Cowboys Down (40 page)

“Look, I’m not a one-man kind of bloke, and I don’t see why I should be ashamed of that.” Dan stuck out his chin. He was buggered if he was going to let Robin take the moral high ground here. “I’m a player.”

“You’re a slut, you mean.”

“Fuck you.”

“Not a chance. I’ve got a girlfriend anyway. Mel. You remember?” There was no mistaking the challenge in Robin’s eyes. It was that defensiveness that fundamentally honest people always betrayed when they were lying through their teeth. “I’d better get going. I’m supposed to be meeting her at the Hat and Feather.”

Dan wasn’t going to let him get away that easily. “Funny that, I figured you were gay, the way you kissed me back in the pub. The
gay
pub, where you were having a drink with a
gay
man.” Bloody hell, if that wasn’t a blush spreading across Robin’s cheeks and making him look even more edible.

“I’m bi, but that’s nobody’s fucking business but my own, okay? Not that it matters, anyway, because I’m off to see my girlfriend. Good-bye, Dan.” His voice was sharp enough to make Dan wince, and it deterred him from following after Robin as he stalked away.

“See you soon, Robin,” he called.

Robin didn’t turn back.

Sighing heavily, Dan wrapped his jacket closer around his body and headed off towards the Hussars. Robin was right; that probably was more his kind of place, and there was no point wasting the evening. There’d be plenty of opportunity to get to work on Robin before he had to go back to London. He’d have him by the time his trip was over.

A smirk tugged at his lips.

Robin wouldn’t know what had hit him. Dan was going to rock his world.

True love has no brakes.

Pit Road

© 2011 Anah Crow and Dianne Fox

Running Under Caution, Book 1

Denny Clay never had much going for him, until the racing circuit took him out of the trailer park and away from his bigoted family. Luck smiled on him, and now he’s settled down—in the closet—with his crew chief and boyfriend, Sully Price.

Though they’re winning races and the fight to keep their relationship secret, Denny can’t shake the feeling he’s going to have to pay up for all this happiness. He never imagined reckoning would come in the form of a rare medical condition that might cost him his career. And maybe Sully too.

For once, Sully’s at a loss, with nothing in his fix-everything toolbox designed to repair his broken lover—or stop Denny’s inevitable slide into a black hole of self-loathing. With a little creativity and a few kinky accessories, Sully shifts into overdrive in the race to get Denny turned around. And prays that his stubborn persistence doesn’t drive their love into a ditch.

Warning: Broken heroes, hot sex, and one man’s hardcore determination to keep his lover in one piece.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Pit Road:

Crawling into the shower behind Denny, behind the seat, Sully pressed kisses to the long line of Denny’s spine. So much more could’ve gone wrong in that crash. He tried not to think about that.

Surprisingly enough, the kisses earned him a sigh of pleasure. As Sully ran his hands over Denny’s back, he could feel the knots in the muscles, even without pressing. He started working at them, and Denny whimpered and grabbed at the sides of the tub.

“I’ve got you, sugar,” Sully murmured against the nape of Denny’s neck. He started with light touches at the base of the spine and worked his way up. “You coulda said something. I’da rubbed your back before.”

Wasn’t as if he was going to say no to any chance to get his hands on Denny, sex or not.

“Just don’t want to get used to it, is all.” Denny was almost melting in his hands, shaggy golden head dropping so his chin hit his chest. “God, that feels good, Sully.”

“Why the hell not?” Sully bumped his nose against Denny’s head, frustrated with his stubbornness. He used to be able to take it but since the crash, he wanted Denny to let him help. They were as together as two people could get without the wedding part, and Denny trying to do this alone made zero sense. He worked his hands over Denny’s back, smoothing out the muscles until everything was as loose as he could make it.

Denny sighed and leaned against Sully. “’Cause you have to go to work again and I have to manage. I’ll get better, and you won’t have to worry none about it, Sully. That’s what I wanted—you’d come home and I’d be at least halfway to better. None of this limping and whining and hurting.”

“You dumb son of a bitch.” Sully wrapped his arms around Denny’s chest and held on to him gently. “You think I ain’t been worried sick about you this whole damn time I been out on the road?”

“I can’t help it if you’re a damn girl, Sully.” Denny leaned his cheek against Sully’s. “But I can sure as hell not be one about all this shit.”

“You get cleaned up, and I’ll take you on into the bedroom and show you what kinda girl I am.” Sully snorted, huffing against Denny’s cheek like a horse demanding treats. If Denny wasn’t gonna let him help, Sully was gonna help himself, that was certain. “Did me some shopping today.”

“Lord have mercy. What the hell did you do?” Denny turned his head, peering at him over his shoulder. He looked more than a mite skittish at the prospect of Sully going shopping for anything but car parts.

“Made damn sure next time I wanna fuck you, I ain’t gonna hurt you no more than you’re already hurting.”

Denny’s eyes went real wide and he shook his head. “You did what?”

Sully chuckled and petted Denny’s chest with one hand. “I bought a sling, one a them hammock-looking things you hang up from the ceiling so’s you don’t hafta kneel on the bed or nothing. I figured you weren’t gonna be up for that, what with your leg hurting you so bad. I improvised.”

“Are you out of your fool mind?” Denny didn’t look too pleased.

“Get yourself cleaned up, sugar.” Sully wasn’t going to let Denny’s foul mood bother him. “I ain’t gonna hurt you.”

Denny finished washing, and then he hauled himself up. “Damn right you’re not gonna hurt me. Not gonna hurt me because I ain’t playing around in any damn contraption.”

