Ride a Cowboy (14 page)

“Hell, Jessie,” he gritted. “I can’t hold on much longer. Have mercy, woman.”

She grinned through the sensual haze that wrapped itself around her.

“This had better be more than an eight-second ride, cowboy.” Although Jessie didn’t know if
she’d
last more than ten seconds at this point.

“Then you’d better get going,” he told her, bucking his hips for emphasis.

Bracing herself, she began the up and down glide, slowly at first, then faster, harder. Her eyes locked with his, dark desire glittering in those pools of chocolate brown.

Up and down. Harder, Faster. More, more, more.

His big body tensed at the exact moment hers did, and then, like Fourth of July fireworks, they exploded simultaneously, the orgasm rocking them both, their cries of pleasuring mingling. He pulsed inside her, the muscles of her cunt clasping him and milking him as spasm after spasm rocked them both.

When the last aftershock had subsided, Jessie fell forward onto Kyle’s chest, their skin slick with sweat, lungs dragging for air, her heart thudding like a jackhammer against his ribs. When she’d finally recovered enough, she reached for the tiny key and unlocked the handcuffs. Kyle rubbed his wrists for a moment, then gripped her hips and gently lifted her from his shaft and set her aside.

“One minute,” he told her in an unsteady voice. He padded unsteadily to her bathroom, then seconds later he was back, crawling into bed and pulling her against him. “A shower’s probably in order, but right now, I don’t think I even have the strength to turn on the water.”

“Me, either,” she agreed, nestling the curve of her ass against his hard, lean body. “Later.”

“Jessie.” His voice was low and soft, the drawl as thick as warm molasses crawling uphill. “You are one damn fine woman. Someone should have snapped you up a long time ago.” He tucked her hair behind her ear and gently kissed her neck, then chuckled softly. “I hope you paid attention. I lasted more than eight seconds. We’re gonna do this again. Count on it.”

“Mmmhmm,” was all she could manage.

But as she drifted off to a satisfied sleep, a scary thought lodged in her brain. Kyle had awakened raw desire inside her. Desire only satisfied by the games she liked to play. She’d wanted a wild ride with the bullrider and gotten it. But she’d also gotten much more than that. She’d realized somewhere, when their bodies were connected, how easily she could fall for this man. And that frightened the hell out of her.

Chapter Three

An angry buzzing sounded in Jessie’s ear and she slapped at the air, needing to chase away whatever insect was hassling her. But the buzzing continued, and when she pried her eyes open, she realized it was her alarm clock. That was the first thing she noticed. The second was the lean, sexy man sleeping in bed beside her.

In bed?

Beside her?

Kyle Mitchell. Dinner. Wine. She spotted the handcuffs on her nightstand, and her stomach somersaulted as the activities of the previous night came rolling back to her like a video on a replay loop. Her boldness. The unbelievable level of desire. And worse than that, a tendril of something emotional that had danger written all over it in big red letters. Hot and cold flashes skimmed through her. She’d actually brought
this man
into her home. And done
things
with him.

She was usually so careful about who she played with. And where. At least they’d had dinner in Sommerville, where she’d be less likely to be seen. And they’d had a table tucked into a corner so they’d be pretty much hidden from view. She sure didn’t need gossip about the sheriff making its way around town.

She could almost hear her friend Tricia Danby now. “You’re such a tight-ass, Jessie. Loosen up. You might even find out you’re human. How long’s it been since you had sex, anyway?”

Not nearly as long as you think.

Jessie kept her sex life very, very private. She hardly needed to have people gossiping about who she took to bed and what she did with them. Even Tricia didn’t know all the details.

What a stupid thing it was to let Kyle Mitchell into her house and her bed. What if he was a talker and blabbed? What if someone drove by her house and saw his truck? At least she lived pretty far out of town, not exactly in the middle of a traffic pattern, so that wasn’t too likely.

Shit, shit, shit.

Okay, no more time for what ifs. Leaping up, she yanked the covers back and smacked Kyle on his far-too-gorgeous ass.

“Get up,” she shrieked at him. “Get up right now.”

