8. Quinn

8

QUINN

" N o, I'm not." I dug my heels into the ground, throwing my weight back.

"You are. I said we needed to have a conversation, and now we're going to have it. Back to the boats. We're leaving." Roman tightened his grip on my arm and began dragging me away from the lighthouse, back towards the jetty. I stumbled a little, and he slowed down so I could regain my footing. Even as he did so, he frowned, and then as soon as I was steady on my feet, he picked up the pace again.

Was he seriously going to do this? "We can't just leave ."

"We can and we will."

"People will talk."

"I don't give a fuck," he growled.

"But I can't?—"

"Enough. Boat. Now. We're going to have a conversation without any fucking interruptions."

We reached the dock, and he wasted no time in manhandling me into one of the moored boats. I practically fell inside, collapsing down on the seat at the back and putting my head in my hands. I heard him moving around, and then the engine turned on, and we were roaring away from Chaceley Rock.

What was everyone going to think when they found out that Roman and I had both disappeared? I had to hope that they were too drunk to notice. I hoped that once we were done, he'd be taking us back to the island, otherwise, we were going to have a lot of explaining to do, not to mention the risk of my parents finding out.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't even realised that the engine had cut out until Roman's shout sounded from the front of the boat. "Fuck!"

"What is it?"

He ignored me, flicking switches, turning the key in the ignition over and over again. "Fuck, fuck, fuck ."

"What's wrong? Why have we stopped?" I carefully made my way over to him, attempting to stay steady as the boat bobbed gently in the ocean.

He finally met my gaze, his eyes dark and angry.

"Know anything about boats? The fucking engine just cut out."

No.

"I don't, sorry."

"Fucking useless," he hissed, which I thought was a bit unfair since it had been his idea to do this in the first place.

"Doesn't look like you know any more than I do," I countered, glaring at him. "Weren't you on the swim team? You should know more than I do."

"Fuck you, Quinn. That has nothing to do with boats. If we can't get this engine going, we're stuck here. Do you want that?"

"No. Is there, like, a manual or anything?"

"Do I look like I know? It's not my fucking boat." He was getting more and more angry, and it shouldn't have affected me the way it did, but I couldn't tear my gaze away from him. He was so beautiful, even in his anger, cursing the sea like some kind of vengeful god.

When he slammed his hand down on the control panel, I finally looked away, glancing through the windshield. We seemed to be drifting farther away from the island. "Um, Roman? Does this boat have an anchor? I think the tide is carrying us along. Look." I pointed towards the now-distant lighthouse, which appeared to be off to the right instead of directly behind us now.

His eyes widened as he took in what I was seeing. "Shit. Yeah. Anchor." Both of us turned to scan the boat, and I immediately saw the anchor.

I raced for it, grabbing the handle of the winch. "Roman!" I called, and he was suddenly there with me, his hands on mine as we turned the heavy handle together, and the anchor released, the clanking of chains as it descended into the depths the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard. There'd been a moment there when I had a vision of us being carried away on an empty ocean, swallowed up by the night.

"We did it!" I forgot who I was talking to for a moment, turning to Roman with a huge smile.

He stared at me for a moment, his face illuminated by the moonlight, and then he gripped my face in his hands.

Then, his lips were on mine.

I froze in shock for all of two seconds before I kissed him back.

It felt like I'd been waiting my whole life for this kiss.

He pulled back slightly, his breath coming in pants as he stared down at me, his eyes wide. "This wasn't supposed to happen. Fuck, why do you do this to me?" he groaned before his lips descended again. I lifted myself up on my toes, winding my arms around his neck, and he slid his hands from my face, down around my body until his arms were around me, holding me to him.

This kiss. Everything about Roman was hard, so hard, but his lips were so soft. My tongue slid against his as he pressed into me, grinding his hardness against my body.

" No ." With an effort, he pulled away from me, stepping back towards the helm. "We need to get out of here," he muttered to himself. I collapsed back on the padded leather bench seat, attempting to slow my breathing and get my elevated heart rate under control. Everything in me wanted to carry on kissing him, to make the most of being alone with him here on this boat. No one would know. There was nobody to see us, no way for anyone to find out.

He was the biggest temptation I'd ever had, and I knew that if he kissed me again, out here with no one to see, I wouldn't stop him.

I watched him as he tried again, and failed again, to restart the engine, distracted by the way his arm muscles were flexing. Then a thought came to me. "Isn't there some kind of radio or SOS thing on here? I knew I shouldn't have listened to Blaine's stupid rule about not bringing phones to the island."

"Flares." His voice was suddenly hopeful. "In the—" He cut himself off, slamming his hand on the control panel. "Fuck. We cleared everything out to make room for the drinks."

"You cleared out the life-saving stuff to make room for alcohol?" My voice was incredulous. "Whose genius idea was that? There's nothing else we can do, then. We'll have to wait for the others to find us when it gets light. Or the coastguard, I guess."

"The engine's overheated. It might work again if we leave it for a bit." His voice sounded uncertain, and I was sure that neither of us believed that was the problem, but I nodded.

"Let's try it again in a bit." Biting down on my lip, I warred with myself before I let the words come out. "We can have that talk, if you want." Both of our defences were down right now, and maybe this was what we needed. A chance to clear the air.

He stared at me for a long, charged moment.

Then he spoke. His voice was low, his words carried away on the night breeze, but I read the intent in his eyes perfectly. "I don't want to talk."

