by Jillian Neal
Annoyed and infuriated with Austin’s asinine belief that Brant wouldn’t do something terrible to him, Summer complied with his orders anyway. She called herself an idiot, something she’d taken to doing quite often since she’d agreed to dinner with the man holding her in his arms making her feel things she hadn’t felt in a lifetime. Her traitorous feet edged closer. She needed to be consumed by him. Her fear and anger dissipated in the humid air surrounding them. She’d worry about what Brant might do in the morning. Tonight, she needed this.
“That’s it.” His voice was whiskey-smooth and evidence of his obvious desire for her felt rock hard against her abdomen. A shiver worked through her body. God, he was the personification of gorgeous male. Hard. Ready. His eyes dark, eager, and greedy. Certainty radiated in the solid wall of muscle her breasts were pressed against. His strong arms made the perfect sanctuary from the world. They seemed to make the honkytonk, Brant, his sponsors, and the entire town of Cody disappear into the star-strewn summer night. Unable to help herself, she buried her face against his neck and reveled in his right hand kneading her ass and his left gently nestled the nape of her neck. His thumb caressed her jaw line.
“There’s my girl.” The words whispered through her long hair. “Riding makes me so damn horny, honey. Winning and having you in my arms. So much testosterone flowin’ through me right now, I could go all night. You up for that?”
“Yes. God, yes, please.” She barely managed the plea. Her body responded for her. Her breaths quickened. Her fingers gripped him tighter. Her nipples beaded against his chest, so stiff they hurt. Wet heat coated her panties. She’d never needed anything the way she needed him. It had been so long.
“So fucking sexy. I want to mark you, baby. Mark you all for me, with my mouth, then with my cum. I want your entire body aching and desperate to feel my fingers on you and inside of you. I want you needy for me. I told you, by the time I’m spent tonight, you’ll sure as hell know you’ve been loved thoroughly. I don’t do anything half-way, and sugar, you’re all I want.”
Continuing to allow her body to overrule her brain, she thrust her hips against the steel bulge she felt at his zipper line. She shuddered when his ridge pressed the zipper of her jeans against her panties, making contact with her clit. Her body demanded more. To the beat of the country song blaring from the cover band, she rubbed back and forth over him, dirty dancing the way she had when she was a horny teenager with something to prove.
His entire body tensed. She watched him close those gorgeous black eyes. Hot air hissed through his teeth.
“You like that, sugar? Feels good, doesn’t it?” Gripping her ass firmly, he indulged her with another few thrusts, circling her pelvis around his impressive erection. Reckless desperation took her over. Her mind scrambled, and her body overheated. His every touch was tender but laced with intention that blistered her skin.
Summer tried desperately to remember that there were at least a hundred people in that bar, that Brant might be watching them, getting angrier by the moment, but everyone else seemed to exist in an entirely different world. Nothing else mattered but her and Austin.
“You’re so hungry for it aren’t you, darlin’? Already needy for me. Tell me something. How wet is my girl? When I get you back to the room, I’ll make you drip down your thighs before I give you what you’re begging for. Make you so hot and slick you burn for me. Tell me, honey. Those sweet little panties already needin’ to be taken off?” His words melted her completely. She held on to him for dear life, afraid if she attempted to stand on her own she might dissolve into the floor. Swallowing harshly, she attempted a smirk.
“Pretty sure I just came.” The racy tone she’d intended was lost in the hum of her craving need.
“Oh yeah? Well, hold on tight, sugar. It’s gonna be one hell of an evening.” In one quick move, he pulled his cowboy hat off of his head and captured her elusive breaths with his lips. Before she could abandon all pretenses and simply beg him to take her back to the hotel now, he nipped her bottom lip then sucked away the pain. Her heart flew into overdrive. His tongue explored her mouth like he’d never get enough of her. The crowds pressing around them, her own clothing, everything that kept her from being free in his arms set a choking constriction in her soul.
“Austin, please.”
“I like you beggin’, baby. So greedy for me. Tell me what you want.”
