Impact (20 page)

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Opening the door to the shed, she peeked out. “I think the coast is clear.”

“Can you hang out with me in the trailer or is that forbidden?”

“It’s probably best if you come up to the house. I think Mama and Daddy would like to get to know you a little better. Undoubtedly my brothers have made themselves scarce by now though. They have better things to do with their time than sit around the homestead.”

They walked back up to the house and Jessica was impressed as she watched Conner handle her parents with ease. He talked about ranching and it was clear he knew a great deal about it. She was no slouch in that department, thanks to growing up on the ranch, and contributed to the conversation when she felt like it. Conner never put her ideas down or smiled indulgently. He listened to everything she said. After growing up with Travis, Nate and her father, who tended to figuratively pat her on the head when she tried to get involved with the ranch, Conner treated her as an equal. The only other man who did was Evan, and since he was a quiet, peace-keeping type like herself, it often came to nothing. She had a feeling she’d enjoy working side by side with Conner at his ranch.

As the time approached ten, her father stood. “I’ve got an early day tomorrow. Ranch work starts early, as you know well.”

“I do, sir. Is there anything I can do to help you?”

Her father waved him off. “No, me and the boys can handle it. You enjoy your time here with my little girl.” He kissed Jessica on the cheek and he and her mother left the room after saying their good nights.

“I’m surprised he didn’t make it a point to tell me to go to bed,” Jessica remarked. “Either he’s loosening up in his old age or he likes you a hell of a lot.”

“Doesn’t matter to me, as long as it leaves me free to do this.” Conner swept her into his arms and gave her a swift kiss before setting her back on her feet. “Wanna walk me to my trailer?” He waggled his brows and Jessica’s face heated as she remembered what they’d done in the feed shed earlier. Her resistance to him was nil and she had a feeling if she went out there with him it would only be moments before she’d be naked, legs spread while he pounded into her. Her sex warmed and tingled at the thought.

She bit her lip. “I shouldn’t.”

“What did I tell you about that lip?” Conner replied, running his thumb over it. A whimper escaped her before she could hold it back and he moved closer. “I wanna make you come, Jessie girl, and if I don’t get inside that sweet, hot little pussy soon I’m gonna lose it.”

She glanced at the stairs. “All right, but we can’t be long. I don’t like sneaking around.”

Conner shot her a predatory grin. “I doubt what I have in mind will take long.” Splaying his hand on her ass, he pushed her. “Get goin’.”

Chapter Twelve

They made it to the trailer in record time. The door had barely closed behind him before he ordered her to strip. His clothes flew in all directions and he was backing her toward the bed before she caught her breath from the walk. When her thighs met the mattress, he picked her up and tossed her, sending her to the middle of the bed with a bounce. He followed and covered her body with his, groaning right before sinking into her mouth and attacking it like a man coming in from the cold to a hot fire.

His hand parted her thighs and two fingers invaded her pussy immediately, pushing into her swollen tissues and finding her sweet spot without error. She arched as he set up a vigorous pattern of rubbing the sensitive area while he continued the assault on her mouth. His thumb swept over her clit and began to massage back and forth and she wrenched her mouth away from his with a harsh cry. “Conner!”

“What, darlin’?”

“I’m dying.”

“Come for me. Lemme see that beautiful face of yours as you come apart in my arms.”

That was all it took. Her orgasm slammed into her with the finesse of a freight train. Her entire body tensed as pleasure made her senses go haywire. He covered her scream with his mouth, absorbing the sound in his kiss as he continued to play her body like a maestro. As soon as she began to calm he pulled his fingers out, rolled on a condom and thrust inside her. When her eyes flew open, she was shocked to see him staring down at her with an almost dangerous look. “Mine,” he snarled, withdrawing and thrusting back in. “Mine.”

Snaking her arms around his neck, she brought her legs up to wrap around his waist. “Yours.”

He leaned down and ravaged her neck as he continued to take her hard, driving into her pussy, tension rolling through his body as he gritted his teeth. Watching him lose control like this made her clit pulse and swell and she reached down with her hand to stroke it only to have him bat her away. “No! Mine.” She would’ve laughed at his language if he wasn’t looking at her with such intensity.

The heat and possession in his eyes melted her from the inside out. Taking ahold of her clit between his fingers, he squeezed while he continued to power into her, using less and less finesse as he got closer to orgasm. Finally, he pushed deep within her and held himself there, coming with a loud groan. Her release followed his and her inner muscles milked his cock, making him gasp anew before he collapsed on top of her, burying his face in the hollow of her neck.

“Woman, you’ve ruined me,” he mumbled and she giggled. “I hope you know what you’re in for.”

“Bring it on.”

He raised his head. “I can’t fucking wait to tie you to my bed and torture about a dozen climaxes out of you.” Her eyebrows shot up. “You heard me. After I get done with that I’m gonna make long, sweet love to you, kissing and licking every inch of your gorgeous body. I wish we had time now, but…”

“Shhh, I know,” she answered, filtering her hand through his hair as he pillowed his head on her breast. With a kiss to her nipple, he rolled over and disposed of the condom.

Straddling her, he walked his knees up until they were tucked underneath her shoulders. “You know what I want, Jessie girl.” He leaned over, grabbing the headboard.

She wasn’t crazy about the taste of latex but she’d do about anything to make him happy, so she took him in her mouth and began to lave him clean, using long, sure strokes of her tongue. He moaned and whispered words of love and encouragement to her, and she could swear she was ready again as her pussy pulsed and juices flowed anew. Releasing his semi-erect cock, she tilted her head and gently licked each of his balls, listening as he sighed in pleasure. With one final lick from base to tip she looked up at him.

“Your tongue drives me crazy. Hell, all of you drives me crazy.” He scooted down and kissed her tenderly, brushing her hair away from her face. “Thank you.”

