Chapter 19
19
H anna dozed with her arms wrapped around Quinn. Well, at least her right arm. Her other arm was at her side. Her head lay on his arm.
He was breathing evenly and deeply. She lay with her eyes closed, listening to the soft even sound.
She just had sex with Quinn Kurtz. Their relationship just stepped up to the next level. She wasn't sorry.
But guilt gnawed at her. She needed to be upfront with him about Isaac and what was going on in her life. If they were to continue this relationship, he needed to know. Because knowing Isaac as well as she did, he would try in some way to blackmail Quinn or harm him.
She knew that to be a fact. And she wanted Quinn to know to protect his children in case Isaac tried to do something there, too. Hell, she hadn't even heard of catfishing people until this whole new thing cropped up. And she didn't know what else she didn't know.
Quinn's voice was growly, and heavily sleep-laden, when he said, "What are you thinking about? "
She mumbled, "How do you know I'm thinking?"
He chuckled. She felt it run through his lungs from deep inside. She liked the feeling of it as her arm lay across his chest.
"You ceased to be malleable. Your body started to stiffen. You're thinking."
She let out a breath and sat up. "With her right hand, she scraped her hair off of her forehead, shaking it out as she pulled it back. She turned her head to see Quinn watching her. His hand reached up and touched her curls.
"You have beautiful hair, Hanna. Actually, everything you have is beautiful."
She smiled. Her cheeks heated slightly. Good thing the room was still a little dark. Nothing illuminated it but the moon shining in the window.
"You're beautiful yourself, Quinn."
He chuckled. "I've never been called beautiful."
"Well, now you have."
His hands smoothed down her back. "What were you thinking about?"
She swallowed and twisted slightly in the bed to face him. "I think I need to tell you what's been going on in my life. If we're, I mean, I don't want to assume, but we, well, you know," her hand moved back and forth between them. "I mean, are we in a relationship? I mean, I don't do one-night stands. Kind of late for me to tell you that now. But are we, I mean, I don't want to assume, but do we…"
He laughed. And it was beautiful and melodic. And she could have listened to his laugh all day.
"If you're worried about whether or not I only wanted you for a one-night stand, please put your mind to rest. I want so much more than one night with you, Hanna. As far as are we in a relationship? Do you want to be in a relationship with me?"
She stared into his dark eyes for a while. The realization that she could stare into them for a long time crept forward in her mind.
She licked her lips. "Yeah, I do."
His smile widened. "Good. I do, too."
She nodded her head. "Then I need to tell you about some things going on in my life. Because I think you need to protect yourself."
He leaned up on his elbows and looked at her. "Protect myself from who or what?"
She swallowed again, dread filling her chest as she knew that she had to talk about her ex. What an icky subject to have after such a beautiful moment they'd just shared.
"My ex is a, well, let me say this, he's a criminal. He does criminal things. The trouble is he's not really gotten caught. And, actually, I didn't even know he was a criminal until recently."
And then she told him about all the things that had been going on and all the things that Isaac had done over the years. She saw his face turn to stone, his jaw clenched, and she could tell he didn't like Isaac any more than she did right now.
And she thought that was saying a lot because she didn't like Isaac at all anymore.
"Hanna, I'm so sorry that you've had to deal with anything like that. No one, especially someone as beautiful as you, should have to do that. But I'm glad you told me. And don't worry, that fucker isn't going to hurt me in any way. Or my kids. "
She nodded, swallowed that giant lump that had grown in her throat, inhaled deeply, and then let it out in a whoosh.
"If you… if this changes your mind in any way, I understand." She softly said.
He sat up, slid his hands under her arms, and pulled her tightly to him as he laid back down. She lay on top of him, staring down into his beautiful face. She would call him beautiful all the time. Because he was. He was so handsome. And right now, his understanding meant so much to her.
He smoothed the hair back from her face, holding it softly back.
He kissed her lips, softly at first. His tongue swept out and slid across her bottom lip. She opened her mouth, wanting his tongue inside of her mouth.
She loved the way he kissed. His lips were full and soft and sensual. They covered hers and they made her feel like he truly, truly wanted to kiss her. It almost brought her to tears to think about how many times she had wanted this in her life and had to wait till she was forty-five years old to get it. I guess life happened in its own good time.
After they'd kissed for a while, she lifted her head. She looked down into his eyes.
He grinned slightly. "Something that someone else has done to you isn't going to make me change my mind. It's not as if you've done that. You are not a criminal. You've done nothing wrong. He has. Your only fault, if anything, is caring too much and not wanting to give up soon enough. And that's admirable. And I'm sure there's many times that you'd wished that you'd given up a lot sooner. But you have to admit that somebody who’s willing to continually put themselves out there in the face of what you've had to endure over and over again says an awful lot about what kind of person you are. And that's a good quality person, Hanna. I'd never fault you for something someone else did. And anybody that would, isn't worth a salt."
She felt tears well up into her eyes and one dropped down onto Quinn's cheek before she could stop it.
His thumb swiped under her eyes softly to stop her tears from flowing.
"Please tell me that's the last tear you'll ever shed over that son of a bitch."
She smiled softly. "I'm not shedding a tear over him at all. I'm shedding a tear at what a beautiful man you are. So understanding. And I can't tell you how relieved I am to get this off my chest because I hated hiding it from you. I felt like a fraud. And I don't want to feel like a fraud with you, Quinn."
He kissed her a few more times. Rolled her over. And inserted himself into her.
The moan that escaped her throat as he did was his new favorite sound. His lips kissed her forehead. And her temples. As he slowly slid in and out of her, his heart swelled.
Her hands slid down his back and to his ass and squeezed. He liked that. His ass tightened as he pushed into her and her fingers tightened on his skin. He lifted slightly to look into her eyes, and he wasn't disappointed. She stared at him, her lips slightly parted and glossy from his kisses.
"You're sexy, Hanna."
Her lips lifted at the corners slightly.
His skin heated as he worked to bring her pleasure. He wanted to watch her as she came. Adding pressure each time he fully entered her, he heard that moan, and each time it grew louder. He pushed in fully and her lips opened and she called out his name. "Quinn."
Then she tumbled over the edge of pleasure and he hurried to meet her there.