Boom (11 page)

That didn’t sound good. “What does she do?”

“Photojournalist. She’s good at it, too. She’s won several awards throughout her career.”

“Was she ever a part of your life?”

Mia seesawed a hand. “Not really. She left for the final time when I was ten, when my parents made it official and divorced. I haven’t seen her since, though she does call on my birthday to say hello.” Again she glanced up the stairs to the bank of glass doors above them. “What’s up there?”

“Loading area for the gondolas. We’re running all the lifts as of today to make sure everything’s in working order.”

She looked at him hopefully. “I know you wanted to teach me the basics of skiing, but could we take a look before we get started?”

“Sure.” In moments they were up the stairs and through the doors that kept the frigid temps of the open gondola loading bay out of the rest of the building. But instead of concentrating on the two workers doing a practice run-through of how much time it took to load ski equipment onto a red and black gondola, he was focused on the woman beside him. “Sounds like you had a crazy time as a kid, with an absentee mom and a less-than-loving dad.”

Again she wrinkled her nose, her eyes on the gondola car that left the loading bay. “It wasn’t that bad. My dad and I are okay. When he told me why my mom left, he was just saying what he believed, that’s all. My mother wasn’t built for the settled, family life. Too much commitment and not enough excitement. She’s been all over the world, putting a human face on conflicts and problems you’d otherwise never hear about. As I’ve gotten older, I can now see how she felt that was more important than making it to a sit-down meal or a school play with her totally boring and ordinary family.”

“What the fuck, Mia.” His mouth tightened, getting pissed off at a woman he’d never even met. “Don’t slam yourself or your family for not being able to hold her attention. The problem wasn’t you. It never was.”

“I didn’t say there was a problem. She just had a very important job to do, as she would remind me whenever I’d plead with her to stay.”

“Geez, that’s fucking heartbreaking,” he muttered, shaking his head. “So basically that bitch told you from the get-go that you weren’t important enough for her to settle down and be a responsible mother.”

“Well… no. I mean,
yes
, but how you said it was really harsh. She’s not a bitch.”

“I call it how I see it.”

She huffed, and the vapor of it floated away on the frigid air. “Well, you’re wrong. When it comes to putting a spotlight on a famine in Africa versus whether or not you’re there to tuck your daughter in when you know she’s safe at home in the suburbs, I can understand it.”

“No. Just no.”

“I don’t even know what you mean by that.”

“I mean you’ve got everything all wrong, Red.”

“I think I know a little bit more about my life than you do.”

“What you think you know isn’t the truth. You’ve been brainwashed into thinking you should be fine with being thought of as unimportant. But that’s
bullshit
.”

She looked at him, aghast. “That’s ridiculous.”

“You said your being born kicked off a problem, and that’s why I’m calling bullshit. You didn’t have a choice in being born, Mia. But your mother had a choice when it came to having you and raising you. She may have told herself she was a damn hero for doing her job, but the bottom line is she took care of her own needs and put you in the backseat to do it. When she did that—and she did it one hell of a lot, from the sound of it—she trained you to think that the backseat was where you belonged. But you don’t belong there. You matter, you got that? You are fucking important.”

She looked at him like he’d gone crazy. “No, I’m not.”

Shit, she was serious. “Let me ask you this. Are there other journalists in the world who could have covered whatever stories she covered?”

“I…for crying out loud, you know the answer to that. Of course there are other journalists in the world.”

“Was there another woman who gave birth to you?”

She blinked, this time in confusion. “What?”

“Logically you know there were other people who could have done the job of putting a spotlight on whatever assignment she had—hell, there probably were other journalists from other news outlets right alongside her. But was there another person in the world who could have been a mother to
you
? The answer is no,” he went on, satisfied he’d gotten through to her when he saw realization dawn in her expression. “I’m not saying every working mother is wrong, because I’m not. Most of them are hitting the bull’s eye when it comes to being Superwoman by juggling both a family and a career, including my own mom. But yours didn’t. She dropped a ball. Worse yet, she
chose
to drop a ball. And that ball was you.”

“Yeah, well, I survived without any damage.”

“Seriously? That jackass you once thought you were engaged to walks all over you and you don’t let out a peep about it, when I know you can verbally tear people apart… and you don’t think you took on damage?”

