Dirty Player: A Rough Riders Novel

by Stacey Lynn

  A tremble rolled through him as it left him, shaking off the final twinges of a climax that I knew had hit him as powerfully as my own did, and then a blush hit his cheekbones and he winked. “So. That was fun.”

  I laughed, my eyes crinkling, and my lips stretched into a full smile. “Yeah,” I exhaled. “That was fun.”

  “Go get cleaned up. When you come back, I want to hear all about your day.”

  Chapter TWENTY

  OLIVER

  “Are you ready to open Stamped in a couple of weeks?”

  We were winding through the back roads on the way to my house, and next to me, Shannon was strung tight.

  I knew why. Earlier, after I’d told her I wanted her at my house for the weekend and I’d pick her up after practice, I had hung up and sent her one text.

  Don’t forget to bring the present.

  I had smiled when I hit Send, knowing she’d get it and her already large brown eyes would flash in surprise and they’d widen even further. I fucking loved that look on her. I loved knowing I could make her nervous, yet some part of her trusted me enough to do whatever I wanted.

  A simple text saying okay had been replied, and then I hadn’t responded until I pulled up to Stamped just as she was locking up, an overnight bag slung over her shoulder.

  She’d barely spoken during the forty-minute drive out of the city to my place, asking me questions about Sunday’s game, the last preseason game which should be an easy win.

  I’d ignored the elephant in the car. I wanted her ready to explode. I wanted to reach out and touch her and feel the heat of her flushed skin. I wanted her on edge, so that when I did finally take her this weekend, she’d go off like a firecracker, without any warning.

  Next to me, sitting in a simple tank top, frayed jean shorts that barely covered her ass, and her hair piled high and wild on top of her head, she jumped as I asked the question. She was beautiful. Not classy beautiful. Not elegant. In fact, there were probably thousands of women in the world you could line up next to Shannon and the other women could be classified as “more beautiful.”

  But I thought she was perfect. She was the complete, perfect package, and every time I talked to her, every time I was around her, I began to realize more and more that I didn’t just love fucking her, I was starting to fall for her.

  Her voodoo pussy and handful-sized tits sucked me in, but it was her intelligence and her smile and her sass that pulled me toward her in a way I hadn’t experienced in so long, I’d forgotten what falling in love felt like.

  And this was it. It took weeks.

  It didn’t matter. Shannon Hale was a woman you didn’t just want on your arm or in your bed, you wanted her pulled tight next to you, walking through life with you. She had the potential to be my biggest supporter, my greatest cheerleader, and my largest pain in the ass.

  I wanted all of it.

  “What?” she asked and brushed a tendril of hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry, what’d you ask?”

  One side of my lips lifted into a grin. “I asked if you’re excited about Stamped. Are you ready for the opening?”

  “Yeah, I think.” She paused and brushed her hands down her thighs. They were tanned now, and I knew when she wasn’t working or at my place, she’d found access to the rooftop of her building that had a small deck. She had told me one night on the phone that she went up there on her lunch breaks to see the city and get some fresh air.

  I had thought of all the things I’d do to her up there once the sun set.

  She continued after pulling in a long, trembling breath. “I mean, I still need to do some marketing, and that’s been hard even though Beaux put me in touch with someone before he ever closed on the place. I’ve got ads going out and my website is up and running now with the information for the first physical location. That’s been getting a lot of excitement. I didn’t realize I had so many customers online that live nearby, which is good.”

  “It sounds like it’s all falling together.” She’d been working her ass off ever since I’d met her. I’d met few women in my career who wanted their own. It was the price of having so much damn money that you attracted women who didn’t care about having their own, just spending someone else’s. In my gut, I knew that if I blew out my knee tomorrow, heaven forbid, or if I lost all the money in the stock market, Shannon wouldn’t give a shit.

  “Yeah. Or it’s all going to fail and I’m going to fall flat on my face.”

