Ride Me Cowboy #2 (The Cowboy Romance Series - Book #2)

by Taylor, Alycia

  After our dance, Mark introduced me to a lot of his rodeo friends and I got to hear stories about him. That was fun. It helped me get to know him better. Unfortunately, just about everything I learned about him, I liked, so it didn’t help my problems much. One guy named Guy ironically asked me if Mark ever told me the story of his “first bull.” I looked at Mark and he was trying to shake his head at Guy to get him to stop. It made me want to hear it more.

  “No, he’s never told me. I’d love to hear about it.”

  “I doubt you’d be interested…”

  “He rode a little steer with a couple of nubs for horns named Satan.”

  “Satan, huh?”

  “He’s not telling it right already,” Mark said.

  “Then you go on and tell it,” Guy told him.

  “He wasn’t that little and he was a maniac.” Mark’s eyes got big just talking about it, it was cute.

  “How old were you?”

  “Thirteen,” he said.

  Guy laughed. “He was two days away from his fourteenth birthday, but he likes to act like he was barely a teenager.”

  “I thought I was telling the story,” Mark said, good-naturedly.

  “Go on ahead.”

  Mark shot him a look and continued, “He was crazy. He wasn’t doing well in the chute. He thought he was goin’ to slaughter and was out of his mind. These guys thought it was funny that the little bastard thought I was the angel of death. He kept trying to turn around in the chute while I was trying to tie myself onto his heaving backside.”

  “Remember how he liked to stand on his hind legs?” Guy said with a laugh.

  Mark made a face at him again. “Um…yeah, I remember. It kind of impeded my securement on his back. And then there was the point to where I was already on his back and he decided to rise up.”

  Guy was cracking up now. “Tell her what you did on that occasion.”

  “I did what anyone with sense would do. I stood on the rails so I didn’t fall off underneath the half-ton crazy animal. Guy here, with all of his empathy told me I was ‘All the way in, or all the way out.’”

  “You know it was good advice,” Guy said with a chuckle.

  “You should have given it to Satan.”

  “Come on, get to the best part.”

  Mark looked at me and said, “Remember, I was barely a teenager…”

  Guy had tears rolling down his face now as he picked up the story. “Mark decided that a hasty retreat was what he should do. He failed to realize there was a four inch piece of metal stuck in the ground in the path he chose for his escape. Bam!” Gus slammed his hand to his forehead and continued to laugh. The other guys were laughing, too.

  Mark looked embarrassed. “With a two inch gash to my forehead, I got back on him after he was tied to the chute. He thrashed around and tried to crush my legs and ankles before we even got out of the chute. Meanwhile, Guy and the other guys were trying to get my bull rope strapped around the evil bastard. It took quite some time and I was already tired out. Guy hollered out at me, ‘Are you ready?’”

  “He nodded.”

  “I did not nod. My head was bleeding. I was trying to wipe the blood out of my eyes. I just all of a sudden heard the clank of the door being pulled open and that evil damned brute exploded out of that chamber. I didn’t have time to get my form in place.”

  Guy was howling with laughter. “He didn’t have no form. He was grabbing on with both hands and crying for his mama.”

  “That’s not the way I remember it,” Mark said.

  “Well then, do you remember the great trampling?”

  “It wasn’t all that great,” Mark said. I was trying not to laugh, but Guy’s laugh was infectious and seeing Mark so embarrassed was cute as hell.

  “You got trampled?” I asked.

  “I was acquainted with the full thrust of the evil creature’s two back hooves, yes.”

  “He kicked him full-on in the chest.”

  “My rodeo clowns weren’t doing their job,” Mark said. “After he kicked me in the chest, he stepped on the inner part of my thigh and almost ensured that I would never have to procreate.”

  “That bull was celebrating, too, you remember?”

  “Yeah Guy, I remember. The little bastard stomped around the ring like he was Muhammad Ali after a knock-out. I was trying to get to the fence while he was preoccupied with all of that and he charged at me again.”

  “Oh wow! Did he get you?” I asked.

  “He was that close,” Mark said, putting his thumb and forefinger together. Guy was practically rolling as he said,

  “Tell her about your pants.”

  “I think that is enough for now.”

  Laughing, I said, “Oh no! I want to hear about the pants.” Mark was shaking his head and Guy said,

  “They was split from belly to ass and God and this boy only know why but…”

  “Guy, so help me God if you say it…”

  “He was commando!” Guy was laughing so hard he could hardly get the words out and so were all of the other guys. Mark’s face was bright red from his neck up, but he was smiling. I was amazed at how good-natured he is once again.

  When we got back to the hotel later that night, I had to admit I’d had the best time I remembered having in a long time. “That was so much fun,” I told him when he walked me to my door. “Thank you.” He was looking at me like he wanted to kiss me and as badly as I hate to admit it, I wanted him to.

  He leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek and said, “Thank you. Sleep well, Lexi.” I let myself into the hotel room and stood with my back to the door. My heart was slamming against my chest and my breathing was erratic. Damn! What was I going to do?

