Rodeo Summer: A Camden Ranch Novel

by Jillian Neal

  How the hell did I get here? Summer tried to let the steady flow of the shower water soothe her. She stood naked in front of the bathroom mirror, watching the white hotel shower curtain sway slightly. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she couldn’t quite catch her breath in the humid bathroom.

  None of this made any sense. She was staying in Austin Camden’s hotel room, in front of a shower that she hadn’t had to sneak in between the hotel maid’s paths like she’d been doing all summer, and he’d readily admitted that he wanted more from her. He’d also seemed quite certain that even if she didn’t want to jump in his bed, he still wanted to help her. Who does that? No one had ever wanted to help her.

  Stepping into the shower and hiding herself behind the curtain made her able to accept the other complications with this situation she’d somehow stumbled into. She did want him. God, for just one night, she’d love nothing more than for Austin to make her forget the shit-hole that was her life currently.

  Not that she didn’t love and adore her son with everything she was, but it had been so long since she’d indulged her own wild soul. Slicked with the hotel soap, her hands glided over her breasts, landing in the underswells. Her nipples responded to the touch, almost as anxious as her mind to be tended. She tried not to notice the slight white stretch marks on the sides of her breasts. Tracking down her abdomen, she gave herself over to the thoughts of Austin’s hands making the same motion. Biting her bottom lip, she touched another set of marks on her hips, then swirled one finger through the wet curls covering her mound. Her clit all but begged her to parade out of the shower wrapped in nothing but a hand towel to take Austin up on his offer.

  Doubting that he’d ever slept with a woman that was also a mother, she wasn’t sure he’d know what to do with her scars. There were days she wore her stripes with pride. Her body had given her a child. The feminine strength and power of it all made her proud. Just like every cut, scrape, bruise and broken bone she’d endured barrel racing, the scars bore her something so precious they’d been more than worth it. At other times, like when Austin Camden was on the other side of the door, she wished her body more closely resembled something you might see in a magazine.

  She shook her head and refused to pity herself. Other than the mercy-fucks she’d given Brant, he’d had absolutely nothing to do with getting their baby into the world. Hell, he hadn’t even shown up at the hospital when she’d delivered J.J. It was all her. He hadn’t wanted anything to do with their son until his mother had gotten involved. Just one more night and you get J.J. back. Then she’d be able to remember that now everything was about the baby. He was all that mattered, not that she begrudged him that at all. It was just easier to trap away her own needs when J.J. was in her arms.

  Impatience twisted in Austin’s gut as he stared at the bathroom door. You might as well shut it down, moron. She ain’t putting out tonight. He knew that. He reminded himself constantly, but he could hope, couldn’t he?

  His tongue wanted to know her taste. His hands need to feel those curves and the wet heat he could elicit from between her sweet thighs. I could make her drip, make her sloppy for me. Thankful the shower water was still pouring full-stream, it covered the hungry groan he couldn’t order away. He wanted to grip that sexy ass while he drove himself into her, leaving his own branding marks in every hidden-away place he longed to make his own. She had wildfire in her eyes and untamable lust in those luscious curves. He tried to remember that she had a kid. She was quite effectively someone’s mother. Being J.J.’s mom sure as hell didn’t mean she wasn’t all woman, however.

  His mind wandered over thoughts of when she’d last been worshipped and adored. Certainly never in Brant Preston’s bed. He wouldn’t know what to do with a woman like Summer if she’d written him an instruction manual.

  She may not like your savage style, Camden. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Before he could come up with some excuse for that, Summer stepped out of the bathroom. His mouth suddenly felt like the Mojave. Her wet hair clung to the white tank-top she’d pulled on. The steam from the shower made the top all but translucent. Her rosy nipples were losing a seductive game of peek-a-boo, since her bra was tucked in the pile of dirty clothes she was clinging to like a security blanket. She made a valiant effort to keep herself covered.

  When his eyes landed on the blue jeans she’d pulled on, his brow furrowed. Understanding hit him a moment later. “I’m gonna go ahead and assume that if I weren’t sharing this room with you, you wouldn’t be wearing them Wranglers to bed.”

