Chapter 23 Sam
SAM
Her eyes blaze when I use her nickname.
Texting it to her was a mistake. When I woke up in the loft on Duke’s couch, I was anxious to talk to her. My head was still cloudy from getting bashed in so many times the night before. It slipped out. She didn’t reply, so I went searching for her at Holden and Rosie’s.
Then I found out that she was on a date. Less than five minutes after she must have realized that I was the anonymous man she’d been sexting on a dating app, she went on a date with that fucker.
I’m going to rearrange his facial features.
I feel zero remorse for running him off. That’s the third time I’ve had to witness her smiling across a table from him, and it will be the last.
I saw him at the cage fight, and by the look on his face when he scurried out of here with his tail tucked between his legs, he knows I did.
She reaches across the table and steals a piece of my bacon. When she nibbles on it, I start digging into the food. My ribs hurt like hell every time I move, but my body is ravenous. I burned thousands of calories last night, but I was in too much pain to eat anything before passing out.
When I look up again, she’s finally eaten a few bites and stopped shivering. The waitress returns to fill our coffees up. I fish my black Amex out of my wallet and hand it to her.
“To-go boxes?” she asks.
Dolly nods.
I look down at her barely touched plate and lift a brow. She rolls her eyes before taking another tiny nibble of the pancake.
I shake my head before reaching across the table with my fork and cut off a decent-sized piece, dipping it in her syrup ramekin for her and holding it up to her lips. Her eyes don’t leave mine, even as she obediently opens her mouth for me.
She closes her lips around my fork and takes the bite. Her cheeks flush.
Good girl.
I repeat the movement with a piece of my bacon. She bites it off with her teeth, her dark eyes never leaving mine as she chews.
There’s a first time for everything. Crashing her date, eating his food, and turning it into breakfast foreplay might just make my top five moments with Dolly Mae.
Until you finally start making good on your promises to tie her to your bedframe.
Now that the secret is out about Ropes, she knows I don’t view her as a sister and never have. She knows I want her in my bed more than I want anything in life. Denying it now seems pointless.
The waitress returns with my card and the receipt.
She hands the to-go box to Dolly. I tip fifty percent and stand.
Once she finishes putting the last of her food in the box, Dolly stands with me.
I take the box from her and grip her elbow, leading her out of the café.
A few onlookers turn their heads to study us, clearly curious about how she got here with one man and is leaving with another.
I’m sure the small-town rumors will spread like wildfire.
They always do in a place like La Pradera.
It’s the least of my concerns right now as I lead Dolly out to my truck.
My parking job is shit since I got here in such a hurry.
After Pops had told me she left with a guy in a red pickup for breakfast at Loretta’s, I’d broken every speed limit to get here.
I open the passenger door for her, keeping ahold of her elbow until she’s seated. I walk around to the driver’s side, climbing into the leather seat with a sigh. I’m relieved she’s here with me, safe.
We sit in tense silence for the drive. Once we pass the iron entrance to Redford Ranch, her eyes drift over to me, but she doesn’t comment on it. When I pull through the rock gate at Moonlight Ranch, I see her fold her arms over her chest out of the corner of my eye.
I pull into the covered carport on the side of the house.
Dolly doesn’t wait for me to open her door before she flings it open and marches toward the side door to the kitchen.
I follow in quick pursuit, wincing when I step down from the driver’s seat and the movement sends a stab of pain up through my chest.
I make it to the door right after she does, stopping her attempt to slam the door in my face with my hand. I grimace, stifling a groan of agony.
She’s nearly sprinting now, heading up the stairs. I stop by the front door to grab the rope hanging by the hooks in the entryway before I follow her up. Anticipation is building in my veins, even when I hear the door to her room slam shut.
I twist the handle, throwing it open before she has the chance to lock it. She turns around and sees me behind her, eyes widening before she runs to the bathroom.
She attempts to slam that door shut, too, but I stop it with my boot and shove it back open.
“What! What do you want?” she screeches, chest rapidly rising and falling with each breath.
I grab her wrist, pulling her toward my chest until she’s flush against me. Her eyes are sparkling with rage and … excitement. It makes my dick hard.
“I want you, Baby Red. On my bed. Now,” I grit out.
Her lips form an O. “I’m not your baby. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
I lift the rope. A gasp slips from her pink lips as she stares at it.
“What are you doing with that?”
“Making good on the promise I made you.”
“Which was?”
“To help you gain some confidence and experience.”
“I don’t need your help.” She huffs, trying to jerk herself free from my grasp. But it’s half-hearted. I know she’s stronger than that.
“Stop lying to yourself. I think you do. And more importantly, I think you want me to be the one to give it to you.”
“Why would I? So you can keep ignoring me one minute, then pretending to be someone else while you get me to confess all my deepest secrets? You’re disgusting, and I want nothing to do with you!”
Her bottom lip quivers for a few seconds before she inhales deeply, steadying herself. She lifts her chin, and that beautiful, defiant, bratty attitude she’s always had rears its head.
The guilt over the things I’ve put her through roars through my veins. I’ve been a dick—I know that.
And I still firmly believe she deserves better than me. But that doesn’t mean I can’t fulfill the promise I made as Ropes. She wants this. And it’s all I can give her.
I lean down, brushing my lips against the space where her hairline meets her temple.
“Let me make you feel good. You can hate me the whole time, Red.” My voice is a throaty whisper.
She shakes her head. “I don’t trust you. You don’t just get to come in here and start messing with my head like this, demanding things because you’re bored. You know I’m weak when it comes to you.” Her lips are trembling against my ear.
