Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
THOR
A s enjoyable as the next few hours with Debbie were, they also went by in a flash of flirtation, conversation, and frustrated lust. Only frustrating because neither he nor his buck wanted to wait, even though it was the right choice. Well, the right choice for him as a bull rider.
Little devil that she was, Debbie seemed to enjoy frustrating him even more. Other than his cock, he didn’t think he had any body parts left that she hadn’t ‘accidentally’ rubbed her boobs against by the time he finally had to leave her company. She’d even managed to get his face between her cleavage when she’d ‘tripped’ and ended up straddling his lap.
Dragging himself away from her hadn’t been easy, and his buck sulked all the way until Thor joined Ajax, Kade, and Jack, the other members of his herd who were competing in the bull riding today. They were waiting behind the chutes where the bull shifters were lining up, already in their animal forms. Thor could easily pick out Maddox’s bulk, a shoulder higher than any of the others.
Damn, he was a big one.
Smelling the dust and bulls, Thor’s buck finally refocused on their upcoming ride. If it hadn’t, Thor’s chances of staying on Maddox’s back would dip perilously low.
We will win. The buck’s statement was almost fierce in its intensity. Thor wouldn’t call his stag a sore loser, exactly, but only because he didn’t want to hurt its feelings. He wasn’t much better, honestly, although he wouldn’t sulk as much as his buck.
If he did lose, at least he’d have Debbie to help him get over it. Fulfilling whatever fantasies she had could be fun. Truthfully, Thor liked to take control in the bedroom, and he wanted it all. He wanted to win, he wanted to defeat Maddox, and he wanted Debbie at his beck and call all night afterwards. Victory in every way possible.
That was how he lived his life and why he was the alpha of the largest shifter herd in the country. Most herds ran fifty to a hundred members; Thor’s had just under five hundred. The majority of them weren’t here at the rodeo, of course. They were at home, working on the ranch or one of the other various herd enterprises. With such a large herd, they had been able to diversify.
“Ready for your ride?” Kade asked as Thor walked up. One of the few elk shifters in Thor’s herd, he served as the herd’s Omega, their peacekeeper. Calm, cool-headed, and nearly impossible to anger, most of the herd was happy to reconcile their differences just so they wouldn’t have to listen to one of Kade’s long-winded lectures. By the time he was done talking, all anger had drained away through sheer boredom. When he wasn’t performing his duties, he was a fun guy to hang around, just still very, very chill.
“I was born ready,” Thor replied, ignoring the twinge of anxiety in his stomach. It was okay to feel it, but he’d never show it.
Debbie
Joining her cousins in the stands, Debbie felt oddly nervous as she sat down. Butterflies were bouncing off the sides of her stomach, and her palms were a little sweaty. Maybe it was just all the sugar she’d eaten. And it was kind of humid out.
Stag will win.
Yeah, she might be able to fool herself, but she couldn’t fool her animal. She was nervous for Thor. How pathetic was that? She’d only known the guy a few hours. Shouldn’t she want him to lose, so she could boss him around all night?
“There she is! How’s the Viking Cowboy?” Cara asked, perking up when she saw Debbie. Next to her, her twin, Sara, tried to steal one of Cara’s fries and got a slap on the hand and a growl for her troubles. Of course, Sara just growled right back before also turning her attention to Debbie.
“He’s getting ready for his event.” Debbie opted to sit next to her cousin Sami, behind Cara and Sara, rather than beside or in front of them. Behind was always safer when it came to the twins. Her cousins were spread out over three rows, which allowed them to sit in a clump rather than a long line.
Natra sat down next to her while Windy decided to take her chances and sat down next to Cara.
“Did you know he’s some kind of bull riding badass?” Sami asked curiously. On her other side, Rachel leaned forward, obviously wanting to see Debbie’s reaction. Even Rana turned around from her seat between Saskia and Colie to look at Debbie. “Everyone has been talking about him all day.”
“We saw him throwing down with the bull shifter he’s up against,” Natra said enthusiastically before Debbie could answer. All the honey badgers lit up, even Rana.
“Did he win?”
“What’s Maddox look like?”