He couldn’t reach his crutches, and he couldn’t get out of the tub alone, so he stood there and glared. Sully pushed himself up to his feet and scooped Denny up without another word.

“You are such a stubborn little shit,” he muttered, carrying him out of the bathroom.

In the bedroom, he settled Denny in the seat of the sling and started sorting out the straps before he could protest too much.

Denny swore a blue streak, coming up with new words and calling Sully things he’d never called him before. He didn’t fight much, he just grabbed hold of the chains and hung on hard enough his knuckles went white. There was no way he could get loose without hurting himself, so he was almost helpful.

“Hush,” Sully murmured. Once Denny’s feet were set, Sully focused on making him feel good. He got his hands between Denny’s legs, toying with his balls.

“Oh, God.” Denny was strung up, legs spread and cradled in padded straps, his body held up securely, his hands clenched on the chains. He was all spread out and Sully’s touches were already working. He sounded damn insincere when he whispered, “I fucking hate you.”

Sully cupped the back of Denny’s head in one hand and brought him in for a kiss, slow and easy, as his fingers slipped down to rub and press at the smooth skin behind Denny’s balls.

“So much,” Denny added breathlessly. “There’s a fucking hole in our goddamn ceiling, Sully. This contraption better not break our condo or I’m throwing you out.” Somehow, his words lacked emphasis, especially the way he was rocking already, trying to work Sully’s fingers into him.

“I’ll fix the hole when we move out, sugar.” Sully grabbed the lube and slicked up his fingers, then started to tease in earnest. “More worried about another hole, right now.”

Denny’s head fell back, and he groaned, a shudder running through him. His nipples were hard and his cock twitched. “Christ. Sully…”

“I got you, sugar.” Sully pushed one finger inside as he leaned over to nip and suck at Denny’s nipples. Denny loved getting finger-fucked, and Sully loved doing it to him. Here, like this, he could do it without worrying he was going to hurt him.

“Yes.” It came out like a hiss and Denny’s whole body jerked. “Oh, yeah. Sully, please.”

Sully moaned, biting down as he fucked Denny with one finger and then two. The way Denny moved to take his fingers in told him all he needed to know about whether “this contraption” was doing its job or not. God damn, but Sully loved fixing things. He purred against Denny’s skin and got right to work doing what he did best.

Denny had been pissed off all day, and he’d been even more pissed off when Sully carried him upstairs. He was tired of being pissed off. And then the swing. The fucking swing. He hated the idea, hated the thing, hated getting into it. But when Sully started touching him, when he realized he was cradled in butter-soft leather that held him up and eased his aching back, when he was tipped backward so his throbbing legs were comfortably up and spread, he started to change his mind.

Sully slid two fingers in, and Denny felt like he was in heaven. He slipped his hands through the wrist straps and held on tight, taking some of his weight on his arms. He shifted and pushed down onto Sully’s fingers. He couldn’t help the way he was moaning. Sometimes he hated how he was such a sucker for being touched there, and that Sully knew how to get him going.

As good as it felt, Sully was going too damn slow for Denny’s liking, and he swallowed his pride to mutter, “Damn it, Sully. Stop your fuckin’ dawdling.”

“Not gonna let me play?” Sully asked, looking up at Denny as his tongue flicked over Denny’s nipple again. Sully’s blue eyes had gone dark with want. He pushed those two fingers in deep, and then added a third. “You look so damn good like this.”

“Oh, Christ.” Those wrist straps came in damn handy when Denny arched and shuddered. “Not like I can
make
you do anything like this.”

The realization hit Denny like a fist, that he was helpless and couldn’t even get himself out. It made his eyes go wide and his breath catch. Part of him loved it, and the rest of him was screaming blue murder for him to find a way out.

“Trust me, sugar.” Sully stopped moving his fingers, which got Denny’s attention right quick. “You’ve trusted me every damn time you’re out on the track. Think you can trust me now?”

Denny made himself breathe. He’d had way too much of being helpless lately. But this was Sully. This was his Sully who held his life in his big hands every time he opened up his car. And Sully sure as hell never caused him a minute’s pain.

“I do.” Maybe it was himself Denny didn’t trust. He was really, finally safe and, for a moment, all he felt was good, and he was scared he was going to fall apart.

Cowboys Down

Barbara Elsborg

Stockbroker meets stock breaker. But who’s taming whom?

London stockbroker Jasper Randolph flies to Jackson Hole with hopes as high as the Grand Tetons. Hope that the getaway will force him to let loose, get dirty, and overcome a deep-seated phobia about horseback riding.

He hadn’t counted on an attraction to the dude ranch owner’s son, a man with sun-tousled hair, eyes bluer than Wyoming skies…and a father who’d rather eat tofu than accept his only son’s sexuality.

The moment Calum lays eyes on the uptight, buttoned-down Brit, he’s lost. But with his own saddlebags full of emotional baggage, he knows he should be looking at anything but Jasper’s spotless riding boots and tight-fitting jodhpurs. Trouble is, Jasper makes his heart buck like a wild horse trying to break free.

Despite the differences that set them oceans apart, they fall hard and fast. Trouble isn’t far behind, and they’re in for a rocky romantic ride. Especially since there’s growing evidence that someone is willing to do anything—no matter how dangerous—to poison their love.

Warning: Mix one sun-bronzed cowboy with a yummy Brit who’d give Darcy in his wet shirt a run for his money. Mix gently. Try not to drool.

eBooks are
not
transferable.

They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B

Cincinnati OH 45249

Cowboys Down

Copyright © 2012 by Barbara Elsborg

ISBN: 978-1-60928-753-5

Edited by Sue Ellen Gower