Sweet and Wild

by Hebert, Cerian

  Her eyes opened wider. Heat swam in those blue depths. Her gaze could set him ablaze. So could the smile that curled one corner of her provocative lips and the way one arched brow rose a little higher than the other.

  His hands slid back to cup her breasts and she arched her back into his touch. She drew in a long, jagged breath. Still, she didn’t look away from him.

  “Maybe,” she admitted. “But I’m a grown woman and I’ve trained my share of bad ass horses before.”

  Her hands reached behind her and feathered a touch against his thighs. As she straddled him, she looked so powerful, so in control. Her lips turned up in her sexy little half grin.

  God, he thought in tortured pleasure. How in the world could he ever look at her and not remember this moment?

  “That was before I came back to South Dakota,” he ground out.

  The stroke of her hands became bolder. As bold as her hot blue gaze. “What does that have to do with anything? I’m a good trainer.”

  “Oh, I have no doubt darling, but before I wasn’t worrying about you. Now I am.”

  Quinn leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, nipping at them gently. “You don’t think I can manage?”

  How much longer could this go on, having this argument while her body pinned him against the mattress, pressing against his very potent and ready arousal. How could she argue at a moment like this? But the spark in her eyes as she pulled back proved to him she knew exactly what she was doing. Every motion was deliberate and she carried them out with finesse.

  “Oh, I’m sure you can manage, but not without someone around to lend a hand.”

  His fingers wandered down her belly, soft and flat. Lower until he found her hot, sweet center.

  She pulled in a sharp, rough breath and her fists balled.

  “Tell me you’re not going to work with that horse when you’re alone,” he demanded hoarsely. His fingers danced lightly against her moist flesh.

  “You’re mean,” she replied, her voice raspy and soft as a breeze.

  “Tell me.”

  She didn’t reply. Instead, she leaned forward and grabbed another condom from the open drawer. Slowly she tore the packet open and tended to him. He wanted to take over, but instead let her fingers work over him. Once sheathed, she gave him a smoky gaze, swung her leg back over him and lowered onto his rigid shaft.

  Any thought he had evaporated with the way her body enveloped his. All that mattered was the steady, strong rise and fall of her hips above his, the feel of her skin under his hands as he continued what they’d started.

  Her voice cried out with a throaty moan as she reached her pinnacle.

  He wanted it to go on forever, but there was no way she was going to allow that and as soon as she came and returned to herself, he followed. He pulled her to him so his arms wound around her tightly. His face buried into her thick hair and he inhaled her scent, a mixture of hay, horse, shampoo and fresh air. His heart in his chest beat madly along with hers, yet he couldn’t have been more content, more relaxed.

  “Hey Craig?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Did we just have a fight?”

  Craig grinned. “I don’t know. Why?”

  Quinn lifted her head and looked at him. “Because if we did that was crazy awesome make up sex.”

  Craig laughed hard. “You are something else.”

  “I aim to please.”

  For a long moment, she stared at him, the smile dying from her full lips. She rolled off him and nestled against him, her soft skin cooling in the fresh air that spilled in from the open window above the bed.

  “You okay?”

  Quinn made a content sound, one hand caressing his chest. “It’s not like me to lounge around in bed, especially in the arms of a handsome man when there’s work to be done in the barn.”

  “We deserve a break. At the moment I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.”

  “Mmm. Same.”

  She sat back up and turned to face him, sitting cross-legged on the bed. It did nothing for his peace of mind seeing her naked and comfortable. His for the taking, and vice versa.

  Her face lost that content look. Her brows furrowed and there was a frown on her lips. What was she about to say?

  ***

  “I need to tell you something,” Quinn said.

  “Okay.”

  “I’m not going to mince words. Going to say it and be done with it. I love you.” When Craig opened his mouth to reply, Quinn pressed a finger against his lips. “No, don’t say anything. Let me talk. I love you. I’ve been in love with you all my life, in case you never noticed.”

