“You probably heard him yelling about the men I’ve been with. Guys who I wanted to help in the business, but who used me to get what they wanted.” She stared down at her knee. “The last one, Bradley, he did a number on me.” She tipped up her chin. “No, I let him do that to me. I was in a vulnerable place and I let his leaving me take away part of my world.”
“I don’t understand.” Dax needed to hear it all.
“I let this breakup keep me away from my family.” She held up one hand. “But I’ve rectified that. On the ride from New Orleans to Montana, I had Joe make a detour. I spent a day with my family.”
“Really? I’m surprised your schedule let you take the time.”
“Contractually, I was supposed to be in Great Falls on Thursday, twenty-four hours prior to my Friday concert, but I had Delroy call and make up something to give me an extra day to get there.”
“Good. I’m glad you saw your family.” Dax forced a small smile, but wished she could skip ahead a ways and tell him what this had to do with him.
“Two nights onstage at the casino, then I hopped a plane to see you. It’s as soon as I could get here, Dax.” She opened her mouth, but nothing came out for almost a minute. “I wanted to talk to you, but not over the phone.”
“I understand.” Was this the official breakup?
“In Delroy’s office, all I was thinking about was the meeting with my manager I’d promised you. I got so focused on keeping my word, that I said something I didn’t mean.”
His breath barely moved in and out as he waited and prayed for her to say what he needed to hear.
Her lips quivered. “I’d never give you up, Dax. Not unless you said you didn’t want me anymore.” Her voice cracked, and her eyes filled up. “Please forgive me. Give me another chance?”
The warmth that flooded through him made him want to shout, to laugh, to hold her… Dax reached over and hauled Marilou onto his lap, burying his face in her neck, just breathing in her soft, floral scent. “One more chance, kitten. Today. Then another one tomorrow, another the day after that…”
She shook as she cried out everything she’d kept bottled up inside her.
He stroked her hair, whispering soft words for her, just keeping her tight until all the tears, all the shaking ended. Tipping her head so he could see her eyes, he kissed her wet cheek. “I’m glad you came to tell me. And I want to show you, right now, how much I care for you.” The thought of her in his bed caused an instant bulge in his sweatpants. “Can the rest of our talking wait until after?”
She nodded, quick and jerky. “I want that, Dax, to know that we’ve got a chance. That we can get past this.”
He stood, lifting her in his arms and taking her into the bedroom he shared with Shaw. Kicking the door shut behind him, he stood her next to his bed and just looked at her. “You’re the most beautiful, complicated, outrageous woman I’ve ever met. And while I know you’re way far out of this country-roughneck’s league, I’m gonna ignore that fact and make you mine, Marilou Roselle. My woman.”
Her bottom lip shook again and she sucked in an uneven breath. “You are so good for my ego.” She laughed a couple short bursts. “So good for my heart.”
Placing his hand between her breasts, he felt the fast pace of her blood pumping through her body. It was too soon for either of them to be making vows of love and forever, but he needed to let her know how he felt—after he made love to her. “Hold that thought.” He didn’t have enough blood left in his brain anyway, and he’d just make a mess of it.
Her mouth curved into a smile. “I will.”
As he pulled off her sweater, she ordered him to get naked, and with a pile of clothes on the floor, he laid her on her side on the bed. Lying opposite her, he lifted her top leg. “You are so pretty, so tempting.” He kissed her thighs, her belly, and finally, the soft folds at the apex of her legs, inhaling her sweet, musky scent.
She moaned and grasped his hard cock in her hands, sliding her palms along his length, her strokes firm, perfect.
Tasting her, sliding his tongue along her softness, he concentrated on pleasing Marilou, making his own pleasure secondary.
When she lapped at his cock head, the urge to let himself go nearly overwhelmed him, but he wanted this to be all hers.
Rearranging himself, he propped up her leg and sucked her hot pussy lips into his mouth, teasing and tickling her everywhere, loving the moans and sighs coming from her throat.
