One Night Rodeo (24 page)

Bran groaned. “Those ladies are always in the thick of things, stirring things up.”

“That’s why I love them old gals. They are far more interesting and fun than any of the women my age I’ve dated in the last couple years.” A grinning Fletch glanced from Hugh Pritchett, Renner’s foreman, to Eli. “You guys up for a drink or ten at the Buckeye?”

“Now hold on just a second. What if they planned some kind of surprise?” Kyle asked.

Everyone looked at Tobin.

“Don’t look at me like that. How the hell should I know what they’ve got planned? They’re
your
wives.”

“Which is why I’m heading there alone,” Kyle said. “I’ll call from the bar and tell you what’s goin’ on.”

“If we don’t hear from you ASAP, we’re showing up anyway,” Renner shouted as Kyle reached the door.

Kyle drove on autopilot, trying not to come up with worst-case scenarios about why Celia sounded so mortified.

The parking lot was jam-packed.

Just as he started to get out of his truck, his cell phone buzzed with a text from Renner telling him the guys were on their way.

He found Celia in the far back corner of the bar. Wearing her coat and a worried look. Christ. Maybe she was sick.

“Darlin’, what’s wrong?”

She threw herself at him. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For almost embarrassing the crap outta both of us.”

How much had she been drinking? Because she wasn’t making a lick of sense. “Come again?”

“Yesterday after you made that nasty crack about me, I went to Harper’s store and bought new clothes, intending to prove to you that I am a sexy, hot woman and not some dorky, shapeless little girl.”

“Cele. I thought we’d moved on from that.”

“We have. I mean, yes, you apologized to me. But I’d already made plans to come here tonight and make myself feel better by wearing something snappy. Then we planned to call you guys to come have a drink with us. You’d walk in and see me lookin’ so smokin’ hot that you’d immediately regret your mean remark.”

“I regretted it the instant I understood it hurt you,” he said softly.

“I know.” She swallowed hard. “And I regret I’m wearing this slutty
outfit. I regret it to the point I haven’t taken my damn coat off since I got here.”

Kyle’s eyes searched hers. “Why not?”

“Because you’re the only man I want seeing what I’ve got on.”

“So let me get this straight. You feel guilty about the way you dressed. Guilty enough to tell me about it, but not guilty enough to let me see what you’re wearin’?”

She nodded vigorously. “So can we please go home?”

“No. Show me.” His tone brooked zero arguing.

Celia peered over his shoulder to check if anyone was watching. Then she whipped open the coat in a fast movement that would’ve made a flasher proud. “There. You saw it. Now can we go?”

He loomed over her. “Take. Off. The. Coat.”

“Why?”

“Because I told you to.”

A rebellious expression tightened her face. But he saw it for what it really was. Fear.

This was the perfect opportunity to begin showing her he was proud to have her on his arm, proud that she was his woman, his lover, his wife. That he wanted her to be his wife for a helluva lot longer than six lousy months. He wanted her forever.

Kyle stroked the underside of that stubborn jaw with the rough texture of his glove. “Maybe I want everyone in Buckeye Joe’s lookin’ at you thinkin’, damn, when did Celia Lawson become sex on legs? Maybe I want the men in the bar to eat their goddamn hearts out because all this”—his gaze traveled from her eyes to her boot tips—“is all mine.”

She bit her lip. “You haven’t even seen the outfit yet.”

“I don’t need to. I’m sure you look fantastic.”

Celia’s eyes softened. “Given our history, I’ll admit I’m itching to see
wow
in your eyes.”

“So take off the damn coat before I rip it off with my teeth.”

She pulled the coat open and yanked it off.

Holy fucking shit. Celia hadn’t been kidding about being decked out in
a sexy-ass getup. He’d always admired her sexy legs. In the past month he’d paid homage to them with his hands and mouth. But he’d never seen her in a short skirt that showed so much of those mile-long legs.

He finally managed to pull his gaze away from the funky buckskin skirt and he let it travel upward. She wore a matching buckskin halter that dipped low enough in front he might’ve caught a glimpse of nipple.

He imagined her riding her horse, bareback. With those golden locks flowing in the wind behind her, looking so beautiful and free.

