The Quirin Stone Page 3

  She nodded.

  “You're sure? We could swing by the walk-in clinic?"

  She glanced at him wryly, sucking her upper lip in, but finally shook her head. After a few moments, she cleared her throat. “I guess as first impressions go, that was probably my worst—ever."

  “I don't think anyone's ever made quite the same impression on me."

  Cassie glanced at him miserably.

  His smile faded when he saw the look on her face. “There was a girl, once. But that was long, long ago. Many lifetimes ago ... it seems."

  “Really? You're just saying that to make me feel better."

  “Yes,” he conceded. “But it also happens to be true."

  “That bad, huh?"

  He glanced at her as he completed a turn. “I didn't say it was bad."

  She sighed. “You didn't have to. I'm not usually like this. I'm really not. Swear to god!"

  He smiled, a faraway look in his eyes. “That's what she said—or words to that effect."

  Cassie was sure she didn't believe a word of it, but she appreciated his efforts to soothe her discomfort. “What did she do?"

  “Fell out of a tree, right on top of me."

  Cassie burst out laughing. “Now I know you're making it up."

  He slowed the vehicle, studying the apartments.

  Cassie pointed. “It's the one on the end. I usually go in the back. We haven't gotten around to making another key for the front door."

  Nodding, he pulled around behind the building. To her surprise, he parked, killed the engine and walked around to her door. “You don't have to walk me in."

  He caught her upper arm, helping her out. He didn't release her, however. “I'll feel better, though, if I see you to the door and make sure you can get in."

  “It's not dark yet,” she protested. “And, anyway, this is a pretty good area."

  He ignored the protest and escorted her up the walk. He released her when they reached the door, waiting. Finally, Cassie shrugged and moved to the potted plant on the edge of the back porch. Tipping it up, she extracted the key and went back to the door.

  Severnson was frowning at her. Actually, it was more like a disapproving glare.

  “I suppose that's your idea of security?"

  “It's the spare. Nobody knows it's there but me and Janie ... and now you."

  “And everybody that's ever stuck a door key under a pot."

  He took the key from her while she was still gaping at him, unlocked the door and preceded her inside. She stood by the door, watching him as he checked behind the sofa, opened the closet door and disappeared into the hallway. After a few moments, she followed him. He stopped abruptly when he threw open the door to Janie's room.

  “It's been ransacked,” he announced grimly.

  Chapter Five

  Cassie peered around Severnson and burst out laughing. “If you think this is bad, you should see mine."

  He glanced at her. “You mean it's supposed to look like this?"

  She shrugged. “No, but we really don't have enough room for everything and we like to keep the living room neat, in case we have company. So if anybody drops in unexpectedly, we usually just gather everything up quickly and pitch it in the room."

  He threaded his way across the room carefully and grasped the doorknob to Janie's closet. “Don't open it!"

  Her warning came too late. The avalanche started even before he got the door fully open. Putting his shoulder to it, he managed to get it closed again. “I have to suppose no one could be hiding in it, not and still be breathing, anyway."

  Cassie knew he was heading for her room. She raced him to the door and barricaded it with her body, bracing her palms on the door frame on either side. He gave her a look, grasped her around the waist and set her to one side, then opened the door and looked around. Ducking under his arm, Cassie peered into the room.

  Actually, it didn't look as bad as Janie's now that she'd compared them. Her bed wasn't made and there were books and papers stacked everywhere. There was a huge mound of dirty laundry in the corner by the closet, and a few things that had been discarded but hadn't made it that far. She looked up at him. “I don't have a car ... yet. And Janie worked yesterday, so I didn't make it to the laundry mat."

  Ignoring the explanation, he strode across the room and grasped the doorknob to her closet. This time, he was more cautious, however. He turned it slowly. When nothing fell against the door, he opened it and looked in.

  “Satisfied?” she asked when he started toward her once more.

  He caught her hand and placed the key in her palm. “Don't leave it outside anymore. In fact, you should get your locks changed."

  “You think?"

  “Was it done after the last occupants left?"

  She shrugged. “Janie rented the place two years ago. Except for her room mates, no one else has lived here."

  “Which means her former room mates might still have a key."

  “Oh. I hadn't thought of that. I'll talk to Janie."

  Nodding, he moved past her and Cassie followed him to the back door again. He stopped in the doorway, turning to look at her.

  She studied him uncomfortably and finally moved a little closer. “I know you said you were all right with the way I acted and everything, but....” She broke off. “I just don't want to leave you with the impression that I was ... that I was trying to come on to you or anything. I'd just been so worried about it, you understand. And it was such a relief. You might not have noticed, but I'm kind of impulsive."

  Thor studied her in silence for several moments when she stopped, twisting her hands nervously. It was the lip habit that was his downfall. The moment she sucked it into her mouth, he lost all sense of judgment.

  “Oh, hell!” he growled, slamming the door shut and striding toward her.

  Her eyes widened like saucers. Her mouth dropped open in surprise.

  He was well beyond such minor considerations as scaring the living shit out of her, however. She stiffened as he scooped her into his arms and dragged her up against him, but either it didn't occur to her to scream, or to protest, or she was willing. He didn't know which. He didn't particularly care at that moment.

