A Cowboy for Christmas (3 page)

Cowgirl, I haven’t gotten started. When I’m done you’re going to sing like a fine fiddle.

She met his gaze. “I suppose it’s a good idea to show my support for the new face of Rawhide. Sure, I’ll come.”

Come.
Her final word sent a shock of need straight through him. Thank goodness the tablecloth concealed his raging hard-on.

Chapter Two

The minute Avalee spotted the dark brown cattleman-style hat, she craned to see the man wearing it. He stood off to the side of the arena, shifting from boot to boot.

Nerves. And no wonder. He was about to climb onto the back of a horse that’s job was to buck him onto his ass. Or head. Bronc riding was dangerous business, and Dusty had a lot on the line.

His name was announced. He gave his hands a fast flick as if dispensing the nerves through his fingertips. Avalee strained harder to see, wanting a glimpse of his face. This was an important moment in his life, and she wanted to witness the feelings that came with it.

Turned out she didn’t need to. She looked up at the big screen and there he was—the Everest of men. Coal-black beard that gave her very dirty thoughts of how it would feel as he dragged his jaw up her inner thigh to her soaking center.

Shuddering, she clasped her hands. At that moment, he looked up into the camera and gave a devilish wink and a crooked grin guaranteed to steal every woman’s heart in the arena—and more than a few men’s too.

He hooked a leg over the yellow bars corralling the horse he was about to ride.

“Dusty Waite is on Luck’s Side. His time to beat is 76. Dusty’s at the top of his game and is on track to follow in his father’s and brother’s footsteps,” the announcer called.

Avalee’s heart beat in her throat as she watched him adjust his grip, rope looped around his hand in a way that seemed more dangerous if he were to be thrown off. She scooted to the edge of her seat.

“This is the horse everybody wants to ride, folks. If he gets this horse during the finals, there’s no doubt he will win it all. I didn’t say ‘
can
win it all’. I said
will.
”

The horse jostled the sides of the pen. Dusty shoved his hat down farther and gave a nod.

Avalee leaped to her feet as the horse rushed out kicking. The crowd cheered. More people around her stood too, but her gaze was riveted on the man being flung about in the saddle. The animal whirled and kicked. Five times…six. She lost count.

Dusty’s arm flailed in perfect counterbalance to the horse’s wild movements. The buzzer sounded and then he leaped out of the saddle and landed on his feet. When he tossed his hat into the air, the crowd went nuts.

Avalee bounced with the rest of the crowd, caught in the moment. The rush of seeing Dusty’s strong body, so in control…

He did a double-fist punch into the air, and grinned just as the camera zoomed in on his handsome face. He seemed to be looking in another direction. She moved her attention from the big screen to look at the real deal in the arena.

A shiver ran down her spine and raised the hairs on her arms. He seemed to be…no. He wouldn’t be looking at her.

Still, it looked as though… She raised a hand and waved. Immediately he waved back.

Heart racing, she plopped into her seat again. How had he picked her out of the crowd? She was sitting with the wives and girlfriends—and she was sure one woman was an exotic dancer or maybe even a prostitute. She had no idea how Dusty noticed her in this crush of fans and chaos.

She watched him swagger all the way back to the sidelines. He vanished through a door, and she found herself on her feet, apologizing her way out of the row. She took the steps quickly, down, down. And started searching the shadows for where he may have disappeared.

An arm snagged her around the middle. She opened her mouth to scream, but the breath was punched from her lungs as her chest struck a wall of flesh. Black eyes flitted into her vision a split second before a hard mouth crushed over hers.

Her body reacted to Dusty’s scent, his flavors. She had no control over her arms that looped around his neck or her fingers that gripped his shoulder. His rough knuckle beneath her chin tipped her head to the side, angling her for the first plunge of his tongue.

A ragged cry left her as he swept the interior of her mouth. He wrapped an arm around her, hitching her fully against his big body. He smelled of leather, horse and man. Still in his chaps, his erection seemed pronounced between the cutout, but she realized that was all Dusty. Pure virile male.

