by Jillian Neal
Licking the last drip with a long drawn suck, she stood and he cradled her in his arms still swaying, unsteadily from his climax. “Damn, but you are perfection. Seems to me I got to come and you didn’t though, darlin’. That ain’t how we play. On your elbows and knees on that bed. Shake it for me so I can spank that sexy ass for making me come before you.”
A breathy moan escaped her as she bolted for the bed, following orders readily.
His fingers plunged in her without warning. “So wet, sugar. Sucking my cock made you horny for me, didn’t it?”
“Yes,” she panted, feeling her body cinch around his fingers. The noise of his approval from deep in his throat sounded in her ear as he leaned over her, pushing his fingers deeper.
“You ready for me? I need you again. I told you I’d never get enough.”
“Now,” she ordered. She heard the tear of the condom wrapper. Shaking her hips back and forth, she willed him to move faster. The rasp of wiry hair from his thighs slapped the back of hers as he grasped her hips.
“Take it all for me, just like that.” He buried himself in her fully, filling her to capacity. She pressed back against him. It felt too good not to take everything she could get. His hand smacked her ass, and she gripped a nearby pillow, buried her face in the mattress to cover a scream of pure pleasure.
“More, please.” She loved everything he gave her, the raw abandon, the trust, the unbound freedom she could still taste on her lips from his cum. She loved him. The realization took center-stage as he made another deep thrust, accompanied with another smack on her ass. Her entire body quivered. Her legs shook violently. Her mind begged for the release he was withholding. In and out, hard and fast, over and over. Her right ass cheek burned, and finally he gave her what she longed for. She screamed out his name as the orgasm seared through her on his next strike.
His hands gripped her waist as he buried himself in past his hilt and gained another orgasm of his own. She’d heard women talk about men that could go more than once. She thought they were lying. That was before she’d met Austin.
Eventually, she was tucked safely and naked in his arms and he was turning off the lamplight. “You are perfection, Summer. I’ve never met another woman like you.”
“I love …” she bit her lip. He tightened his hold of her. Her heated breaths tangled with his. Hope was palpable between them.
“Say it.”
“I love being here with you.” She turned and tried to let her eyes say what she couldn’t verbalize. She bit her lip and tried again. “I love …” she choked, “um, I love how hard you get so fast after the first time.”
Shaking his head at her, he sighed. “Well, I’m pretty sure I love you. I told you, I don’t do scared, so I’m saying it. And I love being here with you, too. Just so you know, I’ve never been able to recover so fast like that. It’s you, baby. It’s all you. It’s us together, actually. You make me a better man, because I want to be that for you.”
“I know you do.” She buried her face in his chest and tried with all of her might not to be afraid, but she couldn’t. There was too much at stake.
“You ready to go to sleep?” He gently, patiently even, pulled his fingers through her hair and whispered kisses on the top of her head, letting her hide in him.
“When I was a teenager and staying here with Ekta, I used to sneak out at night and go hang out in town. When I got back, I’d watch her old movies. I told you being here just makes me feel like a kid again.”
“Pretty sure we don’t have to sneak out anymore, and I think J.J.’s pretty happy in his crib so I’m gonna suggest we leave him be, but we sure as hell can watch a movie.”
“There are some in the sitting room. All John Wayne, but that could be fun.”
“Go get whatever you want. I’ve seen ‘um all. You wore me slap out, sweetness, so I make you no promises I’ll make it until the bullets start flying, but I’ll try.”
“It’s okay. You have to get up early anyway.”
He tipped her chin up with his callused hand and brushed his lips across hers. A soft moan escaped her when he turned his head and blistered her mouth with his goodnight kiss.
Austin awoke long before sunrise, the feel of Summer’s curves moving against him with her steady breaths settled his brain but stirred his cock. Glancing down at his own chest, he smirked. The marks she’d branded him with glistened a deep purple in the fading moonlight. Damn, but he loved them being there, loved that she wanted to imprint him as hers.
