Hearts & Diamonds (8 page)

Quin scoffed. “Then you hardly experienced the true beauty of
Mexico
. You have to get away from the tourist scene and take the unbeaten path to really appreciate the culture.”

“That would be fun,” Nia said, imagining him relaxed and shirtless under the Mexican sun. “So are you going back home this year?”

“I don’t think so. I never can relax when I have an ongoing case giving me grief like this one. What about you, what are you going to do?”

“I lost my mom too, about four years ago.” She took his offered hand, touched by his need to comfort her. “My dad remarried…she’s nice,” Nia said to his raised eyebrow as she sat up. “I actually like her, my brothers and I all do. We usually get together in either Indy or DC to celebrate Christmas. I usually have my ticket by now, but I told my brothers I would come up for New Year’s instead.” She leaned her head back against the couch cushions.

“Why?”

She turned her head to look at him. “
Why?
”

“Yes.”

She hadn’t given the
why
of her decision much thought, but with Quin’s steady gaze on her the truth was crystal clear. “I guess I feel left out sometimes. They’re all married now. My oldest brother has a new baby on the way and I’m so happy for him.” She took a deep breath and looked away from Quin to stare at the wavering candlelight. “
I’m
the baby of the family and I’m still single. Not that I think about my non-married status much. My job, my friends, dating keeps me busy, but when I’m in a room with all of them…I feel like I’m missing out on something special.”

Quin pulled her close and she nestled in the crook of his arm.

“I get that. I don’t have many close friends, but the ones I do, all have families.” He shook his head with a little chuckle. “I think they’ve just about given up on me ever settling down.”

“No two point five kids and wife for you, eh?”

“
And
a dog,” Quin said with a wry smile.

Nia laughed. “Right, we can’t forget the dog.”

“I like dogs; it’s the rest of it I haven’t given much thought. What about you?”

“More than anything I want to be happy. Right now being single makes me happy.” She moved away from the warmth of his body to pour more wine in her glass. “More?” She lifted the bottle in his direction.

“No. It’s late and I should go.”

“What time is it?”

“12:22 a.m.”

Nia groaned. She had to be at the store at six o’clock in the morning.
Ask him to stay the night, Nia.
She opened her mouth to speak as he stood, but pretended to stifle a yawn instead.

“I hope you’re not too tired tomorrow at work.”

“I’ll be fine.” She watched him grab his sweater off the coffee table and put it on. “I’m gonna skip the text and tell you now, I want to see you again.”

Quin stared at her for a moment, his dark eyes moving from her eyes to her lips and back again. “I want to see you again too.” He offered her his hand and helped her up from the couch.

Nia sensed his statement and the sentiment behind it was foreign to him as she wrapped her arms around his waist. “You’ll meet me for dinner later?” She lifted her chin to look into his dark brown eyes.

“I’ll bring dessert.”

“You get the photos I emailed you?”

Quin sat down on the edge of his partner’s desk “I saw them.” He took a sip of his coffee. “Two of the diamond pieces taken from Fletcher’s showed up in
Miami
.”

“They surfaced a day after the robbery. The jeweller came forward after realising they were hot. We’ve got someone down there questioning him now. He’s claiming he had no idea they were on stolen, but he thinks he can ID the woman who sold them to him.”

Quin sat down his paper cup down. “Woman?”

Agent Tan nodded. “I know what you’re thinking and you’re right. The man described a woman fitting Tess Parker’s description.”

“I always thought she was aware of her boyfriend’s dealings, but I didn’t think she was an active player in all of this.”

“You never can tell about people. That’s why this job is so damn interesting.”

“That’s one word for it.” Quin downed the rest of the strong lukewarm brew, knowing the caffeine would only take him so far with less than four hours of sleep.

“I
can
tell something’s off with you though.” She got up from behind her desk to face her friend. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen
this
,” she gestured around his face, “in the five years we’ve been working together.”

Quin scratched the five o’clock shadow on his jaw. “What are you talking about?” He pitched his empty coffee cup into the trash.

“Nia Sanders.”

Just hearing her name evoked a physical response. Quin looked at his partner. “What about her?”

“You tell me. I betcha can’t. That’s how it is,” she said with a knowing smile.

“What the hell are you talking ab—” He pulled his phone out of his pocket, half-expecting it to be Nia when his partner’s phone also began to ring.

“We’re being summoned to the lab.” She pulled on her navy suit jacket.

“Let’s go.” He led the way out of her office, grateful for the distraction. He didn’t want to answer any of his partner’s questions about Nia.

