Corporate Cowboy (13 page)

I can barely lift my head. “Yes.”

“Emma, be very quiet, do not make a sound.”

Gage moves slightly and repositions his hand, pushing and curling up into my core and finding the spot. I gasp and clutch his arm. “Come now, Emma.”

My body lets go, and I burrow into Gage’s neck. I bite his shirt collar to keep from crying out. The orgasm tears through me, and his hand grabs my pussy hard, squeezing. I explode with a force I’d never before felt.

“We must go now, Emma.”

“No…”

Gage rises, bringing me to a shaking stand with him. His arm is about me, and I am still trembling with the effects of an orgasm that did not come entirely to fruition, as he leads me through the restaurant. I want him. Badly. I want him inside of me, pushing me beyond any orgasm I’ve ever hoped to feel. I want him to stretch me and claim me, and…

Own me.

I hear someone say something to him and he replies with, “My wife is not feeling well. Just getting her some air.”

Somehow, we exit the restaurant, and I walk through the parking lot to Gage’s truck. He tucks me in on the passenger side, and I am reeling as he gets in on his side and locks the doors.

Chapter Twelve

The second Gage latches the door I know we are not finished. He tips the steering wheel up and presses the button on the driver’s seat to move it backward into the rear of the cab, and then reclines the seat as far as back as it will go. The truck has one of those extended cabs with a pair of seats in the back.

He reaches for me and roughly tugs me to his side of the truck. “Ride me, Emma.”

I want him. Terribly.

Don’t think, Emma. Life is more fun that way.

I yank at his belt, pulling the leather strap back to unbuckle it. I feel brave and wanton and slutty but I don’t care. I am loving the freedom of taking orders from Gage and simply doing what he says.

Although we are parked several spaces away from the lone light in the parking lot, the moonlight provides enough illumination in the cab to see what I am doing, but not enough to show us off—entirely. Gage lays back and watches my hands as I work over his clothes, unbutton the top button of his dress pants and unzip his zipper. I tug fabric aside and pull his boxers down to unleash a large and engorged cock.

“Oh my,” I look up into Gage’s face.
Can I do this?

“Suck it,” he says.

I fight a momentary panic. What if I don’t do it right?

“Emma,” he slurs, “the only thing you have to worry about is following my direction. And right now I want your pretty pink lips around the head of my dick. Do it.”

I circle him with my thumb and forefinger at the base of his shaft and position myself partly on his seat and partly on the console. Lowering, I close my eyes and take him into my mouth. Immediately, his soft hardness fills me, and a zing of desire pushes me forward.

I
want
to suck him. I want to suck him hard.

I hollow out my cheeks and pull him deeper into my mouth. Gage growls and throws his head back. He is salty, slick and musky, and I can’t get enough of the taste of him. Swirling my tongue around his tip inside my mouth, I linger and tease under the ridges of his head, and push further.

Gage jerks up and grasps my forearms. “Enough. Ride me.” He reaches into his jacket pocket and hands me a packet. “Put this on.”

Quickly, I fumble with the condom packet while he pushes his pants and boxers down a little more. I roll the condom over his cock, wasting no time. My pussy is throbbing, and all I can think about is getting that cock of his inside me and finishing what we started in the restaurant. Gage groans and hisses as my fingers shakily work their way down his shaft.

Suddenly, he drags me up and over his legs, and I straddle him. With deft fingers, he finds my opening and without hesitation, I am pressing his cock into me.

“Oh. God.” I gasp.

He fills me more fully with each inch I descend. My pussy is wet and ready, and I long to take on more and more of him. He arches up and pushes into me. I flatten out my legs, spread wider, and ease him fully inside.

Gage grabs a fist of hair and jerks my face to his mouth. Frantically, our lips find the other’s and we kiss, tug, bite and devour, while I fuck him—gyrating over him, my pussy into his pelvis. He bites my lip and that simple act spurs me on.

“I’m fucking you,” I whisper, my voice laced with a raspy edginess I have never heard before. “I’m fucking you, Mr. Parker. Sir.”

“God damn, Emma.” His hands splay over my head, forcing me still against him. His tongue pushes deep into my mouth. He pulls back with a gasp and says, “I can’t get enough of you, dammit.”

I want him deep. Deeper inside me. “I can’t spread myself wide enough,” I pant. “I want more.”

Gage growls and releases my hair. His hands skim up my thighs and to my hips under my dress. He pushes the fabric up until the hem is at my waist. He slaps my ass and grabs each cheek, pulling and tugging at my hips, forcing my body to fuse more intimately with his. I pump over him, ride him, watching his face. He breathes hard and heavy, his mouth open, his eyes wide, and a look of intense concentration on his face.

