She looked at Brady and knew she was ready to take the next step with him. It just felt right. Leah really only had one question. “Will it hurt?”
“I’ll go slow and prepare you first. If it hurts and you want me to slow down or stop I will, of course. I would never hurt you, darlin’.” He ran the tip of his tongue over her bottom lip and waited for her answer.
“Okay.” She offered a tentative smile and he sent her a dazzling one in return. She wanted to do this for herself as much as for him. Brady made her feel alive and as if she belonged and she’d be forever grateful for that.
“I want you to relax for me, all right, sugar?” He sat up and rooted in the drawer of the nightstand. Turning her onto her stomach, he propped her pelvis up on a pillow, bending her legs. She watched as he lubed up three fingers. Lying on his back between her spread legs, he put his mouth on her clit and very slowly began to insert his index finger into her ass. It slid in pretty easily as it had before, but one finger was a big difference from having his penis there and she shuddered. Brady lapped at her pussy and clit, cooing little things to her about how beautiful she was and how much he wanted her and she began to relax little by little. As if he sensed that, Brady moved his finger in and out of her in a steady motion.
Pulling back a bit, he began to insert a second finger and Leah tensed up a little at the invasion. “Relax, sweetheart, and push back. Breathe, baby,” he urged her, and she felt her channel open for him. Sinking both fingers in, he attached his mouth to her clit and applied light suction before scissoring his fingers back and forth to stretch her. He thrust in and out a little harder and faster, and then added the third finger, stroking her back soothingly with his other hand while he continued to suckle her clit. She was amazed that it didn’t hurt more. In fact, it felt kind of good. No one had ever asked this of her, but she also knew she wouldn’t have said yes to anyone but Brady.
After taking some more time to stretch her, he pulled away from her clit. “You doing okay, darlin’?”
“Yeah, but I…”
“What, sugar?”
“I…want something, but I don’t know what. I feel…” He let her process the emotion. She couldn’t quite put a name to it. “Impatient, I guess.” She turned her head and looked down her body at him.
“I think that means you’re ready for me.”
She nodded. “I want you. I want it.”
“It?” He raised an eyebrow. Grabbing the towel he’d laid nearby, he quickly wiped off his fingers and then donned the condom.
“You know what I mean.”
“I’ll let it go this time.” She turned toward the headboard again and he poised the head of his cock at her entrance. Sliding his hands down her back, he told her, “I’m gonna go real nice and slow. If you need me to slow down more, just tell me. I wanna make this feel good for you.”
“Just do it, Brady,” she commanded. Leah was more than ready for this.
He pushed just the tip in and Leah took a deep, fortifying breath as he continued to press in. “Relax and push back against me, darlin’.” She did and the head of his cock slid past the tight ring of muscle. “Fuck,” he bit out.
“Are you all right?”
“You’re tight. You’re clutching my dick so good, baby. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
He pushed in an inch more and then withdrew the same length, massaging her lower back and ass with his hands. When she pushed back again he sank in the rest of the way and groaned from deep in his chest. He stopped moving while still deep inside her and gripped her hips. “Still okay?”
“Yes, Brady,” she panted. “Move. Oh God, move.” She began to wonder if she’d ever be the same after leaving Brady. So-called “normal” sex seemed boring in comparison to the things she’d done with Brady. Leah wished they had more time together—she was sure Brady had a lot more tricks up his sleeve. Forcing herself to shut down those gloomy thoughts, she concentrated on the sharp sensations arrowing through her.
Brady slid out almost all the way and then slowly pushed back in. Leah could tell he was trying to keep his thrusting under tight control and knew how hard that must be for him if it felt half as good for him as it did for her.
“I need more. Fuck me harder.”
“Are you sure?” He practically croaked the words.
“Yes. Just do it. If it’s too much I’ll tell you. I need you, Brady.”
“Fuck, I need you too.” He began to thrust faster. Reaching around her, he found her clit and rolled it between his thumb and forefinger, wrenching a cry from her. “Come for me, baby.” He put down a hand to steady himself, then, keeping his thumb on her clit, he plunged two fingers into her pussy.
She stiffened and felt her butt contract around his cock. As she began to shudder with her climax he let out a coarse shout and gasped for air. She’d never felt anything like this—it was a whole-body climax. They fell together, with him still buried inside her, and struggled to catch their breath.
“Damn, sugar,” he said, his voice husky with emotion and Leah had no brain cells to dissect why that was.
“Damn yourself,” she mumbled.
Brady rose, taking his considerable weight off her and withdrew slowly. “Be right back.” She was dozing happily when she felt something between her legs and jumped. “What are you doing? I was almost asleep!” She rolled over and stared at him.
“Cleaning you up.”
She felt a hot blush creep onto her face. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do. You’re bound to be a little sore come tomorrow, but this might make it a little better.”
“Well, then I can do it.” She put out her hand for the washcloth, but he wouldn’t give it up.
“Let me do this for you. Just lie back and enjoy it.” He touched his lips to hers. “I kinda like taking care of you. Is that a crime?”
“No, of course not.”
