27. Quinn
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
quinn
Graham’s hands coast up and down my spine, pulling me closer until it’s impossible to ignore the hardness beneath me. He’s trying to distract me; clearly feeling much better after our talk. But I’m not done. This isn’t how I saw this conversation playing out while sitting in his Jeep , but it feels cathartic for the both of us.
I had a suspicion Jenna had a role to play in his self-doubt, but for now I keep that anger at bay.
I’m so incredibly proud of him, for sharing that story about his dad, and his bravery encourages my own.
I didn’t have any family growing up. No siblings or cousins to play with. Eventually , I learned to appreciate my own company; especially on evenings when my mother would get herself blackout drunk.
Teachers were kind; giving me clothes from the lost-and-found when I came to school without a jacket or sneaking me snacks when my lunchbox was empty.
Trusting people has never been an issue. It’s what they’ll do with that trust I’ve always been weary of. I once trusted my mom to love me unconditionally .
Graham’s issue isn’t about trust either. It’s about being accepted for who he is, after so many people—his ex being the primary issue—made him feel like he doesn’t belong.
Jenna’s loss is very much my gain. She is in no way deserving of the man before me. Just like my mom doesn’t deserve anymore of my energy.
Which is why I pull out my phone and do something I should have done the day I walked out of that trailer.
With me still balanced on Graham’s lap, I open my phone’s contact book and turn the screen for him to see. Under the contact: DO NOT ANSWER , I tap Block Caller .
His head lifts when I lock the device and throw it on the passenger seat. “ Your mom?”
A deep sigh escapes me and with it I feel lighter. “ It was long overdue. It gave her leverage over me. Now she has nothing. I know you can’t run from Jenna with her marrying your cousin, but there are other ways you can let yourself be free of her.”
“ How’s that?”
“ The wedding. You have two options. We go, spread rumors about Ralph having some contagious rash, eat way too much food, and dance the night away with your family. Or …we snuggle up on the sofa with Curly while you complete your crossword and pretend I’m not crying over that baby turtle documentary.”
He brushes my hair over my shoulder and rests his palm against my pulse point. “ The scene when they all ran to the water got me a little choked up too.”
My heart sings when that awfully handsome smile blooms on his face. The one he doesn’t try to hide around me. The feel of it is as good as it looks, if not better when I graze my lips over his. I love the way his cheeks heat under my palms as we deepen the kiss, but when his hands move lower to the waistband of my jeans, I retreat .
“ What do you want to do?” I give him a look, telling him he can’t avoid this question; not like last night.
“ Apart from keeping the peace between my family,” Graham says. “ There’s only one other reason I’d want to go to that wedding.”
“ Which is?”
His hands flex against my hips, and then he lays a gentle kiss to the side of my neck. There’s a mix of nerves and eagerness coming off him. When Graham takes his time like this, carefully choosing his words, I always anticipate something meaningful and genuine. This time is no different.
“ I want to see you wearing something pretty. Dance with you in my arms. Be the one you leave with at the end of the night. I won’t care who sees us together, because it won’t be for show. It’ll be for us. And just so we’re clear”—he lowers his head, mouth grazing the shell of my ear—“there won’t be anything fake about it.”
If my heart was singing before, an orchestra has taken center stage in my chest now.
“ Nothing at all?” I whisper.
He shakes his head, both our faces erupting into smiles so bright they could break through clouds hanging in the sky.
“ Let me take you home and show you how not fake this is. How from the day I met you I wanted to make you mine.”
His .
As much as I want him to show me here, we don’t have much space to work with, and I want all of him. I’m off his lap and back in the passenger’s seat in the blink of an eye, eliciting a chuckle from him as he starts the engine.
It’s a good thing the hospital is a short drive to his apartment, because the moment we walk through the door, we’re a tangle of limbs as we fall to the sofa, and he tugs me into his lap.
I’m eager to continue what we were doing in his car, but he’s the one to break our kiss now. “ When I asked you to be my girlfriend, it was never about making Jenna jealous or getting over her. That’s what I should have said to you last night at the restaurant. It was Booth’s idea to fake a date, and it sounded smart at the time. I mostly agreed to it for selfish reasons.”
