Heart's Delight Read online

  “Orders can be left. Isn’t that how criminals get away with things? Claim they were out of town.”

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  She forced herself to be calm. “Jim, I appreciate your concern for me. But you’re wrong, completely wrong.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time.” He gave her a rueful smile. “Don’t mind me. I knew your grandfather real well at one time and I want to look out for his granddaughter.”

  She thought of his kindness to her, his loneliness after the deaths of his wife and son and she felt ashamed at being so upset by him. “No problem, Jim. But I can vouch for Quinn.”

  Before he could ask any more probing questions or slant any more insinuations against Quinn, she turned and left the kitchen.

  Quinn and Elaine drove into town each lost in their own thoughts. Elaine’s mind was busy with a mental list of what she had to do. From time to time she glanced at Quinn, on the verge of asking what preoccupied him, but something held her back.

  Maybe he was regretting his move to her time.

  Stop it! she told herself. How much proof did she need that he wanted to be with her? At that instant he turned his head toward her and gave her a sunny smile, reaching out to place his hand over hers on the wheel. “Glad I’m with you,” he said.

  Her heart leapt and her throat grew tight. He might have difficulty reading a book, but he had a gift for looking into the depths of her mind.

  “Me too.”

  She pulled into the same parking space she had used the other day in front of the bank. Someone had plastered posters on the windows announcing a giant promotion with great prizes if you opened a new account. She sighed. She was having enough difficulty keeping the one she had.

  The ATM was in use and as she waited she noticed a newspaper clipping attached to a bulletin board. It had been cut from the center of a page. “New shopping center opens” it proclaimed in bold letters. Under the heading there was a picture of the bank manager, Newsome, cutting a ribbon across a doorway, a large smile on his face.

  She scooped her money out of the machine. “Just a moment,” she said to Quinn and hurried inside the bank.

  Jane, the loans officer, had just finished with a customer and Elaine slid into the vacated seat.

  Jane looked up from the file on her desk. “Hi, Ellie. What’s up?” Her eyes flicked to the doorway and she pursed her lips in a silent whistle. “Is that your new man? You must let me in on your secret.”

  Elaine turned her head to see Quinn lounging in the doorway, all lithe muscle and hot eyes. He lifted a hand in salute and Jane turned pink. “Oh my,” she said, and cleared her throat. “I guess that means you’re over Jordan.” She made a visible effort to pull herself back to her job. “What can I do for you?”

  “That report on the board about the shopping center—”

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  Jane frowned. “What about it?”

  “What paper was that in? What day?”

  Jane continued to look puzzled. “Yesterday, I think. In the Community News. Comes out once a w—”

  Before she could finish Elaine pushed back the chair. “I know. Thanks. See you, Jane.” She stood and took long steps to the doorway. Grabbing Quinn’s arm, she turned him to the street. “First thing I need to pick up is the local paper.”

  Quinn looked over his shoulder and touched a hand to his brow, signaling goodbye to Jane, who quickly buried her red face in her file.

  They picked up a copy of the paper at the convenience store and then paid a visit to a clothing store that sold jeans and work shirts. Quinn picked out a couple of pairs of pants, and tried them on with a pair of shoes while Elaine scooped socks and underwear. When he emerged from the fitting room her mouth went dry. The denim hugged his hips and the blue of the shirt turned his eyes to dark pools, like water under the Mediterranean sun.

  He came to stand beside her. “Will I do?” he murmured in her ear.

  A throb started low in her belly. “You’ll do,” she whispered.

  Back in the truck she flipped through the newspaper until she came to the shopping center report. It was the usual bland article, of interest to no one except the developer.

  Her eye stopped on the name. “Part of a major project by Denman Development” it said.

  She let out a long breath. Denman, who wanted her land, the bank manager, who was buying parcels, expansion in the area. It began to make sense.

  Quinn broke into her thoughts. “Is there a feed store around?”

  “Of course. But why?”

  He dove into the bag containing his old clothes and stuck his hand in a pocket, pulling out a handful of feed. “I’d just like someone to take a look at these pellets.” With his index finger he pushed a couple of tiny brown balls to one side. “Do you know what they are?”

  She shook her head. “I have no idea. Where did they come from?”

  “They were on the floor in the stall this morning. None in the trough. Either the animals had eaten them, or they were used for some other horses.”

  She frowned. “Jim has no other horses. Who would give my animals something without asking me?”

  “Is there anyone who could tell us what they are? Oats and grain I know, but you have so many new things.”

  “They’re new to me too. Let me think.”

  She put the car in gear. “The owner of the feed store knows me. I buy all my supplies there. Let’s try.”

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  The feed store manager couldn’t identify the pellets either and sent them along to the vet’s office. The vet was busy with a dog who had been hit by a car, but he took a moment to look at the handful of feed and shake his head. “I’ll keep them and send them to the lab,” he said. “But I’ll have to charge you the fee. Check back in a couple of days.”

  Outside, Elaine stopped on the sidewalk and took Quinn’s forearm. “Let’s stop a minute.”

