by Jillian Neal
They stopped for lunch at Stone’s Throw in Thermopolis, a place Austin remembered going with his family whenever they made a trip out to Yellowstone. It was an upscale steakhouse and burger joint.
“You don’t have to keep bringing us to nice places to eat, Austin. You’ve already impressed me, okay? I feel bad, you feeding us like this.”
This time Austin rolled his eyes at her. “I’m pretty sure I’ve made myself more than clear. You’re my girl, little man is my bud, I take good care of what’s mine. Now sit down and pick out what you want to eat, or I’ll order you a filet myself.”
“Ohhh, a jalapeno cheeseburger. My mama used to make me those when I was pissed. She always said she shouldn’t add heat to my temper, but they were my favorite.” Summer all but moaned as she stared at the menu.
“Oh, I like you spicy, baby doll. Get all the heat you want. What will little man eat?”
“We can get him some chicken fingers. I’ll cut ‘um up real small. And he loves French fries.”
Austin skipped the thirty-dollar filet, trying to make Summer more comfortable with him taking care of her, and went for a bacon cheeseburger with fries instead.
It was all just as delicious as he’d remembered. Glancing out the large plate-glass windows, he studied the impressive landscape of Thermopolis and another idea came to mind. “Hey, you wanna take J.J. out to see the hot springs? Pretty cool landscape, and he’d get a break from that car seat. Too late in the day for fishing, or I’d try to catch us something for supper.”
Summer stared up at him like she couldn’t quite believe he was real. When her loving gaze turned to her son, she grinned. “He’d love to watch you fish sometime. In a few years, he’ll probably out-fish me. I like to fish, but I suck at it. I get impatient too fast and want to jump in the water as soon as it gets warm. Are you sure we have time to walk the springs? Don’t you need to get on to Cheyenne and get registered?”
“We’re making pretty good time. Have you ever seen Big Horn or the Painted Terraces? They’re pretty cool.”
“I always liked Cheyenne, so I’d pick these two weeks each summer to stay with Mitchum. He’d be off performing or whatever, and he always left me with a friend of my grandmother’s. Her name is Ekta. She still lives there. J.J. and I were gonna stay with her, actually.”
“Well, give Ekta my apologies, but I have very different plans for you, sweetness. Invite Ekta out to the rodeo, though. My treat.”
“Ekta isn’t a big fan of cowboys. She hated my dad, even though he always let me stay with her.”
“Ah, a friend of your grandmother that doesn’t care for cowboys. Arapaho or Cheyenne?”
“Arapaho.”
“Can’t say I blame her for her thoughts on cowboys. We certainly didn’t do her people right. Maybe I can at least show her that some of us are respectful. How’d your grandmother come to meet Ekta? Long way from Cheyenne to Albuquerque.”
“Yeah, I don’t really know how they met. I never thought to ask. They were friends when they were little girls. They still write letters back and forth all the time. I love them both.” Another seductive round of heat colored Summer’s cheeks as she abruptly stopped talking.
“Tell me. Whatever’s going on in that pretty head of yours. Just say it.”
“I have to at least take J.J. to see Ekta, so you might meet her and you’ll find out anyway. Ekta calls me Whirlwind.” She rolled her eyes as Austin laughed.
“Max’s dad used to tell us about the Whirlwind Woman. Spirit that storms across the plains that brings visions and gifts to worthy men, or something like that.”
“Worthy humans, not just men.” Summer squeezed her eyes shut and laughed at her own expense.
“I’d say Ekta nailed it. You are my beautiful storm. And I must be some kinda worthy, because my God, the gifts you give me are something else, and the visions — let’s just say you are a sight to behold.”
“I was in the middle of a story, cowboy.”
“Well pardon me, Whirlwind, go on with your story.”
“Don’t call me that. It’s not true anymore, and I’m part Zuni, not Arapaho.”
