STORY EXCERPT

Wiping up the last line of coffee, she stood, her legs weak and her body swaying. The back of her head smacked the edge of the counter, rattling the condiments and silverware. A sharp spear of pain launched through her head and she groaned, pressing her fingers to the small indentation that she was certain would become a pretty little bump in no time.

“Ouch,” she murmured, cheeks seething.

“You okay?”

She turned her gaze up and met green-brown eyes etched with concern. For a moment she couldn’t breathe, let alone think. She stared up at Brody Allen because he asked her if she was okay. Oh hell no. Brody Ryder. Her longtime crush was finally taking notice of her for all the wrong reasons.

Brody tossed a half glance over his shoulder. “Grab me a bag of ice, Martin. She banged her head somethin’ good.”

Mandy shook free of the paralysis, despite the yearning desire to continue staring at his beautiful face. The slightest hint of whiskers shadowed his strong jaw and chin, leading her gaze straight to full lips she had dreamed of kissing for years. She trekked upward, remembering how his nose flared when Ryder Ranch had their annual barbecue to celebrate the town’s birthday because the grilling smelled so damn good. Those dark brows of his sloped enough to give him a wild air, and the messy spikes of dark-brown hair simply made him look mysterious rather than lazy.

“Why don’t we sit you down?” Brody asked. His strong hand cupped her elbow and slowly eased her to an empty booth away from the customers. Martin came over to him with a rag filled with ice. He rubbed Mandy’s shoulder.

“Can I getchya a drink, Brode? Some grub?”

“Coffee, eggs overeasy, your awesome home fries, and wheat toast.”

“Your usual hasn’t changed since boyhood.”

Brody smiled up at him. “And won’t plan on it.”

Mandy wasn’t expecting Brody to sit with her, let alone squeeze on the three inches of vinyl between her and falling onto the floor. Heat slid over her from where his jeaned leg rested against her bare leg. He lowered her hand from her head and pressed the ice pack to her newly acquired bump.

“You look vaguely familiar. What’s your name?” Brody asked. She lynched her disappointment from those few words and swallowed down the urge to sigh. Did she really expect him, a Casanova, to notice her?

“Mandy.”

“Do you have a last name?”

She snuck a short glance at him. All that powerful male muscle sat way too close to her, making her body go into a fritz. “Mandy Pearson.”

“Mandy Pearson?” Brody leaned away, gauging her with a narrowed look. His booted foot stamped onto the tile floor, keeping him from falling out of the booth. A flicker lit his eyes, the smallest of grins curling the corners of his mouth. “Little Mandy May? Scarlet’s Mandy?”

“One and the same.” Maybe he did know her. For that, she scooted deeper into the booth so he wouldn’t fall onto the floor.

“Thanks.” He settled entirely on the seat. His leg still leaned against hers. He draped his arm over the table around her folded hands. His body encased her, if at a distance, but he succeeded in blocking out the entire diner. She wasn’t going to complain about the view.

“Mandy May. You’re all grown up now.” The way his voice dipped and rolled like sap down the side of a tree left her tingling between her legs. Boy was her pussy in need of more than a vibrator. The package beside her would be a great option.

“I sure hope I am.” She crunched her nose. “I never wanted to stay young. Bad years. And I’ve sworn to hog-tie and fry anyone who called me Mandy May.”

“Well, ma’am, if I might say, time has taken a likin’ to you.”

“Casanova, I know your lines,” Mandy teased. Brody’s grin melted into a full smile. A dimple showed in his left cheek, a Ryder trademark, and he looked so damn fine with it.

“I’ll make you a deal, sweetheart.” He removed the ice pack, tightened the rag, and replaced it. “I won’t call you Mandy May if you don’t call me Casanova. Sound good?”

As much as she wanted to melt into his words, and his arms, she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and winked. “You ain’t gonna be in town long enough to call me Mandy May again. Chances are we won’t cross paths again. Barely did when you lived here.”

Brody punched his fist against his chest. A sharp breath left his lips. “That was deadly.”

“Just some truth, cowboy. We ain’t all stage lights and rowdy crowds here. You’ll be headin’ out soon enough.” Mandy fought to keep her smile in place, but it dropped, as did her gaze from his. “Like them rodeo cowboys. You can never stay away from the pull of the thrill long.”

Mandy reached up to the ice pack and lowered it away from her head. She hadn’t realized her own playful words would strike such a tender cord in her soul. Brody Ryder was everything a fantasy was made up of, and he would remain nothing more than a fantasy. He was big stage. She was small town. He was famous. She was a nobody. He could have any woman he chose. She, well, hadn’t had a boyfriend in over a year.

Like his cousin Colt, Brody would be nothing more than a fleeting whisper of a person in Ryder, but big-time headlines and talk among families.

“I should get back to work,” she murmured, keeping her face lowered as she edged closer to him. Brody climbed out of the booth and helped her to her feet. She flipped the ice pack in her hand and shrugged, her cheeks heating up again, but the tingling in her pussy died out like a pathetic flame. “Thanks for the first aid.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Brody was far more, in every way, than any man she’d had before. Holding him and experiencing the width of his cock alone, left her wondering if—and there was a big if in this equation—she allowed him to fuck her, how much it would hurt.

