Read Texas Outlaws: Billy Online

Authors: Kimberly Raye

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #General

Texas Outlaws: Billy (11 page)

BOOK: Texas Outlaws: Billy
4.24Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

He had the hard, well-defined physique of a rough-and-tough bull rider. Broad shoulders. Muscular arms. Gold hair sprinkled his chest from nipple to nipple before narrowing into a thin line that bisected his six-pack abs and disappeared into the waistband of his jeans. Her gaze was riveted on the hard bulge beneath his zipper for several fast, furious heartbeats before shifting north.

“Hungry?” he asked.

She swallowed. “You have no idea.”

“Me, too.” He held up a forkful of pancakes. The aroma of melted butter and sweet syrup hit her nostrils. Her stomach grumbled and he grinned. “I’ve got a big stack if you want some.” She didn’t miss the heat that simmered in the bright violet depths of his eyes, which made her all the more confused as to why he’d stopped before the main event last night.

He obviously wanted her.

She could see it.

Feel it.

But then his gaze darkened and he stiffened, as if he’d just remembered some all-important fact.

“Come on and I’ll get you a plate,” he offered.

Pancakes,
a voice reminded her.
As in breakfast. As in the morning after.

But it was still dark out and she was too hungry and, besides, they hadn’t actually done the deed last night, which completely killed the notion of a morning after.

“They’re homemade,” he added. Determination gleamed hot and bright in his gaze, along with a glimmer of possessiveness that said he’d just climbed onto a monster bull for the ride of his life, and he had no intention of letting go.

Not now.

Not ever.

And damned if that notion didn’t excite her even more than the prospect of hot, breath-stealing sex.

She smiled. “Let’s eat.”

16

B
ILLY
HAD
NEVER
been a big believer in luck. Good fortune came through hard work and talent, and when things went wrong, there was usually a damn good reason behind it. Lack of motivation. Fear. Laziness.

He’d learned that from Pete and his older brothers.

A man made his own luck. It never just waltzed in on its own.

But as he watched Sabrina walk into his kitchen, he couldn’t help but reevaluate his position. He fully expected her to turn and run, the way she did every morning. Yet here she was, standing right in front of him wearing nothing but his T-shirt and a look that said she was none too happy about it.

Still, she was here.

And damned if Billy didn’t feel like the luckiest man on the planet.

He turned back to the stack of pancakes he’d just made. Grabbing a nearby plate, he fed a few golden cakes onto it. “Syrup?”

“Please.”

He grabbed the bottle and poured a hefty amount of brown liquid before handing her the cakes. He watched as she cut into the stack and stuffed a bite into her mouth.

Her features softened and pure ecstasy rolled across her face, the sight like a sucker punch to his gut.

“The chili I could see,” she murmured around a mouthful, “but pancakes, too?” Her gaze caught and held his and the air rushed back into his lungs. “I’m impressed.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“Did your older brothers teach you this?”

“Jesse can barely heat up a frozen waffle in the toaster. And Cole’s the fast-food king.” He shrugged. “Eli was always the cook in the family.”

“My partner and best friend Livi did most of the cooking in our dorm room. Mostly microwave stuff, though. That, or we did takeout.”

“What about your mom?”

“She could outcook Rachael Ray, which is why I stay as far from the kitchen as possible.” She took another bite and he had the distinct feeling she wanted to change the subject.

“So how long have you and Livi been friends?”

“Since freshman year. I didn’t know if I was going to like her at first. We were so different.” When he arched an eyebrow, she added, “I know I don’t look like it, but I was a small-town country girl at one point in time.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“It is. It was.” She shook her head. “I hated being from a small town. I hated the fact that we had to drive two hours just to get to a mall. I hated everybody being in everybody’s business. I hated that everybody knew what a rat bastard my dad was, while my own mom buried her head in the sand.”

“Maybe she wasn’t as clueless as you think. Maybe it just didn’t matter.”

“How’s that possible?”

“Maybe she accepted him the way he was.” He ate another bite of his own pancake. “My dad was a son of a bitch. There’s no denying that. He did some really awful things and my older brothers hated him for it.” He shrugged. “I didn’t.”

“But you were young—”

“That had nothing to do with it. I knew what he was, but it didn’t matter. He was still my dad.” He shrugged. “Maybe your mom knew, too, but she just accepted it because that’s the way he was and she loved him anyway.”

