Chapter 15
Leo
I couldn’t breathe. Hell, I couldn’t even tear my attention away long enough to hear what Jonah was rambling about beside me. I knew it was dangerous. It was worse than that. It was fucking foolhardy, but no matter how many times I told myself to look away, I couldn’t.
Quinn, out there on the dancefloor, swaying slow and sexy to the songs that played over the jukebox. Luckily, she was hidden by enough people that her brother couldn’t see. He would have pummeled every single male in the bar if he could see the way they were watching her, drooling over her. Myself included.
It was all I could do not to rush over there, push her against the nearest wall and teach her the lesson she was begging for. As if I actually meant what I’d said to Jonah earlier. I’d told her, it had just been to keep him off our tail. How could she know that? You're not exactly known for sticking with one woman. Hell, not even two or three.
I shook my head but couldn’t dislodge the thought. A part of me could sense the truth in it. If Quinn had heard any of the rumors about me, which she most certainly had by then, well, she’d have every reason in the world to doubt me. Why would I care? Why do I care?
But I couldn't answer those questions either. I took another sip of beer, chasing away the doubts and glanced over at Jonah. He was staring bleary-eyed into the distance, his chatter finally drawing to a silence as he lost himself in his drunken thoughts. Good. Less opportunity for me to say something I shouldn't and end up in a world of pain.
My gaze was drawn back to Quinn like a magnet. I traced up and down her curves as she shimmied to some sultry melody, my body instantly rising to attention at the show she was putting on. I could tell by the way her bright green eyes would flick toward my direction that the show was for me, and damned if it wasn’t working.
It felt like hours, sitting there, a glass of beer growing warm in my grasp as I watched her, unable to tear my eyes away.
"I gotta go take a piss," I mumbled to Jonah and he nodded back, not bothering to look in my direction as I got to my feet. But I didn't make my way to the bathroom in the back. Instead, my feet were moving, almost as if they had a mind of their own. My body knew what it wanted. And what it wanted was the golden-haired, green-eyed temptress swaying on the dance floor.
I stopped just behind her, my hands brushing across her hips and I could feel the shudder that ran through her whole body at the touch. She was just as ready as I was. I leaned forward until my mouth was at her ear.
"Meet me in the back room in ten minutes," I whispered the words, my voice rougher than I wanted but I couldn't help it. Quinn drove me mad. Pushed every single button I had, and a few more that I didn't even know about. I was about to explode, and it was the hardest thing I'd ever done, letting my hands drop. Taking a step away from her, and then another. Every atom inside me protested as the distance grew but I didn't stop as I turned and walked towards the back.
Stella had her hands full with the packed bar and I couldn’t risk sneaking Quinn up to my apartment, not with her brother there. But she could get to the back room without him seeing her. But would she? Would she come? That was the question that kept echoing in my head as I walked to the back-storage room, forcing myself not to look behind me as the door swung shut, cutting me off from the rest of the bar.
***
Quinn
Meet me in the back room in ten minutes. Leo's hoarsely whispered words kept repeating themselves in my mind as I surreptitiously followed his path with my eyes as he made his way through the crowd. Damn him. Just a single touch. A whispered invitation and my whole body was wet and trembling for his touch.
I wanted him. I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anyone or anything in my entire life. And it scared me. That’s why you were so angry. Because you were terrified that he would move on without a second glance.
I couldn’t deny the truth of the thought, as much as I hated it. I knew I shouldn’t. I knew what he was now, and that certainly wasn’t the type to stick around. Does it matter? Have your fun. Don’t let your heart get involved.
I wished it was that simple. I was even more afraid that it was too late to keep that particular organ from getting hurt. He’s worth it.
It was that last thought that had my feet moving. I followed his path, as careful as I could to avoid letting Jonah see me. Honestly, he looked like he was about to fall into the empty beer glass that sat on the bar in front of him. He wouldn’t have noticed me if I’d walked up and hit him on the back of the head.
Less than thirty seconds later the door was swinging shut behind me. I barely had time to open my mouth to speak in the dark storage room before Leo was cutting me off with a vicious kiss. It tore through me, that kiss, it cut through all the anger, all the fear, all the doubt and worry until all that was left was the red-hot pulsing desire that demanded I kiss him back just as hard. So I did.
