Rough Riders Bundle 1(books 1, 2, 3) (19 page)

“On my way. I just need to load yours and Colby’s stuff in the horse trailer. Do you want to ride over there with me?”

“Sure.” She touched his arm. And she thought she’d looked wiped out. She could’ve packed her stuff in the luggage under Edgard’s eyes. “Ed, are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just worried about the events. Trev and I could sure stand to win some money today.”

“I’ll cheer you on. Although I guess I’m not bringing you as much luck as you’d believed?”

Surprisingly, Edgard grinned, leaning over to buss her cheek. “You bring me something better than luck, Channing.”

“What’s that?”

“Hope. Come on. Colby forgot his saddle and he’s waiting, probably pacing behind the chutes.”

Channing wondered. Had Colby been thinking about her and their erotic interlude from last night so much that he’d waltzed off and left his saddle behind? Maybe he was as bowled over by what was happening between them as she was because he was meticulous about his equipment.

At the rodeo grounds Edgard had parked the rig at the far end of the lot, near the back entrance. He handed her a key to the horse trailer. “Can you lock up? I gotta get this saddle over to him before he starts freaking out.”

“Sure. See you. Tell him I said good luck.”

“Maybe you wanna give me a kiss that I can pass along to him, too?”

“You know, that’s the first time you’ve offered to kiss me. You feeling okay, Ed?”

“I’m feeling great. Later.” He flashed her a bone-melting smile, hefted the saddle over his broad shoulder and sauntered off.

At the box office a ticket was held in her name. And it really brightened her day when several of the women from the Wild Bronc came over to chat, to tease her about her abrupt departure with Colby the previous night. The bolder ones even confided about the early days in their relationships with their cowboys and how they remembered—and missed—that urgency.

But mostly these trash-talking women wanted to tempt her into placing small-stakes bets with them. A time-honored tradition, they swore. The only rule was you couldn’t bet against your man.

Channing knew it was a test. And she soon discovered very few bet against Colby McKay. So she prepared to clean them out of their pocket money and she’d enjoy every minute of it.

“Let’s rodeo!” the announcement boomed.

During the bareback competition Channing won twenty-five bucks. Then the saddle bronc event started.

Oh mama. The second Colby’s name was announced, her whole body flushed with desire and pride.

Colby looked powerful and in command and supremely sexy as he rode his bronc to a seventy-five. He finished third overall and won a decent amount of money.

With it being the last day of the rodeo, the events were longer, because the short-go was held right after the individual competitions ended.

The betting became sporadic as contestants’ significant others left the stands. It’d be a long day for her. Suddenly alone, Channing regretted she’d forgotten her notebook in the horse trailer.

Two tugs on her hair. Before she could turn to see who it was, Callie hopped down in front of her. “Hey, China bear.”

“Hey, Calamity Jane.”

She clapped her hand over her mouth and giggled.

“Where’s your mom?”

“Helpin’ the hazer wrap up the back legs on his horse before Daddy goes bulldoggin’.”

With her soft Midwestern accent, bordering on a twang, and big eyes, the kid was cute as a bug. “Is the horse okay?”

She shrugged. “So’s your stomach and your head hurt as bad as Momma’s does this mornin’?”

Channing choked on her iced tea. “No.”

“I’m glad, because
she
is the one who’s a bear today, not you,” she confided with a serious face.

Beat-up brown boots covered in dirt slid into view. “I heard that Calliope Jane Morgan.” A sluggish Mary eased next to Channing. “I’d like to say she’s full of it, but the truth is, my head is pounding and I feel like I could barf. Been that way since the moment I got up.”

She could tell Mary was scrutinizing her from beneath oversized pink sunglasses.

“Here I was hopin’ my partner in crime from last night felt just as poorly as I do. But damn, you look positively chipper today.”

Channing chuckled. “Remind me why you were drinking last night?”

“Showing you how to celebrate Colby’s big ride. It just didn’t seem like I drank that much to feel this bad.”

“Momma. You always say that.”

“Pipe down, pipsqueak. You’re giving Channing a bad impression of me.”

Channing hid a smile as she sipped her tea. “So are you guys going to Valentine?”

“Yep. We’re off to
love city
as soon as Mike’s event ends. What about you?”

“We’re heading that way, too.”

