Page 24 of Eight Seconds

“Nothing to apologize for, baby.” I hold her tight. “Tim’s a grown-ass man. He figured it out. He stopped by long enough to check in.”

I don’t tell her that Tim finally grew a set of balls and sent Brett packing. According to the chatter in the barn, it was made especially dramatic as it was done from the back of a horse as Tim prepared to take up the recovery spot himself. There will be time to fill her in on that later.

“And you? What about your standing?”

“One scratched ride won’t hurt me.” I shrug. She gives an unsure nod, not fully buying that I’m happy to miss riding tonight. But I am. It doesn’t do her any good to know I’ll likely catch hell from the Horizon reps for not fulfilling my photograph obligations. They’ll have to accept my apologies and excuses. The moment I saw the broken look on Charlotte’s face as I approached Rooney’s original stall, there was nothing more important than doing everything I could to look after her. To make this right.

Rooney is likely to miss the next several weeks, and I know Charlotte hasn’t processed what that means for her just yet. Without Rooney, she can’t race. If she can’t race, she can kiss her Nationals title goodbye. I refuse to let that happen. As the vet worked, I put in some calls. First to Curtis, and then to the contacts he provided. Tomorrow, once we figure out where Charlotte is comfortable boarding Rooney for his recovery, I’ll tell her about the surprise waiting a couple of hours away.

With a final squeeze around my waist, Charlotte leans back and takes in our surroundings. She pulls the horse blanket from the stall wall and covers Rooney, content that he’ll sleep for most of the night. Uncertainly, as though trying to figure out what to do next, she turns back to me.

“There’s a cot just through there.” I indicate the doorway on her right. Relief flashes across her face as she moves to investigate. Her fingers trail along the small bundle of pajamas and toiletries I grabbed from the trailer earlier. She gives me a surprised look. I prop one arm against the door frame, leaning heavily on it before pulling my hat from my head and hanging it on a nearby hook. I run my hand across the back of my neck, smiling as I watch her. “I’ll go back and get anything else we need, okay? You want your headphones for the new episode ofMurder, We Heard? I’ll bring back some Cup O’ Noodles. Won’t be anything fancy, but you’ve got to eat at some point.”

She spins back to me. “What do you mean ‘we’?”

“Well, I just—if you don’t want me to stay, I won’t. I don’t like the idea of you staying here by yourself tonight, and I know you’ll never agree to leaving Rooney.” I’ve barely finished speaking when Charlotte launches herself into my arms. It backs me up a pace or two until I right myself. It takes half a second for my arms to support her thighs, encouraging her to wrap her legs around me as tightly as the arms around my neck are. Her face burrows against my neck, whispering “thank yous” against my skin. “Guess I can stay?”

“Of course, you can.” Charlotte pulls back enough to lean her forehead against mine. “I don’t want you to be anywhere else.” She presses her lips to mine, a warm, hungry kiss that doesn’t last nearly as long as I want it to. I walk us in the direction of the doorway she came from. I keep her steady in my arms until we’re just inside the small, dark space. Only a faint yellow glow spills inside, but it’s enough for me to see where to set her safely on her feet.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, baby.” I kiss her again, long and deep. All the mixed-up feelings I have for her fighting to make themselves known: admiration, attraction, and something I’ve started to believe might really be love.

“Can you do something for me?” The question slips from her lips when I finally break away from her to take a long, necessary breath. There’s an adorable little pinch between her eyebrows.

“Name it.”

I find I mean it.

I’m not sure there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for Charlotte Stryker. Somewhere between the barbed insults, the first kiss, and today, she’s ingrained herself in me. I breathe in her scent and never want it to be gone from my lungs. I kiss her sweet lips and want the taste branded in my soul. I think of her and can’t see a future she isn’t a part of. But now isn’t the time to tell her any of that. Right now, she needs me, and I’m happy to give her anything she asks for.

“Remember how you promised me there would come a time you’d fuck me, quick and dirty?” Her eyes are wide, searching, and full of anticipation. Just hearing her talk like this has my cock twitching. Everything about the situation is wrong to be considering her suggestion, but there’s also a sense of desperation in her words. I reach for the elastic at the end of her braid, tugging it free to weave my fingers through her loosening plait.

“Is that what you need right now?” I ask, cradling the back of her head, holding her still to see if she really means it. Charlotte gives a small nod of approval.

“It’s not going to be soft and sweet.” I kiss her cheek on one side and then the other.

“I won’t care that someone could hear us.” I drop lower, trailing my lips to her neck, sucking hard enough for it to sting and leave a mark.

“It doesn’t bother me that we’re someplace where anyone could walk in on us.” I’m rewarded with a groan in my ear and hands that grip my sides.

“But I can promise I’ll have you coming so hard you forget everything else but the feeling of a well-worn pussy and aching throat.” I nudge the collar of her shirt aside as I undo the top button, clamping my jaws over the tendon of her shoulder and biting down.

“Fuck, Wild!” Charlotte hisses but drops her head to the side to give me better access. I stay there, working my mouth against her sensitive skin until I know she’ll wear my mark tomorrow. A reddish-purple bruise showing everyone she’s mine. At that thought, I finish my ministrations with a nip.

Mine.

“Get out of these jeans for me, baby.” I ghost my hands along her sides, gripping her hips to accentuate my command. With a slight fumble, Charlotte eagerly shucks her boots and everything below her waist. I reach down to readjust myself through my jeans when she’s left in her button-down western shirt. Her long hair cascades down her back and over her shoulder in waves, and I smirk when she nervously reaches up to toy with the ends.

“Now, be a good girl and get on your knees at the edge of the cot. Lean forward and put your hands on the wall.” I don’t miss the way her pupils flare when I call her a “good girl” and reach for the buckle of my belt. Charlotte climbs atop the cot. It lets out a protesting groan, the springs squeaking noisily, and I can’t help the dark chuckle that escapes me. “Oh, baby, everyone in this stable is about to knowexactlywhat I’m doing to you. Last chance to back out.”

I shift through the canvas bag storing Charlotte’s toothbrush and other necessities until my fingers find the edge of a familiar foil package. I pluck the condom out of the pouch, holding it between my teeth while I wait for an answer. I hope she doesn’t say ‘no’; my cock is aching to be inside her, my heart pulsing with a similar need for closeness.

“No.” Charlotte’s voice is full of conviction, the look she gives me over her shoulder determined. “Take me for a ride, Cowboy.”

I tear the foil with my teeth as I use my other hand to work my belt and jeans loose. With my pants and briefs around my knees, I quickly roll the condom over my cock, pumping it a few times before I step up behind Charlotte. With her legs spread wide for balance and her back arched, her hips are angled so the faint light catches a glimmer of the wetness I see gathering at her pussy. I groan, swiping my thumb from clit to cleft, eliciting a surprised moan from her.

Charlotte’s head drops as I bring the taste of her to my lips, sucking the sweetness off at the same time I tease the head of my aching cock through her heat. It flutters at my attention like it’s already trying to pull me in, exactly where I want to bury myself. Gripping her hips with one hand, I line myself up with the other and push inside. I continue until I’m flush against her.

I lean over, hand resting next to hers on the wall, panting against her back and listening to her do the same. We both need a moment; one for Charlotte to adjust comfortably and two, so that I don’t blow my load before I’ve even moved.

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