She wrapped her lips around his shaft and took him in deep.
His balls tightened, swirling heat through his groin, making it difficult for him to concentrate. Shifting back from his own pleasure, he used his thumbs to spread her open for him and used his tongue to lick at the opening where her honey coated his tastebuds with the fresh proof of her desire.
Her hands continued to caress him, her mouth to tease and please, and Dax had to distract her before she overwhelmed him and his body made him take his own release.
Finding her tiny bud nestled inside the soft folds at the top of her pussy, he swirled his tongue in a figure eight. Slowly at first, waiting until her body shivered and stiffened, then he flicked and licked faster and faster.
She cried out, her hips shuddering, her grip on his cock loosening as he pressed one long finger deep inside her canal. Her orgasm ripped through her, shaking her body as she cried his name three times, then making her every muscle go limp.
Dax turned and lay next to her, kissing her cheeks, her chin, her lips, breathing in her panting breaths, holding her to feel the aftershocks ripple through her body.
Her eyes focused on him and a soft, completely satisfied smile curved her beautiful lips. “So perfect, Dax. You are my dream come true.”
His chest filled with a soulful ache that made him want to hold her close forever.
“But…” Her hand slid down his chest, over his belly, grasping his hard shaft, threatening to detonate his whole body, sending him into a wicked climax. “Your turn...” She started to slide downward, but he caught her.
“I want to be inside you, kitten. Deep in your hot, slick pussy.”
She bit her lip and her eyelids fluttered. “Mmmm.”
Rolling onto his back, he arranged her on her knees, sitting on his thighs. From the nightstand, he produced a condom and handed it to her. “Cover me.”
Her nipples hardened as she sheathed him, her breath fast and uneven. “As you command.” She looked into his eyes, hers a dark hazel, heavy-lidded with her desire.
“I like that. Commanding you, and you obey.”
She laughed. “Won’t happen anywhere but in the bedroom, I’m just warning you now.”
He smacked her butt and grabbed her ass cheeks. “Wouldn’t want it any other way.” He liked her being a strong woman, in control of her life, but able to let him take charge when they had sex. Made love. He knew that now. It was making love, for the first time in his life.
Easing her hips up so the tip of his cock pulsed against her glistening pussy lips, he took control. “Grab my cock, kitten. Put it at your opening and take me inside you. Now.”
****
Marilou’s skin goosebumped as a tingle raced across it at Dax’s words. She loved how he commanded, and how she would do anything he asked, anything to please him. Grasping his hard, thick staff in her hand, she slid the head along her pussy, coating him with her juices.
His hands on her butt tightened but he didn’t force her down on him, didn’t hurry her, let her play with their most intimate flesh.
“Did you not hear me say, ‘now’?” His eyes held desperate heat and she couldn’t tease him any longer.
“Yes, sir.” Adjusting herself directly over him, she pushed her hips down, taking him all in with one fast slide, his cock filling her completely, the sensation exquisite.
“Ah, yeah, yeah, kitten.” His body tensed and his eyes closed.
He thought he was in charge, but Marilou felt in control, empowered to make her man as satisfied and pl
easured as she could. Placing her palms on his chest, she moved her hips, sliding herself off his cock, slowly, squeezing her inner muscles around him.
“Fuck.” The word came from him in a whisper as he fisted his hands in the sheets.
Dropping herself down onto him, impaling herself with his thick length, she let her own pleasure build, heat sliding through her bloodstream.
“Can’t wait…” His head thrashed from side to side and she took pleasure in knowing she could make this man, this sex god who had proven he could make love to her for hours, lose that masterful control.
She moved her hips, squeezed her muscles, and rode him then, fast and with the abandon her heart told her they both needed right now. This was their forgetting the past, beginning anew, and forging a bond that would not be broken.
Sinking herself onto him, then sliding off, over and over, she felt her own climax building, heating her from within.
