Cowboys & Bosses

by Piper Sullivan

  Nancy’s laugh echoed in the foyer leaving me and Walt staring after them. Sage had completely transformed, and I felt my shoulders relax. She may hate my guts right now, but she was keeping her word.

  “I haven’t seen my Nancy shine that bright since our boys got married. Come on in Mason, let me introduce you around.”

  True to his word, Walt got me face time with each of the board members who would vote on new members to the TPBA. They all seemed impressed with what he’d shared of my operation, asking questions and congratulating me on the recent Roller Girl’s Preakness win. It was a major victory for Manning Ranch and me specifically. The night could not be going better if I had scripted it myself.

  Garry Graham, the only Triple Crown winner among us, approached with a mile-wide grin. “Mason Manning, I knew your daddy. He’d be proud to see how well you’ve been doing, though the old dog would never admit it,” he laughed and clapped me on the back.

  I smiled because Garry obviously knew my father well. “I agree on both counts, rest his soul. That’s high praise coming from you.”

  “I met your bride-to-be, and I have to say there is nothing finer than a beautiful woman who loves horses.”

  I smiled thinking that must be the motto of Texas as he echoed Walt’s words. My gaze drifted to Sage then, face lit up in another smile as two grey haired men and their much younger wives listened intently. She was absolutely gorgeous and in her element with these people.

  “Yeah, she is pretty amazing.” And a virgin! I still couldn’t get over that little tidbit of information. I couldn’t believe no man had ever touched her the way I had. Never tasted her and lapped up her juices until she screamed his name. She looked over her shoulder and grabbed my gaze, flashing a sexy little smile that shot straight to my cock and I knew in that moment that I wanted to be the man to show her how good sex could be. I wanted to help her learn her body, figure out what made her cry out in pleasure.

  “Boy, you’ve got it bad,” Garry said, drawing Walt and the others into a laugh at my expense.

  I didn’t know what they thought they saw on my face, so I gave a wan smile and continued to mingle. Schmooze. Talk horses. Eventually Nancy and Sage made their way to our little group and she slid onto my arm effortlessly, as though we’d been doing it for years.

  “Are ya’ll having fun? I hope you enjoyed those barbecue sliders because that whiskey sauce is truly a modern miracle.” Her drawl was thick and sexy as hell, like the cowgirl she’d always been.

  Nancy blushed at her praise and I squeezed her tight. “It’s my mama’s recipe.”

  “Bottle that up and you’ll make a killin’!”

  Before anyone could say another word, the bell sounded for dinner and we slowly made our way to the opulent dining room with a seating for twenty.

  With Sage seated across the table, I had a hard time focusing on my dinner companions, one a member of the board and one a spouse. By the time we said goodbye to our hosts, I was so wound up, so twisted with desire I could hardly think straight.

  The only thing I could see was Sage in that blue dress that made her eyes pop and me running my hands through her dark waves. I wanted her. And tonight, our last night in Houston, I would have her. All night and in every way possible.

  “That went well, I think.” Inside the back of the limo she smoothed her skirt, drawing my attention to those long legs I couldn’t wait have wrapped around my waist as I thrust deep into her wet heat.

  “It did,” I bit out harshly.

  She flinched at my tone and I placed a hand on her thigh, slid it up a few inches shy of appropriate. “What are you doing? I don’t need your pity Mason.”

  “Good because the last thing I feel for you is pity.” My hand slid up a little higher until the tips of my fingers grazed the soft fabric covering her slit. “I feel frustrated. I feel hot and bothered, and horny as hell.”

  Her breaths came in quick little pants, pupils dilated with desire and that little pulse at the base of her neck beat so rapidly I knew she felt it too. “So?”

  “So I’m having a damn hard time keeping my hands off you. So I want you.”

  “Now you want me?”

  “I wanted you last night Sage, but I need you to be sure. I can’t promise you anything other than I’ll make it good for you. So good. And hot.”

  “I know,” she said on a moan as one finger slipped inside her panties, inside her molten center. “S-s-so we’re doing this?”