  “I’m not sleeping in nothing but my panties with you, Austin. I really appreciate everything you’re doing for me, but I’m not that kind of girl … anymore.”

  Anymore? What does that mean? “Does that mean I can’t sleep in the buff?” He winked at her as he headed to the one drawer of the dresser where he’d shoved all of his clothes. Locating a long v-neck undershirt, he handed it to her. Shame rose violently in her eyes. “I brought every t-shirt I own with me when I left the ranch back in March. I have more than enough to share. I want you to really sleep, Summer. Be comfortable for me … and with me.”

  “Thanks,” she muttered. Setting her dirty clothes in a pile on the floor, she accepted the t-shirt. “Are you really going to sleep naked?” The words seem to leap from her mouth before she could quite catch them.

  Chuckling and giving her his wickedest grin, he waggled his eyebrows. “I’ll be under the covers when you finish changing. You’re welcome to come and see, darlin’.”

  “Cocky bastard,” made its way through her extremely intrigued grin.

  Delighted, Austin laughed out right. “Invitation is always open.”

  On her next emergence from the bathroom, he made no effort to hide his hungry groan. He caught a peek of some bikini panties when she rushed to her bed, but his t-shirt swamped her delectable little body. Her left shoulder was visible in the gaping collar and her breasts taunted the fabric.

  She rolled her eyes at his appreciation.

  “You do know you’re drop-dead gorgeous, right?” he huffed.

  “I’m not gorgeous.” She shook her head and concealed the lower half of her body with the sheets and blankets on her bed. “I’m a mom.” The last three words strangled in her throat.

  Austin sat up and stared at her. “You being a mom doesn’t make you not sexy as hell, Summer. Did Brant Preston put that shit in your mind? I should’a pounded his ass twice.”

  “Twice?!” she gasped. “Wait, does that mean you did once?”

  Keep your mouth shut, Camden.

  “Austin?”

  “Might’a let my fist fly in the hallway when he was on his way to another room. He more than deserved it.”

  “Oh my God, Austin, you are aware he can keep you from riding, right? He’s a jackass. He’d do it just to be a prick.”

  “Brant Preston can do whatever the hell he wants to me. He starts messing with you, I’ll have something to say about it. I’ll do the talking. He’ll do the crying.” He studied her eyes. Shock, appreciation, hope, and worth all fought for dominance in their whiskey depths.

  She shook her head. “I know you want to help me. Thank you. I could never really say thank you enough. I know that, but …”

  “That bothers you.” He called her on it.

  “What bothers me?”

  “It bothers you that you don’t think you can thank me enough.” Austin stood from his bed, revealing the fact that he’d left his boxers on despite his teasing. Sinking down beside her, he brushed her damp hair behind her shoulders. He longed to kiss the frown on her beautiful lips away, but he leashed his lust for the moment. “You don’t have to thank me at all, honey. I just want to hang out with you, like I said. I do not expect anything in return. You’ve already thanked me enough.”

  “I haven’t, and I can’t, but please, Austin, don’t get yourself thrown out of Cheyenne because of me.” Her jaw clenched for a split second and closed her eyes as if she were damming something bac
k.

  “What? Just say whatever you’re thinking.”

  “Don’t give up something you really want, something you’ve worked so hard to get, for me or anyone else. You’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

  “I’m not giving anything up for anyone, sweetness. Don’t worry about me. Let me worry over you. That’s what I want. You want to thank me for it? Come cheer me on tomorrow night and then hang out with me while we’re in Cheyenne. We’ll take J.J. around to see the sights.”

  “I’d really like that, but I can’t afford a ticket for tomorrow night, or to any of the shows in Cheyenne.” Regret ate at her words.

  “Summer, honey,” Austin rolled his eyes. He gently placed both hands on either side of her beautiful face and lifted her gaze to his. “You will come with me as my personal guest. If they want you to have a ticket, which they won’t, I will buy you one. On that note, anytime we hang out I’m paying.”

  “Little chauvinistic don’t you think?”

  “Stubborn as hell. Damn, but you turn me on, woman. Chauvinistic? Maybe. But those are my rules.”