“Turn around.” Christ. There was no back to the shirt, except for flimsy leather straps that crisscrossed her muscled back. And if she bent over she’d give everyone a peek at that sweet pink flesh between her thighs.

Not happening. Ever. She was his, goddammit.
Only his
.

Kyle went from mildly amused to caveman possessive in three seconds. But he had the urge to show her off. Wrapping her braid around his palm, he tugged her gently until her back met his front. He nuzzled her ear. “Kitten, you are a walking wet dream.”

She rubbed her cheek against his in a very catlike move.

He spun her around and made certain she saw the pure male appreciation in his eyes before he consumed her mouth in a blistering kiss. He didn’t give a damn that they were in a crowded bar. He wanted her to feed on his lust.

His sweet, sexy Celia held nothing back.

He slowed the kiss. Sweetened it. But it still held that edge of need. He whispered, “Dance with me.”

“But, Kyle, you don’t—”

“Not a request, little wife of mine. You are dancin’ with me. Now.” He tossed their coats over the back of the chair and clasped her hand in his. As they snaked through the tables, he nodded to several people he knew, but didn’t stop to chat. He stopped right on the edge of the dance floor, hauling her close.

“Umm, Kyle, this is an up-tempo song and I think we’re supposed to be two-stepping.”

“The good thing about bein’ a bad dancer? Ignoring all them pesky rules about how I’m supposed to be dancin’.” He murmured, “Besides, the only person who’s gonna see that fringe flapping tonight is me.”

“And how do you intend to make it flap if you’re not spinning me on the dance floor?”

“When I slide this skirt over your sassy ass and pound into you from behind.”

A gleam of interest brightened her eyes.

“Can you feel how hard I am?”

“It’s hard to miss. For me and everybody else.”

He laughed. “Don’t be haughty with me. Ain’t that the reaction you wanted? Me so hard I can’t see straight?”

She pressed a kiss on his neck. “Yes. I like the way you look at me, Kyle. No man has ever looked at me that way. I’m sorry. I…”

“It’s okay. But I do have one question. Are the rest of the clothes you bought sexy, like this?”

She shrugged. “They’re all different from what I normally wear. But, yeah, they show some skin.”

“So is that a comfortable outfit?” He slowly spun them into the middle of the dance floor.

“Not really. It’s kinda tight, which is hard to believe since it doesn’t have much material.”

“There ain’t gonna be a problem with me tearing it off you?”

“There damn well is a problem with that, Kyle. This wasn’t cheap and I—”

He fused his mouth to hers. The kiss, alternating between sweet and fiery, flirty and flat-out lewd, ended when the song did, which was too damn soon for his liking.

“You’ve proven your point,” she panted. “Can we please go now?”

“Nope. You’ve got that backward. You proved your point. I need to prove mine.”

“Which is?”

He offered her a wicked grin. “To show my public appreciation that my wife is a knockout.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to show your appreciation in private? To me?”

“I plan to. For now, put your arms around me. Dig your nails into the back of my head like you do when I’m goin’ down on you.”

His sexpot wife blushed and looked away.

“Huh-uh. Eyes on me. If you’re bold enough to wear that outfit in public, you can hear all the dirty things I wanna do to you while you’re wearing that outfit.”

Celia’s bashfulness disappeared, replaced by a look of challenge. “Would those dirty thoughts include tying me up? Because you haven’t done that near enough for my liking.”

Kyle bit back a growl.

“I really thought we’d christen the barn as a sexual playground, because there’s lots of rope, and hooks in the rafters.”

“Playin’ with fire, Celia.”

“Mmm. Maybe. Or maybe I need to fan the flames that are already there, since I’ve been a little…hesitant in expressing my wifely needs.”

“Why?”

She kept her gaze on his. “Because this raw sexual need is new to me. And in the last week you’ve been more interested in talking than—”

“Fucking you until you scream. Well, that’s about to change.”

“Good.” She put her lips on his ear. “Besides the one time Breck talked me into a threesome with Michael? My sexual adventures have been limited and I’ve been wanting to explore all that uncharted territory with you.”

That admission surprised him. “How is it in all the conversations we’ve had in the last month this hasn’t come up?”

She didn’t answer. She just looked away.

He trapped her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. “How limited?”

“Kyle—”

“Tell me all of it. We’ve been married for weeks.” Christ. He hadn’t exactly gone easy on her in bed, believing she had the sexual experience to back up her passion.

