Читать книгу Dangerously Irresistible - Kristin Gabriel, Linda Randall Wisdom - Страница 10

TANNER SAT IN THE empty hotel bar, nursing his beer. The wedding party had retired to their rooms, most of them exhausted from the long trip into Abilene. But Tanner was on a mission. Find a woman to take to the wedding tomorrow or learn more than he ever wanted to know about embroidery.

Unfortunately, his hopes for snagging a date were fading fast. He still wore his cowboy hat, since his sister had once informed him that women were attracted to the rugged, outdoorsy type. He might not actually live on a ranch, but he did spend plenty of time outdoors. A former state champion swimmer, Tanner still worked out four evenings a week at the local recreation center. He glanced at the clock, wondering if he’d have more luck impressing the ladies down at the hotel swimming pool.

Surprised to see it was close to midnight, Tanner drained his beer mug. Hannah had suggested he turn in early so he’d be fresh for the wedding tomorrow. But he just wanted to be numb.

“Can I buy you a beer, cowboy?”

He slowly turned around to see a tall, slender brunette. She had big brown eyes and silky nutmeg hair that caressed her bare shoulders. She wore a strapless red sundress that hugged her mouthwatering figure. The three-inch heels on her matching red pumps made her long legs seem endless.

He swallowed hard, then abruptly stood up and motioned to the bar stool beside him. “Only if I can buy you one first.”

She sat down, then held out one slender hand. “My name is Giselle, but all my friends call me Gigi.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it again. Somehow he guessed a woman named Giselle wouldn’t be interested in an estate lawyer. She’d want someone exciting. Impulsive. Someone who lived life on the edge. He could imagine the interest fading from her beautiful eyes as soon as he said, “Hi, I’m Tanner and I manage the affairs of dead people.”

So why say it?

Tanner straddled his bar stool and spoke before he had time for tedious second thoughts. “My name is Whip. I’m a bull rider.”

Her finely winged brows arched in surprise. “Really? I’ve never met a bull rider before.”

Tanner propped his cowboy boot on the rung of her bar stool. “It gets a little rough sometimes.”

“I can imagine,” she said, obviously impressed.

He tried to remember all the stories his brother Ronnie had told him about the rodeo. Most of them had been highly exaggerated, but entertaining. He signaled the bartender for two beers, mentally weaving a story that would keep her smiling.

It was amazing how easy it was to fall back into the playboy role after all these years.

Gigi crossed her impossibly long legs. “So are you in Abilene to ride bulls?”

“Actually, I’m here for a wedding.”

She reached into the bowl of stale popcorn that sat on the bar between them. “I love weddings.”

Just the words he wanted to hear. Gigi would be the perfect woman to take as his date, if he could convince her to go with him. Take it slow, Blackburn. Don’t scare her off.

But Gigi definitely didn’t look scared. She leaned toward him, her foot lightly brushing against his ankle.

He watched, mesmerized as she slowly licked the salt from her fingertips. It had been too long since he’d been with a woman. Much too long.

Tanner cleared his throat. “This wedding is a little unusual. I met the bride in a mail-order magazine.”

Her eyes widened. “Really?”

“Well, it’s a little complicated,” he said, realizing he’d given her the wrong impression. Not that he wanted to explain by telling her Hannah had dumped him, especially since he could barely think straight. Either the beer or her subtle, exotic scent had intoxicated him. Maybe both.

“No, I think it’s fascinating.” She gave him an encouraging smile. “Tell me about the magazine. Did strange women contact you?”

“Day and night,” he said, tipping up his hat. He might be stretching the truth just a little, but it was getting easier by the minute. “I’ll admit I did it as a lark, but it paid off.” For Cabe, anyway.

She smiled. “Something tells me you like to live dangerously.”

“Whenever possible.” His whole body tightened as his gaze fell to her full, sultry mouth. She wasn’t anything like Hannah, but there was something about her that pulled at him. Something that triggered a deep, primal urge that made him want to throw her over his shoulder and haul her back to his cave. Or at least his hotel room. He took a deep gulp of beer to cool his blood.

“So tell me about bull riding,” she said, reaching for another handful of popcorn.

Tanner spent the next hour making up the wildest stories possible. Fortunately, he’d been to enough rodeos to sound credible. And Gigi’s riveted attention and enthusiastic questions encouraged him to keep talking. Three beers later, he’d almost convinced himself that he was one of the best bull riders in Texas. Or at least one of the best at shooting the bull.

“I’m on a hiatus now,” Tanner said, rubbing his knee. “Trying to heal up after that last ride.”

“Have you ever ridden Diablo?”

“Who?”

She circled one fingertip around the rim of her beer mug. “I saw a special on television once about rodeo bulls, and they said Diablo was known as the meanest one on the rodeo circuit.”