  Something akin to madness seized him as he covered her mouth and thrust his tongue between those lips that had been teasing him for hours. Her mouth was warm, wet—and tight. He wasn't sure if it was the image that immediately flooded his mind, or her taste that deprived him of what little control he had left, but he knew instantly that he wasn't going to be able to kiss and stop there.

  She was so damn little he had to bend down just to kiss her. He couldn't feel her body, couldn't get close enough without releasing her mouth. Slipping his hands down to her waist, he lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist, looped her arms around his neck and held on tight. Gratified, he molded her against him, slipping one hand beneath her buttocks, an arm around her back.

  He could feel the damp heat of her sex through his T-shirt, against his belly.

  He forgot all about kissing her then.

  Breaking the kiss, he looked around a little wildly, trying to get his bearings.

  “Down the hall,” Cassie gasped against his neck.

  He'd already turned toward her bedroom when she decided to stick her tongue in his ear. The shock wave of lust that went through him distracted him from his immediate goal. He caught a fistful of her hair, jerking her head back and covering her mouth once more.

  The moment he thrust his tongue in her mouth and she sucked it, he remembered he'd been hunting a bed. Blindly, he felt his way along the wall and managed to get the door open. He forgot to duck his head as he went through the doorway. The molding at the top of the door cracked when he hit it with his head. Ignoring it, he felt blindly for the door and gave it a heave toward closed.

  Turning slightly, he opened one eye long enough to locate the bed and headed straight toward it. He was already leaning toward the bed when he tripped over something she'
d left in the floor. They landed near the edge of the bed. The mattress bounced once, then one whole side of the bed collapsed, startling a little scream out of her.

  It only fell a few inches, however, not far enough to present any problems as far as he could see. Nudging his shoes off first one foot and then the other, he broke the kiss and leaned away from her long enough to peel his T-shirt off and toss it. He peeled the little black dress she was wearing off in much the same way, tossing it over his shoulders.

  The tiny scrap of cloth she had between her legs was barely enough to cover her mound, but it was still too much. Grasping the sides, he pulled them off and sent them the way of the other clothing.

  She was staring up at him wide eyed, panting, her hands over her breasts. He grasped a wrist in each hand and pushed them to the bed on either side of her head. She groaned when he caught one of her nipples in his mouth, rolled it around is tongue, sucked it. He thought it was probably a good sound and kept going. By the time he transferred his attention to her other breast, she was wriggling restlessly, skimming her feet along his legs, lifting her hips against him. He hoped that meant she was ready, because he'd begun to think he might explode any minute. Releasing his grip on one of her wrists, he skimmed his hand down her belly and ran his finger along her cleft. It was so hot and wet and the madness, beaten only slightly into abeyance by the need to search for a bed, clouded his mind again.

  He fought a round with it, stroking her clit, trying to make sure she was as ready as he was. When she began to make little whimpering sounds, however, the madness took over again. Fumbling with his jeans, he thought for several moments that he was going to have to rip the zipper out to free himself. His cock, fully erect, and throbbing like a son-of-a-bitch, was lodged in the leg of jeans.

  Tamping his frustration with an effort, he fought the fabric out of the way and finally unearthed his cock.

  She was staring at him again with that wide eyed look of uncertainty when he looked up at her with his cock in his hand.

  Gritting his teeth, he peeled his jeans and shorts off completely, threw them to the floor and levered himself over her again, kissing her until she once more began to move restlessly against him. By that time, the throbbing in his cock had an echo in his brain. He wasn't sure which one was going to explode first. Slipping his hand down her belly, he tested the waters with his finger. She was hot, but not as wet as he'd hoped.

  He was going to need a shoe horn to get his cock inside of her.

  With that thought, he decided to check. She gasped, clutching his arm as he pushed one index finger inside of her. The muscles of her passage closed around his finger, almost seeming to suck it. He groaned, moving his finger slowly in and out as he began kissing her breasts once more.

  Gratifyingly, she became wet for him almost at once.

  Still kissing her, he pushed her thighs wider and settled his hips between them.

  Grasping his cock in one hand, he slid it up and down her cleft several times, gathering moisture on the head, and finally lodged it in her opening.

  He pushed several times before he realized it really was lodged and he wasn't making any headway. He had managed to push her halfway across the bed, however.

  Her head was tilted back. He thought at first that she'd arched her head back in ecstasy until he discovered when he dragged her back down the bed that her hair was caught beneath her back.

  Desperate by now, he slipped an arm around her hips and tried again. They almost made it to the headboard before it dawned on him that he still hadn't managed to get much more than the head of his cock inside her.

  Grabbing her knees, he pushed her legs further apart, examining ‘the problem'.

  Most of the problem, he realized, was that she was too damned little. Enough lubrication was bound to solve that little impediment, however. He planted his mouth over her clit. The taste and scent of her desire almost made him explode right then. It took a strenuous effort of will to concentrate on pleasuring her. He sucked her clit and teased it until it finally filtered through his maddened brain that she was tearing at his hair and screaming.

