time together, whatever that means. I just know something he did upset her last week.
And that upset me. You had the misfortune of callin’ me right after I got done talkin’ to her.”
“Well, I ain’t talked to Carter about it, but I do know he’s a good guy. He’s way more a gentleman than the rest of us. Educated. He’s laid back. I doubt he’s playin’ her, he just ain’t that type.”
Cash snorted.
“Besides, does it really matter? They’re both young. They ain’t gonna settle down and set up housekeepin’. This is probably just a summer fling. They’ll fight and fuck and move on.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“No. But I don’t want your newfound parental instincts to cloud your judgment, Cash. Yes, Macie is your daughter, and you’re lookin’ out for her. Truth is, she and Carter are both adults and they gotta work out whatever is goin’ on between them, themselves.”
“Basically you’re tellin’ me to butt out.”
“Yep.”
Cash believed Colby was right on some level. But it also made him wonder how well Colby knew his brother. Carter McKay wasn’t the love ’em and leave ’em type, which was why Cash was so worried about Macie.
You can’t have it both ways. You’re afraid she’ll settle down with him; yet, you’re afraid he’ll leave her high and dry.
No. Cash was afraid that no matter what happened with Carter, Macie would leave him.
“So as long as I left my subtlety at home, how’s it goin’ with you and Gemma?”
“Good.”
Silence.
Colby sighed. “That’s it?”
“Married life has made you gossipy as an old hen, McKay.”
202
www.samhainpublishing.com
Rode Hard, Put Up Wet
“Come on. You and Gemma have been circlin’ each other for damn near two years.
Now you’re workin’ on her ranch and sleepin’ in her bed?”
“I know you sent her my direction because you knew I was lookin’ for work, and I appreciate that. But that don’t mean I’ll be spillin’ my guts to you or anyone about what happens behind closed doors.”
“Fair enough. Then tell me what’s happening with her stock contracting business.”
“It’s pretty much dead. Appears no promoters wanna give her a chance.”
“This ain’t because of what happened with Mike Morgan last summer?”
“Not entirely. The last guy she had helpin’ bad-mouthed her to everyone in five states. Evidently he was pissed off she wasn’t payin’ him more. He took a job with one of the bigger stock contractors and even the little rodeos won’t return her calls.”
“That sucks. What’re you doin’ to help her get back in the game?”
Cash scratched his chin. “Honestly? Nothin’. I don’t know why she’d want to travel when she’s got this beautiful chunk of land to call home. Hell. I’d never wanna leave here.”
Colby nodded in understanding.
“She finally let me look at the books last month. Even during the busiest month last summer when she supplied stock for two rodeos a week, she was barely breakin’ even.
Add in the fact she has to hire an overseer for the Bar 9 when she’s gone, and she’s flat out losin’ money. I told her she’d be better off breedin’ the stock and sellin’ it off. Let some other fool take on the headache of draggin’ animals to rodeos all over the damn country.”
“Makes sense.”
“She’d come to the same realization right before she hired me. She wants to focus on buildin’ a breedin’ program, with both broncs and bulls. She’s smart. She runs a damn fine operation and I’m lucky to be a part of it.”
“She’s lucky to have you helpin’ her, Cash. You know your shit and aren’t gonna feed her full of none. Which was one of the reasons I recommended you.”
Embarrassed by Colby’s praise, Cash changed the subject. “How’s your leg?”
“Hurts like a sonuvabitch most days.” Colby gave Cash a cool look. “You repeat that to Channing and I’ll kick your ass.”
www.samhainpublishing.com 203
Lorelei James
Cash laughed, mostly because he figured Channing already knew. “I noticed her watchin’ you like a hawk yesterday around that buckin’ bull. She’s afraid you’re gonna get on and show us all how it’s done, eh?”
“Yeah. Well. She don’t understand why I can’t sell the whole shootin’ match outright.” Colby stared off into the distance. After a while he said, “Do you miss it?”
