Strong, Silent Type (11 page)

“You can’t control her. I’ll admit I was jealous when your cousins started having babies. It embarrassed me at McKay functions hearing your mother complaining to the other women in the family that she didn’t have a grandchild to spoil yet.”

“And yet, she never said a fucking word to me. Sayin’ sorry doesn’t seem like enough. No wonder you resented me. No wonder you wanted to rid yourself of me and this overbearing family.”

“Your mother didn’t cause our marital problems.”

“I realize that, but her behavior, coupled with my ostrich-like mentality, didn’t help matters.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “Enough.”

“We still have a lot to talk about, but you’re right. Let’s take a break. No more discussions about babies, fertility tests, mixed signals, meddling mothers and sisters.”

“For how long?”

“A while. Look, we can’t solve anything in two days, and with the resentment and confusion on both our parts, some issues we weren’t even aware we had…frankly, I’m too emotionally raw to deal with any of it right now.”

“Amen. And I ain’t sayin’ that because I’m hopin’ you’ll forget about it. I know we have to talk about this. Sooner, rather than later. But when we’re ready…well, I ain’t opposed to talkin’ to a fertility doctor to see if there is something wrong, if that’s still what you want.”

Feeling a little misty eyed, Libby walked straight into Quinn’s arms.

“You all right?”

“No. My head is spinning.”

“You wanna go up to the house and lay down?”

“Maybe for a bit. Then can we just hang out at home today? Screw around. Take the four wheelers out, maybe snuggle up and watch a little TV?”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I thought you’d wanna do something more exciting.”

She pushed back and looked at him. “Is that what you think? I have to be doing something new and exciting all the time? I find being on the ranch with you…boring?”

Quinn gave her a half-shrug and ducked his head.

Another truth hit her. “I’ve hurt you by letting you believe you and our home weren’t enough for me anymore.” Libby rubbed the tips of her fingers over his morning whiskers. “Oh Quinn. Oh, honey, that’s not why I wanted the separation. I’d hoped if we were apart we’d miss each other. We’d be forced to communicate beyond ‘What’s for supper?’ and ‘I washed your coveralls’ and we’d work harder to stay together.”

“Has it worked? Us spendin’ the weekend together?”

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Libby laid her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. So strong. So steady. “We’re off to a damn fine start.”

Quinn stayed silent a beat too long and Libby knew she hadn’t given him the answer he wanted.

***

“Whatcha doin’?”

She shuffled the papers as the printer spat them out. “Research.”

Why did she look so guilty? “Can I see?”

“What time is it?” Libby asked, avoiding his question.

“Almost eight. Why?”

She unplugged the printer cable and powered down her laptop. “I thought it’d be fun to play cards.”

“I’d be up for a game of strip poker.” Quinn waggled his eyebrows.

“I was thinking a game of hearts and you were thinking with a hard-on.”

“I can’t help it. All the smokin’ hot sex yesterday, in the shower this mornin’, and my mind is runnin’

on one track.”

“Hold that thought. And get your money out. After I’ve finished packing I’m gonna whip your butt in poker.”

Quinn froze. “Finished packing for what?”

“I’m going to Cheyenne tomorrow for the state library conference, remember?”

“First I’ve heard of it.”

“I thought I’d told you.” She shrugged. “Must’ve slipped my mind.”

“How long you gonna be gone?”

“All week. There’s two days of training and then the actual conference. I’ll be back Friday afternoon.”

He flipped the station to an outdoor hunting channel and stared at the screen without seeing it.

“Maybe I oughta go with you.”

Libby kissed his forehead. “Don’t scowl, it’ll give you wrinkles. Besides, Cheyenne wouldn’t be fun for you, stuck in the hotel all day.”

“But the nights of hot motel sex would make up for it.”

“I’m assigned a roommate.”

Quinn hated when she went to conferences. She was too damn busy during the day to call him and too tired at night. He was lucky if they talked one time.

“Speaking of… I have to leave at the crack of dawn, so I’d better get going.” She flounced out of the room.

That sucked. He dropped his head back on the couch and gazed at the ceiling. Had Libby deliberately misled him?

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Lorelei James

You two weren’t exactly talking before last Friday.

