Bucked (11 page)

Mustang had his cell phone out and was pushing buttons. “Slade. What’s happening with Skeeter? The damn station cut it off.”

He began to pace the room, alternately talking and listening. Sage stayed out of his way until he finally disconnected the call.

“How is he?”

“They don’t know yet. He’s unconscious. They want to move him to the hospital but his back could be broken so they gotta be careful. Fuck. It’s my fault.”

She frowned and stepped closer to him. “How can it be your fault?”

“Skeeter asked me to show him how to do a suicide wrap and I did.” He let out a bitter laugh. “How stupid. I should have said no.

Dammit. It’s called a
suicide
wrap, for God’s sake. What the hell was I thinking?”

Sage had watched enough bull riding over the years to know what he was talking about. “Lots of riders use that wrap.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t teach it to them.” Mustang shook his head again.

Coverage of the event came back on and Sage and Mustang stayed glued to the television until his cell phone rang. He whipped it out and answered. “Slade. What’d you find out?”

Mustang listened for a bit and then let out a shaky breath. “Damn. Keep me updated. Okay? Thanks.” He closed the phone and she waited. “It looks like it’s not a broken back but they’re not sure how bad the internal injuries are. He’s in the hospital now. He was conscious for a little bit, but he was really out of it.”

“Thank God he at least woke up.”

Exhaustion marred his face. “Yeah. Look, I hate to leave, I mean after…” He glanced at the bed. “I’m not going to be good company right now. I think I should go.”

Sage nodded, hiding her disappointment that he didn’t want her comfort. “Okay.”

“You sure?”

What was she supposed to say?
No, it’s not okay that you’re upset and leaving because your friend is in the hospital and you
think it’s your fault.
His need to be alone was bigger than her selfishly wanting his company. As much as she wanted Mustang to let her comfort him, she had to understand that. “Yeah, I’m sure. I’m here if you need me. I mean day or night. You know that, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I do.” Mustang leaned in and, brushing her cheek with his hand, kissed her forehead. “Night.”

“Night.” Sage watched him leave her room and sighed. He was a loner and probably always would be. Silly her for hoping she could make him into anything else.

The ringing of his cell phone woke Mustang out of a fitful sleep. He found himself flat on his back lying crossways on his bed with the lights and his clothes both still on.

He fumbled for the phone and finally got it open. “’lo?”

“Hey, it’s Slade.”

“Slade. How’s Skeeter?” Mustang frowned at the clock on the dresser. It was just after eleven p.m. He must have passed out the minute his head hit the mattress a few hours ago.

“We haven’t heard anything more from the hospital yet, but I’m about to go crash for the night. I wanted to let you know. I’ll call you in the morning when I find out what’s up.”

“Okay. Thanks, man.” Mustang’s brain started to fire again as he slowly woke. “Hey, you guys are heading back out west next, right?”

“Yup. Guthrie, Oklahoma and then Weatherford, Texas. Thinking about driving out?”

“Yeah, actually I am. I’ll call and let you know.”

“It’s convenient having a cell phone, isn’t it?”

Mustang heard the smugness in Slade’s voice. “Yeah, yeah. Night, Slade.”

“Night, man.”

He disconnected and rubbed a hand over his face.

Mustang kept thinking about the worst-case scenario, about what could have happened. What if Skeeter had been paralyzed in that crash? That would be a fate worse than death to Mustang. Even though Skeeter wasn’t paralyzed, it still didn’t mean his riding career wasn’t over.

Seeing Skeeter’s wreck had been an eye-opener. What if Mustang got injured again and couldn’t ride anymore? A steady job with a regular paycheck and benefits, even one at the prison with his father, might look pretty good.

Shit. He was starting to sound like his father.

Wide awake now, he glanced at the clock again. No way was he falling back to sleep anytime soon. He felt like he’d crawl out of his skin if he didn’t get out of this tiny room and move around.

He grabbed his keys off the dresser and then crept past his parents’ bedroom. He left through the back door, not sure where he was heading, just that he had to get out of there for a bit.

A few minutes later, he found himself parked and staring at the dark silhouette of Sage’s house. She had said she’d be there for him whenever he needed her, day or night. He needed her now.

Walking quietly to the side of the house so he didn’t wake her grandmother, Mustang reached up and tapped on the glass of her window. Gently at first, then louder when she didn’t come.

Finally, he saw the curtains move and her face appeared. She raised the window and leaned down. “Mustang. Is everything all right?”

No. Everything was upside down and nothing made sense anymore. “Yeah. Can you come out and talk?”

She didn’t hesitate. “Sure. Just let me throw shorts and shoes on. I’ll be right there.”

He nodded, realizing coming here to Sage now was the stupidest thing he’d done in recent memory. Then he remembered how he’d spent most of that day with Mistress Lena doing the unthinkable and revised that opinion.

