Bad Boy Romance: Nick (Romantic Suspense Alpha Male Romance) (New Adult Rock Star Contemporary Short Stories) (Hard Rock Star Series Book 2) (51 page)

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The door crashed open and Ariel saw Max enter. He circled
her slowly and her fingers touched his thick black fur. The pressure of his
body against her legs made her lower herself to her knees and she ran her hands
down his body, memorizing the curves of his muscles beneath his coat. He nudged
her with his face until she settled onto her hip and laid down on the floor.
Max's tongue slid along the underside of her chin, her throat, and down along
the center of her chest.

Finally he took the front of her dress in his teeth and tore
it open. Max ducked his head to touch his tongue to her stomach and Ariel felt
his fur disappearing as he took on his human form.

Fully human again, Max licked back from her stomach to her
mouth and kissed her. His tongue delved into her mouth and he shoved the
shredded dress away from her body. Not removing his mouth from hers, he
carefully lifted her back off of the floor so he could reach behind her and release
the hooks on her bra. He ended the kiss and she heard him let out a moan of
appreciation when he saw her full breasts. He lowered his mouth to suck each
taut, pink peak, opening his mouth to draw more of her breast into it and give
a primal bite. Ariel gasped beneath the sensation, luxuriating in the feeling
of him taking possession of her. She smiled as she felt a gentle lick follow
the bite.

Ariel reached for his shirt and pulled it away from his
body. His skin felt luscious against hers as he stretched himself over her.
Suddenly his hand was at the front of his belt, but he paused. She knew this
was her moment to show him how much she understood the connection between them
and leave no questions in his mind.

Lifting her hips a few inches, she slid her panties off and
tossed them away. She was totally bare beneath him and she presented her body
to him, completely submissive to his touch. Max growled and swept her up into
his arms so he could carry her to the bed. He knelt over her hips and stroked his
fingertips from the center of her chest down her stomach and onto her pubic
bone.

Max changed his position so that he was on his knees between
her legs and eased her thighs apart. Ariel was not expecting the intensity when
he drew his finger up through her folds. She was wet and ready for him, the
warmth spreading across her inner thighs as he traced the pad of his finger in
slow, deep circles on her sensitive, swollen pearl. He stopped and Ariel moaned
her protest, but fell silent when she realized he was unfastening his belt and
pushing his pants to the floor.

Max removed his trunks, revealing an erection that made her
bite down on her bottom lip and whimper. She wanted to open her thighs and ask
him to touch her again, for him to make her come and to watch him lick the
slickness from her body. More than that, however, she wanted to show her
submission and let him be her Alpha.

Holding his gaze, she reached down between her thighs and
let her fingers delve into her own body, mimicking the slow torment he had
performed on her moments before. She gathered the hot liquid onto her
fingertips and sat up to touch him, wrapping her wet fingers around his shaft
so she could glide her hand across it. Ariel leaned forward and opened her
mouth to let the head of Max's cock slide onto her tongue as she stroked.

Max cried out and even in his human form, Ariel could see
the wolf inside him. He was what she had always wanted, what she had craved
with her mind and body, and she was ready to give into the intense draw she had
felt from the moment she saw his picture.

"Max," she said and he opened his eyes to look at
her.

"Yes?" he said and she could hear his trembling
growl just beneath the words.

"Please mate me."

Max plunged forward, filling her suddenly and deliciously.
He was thick and hard, and Ariel cried out at the blissful intensity of their
bodies melding into one. He fit within her with such perfection it was as if
she was crafted specifically for him and she truly knew now that she was.

Max groaned as he sank deeply into her in a fast, steady
rhythm. His hand came to her neck, cupping around it with gentle but insistent
pressure that showed his dominance and intensified the pleasure he was sending
through her. After a few moments, Ariel gripped his hips to stop him and pushed
up so that he withdrew from her body. She wrapped her hand around his
glistening cock again, subtly twisting her palm over the head as she stroked
him.

"You are my wolf?"

Max panted with her masterful strokes, but nodded.

"Yes."

"My Alpha?" she whispered and he groaned, digging
his fingers into her thigh as her words pushed him close to the edge of his
control.