Quite certain he was going to spontaneously combust on the dance floor of Cassie’s Honkytonk, Austin managed to keep up his dirty talking game since it sure as hell set that wildfire he loved in Summer’s eyes. They’d gone from their typical amber whiskey color to a deep russet, darkened by her hunger. He needed to fuck her all night long and well into the morning, just to sate his soul long enough to eat, then he needed to do it all over again. Understanding that he’d never get enough danced in the fringes of his consciousness. He leaned in again, desperate for another hit of her, like a beautiful drug he’d readily become a junkie for. Forcing himself to slow, he coaxed her tongue into his mouth, tasting her, devouring her lips like the sweetest candy. Another whimpered moan escaped her lungs while the beast he’d been trying to keep at bay roared inside of him.
She pulled away, her lungs hungry for breath, and he fought not to order her lips back to his. “Austin, please. I need you.”
A guttural groan accompanied the scorching kisses he trailed from her neck up to her right ear. “What do you need, darlin’?”
“You. Just please. I don’t want to think anymore. I’m so tired of being afraid to live. Please. I need you to make me feel alive again, and I know you can. I have to stop telling myself I don’t want you because I do. Take me back to your room and then just take me. Make everything else go away. I need you.”
And there it was, the truth finally cemented between them. Before he could drag her from that bar out to his truck, Jackson tapped his shoulder. Fury ripped through him like a gasoline soaked fuse. “What the hell? I’m a little busy, Jackson,” he snarled.
Laughing at him, Jackson smirked. “Yeah, the whole damn bar knows that. Minton’s buying a round. They expect you to do the honors. I don’t know who pissed in Clifton’s Wheaties, but he ain’t happy about this.” He gestured to Summer.
“Clif can fuck the hell off,” Austin huffed.
“Maybe I should just go,” Summer’s eyes were seeking. Confusion played in their depths. Her lips were kiss-swollen and raw with heat, and her voice was breathy. Impatience saturated her tone. Her body swayed from the primal need he’d been tending for the last 24 hours.
“Hell no, honey. Come on. We’ll do the toast or shot or whatever the hell they’re wanting and then we’re leaving.”
Not willing to let her out of his sight, he grasped her hand and dragged her to the bar. The bartender was pouring up 7 & 7’s, for luck, Austin supposed. Every second he had to wait ate at him. He needed out of that damn bar and get Summer in bed, where he planned on keeping her. She was getting J.J. back the next night. He needed to make their evening alone enough to keep her begging for more. There was no reason they couldn’t fuck while the baby slept, but he wanted her wild and uninhibited. Tonight, he’d have her just the way he wanted her, come hell or high water.
He accepted a tumbler from Scott and handed one to Summer. Her jaw clenched tightly. She stared Clifton down. As pissed as he was, Austin couldn’t help but grin. His baby wasn’t taking shit off anybody. He’d pay good money to watch her engage Clif in a verbal sparring match where she’d sure as hell dress him down one side and up the other.
Scott lifted his glass. “To Austin and the entire Minton team.”
Austin joined in the toast and took a long sip of the drink. When he chose to drink, which wasn’t often, he preferred straight whiskey or nothing at all. The weak 7 & 7 only served to irritate the churning fire in his gut.
Returning the half-empty tumbler to the bar he wrapped his arm over Summer’s shoulders and turned her towards the door.
“I
know you’re looking to get out of here. No issues there. Could we just talk a second, Austin?” Scott’s tenor took on a pleading edge.
Making no effort to hide his eye roll, Austin kept his arm around Summer. “You mind waiting in my truck for just a second. I’m not leaving you in here with him.” He gestured his head to the table containing Brant Preston and the Preston Cattle team. No shock they’d been the only table in the bar not to join in the toast or the free booze.
“I guess not.” Summer didn’t sound too certain of that. Austin fought the urge to flip Scott off, throw her over his shoulder, and carry her away,
Turning on the engine and the air conditioner, Austin gently closed the truck door and spun to face Scott. “What’s this all about?”
