Hunt, Sofia - Riding the Circuit [Rodeo Riders 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (6 page)

Riley snorted and rolled his eyes. “Buddy, you have no fucking idea what you’re dealing with.”

Jonah narrowed his eyes and studied him. “You’re jealous.”

“Of you? With her? No way in hell. I’m worried for you. She’ll crush your balls under her boot heel, rip your heart out of your chest, and you’ll still be begging for more.”

“Sounds like my kind of woman. I wonder if she rides double.”

Riley looked up. Their eyes met, each deep in their own private, carnal thoughts. “Now there’s a thought.” He found himself oddly intrigued. He and Jonah shared women over the years, but none like Mitzi. “It’d take two of us to break that little filly.”

“Who said anything about breaking her? I want her bucking and twisting when she comes out of the chute.” Jonah grinned at the thought.

The problem was, so did Riley. He’d tried to bury his memories of Mitzi with the bodies of several women since, and he kept coming back to her. Always her.

He had it bad, and there didn’t appear to be a damn thing he could do about it.

Damn it, the little spitfire had disappeared on them again. Pissed as hell, Riley grabbed a flashlight, Jonah on his heels, and headed out the door.

“Shit, where the hell is she now?” Jonah growled in the dark. Her truck sat next to her trailer. They tried the door of her trailer. It was unlocked with no one inside. Her purse sat on the bed.

“No signs of a struggle,” Riley noted as his heart slammed against his chest.

“She’s jacking us around. Again.” Even as he said the words, Riley caught a glimpse of worry in Jonah’s blue eyes.

“Check the barn. I’ll check around the arena and stock corrals.”

“Wait a minute.” Jonah pointed toward the tall, slender figure sashaying toward them.

“Where the hell have you been?” Riley fisted his hands and attempted to corral his temper.

Mitzi tossed her auburn hair and smiled at them. “I checked on Rowdy. He had a touch of colic earlier today.”

“Why didn’t you wake one of us before you went out in the middle of the night?” Riley’s patience stretched to the point of breaking.

“I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Of all the stupid-assed—”

“You’re not my keeper, Riley Backstrom. I don’t answer to you or my father.”

“You need a spanking.” Riley advanced toward her. His hand itched to connect with her bare ass once he stripped her and threw her over his knee.

Alarm flashed in Mitzi’s eyes. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Wouldn’t I?” Riley stepped into her personal space, so close her perfume filled his nostrils. Mitzi backed up a step. The sexual tension between them crackled and popped. Even Jonah seemed to feel it, because his eyes smoldered with their own fire. He stepped in between them.

“While spanking Mitzi does sound enticing, we need to talk. All three of us. In there.” Jonah pointed toward the trailer.

Whirling around, Mitzi flounced into her trailer, both men hot on her heels. She poured herself a glass of wine and tossed a couple bottles of beer in their direction. Riley throttled down his temper and sat as far away from her as he could get in the small space. He’d come within an inch of smacking that shapely ass of hers. Who knows where that would’ve led considering the heavy hint of sex in the air between the three of them.

“About the threats.” Jonah steered the conversation back to safer ground as he settled on the bench seat opposite Mitzi.

“They’re bogus. Made up by my dad.” Mitzi folded her arms on the table in front of her.

“Has he made any contact since the note a few days ago?”

Mitzi shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Riley’s temper flared again. “Like what kind of maybe?”

“I had a few hang-ups on my cell from an unknown caller, nothing serious. Just the usual crap. You know, the heavy breathing. A few words.”

“What were the words?” Riley clenched his hands on his thighs, better than around her neck.

Mitzi actually squirmed. “Oh, I’ve been watching you. You’d look good naked. That type of thing. He even mentioned a few things I’d been doing so I’d know he was watching.”

“And you didn’t think that was information we should be aware of? This asshole has your cell number.” A spanking sounded better and better to Riley.

Mitzi filed her nails and yawned. “No, not really.”

“How can you still think this is your dad’s doing?” Riley snorted. Of all the stubborn, mule-headed reckless women...