“I’ve only been with three guys. Pistol, the guy who popped my cherry—he didn’t even know I was a virgin. Breck. I don’t count Michael because his part in the threesome was only a blow job. And…you.”

Don’t show shock.

“I know what you’re thinking. On the circuit I wanted people to believe I’d been around the block. I was tired of being the horse-loving, homely hometown girl whose brothers practically enforced her virginity until she was twenty-one. I thought if I acted sexually sophisticated it’d give me confidence to follow through and become that way.”

Her teasing and evasive comments hit him then. Over the last few years Celia had only implied she’d been playing musical horse trailers. “Is that why you wanted the marriage to be in name only?”

She nodded.

“Thank God I’m a pushy bastard and wouldn’t stand for that, huh? And this news just presents a whole bunch of new possibilities for us.”

“So you’re not upset?”

“That you’ve been selective with who’s sampled these very fine goods? Hell no. But it wouldn’t have mattered to me if you got off banging the entire rodeo team. The past is the past for us, kitten. For both of us.” His hands fell from her face and he smoothly slipped his leg between hers so the hard muscle of his thigh connected with her sex.

She hissed, “What are you doing?”

“Dancing with my wife.” He rocked them a little more and she gasped. “See? I ain’t such a bad dancer after all.”

“You trying to make me come right here?”

“No. I’m trying to make you so edgy”—his lips feathered over her jaw—“so needy, that you come on that first, hard thrust.”

Celia tilted her head back. Her gray eyes were decidedly somber. “What is going on with you?”

“As much as I’d like to hotfoot it to my truck and take you straight home to bed, I do like bein’ out with you. And I thank you for the reminder that I don’t expect us to isolate ourselves on the ranch all the time.” He grinned. “I cannot wait to see them other outfits you got.”

She kissed him. “Thank you.”

“But I am gonna whisper dirty nothings in your ear for the duration of the dances.”

“I oughta grind my pussy down on your leg and come right now.”

“You’d better not.”

Celia kicked her heel in, which squeezed his thigh more tightly between her legs. “Oops.”

“I’m warning you.”

“I’m warning
you
. I’ve got about one more song dancing with you like this or I’ll lose it.”

Kyle wondered when he’d lost control of this situation. But he had a really good idea on how to get it back. “Fine. One more song. Now put them sugar lips on mine.”

The play of mingled breath and stolen smooches made him damn dizzy. Celia too, if the rapid pounding of the pulse in her throat was an indication. When he bent to lightly suck on that bit of flesh he felt her knees buckle.

Enough foreplay.

He whispered, “Let’s go,” and towed her off the dance floor. As he helped her with her coat, she said, “I need to say good-bye to my friends.”

“They’re gone. Their husbands showed up right after I did and took them home. Tobin and Fletch promised to handle getting your wild Mud Lilies pals home.”

Kyle pulled her behind him, trying to block the wind. They skirted the edge of the building that faced the back of a hill. He spun her around and pressed her into the metal siding. “You ever been fucked hard and fast up against a honky-tonk?”

She shook her head.

“Take off your panties.”

Celia held on to his arm as she slipped them off.

He shoved them in his pocket and crowded her against the building. Watching her liquid silver eyes, he reached beneath her skirt and could feel the heat pouring from her sex. His fingers inched up her inner thigh and delved into her pussy, finding her warm, slick, and ready. He damn near howled that he’d primed Celia’s body to this point without touching her.

She whimpered a soft, “Please.”

He sealed his mouth to hers as he moved his fingers in and out. Then he unbuckled, unzipped, and dropped his jeans before breaking the kiss to urge, “Jump up and lock your ankles around my waist.” Latching onto her
tight buns, he hoisted her against the building. He was shaking, but not from the cold. “Reach between us and guide me in, baby.”

Her cool fingers brushed his balls, then circled his shaft.

The instant his cockhead touched her molten core, he canted his hips and plunged into her.

“Yes. Do it again.”

He withdrew fully and slammed into her fully.

“Don’t stop. Hard and fast like that.”

He didn’t pause to catch his breath. He just fucked her steadily. Pulling her body to meet his demanding thrusts. He went up on his toes to fuck her deeper.