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An Excerpt From: REIN ME IN
Copyright © LARISSA LYONS & ALYSSA BROOKS, 2010
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.
Chapter One
Rustlers Junction, Texas
Present day
The Book of Men—a veritable catalog of available, living, breathing sex “toys”, compliments of the Lucky Lady Dude Ranch, an upscale West Texas resort that caters to women and provides all sorts of studly entertainment, whether vacationing ladies prefer to ride horses…or men.
Suzy’s first night in town, she poured over the unexpected bonanza, pink pen and yellow stickies in hand…
Meet: Cody
Height: 6’ 2”
Hair: Light brown
Eyes: Green
Weight: 190#
Enjoys: Bull-dogging, dogs, playing Frisbee, playing Frisbee with his dogs—when not bull-dogging—but not as much as he enjoys spending time with the right lady.
Fee: Negotiable, willing to take it out in trade.
Note from management: Not available during rodeo season.
Plastered below the picture of a dimpled, razor-stubbled, smiling sweetheart of a hunk, Suzy’s handwritten note on a yellow square—Rodeo season? Is that anything like football season? Pity. He’s a cutie.
Having no idea if early October fell into that criteria, Suzy sighed and flipped the page. Sure, Cody was attractive. Almost…adorable. But not quite the tall, dark-haired, full-lipped drink of cowboy she craved.
After a solid year of celibacy, Suzy was one thirsty woman. Had an itch that’d gone too long without scratching. So yes, she had a yearning for cowboy, but just the right cowboy. One who could compare, even remotely, to the one who still danced in her memory at odd times. Like now…
With that realization, Suzy slammed the book shut. Pathetic! Look at her, ages later, still boasting a silly thing for some guy who never called!
Then again, she reasoned as she flung the book back open, this was her vacation. A time for fantasies and fun and most of all, forgetting. And Suzy had a lot worse heartbreak to banish than the fond memory of that Texan drawl and the sultriest lips in existence.
Out with the bad, in with the stud service.
* * * * *
Several days later
Lucky little bitch.
Hardly able to believe Sommer’s good fortune, Suzy watched her friend exit under the clanging cow bell of Bottoms Up Bar & Grille with what had to be the dreamiest cowboy in all of Rustlers Junction glued to her side.
Also vacationing alone at the Lucky Lady for the first time, Sommer was as straitlaced as white cotton panties. Maybe that’s why such an instant affinity had sprung up between them—Sommer reminded Suzy of her “real” life back in New York where Suzy, a.k.a. Susannah, was smart, self-sufficient and most importantly, constrained.
But not here! Not on vacation.
Suzy’d had to goad Sommer into cutting loose and embracing her inner vixen a hundred-billion times it seemed before they’d made that little bet, which resulted in Sommer bravely approaching the next cowboy who had walked in the door. And now they were gone, together.
Lucky little bitch.
Suzy glanced at her watch, tapped the dainty gold face and laughed out loud. Not even two hours? That’s all it’d been?
An excruciatingly sloooowww hundred minutes, riddled with excuses from Sommer while Suzy traded heated, silent exchanges across the bar with her own damn sexy cowboy. At one point, the randy bastard had even licked his lips at her.
Suzy had returned the gesture, hoping he’d still be around when Sommer finally hooked up.
And there he was…shooting pool solo in the opposite corner, having temporarily abandoned their long-distance flirting. Maybe he’d concluded she wasn’t interested, but boy was he off-base.
Time to earn the outfit—and attitude—she was wearing.
Swishing back her last chug of beer—she’d switched to something a bit tamer after that last tequila shot—Suzy decided maybe an unexpected dose of patience wasn’t so bad. It did give time for anticipation to simmer. And it had certainly given her time to savor the view.
Her cowboy-to-be was black-haired and blue-eyed, with weatherworn, russet skin and a scuffed leather jacket Suzy would wager had seen its fair share of motorcycle mishaps.