"Yes."

Ariel smiled rolled onto her stomach, arching her back to
lift her hips and present herself to him.

"Show me."

A primal growl poured from Max's mouth and he entered her
with one hard thrust. She felt him wrap an arm under her hips and pull them up
so she was on all fours. Her body shivered as his tongue touched the small of
her back and licked up along her spine until his body stretched across hers,
his chest and stomach creating luscious pressure on her back.

"Good girl," he whispered into her ear and Ariel
whimpered, feeling her body respond even more intensely to him.

He nipped at her neck and bit into her shoulder before sitting
back on his knees; he used one hand to press down on her shoulders so that her
elbows bent, her nipples brushing the sheet. In this position he pounded into
her with animal intensity, each hard thrust eliciting a sharp cry of pleasure.
She felt his hand slip around her hip to slip between her thighs and within
seconds her walls contracted deliciously, leading him into his own orgasm as
she gripped him tightly within her.

The beautiful feeling only intensified as Max throbbed
within her, spilling hot streams into her body that made her feel even more
bonded to him. She struggled to catch her breath, sounds like small sobs
gasping from her throat at the intensity of their passion. Max rolled his hips
slowly, riding out the last waves of his orgasm with her final tremors.

He stopped and carefully withdrew from her, and Ariel felt
his hands on her arms, gently turning her around so that she looked into his
eyes. She adjusted her position so that she knelt in front of him, her body
pressing against his as she kissed him slowly, trying to drag out this
deliciously sweet, sweaty moment a little longer.

Max's hands stroked along her hips and around the ample
swell of her behind, pulling her against him so he could return her kiss.

"I love you," he said when their lips parted.

Ariel sighed at the words. They had come, exactly as they
were meant to, after she first allowed herself to realize the impossible and
believe the fantastical; when she gave herself over with unwavering trust that
his was the story she wanted to be a part of for the rest of her life, and had
for her entire life.

"I love you, too.”

"You are mine," he whispered, leaning down to
nuzzle her neck.

"Always," she whispered back, running the tip of
her tongue along the soft dip between his collarbones to lick away the sweat.

"You will lead the pack with me," he said, kissing
her neck, "and we will create the most incredible stories together."

Ariel pressed against his kiss and sighed, her body
responding to him, the ache building within her again as their primal
connection took over.

"I just have one question," she asked, bringing
one hand up to tangle in his hair and the other between them to run her
fingertips along his shaft so it started to spring to life again.

He gasped and grabbed her arms as if to steady himself.

"What's that?" he asked.

"When do we get the sequel?"

His eyes met hers and she saw them sparkle. Max gave a
playful growl and flipped her onto her back, coming down on top of her again.
Ariel squealed with delight, wrapping her arms and legs around him and opening
her mouth to him as he captured it in a deep kiss.

THE END

“And now, the ride you’ve all been waiting for. The final
ride of the night, and folks, this is for
all
of the proverbial marbles,
and I ain’t kidding. Now this young man, Dean Longstrider, he’s got a lot on
this ride. He had the highest score on Thursday night. He had the highest score
on Saturday night, and folks, if he gets a score of 92 or better, he’ll win
this purse, and this purse is nothing to sneeze at. No sir, it’s not. This
purse has been generously doubled by our good sponsors at Franklin’s Chevrolet
and it’s up to twenty thousand semolians, and you don’t need me to tell you,
that’s a lot of semolians.”

It was a lot of semolians, especially for an amateur night
in Cody, Wyoming.

Marisol whipped her apron off as the event announcer, Rocky,
rattled on, filling the time between the bull riders. “I’ll be right back,
Mama! Dean’s about to ride.”

“Did you clean the range?”

“Yes, Mama, everything is cleaned and the money box is
counted up. I’ll be right back!”

Marisol flew from her mother’s food truck and under the
packed bleachers to the tall fence around the arena. The chute gates were on
the opposite side and her heart jumped to her throat as she waited for the
sound of the buzzer that would mark the beginning of Dean’s ride. He was going
to win the purse. Everybody knew it. Nobody could ride a bull like Dean
Longstrider. Not even his uncle Rory, and Rory was a legend on the pro circuit.

