Quint eyed the deserted trash dump site ahead. With one more glance at Kaitlyn, he steered the truck off the road and put it in park. He saw Kaitlyn eye him curiously. He climbed out of the vehicle and came around to snatch open the passenger door.
“The hell?” Kaitlyn shrieked, eyeing him like he was crazy.
Quint pulled her out of the truck and pressed her body against the Ford. He lowered his bald head to taste her lips a dozen different times and ways before deepening the kiss with every bit of emotion he felt for her.
He felt Kaitlyn’s body weaken as she kissed him back with matched intensity. As his tongue flickered against hers, he felt her body shiver, and her moans echoed inside his mouth. His dick stirred between them and he reluctantly kissed her lips one last time before he stepped back from their heat.
Kaitlyn was panting. Her peach gloss was smeared over her mouth, and her hands were splayed against the side of the truck as she eyed him in desire and surprise.
“Damn,” she gasped.
Quint cleaned the sticky gloss from his mouth with his thumb as he eyed her. The urge to kiss her and to somehow express his love for her had overwhelmed him. He smiled at her and shook his head, completely shaken by the fact that this woman whom he once considered a beautiful mess had eased her way into his heart.
“Everyone take your seats,” Kade Strong announced, his eyes and his smile bright as he called his family into the spacious dining room.
Kaitlyn smiled as she watched Quint pick up KJ as they all made their way into the dining room. Her nephew had instantly taken to Quint, who tossed the little boy like a football into the air as he laughed with childish glee.
“I think I want a son,” Quint whispered to her after he settled KJ into his seat at the kids’ table before sliding into his own seat beside her at the long and wide table.
“Today?” she asked playfully, reaching over to place her hand on his thigh.
Quint just chuckled.
Kaitlyn smiled at him and raised her finger to ease it into one of his dimples.
“Awwww!” The women around the table all sighed.
Kaitlyn snatched her hand away and blushed. She had completely forgotten there were people around. She had been lost in the Kaitlyn-and-Quint bubble.
He massaged her back comfortingly and she felt the slight tension ease from her body, just like that.
It felt good to be there with him, and around her boisterous family too. And he seemed to fit just fine. That was asking a lot from her overprotective brothers, inquisitive father, curious mother, and nosy sisters-in-law. But he took it all in stride.
Her life and the way she viewed it were so different; and although she was proud of herself, her job, and the fact that she had taken on paying her own rent and car note, she knew her change in outlook had a lot to do with him. A whole lot.
“Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn?”
“Huh?” She drifted from her thoughts and found everyone at the table staring at her.
“What are you thankful for, Kat?” her father asked.
“Uhm, I’m thankful for my family, my new life, and my new man,” she admitted.
“Thank you, baby.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek.
Her brothers rolled their eyes teasingly. Her sisters-in-law and her nieces—including Kaleb’s stepdaughter twins—all sighed.
Quint reached for her hand on the top of the table and stroked the back of it with his thumb, even as he talked to her brothers about football.
Kaitlyn looked up and found her father’s eyes on them. She gave him a reassuring smile and was glad when he nodded in approval.
Quint looked around at the vast acres stretched out before them as he walked alongside Kaitlyn. It was nice to get away from the crowd and have her back to himself for a few minutes before they returned to the main house.
“Where are you taking me?” he asked.
Kaitlyn bumped her shoulder against his before she turned and walked backward. “Are you afraid, city boy?” she teased.
Quint eyed her. “I’m from the city. That’s true. But I left being a boy behind a long time ago. But then you know that, right?” he shot back, with a meaningful stare down below his belt.
Kaitlyn just arched an eyebrow before she turned and dashed off to run inside the barn. She paused at the door and looked back over her shoulder at him briefly before she disappeared inside.
Quint followed behind at a slower pace as he marveled that Kaitlyn was so comfortable traipsing through grass and dirt in her heels. Yet another facet to her. As he entered the stable, he was thankful that the scent of the housed horses was not strong. It was clear that the horses, like the rest of the impressive ranch, were well taken care of on a continual basis.
His eyes widened in surprise to see Kaitlyn nuzzling her face against the nose of a white horse. Even though Kaitlyn had told him about her horse, he still didn’t expect to find her so close to it, reaching her head and hands over the door to its stall. He walked up and reached out to lightly pat the horse’s strong neck.
“So this is Snowflake?” Quint asked.
Kaitlyn nodded with pride. “Isn’t she beautiful?” she asked, reaching into the pocket of her leather jacket to pull out slices of a carrot. She placed one in the middle of her palm and spread her hand out flat, with her fingers angled down toward the ground.
Quint watched as she held her hand a few feet away and the horse reached its head out to take the carrot slice into its mouth.
“Good girl,” Kaitlyn said, stroking the flat area between its eyes.
It surprised him again when Kaitlyn didn’t turn up her nose in distaste or run to wash her hands. Instead, she set another carrot slice in her hand and repeated the process.
Kaitlyn laughed when she looked over and saw the odd expression on his face. “I did grow up on a ranch, you know,” she reminded him.
