Ashton Hill Fools

"We managed to do it," he said in amusement as he stroked her hair back from her face.

"We certainly did, and then some," she agreed, tilting her head up to kiss his chin.

"The sex was absolutely amazing, don't get me wrong," he chuckled. "I mean, that we managed to have that sex without one of the kids waking up," he bent his head to kiss the top of hers.

"Oh, yeah," she said guiltily. She'd forgotten about the kids. She was definitely not Mummy material, no matter how much she might want to be when she was with him like this.

"Want to see if we can do it again while the going is good?" he asked, his voice full of amusement.

"Slow and sexy this time?" she smiled lazily.

"Slower maybe this time, but sexy absolutely every time," he murmured, his hands travelling over her body, making her glad her left side was showing to his gaze now that he was really looking at her.

*****

Grayson stirred as his son climbed over the top of him and lay on his chest early the following morning. It took a moment, but his eyes popped open and he became instantly awake, remembering the naked woman who had been lying beside him when he fell into a deep exhausted sleep not so long ago. He turned his head, seeking her out, and was relieved initially to find her gone. After his initial panic that his son would see her here in his bed, he felt disappointed that she hadn't stayed, that she had slipped out his bed and his room without a word. That had been their deal though, just sex, nothing more.

He groaned and rolled off the bed letting Noah lie in the warm blankets while he had his shower and started their morning routine. He didn't know why he had expected her to be there when he woke. They had both known it was just about scratching their mutual itch. This wasn't the beginnings of a relationship forming, it was sex, mind-blowing, amazing sex, and even as he thought about it he wanted more. She was amazing, and he had explored every nook and cranny of her body last night. Her scars had shocked him at first, and he had fought not to let it show as he kissed each pink and purple indent on her skin. From what he could tell her injuries had been quite extensive, and he wondered how she had survived, not only the injuries but the entire experience.

Feeling the ache of tiredness behind his eyes, he did his best to keep up with Noah's excited chatter about school and the party, which his cupcakes would then be presented to the senior citizens. He was thankful that Quinn had held some back to decorate herself. They made their way downstairs for breakfast, and Grayson was surprised to see Quinn in the kitchen making breakfast, looking as if she had slept well and had woken refreshed while he felt drained and exhausted.

"Hi," she smiled in greeting. "Sleep well?"

"I did," he said, looking at her suspiciously. "How many coffees have you had this morning?" He grumbled as she passed him a cup.

"This is my first," she smiled and lifted her own cup to her lips. She felt amazingly good on a high of adrenaline and endorphins after being celibate for so long, but Grayson didn't need to know that, or the fact that she would probably crash when April went down for her nap.

"Are you ready for today, Noah?" she asked.

"Yup, I have the coolest cupcakes," he said happily, having climbed to the stool and opened the airtight container in which they sat, eyeing the prettier ones for the girls that Quinn had decorated. "The girl ones aren't so bad," he admitted grudgingly, seeing the bees and ladybugs she had used as decoration.

"Anything else you may have forgotten?" she asked as he replaced the lid. He seemed to think about her question and looked at his father for an answer.

"I don't know, buddy, what's happening at school today?" he asked, taking another large sip of his coffee.

Quinn smiled and moved away to check on the scrambled eggs she had in the pan and gather toast from the toaster so she could butter it.

"Have you two men got any plans for the Easter weekend?" she asked. "Planning an adventure to hunt for dinosaur eggs or footprints again?" she asked as she dished up the breakfast. "If you found just a dinosaur eggshell you could wear it as a very big hat," she grinned at Noah, whose eyes lit up. He slipped from his stool at the kitchen counter and ran outside.

"Noah, breakfast, now!" Grayson called him back.

"I'm coming back, Dad!" Noah yelled back as he pulled open the back door and disappeared through it. Grayson groaned and went to stand up, but Quinn stopped him with a look.

"He'll only be a minute, and be nice, he put a lot of work into his Easter bonnet yesterday afternoon. I finished it for him this morning," she said quietly. "Before you ask, it doesn't need fixing, it's what he wanted." She warned him.