  “Did I really break your toe?” Debate played in her eyes, like she wasn’t certain if she should feel badly about stomping on his foot. He laughed.

  “I’ve had much worse, believe me. I’m a cowboy, honey, not a pussy. I’ll be just fine. I’ll take a kiss, though. That’d sure make it feel better.”

  Shaking her head at him, she narrowed her eyes with a hint of that seductive grin playing at the corners of her lush mouth. He wanted to kiss her more than he wanted to draw his next breath. “I’d love to come see you ride tomorrow night. I’ve been watching you from the gates for the last five rodeos. Be nice not to feel like a loser standing outside.”

  “You’re never a loser no matter where you’re standing, do you understand me?”

  A single nod was her only response. He couldn’t stand it. He couldn’t bear the doubt she clung to, the shit she’d endured, that she somehow didn’t understand how desirable she was. Pulling his left hand away from her face, he used his right to trace the soft angles of her cheek. Leaning in, he paused for one second to appreciate the fact that her breathing quickened as soon as he touched her. He took her lips with a slow, greedy kiss. She tensed, but then melted into him.

  She tasted like sweet strawberry wine. His tongue teased the seam of her mouth, and to his delight, she opened for him. He groaned in her mouth before his tongue moved with hers in an exploratory dance.

  Her hands slipped down his shoulders and pulled at his biceps, like she desperately wanted more of him. His cock stirred anxiously as he wrapped her up tight against him. She clung to him. It was heavenly. When she gasped for breath, he pulled back and whispered a few kisses on her swollen lips, then down her chin, not allowing himself to go any further, though he longed to sink his teeth into that section of skin where her neck and shoulder joined. She buried her face in his neck and he held her, cradling her, giving her a place to exist in any format she needed.

  A full-minute later, she lifted her head and stared into his eyes. “Thought you were a gentleman, cowboy.” She smirked, and another seductive round of heat bloomed across her cheeks.

  Chuckling, he stood, certain she noted his tented boxers. If he sat there any longer, he was gonna push her much further than she was ready to go. “Gotta have a good night kiss so you have sweet dreams. You deserve those. And a gentleman is nothing more than a patient wolf, darlin’, never forget that. Go to sleep. I’ll be right there if you need me.”

  Getting back in his bed alone was the hardest thing he’d ever done, and he rode bulls for a living. Sleep wasn’t likely to come easy with her a mere three feet away from him and his every sense filled with her. God, he needed another fix. Needed to get high on those lips. He envied the sheets of her bed. They were getting to enjoy her ass and pussy tucked between them. Had his kiss made her wet? Was she slick and fevered? Drenched for him? He longed to fill his lungs with the scent of her arousal while he filled his mouth with her juices. His jaw tensed as she leaned to turn off the lamp between them.

  Chapter Four

  Restless, Austin lifted his phone from the bedside table. 2:07 I gotta go to sleep or I’m gonna be useless tomorrow. He checked Summer once more. Her breathing was still steady. Deep in slumber, she was even drooling a little. A whispered chuckle escaped him. Good. She needed to sleep, and she clearly felt safe enough with him to let her worries go and really rest.

  Laying back in his own bed, he ordered himself to sleep, but his thoughts tumbled in his mind. ‘I just knew, right then, soon as I laid eyes on her.’ His father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather, several of his great-uncles — all told basically the same tale. His dad saw his mother in a broken down car on the side of the road, talked her into coming back to the ranch, and that had been that. He’d known from the moment he’d laid eyes on her. His grandfather’s story was similar; saw his grandmother at some USO function and he’d been sold, hook, line, and sinker. Hell, even his cousin Brock said he’d fallen in love with his wife, Hope, the moment she’d walked into a high school Chem lab. It’d taken him a decade to get his head out of his ass and do something about it, but the Camden legend had proven true once again. Until the moment he’d wrapped his arms around Summer Sanchez’s waist at the Silver Dollar Honkytonk, he’d thought the stories were some crap they all used to get their women to swoon over them. Life just didn’t go that way. Or did it? He stared at Summer sleeping soundly in the bed beside him. Could it?

  With a deep yawn, he willed the Camden family stories away and squeezed his eyes closed. He had to get some sleep.

