Long Hard Ride (Rough Riders #1)(30)

“Can I ask you something?”


“Sure.”


He shifted his hips, and a stream of moisture trickled down as he eased his spent cock out of her tender body. “When it’s just you and me, can we skip the rubbers? ‘Cause I sure like really feelin’ you—just you—bare against me. There ain’t nothing like it in the world.”


She rubbed her cheek along his. “Sure. Speaking of you and me…where am I sleeping tonight?”


“Maybe the question oughta be where do you want to sleep tonight?”


“With you.” She felt him smile against her cheek.


“Good answer. We’re bunkin’ in the horse trailer. You need anything from the motel room before we hit the hay?”


“Just my toothbrush now that we’ve got that pesky condom issue cleared up.”


Colby chuckled and pressed a soft kiss on her forehead. “You sore?”


“A little.”


“Mmm. Have we really only been together a coupla days?”


She stiffened up. “Yes. Why? Is time dragging?”


“No. On the road, time usually drags like an old dog. But it seems like you’ve always been around. I’m glad you’re here, darlin’.”


Probably not the first time he’d said such sugared words, but she’d take it since it was the first time anyone had ever uttered them to her.


She grinned. “Me too, cowboy.”


Chapter Nine


Colby was up early the next morning. As much as he wanted to start his day off with a bang and loll in bed with Channing, he knew she was sore. With good reason. He couldn’t get enough of her.


He kissed her exposed nipple, grinning when she purred and snuggled into him. Damn distracting woman.


Fortified with free coffee from the motel lobby, he knocked on the door to the room. “It’s Colby. Open the damn door.”


A click of the slide latch moving and then Trevor swung open the door. “Hey. What’s up?”


Colby peered over Trevor’s bare shoulder at the rumpled bed.


“Where’s Edgard?”


“Shower. He’ll be out in a minute. Before you ask, he’s already checked on the horses this morning.” Trevor yawned. “Where’s Channing?”


“Sleepin’ in the horse trailer.”


“Is she okay?”


“She is now.” Colby sipped his coffee and flopped in the chair by the windows. He told Trevor what’d gone down the previous night. “So, I don’t want her goin’ nowhere alone. She snuck off for that rowdy bar down the street and some greasy trucker was sniffin’ around.”


“You set him straight?”


“Damn right.”


“Did you get everything straightened out with her?”


Colby grinned. “Damn right. Why you think she’s sleepin’ like a baby?”


Trevor high-fived him. “Goddamn, Colby. If there was a woman alive who could change my wicked ways and make me want to settle down, it’d be her.”


“Amen, brother. But you’d have to fight me for her. So you understand why I want us all to keep a better eye on her.”


“Keep an eye on who?” Edgard said as he cracked open the bathroom door.


Colby relayed the scene from the bar.


It was a typical morning. They talked rodeo. Advice was offered and taken. Aches and pains were detailed. When Trevor and Edgard began to argue strategy, Colby made his getaway. He refilled his coffee and stopped to chat with a couple of young bull riders from Utah before he went to check on Channing.


In the horse trailer, Channing sat slumped over the table, naked, listlessly stirring her half-eaten bowl of Raisin Bran.



He ran a hand down her bare back. “You okay?” he asked as he sprawled in the chair next to her.


“Tired. Damn virile man,” she grumbled.


“Was that a complaint?”


“No. But when you said we should officially ‘break in’ the bed in this horse trailer, I didn’t think you meant literally break the damn bed. I think I have bruises on my back and butt from the mattress springs.”


“You bring out the beast in me, darlin’, what can I say?”


“Say you have a coffee maker hidden around here someplace.”


“Sorry. We don’t.”


Channing groaned.


“But I will let you have some of my coffee.” He grabbed a Styrofoam cup and poured half his lukewarm coffee into it. Then he slid it next to her cereal bowl.


“Thank you.” She downed it in one swallow. “The next time we pass a Wal-Mart I’m jumping out. I don’t care if we’ve got the horse trailer fully loaded and the governor aboard. I’m buying a coffee pot and a jumbo can of coffee. I’m not fit for human company without my daily infusion of vitamin caffeine.”


“Missin’ Starbucks, are you?”


She shot him a dirty look. “Are you serious? Their coffee tastes like strained dog shit. Plus, who’s dumb enough to pay four bucks for a cup of burned coffee?”