“Yeah? Anyway, I wanted to give you something tangible, so I brought you a bag of tokens from the pizza place in Moorcroft where we had our first date.”“As a token of your affection?”“Pretty pun-tastic, huh?” She gave him a small head butt. “See?I knew you’d get it. You know me so well, Colt. Better than anyone ever has.”“Same goes. So you have to know my meeting with Ginger Paulson—”India put her fingers over his lips. “You don’t have to explain. I was a jerk. I trust you. Period.”He nipped her fingertips. “I’m gonna tell you anyway. Her son Hayden is Buck’s little buddy. Hayden wanted to do something special for Buck, and Ginger thought I could give them some ideas.”“That’s all?”“Yep. So now—”“Now you need to listen,” India blurted. “First, I’m sorry. For not defending you, for acting like a lump of shit when Cat spewed all those horrible things about you. I lashed out at you when I should’ve lashed out at her. It’ll never happen again and I’ll beat the living shit out of a
New Series: Chapter One“Get your goddamn hands off my wife.”Quinn McKay was in a rage. A red rage. An aneurysm-inducing rage. A going-postal rage.And the worst part? His wife, his helpmate, his lover, his partner, his…everything—goddammit, Libby was his everything—didn’t give two shits about his foul mood.Not. Two. Hot. Shits.Which enraged him further.“Walk it off, Quinn,” Libby McKay tossed over her shoulder, letting the young buck lead her deeper into the crowd on the dance floor. The last thing Quinn saw was the sassy head shake of her sassy new hairdo.“I’m gonna fuckin’ kill him. See how goddamn happy his hands are after I break ’em off at the wrists.”“Jesus, Q, will you sit the hell down? People are starin’ at you.”“Let ’em look.”His brother Ben hissed, “Screw that. Get your dumb ass back to the table or I’m leavin’ and you can hoof it home.”“Be worth it to punch that sonuvabitch in the face.”“I ain’t bailin’ you outta jail neither.”Quinn scowled, reluctantly followi
“I wish you were my teacher, Mrs. McKay,” she announced before flouncing away.I wish I had a little girl just like you.Libby briefly squeezed her eyes shut. Don’t go there. She had enough issues and failures to deal with, thank you very much, starting with the demise of her marriage to Quinn McKay.Damn stubborn man. What would spur him into action? To get across this wasn’t a game? This was their life hanging in the balance.Quinn hadn’t balked at her demand of a trial separation. He’d taken it in stride and blithely continued his day-to-day life on the ranch, content to hole up in the horse trailer until she “came to her senses”.Three months had gone by and they were at an impasse.It didn’t help Libby hadn’t spoken directly to her husband in that time frame. Her involvement with their ranching operation made their lack of daily communication a real dilemma. Being the efficient sort, she’d created a schedule for ranch business and bill paying, and for personal issues, such as whe
Dishes washed, counters cleaned, he had nothing to do but wait. He’d gotten used to his own company in the evenings in recent months. Didn’t mean he liked it.After turning the burner to simmer, Quinn snuck upstairs and stood in the doorway to their bedroom.The same faded wedding ring quilt adorned the brass bed. The usual explosion of pillows were piled at the head and the extra wool blanket dangled off the foot.The room smelled the same, Libby’s cherry-almond hand lotion and a hint of wood from the cedar-lined closet. If Quinn peeled back the bedcovers, he’d catch a whiff of Libby’s apple shampoo and the underlying musky-sweet fragrance of just Libby.He stared mindlessly, trying to remember the last time he and Libby had made love in that bed. In the months prior to their separation, they may as well have been sleeping in separate rooms.A memory came to him, leaving him as breathless and embarrassed as he’d been at the time. Missing his wife, feeling adrift and lonely, Quinn had
“What? Drivin’ you crazy?”“No. Acting so unlike you.”“Because, you don’t believe I can change, so it’s up to me to convince you otherwise.”Her smile dimmed. “But what if it doesn’t change anything?”“What if it does?” he countered.Silence.Might as well get it all out in the open. “It hasn’t always been like this between us. We were good together, weren’t we?”“Quinn—”“Has every year of our marriage been pure hell for you, Libby?”“God. No. Not even close.” Libby started to say something else but snapped her mouth shut, choosing instead to fiddle with the lace edging on the placemat.“Good to know.” Quinn stood. He ached to stay, but he’d left her enough to mull over for one night.On the porch, he paused to absorb the beauty of the place they called home. Dusk had fallen, turning the sky purple-gray and dusting the tree line in the distance with fluffy pink clouds. A brisk breeze rattled the bird feeders. The dark, ripe scent of wet earth filled his lungs. It seemed as if he’d t
He laughed. “You oughta see your look of horror.”She noticed he hadn’t answered her question. “Are we?”“No.” Quinn offered a wicked smile. “Unless you’ve got a hankerin’ to tattoo my initials on your sweet little ass?”“Quinn!”“What? It is a sweet little ass.”Married nine years and the man could still make her blush. “That’s not what I meant.”He stroked the back of his knuckles down her heated cheek. “That’s been part of the problem in recent years, ain’t it? Neither one of us is sayin’ what we really mean, or meanin’ what we say.”Libby closed her eyes and basked in his tender touch.“I wanna fix this between us, Libby.”Me too.Two solid raps startled them both. Quinn rolled down his window. “Hey, Cord, what’s up?”“Just makin’ sure you didn’t get cold feet.”“Nope.”Cord grinned. “Good. Took a bit of finagling, but we made room. See you two in there.”“In where?” Libby asked.“Healing Touch.” Quinn rolled up the window. “AJ is offerin’ a class on sensual massage.”“Are you ser
God, she was so feminine. So warm. So perfectly supple.So his.At first, Quinn feared he’d freeze up. But faced with Libby’s naked body spread out in a sumptuous feast, when he’d been starving for her for months, something instinctual kicked in.Lust.He swept his fingertips through the oil, hoping it’d lessen the abrasiveness of his callused hands. He played connect the dots with her moles and freckles, promising himself he’d use his tongue next time. Once the oil glistened across her torso, he began to rub it in.If her sighs and moans were any indication, he must’ve been doing something right.Quinn worked his thumbs into the tensed muscles stretching across her back, rounding to the bottom of her shoulder blades. Then he gradually moved down her spine, a vertebra at a time. When he reached the sexy dimples above her ass, an area he remembered as highly sensitive, he decreased the pressure. His touches became playful. As Quinn drew ever-widening circles, she arched into his teasin
Quinn ripped his mouth free and nestled his cheek beside hers. “Been so long. God, Libby. I’m already there.” His rhythm never faltered, even through his short and choppy breaths. “Lift your shirt. Pull my sweats down so I can come on your belly.”Those gruff words alone would’ve been enough to get her hot again, but she was already past the point of no return. Libby reached between them. The head of his cock poked up past the waistband of his sweatpants. He’d gone commando. Handy. She briefly touched the sleek maleness before aligning the weeping tip above her belly button. “Do it.”The thrusts were hard and fast. Quinn’s head snapped back with enough force his hat fell to the dirt.Libby shamelessly watched pleasure contort her husband’s face as he came with a low moan. His pelvis kept pumping until warmth spurted across her stomach. With the constant abrasion to her clit, another quick orgasm erupted that left her gasping and selfishly wanting more.Quinn stilled and slowly opened