The warm glow painted her face in golden light. Memories slammed into him.
Lucille Harris.
Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit.
Widow Quinn was Lucille Harris? What kind of world threw him into a situation with the woman who lived in his dreams? He hadn’t seen her in five years, not long enough to dispel her from his memories. Now here they were alone, she was wet and sexier than she had been.
“Lucy?”
Her expression hardened right along with her jaw. “You don’t get to call me that.”
“It is you, isn’t it?” Twitches of shock echoed through him.
“My name is Lucille. I ain’t been Lucy in years.” She slicked her hair back, revealing more of her face. Tiny lines creased at the corners of her eyes and mouth, as though she had been frowning a lot. Now she just scowled at him. “Can we just talk about the missing cattle?”
“How did you end up here?” He gestured to the hovel they sat in. “In this place?”
“I want to talk about cattle, not about me or my life.” She scratched at the tabletop, avoiding his gaze. “We had six dozen cattle, not prime beef, but they was ours. They’ve all disappeared over the last six months, not long after Patrick died.” She gestured to the door. “That cow is the last animal I got. I don’t trust anyone, including you, but I gotta do something. I can’t live on nothing but milk and dirt.”
Sean had a thousand questions for her, but she wasn’t going to answer even one of them. He had to focus on the job, not on the woman, however fetching she was.
“I’ll do what I can to sort this out.” He didn’t want to promise anything. She probably didn’t take care of the cattle after her husband passed, maybe didn’t know how. “Have you looked for the cattle?”
She made a face at him. “I looked on every square inch of this property for them beeves. They’re gone.”
Lucille got up and used a rag to pick up the coffee pot, pouring into an equally battered but serviceable tin cup. Sean wondered if she had more than one or if she wanted to share with him. That thought made his breath catch. No, no, no.
Don’t let your mind wander that way.
When she set the cup down, he watched her hands. Although she obviously did plenty of work with them, they were still very feminine looking with long fingers and skin the color of cream. “I ain’t much of a coffee drinker except in winter.”
He took a big gulp of the coffee to distract himself, and it worked. Too well. It had to be the worst coffee he’d ever had in his life. Not only were there bits of beans floating around in it, but it was as thick as sludge. He contemplated spitting it back in the cup but decided Lucy might bash him over the head with the pot if he did. Reluctantly, he swallowed the mess and tried not to shudder at the taste.
By the time he was done with that first gulp, she had already filled up the hip bath and was currently removing her clothing. Sean stood up so fast he spilled the coffee all over the table. Yanking off his neckcloth, he mopped it up as best he could, trying like hell not to look at her as she revealed her nude form. He could not get involved with Lucy again. Not again.
“I told you I was going to take a bath and hoped you weren’t shy. Life is too hard out here to be modest, Sean. Besides you already seen everything I got.”
Shy? Jesus, he wasn’t shy. He was a red-blooded man, alone with a woman in the middle of nowhere and she was getting naked. And wet. What the hell did she think he would do? Just watch like a fool while she took a bath?
He turned and headed for the door. Sean wasn’t an idiot. There would be a helluva lot more going on if he stayed. She didn’t say anything, which told him she understood why he was leaving. She could have called him back, or even invited him to join her, but she didn’t. Lucille was a woman alone, but she knew enough to not poke a bear.
Sean, proving to himself he was a fool, turned and looked just as he was closing the door behind him. The sight of her nakedness burned into his mind. Long legs, a sweet curve to her waist to the flare of her hip, and another glimpse of the most beautiful pink-tipped tits he’d ever seen in his life. His dick turned into a log in his trousers.
Shit, shit, shit.
He marched out to where his horse was tethered and led him to the crooked lean-to the cow was in. The old girl lowed at him as he secured his horse in the other stall. The gelding eyed the cow with what seemed to be disdain, as though he didn’t belong in a cow lean-to. That was too damn bad, because Lucy was right. Too many coyotes and other critters that would love to get their teeth into a prime piece of horseflesh.
