[Quantum 01.0 - 03.0] Boxed Set Read online

  “Flynn…”

  “What, honey?”

  “I can feel you about to boil over.”

  “I can’t help it. I feel like my skin is too tight for the rest of me or something.” I lack the words to properly convey what’s going on inside me. It seems, however, that the more wound up I get, the calmer she is. That said, I much prefer her serenity to the blank shock of the night before. I don’t ever want to see her like that again.

  “I hate that you’re blaming yourself.”

  “Can’t help it.”

  “Are you doing everything within your power to deal with it?”

  “You know it.”

  “Then let it go and let the people who work for you do their jobs. You’ve done everything you possibly can for me and then some.” She wraps her arms around my right arm. “Aileen gave me some really good advice tonight.”

  I squeeze her thigh. “What was that?”

  “To remember I have my health and a man who’s crazy about me. At least I think he is…”

  “You know he is.”

  “She said we should enjoy this little escape from reality while we can and try to focus on all the positives.”

  “She does make a good point.”

  “It’s hard for me to see you so upset.”

  “It’s hard for me to see your life upended because you got involved with me.”

  “That’s not why my life was upended. It happened because someone I trusted got greedy.”

  “Which wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t dragged you into my life.”

  She surprises the shit out of me by moving Fluff to the seat next to her and removing her seat belt so she can crawl into my lap. Fluff is extremely put out by the disruption and growls to show her displeasure.

  I want to growl with pleasure as Natalie straddles my lap and forces me to look at her. “May I say something and will you listen to me? Really listen and believe me when I tell you that if someone had told me I was going to lose my job, my home and my anonymity but that the trade-off was going to be the love of the most extraordinary man, I would choose love over everything else. Do you know how long it’s been since anyone has loved me?”

  I wrap my arms around her and hug her as tightly as I can. “Christ, Nat.” I want to give her the stars, the moon, the entire universe—anything and everything I possibly can to make up for all the years she was so painfully alone.

  “What you did for me tonight, bringing my kids to me, knowing how badly I needed to see them… No one has ever done anything like that for me before. I know you want to fix everything for me, but even you can’t put the genie back in the bottle. My cover’s been blown, and I’m going to have to figure out how to live with that. But knowing you’re here with me, that I don’t have to go through this alone… That’s huge. This could’ve happened at any time. Someone could’ve put two and two together with the girl who brought down the governor of Nebraska. I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like to go through this alone, without you and Addie and your army of people out for vengeance on my behalf. You’re already making everything better by calling in your army and just by being here and holding me and loving me.”

  She brings me to my knees. She makes me want to be a better man so I’ll deserve every sweet inch of her and the trust she has placed in my hands. I hold her close to me, breathing in the addicting scent of her hair as it brushes against my face. For the first time since Addie sent the 911 message yesterday and I heard what was happening to Natalie, I take a deep breath and feel myself begin to relax ever so slightly.

  That Natalie doesn’t blame me for what’s happened to her makes me the luckiest bastard on earth. Rather than pushing me away as I feared she would, she’s turned to me and pulled me closer. “I love you so much, Nat. More than I ever thought I could love anyone.”

  “I love you, too. Every time I think I’ve seen the full extent of who you are, you go and top yourself by arranging a spaghetti dinner for my class and then paying for the whole school to eat for the rest of the year!”

  “Technically, Addie did the arranging and stuff.”

  “Whose idea was it?”

  “Mine. I guess.”

  “See? There you have it. My guy is the most thoughtful, wonderful man in the world.” She takes my face in her small hands and forces me to look at her as she kisses me. Hearing her call me her guy winds me up in knots that have nothing to do with stress and everything to do with desire. After the momentous step we took together the other night, I hadn’t expected to spend these last few days dealing with her worst nightmare come to life. I’d hoped to spend them wrapped up in her, making love to her over and over again.

  Nothing has gone according to plan since we got home from LA on Monday night.

  We arrive at Teterboro and are driven onto the tarmac where a Lear awaits us. I’ve requested a plane with a bed for this trip and not for obvious reasons. I want Natalie to get a good night’s sleep while we fly. If other stuff happens, too, well, so be it. Our security detail wishes us well and ushers us onto the plane where a flight attendant named Miranda greets us.

  I can tell she’s trying to be professional, but she wants to do that screaming thing women do when they meet me. Thankfully, she manages to contain the urge. Natalie, Addie and I buckle in for takeoff, and as soon as we’re airborne, I get up and hold out a hand to Nat.

  “We’re going to get some sleep,” I tell Addie. “Will you be okay out here?”

  “I’m great. I’ve got a ton of work to do, and then I’ll sack out on the sofa. See you in LA.”

  “Don’t work too hard.”

  She gives me a small smile that’s full of sympathy for what we’re going through. She’s been almost as upset as we are, and she’s out for blood on our behalf.

  I lead Natalie to the back of the cabin and into the bedroom.

  “Holy cow,” she says when she spies the full-size bed. “This is the life.”

  “I’m glad you think so, because it’s your life from now on.”

  “I’m still trying to wrap my head around that.”

