He pulled back and not saying a single word he turned and headed for the door. And without looking back he left.
CHAPTER NINE
“McKinnon, you’re back,” Morning Star Quinn said, surprised and smiling up at her oldest son. “We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow and thought you’d miss the party altogether.”
“I was able to wrap everything up a day earlier,” he said, glancing around. This wasn’t a small party. His mother and Abby had definitely done things up on a larger scale than he’d expected. But then he really shouldn’t have been surprised.
As he scanned the room he was looking for one person in particular—the honoree, the woman who’d been on his mind every day since he’d been gone. He smiled when his gaze was snagged by Stone Westmoreland. Evidently Stone had arrived in Montana while McKinnon had been away.
He nodded at Stone, then moved his gaze on. A group of invitees standing in a crowd parted briefly, allowing a better view and McKinnon’s body stiffened when he saw Casey hemmed in a corner by Rick Summers. She looked simply beautiful in a latté-colored skirt and matching blouse.
“McKinnon, would you like something to drink?”
His mother’s question momentarily pulled away his attention and he glanced down at her and forced a smile. “No, I’m fine. I think I’ll mingle.” Mingle hell, he thought, moving straight to the area where Casey and Summers were standing. Neither of them had noticed his arrival.
“McKinnon. I thought you weren’t returning until tomorrow,” Durango said, appearing out of nowhere and blocking his path.
“Not now, Rango,” McKinnon all but snarled. “The only thing I want to do is put my fist in Summers’ face.”
Durango lifted a brow. “Why would you want to do something like that?” he asked in a low tone.
“Because Rick Summers is a—”
“Bastard,” Durango said, finishing the sentence for him. “That’s nothing new. Come on, let’s grab a couple of beers and go somewhere and chill.”
McKinnon narrowed his gaze at Durango. “I don’t want to chill. I want to—”
“Smash Summers’ face in, I know, but you need to cool down and tell me why seeing Casey with him has gotten you all worked up. She’s my cousin so I have a valid reason to be interested in the proceedings—especially knowing the ass Summers is—but whether you’ve noticed or not, I’m not the only Westmoreland here tonight. Stone’s here. So are Corey, Clint and Cole.”
McKinnon glanced around. “Clint and Cole are here?”
“Yeah, but maybe they’re keeping an eye on the wrong man. Maybe they should be keeping an eye on you. The last time we talked you claimed you weren’t falling for Casey. If this isn’t falling, I’d like to know what it is when a man wants to smash another’s face just for talking to a woman who means nothing to him? Maybe instead of smashing up Summers’ face, you need to give what I just said some serious thought.”
Then Durango walked off.
* * *
Casey quickly concluded that she wouldn’t be able to hide her annoyance much longer if Rick Summers continued to deliberately hog her time. In less than twenty minutes she’d discovered the man was so full of himself it was a shame. He had an ego a mile long and at some point during his lifetime, some woman had convinced him he was every female’s ideal man.
She glanced around. Where were Clint and Cole when she needed them? She’d been hoping one of them would come and find some excuse to take her away, but so far that hadn’t happened.
She continued to glance around the room when her breath suddenly caught as her gaze locked with McKinnon’s. Adrenaline was mixing with surprise and making all kind of weird things happen to her body. She hadn’t expected him back until sometime tomorrow but seeing him now, standing across the room talking to one of her brothers while slowly raking his gaze over her, was only increasing her adrenaline level. It didn’t take much to recall the intimacy that had transpired between them the night before he’d left. Just thinking about it sent a quaking shiver through her body and caused heat to settle in one particular place between her thighs.
“Would you like to go outside with me for a spell?”
Rick’s words invaded her thoughts, which was a good thing since she was about to melt from all the heat McKinnon’s look was generating. She broke eye contact with McKinnon to glance up at Rick. “No, I don’t want to go outside, Rick. I like being inside much better. Besides, I’m the guest of honor and it wouldn’t look good if I went missing.”
He shrugged. “Who cares about these people.”
Her frown deepened. “I do. Most of them are friends of my father’s.”
Seeing he had ticked her off, Summers tried to backpedal into her good graces. “I didn’t mean it that way…” he protested. “I can certainly understand if now isn’t a good time, but before the night is over maybe we can slip—”
“May I have this dance?”
The deep, husky voice had both Casey and Rick turning around. Rick’s surprise quickly transformed into annoyance. “Where did you come from, McKinnon? I thought you’d be out of town until sometime tomorrow.”
McKinnon gave a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “See what happens when you think, Summers,” he said. He turned to face Casey and held out his hand to her. “Will you dance with me, Casey?”
“No, she won’t dance with you. As you can see, she’s with me,” Summers all but snarled.
“Is that a fact?” McKinnon asked, holding Casey’s gaze.
Knowing there wasn’t a decision to make, Casey placed her hand in McKinnon’s. “Welcome back, McKinnon, and I’d love to dance with you.” She then turned to Rick. “Excuse us, please.”
Casey could feel the heat of Rick’s anger burn her back when she walked off but at the moment she could care less. And when McKinnon pulled her into his arms, threaded his fingers possessively with hers, Rick was nothing more than a very blurred memory.
