Page 26 of Firefly Embers

“I need you to fuck me, Wade Daniels,” I said, a devilish smirk stretching across my face. “Clear enough?”

The resounding growl that crested from his throat was enough to have me unabashedly grinding against him as he trailed kisses over my neck and back to my tits. He reached down, gripping the top of my dress, ready to yank, when a tall figure let out an awkward cough to signal their approach.

Wade turned his head slightly to see who had interrupted and lowered his head into the crook of my neck, groaning in frustration.

“What the fuck do you want, Sterling?”

WADE

“Um, I’m really sorry to have to break up whatever the fuck this is,” Sterling said, a sly, cocky smirk on his face as he signaled between Ray and me. “But Izzy Cortez is one of your riders, right?”

I used my large frame to block his view of Ray‌ until I knew she was sufficiently covered. She stiffened beneath me, hearing her sister’s name.

After glancing down to make sure she was decent, I guided her to step in front of me, concealing the massive erection I was going to be sporting for a while.

“That’s my sister,” she declared, a wild look of concern marring her face.

I was sure that whatever Izzy had gotten up to, Sterling wouldn’t have interrupted me if it wasn’t serious. Especially if he had known it was Ray I was mauling against the side of the building.

Sterling and I had been buddies for as long as I’d been circling the rodeo. He was intimately familiar with my hang-up about Rayna Cortez after my lips got loose one too many drunken post-win nights.

“Well, she’s currently three button presses away from Hayes calling the sheriff.”

I could sense the tension radiating from Sterling, and I wasn’t quite sure how to place it. I hadn’t known that he even knew who Izzy was, much less that she was one of the riders I trained. Odd, since I would consider him one of my closest friends.

“What the fuck happened?” Ray pressed, already hightailing it toward the door in search of her sister.

“Something about stupid fucking lawyers, she could drink anyone under the table, and barrel racers are crazy?”

The look of concern that floated across his vision was enough to have both Ray and me moving double time to get back inside the bar.

What we hadn’t expected stepping back into Jack’s was to see Izzy standing at the dartboards, pressing a young buck bronc rider against the wall with a pool cue, cutting off his windpipe, and his buddies standing around laughing, cheering her on.

Ray and I shared a look of concern before both muttering “fucking tequila” under our breath and heading in Izzy’s direction.

“I bet your pansy ass couldn’t ride a horse, much less a woman. Can you even see your small-ass dick? You stupid ass motherfu⁠—”

“Ooookay.” Ray halted her sister, putting a hand gently on her arm, encouraging her to loosen her grip on the pool stick and release the guy she had pinned. “Izzy, let’s go. He’s not worth getting arrested for,” she added softly.

It felt like watching a trainer tame a wild horse. The soft way ‌Ray spoke to her eased the tension in her muscles, instantly relaxing her rigid stature.

Izzy’s head fell in defeat as she dropped the pool cue, the thin wooden stick clattering to the ground with a loud clack.

The guy she’d pinned had the decency to look a little frightened as he scrambled back to his group of friends, who were still doubled over in laughter. He snatched up his sparkling-clean cowboy hat and hightailed it toward the exit, mumbling about crazy fucking barrel racers as he went.

Izzy struggled against Ray’s hold, but she didn’t have much ‌fight behind her resistance. She knew that whatever the guy had said wasn’t worth losing her sponsorships or her career over.

Young bucks like that guy liked to run their mouths, and nothing she could say or do would keep him from thinking his shit didn’t stink.

“I’m fine,” Izzy spat toward Ray, punctuating her words with a flick of her arm, throwing off her sister’s grasp.

“Why don’t we drive you home?” I asked, clearly having sobered up after my own rage-filled incident and subsequent hot and heavy episode out back.

I made a mental note to talk to Ray about that whole incident later. It was a conversation long overdue, and I wanted to know where it left us—if there was an “us.”

Without uttering a word, Izzy stomped out of the bar, the heavy wooden door thudding against the wall for the second time that night.

Ray went over to Hayes to make sure her tab had been paid and apologized for all the drama we had brought with us this evening.