Rough Riders Bundle 1(books 1, 2, 3) (59 page)

Cash snorted.

“Besides, does it really matter? They’re both young. They ain’t gonna settle down and set up housekeeping. This is probably just a summer fling. They’ll fight and fuck and move on.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“No. But I don’t want your newfound parental instincts to cloud your judgment, Cash. Yes, Macie is your daughter, and you’re looking out for her. Truth is, she and Carter are both adults and they gotta work out whatever is goin’ on between them, themselves.”

“Basically you’re telling me to butt out.”

“Yep.”

Cash believed Colby was right on some level. But it also made him wonder how well Colby knew his brother. Carter McKay wasn’t the love ’em and leave ’em type, which was why Cash was so worried about Macie.

You can’t have it both ways. You’re afraid she’ll settle down with him; yet, you’re afraid he’ll leave her high and dry.

No. Cash was afraid that no matter what happened with Carter, Macie would leave him.

“So as long as I left my subtlety at home, how’s it goin’ with you and Gemma?”

“Good.”

Silence.

Colby sighed. “That’s it?”

“Married life has made you gossipy as an old hen, McKay.”

“Come on. You and Gemma have been circling each other for damn near two years. Now you’re working on her ranch and sleeping in her bed?”

“I know you sent her my direction because you knew I was looking for work, and I appreciate that. But that don’t mean I’ll be spilling my guts to you or anyone about what happens behind closed doors.”

“Fair enough. Then tell me what’s happening with her stock contracting business.”

“It’s pretty much dead. Appears no promoters wanna give her a chance.”

“This isn’t because of what happened with Mike Morgan last summer?”

“Not entirely. The last guy she had helping bad-mouthed her to everyone in five states. Evidently he was pissed off she wasn’t paying him more. He took a job with one of the bigger stock contractors and even the little rodeos won’t return her calls.”

“That sucks. What’re you doin’ to help her get back in the game?”

Cash scratched his chin. “Honestly? Nothin’. I don’t know why she’d want to travel when she’s got this beautiful chunk of land to call home. Hell. I’d never wanna leave here.”

Colby nodded in understanding.

“She finally let me look at the books last month. Even during the busiest month last summer when she supplied stock for two rodeos a week, she was barely breaking even. Add in the fact she has to hire an overseer for the Bar 9 when she’s gone, and she’s flat out losing money. I told her she’d be better off breeding the stock and selling it off. Let some other fool take on the headache of dragging animals to rodeos all over the damn country.”

“Makes sense.”

“She’d come to the same realization right before she hired me. She wants to focus on building a breeding program, with both broncs and bulls. She’s smart. She runs a damn fine operation and I’m lucky to be a part of it.”

“She’s lucky to have you helping her, Cash. You know your shit and won’t feed her full of none. Which was one of the reasons I recommended you.”

Embarrassed by Colby’s praise, Cash changed the subject. “How’s your leg?”

“Hurts like a sonuvabitch most days.” Colby gave Cash a cool look. “You repeat that to Channing and I’ll kick your ass.”

Cash laughed, mostly because he figured Channing already knew. “I noticed her watching you like a hawk yesterday around that buckin’ bull. She’s afraid you’ll get on and show us all how it’s done, eh?”

“Yeah. Well. She don’t understand why I can’t sell the whole shooting match outright.” Colby stared off into the distance. After a while he said, “Do you miss it?”

Cash knew
it
meant all that went along with rodeoin’ and being a professional rodeo cowboy. “Sometimes. I don’t miss the bruises and the constant body aches.”

“Or all the boring hours spent in the truck on the road between events,” Colby added.

“Or the bad food.”

“Or the bad draws.”

“Or the low scores.”

“Or the low payouts.”

Silence.

“Hell yeah, I miss it,” Colby said with a laugh.

“Me too.” Now was as good a time as any for Cash to broach the subject he’d been wrestling with all morning. With any luck it wouldn’t tip Colby off. “You keep in touch with many of the guys on the circuit?”