Scott lifted his cowboy hat and ran his hands through his hair. Nervous tension hung in the humid air surrounding them. “I don’t know, man. Clifton’s pissed about her. I told him you were in this, but honestly, I’m not sure that’s true anymore.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I’ve been hanging out with Summer for one fucking day, and I just had the best ride of my life. What’s Clif’s issue with any of that? Seems like he’d be kissing her boots.”
“So this is all just a good time? Pick up lines, and drinks, and hooking up, and that’s it?” Scott’s questions bored into his brain.
“No, it’s more than that.”
It was just like two men not to realize that trucks aren’t actually soundproof. Summer’s breath tangled in her lungs. No? He just told his sponsor that she was more than a hook-up. What the hell was he thinking? She fought the elation that rang in her ears. What were they doing, and more importantly why couldn’t she find it in herself to put a stop to it all? Lowering her head, trying to blend into the leather seats of his fancy-ass truck, she continued to listen.
“Exactly. You’ve been with her for one day, Austin. You missed a team meeting this afternoon, and missed a practice session after that. Had her down at the chutes. The way you’re looking at her, hanging all over her in a bar, Clif’s worried you aren’t in this anymore.”
“Because I missed one meeting and a practice session I never agreed to. When we signed that contract back in February you never mentioned I couldn’t have a life.”
Summer racked her brain, but she knew Austin hadn’t said anything about having a meeting or a practice session that day. Had he forgotten or did he choose to skip because he wanted to be with her? Summer closed her eyes. She needed time to slow down. Everything about her life before that moment tallied and whirled around her. She didn’t understand what she was feeling or where this was going.
“Come on, Austin, you and I both know that bull riding takes everything you’ve got. I’m a very happily married man. My wife’s meeting us in Cheyenne because I can’t stand to be without her any longer. There are things that are far more important than buckles, man. I get it, but I don’t think you can have both.”
“It’s been one fucking day, Scott. One day. I’m not proposing. I’m not moving her to the ranch. I haven’t even slept with her yet. So what, I took the day off and hung out with a woman that gets me. Overreact much?”
“You moved her into your hotel room. And I said all of the same crap to myself when I met Liza. I could have it all. I could have the rodeo and her. She wouldn’t keep me from anything. I knew about eight seconds in that I was full of shit. I stood in her bathroom one morning staring at myself in the mirror so I do recognize the look we all see on your face. Didn’t even take me eight seconds to know you’re lying to me and you’re lying to yourself. You’re full of shit, Austin. Enjoy your night.”
Summer gripped the seat to keep from vaulting from the truck and informing Scott that she had no intention of keeping Austin from winning in Vegas. They’d just barely started dating. She’d lived the rodeo life. She would not under any circumstances bring her son up as a rodeo gypsy. As soon as she got full custody from Brant, she was going to find them a place to settle down and make him a home. Austin was just a fun, sweet, temporary distraction. After Cheyenne, they’d both move on. It took her a half second to compose herself when Austin flung himself into the truck, working his jaw furiously.
“What did he say?”
His eyes slid to hers, and he almost laughed, though the anger from Scott’s accusations remained fixed in his gaze. “Not that stupid, honey. I know you heard us. There was a reason I brought him out to my truck to talk.”
“Austin, maybe this is all moving too fast, or it’s a bad idea or something. I don’t know what we’re doing. I don’t want to lose you your sponsorship. I don’t want you giving up anything for me. After Cheyenne, J.J. and I have to find a place to live permanently …” She wasn’t certain exactly what she was trying to tell him.
He turned in his seat to face her. The cab filled with the intoxicating scent of him, raw masculinity mixed with leather and the rosin that lived in his callused hands absorbed from his gloves. Her body and her mind went to war once more. God, she wanted him, but this could end in disaster for them both.
“I don’t give a damn about my sponsorship, and I’m not giving up one thing for you, Summer. If you really want me to stop, you just say the word. But I don’t believe for one second that’s what you’re wanting, sweetness. Not for one moment. I see you sitting there trying to tell yourself we have no business getting involved, but you’re failing that mission just as badly as I am. I want you, Summer. I want to see where this is taking us. Everything in my entire life I’ve ever done I’ve gone by my gut. That’s how I work. Everything about you, everything about this, feels right. I’m not giving anything up, but I know I’m getting something I’ve wanted for a long damn time. Forget Minton, and Scott, and Brant and whoever else it is you’re worrying about. Just give me a chance, and let’s see where we end up.”