  Obediently, he halted beside her.

  “I don’t understand why you’re so worried about the feed.”

  He thrust his hands in his pockets. “We had a gamekeeper once who slipped opium to the horses. Just enough so they lost every steeplechase for six months and were sold at a rock-bottom price.”

  “Why?”

  “A neighbor of my father’s was also a breeder. Our horses were beating his, his stock was going down. Couldn’t get a decent fee for stud.”

  “How did you find out?”

  “We didn’t really. Except that the new owners of our animals started to win. They were out of our county by then of course and it didn’t matter to our neighbor. They were all in a conspiracy to ruin our reputation.”

  “How did you know it was the gamekeeper?”

  Quinn raised a hand into a fist. “He and I had a little chat.”

  “But what does that have to do with my horses? With the gelding and Star?”

  “Let’s say I have a suspicious nature. The horses were already feeding when we arrived. Jim was a good friend of your grandfather?”

  “That’s what he said.”

  “So, is that why he’s being so kind?”

  She frowned. “I heard he was lonely since his wife and son died.”

  “So he takes in an unknown couple and two extra horses.”

  She looked at him. “What are you trying to say?”

  “Just an observation, maybe a cynical one. He doesn’t seem the kind of man who would make impulsive decisions.”

  “No,” she said slowly. “He doesn’t.”

  They turned and began to walk back to the truck. Elaine slipped the key into the door lock and paused. “It might not be Jim.”

  “How’s that?”

  “I didn’t ask him if he’d fed the horses. Maybe someone else came in early.”

  Quinn opened the door. “Then we’ll ask him.”

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  Chapter Nine

  “Who fed
the horses this morning, Jim?”

  Jim looked at her and set down the bottle of window spray. He’d been polishing the sparkling panes when they arrived. Two days ago, Elaine would have believed he was watching for them because they were welcome guests, relieving his loneliness. Now she was not so sure. Although if he had fed the animals something unpleasant she still could not figure out his motive.

  A puzzled frown creased Jim’s brow. “What do you mean? Didn’t you do it?”

  She could hear Quinn calling to the animals in the paddock and the soft whicker of an answer.

  “When Quinn and I went out to the stable this morning, they were already finished eating. I thought you must have gone out early to feed them.”

  “No, I don’t have any feed. You brought some with you, didn’t you?”

  “Yes. But they were given something different.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  She explained about the mysterious pellets. “The vet will get us an analysis.”

  Jim shook his head. “That’s terrible. Who would do that?”

  “Probably the same people who burned my barn and vandalized my house. I thought the horses would be safe here—”

  “They are, they are.” Jim polished a smear from the corner of the windowpane.

  “But we could keep watch. Take it in turns. Oh dear, this is terrible,” he repeated. “I just wanted to help you and now it looks as if I’ve made it worse…”

  Quinn came into the room and caught the last words.

  “The animals seem fine,” he said. “They ate an apple and two carrots each and look frisky enough. Maybe it was just something to scare us.”

  “You mean it might be something harmless, like a nutrition supplement?”

  “Possible.”

  “But why do it at all?” Elaine said slowly. “There was no guarantee we would see the foreign pellets. And why not just mix it in with the feed and let us dish it out to them?”

  “Because maybe we would have seen them first and not used the feed. This way, we don’t know if the horses have ingested something dangerous or not. They wanted to cause you the worry.”

  She sighed heavily. “They’ve done that.”

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  “I’ll keep watch outside tonight,” Quinn said. “Although they most likely won’t be back. They’ve done their work, whatever it was.”

  “I’ll spell you,” Jim said quickly. “I feel responsible…”

  Elaine laid a hand on his arm. “Don’t worry, Jim. We’ll work it out between us. You need your rest.”

  “Then let me make dinner.”

  She glanced at Quinn. “Fine. Thank you. That would be a great help.” She glanced out the window at the bags in the back of the pickup. “I’ll put the groceries away, then we can go for a ride. The horses need a run.”

  She stowed the few food purchases in the refrigerator and on the shelves. “I don’t think Jim had anything to do with the feed business,” she called, thinking Quinn was in the other room, then turned to find him behind her.

  “What makes you so sure?” he asked.

  She could never resist touching him, linking her body to his, and laced her hands behind his neck, frowning as she thought it over. “No proof of course. But he looked genuinely shocked when I told him. Would he have gone to the trouble to get feed and doctor it in the short time we’ve been here? I find it hard to believe that he would try to harm the horses.”

  “You sound convinced.”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “You’re probably right.” He pulled her tight against him and she felt the hardness of his erection through the denim of his new jeans.

  “Forget that for a moment,” he said. “There’s a more urgent problem. The horses aren’t the only ones that need exercise.”

  She smiled against his mouth. “You are insatiable,” she said and finished the words with a kiss.

  “You’re absolutely correct, and what will you do about it?”

  In answer, she lowered her hands to his belt and undid the buckle. She continued to undress him while his hands wandered over her back and her breasts.