Heat poured into her eyes, and he was screwed up enough to think it was one of the sexiest things he’d ever seen. “Until Jackson tells me otherwise, I’m still engaged.”

“He
has
told you otherwise, and you know it. But you’re devoted to that dick because devotion was never shown to you, and you know how much that hurts. Shit, all of this makes so much sense now.”

“Gee, Doctor, I’m so glad my damaged psyche is no longer a mystery to you.” She crossed her arms and nailed him with a blistering look. “You make me sound like I’m so programmed by my trivial childhood traumas that I’m unable to make clearheaded choices about my life. I’m nowhere near as weak as you seem to think I am.”

“You’re not weak, but your choices have put you in a position of weakness, and that sucks. Early on in life you got taught the completely fucked-up idea that you don’t matter, and that’s why that asshole’s been able to walk all over you. He didn’t value you, and you’ve let him get away with that shit because you don’t expect to be valued.”

He thought he’d gone too far when she took a half-step back, as if she’d suffered a physical body blow. Then her chin went up in defiance, just like it had when he’d first seen her readying herself to tear into that flight attendant.

“I’m not letting him get away with
anything
, and I’m sure as hell not weak-willed. I just need to know that we’re officially done. And then…” Her eyes narrowed and a half-smile that looked sharp enough to cut appeared. “That’ll be that.”

“How much more do you need before you hit the eject button on this asshole?”

“I don’t know. Enough to stand up in a court of law?”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” When her stubborn expression didn’t change and her gaze dared him to do something about it, he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the loading area. “Forget skiing for today. You need a new perspective on things, and I know just where you can get it.”

Chapter Nine

Mia could feel the thrum of her heart in her throat as Quinn led her onto an empty gondola car and shut the door behind them. As they surged away from the loading area, she took a breath to mention that she wasn’t all that cool with helping him test the workings of their gondola system. Then the Gear Room’s floor went away and suddenly they were aloft in a frozen-white world, and all she could do was let out a squeak and clutch Quinn around the middle as if he could somehow hold them in the air if she just squeezed him hard enough.

“Oh, shit,” she heard him mutter, sending her stomach plummeting to her ankles and her freak-out factor into the stratosphere. “You’re not afraid of heights, are you?”

“You’re asking me
now
?”

“My timing probably could be better.”

If they survived this, she’d kill him for the laughter in his voice. “I don’t have a problem with heights. It’s having the cables snap and us crashing to the ground that I’m not comfortable with.”

“No need for the drama, Mia. That’s probably not going to happen.”

“
Probably
?”

“What can I say, I’m a hopeful kind of guy.” His arms had moved to encircle her, and even though this tucked her more completely into his body with her head coming to rest just under his chin, she still knew he was smiling. “Before we plunge to our deaths, what do you want your last act of life to be?”

“I think my last act will probably be peeing myself.”

His chuckle vibrated in his chest, and the sound of it had the strangest ability to warm her from the inside out. “I said, what do you
want
your last act to be?”

Her mind filled with possibilities, and all of them had to do with her tongue and his body. “Um…”

“You’ve got a sad lack of imagination if you can’t come up with anything.” His hands slid up to rest under her jaws, angling her face up to his. “I can think of a few ideas.”

“Like what?” It was out before she could stop it.

“Like…this.” He dropped his head to gently nip first at her upper lip with his teeth, then her lower one, before closing his mouth over hers completely for a deep, deliciously invasive kiss that made her suspect tongues were weighing heavily on his mind as well. “And this.” He unzipped his ski jacket, took her now-cool hands and slid them under his sweater and black T-shirt he wore underneath, and pressed them to his bare skin. He felt so good and warm she stepped into him to run her hands over his back, savoring the glide of his taut, smooth flesh under her palms. Hard muscle flexed beneath her touch, reminding her of a cat begging to be petted. Luckily, she was in the mood to indulge in some first-class petting. “And… this.” The back of her jacket lifted, along with the fleece pullover and cotton cami, and a warm hand pressed against the small of her back. His other hand moved between them, and her breath caught when she felt the button of her jeans pop.

Her brain froze.

She should stop him.

She shouldn’t let his hand edge under her jeans the way he did.

She shouldn’t let that hand work its way past the silky barrier of her underwear like it did.

She shouldn’t thrill at how flesh sizzled against bare flesh as he squeezed her ass, the tips of his fingers digging into her as he lifted her up to grind against the unmistakable hardening of his cock.

