Loving Quinn Novel by North Rose
Chapter 60

Aarom

As I stand on the stage looking out at the crowd, all I can see is one face staring back at me. Her face. Rylan. I can’t believe that she bid two million dollars for a date with me. Part of me wants to be angry at her. After everything I told her on the beach, she told me she would wait for me to feel worthy of her.

This isn’t waiting

Another part of me, the more primal part, wants her to win the bidding war the envos right after her opening bid. Why? Because after tasting her again tonight, all

I can think of is kissing her again. I want to get her to a quiet place where no one can interfere

The minute I have her all to myself, 1 plan to rip that red dress off her. I intend to shred it until it is a mess of satin on the floor. She should stand before me in her bra and panties. I just want to stare at her. Drink in her beauty. Savor the moment.

“Six million dollars,” Hylan call out,

This pulls me out of my thoughts. I blink my eyes a few times, then just stare at her, tear my eyes away from her to look out at the crowd. There are a few women in the back that are just glaring in Rylan’s direction. My gaze lands on a gorgeous blonde sitting at a table close to the stage. She looks disappointed, but merely nods her head in defeat.

“Sold to the lady in red. Come up on stage to collect your prize,” Andrew calls out.

Well, this is awkward. The auctioneer is her half-brother, and I am hiding a raging b**r with my tuxedo jacket. Fantastic. My wandering mind during the auction has had an unwanted side effect. Well, not entirely unwanted, just not right now, I want to be somewhere private with her, with my shast buried deep in his p**y.

F*F*k. That isn’t helping me, Quit thinking about her like that. Put her back in the frind zone. The place where she is safe. Where I am safe from her.

However, the instant her perfume invades my senses, I know that is a pipe dream. My eyes lock on hers as she walks up the steps of the stage. I can hear my heart thundering in my chest as she walks to me with her hand outstretched and a secretive smile on her beautiful face.

“What are you doing, Rylan?” I ask when she stops in front of me.

“Take my hand, lead me out on the dance floor, then I will tell you what I am doing”

1 sigh, take a deep breath, then reach out for her hand. Thankfully, my erection get the memo that now is not the time to stand at attention. With a small tug on my am, she pulls me to my feet and leads me to the dance floor.

“I thought I was meant to lead you down here?”

“This is easier.”

Of course, it is, because that is just how she is. Rylan is a take charge kind of person should have seen it coming. I just didn’t think dollars to have a date with roe. It should be me spending lavishly on her.

k she would spend six million

Wait a da**n minute….

“Who gave you the money to bid on me?

When we reach the dance floor, the D.J. cues up a smooth instrumental number. I put her into my arms and sway her around the dance floor. My mind clouds for moment as her intoxicating scent hits my senses again. It isn’t her eutic perfume of the rich c**ut scent of her shampoo; it is just her. She intoxicates me

“Annora and Quinn helped me.”

“Wait, what? The three of you chipped in together to…”

“Make sure i total stranger wasn’t your date.”

Well, **. That I was not expecting. My three friends saved me from a potentially distrous night. One I vcolunteered for, even though I am not in the right frame of mind to entertain anyone. Small talk with a random woman for the rest of the evening, possibly ending up with her naked in my lap before the night was over, sounded like a good idea when I agreed to do this event.

Now I am grateful for the rescuer.

“Does this mean I have to dance with Quinn, too?”

Rylan lets out a throaty laugh that sends flames of desire coursing through my veins. This was a terrible idea. However, now that Quinn and Annora are heading onto the dance floor, I feel obligated to see this dance through to the end. As soon as the song is over, I need to get far away from Rylan.

If I don’t, I may do something I will regret.

“I meant what i said on the beach, Aaron. I will wait for you to be ready. This idea to buy your time tonight was Annora’s idea, not mine. Though I suspect she had this in mind when she gave me the first two million dollars”

I glance over her shoulder to where Quinn is dancing with Annora. He has her pressed close against him and her head is on his chest as Quinn just slowly dances in circles. The look of peace and happiness on my friend’s face is something I never thought I would see again

He has been somewhat happy in the past but never with the true peace that he has now. In a way, I envy that peace. I know it can happen. I also know that it will take a lot of work on my part to achieve it. Soon 1 will face my demons head on

“Do you know that Quinn borrowed a dog from the kennel as a way to meet Annora?

Rylan looks at me in horror, then chuckles. “What the heck was he thinking?”

“Well, most summers, he spent the first few weeks with my family on our yearly vacation. That summer my father was building the shed and new pantry for my mother. So, Quinn was fishing when Annora’s family showed up at her grandparent’s place.”

“First meeting. He wanted to impress?”

He came up with the “have you seen my dog ploy to introduce himself to her. Kon, the dog he borrowed from the kennel, had other plans that day. He got away from Quinn and raced along the lake shore with wild abandon. That was until he spotted a girl and her grandfather sitting on the side of the lake fishing”

“Oh, poor Annora.”

“Ask her sometime about her first encounter with Kong

“I will do that because now I am curious.” Rylan laughs again

That dann throaty laugh again. I can feel my c**k twitch and decide now is a good time to end this dance. However, she shocks me by pressing her body closer to me. So close that I know she can feel my h**n through that thin satin dress she is wearing.

The smile on her face looks like she is gloating. She knows what she is doing to me. What a naughty vixen. She is torturing me. Oh, how she is enjoying it too.

“You are trying to entice me into giving in to you.”