“A few. Why?”

“Just wondering what Trevor’s up to these days.”

“He’s still chasing the Finals dream. Though, he had a pretty serious falling out with his dad about it. I’m surprised you haven’t seen him this year.”

“He ain’t been competing in the rinky-dink rodeos I’d been working. You have his number? I accidentally tossed it. Thought I might give him a call. I need to ask him a favor.”

“Sure. This favor anything I can help with?”

He nearly choked. “Nope.”

Colby sat up taller and grinned from ear to ear. “Hey, shug, you lookin’ for me?”

Cash turned around and watched Channing crook her little finger at her husband.

Colby jumped off the fence like it’d suddenly caught fire.

Cash grinned. Maybe someday soon, if he played his cards right, Gemma would look at him like that.

Gemma. Lord, thinking about the smokin’ hot sex last night still made his dick hard.

He’d figured once they’d retired to their room, she’d be too worn out to make love. Or she’d be worried about having sex with other people staying in the house.

Had he been wrong.

They’d started messing around, and the need between them flared as hot and urgent as it always did. He’d gone down on her—man did he
love
going down on her, the sweet noises she made were music to his ears, but she’d literally turned the tables on him. She’d flipped around so she could suck his cock while he ate her pussy. He’d never been especially fond of sixty-nine until last night when the law of averages caught up with them and they’d actually come at the same time. Explosively. Feeling his cock throb hot spurts in her suctioning mouth while she came, undulating against his face… Well, he’d have to rethink his position on that particular position.

But Gemma hadn’t been satisfied. She wanted to make love face to face. With the lights on.

He’d said no. She’d insisted. When he offered a compromise of making love with her blindfolding him, she offered a new threat: One of these nights she’d wait until he fell asleep, then she’d hog-tie him, turn the lights on and fuck him exactly how she wanted. For as long as she wanted. In the position she wanted. She haughtily informed him there wouldn’t be a damn thing he could do about it.

Cash knew she’d follow through with the threat. And he wasn’t ready for her to see the truth of how he felt about her. So he pretended to laugh it off and waited until she fell asleep.

He snuck out of bed and cut an old T-shirt of Steve’s into one long strip. Making sure the bottle of lube was nearby, he murmured instructions in her ear.

She didn’t protest, just sleepily rolled to her stomach. As he bound her wrists behind her back, she woke up.

Spitting mad.

Her fury lasted about a minute until she felt his slippery thumb stroking her clit and his fingers snaking up inside her, bringing her to a fast orgasm. While she recovered, he hiked her hips in the air and squirted more lube on his fingers and his straining cock.

Gemma gasped when he squeezed a dollop on her anus.

“Cash—”

“Did he have you here?” He inserted two fingers in her ass.

She sucked in a breath and released it on a moan, nodding.

“Good. Then you’ll know what to expect.” He scissored his fingers inside that dark hole, stretching her to fit him. He angled over her arched spine to whisper in her ear. “You didn’t expect I’d stay out of this gorgeous ass forever, did you?”

“No.”

“See, this is the way
I
deal with threats, sweets, call it a pre-emptive strike.”

“But—”

“Who’s hog-tied now, Gem?”

“Umm. Me.”

“And I’m gonna fuck you exactly where I want, and how I want, as long as I want, exactly as I’ve fantasized and there ain’t a damn thing you can do about it, is there?”

“No.”

He growled, “If I knew where your vibrator was I’d shove it up your pussy while I ream this tight hole. You fantasize about having two men at once. Two men fucking you in every way imaginable.”

“Cash.”

“Do you want that, Gemma?”

“Ah. Yes.”

“Another time. Right now, I’m gonna fuck you so hard that you remember who makes the decisions in the bedroom. I’m gonna fuck and use this ass to the absolute limit and you’re gonna love it, aren’t you?”

