* * *
It promised to be a very fine Christmas, indeed, with all the family home and concentrating on spoiling the babies as thoroughly as they could, and Banner hummed as she finished putting the examining room in order.
The door opened, closed again.
Banner turned to smile at her husband. “I’m through now, so we can—”
Adam was grinning at her, pressing her against the examining table. Her skirts began to slide upward under the deft guidance of his hands.
“Adam Corbin!”
He chuckled, knelt. Banner felt her drawers slide down over her hips, her thighs, her knees. She made to flee, and his hands locked around her ankles, holding her fast. He lifted one of her feet, and her lacy undergarment was crumpled around one shoe. If she ran now, she risked dragging her drawers ignobly behind her.
His hands caressed the satiny skin of her thighs, widening her stance as they did so.
Banner trembled. Someone was approaching the examining room, she was sure of it. Someone would walk in at any time—
“Adam!”
She felt a coolness as he parted her, braced herself for what would come next.
His mouth closed over her, and her knuckles whitened where she gripped the edge of the table she was leaning against. Beneath her dress, Banner’s nipples hardened, chafing. Her face was aflame and her breath was too quick.
Adam chuckled, the sound muffled by her skirts, and menaced her sweetly with his tongue. An incomprehensible heat surged through her, followed by a brutal, grinding release that left her groaning.
Adam blithely patted her bottom, slipped her drawers back over her feet, pulled them up to her waist, and tied the tie. Before aligning her skirts again, he kissed her muslin-sheltered sweetness once, in parting.
“I’ve got a house call to make,” he announced, grinning. Damn him, he was completely calm, while Banner could barely trust her knees to support her.
“I’m going with you,” she said.
Adam shook his head and gestured toward the window, where a dense Christmas Eve snow was falling. “It’s cold outside, O’Brien, and I won’t be gone long.”
Banner put her hands to her face, in an effort to cool her passion-charred cheeks. “If you think you’re going to leave me behind, Adam Corbin, and on our anniversary . . .”
Adam rolled his eyes. “I’ll be back soon enough to”—he assessed her mischievously—“celebrate. Besides, the babies need you.”
“Danny and Bridget are busy holding court in the parlor. I’ve fed them and they’re just fine.”
Adam was ignoring her, walking out, crossing the outer office, catching up his coat and his bag as he passed them. Banner scrambled into her own cloak and scurried after him, unhampered by the slight ache in her right ankle that was the result of a fall at that day’s skating party.
Adam looked back over his shoulder, heedless of the snow, and tried to seem angry. But a smile curved his lips as Banner fell stubbornly into step beside him.
Author’s Note
Here in Washington, as in many states, the fight for women’s suffrage was a long one, fraught with disappointments. The vote was twice given, twice taken away again. Finally, due to the efforts of such crusaders as Emma Smith DeVoe, May Arkwright Hutton, and Abigail Duniway; among others, suffrage became a reality in November of 1910.
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Author’s Note
Banner O'Brien Page 29