A tear rolled down her face before she could stop it. “I love you.”

“I love you too, sugar.” He pulled her tighter into his embrace. “I wish you didn’t have to go back in tonight. I wanna hold you, I wanna make love to you, fall asleep inside you.”

“Soon,” she promised.

* * * * *

They left the next morning to go back to Dallas. Before they departed, Jessica’s father had shaken Conner’s hand and Jessica had seen a look pass between them, but she couldn’t decipher what it meant, though it definitely seemed like her father was warming to Conner.

After they’d been on the road for a little while Jessica turned to him. “Did Brady mind that you took the trailer?”

Conner glanced over at her and then back at the road. “Nah. I’m sure he either grabbed a hotel room or bunked with someone else.”

“That’s good. Is this yours or Brady’s?”

“Mine. Why?”

Jessica shrugged. “I was just curious. I like it.”

“Brady has a trailer too, but his is a little more fancy. It’s an Airstream.”

“You mean one of those silver ones?”

“Yep.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

Conner laughed. “Are you sayin’ he’s flashy? I’m sure he’d love to hear that.”

“An Airstream seems to go with his personality, just like this goes with yours.”

“What? Boring?”

An unladylike snort came out before she could stop it. “You are a lot of things, Conner Raub, but boring isn’t one of them. So you guys travel together to save money, right?”

“Aren’t you full of questions this morning?” His voice held a trace of amusement. “Yes, it’s cheaper to travel together, but it’s also a lot less lonely. You’ve got someone to talk to on the long rides between events, someone to eat with, hang out with…”

“How long have you been traveling together?”

“This is our fourth year. I’ve known Brady since we were both doing the smaller circuits though.”

“Does it bother you he’s the top-ranked bull rider?”

Conner shot her another look. “Bother me? Why would it bother me?”

“I don’t know.”

“Of course I wanna be the best I can be, but being ranked in the top five two years running ain’t exactly shabby.”

“I know. That’s not what I meant. I’m not explaining myself well.” She took a deep breath and regrouped. “I guess what I meant was…does it bother you he’s the ‘King of Rodeo’ and everyone worships him?”

“Worships him? Oh, now I gotta tell him that one. He’ll be tickled to find out people are worshipping him.” He smirked and shook his head, sneaking another glance at her.

“You know what I mean.”

“I don’t enjoy being in the spotlight like he does. I’m happy just going out there and doing the best I can, collecting my money and moving on. I don’t need all the publicity and shit he has to go through.”

He turned and smiled at her and she saw such warmth and acceptance in his gaze it nearly knocked her sideways. She’d never thought she’d find a man who would look at her like that, much less a Dom. Sighing in contentment, she stared out the window.

They got back to Dallas in late afternoon and both went directly to the managerial offices. Conner had refused to let her go alone to find out if they’d made a decision about her job, and she knew better than to argue with him when he had his mind set on something. When they arrived in Wallace’s area, Conner crossed his arms over his chest and jerked his head at her.

“I’ll be right here. Go ask him if they’ve made a decision.”

She was grateful he was at least giving her the space to meet with Wallace privately, but she knew if the NBT had decided to fire her he’d come in with guns blazing. In some ways, the thought was comforting. It was nice to have someone on her side, especially since Ryan obviously wasn’t. After Conner had told her about his dealings with Ryan she’d started thinking about the way Ryan had treated her. She definitely suspected he was behind this whole mess. It made her so angry she wanted to claw his eyes out, and likely would if given the chance.

“Wallace? Can I come in?”

Wallace looked up from the folder of papers he was sorting. “Yes, Jessica. Come in and have a seat. I assume you’re wondering about the results of our investigation.”

“Yes sir.”

He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes briefly before saying, “We didn’t find any evidence you influenced results, which didn’t surprise me. But you know we had to do the investigation. We couldn’t let the allegations stand and do nothing.”

“I know, sir. So what happens now?”

Wallace smiled at her. “Since when do you call me sir?”

She shrugged. “It seemed appropriate for the situation.”

“Well, call me Wallace. You’re giving me the creeps.”

Jessica let out a short bark of laughter. “So what happens now, Wallace?”

“You understand I can’t return you to your former position as long as you’re involved with Mr. Raub.” He hadn’t finished speaking before Conner’s tall form filled the doorway.

“She didn’t do anything wrong. You said that yourself.”

“Yes, I did, Mr. Raub, but it’s still a conflict of interest.” He turned his attention back to Jessica, who, after glancing once more at Conner and willing him to stay quiet and let her fight her own battles, braced herself for whatever was to come.

“We can offer you a position as a runner for the remainder of the season. It’s a few steps down on the pay scale, but that’s all we have available right now.”

She was about to accept his offer when Conner jumped in. “This is bullshit. She didn’t do anything wrong and you’re gonna fire her? She’s damn good at her job, and the stock contractors love her.”

“But she could influence an event outcome because of her personal relationship with you, and we can’t allow it,” Wallace repeated.

Jessica tried to step in before the situation got any worse. “Really, Conner, it’s okay—”

“It is sure as fuck
not
okay,” he argued. Rounding on Wallace, he leaned down, splaying his hands out on the desk. “Who complained about her? Was it one of the contractors? Another staff member? A rider?”

“I can’t say.”

“She has a right to know who’s ruining her career,” Conner ground out and Wallace shrank back. Jessica raised a hand to Conner’s arm to try to get him to back down, but he ignored her. Leaning in closer to Wallace, he said, “Tell us who came to you.”

“Ryan did. He said he was trying to protect her—to make sure she didn’t do anything illegal.” Wallace had paled considerably and now looked positively ill. Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew a handkerchief and swept it over his face.