Cowboy Country (21 page)

"It's okay if you don't want to, Jacie."

The whiskers of his five o'clock shadow abraded the palm of her hand as she caressed the side of his face. He took her thumb between his lips and nipped at the end of it. This man could turn her upside down and inside out without even trying. Her heart belonged to him. "We'll stay."

His melt-your-panties smile lit up his face and he kissed her hard on the mouth. "Let's find a good seat," he said, grabbing her hand. He was like a kid in a candy store, weaving in and out of the crowd to find the best open spot. Yes, they had box seats, but he wanted to be down where the action happened—on the rail.

Each rider took their turn doing their best to hang on. She had seen bull riding before, but these guys were the best on the circuit. Eight seconds. It felt like a lifetime on the back of the bull. One date with a rider had garnered her more knowledge of the sport than she wanted, but it came in handy right at this moment while Tucker explained every detail. What the equipment entailed, the vests and headgear certain riders wore, the clown's jobs and what everything meant to the owner of the bull.

"As the owner, if Lightning Strike is given the title, it enables me to charge much more for his sperm and breeding rights. Right now, he's doing fabulous. His buck-off rate is ninety-nine percent with a buck-off time of four point five six seconds."

"Is that good?"

The tolerating smile spread across his mouth and he nodded. "Yes. There has only been one rider to do eight seconds on him. If he manages to keep all the riders from going the full eight seconds, he will be entitled to Bull of the Year."

She could tell by the intense look in his eyes, he lived for this. This was Tucker's life. If she could be a part of it for just a few minutes, it would be a memory she could hold onto during those cold winter nights when she wouldn't have his arms to keep her warm.

"Next up ladies and gentleman is Brad "Smitty" Smith from San Antonio, Texas riding Lightning Strike owned by Tucker Marshall out of Austin, Texas. This bull is up for Bull of the Year folks. He is one mean ass bad boy and so far only one rider has done a full eight on his back. Good luck, Smitty."

Tucker held his breath and squeezed her fingers tight enough to cut off the circulation, but she didn't care. This was it.

The gate flipped open and the bull she had brought all the way from bum-fuck nowhere Oklahoma, the bull that had brought her and Tucker together, did his damndest to buck the rider off. He twirled. He whirled. He twisted and turned, but the rider hung on, his hand whipping back and forth in time with the kick of the bulls hind legs. Jacie glanced at the clock, watching the time tick off. With one last twist of his powerful hind legs, Lightning Strike unseated his rider like an annoying fly. The buzzer had not sounded indicating the full eight seconds.

Lightning Strike had done it! The rider had only stayed on seven point zero four seconds by the clock.

Tears burned her eyes. This meant everything to Tucker and he meant everything to her.

Tucker grabbed her and hugged her so tight, he cut off her air. "He did it!" he yelled loud enough, her ears rang. The smile on his face lit up the arena.

"Ladies and gentleman. Lightning Strike has solidified his place as Bull of the Year with that ride. Congratulations Tucker Marshall and Lightning Strike."

"Oh my God, Tucker. He won!"

He swung her around in a circle and kissed her. His tongue swept inside her mouth, making her forget everything and everyone around them until the crowd started clapping loud. Her face burned and she buried it against his chest as he chuckled softly. "We made the billboard, darlin'."

"Shit. Are you serious?" she asked, lifting her head and looking at the large screen at the end of the arena.

Sure enough, there was their kiss, big as day on the big screen.

"Can we go now? I'm so embarrassed."

"Sure, darlin'," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and escorting her down the steps.

Several men stopped them on the way out with good natured ribbing and congratulations on the bull. Tucker took each in stride—graciously and gentlemanly.

They did their daily stop at Tucker's trailer to feed Macy and clean her cat box before they reached their room, all thoughts of going out quickly disappeared as he stripped off his shirt. Every bit of liquid in her body shunted to her pussy.

"I think someone mentioned hot shower sex?"

"I vaguely remember something along those lines," she replied, licking her lips.