And she was kissing him back as if she’d never be kissed again. He probed her tongue with his, and she dug her fingers into his shoulders, drinking in the taste of his adrenaline high.

“I can’t…fucking get enough,” he said between wild passes of his tongue. She shouldn’t be responding, but her body was quickly running the gears. And there didn’t seem to be any brakes on this ride.

He kneaded her hips, long fingers splaying dangerously close to her pussy. She was drenched with want and wiggled closer to the heat he was packing for her too.

Groaning, he said, “Jesus, I’m going to take you right here if I don’t stop.” In complete contradiction, he claimed her mouth once more. Swirling his tongue over hers in a dance as untamed as his performance had been minutes before. She clung to him, mind spinning.

What was she doing? Making out with her client was a big no-no. Daddy would have her hide. Things couldn’t develop between them. Not only were their lives on different routes, but nothing but embarrassment could come of a night with him.

The thought didn’t make her stop kissing him or keep her hands from wandering down to his chest. Beneath her fingers, his heart pumped hard and fast.

He tore away and pulled back to look into her eyes. Dark shards of lust stood in his, igniting her further.

She hadn’t been so attracted to anyone in a long while. Or slept with anybody either.

He ran his fingers up her spine and threaded them in her hair. When he spoke, his voice was rough. “Don’t ask me to stop, Avalee.”

She stared at his beautiful mouth carved into his black beard. Unable to resist, she stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his with a murmured, “Don’t stop.”

He stamped her mouth with his—hard. Dusky scents of man swam in her head for far too short a time before he dragged himself away, caught her arm and started towing her out of the arena. Outside, he shoved her against the wall and kissed the hell out of her again. Catcalls sounded from around them, but she knew only Dusty’s dark need on her tongue.

It struck her that she had no idea what his final score even was.

When he yanked free again, she was trembling with want. She grabbed him and started walking.

“Where are you taking me, cowgirl?” Amusement rang in his deep Southern drawl.

“Your room.”

“You know where it’s at?”

“No idea. I was hoping you’d stop and kiss me again before taking the lead.”

He rumbled a laugh and then he pounced on her again. Cushioning her with his hands he pinned her to a storefront before thrusting his tongue into her mouth and his hips against hers until she was weak-kneed.

* * * * *

He couldn’t stop fucking kissing her. She was like finding a stocking-full of candy on Christmas morning. Or like pulling a prize-winning bronc.

God, all that honey-brown hair felt as good in his hands as he’d imagined. Better. He wrapped the length around his fist and held her steady while he kissed her. She sagged in his hold, and he held her tight. Madness was seeping in. A few more minutes of this and he’d have both their jeans around their ankles and his cock balls-deep.

Breathing hard, he tore away and gazed down into her eyes. The blue-green depths were hazy with passion. Every alarm bell in his body was ringing, alerting him that sleeping with your boss was the worst possible idea. But she’d asked him not to stop.

Not just asked—she’d rolled against him like a cat in heat while delivering the plea with a breathless note of longing.

He caught her hips and tugged her away from the building that seemed to be the only thing supporting her. She was boneless, chest heaving. “This way.”

The walk to his hotel took forever. And who the hell had booked him a room on the 700
th
floor anyway? Okay, so he wasn’t that high, but he was going to have her in the elevator if they didn’t reach his room with rocket speed.

In the lobby Christmas lights shimmered. A hundred-foot silver tree was decorated with fragile crystal ornaments and revolved on an electrical base. The notes of
Holly, Jolly Christmas
sounded above the din of gamblers.

“Dusty! It’s Dusty Waite! Hey, can I get your autograph?” A paper was thrust beneath his nose. Normally he was willing to stop at any given moment and scribble his name for someone else’s pleasure. But right now his own pleasure was the only thing on his brain.

As he scrawled his name on the store receipt, he felt Avalee’s tension. If he hesitated a second, he could lose her. Take too long and she might change her mind.