“I…uh…no,” he said, suddenly wary that he was about to blow his cover.

But she didn’t press the point. Instead she gazed up at him. “Your eyes are very blue, aren’t they?”

“As blue as the Texas sky,” Tanner improvised, emphasizing his Texas drawl for effect. “That’s what my mama always said.”

His mother, who never permitted any of her three children to call her mama, had never said any such thing. But Mom was in Florida at the moment, so what did it matter?

“Your face is so classic.” She reached out her fingers and brushed them lightly across his jaw. “I’d love to do you nude.”

He blinked. “Excuse me?”

She laughed. “Did I mention that I’m an artist?”

“No, ma’am,” he said, mortified by the blush warming his cheeks. Whip the Bull Rider would never blush.

She reached into her purse and pulled out a small lavender card. “This is my business card. I’m in Abilene for a showing at the Courtyard Gallery.”

He took the card from her, noting the New York City address and the fact that she didn’t include her last name on the card, only Giselle.

“Whip, I know this may sound a little forward.” She gently laid her hand on his arm, causing his muscles to jerk in response. “But would you mind coming up to my hotel room? I’m just itching to sketch you.”

“I never say no to a lady.” Especially a lady who wanted to take his clothes off.

“Good.” She slid off the bar stool and reached for his hand. “I promise to make it an experience you’ll never forget.”

His heart pounded in his chest as he followed her to the elevator. When he’d first seen Gigi, all he’d wanted was a date for Cabe’s wedding. Now he wanted more.

Much more.

Maybe he should skip his trip to Jamaica and stick around Abilene instead. He couldn’t think of a more enjoyable way to spend his vacation than with the sexy and intriguing Giselle.

Standing next to her in the elevator, he closed his eyes, breathing in her unique scent. He’d never been this intrigued by a woman before. He wished he’d foregone that last beer at the bar, wanting all his senses keen and sharp. Somehow he knew this was a night he wouldn’t want to forget.

The elevator doors opened and Tanner’s pulse kicked up another notch as they headed down a long hallway. Picking up strange women in bars wasn’t his usual style.

Judging by the way Gigi’s hands were shaking as she tried to insert the plastic key card into the lock of her room, picking up strange men wasn’t her style either. She swore softly under her breath when the light on the door lock flashed red instead of green. She tried it again, then a third time.

Tanner deftly took the key card out of her hand, turned it around so the arrow pointed in the right direction, then slid it smoothly into the lock. The light flashed green and he turned the handle to open the door.

“Thank you,” she said, a pretty blush suffusing her cheeks. She retrieved the key card from him, then placed one hand on his chest. “Would you mind waiting out here for just a moment? I’d really like to straighten up the room just a bit.”

“That’s not necessary….” he began, taking a step forward. But she’d already slipped inside and closed the door behind her.

He stared at it, slightly confused. Gigi had seemed a little nervous on the elevator. Was she already having second thoughts?

He mentally kicked himself. Whip the Bull Rider wouldn’t have let a woman keep him waiting in the hallway. He’d have carried her over the threshold and showed her his real talents. Just when he was about to give up hope, she opened the door again.

He strode inside without a word, then pulled her into his arms. A small gasp escaped her mouth right before he kissed her. She tasted of butter and salt and beer. And something else. Something uniquely Gigi that made him pull her even closer and deepen the kiss.

She moaned low in her throat and circled her arms around his neck. Without breaking the kiss, he kicked the hotel door shut behind him.

The kiss smoldered between them, so thrilling and hot that he never wanted it to end. At last he lifted his head, tantalized by the raw desire he saw gleaming in her brown eyes. “You’re incredible, Gigi.”

She swallowed, then took a deep, shuddering breath. “You’re not exactly what I expected.”

He grinned. “Good.”

She reached up and undid the top button of his shirt. “Whip, I have a confession to make.”

He sucked in his breath as her fingers slid down to the second button. “A confession?”

“I really did want to sketch you, but now…”

She stood so close to him that he could smell the sweet raspberry fragrance of her hair. Her fingers slowly teased each button out of its buttonhole. At last, his shirt gaped open and her warm breath caressed his bare chest.

“Now…what?” he asked huskily. He liked the way her sundress outlined the generous curves of her body. Liked the way she kept licking her lips, as if savoring the kiss they had just shared.

She tugged his shirttails out of his jeans. “Now I want to do so much more.”

His gaze fell on the king-size bed that dominated the entire room. “So do I.”

Without another word, she turned around and opened the hotel room door, placing the Do Not Disturb sign on the exterior door handle. Then she closed it again and flipped the lock.

He moved toward her, but she smiled and held up one hand. “Don’t move. Not yet. I want to look at you.”

