I pulled my shirt up over my head, then tugged Owen's up the muscular ridges of his back. When our bare skin met, I let out a groan of pleasure that ended in a deep chuckle. He caught it in another deep kiss that left me panting.
"How do you feel?" I asked.
"I can't get enough of you. I need more. Please more," Owen said.
He fumbled with the buttons on my jeans as I lapped at his neck. I tried my teeth against the soft tug of his ear lobe and Owen collapsed over me. The fact that the delicate touch of my tongue against the curve of his ear caused his whole strong body to shudder with pleasure stoked a fire in me I had never felt before.
"Roll over," I said.
Owen complied, undoing his jeans as he positioned himself against the pillows of the king-sized bed. I slipped my jeans off and straddled him, watching his eyes close in ecstasy as I rocked against him. The power made me throb as I teased us both until we shivered with delight.
One last rocking rub against his body and Owen sat up. He buried one hand in my hair and the other arm tight around my waist. Our kiss was more than desire, more than hunger, it was drawing breath from each other as we were consumed.
He rolled me beneath him, and I felt the deep contentment of him inside me. We fit together tight, hard, and locked as a whole. When he moved, my body answered and together, we pulsed higher and higher.
In the blissful stillness that followed, I had an epiphany. "Now I know," I accidentally said out loud.
"Know what? I don't think I even know my name right now," Owen said.
"Maybe I'll tell you someday," I said. I did not want to say another word and break the peace we had together.
Now I knew what it felt like when something was right, and I was never going to accept anything else.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Owen
I did not want Quinn to open the door. We were both starving, but I knew once we stepped outside her dorm room, things would change. Inside, we were hidden, it was just the two of us. Inside, there were no other influences on Quinn. It was too hard to see how she was pulled in every direction.
I knew it was because she was young. Not that I was much older, but I had gone through the same thing. The fight between expectations and who I really was. Luckily for me, my family understood. Sienna had not and that was where we had ended. Severing those ties that pulled in the wrong direction hurt, but it was worth it.
I hated that my intuition was right. As soon as we walked downstairs towards the front doors, Quinn spotted her parents.
"We went to the lab to find you," her father said, "and instead, found out you'd made a big scene and run out. Everyone is worried and now we find you with him?"
Quinn straightened her shoulders. "I'm quitting the nursing program. What happened today made me realize I have to stop pretending it is a good fit for me."
"Oh, darling, you can't let a little scare stop you," her mother said. "Of course, it was off-putting and, of course, you're a little more sensitive to it than others, but you're strong. You can do this."
"It’s not just what happened when I saw a cadaver," Quinn said. "I've been feeling this for a while and I'm done forcing myself in the wrong direction."
"What on earth do you know about direction?" her father asked. "You're a spoiled girl who's turned into a lazy college student. You have no direction whatsoever. This program is the only thing keeping you together."
I could see the painful remark hit Quinn hard. "She's keeping herself together and doing an amazing job," I said. "You need to listen to her. It’s her life."
Quinn's father frowned as if I was a bug buzzing. "You really want to be a quitter? All your life you've wanted to flit from one thing to another and it’s gotten you nowhere. Your sister, all of us, tried to push you in the right direction, but it is exhausting."
"Maybe she's tired of being pushed around," I said.
Quinn put a h
and on my arm and pushed me back. "I'm quitting the nursing program so I can find my own way. I'm sorry I don't know what that is yet, but I'm trying."
"Is that what you call running off to Vegas to play video games?" her father asked. "Don't think I don't know how many hours you log on that ridiculous game. I bought you that computer for your studies."
I made a mental note to change Quinn's privacy settings right away. I wanted to jump in between her and her father, but all I could do was cross my arms and hope. I hoped she would fight free. She deserved a chance to find her own way.
"Then take the computer," she said. "Stop paying my tuition. Cut me off entirely. That might be the best thing that has ever happened to me."