  CHAPTER TEN

  MARK

  I left Lexi at that door of her hotel room and every step on the way back to my own was forced. My hands were shaking, my chest was working overtime trying to suck in enough air, and my heart physically hurt in my chest. I wanted her so bad that I could taste it and I had no idea if I could keep walking away… I spent a restless night, tossing and turning and dreaming about ravishing her gorgeous body. At dawn, I pulled my tired ass up and into the cold shower because my parts south had been painfully alert all night. It took some doing, but I got him to lay down before I had to get ready to go face a bull and hope to get a decent enough score to move on to the next round. I knocked on Lexi’s door at six a.m. I didn’t really expect her to be up, so I was surprised when she opened the door looking like she just stepped out of the pages of a women’s western wear catalog. Once again, she was nothing but hotness, and that fire in my belly flared up all over again.

  “Hey! Good morning. I wasn’t sure if you would be up yet.”

  She smiled. “I didn’t sleep very well.”

  “I’m sorry. Was the bed uncomfortable?”

  “No,” she looked embarrassed and I wondered if I could dare to hope she’d experienced the same things I had. “I guess it was just being in a strange place. Is it time to go?”

  “Yeah. I was going to get some breakfast downstairs first,” I told her. “Are you hungry?”

  “Famished,” she said. God, she turned me on. We went down to the little café and had breakfast and once again, she put the groceries away. I loved that she ate like that and she didn’t pick at things like other girls did sometimes. After we finished, we headed over to the arena. She stayed with me while I got Sarge out and saddled him up and then she asked, “Where’s the best place for me to sit?” It was early yet, so she had her pick. I pointed up in the stands and said,

  “See there about five rows below the announcer’s booth?”

  “Yep.”

  “That’ll give you the best view.”

  She shocked the hell out of me then and kissed my cheek. “Good luck,” she said, “and don’t split your pants.” God, she was killing me.

  Luckily I stayed busy for the next few hours getting things set up. I went over to check on her before everything
started and she had made friends with a couple of the girlfriends of the other cowboys. She looked happy and it made me happy to see her that way. I went back to my business, reluctantly. Every time I was close to her…I wanted to be closer.

  The barrel racing events were first and then the mutton busting and the rodeo queen coronation. The bronc riding came after that and then the calf roping and team roping. They waited until the end of the day for the bull riding. I checked on her a few more times and even sat with her in the stands and ate crap with her from the snack bar for lunch. I was falling for her – hard. This was more than just a sexual attraction and that made it that much worse. When it was time for my ride, I had to picture my dad naked to get her out of my head so that I could concentrate. Jeez, I was a mess.

  My draw for the day was a nasty, scrappy 1,700 pound Brahma named Hurricane. He was one of three bulls in the event that had never been ridden. Hurricane had been around for as long as I’d been riding bulls. He and I had met up once before and I’d gone just under seven seconds before he tossed me about six feet into the fence and tried to charge me while I was on the ground. It had been good that I had a hell of a rodeo clown that night or the big ass bull may have killed me. Today, I hope he was ready because I intended to ride the bastard.

  Hurricane was arrogant enough to stand stock still while they tied the bull rope on him and I slid down onto his back. I’d just taken hold of the rope when the chute flung open. Hurricane was ready. He pitched forward violently, trying to take me off right there. I held on, staying centered with my fist held above my head. I kept my eyes fixed on the top of the bull’s head. I never looked into the stands while I rode or around at the other cowboys. No distractions. It was just me and him. Hurricane spun around to the right. I leaned into it and stayed put. He realized it hadn’t worked so he spun a few more times. I held on tight, slipping just a little, but righting myself as fast as I could. I wasn’t looking at the crowd, but I could hear them screaming and yelling. It was so loud that it was deafening.

  I knew I was riding him. To the people in the stands it might look like he had me, but I knew I had him. I felt invincible and if the bull was looking at me, I would have spit in his eye. I just held on and waited for the whistle…and waited. I never heard it, but all of a sudden I saw the clown and I knew I had done it. I slid off of him while the clowns wrangled him and I fell to my knees and pulled off my hat and held it up to the cheering crowd. When I stood up and looked up, that’s when I saw Lexi. She was jumping up and down and cheering for me. I lost my head. I’d told her to sit right behind the front gate of the arena. The clowns had the bull at the back so I ran up and jumped on the fence. She was already standing up. I grabbed her, dipped her to the side and kissed the hell out of her. The crowd loved it. When I let her go, her eyes were as big as saucers. I grinned. I would take my licks later if necessary. I tipped my hat to the crowd again and ran back to get the hell out of the arena before the next ride began.

  ********

  Another two hours passed between the time I rode Hurricane and kissed Lexi before it was over and I got to go see her and find out if she was mad. She smiled as soon as she saw me, so it was safe for me to doubt it. When I got close, she threw her arms around me and squeezed. “I’m so proud of you! I have no idea why you got third. Everyone in the stands said you should have taken first. That was amazing!” My heart was slamming against my chest. Not only was I extremely attracted to her, but I wasn’t used to having someone get so excited over anything I did. I grabbed her and hugged her again. My impulses were all over the place. My adrenaline was still surging.

