Quinlan's Quest (Quinlan O'Connor Book 1) Read online

  Cheyenne rang the bell but even as the loud dong was still sounding, Quinlan opened the door, and Cheyenne heard her own sudden intake of breath. Quinn saw Cheyenne’s surprise and her pupils dilate, as her eyes grew large and sparked with an emotional response to his presence, which he chuckled over, and Cheyenne blushed.

  In his best neutral voice that belied his laughing eyes that were darkening in appreciation of the picture she presented, he said, “Ms. Sterling, we meet again. You look lovely this evening.”

  Cheyenne blushed hotly. Quinn winked as he waved her inside straight into the arms of Siobhan. She couldn’t be too jaded because she still blushes.

  “Well, my dear, how are you today? Did work go all right for you? And your mother, how is she, we should have invited her too.”

  Siobhan O'Connor soothed and coddled as she drew Cheyenne into the living room offering her a seat and refreshment.

  “Quinlan, get Cheyenne something to drink, and I will look for your father. Can’t imagine where he must have gone to and I need to check on my dinner so be a gentleman, dear, and entertain for a moment.”

  “No one defies my mom, so while I see the refusal in your eyes, it need not pass your lips for I am honor bound not to hear your response to anything other than an agreement. Now, what you drink is up to you. I have alcoholic and non-alcoholic but, if you are driving home, you will need to limit yourself to one alcoholic drink before and one during dinner. That is unless you want something stronger than beer or wine, then just one.”

  Quinn paused to see Cheyenne’s response. He did not have long to wait for it was not long in coming.

  “What I drink is up to me, Mr. O’Connor, and I am a responsible adult who knows when she has reached the appropriate limit based on the circumstances.”

  Her voice tightened, and her eyes flashed her anger. She had gone from amused that he did all that his mother directed to angry in just a few seconds. This arrogant jerk evidently felt the need to control her intake. Cheyenne did not know why this man could set her pulses racing and her irritation shooting off the charts with one sentence, but he had done it twice in as many meetings.

  “Excellent, Cheyenne,” he said, emphasizing her first name, “but you are in the O’Connor home, and that is the house limit for those driving home. Now, if you were one of our women and you were driving, you would get one glass of wine with dinner or none at all based on the circumstances. So be thankful you are a guest with more accommodations afforded you. And before you give voice to that irritated thought, I did not make up these rules. My father laid them out years ago, and we have never had anyone not get home safely because they drank at our home.”

  Cheyenne was not sure what to say so she sat there wondering why she was making such a big issue of it anyway as she had told herself she would not drink tonight. It was just the way Quinlan O’Connor got under her skin that really annoyed her.

  “Thank you, Mr. O’Connor, but I do not plan to drink tonight. I am here to conduct business because it was more convenient for your father.” Cheyenne sat on the sofa, pulling her body straight and stiff, placing her hands primly in her lap. She attempted to stare hard at him but was woefully unsuccessful. She felt a tingle in the region of her panties.

  “Ah, well then, let me offer you our other options, we also have lemonade, iced tea, hot tea, hot coffee, several kinds of pop, milk, and water.”

  Quinn rattled off all the beverages he could think of and then calmly waited for her response. Cheyenne could see he was enjoying this little spark between them. She was having difficulty keeping her body in such firm control with her lady bits weeping furiously. She prayed he was as insightful as most men of her acquaintance. He would miss all of her antsiness.

  Quinn sat next to Cheyenne on the sofa and said in a low voice, “I apologize, Cheyenne. You were a tempting morsel for my teasing mind and I’m sorry. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable with my family or me. Please, whatever you want you may have. But Da does have a house limit because you are driving. I didn’t make that up.”

  If possible, she was even more uncomfortable than when Quinn was teasing her. She rubbed her hands down her dress in another attempt to calm her body’s responses to this man. She felt the squish of her arousal as she rocked causing her to suddenly stop and clench her butt cheeks.

  “Iced tea would be wonderful, please, and do you have the little packets of sweetener or is yours already sweet?”

