Under a Rodeo Moon

by Roni Adams

  She ripped the package with her teeth. “Are you really going to question this right now?”

  He watched as she leaned forward and brushed a kiss on the head of his erection. He groaned and closed his eyes. No, now wasn’t the time to wonder about anything except being with her again. Carrie’s lips wrapped around his hardness and his breath caught. She knew damn well that kissing him there drove him crazy. Dusty closed his eyes and let the pleasure roll over him.

  “Carrie,” he groaned.

  With one last swirl of her tongue, she slipped the condom over him and settled him between her legs. Dusty felt as if he’d come back to heaven as her softness closed around him. He grabbed her hips and held her still as he bucked up under her, driving himself as deep as he could go.

  Carrie flung her head back and closed her eyes. He set the pace, but she wiggled and moved along with him, and he knew it was exactly what she wanted. Within seconds she was screaming out his name and trembling, and Dusty drove himself harder up and into her as she exploded. Seconds later, he joined her.

  Carrie fell to his chest, her body shaking and her heart beating a wild rhythm against his own. Dusty wrapped her in his arms. He cupped her round bottom, holding her, not wanting to break the connection they shared. Never again. That’s what kept racing through his mind. He was never letting this woman get away from him again no matter what he had to do.

  Carrie watched him sleep. No matter how tough he tried to be, she knew he was worn out. Dusty had never made love to her only once and then fallen asleep. He wasn’t satisfied until he’d made her lose her mind and all control at least twice or even three times.

  Now, snuggled against him, she was scared to death. The image of the bull charging him played over and over in her head, and she closed her eyes and kissed his chest. The bruises were there, but he claimed they didn’t hurt. He was going to ride again next week. It hadn’t taken her long to put all the puzzle pieces together. Dusty was riding not just to ride, but for the prize money to secure the ranch. It all made sense now, but it didn’t change the fact that even once he got the ranch, what then? Would he keep on riding? He’d told her he wasn’t going to retire for years yet. Had this last accident done anything to change that?

  She quietly slipped out of bed, surprised when he didn’t even notice. She grabbed her bathrobe and shut the door behind her. A quick glance at the clock on the living room wall showed it was close to seven. Picking up the coffee mugs and cookies, she headed to the small kitchenette. She’d either have to order take-out from the diner for supper or they’d have to go down there together. She didn’t have anything in the apartment, not even canned soup.

  In the kitchen, she turned off the forgotten coffeemaker and put the mugs in the sink. What if she bought the ranch? She froze. Where had that idea come from? It made sense, though. If she bought the property, Dusty wouldn’t have to come up with financing. If he really wanted it, and she knew what a proud man he was, he could make payments to her for as long as it took. Or if they ended up married, it would be theirs anyway. In the past, anytime she’d tried to do anything with her money, he’d put a stop to it right away. But what point was there in having money if she couldn’t do something with it? Buying a ranch and letting Dusty do what he wanted to do with it would be a good investment. Besides, she could move to the house and work on fixing it up.

  She’d just finished showering and was pulling on clean underwear when she caught Dusty watching her in the mirror. She turned to him. “Are you enjoying the show?”

  He lifted one eyebrow. “I’d enjoy it more if I could have seen you in the shower. All soapy and hot and...” He inhaled and closed his eyes. “God, that scent sets me on fire!”

  Carrie laughed, but continued getting dressed. “I was going to go down to the diner and get us some dinner. Anything in particular you want?”

  He nodded. “You. Back here in bed. I’ll start with dessert first. Got any whipped cream?”

  Carrie’s body flushed and instantly warmed to the idea. She remembered very well just how much he liked whipped cream. “I think you need to take it easy and rest. I’ll go get us some soup and sandwiches.”

  Dusty swung his legs over the side of the bed, and Carrie watched him stride naked across the room to the bathroom. “I’ll go down with you. Let’s eat down there.”

  That was the last thing she wanted to do. “Wouldn’t you rather eat up here, just the two of us?”

