With Every Heartbeat (Forbidden Men, #4)(96)

“And I swear, if I’d known she’d already agreed to go out with you again when we f*cked, I would’ve told you, straight up,” Ten added. “I’ve been watching her like a hawk, waiting for the first moment I could catch her with someone else, but the bitch is slick, I’ll give her that. She hides her secrets well. I never caught her with anyone else while you two were together, so I couldn’t rat her out to you.”

“The love of my life is alive today because of you,” Pick added. “I would bleed for you, man. If there was ever anything we didn’t tell you, it’s because we care about you.”

I nodded, but I still felt like a fool. I’d been blind to so many things. I didn’t want anyone to think they had to hide anything from me for my own good, to lie to spare my feelings.

From here on out, I wanted to be tough. And aware.

Screw nice; I wanted honesty.





It’s crazy how fast a day can spiral out of control. Aside from the fact it felt as if my contacts had dried and glued themselves to my eyeballs, I woke to the most amazing sensation in the world: Quinn’s warm hard flesh pressed against mine.

For the longest moment ever, I just stayed there, piled on top of him with his heartbeat doubling as my pillow and our legs entwined while I breathed in his incredible smell. Hypnotized by the rise and fall of his chest under my ear, I listened to his breathing, simply astounded to be with him. My fingers that had been resting on his shoulder slipped down his arm, thrilled by how warm and soft his flesh was as it covered steel-hard muscle.

Under me, he let out a breath, a half moan, half sigh. I grinned, keeping my lashes fused together, almost afraid to open them in fear I might find something other than what I knew I was feeling under me. Then his leg shifted and I could feel his shaft against my hip as it hardened.

The insides of my thighs crackled with lightning pleasure and if I’d been wearing panties, they would’ve gotten soaked. My body recalled every moment of last night as I tried to count in my head just how many times Quinn had been inside me. Four? Five?

He’d been so relentless. Passionate. Starving...for me. I think he’d craved me just as much as I’d craved him.

Joy burst inside me. I honestly couldn’t remember ever feeling this happy. I slid my hand down, wanting to wrap my fingers around his growing excitement as I kissed his heartbeat right through his chest.

Just before I reached his morning wood, he curved his hand around my butt in a warm caress and sleepily murmured, “Love you.”

I froze, my fingers halting just below his navel. Opening my eyes, I took in green sheets and the shoulder of the naked man under me. Elation zipped through my veins, buzzed in my ears, and caused an electric jolt to spasm through my chest.

But Quinn loved me?

Should I say it back? I wanted to say it back. I wanted to laugh, and squeal, and scream. The moment was so utterly, breathtakingly perfect, I couldn’t even breathe properly. Unable to believe he’d told me that, I lifted my gaze just enough to take in the side of his jaw. He needed to shave. I looked higher to find his eyes closed. He was still asleep.

Oh my God, he even loved me in his subconscious? That was just...wait.

I knew I was a shy, sheltered, naive person, but I was also fully aware guys didn’t just go falling in love with a girl after one night, even if it had been the best night of my life. I mean, only yesterday, he’d been planning to ask Cora to—

Oh...no.

Cora.

Guilt and fear and pain swirled through me as his declaration of love continued to sting. Twenty-four hours ago, he’d been Cora’s boyfriend, and he’d woken up in Cora’s bed. He was used to being with her. What if he’d been talking to her in his half sleep? I’d heard him tell her he loved her before. It might just be habit to say it to her first thing in the morning. Made sense that he’d been talking to her, not me.

What didn’t make sense was me, waking up with him this morning, or me thinking this had been one of the best moments of my life. What didn’t make sense was me thinking he loved me.

Holding my breath, I lifted my face higher, but his eyes were still closed and his lips were parted as he breathed easily. Then his palm slid limply off my bottom as he drifted back into a deeper slumber.

And just like that, the best feeling in the world was replaced by the worst. I didn’t belong here. I’d just stolen something from both Cora and Quinn that I could never give back. I was a vile, terrible, awful betrayer.

A tear slipped down my cheek. I chased it with my fingers, wiping it away before it could drip off me and onto Quinn. I shuddered out a sniff and gently, slowly tried to ease off him.

We’d been up most of the night, only catching catnaps here and there until one or the other of us woke ravenous for more. I forgot how many times I stirred to the feel of him with his mouth on my breasts, or his tongue between my legs, his cock entering me from behind while his fingers slid around my hips to play with my clit. There was still a tender spot on the back of my shoulder when he’d bitten me from coming so hard in that position.

His hands had possessed me, stroking so much of me that he now owned every inch. His scalding touch had branded me as his.

And yet a part of him still belonged to her. His lips wouldn’t have formed those words if he didn’t. Right?

He slept on as I carefully climbed off him. After last night, he had to be exhausted. I knew I was. Exhausted and sore, especially between the legs and around my breasts.