Hell, questions he still needed to answer for himself.

Forensics verified a partial print of Scott’s found in LA and Quin took the next flight out of O’Hare to the City of
Angels
. This time there was a witness and even video footage captured on a cell phone of the jewel thieves as they fled the store. Hours slipped by as he analysed the crime and worked possible leads with help from LA agents.

It was after eight when he finally decided he had all the information he needed. He headed back to the airport and booked the next flight to
Chicago
. The airport was quiet and Quin took a seat with a weary sigh. It would be way after midnight before he got home. He could’ve booked a hotel room, but he was more than ready to return to
Chicago
. The woman behind the counter called out seat numbers to load the plane as he checked his cell.

No messages.

Why hadn’t Nia called? Had she got his text about postponing their dinner date?

Quin cursed as he strode towards the departure gate. This was the reason he kept his relationships—
non-relationships
. Women were more unpredictable than the most harden criminals. Who needed this kind of distraction in their life?

Certainly not him.

He took his seat, fully prepared to catch up on some sleep during the four-hour flight home.

An hour in, he was still awake.

Face it you’re distracted as hell, Rios.

He couldn’t sleep because he couldn’t stop thinking about her. The entire day, no matter what he was doing, Nia was never far from his thoughts. All he had to do was close his eyes to see her beautiful lips curve up in that teasing smile and
he
wanted to smile. He couldn’t even control his cock as he’d worked behind some other agent’s desk remembering her sexy moans as he stroked her hard and fast or the way she said his name as she came.

His brain felt branded by memories of how her soft curves melded with his body beneath the fragrant water in her tub. She’d got him to take a bubble bath. Something he’d never done with any female.

And you loved it, man.

“Dammit!” He pulled his cell out again.

“Excuse me?”

He whipped his head up from his phone to see a concerned stewardess looking at him.

“Would you care for something to drink?”

“Scotch, no ice.”

The stewardess nodded with a gentle smile. “Coming right up.”

Quin glanced at the empty mailbox on his phone. “Make that two.”

Nia tossed onto her side for the millionth time and stared at the digital clock on her nightstand.

12:36 a.m.

Exactly three minutes had gone by since she last looked. She was exhausted, but sleep eluded her. Her cell lay next to the clock and she picked it up, rereading Quin’s brief text.

Change of plans
…
can’t make dinner.

She realised his job was probably the reason, but that didn’t stop her from being disappointed. After work she’d grabbed a sandwich and headed home to wrap some last minute gifts for her family while pretending she wasn’t waiting for Quin to call. Surely, he’d call and say
something
, even if he couldn’t share what was holding him up.

When the last present was wrapped, she settled in to watch late night television and finally went to bed. Quin was a busy man. She got that and even though she wasn’t chasing down bad guys, she had a busy life of her own.

So, why were you sitting around waiting for him to call you back?

Nia snatched the covers up in the dark.

Exactly.

He had practically told her he would hurt her…’unintentionally’ of course.

His text was his way of ending things between them.

Nia blinked back tears, disgusted by her own weakness. She thought she understood the rules of dating and sex, but clearly she wasn’t a true game player. Apparently saying goodbye after three nights of intimate conversation and hot, mind-blowing sex didn’t constitute a real phone call these days. Not wanting to appear overly concerned, she had responded to his short text with one of her own a couple of hours later.

One abbreviated word to be exact,
NP.

No problem.

Except she had a huge damn problem.

She wanted Quin…and not just physically, though her body longed for his touch. She wanted more time to make him laugh. She wanted another chance to be around the warm, funny, sensitive man she knew he could be, the exact opposite of the cool, detached agent persona she first encountered in the store.

She felt a connection with him like no other. The way her body connected with him was something she had never experienced before. A connection that was obviously one-sided. He wasn’t waiting for her to call or losing sleep like she was. She was willing to bet he’d been relieved to get her message. He was off the emotional hook.

She swallowed down tears as she turned on her back to stare at the ceiling. Sleeping around had never been her style. Going up in smoke the minute she found herself attracted to a guy was so not
her
. Yet, all her self-imposed guidelines for being intimate with a man had flown out the window with Quin. Her attraction to him sparked the moment he had walked up to her in the store. There was no way she could’ve imagined his genuine interest in her too and there was no denying the explosive chemistry between them sexually.

You could be overreacting.

The thought comforted her for a split second before all the other niggling questions started racing through her mind again.

