Mistress Christmas: Wild West Boys (13 page)

Gabriel has ached to make Charity his for years, and finally having her in his bed, not just enduring but enjoying his darker urges is more than he’d ever imagined it could be. Despite what she says, he knows she deserves candlelight and roses, not candle wax and ropes. He’ll enjoy her while he can and let go when she finds the right man.

Charity knows Gabriel’s game and she’s not having any of it. A man can like it rough in bed and still be good and kind. He’s exactly the kind of man she wants to marry and she will. She loves him and she knows he loves her and she’s not taking no for an answer.

So when he runs off “to think” just after Christmas, it’s up to her to let him know that good girls can like it dark and rough and bad boys can be good men.

Warning: Bad boys and their toys and the sweet girls who love them. Naughty sexin’, the appearance of floggers, blindfolds and a crop. The occasional bad word.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Sweet Charity:

“Why don’t you put us all out of misery and fuck the woman?” Rafe asked Gabriel.

“What? Who?” He’d been staring so hard at Charity he’d only halfway heard the question. He turned to Rafe and Brian and exhaled sharply.

Brian laughed. “Charity Harris. You know, the woman you told me two years ago that if I ever touched or tried to get naked you’d kill me and bury my body where no one would find it? The woman you’ve been staring at all night? All that licking business is making me wonder about my chances at being murdered by you. I do so love all that long, curvy stuff she’s got under her clothes. Why you two sniff around each other but never do anything about is beyond me. It’s also a waste of a very hot woman.”

Who
wasn’t
staring at her in that sweater? Her sable-dark hair loose around her shoulders, lips as red as the sweater. Her tongue, each time she took a shot, and it had been four now, darting out to lick her hand, God, the sight had been enough to make him whimper.

He focused his eyes again to glare at Brian. “She’s a friend. You’re a hound. Of course I warned you off.” Even Gabe didn’t believe himself. He supposed if he hadn’t lost his voice twice in one sentence it might be more convincing.

“Hi.”

He looked up, and up some more past the breasts heaving from the front of the sweater, past the hair and up into those green eyes of hers.
Zing
. Their connection shot straight to his toes. And um, other parts.

“Hey, Charity, you and Jose Cuervo having a good time?”
Keep it light.

She plopped herself in his lap and his arms went around her to keep them both from falling. So much for that. “Gabriel, why don’t you find me fuckable? What? Am I ugly? Fat? Do I smell? Did I make a weird noise before? Why do you run from me?”

“I’m going to check on Belle. You know, to see if she wants a ride home,” Rafe said, shoving at Brian who stared at the mouthwatering tits currently pressed against Gabe’s chest.

Gabriel wanted to throttle his friend for looking at her that way and didn’t truly relax until the other two guys had gone and he and Charity were left alone. Although relaxed wasn’t exactly what he felt just then.

Her lips just touched his ear, her breath against the sensitive skin. “Now that we’re alone, you can tell me. It drives me crazy, you know. Why don’t you want me?” She nuzzled into his neck and he stifled a groan.

“Honey, you’re drunk.” He knew it from the way she spoke. He’d heard her say the “f” word maybe a handful of times in the years he’d known her. She was also clearly out of it not to feel the rock hard cock she’d planted her sweet ass on.

“I am drunk, yes. If I wasn’t, I’d be pretending that night eight years ago never happened. I’d be pretending it doesn’t bother me that you didn’t make me come. That I ran off and then we didn’t talk to each other for nearly a year and now we circle each other and I think you’re interested but other times you couldn’t be less interested. It makes me very frustrated and there’s only so much masturbating I can do and now apparently you’ve been warning men away. Tsk tsk, Gabriel. Brian might be the guy to give me what I need. Why so interested in telling him to back off?”

He tried not to smile. She was drunk and slurring her words slightly but she was on a mission and this was the woman he’d known for nearly thirty years demanding an answer. She was damned cute although squirming a lot, which wasn’t helping his cock or his resolve to keep away from her.

Rafe approached, one of his eyebrows rising as he caught sight of how low Gabriel’s hand rested on Charity’s back, just above the sweet curve of her ass. “I’m going to take Belle home. She’s very fun when she’s been taking tequila shots. Thanks for that, Charity.” He winked and Charity laughed.