Callie skipped across the seats to check out the vendors hawking their wares.

“Can I ask you something?” Mary said. Channing nodded. “Ain’t it kinda awkward travelin’ with Colby
and
Trevor
and
Edgard? I mean, Mike and me saw you and Colby take off last night. And Trev was so wasted Cash had to help him out of the bar at closing time. But this morning Cash said Trev wouldn’t stay in his room and he must’ve slept in the horse trailer.”

Channing tried to act nonchalant, dreading the remainder of the question.

“So how does that work when you and Colby want alone time? Do you guys gotta sneak off and git ’er done before Trevor or Edgard bust in on you?”

Channing blushed. No doubt her new friend would be scandalized if she admitted the sleeping arrangements. But when she really thought about it, she literally had slept only with Colby in all the nights the four of them had been together.

“Well, Trevor and Edgard make themselves pretty scarce. We switch off and take turns—” somehow she managed not to wince “—one night we’re in the horse trailer, the next we’re in the motel room.”

“Oh.” Mary seemed about to say something else but Callie interrupted.

“Momma, I’m hot.”

“I know, baby. We’ll be out of the sun soon.”

“So can I have one of them little fans to cool off?” She pointed to the vendor wandering through the stands selling souvenirs.

“No.”

“How about a necklace?”

“No.”

“Then can I have a whistle? They ain’t very expensive.”

“No, Callie. Lord, stop beggin’ me for every damn thing you see.”

Callie sighed. “So can I at least have a snow cone?”

“Fine.” Mary dug out a couple of bucks and slapped it in Callie’s outstretched hand. “But come right back here, no fooling around.”

Talk about diversionary tactics. Callie shot Channing a triumphant look that said she’d wanted a snow cone all along.

Cheeky little thing.

The steer wrestling started. Bets were placed. Channing lost ten bucks because Mike won not only the second round, but also the final go-round. Mary and Callie took off and promised they’d see her in Valentine.

Next up was team roping. Trevor and Edgard were the second competitors. The steer raced out and Trevor’s rope came up short. They ended up with no time. They were out of the money except for the modest amount they’d won the previous day.

Channing squinted, but from where she sat she couldn’t gauge their individual expressions. Their body language didn’t lie; they were both stiff, coiling their ropes in angry, jerking motions. Ignoring the announcer’s rundown of their bad run of luck again. Ignoring each other. She wondered if Colby was waiting for them back in the chutes to talk to them or if he’d leave them to misery. Their moods would be sour tonight.

After another half an hour of sitting by herself, she was hungry and needed a break from the sun. She wolfed down a hot dog from the concession stand and sucked down an icy-cold beer. Ooh. That made her woozy. She glanced at the clock. It would be at least an hour before the bull riding started, plenty of time for her to grab her notebook and jot down a few observations.

The dusty parking lot was mostly empty of the usual line of horse trailers and campers. The timed events were nearly over and the contestants had already packed up and moved on to the next town. It was weird to see Trevor’s trailer parked so far away. The horses weren’t tied to the sides. They were probably still in the paddock waiting to be loaded until after Colby’s last event.

A hot wind swirled the trash littering the grounds. Channing dug out the key from her front jeans pocket and slid it in the lock. As she stood below the pop-out metal step, she heard a loud thump inside the living area of the trailer. She waited and heard it again, but this time a grunt, another thump and loud male cursing followed it.

Crap. Were Edgard and Trevor in there beating the hell out of each other for their poor showing? She didn’t have time to track down Colby; she’d have to handle this herself. Channing quickly twisted the key and quietly slunk inside, softly clicking the door shut behind her.

What she saw froze her to the spot. Edgard and Trevor weren’t fighting. Rather, Trevor was naked, splayed along the back wall, beating his fists into the cheap paneling as Edgard, on his knees before Trevor’s widespread legs, was noisily sucking Trevor’s cock.

Holy shit. This wasn’t what she’d expected at all.

Edgard raked his fingers down Trevor’s rippled abs and gripped his hips. “Fuck my mouth. Hard. You want to. Do it.” Then he bent his head and swallowed Trevor’s cock again.

“Jesus, I can’t get enough of—” Trevor’s gaze caught hers. “
Channing
? What the hell are you doing here?”

Edgard scrambled back so fast he fell on his naked ass, looking up at Channing with the most horrified expression distorting his striking face.