“Love had nothing to do with it. She was afraid of being alone.”

He shrugged. “I can see that. A single mom on her own seems pretty scary to me.”

“Being a mom didn’t have anything to do with it. She didn’t stay for me. She stayed for her own selfish reasons.”

“You sure about that? It seems pretty selfless to sacrifice your own happiness to stay in a bad relationship and try to make it work. To give your kid a real family.” When she didn’t look convinced, he added, “And sometimes it’s just easier to run from the truth than stand and face it.”

“Profound words from rodeo’s biggest good-time cowboy.”

He winked. “Just call me Dr. Phil.”

A companionable silence engulfed them for the next few minutes as he watched her finish off her pancakes. A glimmer of sadness lit her eyes and he had the crazy urge to haul her into his arms and hug her tight until the look disappeared.

But he knew if he touched her, he wouldn’t be able to stop. It had taken every ounce of strength not to finish what he’d started earlier that evening and his control was shaky at best.

“You’re lucky she at least tried,” he heard himself say, eager for something to distract himself from the sudden image of her naked and panting beneath him. “My dad never gave a lick about anyone other than himself, otherwise he would have straightened up his life and played by the rules. Folks call him a career criminal, but being a criminal isn’t a career. It’s a death sentence.”

“What really happened that night?”

“He robbed a bank, went home, had too much to drink and fell asleep with a lit cigarette. End of story.”

“Where were you?”

“Jesse had this part-time job at the training facility. He used to feed the bulls after school, shovel manure—that sort of thing. Jesse didn’t want us going home without him, so he kept us at the training facility. When Silas drank, which was most of the time, he wasn’t the nicest guy, and Jesse didn’t want him beating the crap out of us.”

“He doesn’t sound like much of a man.”

“He wasn’t, but he was still our dad.”

“It seems to me, Jesse was more like a dad to you.”

Her words eased the tight feeling in his chest just a little.

Because she was right. Jesse had been more of a dad than Silas ever would. More of a man. A good man. Honest. Loyal. Trustworthy.

But then Jesse wasn’t a carbon copy of their old man.

It’s just hair, bro. You’re nothing like him.

That’s what Jesse had told him too many times to count, whenever Billy stared into a mirror and saw his old man in his reflection, but he’d never let himself really believe it.

Until now.

Until Sabrina Collins looked deep in his eyes and said the very same thing.

There was just something about the conviction in her gaze, the sincerity, the compassion that hit a button deep inside him and made him think that he could be different. That he
was
different.

“I look just like him,” he said, because old habits died hard and Billy had been reminding himself of the past far too long to stop now. “That’s what everybody says.”

“So? I look like my great-aunt Mildred, but I’m nothing like her.” When he arched an eyebrow, she added, “She’s a lesbian. She just moved in with her bingo partner and adopted a new cat. I’m not a cat person either. I like dogs. Not that I have time for one, but when I do, I plan on getting a blue heeler.”

“Heelers are great. Eli used to have a red heeler pup that always hung out at the training facility. Cole and I used to play with him while we were waiting for Jesse to finish up work. That, or we’d play Lego or Hot Wheels. Then we’d all walk home together.”

“Were you together the night of the fire?”

He nodded. “Jesse finished up late and we were a good hour past our usual time. Otherwise, that night was just like any other until we saw the flames. We knew it was our house that was burning even before we got close.” His gaze caught and held hers. “We just knew.”

Ask him
.

Ask him when? Where? What? Why? How?

There were so many unanswered questions and this was the chance she’d been waiting for. Her opportunity to get the inside scoop. There had been dozens of reports on what had happened to Silas Chisholm and the money he’d stolen, but no interviews with the actual witnesses. The Chisholm brothers had answered all the police’s questions, but they’d never given an actual one-on-one to the press.

And they never would.

Which made this moment all the more valuable.

Billy was talking freely about that night, opening up to her. All she had to do was ask the really tough questions and she could write an exposé that would lead her to a real journalism career and stir up the past for all three of the Chisholm brothers yet again.

And while Billy didn’t seem all that upset to be walking memory lane, she didn’t miss the tight lines around his mouth or the sudden tensing of his shoulder muscles, or the fear that flickered deep in the depths of his gaze.

For all his bravado, the past pained him. And damned if she could make herself probe the wound.

