Ashton Hill Fools

"The vintage one with the leather band?" he frowned, not sure that he agreed with her.

"Please, just put some clothes on," she shook her head.

"Problem?" Grayson grinned, beyond happy to know he had the same effect on her that she had been having on him lately.

"It's just that you... I..." she swallowed loudly and allowed herself the temptation of running her fingertips over his chest and down his torso. "Now that we've agreed to ground rules, I could jump you right now!" she said boldly, not knowing where the words had come from.

"I'm hanging on here by a thread, Quinn!" he groaned.

"You're very pretty, Grayson, I'm happy to taste as well as touch," she looked him in the eye as her hand brushed over the evidence of his arousal, and she felt his cock almost jump out at her hand.

"You're playing with fire there!" he warned her. "Especially when you're the one who smells of chocolate and something divine," he breathed her in. He picked up her hands in his and took a step back. "I promise tonight I will make you scream in pleasure, but right now I need you to walk that seriously fantastic ass out of here so I can get things under control," he gestured to his groin.

Quinn nodded and drew a deep breath. She shouldn't and wouldn't feel guilty about making him late, he started this. It's nuts, she knew. She'd never had this sort of a 'fuck the consequences' attraction to anyone. Why him? Why now? He was Rheagan's ex, for god's sake, and the embodiment of everything she'd never wanted! She had the feeling that when she left him, and she knew the situation with April would be sorted out eventually and she would leave for her career, her heart would not be safe.

*****

Grayson had sat through the interminable photo shoot thinking and moving as if on automatic pilot when directed by Cilla. Did the kids need a bath tonight, or could Noah shower with him in the morning? Just this once Noah could miss his nightly bedtime story. His siblings could go to Fancies for dinner instead of staying. Just this once he wanted to put his needs first, and his need was in the kitchen entertaining his siblings without him. Just this once he... his mind ran around in circles.

As soon as the kids were asleep he fully intended to make good on his promise and make Quinn scream in pleasure, call out his name and more as he investigated every nook and cranny of her oh so delicious body. He felt his cock stir and tried to keep his mind on the negatives. Yes, they were wildly attracted to each other, and he would taste her, fuck her and feed on her energy, but what he wouldn't do is get attached. They were on the same page about that. It was sex, pure and simple. A chemical reaction that once lit would burn brightly but just as quickly be over; and they would part with only a few scorch marks and the memory of that chemical reaction that was too hot and burned too brightly to last.

Chemistry was all they could have, he reminded himself when his thoughts went to how they would light that fuse later tonight. Quinn was a bold risk taker. She was complicated and intense. She wasn't the quiet calm person he'd considered he would eventually make a life with. She also wasn't plain or boring; his inner devil told him gleefully. He groaned in frustration as Emmanuel asked him to change position yet again.

When Emmanuel finally proclaimed he was finished, Grayson excused himself and jogged upstairs to his bathroom. He needed a minute of peace to get his head together before facing his family. They would read too much into the way he looked at Quinn, and her at him if they weren't careful. She wanted normal, and he agreed, but being normal when he was this horny was going to be a tough act to pull off, he admitted, if only to himself.

He splashed cold water on his face. He hadn't even seen Noah since getting home, and a pang of guilt sounded in his brain. He kept hold of that feeling as he jogged back downstairs and into the open plan kitchen and living area where his family and Quinn waited for him. His sister's in-law sat on the couches with April, drinking wine and chatting happily. Grayson walked over and kissed both of their heads in turn, and then, because he could, kissed April's curls as she tilted her happy face up to him and waved the bottle in her hands.

He then turned his attention to the kitchen where Noah sat precariously on the end of the bench with his big burly brothers either side of him rolling out the icing and cutting shapes with small plastic utensils. He ruffled his son's hair, taking a moment to connect with him, and Noah looked up, his face a mask of pure joy.

"This is the best fun ever, Dad! We're making dinosaur cupcakes!" he held up the piping bag full of green icing to show his father and pointed at the tray of brightly coloured cupcakes proudly.

"I thought we were making monsters!" Thorn chimed in.

"No, it's aliens!" Byron argued.

"Dinosaurs!" Noah said adamantly, as if both of his uncles were brainless fools, "They're so cool, Dad!"