  “Unsweetened and we have those packages,” answered Siobhan from the entryway of the living room. “Quinn, get Cheyenne some and bring the packets so she can sweeten it herself.”

  Quinn nodded and patted Cheyenne’s thigh as he rose to get her tea.

  Cheyenne was horrified that she heard her voice tremble slightly as she said, “Do you get all your boys to respond like that?”

  Siobhan smiled. “Oh yes, had to have that to raise them. Shane’s wife tells him what to do all the time but mostly in private, and Caoimhe tells me her husband is the same, but privately. These O’Connor men can be something else, but if you have their heart or are part of this family, you are never alone when you need something. They are a feisty bunch and can be quite annoying at times. But you have never seen the likes of these men as protectors to those they care about, those they love.”

  Siobhan sat down next to Cheyenne and patted her hand, warming to her subject.

  “Take Liam, my eldest and Jocelyn, his fiancée. He is headed back to California to complete her move because it was too much for her alone. She didn’t tell him she was overwhelmed and when he found out, he was angry with himself. Liam and any of his brothers would be the same. They want their women to learn to trust that they will take care of everything without question and to be honest about things like that.”

  “How did he find out then if she didn’t tell him?”

  “Her voice on the phone, her conversations were too bright, and Kelli, my daughter who is her long-time friend, informed him.”

  “Won’t she be mad that Kelli talked to Liam behind her back?”

  “No, dear, that is what family does. Jocelyn has known our family for as long as she has known Kelli, for nearly ten years, so she understands. All my boys are like that. They want their women to stand on their own, but if they need help and don’t ask for it, it turns up the fire.”

  Siobhan smiled again, squeezing Cheyenne’s hand before setting it back in her lap with a pat. Cheyenne didn’t know how they had gotten the conversation to reveal so much about the O’Connor men, but she was also questioning why she didn’t want her to stop explaining.

  Sean walked in and right behind him, Quinlan with her tea and a glass for his mother. Cheyenne was relieved that with the entrance of Sean, finally, the conversation would move to neutral ground, like accounting. She looked into Quinn’s eyes, thanking him for the tea as she took it from his hands, being careful not to touch his fingers. Quinn tossed coasters on the coffee table in front of the women and set down a basket of sweeteners. He handed Siobhan’s to her after taking a sip out of it.

  “Too full.”

  Was his explanation that accompanied his smile in his mother’s direction and his mother’s chortle was followed by a giggle from Cheyenne. Quinn’s heated look met Cheyenne’s laughing eyes, and she squirmed yet again

  “Well, my dear, you did make it,” said Sean as he grabbed a cola from the bar fridge. I know you young people have better things to do with your evenings instead of catering to this demanding, old man.”

  “Oh, my father thought the world of you, Mr. O’Connor. He always spoke with a high regard for you and your family. I don’t mind in the least coming out here to make it easier for you. I have been able to meet your lovely wife, and I won’t need to do a microwave meal tonight. There were plenty of pluses for me.”

  “I’m sure you had lots of invitations on this Friday evening. Who did you stand up for this old rancher?” Sean sat in his recliner and leaned back.

  “Oh, no need to change
my plans, sir. I had no plans to go out until eight or nine tonight, so plenty of time.”

  Siobhan joined in at this point showing motherly concern for a young person.

  “Where would you go so late at night, my dear, a movie?”

  “Oh, the clubs don’t really get going before eight o’clock, and we like to get in after things have warmed up and settled in for the night. It’s like walking into a party that is in full swing, you just jump right in.”

  Cheyenne had delivered her information so innocently she forgot that she was sitting in the presence of what were true alpha males. When Sean O’Connor made a grunting sound like her father used to, she suddenly remembered.

  Being in law enforcement and growing up between adventurous sisters, Quinn’s ears tuned in like radar on the once casual conversation that had now taken on fascinating proportions. Clubs meant risky behavior to an O’Connor and everyone in the room listened to see what its meaning was in regards to Cheyenne’s safety. Quinn monitored from the door, his stance was relaxed, but for those who knew him, he was on alert.