But she did. She let it all happen.

And she had zero amount of regret to show for it.

His mouth captured hers, and she could only thank her lucky stars that he was such a phenomenal kisser. No doubt he could do other things with equal mastery as well.

That thought excited her as much as having his hand on her ass, and she couldn’t stop from moaning into his mouth as exquisite tension deep in her belly began to burn. That heat bloomed outward until her entire body lit up with its fever. Another kind of heat began to throb between her legs, her intimate tissues swelling with a need so fierce the thought of shoving him down on the icy floor and pulling his clothes off seemed like a viable option. It didn’t matter that they were suspended above a frozen landscape and it was only five degrees out. What mattered was that she wanted him. It had been one hell of a long time since she’d been that hot for a man, and she didn’t want to let that fire go out.

Except that wasn’t exactly true.

She’d
never
been this hot for a man.

Not Jackson.

Not anyone.

Maybe it was because she hadn’t had sex in over half a year and she was overdue, but she didn’t think that was the case. She’d never gotten so excited by Jackson’s touch that she’d been moved to think about wrestling him to the ground and turning his clothes into fabric confetti. Not only would he have thought that was uncivilized behavior, he simply wasn’t the kind of guy who inspired that level of hunger.

Quinn was.

Lucky, lucky her.

She shifted so that one of his knees fell between hers, and the heat of him was intoxicating. She surged closer to that warmth, raising one leg so that her inner thigh dragged along the outer line of his, and the friction of that rough caress made her head swim.

God, she loved the feel of him.

He made a sound deep in his throat, and it was a hungry rumble of approval that was so innately masculine it made her shiver. He sank onto a seat with the gondola’s window at his back and brought her with him, his mouth never leaving hers. She settled over him, moving so that her knees were on the bench on either side of his hips, the juncture of her thighs settled firmly over his hardened flesh. It was both a perfect fit and a viciously uncomfortable position to be in. The barriers of their clothing—and the necessity for those clothes, thanks to how freaking cold it was—made sitting as intimately as they were almost unbearable. But she didn’t want to move off of him, either. No matter how crazy-frustrated she got, not touching him would be so much worse.

“Do you know what I want to do?” His mouth moved against hers, not backing away to speak, so she could feel every syllable with her sensitized lips. “I want to pull my cock out and bury it inside you, Mia. Bury it all the way in, until all you can feel is me, and all I feel is you, and neither one of us knows where I end and you begin. You feel how hard you make me?”

He thrilled her so much her breath gave an audible hitch. “You feel…hot. And big. Impressively big.”

“You know it, baby.” Hard hands gripped her ass and rubbed her rhythmically against his bulge, and the heat and fleeting pleasure that hinted at so much more made her rock her hips fluidly against him, searching for more. “Big is exactly what I am. Big enough to fill you up and make you come so hard you forget how to breathe. Big enough to make you beg for more, even when you can no longer move.”

The promise in his tone dissolved whatever remaining defenses she had, and she was left with nothing but the undeniable fact that she’d been conquered. “You’d have to be pretty damn big to make all that happen.”

“My woman wants proof. I get that. See for yourself.” He caught her hand in his and wedged it between them. A pleasantly pained groan ground out of him as she took her time molding her hand over the substantial mound of his denim-covered cock, and her imagination went wild at what she thought she was feeling. Abruptly he moved her hand before she was ready—and certainly before she made sure he was fully satisfied—but when she looked up to protest he was already shaking his head. “Fair’s fair—I get to see how sweet and hot I think you are.”

“I’m enough to make your eyes roll into the back of your… ohhh.” Her bold statement fizzled out when his hand took advantage of her loosened jeans and delved into the front of her panties. Well, well. The man definitely knew what the hell he was about. With quick efficiency his long fingers had parted the folds of her sex to slide along her slick channel, and suddenly every nerve in her body seemed connected to where he touched.

“My sweet Mia. You’re so wet for me.” His voice was a rough purr, tickling along her spine until she shuddered with delight. There wasn’t a better sound anywhere than an aroused man, and when that aroused man was Quinn Kingfisher, that sound was sublime. “You want me bad, don’t you?”

She moved against his hand, wanting him to hit the bull’s eye, but he dodged her. “Yes, Boom.
Yes
.”