True, but they’d done a helluva lot of talking since then. Then he remembered her insistence they not make promises for the future beyond the weekend, because she might need more time to think it over.

Evidently, Libby always intended on taking that time, in Cheyenne—whether he liked it or not.

Quinn didn’t like it one little bit.

But he’d damn sure give her something to remember him by before she left. He managed to cool his heels for ten minutes before he went upstairs.

The suitcase was open on the floor. The suit bag was spread out across the bed. Both were almost full.

Quinn leaned against the doorjamb and watched Libby scurrying around.

She finally noticed him. “Why are you skulking in the doorway?”

“Can’t a man appreciate his wife?”

“Sweet-talker.”

“I’m tryin’. How much packing you got left?”

“Almost done. Just have to pick shoes, but I’m tempted to take one pair.”

“Need help?” He ambled toward the closet.

“Nah. I’m good.”

Libby paid no attention to him as she mumbled and pawed through her dresser drawers.

Her side of the closet contained fewer clothes. It was easy to find what he wanted. Quinn unhooked the heavy material from the metal hanger. After she’d zipped up the suit bag and set it next to the suitcase on the floor, he tossed the pair of black suede fringed chaps on the bed.

She slowly turned around with an odd look in her eyes. “Umm. I think those are inappropriate for a librarian’s conference, don’t you?”

“Good thing you ain’t wearin’ ’em for nobody but me.”

“Quinn—”

He loomed over her in a half a heartbeat. “Put them on. No arguin’. No panties. No shirt. No bra. No socks. No boots. Just the chaps. I’ll be back in five minutes. You’d better be undressed and ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“Ready for whatever I tell you to do.”

Libby blinked at him. A few seconds passed and she nodded.

Quinn retreated to the bathroom. Seemed an eternity before he trekked back down the hallway to their bedroom.

She was sitting on the bed and jumped up the instant she saw him. “Was I supposed to be standing?”

“You’re fine.” Quinn shut and locked the door. He closed the blinds. Turned off the overhead light and flipped on the bedside lamp. Rolled back the quilt, exposing the sheets. Then he faced her. Crowded her, really. “Hands by your sides.”

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She dropped the arms she’d crossed over her chest.

“Lord almighty, lookit you.” And what an eyeful Quinn got. His wife made his pulse race and his cock hard. “Turn and let me see the view from the back.”

It appeared Libby might argue, but she swiveled her hips, tossed her head and twirled around.

“Holy mother. That’s the sexiest damn sight I’ve ever seen.” The leather hugged her legs. The cut of the chaps highlighted her rounded, naked ass. The thick strap spanned the curve of her lower back and brought to mind bondage games he’d salivated over in porn flicks, but hadn’t thought he’d ever get the chance to try. He’d like to tie her up. Bind her hands in all sorts of tempting ways—above her head, behind her back, in front where the ropes would rub against her—

“Quinn?”

His gaze whipped to hers. Another time he’d remind her of his expertise with ropes. A small smile crept up. “Lemme see you shakin’ that badonkadonk.”

“What?”

“I wanna see your ass swingin’ and the fringe flappin’.”

“But—”

“Do it, Lib. Make me wild to get my hands and mouth all over you.”

“For being a man of few words you sure do use them well.”

“I’m a new man, darlin’ wife.”

At first, her hands were clutched into fists by her side, but eventually she hitched her shoulders back and raised her arms. Cupping each elbow, her arms created a square above her head. Libby twitched her hips side-to-side, adding a quick snap at the end, causing the fringe to slap against the leather and her skin.

Quinn groaned at the erotic
swish-swish-snap
sound. “Keep goin’. I’m gettin’ all kinds of worked up.”

Libby widened her stance, performing a bump-and-grind routine that’d cause a stripper envy. She rolled her pelvis as she shimmied forward and peeped at him upside down from between her legs. She cooed, “How’m I doing, cowboy?”

“Definitely makin’ me wild. Stand up and face me.”

She spun around. “What now?”

“You’ll see. Be still.” He idly dragged his index finger from the tip of her chin, down the flushed skin of her throat, through the valley of her cleavage, zigzagging over her ribs and stomach. He traced the leather strap between her hipbones and her flesh quivered.

Libby trembled when he fell to his knees.

