Chapter Eleven
Luna
“Where are we?” I asked as Hayes brought the truck to a stop and put it in Park.
“This is The Ranch, Lone Star Security HQ. It is mostly a training compound, but I thought you might like the real cowboy experience you were asking about.”
My brows rose. “Does that mean—”
“Come on, cowgirl, let’s ride.”
I ignored the obvious joke and instead scanned the view before me. The place looked straight out of a modern western. Fences and rolling hills, horses off in the distance. It was hot as hell already, and dust puffed up around our feet as we walked.
A man stepped out on the front porch, and Hayes greeted him with a raise of his hand. “Morning, Gray.”
The man—Gray, apparently—crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Something wrong?”
Hayes shook his head. “Break in the tour schedule.” He introduced the two of us, and we shook hands.
His hand was strong and rough like Hayes.
Was there a man in the entire state who wasn’t work hardened?
“I just wanted to show Luna the horses.”
Gray’s eyebrows disappeared under his Stetson, but he nodded. “Take Millie. She’s good with new riders.” He turned his gaze to me. “Unless you’re a cowgirl?”
I shook my head. “But I am keen to learn, in the name of romance book research.”
Gray gave Hayes a meaningful look. “You two have fun then.” He retreated up the steps.
We made our way to the barn, and Hayes hauled the doors open.
We walked up to a stall where a tall mare eyed us.
The barn was mostly dark except for the light coming through the doors, and that distinctive smell of hay and horse hit my nose.
Hayes walked up and patted her neck. “Hi, Millie. You can pet her if you want,” he said.
I approached and ran my hand down her nose. It felt like velvet. “What a pretty horse,” I cooed.
Hayes raised an eyebrow. “Only been around dogs, I take it?”
I laughed. “That obvious?”
I watched as Hayes put a saddle on Millie, and then he led her out of the barn. “Ever ridden before?”
“Does a carousel at the fair count?”
He shook his head.
“Then no.”
Hayes stepped closer, adjusting the stirrup and patting the saddle. “Foot here,” he said. “Hold the horn and swing your leg over. I’ve got you.”
And he did. His hands steadied me as I scrambled less than gracefully into the saddle.
Millie, to her credit, stood still as I made an ass of myself.
“Okay,” I said once I was seated, trying not to look as nervous as I felt. “Now what?”
“Now, I’m going to ride with you. Millie’s a sweetie, but I’m not sending you off on your own.”
He pulled himself onto Millie’s back behind me as if he’d done it a million times. His thighs bracketed my ass, and his arms wrapped around me to grip the reins. “Ready?”
I took a breath and nodded. Millie was very calm, but she was also very tall, which meant my short legs dangled way off the ground. Hayes made a clicking sound, and Millie started forward. I scrambled for a tighter grip on the saddle horn. “You okay?” Hayes asked beside my ear.
I laughed nervously. “Just expected a smoother takeoff, is all.”
“To be fair, she isn’t a jet.”
Hayes used the reins to steer Millie down a path that veered toward an open field.
I kept my eyes on the landscape and tried to ignore how good Hayes felt behind me and how not good the saddle felt digging into my lady parts.
I got more comfortable the longer we moved, and I loosened my death grip on Millie.
“Lean back into me. It’ll be more comfortable,” Hayes said.
I did as he instructed, and the uncomfortable pressure on my pubic bone eased.
The sun was hot, and I understood why cowboys and girls wore the big hats, but still, I was happy to be settled against my bodyguard’s chest. Twenty or so minutes later, we came to the crest of a hill, and Hayes pulled Millie to a stop.
“Wow,” I said, taking in the valley in front of us. The fields around us were shades of brown and tan, but the hills in the distance were vibrant green. The sky looked like it went on forever. “This is beautiful.”
“Thought you’d like it. Inspire your cowboy bodyguard series and get a break from the crowds.”
I turned as best I could in the saddle to face Hayes. “Thanks for bringing me here.”
His eyes roamed over my face. “Rule six, you needed a break.”
“So this is about the rules?”
He nodded, and my heart sank. “But this isn’t.
” He brought his lips forward and kissed me.
His lips were warm from the sun as they passed over mine, soft and slow.
There was no desperation to it like there had been in the hotel room.
This was a slow exploration. His tongue stayed respectfully in his mouth, and so did mine.
It was more heart than heat.
Eventually, he pulled back. I licked my lips, already missing the press of his against mine.
We rode back to The Ranch, slow and steady, my back warm against his chest. The smell of hay and man and fresh air surrounded me.
When we got back to the barn, I said my goodbyes to Millie, offering her a silent thank you for not dropping me in the dirt.
After dinner, we checked into the hotel. I was hot and tired from the sun and desperate for a nap and some comfy clothes.
I took my time enjoying a cool shower, then put on my silk pajama tank and shorts with a light robe. Even with air-conditioning, it was always hot in Texas.
I thought about this afternoon with Hayes, enjoying being away from the client-bodyguard dynamic and just being ourselves. It was a glimpse into what could be once this book tour was over. A chance to be with Hayes when he wasn’t constantly scanning for danger.
I didn’t want to wait until the tour was over to see where this could go. I wanted more while it was just the two of us.
I knocked lightly on the door between our rooms before swinging it open. Hayes was sitting in an armchair with his laptop on his knee. He sat up straighter as I entered. “What’s wrong?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You owe me handcuffs.”
As soon as he knew there was no danger, he visibly relaxed, but his eyes scanned over me. My hair was wet, hanging in ringlets as it dried, and my legs were bare under my robe.
He stood, walking toward me in a way that had me swallowing hard.
There was something in his eye that I hadn’t seen before.
Something almost predatory that I wanted to see more of.