Within seconds, he had every piece of her clothing off except her thong. "Now that's what I call gettin' naked."

"You still have yours on though," she murmured.

In quick order, his jeans hit the floor along with his boxer briefs, leaving him in nothing but bare skin. He picked her up and brought her legs around his waist. Her pussy hovered over his erection as he growled low in his throat. "Damn, you are so hot, honey, you're burning me through your sexy underwear."

"I need you, Tucker," she whispered. She found the rapid beating of his heart at the base of his throat with her tongue, then nipped at the skin beneath his ear as she gloried in the rumble he released.

He walked with her wrapped around his waist into the bathroom before he flipped on the light. Her breasts brushed the muscles of his chest, tightening her nipples into achy points of arousal. Tongues stroked and licked as they kissed, deeper and deeper. She wanted to crawl inside him and never come out.

She released her legs and slid down his body to stand in front of him, but never releasing his mouth. His hands were everywhere. Fingers stroked her breasts and skimmed down her abdomen to dive between her thighs. Her moans disappeared into his mouth with each brush of his hand.

When he finally broke the kiss, he said, "Into the shower."

A quick flick of the wrist had the hot spray of the water hitting the skin of her chest. He grabbed the soap, lathered up his hands and started working the muscles of her shoulders.

"God, that feels good," she moaned as she tipped her head forward. The tight knots under his hands slowly loosened with each knead of the muscles.

"Lord, you're tight."

"I know you aren't talking about between my legs."

"Well there too, but not right now I'm not. We'll get to there in a minute."

"Such a sweet-talker you are."

She tipped her head back onto his shoulder as his hand slipped over her arm to cup her breast. Two fingers rolled her nipple, making her whimper with need. She spread her thighs as his hand moved down her belly and through the curls.

"Touch me."

He stepped away and she turned around in confusion.

"Sit on the seat there, darlin'. I'm gonna eat you up."

Once her butt hit the cold tiles, he sat on the floor of the shower and buried his face against her pussy. No preamble, no teasing, just all-out clit sucking, pussy licking, make her come so hard she saw stars—sex. After she had climaxed twice with his mouth, he turned her around, bent her over at the waist and slid into her from behind.

"Oh yeah," he growled.

She whimpered, begged, pleaded and screamed until he pounded into her hard enough, she had to brace her hand against the side of the shower stall to keep from banging her head. His balls slapped at her clit, throwing her into a spasm of need like she had never felt before in her life. The cry of her climax bounced off the tile only echoed by his roar of completion.

Raspy breathing flittered against her ear as they both fought for breath.

"Are you ready for dinner?" he asked with a chuckle.

Her answering laugh turned into a moan when he slipped from inside her. "I think I need to finish showering first."

One eyebrow cocked and a wicked grin spread over his lips.

"Only shower."

"Shit."

They quickly finished showering and dressed for a nice dinner before the awards presentation. Tonight he would receive his award for Lightning Strike and she would find out if her time was good enough to be in the money, since they hadn't stayed for the entire finish of the events. Winning didn't matter to her anymore. Their time together was coming to a close and the thought of leaving Tucker tore at her heart. If he would only say he loved her, she would throw everything to the wind—her independence, her wandering ways and her need for the open highway, but he wouldn't because he didn't love her.

They dressed quickly and went downstairs to eat. Dinner was a subdued affair. Jacie picked at her food, not really eating, but pushing it around her plate.

"What's wrong, darlin'?"

"Nothing," she replied, setting down her fork.

Tucker grasped her fingers and squeezed. "Yes there is. You haven't eaten anything."

"I'm tired is all." She sipped more of the wine he had ordered and avoided his gaze.

"Jacie, look at me."

Her lips firmed into a straight line while she held back the three little words she couldn't say to him. Seconds later, she lifted her gaze to his.

"Tell me what's bothering you."

"It's nothing, Tucker, really. I'm just realizing this little fantasy we've created over the last couple of weeks is almost over." She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "No big deal. It makes me a little sad. That's all."