“Wow,” she blurted, stuffing a forkful of pancake into her mouth and killing her one shot. Surprisingly, that fact didn’t bother her nearly as much as it should have. Because she wasn’t cut out to be a journalist? She didn’t know. She only knew that now wasn’t the time to figure it out. She had more important things to worry about. Like Billy. And the hurt she’d glimpsed. “These are really good. You have a recipe?”

“No, but I could teach you.” He eyed her. “That is, if you want to learn.”

And where she’d avoided the kitchen her entire life because it reminded her of her mother, suddenly whipping up a batch of pancakes with hot, hunky Billy Chisholm didn’t seem all that bad. Especially since it chased the fear from his gaze and filled it with a hopeful glimmer.

She smiled. “It’s about time I learned how to make something other than ramen noodles.”

17

“T
HIS
ISN

T
PART
of our agreement.” Sabrina stood on the front porch of Billy’s cabin later that morning and stared at the black-and-white horse he’d just walked from the barn.

He tipped his hat back and the devil danced in his gaze. “How’s that?”

“For one thing, it’s daytime. Morning, to be exact, and I don’t do mornings.”

“I’ll be busy tonight winning this rodeo, so just think of this as a schedule change.”

“I wasn’t planning on a schedule change, but suppose I go with it. Our agreement still doesn’t state anything about riding horses.” Or making pancakes, or laughing and talking until the sun came up about his life growing up on the Gunner spread and her life in Sugar Creek. But they’d done it anyway, and she’d enjoyed every moment. “It’s all about sex.”

“Trust me,” he murmured, the early-morning sun bathing him in a bright light that made him seem even darker and more dangerous, “so is this.” Billy winked. “We’re riding double.”

“So we will be fooling around?”

His grin was a slash of white beneath the brim of his hat. “That’s the plan.”

“Really? Because it’s been four days.” The grin widened and she stiffened. “Not that I’ve been, um, counting.”

“Actually, it’s been four days, three hours and fifty-two minutes.” She arched an eyebrow and his expression went serious. “I’ve been the one counting.”

Her heart did a double thump and the butterflies started to flutter low in her belly. “So, um, how exactly is this going to work?”

“Well, I’ll be in back and you’ll be in front.” He let the words hang between them for a long moment. “Use your imagination, sugar.”

“What if I fall off?”

“I’ve never lost a partner yet.”

“Meaning, you’ve done this before?”

“Ridden a horse? Yes.” His gaze darkened for a split second and a serious note touched his expression. “Riding double? No. You’ll be the first.” The look went from serious to seductive. “But I’ve thought about it a time or two.” His eyes twinkled. “Or three.”

“And here I thought you spent your time dreaming about PBR titles.”

“I did up until I met you.”

His words sent a burst of warmth through her that crumbled her defenses. She glanced down at the oversize T-shirt she wore. The soft cotton hit her below the hips. Beyond that, her legs and feet were bare. “I’ll have to get dressed—”

“You’re fine just like that.” He stared at her as if he could see the slinky undies beneath. “The less you have on, the better.”

If the words weren’t enough to convince her, the hungry look on his face left no doubt that the next few hours would, indeed, be all about sex.

A shiver worked its way through her, along with something else. A rush of hesitation, because despite his words, this wasn’t just sex. The past few hours, even the past few days, had changed things between them. Upped the stakes.

“You’re not scared, are you?” Challenge fueled his words and lured her down the steps, when every ounce of sanity told her to climb into her car and get while the getting was good. That, and he was smiling at her. And she had a really,
really
hard time thinking straight when he smiled like that.

“Of you? Hardly.”

He threw a blanket over the horse’s back. “So prove it.”

The words hung between them for a long moment before she gathered her courage and closed the distance between them. She planted both hands on her hips and stared up at him. “So how do I do this?”

He held out a hand. “Just put your foot in the stirrup and I’ll pull you up.”

She slipped her hand into his. “I hope you have a heavy-duty insurance policy that covers passengers.”

“No insurance, but I’d be happy to kiss away any bruises if you get hurt.” He hauled her up in front of him and nudged the horse.

They jerked forward and Sabrina grabbed Billy’s thighs to keep from teetering to the side.

“Easy.” The word whispered through her ear as they trotted forward, and Sabrina clutched him tighter.

“I don’t think she heard you,” she said over her shoulder.