“Go to sleep, Nia.” She pulled the covers up over her head and released a deep breath when she heard knocking on her front door. Pausing to listen for the sound again, she wrenched back the covers as the rapping grew louder.

Quin!

She jumped out of bed, raced to the door to see him through the peephole. Her heart leapt as she opened the door.

“It’s late,” he said, his gaze on her face.

“I know.” She shivered as the cold air zipped under her green nightgown and over her body. “Come in before I freeze.” She shut the door behind him, flipped on the light closest to her before turning around. “This is a surprise.”

Quin tilted his head as if to say it was surprising to him as well. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“No, I couldn’t sleep.” She considered offering to take his coat, but decided not asking left things more formal. He could’ve rung her bell for any number of reasons. “Is everything all right?” she asked, instantly wondering what bad news would bring him to her home so late at night. “Did something happen with the case, is that why you’re here?” She wished she had grabbed her robe as his eyes ran over her body. Her nightgown was more of an oversized T-shirt, leaving much of her bare legs exposed.

“There have been some updates, but that’s not why I’m here.” He loosened his scarf and unbuttoned his coat.

“Then why
are
you here, Quin?” She stared at him, wondering how he could look so put together at one o’clock in the morning.

“To apologise for breaking our dinner plans so abruptly.”

Nia shrugged, wishing her body didn’t react to the sight of him or the sound of his deep voice. “I got your text, it’s all good.” She grabbed the knitted blanket off her couch and wrapped it around her body.

“And I got yours. For you our cancelled plans equalled ‘no problem’, but not for me.” He took a step towards her. “You see I’ve been thinking about you all day, Nia, when I’m supposed to be focused on my job. I got on a plane wanting nothing more than to sleep and I couldn’t. Do you want to know why?”

“Why?” Her voice was as soft as a whisper. The intensity of Quin’s gaze sent shivers of awareness up her spine as he came to her.

“Because all I can think about is this—”

He yanked her so fast and so tight, she gasped. His lips claimed hers in a kiss so fierce, so full of passion, she sagged against him. The blanket fell to the floor as she wound her arms around his neck. His hands slipped from her waist to cup her ass, pressing her against his hard thick length, leaving her no doubt what he had been thinking about all day. She moaned as his warm tongue stroked hers in sensual foreplay, matching his passion with her own. He broke the kiss, leaving her hungry for more as she opened her eyes to look into his.

“I didn’t want to end my day without seeing you.”

Nia’s breath hitched in her throat in response to his declaration. Somehow she knew the admission wasn’t the norm for him. “I wanted to see you too.” She ruffled her fingers through his dark brown hair. “I was disappointed when I got your text, but when I didn’t hear from you later, I began to wonder if your message was your way of ending things between us.”

“I can be insensitive, but I’m not an ass, and for the record I don’t want to end this.” He leant down to kiss her lips. “I’m beginning to think I couldn’t if I tried.”

“Don’t think, just feel.” She slipped her hands beneath his sweater to the warm, muscled abs beneath.

Quin groaned. “That’s all I’ve wanted to do since I’ve met you.” He released her, lifting the green nightshirt up and off her body.

She bit her bottom lip, feeling her nipples tighten under his gaze. Her body ached for him to touch her, fill her and take her until she was completely satisfied. Liquid heat dampened her panties as he reached out to roll a nipple between his fingers with one hand while unbuttoning his pants with the other.

He pulled a condom out of his pocket and Nia took it, opening the foil package as he removed his pants and underwear. Her eyes fell to his thick erection and she reached out to touch him. She heard him suck in a tight breath as her hand wrapped around his shaft and stroked the engorged muscle. The feel of his dick so hard and warm in her hands doubled the moisture pooling between her legs.

She dropped to her knees, as he yanked off his sweater, and took him into her mouth. His sharp groan only fuelled her need to pleasure him. She rolled her tongue around the ridged crown, licking and sucking the salty drops from the tip.

Quin pushed his hands into her hair as she drew him deep into her throat and began stroking his cock with earnest in and out of her mouth. The wet sounds of her ministrations coupled with his rough moans tripled her building need to be taken by him.

Without warning, he pushed her away. “You have a very naughty mouth.”

“Not half as naughty as yours,” Nia said as she rolled the latex over his glistening dick.

He lifted her up from the floor, leading them to the couch where he sat down. His gaze travelled the length of her naked body before reaching her eyes. “Straddle me.”

She did as instructed, eased into place on his lap with her drenched thighs spread wide over his legs. His fingers slid into her slick folds and she moaned, grabbing hold of his shoulders. He teased her clit, rubbing and flicking the sensitive nub while his warm tongue feasted on her nipples.