Checking the clock by the bed, the idea he’d been debating cemented in his mind. He eased the covers down her beautiful body and swirled his tongue between her breasts, tasting the sweet tang of sweat gathered there. Nuzzling the side of her left breast, he sucked along the underswell, leaving love bites of his own along her luscious tits. Damn, how had he not spent more time here?
Her sleepy moan racked readily in his balls as he swept his tongue over the tightening buds of her nipples. The flavor of her filled his mouth as he began to suck.
She lifted her head, her hair in a wild mane around her beautiful face. Her body soft and smooth, heated from his advances. That sexy smirk formed on her full lips as she watched him nip and suckle.
“Mornin’, darlin. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I want you.”
“Mmm, yeah, I got that all on my own. Thought you had to go drive cattle down a highway.” Her sleepy voice held a sexy rasp that churned impatience through his bloodstream.
“So, I’ll be quick.” He drew the stiff peak of her left breast into the fiery heat of his mouth and sucked with fervor, watching her abdomen quiver and quake. “Spread those pretty legs for me. I need a fix before I go.”
Chapter Twelve
Glancing at the clock in his truck again, Austin cursed. He hadn’t quite had time for that second round with Summer, but damn if he could have left when she was soaking wet, shaking, and begging him for more. Trucks lined the fields where cowboys were already saddled up and ready to go. He had to park damn near a mile away from the horses.
Half-running, he made it five minutes before they were releasing the steers. Jackson, Cam, Aaron, Clifton, and Scott were already mounted, but were holding a saddled horse without a rider between them. They all glared at him as he approached.
Cam smirked. “Well, you look good and fucked, so do we at least get to hear about the obvious reasons you’re so late?”
“Sorry.” He pulled his hat lower and made quick work of mounting while he endured the chastising he supposed he’d deserved. The horse was skittish, not quite broke yet. Great. Austin settled in and stroked her side, trying to get her to stop jerking back and forth. He pulled up on the reins and clicked his mouth as the steers were released. He fell in behind the herd, driving hard with guttural commands that flowed naturally from him. He’d been doing this his entire life. Horse would have to get over it. She jerked a few times, but seemed to figure out that Austin wasn’t putting up with it when he dug his spurs in.
Clif and Jackson headed north to the other side of the fence to make sure none got away. Scott hung back to gather any stragglers.
There were more than 600 Corriente steers heading towards Frontier Park for the rodeo, but there were over fifty cowboys on horseback and it was just a few miles, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. Refusing to do anything half way, Austin scanned the herds along the road, anticipating where they were heading next. He began his counting before remembering that these weren’t his herds. He’d never see them again.
Corriente were basically bred to be roped in rodeos and weren’t good for much else, except maybe being escape artists. Sinewy things whose meat wasn’t worth the effort could jump a fence during a drive right before your eyes. Driving was in Austin’s blood. It was all he’d ever known, and he took pride in everything he did, just like his daddy taught him.
Letting his gut take over, he made another careful scan of the herds. Something wasn’t right. Hair on the back of his neck stood. Another
thorough scan revealed nothing out of sorts, but Austin couldn’t shake the ominous feeling. His eyes landed on Brant and a few of his cohorts from Preston. They were mounted, trying to gallop like the idiots they were, and carrying coils of rope that were highly unnecessary, and he doubted they had any clue how to use. As long as Brant was there, Summer was fine, so Austin told himself to relax.
A few steers lagged and then made their getaway from the herd. Austin and Cam headed their way, calling and directing them back. Nerves twisted up his spine with every hoof-fall of his horse. His stomach roiled, probably since he hadn’t gotten his ass out of bed in time to have breakfast. Cam cut right to get two that had stopped to consume some grass, while Austin headed due south now to get four that were still traveling. He’d done this hundreds of times. Why the hell was he nervous?
Keeping constant watch on the steers, something moved in his peripheral vision. Jerking his head to the side, he pulled up on the reins as Brant Preston and his horse thundered dangerously closer.