  She spoke quickly so he wouldn’t interrupt. His wide-eyed stare told her he didn’t expect this. That was okay, she had absolutely no problem with sweeping him off his feet.

  “I don’t want you to say it back to me. It’s not what I’m looking for right now. I want you, I want to have a wild, crazy affair with you, but I don’t want you to feel pressured into feeling something you don’t. I know you care about me. I know you want me. For now, that’s enough. I’m not looking for any more than you’re ready to give.”

  When she finished she felt out of breath. Her heart slammed in her chest and a tingly sensation ran like an electrical current through her body.

  What a rush! To finally admit it. To his credit, Craig wasn’t bailing on her. Instead, he looked at her intently; his blue eyes steady, serious.

  He reached out and took her hand, gently caressed her palm then brought it to his lips. Such a tender kiss, she thought, but expected nothing less from him.

  “So, what about it?” she whispered, cupping his cheek with the hand he’d just kissed. “Are we going to have a mad, passionate affair?”

  In reply, Craig grabbed her and in one fluid movement, had her under his body. His mouth moving over hers savagely was all the answer she needed.

  ***

  As dusk took over the sky with all its amethyst grandeur, Quinn closed the big barn and headed back to the house. Her body ached from the long day of work, including the kick she’d taken. Her thumb throbbed where Fire had taken his bite, but her mind was full and alive.

  She and Craig had spent a pleasant hour in her bed. Best break ever. If she could’ve kept him there all evening, she would’ve, but the ranch wouldn’t run itself, and she’d left too much undone when Craig showed up. To her surprise, though, Craig sent over Tom Gibson, one of his new hires, to help her out, which made the evening chores go much faster. Apparently Tom was on loan indefinitely. Along with Scott, who’d be starting the next day, she felt pretty well staffed.

  She finished her work, riding on the high Craig had put her on, and could’ve gone on for several more hours. Her stomach demanded her attention, though, and it behooved her to comply with its wishes. She and Craig had no plans to see each other that evening, so Quinn thought she’d crash and read a good book. And not think too much about the change in her relationship with Craig. Not think of what she had confessed as she sat next to him, naked as the day she was born. Not think about the way he made her body come alive and sent her over the edge of pure ecstasy over and over.

  “Oh holy hell,” she muttered and threw the book she’d selected aside. If she continued along this line of thinking she’d be in her truck and heading to the Shady H to seduce him all over again. Though he was alone, it still wouldn’t do. She would feel uncomfortable there, as if they’d be discovered at any moment.

  No, better to spend the night alone.

  Finally, Quinn turned off the lamp and went into her room. She stopped short, horrified. The room was a disaster area. Living at Long Knife Creek, she’d forced herself to be neat and tidy, but since moving over to Emerald she pretty much lived out of boxes and suitcases. An old pair of boots lay at the foot of the bed, jeans and tee-shirts strewn across the floor.

  God, she hoped Craig hadn’t noticed. But they’d been too tied up with each other for her to even realize how untidy she was, until now. />
  Her bed was as they’d left it, rumpled, well used. She would’ve bet that if she laid on it she would be able to smell him on the sheets and pillow. It would be impossible to escape thoughts of him tonight. Closing her eyes, she drew in a deep breath. Hopeless. She was completely hopeless.

  Now what? She couldn’t sleep, didn’t have a television she could turn on, had no interest in her book and forbade herself to visit Craig. It was too late to start on any home improvement projects. She looked around the room and decided that she really needed to clean. Force herself back into the neat and tidy mode that had always been an ill fit.

  But if Craig was going to be a frequent guest, she had to at least attempt to keep the place picked up.

  ***

  Craig moved through the next few days with almost mechanical efficiency. He had given up pretending he could put what happened with Quinn on the back burner.

  On the contrary, it was the first thing he thought of when he got up in the morning and the last thing before going to bed. And much of the time in between. He hashed it and rehashed it, and instead of fixating more on making love to her, her words stuck harder in his brain. It didn’t take much reflection to see that as a little girl she had had a crush on him. He hadn’t noticed it back then, but why should he?

