AllFreeNovel
Share Us
No, you can't call. You don't want to come off as some kind of dog begging for scraps.
He held out until he'd gotten out, mostly dried off, and saw his phone sitting on the counter. His hand reached for it as if it had a mind of its own.
She picked up on
the second ring, but she was already talking. "Yeah, put that back there. Thanks, Robert. I'd like to change the shipment rate...hold on. Mr. Pedraza?"
She was dealing with the beer delivery guy. Just like the previous night in front of the customers, she was calling him boss or Mr. Pedraza. It fucking turned him on, knowing behind closed doors, it was something entirely different. He decided to give back tit for tat. "Yes ma'am?" he drawled.
There was laughter in her voice at that, but she kept on track. "So do you need the same order you requested this morning?"
Okay, she was better at this than him. Was she really going to have him do this while she was doing business? "I'll call you back."
"No. I'm accepting that delivery only at the proscribed time, boss. Just as we discussed. I can do this at the same time. Go ahead and give me what you need. Now."
Her voice was conversational, yet he heard the trace of steel, that hint of command that probably passed unnoticed to the beer guy. In contrast, Quinn heard it as clear as a drill sergeant's bark.
"Fuck, I can't do this."
"Yes, Mr. Pedraza. I'm very confident that can happen. Robert, here's the order change. Can you put that in the back?"
Robert must have walked away, because her voice changed immediately. "I want to hear you, Quinn. Want to hear every groan, every curse, the way you say 'I want to fuck your cunt' like a sacred promise. Obey me, cowboy."
"Are you wet?" he demanded. "Christ, give me something. I feel like a fucking dumbass teenager here, chasing a cheerleader's skirts." He should hang up. He was just too damn horny to do so. But he wasn't going to beg. He'd never been that kind of guy with a woman, and he wasn't starting now.
"I'm so wet that if I buried your face in my pussy right now, you'd drown," she said. "Give me a gift, Quinn. Give me everything you are in this moment. You're not a teenager. You're a powerful, tough-as-nails man who makes me hot just to hear your voice on the phone, begging me in that rough way of yours to let you come."
Just like that, hearing the urgency in her tone made all his uneasiness disappear. Was it his imagination, or did showing her desires so blatantly freak her out a little bit too? All he knew was hearing that note in her voice made things feel more balanced, though he was sure she wouldn't appreciate hearing that at all.
Over the next five minutes, he worked his cock in his hand, the shower steam still misting his flesh. During that time, Robert returned, she worked out a freaking new order schedule with him and told him to check the cooling lines on their tap system. When Quinn came at her veiled order, "Yes, boss. Now's the perfect time," he barely had time to cover himself with a towel to save a night of mopping up the floor.
While he was still catching his breath, she put Robert on the line so he could verify she was the new barkeep and not some wet-dream fantasy who'd wandered in straight from the pages of every guy's fave skin mag. Robert didn't put it that way, but Quinn was sure that was what he was thinking. It sure as hell was what he was thinking. He managed the, "Hey, Bob, yeah she's my new help, and unless she asks for the freaking moon, we're all good." Though he might just give her the entire universe, not just the moon. Selene took the phone back from Robert.
"All right, sounds like we're all done, Mr. Pedraza. Call me back if you need me again." The connection was cut.
It wasn't until about an hour later he started having weird feelings about it. Yeah, typical guy, getting off, then having regrets. But Jesus, while she was dealing with a vendor? He wished he could go see her tonight, but it just wasn't in the cards. He still had a few hours to go on paperwork for the ranch and a full day tomorrow. He sighed, put his head in his hands. In a matter of a few days, he'd gotten himself hung up in a pretty complicated set of feelings. Having those feelings for someone who worked for him was never a good idea.
Once again he was back to the idea it was probably good to put some physical distance between them. So he promised himself no more phone calls. At least until he actually had time to go see her again.
Chapter Six
The next morning, the men rode out early to get the herd moving. One of the hands called and told him they had finished mending a broken spot in the fence on the north pasture and were getting ready to drive the cattle there. While Quinn knew they would have done their usual efficient job and didn't need his stamp of approval, he was tired of wrestling with paperwork and forcing himself to leave the telephone alone. Checking out the repairs provided the perfect excuse to take in some steadying solitude.
The sun was bathing everything in its warm golden glow when he saddled Midnight and headed out of the barn. He didn't take his phone with him, on purpose. As he rode out through the meadows waiting to be filled by part of the herd, he drew the air deep in his lungs, let the underlying quiet beneath the sounds of nature ease his mind, his gut.
He walked Midnight along the fence, checking for other weak spots, but at a certain point, he closed his eyes, let Midnight walk about a quarter mile, his mind lulled by the horse's movement. When Quinn finally opened his eyes, he found one small detail in the landscape had changed. One that made him smile.
