The Breed: Nora's Choice (11 page)

            “You only
think that way because you grew up in such a tight knit household. I think it
was pretty normal for farm workers in my time to not spend much time with their
families. Back then you worked from sun up to sun down, it’s just the way
things rolled,” even speaking of it while living in a modern age, it didn’t
seem strange to her, “anyway, your turn again.”

            Quinn
shoved a massive spicy tuna roll in his mouth and waved her on encouragingly.

            “Who’s
Jenny Parker?” the name rolled off of her tongue like acid.

            Frowning,
he swallowed and thought for a moment before a massive smile spread across his
face.

            “Wow I
haven’t heard that name in years, Tessa must have told you about her. She was
my first ‘real’ crush,” he made air quotations, “I should look her up on
facebook and she how she’s doing, I heard she married one of her college
professors.”

            “Oh she
told me all about your undying love for Miss. Butterfly Clips,” she looked down
at him, completely unsatisfied with his answer.

            “You cannot
seriously be jealous of a high school crush?” he laughed while plucking up
another roll, “Come on, I was fifteen and she was the smartest girl in school.”

            “Tessa also
told me about how lonely and sad you were that you grew up being a small town
superstar,” she responded, furious with the realization that she
was
incredibly jealous over a high school crush. Now she wanted to hurt him, she
was ready to laugh in his face at the childish and insignificant little woes he
had faced.

            After her
reaction to his “life struggles” he would finally give up on her, if he had any
pride.

            “It definitely
sucked, but I think most people feel that way about their teen years. Was it
the main reason that I joined the Breed? Yes. Did I despise being the center of
attention and always having fake people surround me? Absolutely. Did I feel
lonely? Yeah I did, I’m not gonna lie, I wished more than anything that I had
friends who cared about more than my batting average or my swim times, but I
didn’t. I mean it is what it is,” he shrugged and let out a small sigh, “I
don’t think my problems were worse than anyone else’s. Hell being captured and
experimented on makes not having any friends seem pretty small on the ‘reasons
why my life has sucked’ list.”

            Nora let
out a snort of laughter as his response blew up in her face. Why wasn’t he a
whining sniveling brat? Why!?

            He wasn’t a
self proclaimed genius, or someone looking for sympathy, he was a man who
rolled with the punches and did what he had to do. Someone just like her,
stronger than her even, at least he seemed to have gotten over the trauma’s of
his imprisonment.

            She shook
her head hard. Her flimsy house of cards was crumbling around her and she
needed to re-group.

            “I’m no
Jenny Parker. I’m not smart or sweet, and I’m far from innocent,” she scowled
at him.

            “If I
wanted Jenny Parker, I could have had her 10 times over. I didn’t make up the
rules for the bond, I don’t understand why it put the two of us together, but I
know for damn sure that I’m not complaining about it. I want you, you crazy,
sexy, complicated little thing.”

            “I’ll never
commit to one man, my mother hated it and so will I,” she blurted out
desperately, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by him, “I refused to marry in a time
period where it was considered blasphemous to stay a single independent woman,
and I won’t commit myself to you just because some invisible force pulls us
together.”

            Quinn’s
eyes went wide as he leaned back in the booth to study her.

            She dropped
a bomb of honesty, but she was trapped and running out of options to push him
away.

            “I hate how
entitled men feel to women’s emotions, how they try and force you to bend to
their will,” she couldn’t help the rage that was flaring up inside her, “I
don’t want to care about anymore people, I don’t want… I can’t be responsible
for anyone else’s life.”

            When Billy
had attacked her, he had killed everyone she ever loved, everyone she ever
cared about. Going through that heart break again would be a thousand times
worse than death, she would rather live the rest of her life alone.

~

            Quinn
didn’t know how to stop what was happening, but he knew she was going over the
edge. Her eyes were cagey, darting around like an animal backed into a corner,
if he didn’t calm her down soon she was going to dart out of the restaurant,
and they’d be right back to square one. 

            “I don’t
feel entitled to your emotions. Of course I want to know how you feel, but I
will never force you to do anything you don’t want to, including continue to
see me,” he spoke from the heart. He had no idea how many things were haunting
her, and his greatest desire was to protect her, but he wouldn’t force himself
on her the way he knew others had in the past.

            Her eyes
snapped to his and she studied him shrewdly, looking for evidence that he was
just saying what she wanted to hear.

            “And as far
as commitment goes,” he continued, “I’m not trying to marry you, I’m not trying
to tie you down to me forever, all I’m asking is for you to TRY. Just try being
with me, go on a date and see what happens. I just want you to give this a
shot, if you decide you can’t do it, I’m not going to hurt you, I’m not going
to threaten you, I’m not the people in your past.”

            She visibly
relaxed, and he silently thanked the Gods he had said the right thing. The
woman sitting in front of him was harder to understand than advanced calculus.

            He had
never met anyone like this foxy siren. She could appear so cold and unfeeling,
yet he had a hunch that she was actually more sensitive and caring than most
people could be; somewhere deep under that hard outer exterior, he was going to
find a warm loving woman.

            He hoped.