"I'm not that bad," he complained about her warning and watched as his son came back in wearing a green top hat with a Dinosaur sitting on top of it, and a jungle like cacophony of leaves around the brim on which lay some badly painted large green eggs.

"Isn't it great, Dad?" Noah said, coming back to the kitchen bench. "Quinn said I didn't have to have bunnies and chickens if I didn't want to, as long as I had eggs. They're not as good as our dinosaur eggs, are they, Dad?" Noah continued to chatter, refusing to take his hat off while he ate his breakfast.

"Thank you," Grayson mouthed at Quinn as Noah continued to chatter excitedly about everything he was going to do that day. She smiled and nodded at him. She was happy that Noah seemed happy. Maybe now he would trust her more and stop calling her every day when she was picking up Noah to make sure she got there on time and picked him up without any problems.

"Time for you to get changed," Quinn stifled a yawn and picked up April from where she sat in the highchair. "Just leave the dishes in the sink, I'll do them later," she said as she went to leave the kitchen with the baby. "Have a great day, Noah!"

Grayson watched her go, once again feeling strangely disappointed. She had laid the ground rules around last night that they act normal outside the bedroom, but it was as if she was ignoring what happened between them last night, and for some reason that didn't sit well with him. He considered her attitude as Noah finished his breakfast, and then sent him up to brush his teeth before they left for school and work respectively.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, walking into the nursery where April sat on the floor playing with toys. "You're not regretting last night, are you?"

"No," she laughed softly. "This one woke up about five minutes after you fell asleep, so I'm just trying to wear her out a little bit so I can have an hour's nap this morning, if she will sleep. You might be used to sleepless nights, but I need at least an hour or two," she laughed. It wasn't the whole truth, but it should get him to stop looking at her with such worried eyes.

"Good, because I'd like to revisit some of the things we did last night and improve on them," he grinned. "See you tonight," he said, as Noah called him from the bottom of the stairs and he disappeared from the nursery to start his day.

Quinn sighed. She wanted to revisit some of what they had done last night too. Not that she had that much experience, but Grayson had rocked her world in a way no one else ever had. He seemed to shed his calm, business-like, reserved, family man persona with his clothes and morphed into a dirty-talking, demanding, creative and unrestrained lover. He was confident and uninhibited, but had surprised her with moments of tenderness and genuine concern for her as he explored the scars that marred her body. Oh yes, she wanted more of him and those lovely endorphins tonight.

Sex was one thing. However, playing happy families the next morning with their two gorgeous children over breakfast was not something she wanted to indulge in. She had that once before her father left. She could remember small snippets now and then of lazy Sunday's with her parents, of laughter over the dinner table of being loved. Then it was gone with her father, and her mother never let her forget that it was her father that had wanted her. That, given the choice, her mother would have pursued her education and dreams beyond this small town, rather than being a single mother to a child she had never wanted in the first place.

"The sooner we find your mummy the better, huh? I'm not cut out for this happy family life," she said to the little girl. Quinn sighed, she couldn't risk getting too attached to anyone here, she might like it too much, come to yearn for it and a family of her own, and that wasn't what she wanted. She picked up April and held her close. Grayson was a rock, and he would weather any storm that hit his family. She was a rolling stone who blew away when the storms got severe. She valued her independence above everything else. She could pack up and leave anywhere at any time she needed to. She couldn't have a baby, she didn't even have a permanent address, nor did she want one.

April wound her arms around Quinn's neck an into her hair, smiling up at her with love and trust in her pretty blue eyes. She knew she loved the little girl, but keeping her, with her career, was totally impractical. What was more impractical was giving up her career for April. She had money, she could afford to buy a place and put a roof over their heads, but the money would run out eventually, and then what would she do? She had no other skills, and reporters were only as good as their last story. How would they survive? No, she had to find Rheagan and make her see sense. She had to make her take responsibility for this beautiful baby.

"What do you think? Will we clean the kitchen before we have a nap?" she asked the little girl and got to her feet. "Then, when we're feeling better, we're going to call Roland and see if he has any clues where she went yet." Something, anything, even a hint is better than knowing nothing. As an investigative reporter, she could probably have tracked down her sister herself if she didn't have to look after April.

