Trouble in a Stetson (9 page)

“Samsamsam.” She jerked against the restraints needing desperately to touch this man who’d given her so much pleasure. When she finally stopped gasping his name, she lay still against the warm sheets and wondered what he would do next. The question was answered as she felt the velvety stroke of the head of his cock brush her lips.

“Suck it, Lola.” Sam’s voice was raw, edgy with unspent lust. Lola swept her tongue along the crest, drawing a single drop of moisture onto it. Exploring the contours, the shape, the feel of him was so erotic she felt her body seize up again as sensual pleasure curled deep in her belly. She opened her mouth over him and with a groan Sam slid deeper. She wanted to hold his cock and feel every ridge and bump with her hands but it was impossible. Her mouth would have to do.

Pulling hard, she closed her eyes behind the satin cloth, loving the hoarse, rough sound that burst from Sam’s lips. Alternating the action between hard and harder, light 66

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and lighter, she sensed Sam’s struggle when he finally jerked free from her sucking mouth. “Fuck!”

Sam lay between her thighs and probed her with his hard cock. “Condom,” he gasped and she felt his weight move slightly, heard a tearing sound. “Damn it to hell, I can’t wait.”

“Do it, Sam! Fuck me hard.”

Without further delay, Sam thrust deep into her waiting pussy. The feel of finally having him inside was almost too much. She wanted to wrap her legs around his ass to hold him close but no. That wasn’t happening. All she could do was lie there helplessly as Sam pounded hard in and out of her body. Impossibly turned on, she writhed beneath him, meeting his thrusts as much as the handcuffs would allow. She felt ravished. Taken. Fucked. Her mind whirled with sensation as he hit every erotic point of her pussy and love mingled and stayed, merging with physical pleasure until Lola didn’t know where one thing stopped and the other started. His mouth went to her nipple and she heard him cuss.

“How are these attached?”

“Suction cups.”

“What the fuck?”

“Get them wet, Sam. Then they’ll come off and you can suck my nipples. I need it so bad! So bad. Come on. Do it.”

Lola was desperate but she went still as his lips swept around the pink pasties.

Stabbing around the edges with his tongue, he nipped the spot and Lola clamped down hard on his cock. The edges of his teeth nipped harder and she wanted it. Yes, she wanted it. His tongue dampened around her nipple then moved beneath until with a soft pop, the pasty came loose and fell away. Instantly his mouth engulfed the throbbing, stiff flesh and he sucked her hard. Fucking her with slow intensity as he lavished attention on her nipple was almost more than she could bear. “Other nipple,”

she whispered, shocked at the frantic sound of her voice.

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Sam released her nipple with a slight popping sound and moved to the other breast. Dear God! How much could one woman stand? Beside herself with pleasure, tears leaked from her eyes but Sam would never see. Every touch was electrifying, hot, lush. She wanted to weep hard and long as pleasure carried her up and away and then she felt the other pasty fall away.

Sam took her breasts in his hands and pushed them together, sucking one, then the other nipple as he thrust his cock deep into her pussy.

“Can’t hold on much longer. Come for me, sweet thing.” Sam rotated his pelvis against her clit and that was it for her. Sensation raced over her flesh, curled tightly deep in her belly before expanding into a force of pleasure she’d never experienced before. Crying out she fell over the edge and into an ocean of orgasmic release and as Sam followed her there, he caught her in his arms.

Peace flowed over her like butter and she knew she’d just done the unthinkable.

She had fallen in love.

* * * * *

Lola wasn’t given to depression and lord knows she’d had plenty of reasons to be depressed in the past. Heck, she was known for her sunny disposition but it was nowhere to be found today. She sat curled up on her couch starting at the television and wondered how she’d gotten herself into this mess. She’d thought with every inch of her heart and mind that she’d loved Nick Mantucci but it was a pale, ghostly thing compared to what she felt for Sam.

Could she stay here? Could she reshape her life by staying in this small town and if she did, would Sam even want that? She knew he’d been hurt. He was a man who felt things deeply. He might not want the love that she was now so willing to give him. If she confessed her feelings, was she prepared to have that love thrown back in her face?

There were just so many questions to which she had no answers.