  That was then, this was now, and this was no childish infatuation. She’d said she loved him and he believed her. Yet she’d forbidden him to admit his feelings. A good thing too, because he had no idea what those feelings were. Two things were clear; he wanted her again and he liked her a damned lot. Not that the two were mutually exclusive.

  What a pleasure to discover the energy and passion for life outdoors carried over to her lovemaking. She wasn’t a shy lover. She knew what she wanted and she made sure she found out what he wanted. Though when he left her he was thoroughly satisfied, it wasn’t long before his body and mind wanted her again. It had been nearly impossible not to go back over there and spend the entire night with her. The fact that he wanted nothing more than to wake up with her in his arms disturbed him.

  Separating the physical want from the emotional proved difficult. He’d known from day one he liked the person she’d become; smart, funny, kind and enthusiastic added to her overall sexiness. She wasn’t a push over for anything and wouldn’t shrink away from a challenge. That showed with her intentions toward Fire. It was evident with the way she jumped right in with both feet at Emerald. Evident in how she told him she loved him, no apologies, and no demands. She said it and let it be.

  So, after two days he wasn’t sure how the hell to deal with it all. He wanted to rush back to her, but he didn’t have the opportunity and he didn’t want to crowd her. He settled for a phone call, expecting at least a little weirdness, but instead heard her confidence, still the Quinn he knew before they took each other to bed.

  In fact, frustration probably took more of a toll on him than her. He wanted to see her, wanted to hear her words again, to tell her he wanted very much to have that wild, passionate affair with her. He wanted more though. Not just physical relationship, he didn’t want to use her just for sex, but instead desired to take her out to dinner, a movie maybe. Date her like a man would date a woman he was interested in, a woman who he wanted in his life. The other day they’d put the cart in front of the horse and now he wanted to do a little switching around and do things the right way.

  Because she missed a lesson with Marisol, Quinn suggested combining two lessons and as an added incentive, she would teach Marisol what she had been dying to do. Barrel race. After all, she had the horse for it and she couldn’t have a better trainer, but that meant two hours with Quinn on his property and out of his reach.

  He had things to do around the place so he couldn’t watch them work, but when they started the barrel racing portion he made it a point to stop and observe from a distance.

  Watching Marisol in the saddle was a pleasure. She’d come a long way in a short time. She had plenty of Lynch blood in her after all. Sunny helped. She turned out to be the perfect horse for his daughter. Marisol’s enthusiasm for the sport hadn’t waned. In fact, since she returned from Bonnie’s house she’d suggested that maybe Robby could teach her how to rope. She had a lot of catching up to do, she told him, to be as good as her friend. All these were good signs.

  The crème de la crème was the fact that in four days she’d be leaving with Quinn and the crowd from Long Knife Creek on the overnight ride. Excitement and anticipation radiated from her. Everything she did she did with an extra bounce in her step, a brighter twinkle in her eyes.

  Things were coming together for them.

  Who would’ve thought Quinn Emery was the reason behind all these changes.

  Could he fall in love with her? From the barn, he watched her work with Marisol then turned his attention on his daughter for a moment. Quinn had a big concern about how Marisol would react to a romantic relationship between the two of them. How would Marisol feel if he were to fall in love with Quinn?

  The possibility existed that he could fall in love. He stood very close to that threshold. It wouldn’t take much to reach that point. Quinn hadn’t wanted him to make any false declarations but she hadn’t forbidden him from falling.

  Marisol would get used to it. They enjoyed each other’s company so why wouldn’t she look favorably on a different kind of relationship? After all, she was old enough to realize there’d come a time when he’d maybe want to get married again.

  Craig went to the fence and watched the two. Marisol trotted Sunny around the barrels in the correct cloverleaf pattern as Quinn gave her commands. Marisol looked the part of cowgirl, her long hair in a braid like Quinn’s. She wore a straw cowboy hat, well-worn jeans and the pair of boots her mother had left behind when she’d made her escape from Falstad. They were two sizes too big for her, but Marisol insisted on wearing them whenever she rode.

