Loving Quinn Novel by North Rose

(Annora)

Trauma warning

My entire body is still quivering with pleasure as I lay in bed snuggled up against Quinn. The warmth from his bare chest makes me

rub my check along his very sculpted pectoral muscles. His body is relaxed, but he isn’t asleep. This is the first time we will sleep in the same bed together. Is he nervous or is he still recuperating from what we just did in the shower?

All that hard black marble was surprisingly warm against my back as he pinned me to the wall. My moans of pleasure and the echoes of wet flesh connecting with wet flesh were drowned out by the thundering noise of water coming from two shower heads. Each end of the shower has one and the water crosses in the center.

He had me against the wall between the heat of those twin sprays, his body pumping in and out of mine. Just thinking about it makes me crave to experience it all over again. This time slower. Much slower. Quinn has a sensual nature to him that just melts me.

To distract myself from all the sexual thoughts racing through my head, I roll over onto my side, h*k m**y leg over his waist, then lean up on my elbow to stare down at him. He opens those sea-green eyes of his to look at me. The expression on his face lets me know his mind is precisely where mine was.

However, after having sex in the jacuzzi, on the padded lounger, then repeatedly in the shower, my body is a little tender. I am not accustomed to having that much sex in one night. Kyle was a once a night kind of guy. Then a once-a-week kind of guy. Now I know whỳ He was f**g our accountant.

No. Just drop that line of thought right now. That man does not belong here in this space. Not while I have the man I have always loved right here. Kyle can f**k off.

I peer down at Quinn’s chest. There is what looks like a knife wound on his upper left pec. I can see the puckered skin of the scar peeking through a tattoo. It is a tribal symbol of a half-moon with the sun in the moon’s curve.

“Does this one have a story behind it?” I inquire as I brush my fingers over the tattoo. As I caress the tattoo, I feel another scar hidden.

within the ink.

“No. It was mainly to cover the scars. They still show, but only if you look closely or do what you are now.”

“Show me one that bears meaning to you and a story behind it.”

He holds up his left arm to the moonlight that is shining through curtains. He has a full tattoo sleeve made up of many images. The one he points out stops my breathing for a moment as I stare at it. It is a St Michael’s medal. He Inked my gift to him onto his body,

“Oh, that is beautiful, Quinn.”

When he brings his arm closer to me, the tiger lily at the base of the medal stands out in the light. My heart constricts in my chest for two more reasons. Tiger lilies are my favorite flower and he remembered that. However, it was the name on a white ribbon at the base of the flower that makes tears spring to my eyes.

My name is right there on his arm. With the gift I gave him and my favorite flower. He kept me with him inked on his body. A s**b escapes my mouth before I can stop it.

“Hey,” Quinn sits up, then cups my face in his large palms. “I put that there as an enduring reminder of the young woman who conquered my heart and branded her name across my soul when we were just eighteen. There is always that image of you on the shore of the lake in my head each time I look at this tattoo.”

“Oh, Quinn. I missed you so much. There wasn’t a day that passed by that I didn’t think of you at some point. You were with me even though you didn’t know it. You gave me the best gift I could have asked for. Grace. She was my reminder of you every day.”

Quinn laid back down hat rolled onto his side to face me. “When was the first time you felt her move inside you? What was that like?”

was in the middle of an exam at school. It felt like I swallowed a handful of butterflies, and they were fluttering around in ΠΤΥ belly”

I had wished for nothing more than to hear his voice that day. To share with him the emotions that were bombarding me in waves. His voice was still fresh in my mind back then and his face was still so clear to me when I closed my eyes.

“I remember bursting into tears right there in the middle of class. My teacher looked so perplexed as I stood up and bolted from the room. Later, when I went back to get my things, I explained to her what happened. She was sympathetic and allowed to let me make up that test right away, but that it would only be that one time.”Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

Quinn looks away from me for a minute, but when he glances back, there is a storm of emotions in his sea-green eyes. “What about the

first time you felt her kick?”

That memory brings a smile to my face as I look into his eyes. We are lying on our sides facing each other with our hands clasped together between our bodies. I have dreamed of being with him like this for so long. We spent hours together by the lake or in the cabin like this, just talking.

Dreaming.

T

was in my apartment studying for my midterm exams. I had just eaten some spaghetti, and I felt her kick me. Then, a few minutes later, she kicked me again. I went and settled down on my bed, put my palm over my belly where she kicked me, then just waited for her to do it again.”

His voice played through my mind that entire night. All the daydreams we had thought about that summer going through my head. Then I broke down and cried myself to sleep when I realized those dreams would never come true.

Except now they can.

“I cried myself to sleep that night.”

“Why?”

“I missed you so much and all I wanted was to have your arms around me in those moments. To have your hand next to mine on my belly as Grace kicked me. I should have tried to reach you again. I should have worked harder. Told someone that it was an emergency or about

the baby.”

Quinn lets go of my hand to wrap his arms around me. I snuggle close and press my face against his shoulder. 1 let go of all the pent-up emotions from the past as he holds me. Having his powerful arms around me feels like paradise.

“I am here now, shh. Nothing will separate us again.”

“Promise?”

He draws back so that he can stare into my eyes. “I promise I will do everything in my power to make sure nothing and no one will come [between us ever again. I am still enlisted, but they don’t call on the reserves unless it is a critical situation. Other than that, I will be right

here. I am not going anywhere again without you or Grace.”

With a smile on my face, I lean in to brush his lips softly with mine. “What was boot camp

like?

We spend the next few hours chatting about Quinn’s boot camp experiences, then onto his first deployment. He goes silent after I inquire what took place on his first deployment that caused him seek therapy. The way he stiffens against me causes me to fear I overstepped my bounds on that question.

