A Lover's Dream (17 page)

“Quest…” She sighed, arching closer to his mouth when he began to suckle one nipple and then the other. Her hands fell away from his body to brace behind her on the counter. She was eager to let him have his way and wished he'd do more than torture her with long slow strokes of his tongue gliding across her extra-sensitive skin.

“You need to eat,” he decided, abruptly ending
the kisses and leaving her under the spell of his touch.

Grudgingly, Mick obeyed and let him pull her off the countertop. She fixed her shirt and took her place at the beautiful round cherry-wood dining room table in the corner of the spacious kitchen.

“This is so beautiful,” she whispered, taking in the fantastic scene of moonlight shining upon the lake. The tall windows lining the dining area provided an unforgettable view. “How long have you had this?”

Quest took a moment to stare out at the night. “Yeah, it's incredible. I loved it the first time I saw it six years ago. It's calm, peaceful, away from the hubbub of the city,” he explained, then graced her with a sexy smile across his shoulder. “Please don't tell Quay I have this,” he begged, joining in when Mick laughed out loud. After a moment, however, his expression turned grim. “The room was in my name. The room where Sera Black… I'm sure you know that,” he said, his eyes remaining fixed on tossing the Caesar salad he'd prepared to accompany the butter-sautéed shrimp with fresh veggies on a bed of rice.

Mick watched him from the table. She remained silent and let him have his say.

“I had to register the room in my name because Quay had been banned from doing so by most of the nicer hotels in the city. Behavior problems,” he added, shaking his head as he spoke. “Anyway, I only stayed fifteen or twenty minutes before going down to the hotel restaurant for drinks. I must've stayed there longer than I thought, because when I went back to the room, everyone was gone.

“I checked out the place,” he said, turning to retrieve the dressing chilling in the refrigerator. “It was a mess, but I was happy to see no damage at least. That was before I walked into the living room and saw the broken balcony doors.” He stopped talk
ing for a moment and leaned against the counter. “I looked over the edge and saw Sera, bleeding and naked on the concrete eleven floors down.” He shook his head, rubbing both hands across his silky waves. “I was in a daze. Obviously she fell from our room. I stumbled backward wanting to get as far inside as possible. I made it to the bedroom.” He sighed, folding his arms across his chest. “Sat down on the edge of the bed. That's where I found Quay—naked and passed out too.” Quest's eyes darkened to onyx as he stared off into the distance. “I don't know what happened before I got there. When Quay woke up and looked at me, I went cold.”

“Why?”

The simple inquiry sent Quest's eyes flying to her face. “Michaela, I
don't
know what happened. All I know is it's enough to put him away for a long time.”

Mick blinked and scooted forward in her seat. “You think… Quay did it?”

“I don't know!” he snapped, slamming his fist against his palm before he winced. “I'm sorry,” he grated, reaching out to caress her cheek and smiling when she kissed the back of his hand. “Baby, I've never told this to anyone—not even Quay.”

“He thinks you did something,” Mick breathed, as though she were speaking to herself.

Quest leaned close. “What?”

“He's been afraid to ask you about that night for the same reason. He believes you tried to protect him.”

“Protect him from what?”

Mick fixed him with a pointed look. “He was naked and passed out in bed. Sera was naked and dead on the sidewalk directly below your room. She'd been raped. He thinks you could've…to keep her quiet, to keep him safe.”

Quest appeared as though he were in a daze. “Quay didn't do it…?”

Mick shrugged. “He can't remember half as much as you. He asked me to continue investigating as well.”

“Who would've done this? Sera was a sweet girl,” Quest whispered, his gray eyes even more solemn as he thought about his murdered classmate.

“It'll be almost impossible to find them since all the evidence is now missing because—”

“My parents covered it up. ‘Made it go away' was what they said they'd do,” Quest recalled, massaging his hand across suddenly tired eyes. “I'd never been in any trouble like this and they weren't about to let this touch me.”

“Quay's going crazy not knowing,” Mick said, smoothing her hands across his arms as a wave of sadness enveloped her. “I have to do my best to get him some answers,” she vowed, leaning back in her chair as Quest went to get dinner to the table.

