Flux: Good, u still down for what I’ve got planned even with all the other shit going on?
Another quick ding. Duchess must be hovering over her phone bored out of her mind without being at work. He imagined a million and one ways to relieve her of that.
Maggie: Absolutely. I need you now more than ever, big guy.
Flux: Oh yeah, darlin’. I’ll be there soon.
Without a doubt, he would have a blast bringing his Duchess to her knees. He grinned to himself as he took his swaggering, sore ass to the bull pens to find Pete. Now that he was back, he didn’t want to waste another damn minute away from her.
* * *
The next night, Flux watched from the sidelines as Maggie threw herself into a tough turn that would’ve given anyone else a hard time, but his woman took on the challenge like it was nothing. He couldn’t take his eyes off her: long blonde hair caught in the wind, lips compressed in concentration, thighs tight on her horse.
The course was almost done and Maggie was hands down annihilating any of her competitors. All she had to worry about from here on out was dodging the last set of barrels and making it to the end of the course to the sound of the buzzer for her final time. Strings of saliva hung from Odysseus’s lips as his hooves dug into the dirt of the ring. From where he stood, Flux heard the horse’s snorts and pants of exertion, and then Maggie came to a hard stop, reining back at the end of the finish line to a roar of applause.
Flux didn’t waste a second; he was over the rail and charging toward her before she could even dismount. Maggie slid into his arms with a huge smile plastered on her flushed face, eyes glossy from unshed tears. Her arms hooked around Flux and he didn’t hesitate to swing her off her feet and claim her lips with a kiss that even left his stomach with fucking butterflies.
“You nailed it, Duchess. I’m so damn proud of you. Of course, I never doubted you for a fuckin’ second,” Flux rasped in her ear as he held her close. He could feel every curve of her luscious, warm little body. “We’re celebrating tonight.”
“Big guy, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Maggie beamed back at him as the rodeo announcer called her up to the center of the ring where he would hand her a check and a trophy.
Flux broke away so she could collect her prizes, but Maggie nabbed his hand and dragged him with her out in front of all those damn people. When he hesitated, she laughed at him.
“Come on, I want you there with me. We’re on this journey together, aren’t we?” She kissed him lightly, a peck that spoke volumes, before she continued to walk toward the presenter.
The rest of the presentation was an all-out blur for Flux: clapping, shouting, and pats on the back. A couple of times he held back a wince when Maggie clung to him too hard, hurting one of his covered bruises, but nothing mattered because he was so damn proud of his Duchess. Flux wanted everyone to know that Maggie was his woman and that she was a class A champion in anything and everything in her life.
For an instant, Flux remembered what it felt like to be part of a unit with a partner—someone who would fight for him just as he would fight for her too. Though he couldn’t be positive of the future, he knew his world was so much better with Duchess in it. And he was a damn lucky sonofabitch for it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Maggie
Never in her wildest dreams did Maggie think she’d be this close to the finals with the life she’d longed for at her fingertips. Not only was she at the pinnacle of her career, Flux was supportive in every sense of the word. When she’d received praise and a giant check, he never stopped looking at her as if nothing else mattered to him. A warm glow of love and peace spread through her. Knowing Flux was fully behind her made her victory that night sweeter than it ever could’ve been by herself.
Flashes of light blinded her momentarily as she held up the big check for the photographers, who’d blast the picture across the morning papers the following morning.
This is real. This is real.
She kept repeating the words to herself as she petted Odysseus’s nose and he gently nudged her shoulder with his snout. “You did so great out there tonight,” she murmured into his ear. During her run, there’d been a spot about halfway through where she’d thought he wouldn’t make it, but she relied on their connection and it got them through together.
The majority of fans had vacated the stands for the night, but a few reporters remained and asked her questions even though the bright houselights that swathed the arena switched off one by one. As the questions buzzed around her, her mind was on the next few months as she prepared for the biggest competition in the rodeo—the National Finals Rodeo. Shivers tingled down her spine just thinking about it.