Jonah flashed one of his peacemaker smiles and patted Mitzi’s hand. She jerked it away. “Mitzi, humor us. Let’s just assume for a minute, the threats are real.” He looked to Riley. “What kind of guy are we looking at?”

“Someone who follows rodeo. We know that for a fact.” Riley grouched from his corner.

“Another cowboy?” Mitzi snorted her disbelief.

For once Riley agreed with her. “I can’t picture one of the guys doing that.”

Jonah shook his head as if they were both idiots. “Are you kidding? What about Brent Black for starters? And Walter Craig? Jack Jameson?”

“Okay. Okay.” Riley held up his hands. “Let’s make a list and narrow down the possibilities.” He snagged a notepad and pen sitting on the dinette table. “Walter’s wife travels the circuit with him. He’s so pussy-whipped, I can’t see him breathing without her permission.”

“Yeah, but that’s just the type who’d have a secret life because he’s been so oppressed by his woman.” Jonah sipped his beer and put his booted feet on the couch. Mitzi glared at him. He just grinned back.

“Hmmm. Good point.” Riley scratched Walter’s name on the notepad with a few notes.

“Then there’s Larry McGuire. Hell, he’s never been the same since Mitzi dumped him last year. He quit the circuit and everything. I hear he’s living out of his trailer in Arizona and drinking his life away.”

“I didn’t do that to him. He already drank too much when I met him.” Mitzi’s pouting red lips tempted Riley to kiss some of the attitude out of her. He rubbed his sweaty palms on his thighs.

“Mitzi, this is a guy you most likely know and have known for a while. Who gives you a creepy feeling when you’re around them?” Jonah helped himself to another beer.

“Besides you two?” Mitzi smiled sweetly at them.

Riley glowered at her. To hell with kissing the attitude out of her, he’d rather go straight to the main event and fuck the attitude out of her.

“Come on, kids. Let’s play nice together.”

“I’d rather not play at all.” What a liar he was.

“Like I would play with you?” Mitzi tapped her fingernails on the table.

“Stop that. It annoys the hell out of me.”

“You two sound like an old married couple. Let’s concentrate on the stalker. Mitzi, give us some ideas. This guy is likely someone you know.”

“There is no stalker.” Mitzi continued to glare at Riley, who glared right back. Sexual tension hung in the air like a dense fog on Puget Sound.

“Just humor me, then we’ll get the hell out of your hair for a while.”

Mitzi turned away from Riley. “Fine. Lots of guys. Larry Maguire, for one. He’s never forgiven me for dumping him. Jack Jameson. Walter Craig. Beau West.”

Jonah scratched the names on a piece of paper. Not one of them surprised Riley in the least. “Any others?”

Mitzi hesitated, chewing on her full lower lip. Riley bit back a groan. “Just one.” She shook her head. “It’s stupid. There’s no way it could be him.”

“Who?” Riley leaned forward.

“Scott Trimble, my dad’s foreman. He’s always given me this weird feeling.”

“What kind of weird feeling?”

“Like he’s always watching me. But it can’t be him. He’s married to my dad’s ranch. He works twenty-four-seven and never leaves the place, and it’s too far away for him to make quick trips here.”

“Maybe someone is doing it for him.” Riley’s suggestion brought an unladylike snort from Mitzi.

“That man is so controlling, he’d never allow someone else to do his dirty work for him.”

“Then we’re back where we started.”

“Which is nowhere.” Jonah finished his second beer and grabbed another. “Maybe I’ll just get shitfaced.” Jonah’s typical answer to all his ailments.

“Not in my trailer. I’ve had enough. You’re wasting my time.” Mitzi stood and pointed at the door. “Both of you.
Out.
You figure out who my stalker is—like there’s even a real one—and earn your money. Don’t bother me with this garbage.”

Riley got to his feet, pissed as hell. He stomped by her and out the door. He turned to find her standing in the doorway. “Lock your damn door and don’t leave that trailer again until morning.”

