Chase (American Extreme Bull Riders Tour Book 2)

by Barbara Dunlop

  “I can stay in a motel,” Chase said.

  “No need,” Lucas said. “I’ve already checked in.”

  Maddy couldn’t help but be surprised that Lucas would leave her here alone with Chase, given his earlier accusations. He must be convinced Chase was on his team now. Maybe that made a difference in his mind.

  “I’m coming back tomorrow,” Lucas said.

  “I know.” The thought made her tired.

  He pulled her into a goodbye hug. “I love you, Button.”

  “I know you do.” She did, even though it could occasionally be claustrophobic.

  “You have options,” he said as he released her from the hug.

  “Do I?”

  “Don’t be melodramatic. See you in the morning, Chase.”

  “G’night,” Chase said.

  As the front door closed behind Lucas she couldn’t seem to stop herself from speaking. “He trusts you alone with me.”

  “I know,” Chase said from behind her.

  She heaved a huge sigh. “Score one for the brotherhood.” And now, she really was going to have a second drink.

  “What does that mean?” Chase asked.

  She ignored him and started for the kitchen.

  He caught her by the arm. “Hey.”

  “Hey, what?”

  “Hey, what’s with the brotherhood comment? I told you, I’m on your side.”

  “Maybe,” she said without looking at him.

  “There’s no maybe about it.” He put a finger under her chin and tilted her face toward him. “I’m on your side, Maddy. I want what’s best for you.”

  His touch was like a bolt of lightning, sending desire coursing through her, electrifying her skin, and making every hair stand on end. Her skin was reaching out for him, desperate for his touch.

  Her arousal combined with her disappointment to override common sense. “What’s best for me, maybe”—she blurted out—“but you don’t seem to want me.”

  His gaze instantly darkened to pewter. “What did you say?”

  “Lucas left us here alone.”

  “And?” Chase demanded.

  “Clearly, he’s figured out you’re a Boy Scout.” Once she got started, she couldn’t seem to stop herself. “You fix my carpet. You paint my porch. You take care of Riley. All without making another move on me. I don’t need that, Chase. I don’t need another brother.”

  Their gazes locked together.

  His voice turned to a rasp. “Are you serious?”

  “Yes.”

  “You couldn’t be any more wrong.”

  She hoped she was wrong. She wanted to be wrong. She was baiting him, and was fully ready for wherever it led.

  The intensity ramped up in his gaze. “You’re all I think about, Maddy, your eyes, your lips, your laugh, the glow of your hair.” He reached out and rubbed her hair between his fingertips. “I go to sleep thinking about you at night, and I wake up to your image in the morning.”

  He stepped closer then, his thighs brushing hers, and she thought she might actually swoon. “When you wander around in the morning, I want to tear those pajamas in half. I never knew green plaid could be so sexy. But it’s sexy on you. Everything’s sexy on you. You want to know how I feel? What I want to do?”

  Her stomach went hollow with wanting. “Yes,” she managed to rasp.

  “I want to kiss you until you can’t see straight, until your legs give way beneath you. And then I want to scoop you into my arms and carry you to bed, strip off your clothes and make sweet, endless love to you all night long.”

  She swallowed. Her lips began to tingle with anticipation. Blood rushed to her breasts, peaking her nipples, while the rest of her flooded with moisture.

  He brushed the back of his hand across her cheek. Then he pushed his spread fingers into her hair. “You want me to do that, Maddy? Some of it? Any of it? You say the word, and we’ll do whatever you want.”

  “Yes,” she hissed. She wanted it all, and she wanted it right now.

  He touched his forehead to hers, his breath coming in uneven rasps. “Please be specific. I don’t want to mess this up.”

  “All of it,” she said. “Make love to me, Chase.”

  *

  Chase skipped ahead to the part where he lifted Maddy into his arms and carried her to the bedroom. He hoped she didn’t mind, because he didn’t have it in him to wait a second longer.

