by Jillian Neal
“Please don’t do anything that might keep you from being in bed with me tonight. God, I need you with me, Austin, not in the hospital. Just please be careful.”
Her words always spoke directly to his groin. Lust raced up his spine. He swore every hair on his body stood on end. He traced up her slender waist and discreetly teased the underswells of her breasts with his thumbs.
“Trust me, darlin’, only thing that’s gonna happen tonight after I make bank is I’m gonna take you back to our cabin and take you to bed. God, you smell so damn good.” Taking another kiss and another nip, he inhaled again of that sweet sexy spice that was all Summer as her body swayed between him and the wall. He pulled her closer, locked his arms around her and nuzzled his face against her neck. “Soon as I get you back, I’m gonna bury my face in you, darlin’, ‘til I feel your juices dripping down my throat. I’m gonna make you grind that pussy in my face and beg me until I lap up everything I make you give me, and that will only be the first course. So much I wanna do with you, tonight, sugar. No fucking bull’s gonna stop me.”
“You promise me,” she shuddered in his arms. Her nipples tightened against his chest from his spoken desires. His cock throbbed its approval.
She wanted a promise that he wouldn’t get hurt. That really wasn’t a promise he could make. Before that moment, he’d never even considered the pain and inherent risk that came with his current profession affecting someone else. “Oh, I promise I’ll fuck you so thoroughly tonight you’ll be screaming for me. Have no doubt about that, sugar.”
“That’s not what I meant …”
He kissed the words from her lips. He didn’t want to make promises to her he didn’t know if he’d be able to keep. Getting her to trust him was of the utmost importance. Her defiant nod said she knew he wouldn’t make that promise. She forced a grin and pulled the Zuni macaw necklace out from behind her Camden t-shirt.
“Thank you for wearing that for me, baby. You’re all the luck I need. Just knowing you’re gonna meet me outside that gate when I get off and that little man is up in the stands with my mama wearing a Camden shirt means more to me than you’ll ever know.”
Fear darkened her eyes to a deep chestnut. “I’ll be there. I promise.”
“Then let’s do this. I’ve got plans for you tonight.” He wrapped his arm over her shoulder and escorted her out to the open arena teeming with rodeo fans.
He waved to fans shouting his name and blew a kiss to his mother. Minton had gotten them seats up front. She looked terrified as well. Brock and Luke had joined Cam, Jackson, Scott, and Clif at his assigned chute.
“Hey, you gotta get out to the field. They’re announcing the current leaders in every event.” Scott pointed to a small group gathered in the center of the dirt. Brushing another kiss across Summer’s lips, he headed that way, more than anxious to get down to business.
“You okay, sweetheart?” Luke asked Summer as she stared after Austin heading out to claim his current title.
“Not really. I don’t know what happened to me in the last year, but I hate watching him do this. Scares me to death.”
“And pisses you off as well, I’m betting.”
Summer grinned in spite of herself. “How’d you know that?”
“Makes Mama madder than an old, wet hen when he rides. I’ve seen Hope chew Brock’s ass several times for doing something where she thought he might get hurt.” He elbowed Brock, who chuckled and gave her a kind smile.
“I kinda think it comes with caring about someone so much if they hurt you hurt. I lit Hope up a few weeks ago for trying to balance on a chair she’d put a stepstool on top of instead of asking me to get whatever it was she couldn’t reach.” He shook his head. “I walked in the kitchen and saw my pregnant wife on her tiptoes on top of the contraption she’d built, and I almost lost my mind. Scared me to death, but then I felt bad for yelling at her.” Brock shook his head and then searched the crowds until he located Hope. Summer watched her give him a knowing grin, almost as if she knew what he was confessing.
So love is apparently worrying. Great.
“But he’ll be fine. He’s pretty damn good at all of this. Been practicing and riding as long as I can remember,” Luke assured her. “First time he got thrown hard off a practice bull, he shattered his collarbone. Mama and Daddy thought that’d break him of wanting to keep going, but it only made him more determined. He’d sneak and practice with the brace on. Thought Mama was gonna strangle him, but he worked his ass off until he had it down to a skill.” He gestured to Austin standing in the middle of the Cheyenne Arena. “Wouldn’t a’ made it this far if he didn’t know what he was doin’.”