            Visibly she
calmed down, her focus returning to her meal, and he could almost hear her
mentally giving herself a pep talk. She would hate that she’d shown weakness in
front of him, and would expect him to use it against her.

            Using her
feelings against her wasn’t on his mind tonight, but her body, now that was
another thing entirely and just the distraction she needed.

            “You
finished with your questions for the night?” he asked, his game plan forming.

            She nodded
while staring off, still trying to get herself together after her outburst.

            “Good, it’s
your turn then,” he gave her a smile that immediately set her on her guard, “I
want to know what your deepest sexual desire is.”

            “Pass,” she
narrowed her eyes at him.

            “Have you ever
touched yourself while you thought about me?” he knew she wouldn’t answer, but
the idea excited him anyway.

            “Pass,” she
answered, but the way she avoided his eye contact gave him a small thrill of
hope.

            “Did you
like what we did outside together?” his eyes were digging into hers, his
fingers itching to touch her, to peel the dress off of her body.

            “Pass-”

            “Uh uh,” he
waved his finger at her, “you only get two passes remember? You made that
rule.”

            She stared
at him in outright disbelief. He was going to use her own game against her…
again.

            “Tell you
what, if you come cuddle up next to me in the middle of this booth, I’ll let
you pass on it,” he patted the spot next to him.

            Suspiciously
she stared at him, but he didn’t see what choice she had. She was far too full
of pride to admit he had actually pleasured her out in the field. No matter how
strong her orgasm had been, she would never admit that it was anything more
than average.

            With an
irritated sigh she moved herself over close enough for their thighs to press
against each other.

            Perfect.

            “Even
though you’re refusing to answer, I think we both know you enjoyed yourself,”
he leaned forward to whisper in her ear, “I enjoyed it.”

            She gave no
reaction what so ever, sitting in stony silence she continued to eat and stare
straight ahead.

            A broad
smile played across his face. He was starting to love this game.

            Lightly he
brushed his fingers across her bare thighs. The dress she wore was so short it
barely covered all the necessities, and he planned to use that for his own
purposes.

            She let out
a small yawn and put on a bored expression. Clearly she didn’t think he would
take things farther, thought she could hurt his pride by controlling her
emotions and giving him nothing.

            Maybe for another
man this would work, but for Quinn it only excited him more; his body was
amping up to wipe that bored expression off her face. 

            “You love
playing these games, having me chase you like this, you can’t stand it when I
don’t play along,” his voice was calm, but his hands were reaching ever higher,
slowly teasing the insides of her thighs, then quickly moving back to run
themselves down the outside.

            “I don’t
pay attention to what you do,” she looked down her nose at him, their faces
inches from each other, “I’m not interested in playing games, I just want you
to realize the only thing we could ever have between us is sex, and even that I
doubt would be impressive.”

            Oh how he
was going to make her eat her words.

            “You are a
perfect siren, calling out to me in that temptation you call a dress, only to
drown me on your words,” he chuckled softly, “but I see through all your
bullshit Nora, and no matter how hard you’re fighting to keep me from feeling
your emotions, I still feel the heat coming off of your skin and I can still
scent the desire welling up inside you.”

            “I do not
desire yo-”

            Her words
were cut off by his mouth hotly smothering hers.

            Her whole
body stiffened, and he knew she was having a moment of panic about the crowded
restaurant stopping to gawk at them.

            Finally,
thankfully, she let out a barely audible moan and firmly met his lips.

            He kissed
her aggressively, not giving a damn that there were half a dozen people openly
staring.

            Quinn had
always harbored deep fantasies about public intimacy. The idea of almost
getting caught made his heart pound with excitement.

            Never
before had he found a woman to go along with his fantasy, but she was
different. Nora was his mate, the universe had made them for each other, she
would enjoy this just as much as he was about to.

            Whether she
admitted it or not.

            Deepening
the kiss he kept her distracted from his hands and focused on his lips. She
barely noticed his fingers sliding past the thin material of her dress until he
finally reached her hot sex. She wasn’t wearing any panties.

He
smiled, this was definitely his woman.

            His finger
speared through her folds, and he growled, she was
so
wet already.

            She ripped
herself away from him, her eyes wild.

            “What the
hell are you doing?” she demanded in a whisper, her lips swollen from the
intensity of his kisses.

            “I’m going
to give you an orgasm in the middle of this restaurant, and if you don’t relax
everyone’s going to know about it,” he answered with calm self assurance.

            Slowly she
looked around the room, no doubt checking to see if anyone was still paying
them attention.

            “No one can
see, so just sit back and enjoy this,” he gave her another of his cocky smiles
and began circling her clit.

            She gasped
and her thigh muscles jumped at the contact causing her finger nails to dig
into the table.

           
Dirty
girl
, he chuckled as he stroked her, his cock straining against his zipper.

            He had felt
her pulling away during their conversation, mentally flinching from him and he
needed to reel her back.

            Her
breathing was heavy as she tried desperately not to moan out loud. Her eye lids
fluttered and her forehead furrowed in concentration, as she tried to keep a
normal expression across her features.

            Watching
her struggle to stay calm was the most erotic thing he had ever witnessed, her
face stayed relaxed but he felt her thighs twitching, saw the sweat shining
across her neck and moistening her breasts.