Quint eased his hands into the pockets of his denims as he leaned against the wall of the stall and studied her. “So which one is really you? The glamour gal, with her high heels and a job in fashion, or the country girl, who loves feeding horses and eating chitlin’.”
Kaitlyn pointed her finger at him. “Don’t sleep on my mama’s hog mog and chitterlings,” she said. “You shoulda tried ’em before you knocked them.”
Quint shook his head. “There was too much fried turkey and ham available for me to need chitterlings on my plate.”
Kaitlyn just laughed.
“So which one?” he asked.
“Both,” she answered without hesitation, as if the question had remained on her mind as it did for him.
Quint fell silent and just watched her patiently feed the horse the carrots, one by one. It was a comfortable silence. They had shared many of them in the past month, and he knew they would share many more in the months—and, hopefully, years—to come.
“Did I ever tell you that when I watch you carving or building something from wood that I think it is the sexiest thing I have seen in my life?” she asked suddenly as she walked over to the deep sink at the end of the stable to wash her hands.
Quint’s eyes dropped down to watch the movement of her buttocks in her dress as she did so.
“No, I don’t believe you have ever told me that,” he said, his voice deep.
She nodded. “Why don’t you start a business doing it, you know?”
Quint raised his thick eyebrows. “I don’t need an actual business for you to get hot watching me work my wood.”
He jerked his head up and she whipped her head to look over her shoulder at him with mischief in her eyes.
“Pause,” they said in unison.
“But seriously,” Kaitlyn said, wiping her hand with paper towels that she had yanked from the metal dispenser on the wall. “You’re really, really good, and I think you should consider doing it more. Maybe not full-time, but take on more. I can help, if you like. I’m pretty good with wood.”
Thankfully, they both let that “pause” moment pass.
&
nbsp; “You really think so?” he asked as she came up to wrap her arms around his waist and leaned back to look up at him.
“Yes, I think I’m very good with—”
“Not that,” he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“Do you really think I can get a strong hustle going?”
Kaitlyn eyed him in the utmost seriousness. “I believe that you, Quinton Wells, can do anything you set your mind to do,” she told him.
Quint liked the faith and confidence she had in him. And he believed her. That made him believe in himself a little more.
“I’ll think about it,” he promised.
Kaitlyn undid her arms from around his waist and reached for his hand to lead him down to the last stall. “Now I have something else for you to think about,” she said, grabbing one of the freshly laundered saddle blankets from the shelves before pulling him into an empty stall.
Quinton stopped short and then tugged on her hand and pulled her body against his.
“We can’t do this,” he said, even as he felt the pulse running along the length of his dick, which picked up the pace.
Kaitlyn flung the blanket over her head as she licked and then lightly bit his bottom lip. “You’re right. Why get on that hard floor when there’s a perfectly good stool for you to sit on,” she said, using her hands to pull down on his shoulders until he bent his knees and sat on the stool.
Quint eyed her as she pulled her sweater dress up around her waist and eased her bikini panties down over her hips. He licked his lips at the sight of her bald pussy as she straddled his hips, but she sat back on the top of his thighs as she straddled him to reach down and undo his belt and zipper. Soon his dick was in her hands and she was stroking him to hardness.
And it felt good. Damn good.
“Kaitlyn, we can’t,” he protested, sounding weak even to his own ears.
She reached up under her dress and pulled a condom from her bra.
“Oh, so you planned this?” he asked thickly, looking down as she tore the foil and worked the latex down the slight arch of his long thickness.
Kaitlyn said nothing as she rose up on her toes and then shifted forward to guide her pussy down onto him slowly, adjusting to the feel of him pressing against her walls. She winced and gasped in pleasure until all of him was planted deep within her. The very base of his hardness pressed against her clit and she already felt herself near an orgasm.
“Oh shit,” Quint gasped, tightly holding her hips as he stretched his legs out before him. She was tight and wet and already pulsing against the length of him.
Kaitlyn pulled the front of her sweater dress over her head as she began to work her hips back and forth, sending her core gliding up and down the length of him. She guided his mouth to her cleavage and felt her walls spasm as he sucked at it hotly. She grasped the door to the stall tightly as she rode him. Each thrust of her hips rammed the chair and his back against the door, making a loud slamming noise.
Bam!
Quint used one hand to free her breast to suckle her nipple as the pace and force of her thrusts picked up.
Bam!
Bam! Bam!
Kaitlyn let her head fall back as she gripped the door tightly enough to crack it as she enjoyed the feel of his mouth and the sliding, gliding motion of her throbbing clit against his hardness. The added intensity of them being caught kicked everything up a notch.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Quint opened his eyes as her breasts jiggled in his mouth. He wondered if anyone could hear them. Between his moans and her hip work, even the horses had to be curious as to what exactly was going on in stall number ten at the end.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
“Kaitlyn,” he managed to say, even as he enjoyed her ride.
“What?” she asked, lifting her head to look at him. And ride him harder. Their slamming echoed inside the stable.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
“Kaitlyn!”
“What?” she asked softly, looking at him intently as she licked her lips.
