Forrest, Dawn - Sweet Water Wedding: Sharing Shannon (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (5 page)

Luke narrowed his eyes. “My preference is for a feisty filly.”

Definitely not gay then, yahoo.
But he had insinuated something she was sure.

He was still watching her closely. “What about you?”

“A big gelding,” she wickedly chirped without hesitation and tried, unsuccessfully, to hide a smirk as she saw his face momentarily drop.

He recovered, grinned and laughed. “You’ll find in Texas we have more balls.”

She nearly spluttered her drink and then also started to laugh.

The rest of the evening was spent in easy conversation with great food. He seemed genuinely interested in her work and fairly knowledgeable about environmental issues, which was a pleasant surprise. She was delighted to discover that, amongst other things, he was developing equipment to better clean up oil spills on water and land. It just went to show that nothing was ever black or white; there were always shades of grey.

Luke described his business partner, James, as more of a “sleeping partner,” explaining that James had helped to part finance the expansion of the company and owned thirty percent, but wasn’t so actively involved in the business side. Again Shannon had the feeling that there was more to it than that, but couldn’t pin down what.

There was an edge to the air, a sexual tension, but it wasn’t overwhelming and just simmered in the background. Shannon was aware of a strong attraction yet was relaxed enough to be comfortable. She learned that Luke enjoyed the outdoor country life and physical pursuits such as riding and helping out on his parents’ ranch, but was comfortable in the city and had a good head on his shoulders. His parents were still alive and he had three siblings, one older, married sister and two younger brothers. He was thirty years old and had his own business and home. In a nutshell he seemed perfect, perhaps a little too good to be true.

* * * *

Luke couldn’t remember the last time he’d shared a woman’s company like this nor enjoyed it so much. He felt as if he’d known Shannon much longer, yet there was also an undercurrent of anticipation. She was a darn sexy lady, and when they had talked about riding he’d imagined her wildly rocking in the saddle, the scene morphing to her riding his cock fast and hard.

Above and beyond the sexual attraction, he actually
liked
her. She was easy to be with, obviously intelligent, but also a practical person. She got her hands dirty and understood the realities of life. She was funny and kept him interested and amused throughout dinner. He discovered that she was twenty-nine years old and had both an honors and master’s degree in Environmental Science and Management. In her teens and early twenties she had been an environmental activist, involved in marches and other acts of protest.

“So, were you a lefty and a greenie?” he asked with an expression of mock horror.

He tried to imagine her with a red beret sat jauntily on her head, her fiery, wayward curls inevitably escaping, and waving a placard...cute.

She laughed. “Actually I was. A teacher of mine once said, ‘If you’re not a communist by the time you’re sixteen, then you haven’t got a heart. But if you’re still a communist by the time you’re thirty, you haven’t got a brain.’ I think the realities of life became a little clearer after leaving college.”

She explained that one day she’d had an epiphany. She believed that she could make a bigger, more positive impact by educating the heads of industries, providing solid research information, influencing and rigorously applying environmental legislation. He was impressed by her commitment.

She had worked a few years for the United Nations Environmental Program, and later for a large engineering consultancy. A year ago she had started her own environmental consultancy. She lived alone in Ireland but traveled a lot with her work. Her mother and father had separated when she was young. She had two full brothers and three half sisters through her father. The primary reason for her being in the US was to attend the wedding of her best friend in two weeks’ time. July must be the commitment season he mused, because that was when Joshua and Rachael were getting married.

He didn’t want the evening to end, but when they finished eating Shannon had decided against a coffee even though she confessed that the jet lag was taking its toll. She had to be up fresh and early to prepare for the talk she was giving.

“If I have a coffee I’ll be up all night,” she explained

Luke was thinking that he would love to be up all night with her, but he guessed that Shannon needed the sleep and wanted to do the best presentation possible. An all-night sex session was out of the question and he had no doubt that was what it would be. Man, it was just too bad, because he was feeling as hot and horny as a goat in a pepper patch.

* * * *

Back at the hotel they were waiting for the elevator to arrive when Shannon spied Keith Armstrong.

“Hey,” he called, “I’ve been looking for you.” He obviously hadn’t realized that Luke was with her. “You still look gorgeous, darling. Do you fancy a coffee and a chat about old times?”

Shannon took a sharp intake of breath and noticed that Luke stiffened.

“Keith, I’m not your ‘darling’ and ‘old times’ are just that. How is your wife Mary?” Although irritated at his presumptuous behavior, she tried to sound platonically friendly.

“Oh, we can catch up over coffee in my room,” he said, leering toward her. She could smell alcohol on his breath.

“Keith, for heaven’s sake, we’ve both moved on, you’re married.”

“But—”

“The lady said no.” Luke’s normally lazy deep drawl had morphed into something more menacing. He pulled himself up to his full height and stepped into Keith’s personal space.

“It’s nothing to do with—” Keith began, but Luke cut him off.

“Ms. O’Reilly is with me, but if you want to discuss the matter further we can step outside.” He slowly growled the last few words quietly but with intent.