“Perhaps.”

“Rylan, you are playing with fire. I am a ticking bomb. You keep pressing that delectable body of yours against me like that and I might explode.”

Instead of pulling away like I thought she would, the vixen only presses her body closer to me. There wasn’t much space between our bodies before, now there is _none. She pressed every inch of the front of her body is to mine.

“What if I give you something to take the edge off? Something to reesember.”

“Baby, you have been unforgettable since the day you entered our camp all those years ago.”

My voice is husky with desire, but there is something more in the way I look at her. Ian tell my words took her by surprise. His eyes widen, her lips part in shock. and all can think about is taking her plump bottom lip into my mouth to bite le.

However, like all good things, reality comes crashing down on me when the music faces and we are left pressed together. Unable to look away. It feels like my entire world has named down to this moment in time.

All there is for me right now is her.

“I am going to let go of you and walk away before 1 embara** mpelf right here on the dance floor.” She whisper.

My chest tightens when she does. The look in her yes tells me that she wants more, but now is not the time. In that, we are in agreement on that. We are on a now crowded dance floor, in the backyard of a house that belongs to someone else. All I want to do is stay in this moment forever

Right here with her int

Trauma Trigger Warning

Two hours later, I am driving home after dropping Rylan off at her apartment. Everyer of my being is screaming at me to turn my car around, drive back to her apartment, and pray she lets me in. I avoided being close to her for the rest of the auction. I sat far enough away that there were no accidental touches. Her frustration was obvious as I drove her home.

It felt like the logical course of action after how close we came to kissing on the dance floor earlier in the night. I know for a fact that had I kissed her, I wouldn’t have stopped there. I would have dragged her to the first secluded spot I found and hid my way with her.

That is not how I want our first time together to be. In my heart, I know she deserves su much better. I will give it to her when I have significantly defeated my demons. They will never truly be defeated, but being able to fight them in a healthy wity is my goal.

Who in their right mind would love such a broken soul? Someone who has killed in the name of justice. Justice that was misguided in so many ways, bat as a soldier. I followed orders. I fought for my country.

I pull my car to the side of the road as I feel my grip on the wheel shake. S**t, s**t, **t. This is not good. I let go of the wheel after I put my car in park. Deep breaths are needed. However, the minute I close my eyes to just breathe it out, I am back to that horrible day.

The day that will forever haunt my nightmares.

It started out as a routine recon mission, but they ambushed us. Somehow, the enemy soldiers knew we were coming. They killed two of my squad in the firefight. Had our s**er not been in the right location, I might have died, too. However, it was the mother and daughter that I tried to save that haunts me.

As they ran to me and my squad leader, they got caught in the crossfire. I hear their streams echo in my head as 1 relive that day over and over. The way jerked and flailed around as bullets riddled their bodies. The way the mother clutched at her daughter even in death.

their bodies

1 blink hack the tears as I hear a knock on the driver’s side window. In the brief moment before the past sucked me in, I was clearheaded enough to turn my hazard lights on. In the dark interior of my car, I can see the flashing of the lights on the dashboard. When the tapping comes again, I turn my face to the window so I can

see who is out there.

A highway patrol officer is standing at the side of my car with a flashlight in his hand, I jump in surprise to see him standing there. He must have seen my hazard lights flashing and pulled over to see if I needed help.

I do.

Hemotions for me to roll my window down. I comply instantly. I am anything but calm on the inside as I wait for him to speak.

“Is everything alright here?”

No.

Sorry, other I had a terrible night.”

“You look like you have been to a party. Must have been some night. License and registration, please.”

After reaching into the inner pocket off my tuxedo, I hand him what he needs. He takes may information, then moves away, but stops and turns back to me. I can sou that he spotted my parking pass for the Army base, I am in the reserve now, like Quinn is

“Are you a soldier?”

“Thank you for your service. Sit tight while I check your information.”

He heads for his cruiser this time without looking back. Of all the places to have a flashback, I had to choose the side of the road at night on a long stretch of highway. There is no traffic, so I glance at the clock on the dashboard.

It is three in the morning

F**k.

I dropped Rylan off at her place around one. The past pulled me back in for longer than I thought. How long had the officer been tapping on my window before I broke free of my memories? When he returns to the window, he hands my documents back to me.

“How long were you tapping at my window before I snapped out of it?”

“A few minutes. You are free to go.”

I give him a nod before he turns back to his cruiser. After he drives off, I start my car, then I tum around and head back to the one place I should avoid. However, is the one place I need to be. All I want is to have her arms around me as I calm down.

The soothing sound of her voice, the smell of her skin. Everything I need to ground scares me. Not her, but the safety, the serenity, and the peace she embodies for me.

to reality is back with Rylan. I have run from her for so long because she

When I Anock on her door twenty minutes later, her eyes are filled with sleep but clear instantly when she sees my face. Her eyes go from confused at sering me at her door to worry as she takes a good look at me.

“What happened?

“I don’t want to talk. Can you just hold me? Talk to me,

Without hesitation, Rylan steps back to let me inside. No words are spoken between

as she leads me towards her bedroom. Normally I would think about getting

her naked, but for once my mind is on just having her arms around me.

She stops at the end of her bed, then she makes quick work of getting me out of my used jacket. Her eyes are soft as she climbs onto the bed, then pulls me with her. Soon I am laying on my side with my head pressed to her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around me.

I fall asleep to the sound of her heartbeat.