“Guys, I think that’s enough for the night. If you have any other questions, please see our PR person, Shania, at the front desk. She’s waiting to answer any and all questions you may still have while we let our winner go and relax for the night. She deserves it, wouldn’t you say?” Barb, the rodeo manager, shooed the rest of the press away, looking over her shoulder at Maggie with a wink.
“Fuck, I thought they’d never leave you in peace. Good thing Barb butted in because I was gonna say something but it wouldn’t have been as nice,” Flux breathed out as his arms went around her waist and he rested his chin in the crook of her neck. “How do you handle all that bullshit?”
“How do you handle facing a 2,000-pound bull?” Maggie retorted, wrapping her free hand over the top of his and squeezing. “Come on, let’s get Odysseus back to the stables. My boy deserves to be pampered after his performance tonight.”
They walked in silence, holding hands, as contentment rolled through her slightly tense muscles. Every few minutes she sensed her body becoming less and less keyed up from the race. By the time she walked Odysseus into his stall, she tried to close her mouth on a yawn.
“You want me to take care of Odysseus and give you a rest?” Flux ran his hand down her horse’s side. “Go sit down in the corner and I’ll get this, okay?”
“Are you actually asking me, or are you telling me?” Maggie put her hands on her hips. “I’m not a china doll who needs to be coddled, you know, I’m fully capable—”
“I know that, but just because you can doesn’t mean you should have to, Duchess.” Flux smiled gently, his face suffused with an emotion she’d never seen before on him. Something way too tender to really recognize because she was afraid as soon as she gave it a name, it would be gone. “Let me take care of you. Sit down.”
Maggie shook her head and stretched, no point in lying to herself that it wasn’t a nice change of pace for someone else to go through her horse’s nightly ritual while she watched them. This time when she yawned, she let it out.
“There you go, Duchess. Doesn’t that feel better?” Flux teased as he unsaddled Odysseus. “Just relax.”
Captivated, she watched him with her horse. Flux was so gentle and thoughtful, and with every small movement, he kept a friendly hand somewhere on her horse’s body, exactly as she would’ve done it herself. He didn’t say a word as he worked, and she was mesmerized by his movements: putting all the tack back in the tack room, brushing out Odysseus with a curry comb, soaking the horse’s back and neck with a warm sponge to get off any gunk or grime.
Maggie couldn’t imagine this biker doing anything unkind to anyone. Though her memory of Flux beating up Chet was still fresh, that man and this tender, gentle one seemed like two halves of the same coin—only she knew that Flux would never turn the other side on her so long as he lived and breathed. He was protective, sweet, kind, and gruff in his own way, and all of that revolved back to his sense of loyalty and his willingness to right any wrong.
Maggie was convinced Flux didn’t have an actual malicious bone in his body unless he was teasing her with his lips, tongue, and teeth. Only then could he be a downright tyrant—one she readily welcomed into her bed. A flash of the night before flickered through her consciousness. She bit her lip as she remembered his callous
ed hands pushing up her dress and coasting up her outer thighs before he yanked her off her feet and slammed her down on the small table in their motel room.
Flux’s eyes had blazed with all kinds of unspoken naughty thoughts, and the grin he threw her spoke volumes about what he’d planned for her body. She’d shuddered then, as her hands automatically reached for him, but he’d grabbed her wrists, opening her palms until he put both hands on the back of her head.
“You remember what we did our first time together, Duchess?”
Maggie had nodded, wordless in response to the hunger flickering in his gaze. His intentions were predatory as his fingers continued to roam her flesh and dragged her dress higher until he’d exposed her panties. Without asking, his fingers roamed to her inner thighs putting enough pressure that she knew exactly what he wanted from her without having to say a single word.
Maggie opened her legs, revealing herself to him as her lips tipped up into a knowing smile. Flux groaned and slid his hands through her hair, holding the ends at an angle as he took her mouth and she’d wiggled to get him closer.