“Kee, aww,” bellowed from Brant, and the quarter horse he was on broke out in a sprint from twenty feet away. Austin cut away, but his horse reared vertical on its hooves, kicking wildly moments before Brant’s horse clipped its muzzle. Austin landed flat on his ass on the drought-hardened Wyoming earth.
Laughter filled the air as Brant bolted from the scene, following the path Austin’s horse was now blazing through the prairie.
“Are you all right?” Cam dismounted and helped Austin up.
“I’m gonna beat that motherfucker into the ground and feed him his own nads for breakfast.”
“Guess that means you’re all right. Hang on, I got a rope. Horse’ll slow up in a minute, and I’ll get him.”
By the time Cam had managed to get Austin’s horse back, other cowboys had to step in to get the steers, and Austin looked like an idiot that had never been on horseback. The drive was half over before they were racing to catch up. If one more well-intentioned cowboy asked him if he was all right, Austin was gonna lose his mind.
When everyone dismounted at the event arena, Brant, coward that he was, stayed firmly tucked in with the pack of good-for-nothing pussies from Preston Cattle and in eyesight of plenty of PBR and PRCA reps. The smirk permanently affixed on his stupid face only amped the rage consuming Austin.
“You gonna tell Summer what happened?” Cam handed him a pack of jerky and a bottle of Dr. Pepper he’d picked up from the convenience store.
“We should’a whipped his ass last night. Then he wouldn’t a been able to get on that horse this morning,” Jackson huffed.
Austin downed a long sip of the soda and shook his head. “Don’t say anything to Summer. She’s already scared of him. I don’t need her freaking out about this.”
“You’re good to ride tonight, though, right?” Clif was pacing. Scott kept crossing and uncrossing his arms. It was getting to Austin. He wished they’d cut it out.
“My ass is sore. What else is new? I’m a fucking bull rider. I’m fine.”
“I pulled your day sheet for you. You’re riding a bull called Ransom Paid from Summit,” Scott provided.
“Great. If all goes well today, I’ll murder Preston, take my family out to lunch, hang out with my girl, then I’ll qualify.”
“Simmer down, Austin. He wants you riled. That’s why he did this. He wants you out of the competition. Can’t stand for you to win the buckle and his ex-wife.”
“Yeah, well, life’s really gonna suck for him then, cause I’m going home with both.”
“Then let that drive you. Go in there with something to earn, calm and driven. If you climb on the bull angry and unfocused you’ll be heading home a lot quicker than any of us want.”
Austin offered nothing more than an irritated grunt as he stalked back to his truck. Brant turned from his cocoon of morons as Austin passed. “Ass sore, Camden?”
Unmitigated gall throbbed in his muscles. His jaw clenched, and his eyes flashed with fury as he turned to stare Brant Preston down. He wants you riled. Scott’s words managed to quell a little of his temper. They joined his own personal motto when it came to the ass-licker in question. Never give him what he wants.
Sporting a pompous grin, he nodded. “Yeah, it is. Got thrown off a horse of all things. No worries, though. Gonna go home and let Summer make everything feel better. She always knows just what to do. Makes everything feel so fucking good.” He edged closer to Brant. “You know what they say, right, Preston? Time heals all wounds, especially a really, really good time.” He went as far as to tip his hat to the son-of-a-bitch before he turned and headed to his truck.
By the time he made it back to the ranch cabin he and Summer had made a temporary home, he thought he’d done a half-decent job of looking unaffected. She called him on it before he made it to the porch she was sitting on rocking J.J. “What the hell happened to you?”
Ignoring her question, he took the steps two at a time and made it to her in a split second. He leaned to brush a kiss on her lips, but she blocked his mouth with her hand. “Tell me what happened first.”
“I can’t even get a kiss?”
“Not until you tell me why you look like a hornet stung your sac.”
“Damn, woman. Don’t say shit like that. Makes me squirm.”
“Talk, cowboy.”
