Accepting His Ways (Quinlan O'Connor Book 2) (22 page)

Cheyenne giggled at the mental image. “Thanks, but I think I can handle him. Don’t worry, Kelli, it’ll be fine. Oh, I almost forgot” Kelli added, “Caoimhe said the drama might be the reason she just went into labor.”

“What?” both women asked.

“Don’t worry, she’s done this before. Katie took her to the hospital and Jocelyn called Andrew. Caoimhe said the battle cry of the O’Connor women was too strong for her body to deny and it called to the next little O’Connor grandchild to come take her place in the clan.” They all laughed as she looped one arm with each woman and set off for the car. Cheyenne knew it would be all work out, somehow.

Cheyenne was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for news from the hospital when Quinn came into the house looking for a couple of beers for him and Liam. They had been working in the yard raking leaves and finishing the winter prepping when they took the break.

“Hey, baby.” Reaching down to give her a kiss, she offered her cheek instead and stood up.

“We need to talk.” She knew it was obvious but she wanted to make sure everything was clearly understood for this next conversation. “The sooner the better.”

“Sure, are you all right? Is something wrong?”

“Just tell me when you are available.” Cheyenne was treating this as a business transaction by her tone and it was anything but. However, she wasn’t sure she could keep it calm if she approached it any other way.

“Come on. Get your coat, I am available now.” He grabbed a beer out for Liam and waited for her to grab her purse and coat before following her outside.

“Hey, Liam,” he tossed the beer into his brother’s hands, “got something I need to do. You good with finishing this?”

“Yep, you go ahead.”

No teasing, no complaining told Cheyenne that somehow Jocelyn had gotten to her husband since lunch and filled him in on things. This time she thought it a welcomed interference, as Quinn opened the truck door for her. He knew something was up as well, she could tell because he wasn’t questioning her more. He always had good instincts.

After they had been driving out of town in the other direction for a little bit, Quinn opened the conversation as he pulled into the club parking lot.

“Well, let’s go in here because no one will be here now.”

It was Thursday and no training was going on until that evening. Thursday was the day he was supposed to have a standing meeting with Maggie. In less than forty-eight hours, he was supposed to vow his undying fidelity and love to Cheyenne. She was sick to her stomach. Her wedding and everything she had hoped for these last two years might go up like the proverbial smoke, here in the club she had grown to love. With the man, she had grown to love. She couldn’t catch the sob that escaped as she entered the foyer of The Sting.

His hand was immediately pressed protectively to the small of her back and she felt the sting of tears. “I have to go to the bathroom,” she rushed the words as she swiftly went in the direction of the women’s locker room.

She ran to a stall, turning on a sink as she passed for cover noise. Slamming the stall door, she allowed the tears to burst forth, overtaking her as they had in another bathroom earlier in the day. She cried for the stress and the fear of what Quinn would reveal. She cried because she felt so angry, hurt and lost. The strong part of her was lost in the sorrowful part.

Finally, when she was once again cried out, she noticed the water was turned off in the sink and the room was quiet. She resolved to find out the truth if it killed her. When she opened the door to Quinn standing in front of her, giving her time and waiting patiently for her, she knew if it went badly, it would kill her. He was the best thing that had ever happened to her but she could not lose her dignity to be with him, but God she wanted to throw it all away for him.

He held out his hand in invitation and she flew past his hand and into his arms, landing hard as a freight train without brakes. He grunted and she sniffed his scent. Sweat, warmth, and the outdoors assailed her senses. Strength surrounded her.

“Come on, baby, let’s sit down on one of these sofas you ladies insisted on and you tell me what’s going on. I’m glad today that this locker room is so swanky. You didn’t seem like you needed a de-stressor this morning. Did I misread you?”

She shook her head. “No, I was good this morning.”

He kissed the top of her head after settling her into his arms. “Okay, so something happened since then. Tell me what it was.”

“Don’t you have a meeting today?”

