“Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we have a very special event for you to kick off the start of our bull-riding competition, here at Dixie Chix. Please give a round of applause to Tagart McKeiver, owner and operator of TM International Promotions, a prize-winning bull rider, and a hell of a ladies’ man,” Gus announced, and the crowd roared and cheered as Tagart began to wave at them and smile as he placed his riding gloves onto his hands. Gus played “Country Girl (Shake It for Me),” by Luke Bryan as the women cheered for him.
Elise looked on from around the corner of the bar where she remained hiding as she stood there prepared to take Tagart out and ride the bull longer.
“We have a very special challenger this evening. Someone who many of you know, but probably didn’t realize how much she likes the feel of big muscles between her thighs.” The hoots and hollers got even louder, and she felt her cheeks warm as she shook her head. She was going to wring Gus’s neck for this.
“All in the name of Dixie Chix, honey,” Susanna whispered as she squeezed her shoulders. Elise smiled as she looked around the room and immediately caught site of Vic and Tommy Ollsen. Why, whenever she saw them, did her heart skip a beat? She turned away, knowing that they weren’t interested in her, and she wasn’t opening her heart to anyone. She remembered them riding the bull and the young ladies flaunting themselves all over the two sexy Native American deputies. They were a hot item. Just the name Comanche gave her own feminine parts a little tingle.
“The challenger of this evening’s main event is none other than one of our very own Dixie Chix, Elise Ross.”
At that moment the crowd roared and Gus began playing “She’s Country” by Jason Aldean. She slowly made her way through the crowd as the beat of the drums started and the words began to fill the room. She did a little dance, spinning and making her way toward the ring where the electric bull sat waiting for her and her opponent beside it.
Cowboys and cowgirls moved out of the way as the music continued to play, and Tagart stared at her, smiling. Gus lowered the music, and Tagart reached his hand out to shake hers. When she took his, he smiled.
“Real nice, darling. Good luck.”
“Good luck to you, too.” She winked at him.
* * * *
“What the hell does she think she’s doing?” Tommy asked Vic as they watched, both shocked at her entrance and the fact that she was going to get onto the electric bull in a challenge to that asshole cowboy.
“She’s going to get hurt,” Vic stated.
“No, she won’t. She knows exactly what she’s doing, fellas,” Ava interrupted as she joined them.
Tommy stared at the scene before him. He didn’t like how that Tagart guy was looking over Elise. He didn’t like it at all.
Ava walked a few feet in front of them and waved to Elise. Tommy watched as she approached, and the crowd cheered for Tagart, who was stepping onto the blow-up mats done up in an American flag design that surrounded the bull.
He climbed onto the bull, and Ben and Quinn began to operate Hurt So Good. He started off real slow and then Tagart nodded his head indicating that he was ready as the loud music started and the sounds of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” filled the club.
Tommy couldn’t stand it. He was concerned over Elise. He stalked toward her, and Vic followed once he realized what Tommy was doing. The crowd was gathered around her and Ava as they watched Tagart riding the bull. It was getting harder and he was about to fall off.
Tommy reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked straight up toward him and his stomach clenched. Hot damn, did she look fucking hot. Her lips were glistening a cherry red. They were plump and ripe just asking to be tasted. Her damn aqua-blue eyes stood out like gems surrounded by the matching eye shadow, dark eyeliner, and long, sexy lashes.
“What, Tommy?” she asked him. But his eyes were initially drawn to the sparkles on her shirt and of course her large bust. She was well built. Then he looked down to her waist, the bare midriff, the belly ring, and just a hint of that tattoo he knew she sported as well.
“You are not getting on that bull,” he told her. He saw her eyes widen, and he felt his blood boiling beneath the surface of his dark skin, but even his natural tan couldn’t hide his anger with Elise.
“He’s right. You could get hurt. What the hell are you thinking?” Vic asked.
The crowd roared and just as she glanced back toward Tagart, she saw him fall off the bull and onto his ass.
Twelve freaking seconds. What the hell?
One glance toward the booth where Ben and Quinn were, and she saw Carver, Tagart’s friend. He was ensuring that they wouldn’t go easy on Elise.
“Sorry, Deputies, but I have to go.” She began to walk away and Tommy went to stop her when Vic grabbed his arm.
“She’s gonna do it. You know how freaking stubborn that woman is. That’s why she’s still not in our bed.”
Tommy gave his brother an annoyed expression. He didn’t need the reminder, and as he looked at her greet Tagart, he had to hide his rage. Tagart offered his hand for Elise to get up into the saddle. The crowd whistled as she gripped his shoulder and used the boost he gave her to get onto the bull.
Tagart then proceeded to rub his hand along her thigh and she winked at him. The crowd ate it up.
They watched in shock and annoyance as she looked toward the booth and gave her hand a whirl. The music started nice and slow as she raised her ass up off the seat, put both hands in the air, and lifted her hair as the bull began to move in slow, circular motions. She moved her hips to the same beat, in a seductive motion that had the men in the crowd screaming her name and practically running toward the fenced-in area. She pointed at Tagart then turned her finger thumbs-down. Everyone screamed and hollered.
Tommy felt his cock grow thick and hard in his jeans and his gut clench. He was going to wring her pretty little neck the moment he had the chance. That body belonged to him and Vic. There was no way he and his brother were going to stand by and let another man, that Tagart, owner of International Promotions, have a piece of her.
She finally lowered herself to the seat and he gave a sigh of relief that was short-lived. Gus started playing “All Jacked Up” by Gretchen Wilson. The bull began to move a little faster. She threw her hand in the air, the other held on, and she rode that bull like a true medal-winning bull rider. Her long brown hair flew around her, and in the booth he could see the guy running the bull wasn’t Ben or Quinn. The timer passed fifteen seconds and the bull jerked quick to the right then quick to the left and she flew off. She landed on her rear and hopped right up as the crowd roared, knowing that she was the winner. Tagart wrapped an arm around her waist and hoisted her against his side.
