Rough and Ready (More Than A Cowboy Book 2)

by Vanessa Vale

  “So I should have it? I might only have a recliner and a bed, but I’m not broke. I’m not taking anything from those fuckers. I won’t take anything that hurt you.”

  God, that was… sweet. My heart didn’t have a chance around him. Over and over, he proved himself more honorable than anyone I knew. He’d been the only person to ever stand up for me. Protect me. Be with me or do something for me without any reason or motive.

  “Then… then I’ll give it away,” I replied, thinking of an alternative. “A charity. For kids.”

  Reed’s eyes widened then changed. Got darker. Smoldered. Something. He leaned in and kissed me. Not a gentle in-a-restaurant peck but a kiss with tongue. Right in front of Quake, who started laughing.

  Reed pulled back, didn’t pay him any attention. “I like that, princess. Give it to a place that helps kids, so they have a better chance than we did, yeah?”

  I nodded, blinked back tears then smiled. “Yeah. my parents will hate it, which means it’s a great idea.”

  Reed huffed out a laugh then kissed my forehead.

  “I’ll set up a meeting,” Quake said. “Reed, she has to go. If you donate the cash, there’s nothing you have for them.” His eyes narrowed. “Except your brother. You could give him to Randy.”

  That, I’d be fine with. More than fine. “How can I give him Cam?”

  “We’ll ensure Randy knows you don’t have the money. He might not believe you, but he’ll believe me when I say you’re out.”

  Reed nodded. This was what Quake was for in all this. I didn’t know anything about him or the MC, but if Randy was afraid of Quake, then he had to be more dangerous than I imagined. His reputation as a badass went even further than I thought.

  “That you’re under my protection. No one fu… messes with anyone under my protection.” Quake took a deep breath, and his chest expanded, showing how fit he was. How strong. How much of a badass I expected him to be. I was glad he was on my side. I had no idea why he was willing to protect me specifically, but I wasn’t going to ask.

  “Cam won’t know we’re meeting with Randy. He won’t know shit,” Reed added.

  “Exactly.” A waitress stopped by with a fresh carafe, and Quake offered her a smile. “Thanks, doll.”

  “We set Randy straight then give Cam to Randy. You wanted me to stay out of it, to keep my hands clean, then this is the way to do it. Let Randy do the dirty work for us. Then we’re out,” Reed said, tipping my chin up, so he looked me in the eye. “Yeah?”

  Reed wasn’t going to have to fight Randy and his henchmen. He wasn’t going to have to fight Cam. I didn’t have to worry about him going to jail for doing something to protect me. I nodded. “Yeah.”

  Then I’d be free. I wouldn’t have to run any longer.

  “Now what?” I asked.

  “I set up a meeting with Randy,” Quake said. “Give me a day or two.”

  “What should I do in the meantime?” I asked Reed. He hadn’t let go of my chin. Hadn’t stopped staring at me.

  The corner of his mouth quirked up. “I can think of a few ideas.”

  24

  REED

  The BJJ class wrapped up, and I headed out to the front desk and grabbed a towel from the pile. I watched Harper from across the room as she ran on the treadmill. She looked exactly as I’d left her an hour earlier although she had a pink flush of exertion, and her t-shirt clung to her sweaty skin. I had no idea how she didn’t go insane with boredom running for that long. There was nothing to see outside since it was dark out, and the bright lights of the gym made the window in front of her like a mirror.

  It’d been two days since our meeting with Quake. I hadn’t let Harper out of my sight. We’d had a service fix her flat tires, and we’d driven her car back to the building. It sat in the lot, but I didn’t give a shit if Randy’s annoying minions or even Cam Lane found it. They weren’t getting in the building or near Harper. Gray knew what was up and had spread the word to staff and a few of the guys. Harper was well protected. Not that I was letting her out of my sight.

  It was pretty easy to accomplish since we spent most of the time in my bed. Even now, as I leaned against the counter and just… stared at Harper, I wanted her again. Fuck, was she amazing. Incredible athlete. So fucking smart. Brave. Stronger than she ever imagined. And gorgeous.