  Dusty came back out of the bathroom and picked up his boxers from the floor. “Honey, if we eat up here I’m just going to want to go back to bed with you and to be honest—and I hate admitting this—I think I do need to rest a bit. Especially because I fully intend to make love to you again before I go to sleep tonight.”

  Carrie dipped her head, still not happy with sitting in the diner with CoraBeth and Sam and everyone watching them. It was going to be bad enough when her friends got her alone. She didn’t want them embarrassing Dusty.

  He grabbed her chin, and she yelped, not knowing he’d even walked across the room.

  “Don’t tell me I have to fight off another boyfriend. I’m telling you, honey, it’s getting old. First the idiot in Houston, and now this sheriff.”

  Dusty’s tone was light, but his eyes flashed with anger. She grabbed his hand, drawing it to her mouth and kissing his palm. “It was only in your mind that you had to compete with anyone. Since the first second I laid eyes on you, there’s been no one else.”

  “You went to dinner with the sheriff and you were engaged to the other guy.”

  “I was engaged to Bob before you came along. I only went to dinner with the sheriff because you told me to go hell.”

  Dusty’s eyes softened and he wrapped his arms around her, crushing her head to his chest. Carrie clung to his waist, savoring the feel of his bare skin against her cheek. “Never again, babe, never again. I was such an idiot. I love you.”

  She lifted her head to see if he meant it.

  He nodded. “I mean it. I never stopped loving you and I never will. You drive me crazy and when you’re gone, I can’t even function.”

  Her heart felt lighter than it had in months and hope filled her. Maybe this time they really would make it all work out.

  He leaned down and kissed her, and she kissed him back, but then he set her away from him. “Maybe after dinner you can help me take a bath.”

  She tipped her head. “I thought you said you had to save your energy?”

  “I can’t get these stitches wet in the shower.”

  She smiled. “So I get to give you a sponge bath all over?” Her tongue slid along her lips.

  Dusty laughed and wagged his finger in her face. “We need to get some dinner, then dessert.”

  Downstairs, it took every ounce of willpower Carrie had not to help CoraBeth and the other waitress out. The only available booth was right in the middle of the restaurant, and while she’d have preferred something more private, she slid across the blue vinyl and looked up as CoraBeth set plastic tumblers of water in front of them.

  “Well, well, well.” The other woman placed her hands on her hip and studied both of them until Carrie looked away.

  “Hey, CoraBeth. Looks busy tonight.” Carrie picked up the plastic menu as if she needed to review the contents.

  “Heard you tangled with a bull Saturday night,” CoraBeth asked Dusty.

  He set his water down after half-finishing it. “Yes, ma’am. The bull won, unfortunately.”

  “Hmm, sorry to hear that.” She took her pad out of her apron pocket. “What can I get you?”

  Carrie glanced at the board over the counter that boasted the evening’s soup. “I’m going to have a cup of the navy bean soup and a hot turkey sandwich.”

  Dusty nodded. “I’ll have a cheeseburger, fries, and how about a chocolate milkshake?”

  CoraBeth finished writing the order down and turned to leave. She glanced back at Carrie. “Someone was in here asking for you about an hour ago.”

/>   Carrie saw Dusty’s jaw stiffen and she reached across the table to take his hand, making sure he knew she wasn’t trying to hide their relationship. “Thanks, CoraBeth.”

  The waitress moved away after giving her a pointed look that Carrie realized meant she’d be answering several questions in the morning.

  “I think she’s figured out that we weren’t strangers when you came in last week.”

  Dusty linked their fingers together on the table. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw you come out of that kitchen. I was in shock.”

  Carrie smiled. “I was so nervous to have you here while I was working. I knew you were just waiting for me to mess up.”

  He shook his head. “No, I wasn’t. I was amazed and impressed.”

  She furrowed her brow. “You were impressed?”

  “Well, yeah, honey. You have to admit that you waiting tables is a bit like a fish ice skating, you know?”

  “A fish ice skating?”