“Good.” He moved back and dabbed at her again. “Just relax. I’ve got you.”
That’s what I’m afraid of…
Finished with washing her, Brady threw the washcloth into the bathroom before climbing into bed and pulling her snug against him. Kissing her temple, he whispered, “Sleep, darlin’.”
* * * * *
Leah awakened the next morning to a warm, wet suction on her breast. Looking down, she saw Brady staring back up at her. “Good morning.”
“Mornin’, sugar. Couldn’t help myself. Your pretty little rosy nipple was peeking out at me from over the covers.”
“A likely story…”
“So what’s on your schedule for today?”
She smiled. “Nothing. I guess they decided to give me a day off.”
“Cool. You gonna stay here then, or do you wanna come with me and hang out with the guys?”
“Would you mind?”
“Of course not. I love having you with me.” He gave her breast another kiss and sat up. “But I gotta meet Conner in a bit for a workout first. Wanna join us for lunch afterward before we go over to the arena?”
“Sounds great. But can we go somewhere I can get a salad? I’m starting to feel like a porker and this can’t be good. I haven’t been able to weigh myself in days.”
“You look pretty fucking awesome to me, but sure, we can find a healthy place. I need to eat better than I have been too.”
Brady left and Leah took some time to relax. After finishing a few sets of ankle exercises she took a shower and then called James, since she’d promised to keep in touch with him every couple of days.
“Hey, James. How are you?”
“Fine. How are you?”
“Great, actually.”
“Yeah? You sound different.”
“Do I? I guess I’m just, I don’t know, happy.” She bit her lip, trying to decide how much she wanted to confess. She’d come to the realization that James really was her only friend and she was a fool to keep him at arm’s length. “I met someone.”
“Y
ou did? How the hell did you meet someone out there on tour?”
Leah struggled with how much she should say, but if word ever got out about her relationship with Brady her manager should definitely not be in the dark about it. It struck her again how sad it was that she had no friends save the one she paid to manage her career. He didn’t have much of a choice.
“It’s Brady.”
“You’re dating the bull rider?” He sounded incredulous, and Leah couldn’t blame him. A couple of weeks ago if someone had told her she would have anything to do with a bull rider she would’ve laughed in their face.
Just goes to show what a snob I was…
“Well, I don’t know if you could call it ‘dating’. I don’t know what you’d call it. A fling? An affair?”
James made a sound like he was choking. “An affair?”
Leah laughed. “Are you going to repeat everything I say?”
“If you keep spouting these outrageous things I just might. An affair…” He snorted. “Are you telling me this because you’re about to do something scandalous? Or already have? That would be a first.”
“No, nothing like that. Well, that’s not entirely true.”
She heard James’ intake of breath across the phone line. “What did you do? Do you need me to come to where you are? Where are you, anyway?”
“Calm down, James,” Leah replied, smiling as she shook her head. She could picture him in his ultra-modern apartment, perched on his white leather sofa mopping his brow with an Armani handkerchief as he tried to figure out what she’d done. The thought made her chuckle. “I meant that I figured you should know about it just in case it gets out in public for some reason. We’ve been pretty discreet, but you never know…” She glanced at the clock. “I have to go. I’m meeting Brady and another rider for lunch and I still haven’t done my hair or gotten dressed.”
“Thanks for calling, Leah,” James said, his voice soft. “And thanks for confiding in me.”
“I just thought you should know. I’ll call again in a day or two.”
She hung up with James and hurried through getting ready. By the time she’d blown her hair dry Brady was calling to tell her they were at a restaurant down the street. Grabbing her key and purse, she ran out the door.
* * * * *
Brady couldn’t wait to get on the bull tonight. There were some days when all he wanted was to go up against that bull; to show who was best. Leah had hung out all day, and he was surprised at the change in her. Where a few weeks ago she’d been quiet and standoffish, now she smiled and talked to people. She was still reserved—that was her nature, but nowhere near how she’d been when he’d first met her. He was pleased to see how far she’d come in such a short time and hoped some of it was due to his influence.
By the time it was finally his turn he was hopped up and rarin’ to go. He’d drawn a difficult bull, but he needed the points to keep his narrow rankings lead. As the beast shot out of the chute, though, his body jackknifed forward and then back so far he nearly rammed the back of his head into the bull’s flank. His free arm swung around wildly and he wasn’t able to do anything to gain extra points with the judges. He managed to hang on for the full eight seconds, though, and after a not-so-graceful dismount, jumped onto the rail and turned around to see his score. Eighty-three. That would put him in fifth place; enough to win a little money and get him a few points, but not good enough overall.
They left that night to get to the next event, located in San Antonio, Texas. Brady’s dad called while they were on the road.
“Looks like we’ll be able to make it for the whole event after all,” he told Brady. “Your mother was able to get out of the Founders’ Day planning meeting and she rescheduled everything else.”
“That’s great, Dad. It’ll be really nice to see you guys,” Brady answered, touched that his parents would be able to watch him ride. He’d resigned himself to only seeing them for one day and this was a welcome surprise. He missed his family when he was on the road so much.
“Will Leah still be on tour with you?”
