Page 21 of Hard Hitter

What he really wanted was to clear the beach of anyone but the two of them, strip her down, and give her a full, sensual body massage from head to toe. He’d make it a challenge to make her come with his touch alone. His hands, his lips and tongue brushing over her skin. She deserved it. She deserved more, and he was determined to give it to her.Fuck, he wanted to give her everything.

Pressing his hands into the small of her back, lowering...lower...lower...he dipped his fingers into the waistband of her bottoms and teased, though he wasn’t sure if it was working more on him or her. His cock was hard, aching to feel more, touch more. Rae let out another sigh that mingled with a moan, and her body relaxed even more beneath his palms. He leaned forward, eyes closed, chest to her back getting lost in her. His lips just barely brushed over her shoulder near her neck as he slowly moved the tips of his fingers from her back dimples and down into her bikini bottoms again...and again...and…

A cough and the clearing of throats made Quinn snap his eyes open, squinting against the bright reflection of the sun off the water. Reluctantly he backed away from Rae and turned to see Chris and Jett looking at them with amused interest. Chris took a drink from his beer, cocking an eyebrow, and Jett was trying not to grin as he scratched the side of his head.

“Do you two...need us to leave?” Jett asked, tilting his head, still failing to suppress a smirk.

Yes.

Quinn cleared his throat and ruffled his hair, looking down into his lap where his hard-on was evident. “Uh...no,” he cleared his throat again. “Sorry, I…” His apology was more directed to Rae; he’d been a fraction of a centimeter away from kissing her neck, tasting her hot skin.

Peering at Rae over her shoulder he saw her chest rising and falling steadily, as though she’d been getting lost in him, too. Her skin was flushed, her pulse thrummed, betraying her forced slow and steady breaths and the calm demeanor she was at least trying to give off.

“It’s fine,” Rae said, her voice breathless. She grabbed the scrunchie wrapped around her messy bun and pulled, letting her hair fall down her back with a swoosh.

Standing up, Rae brushed a few grains of sand off her legs and stretched. She dropped her empty bottle back in the cooler and picked up the discarded football. She ruffled Jett’s curly hair, “Come on, Jett. Let’s see if I can still kick your ass.”

Jett heaved himself up, finished his drink, and tossed the can into the cooler, “If you can I’m blaming it on having a head start on drinking.”

Quinn and Chris watched from their beach towels as the other two walked toward the shore where the water just covered their feet.

“You look like you could use a dip in that water right now,” said Chris, tipping his beer to take a drink.

Quinn let out a heavy exhale, attention still focused on Rae. Harry was now following at her side, jumping at the football when it was thrown and chasing it down the beach. “Yeah...I kind of lost myself for a minute there.”

“A minute?” Chris chuckled. “We weren’t sure if we should stay or just leave you to it.”

New heat crept into Quinn’s cheeks and he grinned into a swig of beer. He wanted to feel bad for putting his friends in the awkward position of witnessing his and Rae’s...expression of passion, but he was too pleased with himself.

“I’m sure it’ll be slow and sensual when it finally happens. A celestial experience, when all the stars align,” Chris said, gesturing grandly with his hands and arms.

“You’re that confident in us, huh?” Quinn’s smile was wide and he didn’t even try to hide it this time.

“Just don’t fuck it up this time, man.”

Quinn watched as Rae ran at Jett, shoving him with her shoulder and sending him off balance, toppling into the incoming waves. It had always amazed him how someone so slender and feminine had so much force. She was still his Rae that he’d known and loved for half his life. Tough, feisty, and fucking gorgeous. He wanted her, and he was willing to wait if it meant he could show her just how much she meant to him. If showing her that meant she finally could be his, and not just in his own head. She needed to see that he wasn’t some playboy who was just looking to score. This was it. She was the one. He wasn’t striking out this time.

Chapter 9

Every evening since her first run-in with Quinn, Raelyn had seen him, Chris, and Jett in one way or another. Mostly they hung out at the bar, with the exception of their spontaneous afternoon at the beach, and perhaps that was for the best. At the bar, the four friends were light-hearted and fun, joking around and teasing as though no time had passed between them and they were back in high school. Over the years, Raelyn had still seen Chris and Jett frequently, having made a habit of stopping into Trojan Horse any time she and Amira went out for drinks, even if that’s not where they were planning on spending their whole night. Having Quinn back though was...well, it was a lot of things.

Overwhelming? At first.

Unexpected? Absolutely.

Just what she needed? She was beginning to think so.

After the way they’d left things Raelyn had always assumed seeing him again would be awkward, or maybe that they’d bicker and be confrontational, but that was definitely not the case. She had tried holding her walls up at the office when he’d come in unannounced, all shy smiles and rippling forearms, but she couldn’t help tearing them down. He was still Quinn. For years he’d been her safe place, her person, her best friend. Maybe he had a bit of a reputation these days, but she could tell he was the same guy. The one who’d always defended her and protected her; the one who’d gotten suspended when he’d taken the blame for something she had actually done, and again whenhe’d overheard boys making indecent comments about her and reacted rather aggressively.

Now, after that sensual tanning lotion rubdown, she was feeling all sorts of hot and bothered every time she got herself ready to meet up with him again. If she thought she was sexually frustrated before, it was absolutely nothing compared to how she felt after having his large, sturdy hands cover her body. The warmth of his bare chest pressed against her back was imprinted in her mind that night as she rushed into her bedroom, unable to flip the lid off her pleasure box fast enough. Yeah...it was intense.

It was Friday night and Raelyn had asked Amira to come along to Trojan Horse this time so she could finally meet Quinn, which her friend was absolutely dying to do. Amira offered to drive and was practically bouncing with excitement when she burst through Raelyn's front door and into her kitchen.

"Who's ready to get their drink on?" Amira sang, drawing out the last two words. She stopped abruptly upon finding Raelyn in the kitchen, filling Harry's food and water bowls, "That'swhat you're wearing?"

Raelyn looked down at her white t-shirt, ripped skinny jeans, and sparkly sandals, "What's wrong with this?"

"Seriously? It's a Friday night and you're trying to make your old flame wish he'd never even looked at another woman," Amira shook her head and grabbed Raelyn's wrist once the dog bowls were on the floor. "No, absolutely not. You don't go to the gym five days a week and build up a booty like that to wearblue jeanson a Friday night out."

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