  “Oh, dear, are you careful when you go to those places? Didn’t one of them have a raid last week?” Siobhan looked at Quinn for confirmation. He just inclined his head in agreement.

  Cheyenne, still not reading the undercurrents that were only obvious to Quinn and Sean, forged on.

  “Oh, I was there. Did you hear about it?” Cheyenne answered excitedly, leaning forward in her seat to set her iced tea on the coaster then turning slightly in Siobhan’s direction. “Someone brought in some kind of fire trick, you know. I think it was actually supposed to be flame and not ignite the person’s body and then it’s whisked away. It’s not intended to hurt but give a wonderful, ero… um, glowing, feeling to the recipient but, before they could get to that, the raid happened.” She was interested in fire play and that was a good piece of information to hold onto. But she did not sound safe in her off-hours activities.

  She stopped to take a drink of her iced tea and looked in Quinn’s direction under the veil of her lashes to assess his response. He was standing, nonchalantly leaning in the doorway, his broad shoulder supporting the majority of his body without any appearance of discomfort. His arms were folded, and it gave his chest an even larger appearance and his face was neutral but attentive. He was looking right at Cheyenne, waiting for her to finish her tale.

  She hoped that no one had caught her near slip about the fire play being erotic. It excited her to think about it, and she had wanted to try it that night, but it never happened. Nevertheless, she certainly did not want anyone else to know it gave her a twinge. She rearranged her bottom again to ease the tingling that had reactivated to the accompaniment of a molten flow.

  Quinn wondered if Cheyenne knew there was a club outside of town that catered to fire play and other erotic, out of the mainstream play, for consenting adults. He wondered if she had gone to that club. He would ask her before they moved on from the club scene question and answer portion of the evening. It would all be just another piece of information fodder to log into his memory banks for later retrieval.

  Sean prompted her continuance, “So what was the raid about if the fireworks didn’t start it?”

  “Oh, it was because there were undercover cops in the building and evidently there were some regulars who were selling all sorts of black market things in there from lace to guns I guess. Not drugs, though. I don’t think. Anyway, they shut things down, and we didn’t get our fire show, but maybe another time.” The regret could be heard in Cheyenne’s sigh at the end of the sentence.

  Quinn asked nonchalantly as he settled in the chair next to his mother, “So, have you gone to the club out of town, The Sting?” The question was asked in an off-handed way, but Quinn intently watched her reaction. Cheyenne hesitated and then licked her lips, rearranged her dress again and took a sip of tea.

  “Um, no, not really, I might have heard of it in passing.” She deflected the question with a non-answer. Cheyenne had grown uncomfortable, and that was not his intent so Quinn resolved the turmoil he created.

  “I just wondered because I had heard of it being opened and it also has fire play, I believe. If you would like, I could take you to see how you like it. After it has established a reputation, that is. That is if you are at all interested.”

  “Mmm, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Quinn continued to look in her direction, but Cheyenne did not return the contact so he moved back to the doorway to ease her discomfort. After a few more moments of chat, Sean asked a very odd question for him.

  “So, Cheyenne, do you go to the clubs most nights for entertainment with your boyfriend?”

  Siobhan looked at her husband as though he had grown another head.

  Too late, Cheyenne realized she answered before thinking, “Oh, I got rid of that guy after the last time he, um… No, I don’t go out every night, uh, only sometimes.” Sean looked over at Quinn and could see he had raised an eyebrow and was no longer leaning against the doorway.

  Cheyenne rushed along, “N-no boyfriend.”

  He couldn’t believe how easily this girl had his protective side coming out. He had to ask.

  “Cheyenne, did something happen with your last boyfriend?” he asked as detached as he could without sounding like an interrogator.

  “What? Oh, no. No, we just broke up because we had different ideas of, well, of what a relationship was supposed to be like. Really, we are still friends.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, my dear, there will be others,” Sean said solicitously, “but I am glad that you won’t miss out on your fun tonight. I don’t know what they do at a club; listen to music too loud for me I guess.”