When he resumed his place, he reached for Mick's hand and smothered it within both of his. “My brother's very lucky to have you in his life,” he told her.

“And I'm lucky to have
you
in
my
life,” she said, leaning forward to request a kiss that he was all too willing to give.

The simple action quickly turned into something more erotic. Thankfully, Quest's cooler head prevailed and he ordered her to eat.

“Oh, that's not today, is it?”

Quest appeared disappointed when he heard Mick's groaning complaint. “I told you I wanted to take you out on the lake today,” he said, glancing at the fishing poles he held.

“Oh, Quest, I can't even move,” she whined, snuggling deeper into bed. “I ache all over.”

The disappointment left Quest's handsome face and was replaced by concern. “Have I been hurting you?” he asked, taking a few uncertain steps closer to the bed. “I could do that easily and not even be aware of it. I'm, um, pretty, um—”

“Huge?” Mick suggested, fixing him with innocent eyes. “Or should I say well-endowed?” she rephrased softly.

Quest's face would have flushed beet red were his complexion lighter. “Please tell me, Michaela. If I'm too rough or if it's too much, tell me, all right?” he urged.

Mick sat up and reached for his hand. “It's never too much,” she said, pressing her cheek against his palm. “This ache is a delicious ache that can be a bit cumbersome if I try to get out of bed, that's all,” she told him. Her legs and a few other things were thor
oughly weakened by all the
activities
they'd enjoyed over the last several days.

“Wait here,” Quest said as he set the fishing gear against the wall in the room's entryway.

Mick happily complied. She waited until Quest left the room before allowing herself to drift off into a light doze. When she opened her eyes again, she saw that Quest had doffed his sagging dark jeans and olive-green T-shirt and now stood nude before her. Before she could utter one compliment in response to his glorious form, he pulled her from the bed and carried her to the adjoining master bathroom.

A tub of bubbly water waited, smelling inviting and looking heavenly. Michaela gasped, thanking Quest for the sweet gesture by kissing his jaw. Gently, he placed her in the foamy water, before settling in behind her. Mick turned in the water, slipping her arms about his neck to thank him with a more thorough kiss.

Quest's hands were everywhere, kneading the sore muscles at the small of her back, weighing her breasts in his wide palms. He kissed her long and slow, his tongue stroking the roof of her mouth with the same sensuous swirls his thumbs applied to her nipples.

Despite the telltale ache in her lower regions, Mick hungered for him and moved to straddle his lap. Quest groaned; he wanted her more every time he had her. Somehow, this time, he found the will to resist. Pressing a kiss to the end of her nose when she watched him disappointedly, he turned her away from him. “I don't want any excuses tonight,” he whispered close to her cheek.

 

“I can't believe you've never shared this place with your family,” Mick noted, stretching her bare legs out against the lounge.

“What for?” Quest retorted, focusing on the scene of the sparkling lake before the trees in the distance that afternoon.

Mick watched him in disbelief. “Look at this,” she ordered, waving her hand toward the beauty they enjoyed from their spots on the deck. “It'd be an incredible place for family reunions, birthday parties, barbecues…”

By the time Mick was done with her events list, Quest sat watching her as if she'd gone mad. “Michaela, that is something I'd
never
consider. My family is a disaster waiting to happen,” he admitted, pressing one hand to the front of his burgundy T-shirt as though confirming the sincerity of his words. “I'm not exaggerating here. Disaster can and always does strike whenever we all get together.”

Mick waved her hand. “But that's forgivable where family is concerned.”

“Hmph, that's because you've never been around us,” he explained, leaning back against the lounge while crossing his legs at the ankles. “There's always someone arguing over money or insurance or over who got richer, who cheated on who and with who, and who did what fifty years ago. I could go on.”

“Spare me,” Mick tiredly urged, tugging on the hem of her gray and baby-blue tank top.