Grasping her forearm, he nodded goodbye to the fan and bee-lined for the elevators. The minute the doors shut he was at her again, tasting, nipping those pouty lips that had been driving him crazy since the moment he’d set eyes on her.

He rocked his hips against hers. She wriggled on his cock. His balls ached with the need to blow, and his cock was pinched painfully behind the wall of his zipper. He eased her leg upward, locking her to the wall. Doors opened. A couple stepped on, giggling at having caught them, and Dusty and Avalee broke apart.

After the doors closed and the unit rocketed upward, she tapped her nails on the handlebar running along the side of the elevator. He could barely contain his grin at her impatience.

They stopped again. More passengers. Damn these people getting on and off the elevator. Next time he’d pay for a fancy private suite with a secluded entrance. He ground his teeth and tried not to let his gaze linger over Avalee’s rounded breasts or her cowgirl hat he’d knocked askew.

By the time they reached his floor, he’d had enough. He swooped her off her feet. She squeaked in a way that sent his pulse pounding harder. The people in the elevator laughed at them as he stormed down the hall with her in his arms.

“There’s no way to claim that we’re going to talk business,” she said against his throat. He felt clumsy with need as he fumbled for the key card in his breast pocket. By the time he had the door open, he was five steps beyond wanting Avalee. He kicked the door shut and tossed his hat across the room with as much excitement as he’d done after his ride.

* * * * *

She was melting under his gaze. His eyelids drooped with desire as he reached for her. She backed against the wall. Now that she was alone with him, her mind had returned.

“Dusty, I—”

He gave a shake of his head, grabbed her wrists and pressed them over her head. When he leaned in, his chest seemed to scorch her aching nipples. “You’re making me crazy, Avalee.” He said her name with honeyed, lazy river, back-porch-sipping-iced-tea slowness.

She curled her toes inside her boots. His minty breath washed over her face. Sending desire pooling in her belly. “I can’t think with you so close.”

He nuzzled the corner of her lips. All she had to do was turn her face slightly and she’d be kissing him, her mind complete mush again.

“You’re my…”
pant, pant,
“employee.”

“More like business partner.”

“I don’t mix business with pleasure.” Except she couldn’t remember why now. With his hardness against her stomach and his tantalizing lips so near. She’d landed on Planet Ripped Abs and had no desire to leave despite what she was saying.

“Don’t forget why you kissed me in the first place, Avalee.” There it was again—her name in his deep drawl. She quivered. Very slowly he knuckled her chin up.

And she turned into his kiss with all the passion raging inside her. He rumbled a growl and tongue-fucked her mouth as he rocked his hips into hers. She was soaking wet.

Raking her hands through his hair, she reveled in every flip of his tongue. Need mounted until she was making small noises.

Gripping her around the waist, he swung her off her feet. He took two steps and pressed her down on the bed. This was insane. Not at all in her plans. But she couldn’t stop now—her body was making demands she couldn’t ignore.

She tore at the buckle holding his chaps in place. The heavy leather loosened. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the mass to the carpet. She’d lost her damn mind. She hardly knew Dusty. But beneath their semi-polite conversation—if you excluded the vomit and vagina jokes—she’d been simmering for him since she’d met him.

“I’m not used to this,” she breathed as he released her mouth and started on her throat. His beard was as deliciously rough as she’d thought.

“Me either.” He grazed her neck with his teeth, right over her pulse.

“Really?” She didn’t believe for a minute this rugged cowboy didn’t have a new woman every week. Maybe every night. Her body hardly cared, though. She twitched her hips, driving his cock against her pussy.

He groaned. “Really. I don’t just go crazy and almost fuck women in elevators. But I’d say I controlled myself pretty well, seeing how I wanted to do this in the restaurant.”

A shiver passed through her. He pushed back to look in her eyes, and she was a goner. In a sea of espresso, she had no hope of swimming for shore.