Oh, god, how did I let myself do this?

Kyle rolled over and stared at her, bleary-eyed. “What? What’s the matter?”

“Get out of this bed right now.” She smacked him again. “Up, up. Up.”

She had to get him out of here before whatever emotions were brewing inside her came to a full boil. And certainly before anyone drove by her house. Thank god it was still early enough that she could get to the office on time. No one would be coming to look for her.

Kyle’s strong fingers clamped down on her wrist. “You’d better not do that unless you mean business, sugar.” His voice was still thick with sleep, but the drawl was as thick as ever.

“Okay. I mean business. Get up.”

His mouth curved in a lazy smile. “Not that kind of business, Jessie.” He yanked, and tumbled her onto the bed on top of him, his arms wrapping around her.

No, no, no. She couldn’t do it again. She pushed at him, and when he wouldn’t release her in desperation, she bit one of his nipples. Hard.

“Ow!” His arms opened, and she jumped off the bed. “Damn, woman. That hurts.”

“I meant it to. You have to get up and get out of here right this minute.” She dragged her fingers through her hair. “Oh, god. Oh, hell. Kyle, this was a big mistake. Get out. Right now.”

He rolled himself to a sitting position and stared at her. “What the hell is the matter with you? Last night you handcuffed me to this bed and had your way with me, and now you want to act like it never happened?”

“That’s right.” She dragged a sheet off the bed and wrapped it around herself. It was hard to have a fit when you were stark naked. “It was a big mistake. I’m sorry. Now go away.”

Kyle rubbed his hands over his face as if scrubbing away cobwebs, then looked at Jessie again. “You want to tell me what’s going on here?”

“Nothing’s going on,” she snapped. “Ever again. I’m going to take a shower and get dressed. Be out of here by the time I’m finished.”

“Wait just a damn minute,” he protested. “I want some answers here. I wasn’t the only one having a good time last night. Or feeling what I felt.”

“No answer, no good time,” she called over her shoulder. “And no feelings of any kind. Just go.”

She slammed the bathroom door and leaned against it, shaking. How could she possibly have done something this stupid? Bringing this man home with her.
This
man. Of all people. What was the matter with her, anyway?

That’s what happens when you swear off men, Jessie.

“I don’t need a man,” she muttered under her breath.

But you do need
one
,
the voice in her head whispered.

No, I don’t.

She certainly hadn’t wanted Kyle. Not at first. But somehow, with those eyes like pools of melted chocolate, with a drawl that wrapped itself around her like black velvet, with blatant masculinity that woke every hormone in her body, he’d seduced her into dinner. Before she knew it, a raging need exploded inside her. She’d barely been able to wait until they were inside her house before getting them both naked.

And then, as if the joke the fates had played on her hadn’t been bad enough, this man—this
rodeo bum
—awakened something deep inside her, feelings she’d ruthlessly buried. Feelings that couldn’t surface for Sheriff Jessica Wade, who had a tough-as-nails image to maintain.

Oh, god. What have I done?

She tried to listen through the door for sounds of him moving around. Dressing. Leaving. If she was lucky, she wouldn’t have to see him again for a hundred years. She could just imagine what he thought of her, the tight-assed sheriff who took him home and fucked his brains out.

What was that noise? Oh, hell, he wasn’t looking in her nightstand drawer, was he? The one where she kept all her toys?

Shit, shit, shit.

“Jessie?”

His voice was loud, and so close to the door it made her jump.

“You listen to me, Jessie Wade. I may be leaving now, but we aren’t through here. Don’t think we are. That was a lot more than just hot sex last night.” He paused. “You hear me, Jess? I’ll be back.”

The stomp of his boots faded as he moved away. Jessie dropped down on the edge of the tub, still clutching the sheet around her. She was ashamed, humiliated, embarrassed. A whole lot of things. But Kyle Mitchell had said something she had a hard time brushing off. They
had
connected on a level that went beyond the physical. And that scared her even more.

If she was lucky, he’d be insulted enough to take himself back to San Antonio and never show his face around here again. Because if he did, she had no idea how she’d handle it.