Quint’s body went stiff as he felt his climax coming on like a storm.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
“Don’t worry,” Kaitlyn whispered to him. “I’m coming with you.”
BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM!
They cried out hoarsely as they both felt the white-hot explosion firing off inside them and pushing them far over the edge of caring who heard.
Kaitlyn and Quint walked up to the main house together, still playful and caught up in the afterglow from another heated coupling.
“Thank God, those horses can’t talk,” Quint quipped.
She laughed as she slid her arm through his. “Ain’t that the truth.”
They neared the porch and Kaitlyn grimaced to see her mother, sisters-in-law, and the twins, Meena and Neema, all lounging on the porch as the sun was just beginning to set.
“Uh-oh,” Quint said under his breath as they climbed the stairs to the sound and sight of the ladies’ whispers and nudges against each other.
Kaitlyn knew Quint was glad to leave the porch and head inside to wherever the men were gathered around the television. She started to do the same, but Bianca leaned over and tugged on the front of her dress.
“The shape is gone, boo. What happened?” Bianca asked, with a sly look up at Kaitlyn.
“Are all the sweet potato pies gone?” Kaitlyn asked as she sat down next to Meena and crossed her legs.
The ladies laughed and shared knowing looks at her swift—and obvious—change of subject.
“I made a plate for you, Quint, and his daughter,” Lisha said as she rocked in her chair. She pulled her wrap closer around her arms as the wind began to turn chillier as the sun took its heat with it.
“Thanks, Mommy.”
The front door opened and Quint stepped out onto the porch. Kaitlyn looked up at him and she could tell he was angry. She rose to her feet, thinking somehow one of her brothers and he had gotten into it.
“What’s wrong?”
“I have to check on Lei, so I have to go,” Quint said, reaching in his pocket for his keys.
“I hope everything is okay,” Lisha offered.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “Kaitlyn, if you want to stay with your family, I can come back for you.”
Kaitlyn nodded. “Yeah. Okay. If you don’t need me. As long as Lei isn’t hurt or anything?”
Quint nodded. “No, it’s not her,” he stressed.
Vita.
So far, Kaitlyn had avoided meeting her, and she didn’t mind keeping it that way. But she frowned at all of the long, big-eyed stares the ladies were giving her.
“I’ll walk you to the car,” she offered as they began to whisper.
The hell?
“Lei just called, and her mother wants her to move back in with her,” Quint said before he climbed into the driver’s seat.
Kaitlyn felt her shoulders slump under the weight of his words. She knew that the news affected him, and that made her ache for him. Lei was his heart.
“Kat.”
She turned and was surprised to see her mother coming down the stairs to stand on the bottom step with a plastic bag holding the to-go containers. Kaitlyn frowned in confusion.
Lisha motioned for Kaitlyn to come to her.
“One sec, Quint,” she told him before walking up to the foot of the stairs.
He gave her mother another wave before closing the driver’s door and starting the truck.
Lisha pressed the bag into her daughter’s hand. “See you Sunday?” she asked.
“But I’m not go—”
“Yes, you are,” every woman on the porch said in unison.
Kaitlyn leaned to the side to look past her mother at her family. Each one’s look conveyed: Don’t be stupid.
She opened her mouth, wanting to defend Quint:
I trust him.
We give each other space.
This is about his child. I’m minding my own.
Kaitlyn straightened her body to look up at her mother. “Yes. Yeah. Yes. Yes,” she stressed.
“Then you be by his side when he’s going through something. You be his spine. The backbone. We’re family. We love you. And we’ve done proved, we ain’t going nowhere,” Lisha advised.
She leaned over again to look at the women. They all waved her bye-bye.
“Oh . . . okay,” Kaitlyn said, turning to head back to the pickup.
“You changed your mind?” Quint asked after she climbed up into the truck and closed the door securely behind herself.
“Yeah. If that’s okay?” she asked.
“I prefer it,” he said, patting her thigh reassuringly before he circled out of the yard and down the long drive. “I didn’t want to force you to leave your family for my drama.”
They were right. Humph.
“I’m good. I’m full. We got to-go plates. Now let’s go check on Lei.”
Quint steered with his left hand and opened his right one to her, palm side up. Kaitlyn took the hand into the middle of both of hers and squeezed them as she looked over at his handsome profile.
“Did she already say she wanted to live with her mom?” Kaitlyn asked.
Quint shook his head. “She asked me to pick her up so we could talk about it.”
She squeezed his hand a bit tighter between hers. “What are you going to do?”
“Hell if I know,” Quint admitted. “Vita is her mother. She carried her. She still has the C-section scar. But for two years she just checked out on our daughter—maybe because she was confident I would step up, or maybe she’s just as selfish as I think she is. To be honest, I don’t think it’s fair that she messes up her life, and now she wants to come back and mess up ours.”
Kaitlyn nodded in understanding.
“It’s some real bullshit, you know?”
She looked down at their entwined hands as she felt him tighten his grip—seeking her comfort. If she had remained behind with her family, he would have taken this ride to Charleston alone and dealt with his raw emotions alone.
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