“No, I’m all yours. Why?” He turned her so he could see her face.

Cheyenne shrugged. “Because it’s Thursday.”

“Go on.”

“And don’t you meet Maggie on Thursdays?” Cheyenne ducked her head not wanting to see his face.

Quinn hesitated. “I did. Last week was the last week.”

“Oh. Because you can’t keep doing it after you are married?” Cheyenne sat up, pulling a bit away from him.

“No,” he shook his head firmly, “Because I don’t need to after we’re married.”

She pulled further away from his grasp and he let her. “Oh, yeah, I’ll be there to fulfill your needs after we say our vows.”

“What are you talking about and how did you find out?”

Cheyenne stood up. “You mean about your little trysts? Maggie kindly filled me in, in front of your whole family.” Now she walked away from him, her hurt and anger returning, her vulnerability being shielded with pride. “If she is what you wanted, why didn’t you say so?”

“Again, I ask what are you talking about? If she told you about our meetings you know it was for you.”

She huffed in derision. “Right, fulfilling your needs with another woman is always in your fiancée’s best interest. The fiancée who you refused to consummate a full physical relationship with and now I can see why. You already had those needs well handled.”

Quinn stood up. “I don’t think you know all you think you do. Tell me what you think you know.”

She pulled out her cell phone and began to dial. “What I know, Quinlan O’Connor, is that I don’t need to be treated as second fiddle. You can have Maggie if you like or you can make this right for me, but you can’t have us both. You figure it out and call me. Don’t take too long.” Her heart breaking but not acknowledging it because she needed to make him sweat, she put the phone to her ear to speak to Susan who didn’t live far from the club when Quinn growled and took the phone out of her hand, turning it off.

“What the hell are you doing? I have tried to give you options, I have tried to see things your way, but by all that is holy, I am my own woman. Not someone you can treat badly, use and then toss away. I will not now nor will I ever just sit and wait for you to find time for me or allow anyone else to share the top spot. And if you are with me, I’m the only one you are with.”

Quinn’s eyes darkened as he pocketed her phone. “You’re very sure you want to go down this road?”

“Oh, yeah, I want to go there.” Cheyenne nodded her head vigorously, her tone full of derision.

He nodded. “Fine. Sit.”

“I’m not a dog,” she said, her contempt dripping from her lips.

“Cheyenne.”

One word that was spoken hard and commanding to match his demeanor got her attention. She knew that tone, that look and God help her she was going to follow his directions. But not to his specifications. She flung her body on the sofa and pulled her feet under her roughly. Quinlan stared at her militant face, her stiffly sitting body and crossed arms. Cheyenne knew she looked like she was ready to do battle and closed off to whatever he had to say. She did not want to look vulnerable but she worried about the outcome.

“Maggie has been meeting me here, every Thursday afternoon for the last two months. She has been my practice submissive. More like a practice dummy, if you will. I would meet her at about this time for a couple of hours so that she could be my substitute sub while I practiced more edgy play. She was into it and I needed the practice. I wanted to surprise you with it as a gift.”

Cheyenne looked past him at the strangled sound she heard and saw Maggie, hand at her throat, in the doorway of the well-appointed locker room. Neither woman said anything to alert Quinn as he continued to speak. Cheyenne couldn’t tell if he was ignoring the sound or had not heard it.

“Maggie allowed me to play with fire and candle wax, and some new flogging techniques. She is into pain so any mistakes she was actually happy for and she had a dom meet her here after most of our sessions to play it out with her. I did not, have not, nor would I ever have anything to do with another woman except you. I haven’t even looked at another woman for over two years. It’s you and only you.”

Cheyenne watched Maggie in the doorway take a step back before Quinn noticed or acknowledged the other person in the building. Turning around, he stared at the woman they were discussing.

“I should have known it wasn’t a game you were playing with me. You really were doing it for her, not as a ploy to get to play with me. I should have known.”