Cash knew it meant all that went along with rodeoin’ and being a professional rodeo cowboy. “Sometimes. I don’t miss the bruises and the constant body aches.”
“Or all the boring hours spent in the truck on the road between events,” Colby added.
“Or the bad food.”
“Or the bad draws.”
“Or the low scores.”
“Or the low payouts.”
Silence.
“Hell yeah, I miss it,” Colby said with a laugh.
“Me too.” Now was as good a time as any for Cash to broach the subject he’d been wrestling with all morning. With any luck it wouldn’t tip Colby off. “You keep in touch with many of the guys on the circuit?”
“A few. Why?”
“Just wonderin’ what Trevor’s up to these days.”
“He’s still chasin’ the Finals dream. Though, he had a pretty serious fallin’ out with his dad about it. I’m surprised you haven’t seen him this year.”
“He ain’t been competin’ in the rinky-dink rodeos I’d been workin’. You have his number? I accidentally tossed it. Thought I might give him a call. I need to ask him a favor.”
“Sure. This favor anything I can help with?”
He nearly choked. “Nope.”
Colby sat up taller and grinned from ear to ear. “Hey, shug, you lookin’ for me?”
Cash turned around and watched Channing crook her little finger at her husband.
Colby jumped off the fence like it’d suddenly caught fire.
Cash grinned. Maybe someday soon, if he played his cards right, Gemma would look at him like that.
Gemma. Lord, thinking about the smokin’ hot sex last night still made his dick hard.
204
www.samhainpublishing.com
Rode Hard, Put Up Wet
He’d figured once they’d retired to their room, she’d be too worn out to make love.
Or she’d be worried about having sex with other people staying in the house.
Had he been wrong.
They’d started messing around, and the need between them flared as hot and urgent as it always did. He’d gone down on her—man did he love going down on her, the sweet noises she made were music to his ears, but she’d literally turned the tables on him. She’d flipped around so she could suck his cock while he ate her pussy. He’d never been especially fond of sixty-nine until last night when the law of averages caught up with them and they’d actually come at the same time. Explosively. Feeling his cock throb hot spurts in her suctioning mouth while she came, undulating against his face… Well, he’d have to rethink his position on that particular position.
But Gemma hadn’t been satisfied. She wanted to make love face to face. With the lights on.
He’d said no. She’d insisted. When he offered a compromise of making love with her blindfolding him, she offered a new threat: One of these nights she’d wait until he fell asleep, then she’d hog-tie him, turn the lights on and fuck him exactly how she wanted.
For as long as she wanted. In the position she wanted. She haughtily informed him there wouldn’t be a damn thing he could do about it.
Cash knew she’d follow through with the threat. And he wasn’t ready for her to see the truth of how he felt about her. So he pretended to laugh it off and waited until she fell asleep.
He snuck out of bed and cut an old T-shirt of Steve’s into one long strip. Making sure the
bottle of lube was nearby, he murmured instructions in her ear.
She didn’t protest, just sleepily rolled to her stomach. As he bound her wrists behind her back, she woke up.
Spitting mad.
Her fury lasted about a minute until she felt his slippery thumb stroking her clit and his fingers snaking up inside her, bringing her to a fast orgasm. While she recovered, he hiked her hips in the air and squirted more lube on his fingers and his straining cock.
Gemma gasped when he squeezed a dollop on her anus.
“Cash—”
“Did he have you here?” He inserted two fingers in her ass.
She sucked in a breath and released it on a moan, nodding.
www.samhainpublishing.com 205
Lorelei James
“Good. Then you’ll know what to expect.” He scissored his fingers inside that dark hole, stretching her to fit him. He angled over her arched spine to whisper in her ear.
“You didn’t expect I’d stay out of this gorgeous ass forever, did you?”
“No.”
“See, this is the way I deal with threats, sweets, call it a pre-emptive strike.”
