Shoulda Been a Cowboy (Rough Riders 7)

“No. I just…don’t want to have to think about sex. I want to surrender my body to a man who pushes me to my sexual limits so I can experience the ultimate pleasure and give it back to him in return any way he wants it.”

“Have you ever been in this type of sexual relationship?”

“No. I haven’t had many lovers.”

“How many?”

“Three.”

It figured. Domini was as innocent as he’d feared. “So if you’ve had little sexual experience or exposure to a dominant male, how do you know so much about this?”

Color tinged her cheeks. “I don’t…well…besides reading romance novels with a bit of a domination theme. I realized that type of sexual relationship was what I was looking for.”

“Submissive?”

She nodded.

“Say the word. If you want to be submissive to me, you’ll say it.”

“Submissive.”

“So if you’re submissive, that makes me…?”

“Dominant.”

“Exactly. Do you know what it means to be under the rule of a dominant male, Domini?”

“No. But I know you’ll teach me. I want you to teach me.”

That little remark made his dick hard. “You wanna know why I stayed away from you? Because I couldn’t imagine you—sweet, kind, timid Domini—letting me have my way with you however I wanted. Letting me f**k your mouth, your cunt, your ass. I couldn’t fathom you’d be willing to let me call the shots and play rough.”

“How rough?”

“I’d never use my rougher edges as an excuse to hurt you. Spanking your ass with my hand is one thing, making you bleed by punching you in the face falls into a whole nother realm.

“For example.” He leaned forward, using his voice as a lure. “If I wanna handcuff you to my bed all night or all day, I will. If I wanna f**k you against the truck, I will. If I want you to go down on me in my patrol car when no one else is around, you will. If you agree to this, my rules are simple. Any time, any place, any position I say, you say, ‘yes’.”

“Yes.”

He bit back a growl of approval. “You oughta know I’m beyond demanding when it comes to getting what I need from my lover.”

“Have you been in a relationship like this before?”

Cam debated on how much to tell her. But if he expected honesty from her, he’d better reciprocate. “Yes, I’ve been in several. Not since—” I lost my leg and my nerve, “—my injury.”

Domini regarded him pensively. “So we would fulfill each other’s sexual needs and that’s all? No relationship beyond that?”

Hell no. Little did Domini know now that he’d uncovered this surprising side of her, after he got her in his bed, he’d never let her out. She’d belong to him. But his reassurance he wouldn’t attempt to turn this into a traditional dating relationship seemed important to her. It went against everything Cam was to lie. But because he wanted her with an acute ache, an unfathomable need, a sense of rightness he’d never felt in his life, he lied with a straight face.

“It’s a small town, Domini. If my truck is parked outside your apartment all night people will know something is goin’ on with us. Denial would just increase the speculation. So I ain’t gonna hide the fact we’re seeing each other. What we do when we’re alone together ain’t anybody’s business. I don’t tell locker room stories.”

“That’s why I trust you.”

“Okay, but I’m curious. Why don’t you want a relationship?”

“Because any kind of long-term relationship always falls apart. Always. I watched my parent’s marriage implode before they died. I saw my friends in the Ukraine marry themselves off to the highest bidder and they were no better off than a prostitute or a maid. I witnessed verbal abuse repeatedly in so-called Christian marriages and relationships, actions that were sanctioned by the church. And don’t get me started on the physical abuse issues Nadia suffered before she escaped that awful relationship. So I’ll pass on the trappings of marriage, because from what I’ve seen, it is a trap.”

Cam let her vehemence sink in. It chilled him to the bone.

“I’ll never get married, Cam. That’s not the life for me. Do you understand?”

No. “Completely. And we are on the exact same page, there, princess. I’ve worked hard to turn my house into my sanctuary, and it might make me a bastard, but I’m not eager to share.”

Relief softened the hard set to her mouth. “I’m glad. And I’m good with pretending we’re dating, when we’re really having lots of hot sex.”

“Which brings us back to my next question. What about birth control?”

A stark look briefly flashed in her eyes. “We are covered as far as no accidental pregnancy and I haven’t had a lover in three years, so no STDs.”

It’d been nearly that long on the “no sex” wagon for Cam too, but confessing the truth smacked of desperation. “So, we agree no condoms?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Cam finished his beer. He set it on the table and stood. “I’m done talkin’. How about if I finish the rest of the tour?”

Domini clasped Cam’s outstretched hand and followed him back into the house.

Chapter Five

A house tour.

Maybe Cam would show her his bedroom. And then demonstrate how wickedly ruthless he can be in bed.

Focus, Domini.

That was nearly impossible when the ragged edge of Cam’s thumb continually stroked the inside of her wrist—an erotic touch she felt tugging between her legs. As they meandered the brightly lit hallway, Domini looked up to see skylights spaced a foot apart. “Those are unusual. I like them.”

“I had Chet and Remy add them. I can’t stand living in darkness.” He gestured to the bathroom. “Pretty much everything from here back is a total remodel.”

“Why not just build a whole new house?”

“I like the location. The house has a solid foundation. It just needed a little cosmetic work and someone to care about it.” He pushed open a door that’d been left ajar. “Spare bedroom.” The plaid denim bedspread hung off one end and pillows spilled onto the carpeted floor. “I see Keely managed to bail without cleaning up after herself again.”

“Do you really hate having people in your house?”