Their few days together sped by faster than Quin could stand. He called in to work, saying he wouldn’t be in until Monday.
He hadn’t missed a day in years, but he disdained the idea of missing out on even a minute of their brief time together.
Wanting Vanessa to experience more than his suite, he took her sight-seeing. They ate at his favorite restaurants. They swam in the ocean.
He took her out on his boat and made love to her under the stars. Every time was better than the last.
Beyond the physical gratification, was his growing attachment to who Vanessa was as a person. She made him laugh, made him feel more alive than he’d ever felt.
She was easy to talk to. She didn’t act coy or play games. He felt comfortable with her in a way he hadn’t, not even with Josette when he’d thought he was in love.
They shared their histories. He’d told Vanessa all about Josette, hoping she wouldn’t pity him. She didn’t. His little firecracker was pissed on his behalf.
She reluctantly told him how terribly her family treated her, how unkind they had been. When he offered to hunt them down one by one, she’d snorted. Snorted! He hadn’t been joking.
Piece by piece, she was taking over his heart. Tomorrow she was supposed to get on a plane and go back to Miami, to her home. He was going to ask her to stay in Charleston, to consider moving here.
He had a special brunch planned on the terrace of his personal residence, a place he never allowed anyone but his family to visit. He would test the waters, to first see how she reacted to moving here.
If she seemed agreeable, he would suggest she move in with him. His instinct was to bark it as an order, but Vanessa wasn’t one of his dalliances to be ordered about.
“Quin?” her husky voice jolted him from his thoughts.
Quin looked down, tracing her spine with his fingertips. They were back in his bed at the club, spending one last night together in the suite.
He was straddling the backs of her thighs, having wandered off in thought while he massaged her back and glute muscles. He’d been rough on her, finally giving her the spankings she’d deserved.
She’d loved every minute of it. She not only handled everything he did, she celebrated it, telling him how good it was, how impressed she was by his sexual prowess. Vanessa continued to surprise him with her openness.
“Yes?” he answered.
“Are you okay?”
“Of course. Why do you ask?”
“You stopped and didn’t answer when I first said your name. I just … I was worried.”
Vanessa tiptoed around what she really wanted to say. She wanted to tell him how she felt, but she was a coward.
There was no way this could go beyond tonight. She was a succubus. He’d confessed why he hadn’t been with one in a hundred years, why he always had a male present. Quin had a hang-up because of the redheaded female who betrayed him.
Vanessa was lucky he’d bothered to bid on her. Lucky he’d shown an ounce of kindness. She knew he’d been wounded deeply. She didn’t want to be a reminder of his past. She’d never hurt him like that.
Besides, males don’t bid at virginity auctions because they’re looking for a relationship—or for love. A vice clamped around her heart.
“I’m okay. Are you okay?” he asked.
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Are you sleepy?”
“Yes,” she lied.
She wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight, knowing it would be the last time he’d unconsciously reach for her in the hours before dawn. He’d done it every night.
She didn’t think she could handle waking in his arms, pretending she could stay. Pretending she was okay.
Quin shifted and rolled Vanessa over to her back. He pressed his mouth to hers. She opened easily, willingly.
“Once more, then I’ll let you rest.”
“Once more,” she agreed, fighting back tears. She could pretend a little longer.
For the next hour, Quin worshipped her. He kissed and touched every inch of Vanessa’s body. He made love to her as a male who wanted more than a one-night stand.
Instead of racing towards completion, he tried to make it last. He no longer felt the same urgency that had recently taken over his life, where he was constantly fucking whomever was available just to pacify the beast for a few hours.
He was obsessed with her, and he wasn’t growing bored. The more he was with her, the more he wanted her in every way he could have her.
In the morning, he would tell her.
That night, Quin fell asleep wrapped around a female he adored, feeling more content than ever.
Long after Quin had drifted off, Vanessa was still wide awake, stroking the head of hair snuggled up to the side of her breast. He seemed to be fond of using her tits as a pillow.
She reflected on their time together, knowing she owed Quin a debt she could never repay. He’d more than lived up to his end of the deal. She hoped she’d given him half the pleasure he’d given to her.
It was almost 4 a.m. when Vanessa decided she could no longer delay her departure. Waking with him, being forced to say goodbye, wasn’t something she could do. She loved him. She knew it beyond a shadow of a doubt.
She loved him enough to walk away so he wouldn’t have to deal with her possible emotional freak-out in the morning.
Vanessa took the coward’s way out, slipped out of bed, and disappeared into the night.