  She had no idea how perfect she was. The way a few of the guys eyed her as she ran reminded me I wasn’t the only one who was interested. But I was the one in her bed. I was the one who… hopefully, was in her heart.

  I knew her. She’d let me in. Gave herself to me when she’d never offered to anyone before. I wasn’t talking about her body but her soul. I’d gone from an asshole who hadn’t given a shit about anyone to a pussy whipped guy who thought of love and the melding of souls. If one of the guys could hear my thoughts, they’d wonder if I’d been hit a little too hard in the head.

  I’d watched Gray fall for Emory. He’d gone down hard and fast, and no one dared call The Outlaw pussy whipped. He was. Boy, he sure the fuck was, and he’d proudly admit it.

  The fucker Larry made his approach from the free weights to Harper. I pushed off the counter to step in but stopped. Watched. Harper’d taken care of herself just fine before me. I couldn’t take care of all her problems no matter how much I wanted to. I also wanted to see what she’d do. It had been a week or so since she’d dragged Larry to the stairwell, but so much had changed since then.

  I might be confident in the ring, but with Harper, I was just a guy whose woman was too good for him. While I might be spouting poetry and making Valentine’s cards with glitter, Harper hadn’t said she felt the same way. She’d said she was right there with me but still. When she looked Larry’s way still running at an all-out pace, she pulled out an ear bud to hear what he had to say. She shook her head, and he walked away.

  I couldn’t help but smirk, and when he walked past me to head to the locker room, I offered him an all-out grin.

  Fuck yes.

  She’d shut that shit down because she was mine.

  I grabbed a towel for Harper and took my time to make my way over to her, watching the play of her toned muscles as I went. Her ass… fuck, it was a work of art.

  I leaned against the window in front of her. She was breathing hard, sweat dripped down her temple. A smile tugged at her lips as she took her ear bud out again.

  “Hey there. What’s your name?” I asked her.

  She quirked a brow but kept on running. “Harper,” she replied, her voice catching as she breathed hard.

  “Really? I thought it might be Angel since I think you fell from heaven.”

  The stupid joke had her stumbling, and she slapped her hand on the treadmill’s control to slow it down. When she was walking at a cool-down pace, she said, “Are you trying to pick me up?”

  I winked. “If you have to ask, I’m not doing it right.”

  Her gaze raked over me in appreciation. “I’m sure you do it right. In fact, I am warmed up and ready to go,” she replied.

  It was my turn to falter because I hadn’t expected that awesome comeback. My dick was instantly hard and gym shorts did nothing to hide it. I had to hold my towel in front of it. She saw the action and smirked.

  I looked around. No one was nearby, but I stepped closer, resting my forearm on the treadmill. “You need it, princess?”

  She bit her lip and nodded.

  I didn’t look away from her, just reached out and grabbed the emergency release cord and tugged. The treadmill immediately stopped.

  I handed her the fresh towel, and she stepped off and wiped her face as I cleaned down the machine for her. When I was done, I led her out of the gym, through the hallway and used my keycard to get into the stairwell.

  As soon as the door slammed shut behind us, I tugged her around and into my arms. Kissed her. We were both hot and sweaty, but I didn’t give a shit. I wanted her, and I wanted her here and now. I wasn’t pressing her up against the cinder block wall. I w
asn’t fucking her into the stairwell. So I broke the kiss, sat down on the steps and tugged her into my lap. She was breathing hard, and her lips were slick and swollen.

  “Here?” she asked, glancing to the door. There was no window in it, and no one had a key pass but the residents.

  “Here. Gray and Emory went to the ranch.”

  That meant no one was going to interrupt us.

  She met my gaze then stood, shucked off her shorts. I lifted up enough to push down my own, so my dick sprang free. “Shit. No condom.” I glanced up the stairs as if I could wish one would magically appear from my room.

  As she dropped her shorts to the concrete floor, she said, “I’m on the pill. I’m clean.”

  I had to grip my dick it ached so bad. “I’ve never gone bare before.”

