Flanked (10 page)

The buzzer sounded. Chase’s bull ran through the out gate and Garret knew he was up. He anchored his spurs forward of the flank strap, flipped his chaps out of the way and nodded to the gateman. The wide metal gate swung wide and the bull took off, away from Garret’s riding hand, as predicted. The bull twisted and turned, bucking high in the rear, dipping low with his head. If Garret could make the eight seconds, this ride was going to get him one hell of a high score.

Pain shot like lightning through the shoulder of his riding arm, but he held tight. The bull was good, but Garret was better. He broke at the hips and kept his free hand out. He maintained his balance through every change of direction and during each time the bull snapped down and then back up in an attempt to dislodge him.

He heard the buzzer and reached for the tail of his rope. It released and he jumped to the ground, the blood roaring in his ears as loud as the cheers of the crowd. The confetti in the air told him he’d scored ninety or above. One glance at the scoreboard had him punching the air in victory. Ninety-point-five. It put him in the lead for the night.

Holding his shoulder, he grinned and accepted the congratulations of the bull fighters. Pain was part of the game. He’d ice this up and be good to go for tomorrow.

He was barely through the out gate when Silver was in front of him, grinning. “Oh my God. That was the hottest thing I’ve even seen.”

Garret laughed. “You’ve seen Aaron ride, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, but he’s my brother. That…you…we need to get out of here. Now.”

His brows rose high. There was no mistaking the look in her eyes. Silver was turned on. “Now? Aaron—”

“Still has to ride in the next flight. Right? That’s what Leesa said. He won’t even miss us if we slip out for a few minutes. Come on. You know you want to. Look at you. You’re shaking from the adrenaline. Imagine what it would feel like to fuck with all that still surging through your veins.” Her eyes were narrow, her voice low and sexy.

Hell, yeah, he wanted to. “Come on. Let’s go.”

With a glance over his shoulder, he planted a hand low on Silver’s back and steered her through the maze of people and hallways toward the back exit. She was right. The eight-second ride never failed to leave him with an adrenaline high with no outlet after it was over. After great rides—ninety-point rides—the high he felt was even greater. Sinking himself into her right now would be amazing, and as they pushed through the back door into the dark night, his hopes grew that he’d get to experience it firsthand now.

There were sometimes smokers hanging outside the back exits, so there was always a brick or something keeping the door from shutting totally and locking them out. Tonight he was doubly lucky, there was a rock keeping the door open, but no smokers around to witness him pulling Silver around the corner of the building for some privacy.

Reaching down, he planted one palm on each of her ass cheeks through her skirt and hoisted her up. She wrapped her bare legs around his waist as he braced her against the wall of the building. His mouth slammed into hers. Silver gyrated her hips and he felt the move shoot pleasure straight through his dick that was more than ready to be inside her. It was amazing.

In the dark quiet of the night, just steps from thousands of people, Garret sunk his tongue into Silver’s mouth. She moaned against him and rubbed his erection one more time. It was damn convenient that she was in a skirt, but he was still wearing all of his gear. It worked to protect him from the bull, but it also was a barrier between him and Silver, just when he wanted there to be nothing between them. They needed to be separated by a lot less clothing and he needed to be covered in latex, because he wanted inside this girl and he wanted it now. That was going to be a bit more problematic out here and vertical. Once day he’d have this girl in a real bed, but that was obviously not possible here and now.

Reality slammed into Garret and he pulled away. “Crap. No condom.”

He’d just gotten off a bull, for cripes sake. Hell, he hadn’t even bothered to take off his chaps and spurs or his riding vest yet. He definitely didn’t have his wallet, or his usual emergency condom that he kept inside it.

“Luckily for you, I have one.” With one arm still wrapped around his neck, she reached down her shirt with two fingers and whipped a small square package out of her cleavage.

“God, I love fucking you.” Garret laughed and took it from her while balancing her weight in his right hand. “I have to put you down for a second.”

“All right. Just for a second.” She put on a pout, which he was pretty sure was fake, as he set her feet on the ground.

