Bound & Determined (Texas Cowboys Book 4) Read online

  “Starting a conversation.” She turned on the bedside lamp, and he looked down at his wrist.

  Steel handcuffs, one linked around his wrist and the other clamped around the rung of a long steel chain, which in turn was wrapped around the solid oak bedpost.

  Cody pulled his arm, rattling the chain. There was enough slack for him to rise, but not enough for him to step closer to her because she hugged the wall three feet away.

  His gaze narrowed on her. “Tara, get the key,” he said softly.

  She cleared her throat and eased along the wall, keeping well out of his reach. “You may as well have a seat on the bed. You aren’t going anywhere. I hid the key.”

  “I have to pee.”

  “No, you don’t. But if you did, I still wouldn’t unlock those cuffs.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Plan on giving me a jar?”

  She shrugged. “Maybe we won’t be here all that long. Depends on you.”

  Cody looked at the cuff, fisted his hand beneath it, and tugged hard, but the solid oak post didn’t budge, didn’t even creak. When his gaze came back up to meet hers, he saw her lips crimp at the corners as though she was trying not to smile.

  He still couldn’t believe she’d done something like this just to keep him here to talk. Cuffing him seemed a little drastic if that’s all she wanted. Maybe conversation wasn’t her true motive at all. Maybe she wanted him to finish what he’d started.

  So, she wanted to play another sort of sexy game with him… Cody had never left a woman unfulfilled. Even if she was the one holding the key, he could still be in charge.

  Tara wouldn’t know until it was too late.

  Chapter Five

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  Tara felt pretty pleased with herself, knowing that she’d taken the lead, until she noted the way his body relaxed, shoulders falling, his hands unfisting to settle on his hips. His gaze was still narrowed, but she doubted he was angry—one side of his mouth started a sexy upward slide.

  Just looking at him, trussed up for her pleasure, she stifled a sigh.

  Lord, he took a woman’s breath away with that silver bracelet glinting against crisp hairs and a tanned wrist, his bare chest gleaming, every bulge and indentation emphasizing his masculine appeal. A glimpse of his body would make any woman salivate, but add his blonde hair, drying in short, soft curls around his head, and his hard-edged, handsome face—it was all a girl could do not to pant like a bitch in heat.

  “I don’t think I can manage my boots with one hand,” he growled. “You’re gonna have to slide them off.”

  “You don’t need them off,” she said, her voice equally gruff as she tried not to give him a clue she lied.

  “Since we may be talkin’ a long time,” he said, his voice oozing sensual appeal, “I want to get comfortable. I wouldn’t like to get dirt on your covers.”

  “I don’t have the key on me,” she said quickly, “if you’re just waitin’ for me to get close enough to wrestle me for it.”

  One dark blonde brow arched. “Who says I wanna be freed?”

  She tilted her head, not trusting his slick tone. He used the same sexy rumble when he was sliding deep inside her. Her gaze dropped to the front of his jeans. His arousal jutted outward in a long, thick bulge behind his zipper.

  Moisture pooled in her mouth at the thought of what she wanted to do first. She swallowed hard. “We’re going to play a little game.”

  His lips curled, and his eyelids dipped as his gaze swept her body. “Your last resort’s not the only game in town,” he said softly. “Woman like you shouldn’t have any trouble finding someone more…suitable.”

  Tara grew still, understanding his reaction now. “That upset you? My saying that?”

  “A man doesn’t like to know he’s last on a woman’s list.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  His mouth tightened. “Well, maybe you should explain what you did mean.”

  She lifted her chin. “Mind if I do it while we play?”

  Tension melted away as they shared rueful smiles.

  Relieved he wasn’t truly angry, Tara unbelted her robe and shrugged out it, leaving it behind on the floor while she sauntered closer, hips swaying. When she reached him, she placed both hands on his chest and shoved hard.

  He fell, bouncing slightly, the manacled arm stretched to one side. He chuckled while she climbed over him the same way he had earlier. She spread her knees over his hips and settled her sex against his clothed cock.