Ten minutes after unsaddling the horse, his hard-on had not dissipated. If anything, as his mind kept returning to the image of her near perfect body, his dick grew harder. Five years and his body remembered hers, wanted hers, ached for hers.
There was no help for it, he’d have to get rid of the problem on his own. Not that he hadn’t done that quite a bit in his life, but it was damn embarrassing to do because of a woman he hadn’t laid eyes on in five years. That was a new problem for him.
Sean walked around the side of the lean-to and spotted the entrance to a ravine. The reddish rock shone in the setting sun, but beyond it, shadows beckoned. It was a place to get rid of his problem in private.
Lucille wasn’t disappointed. Not really. He could have stayed to watch or more but then things would have gotten complicated. There was a reason he’d left her before, and it had everything to do with his dreams and nothing to do with hers. She was content to stay put and make a life with what she had. He aimed higher, searching for an elusive something else. Mining had apparently not been that something, perhaps being a marshal was. However judging by how grumpy he was, she didn’t think so.
Shaking away her thoughts, she focused on getting clean. She scrubbed herself with the rough soap and a rag until her skin was pink and squeaky. One thing Lucille didn’t tolerate well was staying dirty, although she certainly got dirty nearly every day. Perhaps someday she might have a great big bathtub and soak her entire body in hot sudsy water. She’d sell off everything she owned for that. Maybe.
With a little bit of regret, she got out of the cooling hip bath and dried off with the scrap of a towel. As she yanked on her other clothes, which happened to be Patrick’s old shirt and pants, she wondered where Sean was. She had to find him and make sure he didn’t get lost in the rough land around them. No matter what she thought of Sean, she couldn’t let him get hurt because he was new to the territory. Careful to keep her feet clean, she pulled on socks and boots and then set out after him.
The sun, low in the sky, splashed orange and pink across the ground and rocks, as though a giant paintbrush had swept through leaving vibrant colors in its wake. This beauty never ceased to tug at her, pulling her closer to the land she thought once to be scrubby and ugly. Although her husband had never appreciated the property he lived on, she did. Her grandfather was a smart man, seeing the beautiful gem beneath all the dirt.
She glanced around and saw Sean’s gelding in the lean-to. Lucille looked around for signs of where he was. She found big bootprints heading toward the ravine. It wasn’t her favorite place, particularly so given Patrick had drowned there, but it wasn’t the rainy season so the creek was dry. There were nooks, caves and various other surprises in that ravine, some delightful and some deadly. Sean Reilly was something of an explorer or he was trying to avoid her.
Lucille took her pack from beside the door then made sure the animals were secure. The horse eyed her warily before she offered him some sweetgrass from the cow’s supply. He happily munched on the treat as she patted his neck. The marshal had a beautiful animal, and he obviously took good care of it too. That said a lot about him, even if he was a lot more short-tempered and grumpy than he used to be.
She shifted the pack onto her shoulder and headed into the ravine. No telling how long she might be in there, so she always took her supplies with her. Sean appeared to have taken nothing with him but his impatience.
&n
bsp; His tracks were easy enough to follow. He was obviously still a curious sort because he stopped to look at each nook and cranny within the ravine. She ignored the dry creek bed and focused on the footprints instead. There was no place in her day for dark memories.
Fifteen minutes later, she found him by the rock waterfall.
Naked.
Lucille’s heart ceased beating for a moment while she absorbed the bounty in front of him. He was lean with clearly defined muscles from his shoulders to his calves. Water sluiced down his nicely formed chest, which was covered with a few white scars and sprinkles of brown hair. Her gaze followed the water straight down to between his legs where he had a tremendously hard dick fisted in his hand. Just as she remembered, the man had a cock a horse might have envied accompanied by a pair of perfectly formed balls.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and sucked in a shaky breath before she started from the top to the bottom again. He was stunning beneath the grimy clothes, the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. In the time they were together years earlier, she never saw him completely nude. Only bits and parts here and there in the shadows of the hotel room. Lucille had no idea what lurked beneath the clothes or what she’d been missing out on after he left.
