Spurs (Bad Boy Burnetts Book 1)
Page 1
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright © 2016 by Lola Rivera / Night Works Books, LLC
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
About Lola
Lola’s Backlist
SPURS
Bad Boy Burnetts
Book One
By
Lola Rivera
Night Works Books
College Station, Texas
Copyright © 2016 by Lola Rivera / Night Works Books, LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
Night Works Books
3515-B Longmire Drive #103
College Station, Texas 77845
www.roxierivera.com/lola-rivera
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Previously Published as SPURS. Revised and Expanded.
Cover Photo © 2016 Melody Simmons / eBook Indie Covers
SPURS (Wild, Wicked Burnetts #1) / Lola Rivera – 1st Edition
Chapter One
Daphne’s stomach quivered at the metallic jangle of spurs and heavy boots on the wooden floorboards. For the rest of her life that sound would conjure only one image in her mind: Cord Burnett, the sexiest, most drop dead gorgeous cowboy she’d ever seen.
Growing up in Houston, Daphne had attended the world famous livestock show and rodeo every year of her life. She had seen—and lusted after—her fair share of cattlemen but never had any of them compared to Cord.
From the moment she’d clapped eyes on him, she’d just known he was the man for her. Unfortunately it didn’t seem as if Cord shared her sentiments.
She tried not to dwell on that miserable fact as he drew near. Instead she settled deeper in the corner of the comfy sofa and pretended to be engrossed by the article on gravitational waves in her scientific journal. The footsteps came closer, the jingling spurs surprisingly noisy in the empty ranch house.
When Cord drew near, Daphne’s entire body flared with awareness. He was so close his body heat penetrated her arm and the side of her face. As he moved around to stand in front of the couch, his smell filled her nose. Leather. Sweat. Horses.
If only she could bottle it and keep it for those lonely nights she’d soon face once she left his ranch.
“Where is everybody?”
His gruff voice shook her to the very core. She looked up slowly, savoring every second of raking her eyes over his dusty, muscular form. Those piercing blue eyes made her shiver. His square jaw with its five o’clock shadow lent him a roguish look. The Stetson sitting atop his head hid most of his prematurely graying hair. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to be wrapped up in those big, strong forearms.
Shaking off her momentary enthrallment, Daphne met his gaze. “Kate and Derek decided to drive into Austin for the weekend. They won’t be back until Monday morning.”
She noted the smallest tic in Cord’s jaw. He had done his best to avoid her during her two week visit to his ranch. “Why the hell did they leave you behind? Surely you’d rather be on 6th Street than stuck here on this dusty old place.”
God, he really was blind. He didn’t see it. How could he not see it?
“I’m not big on the bar scene. I wanted to stay here.” With you, she left unsaid.
His expression turned skeptical. “I don’t know why.”
She had never imagined his dislike of her ran so deep. The knowledge he couldn’t stand to be alone with her stung painfully. Daphne looked away, not wanting him to see the hurt in her eyes.
“I made dinner but don’t feel obligated to try it.” She tried to make light of the situation with an impish smile. “I’m not known for my cooking skills.”
Cord’s expression softened a bit. “I’m sure it’s just fine. I need a shower first.” He gestured to his filthy clothing. “Half an hour okay?”
“Sure.” Her gaze drifted to his backside as he walked away from her. She had never seen such a perfect ass. The denim stretched taut across his butt only exaggerated its perfection. It was all she could do some days not to reach out and swat it.
What would Cord do if she did such a wild and brazen thing? She doubted he would be very impressed. He would probably do something shocking and old school and toss her across his lap and spank her bottom while muttering things about ladylike behavior.
Not wanting to be carried away by those types of salacious thoughts, Daphne dropped the magazine onto her lap and leaned her head back against the sofa cushion. She buried her face in her hands and tried not to cry or shout with frustration.
When her best friend and soon-to-be sister-in-law Kate had first floated the idea of this visit, Daphne hadn’t been very excited. Three weeks on a cattle ranch? It wasn’t her idea of a relaxing vacation, but her brother had pushed and Kate had cajoled and somehow Daphne found herself tossing her favorite clothes into her Pégase Légère and agreeing to come out to the middle of nowhere.
Kate had been so excited to bring Daphne and Derek out to the sprawling ranch where she had spent her childhood. Orphaned at seven, she had been raised by her older brothers Cord, Logan and Jay. She had run away from the ranch at her first chance for the big city and had never looked back. Now that she was engaged to Derek, she would have the cosmopolitan life she had always wanted.
Unlike Kate, Daphne and her brother Derek had led a rather cushy life in Houston. They had both attended the best private schools and had both graduated from top notch universities. Derek now worked with their father and was being groomed to take over the family business. Marrying Kate in the spring was just the next step on the path their parents had laid out for him almost as soon as he had been conceived.