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Suddenly a series of playfully timed knocks sounded at her door. “Coming,” she hollered, getting to her feet. Barefoot she jogged to the door and flung it open to see Emily and Roxie filling up the space. Roxie carried two paper bags that bore the logo of the local grocery store and Emily balanced in her arms, not only a blender, but yet another paper sack. “We’re invading,” Em said, pushing past her through the door.

Roxie followed close behind. “Yeah, time for some girl stuff.”

Both women headed to the kitchen and started unloading the booty. “What’s all this?”

Bags of chips, dips, chocolate, marshmallows and other gastronomic delights were pulled from the bags and placed willy-nilly on the counter. Roxie pushed back her dark hair and grinned. “We were just talking about needing a break from men and figure we’d pop over and plan us a nice little slumber party.”

“Ooh. Fun!” Lola smiled broadly. “Just what I need.”

“Me, too,” Em chimed in. She plugged the blender in and pulled a bottle of tequila and margarita mix from the bag. “Hmm. Margaritas might be the one thing I won’t screw up.”

Roxie snickered. “Yeah, don’t have to actually cook those, ya know?”

Lola needed this. She really did. But suddenly her smile faded. “Shoot! I have a date with Sam at Chaps tonight.”

“Then make it a no sex date, hon.” Emily shook her head. “The man has you whipped. It’ll do him good to be without you for one night. Wyatt pitched a fit when I told him he wasn’t getting a thing tonight.”

“No sex? Oh no.”

Roxie grinned wickedly. “Yeah, he’ll just appreciate you more later. I told Cliff it was ladies night. You should’ve seen the look on his face. Plumb pitiful.”

The three of them laughed and together unpacked the goodies. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do,” Lola said as she piled the junk food into a corner for later. “We’ll all go hang 69

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out at Chaps, do some dancing, kiss the fellas goodnight and hole up here for some feminine bonding. We’ll pig out and watch our asses expand.”

In the meantime, they grabbed soft drinks from the fridge and lounged around in Lola’s shabby little living room. “I’m glad you guys showed up,” she admitted. “I’ve been feeling downright blue today.”

Emily narrowed her eyes. “Why honey? Over Sam? What did he do?”

Lola shook her head, as love for her overprotective friends poured through her.

“Nothing. The night I spent as his place was like I said. Wonderful. Hot. Wow.”

“Then what’s with the sad stuff?” Roxie leaned forward a little, focused on her.

“Spill it.”

Sighing she closed her eyes. “I’ve fallen for him, ladies. Why did I let myself do that?”

“We don’t have any choice who we fall in love with, honey.” Emily reached for one hand and Roxie grabbed the other.

“That’s right, Lola. At least Sam isn’t like that dickhead, Nick,” Roxie added. “From what I know of Sam, he’s a man of character.”

“I know he is. I’m just—” Her cell phone rang mid sentence and Lola reached for it.

“Hello?”

“It’s Nick, Lola. How are you?”

Speak of the devil.

Lola’s eyes went big and she mouthed Nick’s name to Emily and Roxie. They both scowled. “I’m okay, Nick. What do you need?”

“Why so gruff?”

Lola rolled her eyes. “Why do you think? You have to admit our last meeting didn’t go all that well. Let’s see if I have it right. ‘It’s over, Lola. I’ve met someone else so get lost. And by the way, give me back that engagement ring.’”

“It wasn’t quite as bad as that. You’re such a drama queen.”

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“Don’t call me names, shithead.”

Roxie tried her grab her phone. Her face was red and Lola knew the signs that Rox was moving in to pitch a big hissy fit. Emily practically snarled. She waved a hand at them both hoping they’d calm down. Everyone might think she needed someone to fight her battles for her but they were dead wrong about that. Temper rose up. She could handle her former fiancé. “You made your feelings known and now I’ll tell you mine. There are men out here in the world who know a little bit about honesty and integrity. You could learn some lessons from them, Nick. I’m glad we’re done. Now don’t call me anymore.”

“No. No wait. Don’t hang up.” She heard Nick draw a deep breath and release it.

Good she had him pissed. She felt better now. “Listen, I was in the safe the other day and found a bunch of your personal papers. I need to send them to you. Can you at least tell me where you are?”

“I don’t want to tell you where I am, Nick!”