“He always been so sure about what he wants?” Summer couldn’t help but ask. She’d heard his mama and Holly out. Now, she wanted it from his brother’s perspective.
“Yep,” Brock and Luke answered simultaneously.
“He don’t take no for an answer, either. Only takes a split second, too. He sees something he wants, and goes after it ‘til he gets it. He didn’t want to go back out on the circuit this year, but to him, he ain’t got that PBR buckle yet, and it won’t be over ‘til he does.” Luke was mighty chatty. Summer knew she should take advantage of it, but her stomach roiled with barbed nerves tearing through her gut. She tried not to see Brant standing at Chute 12 with that damned bull and a rider than looked scared shitless. Maybe Austin won’t ever have to ride him. There was a chance of that. It was all in the luck of the draw. Seemed like Austin usually got what he wanted she tried to reassure herself, but was failing miserably.
Brant’s eyes narrowed in on her. His glare whipped through her like a cold black wind in the humid arena. Cocking her jaw to the side, she turned so he could see Camden displayed right across her breasts from the t-shirt Clif had given her to wear that night. The enraged look on his face was priceless. She wished she’d taken a picture.
Before she could revel in Brant’s obvious irritation, the announcer began, “Welcome to Cheyenne Frontier Days!” The crowd roared. “It’s time for the Cinch Shoot-Out qualifying round for all of our riders. This is the best of the best ladies and gentlemen, but if they don’t make the scores tonight, it’ll all be over. Let’s hear it for the current champions.”
He worked his way through the team ropers, steer wrestlers, and the tie-down champ. When Deena Chisolm, the current barrel racing champ, stepped to the center and waved to the crowds, a twinge of jealousy turned in Summer’s belly. She was better than Deena, always had been, always would be, but that no longer mattered.
Smiling and whistling a moment later, she blew Austin a kiss when the announcer bellowed his name. He returned the gesture, having eyes for no one but her. How the hell had she gotten so lucky? He’d come along at just the right moment. Maybe it was meant to be. Maybe he really was her hawk. She’d certainly felt like she’d been swinging by that damn rope forever. Let go of the rope. I’ve got you. Ekta’s story wouldn’t give her peace.
Had he already saved her, or was something else coming? Maybe she should just let go of the doubt and be in this. Glancing down at her t-shirt, and then up at J.J. in the stands with the rest of the Camdens, she smiled. She was already pretty much in it. Might as well go with it.
Another glance in Brant’s direction dissolved a little of her fledgling confidence. She hadn’t brought it up yet, but she couldn’t exactly move to the Camden’s ranch until she had custody of J.J. She couldn’t very well live in Nebraska and get him back and forth to Dallas every other week. Austin might be her hawk, but she doubted he’d be willing to fly J.J. that far twice a month. Maybe she could try to get the custody hearing moved up. She could prove to Austin that she wanted to be with him, but what happened if the hearing didn’t go her way? She’d only be speeding up losing her son. Bile singed her throat, but just then Austin returned to the chute while the crowd continued to shout his name. The bull riders always got the crowds going. He swept her up in his arms, branded her mouth with one of those kis
ses that melted away her every hesitation, and made his announcement to every single cowboy in a hundred-mile radius that she was his.
Travis Anders, a prick she’d met back in Tulsa, was riding first. She knew he was lagging in second, way behind Austin’s forty-point lead. He’d also hit on her repeatedly until she’d told him to fuck off. He wasn’t man enough for her. Hell, he reminded her way too much of Brant — a brat that pitched a fit when he didn’t get his way.
Leaning against Austin, they watched his ride. When the timer buzzed, he was barely hanging on and had shifted to the right, lowering his score to a 78. Austin seemed to settle in after Travis’ ride. The next three riders were thrown before the timer and were out of the Cheyenne competition.
