Down in Texas Read online

  Soft laughter sifted among the male riders. Glances were shared.

  Suki understood their sign language by now. The men were horny as hell.

  “This is so goddamn unfair,” Tara said.

  “You had your chance,” Mac said cheerfully.

  “Yeah, I know. But you’re not my type, no matter how well you fill a pair of jeans, soldier boy.”

  Suki felt her face heat as the other three women shot her knowing glances and smiled.

  Suki wasn’t the only woman sharing a mount. Maggie sat in front of Danny on the gentlest mare he could find.

  “How’s your stomach?” Danny asked, his hand gliding over the gentle mound.

  “Supper’s staying down, for now.”

  “We’re almost home. Maybe Mac will lend us some of that cream….”

  She elbowed him. “Behave yourself, husband.”

  “Why? You love it when I’m bad,” he said with a silky slide of his voice.

  Lyssa reined in next to Tara. “You still got a hankering for that badass cowboy?”

  “Maybe,” Tara said, her lips tightening.

  “We need to make a plan.”

  A soft curse burst from Brand. “Woman, only plans you should be makin’ are for our wedding.”

  “Thought you weren’t in any all-fired hurry, cowboy. It’s not like you’re waitin’ to get a thing.”

  “Hush, you’re brother’s listening. One day he’s gonna decide it’s time to kick my ass.”

  Mac grunted, and Suki didn’t need to glance behind her to know his gaze narrowed on his best friend.

  Lights from the McDonough ranch house beckoned them closer.

  Brand spurred his horse ahead. Lyssa clucked at her horse and kept right on the tail of his horse. They pulled back their reins next to the front porch, dismounted, and wrapped the reins around the rail.

  Brand grabbed her hand and pulled her close, bending her over his arm for a deep kiss as the rest of the group pulled up.

  “Jesus, can’t you wait until you’re out of sight?” Mac grumbled, though his chest shook. “That’s my sister you’re molesting.”

  Brand raised Lyssa and slid an arm around her waist. “Coffee. Then we’re headin’ out.”

  Everyone gathered in the kitchen in pairs, except Tara, who bustled around the room as if it were hers, serving up steaming mugs before settling on a chair next to Lyssa.

  Tara wrapped her hands around her cup and sighed deeply. “Guess I’m not needed here anymore. I have a bar to run, tourists to entertain, and cowboys to keep out of trouble.”

  Suki felt a jolt of alarm. With the other two couples leaving that night, it meant she’d be alone with Mac.

  While the thought raised prickles of awareness all over her body, she knew the time drew near when she’d have to leave as well.

  Tara stood and stretched her hands above her head. “Damn, my ass is sore.”

  Chuckles drifted lazily around the room as she bent and gave Mac a quick kiss on his cheek. “Don’t screw it up,” she whispered overloud.

  Mac grimaced and gave her bottom a swat. “Mind your own damn business.”

  She stopped in front of Suki and opened her arms. Suki stood and gave her a hug.

  Tara’s eyebrows bobbed in a wicked waggle. “Go easy on my boy.”

  Suki felt the heat enter her cheeks and refused to meet Mac’s amused glance. “Have a nice drive back to town,” she murmured.

  “That a euphemism for ‘get the hell out’?”

  Suki didn’t answer, biting back a grin as Tara flipped her hair behind her shoulders. “Don’t be a stranger.”

  “Don’t think that woman ever met one,” Danny muttered. Danny pulled Maggie onto his knee and wrapped his arms around the slight swell of her belly. “Think we’ll head out, too. Want to get home before it gets too late. This one needs her beauty sleep.”

  Maggie pushed his hands off her belly. “Can’t you wait to start fondling me until we’re alone?”

  “Wouldn’t be as much fun.”

  Maggie pushed off Danny’s knee and came around the table to give Mac a quick kiss. “We’re glad you’re back.”

  Mac held her hand. “I’m glad Danny found you. Haven’t ever seen him so happy.”

  After Danny and Maggie made the rounds of hugs and kisses, Brand and Lyssa shared a charged glance and started to rise. “Guess we’re gonna head back home.”

