Sweet and Wild (21 page)

In the water, he couldn’t see her the
way he wanted to. Without withdrawing himself from her hot depths, he carried
her to the edge of the pond, sank into the grass with her and lowered his head
to take possession of a distended peak, whisking it with his tongue while his
fingers gently rolled the other nipple. Her chest rose and fell hard against
his mouth as her hips met each of his urgent thrusts.

There was nothing civilized or held back
in their mating. It was pure sex, pure fulfillment of physical needs. Coupling
that with the knowledge the woman writhing beneath him loved him made this more
than he thought possible, made him want to please her more than he ever thought
possible. Even though he longed for his own release, his body raged for it, he
held it in check and when he pulled out of her, she groaned. He heard the
aggravated tone in the sentiment, but when he trailed kisses down her heaving
abdomen, her frustrated whimpers turned into a shuddering gasp of pleasure. He
parted her legs again and kissed her inner thighs before finding her slick
center.

With her fingers tangled in his hair,
his tongue swirled against her hard bud, feeling the tension in her muscles as
her body gathered up for its first orgasm. Quinn cried out, her voice rising in
the hot air around them. He rode out the bucking of her hips against his mouth
as he drank from her well, not letting up for a moment until she lay spent.

But he was just starting. Her body,
lying there in the grass soft and pliant, waited for him. He gently pulled her
to him so they were face to face, her body poised on his lap. Inside, a fever
of passion sizzled out of control, working hard to take over once more in
animal craze.

“I love you, Craig. I want more of you.”

Her husky, low voice matched the
sensuality in her hooded gaze.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of
you,” he replied. He was caught between wanting to take her over, satisfy the
wildfire raging through his veins with ferocity, and the desire to take it
slow, drag out the pleasure her body promised. Their time together was too
fleeting and it seemed wrong to rush.

He decided to take it slow, whether his
body wanted it or not. She tasted too good, felt too good not to be savored.
Trailing kisses over her collarbone, Craig moved with torturous patience, each
touch bringing her back to life.

Quinn’s fingers explored the landscape
of his torso, dancing over this flesh, not missing an inch. Together their
breaths built in urgency. Their mouths touched quickly, featherlike, like a
breeze. While the touches of their lips were subtle, their hands became bolder
finding those spots they both knew would create the most pleasure. Neither
seemed ready to complete the cycle, both wanting to bring the other to the
brink.

Craig knew she waited on him to make
that move. Her whole body shuddered in his arms as he brought her closer and
closer to ecstasy. She didn’t speak, didn’t plead, just continued to touch her
lips to his, her breath coming harsher and harder.

He couldn’t take it any longer. All he
wanted was to feel her tight center engulf him. He lowered her back into the
grass and with all the gentleness of their kisses, he guided himself slowly,
inch by incredible inch until he was fully within her. It began a sensual
rhythm of give and take. She arched herself against his thighs and wrapped her
legs around his waist. Her body fit perfectly with his, her small, female frame
soft against him.
This could last forever.
He watched her face transform
as another orgasm built within her. He wanted to come with her. He quickened
the tempo, thrusting deeper and faster until he felt his own release building
hot within his body, until he spilled himself deep within her with ravaging
power. He cried her name out and it blended and lifted with her own voice as
her entire body tensed and convulsed beneath his.

It took several moments for him to
regain his senses. He rolled off her then gathered her against him so her head
lay on his chest.

“I think I’m going to need another
swim,” she said, her voice a sigh against his skin.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to move for
another hour.”

Quinn lifted herself up and looked down
at his face. She smiled and her eyes gleamed devilishly. She pushed her fingers
through his damp hair. “You think I’d let you lie here untouched for an entire
hour?”

What an intriguing thought. One more
time with her so soon and he’d burn up into cinders. What a way to go.

***

She lay back down, her hand on his chest
and they looked up into the sky.

“It’s so huge,” she murmured, stroking
his skin. “I love coming out at night and looking up like this. Out here in the
dark, there’s nothing to hide all those stars. Sometimes I feel like I’m
floating in them.”

“Such a poetic thought for a no nonsense
cowgirl. Who’dve thought.”

Quinn chuckled. “Am I no nonsense? That
translates to cold. I may not be a romantic, but I’m not cold.”

Craig laid his hand over hers. “Never
said you were cold. I think we know that pretty well by now. And Quinn, for the
record, you are a romantic.”

“Not.”

“Are. The way you think of this prairie,
darling, that’s romantic.”

“Hmm. Maybe. Don’t know if it counts
though. I was talking about romantic love. I love you, but I don’t think I’d
get all sticky sweet on you and send you sappy Valentine’s Day cards. I might
moon over you but I’m not going to get all goofy about it. God, I hope I’m not.
That being said, when I was about nine I made one for you, a card, I mean.”

Craig propped himself up on his elbows
and stared down at her, his brows raised in surprise. “You’re kidding.”

Quinn looked away from him and let her
gaze settle on a white wisp of a cloud that eased across the sky. “Nope. I
prayed every night that you’d wait for me to grow up. You didn’t. Not that I
blame you. I was scrawny and uncouth. You had Elise who was beautiful and
refined. When you married her I locked myself in my room for days. My parents
were honestly concerned about me. I swore to myself I would never forgive you.
That lasted all but a week.” Quinn paused and chuckled. “I still have that
damned card.”

He reached out and pushed a tendril of
loose hair that fell across her cheek. “Wow. That I wasn’t expecting.”

“My romantic notions ended after that.”

Something entered his eyes, a sadness
she never meant to put there. She stroked his cheek and gave him a slight
smile. “We’re getting all serious here,” she murmured. “I didn’t mean for that
to happen.” She wanted to go back to the carefree moments they just shared. Talking
about her past heartbreak magnified a pain she thought she’d outgrown.

