Under the Boardwalk Page 12

  “She hates the noise.” Her father spread his hands wide, indicating he was at a loss as to what to do.

  “I take it you’re not any happier than I am?” she asked Spank.

  The banging grew louder and the monkey buried her face between Ariana’s neck and shoulders. “How long is this going to go on?” she asked her father.

  “As long as it takes,” her father said.

  “I was afraid of that. Where’s Mom?”

  Nicholas glanced over his shoulder. “She went to the library. She said she had research to do. I think she needs to figure out how to thicken the facial cream she’s been working on. But she was in an exceptionally good mood,” he said and winked at Ariana.

  She rolled her eyes. When her mother played her father, she was so obvious, Ariana didn’t know how her father didn’t see it. Everyone else certainly did. Then again maybe he just accepted her the same way Elena accepted his snoring, because he loved her. Ariana wondered how he’d feel once her “research” led to another child in this house. Because the one thing Ariana had learned was that whatever Elena wanted, Elena made certain she got.

  With a shake of her head, Ariana left the kitchen, the monkey wrapped tightly around her. In the meantime, Ariana needed to find a place to stay where she could actually get some sleep while the construction continued.

  • • •

  Quinn was pouring himself a cup of strong, black coffee when the phone in his hotel room rang. “Donovan.”

  “Hey, buddy.”

  Since Connor didn’t normally call from his post at the bar, Quinn was surprised. “I was just on my way downstairs. What’s going on?”

  “Our mutual friend looks exhausted. Ariana has broken more than a few glasses, and I’m thinking she needs to get out of here early, if you get my drift.” Connor’s low chuckle sounded through the phone line.

  “Thanks. I’ll check it out.” Quinn wondered what was going on with Ari and headed to the bar to find out.

  He took one look at the woman in the skimpy cocktail waitress outfit, noting the lack of makeup and the dark circles under her eyes, and he’d seen enough. He grabbed her elbow. “Come with me.”

  She met his gaze, startled. “I can’t leave with you. I have work to do.”

  “And there’s plenty of people here who can cover for you.” Quinn leaned closer. So close he could smell the shampoo in her hair and the scent that kept him awake at night. His groin tightened and the desire to make love to her overwhelmed him. “Let’s go.”

  “Okay,” she said, surprising him. “Just let me get my purse.” She tilted her head, meeting his gaze.

  The same need that beat like a drum inside him shimmered in her glassy eyes. When it came to attraction and desire, they were definitely on the same page. His libido kicked into high gear. Only her complete and obvious exhaustion had him breathing deeply and reminding himself she had more important things going on than thinking about sex.

  Once they’d reached the lobby of the casino, where the throngs of people and the glittering lights and mirrors made them just one of the crowd instead of the object of the other employees’ curiosity, he pulled her into an empty corner. “You look like hell.”

  She laughed but even that sounded strained. “Way to flatter a lady.”

  He flattened his palm on the mirrored wall behind her. “What’s going on?” he asked in a low voice.

  “I’m just tired,” she said with a sigh. “My parents started construction on the house this morning, which works well for people on a normal schedule, but with my night shifts, I couldn’t get any sleep today.”

  He slanted her a disbelieving glance. “Somehow I don’t think that’s all that’s bothering you.” He raised her chin with his hand, looking into her weary eyes. “You can talk to me.” He wanted to hear what was really going on with Ari-and he wanted to help. Not in the I’m-a-cop-and-it’s-my-job kind of way, either.

  Ariana looked into his sincere gaze and she believed his words. She needed to take him up on his offer and confide in him. Maybe it would let him trust her in return, but if not, she still wanted to let him wrap his arms around her and make her feel better, if just for a little while.

  “I really am exhausted, but it’s not just physical. It’s emotional, too. It started with Zoe disappearing,” she explained. “Then it was the stress of coming home. You must realize I have family issues.” She felt ridiculous complaining about family when he had none, but when he squeezed her shoulder, urging her to continue, she instinctively knew he understood. “Then last night everything hit me all at once,” she went on.