“But—”
“Who’s hog-tied now, Gem?”
“Umm. Me.”
“And I’m gonna fuck you exactly where I want, and how I want, as long as I want, exactly as I’ve fantasized and there ain’t a damn thing you can do about it, is there?”
“No.”
He growled, “If I knew where your vibrator was I’d shove it up your pussy while I ream this tight hole. You fantasize about having two men at once. Two men fucking you in every way imaginable.”
“Cash.”
“Do you want that, Gemma?”
“Ah. Yes.”
“Another time. Right now, I’m gonna fuck you so hard that you remember who makes the decisions in the bedroom. I’m gonna fuck and use this ass to the absolute limit and you’re gonna love it, aren’t you?”
“Please. Oh—”
Cash impaled her to the root on the first stroke. He reached between her thighs and rubbed her clit while he tunneled in and out of her ass. Faster. Harder. Each thrust had enough force to send her knees sliding toward the headboard. He wrapped his hands around her waist and jerked her back to the end of the bed and started over.
She smelled good. She felt good too. As much as he wanted to stay buried in that hot, tight channel, Cash couldn’t hold back.
Neither could Gemma. She came, muffling her cries into the pillow as his cock pumped and jerked and finally shot his load high and hard into that hot, tight portal.
Gemma flopped to her stomach after he eased out of her. He was half afraid he’d been too rough. But after he loosened the bindings and spooned against her, she murmured, “I’ll have to threaten you more often.”
206
www.samhainpublishing.com
Rode Hard, Put Up Wet
Two shouts sounded from the tent bringing Cash back to reality. The boys returned for their riding lessons and all thoughts beyond rodeo disappeared.
www.samhainpublishing.com 207
Lorelei James
Chapter Twenty-nine
Later Cash was taking a breather, enjoying the serenity of the ranch when he heard footsteps behind him. When he turned to see his daughter approaching, his heart lightened. They hadn’t spent much time together recently, and he was afraid it wouldn’t take much to snap the tentative connection they’d established.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Hoka hey, honey-girl.” Poor thing looked tired. “Gemma finally parole you from kitchen duty?”
“How many times do I have to tell you cooking is not a chore?”
“I suppose it is different when you’re good at it.” He hesitated. “If I’ve forgotten to tell you, the food’s been mighty tasty the last coupla days. I know everyone’s been talkin’
about it. I’m proud of you for pitchin’ in.”
Macie blushed. “Thanks.”
The scent of hot dirt permeated the air as they gazed across the paddock. A pair of crows circled the turquoise sky, their caw caw lost in the breeze blowing through the stand of cedar trees.
“It’s so beautiful here.”
“That it is. I was just thinkin’ the same thing.”
“We haven’t been riding for a couple of days.” She picked at a loose chunk of wood on the fence. “But I suppose you’re pretty busy, huh?”
“Not too busy for you. Wanna go out right after supper?”
“Sure. Is Gemma tired of me taking her horse all the time?”
“No. She’s glad. Daisy needs the exercise and she’s been swamped catchin’ up on ranch paperwork.”
A truck whizzed by on the gravel road, sending clouds of chalky dust across the rocky field.
208
www.samhainpublishing.com
Rode Hard, Put Up Wet
Macie angled her chin toward the empty mechanical bull. “What was the toss off rate today?”
“Eighty-five percent.”
“Not good.”
“Better than the ninety-nine percent from yesterday.”
“True. So how many times did you have to demonstrate?”
“None.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“So you’re not all beat up?”
“No.” But the truth was, all damn day he had been feeling some of those old aches and pains from previous rodeo injuries.
“Huh. That gives you no excuse not to give me a personal demonstration on your bull ridin’ expertise.”
“What?”
She smiled and teased, “Come on, Dad. Show me how an old pro does it. Every time I saw you yesterday you were eatin’ dirt.”
Cash bit back a grin. “Think your old man ain’t got it in him anymore?”