My fingers glide along his strong jaw and trace over the bridge of his nose. “ What selfish reasons?”
“ It gave me an excuse to talk to you.”
The tempo of my heart increases in rhythm with his. “ You talked to me before. At the bar.”
“ You think that was talking? Quinn , I said about ten words to you—half of which I stumbled over.”
“ That was our meet-cute.” I frown. “ But after that night, I didn’t even think you liked me. You never texted or saved my number.”
His head thumps against my shoulder, and he grumbles, “ Honey , I saved your number in my phone the second you walked away. Didn’t want to scrub my arm for a week. I didn’t have the first idea about how to talk to someone like you. I’d do it over again if I could. I wouldn’t have let you walk away, and I would have insisted I drove you home that night.”
“ Well , I wouldn’t have it any other way. I remember thinking back to that evening and feeling valued and listened to. You were sweet. After a few months of you walking past the bakery and not coming in, I just assumed you were being polite.”
“ God , I’m the biggest fucking idiot. I’m sorry if you doubted my feelings for a second. I didn’t think I ever stood a chance with you.”
“ Why would you think that?” My hands run down his biceps, enjoying the soft feel of his sweater against my fingertips.
“ We’re so different. You’re you and I’m … me .”
“ Why would I want you to be anyone else?” I shuffle closer until there isn’t a sliver of space between us. “ I like your quiet thinking, because it calms my chaotic thoughts. You never hesitate to help the people around you. You love your family fiercely. Your serious face is so handsome, but those smiles you save are my favorite. You don’t judge; you listen. Your actions speak volumes, and they tell me you’re one of the greatest men I’ve ever met.”
There’s a glow in his mossy-green eyes, a light I’ve never seen before. A lot like hope.
Whatever it is, it disappears when his lips crash into mine and he wraps me up in his arms.
Kissing Graham is a sip of warm apple cider. It’s like sinking into a bubble bath after a long day. The warm rays of sunshine when they first hit your face.
It’s exactly like coming home.
“ No more.” He sighs into my mouth before running his tongue along my bottom lip.
“ No more what?” I tug his sweater out of his waistband, and he sucks in a breath when I skim my fingers along that line of hair leading south.
“ Being something that we’re not. This is real. It’s never been fake for me, Quinn . Not a single moment.”
Careful of his glasses, I pull his sweater over his head. “ Can you do something for me?”
“ Anything for you.”
He slowly unbuttons my shirt and groans when he reveals the black balconette bra underneath. I agree, because my tits look fantastic in it.
I almost lose my train of thought when he sucks and licks the tops of my breasts, the tip of his tongue toying with the lace edges. “ Fuck me like I’m yours.”
A gasp slips from my throat when he bares his teeth and bites down on my peaked nipple through the sheer material.
“ Haven’t you realized yet? You are mine” He kisses a path up between my cleavage before stopping at the base of my throat. “ You’re also going to be my undoing and I can’t wait to fall apart with you. Now , lose everything. I want you writhing on my lap. Need to see every inch of your glorious body when I fuck you.”
If getting naked was an Olympic sport, I’d win gold. Graham would place third, because he kept getting distracted every time I removed an item of clothing. I return to his lap where there isn’t a stitch of clothing between us. Gone is the fear that he doesn’t like what he sees, because he looks at me like I’m going to be his first meal after months of starvation. Heat floods between my thighs when he fists his hard cock as he looks me over.
“ You’re soaked for me already. I can feel it,” he groans. “ I really want another taste, but I need to be in you. Now .” He pushes me back slightly to run his knuckles across my wet center, pulling a throaty moan from me when he brushes against my aching clit. I choke on a gasp at his next move though.
Graham spits into his palm and grips his length, coating himself, all the while keeping his eyes locked with mine. I’m already rising to my knees, craving the feel of him. I want to be the last woman to ever see this side of him again.
“ Hurry ,” I whimper as I hover above him, but just as I’m about to lower myself, he squeezes my waist.
“ Condom . Let me get one.” He goes to move but my words stop him.