  She drew a trembling breath and he waited patiently. “Watching Sam fall apart like that got to me. I mean, she’s so young and vulnerable and she has no one. While I have a sister whom I haven’t spoken to in years for stupid reasons and now she’s missing.” Her voice cracked and her eyes watered. Embarrassed, she sniffed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “On top of that, I couldn’t fall asleep last night and then the construction woke me today… God, I feel like a basket case.” Her voice quavered and she shook badly.

  “You’ll have a chance to fix things one day,” he promised her, determination and something so compelling in his voice, once again, she couldn’t help but believe him.

  “Add a little sleep and you’ll feel much better.” He brushed a stray tear beneath her eye with his thumb, and she shuddered at his comforting yet oh-so-seductive touch. “Come. You can crash upstairs for tonight and tomorrow. I think I have the perfect solution to your construction problem.”

  Going up to his room could only lead to one thing, and despite her exhaustion, her palms grew damp at the heady thought.

  He let out a frustrated groan. “Look, you need sleep, so will you change your mind if I promise not to touch you?” he asked, obviously misreading her silence.

  “If you make that promise, I’ll definitely change my mind.” In other words, if he didn’t touch her, why bother going upstairs? she thought wryly, and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.

  But there was nothing funny about her desire or her feelings for this man. “I don’t want you to keep your distance and I definitely don’t want you to keep your hands to yourself.” She forced herself to be the bold and brazen woman she imagined her sister to be, then held her breath and waited, hoping Quinn would react the way she wanted him to.

  His eyes darkened and he lowered his head until his lips hovered over hers, just enough to tempt her with his coffee-scented breath. Her heart pounded in her chest and an overwhelming rush of arousal trickled through her, slow, steady, and increasingly warm and exciting.

  “You’re a tease,” she told him, then let her tongue dart out and caress the outline of his mouth.

  A low groan rumbled from deep in his throat and he pulled her against him. Having gone this far, Ariana wasn’t about to back down now. Hoping to take Quinn off guard, she slipped her tongue between his barely parted lips. Kissing him felt like coming home, a sensation and experience both foreign and welcome at the same time. She entwined her arms around his neck and pressed her breasts against his chest to ease the aching need building there. All the while his tongue tangled with hers, letting her know he wanted her every bit as much as she wanted him.

  The kiss went on, long and leisurely one minute, more hot and demanding the next. Her stomach swirled with the exquisite sensations he created and her body craved his.

  “Sweetheart, I think we’re making a scene,” he said, barely breaking the kiss.

  “So?” Her blood flowed like warm liquid and she wanted more of the boneless feeling he provided. She wanted more of him.

  “So we need to go upstairs.”

  The next thing she knew, he had lifted her into his arms. Ignoring the shocked stares of the strangers around them, he carried her into the private elevator reserved for Damon’s closest associates. Soon she found herself in Quinn’s hotel room, and he lowered her to the bed.

  “You need to relax and
I’m going to make sure you do.” His voice held a determined edge as he maneuvered their positions so that she lay on her back, her head between his crossed legs. “Shut your eyes.”

  This was one order she didn’t mind obeying, and she let her lashes fall. His fingers moved from her jawline to her forehead, and he began a steady massage of her temples. His touch was electric and she responded, her breasts tightening with need, while lower down, a pulsing of a different kind began between her legs.

  “Breathe in,” he said in that deep voice that had mesmerized her from day one. “And out.”

  Despite the desire flowing through her body, her mind responded to his request. For the first time since receiving a phone call about her missing twin, she let herself relax. She calmed down, feeling herself sinking deeper into the mattress as her tension eased. His caring caress nurtured the emptiness she’d been experiencing from being alone and being the only one doing something to find Zoe.