"They look... like the coolest cupcakes I have ever seen," Grayson lied with a perfectly straight face. "How many more do you still have to decorate?"

"Just this one," Noah said petulantly, holding up the cupcake with the oozy green icing Noah had been piping onto it. "Quinn says she has to make some the girls will eat," he groused. "She's going to do them after dinner. But no pink or fairies or silly girl stuff, right?" he turned his attention to Quinn.

"I can do flowers, though, right?" she asked, sounding as if it had been a tough negotiation with the little boy.

"Just a few," he said reluctantly.

Grayson couldn't hide his smile as he went to the large refrigerator and grabbed out three beers. He opened two, placing them in front of his brothers, and took a bottle of wine over to top up his sister-in-law's glasses.

"Wine, Quinn?" he offered, coming to stand beside her and unable to help himself placing a hand on her waist, feeling the zing of the contact between them.

"No thank you, I'm good," she said, giving the word more than one meaning as she moved to take a bowl to the sink.

"Who's hungry?" Quinn asked, coming back to the countertop near Noah to inspect the final cupcake.

"Me!" Noah cried, waving the bag of icing around by its tail, flinging globs of green icing over the countertop and Quinn, who he'd turned towards. "We're having lasagna, Dad! Salad, no veggies," he grinned.

"Why don't I take you to wash up, buddy," Thorn said, taking the icing bag from Noah's hand, his eyes wide as Tate blinked in surprise. Instead of rushing off the bathroom in a panic about her appearance, she surprised the three men staring at her by scooping a glob of green icing from where it had landed on her chin and sucking it from her finger. Her eyes met Grayson's as she did this and his knees almost buckled at the teasing laughter they held.

"At least I taste extra sweet now," she murmured, still holding his gaze, and he groaned involuntarily.

"Something tells me this is going to be a quick dinner," Byron chuckled, and started helping Quinn clean up the mess.

"I'll take April up to the nursery," Grayson offered, "while you get this sorted." He'd almost told his brother to feel free to leave immediately and take the lasagna with him.

*****

When he came back downstairs, the dinner was ready and on the table, thanks to some well thought out preparation by Quinn. She'd even managed some crusty garlic bread, and when they were all finally seated, she excused herself for a moment to go and clean up, claiming to be too sticky to enjoy the food and promising to eat something later, when Grayson scowled at her. After their confrontation the last time his brothers were here he didn't press her, and she apologised for being rude and not joining them, but pointed out that she was only the temporary hired help, after all, making him scowl even more in her direction.

Now she picked at the left-over salad and carefully placed flowers, bumble bees and ladybugs on the last of the cupcakes. She felt headachy and closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. She knew, just as Grayson did, that sex between them would be mind-blowing, and the tension that came with that knowledge threatened to undo her as she tidied up the equipment she had used. The dishwasher was stacked, the kitchen was once again clean and orderly, and all she had to do now was check on the children and say goodnight.

She tilted her head back, rolling her neck and looking up at the ceiling, imagining Grayson reading Noah a bedtime story just above that ceiling and trying to get him to come down off his sugar high, which he would undoubtedly blame her for. She was about to move the cupcakes she'd carefully crafted into an airtight container when her head snapped up at the sound of Grayson walking into the kitchen and toward her. He moved behind her, placing his hands on her hips, and kissed the edge of her jaw line below her ear.

"Those look great. Are you done?" he asked. He felt Quinn nod rather than say anything and pull the large container towards her to transfer the cakes. He saw the dismal creations of his brothers and son already sitting in the large container. "Are you going to fix the dinosaurs?" he asked.

"Nope, I'm not going to touch them. You saw how proud Noah was of them," she said. "That's what matters, isn't it?" She asked and turned her head to look at him. "Don't worry so much, they're bright and sugary, and the kids will inhale them."

"You're right," he said, and let her finish what she was doing. He went to the corner where a bar stood and he grabbed two tumblers and a bottle of scotch. He poured a good measure and placed it next to her on the counter.

"Thanks," she smiled. She needed the drink, the tension headache was getting worse, and she needed something to distract herself from the day and the evening, as well as tonight.

