“Nope. I’ll be energized. I can come pick you up.”
“It would be nice not to have to bum a ride off one of the other girls.” I glanced at the paper. Black ink letters were scrawled inside, and one word caught my attention. Pigeon. My heart slammed against my ribs, and my fingers shook as I unfolded the note. Parker said something, but I couldn’t comprehend his words over the pounding in my ears. Chambers, the man who I owed the money to, used to call me Pigeon, like a carrier pigeon. He never used my real name, but he knew it well enough.
“Gave you a little extra time, Pigeon, because I like you. But I need that money.”
“Hey, earth to Sayler, you still there?” Parker sounded confused.
My throat was so parched, it was hard to speak. “Yeah, sorry, I’m still here.” I crumbled the note and tossed it in the trash.
“We don’t have to hang out, but I’ll still come get you and drive you to your place.” There was disappointment in his tone, but I decided not to tell him about the note. It would only worry him.
I swallowed back the dryness. Suddenly going home alone to my shabby, lonely trailer sounded uninviting and a little scary. “Actually, Parker, why don’t you come get me, and we can go to your place. I’m getting changed right now.”
“Stay inside the club. I’ll text you when I get there.” His enthusiasm had returned, but I was still completely shaken.
“Drive around the back of the club,” I said quickly before he hung up. “There’s a gray door, an emergency exit. I’ll meet you there.” I paused, thinking of a good reason why I needed to meet him out back. “Uh, the crowd is kind of rowdy tonight, and I’d rather not have to walk back through the bar. See you soon.” I hung up.
I quickly finished counting the money and got dressed. I grabbed my stuff and decided to do a little spying. I walked along the dark corridor behind the stage to a place in the heavy curtains where it was possible to look through a slim parting in the fabric and not be seen by the audience. I peered through, but the spotlights on the stage made it nearly impossible to see any faces clearly. I hadn’t seen Chambers. It was entirely possible he’d sent one of his men to hunt me down and leave the note. One thing was for sure, if he knew where I worked, then he knew where I lived.
I headed back toward the hallway and to the emergency exit. I was terrified of coming face to face with Chambers or anyone who worked for him. I had a few thousand dollars ready to hand over, but I doubted that would be enough. I was in deep trouble, and I saw no way out.
Chapter 12
Rodeo
It was past midnight, and my alarm would jerk me awake at six. But Sayler was worth every minute of lost sleep. Denver and Cole had already crashed for the night, and the house was dark and quiet as we crept down the hallway to my room. The second I shut the door, I pulled her into my arms. The entire drive home I could sense that something wasn’t right, but she’d insisted everything was fine.
As my arms circled around her, she snuggled closer and pressed her face against my chest, almost as if she was trying to assure herself she was safe.
“You sure you’re all right?” I asked.
She nodded without lifting her face from me. “Just tired. It was a long night, and I’m just glad to be here with you. It’s the only time I don’t feel completely alone.”
It was obvious she was hiding something, but I decided not to dig. Every time I did, I managed to say exactly the wrong thing.
A shiver went through her. “It’s cold. I say we strip down and climb under those blankets. I need your body warmth and that stuff you promised.” Her thigh pressed against my already throbbing erection.
“I’m all about warmth and getting under the covers.”
She slid off her sweatshirt, and I lifted off her shirt. The usual sparkle in her chocolate brown eyes had faded away. The sadness in her face made my throat tighten. She hardly looked at me as we both stripped down naked. She climbed onto my bed and burrowed down under the covers so that only those amazing eyes peered out over the edge of the comforter.
I climbed in next to her, and my arm slid across her stomach. I held her and stared at the side of her face as she gazed out into the shadowy room.
“It’s so quiet,” she said. “I’m not completely sure I can sleep without the annoying buzz of the little refrigerator next to my head.”
“I could try and mimic the sound for you.”
She turned and faced me. It seemed that some of whatever was bothering her had vanished under the warmth of the blankets. “The sound of your heartbeat and your breathing next to me is all I need.”
Her hand reached across and she wrapped her fingers around my cock. She pressed her mouth against my chest and ran a trail of hot kisses over my skin, taking extra care to run the tip of her tongue along the outlines of my chest tattoos. “Have I mentioned how damn hot all this ink makes me?” Her warm breath floated over me as she spoke.
My pulse raced as she drew her mouth down along my abdomen. “I need to get some more then.” I reached down and combed my fingers through her hair. A deep breath caught in my chest as her tongue ran along the line of hair leading down to my cock.
Her fingers curled around the base of my erection as she lifted her head and pressed her hot lips against the tip. Slowly, her mouth opened, and she inched her way down my shaft, teasing me with her tongue and teeth as she swallowed more of me. Her free hand cupped my balls as she moved the other hand up and down, milking me while she coaxed more moisture from the tip.
Then her mouth slid off of my cock. She climbed forward and straddled me. She licked her bottom lip with satisfaction as she slid down over me, her pussy swallowing my cock just as her mouth had done.
She braced her hands against my chest as she ground down over me. Her thighs tightened beneath my hands as she rolled her hips forward and back. “I can feel you inside of me, touching the very center of me, Parker,” she whispered.