Maybe she could, she thought, as she made her way down to the kitchen and considered all the contacts she had in the city that she could call on. She cleared the kitchen quickly as April played in her high chair, mashing her banana into the tray as well as her face, making Quinn laugh and wonder how much she actually got in her mouth.

"What do you think, Baby? Will we have a little sleep before we start making calls?" Quinn asked the little girl as she cleaned her hands and face, as well as the high chair. April grumbled mildly, and Quinn nodded. "Yeah, I'm tired too, let's have a nap, then we can think about how to find mummy more clearly."

*****

Quinn and Grayson lived an idyllic long weekend full of family events and long nights wrapped around each other. Each of them keeping their own thoughts about temporariness of their relationship and how, eventually, they both knew that Rheagan would be found and Quinn would leave. They were insatiable, and often snuck in small moments to steal kisses, touch and tease as their conversations, laced with innuendo, rose up over Noah's head.

On Sunday night, after a family dinner which she had cooked, Grayson had gone upstairs to check on the children while she cleaned up the last of the glassware and debris from the family gathering. Having finished off the kitchen, she smiled and turned off the lights, making her way toward the stairs. It would be so easy to get caught up in the fantasy of family life here. This house, his brothers and their wives, the warm friendship and bonds they all shared. It would be far too easy to believe she belonged with these people, but she didn't. She couldn't, and soon she would have to leave them all behind to resume her life.

She paused at the bottom of the stairs considering the bizarre situation she found herself in. She was becoming attached to these people, this house, to Grayson, himself, and she couldn't let that happen. Maybe they needed a night apart, maybe they needed some space. They had been joined by the electric jolts that consumed them ever since Thursday night, and, as the weekend progressed, that magnetic attraction only seemed to increase instead of lessening with familiarity. She walked past his room, where she could hear him in Noah's room, to the nursery to check on April.

Quinn saw Grayson appear at the door of the nursery and lean on the door jamb, looking so amazing. Having tasted the delights he offered, how was she supposed to resist him when he looked at her like that? It was just sex, she told herself for the umpteenth time. Just sex and endorphins, there was no relationship, no family, no children involved in their relationship, if they even had one beyond temporary Nanny and boss.

"What's wrong?" he asked as she walked close enough to hear his whispered question.

"I'm just a little tired," she said. "Maybe we should just go to our own rooms tonight," she whispered, sounding uncertain if that was what she really wanted. Grayson stared at her as if she had grown two heads.

He had felt the same pull of family and love today. They'd started with an Easter hunt before joining the picnic at the lake and eventually came home for dinner with the family. It was too much, he knew it and felt it, but he didn't think separating and severing the ties that had formed was the answer. He didn't want it to be the answer. He agreed that what they were engaged in was a risky affair, and no doubt would cause them both heartache, but he also wasn't prepared to lose her while she was living under the same roof as he was. He would have enjoyed taking her to bed and making slow passionate love to her until she cried out his name, but he knew if he was going to make the situation any better that he had to take the emotion out of today. He had to make it about the chemistry, the attraction, the electric zing that bounced around them whenever they were alone together.

He pulled her out of the nursery and pushed her back against the wall opposite the nursery with a take-charge attitude that had him putting some force into the move that stole her breath. She looked up at him, and he clamped his mouth down on hers before she could say anything else. This wasn't a romantic kiss; there was nothing tender or exploratory about it. He had never kissed her like that. Their kisses had always been aggressive and fuelled by their mutual lust, but this was something else. It seemed possessive, even predatory in nature as he devoured her mouth.

He slid a hand under ass and another around the back of her neck and lifted her. Her dress slipped up her legs as she gasped into the kiss and locked her legs around his hips, trying to gain some balance as he held her tightly in place. Her hands ran over his shoulders and ran down his back as she gave in to the chemistry, but he seemed unrelenting in the aggression of his kiss and the power of his hold on her body.