“I heard he’s huge. ”
“I heard he’s huge in more way than one.”
“I want to ride him!” That was Sara.
“Who don’t you want to ride?” And that was Cara.
“Tom Hardy,” Sara said. Cara screeched at the insult to the man at the top of her ‘Want to Wreck a Room With’ list, and the two of them fell to their usual bickering, while everyone else ignored them.
“He’s pretty hot in a Channing Tatum kind of way,” Windy said. “Even taller than Thor and major bulging muscles. I wanted to climb him like a playground.”
“Ooh, then I hope Thor wins,” Sara said, abandoning her argument with Cara.
“Why?” asked Debbie, frowning at her.
“Everyone is gonna wanna fuck the winner,” Sara said matter-of-factly. “But the loser is going to need comforting. Plus, he’ll probably try a lot harder between the sheets because he’ll have something to prove.”
“She’s not wrong,” mused Cara, looking thoughtful.
Sara scowled at her twin. “Back off, I call dibs!” And they were fighting again.
Debbie tuned them out, too busy thinking about their words. Sara was a crazy bitch, but she made sense. How many women were going to be swarming around Thor if he won? Would he be tempted to ditch her? Her honey badger would not handle that well. It was already growling at her thoughts.
No share!
Yeah, but it’s not like she could make him choose her.
Natra elbowed her in the side. “Stop worrying, Thor already locked you down, remember? Win or lose.”
Right. Debbie shook off the unexpected bout of insecurity. Besides, if he changed his mind, there were plenty of other hot cowboys swaggering around. Her cousins were already picking out the ones they had decided to target. Bull riding was the last competition of the night, which meant there was a big party after. Thor had invited Debbie and her cousins, but she didn’t need to pass on the message. Apparently, Ajax had already done so through Saskia.
The butterflies in her stomach hadn’t quite gone away, though.
“Hello, everyone, and welcome to our main event!” An older cowboy, rugged, a bit of white in his beard, stepped out into the middle of the arena, holding a microphone, his voice booming through the loudspeakers. “These here are the most thrilling, most dangerous, most exciting rides you’ll ever witness! These bulls are ready to bust up some cowboys!” The wooden structure holding the shifted bulls shook as snorting and stomping filled the air, right before it was drowned out by the cheers of the crowd.
Normally, Debbie would have been screaming right along with them, but right now, she felt more like biting her nails. She didn’t want Thor getting hurt. That’s what that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach was.
Granted, shifters healed far faster than regular humans, but it wasn’t instantaneous or anything. If he broke a leg, he’d be laid up for a couple of weeks—if he broke his back, even longer. Debbie didn’t like to think about any of that.
Buck will win.
Her honey badger was a lot more confident than she was.
Screams filled the air, the crowd rising to its feet and bringing Debbie right along with it. She’d missed everything the announcer was saying while she grappled with her worries. A bull shifter was leaping out of its chute, a cowboy on its back, snorting madly as it jumped up impossibly high and landed with such force, the cowboy actually bounced atop it.
Jerking and twisting in ways a regular bull couldn’t hope to duplicate, the bull threw the cowboy back and forth while he hung on grimly, one hand in the air for balance, the other gripping the rope tied around the bull’s chest. The cowboy’s face was a mask of concentration—so was the bull’s.
It was over in five seconds, and the cowboy went flying through the air to land in a pile of mud.
Half the audience groaned sympathetically, while the other half cheered. The biggest difference between a human and a shifter event was now on display. No clowns came running in, although a doctor did, but the defeated cowboy was already getting to his feet and brushing off his jeans with angry motions. The bull, rather than being herded out of the arena, was running around the inside of the fence in a victory lap.
See? Buck be fine. Her honey badger was nonchalant as it watched the parading bull.
True. At least with bull shifters, the biggest worry was about the fall—the cowboys didn’t have to worry about being trampled afterward. Well, assuming the bull in question wasn’t a sore loser.
Another cheer went up around the stadium as the bull shifter returned to human form to shake his opponent’s hand—naked, of course. He was built like the bull he was with rippling muscles under his tanned skin, a shaved head, and a swinging dick that matched his animal. Sara and Cara cheered particularly loudly.