The minutes seemed to be timed with every frantic beat of her heart. She touched the macaw pendant and whispered another prayer to any god willing to listen as she watched his fine ass go up over the chute gate and his boots stomp down onto the bull. Jackson was already dressed, his face painted, and out in the field working. Cam handed Austin’s ropes down.
Her heart beats shot upward from her chest to her throat. Luke offered her a kind grin. “He’ll be all right.”
Brock nodded his agreement.
She gnawed her lip. Ransom Paid was a massive brown bull, already angry Austin was on his back. He shifted against the chute, ready to buck. She searched Austin’s face for fear or even concern but came up empty. Determination chiseled every plane of his gorgeous features, and gall burned in his eyes. Realization settled on her. He was out to show Brant tonight, show him who she belonged to, show him that his little stunt with the horse that morning hadn’t rattled his cage.
“Let’s get this done,” Austin’s husky growl vibrated against her skull. His nod to the gate-man snared the air in her lungs and held it captive.
Instinctively, she reached and grabbed Cam’s bicep when Ransom Paid lit out of the gate like someone had set his hide on fire. Cam grinned at her and wrapped his arm over her shoulders but never took his eyes off Austin. “He’ll be fine, sugar. Ain’t you seen the way he looks at’cha? Not gonna let anything keep him from you.”
Three seconds, four seconds, she gasped for breath, five seconds, six. Expertly, with unparalleled precision, he rode the hell out of that bull. Leaning in to his bucks and guiding himself with his free hand. He damn near made it look easy.
“Look at him go, folks! Incredible!” sang from the announcers.
Luke, Brock, Clif, and Scott went wild. Summer beamed. She couldn’t stay still. Jumping up and down and screaming his name, she heard the timer sound, but he didn’t let go. The roaring crowd all but lost their minds. Everyone single person in the stands was shouting Camden. At 9.3 he bailed off, landing on his feet. He raced away faster than he’d rode. Jackson leapt in front of the bull’s horns without an ounce of hesitation and distracted the furious beast.
Bolting away from his team, she dodged the crowds and other riders and made the twenty-yard distance to where he was climbing out in a split second. He was panting for breath but didn’t let it stop him from lifting her off the ground. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, squeezing him for all she was worth. He spun her around and she let her eyes close, enjoying the ride. His euphoria in that moment was so potent it crushed even more of her doubt. They’d figure it out. Whatever it was, she just wanted to be with him.
“Ms. Sanchez certainly knows how to celebrate a ride like that,” the announcer chuckled as Summer gripped the sides of Austin’s face and half-mauled him with her impassioned kiss. “Looks like we have another reigning rodeo couple. They’ll be telling their kids it all happened in Cheyenne, someday, folks. They’re still going!”
Laughing at that, Summer finally lifted her head and beamed as Austin held her with one arm and waved to the crowds with the other. When he finally set her down, they walked hand in hand back to his team. Luke and Brock were all over him, and a minute later his scores were heralded to the crowds. “That’d be a 94.2 for Camden and the Minton Chaps team. That’s an arena record. Give him another round of applause, ladies and gentlemen, not many men can ride like that.”
Austin and Jackson performed some kind of high-five routine they must’ve come up with as kids before he was all over her again. When he finally settled down, he gave her his customary, devilish smirk. “Remember what I told you about me riding and then winning?”
She grinned. “Something about it making you want to go all night.”
“Hell yeah, baby. You ready?”
Leaning in, she longed to palm the bulge she could feel pressing against her jeans. “I’m more than ready. I love it when the beast is hungry. Makes me so wet I burn for you. You just set an arena record, cowboy, seems like the beast deserves some kind of special reward.”
His rumbled growl worked through the surrounding noise of the arena. “Be careful, honey. Once the beast is loose, I don’t plan on reigning it in until you can’t walk. I have several rewards in mind, and I plan on indulging in every single one, starting with those gorgeous tits and ending with that sweet little rosebud that tempts the hell outta me every time I smack your ass.”