Austin sank his teeth into the delectable burger, making her no promises. It was far more true than she’d ever admit to herself. She was the most beautiful storm he’d ever seen. Her winds had consumed him thoroughly. The lightning in her eyes when his hands encountered her silky skin, the thunder of her moans when he brought her, the quick rasp of her breath over his skin mightier than the gale force winds of Wyoming, and the fierce heat they created burned like a prairie fire, combustible and endless. He never wanted to tame her, never wanted to quell her flames. He just wanted to move with her across the plains.
“Anyway, when I was about fourteen, the last summer I agreed to go to Cheyenne with Mitchum, I was a wild child if there ever was one. Ekta brought me out here to the hot springs. She said the healing waters would soothe my spirit. She made me swim in them. I don’t think it worked, though. When I got back to Bernalillo, I was even worse than I’d been before. My grandma would still bring me up to Frontier Days every year, and we would stay with Ekta. I just refused to see Mitchum if he was there. So, long answer to your question, yes I’ve been to Thermopolis before, but I’d love to see them again. We could put J.J. in the stroller until we get somewhere he can play.”
“Let’s get, then.” Austin left more than enough cash to cover their bill and guided Summer and J.J. outside. The wind whipped Summer’s long hair across her chest and neck. He fought not to gather it in his hands and tug just enough to get her to expose that column of feminine perfection that ran from her slender neck to her breasts. He wanted to feast on her. Tonight, Camden. You can have her all to yourself tonight. Right now, you need to figure out how to be a dad, real quick like.
The water was too hot for J.J. to touch, which he didn’t appreciate, but he gasped and oohed at the waterfalls. They located a playground and Austin aided him on the slides, the baby swings, and played with him in a tube with windows where Summer played peek-a-boo with them, much to J.J.’s delight. To his shock, Austin loved every minute of it almost as much as J.J. He was certain parenting got more difficult at times, but just then it seemed kind of fun.
The sun was settling down beyond the mountains behind them as they joined a long line of other trucks pulling into Cheyenne. “I talked Minton into putting me up in one of the ranch cabins. That’ll give little man his own room, and you and I a bed big enough for you to ride me when I’m not riding a bull. Sound good to you?”
“Really? Wow. Those are expensive, but that would be so much fun. I love Frontier Days. Cheyenne always makes me feel like a teenager again. I know that’s stupid, but I love how the whole town gets in on everything. All the decorations, and concerts, and the midway, and everything. Oh, and I’m pretty excited about riding you too, cowboy.”
Austin grinned over her exuberance. He’d never heard her sound so excited about much of anything. “Good, darlin’ ‘cause I’ve had to go all damn day sitting beside you, holding your hand, breathing in that sexy way you smell, and doing nothing about it. My patience is wearing thin. I need a fix of my girl.”
“Aww, you think I stink pretty,” she laughed.
“Damn pretty, baby.” He nodded to the statue of Lane Frost as they edged forward in traffic. Saluting the greats was in his blood. “Truth be told, I love Frontier Days, too. It was my favorite time of year as a kid. I loved it all, every moment of it.”
“It’s crazy to think we were here at the same time back then, isn’t it? I wonder if we ever saw each other.”
“I never saw you, Miss Sanchez. I sure as hell would remember if I had. Way you bowled me over in that bar in Cody. Guy don’t get the wind ripped out of him, ‘cept by a bull or a girl. I’da remembered if it had happened to me when I was a teenager.”
Her expression said that explanation pleased her greatly, even if she did roll those whiskey eyes at him again. “I always stayed with Ekta, like I s
aid. Mitchum occasionally gave me money a few times to ride the rides, but I’d do everything that was free over and over again.”
“You ever ride The Zipper?”
“I wanted to so bad, but I didn’t have enough tickets.”
“You’re riding The Zipper before I steal you away to the Glen.”
“That so?”
“Yes, ma’am it is, and don’t argue with me right now. I gotta get us checked in to the cabins, then go get my papers, find out my practice sessions, and all of that shit. You get me all turned on bein’ stubborn, I’m gonna be worthless ‘til I get my rocks off deep inside of you.”
“The beast gettin’ restless, cowboy?” That intoxicating storm of fire stirred in her darkening eyes.