  He lowered her to her feet next to the bed then cradled her face, savoring the anticipation as he leaned to kiss her properly for the first time in days. Her mouth was hot, her lips soft, her scent surrounded him and he drew her fully into his arms, holding her slender body against his.

  Their kiss went on and on, until he forced himself to draw back. He needed to feel her skin on his, so he stripped off his shirt, reaching for hers.

  “Oh, Chase.” There was worry in her tone.

  It took him a moment to realize she was staring at the bruises on his ribs. They were ugly, but they were fading.

  “How did you carry me?” she asked.

  “Endorphins,” he said. “You have me so completely turned on I can’t feel anything else. Plus, you barely weigh a thing.”

  She reached out, her fingertips gently and tentatively stroking the mottled purple marks.

  Her hands were cool and the touch felt good; it was soothing. But it also ramped up his arousal.

  “Does it hurt?” she asked.

  “Not right now.” He started on the bottom button of her shirt.

  “I don’t want you to make it worse.”

  He parted her shirt, revealing a white lacy bra. “The only thing getting worse is how bad I want you.” He pushed the shirt from her shoulders.

  She smiled at him. “If you’re sure.”

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

  “Okay.” She leaned forward and kissed the bruise. Then she kissed him again, moving higher on his chest, over his pecs, across his flat nipples.

  For a moment, he forgot everything else. His head tipped back to savor her kisses. She stroked her palms along his sides, around his back. Then she reached for his belt, popping the buckle.

  “You’re getting ahead of me,” he muttered.

  “Catch up,” she said.

  He released the clasp of her bra, letting it fall away to reveal her rounded breasts in the moonlight. Her nipples were dark, puckered, and pointed his way.

  “You’re so incredibly beautiful,” he whispered, recapturing her face and kissing her deeply on the mouth.

  Her tongue tangled with his and he was transported to absolute paradise. His hand closed over her breast, loving the heat, the texture, the softness. He wanted so badly to taste her.

  Passion rushed through him, urgent and acute. He needed her naked. He needed both of them naked so he could wrap himself around her and never let go.

  He stripped off her jeans then he pulled off his own. Moments later, they were tumbling down on the bed. He eased her beneath him, kissing her mouth, her neck, drawing her breasts into his mouth and teasing them to a harder nub. The taste was beyond his imagination.

  She groaned. Her back arched toward him. Her hands gripped his shoulders, moving lower and lower along his back, until she was pressing him into the vee of her thighs.

  He stroked her belly, dipping down. Her legs twitched further apart, and he ran his fingers freely over her satin skin, drinking in her soft groans, loving how her head moved back and forth on his pillow, her hair splayed in all directions, her eyes closed, her dark lips slightly parted.

  He kissed those swollen lips, drawing the bottom one into his mouth.

  “Please,” she whispered, stiffening under his caresses.

  “Now?” He wanted to be sure.

  “Right now.”

  He didn’t need another invitation. He flexed his hips and slipped inside, feeling the moist heat of her engulf him.

  He groaned, then he stilled for a moment, getting his bearings.


  She moved, and he moved, and the rhythm of their lovemaking took over his brain. She was the sweetest, most beautiful woman he’d ever met. They fit perfectly together. He would breathe her essence forever if she’d let him.

  He climbed higher and then higher still. Music pulsed through him, colored lights built behind his eyes. Passion tightened his body, turning his muscles to steel, and still it got better.

  She gasped breathlessly and her fingernails dug into his back.

  She frantically kissed his mouth, opening to him, and his tongue captured hers once more. His senses were bombarded, rushing headlong to overload.

  “Oh, Chase!” Her body stiffened, then it convulsed, and he was surrounded by the sweet heat of her reaction.

  He careened over the cliff alongside her, his own body pulsing with ecstasy. The waves went on and on, until he collapsed on top of her, pinning her against the soft mattress.

  Their labored breaths synchronized. The world came back into focus.

  “Am I hurting you?” He moved to roll off her.