  Mac’s gaze rested on his sister. “I’ve been thinking.”

  “About?”

  “Guess I won’t kick Brand’s ass after all.”

  Lyssa laughed. “Had to think about that one, did you?”

  “Well, it would be a few months before I could win, and I think I like the way you two look together. Make a nice couple.”

  Lyssa smiled blissfully. “We do, don’t we?”

  “Besides, Danny says Brand knows just how to keep you out of trouble.”

  Lyssa’s green eyes sparkled with outrage. “He didn’t tell you, did he?”

  Mac winked at Brand. “A firm hand…”

  Brand’s lips stretched wide. “Does the trick, all right.”

  Lyssa screeched in mock outrage and then launched herself at Brand, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I don’t think I’ll be back for at least a week, big brother. It’ll take that long to lose the blush.”

  Mac rose to his feet with more grace than he would have managed just a week ago and wrapped his arms around his sister. “I love you, Lyss.”

  Lyssa hugged him back. “I love you, too. I’m so glad you’re back.”

  “Sorry I cussed you out.”

  “You weren’t yourself.”

  He sighed and hugged her hard. “I don’t want to meet that other man again.”

  As Lyssa and Brand said their farewells to Suki, Mac settled back against the counter.

  When the couple trailed out of the room, Suki let out a deep breath and faced him. “It’s just us now.”

  “Yeah. Gonna be quiet.”

  “Think so?” she asked, fishing for a clue about how he really felt. With all the company, they hadn’t really had time to talk.

  “Quiet, punctuated with moments of heavy breathing….”

  Her lips twitched. “And a lot of inappropriate religious references….”

  Mac gave her a sly grin. “Could get kinda loud. Don’t think I can make it to the bedroom.”

  “Is your leg bothering you?”

  Mac shook his head.

  Suki took a deep breath and came closer, close enough that he grabbed her by the waist and settled her bottom on top of the kitchen table.

  “Imagine that—just the right height,” he murmured, rubbing his crotch against the juncture of her thighs.

  “Good thing we’re all alone,” she said breathlessly. “This could get embarrassing awfully fast.”

  Mac made quick work of her shorts, stripping them down her thighs. Then he raised her again to sit on the edge of the table and removed her shirt.

  When she reached for his clothing, Mac pushed her hands away, unzipped his pants, and shoved them down his hips. Then he leaned close as he held himself and rubbed his cock along her slick seam.

  “Damn,” he breathed, “Feels fucking incredible.”

  Suki couldn’t agree more but kept silent as she enjoyed the sexy glides. They needed to talk. And soon. Her heart couldn’t take another day of uncertainty.

  Mac placed himself at her entrance and slipped an inch inside, punching forward, drawing back, teasing her with glimpses of the blunt pressure he’d exert once he slipped inside.

  He paused, and his gaze locked with hers. “Baby, I’m gonna keep you so busy, so full, you’re not gonna have time to think about that other life you had. The one before you knew me.”

  Suki dragged in a ragged breath. He chooses now to let me know? “It wasn’t all that great,” she said, smiling through her tears, fighting to keep focused on the conversation while his cock pulsed impatiently between her folds.


  “I traveled a lot, met some interesting people, but I always had this secret hankering for a soldier boy in a cowboy hat. Know anyone like that?”

  His lop-sided smile held a hint of doubt. “I just might. But he’s a little bit beat up.”

  Suki reached up to cup his cheek. “He’s strong and brave—and absolutely perfect….” She ran a finger down the scar on his cheek. “And so handsome he takes my breath away.”

  Mac’s strong hips flexed, and he sank deep into her body, his powerful frame shuddering. “Don’t think I can ever get enough of this,” he said between clenched teeth. “Didn’t know this was what was missing from my life.”

  She gasped, and her back arched, but her gaze didn’t waver for a second from his. “What were you missing, Mac? A willing woman to slide up inside?”

  Mac’s expression grew solemn. “You’re so much more than that. Hope it’s that way for you, too. I’d hate to be here alone.”

  Suki spread her arms wide and clutched the edges of the table. Joy burst through her, making her fearless at last. “You fill me. In every way possible. I love you, Mac McDonough.”