  She wasn’t alone anymore. She had Quinn. And although he wasn’t revealing answers, he wasn’t leaving her to fall apart either. He nurtured her emotions as well as he fed her hunger. And she had a hunch that would be the next need to be filled.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Quinn watched Ariana sleep in the king-size bed in his hotel room. She’d taken him off guard with that heated kiss in the lobby, even more so by making him promise he’d remain hands on, not off. But no sooner had he begun to massage her temples in an attempt to relax her, than she’d fallen into a deep sleep, leaving her head in his lap and him completely aroused.

  He’d moved her head to the pillows and covered her with the blanket, then stripped to his boxers and climbed in on the other side. He lay far from where she was curled into the pillow and far from temptation, because despite her seductive words, she needed sleep. Still, keeping his hands to himself wasn’t easy.

  Neither was falling asleep, and as he turned on his side, he couldn’t help but stare. Although technically this wasn’t his bed, something about having Ari here with him felt too damn right. Her black eyelashes covered her paler skin and she slept peacefully. More so than he’d been able to manage since she’d unloaded her feelings on him earlier that night. He’d asked for it but that didn’t make the guilt and sense of responsibility he felt easier to bear.

  The distinctive ring of a cell phone broke both his thoughts and the quiet around him. A glance at the nightstand told him his phone lay silent, and he realized the muffled sound came from inside Ari’s large purse. The phone rang again and she stirred. Not wanting her to awaken, he swung his legs over the side of the mattress and looked through her bag for the phone.

  By the time he found it, the ringing had stopped and the display showed only MISSED MESSAGE with her mother’s phone number. He wasn’t sure whether or not to wake her, and glanced down at the items he’d removed from her purse. He couldn’t help but notice a crocheted pillow staring up at him with stitching that read Sisters and Best Friends 4 Ever.

  Shit.

  “Quinn? What are you doing up?” Ari’s voice called to him. “Come back to bed.”

  A smile quirked his lips. “Now, that’s an invitation I can’t refuse.”

  “I don’t expect you to.” She laughed, a sultry, sensual Come here he couldn’t possibly mistake.

  “Your phone was ringing,” he forced himself to tell her.

  “Did you check the number?”

  “Your mother. Do you want to call back?” He palmed the cool metal in his hand.

  “Come here, Quinn. And leave the phone.”

  He placed the cell in her bag. “What’s going on?”

  “I want to see your eyes,” she said softly.

  Curious, he walked to the edge of the bed and met her gaze.

  “The only reason I’d call my mother back now was if it was an emergency.” Her compelling, serious gaze stared into his.

  “It’s the middle of the night. Doesn’t it stand to reason any call would be important?” he asked.

  She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You know my mother by now. She’d call at this hour just to ask me to say good night to the monkey,” Ari said wryly. “So I’m asking you, is it important?”

  In other words, were her parents calling about Zoe? Quinn could all but read her mind. All the while her steady gaze never left his. She obviously trusted his word that much. Trusted him.

  He swallowed hard. “It’s not an emergency.”

  She smiled, patting the mattress beside her. “Then come back to bed.”

  Though her question should have overloaded his sense of responsibility, instead her blind faith freed him to be with her right now. He strode around to his side of the large bed with every intention of making it feel a lot smaller. After all, Ari knew he had secrets that affected her and she accepted him anyway. Maybe a better man would deny himself this opportunity, but hell, when had Quinn ever considered himself a candidate for sainthood?

  He lifted the covers and climbed back in beside her only to discover she’d already slipped out of her skirt. Wearing a tight “Damon’s” top and skimpy panties, she curved one finger his way, silently asking him to close the gap between them.

  He moved from his now cold side of the bed to her much warmer one. His entire body was on fire, burning with his wanting her for so long. “Be sure,” he warned. “Because once I touch you, there’s no turning back.”

  Her green-eyed gaze met his. “How’s this for sure?” Taking him by surprise, she grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head, revealing a black lace bra and creamy mounds of flesh.

