by MISSY HARPER
“I will throw you over my shoulder and paddle your ass all the way back to the hotel, Rylee. Don’t push me, you know I’ll do it!” Ethan warned with his finger pointed at her.
Rylee, clearly having had too much to drink, lifted her hand in front of her face and stared at her fingers until her index finger finally cooperated and popped up. She turned the finger toward him and boldly poked him in the chest with it.
“I think I just did.” She announced as his shoulder moved back the slightest little bit. “Let me tell you how this is gonna work, Ethan. I wanna ride that bull. You’ve kept me from doin what I want one too many times, cowboy. So, either you take me over there to ride it, or I’ll find myself another cowboy to do it for you!” She challenged as she poked him in the chest again.
“Rylee…” Ethan tried to warn, but was cut off.
“Hey! Any of you cowboys wanna take me to ride a mechanical bull!” She cried at the top of her lungs, swinging her head around so her long blonde hair slapped Ethan in the face.
A chorus of hell yeah’s and sure thing, baby’s rang through out the bar as she offered Ethan her best Whatcha gonna do about that face.
“You are in so much trouble with me, Rylee.” Ethan hissed into her ear as he grabbed her arm, pulling her closer to him and away from all the grabbing hands that had recently appeared. Oliver moved in behind her to help ward off the advances.
“You can’t fight em all, Ethan. Either you take me or I’ll pick one of these fine lookin cowboys to share his knowledge of bull riding with me.” She teased as she laid down her next challenge.
“Fine!” He grinned down at her.
“Come on, Oliver, your sister wants to ride a damn bull!” He’d take her over there and let them give her just what she was asking for, then she’d be so damn scared he wouldn’t have anymore problems out of her.
“Oh, I don’t think so, man.” Oliver shook his head and held his hands up. “I ain’t gonna be nowhere around when she gets herself hurt. I ain’t answerin to Tanner or Thor for something like this. You’re on your own.”
“What!” Ethan stared at Oliver for a long, hard moment.
“Just throw her over your shoulder and carry her ass out of here. We’ll take her back to the hotel and you can give her the spanking she deserves. I’ve got your back on that, but if you take her over there to ride that bull… you’re on your own, man.” Oliver explained, knowing exactly what Ethan would decide.
Ethan looked around and judged the odds of them making it out alive. It didn’t look too good for the home team.
“I think she might get hurt worse if we try to fight our way out.” Ethan told him as he surveyed the crowed.
“It’s your call, man. I’ll help ya get her out of here, or I’ll see ya back at the hotel… or the hospital.” Oliver told him with a grim look on his face.
“RIDE, RIDE, RIDE…” Rylee chanted, and the whole bar soon joined in with her. Ethan found himself moving in a sea of people toward the door and then in the street headed for the bar down the way.
With that many people entering the place, making that much noise, and lets not forget Rylee the Gorgeous was at the center of the pack, the line for the mechanical bull parted like the Red Sea. When Rylee saw the big, black mechanical bull up on the platform a great deal of her bravado quickly abandoned her.
“That’s right, Runt.” Ethan chuckled next to her ear, enjoying the slight look of panic on her face. “You’ve gone and gotten yourself into a world of shit now haven’t you?” He said as he gave her a little squeeze around the waist before laughing openly from behind. He felt her begin to tremble and it brought a little smile to his face.
“Oh, my… Ethan?” She turned and raised her frightened eyes to him. He grinned down at her and absolutely loved that for once the feisty little Runt had a bit of fear in her eyes. He had to admit it looked pretty good on her and found himself wondering what other things might bring on that same look.
“What’s it gonna be, Runt?” He challenged her, just as she’d challenged him earlier. There was no way he was gonna let her off the hook that easy. He’d let her blow in the wind for a while and at the last second toss her over his shoulder and carry her out of there safe and sound… after she admitted she was scared shitless, of course. Then they’d have a long, painful talk about drinkin around a bunch of rowdy cowboys. Again! Not that he could be too hard on her about it. He was the guy who’d been buying her drinks, after all.
