Long Hard Ride (Rough Riders 1)

Yet, her breath hitched in her chest, reminding her of the pain that’d been circling her heart for the last day. She broke the kiss. “Colby—”

“Don’t leave me.” He tracked soft kisses up her jawline. “Please. I missed you, darlin’, something fierce. Stay with me tonight.” Over and over his lips brushed the hair covering her ear as he seemed to breathe her in. “Promise me you’ll stick around so we can talk this through, okay?”

Say no.

A thick pause hung in the air.

Finally, she swallowed her pride and whispered, “Okay.”

“Thank you.” He hefted her satchel over his left shoulder, grabbed her right hand and they sprinted to the waiting cab.

Channing paced as she waited for him to unlock the door to the motel room. “How’d you get a room?” she asked, when she meant “Why did you get a room I didn’t know about?”

“My folks had an extra reservation because my brother Cord and his family were supposed to come. They gave it to me instead.”

“Oh.”

The room wasn’t anything different than the other cheap rooms they’d crashed in for the last week. In the darkness her senses were attuned to sound. The thump of her bag on the carpet. The rattling wheeze of the air conditioner kicking on. The click of the chain as he secured the door. The blood rushing in her ears. The prickle of his beard on her nape as he moved in behind her.

“We’ll talk later. Right now I need to be inside you before I lose my ever-lovin’ mind. Let me show you how much I missed you.”

No. She would not relinquish control to him this soon. She turned and sank to her knees. She had him unbuckled, unzipped and in her mouth before he knew what hit him.

“Goddammit, Channing, that’s not what I wanted… Oh f**k that feels good. Oh, darlin’, just like that. Baby, don’t stop.”

Channing sucked him off, taking her own sweet time to build him to madness. Dangling him over the edge of reason again and again before she relented to his begging whimpers and finished him in her mouth.

Colby staggered backward and sagged on the bed.

She escaped to the bathroom. Maybe if she cowered in there long enough he’d fall asleep and she could sneak out because being here was a bad, bad idea.

Two seconds later, two raps sounded on the door. “Channing? You okay?”

Crap. “I’m fine.”

“You gonna hide in there all night?”

“Maybe.”

Colby laughed. “Well, as long as I’ve got your undivided attention, let me set you straight on a few things.”

“I can turn the water on so I don’t have to hear you,” she said with false syrupiness.

“And I can break down this cheap-ass door so you’ve got no choice but to listen. You really want that, darlin’?”

“No.” Before he could sweet-talk his way around her, Channing blurted, “Did you ask Amy Jo to come to Cheyenne?”

“No! Why would you ask—”

“Because Trevor hinted you told your dad to bring her here for you.”

“Trevor was drunk. My dad’s been tryin’ to fix me up with her for the last year. Poor thing is shy and unsure of herself and she needs a little—”

“Little Amy Jo didn’t look so shy and unsure of herself when you two were dirty dancing,” Channing retorted.

He chuckled again. “Amy Jo asked me to teach her to dance like that because she don’t know how. And it appears she’s already set her cap for some cowboy back home. So she’s tryin’ to shed her wholesome image. I showed her some pointers. Plus, she wanted to rub it in Keely’s face. And my cheeky little sister deserves it after taunting Amy Jo all these years.”

“Oh.” What else could she say that didn’t make her sound like a jealous idiot?

Silence. Colby sighed. “Shug, please come out here.”

Channing cracked the door an inch and peered a him. “You left your ropes in the horse trailer, right?”

“Yep. Just me, just you.” He held out his empty hands. “See?”

“Okay.” The second she scooted out, he blocked her attempt to dodge him and hugged her spine to his chest.

She tried to squirm away.

“What’s this? I thought you liked me? Now you’re treatin’ me like a leper?”

“I still like you. I just don’t know why I’m here.”

Colby kissed her crown. “Because I missed you. Talkin’ to you.

Touchin’ you. Getting to know you. We’ve had fun learnin' about each other, haven’t we?”

“Do you mean in the biblical sense?”

He tapped her ass. “No. I meant in every sense. I want to be with you, Channing. And not just with my dick in your mouth.”

She leaned back, allowing his solid warmth to seep into her. “You didn’t like it?”

“I loved it. But I don’t know why you felt you needed to distract me. I wanted to touch you, too. Lord, I’m achin’ to put my hands on you. But I can wait until you’re ready. And. Ah. It don’t have to be tonight.”

That shocked her. Wasn’t this thing between them supposed to be about sex?

Colby whirled her to face him. A hint of hesitation darkened his eyes.

“Are you comin’ to the afternoon rodeo tomorrow to watch me compete?”

“I’d like to but I don’t have a ticket. I’ve heard they’re pretty hard to come by.”

“I bought one for you today.” He sifted her hair through his hands.

“Your hair is so soft. You smell so good. Everything about you is soft and warm and sweet.”

Channing was melting. Giving in.

“And after the rodeo I’ve planned something special for us.”

“Do we get naked for it?”

Colby scowled. “Maybe I’d like to spend time with you with our clothes on, Chan.”

“That’d be a first.”

“You’re pushin’ your luck, darlin’. I’m tryin’ to be civilized. Givin’ us a chance to talk this out.”

Channing stood on her tiptoes and licked his neck. “I like you uncivilized and wild. Talk is overrated. I’d rather f**k it out.”

Another weighty pause. “Your choice. But now that you’ve made it you don’t get to change your mind.”

Then he was on her. Kissing her, tearing at her clothes. In the blink of an eye she was naked and at his mercy.