Her entire body seized in ardent desire. Oh, hell yeah, this was a man, a real man that could have anything he wanted from her until she passed out in the pure ecstasy of being in his arms.
“Now,” she demanded in a breathy plea. He covered his groan with an edgy chuckle.
“Got a few things to do first. Namely, seeing my folks, accepting the big-ass check they’re about to write me, and then getting little-man to bed.”
“Okay, but I don’t want to see Dallas Devil’s ride. I can’t watch anyone else get hurt.”
Austin sighed. She watched him work his jaw.
“What? What happened?”
“I found out when I was out there with the other category leaders apparently Dallas Devil butted up against the chute and broke some kid named Trey Landon’s shin bone and ankle this morning in the Slack events. He’s out for the rest of the season.”
“Why were they bull riding in the Slack events?”
“Not sure. Had some cowboys that aren’t on the PBR circuit that wanted to compete. Decided to add it in last minute just for hoots and hollers, I guess. Brant managed to get Dallas Devil in, and his rider tonight was all about it, thinking he’d be tired. Brant must’a licked somebody’s balls for them to let the bull be ridden twice in one day.”
“Of course he did. He’s loving that his bull’s gonna end up winning the title this year. His daddy’s probably eating it up.” The nausea returned. It’d serve Brant Jr. and Sr. right if they figured out he was doping that damned bull, but that wouldn’t heal all the cowboys he’d already injured. Greg St. Cloud had just gotten thrown in a four-second ride, and Dallas Devil and his rider were up next. Summer couldn’t stand it.
“Why don’t we go get my stuff? He’s about to ride. We’ll stay in the locker room ‘til it’s over then go sit with mom and dad,” Austin soothed.
She took off with Austin hot on her trail. A shocked gasp erupted from her lungs when she flew into the locker room. Austin’s bag was overturned on the floor and his equipment was strewn everywhere. “What the hell?”
Sighing, Austin quickly lifted the overturned bag. “Towns full of people, sweetheart. Not all of them are gonna be nice. There wasn’t really anything in there worth much. I had a feelin’. Half expected this. I gave Luke my wallet and phone back at the cabin. I told you my gut’s never wrong.”
“But …” She studied the area around her. There were a dozen other tack bags completely undisturbed lined along the walls and on the benches. “Why did they only go through yours?” What if it was Brant? The haunted question was one she longed to ask but didn’t.
“Probably either got caught or got scared they were going to. Mine was on the bench closest to the doors, and let’s be real, I’ve been winning all season. The fact that I probably have cash on me isn’t far-fetched. It wasn’t Brant, baby. He’s bee
n up there with Dallas Devil and his team the entire time we’ve been here. Get that thought right outta your head. It couldn’t have been him. Besides, he’s worth a hundred times what I am.”
“No.” She shook her head and then raced back into his arms. “His bank accounts are fatter than yours, but that doesn’t mean anything at all. He’s not even half the man you are, Austin.”
Summer’s own vow settled her a little. She had seen Brant standing at the chutes as soon as they entered the arena, and he hadn’t left his post. All of his smarmy friends were with that devil beast of his daddy’s, too. Security was pretty tight. You were supposed to have a pass to get down there. Maybe it was one of the other riders. It couldn’t have been Brant.
Austin made quick work of picking up his gear. “They didn’t take anything. It’s all here. Ride has to be over by now, let’s get.”
Before Austin could escort Summer back up to the stands with his family, sirens filled the air.
“Oh, no.” Summer gripped his hand. Setting his bag down and having no desire for her to see whatever had just happened, he turned and drew her into the sanctuary of his arms. Keeping her safe was all that would ever matter.
Brock and Luke appeared a moment later.
“Don’t take her back out there,” Luke mouthed silently.
Keeping Summer’s face buried in his chest, Austin gave one single nod of understanding. To his chagrin, she lifted her head and glared at all three men. “I’m not a little kid. Tell me what happened.”
“Uh, the bull from Preston Cattle threw his rider and then went after him. He … got trampled,” Brock eased cautiously.
