Sweet Talking Cowboy (5 page)

“Hank thinks you and Jeffery are plannin’ on gettin’
married?”  Slade leaned one broad shoulder against the side of the stall, one
booted foot crossing the ankle of the other one, facing her, a warm smile still
lighting his eyes, and crossed his arms over his muscular chest.

“It’s nothing official and it won’t happen before he
graduates next year.  We’ve been dating a couple of years now.” Briann blushed slightly.

Slade’s face took on a serious look.  “I hope he’s grown
up.  He’d have to make some major changes in his life to deserve you.”

She smiled as she shrugged her shoulders.  “He has grown up some,
but he’s still Tanya’s son.  I don’t think anything will ever come between
them.”

Slade shook his head, his eyes staying trained on hers. 
“And you’re willin’ to accept him on those terms?”

“It’s not bad, Slade.  Jeffery’s good to me, and Tanya has
been very good to me, too.  She’s happy for us.”

He lifted the cap off his head and raked his fingers through
the thick black hair.  “She’ll be happy to bring a Hudson into the family. 
Your family has some important connections and is well thought of in this part
of the state.  You’re a trophy in her eyes.”

Briann knew the resentment of his earlier years still
colored his feelings for Jeffery and Tanya and she couldn’t fault him for
feeling that way.  They’d never treated him right, but she’d hoped that the years
apart had allowed those bad feelings to die.  She knew Jeffery still harbored
resentment but hoped Slade had mellowed somewhat, but apparently he hadn’t
either.

Briann had gained quiet a reputation locally as a horse
trainer and had two colts that she was hauling to AQHA shows with a
championship as her goal, for each of them.  The owners were thrilled to have
her showing their horses.  Over the next few weeks, she and Slade often
competed at the same shows, so they spent a good bit of time together.  Briann
enjoyed the time she was able to spend with Slade.  For the most part the easy
camaraderie of their earlier years was back and she was glad to have her best
friend again.  Granted there were a few awkward moments when she’d catch him
looking at her and he’d look quickly away.  And she simply refused to think
about the way her heart beat would accelerate after he looked away.

Jeffery had fumed and pouted about her going to shows where
Slade might be, but she ignored his tantrums.    He was away at school and she
wasn’t going to give up having a social life or stop showing horses before or after
she got married so he’d just have to get over it.  The only thing that bothered
him was that she was moving in the same circles as Slade.  Jeffery had always
been jealous of Slade and there wasn’t much chance of that ever changing,
especially with his mother adding fuel to the fire with her resentment.

It caused discomfort when she had lunch with Tanya in town
one day.  She found herself defending Slade and refused to accept that he was
the sneaky, manipulator that his step mother made him out to be.

Slade brought two horses of his own back from Texas.  One of
them was a sturdy young dun stallion with a world of potential in the show pen,
and a feminine sorrel filly with the conformation of a halter horse.  He’d
started showing both of them in Texas and once home in Florida, he continued
his quest for AQHA Championships for them.

It was inevitable that he and Briann compete at the same
shows.  She was glad to see him but dreaded the day they might end up in the
same class.  Slade had mastered training in the method that had made Cooper
Harding a world famous trainer and his horses were always tops in their
classes.  Their attention to their handler was complete and their manners
impeccable and judges loved seeing that in the ring.  Not to mention that his
horses were as near perfect in conformation as they could be.

If their class schedules allowed it, they helped one another
and there were times she was sure they were back to the easy, unencumbered
relationship they had shared during her childhood.  In spite of that, there
were times when their hands might touch in the exchange of brushes, tack or
something else and she would feel an unexpected tingle that she found
disturbing.  She didn’t want to think about what that might mean any more than
she wanted to think about the way her heart skittered when she caught Slade
looking at her with that dark hooded look that caused him to look quickly away.

She was at a show in west Georgia one weekend and had
traveled there alone.  She had seen Slade briefly that morning, but not having
any help with her horses, she’d stayed too busy to visit with him and after
settling her horses for the night, after her last class, she’d dropped her
trailer at the show grounds and drove her truck back to the motel.  She had
picked up something from a fast food place and was looking forward to getting
to bed early.