Marisol grew up watching young men risk their necks and
their lives on the backs of raging bulls. Her father, Ernesto, was a bull
fighter and had been saving the lives of those young men for over twenty years.
When she asked him if he’d ever seen anybody sit a bull like Dean, Ernesto had
admitted that he couldn’t think of a single cowboy. Her heart had swelled with
pride for her friend as she nodded in her head in agreement.

“He’s the best,” she’d gushed. “I think he’s the greatest
I’ve ever seen.”

“He’s not the best. Not yet. Boy still has a long way to go
to prove himself.” At her crestfallen face, Ernesto had added, “But he’ll get
there. He’s got the talent, anyway.”

The gate suddenly crashed open and the giant red bull leapt
into the arena. It did a hard twist in mid-air and slammed to the ground with a
bone-breaking thud. Its hooves barely hit the dirt before it was dancing again,
jumping and twisting and kicking its hind legs out as hard as it could. Dean
sat astride the bull with perfect form, his spine straight and left arm
extended high over his head.

“Three...four...five…” Marisol counted under her breath,
fingers clutching the chain link fence. Until she started watching Dean, she
never understood how long eight seconds truly lasted. But Dean’s grip was
strong, and though the bull did its best to fling him away, the buzzer sounded
to the sound of the crowd roaring its approval of the ride. Marisol erupted
into loud cheers, clapping and shouting Dean’s name with the rest of them.

She was so excited for Dean that it took her a moment to
realize that something wasn’t right. Her father darted out and got hold of the
rope around the bull’s girth, but even after the bull stopped kicking, Dean
wasn’t jumping free.

“Uh oh, it looks like our cowboy is in a little bit of
trouble. Let’s all give a big cheer or our bull fighter Ernie! Cheer loud and
help him get Dean out of there.”

Marisol swallowed around the sudden lump in her throat. The
bull kicked around, giving her a view of the left side where Dean’s leg was
tangled in the rope. The animal was beyond furious now, ignoring all of Ernie’s
attempts to distract it while his partner, Burt, dodged forward to get Dean
untangled.

“Looks like our cowboy is stuck, folks. Give him another
cheer! Let him know we’re here for him!” Rocky’s job was to keep talking, keep
the crowd upbeat while the professionals got the bull under control, but
Marisol wished he would shut up. She’d seen this same thing countless times and
she knew as long as her father was in the arena, the cowboys would be safe, but
Dean wasn’t like the other cowboys. She couldn’t look away, couldn’t even
breathe, until the rope came free and Dean flung himself away from the raging
bull.

The bull fighters moved quickly, Burt putting himself between
Dean and the bull, and Ernie acting as human bait, taunting the bull until it
charged him. Ernie dove out of the way at the last second, but the bull kept
running right on back to its pen.

“Burt and Ernie, everybody! And let’s give it up for our
young cowboy, Dean Longstrider, who just got a score of 94 from our judges. Not
only the best ride of the night, this is the best ride of the whole event! He’s
one smiling cowboy tonight, folks.”

Dean took off his hat, walking in a small circle, and waved
to the cheering crowd. As he turned towards her, she jumped up and down, waving
and cheering. She didn’t think he would see her, but his smile widened and then
he was running out of the arena, and Rocky was inviting everybody to remain in
their seats for the fireworks show.

That was Marisol’s signal to return to the food truck where
her mother, Anna, was just locking up.

“Mari, go find your father. His ribs were bothering him all
day and he probably needs your help.”

“Yes, Mama.”

She bolted before the fireworks ended, making it all the way
to the pens before the crowd began to disperse. She didn’t see her father
anywhere, but she did spot Dean and his brothers, Ralph and Waldo.
Unsurprisingly, he was surrounded by a crowd of fans, pushing for his autograph.
“It’s not worth much now,” she heard one of the cowboys say, “but it may be
worth a cup of coffee in a few years.”

Most of the fans were young men—kids dreaming of the day
they could climb on top of the biggest, meanest beast they could find—but not
all of them. Ralph and Waldo each had their arm around a pretty cowgirl, and as
Marisol approached, Dean mimicked them, pulling a statuesque cowgirl close to
his side.

