Corralled (17 page)

He glanced down. Damn. He’d probably left finger- shaped bruises. Would it bother her to see the marks on her skin? Would it bother Kyle?

He fought a snarl. He didn’t want to fucking think about Kyle right now.

Maybe you oughta think about
Lainie
right now, dumb ass.

Hank stretched across her back and kissed her shoulder. “Baby, you all right?”

“You weren’t kidding about rough, were you?”

He froze. “Did I hurt you?”

She angled her head to rub his cheek. “Yes. But it was inevitable. At the end it was a good kind of hurt.”

“That’s a relief. Hang on.” He slipped out of her anal passage and retreated to the bathroom to clean up. When he returned quickly with a warm washcloth, he gently rolled her over. “Open your legs. This will help a little.”

LORELEI JAMES 9

She smiled but didn’t open her eyes. “You’re sweet beneath that gruff bullfighter exterior.”

He snorted and wiped her tender and swollen flesh. After he’d cleaned her, he kissed the baby- soft section of skin between her hip bones. His mouth meandered south and he ran his tongue along her slit.

“Hank. I—”

“Let me see to you. I’ll be gentle, I promise.”

Lainie sighed. “If you insist.”

“I do.” Hank took his time and savored her. Delving into the soft pink folds. Suckling. Licking. Lapping at the sweet cream pouring from her sex. Tickling her clit with the barest tip of his tongue. Not teasing her. Just enjoying her and the trust she’d bestowed on him tonight.

“I’m close. Don’t stop.”

He latched onto her clit with soft suction and tongued that nub until her hands squeezed his scalp.

“Yes. Yes!” She arched and came in throbbing wet pulses against his tongue.

He stayed right where she needed him until her body relaxed.

What a beautiful sight: her skin flushed, her limbs trembling, her hair strewn across his pillow.

Lainie belonged in his bed. But not just for a night.

She pushed up on her elbows wearing a goofy grin. “That was fantastic. Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

“But I’m done in. No more.”

“I’m pretty done in myself. You want me to shut off the lights?”

“Yes.” She yawned and hopped up to dig through her duffel bag. She yanked on an oversize T-shirt and crawled between the sheets. “Good night, Hank.”

“Good night, Lainie.”

9 CORRALLED

Yep. He knew this woman was right where she belonged. And he had three weeks to convince her.

9

The next morning, Kyle and Lainie flipped a coin for shotgun, since Hank was driving. She won. But Kyle’s consolation prize was a lingering, soft- lipped kiss. Not a bad way to start his day.

“What time is check- in?” Lainie asked.

“Noon.”

“This is a two- day event?”

“Yep. Rodeo starts at seven.” Kyle rested his forearms on the bench seat and looked at Hank. “I don’t imagine you’re any more used to waiting around beforehand than I am.”

“Depends. Sometimes I have a meet and greet with sponsors.

Usually I roll in a couple of hours before showtime. Give myself time to limber up.” He offered Lainie a sly grin. “Or get my injuries checked out ahead of time by my favorite med tech.”

Kyle rolled his eyes.

“I’m always busy before the event starts,” Lainie said. “I’ve either been on the road or in a plane. Then I’m helping wrap injuries or applying salve. Or listening to Doc argue with cowboys about why they shouldn’t be competing.”

“Do they listen?”

“Never.”

Hank and Kyle laughed.

“You planning on stopping by the medical room to offer your services?” Hank asked.

“Maybe. I brought my official Lariat badge. Doc said at the smaller rodeos the event sponsors use local doctors as medical volunteers. Or they have an ambulance standing by.”

“Most promoters put their money into the purse and the stock contractors. Everything else is volunteer. I’m imagining Lariat gets a big chunk of money from the CRA,” Hank said.

LORELEI JAMES 9

“Almost as much dough as we get from the behemoth known as the EBS,” she said sarcastically.

Kyle said, “Why does it sound like you’re not a fan of the EBS?”

“It’s not that.” Lainie looked over her shoulder at him. “The EBS’s demands increase every week. The money is excellent. But I predict in the next year Lariat will have to choose between providing services for the CRA or the EBS. The EBS is always adding new venues to the schedule, usually second tier. We’re continually short staffed, which is partially why I’m bounced between both circuits.”

“I hope they’re paying you well, sugar.”

Lainie blushed and faced forward.