  She set a hand on my shoulder to balance herself as she straddled me once more, keeping herself lifted, so I was at her entrance. She looked to me then lowered herself down. “Me either,” she breathed as she worked her way onto me.

  “Fuck,” I breathed. She was hot and wet and tight and fucking perfect.

  I never knew it could feel like this with nothing between us.

  “Okay?” she asked me.

  I frowned. “I’ve got my girl on my dick. I don’t want to be anywhere fucking else.”

  I gripped her hips then lifted her up, pressed her back down. Then she took over, rocking and lifting, setting her sneaker-clad feet on the step to get leverage.

  “Holy fuck, princess,” I said, dying of pleasure.

  I pushed up her t-shirt, and she lifted her arms long enough for me to toss it away. Then I worked her sports bra up over her tits, and I took one in my mouth. Her pussy clamped down, and she groaned.

  We didn’t last, this frantic fuck what we both needed. This wasn’t what she’d have had with Larry. While this was straight up fucking, it was also a connection. She was right there with me. An even exchange. I was taking her bare. As she came all over me, coating me in her cream, I couldn’t hold back and came deep inside her.

  Making her mine. Fucking marking her. I was a Neanderthal, but I didn’t give a shit. All I could do was say, “Mine.”

  25

  HARPER

  “Stay by my side the entire time,” Reed said. Again. “I hate this, Quake, just so you know. She shouldn’t fucking be here.”

  We were in the parking lot of a vacant strip mall on the north side of Denver. Quake had called Reed this morning and told us about the meet up he’d arranged with Randy. We’d caught up with Quake and his son, Frankie, at the diner then followed them to this meeting spot.

  “Noted,” Quake replied, leaning against the hood of his SUV.

  We weren’t meeting for drinks. This wasn’t some kind of work happy hour. This was how criminals got together. Although I didn’t know enough about Quake to call him a criminal. Like he’d said, he had friends in low places. I couldn’t judge him so harshly or at all when he was helping me. I couldn’t understand what he got out of this, but I wasn’t going to question.

  I glanced around. The lot was deserted but public and on a busy street. No one was going to shoot each other—I hoped—in broad daylight with cars going by. I was still nervous and internally, I was freaking out. The guy we were waiting for had been the one to give me nightmares ever since he’d had his men try to kidnap me. I’d been trying to avoid him, and now I was intentionally going to face him.

  Quake pushed off his SUV and came to stand beside me as a black Cadillac pulled in and parked. Randy got out along with two guys. Guys I immediately recognized.

  I sucked in a breath and felt the adrenaline dump, remembering what they’d done.

  The usually sunny Colorado sky had a layer of clouds that covered the sun. I shivered in my heavy puffy coat. With shaky fingers, I tucked my hat down lower on my head. Reed took my hand in his and gave it a squeeze. He was so warm. So calm. I had to wonder if he was afraid of anything.

  “Those… those are the two,” I whispered.

  Quake stood on the other side of me. I was flanked by the president of an MC and a professional MMA fighter.

  “Those two did what, doll?” Quake asked.

  I couldn’t tear my eyes away from those men. God. I saw them in my sleep. “From the hotel elevator two years ago.”

  “They’re the ones?” Reed asked. This time, he squeezed my hand, and it wasn’t for me. It was because he was pissed.

  “Easy,” Quake murmured. “Let’s get through this meeting. Frankie will take care of them.”

  “With pleasure,” he said, dark promise lacing the words.

  I leaned around Quake to look at Frankie. He was around my age with dark curly hair and the palest blue eyes I’d ever seen. He had the lean, long legged physique of a runner. He was an inch or so shorter than his father, and the way he eyed Randy and his men, I assumed just as ruthless. He gave me a wink then put on the neutral mask that Quake and Reed both wore.

  We stood in front of Reed’s pickup and waited for them to approach. They stopped about ten feet away, and I felt like I was in a cowboy standoff.

  “So, Harper Lane,” Randy said. “We’ve been looking for you.”

  “Don’t know why,” Reed replied before I could even open my mouth. “She’s got nothing to do with you.”

