Page 7 of Rogue Cowboy
He had countermoves that a drunk in a bar or a handsy cowboy in a dance hall wouldn’t have a clue about.
“Eeeeew.Eyes?I can’t do that.”
“That’s why I taught you.Why we practiced.”
She spun around and took a step backwards, but only ended up stumbling on his large foot and would have crashed into the metal gate if he hadn’t caught her arm.He schooled his expression.Riley Telford.No longer nineteen and a budding country artist turning into a pop star, but more beautiful than he’d remembered.Rarely had he been able to FaceTime so the snippets of texts over WhatsApp had been all he’d had to cling to over these past long years.
“Try to take me now.”He forced the words when he really just wanted to look his fill.
“Cole.”She dropped her voice to a whisper.She looked left, then right, her expression tinged with guilt and caution.“What are you doing here?”
Lot of answers to that question.He went with the top.
“Came to see you,” he admitted, watching her expression for minute changes.
Her dark blue eyes purpled, long dark lashes curled, giving her a youthful innocence that should have put him in full protector mode, but no, lust crawled through his body like a drug he hadn’t wanted to take.Her face was exquisite—smooth golden skin stretched over delicate features, high cheekbones, narrow, straight nose, pointed chin, and her lips—dark pink naturally and pillow plump and inviting.She’d lost weight—more lithe but still had the athletic look and feel of a cowgirl.
Damn.How had he walked away?She was his.
In name only.
“Wwwwhy…” She moistened her top lip and then her bottom one.“Why come back?”
So many answers.What did she want to hear?He had no hold on her heart.He knew that.He’d been first a polite obligation.Then a protector.But he intended to be more.He reached out and cupped her strong jaw with petal-soft skin, and emotions he hadn’t counted on surged through him.And so did desire.He’d felt numb for so long, shut down, operating on automatic because it was his job and his duty.But damn, it was glorious to feel alive again.
“It’s time.”
She shuddered but instead of pulling away or slapping him—he steeled his heart for both—she stared at him helplessly.Again, he felt the hummingbird-wings thrum of her pulse, this time in his hand.
Her fear infuriated him.
But the way she surrendered to his touch threatened to sweep the legs of his control out from under him.Never had he needed his years of ranch and army discipline more.
“Hey, Riles.What the hell?”
He recognized her brother Rohan’s voice, heard the quick-trigger fury and swoosh of movement.Training took over and he spun around, boxing her behind him to meet the threat.
*
This was nothappening.
Cole was here.
And now so was Rohan.Worst-case scenario.And of course Rohan was misconstruing the scene—at least she thought he was.
“Back away from my sister, Romeo.”Rohan charged in, fast and deadly, looking almost like a stranger as he morphed into the specially trained soldier she’d tried not to think about since he’d come home.
“Rohan, chill, it’s not what you think.”She steadied herself, determined to defend Cole.She shoved at his tense body—sheesh, was he made of granite.She stepped closer to defray his fury just as Rohan swung with his fist and Cole ducked.
Riley heard the whistle of air, but she was on the ground, slamming her head against Cinnamon’s gate before she registered the punch.She stared up at the sloped metal roof, trying to figure out what had just happened—she felt weird—just as she saw Rohan fly over her and crash into an empty stall.
“Are you crazy?”She blinked, trying to clear her head.“That’s my brother.”
She struggled to sit up, but everything seemed off-kilter, and she paused on her elbows.
“How bad are you hit?”And then Cole was there, his fingers probing the back of her head.
“Ouch,” she said while, with his thumb of his other hand, he gently stroked along her cheekbone that no longer felt numb but was screaming.“Ouch and ouch.”
