"But Lucy?" He leans down until his forehead almost touches mine, his gray eyes intense enough to steal my breath. "Later, we're going to finish this conversation."
The promise in his voice makes my knees weak. Then he's gone too, leaving me standing beside the bull pens with my heart racing and my whole body humming with need that's building to dangerous levels.
Two hours later, the final event is wrapping up. Beau's bulls have performed magnificently, the crowd is happy, and all my careful planning has paid off. The Briarhaven Roundup Days Rodeo is officially a success.
I'm checking with the cleanup crew about tomorrow's schedule when I feel a presence behind me. Strong, commanding, radiating authority in a way that makes every nerve in my body stand at attention like a soldier.
"Miss Reid." Gabriel's voice is perfectly professional, but there's something underneath it that makes my skin prickle with dangerous awareness.
I turn to face him, and the sight steals my breath. He's still in uniform, but there's something different about the way he's wearing it tonight. The badge catches the arena lights, his gun belt sits perfectly on his hips, and his blue eyes are darker than a Montana storm.
"Sheriff Maddox." I somehow manage to keep my voice steady. "Everything alright?"
"Everything's under control." He steps closer, close enough that I can smell his cologne mixed with leather and something purely him. "Walk with me."
It's not a request. It's a command, delivered in that tone that makes my body respond before my brain catches up.
He leads me away from the cleanup crew, away from the vendors and the lingering crowd, toward the empty end of the arena where the shadows are deeper and the noise is muted.
"You did good tonight," he says when we're far enough away that no one can overhear us. "Confident. Competent. Completely in control."
Another step closer. I'm backed against the arena fence now, the metal rails cool against my back through my shirt.
"Do you know what it does to me, watching you like that?" His voice drops to that low, authoritative tone that makes my knees weak and my pulse race. "Watching you handle everything with such perfect confidence?"
"Gabriel," I breathe.
"I've been watching you all day, Lucy. Watching you work, watching you smile, watching other men look at you and know they can't have what's mine." His hand comes up to rest against the fence beside my head, but unlike Colt's playful dominance, this is pure alpha authority.
The possessive edge in his voice sends heat racing through my veins like wildfire.
"They can't have you," he continues, his thumb stroking across my cheek with devastating tenderness. "Because you belong to us. Don't you?"
"Yes," I whisper.
"Good girl." The praise makes something clench low in my belly, hot and desperate.
"I've been thinking about you all day. Thinking about getting you alone. Thinking about all the ways I want to touch you."
His thumb moves to my lower lip, pressing gently until I part them.
"Thinking about hearing you say my name when I make you come apart in my hands."
A soft sound escapes me, half gasp, half moan.
"Are we interrupting something?" Colt's voice comes from somewhere behind me.
I spin around to find both Colt and Beau approaching, their expressions intense and predatory. The air between all four of us suddenly crackles with electricity.
"Not interrupting," Gabriel says, his voice rough. "Just getting started."
Beau steps closer, his gray eyes taking in my flushed face and Gabriel's possessive stance. "Rodeo's over. Cleanup crew has everything handled."
"Which means," Colt adds, moving to my other side so I'm effectively surrounded by all three of them, "we can finally stop pretending we're not all thinking the same thing."
My heart hammers against my ribs as I look between them. "What are you thinking?"
"That we've been taking turns," Beau says quietly, his voice carrying that controlled intensity that makes my knees weak. "Playing this careful game of sharing time with you."
