Off to the Races (Gold Rush Ranch, #1)

by Elsie Silver

“I don’t like people,”

And that anger? It makes the people around me uncomfortable, and if I’ve learned anything in my twenty-eight years on this earth, it’s that most humans will do almost anything to salvage their own comfort. They’ll grasp at it with white knuckles, sweaty palms, and hold on to it with absolute frantic desperation. Destroy relationships with family members, endure shitty marriages, stab friends in the back—you name it. Comfort is king.

My internet stalking skills are so next level I almost added them as a bullet point to the skills section of my resume.

Sometimes you’re born into a family, and other times you choose them. And when you choose them, you know in your bones that they’re right for you.

“Yeah, Boss Man. You look good on your knees.”

“I’m willing to bet that if I get a few drinks into you, you’ll be swearing like a sailor and riding the mechanical bull topless at the local country bar. The quiet ones are always the craziest.”

“Maybe he’s not, and, you know, that’s okay. People aren’t black and white; they’re just shades of gray. Maybe he did some bad things, made some bad choices, but that doesn’t make him bad. It doesn’t negate all the wonderful things he did for you or the important role he played in your life. He can be both.”

I bite at my lips nervously. “I’m going to regret this tomorrow.” “No, Billie.” His hands stroke me. “I’m going to eat that perfect pink pussy and then put you back to bed. And tomorrow? Tomorrow all you’re going to think about is how good you felt with my tongue inside of you.”

Tonight, I’m going to make her come harder than she ever has before. I’m going to own her body. Show her what she’s missing. And then I’m going to tuck her in and make her yearn for more. I’ll dole it out in pieces. Like little breadcrumbs on a path she’ll have to follow. I will not rush and give her the satisfaction of thinking I don’t take this seriously.

My breath hitches in my chest when I study him lying there looking like a god in the filtered morning light. The god of pussy eating.

Then he cuddled me. And I wasn’t sure what to do. So, I just laid there and took it like a champ. I expected him to just lie down and fall sleep. Not prowl into bed wearing skin-tight boxers, kiss me like we were exchanging souls, making me taste what we’d just done, and then wrap me in his arms while peppering soft kisses across my bare shoulder.

But she’s too late. If I am the predator, she is my prey, and I already had a taste I can’t forget. I’m coming back for more, whether or not she realizes it. I’m not tiptoeing around her anymore.

“I fucked up this week, backing off the way I did. What I should have told you is that I want you and to win races. I want it all.”

He nods with authority. “Good. Now pull those skimpy panties to the side and show me how you touch that pretty pussy when you’re alone and thinking of me.”

“Among the Romani people we would say that Double Diablo is your Heart Horse. Your equine soulmate. A horse you understand like no one else can.”

“I know you’ve spent years perfecting the shiny veneer of this family’s reputation but, good god, Vaughn. This is real life, not a PR fix.”

“What do I do?” “You tear that contract up and you beg.”