Tease Me, Cowboy (Montana Born Rodeo Book 1)
Page 9
If he hadn’t been such a fool last night, he and Selah could have been in bed now. Instead, she was dancing with Jake Kohl. As Jake’s hands moved lower on Selah’s waist, something inside Levi snapped. Just because they might not have forever, didn’t mean they couldn’t have one night. No way did he want Jake getting what she’d offered him first.
Peeling the arm of one of the girls from around his neck, he strode through the dancers, over to Jake and Selah.
“Can I cut in?” he asked, tapping Jake on the shoulder, prepared for a fight if he refused.
The singer looked shocked and stepped back, and by the time he seemed to register what had happened, Levi already had his arms around Selah, and no way was he letting go.
“Levi?” Selah looked questioningly into his eyes as he danced her away from the crowd. “What’s going on?”
“I thought you wanted to fuck me,” he hissed. Raw lust combined with frustration and jealousy had caused him to repeat the exact words she’d used to proposition him on Friday morning.
Her eyes widened, and he saw the muscles in her slender neck move as if she’d swallowed. Yet when she spoke, she held her chin high. “Yes, that is what I want.”
“Then what are you doing in Jake Kohl’s arms?” he asked gruffly.
She tipped her head to one side. “Your actions last night told me you weren’t interested.”
“Damn it, Selah, I was trying to teach you a lesson. You made my balls blue in high school by refusing to sleep with me. I thought maybe I’d give you a little of your own medicine,” he told her, shocked by his own raw admission.
She was silent for a few moments, and then she laughed. “So you do still find me attractive?”
He groaned and rested his forehead on hers, and his hands slid down to cup her butt. “There’s no woman on this planet that makes me as hard as you do.”
“Really?”
In reply, he kissed her forcefully on the lips, his cock tightening with the feel of her body once again pressed up against his. “Is your offer still open?”
“Oh, yeah, it most definitely is.” She sounded breathless, and the thought of what else he could do to make her sound that way set him on fire.
“Then let’s get out of here.” Levi grabbed her hand, and not stopping to say goodbye or talk to anyone, they hightailed it out of the party area. They established they’d both walked to Main Street for the dinner and dance and that her room at The Graff was closer than his trailer at the rodeo grounds. Although, the way he felt right now, he’d have taken her up against the wall in an alley if there hadn’t been another option.
Judging by the way she ran alongside him, the way she all but slammed her fist against the up button when they reached the elevator and the way she threw herself against him once inside it, he felt fairly confident Selah felt the same way.
“This isn’t going to be a repeat of last night?” she asked, pulling back from his kisses as the door to the elevator pinged open on her floor. “Because that was just cruel, and if you try it again, I might actually kill you.”
Chuckling, he tugged her out of the elevator and yanked her against him once again, taking delicious liberties as he ran his hands up her body to cup her face. “Sugar, I’d kill myself. Now where’s your room key?”
Chapter Eight
‡
Sex with Levi. Sex with Levi. Holy hell, she was finally going to have sex with Levi. What was it that Marly had said about luck sometimes changing in an instant? Selah grinned, feeling like the cat who was about to meet the cream. Jake Kohl was a sweet guy, undeniably cute if you liked the shaggy-musician look, but all the while she’d been dancing with him, all she’d been thinking about was Levi.
Her heart raced as she fumbled in her oversize bag—she’d had to carry her camera as well—to find her room card. Images from that afternoon when Levi had been riding the mammoth bull flashed through her head, causing another wave of desire to sweep over her as she anticipated him riding her instead.
“Here, let me help.” Levi all but snatched the bag from her grip and then peered inside. “Bingo.” He held the card up as if he’d just conjured it from nowhere, unlocked the door and pushed it open.
This time Selah grabbed his hand and pulled him inside, kicking the door shut behind him before he could have second thoughts. “No escaping now,” she said, giving him a reproving glare as they stood staring at each other.