Tall, dark and dangerous. Every time he bent to take a shot, Suzy enjoyed a glimpse of steel ass muscles flexing beneath dark denim. Not quite the gentleman who had first gotten her started on cowboys, but these days Suzy enjoyed a healthy dose of edgy excitement with her vacation treats.
A thrill zinged between her legs. She’d yet to know his name, but Suzy had already labeled him Mine. A man like that, he’d have what she needed…
Tonight Suzy wanted it rough and randy. Hard and fast. Down and dirty. Slick…and satisfying.
In a zooming-by-too-damn-fast handful of days, she’d have to return to New York and the proper behavior required of the governor’s head publicity advisor. She loved her job, but sometimes…just sometimes…all the effort required to be polite and pretty and all things perfect just made her want to puke.
She was good.
Damn good at her job. Morally good while in the state of New York. Boringly good three hundred fifty-one days out of the year.
And even more, single. Sexlesslysingle. After the train wreck her dating life had become—since the cheat in high school straight through hoping she’d found the one a few years back—Suzy finally had the good sense to cry off relationships permanently.
Who needed the heartache undependable men doled out like candy on Halloween?
But come vacation time? The measly two weeks of freedom she gifted herself with after being so good the prior fifty? After stifling urges to let her hair down, burn her bras and run naked down Wall Street…
Suzy needed her wicked escape. Hence her annual tradition, sans election years of course. She booked a trip somewhere far, far away, dyed her naturally blonde hair a brilliant shade of whatever struck her fancy—this year it was a vivid blood-red—donned henna tattoos and contacts and cussed to her rebel heart’s content.
During these precious fourteen days, her emotions were still off-limits but her body was up for grabs. This year she was stocking up on cowboy, straight from the source. Fantasies to keep her company on long, lonely winter nights.
The muscles between her thighs clenched in celebration. Time to get up off her ass and claim his.
Slinging both her purse and Sommer’s—which she was babysitting—over her right shoulder, Suzy scooted from the booth and wiggled her black, über-short denim skirt into place. Topped off with her favorite belly-barer, a sleeveless, slinky leopard print that covered her breasts—just barely—and grazed her ribs, showcasing her exercised-to-the-max abs, Suzy knew that tonight she defined “hot pussy”.
The sweating along her upper thighs told her she had one and she was ready to be one for her rough cowboy in the corner.
The old-fashioned jukebox clicked over to a hard-pounding Brooks and Dunn hit and her step faltered. Damn song. The familiar tune never failed to rouse buried memories. As usual—before they could put her off her game—she stuffed them deeper and concentrated on the noise instead of the notes.
The sound easily blasted over the hum of the crowd. Suzy liked it loud, made her heart drum all the faster. Made it easier to blare out her sensible side—whenever it should threaten to surface. Which wasn’t too often now, thanks to the three drinks—four if one counted the beer, which Suzy didn’t.
Concentrating on her moves, she sauntered one swishy, sexy step at a time across the smoky bar—the art of walking in four-inch slingbacks was a fine one—and slipped up behind him.
Far as she was concerned, they needn’t waste time on frivolities such as flirting—they’d been doing that long enough, even if words weren’t involved—so Suzy bumped her crotch into his well-formed ass and looped both arms around his hips to cup the bulge in his jeans.
It was all the introduction she required.
“Hello, cowboy.” She massaged a good handful of cock and felt it swell beneath her touch. “I’m looking to take a ride on a stallion. You primed?”
“Lady, that’s some fucking nerve you’ve got.” He tossed the stick down and calloused hands captured her wrists in an intimidating grasp and drew her fingers upward. Letting go of one wrist but keeping the other locked in steel, he slowly turned to face her.
Aggressive, wasn’t he? A thrill—or was that a chill?—skittered over Suzy’s skin as she attempted to tug her hand free.
He wasn’t letting go. Maybe she’d misread him.
Or maybe she’d pegged him perfectly. Rough and tough and all hers.
Ice blue eyes peered down from beneath the brim of his black cowboy hat, reminding her of another time, another cocky cowboy, and somewhere deep inside herself…utter longing.