Her pussy grew damp and a heavy throb began low and deep in her belly. She had been intimate with the man a dozen times long ago, but this need, this ache taking hold of her now was ten times what she’d felt then.
Lucille might have simply left him to his self-pleasure, but she was too interested in the shared pleasure they could find together. There was no reason they couldn’t tussle under the sheets, or in this case, under the waterfall. He was a big boy, in more ways than one, and she was an experienced widow.
There wasn’t a single reason not to stay.
With each tug of his hand, she moved an inch closer. His shaft was beautiful, long and thick, swollen and begging for her touch. Her mouth, her tongue. She had to taste him.
Reilly’s eyes were closed, wrapped up in his own pleasure. Lucille slid off her clean clothes, folding them neatly on a rock. Her stomach trembled as she stepped toward him. If he rejected her again, she just might be hurt. She couldn’t have stopped herself though, not this time.
She dropped to her knees onto the smooth, wet stone and took him into her mouth. His salty, male taste coated her tongue as she sucked him deep into her mouth. He gasped, his hand falling away and grabbing her hair. As the water pounded around her, the rest of the world faded.
His familiar taste and scent surrounded her, pulled her back to a time when they were both young and full of hope. She pulled him into her mouth again until he touched the back of her throat, then gently closed her teeth around him. He jerked and a groan sounded from above her.
“Jesus Christmas, Lucy. Ah, God, that feels good.”
Lucille inched closer and used one hand to grip his cock, the other to cup his balls, rolling and weighing them. She swiped her tongue along the bottom of his staff as her thumb pressed into the base. As she leaned back then forward to suck him deep into her mouth, she paid close attention to the head, nibbling and lapping at him.
His flesh pulsed in her mouth, on her tongue, even as she felt his body tremble slightly. It was a heady and powerful feeling. She had brought a man to this point. Her. Lucille Quinn, the black widow. Oh she’d devour her mate all right. Although she wouldn’t call Sean her mate, just the man she had to have, to taste and to join with.
The water pounded around them, dripping down her head and back, cooling her overheated skin. She sat back and let the cool water fill her mouth, then dribbled all over his cock. The combination of hot and cold made him gasp. With a grin, she licked the length of him, then did it again. His slick hot flesh rubbed against her lips, she wondered if a man had ever had such a beautiful cock as Sean’s. He was truly gifted with a magnificent instrument. She squeezed the base and made another pass with her tongue.
Lucille couldn’t wait to feel him buried inside her.
As she took him back in her mouth, he shuddered and she tasted pre-come, a small bit of ambrosia to tempt her. Her body craved his, needed more than to taste him. Her nipples pebbled beneath the cool water, eager for touch. She squeezed her thighs together, not ready yet to end the pleasure of having him at her mercy and on her tongue.
“God, you’re gonna have to stop or I won’t be able to.”
She ignored him and sucked deep, his pulse beating a staccato rhythm against her lips. Another taste of his essence coated her mouth, salty and sweet. Her teeth gently scraped against his cock as she slowly released him from her mouth. Then Sean took over.
“I can’t wait no more, Lucy.” He pulled her to her feet, flipped her around and put her palms against the rock.
Her body tingled as he nudged apart her thighs and reached around to cup her breasts. Her pussy throbbed with anticipation. Yes, yes, yes.
His staff rested against her inner thigh, tempting her. Yet he didn’t put it in. She wiggled her ass but he continued to pinch and tug at her nipples.
“Then put it in already.”
He chuckled against her neck. “Oh now you’re impatient. Tit for tat, darlin’.”
His hand crept down to her mound, the fingers sliding into the slick flesh until he found her clit. While he continued to tease her nipple, Sean pleasured her into submission. Two fingers teased her entrance and his thumb continued its lazy circles on her nubbin. She closed her eyes and focused on the intensity of the experience. The hot air, the cool water, the thunder of the falls, the heat of the man.
