Glitter and Grit

by Jessie Evans

  Grayson hummed softly. “So you’re a hero, too. You probably saved some lives that day.”

  Reece shook her head. “Maybe, but that’s what you do, you know? Rodeo is like a family. We all fight and talk shit about each other, but at the end of the day we’d do anything to help another rider or any of the fans.”

  “You sound like you miss it,” he said.

  “I do, but...” She broke off with a shrug. “I don’t know. I’ve been thinking a lot about my career since the accident. I just haven’t sorted out what I’m thinking yet.”

  She turned to him with narrowed eyes. “But I have sorted out that, once again, you have avoided answering my questions. Not that I blame you, I just want you to know I’m keeping track, so I don’t feel guilty telling you to mind your own business the next time you start nosing into mine.”

  He grinned. “Do you feel guilty? Because it doesn’t seem like you give two shits.”

  Reece giggled. “You’re right. I don’t. I have no problem telling people to back off.”

  “Just don’t push me back too far.” Grayson reached over to squeeze her leg, sending a sizzle of awareness across her skin. “I like being close. And I like that giggle of yours, too. A whole lot.”

  “Thanks,” she said. “I didn’t want to talk about your ex-wife anyway. I’d rather talk about what kind of candy we’re going to get at Stucky’s.”

  “Sour patch kids,” Grayson said soberly. “That’s a given.”

  “Damned straight. And circus peanuts.”

  Grayson pulled a face. “Jesus, woman. What’s wrong with you? Those have to be the nastiest candy ever invented.”

  “No, they’re not, they’re delicious,” Reece said, laughing. “Besides, they bring good luck. I always eat one circus peanut a half hour before I get on a bull.”

  “But the last one almost killed you. Did you forget to eat your peanut?”

  “No, I ate it,” Reece said, lifting her chin. “I consider the fact that I’m not dead, paralyzed, or otherwise gimped up beyond repair after over a decade in the sport extremely lucky. And I credit circus peanuts and other superstitious rituals for at least part of that.”

  Grayson’s smile slipped. Reece expected him to launch into the “you should quit that crazy sport” lecture she’d heard from everyone who’d ever cared about her—including a fellow bull rider from California she’d had an affair with several years back. But Grayson only pointed toward the glove box and asked if she’d grab his phone charger.

  Not long after, they woke Layla and all three of them tromped into Stucky’s to stock up on sugary treats and sodas for the rest of the trip. Layla went back to sleep not long after and the conversation continued to flow easily between Reece and Grayson. Still, she couldn’t keep her mind from circling back around to the moment when Grayson could have said she should quit riding bulls and hadn’t.

  Finally, after they’d dropped Layla at her girlfriend’s house and headed toward downtown, she couldn’t resist saying something. “So you’re the only man who’s ever even pretended to give a shit about me who hasn’t told me I should quit riding. What’s up with that?”

  “I’ve been paying attention,” Grayson said, evenly. “And I think you should keep riding until the day one of those monsters smashes your head wide open and puts you in the ground.”

  Reece’s eyes flew wide with surprise, but the meaning hidden in his words hit a moment later, making her laugh. “He said, to the girl who does the opposite of what people tell her to do.” Her eyes narrowed as a smile spread across his face. “Clever, Parker, but if it was as easy as reverse psychology, someone else would have straightened me out a long time ago.”

  “I don’t want to straighten you out.” Grayson glanced her way with a look so sexy she felt it whisper over her skin like a caress. “I told you the night we met, I’m not a nice guy. I don’t want to tame the wild things in the world; I just want to keep them alive long enough for everyone to realize how special they are. There are already too many endangered species on the planet.”

  “I’m hardly an endangered species,” Reece said, though she couldn’t help feeling touched. This man got to her, and not just physically, though she knew it was best not to think too much about the warmth spreading through her chest or indulge the crazy urge to reach out and capture his hand in hers.

  “No, you’re not,” Grayson said thoughtfully. “You’re one of a kind.”

