Impact (9 page)

She felt Conner tense up behind her, and then he was leaning over her, biting her shoulder as he came. He pulled out and disposed of the condom. Not wanting to risk further chastisement, she stayed where she was.

“You can move now.”

Rolling over onto her back, she watched him dress. “You’re leaving?”

He glanced at her. “I gotta go take a shower and meet Brady for breakfast and a workout. We’re driving down to Anaheim together so we’re gonna map our route. We’re not leaving ’til tomorrow morning, so I can see you tonight.”

Sitting down on the bed, he began to tug on his boots. Jessica felt her anger rising. She knew this was a test but she couldn’t help feeling used. “So I get nothing again?”

“If you wanna do this BDSM stuff then you agree I control when you orgasm. That’s a pretty simple, common BDSM rule. If you can’t handle that then you shouldn’t be doin’ this.” He hadn’t so much as looked at her as he’d said the words and she wanted to throw something at him—preferably at his head. If he thought he could scare her or taunt her into giving up on this, he was sorely mistaken.

“Oh I can handle it, all right. I can handle whatever you’ve got to dish out.” Her words dripped with sarcasm, but when he went stock-still she wondered if she’d gone too far. She leaned back but encountered the headboard behind her.

He turned around slowly and stalked toward her like a panther on the prowl. She swallowed, but lifted her chin. She refused to let him gain any more power over her than he already had.

Winding a section of her hair in his fist, he tugged until she sat upright. In a deceptively soft voice, he told her, “You shouldn’t have said that, babe. It sounded an awful lot like a threat. Or a challenge. You want me to show you how much I’ve got to dish out?” His eyes, so dark with menace and arousal they looked almost black, bore into hers. She didn’t dare move a muscle. “I’ll give you instructions later. I’d suggest you follow them or your bare ass’ll meet my belt tonight.” Releasing her hair, he walked to the end of the bed, picked up his shirt, tossed it on and walked out. Her breath came out in a whoosh of warm air. She’d just pulled the tiger’s tail.

Chapter Five

Conner mulled over what had happened last night and again that morning while Brady mapped out their route to Anaheim. It tickled him that most people would just plug the city into their GPS and go, but not Brady—he loved to get out the maps and highlighters. Conner let him go while he sat back and drank coffee. It gave him time to consider whether he was making the dumbest mistake of his life giving Jessica any taste of BDSM.

In retrospect he felt bad denying her orgasm, especially this morning, but if she truly wanted to learn how to be a sub she’d have to learn not only how to control her orgasms but how to orgasm on command. He knew many Doms who didn’t allow their subs to orgasm for days at a time during training, and he had no intention of that. Tonight he’d make sure she orgasmed plenty. For one thing, it would make the anal sex a lot easier to handle.

Brady snapped his fingers in front of his face and Conner’s eyes refocused. “What?”

“I said, what time you wanna leave tomorrow? It looks to be about a seven-hour drive if we stop a few times for food and gas.”

Conner leaned his head back in the booth. “Shit. Eight o’clock okay?”

“That should work. Just don’t stay up too late with your woman. I’ll drive, but you better stay awake at least part of the way to keep me company.”

“I won’t stay up too late, Dad. You wanna go get the rental after we work out?”

“Yep, then we can go over to the sponsor thing.”

They worked out at the hotel and then took quick showers, heading to get the car before going over to the arena. At the rental car place, Conner asked for paper and a pen and, as Brady made arrangements, he wrote out what he wanted Jessica to do that night. He hoped she wouldn’t balk. He’d told her to shave her pussy bare for him. The thought of going down on her with her pussy newly shaved and all smooth and soft made his cock ache. He could practically feel every tine of the zipper in his Wranglers strangling the damn thing. He tucked the note in his pocket.