“Merry Christmas from me to you.”

Gabriel stood, bringing Charity to her feet but keeping an arm around her waist. “I’m going to take you home. You can’t drive like this.”

“I can take her,” Brian said, wearing a smirk.

“I’ve got it.” Gabriel glared and walked her out.

“I’m fine. I can get a ride with someone else since you hate being with me so much.”

Gabe leaned her against his truck until he got it unlocked and opened. “Get in and stop that now. You know that’s bullshit.”

She snorted but got in, swinging those long legs inside.

He walked around, taking a deep breath of the cold air and praying for strength. He hated that she’d think he felt she was unattractive. Especially when the opposite was true. Eight years ago was not her fault.

“You’re not going to puke in my truck are you?” he asked, starting the truck and putting his seatbelt on.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not some college dumbass who can’t hold her liquor. I only had four shots and we both know I’m capable of keeping up with you on that score. I wouldn’t drive just now, but I’m not gonna puke.”

“Just checking. Don’t get pissy with me. You’re at that new townhouse complex now right?”

“Yes. I’ll get pissy if I want to. And you haven’t answered my questions.”

“Because they’re stupid questions. We were kids eight years ago and you know damned good and well you’re a beautiful, sexy woman.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and fumed the rest of the way to her house, which was fine with him.

“Take this lane here on the left. I’m the last driveway on the end.”

He pulled up, turning the truck off. He turned to speak but she practically leapt at him, throwing her arms around his neck, pressing her breasts against his chest and her mouth to his.

It was over for his self control as those lips of hers touched his. Within moments he was out of his seatbelt and his hands were in her hair. That soft, beautiful hair he wanted to wrap around his fist.

He let himself kiss her, let himself marvel at her taste when his tongue slipped into her mouth. She moaned, pressing against him more confidently, tossing her leg over his body and straddling his lap.

White bursts of light pinpricked against his closed eyelids as she ground herself over his cock and it was his turn to groan.

Firmly but not as hard as he really wanted, he pulled her hair enough to break the kiss. He’d intended to get out and drag her inside and run the other way but her neck was too tempting. Instead, he angled her the way he wanted. He feasted on her frantic pulsebeat just beneath her ear before cruising down the column of her throat where she was warm and smelled damned good.

The edge of his teeth tested the skin at the hollow of her throat and she moaned, arching into him. Her fingers pulled his hair, keeping him close.

The sound of a car door closing somewhere else on the small lane broke into his brain, and he grabbed her by the waist and set her on the seat again as he tried to catch his breath.

“Christ.”

Torn between the love he has…and the love he’s always wanted.

Rough, Raw and Ready

© 2008 Lorelei James

Rough Riders Series, Book 5

Chassie West Glanzer hasn’t been a stranger to drama and tragedy. A year of wedded bliss to sexy-as-sin cowboy Trevor Glanzer has brought her the happiness and contentment she never thought she’d find, and mellowed Trevor’s rodeo wanderlust. Then Trevor’s old roping partner ambles up the driveway—and Chassie’s life changes drastically.

Trevor never expected to see Edgard Mancuso again, after it became clear he couldn’t be the man Edgard needed. Now Edgard is back from Brazil to sort out their tangled past, and Trevor is plagued with feelings he thought he’d buried over three years ago. Although Trevor is hat-over-bootheels in love with his sweet, feisty wife, the sense his life is missing a piece has always gnawed at him.

Chassie’s shock that Edgard and Trevor were once lovers turns to fear of losing her husband. Or worse, fear that Trevor will stay with her only out of a sense of duty. Yet as the three of them spend time together, the sins of the past blur and fade, leaving raw emotion—and unbridled passion.

Passion that could heal…or cause irreparable damage to their future.

Warning: this book contains unbelievably explicit sex, including multiple cowboy/cowgirl/cowboy ménage scenes, juicy, hot, male on male action, a bucketful of politically incorrect situations and true Western ideology

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Rough, Raw and Ready:

By the time Trevor finished scrubbing the machine oil from his hands, Chassie and Edgard had returned to the kitchen.

Chassie said, “Who wants coffee?”

“Sounds great, Chass.”