The kitchen screen door squeaked and Sage appeared wearing an oversized T-shirt that he bet she slept in, shorts and flip flops.

She came right to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “You okay?”

Not strong enough to fight it any longer, he pulled her close and held tight. “No. They still don’t know exactly how bad Skeeter is.”

“I’m sorry.”

He glanced up at the house and realized how close they were. “Maybe we should go talk in the trailer before we wake up Grams.”

“Okay.”

The nearly full moon lit the way to the trailer. Mustang opened the door for Sage, letting her climb up into the living area before he followed her inside. He turned on a small battery-operated light that cast a soft illumination over the interior.

She stood next to the bed and looked around before turning back and watching him, waiting for him to talk, he supposed.

Unfortunately, seeing her there and given his current mood, talking was the last thing he needed.

“Sage.” He took a step closer and touched her face. Her expression told him she wouldn’t say no, no matter what he asked of her.

“I’m not sticking around here any longer than I have to.”

“I know and I’m okay with it.”

Marveling at her, he shook his head. “Why the hell would you want to get involved with someone like me?”

She shrugged. “I can’t seem to help myself.”

He lowered his head and hovered near her lips. “Neither can I. I promised myself I wouldn’t let things go any further with you, but dammit, Sage. Life is too damn short. What happened to Skeeter tonight could easily happen to me.”

Her finger came up and rested against his lips. “Shh. Stop talking and make love to me.”

Sage kicked off her shoes and shorts, then raised the T-shirt over her head and dropped it on the floor. She’d been wearing no bra or panties. She stood naked in front of him.

A groan of pure defeat rumbled deep in this throat. He ran both hands down her exposed curves, shivering right along with her when his thumbs brushed her nipples on the trip down.

Her hands began to work on his belt and he let her. He lowered his head and took her mouth with his while her fingers found first his zipper and then the erection behind it. She reached inside his underwear and stroked him while he groaned against her mouth.

“I’ve waited too long for you already, Mustang Jackson. Take off your boots and clothes and let’s get in that bed.”

Who was he to argue? He did as he was told, stopping only to grab condoms and lubricant out of the drawer. He lay back on the bed and Sage crawled on top, straddling his legs.

She reached for the condoms and he stopped her hand. “Wait. You won’t be ready yet.”

Sage laughed. “I’m ready. Believe me.”

Mustang shook his head. She didn’t understand. He was big. Not as big as Jon Long, but still. And Sage was young and he doubted very experienced. That thought didn’t help his guilt any, but as evidenced by the erection jutting straight up between them, it hadn’t dampened his need for her any.

“No, Little Bit. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“If you call me Little Bit one more time, I’ll hurt you. Now let me put this thing on you.” She held up the condom, threatening him with it.

He laughed at her determination.

“Okay, but please use the lube, Sage. I really don’t want to hurt… Ah, holy mother.” He didn’t have the time or wits to finish the sentence because Sage had already sheathed him and had begun to lower herself over him.

His eyes slammed shut and his head hit the mattress as he felt her body start to engulf his. He finally forced his lids open enough to be able to watch his length disappearing slowly inside Sage.

“You okay?” His voice sounded strange to his own ears.

She drew in a sharp breath as he sunk deeper. “Yes.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I won’t break. I promise.” Leaning down, she brushed a gentle kiss across his lips and lowered herself a bit more onto his cock.

He held her still with one hand on each of her hips. “I know, but tell me if I…”

“Mustang. Shut up and make love to me. Unless of course, you don’t know how.”

He laughed. It was different being with a woman he knew.
Really
knew. “I know how.”

“Then you better prove it.”

Loosening his grip on her, Mustang stopped fighting. He let Sage work until he was fully seated inside her. She set a slow pace that had him shivering each time she raised herself up and then slid back down. He watched her face and her gaze never left his.

This was more than sex. Much more.

Not prepared for the intensity of what he’d feel with Sage, Mustang sought to do the one thing he was familiar with. Please her.

He found her clit with his thumb and then the pace she set wasn’t so slow anymore.

In a frenzy of motion, he knew he couldn’t last much longer. When she cried out and he felt her body gripping him, he came right after her with a soul-shaking release he hadn’t felt in a long time, if ever.

Breathless, Sage collapsed onto his sweat-drenched chest. “Once isn’t going to be enough.”

Still inside her and in shock at the connection he’d felt between them, Mustang had to agree.

***

The distant ringing of his cell phone woke Mustang about dawn. Sage was sprawled across him. Two discarded condom wrappers lay next to his hand on the bed. Memories of round two the night before had his body waking up in a very obvious way. That would have to wait.

His phone was somewhere on the floor in his jeans but how he was going to get to it with Sage on top of him, he didn’t know.