Dax palmed her breasts and tweaked her nipples, as always, sensing what she needed, what was happening inside her body. One of his hands pressed between their bodies, touching her clit gently, letting her adjust to the ecstasy of his touch.
When she felt him stiffen under her hands, felt his shaft thicken inside her, then heard him moan his release, she let herself go. Pinpoints of light exploded behind her eyelids and her body worked faster, taking him deeper inside, rubbing her clit harder against his finger.
With a cry she let herself fly, her mind flipping backward, around and around as she called his name, felt his hands on her hips guiding her, then slowing her movements and finally holding her still, his staff filling her completely as he pulsed against her quaking inner muscles.
With a sigh, she came back into her body, muzzy and exhausted. He arranged her to lie on top of him and covered them both with the quilt. As he stroked her hair away from her face, Marilou rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat for long moments.
His fingers twisted a lock of her hair. “You wanted to talk more, kitten?”
“You know how chicks are. We always want to talk more.”
He chuckled. “Go ahead, get it all out in the open.”
She stacked her hands on his chest and set her chin on them, looking at his handsome face. “We have lots of time to talk about things we haven’t shared with each other, but I really want you to know that every minute I’ve spent with you has been exceptional.” She looked at the ceiling for a few seconds, searching for the words. “I’ve never felt so comfortable or safe with anyone the way I’ve felt with you.”
He blinked a couple times. “Kitten, that means more to me than you could know. I’ve had a difficult time with relationships…” With a long breath, he shifted his pillow under his head so he could see her better. “That song I wanted to sell you? I wrote that eight years ago, after my sister was killed on the ranch when equipment malfunctioned.” He shivered and closed his eyes for a few seconds.
Marilou could only imagine the horror, and her soul ached for him and his family.
“My parents shut down, blaming themselves. They sold the ranch and moved us to town, living off the proceeds, locking themselves away from everyone. I was only eighteen, and I felt like I’d lost my whole family.”
She could envision Dax, confused, grieving, not knowing what to do next.
“I wrote the song then, pulled it out every year on the anniversary of Sarah’s death and rewrote it. The last time I did…” He set his hands on her back. “I thought of you. I knew if anyone could make that song come to life, it would be you.”
A fresh wave of tears filled her eyes but she held them back. “That’s the best compliment I’ve ever received.”
“You are more than I’d ever hoped you’d be, and as perfect and flawed as I’d pictured you.”
She smiled. “Somehow, that makes a lot of sense.”
He brushed away a tear that escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek. “Marilou. We’ve got time to get to know each other, but still, I feel an urgency. I want to rush this thing.”
She pulled a grimace. “Well, we don’t really have much time.”
His brows dropped. “What do you mean?”
“I’m booked on a flight back to Montana—Great Falls—tomorrow morning. Beth and Joe are driving the bus to the casino today, and they’re going to cover for me until I get there.”
He laughed. “I can see the three of you conspiring.”
“Yeah, they’re more loyal than any friends I’ve had.” She lifted off him, propping herself up on her elbow. “My flight back to Montana?” Here’s where she would leave herself vulnerable. “I’ve got two tickets.”
He froze.
“I want you to come back with me, open for me, sing duets with me.” She licked her lips quickly. “You won’t be on the bill right away, but I’ll get your name on the lineup as soon as I can make arrangements…which means I have to first make amends to Delroy.” Although she’d gotten him to cover for her Friday, he’d warned her that was the last time. She knew better, though.
“Kitten.” He looked long and hard into her eyes. “Are you sure about this? I mean, things went downhill real fast in New Orleans. Do you want to take the risk?”
Marilou was as sure as she’d been about anything. Ever. But was he as certain? Did he have doubts? “Dax, if we do this, let’s go all in, one-hundred percent, headfirst. It’s the only way we’re going to be confident in our decisions.”
He rolled them until she lay underneath him, his body pressing her into his bed, his face right over hers.
“On one condition.” His smile turned his handsome face irresistible. “Tell me you were wrong. Tell me I’m all fire, no smoke.”