  “We don’t need the bedroom,” he murmured in her ear and pulled her T-shirt over her head. Taking hold of her hips, he lifted her onto the table. “Lie back,” he ordered.

  She settled so her whole body as far as her knees lay on the hard surface while Quinn held her legs. He undid the button and zipper of her light cotton pants and creamy moisture bathed the crotch of her panties.

  She lifted her hips so he could slide the trousers from her and he brushed light fingers over the lacy covering that shielded her mound. “I want to tear them off you.”

  He eased himself between her spread legs, holding them apart with tensed thighs.

  She swallowed against a dry throat, her heart pounding in her ears. “Do it.”

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  He slipped a finger under the elastic and rubbed her belly. She gasped and stiffened, making him smile in satisfaction.

  With both hands, he gripped the lace and ripped it in a swift movement. She felt cooler air caress her dampness until his warm body pressed against her.

  He held her hips and pulled himself against her, his hardness seeking the warm softness of her vagina. She wrapped her legs around his waist, tilting her cunt to meet him.

  Every time he entered her, it was like a new beginning. Every time she felt his warm hardness stretch her and fill her, it was as heartbreaking as the first time. She wanted to laugh, to cry, to shout out her joy. A tear trickled from the corner of her eye.

  “Hey, what’s this?” Quinn wiped it away with his thumb, all the time pressing deeper inside her.

  She smiled mistily at him. “I’m happy and I’m upset and I’m afraid. Just a mixed-up girl.”

  “I hate to see you cry.” He licked another tear from her cheek with the tip of his tongue. “Let me see if I can make you any happier and help you forget your worries for a moment.”

  Firmly wedged into her, his steely thighs pressing her legs even wider open, he touched her exposed clit with the tip of one finger. It was a butterfly caress, but it sent shards of an icy-hot thrill along every nerve in her body. Her nipples ached, her lips twisted as if from shock and she let out a groan.

  Pinned to the table, she closed her eyes and gave herself entirely over to the thousand and one sensations he produced.

  The heat rose in her belly, snaking along the lines of her tingling nerves. At last she stiffened as the storm engulfed her. Quinn watched her as he brought her and himself to a gut-wrenching climax. He squeezed the cheeks of her ass in both hands and sealed her screaming mouth with a kiss.

  When he drew out of her, she sat up, still trembling. He took her arm and helped her to stand on shaky legs.

  She kissed his nipple, licking the salt from his skin. “Don’t we have things to do?”

  she said. “Tell me what, because I can’t think for myself. You’ve eaten my brain, possessed my soul.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “My second pleasure in life,” he whispered. “We’re going riding.”

  “Oh yes, I have horses, don’t I?” She smiled at him and stretched her arms above her head. He bent to nuzzle her nipples as her breasts flattened and spread.

  “Oh God,” she groaned. “Don’t start me off again.”

  “Could I?”

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  The tip of his tongue circled, tracing her areola. She clasped the back of his head and held him to her breast. “You know you could.”

  He released her. “That’s good to know. Very good to know.” He turned her away from him and slapped her behind. “Get going, woman. A different kind of riding lesson is coming right now.”

  They dressed quickly and Elaine pulled on riding boots. “We should have bought you some proper boots,” she said, watching him stuff his feet into sneakers.

  “Not needed for ca
sual riding. I often rode barefoot.” He looked at her a second.

  “Bare arse too. Have you ever done it on a horse?”

  “No.”

  “Something else to teach you. Although you really need a nice, smooth English saddle. But you’ve had enough fucking for now, my lady. I don’t want you to grow satiated.”

  She pulled on gloves. “Never. Not if I live to a hundred.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.”

  They emerged from their quarters into full sunlight. Jim was standing on the porch of his house talking to a tall, gray-haired man in a business suit. Despite the warmth the visitor looked cool and collected. A dark blue Jaguar stood in the driveway.

  Jim turned when he heard them and waved them over. “There you are at last,” he said. “Been taking a nap?”

  Elaine felt her face flush. “Just talking things over.”

  “Well, this gentleman,” he waved his hand at his companion, “came all the way from Victoria to see you.”

  “Really?” Elaine stepped forward and offered her hand. She remembered the insurance agent talking about an assessor. “Are you something to do with the insurance?”

  The man took her hand. His was dry and cool and she felt a light pressure of his fingers. “No, not insurance, Ms. Christie. My name is Denman, Bob Denman.”

  Elaine snatched her hand away from his clasp. Denman the developer! “You’re wasting your time, Mr. Denman. I don’t care what you do, I’m not selling.”

  He waved to the chairs on the porch. “Please, can we sit?” His voice was low and courteous, his face calm.

  Elaine hesitated and Quinn stepped forward. “Quincy Lockyer,” he said, extending his hand. “I’m Ms. Christie’s advisor. We can talk for a minute or two.”

  “Excellent, excellent.”

  Denman moved toward the chairs and Quinn took Elaine’s arm. “We have a few minutes to spare,” he said in a low voice. “Let’s see what he wants.”

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  “Can I get you anything?” Jim said. “Iced tea, beer?”