The room was cool and dark, and the house was so quiet I could hear every breath she took. She straightened and placed her hands behind her head, giving me an incredible view of her body. Her dark nipples were puckered and tight as she writhed her pussy and clit against me. Her lips parted and her soft mewl drifted around the room. Her head lolled back, and her eyes drifted shut as her pussy climaxed around me.
I lifted my hips and moved faster against her. She dropped forward and braced her hands against my chest again to meet my thrusts. I slammed into her as she drove down over my cock.
“Fuck, yeah.” I held her hips and kept her securely against me as my release came.
She reached back and pulled the blanket up over her shoulders and then nestled against my chest, still holding my cock inside of her. Slowly our breathing returned to normal. Sometimes it was hard for me to believe that I was back holding Sayler Russell in my arms. It was even harder to believe that I’d ever walked away from her. She was everything I needed.
Her soft sigh tickled my neck. She wriggled and squeezed her legs and pussy together to keep me inside. “I’m gonna keep you tucked inside of me all night. Everything is so much better when you’re there. It’s right where you should be.” Her voice trailed off in a wavering tone as if she was close to crying.
I wrapped my arms around her. “Hey, baby, are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
She was quiet at first but then she pressed herself deeper into my arms. “Nothing’s wrong as long as I’m with you, Parker.”
Chapter 13
Sayler
My car chugged along the street with intermittent bursts of energy as if the fuel was being injected into its veins in spurts. I pulled up in front of Parker’s house and patted the dash, knowing full well that once I turned the engine off I was going to need a good push to pop the clutch and start it again. But I was all right with that because it had been a good morning, and I w
as excited to tell Parker my news.
He’d texted that he was in the back garage doing maintenance on his bike. I headed through the back gate. Denver was just leaving the garage as I reached it. He was one of those guys who always looked deep in thought and sometimes that cerebral image made you overlook the fact that he was startlingly handsome, a quality that he no doubt could have cared less about. A trait that made him that much more likable.
“Hey, Sayler, Rodeo’s inside pretending like he knows what the heck he’s doing.”
I smiled. “You have to give him points for confidence.”
He laughed. “Yep, he gets points for unflappable self assurance, that’s for certain.”
I headed toward the garage and heard the clank of a metal tool. I was sure I’d find Parker toiling away on the motorcycle with a wrench, but instead he was hammering out a tune with it on the garage counter. He was holding a pretty steady beat with the drummer on the radio.
He smiled when I walked inside. “Still think I should have gone into music. I was pretty good on that old set of drums Billy Roberts had in his dad’s barn. Hey, whatever happened to Billy?”
“He gave up music and started working with his dad in the lumberyard. He married his neighbor, Teresa, and she had two sets of twins a year apart.”
Parker dropped the wrench back into the toolbox. “Holy shit. Guess that put a quick end to his rock and roll dreams.”
“It did. Kind of sad, but life takes turns like that, which brings me to my good news.”
“Yeah?” He wiped his hands on a towel and came over to me. His arms went around my waist, and he kissed me. “What news?”
“I just got a job working at a dance studio in town. The owner, Jane, is a professional dancer who teaches little kids the basics of ballet and other types of dance. She needed a co-teacher, and you’re looking at her.”
“And now I’m kissing her.” He kissed me again, and this time it was a long, deep kiss that sent warm heat swirling through me. Rekindling the incredible physical passion we’d always had for each other had taken no time at all. When I wasn’t with him, I was constantly daydreaming about being in his arms or nestled against his hard, naked body.
He lifted his mouth from mine and peered down at me with his green gaze. “Does this mean you’ll be quitting the other job?”
I backed away from his arms. “Jeez, you’re like a dog with a fucking bone.”
He lifted his hands to the side. “Perfectly legit question.”
“I need that job, and you know why I need it. It won’t be much longer. Once I pay Chambers back, I’ll quit the club. I was in a great mood. Now you’ve messed it up.” I turned to leave, but he took hold of my hand.
“You’re right. And I’m happy for you. The new job sounds great.” He kissed my shoulder. “How about I give you a ride on my motorcycle to celebrate?”
It was hard to stay angry at the man. I peered back at him over my shoulder.
A half grin kicked up on his face. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
I turned around in his arms. “I was just trying to figure out if a ride on your motorcycle was a metaphor for . . . something else.” I smoothed my hand over the erection straining against his pants.
“A dirty mind, just one more thing among many others that I love about you, darlin’. But actually, I really meant a ride on my bike. Then we could try a different ride afterward.” He pulled me hard against him. “Or if you’d prefer—”
“A ride on your bike sounds fun. It’ll get me all revved up for the other ride. And I’m starting to feel silly talking like this.”
He reached down and patted my butt. “Bad girl for bringing it up. You just might need a spanking later for that dirty double speak. In fact, now that I think about it, a spanking will be just what you need.”
“If you say so. But now I’m looking forward to a ride. Are we putting on helmets or going topless?”
“Holy shit, woman, you’ve got all kinds of trash on your mind today. I’ll go slow, so we won’t need helmets. You’ll have to dangle your legs, so I’ll take it easy. Your top is completely optional.”