  But her arms tightened around him. “Don’t move.”

  “You’re okay?”

  “I’m better than okay. Just… stay… exactly… as… you… are.”

  He smiled at the rapture on her face. “You bet.”

  After a minute, she opened her eyes.

  He gazed into their depths, thinking all over again that she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

  “That was…” She was still breathless.

  He waited, but she didn’t finish the sentence.

  “I don’t have the words either.” He smoothed her hair from her face. “Except to say that you’re amazing. You’re beyond amazing.”

  She smiled. “You’re not so bad yourself. Even if you are hampered by an injury.”

  “Imagine what I could do at full strength.” He wasn’t feeling a scrap of pain at the moment.

  “I don’t know if I could handle that.”

  “You don’t?”

  It was on the tip of his tongue to make a joke. But anything he said would allude to him sticking around until he got better. That wasn’t something either of them should touch in a moment like this.

  Instead, he said, “Lucky for you, you got the restrained version.”

  Her smile broadened. “You’re such a liar.”

  “You saw the bruise.”

  “You can’t possibly do it any better than that.”

  His ego absorbed her words. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “You should.”

  He gave her a tender kiss. He didn’t want to joke anymore. “While we’re dishing out compliments, you blew me away.”

  She sobered. “It’s been… a while.”

  “I know.” He shifted to his side and cradled her against him, spooning her back into his stomach, wrapping his arms around her to keep her warm.

  “There are things you don’t know about me,” she said softly.

  “There are things that I do.” He kissed the curve of her neck.

  “Like why I fought so hard against Lucas.”

  “You don’t owe me an explanation.”

  Chase was the one who should apologize. He didn’t know why he’d stepped in to the middle of that. He’d been trying to help. But he didn’t want to fight with Maddy. He didn’t want to fight with her about anything.

  “This house,” she said. Then she seemed to gather her thoughts. “I’m already a big drain on the family. I don’t want it to get any bigger.”

  It was clear she wanted to talk. And he wanted whatever she wanted.

  “How so?” he asked.

  She glanced around the dim room. “After my parents died, and we discovered how much my father had borrowed against the ranch, Lucas, Eli, and Wyatt worked like dogs to try to keep the land in the family. Zane and I were only fifteen, but he pitched in too. I didn’t realize how bad things were. I was busy flitting my way through the drama of high school. And then one day, Lucas told me we’d lost it. Beef prices were down, and we couldn’t make our payments, and all we had left were five acres and this house.”

  He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, all of that.”

  Chase had lost his father as a teenager. But his mother had been around for another decade. And their ranch was never in jeopardy.

  “So now,” she continued, “today, the five of us own the house. I’m living here for free while my brothers try to earn enough money to buy our land back.”

  “Zane seems pretty footloose.” Chase couldn’t recommend bull riding as a way to get rich quick.

  “Don’t let him fool you. He’s won a lot of money over the past few years. He’s coming up fast in the standings. And he always works when he’s not riding.”

  Chase wouldn’t have guessed that.

  “Eli’s a good horse trainer. He found a job on a big race horse spread in Oregon. And Wyatt’s flying as a bush pilot. It’s a camp job, so he has no expenses, and he saves every penny he makes.”

  “You have to take care of Riley.” Chase didn’t think she had any cause for guilt.

  Maddy nodded against Chase’s shoulder. “I know. Maybe I can’t contribute at the moment, but I’m not going to take away their money. This house is our only asset. If it wasn’t for me, they could sell it and add to the pot. But they can’t, because of me, and I hate it.”

  Chase wrapped her more solidly in his embrace. “I wish I could help.”

  As he uttered the words, an idea floated into Chase’s brain. It was as compelling as it was far-fetched.

  She raised his hand to her lips and gave him a kiss. “You’re helping me with Riley. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”

  It meant something to Chase too. Riley was coming to mean something to Chase, not to mention how he felt about Maddy.