A tortured screeching sound emitted from Maggie’s throat and then she was gone, the door slamming behind her. She left a hollow silence in her wake Cheyenne was unsure what to do with. Maggie had implied what was going on was much more than it was but it appeared that the woman herself thought it was more. For a moment, she thought she should go to check on her but heard someone gun it out of the parking lot and knew she was gone. Turning to Quinn, she simply stared.

He pulled out his phone and dialed. “Lars, this is Quinn. We have a situation here.” After giving the details to Master Lars Singstad, he hung up. “Lars will handle it. He has been trying to work on Maggie but she has been slippery, refusing more than one session most times.”

Cheyenne sat back down, having stood up when Maggie had spoken. She shook her head and chastised him. “You should have known better, Quinn.”

He walked over to her and sat in the spot she had made for him on the sofa. “I know. It’s just that I was clear why I was asking her for assistance and Ace recommended her so he had no idea either. Then she often had someone here to finish up with her. I… I messed up. I’m sorry. God, Cheyenne, I am so damn sorry.”

“You’re right, you really messed up. You should have said something when she tried to make it sound like you were choosing to call her over me when you were gone a little while ago. Remember?”

“I remember and I thought you were misreading things. I just knew I wanted to present you with scenes you would love. Give you play you were interested in because I can’t share you, even for a little fun. So I took some specialized classes and then worked with Maggie to perfect my technique. You’ll love it, I promise. That is, if you’ll still have me.” He gave her a tentative smile and reached for her hand. She allowed it.

“Quinn, we can’t do this again. Keep secrets this big. It’s too much.”

“You’re right. My only defense is that I only see you. I figured I was clear enough for there not to be a misunderstanding. I won’t repeat my mistake. I can’t afford to risk us.”

“No, it’s not worth it.” Cheyenne shook her head and leaned onto his shoulder.

“I do get to keep the honeymoon a secret though and holiday presents.” He looked over at Cheyenne expectantly and then asked, “Any secrets you need to divulge?”

“Nope.” She did not intend to tell him about the rental house. She considered it equal to the honeymoon secret or holiday secrets. A little twinge hoped he would agree but she didn’t care, it was her one and only secret.

He nodded. “Good. Now about the way you approached this little issue—”

“—is the best you are going to get. I was humiliated because of your lapse in judgment.”

“You’re right.”

“I am? Good, now, do I get to plug you or find a tawse?” she asked with enthusiasm.

“Yeah, that is not going to happen, ever,
piscín
, but I don’t mind taking you to dinner after we use some of the equipment to make you feel better. Are you game?”

“Mmm, that sounds wonderful, but I have so much to do.”

“Yeah, me too but we can do a little slap and tickle before we go to dinner.” Quinn’s face was hopeful like a little boy asking for a treat.

“I could go for that but it better be good otherwise I get to Top,” warned Cheyenne knowing neither would enjoy that scenario.

“Yeah, like that’s ever going to happen,” he replied as he stood and put out his hand for her acceptance. As she placed her hand in his in acceptance of the play, he said gently, “I               love you, Cheyenne. I am so very sorry.”

“I know. I love you too, and if you pleasure me well, all will be forgiven.” Her playful smile told him he was forgiven already.

* * *

Aleigha Megan, the third granddaughter arrived a few hours later. Caoimhe begged her doctor to let her out before the wedding because she needed to oversee her part of the setup. With some convincing from Andrew that his wife would be the perfect angel and not overdo it, the doctor relented. It wasn’t her first child and she had been in hospital over twenty-four hours after delivery.

Before Andrew went to pick up his wife, he charged every other member of the family as care monitors. It was to make sure Caoimhe did nothing that would overtire her. When she started to climb a chair to adjust a wedding decoration, Liam had just walked into the room. Seeing his sister, he calmly lifted her out of the way, kissing her cheek before removing the chair as well. Several more spoiled attempts later, Caoimhe relented and directed from the easy chair with little Aleigha snuggled in her arms.