Rylee looked around at all the faces that were egging her on, then back to the bull sitting under the spot light. She thought about all the times she’d watched her brothers and Ethan ride, and how stupid she’d thought they were. She remembered Rory’s story about how bad off Ethan had been after he’d gotten hurt and wondered what the hell she was thinking. Still looking at the big, black mechanical bull, Rylee grabbed for Ethan’s hand and he knew he had her.
“Say the word, Runt. That’s all you have to do.” His smile crept across his face as he spoke. She was so damn cute when she was nervous! He knew he needed to get her back to her daddy before he did something stupid. He was gonna have to remember to take a piece out of Oliver’s ass the next time he got the chance. It was not a good thing for him to be left alone with her… not when they had both been drinking.
“Let’s do it!” Rylee yelled and tugged his hand, dragging him toward the bull.
“What?” Ethan questioned in a breathy voice. He couldn’t believe what had just happened. She had looked terrified one minute, and the next second she was practically running toward the damn thing! He’d expected her to beg him to get her out of there, but she’d done a one-eighty on him and headed straight for the damn bull… with a battle cry, no less! Damn little, squaw! She was gonna be the death of him!
“I want to do this, Ethan.” She announced as she put her hands on the bull’s back, looking up at him with beautiful, determined eyes. “So, how do I get on this thing, anyway?”
“Oh, shit!” Ethan moaned. “Rylee, this is a very bad idea, baby.” He attempted to reason with her.
“Stop it, Ethan! I’m gonna ride this thing, and I’m gonna do it with or with out your help, so please just help me.”
He’d seen that look on her face enough times to know she meant every word she was saying. He placed his hands at her waist and lifted her up onto the bull as the crowd went nuts!
“Grab the bull rope there across his back.” Ethan pointed to the rope and she tucked her hand under it. “Get a good grip and don’t let go no matter what, understand?” Rylee shook her head and smiled a nervous smile down at him.
“Try to keep your crotch… God, help me!… as close to being on top of your hand as you can.” He ran a nervous, sexually frustrated hand over his face. Not only had he just thought about it, but he’d looked at and spoke about her crotch! God help him, he was going straight to hell! “It’ll help you stay on longer. When it spins left, throw your free hand to the right and vise versa. It’ll help you keep your balance. Don’t touch anything with that free hand or you’re disqualified. It’ll start slow, but it picks up pretty fast. Understand?”
“Yeah, got any other tips?” She asked, looking down into his face. Her eyes were bright with excitement that he recognized oh so well.
“Yeah, don’t get tossed in the dirt!” He grinned at her, reached up and pulled her head down for a kiss right on the mouth. He wanted every cowboy in question to understand she was leavin with him and no one else! Rylee smiled down at him, even though they both knew he’d gone against her wishes with that kiss.
“Cowgirl Up!” Ethan cried and she threw her free hand up in the air like a pro. Ethan stepped back and smiled as the bull began to dip and sway.
Rory stood on the casino floor with his family, trying to play Craps, but folks kept stopping to congratulate him and ask for an autograph. He saw his buddy, Rick, making his way through the crowd and waved him over.
“Hey, man. How’s the night treatin ya?” Rory asked as they shook hands and did the
back slap thing.
“Well, not as good as you, but pretty good.” He gestured with his eyes to the buckle bunny on his arm and grinned.
“Ah, third ain’t a terrible place to be either.” Rory returned, referring to the point placement his friend had made in the competition and politely smiling at the woman on his friend’s arm.
“Yeah, I guess all the record breakin belongs to the Van der Brook’s tonight.” Rick said with a big grin on his face. “You better watch your six, buddy. That little sister of yours looked damn good up there on that bull.”
“What?” Rory’s eyes narrowed, his expression having gone suddenly serious. He looked up to see Oliver making his way through the crowd, head and shoulders taller than anyone around him. What he didn’t see was his sister or his former traveling partner. He was gonna kill Oliver!