When he sits up and shows his back to me, I worry he is planning on leaving the room. His voice is low in tone when he speaks next. His back muscles are rigid, and his entire body is tense.

were driving back from a scouting mission. The vehicle I was in went over what we assumed was a pothole from a distance. When the front tire drove over it, there was an explosion. We had just driven over a bomb.”

Oh, my god. Knowing it would be a bad idea to interrupt or touch him right now, I fight my instincts to hold him. He needs to get this out without my interference. The thought of what he went through that day scares me.

“We weren’t in an armored truck, so the damage was catastrophic. Three of my y team died. It was a wonder the rest of us survived. The noises, smells, and pain of that day haunted my dreams and occasionally my thoughts when I was awake, for an extremely long time

afterwards.”

When he shifts to glance at me, the look in his eyes is something I will never forget. One fact is clear to me now. I never want to put that look on his face again by asking him to share those memories with me. They are with him always, but I will never ask him to recall them for me.

Some things need to remain in the past.

There are no words to say in a situation like this. So, instead of talking, I close the distance between us and just hold him until he calms. Little by little, his body gradually loses its tension as I run my palm up and down his back.

“I am going to warn you now that I may have nightmares tonight after talking to you about it. If I wake up screaming just do what you are

“Is that why you used sex in the past to exhaust you? So that you wouldn’t dream?”

The slight nod he offers me causes me to understand his past a little better. Now I know what motivated him to be the man-w**re he was. This just means I have my work cut out for me. My days are tiring at work, but I will do all I can to make certain he doesn’t have to use another woman to drive away the demons.

“Think you can handle that?” His voice is **e and full of fear.

To answer his question, I move around his body, then straddle his lap. We are both still nude from our shower hours before. He isn’t erect, but I can feel his **k twitch as I settle over him. The way his shoulders move and the quiet laugh that comes from him let me know h figured out my answer to his question.

“From here on out, my arms, lips, and any part of my body you want to use are the only ones that will drive those demons away. Just talk to me. Tell me you feel them coming for you and I will do the rest. I lean in and capture his lips with mine.

Quinn breaks the kiss and stares at me. I can tell there is something he needs to say, but he is hesitant to say it. The feel of him growing firmer between our bodies makes me squirm over him. His hands tighten around my hips to keep me in place.

“Do you realize what you are taking on here with that statement?”

I swallow hard at the serious look in his eyes. No, I don’t know the entire scope of what I am volunteering for, but if it means that he is happy and healthy psychologically, then I will do what I must do. I will do whatever it takes to ensure he is healthy and here with me and our daughter.

I will be the wall between you and your demons.”

The moment those words are out of my mouth, Quinn

nn flips us over, so tam beneath him. I wrap my legs tightly around his waist. He growls deep in his chest, then moves my arms above my head. One of his large hands grips my wrists tightly as he pins them to the bed.

“Not everything I will do to you will be gentle or slow like it has been so far. I can tell you have so much to learn about sex, I want to Teach you everything there is to know.”

I wizzle beneath him when I fell him throb against my entrance. A mon escapes my lips as he pinches my nipple with his free hand. Involuntarily, I ach my back, pressing my upper body closer to his. This man is causing my system to go haywire with need.

Needs I could never have fulfilled. Needs that until now I didn’t even know I have hidden inside me. Anticipation of all the things he will

makes me shiver underneath him. I nod my head to say yes.

“Tell me with your words that you want this, nd you understand it may not always be gentle.”

this. Let me help you.”

“I want to f**k you right now, Annie, hard and fast. I want to make you screarn my

my name 21 1

as I make you

cumi

for me.

The husky tone in his voice has ne

need for him, sharp and strong, tightening in my belly. “Then f**k me right now.”

With a growl, Quinn thrusts upwards into me. This time, he doesn’t hold back. The first thrust causes me to scream out his name. Partly in pain and partly in pleasure. Pain because we have been very sexually active tonight and my body is sensitive.

He looks down at for a moment, but all I do is lift my hips to encourage him to continue. Then, with a smile tugging at his lips, he lets go of his restraint and all I can do is hold on tight for the ride.

Each jarring thrust pushes us higher on the bed until we are up against the padded headboard. I don’t mind at all. Every hard thrust of his body into mine is pure ecstasy. He fills me up to my limit, but I love it. I scream his name with every o**m that hits me.

Wow after wave of **c bliss slams into me as he **ks me in a way that I have only ever imagined. I will be sore and bruised in the morning, but it is worth it. My Greek God is a sex machine and I f**g love it.

When I run my nails down his back after his last thrust throws me over the edge of pleasure again, he lets out a loud growl that makes my core squeeze him tighter. I can fool each hot spurt of his seed as he finally reaches his release.

Much later, when we have finally learned to breathe again, we are lying flat on our backs, and Quinn looks over at me. “You really enjoyed that. Didn’t you?”

He laughs, then pulls me against his body as he rolls over next to me. “Tam exhausted. Let’s

“Can we stay home tomorrow? Send Grace to school and just stay home together?”

“I like the w

way you are thinking, but sadly, I must go into the office tomorrow.”

some sleep.”

I nod my head, then snuggle against his side. Sleep soon sweeps me under its thick blanket of darkness. The last thought I have before it claims me is that I am happier now than I ever was without Quinn by my side.

A smile is on my face as I fall asleep in his arms. Heaven was waiting for me for twelve years. Home for me is right here in Quinn Greyson’s arms.

Chapter Comments

Plana Jaycox

I love this story! I can’t seem to put it down! Marvelous! Simply Marvelous!