"Let's not think beyond tonight. All right? We are here to enjoy ourselves. Tomorrow we'll head for home and worry about things then." He stood and came around the table to pull out her chair. "We'll finish up with the awards tonight, spend the morning naked in bed and figure the rest out later. I've already paid for late checkout, so we can leave later in the afternoon."

The awards didn't take long at all. She won third place and got a healthy check and Tucker made the rounds of those present for the handshakes and slaps of congratulations. A few men even made arrangements with him for breeding already for the next season.

When they returned to the room, he tried everything to get her out of the funk she had gotten lost in, from trying to make her laugh, to teasing her until she couldn't stand it anymore and begged him to make love to her.

In the wee hours of the morning, she lay on his chest staring out at the flickering lights of the Vegas Strip. His slow, even breathing told her he slept, but she couldn't. Tomorrow would be the beginning of the end. Once they arrived in Littleton to pick up her trailer and meet the driver who would take over the rest of his trip to Austin, it would be over. She would make the rest of the trek home to Tennessee, alone.

"I'm sorry, Tucker," she whispered, pressing her lips to his chest so he really wouldn't hear her. "It wasn't supposed to be like this." One lone tear, slipped from her eye and down her nose. "I'll walk away because I love you."

* * * *

Morning sun streaked through the curtains on the window, dragging her from a fitful sleep. She groaned and rolled over, only to find the space next to her empty and cold.

"Tucker?"

"In here," he called. "I was about to wake you up. Breakfast is here. I figured we could eat and be on the road in a couple of hours."

Great. He's in a hurry to get rid of me.

"Sure," she replied, crawling from the bed and sliding on the white robe.

The food smelled wonderful. Crisp bacon, fluffy eggs, toast, hash browns and strong coffee lay spread out on the dining room table.

"My lady," he said with a smile as he held out her chair.

She tried to smile in return, but she couldn't find it in her heart. Sadness and loneliness surrounded everything now making it difficult to even function.

When they had finished breakfast, they silently packed their belongings and she said a soundless goodbye to the room she had been able to pretend in for the last several days.

They returned the rental car keys to the concierge desk and walked out to her truck. The truck turned over with a twist of the key and she took a deep breath in order to focus. The next couple of days she would give everything to him to build memories to sustain her for the long days to come.

Within an hour, they had the bull and her mare loaded into the trailer and she pulled the truck onto the highway headed for Littleton, Oklahoma. Macy curled up in Tucker's lap and went to sleep.

"You're awfully quiet," he said, opening up the conversation as his hand swept over the cat's fur.

"Just thinking."

"About?"

"Nothing special."

"Not even us?"

"There is no us, Tucker. There is you and me and we'll be parting ways day after tomorrow when I drop you in Littleton."

"What if I said I wanted there to be?"

She snapped her head around so fast, her neck cracked. "You don't mean that. Neither one of us is in love with the other and I won't settle for less. I can't. We've had a good time over the last couple of weeks, but we both knew going in, it would be a short term thing. You'll be going home to your ranch, raising your cattle and doing whatever else it is you do and I'll be on the road running back and forth along Interstate forty, trying to stay out of the ditches." 
Yeah. He might buy that.

"You're right. It's been fun, but we both need to move on."

Those words were the last thing she wanted to hear.

Her cell phone jingled in the pocket beside her seat.
Pam
, came up on the screen.

"Hey, baby girl. What's shakin'?"

The first smile she had been able to muster, spread across her face. "Hey, Pam."

"You rollin' this way?"

"Yep."

"You stoppin' here tonight? Could use some company."

"We can I suppose." She glanced at Tucker and he nodded stiffly. "Sure we can, Pam. It would give the animals a break and make it easy enough to roll on into Littleton tomorrow evening."

"Sounds good. I'll get some food on and see you about five?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You got that hunk of a man with you?"

"Yes, Pam. Tucker is in the cab with me."

"Well, good."

"Talk to you in a few hours."

She snapped the phone shut and slid it back into her pocket.