She’d just closed the door to her room and was startled by
the ringing of her cell phone.  She’d already talked to Uncle Mike and filled
him in on the day’s events, and had taken a call from Jeffery so she wasn’t expecting
any more calls.  She flipped it open and said, “Hello?”

She could hear loud music and loud talking and was about to
hang it up when a man’s voice asked if she knew a cowboy named Slade.

“Yes,” she admitted quickly.  “Is he alright?”

“Well,” the man said, “I’m the bartender at the Ramada Inn
and he’s in here, but he’s pretty drunk.  Our front desk says he’s not
registered here, and he was getting ready to leave, so I’ve taken his keys. 
He’s way too drunk to drive.  When I asked if there was someone who could come
get him, he finally gave me your number.”

She had never known Slade to be much of a drinker, but he’d
been in Texas a long time.  She couldn’t let him drive himself anywhere. 
“It’ll take me about ten minutes to get there, but I’m on my way.”

Briann felt strange walking into a bar at a hotel.  It
wasn’t something she’d ever done before.  It was dark, and she paused just
inside the door to let her eyes adjust, then she weaved her way through some
couples dancing and made her way to the bar.  She spotted Slade almost
immediately.  He was leaning over a glass, rocking slightly to the beat of the
music, his grey felt hat sitting slightly crooked on his head.  The bartender
approached and she explained who she was, then made her way to Slade’s side.

“Hey, Cowboy, do you need a ride?”

He swung his head around at the sound of her voice and a
grin split his lips.  “What I need is a dancin’ partner.”  His drawl was barely
slurred as he leaned toward her.

She laughed.  “What you need is a good night of sleep.  Come
on, I’ll dance you to the door.”

The bartender passed her the confiscated keys as Slade
slipped off the stool and wrapped his arms around her, shuffling his feet as if
dancing.  She slipped her arms around his waist and moved with him, leading him
an unsteady step at a time to the door.  He continued to dance as she led him
across the parking lot to the passenger door of her truck.  Unlocking it was
easy; getting him into the seat was not.  Then she discovered she didn’t know
where he was staying.  He still wanted to dance and while pushing him back into
the vehicle she tried to find out if he’d already taken a room for the night. 
He couldn’t tell her, so using her cell phone while she drove, she got him a
room at the Hampton Inn where she was staying.

Once there, she left him sitting in the truck while she made
quick work of signing the papers and getting the key to his room.  It was on
the back of the building and she was thankful that she wouldn’t have to help
him through the lobby.  She was blaming his state of drunkenness for the way he
kept pulling her against him and the way his hands seemed to find their way to
places they shouldn’t go.  They were able to drive to the back and his room was
just inside the back door.

Briann wasn’t prepared for his weight as he came out the
door of the truck, and they almost toppled to the ground.  She punched his
shoulder soundly.  “Hey!  You’ve got to help me a little bit.  I can’t carry
you!”  Her scolding roused him somewhat, and they were able to open the back
door of the hotel and then she succeeded in unlocking the door of his room.

She was dropping him into a sitting position on the bed when
he tightened his hold on her shoulder and stayed on his feet.  Her arms were
around him and when she looked up at him, she was surprised to see how close
his face was to her own.

“You are so sweet,” he breathed softly.

She smiled.  “So are you, now set down here and let me pull
your boots off.”

“Have you ever wanted to do something that you knew you
shouldn’t do?”  He asked.

She assumed he was talking about getting drunk.  “I suppose
everyone does that once in a while.”

“You too?”  He asked.

She nodded.  “Sure.  But drinking like this is not good for
you.”

His hands slipped down across her shoulders to pull her
close.  “Look at me, Bri.”  His voice was a whisper and the slur was almost
gone.  The husky note in his voice as he shortened her name caught her
attention.  It wasn’t something she expected, nor was the heat in his pale eyes
as he looked at her lips.

Surprised by his actions when she looked up at him and the
look in his eyes, her heart lurched crazily.  His head dropped and very gently,
his lips settled over hers.  It was barely a touch, like a butterfly’s wings,
then he lifted his head slightly.  “I’ve been wantin’ to do that for a very long
time,” he whispered, before covering her lips with his again.