“I wouldn’t dare.” Levi took a step toward her, closing the gap that hadn’t been that big in the first place.
Her mouth went dry at the ravenous expression on his face as his gaze swept over her. Aiming to keep things light, she said, “If I had a scarf, I’d tie you to the bed to make sure.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “I never knew you were such a bad girl, but if we’re going to play that game, rest assured I’ll be the one tying you up. Is that what you want, baby?”
Light went by the wayside as the idea of Levi dominating her made her pelvic floor quiver. It was on the tip of her tongue to say yes, this was a fantasy after all. She wanted Levi to give her what no other man had, but then she remembered the lingerie she’d bought especially for this moment.
“Maybe.” She held up her hands, flattening her palms against his chest. “But hold that thought a moment, I need to…” What? If she told him about her underwear, it would ruin the effect. “Freshen up,” she said instead.
“Selah.” His hands landed on her hips, and she felt his hot breath on her forehead as he looked down at her. “You’re perfect as you are. We don’t need scarves, we don’t need games and if you insist on freshening up, then let’s do it together.”
“You mean…” She licked her lips, imagining.
He nodded as his fingers started on the top button of her shirt. “I’ve heard the showers here are something else, or we could test out the spa?”
Although not at all rough, he worked fast, and before she could reply, he’d slipped her shirt down over her shoulders. She shivered, more with anticipation than nerves, as he looked his fill at her breasts. Her nipples tightened, and she knew they were poking through her bra, announcing her desire, but she couldn’t give a damn. She just wanted him to touch them. Preferably with his tongue.
As if a mind reader, Levi reached around to unclip her bra. She shrugged her shoulders, and as it fell to the floor, he swept his palms over her bare décolletage and then down over her breasts. Her breath caught in her throat as his thumbs teased her hard nubs. She groaned, already so hot for him she felt unsteady on her feet.
“I missed this,” he uttered, before lowering his head and taking one of her burning nipples in his mouth.
“Oh, God.” So had she. As he swirled his tongue around the nub, his hands moving up and down her back, Selah wondered how she’d ever resisted him. They’d gone this far all those years ago. She’d even given him a hand job a couple of times, but she’d always made an excuse before they’d gone the whole way. Fear had ruled back then, but this time she was a grown woman who no longer wanted to ignore her needs.
And she needed Levi. She needed his mouth and hands on her bare skin. She needed to feel him moving inside her in the way she’d dreamed of all these years.
Giving her exactly what she needed, he slid his hand down into the front of her jeans, causing her to cry out as he breached her cotton panties as well. He held her there a moment, his palm pressed tightly against her sex. If he’d ever had any doubt about what she felt for him, there would be none now.
“You’re so hot, so wet.” Cockiness soaked his words as he slipped one finger inside her. Embarrassingly, it wasn’t long before she was panting and writhing beneath his magic touch.
She was so damn close to the edge, but she put her hand on Levi’s, halting him. He looked at her, his cocky grin slipping for a second. “You okay?”
She nodded, barely able to form the words to answer. “More than. But I want us to do this together.”
Reaching out, she yanked his shirt out
from his jeans and tugged it up over his head. Kissing, their fingers tangling in each other’s hair, Levi walked her back toward the bed until she tumbled down on it. She watched, overcome with lust and admiration as he quickly rid himself of his boots, jeans and underwear. Last time she’d seen him without his shirt, he’d been gorgeous, but the years had been kind to him, and now gorgeous didn’t come close to doing him justice. He’d filled out, his chest wider, his shoulders broader, and he had a delicious smattering of ginger hair in all the right places. She followed the trail of hair downward and swallowed at the sight. Oh, yeah, Levi Monroe had grown up.
When he knelt in front of her on the bed, she realized it would have saved time if she’d undressed herself while he’d been busy, but Levi seemed quite happy to do the honors, and Selah relished the feeling of being unwrapped by him. He tugged off her cowgirl boots, hurling one and then the other over his shoulder, before unbuckling her belt and peeling her jeans and panties down her legs.