  Bending over him, she leaned low until her lips hovered just above his. “You’re not in charge here, Cody.”

  White teeth flashed briefly. “Anything you say sweetheart, but you can’t have your wicked way with me until you drag down that zipper.”

  “Who says that’s where I’m heading?”

  “It’d be a goddamn waste not to let me finish what I started.”

  She raised her brows and smiled. “You had your chance.”

  “I’d hate to leave a lady wanting.”

  Her eyes narrowed on him. “This lady doesn’t like being lumped in with the rest of the population.”

  “I don’t like leaving you wanting, Tara,” he whispered against her lips. “Let me make it up to you.”

  She titled her head. “A question first. Then a reward.”

  “I don’t like games,” he growled again.

  “At least not ones where you can’t rig the outcome…am I right?”

  “I’m a man. Can’t talk when my cock’s about to drill a hole through denim.”

  She ground down on him, rubbing her pussy along his thick column. “I could get off just like this. Couldn’t you?”

  “Fuck, Tara,” he groaned. “Just open my pants. We’ll get this over quick. Then you can play your game.”

  She scooted higher up his body until she straddled his waist. She leaned slightly away, cupped one breast, and aimed the spiked nipple at his lips. “Make it good, baby.”

  His head came off the mattress, and he burrowed lips and nose against her soft breast, rooting until his mouth clamped around the tip.

  Tara closed her eyes, squeezing her thighs hard around his taut middle as his tongue lashed and lips tugged. When his teeth bit gently, she shuddered and slipped a hand beneath his head to bring him closer.

  “So good…” she moaned.

  His lips opened, releasing the tip, and then he licked around the areola and nuzzled the tender underside of her breast. “Gimme the other.”

  She ignored the fact he’d commanded her and slipped to the side to let him devour her opposite breast. When his free hand smoothed down her back, she began to rock against him, letting her moist center dampen his belly.

  His hand slipped between their bodies as he continued to lavish her breast with soft swirls of his tongue. Fingers combed through her short curls. One callused tip scraped the rounded knot at the top of her folds.

  Tara’s breath caught. Her hips undulated, dragging on his fingertip. She pushed off his belly just enough to give him access, moaning as he slid between her folds and plunged into her pussy.

  Her body quivering, she pumped softly, up and down, until soon it wasn’t enough. She pulled her breast away from his suctioning mouth, straightened, and began to bounce. Heat curled deep in her womb. Moisture spilled from her channel to soak his hand. Another finger joined the two he’d stuffed inside her.

  “That’s it. Ride me, Tara.”

  Tara opened her eyes to find his gaze on her face, his jaw sawing shut. She thrust onto his hand twice more, and then came up on her knees. She pushed his hand away and backed off the bed.

  Boots, socks, jeans—all flew off in a flurry, despite her shaking hands. She urged him to stretch the length of the bed, and then lay down beside him.

  His free hand combed back her hair from her face, and he pressed a quick, hot kiss against her lips. “Unlock the cuff. Let me come over you.”

  “Lift up, I’ll slide under you.”

  They managed b
etween his sharp, fierce curses and her raspy commands. In the end, his cuffed hand stretched above them, his elbow digging into the mattress beside her shoulder. Their bodies lay at a slant, stretched across the bed, but now, they lay aligned, her legs parted, her thighs cradling his hips.

  Cody’s head sagged against her shoulder as he slowly thrust his cock inside her.

  They both moaned, and then their mingled breaths hitched. Choked laughter gusted.

  “God, this feels so good,” she sighed, as he drove deeper with each shallow thrust, wedging his cock inside her narrow channel.

  “Wish I could get some leverage. I’d buck like a bronc.”

  A smile tugged the edges of her mouth. “Guess you’ll have to keep this horse at a slow gait.”

  “Whoo-ee,” he whispered.

  “Ride me, cowboy.” Her arms came around his waist, and she dug her heels into the bed to tilt her hips upward, searching for just the right angle…

  His cock drove straight up her pussy in quick short strokes.