“Don’t think you can get harder,” she murmured, sliding one hand down the underside of his shaft. The blocks that created his abs tensed. “Must be uncomfortable all stuffed up in those jeans.”

“You have no idea,” he groused, pressing his cock into her hands. A low, throaty groan rolled up from his chest. “Damn, your hands feel nice.” That smoky gaze pinned her as she wrapped her fingers around his sac. “But I’m not done with you.”

“You are, for the moment,” she said sweetly, giving the base of his cock a gentle squeeze. The corner of his mouth twitched. “It’s my turn.”

Mandy wasn’t expecting him to peel her away and force her onto her back. He stretched over her, settling his cock between her legs, his wide head pressed hard against her pussy. His fingers laced between hers, pinning her hands at her shoulders. The corded muscles of his arms flexed as he hovered over her, so close he could easily steal her breath.

“Wrap those legs around me, baby, and don’t let go,” he said.

The rough edge of his voice left her clit throbbing in beat with her pants. Slowly, she drew her knees up and wrapped her legs around his waist, locking her ankles against the slight dip in his lower back. She tested his hold on her hands. He wasn’t budging, keeping her secure beneath him as he dropped his head and began a warm, moist trek of kisses down her neck. Mandy closed her eyes, giving herself to the sensations each kiss lit along her nerves. Her pussy itched and stirred, the slightest friction from his teasing cockhead pushed firmly against her holding her so close to the edge of shattering pleasure.

“Brody, I want to touch you. This ain’t fair,” she whined. The tip of his nose brushed her nipple, and she crooned.

“I’m touchin’ you right now. I’m kissing and licking your skin. I’m gonna suckle these hard nipples, nibble on them a bit. Then it’ll be up to you where I go from there.” He lifted over her and pressed a lingering kiss to her lips. “I want that pussy, woman. I sure as hell hope you want my mouth on it, too.”

“I want your cock, and you took it away.”

He chuckled, turning his face away and scraping his teeth down to her nipple. Goose bumps erupted over her body, and her core spun into a taut coil, vibrating against each light touch of his mouth. “Later, baby. Later.”

His lips sealed around her nipple and sucked her into his mouth. She flexed her fingers against his hold and moaned, feeding him more of her breast. Lifting her head off the floor and gasping for breath, she drank in the sight of the rippling muscle along his back shift and roll with every tilt of his head and rock of his hips. She tugged his waist tighter, undulating her hips against his cock, seeking the break in this torture. A year without a satiating fuck left her in a dire state of desperation.

He groaned against her, the subtle charge resonating like a tickle up her throat and down across her pussy. “Brody.”

“Yes, baby?” he cooed, nipping a bridge from one breast to the other. He suckled her neglected nipple, licked her, and nibbled around her nipple until she cried out. The pain-pleasure mix was a mind-whirling toxin that left her thoughts as clouded as her vision.

Dropping her head back, she breathed, “You’re beautiful.”

“No.” His tongue did a sensual swirl around her breast. He let her nipple pop from his lips. He shifted back and lowered his chin to her belly. “You’re beautiful. Now, you have the reins. Tell me where to go and what to do, and it’ll be my pleasure.”

“You want me to tell you where to go? Ain’t that obvious?”

“I want Amanda May to tell me she wants me to suck her pussy. I want that passion inside you to come out.” He grabbed the bottom of her shirt with his teeth and yanked it up, leaving the annoying piece of cloth around her ribs. That sinful tongue flicked out and traced the circle of her belly button. “Well? I can kiss this flat stomach of yours all night, if you’d prefer.”

“Aw, hell, Brody. You’re making me so damn wet I can’t think.”

Brody pulled one hand away from her and coasted his fingers lightly along her side. She jerked, her muscles cinching, squeezing juice from her cunt.

Down, down those fingers trailed until they slipped beneath her thong and slid easily through her pussy lips.

“Oh, Brody,” she gasped.

“You are one hot, wet mess. So much cream going to waste.” His kissed the top of her hip bone. “You haven’t told me what to do yet. Being so close to you and smelling your sweet scent, it’s making my cock throb.”

His bottom lip brushed against the top of her panties. He released her other hand and grabbed her thighs, forcing her ankles to unlock. He pressed his palms flat against the insides of her legs and spread her wide, his mouth claiming the crease alongside her pussy.

“Mmm. Your juice is all over you, baby, but I want it from the source. Don’t be stubborn, ’cause it’s only going to delay your pleasure.”

“Yes. Give me pleasure.”

“How?”

Mandy fisted her hands in her hair and fought for air. Her heart was pounding feverishly in her head, her clit drumming a world-rocking beat. Brody’s mouth skated so close to her weeping core.

“Take my panties off and kiss me.”

“Kiss you where, Mandy? Your mouth? Your breasts?” He let out a gravelly sound, and she writhed. “You have beautiful breasts. I can kiss them all night.”

She groaned, pushing onto her elbows and glowering down at him. His eyes darkened with a playful hunger when he met her gaze.

“You want to suck my pussy, cowboy?” She reached down to her panties and tugged the fabric away from her core. Brody’s expression smoldered, dark and tantalizing. “Get to it, ’cause I want that wicked, teasing tongue of yours to make me come.”