“Yeah, she broke the club’s record. They never could throw her!” Rick was all smiles. “She was lookin damn good up there, too. Course Ethan wasn’t lettin anybody near her. Selfish bastard’s plannin on keepin her all to himself!” The man laughed and wiggled his eyebrows at his bunny. “But I reckon that’s okay with me.”
Rory and Thor exchanged a look and then turned to interrogate Oliver as he approached.
“What the hell’s going on, Oliver?” Rory demanded.
“What’s your sister doing on a mechanical bull, son?” Thor asked when Oliver held up his hands, silently telling them to hold on.
“Whoa, what’s this about a bull? Where’s Rylee, Ol?” Tanner asked, turning away from the table with the dice still in his hand, the pitt boss and security team scrambling after him. He glared at them, stopping them in their tracks, before he handed the dice to his mother so he could join in the conversation.
“She’s with Ethan.” Oliver informed in that nonchalant, but totally in control way of his. It took everything he had not to grin.
“Damn it, Oliver! You were supposed to stay with her!” Tanner yelled as he stepped away from the table.
“Seems she broke some kinda club record on a mechanical bull.” Rory informed his oldest brother. Tanner’s angry eyes turned on Oliver.
“Hey, I tried to stop her, so did Ethan, but ya know how she is. There was no stoppin her, I swear.” Oliver defended himself and Ethan, too. If he was right about things, come morning, Ethan might need a little more defending than he did at the moment.
“That’s when ya throw her over your damn shoulder and drag her ass out of there, Oliver!” Tanner yelled at his brother and dragged his hand through his long, shiny black hair. “This ain’t like you, man!”
“Wasn’t an option. She announced to the whole place, askin who wanted to take her over there. We’da had to fight the whole damn bar! Ethan was worried she’d get hurt in the fight worse than on the bull. And you know Rylee, she’d a been out the door with the first cowboy that grabbed her while we were busy fighting.”
“Damn that little hell cat!” Tanner yelled as he began pushing his way through the crowd. “We gotta find em. They’ve both had way too much to drink.” Tanner shook his head and looked over at Rory.
“No way he’ll be able to keep his hands off her once the celebratory drinks are downed. It’s the whole reason for the bull ride.” Rory answered the question in Tanner’s eyes. Oliver tried to hide the smile that overtook his face. He was counting on it!
“How long ago did this ride take place?” Thor asked his son.
“It’s been about an hour since I left them.” Oliver shrugged his shoulders and tried not to smirk.
“You boys split up and find her. Your mom and I will stay around here in case they show up here.” Thor told his sons. They headed off through the crowd and Tanner’s deep voice could be heard above even the noise of the slot machines.
“I’m gonna spank her ass and kick his when I find them! I knew I shouldn’t have left it to you, Oliver!”
Oliver ambled slowly behind his rushing brothers. Feeling his mother’s eyes on him, he looked back over his shoulder at her. Their eyes met and he sent her a knowing wink before continuing his slow amble after his wayward little sister.
Chapter 17
What Happens In Vegas
Doesn’t Always Stay In Vegas!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Rylee groaned as she heard the banging at her bedroom door. She rolled slightly and growled, knowing it was Tanner trying to wake her up on the only day of the week she got to sleep in.
“Go away!” She grumbled into the hard mattress beneath her head. She thought it was a bit strange when the mattress began to shake up and down a bit, but when she heard it actually chuckle, she knew something was very wrong.
She opened her eyes, which turned out to be a mistake, and then attempted to lift her head from the mattress, also a mistake. The room was spinning and her stomach was churning in a way that could only mean disaster was in her near future. She ran her hand along the surface of the mattress as she brought it up to cover her ear so she didn’t have to listen to Tanner’s banging. Funny that the mattress should feel warm and a bit… hairy?
Taking a chance on only one eye, she opened it to find her head was not lying on a mattress, or even a pillow, but instead on a man’s bare chest. Looking up with one eye still closed, she found Ethan smiling down at her.
“Mornin, Runt.” He said way to cheerfully for all the banging that was going on.
