Read The Lawman's Agreement (Entangled Scandalous) Online

Authors: Nancy Fraser,Patti Shenberger

Tags: #historical romance, #post civil-war, #cowboy, #Patti Shenberger, #doctor, #fake engagement, #U.S. Marshal, #Nancy Fraser, #McCade Legacy

The Lawman's Agreement (Entangled Scandalous) (8 page)

BOOK: The Lawman's Agreement (Entangled Scandalous)
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“I’ll be here with Jake.”

Miri and Matt turned to leave, stopping at the last minute so that Matt could ask, “Did you and Felicity decide on a name yet?”

“We’d discussed a number of names over the past few weeks, mostly for girls, but hadn’t yet decided. However, in Felicity’s few waking moments earlier, I think we finally picked a name we’d not even thought of before.”

“Well?” Zack prompted.

“Given the risks involved in his arrival, we figured he needed a name that signified good fortune. We’re calling him Chance. Chance Beaumont McCade.”

Chapter Ten

Zack drew the carriage up to the end of Suzanne’s walkway and came around the side to help her down. Under most circumstances, she would have jumped from the carriage herself, eager to prove her strength as an independent woman. Not tonight. Tonight, for the first time in a long time, Suzanne was totally spent.

“I’ll walk you to the door,” Zack said, the firm tone of his voice drawing her nod.

When they reached the stoop, Suzanne rummaged in her handbag for her key, yet couldn’t seem to find the elusive item.

“I don’t know…”

“Your hands are trembling,
cher
. You’re exhausted.” Zack took her bag from her hands, withdrew the key and opened the door. His hand at the small of her back, he urged her inside.

“You’re right, I’m tired, and still shaking, but far too on edge to sleep.” She turned her hands over, staring at them as if she’d never seen them before. “Can you stay for awhile, just until this edginess wears off?”

“I’ll stay as long as you need me to. Why don’t I put a kettle of water on the stove for some of that herbed tea you’re so fond of? You take a seat in the parlor while I see to the horse and carriage.”

Suzanne did as he said, her thoughts muddled, her memory replaying the intricacies of the baby’s difficult delivery over and over in her head. Her body had definitely stopped, but her mind refused to rest.

Zack returned moments later, coming into the parlor with two cups of tea in hand.

“I tethered the horse to your back fence. I found some hay in the storage shed behind the cottage. That should keep him for awhile.”

“You can’t stay the night,” she said softly.

“I know that,
cher
. However, I can stay until you’ve fallen asleep, just to make sure you’re all right.”

Suzanne sipped her tea, using the steamy cup to hide behind while she watched Zack move around her parlor. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m making myself a comfortable place to sit on this fancy settee of yours. Once you’re in bed for the night, I’ll wait until I’m sure you’re asleep, and then I’ll go.”

She could feel the effects of the warm tea starting to seep into her very being. She yawned and her eyes came close to fluttering shut. “I think I’d like to try and sleep now.”

When she attempted to stand, her legs felt like jelly. Zack was there in an instant, scooping her up into his arms and carrying her down the narrow hallway to her bedroom.

“You know,
cher
, what you did for Jake and Felicity tonight to save that baby was remarkable. Doc Miller said he’d never seen such skill.”

“Really?” she mumbled, the fogginess in her head taking control of her ability to converse.

“I’d guess your body is running on sheer excitement now, bravado for what you accomplished in saving that baby.”

“He has a name,” she reminded him.

“That’s true. What better name for a gambling man’s son than Chance?” Zack stood Suzanne beside the bed and reached for the buttons at the back of her dress.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Helping you out of your dress. Not to worry, my intentions are pure. I’ll leave you in your chemise for modesty’s sake.”

Zack pulled back the quilt and placed her in the middle of the bed. When he turned to leave, she caught hold of his wrist. “Zack, can you stay with me, just until I fall asleep?”

Her request seemed to catch him off guard. He cleared his throat before saying, “If you’d like, I can stay for awhile.” Zack removed his boots, his suit coat and vest and lay down beside her.