  If he had been any other man, she would have laughed in his face and called him a cheesy bastard. But the tone in his voice wasn’t cheesy and she didn’t feel like laughing, so she just crossed her arms and grumbled, “Yeah, I like you all right, too.”

  He smiled. “So I’m growing on you, then?”

  “I guess,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I wouldn’t kick you out of bed for eating crackers, anyway.”

  “Just wait until I get my tongue between your legs, Shortstack,” he said, sending a zing of awareness bolting through her from head to toe. “Then you won’t ever want to kick me out of bed, no matter what I want to eat.”

  “You have a dirty mouth, Broody,” she said, feigning offense though she was secretly delighted.

  “Just wait until I get you naked,” he said with a naughty wink. “It gets so much worse.”

  “Oh, I hope so,” she purred, reaching out to twine her fingers through his, unable to resist any longer. She wanted to touch him and it seemed silly to avoid holding hands when they were clearly on their way to doing much more intimate things.

  But as his rough palm kissed hers, the warmth he’d set to stirring inside her began to spread. He was awakening feelings she hadn’t felt in so long she’d forgotten they existed. Or maybe she hadn’t forgotten, maybe this was the first time her heart had ever stretched in her chest and opened its eyes, squinting into the light of something too beautiful to be real.

  Just remember that. It’s not real. Or at least it’s not going to last.

  Reece tried to hold on to the thought, but by the time she and Grayson pulled up in front of the Marriott in downtown, she wasn’t thinking of expiration dates or the importance of keeping emotions out of the equation. All she was thinking about was how good it felt to walk into the hotel hand in hand with the most handsome man in San Antonio and know he only had eyes for her.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Grayson

  Grayson Parker was a patient man, but even patient men have a breaking point.

  “What do you mean the room won’t be ready for two hours?” he asked the woman at the front desk, certain there must be some mistake. And equally certain he wouldn’t survive waiting two more hours to get Reece into bed. “Check in time is three p.m. and it’s nearly five.”

  “I know, I’m so sorry,” the clerk said, her brow furrowing as she tapped at her keyboard. “It’s the ice. Several of the airlines canceled their flights for this evening and we had to shift reservations around to try to make room for all the people who weren’t able to leave. But let me see if I can find something sooner.”

  “What ice?” Reece asked, glancing over her shoulder toward the lobby windows. “We just drove in and there wasn’t anything on the roads.”

  “We’re expecting two to four inches of sleet tonight,” the woman said, still typing. “But we’re so unprepared for that kind of weather down here, everyone just jumps straight into panic mode. By tomorrow morning, the entire city will be shut down.” She sighed and shook her head. “I’m sorry, but the soonest I’ll have a room is seven. But I can promise you a complimentary upgrade to a suite with a hot tub on the balcony at that time.”

  “Fabulous,” Reece said, sounding positively upbeat. “We’ll check back after dinner.”

  They stepped away from the desk and Grayson did his best to hide his frustration as he glanced down at the map of the property. “Where do you want to eat while we wait? It looks like they’ve got Italian, Mexican, and a Brazilian steak house.”

  Reece stood on tiptoe, pressing an une
xpected kiss to his cheek. He glanced down at her, his scowl fading. “What was that for?”

  “For this. The drive, the chance to get away.” She shrugged and that new, shy smile crept across her face. “For being cranky because you have to wait two hours to be alone with me.”

  He slipped his arm around her waist. “Am I that easy to read?”

  She shook her head, her eyes shining as she looked up at him. “Nah, I’m just an excellent judge of frustrated man face. But you know, anticipation can be part of the fun, Broody. The only thing better than satisfaction is delayed satisfaction.”

  He pulled her closer, relishing the feel of her soft curves pressed against him. “I’ll remember you said that.”

  Her eyes narrowed and her grin took a turn for the naughty. “That sounds like a threat, Mr. Parker.”

  “It’s a promise, Miss Hearst,” he said, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead, knowing he couldn’t kiss her anywhere else or he might not be able to stop. “Now tell me what to feed you to make sure you don’t run out of energy before midnight.”

  She chuckled. “Steak, please. Bonus points if it’s still mooing a little.”