While he unfastened his belt and jeans, he groaned as he saw Silver reach beneath her skirt and slide her panties down her long legs and over her cowboy boots. She stepped out of them and straightened with her underwear dangling from a finger.

Realization struck Garret. “You wore a skirt and brought a condom with you tonight because you were planning this, weren’t you?”

“I did have hopes for some sort of diversion tonight, but I definitely did not plan on getting turned on from watching you get thrown around on the back of a bull like a rag doll.” Silver tucked the panties into the front of Garret’s vest.

Just knowing her underwear was there had him throbbing. In fact, maybe he’d keep them as a memento. It would serve her right if he refused to give them back since she’d just insulted him. “I did not get thrown around like a rag doll, thank you very much. It was a near perfect ride.” Garret hoisted her up again and positioned her so she hovered just over the tip of his now condom-covered hard-on.

“Whatever. Now shut up and fuck me.”

“Gladly.” Bracing Silver between the wall and his body so he could support her weight and still maneuver, Garret lowered her over him. She was so wet his cock pierced her easily and he slid all the way inside. His adrenaline-fueled need, coupled with the awkward position, meant this wasn’t going to be his best ride as far as technique. “I’m not going to last long.”

As Garret made that announcement he felt his balls tighten and draw up.

“Fine.” Her one-word answer came out breathless as he pounded into her.

It was a good thing she was okay with it because there was no stopping the freight train of an orgasm that near flattened him. He pressed deep, crushing her against the wall as he buried his face in her hair to smother what, had they been someplace more private, would have been a loud roar of pleasure.

Still throbbing, he held deep inside her and didn’t move. Not only did he not want to move, he wasn’t sure he could. If the wall hadn’t been behind her, there was a good chance he would have dropped her. His arms were weak both from the ride and from holding her up, and now that the adrenaline was starting to leave his system, his shoulder hurt like hell.

Silver’s thighs tightened around his hips and she pressed her pelvis tighter against his. She plunged her tongue between his lips as she ground her clit against him. She only made the tiniest of motions with her hips, but it must have done it for her. Her breathing quickened and he felt her muscles clamp down on his fading cock. He drew in a shaky breath, knowing what was coming. Silver moaned against his mouth and he felt her orgasm hit, massaging his cock inside her.

He held her there until the last of the aftershocks squeezed him, then he broke the news to her. “I’ve gotta put you down. I’m sorry.”

Still panting and clinging to his neck, she nodded.

She released the vise grip of her legs around his waist and Garret lowered her to the ground. He let his right arm bear most of her weight because his left arm was starting to feel more and more useless thanks to the pain in his shoulder. Once she was standing safely, he clutched at it.

“You okay?” She watched the action and frowned.

“I just need to ice it, is all. Are you okay? Is the new tattoo still sore?”

“Yes, but it was worth it.”

He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his lips, in spite of the pain. “That was un-fucking-believable.”

She smiled too. “Yeah. But it doesn’t mean we don’t still have a date in the truck later when Aaron and Skeeter are asleep.”

Garret laughed. “All right.”

That he could handle. Sports medicine could fix him up with an icepack and an Ace bandage, and then later he could sit in his truck while Silver rode him. No problem. Now, however, he had to get himself put back together before anyone wandered by and found him with his dick hanging out.

Once again, he was forced to litter as he pulled off the used condom and flung it into the darkness. “I swear if we ever do this some place normal, like a bedroom, I’ll show you that I usually do dispose of those properly.”

“Sure.” Silver smiled but still eyed his shoulder as he struggled to buckle his belt. “You positive your arm is okay?”

“I’m gonna have the doc take a look at it when we’re back inside. It’s been giving me some problems since the beginning of this season, but so far I’ve been able to ride through it.” Garret shrugged, but only with his right side.

“All right. If you say so.” Her eyes focused on how he was still holding his arm. He let his right hand drop and pretended he was fine.

“I’m good. Don’t worry.” Put back together and presentable again, at least as far as his clothing was concerned, he glanced at Silver. “You ready to go back in?”

“Sure.” A wide grin appeared and then she outright laughed.

“What?” Garret frowned.