They took the car to the arena and wandered inside to the sponsor event. Brady began to make the rounds while Conner grabbed a bottle of water and said hello to a few of the men gathered. The two Italian bull riding brothers motioned him toward their group and he moseyed over, figuring it was better than talking to more sponsors. Marco Durante would’ve won Rookie of the Year last year save for the injury he’d suffered, which had required him to miss over a month of competing. His brother Paolo was this season’s odds-on favorite for the title.

They came from a rich Italian shipping family, Conner knew, and had gotten into bull riding in Europe to combat their boredom. A lot of the guys held it against them, but Conner figured to each his own.

“Conner, how are you, friend?” Marco greeted him.

“Good, Marco, how are you?”

“I am good. I am telling Paolo not to let BoomBoom push him to side. Try to stay up and down.” Marco demonstrated with his hands and Conner smiled. Listening to these two talk was a trip. He turned to Paolo.

“I rode BoomBoom last year. He’s a spinner and he spins at an angle.” Paolo looked a little confused, so Conner put out his arm to show him what he meant. “That’ll get your balance off from the start, but don’t let him get to you. Lean your spurs into him and make him straighten out.”

Paolo nodded and smiled. “Thank you. I am learning slowly. The bulls here, they are different than in Europe.”

“You’ll figure it out. You’re doing great so far,” Conner assured him.

“Who did you draw?” Marco asked him.

Conner took a long swig of water before answering. He’d need a lot more of these before the day was out. Man, Jess was givin’ him a workout. “Matterhorn.” The two brothers exchanged a look. Matterhorn was a rank, ornery bull. Conner needed a win and had chosen him deliberately. “Yeah, I know he’s tough,” he acknowledged. “But I need some high scores.”

“Good luck, man,” Marco told him, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “See you later.” He and Paolo moved away and Brady joined him soon after.

Conner chuckled. “Figured you’d show up right about now.”

“I don’t like Marco.”

“I know.”

“Are you laughing at me?”

“No, I just think you need to get over it.”

“I don’t like the way he sniffs around women who are taken. How would you like it if it was Jessica?”

The thought turned Conner’s stomach. “She can do whatever she wants to,” he replied evenly, trying not to let Brady bait him.

“She sure as hell can’t and you know it. If you saw her all wrapped around some guy you’d race in there like a lunatic and there’d be bloodshed. Guaran-fuckin-teed.”

Conner felt a weird tingling feeling crawling up his back and over his neck. “I haven’t claimed her,” he muttered.

Brady snorted. “Maybe you haven’t… What’s the term you guys use…collared her? But you’ve claimed her, bud. Don’t kid yourself.” He looked around. “Let’s get out of here.”

“I gotta find Jess and give her somethin’. I’ll meet you later.”

“Uh-huh,” Brady answered, laughing. “I’ve got a pretty good idea of what you wanna give her. Go find your woman.”

Conner flipped him off and went in search of the woman who he was afraid
had
become his woman.

* * * * *

Jessica read the note once she got a spare moment. “Is he kidding?” she asked, talking to air. She was glad there was no one in the small production room at the time. They would probably think she was crazy considering the instant blush Conner’s order had inspired. “How do you even
do
that to yourself?” She was loathe to disappoint him, though. She sighed. It wasn’t a big deal, she supposed. After all, it wasn’t as if things were a jungle down there right now. She kept her pubic hair trimmed, but she’d never considered shaving all of it off. She couldn’t even
see
all of it.

Her sex warmed and clenched at the thought of the night to come. She knew he wanted to try anal sex, and though she was apprehensive, she had to admit the idea of it was exciting too. She’d always thought one of the sexiest parts of being a submissive was knowing her Dom could take her there anytime he wanted to—that he could press his thick, hard cock into her ass and fuck her whenever the inspiration struck him because she’d chosen to give her body to him.

Jessica was shaken out of her reverie when her co-liaison, Ryan, walked into the room. He looked at her strangely. “Are you all right? You look a little flushed.”

“I’m fine.” Jessica cleared her throat and turned back to her computer.