He says nothing but grasps the bodice of my dress and pulls it down, ripping it slightly and sending sparkles of tiny crystals dancing in the moonlight. He pushes fabric away until one of my breasts comes free and he lurches forward to take it into his mouth. He sucks and pulls, his teeth tight on my nipple.

I scream a little at the pain and then gasp at the pleasure I feel as he continues to bite and tug. The alternating sensation of pain-pleasure shoots an arc of rising desire from that nipple to my clit.

“Oh, damn…”

I don’t know where to concentrate. On grinding into Gage with my pussy or on the assault he is executing on my nipple.

I just let it all go.

The pressure inside my core builds; a gradual crescendo of pleasure curls up inside me and I know that soon I will spin out of control. I long to come.

“Gage…” I hiss.

“Wait.”

“Oh, God…”

He pumps. I meet his thrusts and watch his face contort into a slow twist of pain and then a wash of pending pleasure.

“Gaww!” He shouts. “Come, Emma!”

He thrashes and I hump, squeezing him with my insides and crushing into his body as he convulses. I involuntarily jerk and shudder, thoroughly out of control and sinking into an utter and complete orgasmic detonation.

I am jolted to the core. We tremble together, coming off the sex high. After a moment, I fall into him, flat against his chest. His arms fold around me, and we breathe, erratically at first and then nearly in sync. I am not sure whether I can move.

A minute or so passes, and I push back to look at Gage. His eyes flutter open and for a moment, he simply stares up at me, his expression blank. He runs a soft knuckle down my cheek and brushes away a few stray hairs.

“We should get you home,” he says softly, and I reluctantly pull myself off him and roll into the passenger seat, tugging my dress back in all of the right places. I feel empty without him inside me. Gage takes a moment to take care of the condom and then fixes his clothes.

He fishes his keys out of his pocket, adjusts his seat, and sighs, pausing as he prepares to slide the keys into the ignition. He turns and looks at me for a moment, his gaze less intense than I have ever seen it, and I wonder if I am looking at the real Gage. Not the rough stock, corporate cowboy he’s known to be. Not the Dom who only wants to control women. But the man behind the hard layers. The real man.

Then Gage reaches out and puts his hand behind my neck, drawing me closer.

He kisses me. Soft, tender, lingering…Then pulls back and starts the truck, looking forward through the windshield.

“Seatbelts,” he says, and we both put ours on. I watch him for the next few minutes as we drive through downtown Billings. He doesn’t look my way once.

The silence remains until we get to my apartment building. He parks and gets out, rounds the front of the truck, and helps me out. We pause shortly, standing in the open door. Gage fiddles with the torn neckline of my dress.

“You looked stunning tonight,” he says. “I’ll buy you a new dress.”

“I like this one,” I tell him. “I don’t need a new one.”

He laughs and the tension between us breaks a little. “Would you have dinner with me tomorrow at my condo? Fancy attire not required, but if you want, you can wear this again.”

I smile. “I would love that.”

“All right. We’ll talk tomorrow. Let’s get you upstairs.”

Gage walks me into the apartment building and we take the elevator up to my floor. At my apartment door, I pause, look at him and shrug. “Key?”

A knowing smirk spreads across Gage’s face as he pulls his keys out of his pocket and flips to the one he wants. He pushes it into the lock and turns the knob. The door opens.

I should be surprised, but I’m not. He looks at me and shrugs back. “I own the building,” he says.

Oh my.
I step inside and turn to face him, lingering only a second. “Goodnight, Gage. Sir.”

He tips his head. “Good night, Emma.”

Chapter Thirteen

Although Gage’s condo was less than fifteen minutes away from Emma’s apartment, he decided to head to the ranch. The night was still young and he’d be there in a little over an hour. Besides, that hour gave him time to think.

Not ready to settle down for the evening.

He’d not planned to have sex with Emma tonight. His plan had been to build up to it over the next two weeks. He’d wanted the tension to increase and heighten each day to the point where neither of them could hold back. He had wanted an explosive weekend with him at the wheel—calculating and controlling every move, every step of the way.

“What the hell happened?”

Emma happened. In that damn dress.

The second she’d opened her apartment door he knew
not
fucking her was going to be a struggle. Hell, he’d wanted to fuck her every day since he’d known her.

He should have restrained himself. Kept control.

Impossible.

The entire day had been a build-up to the event. Happy that they had gotten some logistics out of the way, he was also intrigued by what he’d learned about Emma—and he wanted to know more.