  All I could think of—besides freaking out—was that Randy had a Napoleon complex. He was shorter than me, his hairline receding probably at the same pace as his gut was growing. He was in his early forties, and he looked like the kind of guy who kicked puppies for fun.

  “She’s got something I want.” His sleazy gaze raked over me, and I didn’t miss the fact that he was talking about more than money.

  I tugged on Reed’s hand when I felt him coil up to strike. While he was good with his hands, he couldn’t punch his way out of a gun fight.

  “Easy,” Quake murmured as Randy grinned, knowing his words had hit their target.

  Reed gritted his teeth and said, “You want her brother.”

  “I want her money.”

  “I don’t have it,” I said.

  He looked from Reed to me, pinned me with a stare as cold as the January weather.

  “Your brother said you did.”

  “I figured you to be smarter than trusting a little shit like Cam Lane,” Quake said, crossing his arms over his chest. Even though it was hovering around freezing, he wasn’t wearing a coat.

  Randy’s cheeks flushed with anger.

  “She doesn’t have the money,” Quake repeated. “Cam’s wrong.”

  I reached into my coat pocket, held up a folded piece of paper. “Here.”

  Reed grabbed my elbow thinking I was going to go over to Randy and hand it to him. As if.

  I opened it, read the letter. “Dear Mr. Randolph,” I began. I flicked my gaze up to Randy, then back to the email I’d received for my sizable donation in his name. “Thank you for your generous contribution. Your check for fifty thousand dollars will be a huge help in supporting the women and children of the community in receiving the support they need in leaving domestic violence or other unsafe family situations. You are a true hero in our community.”

  I stopped there, looked to Randy again. His fists were clenched tight. If looks could kill and all that. “You gave all that money away?”

  “You did,” I countered.

  “Real nice of you to think of others,” Reed said.

  “A fucking hero,” Quake added with a laugh, not the least bit concerned about Randy’s anger.

  Randy reached out, opened and closed his fingers. “Let me see that.”

  I handed it to Quake who moved to give it to Randy. The guy scanned the paper then crumpled it in his fist.

  “That money has kept your brother alive. Cam Lane is now a dead man.”

  It was just as I’d thought. What I’d told the men at the diner the other day. The best intimidation a guy like Randy had was threatening the life of a loved one.

  I took a deep breath, let it
out. Randy wasn’t a threat to me any longer. And Cam? That was something else and not my problem.

  “You think she gives a shit about her brother?” Reed asked. “He gave her to you. The fact she got away proves she’s a better fighter than those two. You should be fucking glad I didn’t pull them from their car in the gym’s parking lot and finish them myself.” Reed tipped his chin up indicating the guys from the elevator. They fidgeted on the pavement but didn’t deny what they’d done or that they were a little afraid of Reed.

  “She’s under my protection,” Quake told Randy, his words slow and clear. “If you or your men so much as look her way ever again, we’re going to have problems.”

  Randy’s beady eyes flicked over me then away.

  “She’s a fucking professor,” Quake continued. “Not even in your league. Look at her man beside her. You think he’s going to let this shit continue?”

  Randy grunted. “I want your brother.”

  “We have to get him for you?” Reed asked.

  “From what I hear, he’s hiding out with Mommy and Daddy.” Randy looked pointedly at me. “Might have to stop in and visit them all.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. Every one of them looked to me. “Mommy and Daddy like Cam a whole lot better than me. Tell them I said hi.”

  “Here’s the deal, Randy,” Reed began. “You leave Harper alone, and we’ll let you keep your thumb up your ass where Cam’s concerned. We’ll give you a fucking trade when all I want to do is break your face.”

  Randy arched a brow but kept his mouth shut.

  This was part of the plan. Me for Cam.

  Reed turned me to face him and set his hands on my shoulders. I looked into his dark eyes and just… breathed. I was safe with him. With his touch, his heat seeping into me, I knew nothing was going to go wrong.

  “Call him,” he said, his voice gentle. For me. Only me. “Tell him you give up and will give him the money. The gym.” He glanced at Randy. “Your guys know where it is since they’ve been camping out. I want to see that asshole taken away.”