Austin’s growl reverberated off of the windshield. He was glad J.J. had fallen asleep just outside of Cheyenne. “I’m barely keeping my hands off of you, Summer. Don’t tempt me, darlin’. I can’t take much more. I’ll pull over, have my hands down those shorts, make you come just for me to watch and taste it on my fingers.”
She stared him down. The lightning in her eyes struck the prairie gold and ignited in challenge. “Don’t stop yourself on my account, cowboy. Put your hands all over me. Hasn’t been easy sitting in here with you, either. I’ve been thinking about how good it was last night for the last 150 miles. I’m so wet for you I ache.”
The long fuse of patience he’d been trying to extend all damn day met its end at her demands. Electricity sizzled in the air between them. Drawing a deep breath, he inhaled nothing but her potent musk. His cock made demands he could no longer deny.
Austin made the turn off for the ranch cabins where Minton was staying, but didn’t pull up to the check in point. He guided the truck over the dirt roads that led out towards the lake and pastures as the sun gave off its last vestiges of light. Finding a secluded spot beneath the cover of a few river birch trees and a massive willow, he threw the truck in park and prayed J.J. would give them a little time.
“That so, sugar? Can’t have my girl wet and needing me to make it better and not tend her. I’ll always take care of you. Always. Now come here to me. Lay back against me with your head on my shoulder.”
“Oh God, yes, please.”
Lust-fueled fire churned through his veins. “You have to be quiet for me.” He half-groaned in her ear as he pulled her into his arms. “Can you do that?”
She gave him a single nod before he captured her lips with his own. God, that sweet heat of her lips, parting for him fully, letting him taste and explore her mouth. It was more than he could stand. He had her shorts unbuttoned in a split second, exposing an entirely different set of lips so full of wet heat he longed to straddle her over his cock and make her ride him until he unloaded inside of her.
“So wet, sugar.” His fingers circled her clit, making her grind in the seat beside him. “Spread your legs and show me those sweet pussy curls.”
He sucked away her whimpered moan with the blistering heat of his mouth then nipped her bottom lip. “Quiet, baby.” Using one hand to cover her mouth, he speared the fingers of his other deep within her satin channel that was so slick he growled in her ear. His body shuddered involuntarily. My God, she was exquisite. Every rippled draw of her pussy against his fingers reminded him how astounding it felt to have his cock inside of her. “Be quiet and let it feel good for me. Fuck my fingers, sweetness. Back and forth, just like that. When I get you to the cabin, I’m gonna lean you over the bed and let you pay me back, hard, just like my girl likes to be taken. I’m gonna own you, so be ready for me.”
Another breathy moan sounded against his hand.
“Shh, darlin’.”
She shuddered against him, fevered tight and desperate.
“It’s right there isn’t it? So close I can feel it comin’ for me.” Giving her the friction she required, he pulled his fingers almost out and back in hard and fast. She shook in his arms. Her breath tangled in her lungs. Her body tensed against him. “Gotta remember to breathe, sugar. There it is. That’s it.” She released in racked gasps of breath, choked and haggard.
When she stilled, he gently eased his fingers from her opening and dragged them upwards with a gentle stroke over her clit that made her shiver. “Now watch me,” he whispered as he brought his fingers to his mouth and devoured her nectar. The sweet sexy spice drove him wild. He wanted to gorge himself on her juices, certain he’d never get enough.
She turned and buried her face in his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and allowed her recover in his embrace.
“I love being in your arms. I feel so safe here.” Her words were barely a whisper, like an admittance she wasn’t certain she should state out loud.
“I will always keep you safe, Summer, and I love having you in my arms. I love being with you. I’m gonna prove that to you if it’s the last thing I do.”
They were momentarily bathed in the harsh glow of headlights from a truck passing by their hideaway. The moment dissolved around them. She slid away from him and refastened her shorts. “Told you Cheyenne made me feel like a teenager again.”
Chuckling, Austin slowly backed the truck out of the cover of the trees. “These are gonna be the best damn Frontier Days I’ve ever had.”
Chapter Ten
Summer heaved another one of Austin’s suitcases from the back of the truck and had it half way up the few steps of their tiny and completely perfect ranch cabin before he caught her.