  He smiled and she leaned forward to kiss him again, loving the fact that she could. All around the diner she could hear the whispers, knew that she was the talk of each dinner conversation. She couldn’t have cared any less. Dusty was here, they were together, and somehow they would make this work.

  Halfway through dinner, they were interrupted by Joyce Andrews. “There you are, Carrie. Here’s the list of houses within a 10-mile radius of Wayback that I promised you.”

  Carrie’s stomach pitched, and she hoped Joyce wouldn’t say anything else. Of course she wasn’t that lucky.

  “These will suit you so much better than that old Kincaid place. I don’t know why you were looking at such a big ranch…ahhh, I see.” Joyce glanced at Dusty and then back at Carrie. “Well, hmm, I’ll let you know if that buyer ever makes up his mind. I’ll leave you two to your dinner.”

  Joyce waved and moved away, and Carrie kept her gaze firmly on Dusty. He’d gone from confused to shocked, and now he watched as Joyce left the diner. His blue eyes slammed back to her face. “Old Kincaid place? What do you know about the old Kincaid place?”

  Carrie chewed her lip. Should she tell him she knew he was trying to buy it? Or play dumb? It couldn’t help their new relationship to lie to him. “I heard that you were out looking at the ranch, and I wanted to see it.”

  “Why?”

  Just one word. She couldn’t tell if he was happy or annoyed with her. “Curious, I guess. I mean, after all, our breakup was all about you not wanting to settle down and buy something, so I couldn’t believe that you’d...”

  Dusty had leaned back against the bench and crossed his muscular arms across his wide chest. “Is that what this is all about?”

  She stared back at him. “What?”

  He jerked his head toward the table. “This...us. Did you discover I was looking at properties and figure it was safe to come back?”

  She almost laughed, but the fury on his face was far from funny. “You can’t be serious. You were tossed into a wall by a bull and I was there. I was going to leave the hospital once I knew you were okay. You asked for me. You begged me to stay, and you...”

  Dusty leaned forward, glancing around as their conversation suddenly had become quite interesting to those around them. “It just seems like a pretty big coincidence.”

  “Yeah, me and the bull were in cahoots.” Tossing down her napkin, she narrowed her eyes. “You’re right, you are an idiot.”

  CoraBeth chose that moment to come by and pick up their plates. “You kids want some pie? With homemade whipped cream. Sam makes a mean coconut cream.”

  “No, thanks, CoraBeth. I think we’re all done here.”

  Carrie’s heart ached at how much it hurt to hear Dusty doubt her not even six hours into their new relationship. They didn’t stand a chance. She was a fool to think they could work this out.

  She slid out of the booth, picked up the papers Joyce had set down, and walked away without looking back. His things were upstairs and he didn’t have his vehicle here, but he could certainly call his brother or sister, or even one of the cowboys from the circuit to come pick him up and take him home. She refused to spend another second worrying about him or his plans.

  But within minutes of walking through the door to her apartment, he was behind her. She set her keys on the table and kicked her shoes off again.

  “You never said what you thought about the property?” His voice was hesitant, as if he wasn’t sure if she was mad or not.

  Carrie shrugged and walked into the bedroom. He followed, but stopped at the doorway. She pulled out lounging pants and a matching T-shirt. “The house is a wreck, there’s a ton of work to be done, but with all the land, it’s a good deal, in my opinion.”

  “I heard about the property a few months ago. Once I saw it, I knew I had to have it. It’s the reason I’ve stayed in town so long, riding back to back weeks. If I can win a big enough purse this month, I might be able to put a down payment on it and secure the financing.”

  Carrie refused to let his words affect her. “I thought settling down was the last thing you wanted.” She turned to face him with her hands on her hips.

  He leaned against the doorjamb, his arms over his chest. He seemed wary, hesitant, as if he wanted to say something but wasn’t sure he should. He looked away as if he couldn’t look her in the eye. “I’d already been looking for a ranch to buy before we broke up.”

  Carrie’s blood ran cold. “What? You told me you couldn’t think of anything worse than settling in one place forever. In fact, you told me if that was to ever happen, they might as well put a bullet in you because you’d rather be dead.”