I pull back, my eyes studying hers to see the look in her stormy eyes. A tear has slipped out of one of them, running down her cheek. My already-bruised chest feels like it’s caving in.
“You can’t actually believe that I’m not completely ruled by you. You have to know how … miserable and pathetic and … fucking destroyed I was, seeing you with him, over and over again.”
Her tongue darts out, wetting her bottom lip. Her eyes are shiny as she shakes her head. “You don’t care. Don’t lie to me again.”
I press my forehead to hers, inhaling steadily to try and calm myself down before I speak again and tell her how much she consumes my every thought.
“I know I am not right for you and that you deserve to be with a man who doesn’t have to pretend to be someone else to share his feelings, okay?
I know that. I also know that, one day, you’ll meet some perfect asshole with a nice haircut and clean hands and two loving parents and a history of communicating what he wants like a big boy. You deserve that, Dolly.”
I start to pull back from her, to give her the space she wants and leave her be, but she stops me by fisting the front of my shirt and pulling me down to her.
“I’m still pissed off about the Ropes thing, all right? I’m still pissed about you crashing my dates, all of it.” She nibbles her bottom lip, crosses her arms and sighs.
I wait, leaning closer to her again. She shifts toward me, slightly.
“But you made me a promise. And if I am going to ever meet my perfect asshole Prince Charming, I want some experience.”
She tilts her head up to me, clearly an invitation. I look down at her lips again, anticipation like a living thing inside me. I want to taste her so badly that my mouth is watering.
“I’m not going to be gentle.”
She nods, once again inviting me in without a word. Her lips part, and I don’t wait for another sign before crashing my mouth to hers.
I devour her like a starving man. She gasps into my lips, and I reach my hands down to scoop her up around her ass. I set her down on the sink countertop. Something shatters on the tiles.
My mind is consumed with lust. She tastes like syrup, melting under me instantly. My dick is rock hard, pressing against her softness between her legs. She wraps them around my torso, still fisting my T-shirt. She pushes against me, and pain shoots through my cracked ribs.
“Careful, baby. I’m not exactly invincible right now.” I pull back to pepper kisses down her throat, wanting to taste every single inch of her. The rope I was holding is wrapped around my forearm.
“What happened?”
“Had a fight last night, remember?” I suck on her earlobe, wishing I could force myself to slow down and savor her. This might be the last time she lets me do this, and I want every second to count.
She pulls up on my shirt, trying to take it off me. I let her, wincing when I raise my arms.
“Oh my … Sam.” Her eyes are hazy with lust, lips pink and swollen from my rough kiss. She looks fucking delicious.
Her gaze trails over me. The bruises have darkened, especially around my rib cage.
“Do you need to see a doctor?” Her fingers are still gripping my T-shirt.
I shake my head before leaning forward and scooping her up off the counter. She yelps in surprise.
“Are you sure you should be carrying me right now? Does it hurt?”
I nod. “Worth it.”
I nuzzle her chest, nipping at her nipple through the fabric. She groans, clenching her legs tighter around me as I carry her down the hall to my bedroom. Once we get inside, I toss her on the bed.
She scrambles up to a sitting position, eyes wild. Her ebony hair is a tangled mess around her shoulders. She’s still wearing my flannel. A possessive groan builds in my throat. I grab the rope that’s still hanging around my elbow.
“I need you to take off your pants for me.”
She watches my hands with rapt fascination as she peels her sweatpants down her thighs and kicks them off with her shoes.
I start making a knot out of the end of the rope.
She can’t peel her eyes away. After making the knot I want, I step toward her.
She licks her lips, her body completely still as she waits for me.
All except her bottom lip, which is still slightly trembling.
I kick my boots off and walk toward the post at the top left side of the bed.
“I need to use your words for this part, Baby Red. I need you to tell me if it gets too tight.”
She bobs her head.
“Say it out loud.”
“I’ll tell you if it gets too tight.” Her voice is quivering.
My dick is so hard that it’s painful against my zipper, but I manage to keep moving toward her exposed, tanned thighs.
Ropes used for cattle roping are coarse and firm, and I don’t want to hurt her silky skin.
I take the shirt she’s still holding, using it to wrap it around her wrists before I weave the rope around them.
She gasps when I tighten it, but doesn’t say anything. I create another loop a few feet above her wrists and wrap it around one of the cedar posts of my king-size bed. She’s tied up against the headboard, completely immobilized and at my mercy. Her thighs start shaking.
“Fuck, you look so good like that, Baby Red.”
She whimpers, closing her eyes for a second.
“We’re gonna use code words, okay? Green means go; red means stop.”
“But then … when you say red, what does that mean?” She whimpers out the words, struggling against the rope.
I let out a breathless laugh. “I don’t need code words; it’s all good for me when it comes to you. Spread your legs.”
She does it immediately, and I’m able to see the lacy yellow panties she’s wearing when my flannel moves out of the way. I want to praise her again, but I also don’t want her to get used to it yet. We’ve barely even started.
I reach for her then, finally making contact with her skin, my fingertips brushing against her hip. “Breathe for me. You have to breathe.”
She sighs, blowing out an exhale before meeting my eyes again. I climb up on the bed finally, placing myself before her spread legs. I trace my other hand up the opposite leg, goose bumps prickling her skin once I get closer to her hips.
I slide my fingers under the lace and leisurely drag them down her thighs. I pull them all the way off of her before lifting them to my face to inhale her scent.
Fucking heaven. I groan, knowing her arousal is all for me, for what I’m doing to her right now, and for the years of foreplay we both participated in. I take her panties and shove them into the front pocket of my jeans before raising my eyes back to hers.
“All right, baby, are you ready to get started with your first lesson?”