“So you don't believe me?” he asked, looking over at her. “All right,” he said, turning to face her across the small wooden table between their lounges, “let me just start by telling you about my cousins. I've got one who's made a sizeable amount of his fortune with certain holdings in the adult entertainment industry, one who's a bounty hunter and was so low he once courted the woman of the man he was trying to capture just to get the guy out of hiding. One who's intentionally gone after the lovers of his enemies just to stick it to 'em and prove who's the more powerful adversary.
One who's done time, one who's made his fortune from all the senators and governors he carries in his pocket. And then there's my brother, who has a temper so foul it's actually frightened people to the point of not wanting to leave their homes.”

Mick propped her chin against her palm. “And just where do you fit into this collage of rough riders? Are you telling me you haven't been so terrible?”

Quest's expression darkened like the gray in his eyes. “I've probably been the worst of all,” he admitted, looking down at his hands clenching and unclenching. “I've intimidated, used muscle to get my way, unnerved people—sometimes without merit—by showing them that silence can be just as potent as a loud temper. I've ruined quite a few engagements, but none of that holds a candle to helping conceal certain things my brother and cousins have done. In doing that, I may have contributed just as much in preventing them from having a shot at being better than what they were.”

Mick offered no words of wisdom, knowing Quest needed to vent. She felt it was something he'd rarely, if ever, allowed himself to do so. In spite of all the luxuries at his fingertips, she could see the horrors as well. A life of privilege could be just as destructive as one of poverty, she guessed. Still, for the chance at having a family of her own, she would gladly have chosen his life over hers.

 

Quest carried Mick right back to bed following a late supper that evening. Her arms were linked around his neck in much the same fashion that her shapely legs were locked around his back. They kissed slowly—deeply savoring every thrust and caress of their tongues. Soft moans filled the air and added more sensuality to the darkened scene.

Quest kicked his bedroom door shut and Mick broke the kiss. She gave a start, seeing the transformation the room had undergone.

“So this is what you were doing when you left the dining room for fifteen minutes,” she said, taking in the sea of candles that cast their wild flickering shadows across the walls.

“Surprised?” he queried, while lowering her to the center of the stunning bed.

Mick could offer no response, she was so in awe of him. Lying there, she watched him shed the T-shirt he wore, leaving him clothed in a pair of black cotton sleep pants. Her fingers flexed, eager to graze the solid molasses wall of his chest.

Quest joined her on the bed, intending to massage every part of her body—first with his hands and then with his mouth. His fingers penetrated the supple line of her leg, traveling onward until he cradled a small foot in his hand.

Mick arched and moaned, feeling his fingers provide a soothing massage to her toes before he suckled them one by one. Her eyes opened to thin slits and she watched him, looking even more darkly beautiful as he focused on pleasing her. His fingertips began to play along the sleek line of her calf, stopping to tease the soft flesh behind her knee. Soon, his lips were charting the same trail. Slowly, he brought himself closer until he was smothering her bare, silken form. They shared another deep kiss, only the faint snap of flickering firelight mingling with their whispered words of desire.

Mick's moans of disappointment transcended into sighs of pleasure when Quest broke the kiss to glide his mouth across her neck. She leaned into the sweet treat, unconsciously holding her breath when he tongued the base of her throat and curve of her breasts. At last, he was fulfilling her with the
most intimate kiss. His tongue delved deeply inside her as his hands cupped her bottom to settle her more snuggly against his mouth.

Mick could scarcely breathe, especially once he added the touch of his fingers. She gasped his name softly yet uncontrollably as wave upon erotic wave engulfed her. Quest pleasured her shamelessly as though her breathless cries were fueling his desire to do so. His fingers manipulated her firm nipples with intermittent squeezes and strokes, and he groaned each time his tongue delved more deeply inside the fragrant warmth of her femininity. He satisfied her with one orgasm after another—each more powerful than the last. Mick was as limp as a wilted flower when he was done, yet her surprise was obvious when he pressed a gentle kiss to her temple and ordered her to sleep.

“What about you?” she whispered, feeling his unsated arousal nudging her thigh.

He smiled and kissed her mouth that time. “I'm fine,” he said and pulled her into a spooning embrace. “That was for you.”

Mick blinked, completely shocked by him. Shaking her head in disbelief, she tugged his hand from where it lay next to her hip and kissed his palm. She would never love another man as she loved him.