Suzanne snuggled into the warmth and comfort of Zack’s embrace, conscious of the fact he’d kept the quilt between them. “I’m really glad you’re here, that you agreed to stay,” she told him.

Zack pressed a chaste kiss to her brow and tightened his hold. “I’m glad too,
cher
.”

Suzanne awoke shortly after dawn. Rather than the irritating cackle of Mr. Booker’s rooster, she found herself quickly attuned to Zack’s light snore. Not offensive, as some men’s, but rather teasing, the comforting sound sending her usually tamped-down senses into overdrive. As they had numerous times over the past few weeks, her thoughts came alive with the possibility of sharing Zack’s bed, of indulging in some much needed physicial relief.

Tentatively, she reached out and laid her hand against his day-old stubble, using her thumb to stroke lightly across his mustache, more firmly across his lower lip. The feather-like movement of her hand drew Zack’s corresponding growl.

“You keep that up,
cher
, and I can’t be held responsible for what might happen.”

“Would it surprise you, Marshal, if I said I’m not worried about where this may lead? And that, right now, touching you is about the only thing I want to do?”

Zack rolled onto his side until they were face-to-face. “Are you sure,
cher
?”

“Yes. Unless you don’t want—”

Her words broke off, as she drank in the pure pleasure of Zack’s kiss.

“Oh, I want,” he said, raising his head. “I want so badly I ache with it.”

As quickly as he could, Zack divested himself of his clothes and slid beneath the quilt to take her into his arms and pull her close. Suzanne went willingly, wrapping her arms around Zack’s body until she could run her hands across the expanse of his broad shoulders, down his back to his narrow waist. When she pressed her hands to his hips, he moaned softly against her ear.

Zack reached for the strap of her chemise and slid it across her shoulder until he’d bared her breast. The smooth stroke of his fingertips against her skin sent shivers down her back. When he bent his head and took the taut tip of her breast into his mouth, a tingle invaded her very being and an ache settled into the center of her womanhood.

Impatient to get on with their lovemaking, Suzanne slid the other side of her chemise across her shoulder and down her arm until she lay bare to the waist. Obviously eager to oblige her unspoken request, Zack moved to her other breast, drawing on it in the same slow, thorough fashion.

“Zack, please, the rest of my clothes,” she said, her words caught on the gasps she drew when Zack nipped playfully at the side of each breast.

He propped himself up on his elbow and used his opposite hand to smooth the chemise and her fancy pantaloons down her legs and across her ankles until he could toss everything to the side.

“You have the most beautiful skin,
cher
. It’s like fine porcelain.” He slowly trailed his fingertips from her ankles to the tops of her thighs. “And, just about the longest legs I have ever seen.”

A tremble overran her body, driven by both Zack’s touch and his huskily spoken words. She lifted her hand and laid it against Zack’s chest, running her fingertips through the fine hairs, coming to rest at last where his heart beat rapidly beneath the surface of his skin.

“Kiss me, Zack.”

Zack leaned closer, pressing his mouth to hers, nipping playfully at her lower lip until she opened her mouth and welcomed the invasion of his tongue. When she followed suit, taking control of the kiss, Zack groaned deeply, pulled her close and pressed his hardened shaft to the side of her hip. Beneath her flattened palm, his heartbeat kicked into an even quicker pace.

He slid his hand across her skin, stroking her from breast to thigh and back again, settling finally between her legs to hold her intimately.

Suzanne needed to touch him, hold him in kind. Slipping her hand across his belly, she enclosed his manhood in her grasp, wrapping her fingers around him gently. With the first upward stroke, his big body shook from head to toe.

“Careful,
cher
. We wouldn’t want that thing going off too early.”

“Trust me, I know when to stop,” she whispered.

Zack chuckled, the throaty sound catching on every movement of her hand. In time with her stroke, he slipped his finger inside her body, and she quivered with excitement. When he pulled back and pushed forward a second time, she raised her hips in wanton invitation.

Her boldness was quickly rewarded when Zack retreated long enough to double his caress, his fingertips teasing the very responsive bud at the opening of her body. Her capitulation to his touch was nearly instantaneous as she convulsed around his fingers in a tidal wave of sheer pleasure.


