Torrid Little Affair (Forbidden Desires #3)

When I arrived at Quinn’s place, he greeted me with a smile and a brisk clap on the back.

“Steak night,” he said, leading me to the kitchen. “The meat’s resting, and the mushrooms are almost done. Help yourself to a drink.”

I let myself into Quinn’s liquor cabinet, my gaze roaming lazily over the bottles. Quinn had made sure to stock up on my favorite whiskey, so I happily poured myself a measure.

Once the food was ready, we sat down at his table to eat, our conversation light and easy. I’d been suspicious when Quinn invited me over, worried he might be staging some sort of intervention. But with how things were going so far, it was clear he really did just want to catch up.

“So,” he said after a long sip of his drink, “Corinne. What do you think about her, really? Off the record. Those hips hitting you anywhere in particular?”

Yeah, those hips shot me straight in the dick, but I bristled slightly at my brother’s quip. Not because I thought he said it with any malice, but because of how well he seemed to know my taste.

“She’s great,” I said, forcing myself to sound as normal as possible.

Quinn gave me a mischievous smile. “Come on, Coop. I know there’s more to it than that.”

I sighed and swirled the liquid in my glass. This was whiskey number two, and while I didn’t feel the slightest buzz yet, I knew we were at a tipping point in the night’s conversation.

Fuck it.

“You’re right,” I said, tapping my fingers on the side of my glass. “She’s special. So special, in fact, that I’ve offered her an exclusive no-strings-attached sexual relationship. No feelings, no commitments, just sex.”

I winced once I had it all out there. Yeah, that was a lot to unload on somebody.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Quinn leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table and raising a critical eyebrow. “You did what?”

“You heard me. I made her an offer. Purely physical. She’s still thinking it over.”

Quinn stared at me for a moment longer before bursting into laughter. “That’s about the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” he said between breaths. “Out of all the women in this city you could be banging out your sadness with, you choose the one you’ll have to see every day at work. You’re a mess, man.”

I shook my head. “No, it won’t be like that. Strictly separate. At work, we’ll work. Anytime outside work, we’ll fuck,” I said matter-of-factly, surprised by my brother’s disapproval. Quinn wasn’t the relationship type. Why was he, of all people, giving me shit for this?

“You’ll get to know each other too well, dude. She’s either gonna hate you or fall for you. Either way, you’re fucked. And not in the good way,” he added.

I thought again of what I read in her file, about the orphanage she grew up in.

“I’m not so worried about either of those things,” I said, taking on a serious tone. “She mentioned something about demons in her past . . . I don’t know the story, but it’s left her with some hang-ups. She’s a broken person, Quinn, and terrified of sex. To think of someone so beautiful, with so much to offer, afraid of the pleasure she could so easily receive . . . it tears at me. If this arrangement would help her, then why shouldn’t I go for it? I saw the way she looked at me just before she ran-she wanted me too, it was written all over her face. She’s curious, and that’s what terrifies her. I’m more than happy to be the one to help her move past that fear.”

I paused then, suddenly aware of the wistful look I was probably wearing. I snapped out of it and cleared my throat before draining my glass.

Quinn shrugged. “If that’s how you feel, I won’t stop you,” he said, rising from his chair. “But I think this calls for another drink.”

I followed Quinn to his library, where he poured us both a glass of brandy. We clinked glasses and each took a swig, and I relished the slight burn as the liquid slid down my throat. I examined some of the books on a nearby shelf while Quinn watched me, a concerned look on his face.

“You haven’t been back in here since that night with Emma, have you?” he said.

A thin, cheerless smile spread across my face as I remembered the night when the woman I thought I loved crushed my dreams, choosing the white-hot passion of my brother Gavin over the stable love I had to offer her. Thinking of that night didn’t sting as much as it used to, but it wasn’t a memory I cared to linger on more than was necessary.

“No,” I said, turning to face him, making as neutral a face as possible. “How are Gavin and Emma doing?”

“Well, I think. All settled into the new place. Looks like happily-ever-after is possible for the Kingsley brothers after all.”

I nodded, forcing a grim smile to my lips. After a moment, I raised my glass in the air. “To Gavin and Emma.”

“To Gavin and Emma,” Quinn repeated. After we both took a sip of our brandy, he swirled the liquid left in his glass before looking up at me. “Do you know what you’re doing with this new girl, Coop? It sounds like you’re entering into some pretty dangerous territory.”

I sighed and sat in one of the plush armchairs by the fireplace. “Not a fucking clue,” I muttered, running a hand over my face. “But I need this. I need to be focused on someone else for a while, I think.”

Quinn nodded, then sat in the chair next to mine. “Just do me one favor, okay?” When I answered with a shrug, he said, “Talk to Gavin about this before you do anything big.”

“Why would I do that?”

“You and I both know he was into the Dominant/submissive scene before Emma. He might know a thing or two about helping a reluctant woman surrender to pleasure.”

I nodded, downing the last of my brandy. Quinn had a point. Gavin would be the person to talk to about how to set up a sexual relationship based solely on one person’s pleasure, especially when it came to thinking outside the box.

I left Quinn’s that night with a slight buzz, both from the alcohol and the thought of embarking on a purely physical relationship with Corinne. Quinn might not have fully approved but he didn’t shut me down, and I was more eager than ever to show Corinne how to unlock the pleasure within her, should she agree to my proposal. Things were looking up, and I could feel myself slowly shedding the bitterness and rage I’d been cultivating since Emma turned me down.

The only thing keeping me from feeling more excitement than I had in months?

The thought of asking Gavin, my brother and Emma’s husband, for sex advice.

Fucking kill me now.