Marisol stopped in her tracks, her mouth going dry. Of
course she knew that there were plenty of girls who made it a habit to get as
close to the cowboys as possible. Her mother had names for those girls, and
none of them were very nice. It shouldn’t be a surprise to her that Dean got
along with those girls. She hesitated, unsure if she should congratulate him as
planned or scurry off before he noticed her to find her father.

Deciding on the latter, she half-turned, but Dean stopped
her with a shout, “Hey! Marisol!”

She turned back to him, unable to stop her smile as he
hurried over to her. “Hey, I was just about to come looking for you,” he said,
pulling her into a quick hug.

“I can’t stay, I just wanted to say congratulations. That
was a hell of a ride.”

“Did you see it?”

“Of course. You know I never miss seeing you ride.”

“What did you think?”

Marisol laughed. “I think you won twenty thousand dollars!”

“Who’s your little friend, Dean?” The blonde took Dean by
the arm and smiled down at Marisol.

“Oh, this is Marisol. She’s Ernie’s daughter and she
probably knows more about riding bulls than anybody else around here. Everybody
wants to know what my secret is.” He nodded at her, his smile big enough and
warm enough to make her forget the interloper for a moment. “Mari, this is
Cady. She’s an old friend from way back.”

Marisol offered her hand, even as her stomach twisted into a
hot knot. “It’s nice to meet you, Cady.”

“Mari! Come and help your old man.” Ernesto leaned heavily
on the stock gate and even from a distance of twenty feet, she could see him
favoring his right side. She threw a quick farewell to Dean and happily took
advantage of the excuse to get away from him and his old friend.

“We need to get these ribs wrapped,” Marisol said as she
draped his arm over her shoulders. Almost as tall as her father and weighing
nearly twice as much as his beanpole frame, it wasn’t difficult to support him
across the arena. She couldn’t resist looking over her shoulder to catch one
final glimpse, but Dean already had his back turned to her, his arm comfortably
around Cady’s petite waist.

She didn’t think about Cady again until much later that
night, once she was tucked in her own bed. Her mind was free to wander, and it
went back to Dean and Cady again and again. It did no good to compare herself
to the other woman, but she couldn’t help but note all the ways they were
direct opposites. Cady was tall, probably nearly six feet, and willowy with a
flawless complexion and clear blue eyes. Marisol was a good six inches shorter
and probably thirty inches more around. Her muddy brown eyes didn’t twinkle like
Cady’s, and her curly brown hair was usually tangled, not straight and shiny. 

Marisol rubbed her hands down her breasts and over her plump
stomach and wide hips. She’d started filling out at an early age, and by the
time she hit high school, her body was shaped by natural, generous curves and
the many long hours she worked with her parents, traveling from rodeo to rodeo.
If Dean liked girls like Cady, it was no wonder that he never tried to be more
than just Marisol’s friend.

Not that her parents would ever allow her to be more than
Dean’s friend. They had a hard enough time letting her talk to him about bulls
and his rides. “He might know how to ride a bull, but never forget he’s a
Longstrider,” her mom had told her, more than once. He hadn’t only inherited
his uncle’s legacy as a bull rider, but his father’s legacy as a bear shifter.
Nobody said the words out loud, but it was a well-known secret; a secret
Marisol longed to ask him about nearly every single day. Curiosity ate at her.
How often did he shift? What was it like? Were his brothers bears as well?

But those questions joined the rest in the pile of forbidden
inquiries that also included
Do you ever think about kissing me?
and
Would
you like to go for a drive?

Her phone buzzed, letting her know a text had arrived. Her
curious frowned transformed into a smile when she saw Dean’s name.

R U busy tomorrow night?

She quickly typed out her response.
No plans after the
rodeo.

Grab a bite with me?

Yes.

Great. Get some sleep, beautiful.

She smiled, her jealousy over Cady forgotten. Maybe she
couldn’t be his girl, but his friendship still meant a lot to her. She would
miss him when he moved up to the pro circuit.
Good night, cowboy
.