“Please. Oh—”

Cash impaled her to the root on the first stroke. He reached between her thighs and rubbed her clit while he tunneled in and out of her ass. Faster. Harder. Each thrust had enough force to send her knees sliding toward the headboard. He wrapped his hands around her waist and jerked her back to the end of the bed and started over.

She smelled good. She felt good too. As much as he wanted to stay buried in that hot, tight channel, Cash couldn’t hold back.

Neither could Gemma. She came, muffling her cries into the pillow as his cock pumped and jerked and finally shot his load high and hard into that hot, tight portal.

Gemma flopped to her stomach after he eased out of her. He was half afraid he’d been too rough. But after he loosened the bindings and spooned against her, she murmured, “I’ll have to threaten you more often.”

Two shouts sounded from the tent bringing Cash back to reality. The boys returned for their riding lessons and all thoughts beyond rodeo disappeared.

‡

L
ater Cash was
taking a breather, enjoying the serenity of the ranch when he heard footsteps behind him. When he turned to see his daughter approaching, his heart lightened. They hadn’t spent much time together recently, and he was afraid it wouldn’t take much to snap the tentative connection they’d established.

“Hey, Dad.”

“
Hoka hey
, honey-girl.” Poor thing looked tired. “Gemma finally parole you from kitchen duty?”

“How many times do I have to tell you cooking is not a chore?”

“I suppose it is different when you’re good at it.” He hesitated. “If I’ve forgotten to tell you, the food’s been mighty tasty the last coupla days. I know everyone’s been talking about it. I’m proud of you for pitching in.”

Macie blushed. “Thanks.”

The scent of hot dirt permeated the air as they gazed across the paddock. A pair of crows circled the turquoise sky, their
caw
caw
lost in the breeze blowing through the stand of cedar trees.

“It’s so beautiful here.”

“That it is. I was just thinking the same thing.”

“We haven’t been riding for a couple of days.” She picked at a loose chunk of wood on the fence. “But I suppose you’re pretty busy, huh?”

“Not too busy for you. Wanna go out right after supper?”

“Sure. Is Gemma tired of me taking her horse all the time?”

“No. She’s glad. Daisy needs the exercise and she’s been swamped catching up on ranch paperwork.”

A truck whizzed by on the gravel road, sending clouds of chalky dust across the rocky field.

Macie angled her chin toward the empty mechanical bull. “What was the toss off rate today?”

“Eighty-five percent.”

“Not good.”

“Better than the ninety-nine percent from yesterday.”

“True. So how many times did you have to demonstrate?”

“None.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“So you’re not all beat up?”

“No.” But the truth was, all damn day he had been feeling some of those old aches and pains from previous rodeo injuries.

“Huh. That gives you no excuse not to give me a personal demonstration on your bull ridin’ expertise.”

“What?”

She smiled and teased, “Come on, Dad. Show me how an old pro does it. Every time I saw you yesterday you were eating dirt.”

Cash bit back a grin. “Think your old man ain’t got it in him anymore?”

“Didn’t appear you had it in you yesterday.”

“It’s a new day.”

“Five bucks says you land on your butt before the buzzer sounds.”

“You’re on, girlie.” He strode toward the piece of equipment and whirled around to remind her, “Hit the switch when I nod my head. Then sit back and prepare to be awed.”

Macie’s laughter filled something inside him he hadn’t realized was empty. He hopped on the machine and jerked on his riding glove. He wrapped the bull rope. Unwrapped it and rewrapped it.

“Are you stalling?”

“You wish. Get ready to pay up.” Cash adjusted his hat over his eyes. Moved his hips from side to side. Threw his free arm up in the air and nodded.

The bull kicked on. It spun right; Cash readjusted his knees when the movement blew his feet out and up. The front end lifted, slamming him back, but he didn’t fight it and stayed on. Another jumping right spin. Two hard lefts, one last buck and the eight seconds were history and he was still on.

He whooped and jumped off, surprised by how much he’d wanted Macie to see him succeed.