Stockman’s Showdown (The Stockmen #4)

Thirty-three

In her soft bed in the cottage, Bree awoke to Ryder’s arms wrapped around her, his warm chest against her back and his breathing deep and steady.

She rubbed her eyes, adjusting to the daylight. ‘Hey.’

‘Hmm.’

She nudged his arm. ‘You need to get up.’

‘Why? I’m comfortable.’ His arms tightened around her, cuddling his naked body closer to her back.

‘It’s sunrise.’

‘So?’

‘Charlie.’

‘Don’t care.’ His lips were on her neck, then up to her ear, making her squirm. One of his large hands, callused and rough, gently cupped her breast, his thumb kneading her nipple. ‘Can’t we just stay in bed? Charlie isn’t awake yet.’

‘How can you tell?’

‘He’s noisy. I haven’t heard the telltale creak of the back door, the bathroom, and I can’t smell his bread.’ But he was incredibly handsy this morning.

‘Charlie drank a fair bit last night, and he danced.’ She hadn’t seen her grandfather dance like that in years, teaching Harper, Mia and Sophie how to line dance.

‘You did too.’

She smiled the way you’d smile at a group of playful puppies. ‘Charlie danced with everyone.’ Whooping it up, celebrating the innocence of his brother, he had everyone involved, including little Mason. Except Ryder and Dex, who were busy holding up the bar.

‘How about you dance with me tonight, at the rodeo?’

‘How about you get out of my bed?’

‘Not now, I’m not.’ He turned her body over to press her back into the deep cushioning of the bed’s mattress. His lips caressed up her neck as he rolled on top of her. His body weight was comforting, with a body length so much bigger, stronger, yet a perfect fit against hers.

She allowed her palms to skim over the warm muscles of his chest, shoulders, and arms. ‘You are really making this hard for me.’

‘Want to know what’s hard? Shh—say nothing, just enjoy, baby.’ And his lips pressed on hers, kissing her deeply, while his hands and slow fingers teased her body.

His lustful gaze made her shiver. That was soon followed by a sharp intake of air as he slid into her, giving that deep rumble of satisfaction that rolled in his chest as her body stretched to accept him.

She licked her lips, not with nerves, but with a hunger-filled passion, while arching herself to better accommodate him.

It must have flipped a switch inside him, with the way he grabbed her, crushing his mouth to hers, in a kiss that tasted way too good to be bad, bringing with it a whole new thrill of not allowing any of those noises threatening to escape her throat, as the bedsprings squeaked beneath her.

She moaned. It was loud. Desperate even.

His eyes flew open, to lock on hers, while trapping her on the soft bed. Above her, he went to move away from her.

She didn’t want that!

Reaching up for him, keeping her body against him, she wrapped her legs and arms around his now-kneeling body, impaling him deeper, where he became the cure for her suffering and her escape from her past.

He pulled her closer, his large hands controlling her body as she grinded harder and their kisses grew more urgent. She’d never been more turned on.

She knew he was going to make her scream as the white-hot pleasure threatened to steal her breath and her brain struggled to catch up. All she could do was surrender to those delicious feelings of this ride, the push, and the sliding grind of his body inside hers that was a potent combination of fireworks and fury.

She bit down on his shoulder to contain the scream. Her whole body trembled with pleasure.

But then his hands framed her face, where his dark eyes peered deep into her soul, as a fire began in her womb. Every stroke was so good, the fit absolute perfection.

‘Don’t stop.’ Her body was already rolling into another storm.

He grinned against her skin and kept moving, the pleasure intensifying, the friction flawlessly fulfilling. When his thumb pressed over her sensitive nub, the sweet surprise of nerves exploding inside her had her coasting to the heavens, made even better as she felt him come with her, beneath her, inside her, to fully become a part of her, while she surrounded him. He had made her feel like a queen, with his embrace almost possessive, which surprisingly she enjoyed.

In that sliver of time, where the dust particles floated on a sunbeam illuminating her bedroom through the cracks of her curtains, the world was perfect. There were no horrors, no fears, just Ryder, raising his lips to meet hers in a kiss filled with such incredible tenderness while still joined as one.

Wrapping his muscular arms around her, he drew her to his chest, almost crushing her with the intensity of his embrace. It made her dizzy. If she was honest, all of him made her dizzy, like she was on an amusement park’s merry-go-round ride, indulging in the infectious sugar rush of cotton candy that gave her the kind of giddiness that was a sweet ride indeed.

It made her feel safe.

And it had been a very long time since she’d ever truly known that sensation.

With his fingers tenderly stroking her spine, her head rested on his broad shoulder, she enjoyed the rise and fall of his chest and the warmth of his breath against his skin. When she heard a door creak, her eyes flew open.

Oh no , Charlie was awake.

‘I’m not sneaking out like I’m a teenager, Bree.’

‘It is my grandfather’s house, it’s his rules.’

His lips brushed against hers, his warm breath making her skin prickle again with desire. ‘Whose house?’

She pushed back, frowning. ‘Don’t you dare start playing landlord on me.’ Jumping off the bed, she wrapped the bedsheet around her body. ‘Get. Out.’

‘Whoa, baby…’

‘You can’t buy me or own me. If you want me, you have to earn me—and not like this.’ She threw his jeans at him. ‘Go, before—’

‘I’ll leave in my own sweet time.’ Ryder lay back on her bed, that grin both annoying and maddeningly sexy. When she didn’t relent, he slid on his jeans, rolled off the bed, and slid into his boots before grabbing his shirt and hat. ‘Tonight, you’d better not flirt with any cowboys.’

‘What if I do? You’re not the boss of me.’ He didn’t own her.

‘Because I’ll fight them all.’

‘Why?’

‘If you hadn’t noticed, sweetheart, your ass is mine.’ He gripped her butt cheeks hard, as hard as his lips pressed against hers in a blinding kiss of passion, to then let her go, and slip out the door.

With her fingertips pressing against her swollen lips still buzzing from his kiss, she tried to remain mad at him but could only bite on her bottom lip to stop her smile while watching Ryder slide on his shirt as he walked out the front gate.

She had to admit, this sneaking around only made it sweeter.

Why ruin it with relationship rules, which she knew he wanted.

But Bree wasn’t ready. Not when she needed to focus on Charlie, because tonight would be Charlie’s first time at the local rodeo in decades, fronting a lot of his peers.

She had a surprise organised for the old man. And a night off is what they all needed because they’d been living on the trigger’s edge ever since they’d found Leo’s crop.

In only one more sleep Leo would get raided, making tonight a dangerous time. A lot could happen in 24 hours.

Harry and Penelope had been planning to leave, with their suitcases hidden in that cave for weeks. Sadly, the day they made their move to leave, they never made it.

When Bree’s mother had finally found the courage to leave her violent husband, she’d bought their bus tickets and packed their bags, then hid them in the back shed ready to leave in the morning. They only had to get through the night.

Yet Bree’s mother never made midnight.

And Bree got to live with that memory forever .

In only one more night, if all went well, Leo would no longer be their neighbour. And so began the ticking clock to the final showdown…