Usually, when faced with family dinners and domesticity of any kind, like this afternoon and this evening, she would have run as fast as she could in the opposite direction, but she had enjoyed being an integral part of this family. She had felt needed and accepted and valued. The feelings were strange to her, and she didn't know what to do with them or the odd emotions they, in turn, evoked, as she pictured being here with Grayson and Noah and April as part of a family unit, part of a normal life.

'Get a grip,' she berated herself, 'That's not who you are, you're a free spirit, a wanderer. You would be bored in an instant with a life like that.' Still, as Grayson pulled up a stool and sat beside her, she couldn't help but wonder, what if...

"How was the photo shoot? You said you were rebranding?" she asked.

"Long," he grumbled. "As was dinner. Why did you leave? You didn't have to, you're not exactly the hired help," he said, showing he still wasn't happy about that sarcastic line Quinn had delivered rather than eat dinner with them.

"I'm glad you took my advice and wore the watch," she said, trying to change the subject as she busily finished up what she was doing and cleaned the decorating plate and wire rack the cakes had sat on.

"It was my Dad's. It reminds me of how much I miss him. He was my touchstone, you know?" he looked at her and saw that it was a badly thought out question. "He was funny and so smart... so full of life. He was, in so many ways, the glue that held out family together. He was our dad, but more than that. He was a charismatic, fearless leader of a bunch of ragtag boys," Grayson said nostalgically.

"Then you had to take over the role?" Quinn asked. It seemed a lot to take on and a hard act to follow.

"Yeah, I guess, in some ways," he agreed, not sure why he was telling her all about this except that she'd asked.

"Are you happy with doing that? I mean, your brothers seem very capable of living their own lives," she questioned him, further enjoying this insight into his world.

"Dad would have expected it, and that's reason enough to pick up the gauntlet. While this family and the business mostly runs on discussion and democracy, the buck has to stop with someone, and that someone is me," he stated. "That doesn't mean every once in a while I feel like running away, but I couldn't, not really. My brothers do live their own lives, but they know I stand behind them, just like they stand behind me. They also know that I will fight for our family business with my dying breath."

"You think Thorn was right and someone is trying to mount a takeover bid?" she asked. She may not have been involved in the conversation, but she had followed it and Thorn's obvious anxiety over it.

"I don't know, maybe," he said and pulled his hand through his hair again. "As soon as Roland finds Rheagan I'll get him to look into it. He has the resources to dig deep and come up with some answers," he said in a tired voice.

Quinn realised she wasn't just interfering with his personal life, she was interfering with the family business as well by taking up Roland's valuable time. She gulped a mouthful of scotch as the tension band around her head tightened. It was time to do something about that, she acknowledged.

"Noah asleep?" she asked, and watched as he nodded, his eyes looking up into hers with heat that threatened to sear her.

"So's April," she nodded at the baby monitor.

Grayson stared at her eyes, blazing for several long moments before sliding from the stool and scooping her up into his arms.

"I probably need another shower, first," she tried to protest as he carried her toward the stairs.

"You can shower later, preferably with me, but I have waited too long for this, and you smell of chocolate and vanilla and some crazy sexy perfume I don't know that drives me insane. I can't wait anymore, not even for a quick shower. I need to touch and taste you properly, here," Grayson bent his head to kiss her forehead "And here," he brushed his lips over her mouth, "and everywhere else that I possibly can touch and taste!" he growled.

"But..." she tried to protest.

"No, Quinn. I need this, I need you now!" he raised his voice slightly in his demand. He'd made it as far as the couch before letting her slide back to her feet and reached down to pull her long-sleeved t-shirt off over her head. "So pretty," he murmured, cupping her breasts through the bra and brushing his thumbs over the swollen nipples.

He surprised her then by lifting his hands and running them into her hair to tangle there and tilt her face up to his, kissing her hard and deep and urgently. He practically devoured her, leaving her feeling like she wasn't just what he wanted right then, but that she was all he ever wanted, and it made her weak at the knees. She lifted her hands to the buttons of his shirt and undid it, her fingertips exploring each new patch of skin exposed until she could push the shirt open and hear his murmurs of appreciation and pleasure increase in the kiss. He was pure masculine strength and sexiness, and she wanted him as much as he wanted her. With her fingers dancing ever lower, she brushed them over the sizable erection tenting his jeans.