****

Kyle pulled his truck up to one of the pumps at Wharton’s Ready Mart and climbed out of the cab. While he pumped the gasoline, his mind was busy in a dozen different directions. There were at least three things that topped his list.

First of all, Sheriff Jessie Wade had an untapped well of erotic desires that went very deep. Second, the uptight little sheriff had astonished him with the kind of games she liked to play. Games that he enjoyed but usually had to be careful who he chose to play them with. And third, she’d awakened feelings in him he hadn’t even known had been simmering inside him. And he wasn’t too sure he was all that happy about them. Especially after the way she’d unceremoniously kicked him out of her bed and out of her house this morning.

He was happy to see the last of most women. Glad to move on. He reveled in the life of a rodeo rider, moving from place to place. Nothing tying him down. He’d been stashing most of his winnings away, saving to buy himself a spread one of these days and raise his own bulls to train for the rodeo circuit. But not yet.

Until last night. He’d definitely expected he could charm his way past the defenses that Sheriff Jessie Wade set up. What he hadn’t expected was that it felt like more than a one-night stand to him. That it suddenly had him thinking about a home, one with a big front porch and wide open spaces. Of children running around and…

Stop! Get your mind out of there! Run, run, run!

But he couldn’t. Somehow, during the night of the most unbelievable sex he could remember, something inside him had opened up and he couldn’t seem to put a lid on it. What they shared had gone beyond the physical. And he was sure she felt it, too, although he’d probably have to torture her to get her to admit it.

He smiled to himself as he thought of all the pleasurable ways he could torment her, then mentally shook his head. What the hell was he thinking?

Still, no matter how he tried to twist his brain around, it seemed to be headed in that direction. He had no idea why except the woman had unlocked parts of him he’d kept stashed away since he was eighteen. And it wasn’t just the sex, which had been damn good. Off the charts. Last night had been enjoyment beyond anything he could imagine.

Once he’d charmed his way past her initial arguments, he was sure she enjoyed it as much as he did. Not just the sex, either. Jessie Wade was smart, funny, and interesting. She had an indefinable essence that drew him in like a net wrapping around him. Just being with her gave him a dose of unexpected pleasure. He was sure she felt the same way. She’d certainly been uninhibited in bed. He actually felt a surge of heat as he remembered some of the things they’d done. That thing with her finger…

Lust curled in his belly and his balls tightened. If he wasn’t careful, he wouldn’t even be able to go inside to get that coffee he was dying for. She sure had thrown him out in a hurry this morning. He’d been looking forward to cuddling with that sweet body. Maybe bringing her breakfast in bed. He bet no one ever did that for Sheriff Jessie Wade. Maybe they could even have shared the same cup of coffee. He’d tell her about his life on the rodeo circuit and she’d—

Damn again!

He still didn’t know what he’d done to piss her off so badly.

When the pump dinged that the tank was full, he put the cap back on and headed inside to buy a cup of the strong coffee his body was craving. About four or five people were wandering around inside, looking no more awake than he was. A redhead in shorts and a Watson’s Creek t-shirt was leaning on the counter talking to the woman behind it.

“I’m telling you, Sherry, I drove by Jessie’s house this morning and there was a strange truck there.”

Sherry laughed. “Tricia, Jessie’s house isn’t exactly on your way into town. What were you looking for?”

The redhead leaned over the counter and lowered her voice. Kyle stood as close as he could without being obvious, ears straining to hear what she was saying.

“Okay, here it is. Carol Sue and Doug Martin were over in Sommerville last night, and they saw Jessie with that gorgeous bullrider she had in her jail. What do you think about that?”

“I think you ought to mind your own business,” Sherry told her. “Jessie wouldn’t be too happy to have her private life spread all over Watson’s Creek.”

“I’m just looking out for my best friend,” Tricia protested. “She needs to have some fun in life. I don’t think she even remembers what that means.”

“Morning, ladies.” Kyle finally stepped up to the counter with his Styrofoam cup of coffee. He grinned at both of them.

Tricia’s eyes widened when she recognized him. “Ohmigod. You’re
him.
”

He raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”