With everything inside me, I kissed him. Our mouths fused together as his tongue warred with mine. Leo bit my lower lip, nipping at the sensitive flesh and I moaned as an electric shock of pleasure lit up my entire body. He took instant advantage, pulling me closer as he moved us deeper into the shadows until his back hit the edge of the storage shelf.
His strong hands felt like they were everywhere, constantly moving, constantly touching. My neck, down my arms, across my hips, sweeping up my rib cage. They didn’t stop until both hands rested against my chest, strained in Lily’s borrowed dress.
Leo teased one of my nipples into a tight peak between two fingers, making my breath rush out in a choked gasp. The sensation was sharp and sweet all at the same time and it had another rush of moisture flooding my center.
My whole body clenched in anticipation as his fingers continued to tease first one nipple and then the other through the fabric of the dress. His other hand slowly made its way south, inch by torturous inch as his mouth pillaged mine.
He angled his head to draw the kiss even deeper, drawing my every gasp and moan into his lungs and then back out again until we were breathing each other in with each inhale. Leo’s hand was still searching lower, exploring the dip of my waist and the peak of my hip, not stopping until it swept down my thigh and back up again.
“This dress of yours should be illegal,” Leo whispered against my mouth as he pulled the hem up inch by inch, “I damn near had a heart attack, watching you out on the dancefloor in this thing.” He tugged at the tight fabric, drawing me impossibly closer.
“Blame Lily. It’s hers.” I panted the words, my movements jerky and frantic as I tried to pull at his clothes but Leo didn’t let me. He just kept up his slow, steady rhythm as his hands continued to tease and his mouth did wicked things to mine.
It made the ache inside me grow sharper, harder, more desperate but all I could was take everything he could give me. He pulled us to the back of the room, deeper into the shadows, all the while his hands moving, his mouth taking and giving.
“Leo, please. I need you to touch me. I need you to make me come.”
“Where?” He growled the word, “Where do you need me to touch you?”
I trailed one hand down my needy body until I reached his, moving his hand deeper between my thighs until we could both feel the moisture that dripped from me.
“Here.”
With a feather-light tough, he swept the pad of one finger across my pussy, barely making contact but it was enough to have me shaking in his arms. But it wasn't what I needed. What my body needed.
“No,” I panted, grabbing his hand once more and guiding two of his fingers deep inside me. “Here.”
We both let out a sharp breath at the contact and Leo bit off a whispered curse as his hand started to move in and out, stroking my most sensitive nerve endings with every touch.
“God damn, you’re wet.” Leo said harshly, “So wet and so tight. Sunshine, I might come before I even get my cock inside you.”
"That's…that's what I want." The words trembled out of my mouth, my thoughts scattered and hazy from the pleasure of his fingers diving in and out of me. But even still, I opened my half-lidded eyes, meeting his heated gaze in the dark, "I want your cock inside me. I want your cum inside me."
"Fuck, baby," Leo said on a shattered whisper and I felt his words rumble through me, adding to the vibration that was already turning my legs into jelly. I had to lean against him for support, my body arching even deeper onto his thrusting hands I let out a low moan as pleasure rocketed from his fingers straight to my pussy.
“Shhh.” Leo breathed the sound against my neck, “They can hear us out there. You have to be quiet.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” I whispered back through gritted teeth, trying to bite back another moan.
“No, it’s not sunshine. I love hearing the sounds you make when I’m fucking you. Moaning, crying out my name. That little catch in the back of your throat when I hit just the right spot.” He paused and I could see his lopsided grin as his fingers continued to move inside me. “Yeah, just like that.”
“Leo,” I sobbed out his name, my body hanging right on the edge, and his words were just driving me closer. “Leo, please. Fuck me. Now.”
My own words spurred him on because he gave me one last brutal kiss before turning me around. His hands slid up my body, guiding my own to the shelving in front of me.
“You better hold on, sunshine.”
I could hear the sound of his jeans being unzipped and slid down his thighs and I was desperate for a look at him but all too soon, or not soon enough, I couldn’t tell which, he was behind me again. His fingers gripped my hips hard as he lifted the hem of the already short dress until I was barred to him. His soft whistle had another wave of moisture drenching me inside and out, coating my thighs. Damn it. I needed him.