He looked his fill down her naked body and then joined her on the bed. His work-muscular, gorgeous body hovering over hers, he grinned down at her and then kissed her hard. Although she was more than ready to do this, Levi seemed intent on making it last. He kissed and caressed her all over, driving her more and more insane, making her more and more desperate, before he finally left her just long enough to grab a condom from his wallet.
Then he was looming over her, as wild, rugged and big as the beast he’d conquered in the arena that afternoon. Yet, his gaze was incredibly tender as he looked down at her, stroked his fingers through her hair and then cupped her cheek.
“Have I told you how gorgeous you are?” he asked.
She smiled up at him. “Not in those exact words. But let’s not waste time talking now. Why don’t you show me instead, Levi?”
And so he did.
He brought his lips down on hers at the same moment as he thrust into her. Selah clung to him, her hands pressed against his buttocks as she urged him on to go faster, harder. It wasn’t long before she felt her orgasm rising again, and Levi’s breathing changed, indicating he was just as close. They came together, their hearts pounding in time and smiles spread right across their faces.
Levi was right, Selah thought. They didn’t need anything but the two of them.
*
“Wake up, sleepyhead.”
At the sound of Selah’s soft voice, Levi opened his eyes to find light blaring in through the cracks in the curtains and Selah gazing down at him, her sweet smile the best wake-up call ever.
“Hey.” He pulled her down into his arms. Snuggling close, she rested her head against his chest, and he kissed the top of her head, that tantalizing scent penetrating his senses. “What is that?”
“What?”
He inhaled deeply, smiled and ran his fingers through her long, silky hair. “You smell incredible. I noticed it the other day when you were in my truck as well.”
She laughed. “Must be my shampoo. It’s called Cotton Candy and is designed by a friend of mine in Seattle who has a small business making skin care and hair care.”
“It makes me want to eat you up.”
Again, her laughter wrapped around him like sunshine, and he couldn’t help himself. He reached out and put his thumb under her chin, gently turning her head so he could cover her mouth with his. She was like a drug, an addiction, the more he had, the more he wanted. Her fingers slipped into his hair as she rolled toward him and gave herself wholeheartedly to their kiss.
It didn’t take long for things to get heated. Again. They were already naked, and his morning hard-on pressed against her soft belly, desperate for release. Selah wrapped her hand around its length as she climbed on top of him. He had the best view ever—her perfect breasts bobbing up and down slightly—as she worked her hand, teasing him. He couldn’t help but touch them. They fit perfectly in his hands, and he loved her moans when he flicked his thumbs across her nipples.
He was close to the edge, and she knew it. “Are there any condoms left?” she asked, her tone desperate.
He’d lost count of the number of times they’d taken each other throughout the night. The two condoms he kept in his wallet were long gone, but thank God Troy Sheenan was a man of the world and stocked condoms in the minibar.
Taking his hands off of her for merely a second, Levi grabbed their last foil packet off the bedside table. He handed it to Selah, grinned as she ripped it open with her teeth and groaned when she slid it down over his cock.
Then, she repositioned herself above him and rode him.
As he came down from what was undeniably the best sex of his life, Levi held Selah against him and realized this was it. The end of their amazing night together. The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth and a pain in his chest.
He didn’t want to climb out of bed and leave her. Suddenly, winning All-Around Cowboy didn’t seem half as important as making love with her again, but they’d run out of condoms, and going without would lead them into territory neither of them had agreed to go.
“I guess we’d better get ready,” Selah whispered, not lifting her head from where it rested on his shoulder. Was she as reluctant as he was to end this thing? “You wouldn’t want to miss your events after the success you had yesterday.”
Right now he didn’t give a damn about his events, but they couldn’t stay holed up in this fantasy land forever. No matter how much he wanted to, Selah was only in Marietta temporarily, and she’d only ever offered one night.