“I wasn’t talking to the horse. I was talking to you.” He held the reins with one hand, and moved the other to cover her fingers, which dug into his blue-jean-clad leg. “Relax, sugar.” He touched her, his fingers warm and strong and reassuring.

They rounded the cabin and started for the open pasture up ahead. For the next several minutes, Billy kept them moving at a steady walk and Sabrina managed to relax her grip.

“This isn’t so bad—
whoaaaaa!
” They pitched forward as he urged the horse to a trot.

Her heart lodged in her throat for the first few moments. But soon, she grew used to the steady pace and her body relaxed. Her grip on his thighs loosened until her hands rested easy on either side and she actually started to enjoy herself.

The wind whipped at her face, catching the edge of her T-shirt and sneaking beneath the soft material to tease her bare skin. She became acutely aware of the powerful thighs that framed hers, his chest a solid wall of muscle and strength behind her.

“Why don’t you take the reins.” The deep voice in her ears caused her to shiver. Without waiting for a reply, he urged the leather straps into her hands and she found herself steering the horse. “Just remember to keep your grip firm but not tight. And don’t jerk. You’ll scare her if you do that.”

“What if I want to stop?”

“We’re not stopping until we’re done.” She had the sneaking suspicion that he was talking about more than just the ride.

A few frantic heartbeats later, he touched her thigh and she knew she’d been right. His palm burned into her flesh and her grip faltered.

Billy’s other hand closed over hers, urging her fingers tight around the leather until he had a proper grip again.

“Focus,” he told her.

“You try focusing in a thong.”

Laughter rumbled in her ears and danced along her nerve endings in a seductive caress that made her entire body tingle. “I guess that would make it a little difficult.”

“More like hot. Is your bottom supposed to burn like this?”

“You have to rise and fall with the horse. Feel the motion with your thighs and let it guide you.”

She spent the next few minutes doing her best to tune into the horse. But the only thing she seemed aware of was the way Billy’s hands splayed on her bare thighs. His hardness pressed into her bottom, proof that he’d meant every word he’d said—this was about sex.

If only it felt like sex.

“This isn’t right,” she murmured out loud before she could stop herself.

“You’re trying too hard,” he told her. “Just feel the animal and think about something else. Think about me and what I’m doing to you.”

“You’re not doing anything.”

“Not yet.”

His fingers made lazy circles on the inside of her thigh and Sabrina’s insides tightened. The movement continued for an endless moment before he urged the animal a little faster. The horse picked up the pace even more and so did Billy. His fingers swept higher, his touch more intense as he moved beneath the edge of the T-shirt and higher until he was an inch shy of the moist heat between her legs.

“See,” he murmured against her ear, his deep voice gliding over her nerve endings. “You’re doing it. You’re moving with the horse. Can you feel it?”

The only thing she felt was him. Surrounding her. Filling her senses. Her heart pounded and her nipples tingled and she could barely think, much less form a reply.

“Sabrina? Are you with me?”

Boy, was she ever, she realized when his thumb brushed her clitoris through the thin lace of her thong and sensation speared, hot and jagged, through her body.

She would have dropped the reins if Billy’s hand hadn’t been fastened around hers, guiding the horse when all rational thought flew south to the pulsing between her legs.

“You’re so wet.” His word were more of a groan as he dipped a finger beneath the edge of her undies and touched her slick folds. “So hot and wet and...” His voice faded into the pounding of her heart and the buzz of excitement that filled her ears.

She tilted her head back, resting in the curve of his shoulder as she surrendered herself to the ecstasy beating at her sanity and let him take control, of the horse and her body.

He slid a finger deep inside her and the air bolted from her lungs. He moved with the horse and so did she, shifting just so, riding his fingers the way the two of them rode the animal.

Her body grew tight and hot. The pressure built with each stroke, every thrust, until a cry broke past her lips. Her climax hit her hard and fast, like a zap of lightning that shook her to the bone. Shudders racked her. The blood hummed in her ears.

The horse seemed to slow with her heartbeat, until they moved at a slow, easy walk. Sabrina had never felt as relaxed as she did at that moment with Billy’s arms around her, his heart beating at a steady tempo against her back.

The sun blazed high in the sky by the time they topped a small ridge and found themselves overlooking an endless stretch of green grass that gave way to a winding creek.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it?” he said.

“Very. Is this your favorite spot?”