“Just what exactly do you think you’re doing, woman? By the way, I need to know your middle name so I can scold you the right way.”
“I’m unloading the truck, cowboy.” She thrust the suitcase into his arms a little harder than was probably necessary. Her mind was still spinning from that orgasm he’d expertly conducted in the front seat of his truck. “And my middle name is Malia, but you barking out all my names is not how I prefer to be scolded.” She loved the way his onyx eyes displayed every color of a bonfire when she said things like that. The way his muscles tensed and he licked his bottom lip like it was all he could do not to devour her whole. She sensed the beast he tried so hard to keep caged inside his soul rattle the chains, anxious and hungry. It drove her wild.
Setting the suitcase on the wrap-around porch, he made it to her in two quick steps. “Malia – rebellious. I’d say your mama nailed that one right off, wouldn’t you? Now, question remains, what am I gonna do about you not letting me take care of you when you know good and well that’s my job?”
“You were setting up the portable crib. I’m perfectly capable of carrying bags, Austin. I keep telling you I don’t need anyone lookin’ after me.”
His eyes flashed with a hint of danger that ran her internal thermometer right back to hot with fevered need, even if he had just gotten her off a half hour ago. She locked her knees and clenched her jaw to keep from showing him how badly she wanted another round with him.
When the strength of his capable right hand, hardened from years of gripping the handhold of a bull, connected with her ass, a breathy moan escaped her. She bowed towards him, her hands colliding with the wall of chiseled muscle that constructed his chest, on the next strike. He kept his darkened eyes zeroed in on hers, watching her reactions. Before she could dare him to do it again, “Ma-ma-ma-ma” began babbling from the little nook where Austin had set up J.J.’s crib, and a large family with a bunch of kids staying in the three cabins next door sauntered up. As Summer was certain they would not approve of her and Austin’s erotic foreplay, she gripped his bicep and let him haul her up to the porch and steady her.
“Later, I want more of that,” she whispered, just before offering the mother and father of the family a grin.
Austin managed to turn his craving grunt into a half-cough.
“Excuse me just one second, baby’s waking up from his nap.” Summer raced to J.J.’s crib, made quick work of scooping him up, kissing him all over, making him laugh hysterically, and then changing his diaper before she returned to the porch. A
ustin took him from her arms as soon as she appeared. J.J. looked delighted. He smacked Austin’s face in a sign of love.
“As soon as Jeb and John heard Austin Camden was staying in the cabin near ours they wanted to come over. I hope we’re not intruding on anything,” the mother of the brood was commenting.
“Oh no, ma’am, it’s fine. Austin loves meeting his fans.” She gave Austin a quick wink while he shook his head and tried not to appear flattered.
“We can’t wait to see you ride, Mr. Camden. We have tickets for all of the bull riding shows.” One of the younger boys sidled closer to Austin.
“Oh yeah? Well, I tell you what.” Austin leaned down, balancing J.J. in his arms but getting on the little guy’s level. “I’m doing the behind-the-chutes tour next week. You come down there and see me then, and I’ll see if we can’t show you some of the bulls and broncs, maybe even get you some Camden hats or flags or something so you can wear ‘um to the shows.”
“Really?” The little boy turned back to his father, looking like Austin had just given him gold. “Can we go, Dad, please?”
The man chuckled. “Heck, yeah, buddy. We’ll be there. We’ll let you two get back to unpacking. It was nice to meet you.” The whole family waved as they made their way back to their respective cabins.
“Damn, they’re nice. Now I’ll feel bad if I make you scream too loud and we end up corrupting those kids,” Austin lamented.
Unable to help herself since she’d been thinking something very similar, Summer giggled hysterically. “They have to learn sometime, right?”
Shaking his head at her, Austin handed J.J. back and unloaded the rest of the bags from the truck. When he checked his watch for the third time, Summer rolled her eyes. “Would you just go get checked in. I’ll unpack everything and then J.J. and I are going to go get some groceries.”
“Why don’t you just come with me? It won’t take long. When I’m finished, we can get some supper and groceries or whatever.”