Ryan wouldn’t be dissuaded though. He came to stand beside her and reached down, running his hand along her cheek. She jumped. “Hey, no need to get all worked up. I was just seeing if you had a fever.” The look in his eyes said otherwise and Jessica hoped to hell Ryan hadn’t misinterpreted her friendliness for something more. That was all she needed.

“I told you, I’m fine.” She stood and backed away a bit. Ryan frowned but said nothing. “Did you talk to those two other guys?”

“Yeah, finally. Had to chase ’em down way back by the auxiliary pens. I think they were trying to avoid me.”

“Probably. Listen, I need to do a few things yet. Did you need anything?”

“Uh, no. Want to grab some dinner later?” He smiled and the old Ryan was back.

“Sure.”

“So we’ll meet afterward and take a cab to the hotel?”

She glanced up. “Huh?”

Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “Dinner.”

“Oh. I thought you meant here during the competition.”

He seemed to deflate a little, and Jessica felt bad since he’d been nothing but nice to her since she’d started the job, but she had no intention of letting him think they were going out on a date. She was trying to figure out how to tell him she was busy later without mentioning Conner when Ryan nodded.

“Sure, here is fine. I’ll come find you.”

Ryan left and Jessica glanced at her watch. She had just enough time to call her brother Evan before she had to finish her tasks. She didn’t want to miss the competition either. Conner would be riding late, but she was still learning the intricacies of the sport and liked watching the event itself as much as possible. Evan picked up the phone after a couple of rings.

“Hey, Jess!”

“Hey. Do you have a minute to talk?”

“For my baby sister? Sure.”

Jessica snorted. “Baby by fifteen months.”

“Still a baby…”

“Whatever. So what’s going on? How’s the ranch?”

“You know Dad. It’s always something.”

“Uh-oh. What’s he got you doing now?”

“I'm looking into getting some minerals to supplement the Longhorns. He’s never happy.” She laughed. Her dad was always studying up on something, but she supposed that was why he’d run a successful ranch for so many years. “I’m guessing you didn’t call to talk to about cow nutrition though. What’s up?”

“Just wanted to give you an update. Things are good here.” She paused and took a breath. “I met a guy.”

“Where? On tour?”

“Yeah. He’s a rider.” She wondered how much she should tell him. Evan was the closest to her of her three brothers, but he was still protective of her. “We’re just getting to know each other, really. Don’t tell Dad or the guys. If it gets serious enough I’ll tell them, but I don’t need the lectures right now.”

“You got it. You be careful though, you hear me? Don’t make me get all big-brother protective. Travis does a much better job at it, but if this guy hurts you I’ll make an exception.”

“Thanks, Evan.”

“Yeah, yeah. Get back to work, slacker.”

Jessica laughed as she hung up. She missed her family, but there was no way she would’ve survived staying in Brownfield her whole life.

After forcing her mind back to her work, she double-checked her paperwork for the day and went to watch the competition. The bulls seemed to be in an especially bad mood. Cowboy after cowboy was getting bucked off, and the bulls only got ranker and harder to deal with as the day wore on. She got more and more nervous as Conner’s time to ride approached. She knew he’d drafted one of the most difficult bulls in the competition. Wiping her damp palms on her jeans for about the thousandth time in the past hour, she glanced over at Conner and his friend Brady. They were absorbed in their own world, their heads bent together, talking and gesturing. She wished she’d brought her computer with her—at least then she’d have something to clutch.

Almost a half-hour later, it was Conner’s turn to ride. Brady helped him onto the bull and threw him the bull rope after looping it under the bull’s girth. Conner began to tighten the rope and the bull bucked. Brady threw a leg over the rail and pushed the bull down while Conner held on to the sides of the chute. Jessica chewed on the insides of her cheeks as the bull bucked again. If he was this bad in the chute, how would he be out in the arena? A wave of nausea swept over her at the thought of Conner being gored or trampled. Sure, he drove her crazy, but to see him hurt… She shook her head to clear the morbid thoughts.