“Listen, this is important stuff, honey.”

“Don’t call me honey. I’m not your anything, mister.”

“I know. I know. Shit! Come on, Lola. You need your birth certificate and all this stuff. Just tell me where you are and I’ll get it in the mail to you. I promise I won’t bother you again.”

Lola blew out a breath. Emily was shaking her head and Roxie said, “Don’t do it, Lola!”

Knowing she really didn’t have much choice she rattled off the address of Blue Belle’s Café. That was innocuous enough. Right?

Roxie stood up and leaned over her the second she hung up. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“Yeah, honey. The man is dirt, scum. I still remember how much you cried when he dumped you.”

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“Me, too,” she said. “But he has some of my stuff and there’s no telling when the car will be fixed and we’ll be out of here.”

The very idea of leaving brought a wave of tears to her eyes. This was all too much.

For such a laid back, cheerful woman, she was a mess.

“Aw, Lola, I’m sorry,” Roxie said as she sat beside her and put an arm around her.

“I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

Emily scooted closer and did the same. “Me, too. You’ve been through too much.

Hell, we all have.”

“You didn’t yell,” Lola sniffed. “Not too much. Oh guys, it’s not Nick. It’s Sam. I’m so in love with him and I’m so scared.”

Em patted her shoulder. “Let’s not think about it now. If nothing else, we’ve learned that life can certainly throw out some curve balls.”

“Yeah,” Rox whispered. “Got that right. Best thing to do is slow down, sit back and wait to see what happens.”

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Hours later, Lola twirled on Chaps’ dance floor with Sam. His arms were around her and every now and then he would rest his face against her head in a tender way that threatened to undo her. Could it be that he was feeling as she did? There was definitely something between them. Sex with Sam was off the charts, but that wasn’t the thing. There was comfort there. Caring. Affection. But did Sam’s wounds run too deep for him to see past it and realize that Lola loved him?

Shortly after Nick’s call, the girls had headed off with promises to meet up here at Chaps around eight. Afterward, they would all come to her little place to paint some toenails or something. True to their words, they’d all arrived with their guys and the three couples were currently sharing a table in the honky-tonk.

“Quiet here tonight,” Sam said, as he moved with her to an old Patsy Cline song.

His hand swept her back as he nuzzled her temple. It was true. Rather than wall-to-wall people there was only a crowd of around one hundred tonight. “Maybe they are waiting for Saturday night when there will be a live band.”

When Lola looked up, he brazenly kissed her. Damn, how was a woman supposed to resist this? “I’m glad. I find I’m not in the mood for a huge crowd.”

His arms tightened around her. “You sure you don’t want to come to my place tonight?”

Lola laughed. “Nice try. You guys look totally done in at the idea there will be no sex for ya’ll tonight. No, I’m spending time with Em and Rox and that’s the end of it.

Why don’t you go and do something manly? You know, you, Wyatt and Cliff could go shoot at tin cans or something. Pee in the woods. Drink beer and talk sports. Jeez. You guys are
whupped
.”

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Sam laughed and spun her into a low dip. At the end of the song, he kissed her again, lifted her in the air and spun her around. Lola felt so wonderful, so happy and free, she squealed a bit. When he lowered her, a grin on his handsome face, she wrapped her arms around him, uncaring of the curious glances sent their way. By the time they made it back to the table, Cliff had asked the waitress for another round of drinks. One of the nice things about hanging out with a bar owner was the promptness of the service. Couldn’t beat it with a stick.

Sam waited for Lola to take her seat but instead she looked up at him with a smile.

“Think I’ll hit the ladies room. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Okay. See you in a few minutes.”

When Lola glanced at Roxie and Emily to see if they wanted to come too, she noticed they were knee-deep in the middle of a story so she headed off without them.

There was a short line when she got to the ladies room so she opened the small purse she carried and reapplied a little lipstick. It was a given that when a girl got kissed, lipstick disappeared in a hurry. Finally she took care of her business and walked into the darkened hallway to rejoin everyone when a man stepped from the shadows.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

“Nick!” Lola couldn’t believe it. Why in the hell was he here? “I should never have given you my address. Roxie and Emily were right about that. How did you get here so fast? Better yet,
why
are you here?”