Hank cast a questioning look at Kyle. After Lainie’s conversation with her mother, he and Hank discussed whether Sharlene’s concerns were valid or if Lainie refused to listen to reason simply because of the source of information. It didn’t sit well with either of them that Doc might be taking advantage of her, especially since he was supposedly a family friend.

Seeing that Lainie was uncomfortable, Kyle changed the subject. “Hank, do you remember that prick Marshall Townsend?”

“The guy from outside of Rawlins?” Hank asked, meeting Kyle’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Who wouldn’t let us hunt on his place after we helped him with two days of haying?”

Kyle nodded. “He tried to corner me last night.”

“What’d he want?”

“Who the hell knows? He was drunk as shit, babbling about some damn thing. Know who else I ran into? Harper Masterson.”

“Harper? Was Celia with her?”

“No, which was weird, because didn’t Celia leave early last night because she was goin’ somewhere with Harper for the weekend?”

9 CORRALLED

“Was there a live band? And dancing?” Lainie asked. “I like to dance. That band in Lamar the other night was good. What I heard of it, anyway.”

Kyle sent Lainie a suspicious look at her abrupt subject change.

Sounded like she was covering for Celia. But that didn’t make sense. Lainie and Celia were the least likely types to become bosom buddies.

No one spoke for a while. The radio was off. Lainie stared out the window. Hank kept his eyes on the road. Kyle let his head fall back and his thoughts drift.

When he’d returned to Lawson’s ranch house with Abe last night, the lights were off in Hank’s bedroom. Somehow he’d tamped down his jealousy as he tramped downstairs.

As he lay in the dark of his bedroom, he cooked up several scenarios of how his night alone with Lainie would play out. Part of him hated thinking up new sexual tricks to use on Lainie that’d give him a leg up on Hank. But another part of him loved the chance to unlock his kinkier fantasies. Who knew if the opportunity would ever appear again?

Two hard bumps jarred him and his eyes flew open.

“Sorry. Potholes I didn’t see until I was right up on ’em.”

“Can’t believe I almost dozed off.” He stretched. Yawned.

“It’s a damn boring drive.”

“No, it’s not. The landscape is stunning. You can see forever,”

Lainie murmured.

“Says the woman who grew up by the ocean.”

She whapped Hank on the arm.

“What was that for?”

“Because your tone annoyed me.”

Kyle grinned. Lainie was no shrinking violet. She’d definitely keep them on their toes the next few weeks. He was looking forward to it.

LORELEI JAMES 9

Hank navigated the inevitable road construction and pulled into the Campbell County Fairgrounds outside the CAM- PLEX.

He offered to accompany Kyle to the contestant check- in area, but Kyle declined, as much as he hated leaving Hank and Lainie alone again.

The stillness of the arena during the day spooked him. It smelled the same— hot dirt, manure, animal flesh, and popcorn—but the air lacked the vigor of the raucous crowd and the nervous energy of the contestants behind the chutes.

The plump woman behind the window eyed him. “Lemme guess. Bareback rider.”

“Nope. Bull rider.”

She rattled off the entry fee. Kyle handed over the cash. The woman pushed a clipboard with the release- of- liability forms under the ticket window. “Sign here.” That done, she stamped a receipt, initialed it, and passed it back. She pointed to another ticket booth. “You’ll get your number over there. Good luck.”

He mumbled thanks and moved over to the longer line.

The guy in front of him looked familiar, but Kyle couldn’t place him. Luckily, the guy spoke first.

“I feel like we’ve met before, but I’ll be damned if I can remember where.” He stuck out a hand. “Breck Christianson.”

Kyle shook his hand. “Kyle Gilchrist.”

Breck snapped his fingers. “Now I know where I know you from. The EBS. You finished in the top ten in the world finals a couple years back.”

“Seems a lot longer ago than that.”

“Didn’t you have some kind of injury?”

“Blew out my knee and was out for a year after surgery. The EBS let me start this season, but after my piss- poor showing they dropped me from the main tour.”

9 CORRALLED

Breck frowned. “Why didn’t you stick with the EBS’s secondary circuit?”

“Not enough venues. I need to get on as many bulls as I can to figure out what the hell I’m doin’ wrong.”

“I hear ya. Cowboy Christmas is my favorite time of year because of the number of stock I get to test out.”