  When he nudged the bundled nerves deep inside her, air hissed between her teeth.

  “That get it?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “Hold on.”

  The bed creaked as he pounded into her, forcing air from her lungs as he angled his hips side to side with each lunge.

  His knees came up beneath him, and she raised her legs higher, tilting to cup his groin, giving him an unimpeded target so he could pummel her pussy with delicious jolts of his thick, hard cock.

  Tara scraped his back with her nails, trying to wrap herself around him, trying to climb her legs around his hips and take him deeper. Cody grunted, widened his knees, and pounded harder.

  This was what she loved about him. Stamina, and then some. Thick, corded muscle that could deliver powerful thrusts. A long, thick cock that rammed through soft tissue, friction burning, swelling her passage until only the natural lubricant of her arousal eased his harsh thrusts.

  He filled her body, her heart. One fact he knew well, the other she’d have to guard against him ever discovering, or he’d be gone.

  When the sweet tension tightening her belly reached critical mass, she arched beneath him, keening, her head slamming the mattress as lightning-heat engulfed her.

  When she slowly came down, she opened her eyes.

  Cody had stopped rocking between her thighs. His chest heaved with exertion, and sweat bathed his face, arms, and torso. Stretched over her, he pinned her to the mattress with his massive cock deeply embedded inside her. Soft aftershocks caressed his length, but still he didn’t move.

  Tara struggled to catch her breath, gradually winning the battle. Trying to gather her shattered thoughts was a different story. The tension radiating from his body telegraphed the fact he was very far from done with her.

  “You okay?” he asked softly.

  “I’m…fantastic.” She really was, but she’d just thrown in the towel, hadn’t she? Wasn’t this supposed to be her turn to blow his mind?

  “What did you mean, when you said I was a last resort?”

  From the frown furrowing his forehead, she knew he didn’t like asking the question. He didn’t want to care what she thought.

  She concentrated on that need and drew one more ragged inhalation before answering. “Cody, I’m forty-two years old. And I don’t buy that shit about forty being the new thirty. I’m beyond my prime. Finding lovers isn’t that easy anymore. Finding someone special… Well, that’s proven even more elusive.”

  “You think you’re too old? But you have so much to offer a man.”

  “What? A business? A home of my own? I suppose if I was looking for someone who wanted me to play sugar-mama, I’d have no problems at all. But look where I live. Cowboy country. No good cowboy wants a woman just because she can take care of him. And I wouldn’t respect him if he did.”

  Cody’s gaze slid away. “You sell yourself short if you think you can’t offer a man anything more than money.”

  “Well, I’m glad you think so, but I know there are some pretty important things I just can’t do.”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, one thing a man hooking up with a woman might expect is kids. I’m a little old to start poppin’ out babies.”

  “Why’d you stay single so long?”

  She shrugged, knowing her answer would seem ridiculous. “I never found someone I wanted for more than sex.”

  His eyebrows jagged up and down. “I hear you there.”

  “I mean, I’ve had lovers who were friends, but I never felt anything more than slight regret when they were gone. Maybe I don’t know how to love a man.”

  Cody grunted. “That’s plain foolish. Anyone who knows how to be a friend can love.”

  Uncomfortable now that she’d revealed so much, she snorted. “Yeah, well that’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it. Now it’s your turn. Tell me something…”

  He didn’t bother trying to hide a grimace.

  “Fair’s fair,” she said, arching one brow. “I answered your questions.”

  His lips tightened into a straight line, and then he rolled his eyes. “All right. Ask away.”

  “You said what we have is special. I don’t get that. Is it special because you don’t have to try with me? ’Cause I can tell you, I wasn’t flattered one bit.”

  Cody let out deep sigh. “Guess it doesn’t sound so special put that way, but I don’t usually come back for seconds. I sure as hell don’t stay when I think a woman wants more from me than what I have to give.”

  “I still don’t get it. So, all you like is the sex?”

  He paused, his glance sliding away. “I like you,” he said softly.

  “Oh.” That wasn’t so bad. Like was better than nothing.