Daphne, on the other hand, was wandering far from that path. A PhD in astrophysics wasn’t exactly what her mother had planned for her. She was supposed to go to SMU, rush a sorority and get her Mrs. Degree before coming back to Houston to host galas and fundraisers and sit on charity boards and join her mother with the ladies-who-lunch crowd.
These days bagging a blue-blooded husband with high earning potential and the “right” connections was the last thing on Daphne’s mind. She needed space, some time to decompress after four years of studying astrophysics. She had been planning to run away to Europe with her cousin Lara, but Kate’s invitation to visit the ranch had been a perfect substitute.
Until she’d met Cord and all her plans were shot to hell.
Falling in lust with her best friend’s oldest brother had to be the very worst thing she had ever done. Not that she had any control over it, of course. It had simply happened. One look at that rough, raw man and she was gone. She smiled wryly at the irony of her situation. Generally she had to beat men off with a stick but the only man she had ever craved wanted nothing to do with her.
Annoyed, Daphne tossed the magazine onto the coffee table. She heard Cord’s bedroom door close and almost i
nstantly the naughty images started. In her mind, Cord undressed slowly, stripping out of those dirty, dusty clothes and revealing inch after delicious inch of tanned, toned body. His thick cock stood at attention. He stroked the length of his rock hard shaft as he pointed to floor in front of him. She hurried to comply, kneeling at his feet and staring up at him with such hunger. She desperately wanted to taste his cum, to suck his cock and hear him groan with pleasure.
As Daphne entertained her filthy fantasy, she allowed her hands lift up the fabric of her long skirt. Her fingers slid inside her panties and between the lips of her throbbing sex. Eyes closed, she imagined Cord’s cock in her mouth as she stroked her clit. The little pearl begged for attention. She flicked her fingers over it as she enjoyed the fantasy of Cord pressing his cock between her wet lips. His phantom fingers tightened in her hair as he pumped his hips and fucked her mouth just the way she wanted. He breathed heavily as he neared his climax.
The excitement of behaving so wantonly and of risking Cord finding her masturbating on his living room couch only made Daphne hotter. As imaginary Cord came in her mouth, she slid her fingers inside her slick channel and thrust them against that spot that made her toes curl. No lover had ever been able to bring her to climax but she’d never had a problem achieving the Big O on her own.
With such a dirty fantasy racing through her mind, Daphne had no problem coming now either. She pinched her nipples through the thin fabric of her dress and strummed her clit with her thumb. Mouth open but no noise issuing forth, Daphne came hard.
She might not be able to have Cord in real life, but in the realm of her fantasies, that man was all hers.
Chapter Two
Cord cursed his rotten luck as he stood beneath the pounding spray of his shower head. Of all the times for Kate to run off with her fiancé for a weekend in Austin! Being alone with Daphne was going to kill him.
For the last twelve days, he had walked around with a permanent hard-on. The second Daphne had stepped out of her brother’s SUV that hot Saturday afternoon he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind. A stiff breeze had kicked up her blue skirt and bared a tantalizing glimpse of brown thigh and baby blue panties. He had tried to do the decent thing and look away but it had proven impossible.
Then she had yelped, a high pitched squeal of surprise that had driven him crazy with the dirtiest thoughts. He could think of a dozen different ways to cause Daphne to make that sound again. As she had walked toward the house, he’d prayed for another gust of wind, another peek of those cotton panties—and felt like a huge pervert.
Daphne was way out of his league. Hair as black as the coffee he drank every morning. Silky skin the deep, rich, life-giving color of the land he worked every day. Dark eyes that seemed deep and endless as the skies she studied.
And those curves! Daphne was obviously a girl who enjoyed a good meal and understood that some men—men like him—wanted their women soft and round and full. She was brilliant, beautiful, disgustingly rich, and young—twenty-five to his thirty-four. Too young for a rough old bastard like himself.
But even knowing all that Cord couldn’t stop the fantasies. He hadn’t been prone to wet dreams in ages but having Daphne just a few doors down had driven him to the point of insanity. He had washed an alarming amount of laundry over the last few days. No matter how hard he tried not to think of Daphne, his cock seemed to override his wishes.
In his dreams, he could have her any way he wanted. Over him, under him, bent over the kitchen table—his dream self had fucked Daphne six ways to Sunday. Even now he ached for her.
Desperate for relief, he stroked the rigid length of his soapy cock. He fisted the head and fondled his sac. If he closed his eyes and concentrated, Cord could practically taste her. He yearned to bury his face in her sweet pussy. He could hear her shrieking his name as she came against his lips. He wanted to lap at her like a hungry bear, to swallow every last drop of honey leaking from her core.
And then he’d shove his fat cock inside that tight pussy. He would give her the ride of a lifetime, pound her right into the mattress until she begged for mercy. Maybe he would tie her up first, bind her wrists and ankles so she wouldn’t be able to do anything but wiggle that big, thick ass he wanted to swat.