He frowned, thinking about a couple of things Emma said. He’d castrate the asshole college boyfriend if he could, because he was pretty damned sure he’d made Emma feel like shit about sex. And there was something about the prom date that was wrong. Way wrong.

He pondered that a minute and then picked up his phone. With one punch, he dialed and waited as the phone rang.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Parker?”

“Just a little investigation, Chad.”

“Yes, sir. Let me get my pad.” Gage waited a few seconds. “All set now. What can I do?”

“Emma Lavender had a boyfriend in college. I want to know more about him—whatever you can find.”

“Yes, sir. Anything else?”

“Yes. There was a high school boyfriend, too. A prom date. Maybe her junior year, she was seventeen.”

“I’ll get right on it.”

“Thank you.”

He tossed the phone in the console. It was going to be two long weeks.

But that wasn’t what worried him. The thing messing with his head tonight was what happened after he and Emma had sex, and the reason why he needed to drive. Clear his brain. Think.

In all of his adult life, he could honestly say he’d never felt anything other than lust for a woman. Sexual desire. Physical attraction.

Nothing else.

But Emma… She evoked feelings he didn’t want to explore and definitely didn’t want to admit.

So he wouldn’t. All the better. Weird emotions or not, in two weeks, she would be out of his life, so it was best to pack those feelings away now and not bring them out again.

He’d learned to do that a long time ago. He could do it now.

Watching the road in front of him, Gage let his mind drift to a place it seldom went—to his life before he was adopted by the Parkers—his life with his birth mother. He’d loved her. She was the center of his world for his first few years. Beautiful, with a soft voice and an easy demeanor—unless she was drunk or high. Even at a young age, he knew the difference. When she was drinking, she became hard and bitter. Mean. And he was in the way. Especially if her boyfriends were around.

If she was high, she was nothing. Comatose, practically. Gage and his brother were on their own. He wasn’t sure which was worse—getting hit and pushed around or being ignored and neglected.

That’s when he’d learned to turn off emotions. To not get emotionally involved with anyone. What was he…five years old? Six? How many years had he and Murphy lived like that? He’d blocked most of it out of his head. Wiped it clean.

And that’s why his sexual lifestyle worked for him. He’d chase, capture, and release.

Then move on to the next. No involvement past the contracted agreement.

And that was what had to happen with Emma. This two weeks was simply the chase, and by God, he was going to enjoy it. But no emotion, no feeling. He’d already told her as much, and it was what she expected. Once the weekend was through, he’d release her, and everything would be back to normal.

His cell phone rattled against the console, pulling him out of his thoughts. He glanced ahead at the empty road and feeling safe enough to answer, reached for the phone. Had Chad found out something already?

The phone lit up and he saw a text message.

Amanda:
Call me.

Fuck.
He dropped the phone back in the console and drove on. The last thing he wanted to do tonight was talk to Amanda. After a few minutes, it buzzed again.

He looked.

Amanda:
I’m serious.
Call me now, Gage.

“What the hell?” He didn’t know and didn’t care. Amanda was history. He pushed the button to turn the phone off and tossed it into the back seat. Simultaneously, he pressed the accelerator and headed for the ranch.

****

Cole wasn’t expecting him so Gage tried to be as quiet as possible as he keyed the lock and stepped inside the kitchen. Of course, Cole’s apartment was on the other side of the house, but Gage still didn’t want to alarm or startle him.

Hell, Cole would come out guns ablazin’ if he thought someone was breaking in.

Maybe he should have texted and told him he was coming home, but he hadn’t wanted to dig the phone out of the back seat.

Being quiet didn’t seem to work, however, because as soon as Gage closed the door behind him, Cole rounded the corner. “You sure as hell are keeping some odd hours lately, boss.”

Gage shrugged out of his jacket. “Well, it’s been an odd few days.”

“You’re all dressed up.”

“Had a business dinner.”

“Oh, that what you calling it now?”

Gage glared at him and leaned against the counter. “How was your day?”

“Good. Made progress on the barn and finished cutting the bulls. You in a better mood than when you headed out of here this morning?”

“Probably not.”

“What’s up?”

“Nothing I want to talk about.”

Cole nodded. “I see. How about some coffee. Or better yet, a beer.”

“Now you’re talkin’.”

Cole went to the refrigerator and pulled out two bottles. He handed one to Gage, and the men moved through the kitchen into the great room. Cole sat on the sofa. Gage fell into his favorite recliner and put his feet up.

For a couple of minutes they drank their beers in silence.

For whatever reason, Gage blurted out, “There is a woman.”

Cole arched a brow. “Tell me more.”

Gage took another swig. “You’re right. She’s messing with my head.”