He groaned. “Suppose so. Are you gonna watch me today?”
Starting to climb off of him, she looked down and smiled. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’ll be the one cheering the loudest. Do you need a shower before you head back to the grounds?”
“Will you be having one, too?”
“I wouldn’t function without my morning shower. And considering the amount of sleep we got last night—or, rather, didn’t get—I think today I need it more than ever.”
Levi climbed out of bed. “In that case, we should be water wise and share.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Selah’s lips curved up into an irresistible grin as she turned and padded toward the en suite.
Although they didn’t have another condom, they were inventive beneath the hot shards of water, and Levi knew he’d never have another shower as rewarding as this one. So much for water wise…they stayed in there, washing each other until the water ran cold, and then they toweled each other dry, stealing kisses as they dressed. Although there were plenty of places to eat in town, they ordered room service, talking, laughing and kissing some more as they ate.
And when it was time to go, Levi felt a strange kind of anxiety he’d never felt before when saying goodbye to a woman. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her if she’d still be around that night, if she wanted to have dinner with him after the rodeo was over, but common sense saved him in the nick of time. After dinner on Friday night and the conversations they’d shared in the early hours of the morning between episodes of hot sex, assumptions he’d made about her had been busted. Although she lived and worked in the city, she wasn’t stuck-up, as he’d imagined, and he already liked her way more than he should. Spending more time with her would have been dangerous.
“I’ll drive you to the rodeo grounds if you like,” Selah said, as she packed her handbag with the things she’d need for the day. She sounded so carefree, so totally unaffected by the knowledge that this was the end of what they’d shared.
“What if someone sees us?” he asked, tugging on his boots.
She shrugged and tossed him one of her flirty smiles. “Good for them. I no longer care what people think about me, Levi. If they wanna talk about us, let them.”
He wasn’t gonna argue with that. If she was happy to be his girl for the day, he’d take it. To hell with the pain, he’d deal with losing her again tomorrow.
“Let’s do this.” Levi wrapped his arm around Selah and pulled her to his side as they lef
t her hotel room and walked to her rental in The Graff parking lot. He kept his hand on her knee as she drove, and when they arrived at the grounds, he kissed her on the lips—hoping it wouldn’t be the last time—before heading off to his trailer and his horse.
*
What had she done?
Selah managed to keep herself together until Levi was out of sight, and then she made a mad dash to the public restroom. She closed the door behind her, slammed the lid of the toilet down and then plonked herself on top of it. Right away, tears sprang from her eyes.
She wanted to feel happy today, to be able to bask in the memories of the hottest night of her life, but who had she been trying to fool? In hindsight, the reason she’d regretted not sleeping with Levi the first time was that she’d wished for that one memory to cling to. But now that she had it, it would torture her forever. She wasn’t a one-night stand kind of girl, but to have one with Levi—the only man she’d never been able to forget—had to have been the dumbest thing she’d done in her life. That thought was interrupted by the buzzing of her cell phone somewhere in the depths of her bag.
With a sigh, Selah dug it out and glanced at the caller ID. Chelsea. No doubt, her friend had seen her rush off with Levi last night and wanted details. She let the call go to voice mail and tossed her cell back in her bag. The last thing she felt like doing now was spilling the beans on her amazing night with Levi. Reliving it, saying it aloud to her friends—even if only the bare minimum—would make her too sad, and she didn’t want to be sad today. She wanted to pick herself up, powder her nose and hope like hell that when she left the restroom, nobody would be able to tell she’d been crying.
She wanted to watch Levi in his events, to cheer him on at the top of her lungs, to maybe pretend for a moment that being with him was real. With that thought, Selah pulled herself together and went back to join the crowds gathering for the Sunday afternoon events.
“Hey, sexy.” She was approaching the arena when a deep voice called to her from off to one side. Although she didn’t see the owner of the voice at first, her insides twisted at the sound, her whole body reacting in recognition.