“What’re you thinking about, Duchess? You’ve got fuckin’ stars in those beautiful eyes.” Flux’s light drawl came from right next to her in the stall, and she jerked away from the wall. He chuckled. “You look downright guilty.”
Brought back to reality, Maggie wiped her palms on her jeans. “I’m not thinking about anything,” she said, but that damn telltale blush gave her away as she pushed her hair back with one hand and looked down toward the hay. “Are you ready to go back to the motel?”
“Well, you would’ve noticed I’ve been done for about five minutes, but you were a little preoccupied. So tell me what was on your mind.” With each word Flux spoke, he stepped closer and closer until his body drew her back into the boards of the stall with a soft thud. Her gaze startled up from the hay and into his way-too-pleased face.
“Tell me, darlin’” he whispered against her ear, tracing his finger down the “v” of her flannel shirt then over the swell of her breasts. Her nipples hardened and poked against her bra while a flood of goosebumps prickled along her flesh. “Tell me or I’ll have to guess, and whatever I guess might just embarrass you more.” His penetrating gaze held her.
Maggie bit the inside of her mouth and trembled when his hand scooped down under her bra to tweak her sensitive nipple. Heat pooled between her legs, and she caught her breath as both hands glided down to his butt. She squeezed him through his jeans, loving the way his muscles tightened against the touch.
“Now how’s that playing fair?” Flux said in a low voice as he toyed with her other nipple and his mouth lingered along her neck, warm air teasing where he had left a sensitive line from his tongue.
“I was …” Maggie started before he took her breath away with his teeth nibbling along her cleavage. “I was thinking about last night.”
She let out a sigh of relief now that the truth was out. As much as she hated following his commands, she loved how he could coax almost anything out of her. It was like a secret game between them: his power plays for her willing submission. Maggie arched toward him at the same time that Flux pressed his hips into her belly, and there was no doubt how aroused he was in their current situation.
Maggie licked her lips and moved one of her hands to the front of him, cupping him through his jeans before gripping him tightly. A hiss exploded from between his teeth. Oh, yes, she’d been taking notes, and Flux liked a certain touch.
Odysseus stomped his hoof with a small snort, and they both parted from each other and looked at the horse at the same time. Shit, I’d forgotten my boy was even here. Flux makes me all kinds of mixed up.
Maggie cleared her throat. “I need to give my boy a treat.” A bolt of regret tightened her chest as Flux removed his hand from her breasts and stepped away from her body. She walked over to Odysseus and took a tote bag down from the shelf, then rummaged through it until she found a bag with apple and carrot slices. Maggie ran her fingers through the horse’s mane then bent down and dropped the treats into a bucket.
Flux’s hands rubbed over her ass and she straightened up and leaned back into him; his erection was thick and hard against her.
“Let’s get back to the motel, Duchess. I’m gonna fuck you all night long.”
It wasn’t a question. Certainly not a demand. In his low, brisk voice that rolled like gravel, Flux had told her both a fact and a promise.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Maggie
Las Vegas, Nevada
Four months later
“We can do this, baby boy, okay? Just stick with me out there and no surprises, just like we practiced it,” Maggie whispered in Odysseus’s ear as it twitched in an affirmative reaction before his head nudged her shoulder. “We’re going to be amazing out there.”
She nuzzled him back and took a small sugar cube out of her pocket, feeding it to him as he made a pleased noise and lapped at her open palm.
“There’ll be more of that later, after we win.” Maggie took a deep breath into her abdomen and shifted her focus from her horse and the ride—to the course that was mapped out in her brain like the back of her hand.
It would be close. She’d been monitoring the scoreboards all night and she was the last one in the ring. Crappy luck, but she told herself not to worry too much about it. Whether going last or in the middle, none of the numbers defined her performance. It was all up to Maggie and her trusty steed. She applied a quick coat of lip balm, her pre-racing ritual, and shoved the tube in her jeans pocket before mounting up on Odysseus.