He crossed the boat to me in three strides, threw himself down on the seat next to me, and tugged me onto his lap.

There was no hesitation from either of us. I poured everything I had into this kiss, grinding down against his hardness, digging my knees into the leather of the seat as his tongue swiped into my mouth. The boat rocked, making me slide across his thighs, and his hands came down to grip my hips, holding me steady.

"I want you," I whispered as he kissed along my jaw, then bent his head to drag his teeth down my throat.

"Yeah. Here, where there's no one to see," he muttered into my neck.

The hurt tore through me, and suddenly, I wanted to explain. Explain what I could, to make him understand it wasn't what he thought. I gripped a handful of his hair and tugged, making his head come up. His darkened eyes met mine.

"Listen to me." I took a deep breath. "I want you all the time. Those things I said to you in the boat sheds…none of them were true. I lied to you."

His brow creased. "Why say them, then?"

"I-I can't tell you. But I want you to know that if there was a way for you and me to be something, or even to just be friends, I would seize it. But we can't. Please, please don't ask me why. I can't tell you."

"Is this?—"

Brushing my lips over his, I cut off his question. " Please , Ro."

He huffed out a sound against my mouth that sounded like a growl, but then he kissed me again. "Okay. No more questions. Not tonight. I don't believe you, but I've got a much better idea for your mouth." Taking my hand, he slid it onto the impressive bulge in his jeans. "Have you ever given a blow job on a boat?"

I eyed him from beneath my lashes. Fuck. I was already so wet for him. He affected me like no one else ever had, and I wasn't sure if I wanted him to know the extent of the effect that he had on me.

I chose my words carefully. "Not until now." Licking my lips as I palmed his erection, I was rewarded with a groan. Then I slipped off him to kneel on the floor.

He opened his jeans, revealing his thick, hard length.

"You're so big," I whispered, and he smirked down at me. There was something more in his gaze, though. Something that I wanted to take advantage of. He could act like this was nothing, like I was just another mouth, another body to satisfy him, but we both knew the truth.

"You like what you see, huh?" He swallowed hard, trying to sound casual, steadying me with his legs on either side of me as I gripped the bottom of his erection, not wanting him to go too deep while we were on a rocking boat.

Instead of replying, I leaned forwards to place a kiss to the head of his cock, followed by a long, slow lick. One of his hands came down to grip my hair while I licked around the head again, then down his shaft.

" Fuck . Your mouth. Stop teasing me and suck me." His voice was hoarse, and his legs tensed on either side of me.

Lowering my head farther, I took him into my mouth, down until I reached the place where my hand was gripping him. Getting into a rhythm, I sucked him up and down in tandem with the movement of my hand, swirling my tongue, getting him wet and messy until he was panting above me and groaning out my name.

"Fuck. Fuck. Quinn. Fuck . Baby. I'm?—"

His hips stuttered, and he pulsed in my mouth, his release hitting the back of my throat. I swallowed him down, as much as I could, his cum spilling out of the corner of my mouth as I raised my head.

For a minute, he just stared down at me, breathing hard, and then he cupped my jaw, his thumb rubbing across the side of my mouth. "Open."

I opened, and he slid his thumb inside. As I sucked lightly, he stroked through my hair with his free hand. He didn't say anything more, but a smile curved over his lips. It lit me up from the inside and brought a lump to my throat because that was his proper smile. The smile he used to give me.

While he was doing up his jeans, I took a minute to compose myself, swallowing down the emotions I couldn't allow myself to feel. When I straightened up, he lifted me onto him again and gently tugged my bottom lip between his teeth.

"I think it's time I returned the favour."

Just as he spoke, I felt the first drops of rain. My release was forgotten as we both scrambled to get under the tiny hardtop at the front of the boat while we were pelted by the rain. It was little more than a sunshade and barely provided any shelter, especially with the way the wind was picking up and driving the rain sideways.

I began to shiver. Why had I worn this stupidly thin hoodie?

Roman wrapped me in his arms, but as the rain started coming down harder, I knew that we'd both be cold and soaking before long.

Raising his head, he looked towards the back of the boat. "The island doesn't look too far away," he said slowly. "I think I can make it."

" What ?" There was no disguising the horror in my voice. "You can't seriously be thinking about swimming it!"

"I'm a strong swimmer. I can make it." He nodded decisively before releasing me to rip off his T-shirt and tug down his jeans.

"But—but look! Look how far away we are from it. I can barely even see it. What if there are rocks? Or sharks? And it's pitch black and raining! What if you get disoriented? You could die , Roman." Panic was clawing at me as all the ways that it could go horribly wrong hit me at once. "Please, please don't do this."

A sob tore from my throat, and I began to shake. Roman glanced towards the island, then back at me, and gave a heavy sigh. He stepped forwards and hugged me to him, rubbing his hands up and down my arms. "I have to. We can't stay out here all night, not like this. You'll get hypothermia, and so will I. There's no proper shelter on this boat." Tugging me into a corner of the boat, he directed me to sit down on the floor where the seats were providing some protection.

"Put my T-shirt on under your hoodie, and stay as dry as you can," he instructed. "I promise you I can make it, okay?"

Before I could reply, he made a run for the back of the boat and dived into the deep, dark water.

" Roman !" My scream was carried away in the night as I desperately scanned the waves for any sign of him.

All I could see was darkness.

He was gone.