  “Thank you,” I told her. “Third is good though, and deserving. The other two bulls were unridden, too and both of them were better rides. I’m stoked. You ready to go get something to eat?”

  “I’m starving,” she said. I laughed. That seemed to be the theme with her. She waited while I loaded up Sarge and we went to a steakhouse I’d been to before when the rodeo was in town. It was packed because of all of the other rodeo goers there. We had to wait for forty-five minutes for a table, but the PBR was on the big screen and Lexi was really getting into it.

  “Oh man! Why did he only get a 77? That was an awesome ride!”

  “The bull’s hooves never left the ground. He only spun once and his buck is not that high.”

  “That’s not the cowboy’s fault!”

  I laughed. “True. Unfortunately, he’s the one that gets dinged for it.”

  “That’s just not fair at all!” She was righteously indignant about it. I wanted to kiss her again…so badly. Luckily we were called for our table at that moment.

  The server handed us menus and I said, “I don’t need it, thanks. I’m gonna have the short ribs.”

  “Mm, that sounds good,” Lexi said, “I’ll have the same.” We both ordered a beer and a few minutes later it was served with our salads. We talked a lot, but it was all fun, light conversation. I told her more stories like the one that Guy had told her – ones where I looked a little less like a dork. She told me about her classes at school. I still got the feeling that she wasn’t telling me something important for her past, but that was okay. I sort of had the feeling that she would tell me when she was ready. Maybe I was being delusional, but I really felt us bonding.

  We both stopped at one beer and then we drank water. We shared a chocolate volcano dessert that was intoxicating in itself and then drove back to the hotel. I had every intention of dropping her off like I had the night before and keeping my date with my right hand. But tonight, she was different. She was happy, almost giddy and she didn’t seem to want the night to end any more than I did.

  “Do you want to come in and have a drink with me?” she asked.

  “Sure.” I didn’t want a drink, but I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to be alone with her, even if all it amounted to was just that. She let me inside and we opened the mini-bar. There were some tiny little beers in there so we both took two and settled down next to each other on the bed. She lifted hers and looked me in the eyes.

  “To riding Hurricane,” she said. I clanked my little bottle to hers and drank. After I downed the four ounces or whatever it was, I realized she was staring into my eyes again with that look that made me want to lay her out right there. Instead, I stood up off the bed and looked down at her. She was still looking at me, but now she looked disappointed.

  “We can’t do this again if it’s going to be the same as last time,” I told her. She stood up and took a few steps from the bed and then turned around and looked at me. She had one piece of that sexy hair hanging down over her eyes and I wanted to reach out and touch it, twist my fingers up in it, but I stayed put and waited.

  In a voice that sounded almost breathless and only made me want her that much more she said, “I’m not playing with you, Mark. This is just so damned complicated, but I feel…I feel so…” I could see it in her eyes. She felt what I was feeling and I had the same problem trying to describe it. I finally just said the hell with it and I closed the foot between us and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her up against me. The heat from her body was enough to cause the fire already burning in my core to flare up and the rise and fall of her breath and the rhythmic beating of her heart against my chest was all too much. I let my hands slide up her back underneath her blouse, and I could feel the goosebumps rise along her flesh as I did. Her eyes were hooded and her hands on my chest. I didn’t know if she was going to lean in and kiss me or push me away. I brought my hands up and rested them against the sides of her neck and let my thumbs swipe the sides of her face slowly. I looked at her lips and told her, “If you don’t stop me now, I won’t be able to stop myself.” She moaned as I brought my lips down next to hers, and I could feel the heat and vibrations from her breath. I grabbed two fistfuls of hair and tilted her head back, letting my lips brush against her earlobe. She moaned again, louder this time. Then I let them trail down along the side of her face to her shoulder where I licked a
nd nipped with my teeth. She pressed harder into my chest with her breasts, and I finally claimed her mouth. There was no resistance left in either one of us. We were doing this and there was no going back now. I found her tongue and tangled it up in mine as I guided her around so that her legs were against the bed. I tried to lower her slowly, but we were both way too excited. She tumbled backwards and landed on her back against the bed.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  LEXI

  He gave me every opportunity to say no. I didn’t because I didn’t want to. I wanted this more than I could remember ever wanting anything and this time I was sober and well aware of what the consequences might be. For now, I didn’t care. I needed him. The craving inside of me went so deep it threatened to rip me wide open if I didn’t have him.

  The second I hit the bed, he was on me. His mouth found mine again and he used his lips and his tongue with a skill that sent a heavy jolt of electricity surging through my body. I moaned into him, my body reacting from head to toe. I grabbed a handful of his hair and let my fingers work through it. He broke our kiss and let his lips slide down the side of my face and then began suckling down my throat. He was unbuttoning my blouse at the same time and when he got it opened, he pushed my bra up out of the way and kissed his way down to my breasts. I arched my back up when he took one of them into his mouth, sucking it in hard and letting his tongue sweep around the outside of my hard nipple. He pulled his head up and said,