It seemed McKinnon had timed it right; a slow number was playing and she couldn’t imagine being anywhere but here, in his arms as they swayed slowly to the rhythm of the music. That wasn’t true, she decided quickly. She could imagine being somewhere else with him—in his bed. After he’d left that night, after doing all those wondrous things to her body, she had laid there, too overwhelmed to move.
She had done a lot of thinking over the three days since he’d been gone. She wanted McKinnon Quinn. Pure and simple. There didn’t have to be promises of forever-after or any pretense of something that wasn’t there. At least not on his part since she knew how she felt. She loved him. All it took was waking up that next morning, remembering that special intimacy that had taken place the night before and knowing he was somewhere miles away that made her accept what she’d been trying to deny. Regardless of how he felt about her, she could admit that she loved him and unlike her mother, she wouldn’t pretend about what wasn’t there. Instead, she would accept what she could and be happy.
When the music came to an end, he leaned down and softly whispered, “Would you step outside with me for just a minute?”
His dark eyes were filled with so much heat that it almost singed her spine. Unlike when Rick had asked her that same question, she’d felt no hesitation when giving McKinnon her response. “Yes.”
Taking her hand, he led her out the door. Once they were on the porch, he tugged her closer, slipped his hand around her waist, and he led her somewhere only he knew. This used to be his home, she thought. The place he’d been raised as a child. He knew of secret places and she had a feeling that tonight he intended to share one with her.
“This is a good spot,” he said, coming to a stop on the dark side of the barn, away from prying eyes. He turned her in the circle of his arms.
“A good spot for what?” she asked as shivers of awareness and desire caressed her skin.
“For this.” And then he leaned down and captured her mouth while gathering her closer into his arms. Their kisses seemed to always get hotter a
nd hotter, more intense, bolder and more profound. Her heartbeat kicked up and her love for him increased ten fold. There was a reason she’d been so attracted to him from the first and now she understood it all.
Moments later he slowly released her mouth and she glanced up at him, her nostrils filled with his sexy scent. “That’s the welcome I needed, Casey,” he whispered against her moist lips. “The kind I thought about getting once I returned.”
“I hope I didn’t disappoint you,” she said, smiling up at him.
He gave her one of those rare McKinnon smiles and said, “You could never do that.” Then, moments later, he asked, “Have you given any thought to what I asked you to think about while I was gone?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
She knew what he wanted to hear. “I accept your terms, McKinnon. There will be no expectations, only enjoyment.”
He stared at her for a long moment before nodding. “And you can live with that?”
“Yes, I can live with it.”
He nodded. “How did you get here tonight?”
“Cole came and picked me up.”
McKinnon was glad it hadn’t been Rick. “I’ll let your brother know that I’ll be taking you back to the ranch when the party’s over.”
“All right.”
He leaned down and kissed her again before reluctantly pulling away. “I guess we need to go back inside now,” he said in a tone that said he would rather stay out there with her. “And I guess it wouldn’t be a good thing for me to dominate all your time tonight,” he said, taking her hand.
“I wouldn’t complain if you did.”
A long, tense silence stretched between them and Casey wondered what he was thinking. She had no idea but she knew what was on her own mind. She would make sure that after tonight the thought of putting distance between them again would be the last thing McKinnon would want to do.
She intended to turn the tables on him and hit him with a little taste of seduction—Westmoreland style.
* * *
Never before had McKinnon thought the distance between his parents’ home and his was so long. It seemed like he’d been driving for hours instead of minutes. He should feel relaxed, relieved by Casey’s decision for them to get involved in a no-strings-attached affair, but all he felt was tension and a deep desire for the woman sitting beside him in his car.
After arriving from the airport he had parked his truck and decided to take his toy, an ‘85 Corvette he’d restored a couple of years ago. It provided him a type of horsepower that Thunder couldn’t. He took a quick glance sideways at Casey. She hadn’t said much since they’d left the party.
When they had gone back inside after their kiss, it hadn’t surprised him that Rick Summers had tried seeking her out again, determined to stay glued to her side. But she had handled Summers by saying that as the guest of honor she had to spend time with everyone and not just him. McKinnon smiled, remembering that that hadn’t gone over too well with him and he’d eventually left.
He also remembered the second dance he and Casey had shared nearly at the end, which had prompted them to leave the party as soon as they could without raising any eyebrows. The moment he held her close to him, knowing that later that night she would be his in every way that a woman possibly could, had set his loins on fire. And from the way she had shivered in his arms, he’d known she’d been acutely aware of his aroused state.
He inhaled deeply and instead of the fragrance of bitterroot, the purplish-pink flower that was abundant in the area, his nostrils were filled with the scent of Casey and he became drenched in a wave of intense yearning. He wanted her. He wanted her in a way he had never wanted any woman before, including Lynette.