"No more waiting, Leo," I said breathlessly, and it wasn't a request. It was a demand this time. He listened.
I felt the head of his thick erection nudge my entrance, coating himself with my juices before finally sinking inside me. His hands held my hips still as he took me, inch by slow inch. I was desperate to hitch back, to slam against him, to take all of him at once, right now. But he didn't let me.
As slowly as he’d tortured me before with his hands, this was even worse. Pleasure rode me as I dropped my head back, biting my lower lip to keep it from coming out of my mouth in a moan. It made every other sensation feel that much more intense.
There, in the darkness, all I could feel was Leo surrounding me, inside me. I was lost in him. His arms slowly wrapped around me as the pace changed and I could tell he was losing control. It was about damn time. He’d stolen mine long ago.
Every thrust of his cock stretched me, filled me all the way up and he grew more erratic with each hitch of his hips. I could hear his sharp breath leaving his lungs like gunfire, each exhale a bullet that tore across my skin.
He held me tight as he took me and I shook as the ecstasy built inside me, slow and steady like a steam engine train coming straight at me. Powerful. Dangerous. And it damn well might just kill me.
My eyes fell closed as the sensation built, wave after wave but alongside the pleasure there was something else. Something bittersweet and so tender it made my chest ache with it. There, in that moment, in the dark storeroom at the back of the bar with Leo as deep inside my body as he could go and his arms holding me tight, I could admit it to myself. I was starting to care about him. Maybe more than care.
I didn’t question it. I didn’t fight the emotion as it wrapped around me just as surely as Leo’s arms. All I could do was ride the wave as he started to move harder and more insistent behind me, arching my hips for the perfect angle.
“Leo!” I cried out his name as his cock tunneled inside my pussy, reaching that spot deep inside me that had me opening my mouth to cry out again.
“Hush, sunshine. You’re gonna get us caught.” Leo warned, but I could tell by the roughness of his voice that he was just as close to the edge as I was.
“I’m about to cum, Leo,” I panted, “Make me cum.”
"Fuck, sunshine," Leo growled the words and suddenly he was thrusting even harder, his hands hard at my hips, holding me in just the right spot and it didn't take long for him to do what I asked. I had to bite my lip so hard I thought I'd drawn blood as my orgasm hit.
Every muscle in my body tightened as ripples of tingly pleasure swept through me like a tidal wave, taking Leo over with me. I could hear his low groan, muffled against my neck as he thrust one more time, and then two, finally drawing still but he left his arms right where they were, wrapped around my body.
It was another long moment before either of us could move, and when Leo finally stepped back I instantly regretted the loss of his body pressed against mine. I already craved him again. I shook my head at myself, taking a deep shaky breath before Leo pressed a soft kiss against my lips and stepped away again.
I was still putting my clothes back in order when I looked up in time to see Leo peering out of the small window that looked out onto the bar.
"Oh, shit," Leo muttered to himself as he redid the button of his jeans.
“What is it?” I leaned closer to see what it was that had made him flinch and was so distracted by the spicy, male scent of him that it took me a moment to see it. “Oh shit.”
It was Jonah. He was leaning against the edge of the bar, chatting with Lily. Right outside the door. I could just see the side of his face through the tiny window and as soon as I did I ducked back down into the shadows. Leo shot me a lopsided grin and a shrug.
“I guess we’re stuck here.”
"I guess so," I whispered back, tempted to look again but the last thing I wanted was for Jonah to find out the truth about me and his best friend. I was lucky enough that he'd been too drunk to realize what was going on earlier when I'd stormed in with Lily in the first place.
I let myself slide down to the carpeted floor, bracing my back against the wire shelf and after a minute, Leo sat down next to me. He was so close that his muscular thigh brushed against mine and our arms were pressed together. The contact sent another wave of delight rocketing through me but for the moment, I was happy enough just to sit there next to him.
"I'm sorry," Leo said softly after a few minutes had swept by in comfortable silence.
“Sorry for what?” I asked, looking at him in the darkness as he shrugged and sent me another self-deprecating grin.