With a strangled groan, Cord came all over his hand. He leaned against the tile and caught his breath. Shame filtered through him. It wasn’t right to fantasize about her like that. She wasn’t some pinup intended to fuel his dirty thoughts. She was a brilliant, beautiful young woman who deserved to be treated with respect.
Growling and frustrated, Cord switched off the water and reached for a towel. He stared angrily at his treacherous cock and warned it to behave. He had taken the edge off with that jerkoff session. Hopefully it would be enough to tide him over through dinner and the rest of the evening without Kate and Derek as a buffer. He didn’t know how he’d make it until Monday. He’d have to just get through it, he supposed.
But Daphne was just so goddamn gorgeous and alluring he accepted it was probably futile.
It killed him to be rude to her but avoiding her and acting as if he couldn’t stand her was the only way to maintain his sanity. He couldn’t have Daphne, not in this lifetime. She was the kind of girl meant for a specific kind of man, namely a CEO with piles of cash and a bloodline to rival his best bull, but definitely not some rough and tumble rancher with a bachelor’s degree from a state university. He couldn’t compare to the men who moved in her privileged circles. To entertain any hopes outside the realm of reality was simply masochistic.
So he would steel his jaw and get through the weekend. If being near her proved too tempting, he would drive into town and visit one of his standbys. There were a handful of women willing to let him spend the night.
Or he could always stop by the Rocking R for a drink. Meeting a woman there wouldn’t be difficult. Maybe that was exactly what he needed: a wild night with a nameless woman to clear his head. Daphne wasn’t the only sexy woman in existence.
He’d done just fine without her all these years.
This was all just a passing infatuation. Wasn’t it?
Cord caught sight of his reflection in the foggy mirror. You lying ass bastard. This ain’t no passing infatuation.
With a sigh, he gripped the counter and leaned forward, dropping his head and shoulders with resignation. There were no two ways about it. He was right and truly fucked.
You can’t have this girl. He couldn’t. He just couldn’t. She was going to be his sister-in-law by Christmas. Daphne’s brother was in love with Cord’s baby sister. They were going to get married, buy a mansion in Houston and live happily ever after.
If he messed around with Daphne, he would be putting Kate’s future happiness at risk. He cringed just thinking about the awkwardness that would ensue if a tumble with Daphne turned into a messy situation of hurt feelings or worse.
Kate had suffered enough in her young life. She deserved her dream wedding to this man who loved and respected her. Cord couldn’t be the cause of friction and pain that would mar her big day.
Gritting his teeth, Cord decided he would do what he had always done. He would put his siblings first and his needs and desires last. It was the right thing to do.
Even if it felt like a knife to the gut…
Chapter Three
Daphne held her breath as Cord took the first tentative bite of the pasta dish she had prepared. She hadn’t been joking about her cooking skills. She had grown up in fully staffed households with a personal chef. Learning to whip up a home cooked meal hadn’t even crossed her mind until her first semester at college.
Thankfully Kate had taught her some of the more important skills she had failed to develop over the years. Things like cooking, cleaning, ironing. Basic skills she really needed but had never been taught. They had actually become friends over their shared microwave and contraband hot plate.
“It’s good,” Cord declared, his voice carrying a hint of surprise.
They sat on opposite ends of the dining table. Despite the distance, Daphne could smell the brisk cedar scent that always seemed to cling to him. She yearned to bury her nose against his neck and inhale the smell deep into her lungs. She wanted to press close to him, press her breasts against his hard, masculine chest and lick at the curve of his throat.
They had been eating in silence for a few minutes when Cord finally spoke. “I was thinking of driving into town later.”
Hope swelled inside her. She grinned at him. “Really? Well, maybe we could see a movie or something.”
Cord’s face tightened. “I meant alone.”
“Oh.” Embarrassment burned her face. The brief happiness she had experienced at his compliment earlier collapsed. “Sorry,” she apologized hastily with a bashful smile. “I should have let you finish before I interrupted.”
“No, I should have been clear.” He paused before reluctantly adding, “You can come, I guess.”
“No, thanks.” She faked a disinterested smile. “I should probably catch up on some reading and return emails.”
“If you’re sure…”
“I’m sure.” Having murderous thoughts, she stabbed her fork into the pasta. The last thing she needed was a pity date. She had never begged a man to take her out and she wasn’t to start with this cantankerous cowboy. A little worried about being alone out here in the middle of nowhere with only the ranch hands who lived a mile away in the bunkhouse for protection, she asked, “Will you be gone long?”
He looked uncomfortable. “Well,” he drawled out in that utterly Texan way of his, “I was thinking of having a drink at the Rockin’ R so I may not be home tonight.”
A drink? No. A fuck. That’s what he meant. He was going into town to find a one-night stand. Pain lanced her gut at the thought of him with another woman. Prettier. Thinner. Taller. Someone with a sweet country smile and a gentle heart.