  As much as Grayson would have preferred to order room service and feed Reece naked in bed, dinner was wonderful. The food was amazing and the company was even better. With every moment away from Lonesome Point, Reece seemed to grow more relaxed. Over a steak with chimichurri sauce, she talked openly about her rodeo friends and the hard times when she was first starting out and almost had her car stolen while she was asleep in the backseat. Grayson told her about his years in the guard in Los Angeles and they shared horror stories about getting stuck in L.A. traffic. He was having so much fun—talking, laughing, and running his hand up and down Reece’s thigh beneath the tablecloth—that when the time came to ask for the check, he was shocked to find it was nearly seven thirty.

  But as much as he’d enjoyed dinner, he was past ready to be alone with Reece. He managed to keep his cool while he paid for dinner and they walked back through the lobby, but as soon as the key cards were in his possession, he took Reece’s hand in one hand and their overnight bags in the other and hauled ass toward the elevators.

  “Does this mean your patience for anticipation has run out?” Reece asked, laughing as they darted into a waiting elevator just as the doors were about to close.

  He answered her by pressing the number for their floor, tossing the bags to the ground and lifting her into his arms. Their mouths met with a hungry sound as Grayson pinned Reece against the wall of the elevator and urged her legs around his waist. He pressed his hips closer to hers, hating the jeans that separated him from her heat.

  “Shit, Grayson,” she said, gasping against his mouth as he cupped her breast through her sweater. “What if the doors open? What if someone sees?”

  “Then they’ll realize they need to find another elevator,” he said, kissing a trail down her neck. “Because this one is taken.”

  “You’re so bad.” She wiggled her hips, grinding into his hard-on. “I can’t wait to get you naked.”

  “But don’t you remember,” he said as he set her back on her feet and pinched her ass through her jeans. “Anticipation is half the fun.”

  “Don’t be evil, Broody.” She glared up at him, but she was smiling when she took his hand and dragged him out of the elevator onto the twentieth floor.

  They raced each other down the hall to room 2015 and tumbled inside, tossing their bags in the general direction of the closet. They were back in each other’s arms before the door had completely closed behind them, their lips meeting in a frenzied kiss. Grayson reached for the bottom of Reece’s sweater, pulling away just long enough to wrench the fabric over her head before lifting her back into his arms.

  “I want your clothes off,” she said, wrapping her legs around his waist as he aimed them toward the bed. “I’ve been daydreaming about licking your chest all night.”

  “I want your nipples in my mouth ten minutes ago.” He tossed her onto the bed and went for his sweater, disposing of it and the undershirt beneath, blood pressure spiking as he watched Reece pop the clasp on her black bra and draw it down her pale arms.

  He cursed as he joined her on the bed, pushing her back onto the pillows. “Damn, you’re beautiful.” He cupped her full breasts in his hands, rubbing his thumbs reverently across her pale pink nipples, his cock twitching painfully in his jeans as her skin tightened beneath his touch and a sexy sigh escaped her lips.

  “Just don’t make me wait too long,” she said, threading her fingers through his hair. “I want you so much already. I feel like I’ve been waiting for you forever.”

  He answered her with a kiss, a long, deep, thorough kiss he hoped left no doubt in her mind that he felt the same way. He felt like he’d been waiting for her for forever, too. Not just for this night, not just for their first time together, but for her, this woman who drove him crazy in all the best ways.

  As soon as he’d kissed her breathless, Grayson pulled back and scooted down the bed, bringing his mouth even with her stunning breasts. He kissed his way across the bottom of one and then the other, moaning against the delicious softness of her skin as she arched beneath him, her fingernails biting into his shoulders. Finally, he drew one tight pink tip into his mouth and sucked, summoning a moan from her lips so sexy he couldn’t resist reaching down to pop the button on her jeans.

  “Yes, please,” she breathed as his hand slid down the front of her panties.

  He groaned as his fingers came in contact with the well of heat between her legs, a fresh wave of desire surging straight to his groin as his fingers slid through her slick folds. “I can’t wait to taste you.”