“
Tan húmedo
…so wet.”

Nia lifted her hips, rubbing her cream on his hard cock, seeking an end to the sweet torture of longing. She moaned as the tip of his shaft pressed into her soaked sheath. His name fell from her lips as she closed her eyes and sank inch by blissful inch onto his dick. Her eyelids fluttered opened and she held his heated gaze before leaning down to kiss him.

His tongue darted against hers, taking over the passionate lip lock as he filled her. When she could take no more, she stilled, letting her body adjust to the incredibly full sensation of him so deep within her then she began to move.

Quin’s sharp intake of breath matched the intensity of her little cry of delight as she picked up her pace. She squeezed his shoulders as she rode him, losing herself to the exquisite sensations transcending over her body. His hands caressed her jiggling breasts and Nia fought to maintain her rhythm as he touched her. She no longer recognised the sounds of pleasure she was making as he rubbed and tugged each pebbled nipple making her wetter than she thought possible. She creamed his cock with her juices as she lifted herself up and down on his shaft. Her head fell back as the intense sensations began to crescendo. She whispered his name as he slipped his hands beneath her ass to help her ride faster and harder, pushing her body to the breaking point of ecstasy.

She met his fiery gaze and saw the depth of her pleasure mirrored in his eyes and the intensity of the moment, coupled with the delicious friction of riding him, finished her. She screamed as she climaxed, shuddering with each orgasmic wave winding through her body. Her pussy spasmed in wild, uncontrollable convulsions as he took over, claiming his own release with a hoarse groan.

“I can’t move,” Nia breathed, shivering as another tremor raced through her body.

Quin smiled. “Don’t move yet.”

Dark strands of damp hair lay against his forehead and she lifted her hand to feather them away. She ruffled his hair, touching the side of his face with her hand and smiled as he covered her hand with his own. “You’re still hard.”

Quin lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. “I know.” He shifted his hips and Nia sucked in a breath.

“Not satisfied?” she asked, knowing she had experienced one of the best orgasms of her life.

“Just the opposite, being with you is like a drug.” He took her face into his hands and kissed her lips. “I can’t seem to get enough.”

The small clock on her bookshelf chimed and Nia groaned. “I’ve gotta be up in four and half hours for work.”

Quin looked at his watch. “2:17 a.m. You’re going to regret this when you’re ready to throw diamond rings at those wily last minute shoppers.”

He gently lifted her up and Nia stood on wobbly legs. She watched him stand, her gaze drifting over lean muscles to his semi-erect cock and shook her head. “Definitely, no regrets here. Let’s take a quick shower and get some sleep.”

“I should go. I don’t want to be in your way in the morning.”

She studied his handsome face. “It’s already morning and I want you to stay. Besides, it’s late and you’ve been travelling all day. There’s no reason for you to go back out in the cold.”

Quin studied her as she folded the knitted blanket that had fallen to the floor.

Nia hugged the blanket to her chest. “I’m not gonna get all clingy with you just because you spend the night.” She noticed the tension in his jaw as she sat the blanket on the couch and reached for her nightshirt.

A moment of silence stretched between them before he shrugged. “I tend to snore when I’m really exhausted.”

“Don’t worry, I sleep like a rock.” Nia smiled at him, feeling as if some huge wall had just been hurdled.

“I also like to sleep nude.”

Her gaze drifted over his naked body, male perfection personified. “Now,
that
could be a problem for both of us.”

Quin lay perfectly still, listening to the slow and steady rhythm of Nia’s breathing. For almost an hour he’d laid next to her soft, warm body nestled so close to his, unable to sleep. How long had it been since he’d actually stayed the entire night with a woman? No matter how good the sex was with previous lovers, he always went home. He always
wanted
to go home.

He exhaled heavily in the dark. She’d promised not to get ‘all clingy’ if he spent the night, but it was becoming clearer with every moment he spent with her that he didn’t want to let
her
go.

Sounds pretty damn clingy to me, Rios.

Nia sighed in her sleep and the edge of her nightshirt crept up beneath the sheets, placing her panty-less bottom against his groin. He wrapped his arm tighter around her waist, fighting the urge to wake her with the raging need to take her once more. Her body seemed made for his in every way, curving and fitting his in perfect symmetry. The sexy sweet smell of her vanilla laced perfume filled his nostrils as he nuzzled her hair and mentally commanded his rising cock to behave.