  I nodded and moved in closer to wrap my arms around her, to kiss her in a raw and hungry kiss that fogged up the windows and rendered the rest of the world useless. The sounds outside the limo were distant, so far away as not to be in the same world as Sage and I.

  Her hips began to grind in quick little circles against my hand, and I knew she was close to coming.

  “Come for me Sage. Let go, I got you.”

  She nodded and leaned back on my arm, gaze searing into mine as my thumb circled her clit and she went off like a stick of dynamite, so loud and passionate I had to swallow her cries with a kiss. “Wow,” she laughed nervously.

  “Watching you come just makes me want to make you do it over and over again, darlin’.”

  She cupped my face gently and drew me back in for another kiss. “Yes please.”

  When the limo came to a stop outside our hotel we raced out and into the lobby like two horny teenagers rushing towards our first time. The elevator couldn’t come quickly enough, and when it did I thanked the lord above that we had the car to ourselves.

  “Come here,” I growled, settling my hands on her ass with no shame when she obeyed.

  “You’re bossy.”

  “Ah, my sweet Sage. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

  Sage

  Oh holy hell, I’m going to have sex with Mason Manning. The teenaged girl within me stomped her feet and twirled in a circle, squealing with glee that this was about to happen. I’d been glued to his body on the elevator ride up, but now that we were back in the hotel room I felt excited and shy, unsure what to do. So in typical Sage fashion, I charged ahead without worrying about the consequences.

  “Do you want something to drink?” Mason’s voice was deep and thick, filled with emotion. Dark lust and heat.

  “Sure I’ll have a shot of whiskey,” I told him with a shy smile, watching him for a moment walk across to the bar and pull out the fancy crystal glasses.

  Then I twisted my arm behind my back to pull down the zipper and yank the blue dress over my head. It had served its purpose, turning Mason inside out. He couldn’t keep his eyes off me, and though I still felt hurt and angry over last night’s rejection, I practically swooned at the heat in his gaze whenever he looked at me. Now in nothing but a strapless light blue bra and matching lace thong, I stood and waited for him to turn around, hoping he wouldn’t be disappointed.

  “Here you…holy hell Sage.”

  That drew a smile from me and I tried to look innocent. “Yes?”

  “You look…shit come here. Now.”

  I should have rebelled at his commanding tone, but honestly the feminists can hate me all they want because my body moved forward on its own, unable to do anything but obey this man.

  “Now what?”

  “This,” he pretty much growled and took my mouth in a kiss that was raw and pure and hungry. My only complaint was that he still held the glass which meant both his hands weren’t on me. I didn’t mind though because it gave me a chance to touch him, caress him. All over. As he devoured my mouth, laying claim and making it his own, I had his shirt and pants open. Ready. “Fuck, Sage.”

  “Soon. I hope.” I giggled. Yep actually giggled, but I didn’t care because every nerve in my body stood on end, buzzed and vibrated with the need coursing through me. I took the glass from his hand and tossed back the shot, dropping the glass to the floor. “Mason,” I whispered as my hands caressed is bare sculpted chest. “You’re so beautiful. Like a statue.”

  He drew me into his arms
, his strength the only thing keeping me up as my knees began to tremble. This was really happening. I was going to have sex, for the first time, with the man I always thought would be my first. Then his mouth was on mine again, so hot and demanding that I could only hang on for the ride. I’d never felt this turned on in my life and I wanted to let the desire take over.

  When he pulled back I whimpered and that sexy lazy smile sent another wave of moisture flooding my thighs. My bra was on the floor and then his mouth was on my breasts, licking and nipping and all I could do was hold on to his roped arms and take it.

  “Mase, please.”

  “Not yet. You’re not ready.”

  I wanted to argue that I was but he was the expert here. “But I need you Mason.”

  He scooped me in his arms and laid me on the big bed. Again. This time he opened the drapes and hit the lights so only moonlight bathed us in her warm glow. “You’ll have me Sage. When you’re ready.”