  The nightmare always started the same way. With his laughter interrupted by the sluice of the windshield wipers. Street lights collided with headlights from other cars as they joined the rain in the reflective assault on the windshield. The high pitched squeal ricocheted between his ears.

  Summer gasped and leapt from the bed. J.J.? Frantically she scanned the room. Where was the portable crib? Her heart thundered against her ribcage. She started to scream. It took two seconds to remember where she was.

  Austin’s body jerked. He gripped the corner of the mattress. “No!” tore from his lips in a horrified peal, but he wasn’t awake. Summer gripped her own chest. Emotion cinched her throat. She knew a thing or two about nightmares. Poor guy. She wanted to know what frightened him badly enough to make him react this way. She wanted to make it go away.

  Without hesitation, she eased to his side and shook his broad shoulders. “Austin, wake up. It’s okay.” His right leg kicked something away. She didn’t know what, but she shook harder, desperate to rescue him from whatever had him in its clutches. “Austin,” she spoke with more tonality. “It’s me. Wake up. You’re okay.”

  He sat up, gasping for breath.

  “Shh, it’s okay.” Summer embraced him, and to her shock, he clung to her like his life’s blood depended on holding her close. Maybe she wasn’t the only one that needed a friend. A moment later, he came to and jerked away from her.

  “Sorry.” He refused to meet her concerned gaze. Embarrassed, she knew. No rodeo bull rider wanted anyone to know that they were ever afraid. Men. She shook her head. They were all just little boys in bigger bodies. Studying the still-tensed muscles of his pecs and shoulders and then the decadent roll of muscles down his back, she allowed that some of them were much better looking than others. But at heart, most of them, the non-assholes at least, still had the heart of a little boy and occasionally needed a little encouragement and a little tending.

  He’d never admit to her that he’d been scared or tell her what the nightmare had been about. Not yet. But he was also still clinging to her forearm. Mm hmm. She knew precisely what to do. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine,” he lied.

  Don’t roll your eyes. Don’t do it. She nodded. “You didn’t wake me up or anything. I couldn’t sleep. Just kind of cold and …” The fear she summoned was always there. Accessing it wasn�
��t difficult. And there he was. The terror in his darkened eyes evaporated immediately replaced with worry over her.

  “Hey, come here to me.” He reclined and pulled her onto his chest. She hid her mischievous grin. That worked quicker than she’d thought. He tucked them in with the sheets and blankets and dragged his fingers through her long hair. “That better, sugar?”

  She sighed. God that felt good. The nerve endings on her scalp were elated with his magic fingers. He ignited feelings in her she had no business feeling, contentment being one.

  “I’ve got you. Don’t have to be anywhere in the mornin’. Just let me hold you while you sleep, okay?”

  Okay, maybe her little ploy hadn’t all been a lie. Sleeping in a cold bed all alone was nothing compared to being here, enveloped in his masculine heat with a pillow of firm muscle beneath her head tucked safely in his well-developed arms. Unable to help herself, she snuggled closer, inhaling deeply of his musk. She’d never felt safer, and she hardly knew Austin. She’d think about that in the morning. Right now, she was going to enjoy the feeling that they might really be able to take care of one another, for a little while at least.

  The next time Summer awoke, she grinned. Austin was on his hands and toes on the carpet, wearing nothing but some old sweat-shorts, pumping out push-ups with ease. If that wasn’t a mighty fine thing to wake up to, she didn’t know what was. She watched the chiseled muscles of his back contract and pull. Her gaze traveled down to his tight ass, clenching when he pushed his body upwards. She saved the best for last. She watched his arms, dear God those arms. Bull riders had to have mega-muscles to hang on for their life, but they weren’t like body builders whom she found unappealing. They had long, lean muscle, chiseled perfectly from their chests all the way to their hands. Austin’s biceps and forearms were a sight to behold, tensing as he lifted his body and lowered it back almost to the floor. She followed the masculine column of hair that ran down his arms until her gaze landed on his hands, wide, capable, strong, and then his fingers. Her breaths picked up pace when she thought about what he could most certainly do with his fingers.