She slammed the door in his face. He heard the lock click. At least he’d gotten the last word. A small triumph, but with that woman, he’d take it.

Mitzi was bored with being good. She’d spent two weeks behaving herself, and she couldn’t tolerate one more minute of captivity. Her boredom had morphed into way too many sleepless nights fantasizing about Riley and Jonah, separately and together. Pleasuring herself only went so far. She needed the real thing, but much to her disgust, the real thing consisted of Riley and Jonah. The arrogant, controlling cowboys had not only taken over her life, now they’d taken over her dreams.

Maybe a few hours boot-scooting with the locals would give her some relief from all the sexual frustration she’d bottled up inside. Regardless, she couldn’t stand another minute cooped up in this trailer with her overactive imagination.

She peeked out the curtain to see if her jailers were standing guard. She’d had enough of those two following her everywhere. Hell, she half-expected them to follow her to the showers and the bathroom.

Then there was Ethel
Hagart
. The woman made it her life’s work to make Mitzi miserable. And here Mitzi had been on her best behavior to uphold the standard of the NARA rodeo court. Sneaking out could bring down the wrath of that prudish old hag. On the other hand, Ethel would never venture into a seedy honky-tonk.

And Mitzi knew just the place.

She’d have preferred going out with Tanya, but the woman had hooked up with Armondo, and she hadn’t emerged from his trailer since.

Her mind made up, Mitzi slipped on a scooped-neck top. The material clung to her body and outlined every curve. She donned a tight, knee-length leather skirt along with her red boots. The skirt had a slit up one side, offering a generous view of her thigh.

Opening the door a crack, she stared over at the beat-up trailer next door. She could see the boys playing cards inside. She looked left and right then slipped into the night. She glanced behind her but didn’t see Riley or Jonah. She’d made a clean getaway.

A few minutes later, Mitzi stood in the doorway of a loud, smoky bar filled with hot cowboys. Several heads turned toward her. She bellied up to the bar and flirted with a small group of cowboys, amused as they vied for her attention. All the while, their tongues hung out of their mouths, and their eyes never strayed far from her tits. Men were so transparent. She relished the power she had over them. It was one of the few times in her life when she had any control since her father pretty much controlled every other aspect of her life and her future. Hell, she’d even run for NARA rodeo queen just to satisfy him and make him proud.

The men jostled for a position closest to her. The male quest for dominance played out in front of her, like stallions fighting for control of the herd. Mitzi evaluated each man, hoping one would interest her enough to wipe Riley’s imprint off her body. As hard as she tried, none of them elicited even a lukewarm response from her uncooperative body. One especially bold cowboy slipped his arm around her and pulled her against him. She rewarded him with her hundred-megawatt smile. He started to whisper in her ear when someone wrenched him away from her.

“She’s with me, boys. Back off.”

Mitzi froze.
Oh, crap.
So much for a clean getaway. She turned and met the deep blue eyes of the only man who interested her sexually, next to Riley. Jonah stood with legs braced apart, hands fisted, and eyes blazing a challenge to every man in the room.

Her admirers sized up Jonah and decided not to push it. They shuffled their feet and backed off a little. The braver ones hung on in hopes they’d get another chance.

“I’m not with you.” Mitzi shot Jonah an annoyed look. What did a girl have to do to get any freedom around this place? Her father had gone too far this time. She had half a mind to show the old man what happened when he hired two gorgeous bodyguards to protect her.

“But you want to be with me.” Jonah’s confident smile irked her all the more.

“In your dreams, cowboy.”

“No, in your dreams.”

Mitzi squirmed under his knowing gaze. The man didn’t have any way of knowing how she spent her nights. “You’re a big talker, Jonah.”

“Give me a chance. I’ll do more than talk. I’d fuck you from here to daylight.” Jonah elbowed his way into the space next to her and leaned against the bar. His hip rubbed her hip. A smile tickled one corner of his sinful mouth, the type of mouth that promised all sorts of decadent pleasures, just the kind to whet Mitzi’s appetite.