“There’s cookies, unless Trev ate them all. The man has a serious sweet tooth.”

“Then I oughta munch on you, darlin’, since you’re so durn sweet.” Trevor nibbled the side of her jaw and Chassie squealed. He reached above her head for the coffee cups on the pegs.

Trevor turned and saw Edgard staring at them. Not with jealousy, but with longing. Simple affectionate moments had been rare between them and Trevor remembered it was one of the things Edgard had needed that Trevor hadn’t been able to offer him. Why did he feel just as guilty about that shortcoming now as he had back then?

Chassie poured the coffee. Trevor automatically grabbed the milk jug from the fridge and set it next to Edgard. He snagged a spoon from the dish rack, passing it and the sugar canister to Edgard, ignoring Chassie’s questioning stare.

Didn’t mean a damn thing he remembered exactly how Edgard liked his coffee. Not a damn thing.

“So, Edgard, what are you doin’ in our neck of the woods?”

“Reliving some old memories. I drove past my grandparents’ place yesterday. With the shabby way it’s looking I’m wishing I would’ve bought it when I had the chance.” He smiled wryly. “I’m kicking myself for letting another thing slip through my fingers.”

“Grandparents?” Chassie repeated, not noticing Trevor’s rigid posture after Edgard’s comment. “You from around here?”

“Yes. And no.” Edgard relayed the story about his mother. Getting pregnant as a foreign exchange student, giving birth to Edgard before his biological father, a young cowboy, died in an accident. She’d returned home to Brazil and married Edgard’s stepfather.

“Whoa. That’s kind of soap-operaish, isn’t it?”

“Mmm-hmm.” Edgard blew across his coffee. “But it does make me an American citizen so I can come and go as I please in the good ol’ U.S. of A.”

Trevor listened as Chassie asked a million questions about Edgard’s life and Brazil. They finished off the pot of coffee and the time passed pleasantly. He even managed to meet Edgard’s gaze a couple of times.

The phone rang and Chassie excused herself to answer it.

Silence hung between them as heavy as snow clouds in a winter sky.

Eventually, Edgard said, “She doesn’t know anything about me. Not even that we were roping partners. Not that we were…” He looked at Trevor expectantly.

“No.” Trevor quickly glanced at the living room where Chassie was chattering away. “You surprised?”

“Maybe that she isn’t aware of our official association as roping partners. There was no shame in that. We were damn good together, Trev.”

The word
shame
echoed like a slap. As good as they were together, it’d never been enough, in an official capacity or behind closed doors. “What are you really doin’ here?”

Edgard didn’t answer right away. “I don’t know. Feeling restless. Had the urge to travel.”

“Wyoming ain’t exactly an exotic port of call.”

“You think I don’t realize that? You think I wouldn’t rather be someplace else? But something…” Edgard lowered his voice. “Ah, fuck it.”

“What?”

“Want the truth? Or would you rather I lie?”

“The truth.”

“Truth between us? That’s refreshing.” Edgard’s gaze trapped his. “I’m here because of you.”

Trevor’s heart alternately stopped and soared, even when his answer was an indiscernible growl. “For Christsake, Ed. What the hell am I supposed to say to that? With my wife in the next room?”

“You’re making a big deal out of this. She thinks we’re friends, which ain’t a lie. We were partners before we were…” Edgard gestured distractedly. “If she gets the wrong idea, it won’t be from me.”

“Maybe
I’m
gettin’ the wrong idea. The last thing you said to me when you fuckin’
left
me was that you weren’t ever comin’ back. And you made it goddamn clear you didn’t want to be my friend. So why are you here?”

Pause. He traced the rim of his coffee cup with a shaking fingertip. “I heard about you gettin’ married.”

“That happened over a year ago and you came all the way from Brazil to congratulate me in person? Now?”

“No.” Edgard didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands. He raked his fingers through his hair. His voice was barely audible. “Will it piss you off if I admit I was curious about whether you’re really happy,
meu amore
?”

My love
. My ass. Trevor snapped, “Yes.”

“Yes, you’re pissed off? Or yes, you’re happy?”

“Both.”

“Then this is gonna piss you off even more.”

“What?”

“Years and miles haven’t changed anything between us and you goddamn well know it.”