“In a good or bad way?”

“I don’t know. Could be both.”

The both were silent for a moment, and then Gage added, “She’s a good person. Different than the others. I can’t keep my eyes and hands off her.” He paused. “Make no mistake, I want to control her. I want to dominate her when I fuck her. But it’s…different.”

“Does she have a name?”

Gage smiled. “Yes. Her name is Emma.”

“Does she know what she’s getting into?”

Gage lifted his shoulders. “Yeah, she does. But hell, I don’t know what I’m getting into. She’s twisting my brain.”

Cole didn’t respond for a minute, then said, “Maybe she’s good for you. Maybe you should consider a lifestyle change.”

Gage turned to look at his friend. Could Emma be good for him? Enough for him to change his ways? No. Of course not. He didn’t want to change his ways. And he didn’t think she wanted him to change, either.

But she’d not seen the darker side of him. Not yet.

Hellfire, was he
good enough
, for her?

Gage shook his head. “No, I’m in too deep. I’m not changing anything. She’s temporary, a one-timer, just like the others.”

That was already a lie. She wasn’t a one-timer any more. And she wasn’t like the others.

Fuck.

Gage sighed and took another swig.

“Something you should know, Gage. Amanda came by today.”

At once, Gage’s attention spiked to high alert. He sat up, kicking the footstool down. “What did she want?”

“I think she was trying to get information out of me. Of course, I know nothing.”

Shit.
“What did she say?”

“She asked if there was a woman, Gage. What does she know?”

Something panged his heart. He shook his head. “She can’t know anything. There is…was…nothing to know. Fuck.”

He stood.

“What?”

“She texted me tonight.” He turned and headed for the kitchen. “Be right back.”

Gage raced out the back door to his truck, rummaged in the back seat until he located the phone, and turned it on. While it was coming alive, he stomped back into the house.

Cole met him in the kitchen. Gage glanced up. “I have a bad feeling.”

“What did she say?”

“She wanted me to call her. I turned the phone off.”

Cole whistled through his teeth. “Amanda isn’t one to be ignored.”

Gage watched the phone flicker and come on, and waited for the signal to catch up with it. A few notifications scrolled by at the top of the screen. The text message button lit up. One text.

He hit the button. The text popped up.

Amanda:
Get rid of her Gage. I mean it.

There was a picture attached to the text. A picture taken through the driver’s side window of his truck. A picture of Emma. Her dress up around her waist. His fingers tangled in her hair. Riding him. Fucking him.

“Shit.” Suddenly, his chest hurt. He couldn’t ignore the emotion balled up behind his breastbone. He reared back, like he wanted to throw the damn phone across the room, and then stopped.

Emma.
He had to make sure she was okay. Had to protect her. How long had Amanda followed them? Did she know where Emma lived?

“Goddammit!”

Cole stepped closer. “What is it?”

Gage shook his head. “Not sure. I just… Hold on.” He wasn’t making sense.

He hit Chad’s speed dial again and was thankful he answered quickly. Gage looked Cole in the eyes as he spoke.

“Chad listen,” he began. “Get on this immediately. I want a bodyguard at Emma’s apartment ASAP. Put a guard at the front and back entrances to the building and one at her door. I want someone watching her 24/7. And I don’t want her to know.”

“Yes, Mr. Parker.”

Gage turned away from Cole and paced. “Call me when it’s done. I’m at the ranch but heading back to Billings now and will meet you at the apartment building. Chad, no one gets past the guards to her but me, do you understand? No one.”

“Yes, sir.”

“All right.”

Gage hung up and realized his hands were shaking. He turned to look at Cole.

“Tell me what I can do, Gage.”

His head was spinning. Fuck Amanda. He wanted her nowhere near Emma. Gage raked a hand of fingers through his hair and paced back and forth. “I don’t know. I don’t know. Just keep Amanda off the ranch, I guess, and let me know if you hear anything else from her.”

Cole nodded. “Of course.”

He grabbed his jacket. “I’m heading back to Billings. Call you tomorrow.”

He’d taken one step toward the door when Cole grabbed his arm. Gage stopped and turned. “Gage, wait up.”

Gage stopped and held Cole’s gaze. The chatter rattling around in his head though kept going.

“Take a breath,” Cole said. “And don’t goddamn tell me you don’t care about this woman. If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t have reacted like you just did.”

“I’m not in the mood for a lecture right now, Cole.”

“I know. You need to get on the road. Just get there in one piece. This Emma, if that’s her name, needs you. And I think you need her.”

Gage stood there for a moment and let that sink in, then headed for the door. “I’ll be in touch.”