  As he began to stroke firmly in and out of her warm, wet passage, Mac ran his palms over her soft belly, bent, and kissed her small, dark nipples, lingering long enough to draw the tips into tightly beading points.

  With her almond-shaped eyes glistening with moisture, her lush lips trembling, he knew she waited for him to declare his love. Thank God, he was finally ready. He felt strong, nearly healed, completely whole. All because of her.

  The words, once so impossible to imagine, rushed out of him in a grateful flurry as every muscle in his body tensed. “I love you, Suki,” he said, his voice tightening against the emotions roiling inside him. “I love you, baby. I’ll never let you go.”

  His arms swept under her knees and pulled her bottom to the edge of the table. Then words were truly impossible as he powered into her, hammering at her pussy, losing his mind in the sweetest way when her moans floated in the air around him.

  When he’d spent the last of his strength and seed inside her, he pulled her up, grabbed her small, round ass, and hefted her off the table. His cock still locked deep inside her juicy cunt, he walked slowly through the house.

  “What about your leg?” she asked as she peppered his face and neck with kisses.

  “Bet it’ll hurt like hell tomorrow,” he said, smiling because he didn’t give a damn.

  “God, Mac!” she groaned. “You don’t know how good this feels. Each step…Jesus!”

  Feeling like a man, a better one than had left the ranch so many months ago, Mac cuddled her close and strode toward the bedroom. Though horrors might still visit him from time to time in dreams, all his waking life would be sweet, filled with the warmth of his family’s love.

  Suki would be family as soon as he could pry himself from his bed—maybe after a week or two, when they were both so raw and well used they might need the break to recuperate.

  “What are you smiling about?” she asked as he came over her on the mattress.

  He kissed her mouth. “I’m happy.”

  Her pleased smile flashed white in the gathering darkness. “How about we lock the doors and turn off all the lights? Maybe everyone will think we’ve escaped.”

  “I like the way you think,” he said, sliding his cheek alongside hers as he began to rut gently against her.

  Suki widened her legs and cupped her hips to aid his entry. “We could always borrow the keys to Tara’s cabin….”

  “Too far,” he said, centering his semisoft cock between her legs and forcing himself inside. “You’re going to have to help me, here.”

  “Need some encouragement?” she drawled and squeezed her inner muscles around him.

  Mac grunted. “Do that a while, and I think he’ll perk right up.” Already, miraculously, he felt his cock surge and fill, nudging northward.

  “Have I told you how much I love your dick?”

  “Suki!” He jerked back his head, frowning in disapproval. “Don’t you know how much guys hate to hear that word come out of a woman’s mouth?”

  She shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. “It’s what you call it.”

  “I do n—okay, you’ve got me there.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You like tits, I like dick.”

  “We’re gonna have to build a better vocabulary,” he growled.

  “Maybe we could start with…” She raised her head to whisper in his ear.

  Mac felt heat scorch his cheeks as bone-deep pleasure filled him with her playfulness. “That’s not really a word. It’s a number.”

  Suki rolled her eyes, but her delighted grin said how much she loved surprising him.

  Mac felt a grin tug his lips. Then he bent and swept her lips with a kiss, trying to tell her without words just how much he loved her.

  Her lips melted beneath his; her fingers dug into his shoulders. When they drew apart, they shared smiles filled with silent promises.

  “Lady’s choice,” he whispered, sipping at her mouth. “Whenever you’re ready, just say the word.”

  Suki’s lips curved beneath his into a sweet, satisfied smile. “It’s a number.”

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  1

  “Ooh-ooh. Girl, I’ll need to change my panties when this is over. He chose the perfect tune to turn us out. ‘Jamaica Funk’ was the baddest hit on record,” Galaxeé said. She swayed to the hip-hop song’s downbeat, snapping her fingers as loudly as she popped gum. “He’s hot, isn’t he?”

  “No doubt.” Rio Saunders shifted, sat straighter on the bar stool at Killer Bods. The male strip club she and Galaxeé Barnett owned wasn’t open for business until eight tonight, but the current dance applicant…mercy.