  A red stain crawled into his face.

  Carrie narrowed her eyes. “You lied to me.” Her heart squeezed and tears filled her eyes. Why? Why would he do that when he knew it was the very thing she wanted most in the world?

  “You don’t understand. I wanted to be with you, but you only wanted to be with me if I changed, turned into some homebody or something else. I wanted you to want to be with me no matter what life I was leading.”

  Carrie stared. She’d spent six months talking herself into accepting the life that he led, giving up all she ever had, moving away from her family and her friends and her life to be what he wanted. Now he was telling her that he’d lied. “You wanted me to leave. That’s why you lied. You knew if you told me you were thinking of giving up bull riding, I’d have stayed. You said whatever you needed to, to get me to leave.”

  “Don’t twist it all around into that. You left me because you weren’t willing to stay if I was going to continue on the circuit.”

  “You didn’t want to stay on the circuit! You just said that. You let me leave, knowing damn well it wasn’t what you wanted, either.”

  “You don’t understand.”

  She shook her head. “You’re right. I really don’t. All you had to do was say you were thinking of settling down, and we would have been fine. Yet you wouldn’t even discuss the idea as a remote possibility.” She raked her hands through her hair as her mind whirled. “I was picturing me giving birth in your RV and sitting in the stands with our kids, while you performed that suicide mission every night.”

  “Bull riding is what I am. If you couldn’t love me the way I was, then I didn’t want you around.”

  “It’s not what you are, Dusty. It’s what you do. There’s a difference. You rode bulls because that’s what you grew up learning how to do. You’re good at it, you made a career out of it, but it’s not who you are. If you never rode another bull again, you’d still be Dusty and that’s who I love.”

  He moved toward her, but she shook her head and put her hand out.

  “I don’t want you anywhere near me right now. I keep thinking of the nights I cried myself to sleep, the doubts I had about myself. I tossed everything away for you, and now to find out I didn’t need to do that. What the hell was all this? A test? Were you testing me?” Disgusted and unable to look at him any more, she walked into the bathroom and
flipped the lock.

  If he had any brains at all, he’d call his sister or brother and leave. She sank to the side of the tub and let the tears fall.

  “Carrie, I couldn’t believe that someone like you would want to be with a bull rider like me. It didn’t make sense.”

  Carrie brushed at the tears on her cheeks. He should have trusted her. He should have trusted that she loved him no matter what. But she played right into his scheme when she left. Her leaving reinforced his belief in her.

  “I’ll make this all up to you. We’ll go look at the property together and I’ll ride hard and I’ll get the money to buy it and you and I can…”

  Flying across the small bathroom she flung open the door so fast he stumbled.

  “No.” She poked her finger in his chest. “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. You want me back? You want to convince me you love me and you mean it and you’ve changed?”

  He looked wary, but he didn’t back up even as she kept poking him. He nodded.

  She wet her lips. “Okay, cowboy, here’s the deal. You let me buy the ranch. For us.”

  He drew back as if she’d slapped him. “What the hell are you talking about? I’m not letting you buy that ranch!”

  She walked over to where she’d left her night clothes. She unbuttoned her blouse and tossed it aside, then unhooked her bra and dropped it to the floor. “You can’t stop me from buying it if I want to. That’s number one.”

  Ignoring the desire that flared in his eyes and the hungry way he watched her, she pulled a sleeping shirt on over her head. Then she unzipped her jeans and stepped out of them before shimmying off her panties. Wearing only her T-shirt, she put one hand on her hip and pointed her finger at him. “But more important is this. If you want me back, if you want to work this out, then you’ll agree that I can buy the ranch. You can ride bulls this weekend or not, but don’t make it about the prize money.”

  She spun around and bent from the waist to pick up the pink lounge pants knowing damn well his tongue was probably hanging to the ground at the sight of her bare rear end. She stepped into the pants and tugged them up, swaying her hips as much as she could. All dressed, she turned back around.