  “Yes, yes,” she chanted, lifting her hips as he reached for the top of her jeans. “I want your mouth everywhere. I love your mouth.”

  “I love every inch of you,” he said, hands shaking as he dragged the denim down her muscled legs. He disposed of her jeans and black satin thong before slowly, deliberately hooking her knees over his shoulders.

  He kissed his way down her inner thigh, forcing himself to take his time, to relish the tangy smell of her and the way she trembled beneath his lips. Finally, he reached her center, but he didn’t kiss her right away. He took his time, admiring how beautiful she was like this, with her sex so wet and swollen. Knowing he’d made her this way was so erotic, it was all he could do not to bury his tongue in her and lap up every drop. Instead, he waited, letting his hot breath feather over her needy flesh, making her squirm.

  “Please,” she finally begged. “Please, please, please.”

  “Please, what?” he asked, placing his thumbs carefully on either side of her entrance, spreading her wider until she was even more bare to him. Even more beautiful. “I want to hear what you want me to do to this gorgeous pussy, Reece. Do you want me to fuck you with my tongue?”

  “Yes, you asshole,” she moaned, making him smile. “I want you to fuck me with your tongue and your fingers and your cock and anything else you want to fuck me with. Use your goddamned elbow, Grayson, just touch me. Now!”

  Grayson laughed as he dropped his mouth to her pussy, but soon his laugh become a groan as the first sweet and sour taste of her wet his tongue. She tasted so fucking good. Like hunger and passion and secrets whispered in the dark. He knew instantly that he was never going to get enough of her, never stop craving another taste of her sweet cunt. He angled his head, probing deeper, claiming her pussy with his tongue the way he’d claimed her mouth, bringing her to the edge again and again, but backing off each time her thighs tightened beneath his hands and her breath began to hitch.

  He waited until she was writhing beneath him, cussing him with words he could barely make sense of he was so damned turned on, before he spread her legs even wider and looked up, meeting her eyes along the erotic landscape of her body.

  “You want me to make you come, beautiful?” he asked, cock throbbing as their eyes met and held and he felt her nee
d echo through him.

  “Yes, Grayson,” she said, breathlessly. “God, please, yes.”

  “Then watch me,” he said, slowly lowering his face back between her legs. “I want to see your face the first time I make you come.”

  She blinked and an almost pained expression flickered across her features as he lapped a long, deliberate trail from her entrance to her clit, but she didn’t look away. Her eyes stayed fixed on his, ratcheting up the erotic tension until his blood rushed in his ears and his breath came faster and his balls began to feel bruised with the need for release. But he didn’t give in to the temptation to abandon his work and drive his cock into her slick heat.

  This was torture, but it was also hot as hell. Watching her breasts rise and fall faster as she neared the edge, seeing her lips part and brows draw together and all her walls fall away. He moaned in appreciation as he tongued her clit, hoping she could see in his eyes how beautiful he thought she was, and how humbled he was that she would make herself so vulnerable to him. She was so sexy, so fearless. Even when her features crumbled and her eyes tightened, instinctively trying to close as she found release, she fought to keep her gaze locked on his, refusing to look away.

  At that moment, Grayson swore he could feel his soul being ripped from his body and go tumbling into the deep blue of her eyes. She was a siren and he would gladly set his ship on a collision course for the shore and die in her arms if that’s what she wanted him to do.

  “Now,” she gasped as she began to catch her breath. “Inside me. Now.”

  He didn’t make a conscious decision to move, he was simply between her legs one moment, and the next his mouth was on hers and his cock pushing inside her still-pulsing heat. Their tongues met in a frenzied dance, but he forced himself to go slow as he pushed inside her. She was so wet, but she was also tight, so tight it felt like he was being fisted in warm, slick satin.

  “More,” she moaned against his lips. “More, Grayson. I want all of you.”

  With a groan, he dropped his hips, shoving all the way to the end of her, summoning a satisfied cry from her throat that caused the last of his control to evaporate. He pulled back and rammed back in, again and again, riding her hard as she rocked into his thrusts, making sexy sounds in the back of her throat that made it torture to keep from coming.