  “And drink too much, I bet,” added Quinn quietly.

  “Oh, usually one of us is the designated driver, and we take turns.”

  “And who is the DD for tonight, Cheyenne?” Asked equally quietly but with an intensity that Quinn’s sisters knew well, he was a spider catching someone in his web.

  “Not me, I was the one last time so it will be someone else.”

  Siobhan asked as she got up to check on dinner, “And do ya not know who it ‘tis before ya go?”

  When Siobhan fell into her parents’ way of speaking, it meant she was not happy or at least concerned. Sean met Quinn’s eyes and silently communicated that the cat and mouse that had been going on with Cheyenne was over. Sean also noticed that that tick in his jaw had shown up. The one that indicated his son was dealing with frustration he couldn’t quickly eradicate. It appeared that Quinn was not happy with the information he had just received. When any woman they knew was unsafe or treated poorly, the reputation of the men in this family made the response understood. They didn’t like it, and they took particular notice. It was never acceptable. He watched his son straighten and then watch Cheyenne in panther-like silence.

  “Where’s our dinner, love? We have work to do so we can get Cheyenne off to the fun part of her night.”

  “Let me just set it out and we will be eating. You shouldn’t have gotten me talking.”

  Cheyenne did not want to be left with these two men alone. To lessen the uncomfortable vibes, she jumped up and offered to help. Actually, it was more of a statement than a question. Siobhan knew women needed a break from the intensity of her menfolk so she welcomed her into the kitchen.

  Dinner and work were completed so Quinn walked Cheyenne out to her car ignoring her protests.

  “I am sorry if you felt uncomfortable in there earlier, Cheyenne. My parents have raised a brood of pretty old-fashioned children. My dad seems taken with you, and it appears he has unofficially added you to his group to watch over, I’m afraid. So, I hope you don’t mind the intrusion every so often by him.”

  No, your dad was a good friend of my father’s. My mom still speaks highly of him so it’s nice to hear him concerned for me sometimes because it reminds me of my dad. It’s a nice feeling, you know. Besides,” she added, “I figured out how to live
my life and have my dad watch over me so I can handle your father. I had a lovely evening. Thanks, Quinn, and thank your parents again.”

  “You are more than welcome.” Quinn had hesitated for a split second before he added, “Cheyenne, stay away from The Sting until someone you trust takes you, understand?”

  Cheyenne blushed. “I’ll be fine.”

  Quinn narrowed his eyes a bit and said, “It isn’t where you plan to go tonight, is it, piscín?”

  “No, we didn’t—we hadn’t planned to do that tonight, I promise.” Cheyenne lowered her eyes, not sure why she couldn’t look him in the eye. The fact was, she didn’t know where they were going tonight, but she was pretty sure it would not be The Sting. Besides, wasn’t it a private club? Anyway, she wasn't lying, she just omitted that there wasn’t any real plan yet.

  Quinlan reached down, ran his roughened finger along her jawline, and lifted her chin up to gaze into her eyes. As though reading her real intent, he then said, as though satisfied with what he saw, “I hold you to your promise then. You do not want to break your promise to me, piscín. Goodnight, beag amháin. Be safe, little one.”

  Chapter Three – Exploring the New Land

  Cheyenne walked into the cowboy bar that was the prearranged meeting place for tonight’s entertainment and found that her friends had begun without her, drinking before eating it appeared. Usually, that would not have bothered her in the slightest. But tonight, after Quinn’s close company and the way he seemed to be insinuating himself in her choices for entertainment, she felt every little decision needed to be measured. His warning, if she were honest, excited her and challenged her, not to be good, but to be just naughty enough to see what his lightly veiled promises really meant should she defy him. She had shown up early, eight-thirty, because she remembered the admonition from Siobhan that it was too late to be going out. Since she felt a bit chastened, she decided not to go late so she wouldn’t stay late. Cheyenne sat down, squeezing in next to Megan and tried to assess if this were even a good night to hang out with the crowd.