Strangely, thoughts of him had been plaguing her lately, which might explain her single-minded determination to bed the one before her. Black hair. Blue eyes. Big as sin. He reminded her—ever so slightly—of another man. Another lifetime.
Another Suzy.
Resisting the memory because she had to—and because the other cowboy, the one she was determined to avoid comparisons with, had worn a white hat—Suzy batted thick, mascara-enhanced eyelashes. “Nerve? Who, me? And who’re you, cowboy?”
A grin broke and his concrete hold transformed into him kissing her hand. “It’s Darin, ma’am. Pleasure to meet you.”
“Pleasured indeed.” She leaned forward just a smidge, winked and whispered, “And I’m no ‘ma’am’, cowboy. That would imply I’m a lady.”
“You’re not?”
“Not tonight, I’m not.”
He made a sound of pure, primal satisfaction and Suzy found her shoulders imprisoned under one heavy arm and her body rapidly being ushered toward the door. The jangle above chimed her victory as they stepped into the dark, damp night lit only by the glowing red Bottoms Up brands that marched along the roofline overhead. Something about them, the whole bar really, seemed frustratingly familiar, but she hadn’t been able to place it and hadn’t cared enough to try.
Several yards into the gravel-paved parking lot, the two purses bumping between their hips reminded her of Sommer. “I just need to stop by my car, drop this off.”
She pointed to the rented midsize sedan, shiny with mist, parked mere feet to their right, but the heavy arm lassoed around her only clamped tighter when she started to veer that direction.
Darin guided her to the left. “We’ll take my truck.”
“Hold your horses, cowboy. I won’t be long.”
“Fine. Go.” Relinquishing his claim, he thrust his hands in the air. “But get a move on. Let’s get to it.”
He was that annoyed over a thirty-second pit stop?
Warning bells clanged as Suzy thought of the forceful, almost punishing grip he’d taken on her wrists. The possessive way he’d hooked that arm around her and quit the bar. No smile, no sexy innuendos. Just pure “Let’s get to it”. Something was off.
Her judgment maybe?
Suzy liked putting herself at the mercy of a strong, hot man—but not one who didn’t know the difference between fun and games, and fear. In chorus with her inner alarm, adrenaline rushed through her, electrifying every muscle and reminding Suzy exactly why she was doing this. Forget murmured sweet nothings and all things romantic—she’d experienced enough bullshit to last a lifetime. She wanted dangerous, right? Wanted a rough and tough cowboy who’d plow her thoroughly. Give her body extreme satisfaction and her mind hours of replay during the year to come.
So the asshole was no hero. It wasn’t as though she were marrying him. Just getting in a good, hard screw.
Exactly the point, right?
Grinning with wicked intent, Suzy explored her purse for the keys. A second later the car chirped and her trunk popped open.
Darin hovered, walking directly behind her like a creepy shadow. His every step echoed impatience.
Guess she had that coming, riling his cock as she had.
“This’ll just take a sec,” she assured him, tucking Sommer’s purse in the trunk.
“You a cop?”
Where’d that come from? “Of course not.”
“You better not be. You know you have to tell me if you are an’ I ask.”
“Okay…” Over her shoulder, she shot him a weird look then returned to digging in the trunk. Stalling. “Well, I’m not.”
Silence reigned several tense seconds and then—boom!—it hit Suzy. Oh shit, was this what she’d reduced herself to? “You think I’m a whore!” Scrunching her nose, she whirled around, battling the urge to punch him square in face. “You do!”
“Hardly.” In an instant his voice went from sardonic to silky smooth. Fingers caressed her shoulders, soothing yet somehow awkward. “Look, I promise, darlin’…it’s not that. I’m just not used to being picked up so…assertively. And I’m not exactly Darin Poppins, you capeesh?”
“Oh. Okay…” Despite soaring reservations, and mainly because she needed the think time, Suzy stayed bent over her trunk, checking her purse for essentials. Who knew? She might need more than two condoms!