  She’d mentioned her concerns. One night in her bed, she’d trailed a finger down the center of my chest, through my chest hair down to the waistband of my shorts. I’d gone hard at her languid touch while she’d told me all about how, for so much of her life, she’d been so focused on helping Beaux succeed that she’d never had time to achieve anything of her own. She’d bounced from office job to office job after college, spending most of her free time at night selling her jewelry and working to increase that dream she’d started in college.

  “I think it’s brave,” I said and slid a hand to her thighs.

  She jumped from the contact, and I wrapped my hand around her. She was so small compared to me. My hand easily covered her leg and slid to the sides where I tightened my grip.

  “I think you have more drive and more ambition than most people I’ve met in my life, Shannon. You won’t fail. You don’t have it in you.”

  She laughed softly. Nervously. “It’s just jewelry. Silly little bracelets and baubles and charms and earrings.”

  “You make women feel beautiful and happy and excited. You’re selling yourself short.”

  “Yeah,” she huffed and looked out the window. “I’ve learned recently that I have a habit of doing that. I’m working on it.”

  “You’ll succeed at that too. I have faith in you.” I did. The statement rolled off my tongue so easily it didn’t even surprise me. Based on the way she gaped at me, it surprised the hell out of her, though.

  It just reminded me I had one more thing to do this weekend—show her exactly how much she was beginning to mean to me.

  I pulled off the road and into my driveway, noticing how her breath hitched when we were finally at my house. We hadn’t been back since the first night, when we’d had to leave earlier than I wanted. Now, we had an entire thirty-six hours to spend together before I had to get to the game on Sunday.

  She was nervous as hell.

  I was excited as fuck.

  I pulled up to the garage and pulled in, leaving the door open behind us.

  I knew that Shannon was expecting me to take her somewhere and fuck her right away. I wanted it. But more than feeling her cunt spasm around me as she came and feeling like she was sucking the life out of me through my dick, I wanted to show her something else.

  Me. Who I really was. No hiding, no walls…I wanted to be completely transparent with her, and I’d planned an entire weekend of how to do it.

  I met her at the back of my car, popping the trunk and reaching in to grab a shopping bag for her. I’d bought the boots earlier in the week, before she’d agreed to spend the weekend with me, I wanted her to have her own, something she could wear here.

  “Here,” I said and handed the bag to her.

  Her eyes jumped wide as she gingerly reached out and took the handles from me.

  I slammed the trunk closed and her brows furrowed.

  “Don’t we need to take those inside?”

  “No. We’ll get them later. I have something else planned first. Now open your present.”

  I flashed her a wicked grin as I said the word, knowing exactly what she’d be thinking of.

  “I’m not sure I’m ready for another one of your presents.” She gave me a timid grin before she peered into the bag like I’d loaded it with rattlesnakes. Then those brown eyes popped open and her grin widened.

  “Boots?”

  “Yup.” I nodded and took the box out of the bag for her. I’d also made sure to include thick socks so she didn’t get blisters on her soft feet. “These
are yours, for when you’re here with me. I need to run inside and grab mine while you put them on, and then we’re going for a ride.”

  “On the horses?” she gasped, clearly surprised.

  I smirked. “I could ride you another way, but I thought you’d like the horses first.”

  She bobbed her head energetically. “I do. I want that. The horses.” Her cheeks burned hot pink and she winked. “Then later, it’s going to be me riding you.”

  We’d see about that. The thought made my dick come to life in my pants, though, so it wasn’t an altogether bad idea. I bent down and wrapped an arm around her back, pulling her to me. Her fingers instantly entwined behind my neck when I tilted my head. My lips brushed against hers and I slid my tongue inside her parted lips, tasting her slowly. She responded immediately, letting me take control the way I enjoyed it. She tasted like heaven and mint, soft and sweet in my arms. God. I was falling fast for this woman. “Get your boots on,” I said when I pulled away. I smacked her ass before I stepped back and grinned. “I’ll be right back.”