  Look at her, Elise. She looks happy now. It was a long road. Who’d have thought it would’ve ended up back here.

  He wondered what Elise would think. What she’d think of his budding relationship with Quinn.

  “Oh Dad, did you see? It was awesome!” Marisol trotted her horse to the fence after she completed the pattern. Her face glowed under the wide brim of her hat.

  “That was great, hon.”

  “Oh wait ‘til Bonnie hears. I’m going to work so hard to be better than her. Can I try it again, Quinn?”

  Quinn joined them at the fence. “Go ahead. Then walk her out.”

  Marisol grinned, swung Sunny around and headed back to the barrels and a fast trot.

  “She’s tenacious to say the least. Reminds me of me,” Quinn chuckled and leaned against the fence, her attention on Marisol and Sunny.

  Craig looked at her and covered her hand with his own. It was the first touch since they’d made love. She turned her hand over so their fingers linked, and glanced at him.

  “Have dinner with us tonight.”

  Quinn raised her brows. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously. Marisol has to get used to us, no matter where we go from here.”

  “I, uh, have horses to feed, and stuff.”

  “Afterwards.” He bent his head so his mouth was an inch from her ear. “Don’t say no. Please. After all if we’re going to have a mad, passionate affair I think we should be allowed a dinner or two together.”

  “We’re not going to tell her tonight are we?”

  “No, don’t worry. Dinner as friends. Tonight.”

  Quinn gave him a crooked grin. From underneath her hat, her eyes glittered, a flirty look meant to drive him nuts. Make him want her again. It worked.

  “Tonight then. What time?”

  He told her and she slowly withdrew her hand from his, the pull of her warm skin on his sending shots of desire through him.

  Marisol finished with Sunny and headed back toward them.

  “Hey, you think you can handle grooming on your own?” Quinn asked, her voice returning to normal.
/>   Marisol dismounted. “Breeze,” she replied.

  “Cool. I have some things to do back at Emerald. Then I shall be back.”

  As Marisol led Sunny toward the gate, Quinn looked at Craig again with a longing as powerful as his own. He had no idea when they’d be able to share another private moment.

  Feeling brave and unwatched, Craig leaned down and gave her a fast kiss on the mouth. “Hurry.”

  Back at the house, after all the chores at the barn were done, Marisol disappeared to get cleaned up. Craig had told her on the way to the house that Quinn was joining them for dinner and Marisol accepted it with a smile. It was a first step toward drawing Quinn more into their life outside the riding lessons.

  “What can I help with?” she asked when she returned to the kitchen.

  “You can set the table.”

  “You know what we should do, Dad? Invite Uncle Robby over too. I don’t think he’s been having much luck asking Quinn out for a date. Maybe we can help.”

  Her words were sobering. She still saw Robby and Quinn together? That wasn’t exactly promising. “We can’t force Quinn into doing something she doesn’t want to do, sweetie. If she hasn’t said yes to Uncle Robby she probably won’t.”

  “How can she not like him? I mean, he’s so cute and he really likes her.”

  Craig shook his head. “Well, he might like her, but he hurt her once. She might not trust him enough to take him back. Besides, what if she’s seeing someone else? Or is interested in someone else?”

  Marisol frowned. “She doesn’t talk about anyone. Maybe she thinks I’m too young to talk about that stuff with.” She shrugged, gathered three forks and three knives and carried them out to the dining room.

  What was going through her mind? He recalled her comment about Quinn having a crush on him and wondered how much that bothered her. Why should it? She liked Quinn. Why would that change if he and Quinn started dating? Oh, the mind of a ten year old girl. Would he ever understand it?

  She finished setting the table in silence, despite his attempts to bring her out of her newly formed shell. Not even a discussion of school shopping drew her out. Her mood could make for a long night, but she’d come around. He didn’t want to think otherwise because he didn’t want things with Quinn to end now.