  He realized that from the moment he’d met her, those frantic minutes at the bull ride, all the way up to now, he’d been planning to eventually leave her life, to walk out, move on, and never be part of her life.

  But what if he didn’t?

  What if he stepped in to help her?

  What if he somehow kept them connected instead of letting her become a fond memory?

  Chapter Six

  When Chase announced he was going into Deadwood, Riley immediately begged to go along. Maddy hadn’t wanted to saddle Chase with babysitting duty, but when he’d insisted he didn’t mind, she’d agreed. Truth was, she was grateful for a little time alone.

  She was still working through the fact that she’d made love with Chase last night. She didn’t regret it for a minute. But that didn’t mean she knew how she felt about him.

  He was sexy, that went without saying. She liked him. Evidently, she liked him an awful lot. But he was still temporary, moving on with the AEBR circuit as soon as he was healed. And Riley complicated matters. Her son was still convinced Chase was his daddy. She had to address that, and she had to do it soon. She couldn’t keep putting it off in the hope it would resolve itself.

  She heard a vehicle in the driveway, and couldn’t stop a surge of disappointment. It would be Lucas coming back to pressure her about money. She would have liked a bit more time alone before she had to argue with him again.

  She opened up the front door, surprised to see Piper coming up the walk.

  “Is this a bad time?” Piper called out.

  “It’s fine,” Maddy said. She definitely preferred Piper’s company to Lucas’s. “Coffee’s on.”

  “Good,” Piper said, making it to the porch.

  She took a look around at the partially sanded porch. “I see you’ve been working.”

  “I had some help.”

  “Nice.”

  “Come on in.” Maddy held the door wide.

  “Thanks. I needed to get away from home for a while and talk to someone who’s not in the throes of a teenage hormone breakdown.”

  “Tristan again?”

  “Turns
out, I’m the worst mother in the world.”

  “Forget the coffee,” Maddy said. “I’ve got a bottle of Chablis in the fridge.”

  “It is afternoon,” Piper said, the lilt in her voice telling Maddy she was definitely up for some wine.

  Maddy led the way to the kitchen, taking the wine from the fridge and finding two stemmed glasses in the top cupboard. “Tell me what happened this time.”

  Piper’s fifteen-year-old son, Tristan, seemed to be quickly becoming a handful for his single mother.

  “He wants to go camping with his friends.”

  “Unchaperoned, I take it.”

  “I quote, ‘Jeremy’s brother is almost seventeen.’”

  Maddy poured the wine. “And Jeremy’s brother will be in charge?”

  “He’ll be the driver. And I’m assuming the guy with a line on the bootlegger.”

  “You think they’ll drink?”

  Piper accepted a glass of wine and raised it in a toast. “If it was just Tristan and Jeremy, probably not. But it’s an older crowd, at a bush party to boot. Those two would be in way over their heads.”

  The two women sat down at the table.

  “You’ll have to stick to your guns,” Maddy said.

  “I’m definitely going to stick to my guns. But first, I need a drink.” Piper waved the glass. “Just so you know, I do get the irony.”

  “We’re both over twenty-one.”

  Piper took a swallow. “Thank goodness for that.”

  Maddy smiled, thinking of the longer-term future with Riley. “Sometimes I wonder what I’ve gotten myself into.”

  “Single motherhood is not for the faint of heart. But you’ve got the golden years ahead of you. It lasts until they’re about thirteen. Then, watch out. Where is Riley, by the way?”

  “He’s in town. With a friend who’s been staying at the house.”

  “Who is she?”

  “It’s a he.”

  Piper raised a curious brow.

  “It’s not like that.” Maddy ignored the fact that it had been exactly like that last night. “He rides with Zane on the circuit. He got hurt at the Deadwood ride, and he’s staying here while he’s healing up.” Maddy found she was reluctant to share the details of Riley’s delusion any further than the family.

  “You do not want to get mixed up with a bull rider.” Then Piper seemed to realize what she’d said, and her expression was immediately filled with regret. “I’m sorry.”