This is it. What she’d been waiting for her whole life was here in a blink of an eye. Maggie swallowed through her tight throat and closed her eyes, envisioning them both at the finish line as her name blared across the loud speaker in front of the whole rodeo. She glanced at the stands and smiled at her parents and three brothers. On the sidelines, a flash of Flux’s proud facial expression made a warm, gushy feeling explode in the center of her chest.
A rap on the stall door made her jump and she focused her attention on Odysseus. It was the two-minute signal. Without wasting time, she navigated her horse out of the stall and closer to the ring then into his own holding shoot as the roar of the crowd soaked into her skin. This was the life she’d worked for, she’d begged for, and had given everything to experience. It was all paying off, big and bold, and she wished she knew with certainty how she’d gotten so lucky.
“… Odysseus!”
Maggie heard the tail end of the announcement, and then everything was a blur of speed, light, sound, and momentum. She kicked her baby boy into high gear and relished the feeling of the wind in her hair. Odysseus’s quick cantor made her thighs ache as she gripped him hard so as to remain in the saddle. Her heartbeat pounded in her ear drums as adrenaline pumped through her veins.
One barrel. Two barrels. Three barrels.
They were charging toward them, her arm muscles tight with strain, her thighs burning, and sweat licking down her back. The cheers and shouts of the crowd barely registered, and everything else faded away but the task that was set in front of them. It all narrowed down to her slightest movements while they plunged through the course, and she fought to keep them both calm, connected, and shifting through the route without losing their footing.
Within seconds, it was over. Maggie pulled Odysseus up to a halt at the front of the run; they were both breathing heavily, and she wiped the sheen of sweat off her forehead. Her stomach flipped and she rode the adrenaline high and hard. There was no way to know how she’d placed until they figured out the qualifiers, and that normally took about three minutes after the last ride. Instead of jumping off and escorting her horse into the back area, Maggie kept herself saddled and steadily stroked Odysseus’s flank with her hand.
He neighed and pawed the ground with his hooves, pacing from one side to the other, still slightly agitated from their quick run that had felt damn incredible. It was better than Maggie could’ve e
ver hoped in her wildest dreams. She blinked, pushing back the burning sting of tears. So much exhilaration for such a short life-defining moment. All around her, people took videos on their phones, cheered, and genuinely acted like fans while she absorbed the moment as best she could while trying not to tally the results in her head.
“Our top three have been tallied and their timed scores reviewed,” the announcer’s voice rang out through the stadium. “The National Finals Rodeo Champion in barrel racing with a score of fourteen-point-ten seconds is Maggie Haves.”
The crowd roared.
“Ms. Haves, please come to the center of the ring with Odysseus to collect your winnings.”
For a second, Maggie thought she might’ve blacked out because everything went a little hazy around the edges.
“Ms. Haves, please come to the center,” the announcer said again.
Maggie clutched Odysseus’s reins and negotiated their way to the center of the ring on autopilot. When she dropped down out of the saddle, there were at least a dozen people clamoring to get her photo, and an older man with a weathered face pushed back his white Stetson and handed her a gold-colored trophy and a check for more money than she’d ever earned along with a folder filled with sponsors who wanted to work with her.
Maggie blinked, lost in the roar of what was once unbelievable but now was her reality. A huge grin spread across her face, and the first thing she did was glance around the sidelines for Flux. When their eyes locked from across the stands, she couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. What once had seemed elusive in her life—falling in love, was now realized, and coupled with winning the finals, Maggie felt that she’d finally grabbed the brass ring. She clutched the trophy to her chest and rattled off a bunch of answers to the bloggers and reporters who were eager to get a sound bite from the barrel racing champion.
“You fuckin’ did it, baby!” Flux’s voice resonated throughout the stadium. Almost as if he was—
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