Marilou laughed, laced her fingers together at the back of his neck and pulled his sexy mouth to hers, gently biting his lower lip. “On one condition.” She wiggled her hips under his. “Show me your fire one more time?”
As his hot shaft hardened against her belly, he kissed her. “Anything you want, kitten.” Dax whispered the words against her lips. “Anything.”
####
Would you like to know how Shaw and Harper found each other? They have their own book, the first in the series, All Hat No Cattle. Read the book blurb and find out where you can order it by clicking HERE. Here's a sneak peek:
Shaw and Harper’s story:
All Hat No Cattle
Chapter One
Harper Johansen backed into the last diagonal parking spot on Main Street in Belle Fourche, South Dakota. She jumped out of her company car just as the cattle drive started, and leaned against the front bumper, watching the longhorns plod toward her. Cowboys and cowgirls rode horses along each side of the sauntering cattle, close enough for Harper to touch.
And she had a need to touch. She wanted a genuine cowboy so bad, she almost ached. This was Wednesday, the first day of the four-day rodeo, so she had through Saturday to look for one. There had to be at least one man in town who’d fit her requirements.
Straightening to her full five-foot, two inches, she fluffed her shoulder-length red hair and tugged her T-shirt down. Cocking her jeans-shorts-clad hip toward one of the younger, sexier horsemen, she gave him the look. He grinned at her but lifted the reins in his left hand, showing her his wedding ring.
Taken. All the cowboys who matched her idea of perfection were either taken or far too young. Not that she was old at thirty, but she did have an age limit. Rodeo cowboys were usually way beneath her minimum requirement, but she still got enough propositions from them to fill an arena.
After the short parade passed, she headed to the sidewalk, flip-flops flapping, and opened her trunk. She lifted out the box of free samples she had been giving away at every one of the twenty rodeo towns on her summer tour this year. This afternoon’s samples were alcohol-free, but tonight at the rodeo, she’d be gifting her company’s best fermented beverages. Harper set the box on the bumper, balancing it with one hand while she reached up to grab the trunk hood.
Two
strong arms reached over and grabbed the teetering box, lifting it out of her way. Attached to the arms was a hunk of a man in a cowboy hat. His plaid shirtsleeves were rolled up over tan, muscled forearms and the top buttons on the shirt were open, revealing a few brown curls. His big brown eyes shone against his tan, strong-jawed face. “Ma’am. Can I help?”
Despite having promised herself there’d be no more men unless she verified they were the real thing—cowboys seven days a week—she smiled. “Thank you.” She shut the trunk and patted the top of it. “Here is fine.”
He leaned over and set the box carefully on the trunk and backed away a step.
His clean soap and pine scent turned everything deep inside her all warm and gooey.
“You’re selling those?” He tucked his fingers into his front pockets.
She pulled out a red can of cola and offered it to him. “Free samples. I work for the company.”
He nodded and accepted it from her. “Thanks. One of my favorites.” His voice was deep and slow, just like she imagined her perfect cowboy’s would be.
“Are you...in the rodeo?” He looked a little older than most. Maybe twenty-five.
“No. Just came into town to watch it.” He looked at her box of cans then back into her eyes. “Will you be at the rodeo tonight?”
She nodded. “Section C, Row 5.”
People wandered by, slowing to look at her box of cans. Pasting on her professional smile, she handed out samples. She struggled for the right words to ask the helpful stud if he was a ranch worker or a stockman or what his cowboy status was. Her inability to formulate a question probably meant it was far too soon to start vetting him.
“I’ll look for you, ma’am.” With a sexy grin, he touched his hat brim and walked away.
Harper stared at the gorgeous sight. Wide shoulders, narrow hips, sweet ass, and long legs in faded denim. Her mouth watered for a bite of those round cheeks. “Yummy.”
“What?” An older woman frowned at her as she took her free sample.
All Smoke No Fire Page 7