 

The rest of the week passed in much the same manner. Mick never realized there were so many ways a man and woman could love each other. She found that physical pleasure was so much sweeter when the real emotions of love and respect were there. And she did love him, knowing he'd been waiting to hear her say the words. She feared if she did, the magic would end. Something would sour.

“Tell me about Driggers,” Quest asked one evening
while they danced in the den waiting for his quiche to finish baking.

Mick laughed, fiddling with the tassels on his Howard sweatshirt. “You tell me. What'd you think when you found out I had a houseman?”

“I thought his voice was too deep,” Quest answered without hesitation, linking his fingers at the small of her back. “I had to see him for myself.”

“And when you did?”

Quest rolled his eyes. “I didn't care if he
was
fifty-something, the man's too ripped for his age.”

“Try
sixty
-something and yeah, he is a handsome devil.” Mick sighed, her amber eyes sparkling as though she was envisioning Driggers then.

“No family?” Quest probed.

“They died one night in a fire,” Mick shared, her expression clouding. “Kerosene heater malfunctioned. I'd been looking for someone, and when he interviewed for the position, I asked about his family. He told me that story and he had my heart. Over the years, I've loved him more every day. He's like the father I never had the chance to know.”

Quest stoked her back, left bare by the cut of her blue-and-green-striped sundress. “What happened to him?” he asked quietly.

Mick blinked and shook the curls from her face. “He died shortly after I was born. At least that's what she told me.”

“She?”

“My mother,” Mick clarified, grimacing when she uttered the word. “I really believe she never knew
who
he was.”

Quest heard the pain in her voice and knew she was only pretending to be unaffected by it. “Where is she now?”

Mick shrugged. “I don't know. She left when I was eight. I remember that day so clear,” she said, looking
as though she couldn't quite believe it. “I cried so hard. My mother never told me she loved me, but the day she left I told her. I childishly believed those three words held some power that would change things. They didn't. She didn't even act like she heard me even though I yelled it at the top of my lungs.” Her hands tightened reflexively across Quest's forearms.

“Did she leave you with friends?” he asked.

Mick's lips curved into a dark smile. “That would've been
too
loving. Instead, she left me in a rat-infested apartment where I spent a week before a concerned teacher came looking for me.”

Quest had stopped swaying to the music long ago. Now he pulled her to sit with him on the sofa. Mick continued to talk about her foster homes, foster fathers who were more interested in sleeping in her room than their own. She was always fighting to stay ahead of their game. Fighting and winning, but fighting just the same.

Quest felt his jaw muscle tightening with murderous rage. He let go of Mick's hands, afraid that he would crush them out of the anger he felt over what she'd had to endure.

Mick laughed nervously and wiped at the tears pooling her eyes. “I've been fighting to hold on to my virginity for years.”

The left dimple flashed when Quest smiled. “I still find it so unreal. I hope that doesn't offend you?” he asked.

Mick shook her head. “I found it unreal myself. Lots of times,” she admitted, toying with the edge of a throw pillow. “I just couldn't let go and be with a man that way if I didn't truly believe he could be with me—always.”

Quest nodded, understanding why she'd feel that way. After all she'd endured—all the loss she'd experienced. “Did anyone else ever come close?” he had to ask.

Mick shrugged. “A few, but they didn't stick around long once they realized I wanted to know them better before going to the next level. Then I realized they wanted to
know
me on that basic level first before moving forward—if they ever intended to move forward.” Her gaze appeared distant then. “I watched my mother dish out sex like it was ice cream in hopes of keeping a man. It never worked. The men always ate and ran and I swore I'd never be used that way. Especially when the stakes could be so high. Facing that sort of reality growing up, virginity, or the loss of it, was a huge deal to me.” She blinked and smoothed her hand over Quest's forearm. “
You
frightened the hell out of me,” she told him. “I didn't give a damn about knowing you first. I wanted to
know
you and cursed myself because you could make me feel that way, desire-filled and only complete in your arms. You're the very first man who ever appealed to me so soon and on
every
level.”