Yep, she had this vacation-sex thing down to an art.
Except when it came to picking a questionable guy. Which in all honesty had never happened before. Not like this.
Ignoring the increasing twinges of her internal radar, Suzy remained hunkered down, scanning her purse’s contents while she considered her options. The handful of condoms of course, and also her license with her blood type on it because Suzy had no desire to end up a Jane Doe. The business cards she never left home without. Then there was a tube of tonight’s lipstick, her contact case so she didn’t wake up with her green eyes glued in place and—most importantly—a can of pepper spray.
Just seeing it, a small reminder of the huge risk she was taking—and Suzy was suddenly certain she’d landed herself the wrong cowboy.
“Hey, Darin…” Slamming the trunk shut and standing tall with confidence now that her decision was made, she flashed a big smile. “Maybe we should go inside, shoot a game of pool, dance a little.” Was there even a dance floor? She didn’t think so…but surely someone had been swaying vertically near the jukebox. Uncharacteristic, her being so uncertain—about anything. Fortifying herself, Suzy took a step toward the bar and motioned for him to follow. “To be blunt, you’re making me nervous and—”
“Don’t be, babe.” Already he had his arm around her waist and was steering her across the lot. “You’re in good hands. I’ll take care of you.”
Yeah, she bet. “I mean it. Let me go.”
When he didn’t, Suzy ducked past him and attempted to circle toward the bar’s warm lights—and safety—but Darin snatched her arm, hauling her back. “This about that cop question?”
Well, duh. “Ya think?”
“Look, let me explain. I just got out of County this morning. My PO’s an asshole, with a hard-on to violate me. I’m a lil’ nervous. Lil’ off my game, that’s all…” He jerked her closer, so they were face-to-face as he whispered hotly, “But you’re going to help me celebrate.” Then he nuzzled her neck and gave an ironic laugh. “Time done for bad behavior.”
Suzy choked on her shock. “County? Like in jail?”
PO, as in parole officer? As in felon?
As in C-R-E-E-P!
Not that someone can’t do their time, atone for their wrongs and be better for it—she would like to hope—but somehow, Suzy didn’t think Darin Poppins here had learned a thing.
“I was tucked away a hard thirty-six months, so I need a good woman tonight. Warm and willin’.” His grip on her arm loosened ever so slightly and he snaked a tight circle around her, dragging a spread palm across her ass. “You’re willin’, aren’t ya?”
In warning—or maybe promise—he squeezed with both hands and Suzy blanched at the way his manhandling turned her on. The way she wanted it like this. Out of control. Dangerous.
Dammit, she was too smart to be so stupid.
“What were you in for?” Good grief, was she actually considering this?
But consider she did, for just a second, a very stupid split second. After all, she couldn’t get much more dangerous than an ex-con.
“Let’s go, babe.” He ushered her toward an old truck that had seen better days and Suzy knew full well he was avoiding her question for a reason.
“No.” Contrary to his obstinate determination to propel her toward his pathetic truck, Suzy locked her knees, planted her feet and threw his arm off her. “Sorry, but this just isn’t happening.”
Her tone was firm. She meant it.
“You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me.” He was in her face, breathing fire. Shooting icy daggers with his cold blue eyes.
She stood her ground, wishing she’d never set foot on it, but still…“Well, I’m not.” She edged one tiny sideways step toward the bar. “Look, Darin, I do apologize but I made a mistake.” Another step, a bit faster, a bit farther. “I’m sorry if—”
“You grab my cock like you did and now this just isn’t happening?” He advanced. “You’re sorry? And that’s supposed to be the end of it? Not on your life, you little cock-tease!”
“You pushy assface jerk.” Never one to back down, Suzy inhaled to her full height, still a pathetic foot shorter than he was—even in heels. She aimed her middle finger high. “Fuck you.”
She expected a lot of things. More vulgar insults, him attempting to grab her again. Even sweet-talking.
But Suzy never saw the slap coming. Out of nowhere, his palm flew through the air, smacking hard into her cheek and whipping her face to the right.