“ You’re the first person I’ve been with in over a year, and I’ve been tested. I’m on the pill too.”
His breathing increases as he lets what I said sink in. “ I’m the same. Well , minus the pill.” We laugh but it dies when my knees begin to wobble. “ Only if you’re sure though?”
“ I don’t want anything between us.”
Whatever else we had to say gets lost in a chorus of moans and gasps as I slowly lower myself. His hand strokes my thigh while he grips the base of his cock with his other. I forgot how big he was, and it takes a minute for me to work my way down his length until my ass rests against his thighs, hitting me so deep my toes curl.
His head falls back when I rotate my hips, trying to ease the intense pressure building in me. The taut muscles in his neck are so tempting and I lean forward to run my tongue over them.
“ This . You . Incredible .” Full sentences are a thing of the past.
He raises his head and kisses me with fervor as he slowly starts to rock us together, thrusting up each time our hips kiss.
“ Don’t hold back, Graham ,” I plead, gasping as he increases the rhythm.
From the darkened look on his face to the punishing grip he has on me, he’s ready to give me it all. With assured movements, he takes hold of my wrists, pushes them behind my back, and locks them together with one hand.
He looks at me, waiting for my consent.
“ I trust you,” I breathe.
“ Your trust means everything to me.” With his free hand, he slides it under me to cup my bottom, coaxing me to rise off him until just the tip remains. He has me hover there for what feels like an eternity as his mouth explores my neck, chest, and breasts. It’s the sweetest form of torture, but without warning he tugs on my wrists, impaling me.
“ Oh god,” I cry out as he buries himself deep.
“ Like that. Keep riding me like that.” His voice drips with lust, and I know like me, he’s barely hanging on.
I repeat the movement, rising off his lap, and then he drives me down again. Over and over we do that. It’s intense and mind-bending. The angle and strong hold he has on my hands straddles a delicious line between pain and pleasure.
“ Dirty girl. I can feel you dripping down me.” He’s not cocky or overly confident. He exudes power, and despite his words, I feel precious in his arms.
When his hold loosens on my wrists, I grasp his face to kiss him, and his hands fall to my ass cheeks in a bruising grip. Up and down he works me, thrusting his hips to meet me in a delicious reunion. One hands dips between my spread legs as I draw closer to my orgasm and my movements become weighted with the need to find release. When the tip of his finger glides over my skin and traces my asshole, I freeze.
“ Is this okay?”
It’s new and surprising. Surprising because of the jolts of pleasure it sends right to my core. I nod and continue to ride him, the anticipation of it driving me wild with need. “ I want to try it.”
He moves to where we’re joined, coats his finger in my arousal, moves back to the puckered entrance, and slowly presses in. The sensation of being filled so deliciously like this has me nearing the edge of ecstasy. My hips undulate, chasing my pleasure and driving his finger deeper.
“ Oh fuck. Quinn , I can feel you squeezing around me. Don’t stop, honey. You’re doing so good taking my finger and cock. Do you like it?”
“ God , I love it. I’m gonna come. I’m gonna co—” My words are cut off with my raspy cries as my muscles spasm. I curl into Graham as hetakes over, pistoning up into me as he pants against my neck.
“ You feel that? This . Is . Real .” He punctuates each word with a thrust. On the final one, he stiffens, his body pulling tight as he comes deep inside of me. Shouting my name and praising me the entire time. The act of it is so raw and erotic, I never want it to end.
We collapse into each other. Our sweat-soaked chests beat rampantly as he hooks his arms around me and falls against the sofa with a content sigh.
“ That was…” How do I even describe it?
He weaves his fingers into my hair and gently raises my head, a look of pure wonderment warming his handsome face. “ That was us.”
It’s in this moment, I realize being with Graham isn’t like coming home.
It is home. He is home.
When that dart landed on this small corner of the country, I’d hoped to make friends, find a place to put down roots, and grow my business. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would find a person like Graham Sadler .
As this sweet man carries me to the bathroom, cleans me up, and cradles me tightly until we fall asleep in each other’s arms, it’s clear I didn’t just find those things in Sutton Bay .
I found my person.