Dusty earth and gravel launched into the air behind his tires as he floored the truck and flew them back to the hotel.
Chapter Seven
They fell into the room lip-locked, jerking shirts out from each other’s jeans, frantic to drown out the rest of the world. Austin hoisted that tank top that had been driving him to distraction all damn night over her head. In one quick move, he popped the clasp of the bra making a valiant effort to contain her ample cleavage. Her breasts spilled forward, and a ravenous growl roared from his chest as her diamond-hard nipples throbbed against his palms.
He slid his hands down her sides intent on stripping her jeans away, but she gripped his hands and halted his progress. “Austin, I should probably tell you …”
“Tell me what?” He jerked his hands from hers and unbuckled her belt. He forced his eyes to hers when she didn’t respond. Fear and doubt clouded her gaze. “Hey, come here.” He called himself an asshole for rushing her as he cradled her in his arms and tried not to feel the weight of her breasts against his chest.
“It’s just … uh … I haven’t really done this since way before J.J. was born, and …”
“And?” He lifted her chin so he could study her again.
She refused to look at him. “I have some marks and scar kind of things from carrying him.”
Assuming if she’d gotten them from carrying J.J. they’d be located somewhere near her womb, he pulled her jeans apart and lowered them slightly. There were indeed a few faint purplish markings low along her abdomen and a few white lines marring her hips. Certain he wouldn’t have noticed had she not pointed them out, he brushed kisses along each mark. “Nothing about you is unattractive, sweetheart. My God, you’re so fucking beautiful. I can’t believe this worried you.” Standing, he spun her so she was facing the mirror. He stood behind her. “Look at you. Look at us together.” He cupped her breasts and let them spill through his fingers. “Your body drives me wild, Summer. I’m covered in scars and marks from every time a bull got a piece of me. You know what scars mean? They mean you lived, mean you survived, mean you fought, and you were the one that walked away. They all make up your life, and ho
ney, my God, you are gorgeous. All I’ve wanted since I woke up with you in my arms this morning was to get you back in my bed. I only see two things that bother me.”
“What?”
“One, your jeans and panties are still on, and I’m getting damned impatient with that. And this.” He ran his hand down a long tattoo that she’d managed to keep hidden. A large, split feather ran upwards from her waist, with the two halves cradling her right breast.
“You don’t like tats?” She sounded shocked by that.
“Uh, hell no, darlin’. If it’s on your body, I fucking love it. It’s sexy as sin. But remember, I know a fair amount about Native American symbols. I know what a split feather means, and the fact that you tattooed that on your side worries me.”
“Why?” She continued to tremble against him as he kept her rooted in front of the mirror, desperate for her to see her own beauty. She was exquisite. Perfect curves. Beautiful breasts. Her nipples darkening, pert, and anxious. Her long hair teasing at her breasts. Perfect little hollows showing off slight muscles in her abs. Cute little belly button, half-in and half-out, surrounded by a smattering of freckles he wanted to kiss on his way to her pussy. Perfect, dimpled ass round and firm, accentuated by her hips. Sweet little pouch under her open zipper where her child had once resided. Natural. Just the way a woman was supposed to be. Why couldn’t she see that?
“The split feather means wounded multiple times. What the hell happened to you, Summer? I want to know. I want to make you feel safe. I want to take care of you.”
She spun to face him instead of the mirror. “It means wounded several times … but still fighting. Never forget that part. Every single man that’s ever had anything to do with me has wounded me. Everyone except J.J. So, how about you just don’t be yet another one.”
“I have no intention of ever hurting you, and I’ll never let anyone else hurt you again. Let’s slow this down, okay?” He tried to quell the disappointment he couldn’t help but feel. Slowing things down hadn’t been his plan. Showing her exactly how he wanted her, making her feel beautiful, revealing her darkest desires and proving to her that he’d make her every fantasy come true had occupied all of this evening’s agenda — right up until he’d seen the tattoo.