“You’re welcome to keep those, but you do realize I have to climb a flight of open metal stairs over the heads of all your fellow bull riders to get up to my seats. I’ll be doing that in a skirt with no underwear on if you do.” She glanced at the underwear sticking out of the top of his vest.

“Oh, shit. Yeah, I guess that would be bad.” He pulled them out, feeling how soft the satin felt against his fingertips. “You do realize that if we were anywhere else, I’d keep them?”

Silver took the underwear from him and bent to put them on. “If we were anyplace else, you could have them. I bought them and the condoms when I was out shopping during your meeting.”

Garret’s brow rose. He was more than intrigued to hear she’d been thinking of him, of this, while they were apart today. He liked the idea. “Oh really. What else did you get?”

“You’ll see.” She smirked before she turned and started to walk back.

That promise and her devilish smile had him hardening again as he eyed her bare legs and followed her toward the door. If this was only round one for the evening, he couldn’t wait to get to round two.

They arrived back inside just in time to see Aaron in the chute. Garret put his hand on Silver’s shoulder and tilted his head in the direction of the action. “Hold up. Aaron’s about to ride.”

If she went up to her seat now, she’d miss him. She turned and followed the direction he’d nodded toward, just in time to see Aaron and the bull spin into the middle of the arena. Garret had wanted to make sure she saw her brother ride, but he wished it wasn’t just to watch Aaron hit the dirt before making eight. He had to be dragged to safety by the bull fighters and came out of the arena looking pretty unhappy.

He came through the out gate with his bull rope dangling from one hand while he pulled out his plastic mouth guard with the other. His gaze narrowed when it hit upon Silver standing next to Garret along the rails.

“Where were you?” Aaron was already in a pissed-off mood to begin with because he didn’t cover his ride, but apparently he’d also noticed Silver had been absent from her seat.

“I had to go to the ladies’ room.” She shrugged. “Why? What’s the problem?”

His brows rose high. “You almost missed my ride.”

“But I didn’t. I saw you, so it’s all good.”

Aaron scowled and finally turned his attention to Garret. The frown in his forehead deepened. “What are you doing here with her?”

“I…uh…saw her coming back from the bathroom and wanted to make sure she didn’t miss you. But now I gotta get to the medical room.”

“What’s wrong? Your ride looked just about perfect.”

Garret smiled. His ride had been fucking perfect. At least Aaron had noticed and appreciated it, even if Silver had thought he’d looked like a—what were her exact words? A rag doll.

“Thanks. My shoulder’s just acting up again. A little ice will fix it up. Maybe a shot of cortisone.” Garret touched his shoulder for effect. Aaron didn’t seem to be suspicious any longer at finding him standing with Silver. He decided to do his best to keep it that way. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

Aaron nodded and turned back to Silver. Garret decided to leave her to clean up her own mess with her brother. She seemed to have this lying thing down better than he did anyway.

He made his way down the hall and to the room the sports-medicine team had set up for caring for the riders. Inside, Garret saw the bulls had definitely won the night, if the number of riders covering every surface in various states of undress was any indication.

“Hey, Garret. What’s up?” Doc Tandy’s gaze swept him from head to toe.

“My shoulder.”

He nodded. “I told you it wasn’t going to get any better. Only worse.”

Garret supposed the doctor had said that, but he’d chosen to ignore it and would continue to do so as long as he could still ride through the pain. “It’s not bad. Just sore. Some ice should do me fine.”

The doctor grabbed Garret’s arm with both hands, raising and rotating it at the shoulder. Garret winced as the pain shot through him. Doc Tandy saw the expression and scowled. “You need surgery.”

“Nah. I’m good.”

Tandy shook his head and blew out a loud breath. “Take off your shirt. I’ll get you that ice.”

Luke Carpenter was leaning on one of the tables, ice on his knee. “You know, you could get that taken care of during the break and hardly miss any of the season.”

“Yeah, or I could keep ignoring it.” Garret nodded toward Luke’s leg stretched out straight on the table in a brace. The man had been riding with a torn ACL for most of the season himself. “You could get that taken care of during the break too.”