“It used to be. Actually, this is the first time I’ve ridden over this way since I’ve been back. My brothers and I used to come out here to fish.”

“Before or after you went to live at the Gunner Ranch?”

“Both. At first, we did it because we had to. But even after Pete took us in, I’d still ride up here every once in a while and throw out a line.” His arm slid around her waist and held her. “Jesse hates coming out here because he says it reminds him of all those tough times. But I never really saw it like that. This place reminds me of my brothers and how close we always were.” He neared the creek and brought the horse to a stop. “Come on.” He slid down and turned to pull her after him.

“What are we doing?” she asked as her feet settled in the lush grass.

“Getting wet.” He pulled his own T-shirt up and over his head and walked toward the grassy bank.

She followed. “I think I already beat you to the punch.”

His grin was infectious. “Then it’s time for me to catch up.” He unfastened his jeans and pushed them down in one fell swoop until he stood completely naked. He fished a condom from his pocket and sheathed himself in one deft motion before he turned to her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her close to help lift the T-shirt up and over her head. He pushed her undies down, gliding the lace over her skin until it pooled at her ankles and she stepped free. And then he hauled her into his arms for a kiss that sent a flood of moisture between her already damp thighs.

Sweeping her up into his arms, he waded out into the water and walked toward the small waterfall coming off the cliff above.

A heartbeat later, the cool water rushed over them like a soothing shower, killing the heat of what promised to be another scorching Texas day.

But the relief didn’t last long because he pulled her close and then they were kissing again, his hard body pressed to hers, his mouth plundering hers. He moved them deeper into the waterfall, beyond the constant stream of water into the small opening that sat behind the curtain of water.

He urged her legs up on either side of him and lifted her, hoisting her up until his thick erection rested between her slick folds. His large hands cradled her bottom as his mouth shifted to her nipple. His hot tongue flicked the ripe tip and her moan split open the peaceful quiet.

He teased the ripe peak, licking her over and over. Soon his lips closed around her areola and he sucked her so long and deep that she thought she would come apart right then and there. She tilted her head back

He worked her up and down his erection, the friction making her gasp.

With one hand braced on his shoulder, she reached down between them with her other and touched him. He was hot and heavy and she wanted to feel him inside even more than she wanted her next breath.

“Now. Please.”

His grip on her buttocks tightened as he lifted her a few inches, braced himself and thrust deep inside.

Billy ground his teeth against the overwhelming heat that gripped his throbbing erection. Holy hell, she was hot. And tight. And juicy. He closed his eyes and drank in a deep draft of air, determined to gather his control.

But he had none left.

What little he had had been spent that morning, making pancakes and doing his damnedest not to touch her. To take her.

He’d wanted to give her some distance, some space to see if she felt the way he did.

If she actually liked him as much as he liked her.

She did.

He’d seen it in her smile when he’d asked how the website was going. Heard it in her voice when she’d told him about Melba and Sarah Jean, and how she really wanted to help both women find that someone special even though they weren’t her usual demographic. Felt it when she’d told him how much she appreciated him sharing his secret pancake recipe.

She liked him and while he wasn’t one hundred percent certain she was ready to admit it, she still felt it.

And that was enough.

It had to be enough because his time was running out. The realization had hit him when Eli had called to give him the night’s line-up for the finals. Tonight.

Tonight was his chance at a local championship, the first step toward making the finals in Vegas and winning the overall championship to become PBR’s best. That’s what he really wanted. The one and only thing that had ever really mattered to him. But at the moment, he couldn’t think beyond the fact that the rodeo ended tonight, and so did their agreement.

And while he hoped like hell she’d come to realize how she felt about him enough to keep seeing him for a little longer, he wasn’t going to miss his one sure shot to be in her arms again.

And now she was here, beneath him, pulsing all around him.

She lifted her hips, urging him deeper and he lost his mind. He backed her up against the slick rock wall of the cave and rode her hard, one arm braced on the wall behind her head, the other holding her close as he plunged deeper, faster, until she grasped his shoulders and moaned again.

BOOK: Texas Outlaws: Billy
4.24Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

The Fell Sword by Cameron, Miles
Brandy Purdy by The Queen's Rivals
A Dark Lure by Loreth Anne White
Missing Lynx by Quinn, Fiona
Wild for the Girl by Ambrose, Starr
So About the Money by Cathy Perkins
The Lucifer Gospel by Paul Christopher