Trevor stayed pressed against the wall almost as if he wanted to melt into it.

No one uttered a sound.

And suddenly, things made sense. Edgard’s reluctance to have her travel along with them or to join in their sexcapades. The constant tension between Trevor and Edgard. The sniping that was clearly a lovers’ spat. The truth of why Trevor disappeared every night and where he went, leaving her and Colby alone.

Oddly enough, it didn’t freak her out. In fact, it was a relief. No wonder Edgard wasn’t attracted to her; he was attracted to Trevor.

Trevor said, “Channing, it’s not what you think.”

Then another strange thought sneaked in and she blurted out, “Is Colby gay, too?”

“I’m not gay,” Trevor said.

Edgard shot him a dark look.

“Okay. Bi at least. Then is Colby bisexual?”

“No.”

“Does he know that you guys are…together?”

“Yes.”

“And he doesn’t mind?” Most straight guys she knew were extremely homophobic. Rough and tumble cowboys, schooled in the traditional conduct of the Old West were even more set in their ways of thinking than the male urbanites she knew.

“Colby is of the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy,” Edgard said dryly. “As long as he doesn’t see us—everything is fine.”

“Oh.” She absolutely did not know what to say.

Trevor said, “Obviously, we’d rather you didn’t go blabbin’ about this. It’d make life a mite difficult for us not only on the circuit, but everywhere else.”

“I imagine.”

Edgard scowled, stood and threaded his hand through his hair. He reached for his rumpled clothes. “I’ll go get the horses.”

She could’ve let him go. Instead, Channing stepped in front of him and placed her hand on his cheek. “No. Go ahead and finish. I interrupted your private time together. If anyone should leave it should be me, Edgard.”

Her words sent shock waves through the small space.

“You’re not disgusted by what you’ve seen?”

She laughed softly. “On the contrary.”

Edgard and Trevor exchanged a look. “Meaning?”

“What I see are two of the sexiest men I’ve ever met, giving in to passion that I never believed existed until I experienced it myself.” She felt a hot blush steal up her neck. “How can that be wrong? I’m beginning to understand it’s powerfully addicting. And…”

“What?” Edgard brought her hand to his mouth. “Tell us.”

“It turns me on. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to watch two guys going at it. I mean, face it, you’re both gorgeous. You’ve both got incredibly beautiful, incredibly strong bodies. All those bulging muscles, rock-hard abs, broad shoulders. Big, rough hands and tight cowboy asses.” Her gaze dipped to Edgard’s crotch. “Not to mention those.”

He grinned.

Trevor stepped forward and curled his hand on Edgard’s shoulder. “What’re you sayin’?”

Channing looked from one man to the next. “I’m saying, part of the reason I’m here is to experience all sorts of different sexual scenarios, right? This is one. So, I want you to finish what you started. Pretend I’m not here. I’ll just be sitting over there in the corner. Watching.”

Edgard didn’t look convinced.

“I’m so wet thinking about seeing you guys fuck I hope you don’t mind if when I can’t stand it anymore, I take care of matters myself?”

Trevor leaned over to kiss her forehead. “Do what you gotta do, darlin’. Don’t mind us, ’cause we probably won’t mind you.”

Channing picked up the chair and slid it next to the door, out of the way, and sat back to enjoy the show.

With renewed fervor, Trevor spun Edgard sideways and clamped his mouth to Edgard’s. His callused hands cradled Edgard’s face and he gradually slipped his fingers over Edgard’s thick neck, his delineated pecs, until his thumbs brushed Edgard’s small pebbled nipples. Over and over. A softer touch than Channing expected, but without pause.

Edgard groaned.

The contrast of Trevor’s light-colored hands skimming across Edgar’s darker-hued skin was a stunning visual. The strength of these men, square jaws covered in razor stubble, thick tongues flashing as they kissed hungrily, their sinewy bodies swaying closer until they were pressed together. Smooth, rock-hard chest against another equally firm torso dusted with dark hair. Muscled thigh to muscled thigh, cock straining against cock, made her heart pound and her pussy dripping wet.

Edgard broke the kiss and dragged his mouth down the center of Trevor’s body. Trevor widened his stance, planted his palms on Edgard’s shoulders and pushed him to his knees.