  “I don’t feel like I have to be a certain way. It’s straight up sex, sure. But I like talking to you, too. I’m not in a rush to get back into my clothes and back on down the road.”

  She snorted. “Now, I feel so much better.”

  “Tara…”

  She wrinkled her nose. “No, don’t worry. I’m not asking for declarations here. I just needed to know where I stand. I’m good enough to fuck. Good enough to share a meal and a laugh. That’s something, I guess.”

  A frown pulled his brows into an anxious frown. “Tara, stop. I can’t give a woman any more than that. I’ve never given so much.”

  She frowned. “But why?”

  He shook his head. “That was one question. Don’t I deserve a little something in return?”

  She forced a smile, knowing she’d been close to getting a deeper revelation, but that door had slammed shut. “Fair’s fair. But you have to get off me, first. I can’t breathe.”

  His head dipped. His forehead rolled on her shoulder. “Jesus, don’t ask me to pull out.”

  Tara grinned as she shoved aside her curiosity, determined to burrow a little deeper the next time she got the chance. But for now, she had a man chained to her bed, and her body was once again beginning the slow build to full-blown arousal.

  “Cody,” she purred, “I swear you’ll have something else warm to sink inside.”

  His head came up, his gaze locking with hers. Blue eyes darkened, but he grimaced again as he withdrew, groaning as the last luscious inch slipped from inside her. He rolled away, covering his eyes with his manacled arm.

  His cock, slick with her honeyed arousal, was reddened, pulsing. Tara came to her knees, stepping between his legs and sinking over him, first rubbing her hair along his wet flesh, then her cheek, inhaling the combined scents of their arousal and musk. She cupped his balls in her palm and rolled them, squeezing gently and tugging.

  His arm moved, and he jerked his head up to watch her. “Easy there.”

  “Not gentle enough?”

  “A man gets a little nervous.”

  She slid further down his body and opened her mouth, stroking out her tongue to lave one ball, swirling on it, and then she opened her mouth again and sucked
it inside, gobbling at him playfully until his head fell back again on a long groan.

  His free hand smoothed over the top of her head, and fingers sank into her hair to pull her closer.

  She swallowed the other ball into her mouth, tongue and lips working on him, suctioning then soothing with gentle laps until his hips began to pulse.

  Only then did she release his balls and lick her way up his cock, following his long shaft upward, curving her tongue around him to glide up the outside, and then giving him little doggie laps down the sensitive top of his shaft.

  His knees came up on either side of her, his ass lifting from the bed to stroke upward, pressing his cock against her cheek and mouth, begging silently for her capture the tip and swallow him down.

  Tara gave him a smug smile and wrapped her fingers around his shaft, pointing his cock toward her mouth. She gave the tip a wet swipe of her tongue then opened wide. She swallowed the soft, broad cap and suctioned on it, sliding her tongue into the narrow slit at the center, and then scooping under the ridge.

  Cody stroked upward again, trying to thrust deep into her mouth, but she backed away, not letting him sink inside her. Instead, she continued to lick the cap and began to softly chew with her teeth buffered by her lips.

  “Jesus, Tara,” he moaned.

  She liked the edge of desperation in his tone and the deep growl that followed. But she wasn’t nearly done.

  She cupped his velvet sac, tugging once, and glided the tip of one finger beneath it, tracing a path downward that had his breath catching.

  “Tara…” he said, his voice rising in warning.

  She came off his cock. Her fingertip continued to circle the tender flesh just beneath his balls. “What do you want? Me sucking you dry? Or shall I stop?” she asked silkily.

  “Careful there,” he bit out.

  “Really want me to stop here?” she asked, scraping her nail lower, nearing the crevice he seemed so concerned she’d explore.

  His hot glare could have blistered paint, but he dropped back his head and stared stoically at the ceiling.

  “That’s better,” she murmured, and removed her finger, bringing it to her mouth to wet it. Then she bent over his cock, opened wide and sank down his shaft while sliding her finger between his buttocks.