He didn’t like that asshole one bit.
* * * *
“Honey, I think you scammed me and played me for a fool,” Tagart whispered against Elise’s ear after she received congratulations from the crowds of people.
She paused in front of him, thinking he was pretty good-looking. “Oh, I didn’t scam you, owner of TM International Promotions,” she teased back.
He lowered his eyes then licked his lips as he looked her over.
“So I don’t like to be known as the guy that owns the company. I’m still a bull rider, or at least I used to be.”
“That’s nice and I figured. How about we start all over.”
“If it means that you’ll have a drink with me, then fine.” He placed his arm around her waist and walked with her toward Juliet’s bar.
“Excuse me, but we’d like a word please,” Tommy Ollsen interrupted, and she wondered what his sudden problem with her was.
“What is it, Tommy?”
“You.” He grabbed her by her arm and began walking her toward the corner of the room. One glance at Tagart, and she could tell he looked annoyed. She gave him a smile and a wave, which cost her a tug on her arm.
“Hey, Tommy, you’re holding me kind of firm. What’s the deal?”
He got her into the side hallway along with Vic. Both men, standing over six feet three, stared down at her.
“Are you out of your mind?”
“Is that a rhetorical question, because I often wondered if—”
“We’re not joking, Elise,” Vic added to the conversation. Boy, did they seem really angry.
“What is your problem?”
“You,” they both responded.
She took a step away from the wall and both men pressed a hand against her. Vic’s was on her waist and Tommy’s was against her shoulder.
Hot damn, did she feel an electric current run from where they touched straight to her belly. The expressions on their faces and the way her heart raced warned her that something was happening here. Something she had often fantasized about but knew she could never allow to happen.
Vic’s fingers gently rubbed against her skin, and she shivered with arousal.
“You could have gotten hurt,” he whispered. The man was a god. That tan complexion, those hazel eyes and the firm muscular jaw, were playing havoc on every feminine part of her body. Why were her nipples suddenly so hard, and why did her pussy clench just so? This was a first.
She shook her head.
“You scared us,” Vic added, and she turned to look at him. She was shocked speechless by the sounds of their voices and the way they were gently caressing her skin. What were they doing? Did they now, just notice her tonight because of the bull riding, the show, and Tagart?
Oh God, Tagart
.
She turned to look toward that direction and Vic and Tommy followed her line of sight. They blocked her view and there was no way to see around such large behemoths of men. Her heart fluttered at the sight of Vic and Tommy. That always happened, but nothing more. This was the closest they came to indicating that they cared. That was it. It suddenly hit her. They were so used to protecting her during the hints of danger over the past year and a half, that even now, when she was more than capable of handling things herself, they were stepping in. She was surprised by the feelings of disappointment that hit her belly. Did she have stronger feelings for them? If so, they weren’t reciprocated. At least not in the way she fantasized about. They were acting like overprotective brothers. There were enough of those around with her fellow Dixie Chix having boyfriends in the multiples.
Her silence obviously threw them for a loop and she took advantage by brushing by them off and running a hand through her hair.
“I appreciate the brotherly love, fellas, but this cowgirl is more than capable of handling herself and that cowboy out there waiting on me. Thanks anyway.” She didn’t know why they looked so shocked. After all, she was thanking them for caring.
Without a glance back toward them, which was quite difficult to do, considering that the eye candy had always caught her sweet tooth, she held her ground and headed as far away from Vic and Tommy as she could. She wasn’t liking the thoughts that were scattering through her head. Perhaps a little fooling around with a man who paid her attention would do the trick?
Tagart was there to greet her, placing his arm around her waist, his palm flat against her belly.
“Everything all right?” he asked as he smiled down at her.
“Just fine.” She replied, but she didn’t mean the words. She was lying. Her belly felt all upset and her heart pounded inside of her chest.
Son of a bitch. She was sexually attracted to Vic and Tommy. Now what?
Tagart caressed her belly and her hip bone as he used his free hand to push her hair from her face and whisper into her ear.
“That was some sexy show you put on, Elise. I don’t know any women who could pull that off on an electric bull. You’ve got me all fired up.” He pressed his body against her back, and she felt his erection. Her body hummed with awareness. It had been so long since a man held her, never mind made love to her. But she needed to slow things down. She didn’t know Tagart and she wasn’t going to jump into bed with him just so that she could rid her mind of Vic and Tommy.
She tightened up and pulled away shyly.
“Hey, don’t be shy, sugar. I like you. I did the moment I laid eyes on you,” he told her then kissed her cheek. He didn’t release his hold on her as he took a beer and handed it to her then picked up a bottle for himself.
“To Hurt So Good,” he toasted, and she chuckled as she tapped his beer bottle and took a long sip. Why was her belly all in knots, and why couldn’t she get Vic and Tommy off her mind?
“So what did you think?” Carver asked Tagart as they sat in the hotel bar, having some drinks.
“I think I like Dixie Chix.” Tagart leaned back and smiled. He looked around the bar noticing a few potential options for sex this evening. He thought for sure he would be landing one sexy Dixie Chix, Elise.
“I do have to admit, she is a mighty fine piece of ass. The way she rode that bull in the beginning, man, I don’t think there was a guy in the place that didn’t get an instant erection,” Carver said.
Tagart chuckled.
“I just hope your sources are right and that we gain some potential bull riders from that town. The boss wants some prospects,” Tagart stated.