  I drop a quick kiss on her lips. “Take all the time you need to get used to it. You want to use the bathroom first?”

  “Sure, thanks.” She takes her purse with her into the tiny bathroom that adjoins the bedroom.

  While she’s in there, I unbutton my shirt and remove it and the T-shirt under it. I remove my jeans and then pick them up off the floor so Natalie won’t trip over them. A few minutes later, she emerges from the bathroom wearing only a T-shirt. Her hair has been brushed and the minty scent of toothpaste follows her.

  I take my turn in the bathroom and make use of the toothbrush and toothpaste the airline provides. And then I take a minute to remind myself that I need to be gentle with her tonight and keep the rage that’s overtaken me out of our bed. It has no place there, especially in light of what’s happened to her in the past.

  When I feel calm enough to be what she needs, I leave the bathroom and crawl into bed beside her. “This is becoming my favorite place to be.”

  “In bed on an airplane?”

  “No, in bed with you.” I reach for her, and I’m greeted by a snarl and a bark that remind me we’re not completely alone. “Fluff, you and I need to come to an understanding.”

  The little brat shows me her pathetic fangs.

  “Maybe we’ll do that tomorrow.”

  Natalie giggles like a little girl, which goes a long way toward helping me relax. If she can laugh like that, maybe I can chill the fuck out until tomorrow, when I’ll rejoin the war already in progress. Natalie sits up to settle Fluff at the foot of the bed.

  The dog reacts by whimpering in protest. I can’t say I blame her for wanting to sleep cuddled up to Natalie.

  “Stay.” Natalie’s stern tone turns me on. Hell, everything about her turns me on.

  Satisfied that Fluff will stay put, she turns on her side so she’s facing me. “How you doing?”

  I caress her c
heek and let her silky hair slide through my fingers. “I should be asking you that.”

  “I’m not the one who’s about to spontaneously combust from stress and rage and a host of other unpleasant emotions.”

  “How are you able to be so calm?”

  “I don’t know exactly.” She worries her bottom lip with her teeth, which is so freaking adorable. “I guess when you worry about the worst possible thing happening and then it does, you don’t have to worry about it anymore. Does that make any sense?”

  “It makes a ton of sense. It’s almost a relief that the worrying is gone.”

  “Yeah, exactly.”

  “I’m so sorry you lost your job and your kids. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over that happening because of me.”

  She gives me that stern look she normally reserves for Fluff. “It’s not your fault. I’m going to keep saying it until you believe it, too.”

  “That might take a while, sweetheart.”

  “Well, apparently we have nothing but time to spend together.”

  I have a million things I need to be doing with a new film heading into postproduction, decisions to be made on upcoming projects and meetings galore about the hunger foundation I’m starting. But nothing is more important than her and whatever she needs.

  I’ll put everything else on hold until this crisis has passed and I’m certain she’s really okay, not just acting the part for my sake.

  Her hand on my chest demands my full attention when she slides it down the front of me, coming to rest on my stomach.

  “What’re you up to?”

  “Just touching you. Is that okay?”

  “Fuck, yes, that’s okay.”

  Smiling, she goes up on her knees and bends over me, peppering my chest with kisses and little bites that make me hard as a fucking rock in about two seconds flat.

  “Nat… What’re you doing?”

  “Touching you.”

  “Fuck…”

  Then she laughs, and my heart literally contracts in my chest because the punch of love is that strong. I’m willing to put up with any torture she has in mind if it means she’ll laugh and smile. Then she closes her teeth around my nipple, and my mind goes blank. I grasp handfuls of her hair, trying to retain some control, but she won’t be controlled.

  Holy motherfucker…

  She kisses her way down the front of me and uses her tongue to outline the hills and valleys of my abs. I thank Christ for every second I’ve spent in the gym. It becomes worth it right here and now. Her chin brushes against my cock through my boxer briefs, and I nearly lose my shit. That’s all it takes to put me right on the edge.

  “Could I… Can I…”

  I groan loudly. “Nat.”

  She rests her face on my quivering stomach, her hair soft against my fevered skin. “I suck at this.”

  “Oh my God, you do not! You’re about to make me come just by thinking about what you want to do.”

  She turns so her chin is propped on her hand and she’s looking up at me. “I am? Really?”

  “Yes,” I say through gritted teeth.

  Her smile stretches across her face, making her eyes dance with joy. I’m swamped with love for her.

  “You’re quite pleased with yourself, aren’t you, sweetheart?” I ask with a grunt of laughter. She’s so fucking adorable.

  “You have to admit that making a guy like you tremble does come with a certain amount of thrill.”

  “A guy like me… What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Strong,” she says, kissing between my pecs. “Sexy.” More kisses, some tongue action and fucking hell… teeth. “Commanding.” She nuzzles my happy trail, and my dick surges, wanting in on this right now. I don’t know what I need more—for her to touch me where I’m dying for her or to hear more words that describe me from her point of view.

  Touch. I definitely want her to touch me right fucking now. “Natalie… Have some mercy, will you?”

  She hooks her fingers into the waistband of my briefs and draws them down slowly, so fucking slowly she nearly finishes me with only the drag of elastic over my rigid erection. I’ve never been so fucking hard in my life.