His mouth caught hers even as he pressed up and circled her clit, making her body jump while she whimpered into his mouth. A flare of pleasure flooded her system, only to ebb as he once again went still.

“Say it out loud, Mia. Say you want me bad.”

Her fingers tangled in his magnificent hair. “I want you
bad
.”

He rewarded her by circling the sensitive nub relentlessly until her head fell back on a soft cry.

Then he stopped.

“Say my name.”

Damn it…
“Quinn.”

Again he moved against her while his teeth nipped along the side of her neck. She held him to her while her hips undulated against his stimulating hand, feverishly chasing after the glimpses of hot pleasure he kept giving her. But again he stopped, and she had to consciously will herself not to pull his hair out by the roots.

“Look at me, Red.”

She did, eager now to do anything he wanted, as long as it meant she got her reward. He gave it to her, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

“Whose hand is in your panties?”

“Yours. Quinn’s,” she added when nothing happened. He stroked her hard enough to make her muscles tighten with an excruciating tension that had her intimate tissues throbbing and her breath heaving her in short, panting bursts.

Holy crap, he was killing her with pleasure.

“Who do you want inside you?”

“You, Quinn. You.”

“Who makes you feel this good?”

“You do.”

“Do you want to fuck me?”

“Yes.”

“Good girl,” he murmured and massaged her in an ever-increasing rhythm designed to make her crazy. It was so hot, the friction of his knowing, magical fingers, and she couldn’t get enough of it. Her nerves were alight with it, her skin flushed with the heat of it. She couldn’t hold still, the delight he created was so immense, and her whole body writhed with the relentless rhythm he’d set for her. Sweet, shattering delight ballooned inside until that was all there was and there was no room for anything else, not even air or thought.

Then it burst all at once, that crushing tension suddenly released in an orgasm was so fierce it bowed her back and flung her head back hard enough for her hat to slip off, unnoticed. Nothing was in her world except Quinn and what he made her feel, and as she gasped and cried out her pleasure, it slowly dawned on her that it was his name that she called.

His name. No one else’s.

Just the way Quinn had wanted it.

“You shouldn’t have moved my hand away from you, you know.” It took a while for her to pull the blown-apart pieces of herself back together enough to form a coherent sentence. Somehow her chin had come to rest on his shoulder, her face half-buried in his hair, and she couldn’t stop herself from nuzzling its silken softness. God help her, if she could get away with doing that for the rest of the day, that day would go down as a perfect one in her book. “It might have gotten a little messy, but at least you’d still be feeling one hell of a lot better than you must be feeling right now.”

“The first time I come with you, it’s going to be deep inside you while we’re in a big, warm bed with lots of time and lots of privacy, and I’m going to keep you up all night just to make sure you’ve got it straight in your head who’s fucking you.”

“You don’t have to wait for that.” She heard the words come out of her mouth without her permission, but when she analyzed them she came to the conclusion that she stood behind every syllable. “There’s nothing stopping you now except you.”

“And the five degree weather. Even if that kind of thing isn’t hell on even the most raging hard-on, I’m still not such a selfish prick that I’d be okay with exposing your fragile skin to that kind of cold. You don’t make sacrifices for me,” he went on flatly when she opened her mouth to tell him she wouldn’t mind, and the determination in his tone and the fire in his eyes stopped her in her tracks. “You don’t ever put me ahead of you when it comes to fucking, or anything else, for that matter. There’s no way I could get off and enjoy it if I knew you were doing something like that, so that shit’s never going to happen.”

Something warm and effervescent burst in her chest, an exquisite brilliance shimmering inside that she couldn’t put a name to. It was so wonderful, so powerful, it ached all the way to her soul. “You just put me ahead of your own needs.”

“My choice. My gift to you. Don’t ruin it.” His attention slid to a point outside the windows, and a grimace crossed his face before he reluctantly helped her shift off his lap and onto the bench beside him. “We’re almost up to the Landing now, so now is as good a time as any to hit the pause button. But when we get back,” he added, his voice dipping low as he brought a hand up to sift through her hair, “we finish what we started. And then we start some more.”

Her innate sense of fair play had her nodding before she considered what agreeing to that meant. It meant she just said she’d sex it up with a man she’d only known for only a few days. Even if she set aside the complication that Jackson represented, hopping into bed with a man she barely knew wasn’t her style.