Cher
,” he mumbled through gritted teeth, his body stiffening.

Suzanne slowed the stroke of her hand, skimming over his erection until she could cup the softer parts of him in her hand and massage him gently. He sighed, the tension in his body released.

“I need you inside me, Zack, now.”

Zack rolled atop her, using the weight of his leg to spread her thighs, filling her with his hard shaft in one long, fluid stroke. Suzanne arched her back and wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him as far inside her body as he could go, revelling in the sensations as he took intimate possession of her body.

He lifted himself up onto his hands and drove into her as hard and as deeply as she’d silently demanded. In turn, Suzanne spread her hands across his buttocks and dug her nails into his taut flesh, the force with which she held him drawing a hotly demanding curse from his lips.

Suzanne raised her head until she could press her mouth to his, nipping softly at his lip, thrusting her tongue between his teeth until their breathing came in even shorter, staccato puffs.

She came again, and again, her body melting around Zack’s until she was nearly overcome with dizziness. Sliding her legs from around his hips, she coaxed him onto his back, and sat up atop his shaft.


Cher
, you’re killing me,” he growled.

“Lay back, Zack, let me do the rest.”

She began slowly, moving over him, raising herself to the very edge of his erection, sliding slowly back into place. With every stroke of her hips, excitement burst deep inside her body, the small, yet deep, tremors eliciting climax after climax from her very core.

Suzanne could tell Zack was nearing the very limit of his endurance yet, selfishly, she did not want to relinquish the exquisite feel of their joining. She closed her eyes, raised and lowered her hips once, twice, a third time until she felt the first shudder of Zack’s body. Picking up the pace, she threw her head back and luxuriated in the sheer release she received from drawing every last ounce of energy from Zack’s body.

She collapsed forward, stretching herself out over Zack’s large frame. Closing her eyes, Suzanne lay there while the last of her climax moved slowly through her body. Against her ear, she could hear the sound of Zack breathing, the ragged catches mimicking those of her own.

“I think you broke it,” Zack said finally, the teasing lilt of his voice heralding his recovery.

“Actually, the male penis has no bones. It can’t break.”

He laughed. “You know what I mean.”

She raised her head and met his gaze. “Yes, Zack, I know what you mean.”

“You should try and get another couple hours of sleep,” he suggested.

“Or, we could take a bath together,” she countered.

He shook his head. “I’ve got to be going. I wouldn’t want your neighbors waking up and realizing I’d spent the night. It wouldn’t be good for either of our reputations.”

She knew he was right, and she hated him for it. The urge to say, “to hell with the neighbors” sat like a tart candy on her tongue. Yet, when he slipped from beneath the quilt, she did nothing to stop him.

“I’m going to head over to the boarding house and change,” he told her. “If you’d like to have that bath alone and get dressed, I can come back for you in an hour.”

“That’s okay. You go on ahead to the jail. I can get to the hospital on my own.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes, Zack, I’m sure.”

“How about I meet you there later to give you a ride home?”

Suzanne shook her head. “That’s not necessary.” At his look of confusion, she sighed deeply, telling him, “It was wonderful, Zack, and exactly what I…we…needed. But it wasn’t part of our agreement and can’t happen again.”

“It can’t? Why not?”

“Because it would only complicate things.”

“What things?” he asked.

Suzanne realized she’d hurt his feelings, and his questions were his way of taking the bite out of an already awkward situation.

“Our careers, the reason we came up with our agreement. So we would be left alone to follow our professional needs.”

“What about physical needs,
cher
? Aren’t they just as important?”

“Not when they interfere with everything else.”

“They don’t have to interfere, they just have to complement.”

“Can we talk about this later, Zack? After we’ve had some time to think about what happened between us?”

“I’m not much of a thinker on things like this,
cher
. I prefer to go with my feelings.”

“You were right about the neighbors. You need to go now so we can get on with our day.” When he might have commented, she added, “Please.”

BOOK: The Lawman's Agreement (Entangled Scandalous)
8.45Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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