“We aren’t ‘us’, Billy. Get back out on the road and do what you do. I’ll be here when you get back.”
“Come with me.”
She’d been to many rodeos Billy competed in, but not because she was there with him. He asked her to go once, the year he won the national finals in Las Vegas. She and her mom went along because they were part of Billy’s family, not because he wanted her there specifically.
“I can’t. I have too much work to do here. I have labs due, and I have to study. This gets harder every year, and as much as you have to focus, so do I.”
Billy abruptly stood and pulled her up with him. “I want your body next to mine, Renie, and I want it now.”
“Billy—”
“Now, Renie. Don’t argue with me.”
He kissed her lightly. “I want you,” he whispered. He put his hands on the small of her back and pulled her closer to him, his t
ongue licking over her lips, her breasts pushed into his body. He shifted to bring her pelvis into his.
She made a sound, a whimper, and kissed him back. Her hands came up and ran over his chest. She was so tender, so loving, it almost brought him to tears. She had so much love inside of her it spilled out through her lips, her hands, and her pores. Renie breathed love for him.
“I want to be inside you,” he murmured. His lust overwhelmed him. He lifted her, and carried her into the bedroom.
He set her on the bed, and before she could move away from him, unbuttoned her shirt. His hands moved to her wrists and undid the buttons there, and pulled it away from her arms. His hands reached under the turtleneck she wore underneath her shirt, but instead of pushing it up and over her head, his hands found her breasts instead. Her nipples were hard, through the sheer fabric of her bra. He pulled at it, and put his hands on her skin.
Renie’s fingers trailed down to his neck, inside his collar, and over his collarbone, and the scar there. He’d broken it, nine years ago. She remembered. She remembered everything about him.
His hands still on her breasts, he stared at her. She closed her eyes and smiled. Billy ran out of patience. He wanted her naked against him.
He reached around, unfastened her bra, and she shimmied out of it. His lips found hers, as he kneed her legs apart. His mouth traveled to her neck and then her shoulders. He licked over her collarbone, as she had run her fingers over his. His lips found her nipple, and he sucked it in. She gasped and arched against him.
He groaned as he switched to the other breast, teasing her with his tongue. Her hands moved to her jeans, and as she started to unfasten them, he stopped her.
“I want to do it,” he said, lifting himself away from her. His hands finished what they stopped hers from doing, dragging her jeans down her long legs. He slid down further and put her legs over his shoulders. Her hands went to his hair as he rested his head against her. He nuzzled her, breathing in deeply, and groaned again.
Renie lay there, still, almost holding her breath.
His mouth trailed kisses over her, “I want you to fall apart for me, Renie. I want to watch it happen.” She gripped the sheets and did as he asked her to.
He stood and took off his clothes, reaching behind her where he left a box of condoms on her headboard, right next to the picture of them.
“Stocked up today,” he said as he ripped one open.
“I want you,” she murmured.
Billy’s jaw locked, his shoulders tensed, and his gaze went from heated to scorching. He drove into her hard and fast while she continued to watch his determined face. She saw everything in his face—Billy loved her.
When they came together, it emptied her mind of any thoughts other than how it felt to be this close, this inseparable from him. She held onto him, refusing to release him. His gaze came to hers as he held her as tightly as she held him.
She’d be tired the next morning, but he couldn’t stop himself from waking her throughout the night. He’d drift off, but then her body next to his would wake him again. There was no ignoring her body’s pull to him. He wanted to kiss her everywhere. When he trailed kisses down her side, from the soft skin under her arm, down her waist, to her hips, she giggled. When his lips moved across her pelvis, she groaned. He loved the sound of her—giggling, groaning, and screaming in pleasure. He wanted all her sounds, all her love, all her everything.
Renie made him promise he’d go out on the road the next weekend. As much as he didn’t want to, he knew she was right. He needed to get back out there and figure out why his heart wasn’t in saddle bronc riding anymore. Was it winning the championship? Had once been enough, and now the fire was out? He’d been competing all his life, and now he didn’t care about it. He couldn’t understand it himself, how could he explain it to her or anyone else?
Something pulled at him, telling him it was time to move on to the next chapter of his life, he just didn’t know what it was.
His second night in Rapid City, South Dakota, at the end of a less than impressive ride, Billy found out what the universe had in store for him.
6
“Billy Patterson?” the old man said.