Quinn admired his handiwork from the previous night—her completely bare-shaven pussy. He passed his palms down the outside of her thighs. The fringe tickled her legs as he followed the sensuous curves to her ankles.

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Lorelei James

When he allowed his hands the same leisurely journey back up, she emitted a soft moan. Brushing his lips across the swell of her belly, he murmured, “Tell me what you want. I’ll do anything you ask.”

“You know what I want.”

His let his hair tease the underside of her breasts, knowing it drove her crazy as he feathered butterfly kisses over her lower torso. “Say the words, Libby.”

“Put your mouth on my…sex. Suck my clit. Use your hands and your tongue, just…make me come.”

“Sit on the edge of the bed. Lay back. Close your eyes.”

The bed bounced she hit it so fast.

He withheld a smile as he grabbed the lube and her vibrator out of the nightstand drawer. He scooted between her legs, bent his head and tasted her.

“Oh. Yeah.”

Another pass of his tongue. Quinn licked and teased, rubbing his face all over her smooth skin.

Evidently the sensation of his wet mouth and cooling breaths across her hot flesh, coupled with soft tongue flicks and the rough scrape of his evening beard, quickly drove Libby to the edge.

“Quinn. Please.”

As he zeroed in on her clit, he began to lightly massage her anus. She tensed up, like she always did.

This time instead of backing off, he said, “Relax. Lemme make you feel good.”

Surprisingly, she did relax.

With every suck and lick, Quinn swirled his finger a little deeper inside her back channel, while he thrust his thumb in and out of her wet pussy. When Libby began pushing down on his hand, he suctioned his lips around her clit and slid his middle finger in her ass as she started to come.

It was hot as hell, feeling her throb against his tongue as her interior muscles contracted around his finger and thumb.

After the pulses subsided, Libby opened her eyes. “Wow.”

He took his time tasting the dips and hollows of her body, steeping his taste buds in the sweet and salty flavor of her skin. Against her throat, he said, “Did you like that?”

“God, yes.”

“Do you want more?”

“Mmm. You could probably persuade me.”

“Flip onto your belly.” Once Quinn had her stretched out at an angle across the bed, he followed her spine with his tongue. “You got what you wanted. Now it’s my turn. I wanna slide my cock in that virgin hole and fuck you.”

She sucked in a harsh breath. “Are you giving me a choice?”

“Nope. I’m claimin’ this part of you I’ve waited for, for years.” His teeth tugged on her earlobe.

“Admit it. You liked my finger.”

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“Well, yeah, but there’s a difference between one finger and your cock.”

“I ain’t exactly hung like a bull.”

“I don’t think—”

“So don’t think. I’ll make sure you’re ready, and when you are, I’ll go slow.” He kept kissing everywhere his lips could reach, brushing his clothed body against her bare skin. “Come on, darlin’, I’m dyin’ here. And if you were honest with yourself, you’d admit you’re just as curious as I am.”

Libby lifted her head to look at him. “I swear to God, if it hurts—”

The rest of Libby’s protest was lost in Quinn’s demanding kiss. He seduced her, inflamed her, brought her back to the magical place where desire ruled.

She ripped her mouth free with a gasp. “Do it before I change my mind.”

Didn’t have to tell him twice. He hopped up and stripped. He liberally coated his fingers, staring greedily at the rounded globes of her ass and the hidden pink hole as he greased up his cock.

When she attempted to push to her hands and knees, he hiked her hips into the air and pressed her chest against the mattress. “Stretch your arms above your head.”

Quinn climbed on the bed and squirted a dollop of lube on the rose-colored pucker. He swirled his index finger around, waiting for her to clench.

She didn’t.

While stroking the expanse of her naked back with his free hand, he inserted his finger deep, to the webbing.

Libby hissed.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, it just feels…different from this angle.”

After squeezing out more lube, he added a second finger.

Her body stiffened slightly but the muscles surrounding his fingers remained loose.

“So sexy, so hot, so damn tight.” Quinn leaned forward and nibbled on her shoulder blades as he carefully stretched her. When she rocked her ass back onto his fingers, he knew she was ready. “Give me your right hand.” She slid her arm down and he placed the vibrator in her palm. He turned it on. “I wanna see you usin’ this as I’m fuckin’ you.”