She walked slowly toward him, her gaze lingering on his chest, then gliding downward. His body reacted as if she was actually touching him and it took all his willpower not to pull her into his arms.

“You’re so big.” Her hands slid slowly up his chest. “So tall and strong.”

He closed his eyes with a low groan of pleasure at her touch. But despite the desire pounding in his veins, he willed himself not to move. He let her set the pace, enjoying every moment of this exquisite torture.

Her hands smoothed over his skin and he opened his eyes when she touched the small scar below his left nipple.

“Did this happen while you were bull riding?” She slowly slid her finger back and forth over the pale pink scar.

His nipple tightened at the feathery sensation. He nodded, not wanting to ruin the moment by telling her the real story. Somehow he didn’t think she’d be impressed that he’d tripped on a staircase in high school and been pierced by the metal math compass in his shirt pocket.

Her hands hungrily caressed his ribs, her fingers running through his chest hair, then over his shoulders as she pushed his shirt halfway down his arms.

She was so close, he couldn’t breathe right. Couldn’t think straight. His body tightened as the front of her dress brushed against his bare chest. He could feel her firm breasts through the thin fabric. More than ever, he wanted to hold her, kiss her senseless. But his arms were now pinioned by his shirt. It was an odd sensation, being at her mercy, that he found strangely erotic.

“What do you want?” she breathed, slowly guiding him backward toward the bed.

He wanted so many wonderful things. Things only Gigi could give him. “You,” he said, lowering his head to nuzzle the tender skin behind her ear.

She leaned into him, causing him to fall back onto the bed. A bolt of pain shot up his arms, still trapped behind his back. But he quickly forgot about the discomfort as Gigi followed him onto the bed, straddling his waist.

She leaned down until her lips were only a hairsbreadth away from his mouth. “I knew I wanted you as soon as I saw you.”

“Me, too,” he murmured, then tipped his head up just far enough to kiss her. He moaned as his tongue slipped inside her mouth. The sweet taste of her, combined with the incredible sensation of her bare legs wrapped snugly around his waist, was almost more than he could bear.

Somewhere in his frazzled mind, he knew he should confess, too. Tell her he wasn’t really Whip the Bull Rider. And that he’d never met a woman like her before.

But now certainly wasn’t the time. Not when she was so warm and soft and inviting. Her tongue arched into his mouth at the same time her hands flexed against his shoulders. She deepened the kiss, putting so much enthusiasm into it that his head fell back onto the pillow.

Tanner lay there, completely at her mercy, unable to touch her with anything but his mouth. It heightened every sensation. He could smell the soapy scent of the freshly laundered pillowcase and feel every inch of her warm body pressed against his own. One silky tendril of her hair teased his left ear.

He arched his hips upward, welcoming the delicious friction of her body against his aroused flesh. Despite the long dry spell in his love life, he could never remember reacting to a woman like this before.

At last she broke the kiss and rose to a sitting position, her soft, silky thighs cradling his hips. The hem of the sundress was pushed up past her knees. Her breathing was fast and heavy.

“I need to touch you,” he said huskily.

A high flush stained her creamy cheeks. “Turn over.”

He readily obliged, anxious to have her rip his shirt off and free his arms. Then he could finally touch her. Undress her. Lose himself in her.

But instead of yanking his shirt off, she straddled his backside. Then she leaned down, her soft, buttery breath curling inside of his ear. “Do you like to play games, Whip?”

Before he could reply, she slid her hand under the pillow and pulled out something pink. It took a moment before he realized they were handcuffs.

Very unusual handcuffs.

“Uh…what exactly do you have in mind?” he asked, as she dangled the pink ménage à trois cuffs in front of his face. There were three individual cuffs connected by a Y-shaped, silk-covered chain.

“You’ll see,” she teased, then slapped one of the three cuffs onto his right wrist. He barely had time to blink before she shackled his left wrist as well.

He lay there, trying to decide exactly what Whip the Bull Rider would do in this situation. But desire and anticipation had clouded his brain. He tried to turn over, but her weight kept him firmly anchored to the mattress.

Tanner tugged on his wrists, but the handcuffs held tight. “Uh… Gigi?”

“Yes?”

“This is a little uncomfortable.”

She rolled off of him. “Let me see what I can do.”

He frowned in confusion as she bent his right leg at the knee and slipped off his cowboy boot. Then he heard another click and realized too late that she’d locked the third empty cuff around his ankle.

He lay there hog-tied and completely helpless.

Where had he ever gotten the idiotic idea that picking up a strange woman in a bar would be fun? Of course, it had been fun when she’d been taking his shirt off. And it had been beyond fun when she’d kissed him.

Somehow, somewhere, they’d taken a wrong turn. He arched his head up far enough to see her smiling at him.

Then she gave him a saucy wink. “Gotcha, cowboy.”