“Didn’t appear you had it in you yesterday.”
“It’s a new day.”
“Five bucks says you land on your butt before the buzzer sounds.”
“You’re on, girlie.” He strode toward the piece of equipment and whirled around to remind her, “Hit the switch when I nod my head. Then sit back and prepare to be awed.”
Macie’s laughter filled something inside him he hadn’t realized was empty. He hopped on the machine and jerked on his riding glove. He wrapped the bull rope.
Unwrapped it and rewrapped it.
“Are you stalling?”
“You wish. Get ready to pay up.” Cash adjusted his hat over his eyes. Moved his hips from side to side. Threw his free arm up in the air and nodded.
The bull kicked on. It spun right; Cash readjusted his knees when the movement blew his feet out and up. The front end lifted, slamming him back, but he didn’t fight it www.samhainpublishing.com 209
Lorelei James
and stayed on. Another jumping right spin. Two hard lefts, one last buck and the eight seconds were history and he was still on.
He whooped and jumped off, surprised by how much he’d wanted Macie to see him succeed.
She grinned as he approached. “Nice ridin’, Dad.”
“Thanks. Pay up.”
“Will you take a personal check?”
“Nope. Cash only.”
She snickered. “You should have that tattooed somewhere.”
A calf bawled in the distance.
Cash quietly tried to restore his breathing.
“So, can I sit on that thing?”
He frowned. “I remember you tellin’ me you’d never ride a bull.”
“I don’t want to ride it; I just want to know what it feels like to be on a big, bad bull substitute, which is the closest I will ever get to one of those nasty creatures.”
“Sure. Come on.”
Cash lifted her on the back of the apparatus. He showed her how to wrap the rope, how to spur, how the free arm was the key to achieving balance. He was happy she’d taken an interest in something he’d spent years of his life learning to perfect.
The lesson in b
ull riding was about over when he heard, “What the hell do you think you’re doin’?”
He turned and saw Carter storming toward them. The fence wasn’t an impediment to the angry young man; he put one arm on the railing and jumped sideways over it.
“Get off that thing right now, Macie.”
“Carter—”
“I cannot fuckin’ believe you put her on the back of a goddamn mechanical bull.”
“Wait just a minute. I can explain—”
“Explain what?” Carter shouted. “How damn dangerous it is? That’s a little hard to explain to her when she’s dead. Christ, she could’ve broken her neck.”
“She wasn’t—”
“Jesus, Cash, what were you thinkin’?”
210
www.samhainpublishing.com
Rode Hard, Put Up Wet
“Stop right there, McKay.”
“I ain’t kiddin’, Macie, get off that death trap or I’ll drag you off.”
“You can’t talk to her like that.”
“I can talk to her any damn way I please since it appears I’m the only one who cares about her!”
“Shut your mouth, McKay, and listen up.”
“No, you listen.”
“Carter!”
“Do you really think I’d put my daughter in danger?” Cash kept his hands clenched in fists by his sides in an effort not to take a swing at this self-righteous punk.
Carter didn’t answer; he just glared with his hands curled on his hips, looking ready to do some swinging himself.
“Well, do you?”
“No. But I think she’d do whatever it took to get your attention, including puttin’
herself at risk by climbin’ on the back of a bull.”
Ugly silence hung in the air.
“Ain’t got nothin’ to say to that do you, ’cause you know it’s the truth.”
“That’s it, boy, you went too far.”
“Not nearly far enough. If you want to fight, bring it, old man.”
“I don’t give a shit who you—”
Macie stepped between them. “Stop. Both of you.” She whirled on Carter and snapped, “Walk it off. I mean it, Carter.”
He didn’t budge.
By that time Cash noticed they’d drawn a crowd, including Gemma, Colby and Channing, Keely, Amy Jo and the boys he’d been teaching. Great.
Microsoft Word - RodeHardPutUpWet.docx Page 22