Gasping at the sting, Suzy stumbled back. One glance revealed he followed, no longer a hot, dangerous cowboy, but an angry, incensed man. A monster. “You really think I’m gonna let you get away? Uh-uh, you dumb whore.”
Oh God, dumb was right!
“Help!” Suzy took off in a mad dash toward the bar. “Help me!”
Oh God, where was a Samaritan when she needed one? And damn Bottoms Up! Did they have to play their damn jukebox so ridiculously loud? Where were the requisite bouncers? Other bar patrons?
Her heart battered her ribs. His boots pounded behind her, closing in as she fumbled with the purse at her hip, hunting for her pepper spray. Encountering a tube, she snatched it free only to send her lipstick clattering to the pavement. Shit, no!
But she didn’t hit the gym five days a week for nothing! She might be short but she packed a powerful punch, and Doofus Darin was about to get one to the jaw—another to the jollies—if he didn’t back off immediately. Hardening her voice, ratcheting her volume, Suzy hoped she popped his eardrum. “Leave me alone!”
“For the rest of tonight, babe, we got plans, you and me.” His hand caught her upper arm, arresting her escape just as she managed to dip back inside her purse and wrap fingers around precious cold metal. She yanked the can free and shoved it in his face, jamming her finger on the sprayer.
Nothing came out.
Shit! She fumbled with the safety but the damn thing was stuck. Stupid import! Spray, dammit!
His evil, triumphant laugh echoed in her brain as she jabbed at the trigger again. Still nothing.
A micro-second later, Suzy ricocheted in place when the bastard jerked her so hard it was a wonder her neck didn’t snap. “Nooooo!” everything in her protested on a scream as he backhanded the useless can from her grasp. “No!”
It wasn’t supposed to happen this way! She was tough, she carried pepper spray! Allowing herself to be naughty only two weeks out of the year… Shouldn’t that minimize any risk—internally and externally. She was supposed to be fine!
“Time to learn a little lesson.” His clutch a vise, he dragged her toward his truck. “You don’t tease Darin Burns. Not without payback.”
“Damn you…” Her wobbly heels skidded over the slick gravel. God, she’d been an idiot tonight. But now a determined one.
Damn bastard must’ve worked out in the pokey, his grip was that strong. Clawing at his arm, she went limp. A dead weight.
Her thoughts raced, seeking options just as her gaze lit upon those glowing brands circling the roofline of the building, her mind grappling for something it seemed she should remember…
“Help! Somebody…” What was that she’d learned in grade school? Cry fire? Maybe that was it. “Fire!”
Her only answer was Darin’s panting, gruff and sexual as he succeeded in shutting her inside the cab of his corroded excuse of a truck.
Her throat burned from screaming as did her arm from his grip. Her slightly buzzed brain refused to accept the reality of what was happening. No!
But as she was forcibly scootched over the trash and empty beer cans littering the bench seat, Suzy realized no one was coming to her aid. She quit expending energy on screams and invested totally in fighting.
Rocking herself backward, faking him out, she thrust her feet forward, hitting him square in his chest, praying the pointy points of her heels stabbed a hole straight through his heart.
Darin rebounded into the door. “Bitch!”
In a whirl of kicking legs and throwing trash, she twisted onto her stomach and scrambled across the seat—arm outstretched, aiming for the passenger door.
For a split second she glimpsed headlights cropping the dark horizon of the highway.
Oh God, please…
But she didn’t have the opportunity to see if the vehicle turned. Steel hands grasped her ankles, yanking her flat on her stomach, and Suzy flailed with all her might as he lugged her back. “Let go! I mean it!”
On her side now, she raked her nails toward him. The tips collided with his cheekbone. Scratching for his eyes, she lunged again. The swine bellowed, which only gave her strength. Clawing at his scraped face, she broke free, scuttled to the door and hoisted it open—just in time to see a vehicle pulling into the parking lot.
Thank God. Help had arrived.
And he rode a white truck.
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