"Well, looks like there's more than one of you after all. Must be a new strain."
It was the same type of butterfly he'd seen a few days before. Midnight's ears flickered as the delicate winged insect beat a determined track right for the two of them, almost emanating the attitude, "Why on earth did I have to bring my ass all the way out here to find you?"
Bemused, Quinn watched the creature perch right on his rein-wrapped hand on the pommel, just as before. It fluttered its wings, settling down. It was rare a man got to look at a butterfly this up close and personal, so still, and in his current contemplative state, he was impressed, almost hypnotized by its beauty, by the subtle blending of the colors. The usual tracery of black was missing. Every butterfly he'd ever seen had at least a touch of it in its palette, but not this one.
Keeping still, he cast his gaze around, seeking others, but didn't find any. Weird. They always traveled in flights, never alone. Not that he remembered.
He lifted his hand, expecting the delicate creature to skedaddle, and was surprised it stayed in place. When he flexed his fingers, moving the knuckle the butterfly rested on, instead of skittering off, it fluttered its wings. Hovered in front of him before coming to rest on his shoulder.
He freed his hands from the reins, knowing Midnight would stay still until bid otherwise, though the horse's ears were swept back, as if listening with animal radar to the silent byplay between his master and the intriguing insect. Quinn turned his hand palm up, realizing he was holding his breath. The butterfly lifted off, floated down and landed right in the cup of his hand.
He stared at it. Slowly, he closed his fingers into a curved basket around it. It didn't move. At the faint brush of the wings, he opened his grasp, remembering something about a human touching a butterfly's wings could take away its ability to fly. The thought gave him a moment of consternation, then the butterfly lifted off, relieving him.
A piercing whistle caught his attention and he looked up to see the mass of cattle coming up over the crest of the hill, the hands in loose formation around them.
"Well look at that. I timed that just right, little lady. I assume you're a little lady. You just don't strike me as a guy."
When he moved to unlatch the gate so the herd could move through, he expected the butterfly to whisk away, but it sat on his shoulder, now on his hat, now performing a delicate dance around his head. When it landed once on Midnight's forelock, he tightened his grip on the reins, expecting the big black gelding to protest. But the magnificent animal just twitched his ears and bobbed his head once, as if having a private conversation with the little creature.
Okay, now I am really losing my mind.
It remained in its place even as he backed Midnight away out of the swarm of cattle. Then, once he was clear, it went back to resting on his hand. He kept it as still as possible, giving it that resting spot as he c
alled out direction to the men. Fortunately, none were close enough to notice, so he didn't have to explain what the hell he was doing playing with butterflies.
When Kevin brought lunch out to them in the four-wheel pickup, Quinn dismounted and waited for the butterfly to move off. Instead it simply changed its position, settling on the brim of his Stetson. A strange feeling whispered through his system. The men made a joke about it, and Kevin lifted a hand to swat at it. "Let me take care of that, boss."
Quinn caught his arm, quick as he'd rope a calf out of the shoot. A startled look crossed Kevin's face, and Quinn swallowed, hoping the dull flush he thought was on his face wasn't. "Don't. It's bringing me luck. Haven't had a damn thing go wrong since it showed up a few days ago." Because he was somehow sure it was the same one.
Well, at least that was something cowhands understood. They all had their superstitions, and though they ribbed him about it, not a one of them did anything like Kevin had again. They started looking a little amazed themselves at the way the butterfly stayed with him, just doing that gentle wing pump, sometimes barely moving at all.
"I think it's tired, boss," Dave said, pointing with his fork. "I saw one once get all buffeted about by a windy day, and when it lighted on a protected branch, it did just like that. The wing movement's like them catching their breath."
"Well, last time I saw it, it was clear on the other side of the property, so maybe it had a big trip today." Taking of his hat, Quinn set it on the rock next to him so he could study the creature. Per his request, Kevin had brought him his phone, so Quinn took a picture of the insect, examined it. He made it into his screen background, because he liked looking at it. He'd show it to Selene, tell her it had her eye color.
Damn, he missed that woman. Today was the last day they had to work such long hours. He was going to go see her at After Hours. No, forget that. He was going to call her, offer to take her out to dinner Sunday night. She was new in town and he'd been a selfish bastard, making it all about the sex and not being a proper gentleman. Never mind she hadn't seemed to mind making some pretty hefty sexual demands herself, a man knew the right thing to do by a woman. He wasn't going to call her in front of all his men, and by the time he got back, she'd be hip deep in the bar's operating hours. He'd send her a text, even though that wasn't as proper as asking her voice to voice. Truth, he wanted to call her for a reason other than whacking off.