  I grab the hem of her T-shirt and pull it up. “Can we take this off?”

  She hesitates, but only for a second before the shirt clears her head and hits the floor. Her full, gorgeous breasts fall into my waiting hands.

  She twists out of my reach. “No! You’re not taking over my show.”

  “What?” For a fraction of an instant, I forget who I am with her, and I nearly remind her who’s in charge here. Thankfully, I catch myself before I can make that critical error, but the near miss humbles me.

  “Relax and let me love you.”

  I blow out a deep breath and summon the will to control myself without controlling her, too. I don’t surrender to anyone. But Natalie isn’t just anyone. She’s become my whole life, and if she wants to control me, albeit briefly, I’ll allow it. Somehow.

  She rolls her bottom lip between her teeth as she wraps her hand around the base of my cock and begins to stroke me. She watches with fascination as a bead of moisture appears at the tip. Then, in the single most erotic sight I’ve ever witnessed, she bends her head and licks me clean.

  “Nat,” I say on a gasp. “Wait a sec.”

  She looks up at me.

  “The last time we did this… Don’t do it if you don’t want to.” I can’t forget the flashback that hit her without warning the first time she tried to take me into her mouth.

  “I’m okay.” Her lips encircle the tip, and her tongue slashes me.

  It’s all I can do to refrain from pulling her head down onto my dick. That’s what I’d do with any other woman, but Natalie isn’t any other woman. She’s the woman. So instead of grabbing her, I fist handfuls of the comforter and hold on for dear life as she sets out to drive me mad with her experimentation.

  “Does it feel good?” she asks.

  “Yeah. It feels fucking amazing.”

  Hearing that pleases her, and she goes back for more, taking me in farther this time. I want to tell her what to do. I want to tell her to suck me, squeeze my balls and stroke me hard. I have to bite my tongue to keep from barking out orders when it’s far more important that she become used to me in her mouth than it is that she do this exactly the way I want it done.

  Besides, it apparently doesn’t matter what she does, because she’s got me on the verge of losing it in no time at all.

  “Babe.” The sight of her lush lips stretched to accommodate my dick takes me right to the brink. “Natalie.”

  Not seeming to understand my urgency, she withdraws slowly, torturously.

  I take hold of my cock and jerk my hips to avoid coming in her face. “Fuck.” The orgasm blasts through me with powerful intensity. I’m left panting and trembling while Natalie looks on with a look of satisfaction that might even surpass mine. “Jesus.”

  “It was good?” she asks.

  “Yeah.” I grunt out a laugh between deep breaths. “But good might not be a significant enough word to describe what that was.”

  “Really?”

  I want to hold her and touch her and kiss her everywhere. “Hand me my shirt, will you?” I use the shirt to mop up the mess I made on my stomach and chest and then toss it aside. “Come here.” Holding my arms out to her, I gather her close to me. The press of her breasts against my chest is all it takes to start my motor running all over again.

  Fluff lets out a snore that makes us laugh.

  “I can’t believe she didn’t try to bite my dick off when you were giving it attention.”

  “I’d never let her bite you there.”

  “Thank God for small favors.”

  “There’s nothing small about it.”

  “If I wasn’t already madly in love with you, I would be now.”

  “Flynn?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Will you make love to me? The way you did the other night?” />
  “You’re not sore anymore?”

  “I’m not sore,” she says as she drags a fingertip across my abdomen, “but I am achy.”

  I feel like I’ve been electrocuted. The way she looks at me, the way she touches me… This can’t possibly be real. I reach over to caress her face before I draw her into a kiss. “What’s happened to my shy, reserved Natalie?”

  “She got a taste of heaven in your arms, and now she wants more.”

  “Are you sure? With everything—”

  “I’m sure.”

  “I’m so afraid I’m going to do something to scare you.”

  “You won’t. You’ve got nothing at all in common with the man who hurt me.”

  I want to remind her I have one thing in common with him, and that particular part of me wants to be inside her more than I’ve ever wanted anything. “You have to promise you’ll stop me if you’re scared or worried or—”

  She brings me into a kiss that starts off sweet and becomes something else entirely in a matter of seconds. Her arms encircle my neck, keeping me right where she wants me. This aggressive, passionate Natalie enthralls me. Maybe I could, we could… Visions of her tied to the headboard, her ass raised in the air, dance through my mind like the best movie I’ve ever seen. No. That’s not happening. I have to remember to control my baser urges with her.

  I roll her under me and look down at her. She’s flushed and wide-eyed and flat-out gorgeous. Her lips are swollen from the blowjob. So fucking beautiful.

  “What?” she asks. “Is something wrong?”

  “No, love, everything is just right.” I kiss her before I get up from the bed to find a condom. “Crap, the condoms are in my other bag, which I left out there.” I pull on my jeans and somehow manage to get them zipped over my rampant erection. “Be right back.”

  “Hurry up.”

  Her excitement and urgency only make me harder. In the main salon, Addie is hard at work on her laptop. The glass of red wine sitting next to her computer tells me she’s attempting to relax. She glances at me as I grab the backpack I left in one of the chairs.