  I felt so damn ready but the way he looked at me, like I was his favorite caramel fudge sundae on a scorching Texas day, had me squeezing my thighs together and squirming. “I feel ready. Really, really ready.”

  He chuckled and laid down beside me, his hands gently caressing my legs, ghosting over where I throbbed for him and up my stomach to circle my nipples. Gasps and moans were the only sounds other than our heavy breathing. “You really are beautiful Sage.”

  He made me feel beautiful and I wanted to bask in his warm smile but my body had other ideas. I circled his cock with my fingers, loving the way it felt velvety soft but hard just a layer beneath.

  “You’re big,” I told him before I registered that—holy hell—he was big. Not just a little big but enough that I began to worry that he actually might not fit, or worse that it would hurt like hell.

  “I am darlin’ but I promise to be gentle. Trust me.”

  “You know I do. Sorta.”

  “Good.” He silenced me with another kiss that seemed to go on forever as his lips and tongue traversed every inch of my body until I was nothing more than a puddle of want and need beneath him. He kissed and touched me, giving me two orgasms before he knelt between my legs to line our bodies up. “I’ll go slow Sage but baby, I need you to relax.”

  I nodded fast, probably too fast, because he slid a finger inside me and then another and pleasure swamped me again. “Okay, relaxed.”

  Slowly he pushed into me, his hands caressing my thighs, his mouth doing wicked things to my breasts. Inch by inch he sank into my heat, giving me time to adjust to him until I begged. “Please Mason.”

  The dark scowl on his face told me this was as hard for him as it was for me. But he continued slowly, reaching for my mouth with his as he breached the barrier. It probably hurt but I couldn’t tell because he kissed me like I was Snow White waking up from a very long nap and all I knew was that my body needed this. Needed him. “Oh, Sage.”

  I pulsed around him and moved my hips but the stubborn man wouldn’t move. “Mase, move. I need you.”

  Those words snapped the invisible tether on his control and his strokes came sure, deep and fast. Over and over he pounded into my body sending sparks shooting off my skin until I was sure the bed would catch fire. His movements kept me on a needle’s edge of desire. I felt that I could come at any moment and gripped his hard biceps, but then he would back off and start all over again. My skin began to burn, tingle until it was both uncomfortable and so good I couldn’t stand it. Then I felt it, sparks building at my toes and a heat rushing up my body. “Mason,” I said, unsure what else to say.

  But he knew. Somehow Mason knew exactly what I needed because he changed positions, spreading me open and lifting my ass as he plunged deeper and deeper until my body pumped around him, squeezed him and bathed him in my orgasm. “Yeah, just let go sweetheart. Let go.”

  And I did for several long moments as the pleasure washed over me, nearly drowning me in his brown eyes, practically black with desire. “Oh god, Mason. Oh…oh. Oh!”

  “So fucking gorgeous,” he groaned, squeezing my clit between his thumb and forefinger as he pounded harder and faster in to me, sending me into another fit of passion as he found his own release. “Fuck, fuck. Sage!”

  Yeah it felt damn good to know that I was responsible for that primal grunt. When he smiled my whole body lit up and I knew in that moment that as much as I wanted to fool myself, I couldn’t.

  I wanted this fake engagement to be real.

  * * *

  “Sage you’re here!” A flash of blonde hair rushed me the moment I stepped from the car and wrapped her tiny little arms around my legs. “I thought you went away,” she pouted.

  It broke my heart that the little girl had such abandonment issues and I did my best to reassure her. “I was just gone a few hours kiddo, business to take care of and all that.” I had spent the morning with a realtor looking at a few available properties in Lucky Flats. But none were in my price range.

  Even if I accepted whatever amount Mason planned to give me for being his fiancée, it wouldn’t be enough to lease land, build facilities and secure equipment. “Come on sweetie, talk to me while I change and we can go say hi to the horses.”