Mustang worked his way from beneath her. She moaned and rolled over from the disruption, curling up into the fetal position.

Hugging his pillow, she went right back to sleep so he didn’t feel too bad. However, the phone stopped ringing long before he made it to his crumpled jeans and found it in his pocket.

It took him a minute to locate the missed calls, but before long he’d hit the right buttons and was listening to the ringing through the line. Glancing at the bed and Sage’s peacefully sleeping figure, Mustang closed himself into the tiny bathroom. He had to pee anyway.

Finally, Slade answered.

“Hey, Slade. Sorry I missed your call. What’s happening?”

“No, I’m sorry. It’s way too early on a Sunday morning for you to be up, but I thought you’d want to know what was happening.

We got word on Skeeter. He’s got a lacerated liver, contusions in both lungs and fractured ribs. He’s still in the hospital. The docs say he’ll most likely be out for three to six months.”

“Damn, but still, thank God it wasn’t worse.” Three to six months out of competition, but at least it hadn’t been a career-ending injury. After watching that crash and the sports medicine team’s reaction to it, Mustang hadn’t been so sure. Skeeter was bad, but it was a relief it wasn’t worse. Everything would heal. He’d been lucky…this time.

He blew out a long, slow breath. “Thanks for telling me, man.”

“No problem.”

Mustang said goodbye and hung up with Slade, took care of business in the bathroom and then wandered back to the bed. It was too early to be awake. Unfortunately, he’d have to rouse Sage and sneak her back into the house.

If her grandmother woke up and found her missing, she would most likely look outside, see his trailer and know her granddaughter wasn’t missing at all. She was just getting busy with Mustang. The last thing he needed was Grams, the woman who had watched him grow up, knowing he had taken advantage of her granddaughter.

He crawled back onto the bed and nestled up close behind Sage so he could wake her up slowly. The problem was, Junior didn’t wake slowly. He’d gone down nicely during the phone call, but now he detected Sage’s warm, naked body and sprung to life. Pressed close against the crevice of her ass, Mustang was starting to lose incentive to send her home.

When she moaned softly and nuzzled against him, all sense fled. His hand crept over her hip and snuck between her thighs.

Another sleepy, happy sound rumbled from within Sage and she bent one knee, giving him total access. Sadly, he took full advantage.

He began circling her clit with his finger as his erection teased her.

The discovery that she was already wet had him groaning. He let just the tip of his cock slip inside and his eyes squeezed shut at the sensation. She pushed back and he slid in farther. He worked his hand faster and her hips began to move. Before he knew it, he was thrusting fully inside her. Her muscles began to pulse around him and he pumped harder.

She cried out as she came and Mustang felt the tingle begin inside him. He sank into her one last time, intent on finishing deep within her, and then he realized what he’d done. Pushing Sage forward, he yanked himself out just as he came all over the sheets.

“Holy crap.” He let out a shaky breath over the close call. “I can’t believe what I just did.”

Sage rolled bonelessly over, lying on her back next to him. “What’s wrong?”

“I forgot the condom. I can’t believe it. I’ve never done that before, Sage. Ever. I mean I pulled out, but still, I didn’t even realize what I’d done until it was almost too late.”

“But it wasn’t too late, so it’s okay.”

He shook his head. “It almost wasn’t.”

“Are you sorry that we made love?” She watched him closely, waiting for an answer.

He cupped her face. “No, I’m not sorry but I’m damn pissed at myself for being stupid.”

No woman had ever made him forget himself the way he just had with Sage.

His forgetfulness with Sage was proof that one day in the future, either by choice or by accident, he may need a steady job with health benefits and a pension plan and that meant the end of his career. That scared the hell out of him. His head was starting to hurt.

Sage broke into his thoughts. “You weren’t stupid. Now stop. Everything is fine. Let’s change the subject. What do you want to do this weekend?”

“I was thinking about taking a road trip to see Slade and the guys in Oklahoma. Stay and watch the competition.”

“Oh? That’s sounds like fun.”

Mustang could be dense at times, but this wasn’t one of them. Sage was waiting for him to invite her to go with him.

How the hell could he do that? Jenna was still traveling with Slade. Chances were good that their past together could come out.

Though he didn’t want to lie to Sage, he also didn’t think she could handle that revelation.

Then there was Chase, who could easily trot up and start running off at the mouth about his and Mustang’s recent threesome.

He felt enough like the devil on earth when compared to Sage and she didn’t even know a fraction of what he’d done in his life.

Yes, it was before they’d gotten together, but still.

She quietly waited for him to say something. He felt horrible about it, but he needed to get out of taking her with him somehow.

“Um, I’d invite you along but I’m going to spend the whole time catching up with the guys, and Slade always used to stay in the trailer with me…”

Sage laughed. “Yeah. That would be a little crowded. The three of us in this tiny trailer.”