"God, Quinn!" he growled low and guttural against her mouth. He shrugged out of his open shirt and reached behind her to unhook her bra, letting it fall away and breaking the kiss momentarily to look at her. "So fucking pretty!" he groaned. His hands hooked into the waistband of her leggings and pushed them down, revealing tiny, practically see-through panties, and he groaned again. She struggled with the buckle of his belt, it was a tricky clasp she hadn't come across before, not that she had that much experience with undoing men's belts.

"Help me?" she practically whined as he put his hand between her legs, rubbing her through the lace of her panties. She laid her palm flat again his cock and looked up at him, her plea in her eyes.

"We have to slow down," he groaned, "if we don't I'm going to take you on this couch right here and now!" he groaned.

"And that would be a problem because?" she whispered breathlessly, placing a hot wet, open-mouthed kiss on his chest. "That's exactly what you should be doing. I want hot, fast, furious. Why are you waiting?" Her voice came out a soft whine again.

His hand dipped into his back pocket and pulled out a strip of three condoms. He ripped one off with his teeth and let the rest drop to the floor. He wasn't taking any chances, even if Quinn happened to be on birth control of some kind.

"You want to get your hands on me so badly," he said with amusement and dropped the packet into her hand.

"I would if you'd help me with your pants!" she said in frustration, and ripped open the foil packet.

"Feeling flustered, sweetheart?" he teased.

"Aren't you?" she shot back at him, knowing she wasn't in this alone.

Grayson grinned and flipped open his belt buckle with one hand while still holding a hand in her long thick hair and tilting her face up to be kissed. He pushed not only his jeans but his underwear off and kicked them before dragging her panties down her long slender legs, so they were both finally naked. When he released her hair and the kiss she looked down and related his own words back to him.

"Very pretty, Gray," she reached out to hold him, pulling the condom from the packet. She wanted him now.

"Pretty? Try another more manly adjective, please, before you regret that and my cock hides from the mean girl," he groaned, but amusement danced in his eyes.

"Impressive? Bold? Insanely delicious," her thumb circled the head of his cock, rubbing gently, thinking there wasn't much chance of this cock hiding from her over the word pretty.

"Those will work," he grinned and sat on the couch, pulling her to straddle his thighs. His hand moved between her legs, and once again she wrapped her hand around his girth. She didn't want to wait or slow down anymore. She wanted to be pushed, possessed, filled and taken to the limit. She wanted to belong to him and this family and this house, if only for this brief slice of time. She rolled the condom on him, running both her hands the length of his shaft, letting him know in no uncertain terms that she was ready, despite the delicious things his fingers were doing to her pussy.

"God, Quinn. It's our first time. We should be taking it slow," he groaned, but hooked his hands under her ass, lifting her above his cock, "But, fuck, I can't wait anymore, I need this, I need you!" he growled as she sank down onto his cock.

Quinn's focus narrowed to the feeling of him as he thrust inside her in one move as she sank down onto him. The world could have gone to hell in a hand basket, for all she cared at that moment, as she gasped and felt him stretch her and touch all of those long-neglected places within her. They moved together with his hands on her breasts teasing her nipples, their mouths fused together and their tongues doing an erotic dance where their tongues thrust in tempo with their fucking.

Breaking the kiss and resting his forehead against hers, he breathed heavily. She was perfection, better than his imagination had led him to believe. He wanted to fuck her into the middle of next week, starting in this room and moving through the grand old house.

"Cum for me, Sweetheart!" he growled out the command. "Let me feel you cum on me!"

Lightning electricity danced up and down her spine at his words, and she felt her body respond when he continued to urge her to greater highs as she rode him into the storm they had created between them, listening to his words.

"So fucking good, ride me, Quinn! Take me, yeah, just like that!" he thrust his hips up on every word, feeling her thighs begin to shake and her eyes glaze over as she reached for that ultimate high.

Quinn splintered into a million pieces, and from far away she could still hear Grayson's urgings, but they made little sense to her now. She understood the silent demands of his body, however, and she wanted to tell him that she couldn't, that she was done, but he shifted beneath her and touched places even deeper inside her, and she exploded a second time. Minutes, hours, days could have passed, for all she knew, when she finally came back to her senses, her face plastered against Grayson's sweaty chest and his arms around her.