  Satisfied that he could now concentrate completely on his own pleasure, he caught his cock in his hand, moistened it while she clawed at his hand, and shoved it home. She grunted as if he'd speared her, but his cock was firmly planted now. Sprawling over her, he got a firm grip on her shoulders and thrust. The walls of her sex resisted him every inch of the way. By the time he'd buried half himself inside of her he was sweating profusely and on the verge of coming. He stopped, panting, trying to think about something else. Slowly, the stranglehold her sex had on his cock eased slightly. He thrust again, gained a little more ground and stopped, panting, squeezing his eyes tightly shut while he concentrated.

  He hit bottom before he ran out of cock.

  It was a dilemma he couldn't find a solution for, certainly not in his current state of near mindlessness. Panting, he levered himself up far enough he could examine her for signs of life. All he could see was the top of her head. “Did I hurt you, baby?"

  She twisted her head to look up at him. “No,” she gasped. “It feels so good."

  The moment she said it, her sex clenched around him in response.

  He closed his eyes, but he was beyond any kind of control at all any more. The first convulsions of release hit him even as he began to pull away and thrust again. His seed slicked her passage, however, allowing him to move easier. He pumped into her mindlessly until she'd wrung him dry and finally collapsed, jerking as his cock continued to convulse with dry heaves for a good minute afterwards.

  Chapter Six

  Thor must weigh pretty close to a ton, Cassie thought, concentrating on taking shallow breaths while he lay on top of her like a dead horse. Finally, to her relief, he rolled off of her. She dragged in her first deep breath of air and rolled onto her side to look at him.

  He caught her waist and dragged her closer, studying her searchingly. She smiled, realizing he was worried that he'd hurt her, or that he hadn't satisfied her. “That was ... mind-blowing."

  His lips quirked. “I hope that means something good."

  She looked at him seriously. “It was a lot more than good."

  His arms tightened, bringing her closer. He plucked her lips with his, sucked first the top and then the bottom into his mouth gently. Finally, his opened his mouth over hers and raked his tongue along the sensitive inner surfaces. “Does that mean you'll invite me in again?” he asked huskily when he broke the kiss.

  “Mmm,” Cassie murmured. “Absolutely."

  The door to her room slammed open abruptly. “Cass—oops ... sor-ry."

  Cassie glanced at Thor in consternation when the door slammed closed again. His expression was wry. “Your roommate, I presume?"

  “Sorry."

  He shrugged. “She was bound to figure it out sooner or later. Is discretion in her vocabulary? Or can I expect we'll both get the boot sometime in the near future?"

  Cassie frowned. “Actually, I don't really know her all that well. I just moved in when the quarter started. I'll talk to her, though. She's a nice person. I don't think she'd intentionally cause problems."

  He lay back, propping an arm behind his head and stroking her hair along her back. “If I'd been that worried about it, for myself, I wouldn't be here. I don't want you to have any problems."

  Cassie shrugged dismissively. Lifting her hand to trace a pattern on his chest. “I could always transfer again."

  He dragged her across his chest. “Thinking about running off?"

  She chuckled. “I'm not much for running."

  “Good. I'm getting too old for chasing."

  She laughed, lifting her head to look down at him. “How old are you?"

  He sighed. “I lose count. A couple of thousand, at least."

  “No, seriously."

  He wrapped his arms around her and rolled over, staring down at her. “Too old for an infant like you. Too old for much to matter to me an
ymore.” He kissed her briefly. “If I'm going to be breeding you, I should probably feed you. What would you like?"

  Cassie chuckled. “I'm on birth control. We didn't use protection, though."

  He shrugged. “I haven't had sex since long before the epidemic. You're safe. And there is nothing on this world that can kill me, unfortunately, not even boredom."

  Cassie frowned as he sat up and looked around for his clothes. “I would've thought you'd be more worried about it."

  “Take my word for it. You're safe ... What's wrong with this bed, anyway?"

  “You broke it."

  He got off the bed and looked it over. “You're right. I'll have to get you a stronger one.” Leaning down, he slapped her bare ass. “Get dressed."

  She sat up, watching him as he slipped his shorts and jeans on. “We can't go out. You know that."

  His eyes gleamed with humor as he glanced up at her. “I know a place."

  “Pizza?"

  He chuckled. “Is that what you want?"

  “I need a shower first,” she said a little uncomfortably. “Just a quick one."

  Grabbing a T-shirt, jeans and panties, she moved to the door and opened it a crack. “Do you have company, Janie?"

  “Not me."

  She made a dash for the bathroom and slammed the door. When she came out ten minutes later, Thor was propped in the door between the living room and the short hall that connected both bedrooms and the bath. He looked her over appreciatively. “Ready?"

  She nodded and started toward him.

  “Got your purse?"

  “Do I need ID?"

  “Not for me."

  “Then I'm ready."

  He pushed away from the door frame as she reached him. To her surprise, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her up close for a brief kiss. When he released her, she turned to discover Janie was perched on the couch, watching them with interest. Reddening, she threw Thor a disapproving look. He lifted his brows but grinned.