession that he had forged the painting, I hadn’t put two and two together, but now everything was crystallizing into a single thought.

Quin was my mate. My fated mate.

With all the antitransmutative drugs in my system, my body couldn’t react to Quin the way it was supposed to. Not that it would have anyway since Quin wasn’t a chameleon shifter. But the iridescent glow was my body’s way of reacting to him the only way it could, and maybe my body was protecting Quin somehow by reacting to the painting like it was real.

Either that or Quin was the best damn forger on the planet.

Maybe it was both.

Strong arms stopped me in my tracks and held me tight. My skin warmed at Quin’s touch, and I knew my hands were glowing.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

I looked up to meet his eyes, and it was like something clicked into place.

“You’re my fated mate.”

“I know. I’ve known since the day I met you in the gallery. I think Cal knew even before then.” He reached up and pushed the collar of his shirt aside to reveal the black skin on his neck. It looked exactly like I’d drawn it, the broad brushstroke vee. “All orca shifters have a saddle patch here.” He slid a hand down my arm until his callused fingers wrapped around mine, then he lifted them to the skin on his neck, closing his eyes as my fingers connected with his skin. “It changes when we meet our fated mates. If you were an orca shifter, your saddle patch would look just like mine, a shared fingerprint binding us together.”

My skin lit up, the glow that had circled my hand spreading up my arm and spilling onto Quin’s skin. I knew if I could shift, my chameleon form would take on the color at Quin’s neck, and I would know we were mates, but for now, the glow was all I would get.

Quin held my hand against his neck for a long time, his eyes still closed like he was savoring my touch, and I let myself enjoy the moment.

Until the reality of my situation came crashing down around me. Even if Quin could get me out of Dasselaar’s estate and take me away with him, I couldn’t go, not when it would put Athina’s life at risk.

Quin squeezed my fingers and opened his eyes. “I’m going to get you out of here, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life with you.”

It was like he had pulled the thought from my head, and I swallowed down the sob that threatened to rise from my throat. “It’s not that simple.”

“Like hell it’s not. You’re mine.”

I shook my head. “It’s not just me under Dasselaar’s thumb.”

“Then tell me who else, and I’ll call my brothers and revise the plan.”

“It’s my sister.”

Quin studied my face for a long time, then his eyebrows rose. “Athina?”

“Yes. She’s my baby sister. She’s the reason I tried to sell Dasselaar that painting. She’s in art school here and she’s sick. She has the same rare metabolic bone disease that killed my parents, only hers showed up when she was much, much younger. Without medication, her bones will lose density until she can no longer hold a paintbrush, walk, or eat. Dasselaar pays for her schooling, living expenses, and her medications.”

“What was in the file you saw?” Quin cupped my face in his hand and tilted my head so I had to look at him.

“After he gets rid of me, he’s going to cut her off. No more tuition. No more rented flat. No more medication.” The sob I’d held back before escaped now. “She’ll be dead within a year.”

“No, she won’t.”

“She will. The disease progresses fast.”

Quin shook his head, sympathy in his eyes. “No, she’s not going to die because she’s not going to have to go without her medications. We’ll take care of it. Plus, there are some great art schools in Seattle, and my grandmother has lots of connections she can call on to get Athina enrolled wherever she wants to go.”

I felt my mouth drop open in surprise. “You would do that?”

He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “It’s not even a question. You are mine, and what is important to you is important to me. Your family is my family, and mine will be yours. Though please don’t hold that against me, especially after you meet the real Cal who’s not trying to be undercover on an op.”

That little seed of hope Quin had accidentally planted finally took root, and something green and growing pushed its way up and into my heart. Maybe my prince had come to rescue me after all.

Before I could consider my actions, I threw myself into Quin’s arms, my lips colliding with his. The kiss was sloppy and uncoordinated as I tried to put everything I was feeling into it, but Quin met my mouth with the same ferocity, like now that we had acknowledged who we were to each other he was done holding back.

His hands found my ass, and with a strength that surprised me, Quin lifted me up so my legs wound around his waist. We never broke the kiss, devouring each other’s mouths like we were never going to get the chance to do this again.

And we might not.

Everything could fall apart at the gala tomorrow night—or anytime between now and then—and as quickly as Quin came into my life, he could be gone again.

We could be over before we even began.

Which meant I wasn’t going to waste this opportunity.

Using Quin’s shoulders for leverage, I pushed myself up, rubbing my erection against his and making him moan. I swallowed down the sound as Quin took several steps backward until his legs hit the edge of my bed and he collapsed onto it, dragging me down onto his lap. Quin’s mouth left mine for the handful of seconds it took to pull my T-shirt off over my head, and then his lips were right back on me, our tongues tangling as his hands roamed over the now bare skin of my back and chest. His hands were rough, the calluses and strength in his fingers a contradiction to the perfect, polished, designer-clad shape of the man, and everywhere he touched left a trail of fire leading straight to my cock, which ached behind my zipper.

Sliding my hands out of Quin’s hair, I moved them between us, my fingers fumbling with the buttons of his expertly tailored dress shirt. He hadn’t changed out of what he’d worn to the preview, and despite being in the clothes all day, he still looked perfect, not a wrinkle anywhere, and the only hairs out of place were those I had dislodged as I tugged on the dark strands. Quin rested his forehead against mine, watching as my fingers worked over each button, and tugged the shirt from where it was still neatly tucked in.