Keith looked at them both and then sniffed, “I was just being friendly.” He turned and walked away at a rapid pace.

“Thanks.” She breathed a sigh of relief but felt compelled to continue with an explanation. “Keith recommended me to speak at the conference. He’s an ex-boyfriend. It was a brief thing years ago, before he met his wife Mary. Unfortunately sometimes he’s not an ex jerk.”

“No problem, we all have history. I’ll walk you to your room.” He appeared relaxed and at ease again as if nothing had happened.

When they arrived at her door Shannon thanked him for a great evening. They stood facing each other and she was acutely aware of the attraction between them and the possibilities before them. He leaned down toward her and she inhaled his masculine scent. It fired synapses, causing a flood of hormones to be released in her body and erode at her will to go to bed alone. He stopped when his lips were almost touching her slightly parted ones. She could feel his body heat, hear his irregular breathing and became even more aware of his mouthwatering aroma. God, she was so aroused, she fought the urge to simply wrap herself around him. Instead she raised her hand to slightly trace his jaw with the tip of her finger. He inhaled deeply then turned his head and kissed her open palm. It was the single sexiest yet chaste gesture that anyone had ever made to her.

“Goodnight, Shannon,” he murmured in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He stepped back and lowered his arms to his sides with his hands clenched, as if it were a monumental effort to refrain from touching her more. She blinked, feeling like she was surfacing from a dream.

“Goodnight, Luke.”

On autopilot Shannon entered the room and closed the door softly behind her. She prepared for bed thinking about the oh-so-near kiss. He had behaved like a gentleman all evening and she appreciated the maturity, confidence, and consideration that such an attitude entailed. Still, she also liked spontaneity and a bit of rogue.
Shannon, you don’t want much do you?
She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror.
In fact you really don’t know what the hell you want at all, so stop overthinking and just go to sleep.

She hopped into bed with a sigh. Envisaging Luke naked she brought her middle finger to her lips and wet the tip, then slid her hand under the bed covers and down between her legs. It was a poor substitute, but at least sleep soon followed.

Chapter 5

Luke awoke at 6:00 a.m. sporting a rock-hard erection despite having brought himself off before going to sleep. Shannon O’Reilly was on his mind but unfortunately not on his body. He wrestled with the situation. He was certainly physically attracted to her and he liked the woman,
really
liked her, but how to proceed? She didn’t live in Texas, hell she didn’t even live in the USA, so how would that work? He probably wouldn’t see her again after the conference.

He idly wondered if she and James would have chemistry and how would she feel about fucking two men. James was the more reckless, energetic, fun, and wild side of the partnership. Luke was the more serious yet empathetic of the two. He seemed to know what a woman wanted and how she was feeling. Taking his clues from the woman, he often showed James the way to go and together they were a potent combination. While they obviously enjoyed one-on-one sex alone with a woman, they found the ultimate satisfaction when they were both involved. Then the sexual experience was always much greater than the sum of the parts. He suspected that they both enjoyed the voyeurism in watching a sex scene unfold, seeing each other’s cock split engorged gleaming pussy lips and slide inside.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. It was a complex situation because now it wasn’t only about sex, it was a whole lifestyle and loving choice, but he had a feeling that Shannon would be worth the effort. He was a little concerned over how she would feel about dating a rancher and oilman. Her opinions would certainly make life interesting. He had sensed a certain pragmatic quality to her character and didn’t think that she would be prejudiced. He threw the bed covers back and grabbed his dick in one hand, wishing he were about to plunge into her. Instead he muttered, “A cold shower will sort you out, buddy.”

It helped, but not much.

* * * *

Shannon dressed in a smart black suit, applied a little makeup, tied her hair back into a neat bun and went down to have an early breakfast with the conference organizers. Keith sat down heavily next to her and immediately whispered an apology for his behavior the night before.

“I’m sorry, Shannon. I guess that I was just happy to see you. It won’t happen again. I’d had a few beers and my judgment was off.” He sounded sincere.

“I’m happy to see you, Keith but our
brief
relationship is past history. Let’s keep things simply friendly and professional shall we?”

“Who’s the big guy?”

“Keith,” she sounded exasperated, “that’s too personal.” She swiftly changed the subject. “Now, what projects are you currently working on?”

After breakfast she headed to one of the larger rooms where she would be performing. She always thought of lecturing and giving presentations that way; playing to an audience, keeping them interested and anticipating what she was going to say next, leading them along the thought processes to come to an understanding of a particular subject. She hoped that when she finished, the attendees would understand why it was so important to consider environmental issues at an early stage in any project development and just how far reaching direct and indirect impacts could be. The restoration section of her presentation covered land management issues, dealing with land contamination, improvement schemes, and biodiversity concerns. She introduced herself to the room full of people and then began her PowerPoint presentation.

* * * *

Luke sat enthralled. Shannon was a brilliant speaker. She was clear and concise but not dry. She used lots of real life anecdotes to support her statements, some funny and some serious. It allowed the oilmen and women to better relate to the topic. Her slides were interesting and the time passed quickly. There was lively discussion at the end and Luke thought that it was an informative, successful seminar.