His hands tightened on the steering wheel as he felt a deep ache in his gut. On the flight back to Montana from D.C., he had thought about the moment when he would hold her in his arms, kiss her…make love to her. He hadn’t been able to stop his mind from going there. Whenever he closed his eyes he thought of her in his bed, burying himself inside of her so deep that—
“I was really happy to see Spencer come in,” she said of Durango’s brother who made his home in California. “And I found it interesting that he’s in the process of buying a winery somewhere in the Napa Valley.”
Her words, spoken in a soft tone, floated all around him. He wanted to glance over at her again, but if his eyes were to connect with hers he would be tempted to pull to the side of the road and put an end to his pain and agony.
“So did I, but then Spencer has always been the financial wizard and investment genius in the Westmoreland family,” he said.
“And that was wonderful news that Stone and Madison shared with everyone, wasn’t it?” she asked moments later. “I’m so happy they’re pregnant.”
“So am I. Abby is ecstatic at the thought of becoming a grandmother.”
Casey smiled. “And my father will become a grandfather. Another Westmoreland baby. I think it’s wonderful.”
McKinnon didn’t say anything for a long moment but then asked, “I take it you want children some day?”
“Of course.” She chuckled. “I don’t particularly want a house-full like Madison says she wants, but I’d like at least two.”
Disappointment swept through McKinnon and he tried to fight it back. He couldn’t blame Casey for her desire to one day want a child; a child he would never be able to give her.
“Was your trip to D.C. a productive one, McKinnon?”
Her question brought him back. “Yes, I believe it was. Jamal’s friends are impressed with the American way we do things, especially in breeding horses. They’ve formed a partnership and want to breed champion thoroughbred race horses. They’re also interested in breeding Black Sterling Friesians.”
“Those are beautiful horses. My uncle bred and trained one once.”
“How did it go?”
“It went okay. Uncle Sid was a very patient man. The horse’s name was Roving Rogue and it suited him. He had an eye for one particular mare, and no amount of coaxing could get him to cooperate with his training until he had his way with her.”
McKinnon knew what she meant but wanted her to expound anyway. “Had his way, how?”
He could feel her gaze slide over to him and the force of it was a heated caress. He wondered if she would explain, go into details, paint one hell of a vivid picture.
“I wasn’t supposed to be watching that night when it happened but I sneaked out of my room and got a chance to watch anyway. I was only fourteen and I guess Uncle Sid thought the sight of horses mating would be too intense for my delicate eyes,” she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. “It was to be a private affair with only my uncle and Vick, his head trainer, watching. Uncle Sid and Vick were stationed in a hiding place, out of Roving Rogue’s line of vision so they wouldn’t interrupt the proceedings, but I doubt Roving Rogue would have cared if he had an audience that night. He wanted the mare that much and to finally be put in stable, with her at his mercy, was just what he wanted. I think at first, when the mare saw the intent in Roving Rogue’s eyes it might have frightened her somewhat. She kept backing up, shaking her head and mane as if to say no way. And then…”
“Y-yes,” he breathed in. “What happened then?”
“He seemed to be coaxing her to relax by prancing around her, whining a few times. Then I guess she felt comfortable, or she just wanted him enough that she allowed him to get close enough to sniff her out. Evidently he got a whiff of just how hot she was and before she could blink an eye, he reared up on his hind legs and took her. I had seen horses mate plenty of times before, but never like that.”
McKinnon swallowed. He had seen horses mate plenty of times before too; especially since he’d been around them all his life. He couldn’t help wondering how this mating had been different. To keep his mind from getting clouded with all kinds of ideas, he decided to ask.
“What was so different about it?”
“
The mare evidently was in heat in a pretty bad way and was just as hot as he was. I overheard Vick call her a flirt, saying she was like a typical woman, almost driving Roving Rogue to the point of madness before she decided to give in. Good thing Roving Rogue was prime breeding material.”
“What was the mare’s name?” McKinnon asked, barely able to get the question out.
“Hot Pursuit.”
Figures. “Continue,” he said, still wanting his earlier question answered. “How was it different?”
“Hot Pursuit got just what she wanted. By the time Roving Rogue mounted her, holding her captive with his front legs while…uh…getting it on, she neighed and trembled the entire time while he thrust vigorously back and forth pumping his seed into her. I actually thought she was in dire pain, but listening to my uncle and Vick talk, they claimed she was in sheer bliss.”
And after listening to her, McKinnon was hard as a rock. His entire body felt hot and solid, and he could visualize in his mind the picture of the two horses mating.
They got quiet for a while, which was all right with McKinnon since he needed to cool down. Moments later they pulled into his yard. “We’re here,” he said, hoping he hadn’t sounded as incredibly aroused as he felt.
He couldn’t wait to get her inside the house and with tomorrow being Saturday, there would be no need to get up early in the morning. That meant he could make love to her all night as well as all day. First he would take her hard and fast. Then slow and easy. Then hard and fast again. By the time Monday rolled around he intended for any encounters she’d shared with anyone else to be totally erased from her mind.
Hell, he’d never felt this obsessed before, this filled with sexual need. Even now, before bringing the car to a complete stop, he could imagine touching her breasts, widening her thighs to slip between them and then inside her, pumping in and—
Ian's Ultimate Gamble ; Seduction, Westmoreland Style Page 24