“Nothing happened. I’m fine. You ready to go to the parade?”
“Full of shit answers will get you nowhere.”
Rolling his eyes, Austin eased into the rocker beside hers but said nothing.
“You are not more stubborn than I am. You will not win this,” she warned.
“No one’s more stubborn than you are, darlin’.”
When her eyes narrowed and she cocked her jaw to the side, he knew he was in for it. When she started to stand, he held up his hands in surrender. “Brant happened.”
She settled back in the rocker and held J.J. tighter. Her eyes closed. “I knew he was going to do something. Did he hurt you?”
“No, he didn’t hurt me,” Austin huffed.
“Oh God, did he get you disqualified? He did, didn’t he? I’ll go talk to him. I’ll figure something out.”
“You will keep your little ass in that chair, and you will never go anywhere near Brant Preston ever again. You hear me?” The thought of Summer being anywhere near Brant stabbed terror through his chest. He took one long moment to reconcile the fact that she had become the one and only thing that mattered to him. That buckle meant less and less with every passing moment. All he wanted was her.
“Just tell me what happened,” she demanded.
“He was being a prick just like always. Drove his horse into mine before I saw him coming. My horse freaked, and I got thrown. My pride hurts a whole lot more than anything else, so can we drop the whole damn thing, please?”
“I’m so sorry, Austin. I told you he wouldn’t let this go. This isn’t a good idea.”
On his feet instantly, he jerked Summer up out of the rocking chair. “This,” he gestured between them, “is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Don’t you dare sit there for one half second and let your shit-for-brains ex make you think that he can control us. That’s what he wants. He wants you scared and cowering from him. That’s how he gets his way, and I won’t have it. No one gets to treat you that way. Ever. He’s a bully, plain and simple, and if he keeps this shit up, when the time is right, I’ll give him the fight he’s wanting, but it’ll be me and him, not you and him.”
“You will do no such thing. You’re not fighting him for me. That’s your pride and your temper talkin’ anyway. You’re smarter than that. You have no idea what the Prestons are capable of, and I won’t let you get hurt for me.”
“I’m not hurt, Summer. I’m just fine. The only way he could ever hurt me is if he managed to drive you out of my arms. I will not let the likes of Brant Preston keep me from you.”
The terrorizing fear he’d seen in her eyes the first time he’d taken her to dinner re
turned in an instant. It had disappeared as soon as he’d taken her to his bed. Dammit, he wouldn’t let her ex do this to her. Not anymore.
“You promise you’re not hurt?” She swallowed harshly.
Gently, he wrapped his arms around both her and J.J. “Sweetheart, I get thrown off of two thousand pound bulls two to three times a week. I’m fine, and what he really wants is me all riled up so I screw up at the qualifications tonight. First thing I ever said to you was ‘never to give Brant Preston what he wants,’ so that’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna get little man ready and take him into town, go to the parade, meet my folks, and have a grand time at Frontier Days. Brant can lick my ass tonight when I hit the dirt after my eight second ride, then he can watch me spend all my winnings on you.”
Keeping J.J. secured on his shoulders so he could see the passing parade floats, Austin grinned when he saw them. “There they are.”
“There who are?” Summer scanned the teeming crowds surrounding them.
“Look, coming up there. One in front is Holly. That’s my cousin Brock and his wife Hope, and Luke’s bringing up the rear. Mom and Dad are probably checking in wherever they’re staying.”
“Shouldn’t we go over there? They’re looking for you.”
“Nah, see that look on my baby sister’s face? She wants to surprise me.”
“It’s weird how you read people like that,” Summer fussed.
Chuckling, Austin lifted the baby off of his shoulders, settling him in his arms instead, and kissed Summer’s cheek. “You seem to like me reading you in bed, sweetness. I told you, I live by my gut. There’s not better radar system. When I know something, I know something.”
Another minute passed, and Holly beamed and pointed their direction. She ducked through the crowds. Austin braced ready for her to spring, but she stopped short and he offered her a grin.