My cheeks warmed with a blush at the suggestion. I walked around looking at the impressive array of tools. I lifted the end of a green car cover and looked under it. “Does this old Corvette belong to Cole?” I glanced over at Parker just as a wide grin spread across his face.
“That is my ride, baby, and someday, when it’s actually running, I will take you cruising through town to show both of you off.”
“I look forward to it.”
I followed him as he rolled the bike out. White, puffy clouds hovered in an otherwise dusky blue sky. It was a perfect California day. I’d just landed a perfect job and I was with my perfect man. For this morning, at least, I’d pushed the completely imperfect parts of my life to the back of my mind.
Parker climbed on the bike and kick-started it. The smell of burning fuel puffed out of the exhaust as he twisted the throttle a few times to warm it up. It was a loud, stuttering sound that shattered the surrounding quiet completely. He motioned for me to climb on.
I threw my leg over the back and slid forward, pressing my body against his. He reached back, took hold of my hand and pulled it around him. Both my hands wrapped around his waist, resting against the hard ridged muscles of his stomach.
We rolled across the property through a section of land that wasn’t fenced. The terrain was mostly a long stretch of dry, sandy dirt with low shrubs and spiky weeds. A water carved gulley ran parallel with us as we cruised along at a mild speed.
My legs dangled out to the sides to avoid the pipe and spokes. I held tightly to my driver as the brisk air cooled my face.
We hit one rut that made my butt bounce a good inch off the seat, but Parker was my anchor. Even off the bike, he was starting to feel like that to me, like someone who I could stay put for, someone who made me badly want to straighten out my life.
Across the gulley was a huge expanse of land that was lined with rows of sticks and wire fencing built for grapevines. Most of the vines were just gnarled stems as they waited for warmer weather, longer daylight and their green leaves to return. In the distance, a girl was riding a horse and ponying a smaller horse. The smaller horse, a sorrel with a red mane, was shifting back and forth and looking less than happy about being dragged out on a walk.
Parker lifted his hand from the handlebars and pointed to the girl. “That’s Kensington, Cole’s girlfriend. She rides a real nice warmblood, a hunter jumper.” He had to speak loudly over the bike.
At the end of the wild, uncut landscape was a four lane strip of asphalt, the main road that ran through town. Parker made a wide u-turn at the asphalt and headed back.
I rested my chin on his shoulder. “This is nice, but I’m looking forward to the next ride.”
That suggestion spurred him into action. “Hold on.” He twisted the throttle and we moved faster along the same stretch of dirt we’d just traveled.
The cold, crisp air stung my eyes, and I turned my face to avoid the wind. Parker, too, had averted his face to avoid the sharp breeze blowing toward us.
“Don’t know why I rode out here without my shades,” he called back over his shoulder.
The vineyard unrolled on our left side. Cole’s girlfriend had just walked past the last row of vines when a swirl of dust kicked up around her. There was a momentary scuffle between the horses. The sorrel horse shot through the cloud of dirt. At a full, panicked gallop, it headed away from Kensington and straight toward the highway with its lead rope flying along behind.
Parker slowed the bike to a crawl, and we rolled down into the ravine and up the other side to where Kensington sat mounted on her horse. I could see the look of worry on her face even through the dusty haze.
She spotted us and
rode toward the motorcycle. Parker stopped the bike, and we climbed off. He rolled it to a tree and leaned the bike against it.
We looked in the direction the horse had run. Thankfully, a patch of tasty weeds had stopped the animal’s dangerous dash for the highway.
Kensington shot a distressed glance toward the horse. “I’m worried that if I go after him, he’ll keep heading toward the highway. Finley would never forgive me if I let something happen to this horse. It has already lived a terrible life locked up in a twelve by twelve stall for the last ten months.” She glanced down at me and smiled. I nodded and smiled back at her, but there wasn’t time for introductions.
Parker walked up to her horse. “If I can borrow your gelding, I can circle down and around and come back this direction. I can chase him this way and corral him back onto your property. It would be great if you had a lasso to go with this nice western saddle.”
“I don’t. This is just my trail riding saddle.”
Parker looked back toward the mustang. Its head shot up as if it’d heard a sound. “He looks pretty skittish. One strong breeze could send him straight into traffic.” A bit of his cowboy twang returned as he spoke.
His demeanor changed when he was talking about horses instead of motorcycles. As confident as he was on the bike, horses were in his blood. Back home he was considered the town’s top rider.
Kensington climbed down from the horse and handed over the reins. “I’ll prop the gate open. Bentley’s not exactly a cutting horse, but he’ll probably enjoy this. Almost as much as he enjoyed watching that silly mustang take off like a scared rabbit.”
Parker pulled himself up into the saddle. He looked completely at home on top of the horse.
Kensington stepped out of the way. “He doesn’t take much leg. I must warn you, he’s not too crazy about that western bit.”
Parker pressed his legs against the horse’s sides. The animal’s ears turned straight back, trying to figure out who the stranger was on its back. But it took only seconds for the gelding to listen to Parker’s cues. He trotted the horse down into the ravine and up the other side, then disappeared into a copse of trees.