Briann was shocked by his actions, but even more shocked by
her own reaction.  Her heart was racing out of control and she felt as if her
breathe was caught in her throat.  His lips lingered sweetly and then his head
moved, and her lips separated under pressure from his.  She felt his tongue
trace gently across her upper lip and then he tenderly traced her bottom lip,
pulling it into his mouth and stroking against it slowly.  When his tongue
slipped between her lips into her mouth, her heart hitched.  Slowly,
seductively he explored her mouth, finding her tongue he stroked it, teasing it
into a shy reaction.  The kiss deepened and without even knowing she was doing
it, she slipped her arms behind his shoulders and let his body support hers and
with his guidance, her tongue slipped between his lips.  Slade groaned,
savoring her tentative response.

She had no idea how long they stood there, next to the bed,
holding each other, letting the kiss go on and on.  She had never had a kiss
awaken the longing in her that Slade was causing.  Her heart was racing and her
breathing was just as wild.  Deep inside she felt an unfamiliar tingling, like
the unfurling of a tightly curled ribbon.  What was happening to her?

His hands slipped behind her and slowly he turned, the bed
was now behind her knees and as he held her, he carefully lowered her until she
was lying back on the bed, his body half covering hers.  In her mind, she knew
she should stop this, but she wanted the fire he had brought to life within
her.  She was torn between shock and wonder and wanted more than anything to
allow this miraculous feeling to grow.  His hands wondered over her body,
bringing it alive with fire.  One slipped beneath her tee-shirt and trailed up
across bare skin, flames blazing in its wake.  Then he pushed her bra up and
that calloused hand closed over her breast.  Briann whimpered into his mouth,
wanting so much more and not understanding exactly what that meant.  Finally he
lifted his head and looked down at her.  “I want you, Bri.  I’ve always wanted
you.”  His voice was a ragged whisper that took her breath away.  His calloused
hand on her breast was gentle and sent sweet, torturous tingles of pleasure
down into the secret recesses of her body.  He kissed her again, long and deep
before he tore his lips from hers and trailed paths of fire across her cheek,
down her neck and up to her ear.

“I wonder what was in that last drink I had.  I’ve never had
hallucinations before.”  He kissed her again, long and hard, rolling over onto
his back, pulling her up and over onto him, his hands slipping down over the
cheeks of her rounded bottom, pulling her against the hard ridge beneath the
zipper of his Wranglers.  Then his mouth slipped off hers, onto her neck and
holding her there, his breathing deepened and in a few seconds, she realized
he’d gone to sleep.

She wriggled out of his grasp, and slowly sat up on the bed
beside him straightening her clothes, shocked at the excitement his wondering
hands and hard body had aroused and her eager response to his intimate
caresses, her heart still pounding like crazy, her breathing erratic.  She
couldn’t believe what had just happened.  If he hadn’t passed out…she would
have…they would have…  Sweet mercy!  This was Slade!  Her best friend!  Her
future brother-in-law!  She wanted to jump up and run from the room, but her
knees were shaking and she couldn’t run if her life depended on it.  She sat
there for several minutes, regaining her breath, allowing her heart to slow
down, stunned by what had almost happened, but unable to stop thinking about
the feel of his hands on her body, his mouth on hers.

She looked down at him, and unable to restrain herself, she
caressed his face tenderly.  This was what he’d been talking about when he
asked if she’d ever wanted to do something she knew she shouldn’t do.  She
slipped off the bed and placed his truck keys and the room key on the table
beside the bed and using the motel note pad next to the phone, jotted him a
quick note telling him where his truck was.  She wouldn’t undress him but couldn’t
help feeling tempted.  She couldn’t deny her curiosity about that long hard
body hidden under his clothes.  Instead, she unfastened the large belt buckle resting
in the vicinity of his belly button, loosened the waistband button on his
pants, and pulled his boots off.  Then just because she knew he was asleep and
wouldn’t remember any of it, she leaned over him and kissed him again.  Surprisingly,
one of his hands rose up to hold onto the back of her head and briefly his lips
moved in response, then he was asleep again.  Briann eased out the door and
down the hall to her own room, knowing she’d get very little rest tonight and
wondering about this startling discovery.  She’d never say it out loud and
would never let it be known, but in that room, she’d wanted Slade Butler to
make love to her.  No man had ever made her feel like that before.