His thrusts shallowed as he brought his front down until we were chest-to-back. His panting sounded in my ear, and at that moment, I’d never heard a more erotic sound than Quinn simply breathing.

His voice low, he rumbled, “Mia.” He gently moved my hair away from the back of my neck and placed his lips at the place where neck met shoulder. Against my skin, he grated, “Mia.” He didn’t just say my name. He sang it. He purred, and my body thrummed in response.

Deliciously stretched, my core tightened from the way he said my name. He drove into me, and I was not prepared. I moaned, my body shuddering. I felt his crooked smile against my bare skin and I pushed back against him, forcing him to bottom out.

He groaned, his body stiff, and it was my turn to smile. I panted, needing more, then pushed back again, grinding my pussy onto his thick cock, wanting more than anything for Quinn to lose his cool. From the low growl that escaped him, I knew he was almost there.

When he removed himself from my back, gripped my hips, and tried to control my movements, I smiled again. He was close to his breaking point.

“Quinn, honey,” I rasped. “Please.”

His hand came down on my ass so suddenly that I squeaked in surprise. He ran his fingertips over the throbbing heat of my skin. “Tell me what you need, baby.”

Okay. Here was the thing. I loved dirty talk…as long as it was Quinn doing the dirty talking. My issue? Quinn loved dirty talk, and he wanted to hear me say things that would make a nun faint.

I grew frustrated. “Quinn,” I warned.

His hand came down on the other cheek. Hard. I gasped, craving the soft touch of his fingers that I knew would come soon after.

He ground out, “Fuck, I love your ass.” Reaching under me, he took my breasts into his hands and squeezed gently. “I love you full tits,” he muttered, plucking lightly at my nipples. “I love how sensitive your nipples are.” He drove into me, and I whimpered. He spoke through gritted teeth. “I love your tight, wet pussy.” He drove into me a second time, and I moaned long and low. He asked, “Who is your pussy so wet for, baby?” I bit my lip and fought a groan, my sex convulsing around his thick girth.

He felt it. “Oh, yeah, Mia. You know I like that.” His voice soft, he asked, “That cunt honey for me, Mia? You like my cock, baby? You like when I do this?” He thrust into me, balls-deep.

My eyes rolled into the back of my head as my mouth parted in a silent sigh. “Oh, God.”

“Not God,” he uttered cockily. “No, baby. Just me.” He drove into me. “Say my name, Mia.”

I was way past the embarrassed stage. “Quinn,” I panted.

His voice deceivingly soft, he stated, “Love when you say my name.”

It was then that I found I couldn’t stop saying his name. I moaned it over and over as he worked my body into a frenzy. My clit begged for attention, and just when I thought I’d go mad, he gave me what I needed. His fingers worked me in a slow circular motion, and not ten seconds passed before my body exploded into fireworks. I threw my head back and wailed through my blissful release.

Quinn groaned, working me hard and fast, prolonging my release, and soon, his body turned rigid and he stilled, pumping hot cum into the condom, joining me in ecstasy.

***

Quinn

Watching her come was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

My stomach flipped.

I quickly realized I didn’t want another man seeing this.

Not ever.

I wanted it all for myself, forever more. I suddenly knew what I wanted, and I wasn’t scared. Not at all. It felt good. It felt right.

I was going to ask Mia to marry me.

***

Mia

Both panting, we collapsed on our sides, facing each other. Eyes wide, adrenaline flowed through me. I reached out with trembling fingers, running the backs of them along his jaw. He caught my hand and kissed it before holding it to his chest, his racing heartbeat playing at my knuckles.

We stared at each other a long while, neither of us daring to speak a word. Because talk was talk. And we had something more than words.

We had love.

“Mia,” Quinn whispered a long while after, sounding half asleep.

Near dozing myself, I semi-slurred, “Yes?”

He breathed deep, and then spoke slowly on an exhale, “Will you marry me?”

My heart stuttered. My mind chose that very moment to turn silent.

Then I realized I didn’t need my mind. I listened to the part of me that drove my heart.

I smiled softly into the darkness. “Of course, honey.”

His hand found mine and he squeezed gently. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I responded. “Forever and always, babe.”

And I meant it.

Chapter Forty-Six

Harry

My sister was engaged. She was getting married.

This should’ve been a stupidly happy time for me and my family, yet somehow I’d isolated myself, drowning in a pit of despair that I’d dug myself into. I loved my sister. She was one of the two people I trusted most in this world. The other, she was marrying.

How had this happened? How had I let this go so far?

What scared me most was that with each day that passed, I could pretend I didn’t need Mia or Quinn in my life. What was worse? I was starting to believe that bullshit. Truth was, I was jealous. In a number of ways.

Quinn was my friend, the first real friend I’d had in years. He was one of the only people I could talk to about anything at all and not be judged. He was my friend. Part of me felt as though Mia had stolen him from me.

Also, Mia was my sister. There was a code, and Quinn broke that code. I understood that what happened between them was Mia’s doing, but still…I couldn’t ever talk to Quinn about sex anymore, because all of his current examples would be using my sister, and picturing my sister having sex…ugh.

No. Just…no.

The other thing was that I was jealous of what they had. Quitting the trade had never even been a thing for Quinn. The thought of losing Mia was enough to scare the shit out of him and find a normal job, and he did this happily. He’d changed his life for her in a heartbeat. And, once upon a time, I had something like that.

I wondered why Quinn got his happily ever after so easily, while the woman I loved left me just as effortlessly. Sure, I was an escort paid to be with her, but we fell in love. It was mutual. I knew what we had; time hadn’t distorted my memories. Yes, it was unconventional, but it worked for Mia and Quinn. I would have changed for her, given the opportunity, but she never even gave me the chance. She cancelled her time with me and cut me out without a backward glance.

Okay. I was making excuses. Why not call a spade a spade?

I was bitter.

There it was.

The thought of love made me nauseous. And my sister did not deserve that.

I walked down the hall, stopped in front of the apartment door, and knocked lightly. I heard soft conversation coming from inside and my gut tightened. No amount of apologizing could excuse what I’d done to my sister. I’d become the bully I had protected her from all those years ago. Shame filled me.

The door opened and Mia, her head turned back behind her, mock-threatened, “Seriously. I’m not even joking right now. Watch it.”

Then I heard Quinn’s, “Ooh, I’m shakin’ in my metaphorical boots.”

Her face turned and she spotted me. The smile fell off her face so quickly that something tore inside me. She blinked then swallowed hard and uttered a soft and uncertain, “H-hi.”

She was anxious. I had made my own sister feel anxious around me. If I weren’t a grown-ass man, the thought would’ve brought me to tears. “Can I come in?”