“So what is your poison?”

“Saddle bronc. If there ain’t many contestants I sometimes dabble in bareback. Plus tie- down roping and bulldogging.”

Kyle whistled. “Glutton for punishment?”

“It’s the price of reaching for that all- around title.” They shuffled forward in line. “How’s the CRA compare to the EBS?”

It’d sound like pandering if he mentioned that the CRA people were nicer. “I’ve only done one CRA event, so it’s too soon to tell.”

“Where’d you compete?”

“Lamar.”

“How’d you do?”

Kyle grinned. “First.”

“Nice.” After Breck picked up his contestant “back” number, he said, “Good meetin’ you. See ya tonight.”

Kyle rolled up the square piece of paper listing his contestant number and jammed it in his back pocket. He wandered around, familiarizing himself with the grounds. Just as he was about to call Hank, he saw a flash of wild curls duck beneath the bleachers. Only one person had hair like that. He tracked her to a tiny room with a medical symbol on the door.

Lainie was talking to a scrawny male kid who didn’t look old enough to shave, let alone to run a medical station.

“I thought I’d offer,” Lainie finished. She spun around and her fake smile slipped when her gaze landed on Kyle.

LORELEI JAMES 9

“Everything okay?” he asked outside the room.

“Fine. They have plenty of ‘qualified medical professionals,’ so I’m free to be a spectator tonight.”

He recognized her disappointment. “That’s not all bad. It’ll really feel like you’re on vacation. Did you guys get the camper set up?”

“Yeah. Let’s head that way. I could use food.”

They walked through the bustling campground to a fenced- in section outside the arena reserved for contestants and their families. Despite the steel horse trailers and campers, the area held the feel of an Old West town. Dust and tents and campfires. Whinnying horses, kids shouting, and barking dogs.

“This your first trip through a campground on the CRA tour?”

Kyle asked.

“No. Sometimes Tanna and I hang out in her horse trailer.

She usually takes off right after the event on the second night.”

Lainie avoided a pile of beer cans. “Talk about a shock. I figured the inside of her horse trailer would be covered in hay. She’d have a couple of plastic buckets to sit on, a dorm- size fridge, and a cot.”

“Were you surprised?”

“Yes. My God. Her horse trailer is nicer than my apartment.

Cleaner too.”

“At Tanna’s level of competition she can afford creature comforts.” He shot her a grin. “And I do mean
creature
comforts, because I’ll bet she pampers her horse way more than she pampers herself.”

“True.” She pointed. “We’re this way.”

“Where’s Hank?”

“Called in for some last- minute sponsor event at a Western clothing store. They picked him up at the front gate an hour ago.

Then he has to meet with the head honcho afterward.”

9 CORRALLED

At the campsite, Lainie hopped up on the metal stair and twisted a key in the lock. She tilted her body sideways and swung the door open.

Kyle followed her inside. The air conditioner worked well; the space was nice and cool.

She cracked open the fridge. “I didn’t check to see what there is for food.” She rummaged and muttered, “Meat for sandwiches, but I don’t see bread. If I’d known that before we set up I would’ve insisted on a trip to the grocery store.”

“Tell you what. I saw a store across the road. Make me a list of what’ll get us through tonight and tomorrow and I’ll head over there and pick it up.”

“Really?” Her eyes lit up. “That’d be great. I planned on making the bed and taking care of general housekeeping stuff. I’ll do that while you’re gone and then I’ll fix us lunch when you get back.”

Kyle snagged her wrist. “Neither me or Hank expects you to cook and clean for us, Lainie.”

“I know. But it makes sense for me to keep track of it, since you guys will be busy. I’m sure we can work out some kind of beneficial trade.”

He bussed her cheek. “Count on it. And for the record? I’m better at fetching and carrying than I am at cooking.”

“Good to know.” Lainie jotted down a few items and passed him the paper with a breezy, “And anything else that strikes your fancy.”

At the store, after he’d loaded what he could comfortably carry across the busy road, Kyle saw a bunch of sunflowers. He immediately thought of Lainie’s sunshiny smile and added those to his basket before he checked out.

Holding the flowers behind his back, Kyle knocked on the camper door.

LORELEI JAMES 9

She peeked out the small window inset in the door before she opened it. “Why did you knock?”

He whipped the flowers out and said, “Surprise.”