  For a youngster, he was a prime specimen, one of Denver, Colorado’s, finest. With a sable mane hanging well down his thick neck and a startling pair of slate-gray eyes, this tall honey paraded his attributes. He was God’s blessed gift to women.

  He swaggered toward the stage’s edge. Under bright spotlights in the darkened theater, his view was nowhere near as good as hers. He flaunted all his finery. With broad shoulders, acutely defined pecs with just enough dark hair and a rippling six-pack, his body was a temple built for some lucky girl’s loving.

  “Mm, mm, mm,” Rio purred quietly. And he had rhythm. Hiding a smile, she sipped from the glass of lemon water the bartender had set down.

  “What do you think? Yes? Can’t imagine otherwise,” Galaxeé insisted.

  They’d judged all sorts of wannabes for three hours—lean, stout, cute, plus a few sure-goners. Bryce Sullivan was the last performer applying for one soon-to-be vacant position.

  No one else had danced so well. No one else had boasted his hard-body physique.

  No one else looked this darn good.

  Except Dallas Cooper, a.k.a. Panther Man. He—rather, his twenty-two-year-old hussy, Shannon Fields—had decided to hang up his G-string for marriage. Dallas was Killer Bods’ shining star. At twenty-eight, with smooth skin blacker than obsidian, he moved effortlessly during his performances, flexing his bulging muscles. Had he been a dozen years older, closer to Rio’s age, she’d gladly let him turn her inside out. Welcome it.

  “Let’s think about it a couple days,” she finally replied. “This is an African American revue.”

  Galaxeé’s huffs would deflate most people’s lungs. “Girl, time is running out. Panther’s last night is next week. So what if this guy’s white? As good as he looks, not to mention how well he boogies, he’ll draw more chicks to the club. From Silk’s.”

  Killer’s dancers loved their sistahs, although a variety of women, single and married, looking for outstanding action frequented the nightclub. Quality advertisement was a must in this business. “White women.”

  “Blacks, too. And Latinas, Th
ais, hell, Egyptians. He is fine. You know it. I know it. Why wait? He could start tomorrow night. We can break him in for the Christmas rush, ready by…”

  “Slow—” Rio clamped her mouth shut, shaking her head. Galaxeé talked faster than any auctioneer’s banter during a hot sale.

  “…We’ve booked four private parties so far, all between now and New Year’s. He could work them. Shit, he’d clean up and so would we. Think of how much money we’d have coming in for only three real working days a week.”

  She shook her head again. “I don’t think so.”

  Two deep frown lines creased Galaxeé’s forehead and her lips thinned flatter than the straw Rio had chewed on. “Why not?”

  “You know the sisters hosting these parties. They want chocolate, not vanilla.”

  She stared at Sullivan as he moved across the stage. He halted, struck a sexy pose. Every lean muscle rippled.

  Jesus.

  He unzipped his pants, stroked the length of his…Rio sucked in a tank full of air, held it.

  Slowly, sensuously, the denim slid down narrow hips, displaying powerful thighs and strong calves. When he kicked the garments aside, Sullivan straightened to his full height—a towering statue of regal flair fit for any queen’s fantasy.

  Breathing again, Rio lowered her gaze.

  Good night!

  Brazilian G-string. Miniature. Bulging flame-red against bronzed skin. Unblinking as he gyrated, she wasn’t sure the fabric would hold together or hold all it carried inside the thin material. Barely enough to cover…She drew in the next breath between her teeth and sat straighter on the stool.

  “Ooh, gir-irl,” Galaxeé breathed, fanning her face twice as fast as the music’s rhythm. “He’s exactly what you need.”

  Air flowed from Rio’s lungs in a long, unsteady rush. “You mean us. Killer Bods.”

  “I mean you,” her partner qualified. “You need a good fucking by a young buck just like him to fry your brains senseless. You’ve been going without way too long.”

  “Shut up.”

  Water and ice spilled over her hand as she set the glass down, splashing on the wooden bar top. An instant later, Luanne the bartender wiped away the puddle and handed Rio a fresh white towel.