“If things were different. If I hadn’t
married Elise and gone off the way we did, I would’ve been honored to wait for
you.”

Tears pricked at her eyes. Oh, no, she
didn’t want to get this somber. She didn’t want to wish for what could’ve been
in a young girl’s imagination. “No, things were as they should’ve been. I
wouldn’t change them for anything in the world.”

His hand pressed against her cheek. She
drew it away and kissed it. “I’d give you that old Valentine’s Day card, but I
don’t know, not really me anymore. You have to settle for me as I am.”

Craig laughed. “That’s fine. I promise you
I won’t be offended if I don’t get a Valentine’s Day card from you. I’d rather
have a kiss, a hug, a back rub.”

Quinn sat up and leaned over him. Fire
flickered in her smile, simmered in her eyes. “A back rub. Honey, I can do
better than that. But right now I just want…” she leaned down and touched her
lips to his. “To get your gorgeous body…” she brushed his mouth again, the tip
of his tongue tracing her bottom lip. “Back into the water.” She finished with
a mind-melting kiss meant to start his body raging again.

Desire darkened Craig’s eyes. He gazed
steadily at her and then a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. “Okay, a
swim sounds good. You on one side of the pond, me on the other.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Serious.”

“You think I couldn’t keep my hands off
you long enough for a swim?”

Craig sat up with great effort then
kissed her. “Darling, I was thinking more that I wouldn’t be able to keep my
hands off you.”

***

Twenty minutes later, after a quick
swim, where he did stay on one side of the pond and she on the other, they
saddled up the horses and headed back to Emerald.

“I feel like a run,” Quinn said and
threw Craig a wicked grin. “Bet you I can beat you back.”

Craig looked at Piper. The mare was
compact, but small. Still, he’d seen her in action. He had no doubt about the
size of her heart and the speed in her muscular legs, but Thunder had a
definite height advantage. His long legs ate up the turf when he had free rein.

“What do I get if you win?”

“You get to take me to Louie Caprelli’s
in Rapid City for dinner.”

Craig laughed. There was a prize.
Louie’s was the best Italian restaurant in this part of the state. Expensive,
but worth every penny.

“And if I win?”

“Then I give you a full body massage
next time we have a little time together.” She held up her hand and wiggled her
fingers. “These are magic.”

Oh, of that he was sure. He’d certainly
get the longer end of the stick if he’d let her win, but Louie’s was incentive
to win, even if he paid. The idea of taking her out on a real dinner date
appealed to him, especially if she had to dress up, which she would. Louie’s
had a dress code and she’d have to adhere by it if she wanted to partake of the
food.

“Okay, darlin. Let’s do it.”

She wished Piper were bareback. She
always felt like she had an advantage when she rode bareback, but Quinn made do
with the saddle, leaning over Piper’s neck and giving the horse her head. She’d
never felt so alive than at this moment, having the warm air push through her
loose hair and against her face, cooling the summer sun on her skin. She looked
down watched the ground speed by, then she glanced over at Craig. He kept
Thunder neck and neck with her and Piper. Was this happening? Had they really
made love down by the water? Had she really been so brave to give herself so
freely? She liked to consider herself fearless, but never where Craig had been
concerned.

She’d thrown caution to the wind and
felt freer than she’d been her entire life. A gallop across the prairie was
nothing compared to lying under Craig’s body. Close, but his lovemaking edged
the run out.

She was bent on beating him back to
Emerald. Not that she needed an excuse to go out on a date with him, but she
couldn’t hide her feelings for him from the world for much longer. They needed
to come clean. Slowly, she thought as she reined Piper around the last corner,
down a dip before the ranch came into sight. First they’d let Marisol get used
to the idea. They were friends, after all. She liked the girl and she was
fairly sure Marisol liked her. They worked well together and why shouldn’t it
spill over into a different kind of relationship?

Once Marisol accepted her, then she’d
work on Jacob. After he got over his big brother snit, he’d realize what a good
pair she and Craig made, that they were perfect together, that she’d found the
love he said would come along for her one day. Yes, it would have a certain
weirdness to it from Jacob’s point of view, but he’d get used to it, right?

Robby, well, she didn’t worry about him.
He was all talk and no action. Maybe he’d even be relieved to be off the hook
with her. If not, he’d move on in no time. Give it a week, he’d find someone
else to pester.

Everything she wanted in life was coming
together. She could hardly believe it, didn’t dare believe it in case it disappeared
like a summer twister leaving her heart in ruins.

That wasn’t an option.

They arrived at the Emerald ranch yard
neck in neck. She encouraged Piper to move out, a little faster, trusting her
mount’s heart and love of speed, but the bigger horse next to her proved too
much of a match. Quinn looked over at Craig and was surprised to see he held
the horse back. Her mouth dropped open and then she shook her head. He grinned
back and they both slowed the horses.

“What the heck are you doing?” she asked
when she maneuvered Piper back to his side. “Did you just throw the race?”

“What? Me?” His eyes grew with
exaggerated surprise. “You think I’d do that? Of course. I wanted both prizes.
Dinner at Louie’s followed by a massage by you.”

Quinn laughed. “Or maybe the tie
canceled both prizes out.”

“Not a chance.” Craig reined Thunder
over as close as he could get and leaned in. With one hand, he drew her face to
his and gave her a fast, complete kiss.

“Don’t get me started,” she warned and
pulled Piper away. “I’ve got Doc coming over in about half an hour and Tom and Scott
are in the barn. I don’t want to have to do any explaining to them.”

‘Yes, ma’am.”

She slipped off Piper’s back and
loosened the girth on her saddle. “Why did you come over anyway? You never
said.”