“Yeah, for about a week more.” Glancing over at Leah, he saw her raise an eyebrow and decided to tease her a little. “She can’t wait to meet you.”
“The feeling’s mutual. I don’t remember the last time you brought a young woman home.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Brady replied, laughing. “Call me once your travel plans are set and we’ll figure out when we can get together.” He hung up and grinned at Leah. “That was my folks. They’re going to the event tomorrow since it’s only a few hours away from home.”
“And I take it you’ve told them about me?”
“Yep.” He studied her expression, not sure what to make of it. “Does that bother you?”
Leah blinked at him. “No, I’m just a little surprised.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.” Leah shrugged. “I know you’re close to your family, but I didn’t expect you’d be the type to tell them about every affair you have.”
He felt his face redden. “Affair?” he finally managed to bite out. Conner threw him a funny look before returning his attention to the road, but he ignored it and said, “You think what we’re doing here is an affair?”
“What else would you call it? I’m going back to Connecticut soon.”
“I haven’t thought about a specific term, but I know ‘affair’ isn’t it.” He didn’t know why this was upsetting him so much, but the fact she thought he was just some boy toy to play with while she was on the road didn’t sit right with him.
“Okay, calm down,” Leah answered. “Bad choice of words.”
“Got that right,” he muttered.
“Forget I said anything, all right?” She reached out from the back seat and massaged his neck.
“Whatever.” He turned around in his seat so he could look at her. “You don’t have to meet them if you don’t want to.”
She smiled and her entire face softened. “I want to meet them, Brady, they sound like great people. It would be nice to meet a set of parents who actually care about their child.”
He winced at the reminder of her life growing up. “I’m sorry, baby.”
“Not your fault.”
“I know, but I still wanna shake your parents and ask them what the hell’s wrong with them. It ain’t right.”
“What’s done is done. I’m all grown up now. They do their thing and I do mine.”
He tilted his head to look at her. “Have you spoken to them since you’ve been gone?”
“No. I left a message with my father’s secretary before I left just to let them know I’d be gone, but they haven’t called me and I haven’t called them. We sometimes go for months without talking, unless, of course, they want to trot me out for some event at the country club like a championship racehorse.” Even though she was obviously striving to keep her tone light, he could see the pools of hurt reflected in her eyes. What would make a set of parents turn their back on a wonderful person like Leah? He couldn’t even begin to understand it. His own childhood had been so different from hers.
They finally pulled into the arena parking lot at noon, and Leah left to check into her hotel. Brady, Conner and Jessica took care of laundry and grocery shopping, and Brady fell into bed, in his trailer, exhausted. When he woke up again it was almost midnight. Picking up his cell phone, he frowned. Leah hadn’t called all day. True, he hadn’t called her either, since he’d slept far longer than he’d planned, but it still bothered him. He dialed her number and got voicemail. Was she avoiding him? He knew he was probably being paranoid and felt foolish for even being worried. After eating a quick meal, he went back to bed, not waking up until almost eight o’clock the next morning. He hurried through his shower and called Leah.
“Hey, how are you?”
“Fine.”
His brows furrowed. “Did you sleep okay last night? I didn’t hear from you.”
“Yes, I slept just fine, and now I’m starvin
g. Are we having breakfast?”
“Yeah. Why don’t you grab a cab and come get me?”
They ate breakfast in relative silence, despite his attempts to get Leah to talk, and then separated so she could work out her ankle and he could see his parents. He’d made plans to have Leah meet them at dinner, figuring having some time with his parents alone before they met her might not be a bad idea.
He was lying on the bed resting when a knock sounded at the door. He opened it and was enveloped in a tight hug by his mom. “Bradybear, I missed you!” His mother fussed over him for a minute before he finally talked her into sitting down at the banquette. His dad clapped him on the back before he sat down next to her. After starting a pot of coffee, Brady sank into the seat across from them.
“So when are we going to meet this young lady of yours?” His mother dove right in.
Brady laughed. “Tonight. We’re all having dinner together. I invited Conner and Jessica too, but he said it should just be the four of us.” He rolled his eyes at his mom, knowing she loved Conner like another son.
“Where is Conner? How’s he doing these days? I haven’t talked to him in a long time. Has he made Jessica an honest woman yet?”
“He’s fine. And no, he hasn’t. Maybe soon though, you never know when they’ll decide to just go off and elope.” He figured that was the most obtuse answer he could give.
“So,” his father said, obviously changing the subject. “Are you ready for tomorrow night?”
Brady shrugged. “Not much to get ready. I show up, ride the bull, and win.”
“Easy as all that, huh?” his father teased.
“That’s how it’s supposed to be,” Brady replied, grinning.
Brady talked with his parents for a little while more before they went their separate ways to get ready for dinner. He pulled the Airstream away from his truck so he could go pick Leah up. She opened the door wearing a flirty little dress and something snapped inside him. Kicking the door closed, he grabbed her and sank his tongue into her mouth. She moaned and leaned into him, pulling him closer until their bodies touched from head to toe. As the kiss went on and on their passion smoldered and flamed and his body sang with arousal.
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