Page 128 of Burned & Bound

“May I?” She held out her hand. I eyed it warily for a moment before accepting. When I took it, she said, “First time is always the worst—for you, not him. Jackson’s fuckin’ magic. You’ll see.”

I hoped to hell she was right.

I lost sight of everything as the chute opened and the bull lurched out, bucking violently. Jackson held on with one hand in the air.

One.

Two.

The way he leaned and swayed with every abrupt twist of the bull was fucking mesmerizing.

Three.

Four.

My heart lodged in my throat as I held my breath.

Five.

Six.

Jesus fucking Christ. Time never moved so fucking slow in my life.

Seven.

Eight.

The crowd went wild, and I cringed at the sheer volume of the noise. Nonetheless, I was on my feet with everyone else, clapping hard.

Jackson threw himself off the bull with a kind of grace that shouldn’t have been possible. Two pickup men were right there to herd the bull in a different direction while Jackson lived up the excitement.

When his gaze zeroed in on me, he winked. And me? I fucking smiled because I couldn’t help it.

Jackson was magnetic. The look on his face and the high that followed was damn near addictive. I stood on the sidelines as he ate up the compliments and talked with everyone. I was good where I was at. I didn’t need anything else, and I sure as fuck didn’t want to take away from his moment.

I caught the way he occasionally glanced in my direction. Each time, I offered a tight smile and did my best to look reassuring. I was fucking overwhelmed. Words couldn’t begin to express how fucking proud of him I was, but I wanted out of the goddamn rodeo. Too many people. Too much noise.Just too much everything.

When another person tried to talk to him, he dismissed them, striding right on by with a quick response and making his way toward me. I pushed away from the fence and opened my mouth to say something. Before I could, he wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed me hard. It was short-lived as he smiled all over again.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Jackson whispered.

CHAPTER 90

west

We were about twofeet in the door before his mouth was on mine. His adrenaline and excitement from the night bled through me. His tongue swept over mine as I used the front of his shirt to drag him close.

“Are you sure?” he asked, his mouth barely leaving mine. I pulled him back in for another kiss and enjoyed the way he groaned. Kissing him with that damn hat was a feat.Fuck the damn cowboy hat rules the girls insisted I learned.I knocked it off his head and tangled my fingers in his hair. “West… I ain’t going to be around tomorrow…”

I understood his concern—I did—but I didn’t want him second-guessing me.I hated how that was even a thing.

“Yeah, I’m fucking sure, cowboy,” I said and dragged his shirt over his head. I ran my hands over his sides and muscular back with a newfound appreciation as he kissed me once more.

“For the record, I ain’t prepared for this,” Jackson told me as I walked him back toward the bed. His knees hit the bed, and he fell back, catching himself on his elbows. Fuck, he looked good like that—hair a mess, chestheaving, and the hunger in his eyes matching mine. My cock strained behind my zipper.

“Good thing I am,” I replied while grabbing lube out of my bag.Yeah, I’d packed it in case.Honestly, I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing anymore. My body was in uncontrolled chaos. Some days the idea of doing anything with Jackson had me hard and damn near close to coming. On other days, it made me want to hop on a horse and run away. I was just stuck for the ride.

But I was trying like fuck to embrace the ride. I wasn’t good at it, but sometimes I could make it work in my favor.

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