  ***

  Lee had already pulled out Ralph and Winne by the time I’d changed my clothes and grabbed the lunch I’d had him ask his wife, Sue, to make for us. The small cooler was slung over my shoulder and I hurried to the fence where Lee and Shannon were talking.

  “A picnic, too?” she asked, brown eyes sparking in the sun when she saw the cooler.

  “My wife made it for you,” Lee chimed in, grinning like the cat that ate the canary. “Thrilled when Oliver asked her to. Can’t remember a time when he’d asked for a picnic lunch. To Sue, it was like Christmas, so excited she danced and sang in the kitchen all morning, preparing a feast for you two.”

  I glared at him, but it lacked heat. “Tell Sue thanks.”

  “Will do.” He tipped his hat to me and winked. “Now you two kids don’t do anything I wouldn’t do today.”

  Next to me, Shannon giggled, and I waved him away. “Scram, you old coot.”

  “I’m going, I’m going. Be back Monday.”

  I kept an eye on Lee as he climbed into the truck, and when he’d turned and driven down the driveway, both of us waving goodbye to him, I turned back to Shannon and arched a brow. “You ready to ride?”

  Her eyes lit with unabashed excitement. “I can’t wait.”

  “Let’s go then.” I took her hand and pulled her through the gated fence. Winne and Ralph danced a bit before settling down when we walked up to them. “You’ll sit on Ralph because he’s calmer and won’t throw you.”

  “Wow, you know how to calm a girl’s nerves.”

  “Just preparing you,” I said, smacking her rear end. “I’ll take Hulk out later and exercise him, but he’s too ornery for a slow ride, and I didn’t want him getting the other horses excited. Next time, when you’re ready, I’ll put you on Winne. She’s a bit more feisty, but something tells me you’ll be able to handle her in no time.” I brushed my hand down Ralph’s crest to his shoulder until I knew he was calm. “Ready, boy? Be good to her. She’s new to this.”

  As if he understood, he neighed and dipped his head and met Shannon’s gaze.

  “Hey, Ralph,” she whispered, reaching out to touch his neck. “You’ll be nice, right?”

  “He’ll sense your nerves,” I warned her. “So he might be jumpy at first, but hold on tight and sit with your back straight, centering your balance, and he’ll calm once I’m on Winne. When I get on her, I’ll take your reins and guide him for a bit, okay? All you have to do is hold the pommel of the saddle.”

  I pointed to where I meant on the saddle and waited for the sign that she was ready.

  It rolled through her like it did every time I suggested something outside her comfort zone. It was usually about sex, but her nerves brightened and then evaporated much the same way now as she blew out a breath.

  “Okay. I’m ready.”

  I told her how to hold on to the saddle of the horse and helped her up, holding on to Ralph’s reins around his throat to keep him steady. He wiggled a bit once she was on, and I saw her eyes flash wide when he sidestepped, pulling me toward him a bit, but he quickly settled back.

  “You good?” I looked up at Shannon and the force of her smile hit me like a meteor straight to my chest. It made my lips part and my ribs burn as she grinned down at me, so fucking excited she could light up the sky.

  “Ready, old man.”

  “I’ll show you old man,” I grumbled teasingly and hoisted myself onto Winne. Once I was saddled, I reached over and took Ralph’s reins. Shannon’s giggle echoed through the air every time Ralph moved in a way she wasn’t suggesting.

  We took two laps around the large ring while I helped her with her balance and gave her basic instructions for digging her heels in and how to pull on the reins to make him stop or slow down.

  The entire time, her grin kept her lips spread wide and she continued that sweet giggling sound even though I knew she was focused on paying attention and learning too.

  She was like Beaux in that moment, enjoying the hell out of life while at the same time focused on doing her best.

  For the first time since I could remember, it made jealousy burn deep inside me. That both of them lived like that. Carefree and focused. Kicked back but paying attention. I’d been so focused on one thing for so long, I hadn’t realized until that moment with Shannon how much I’d forgotten to have fun along the way.