  He exhaled a sharp breath, taking in her softly rounded cleavage and erect nipples waiting for his hands, his fingertips, his mouth. “You do realize that your quiet-professor image doesn’t suit you?” Maybe because he saw the woman inside. One who was willing to take risks for her twin and slowly grow more emboldened by her actions. He couldn’t put Ariana into the conservative mold in which she painted herself.

  “I think it depends on your perspective,” she murmured.

  Her answer took him off guard. It damn well figured that when he finally had her just where he wanted her, half dressed in his bed, they were getting to some serious conversation he couldn’t let slide.

  He tipped his head to one side. “Are you saying I see a side of you others don’t?”

  “Right now you do.” A naughty smile tilted her lips.

  Unwilling to end their talk but unable to not touch her, he drew a finger down one side of her face. “I’ve come to know you pretty well.”

  “You think so?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. And I’d say the professor’s clothes and her uptight demeanor are a cover.”

  “I thought I was the psych major,” she reminded him in a teasing tone.

  But he didn’t miss the fact that her voice quivered beneath the lighthearted banter. Yet another signal he’d struck home and she was afraid. Afraid of him getting too close. “You might be the smarty-pants psych professor, but I’m the-”

  Quinn bit the inside of his cheek, catching himself in time. “I’m the people-watcher around here. I can recognize a con and a cover in no time.” He’d been about to say that he was the cop, good at reading people with something to hide. He couldn’t allow himself to slip again.

  It looked like they both had good reason to fear each other. Being with Ari allowed him to let his guard down in a way he never had before. This was dangerous stuff and they were both walking a fine line here. He sensed the precipice they were on, their abilities to reach inside each other-and that was something he couldn’t allow. Not while he was still undercover.

  Instead of trying to figure her out, he ought to just take what she offered and be satisfied. Since when wasn’t a woman’s offer of her body enough for him?

  Since the woman was Ari.

  “Don’t you think we’ve done enough analyzing for one night?” she asked.

  “Not nearly,” he said, easing her shoulders down onto the pillow. “I coul
d spend the entire night researching you.” The time for talk had ended.

  He reached for the front hook of her bra and he released the clasp and slowly lowered the straps down past her shoulders to her forearms, then peeled the cups away and revealed her bare breasts. Against the cooler air, her nipples puckered into rigid peaks, and against his boxers, his groin grew thick and hard with wanting her.

  He leaned forward and brushed a lingering kiss over her lips, letting his tongue dart inside her moist mouth and taste all of her, before trailing equally wet kisses down her neck and throat, her chest and cleavage. He ended exactly where he wanted to be, inhaling the fragrant scent of her skin, his mouth on one breast. With his tongue, he traced the slope of one mound of her flesh, encircling her nipple in teasing strokes.

  She sucked in a deep breath, then let out an electric moan of satisfaction when he pulled her into his mouth and began an insistent suckling that had her writhing with obvious burning need. She threaded her fingers through his hair, urging him closer, silently begging him to continue. And he did, grazing on first one breast, and then, when the sensation obviously became too great for her, he switched to the other, laving and giving it equal attention. It seemed he’d been waiting forever to have her come apart for him. Feeling her quiver with need and shake with desire beneath his hands gave him more pleasure than he’d ever imagined.

  So much that when she reached for him, obviously intent on reciprocating, he shook his head. “I’m not finished with you yet.”

  She forced heavy eyelids open and a sassy smile curved her lips. “But you can’t deny me equal time after.”

  His body tensed at the mere thought. “Honey, I wouldn’t dream of it.” But first he had other objectives to complete.

  With her arms safely at her sides-because he wouldn’t last a second if she touched him-he eased one finger into each side of her panties and, with her help, brought them down over her legs. He tossed them onto the floor, glanced at Ari lying naked but for a flimsy bra securing her arms, and thought he’d died and gone to heaven. But heaven couldn’t possibly look this good or offer so much, Quinn thought as he came over her, easing her legs apart.