Sun sparkled on the water as it splashed around them. She focused on the droplets and the exquisite tremors pulsing through her. It was good, so good. His hot hands against her hot flesh with the cool water slicing the air between.
Her body coiled within, tighter and tighter. He pinched her nipple hard and she gasped against the bolt that traveled straight to her pussy. Sean had been a boy when they had been together, but now he was a man and he surely had learned some new skills since then. Just as she felt herself tipping over the edge of an orgasm, he pulled his hands away.
She gasped and swallowed the moan that rose in her throat. “Wh-what are you doing?”
“Anticipation, Lucy. It makes it all that much sweeter.”
His staff nudged her entrance and she closed her eyes. An inch, then he pulled it out again. She nearly wept. He entered her again, two inches this time, then pulled it out. Lucy growled.
“You’d best fuck me now, Sean or I’m gonna suck you dry and you won’t get my pussy again.”
He chuckled near her ear. “You’ve got quite a mouth.”
“You know that for certain don’t you?” She pushed her ass against his throbbing cock. “Now put it in.”
Without further objections, he entered her, a long, slow slide that made her fingers curl against the rock and her toes do the same. When he was fully sheathed inside her, she wanted to open her mouth and howl. It was perfect, the most amazing sensation as though God had made them to fit together.
His hands grasped her hips, trembling slightly. “Holy hell. Give me a second.” He pressed his forehead into her back, his hot breath coming fast against her skin. Sean was out of control and she loved it. Hell, she was out of control too but this man had kept hold of every emotion and circumstance he could. Now everything had changed.
She needed more than to feel him inside her though. Time to move. Lucy rose on her tiptoes, pulling away from him enough to create the delicious friction between them. She flattened her feet as quickly as she could, pushing him up inside her fully.
Yes, yes, yes. That’s what she needed. More. Now.
Lucy repeated the process, this time nearly slamming her feet down, creating waves of pleasure that echoed through her. He chuckled.
“Impatient.”
“Move now.” She wasn’t shy for sure. Her body ached and he could assuage that ache with ecstasy.
He pulled his cock almost all the way out an
d thrust back in, making her vibrate. “Like that?”
“Yes.” Her breath came out in a hiss.
Sean held onto her hips as he pounded into her, water splashing every which way. She moaned low and deep in her throat as her body tightened with each plunge of his dick into her eager pussy. She pressed her hands into the rock, her body shaking with desire, wanting, needing, a release. It had been so long since she’d experience true pleasure with a man. This was more than that though, it bordered on ecstasy.
She felt her peak start near her toes and travel up her body. Her heart slammed against her ribs as she readied herself to come. It would have been perfect if he was sucking and biting her nipples as he fucked her, but perhaps next time. She couldn’t even reach for her needy nipples because her head would slam into the rock if she wasn’t bracing herself.
The force of Sean’s thrusts sent her over the edge before she realized it. The orgasm roared through her, sending explosions of sheer bliss through her. She screamed her pleasure, the sound captured by the thunder of the waterfall. Her pussy tightened around his cock and his pace quickened until he buried himself deep, deep inside her. His fingers dug into her hips and she felt his seed spill into her, his howl echoing through her bones.
Lucille shook with the force of what had just happened, what she had instigated. Her breath came in gasps as she tried to regain control of her body. He kissed her back and straightened, then pulled his still hard cock from within her heat.
She almost told him to put it back in.
It took at least ten minutes for Sean to catch his breath. He lay naked on the sun-drenched rock with Lucy snuggled up at his side. A languidness kept hold of him, a sweet feeling he hadn’t felt in years, maybe even since the last time he’d been with the woman by his side. Along with it came a peace that shimmered in the air above them.
Of course he was probably suffering from a post-sex stupidity but at the moment, it felt pretty damn good. When he’d escaped into the ravine, the last thing he expected was to feel Lucy’s mouth on his dick. It had sent him into a haze of arousal he’d been helpless to escape. She had a talented tongue and a passion unmatched by any other woman he’d met.
Lucille's Lawman Page 2