  “Thank you,” I said, walking Winne next to Ralph until I could reach over and place my hand on Shannon’s thigh. “Thank you for doing this with me today.”

  I let my sincerity shine in my eyes, hoping like hell she could read everything I felt in that moment. It was perfection. Something I wanted to remember forever.

  “I should be thanking you,” she said, her voice awed and soft. “For teaching me this. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had so much fun.”

  Neither did I. Something told me this wouldn’t be the last time I had this much fun, though. Not with Shannon next to me.

  “Ready to hit the trails?”

  “Trails?”

  “Yup. You didn’t think we’d stay in the ring all day, did you?”

  She frowned a bit and then shook her head. “Well, yeah. Sort of, but let’s do it.”

  Chapter TWENTY-ONE

  SHANNON

  I was on a horse on my way through a wooded trail with Oliver on my left side, and we were going to have a picnic lunch.

  It was not what I was expecting us to do the minute we arrived. I figured it’d involve seduction and fucking and lube and butt plugs.

  I hadn’t determined if I was disappointed by this or thankful. Apprehension had chilled my skin when he’d first sent the text telling me to remember the plug. I could practically see the glimmer in his eye as he’d sent it, knowing what that one sentence would do to me. Yet I hadn’t hesitated in packing it either. What he wanted involved a certain amount of trust, and while we hadn’t been together long, Oliver was showing me that he was the guy who could be trusted with everything I had to give him.

  I was falling for him, against my original plans of moving to Raleigh to make something of myself and figure out who I was without a man. Oliver didn’t detract from those plans, though. With his obvious interest in my day and in my business and in his appreciation for my work, plus his sexy, alpha side I saw all the time when we were together, he was proving to be a man who could stand at my side, supporting and encouraging me in equal measure to what I gave him.

  Yeah. I was falling—falling fast and hard, and I didn’t even care about having a safety net.

  Next to me, Oliver led us to the left a bit farther and then pulled the horses to stop at the tree line.

  I gasped as I saw where he’d brought us.

  “Wow.” I sighed. “This is beautiful.”

  In front of us was a small lake that jutted up against the tree line except for the small, beachy area where he had led us.

  We were surrounded by trees, the sun h
igh in the cloudless sky. Cerulean blue and emerald green filled my vision as my gaze wandered around the water until I was looking at Oliver. In the bright sun, the baseball cap he generally wore was turned backward. His eyes were as bright as the trees.

  “This place is beautiful.”

  “I come here a lot,” he said, dismounting from his horse. “Helps me think after a shitty game.”

  I licked my parched lips, taken aback at the admission.

  He was always so strong and confident, arrogant and bossy. I imagined after a shitty game, he went and punched something or ran six miles or did something manly like wood chopping or hay baling to release the adrenaline.

  Visions of Oliver in his glasses, hands pushing back his hair while he sat in the stillness of this location, never would have occurred to me.

  “That surprises you,” he stated as he walked around Winne and reached up to help me off Ralph.

  I grinned, thinking of wood chopping and hay baling again. I must not have hidden my surprise very well.

  “Yeah, a little.” I threw a leg over the side of the horse and placed my hands on Oliver’s shoulders. His hands went to my waist and he slowly helped me off the large and gentle beast. “Thank you for the ride,” I whispered, running my hand down Ralph’s’s shoulder. “That was great.”

  “I take you on the ride and you thank my horse.” Amusement lit Oliver’s voice and I turned back to him, rolling to my toes so I could reach his lips with mine.

  “It was beautiful,” I whispered. “Thank you, again.”

  His gloved hand gently brushed along my cheek. “Anytime.”

  I wanted to be on that horse again. Lots.

  He reached around Winne and unsecured the cooler he’d brought with him. He nodded toward a thick, low branch hanging from a tree a short distance away. “Can you hold this while I secure the horses?”