“For a lot of things, I suppose, but Jonah told me. About your parents.”
The words hit me like a ton of bricks, knocking the air from my lungs and I couldn’t keep the bitterness from my voice when I finally spoke, “Don’t be sorry. Not for them.”
“It’s not them I’m sorry for, Quinn. It’s you. I’m sorry you have to go through that. Losing your parents like that. It’s rough that’s all.”
"Believe me, I lost them a long time ago," I whispered the words into the dark, and the silence stretched on. Leo was content to just sit there, waiting. Finally, I spoke again and this time resignation had replaced the bitterness of earlier.
“I don’t really know how to feel about it, honestly,” I shrugged, “I guess that’s why I haven’t told anyone about it, no one besides Lily anyway.”
“Hey, I get it. From what I’ve heard from Jonah, they weren’t exactly winning parents of the year awards.”
“That’s an understatement.” I snorted over his words but he kept talking.
“But it still hurts. To lose them I mean. It doesn’t matter. It still hurts.” Leo went quiet and I glanced over at him sharply at the strange note in his voice. If I had to guess, it sounded like he was speaking from experience.
“Did you lose your parents?” I don’t know what made me ask the question but it was out before I could reel it back. Leo was quiet for so long I didn’t think he was going to answer and when he did, my heart broke.
“Not my parents. My brother.” I could hear Leo inhale deep before going on, “I was fifteen, he was nine. He was born with a heart defect. Bastard lived longer than all the doctors said he would but in the end, his heart still gave out.”
“Leo, I’m so sorry. That’s terrible.” Just the thought of not having Jonah in my life made me want to howl. I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for him.
"My parents, they weren't really…They never…Jonah was more of a parent to me than they ever were. Drugs got to them, mostly. They always had drugs and each other. Me and Jonah, we were just…left on our own most of the time." I don't know what I was saying, but now that I had started it was like I couldn't stop.
“He raised me. Mom and dad were never really there, and when they were, they were high or passed out. I know Jonah kept me away from the worst of it, even as kids. He’s always been protective of me. That’s why. There hadn’t been anyone else. Just the two of us. We made it through together.”
I jumped at the feeling of Leo's hand sliding against mine in the darkness. We sat there for a long time, our fingers twined together. The move so unlike him that it took me by surprise.
“I left not long after Derek died. As soon as I turned eighteen I was out of there. Moving from town to town. Finding work where I could. And it just kind of…stuck, I guess. Always looking ahead, never looking back.”
“Sounds lonely.” The words popped out of my mouth but Leo just shot me a grin.
“It usually isn’t,” He shrugged, “I’ve told you the truth about me, and I’m sure you’ve heard from people in town.”
It was my turn to shrug. It hurt to say the words out loud. More than I thought it would.
“But something’s been different the last couple of years. I’ve been here, made friends, got a decent job. And suddenly that horizon just isn’t looking as bright as it used to.” Leo shrugged again and I had to still the little jolt of hope his words gave me. Hope was dangerous. As dangerous as dreams and wishes. And just as useless.
“I never thought I’d end up back in Coral Springs,” I said, finally speaking, “At least not like this. But with everything that’s happened, everything with the property I…I know I can make this work. I have to.” I shook my head, letting out a deep breath. “I can’t fail again. Jonah, he thinks it’s a secret, but I know. He used every penny in his savings account to pay for my college, and I royally fucked that up.”
“I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Leo interjected.
“It’s worse. Believe me,” I let out a rough chuckle but there wasn’t any humor in it, “I have to prove to him that I was worth it. I have to prove to myself that I’m not a failure.”
Leo went quiet, giving my hand a squeeze where he still held it in his.
“For what it’s worth, I know you’re not a failure. I know you’re worth it.” His whispered words reached me, wrapping around me and warming me all the way through. I’m not sure how long we sat there, holding hands in the dark, waiting for Jonah to leave before we could sneak back out again but one thing was certain. I knew. Even if Leo was going to end up hurting me in the end, I was going to enjoy every minute with him while I could. Because the truth was, he was worth it too.
I smiled softly to myself as I thought of Lily’s love potion. Maybe it had worked after all.