It was both exciting and frightening feeling the extreme intensity of what he was doing to her. She plunged her fingers into his thick hair and jerked his head back violently to try and stop his assault on her mouth and search his eyes. He looked at her confused and gasping for air as much as she was.

"Shit, Quinn," he panted. "What was that for?"

"Suh... sorry." Her chest was heaving. "I couldn't breathe!" It was the truth, and, seeing no menace in his eyes, she grabbed his face with two hands and the aggressive kissing continued, tongues wrestling, hands searching desperately for skin.

Finally, he cradled a hand around her jaw and pulled away, her lower lip snapping back into place when he reluctantly let it go. He stepped away from the wall supporting her back.

"Unbutton my shirt!" he growled breathlessly. She felt his ribs expand and contract with his ragged breath and looked at him uncertainly before squeezing her legs tighter and leaning back in his hands, trusting him to hold her. With shaking fingers, she slipped the first button through its little slit. She was still breathing heavily, the trace of his aftershave and the male scent rising from his skin making her need him, despite her earlier misgivings.

There was something in the way he held her and kissed her that she hadn't felt before. There was something about the strength of his hands and arms, the confident way he held her, that made her want to surrender control of what was happening to him. It was oddly thrilling, as well as disconcerting, as she fumbled with the next button.

Grayson had found her zipper and lowered it to the small of her back. A chill ran down her spine and goosebumps lit up her flesh. Frustrated and unable to concentrate on her task, she grabbed the material in her hands and pulled them apart, sending the remaining buttons arcing toward the floor.

"Impatient now?" He said in a husky voice and fixed her with an amused look, surprised at how she responded to his demands. He swung her body around and caught her legs in his arm. He carried her back downstairs to the library rather than his bedroom. He set her on her feet and shrugged the damaged shirt off his shoulders, balling it up and tossing it to the side.

"Strip!" he commanded, leaning back so he rested his ass against a massive billiards table and gripped the solid mahogany frame, the muscles in his upper arms flexing as he waited to see what she would do.

She stared back at him and blinked, not sure she had heard him correctly. She had been thinking about the way his bare chest looked and the size of the tent in the black, stretchy material underneath his partially unzipped jeans. Did he say...?

He raised his eyebrows and looked at her evenly, with barely a hint of a smile.

"The dress, Quinn. Take it off!" He commanded.

For the first time that weekend she saw it: the hard look in his eyes. There was no tenderness there, no soft look of a man who enjoyed watching her be part of his family and enjoy a day of fun and flirting. A flush of heat came over her suddenly, and she knew her face must be crimson. She didn't know what to do. No one had ever ordered her to undress before. Ask, yes, but order in such a commanding tone, no. This man she could handle, this man she could enjoy just for the sake of sex and the pleasure she knew he could give her. This man couldn't and wouldn't want her to stay and play happy families with him. Her hands trembled as she peeled off the dress and let the delicate, blue patterned material drop to her feet.

"There. Happy?" She wanted to be glib, to show him she wasn't affected so badly by his commanding tone, but, instead, the words came out sounding tight and forced.

Grayson pushed the faded denim of his jeans over his ass and crossed a leg over his thigh to pull the material over his foot. She saw his eyes drop to her crotch and was relieved that she had decided to wear some expensive underwear. She glanced down at the lacy panties and at the tell-tale damp patch that told of her arousal, despite the harshness of his treatment of her tonight.

"Take everything off," he said quietly. "Then get on your knees."

Quinn's head was spinning. Was he playing with her? Was he seeing how far he could push her? Did she want to be pushed like this? She watched him, noting that he was so collected, so confident and sure of himself, it seemed. She tried to bend gracefully as she slipped off the panties and worked the straps of her sandals, but was suddenly clumsy, not sure what game they were playing here, but not wanting to back down and ask for tenderness. In tenderness lay madness for her, the madness of wishing for things that were impossible for her.

She was consumed with the need for him, as always, when they were this close. She felt a heady mixture of excitement, embarrassment, lust, need, and something else... She didn't understand the control he was able to exercise over her. It wasn't that she felt threatened. There was just something in his calm air of command, his hard, emotionless eyes and his amazing body and the pleasure she knew he could give her.