  “Okay!” She held my hand with so much trust because she knew I would do nothing to hurt or betray her. It was humbling

  We climbed the stairs together, side by side like mother and daughter and I knew I had to get those thoughts right out of my head. Lily wasn’t my kid and she wouldn’t be. I was temporarily engaged to her father and he wasn’t offering more than physical satisfaction. Which meant I needed to focus on my life. My future plans that, as of right now, were completely screwed since my plans had always been to open a therapy facility in Lucky Flats. But if that wasn’t an option I had to find a job wherever one appeared.

  “Sage what’s wrong?”

  I smiled down at worried green eyes and felt some of the stress drain out of me. “Nothing for you to worry about Lily bug, just yucky grownup problems. How are you?”

  Her smile returned. “Gramma’s comin’ home soon! She called and said we could make cookies and plant flowers and have a picnic. I can’t wait!” She nearly fell off the bed from pumping her fist too energetically.

  “That’s great. It’ll be good to see Tammy again.” She’d hurt her hip on a skiing trip with her retired friends a few weeks before I landed back in town, so I haven’t seen her since I left town at eighteen. “Maybe we could do a big family dinner, did she say when she was coming home?”

  Lily shook her head, blonde pigtails swinging left to right. “She said soon,” the little girl pouted and then looked up at me with curiosity. “What’s that?”

  I looked down at the blue and white striped bra and back at Lily. “It’s a bra.”

  “What’s it for?”

  If ever there was proof I was out of my depth, this was it. “It holds your breasts, your boobs for support.”

  Her little face twisted in confusion. “Can I get one?”

  I smiled indulgently. “Soon. When you need one we’ll make sure you get one, okay? Don’t rush it.” I slipped a tank top on and a blue and green checkered shirt over it and scanned the room for my boots.

  “Sage am I pretty?”

  I froze and looked down at glittering green eyes bubbling with uncertainty. “No way,” I told her as I knelt in front of her to make sure she heard me.

  “I’m not?”

  I shook my head, a smile teasing the corners of my mouth. “You’re much too beautiful to be something as simple as pretty.”

  “Really?”

  I nodded enthusiastically. “You bet Lily bug.”

  Her smile brightened and she flew at me, squeezing me in a choking hug. “I love you Sage.”

  “I love you too Lily bug. Now what do you say we go see our four-legged friends? I hear Cookie has been missing you like crazy.”

  That childish giggle had the power to completely undo me. I loved her like she was my own in such a short time that
I knew I was headed for heartbreak. She needed a mother, but Mason wasn’t looking for a wife. Which meant I couldn’t promise to stick around Lucky Flats for any length of time.

  I had fallen in love with Lily already and I had to make sure I didn’t fall for her father too.

  I had a feeling it was too late for that.

  Mason

  “Why the hell are you in such a foul mood? If I was getting some regularly I’d walk around here whistling, maybe dancing a little jig.” Tanner flashed a smile while he twisted wire around a broken fence post.

  “Me too,” I told him noncommittally. We’d been back from that amazing night in Houston for weeks, yet I hadn’t spent much alone time with Sage in almost a week. It was damn frustrating.

  Tanner froze and looked up at me in shock. “You mean you and Sage aren’t gettin’ it on?”

  “Not for the past week anyway,” I answered sounding like a grouchy bastard.

  “Why the hell not?”

  That was a good damn question. The whole world had been conspiring against me getting what I wanted this week. She’d been off-site plenty but she never said where she’d been or what she was doing, and one emergency after another had kept me dealing with the ranch until well after dinner.

  “Don’t know.”

  “Looks good,” he said, stepping back to take in the length of fence we’d spent the afternoon repairing.

  “Sure does. Thanks for the help.” Having Tanner around certainly made life easier but this wasn’t his real life. “How long are you in town?”

  “Can’t say for sure. Let’s just say that I’m reevaluating some things.”

  That was cryptic as hell but the M&M was his home and he was welcome as long as he needed it. “It’s good to have you back. Lily loves having you around.”

  He flashed a grin. “That’s because no one gives good piggyback rides like Uncle Tanner.” His expression sobered. “We’ve been out here all day Mase, go in there and get your girl. Unless this is giving you an excuse to stay away?”