“Yes.” The single word was followed by a moan as my hands met the warm bronze skin of his chest and pushed the fabric of his shirt away. The second his shirt was gone, tossed somewhere behind me, Quin yanked me closer, melding our mouths and bringing our naked chests together. Shamelessly, I rutted against Quin’s erection, needing more. No one would come looking for me until morning, so we had time, but I was desperate to feel Quin inside me, filling places that had been empty for too long.

Reaching for Quin’s belt, I hoped he’d take the hint. One of his hands, which had been busy massaging my ass cheek, his fingers teasing my crease, traced over my thigh to where my hands were busy trying to undo his belt. He gripped my wrist, stilling my movements, and I pulled away from his mouth to look at him.

“I want you to touch my cock so badly, but I want to taste you first.” His other hand moved from my ass to cup my dick through my pants, making me whimper. “Will you let me taste you?”

“Fuck. Yes, please.”

Before the words finished leaving my lips, I was pulled tight to Quin’s chest as he stood with me in his arms, then turned and threw me back onto the mattress so I bounced a little. His fingers were working open my pants and stripping me bare before I could catch my breath. When I was naked beneath him, he paused, staring down at me as he stood between my spread legs.

“You are the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.” His gaze slid over my body from the top of my head to my bent knees where they hung over the side of the bed. The reverence and awe in his eyes made tears threaten again. It had been far too long since someone had looked at me like I was precious, like I mattered, that I almost wanted to cover myself, to hide from his gaze even as it made me feel safe and wanted. After he finished taking me in with his eyes, he leaned forward, blanketing me with his half-dressed body, and kissed my temple, running his hands through my hair and using his grip to tug my head to the side so his lips could trail down my cheek, over my jaw, and down the column of my neck. Quin sucked at the skin where my shoulder met my neck, and my body arched off the bed as a moan fell from my lips.

Quin’s hand slid up my chest, his mouth ghosting over my ear as he held a single finger to my lips and whispered, “Shh,” against the shell of my ear.

“You said you were going to taste me.” My words were breathy with arousal, and I almost didn’t recognize my own voice.

“I am tasting you.”

His mouth moved down my neck again, and he bit and sucked at my collarbone, his hands tracing teasing patterns along my abdomen. Quin was determined to go at his own pace, even if doing so drove me to the brink of madness, and I was helpless to do anything but enjoy his unwavering attention. His fingers found one of my nipples, and he rolled the pebbled flesh between his thumb and forefinger. A jolt of sensation raced down my spine, landing in my balls and making my cock leak. I could smell my arousal in the air, and I knew Quin could too. His mouth replaced his hand, and the warm heat of his tongue on the sensitive flesh made me cry out. No one had ever spent time worshipping my body like this, but it was like Quin knew exactly where to touch, and kiss, and bite, and lick to turn my entire being into a writhing mass of need and desire.

He turned his head, the rasp of his barely there stubble rough against my flesh, and gave my other nipple the same attention. By the time he was finished, I was panting and nearly desperate, but still, Quin didn’t relent. He moved farther down my body, careful to avoid any contact with my dick, and his mouth followed every dip and curve of my abdomen. He kissed every freckle and swirled his tongue around my navel until I finally felt his breath against my cock. At some point, I’d closed my eyes, and I opened them as I leaned up on my elbows to look down my body to where Quin was staring at my cock, his strong hands holding my legs open wide.

“Perfect. Just so perfect.”

Quin lifted his head, his eyes meeting mine as he lowered to his knees. He held my gaze as he licked up my cock from base to tip, his lips closing around the head, his tongue stroking across the slit. His eyes dropped closed as he moaned around me, savoring the taste, and my arm gave out, sending me sprawling back on the bed.

The attention Quin paid to my dick was just as thorough as the attention he’d given to the rest of my body. His movements were slow and unhurried, building my pleasure moment by moment instead of pushing me toward the edge at breakneck speed. Quin’s hands caressed my inner thighs and rolled my balls over his palm until I was thrusting up into his mouth, begging for more.

“Quin, please. I need more. I need you.”

My begging flipped some sort of switch in him, and the slow and seductive blowjob changed in an instant. Quin’s head bobbed between my legs and he worked my shaft with his lips and tongue. Saliva slid from his mouth, dripping over my balls and sliding down my crease. The wet sounds of his mouth on my cock echoed through the room as he took me deep into his throat. I reached blindly for a pillow, smashing it over my face to muffle my cries of pleasure because I could no longer hold them back. Every fantasy I’d ever had of this man taking me apart paled in comparison to the real thing.

Quin’s fingers slid between my cheeks, finding my hole and circling it with just enough pressure that I pushed my body toward his hand, looking for more. But Quin continued to tease, the tip of his finger barely penetrating my body as his tongue flicked against the spot on the underside of my cockhead that made my knees weak. He had positioned my legs over his shoulders, and as he finally pushed inside me a little farther, I began to shake.

“Quin!” His name fell from my lips on a needy whine as he wrapped a hand around my spit-slick cock and moved his lips lower, sucking each of my balls into his mouth, before continuing his quest. When his hot tongue lapped over my hole, I thought I would explode. “Oh my god!”

He pulled his mouth away, dropping a gentle kiss on my hole before I felt him smile. “I said I wanted to taste you.”

I could no longer form words, so I hooked my ankles around his neck and pulled him back down.