He reached out and grabbed the end of the tie for my robe, then ripped it from the loops.
My robe fell open. His eyes dipped to where it now gaped at the chest, before he wrapped the tie around his hands.
After a few moves I couldn’t follow, he had two loops secured around his wrists. “See? No need to buy the real thing.”
I took them from him and examined his handiwork. “Thank you. This is so cool.”
He watched me intently. “What do you plan to do with those?”
I bit my lip. “Well, I don’t write in the BDSM space, but a little light bondage could be fun. I want to work them into a scene somehow. The brooding bodyguard is using his tactical skills in the bedroom.”
His eyes darkened. “What position are we talking about? Tied to something, or just to keep her hands restrained so he can tease the hell out of her?”
Heat pooled between my legs. I had no experience being tied up, but I was very interested in hearing him talk about it in that husky tone. “What do you recommend?” I shifted closer.
“I thought your character wanted to be manhandled.”
I nodded. “She does. The male character is so strong and intense. She wants all that pointed at her and used to bring her pleasure.”
I could feel my nipples straining against my top, my breath coming fast in my chest.
“So I guess you should get writing now that you have your cuffs?”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to write it, Hayes. I want to feel it. Kissing you, I haven’t stopped thinking about it.”
“Luna—”
“I know, okay? I know. You can’t lose focus, but on that ride today, you were yourself.
The real Hayes, when you aren’t on alert.
It was amazing. Besides, we’re in a locked room, just you and me, and we’re in a town you know well, a safe place filled with Lone Star Security guards.
Don’t you think you can give up control for just a minute? ”
His face was set, but his breathing was coming faster.
“We can pretend to be my characters if that helps. You are the domineering, alpha guard, and I am the sex-starved client.”
His nostrils flared, and his body looked impossibly wider as he sucked in a deep breath.
“Fuck it.” He grabbed me, and then we were kissing.
It was desperate and feral. His hands dug into my sides enough to hurt, and I fisted the front of his shirt with both hands.
He pulled my bottom lip between his teeth and gave it a gentle tug before pulling back.
I was gasping for breath and disappointed he wasn’t still touching me.
“Put your hands on the wall.”
“What?”
“If you want the strong, domineering bodyguard, then you’re going to get him. Put your damn hands on the wall.”
I turned my back toward him and leaned forward until I could plant my hands against the textured wallpaper. It was cool under my palms, but that wasn’t the reason I shivered.
I felt the heat of his body against my back even though we weren’t touching, and the anticipation had my knees threatening to shake. His rough palms came to rest over the backs of my hands, and his breath skated over my neck. “You just couldn’t stop torturing me, could you?”
He pulled my hands, one at a time, behind my back and looped the restraints around them. I knew I could easily get out of them if I wanted, they weren’t tight, but the fantasy was what mattered.
He ran his nose up the side of my neck, and I actually whimpered. “Between those scenes I know you’re writing about me and those little sundresses that show off these sexy shoulders. Fuck, a man is only so strong, Luna.”
“That stuff is all totally intentional by the way,” I said, leaning into his touch.
I felt his lips smirk against my skin. “I figured.”
He moved his hands to my hips. The heat seeped through the thin fabric of my shorts, and I pushed my hips back against the front of his jeans.
He grunted, then slipped his fingers under my top.
Goose bumps broke out over my skin. His scent surrounded me—some kind of citrusy manly soap.
Every cell in my body was tuned into his hands and what they might do next.
He pressed the tips of his fingers against the waistband of my shorts and breached the barrier, then they were sliding down.
My breath caught in my throat. When those fingers pushed past the elastic of my panties, I moaned shamelessly.
“Not going to use your right to remain silent?”
I huffed a laugh, but it cut off as he moved his fingers between my folds.
His hand that had been resting on my hip moved up my stomach, then over my breast. The sensation of the soft silk and his determined touch was heaven. I moved my arms as best I could to give him better access, and he teased his thumb over my nipple. I arched into the sensation.
“Like that?”
I nodded, leaning my head back against the hard muscle of his shoulder.
He started kissing the side of my neck slowly like he didn’t have a care in the world.
In the meantime, I writhed under his touch.
He pulled the thin strap from my shoulder and moved it down over my elbow, leaving one of my breasts exposed to the air.
I shuddered as his breath cascaded across the newly bare skin.
He moved his head so his lips went from landing on my neck to my collarbone, then finally finding a home on my chest.
He sucked my nipple into his mouth while he pushed my shorts down to my thighs.
My underwear went next, then he teased his fingers between my legs again.
A little mewling sound escaped my throat.
“I got you,” he murmured against my flushed skin.
“It’s my job to take care of you, remember?
” He went back to teasing my breasts with the flick of his tongue.
I widened my legs to give him better access, and his fingers moved lower.
“So that’s why your hand is between my thighs right now? The job?” I don’t know why I was pushing this when he had finally given me what I wanted.
“I want you to have what you need, but I also need to see you come before you drive me crazy.” First one, then two of his fingers slid inside me, and he lazily pumped them in and out, his thumb sliding over my clit every time his fingers bottomed out.
“Shit.” I bit my lip, trying to be quiet, for what reason I didn’t know. I squirmed under his touch, pulling at the makeshift cuffs as sensations flooded through me from every point of contact. Pressure built in my core until I was at the point of no return. “Hayes, I’m going to come.”
He grunted his approval, never changing his pace or technique as my pleasure climbed and peaked before crashing down over me. I groaned as my muscles went taut, and I let the sensation flow over me until it started to ebb.
He released my hands from the cuffs.
I had never come that hard from just fingers alone. He might hesitate to be distracted for too long, but no way was I not returning the favor. I turned to face him and dropped to my knees.