Page 23 of Dust to Dust

"But you want to."

"With every breath within me,” he rasped.

A shudder rippled through me at his words and the intensity of his stare. No man had ever had such a reaction to me. Quinn appeared as a man dying of thirst in a desert of my making.

"You can touch me," I whispered.

Anguish replaced the desire in his expression. "I'm not worthy."

His reply took me by surprise. "If this is about your scars, they don't bother me. In fact, I kinda like them."

Quinn’s brows popped wide. "Do you, Little Dove?"

“I do. They give you character.”

“While that’s an interesting way to describe them, I wasn't talking about my appearance."

God, I was such an idiot. Embarrassment flushed my cheeks. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's just I--"

"I'm talking about the man within me. He’s not worthy."

“Why?” I whispered.

“He’s a bad man.”

I stared into Quinn’s blue eyes. Although he had a menacing exterior, the same wasn’t reflected in his eyes. There was a softness to them. But they were also ringed with pain. I knew that look. I’d seen it in my own eyes many times over the last two years.

"I don't believe you."

The softness in his eyes turned dark. “You're very naive, Little Dove."

“Maybe. But I also see more than you think. Or that you allow.”

“And what do you see?”

“A man who has erected so many walls around him to hide from the world. But I see through the tiny cracks and fissures to the goodness within."

He stared at me, unblinking and unmoving. Time crawled by. At that moment, it felt like we were the only two people in the world.

"There's goodness in you, Quinn. But don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

With a growl, he grabbed me by the back of the neck and jerked my face to his. I gasped just as his mouth slammed down on mine. Quinn thrust his tongue into my mouth, tangling with my own.

The kiss was fiery and desperate. It felt like our very life and existence depended on the breath and closeness we gained from each other. Quinn’s teeth grazed my bottom lip before biting down, causing me to moan and him to grunt with pleasure.

I’d never been kissed like this in my life. I hadn’t even dreamed it could be like this. It was the kind of kiss you watched in the movies, but you never thought you’d get to experience in real life, least of all in a strip club with your potential future boss.

He wasn’t just kissing me–he was possessing me.

My hands came to encircle Quinn’s neck, drawing him closer to me. With the scarred skin on his neck, I took care to be as gentle as I could. Something deep within me said that even if I was to scrape my nails along the flesh, he wouldn’t hurt me.

Although he could’ve snapped me in two like a twig, I couldn’t help feeling safe next to him. Everything about him was overwhelming from his imposing figure to his ability to render me breathless from just a kiss.

Feeling lightheaded, I finally jerked away. As my chest rose and fell in harsh pants, my gaze locked with Quinn’s hooded, hungry one. My finger traced his full bottom lip. When his tongue snaked out to lick it, white-hot heat flooded my core.

“Are you going to lie to both me and yourself and say that we shouldn’t have done that?” he rasped. When I shook my head slowly from side to side, he asked, “Then what is it you want to say, Little Dove?”

“No one is to kiss me but you,” I ordered.

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