“Err… I’m gonna kill Tanner if he doesn’t stop banging on that door!” She mumbled into his chest when her face fell forward and landed against his warm skin. She felt him chuckle beneath her as he tightened his arm around her waist.
“Sweetness, I’m afraid that banging you’re hearing has nothing to do with Tanner or the door. It’s all in your head, Runt.” He teased. “I think you’ve got quite a hangover this morning.” He said as he ran his hand over her back and kissed the side of her face… after she’d glared at him, of course.
“Morning?” Rylee suddenly asked, rising up a little on her elbows only to fall back down against him when the sledge hammer in her head slammed into her again. She felt her nipples brush against his bare skin, and both eyes popped open as she sat straight up in the bed beside Ethan.
“Oh, my God!” She nearly yelled as she looked down to find nothing but her own skin and then over to find nothing but his bare chest leading to a low slung sheet covering the important parts of him. She ripped the sheet from him and pulled it up against her as she brought her knees up to her chest and laid her forehead on top of them.
“Oh, this is not happening.” She assured her knees.
Rylee’s head reeled and her stomach rolled as she tried to make sense of what had happened between them. She’d worked so hard at keeping a distance and starting her own life, an Ethan free life, and now this? This was definitely not distance! This was the exact opposite of distance! Damn you, Girl Parts!
“It’s gonna be alright, Rylee.” Ethan sat up beside her, unaffected by his nakedness, and began to rub his hand up and down her exposed spine. “What’s the last thing you remember?” He asked in a calm voice as he attempted to soothe her with his hand on her back. She tried to think about the night before, but it seemed to be a series of jumbled memories that really didn’t make any sense. The pounding in her head and the rolling in her stomach didn’t make remembering last night any easier, but one thing stood out loud and clear.
“Did I ride a bull?” She asked lifting her head slightly to look over at him while scrunching up her pretty face in confusion and disbelief. Her hand shot up to block her eyes when she saw he was now uncovered and gloriously naked since she’d stolen his sheet. Ethan chuckled as he leaned over to kiss her bare shoulder. She was so precious!
“Yeah, broke the club record, which means you actually stayed on that thing longer than I did.” She could hear the grin in his voice as he spoke against her shoulder.
“Sweet.” She said without emotion as she returned her head to her knees. At least something had come of this disaster. “Explains
why I hurt everywhere.”
“Do you remember anything after that?” He asked, brushing her hair from her neck so he could kiss it. Even with her face buried in her knees, he could tell she was blushing.
“Rowdy crowds, lots of drinks… a few shots, I think.” She mumbled into her knees. “Which seems like extreme intelligence about now!” She snarled as her head pounded.
“Do you remember us dancing?” Ethan asked, hoping that if she didn’t his asking would jog her memory. It was a very important moment that he really needed her to remember.
Rylee remembered the song was slow, and Ethan had held her tight. It was about the third song in a row they’d danced to, and Ethan had turned away every man that’d tried to cut in. Each time someone asked to dance with her, he’d held her closer until he was almost wrapped around her. She hadn’t minded one little bit. She was right where she’d wanted to be. She cringed at the thought now, and squeezed her eyes tight against it. How stupid!
Ethan had tucked her head against his shoulder and buried his hand in her hair. When he lifted her head and looked into her eyes she’d known something had changed. Her heartbeat increased even as she remembered it.
“I can’t fight it anymore, Rylee.” He’d confessed. She’d know he meant his attraction and desire to have sex with her, but at the time she was just drunk enough to overlook the fact that she needed more from him than just a quick tumble with the former bull rider.
“Then don’t.” She remembered whispering back. She squeezed her eyes tighter and felt the shame wash over her at her drunken actions. Damn girl parts!
“Oh, my… I remember.” She admitted, bringing her hands up to cover her face. It only took a second for him to realize she hadn’t remembered everything. She pulled her hands away from her questioning face and stared down at them. It all came rushing back into focus. The pool game, the bull ride, the dance, and everything that followed. Rylee hugged her knees tighter as the memories continued to assault her. This could not be happening! Her life could not be reduced to this level of pathetic!
