Chapter Three

      YEARS OF BULL RIDING had finally shaken some screws loose.

      That was the only explanation for the fact that Cody had just accepted Miranda’s offer and told her his real name.

       “The name’s Cody Braddock.”

      Sweet Jesus. Was he completely nuts?

      Hungry, he reminded himself. He was starved and so he wasn’t thinking straight. That explained why he was now leading Miranda outside, through the back parking lot toward his truck when his common sense screamed otherwise.

      That, and he’d always been impulsive. A loose cannon. A wild card. That’s what made him so good on the back of a bull. He didn’t waste his time thinking. He simply acted.

      No way did his sudden change of heart have anything to do with the fact that he wanted to keep her from propositioning any other man. Particularly the asshole at the end of the bar. The guy had a wife at home that he liked to use for a punching bag.

      Not that Cody gave a rat’s ass if Miranda got mixed up with a character like that. Hell, he didn’t know her from Eve.

      It was the hunger, all right.

      It clouded his judgment as darkly as it shaded his past.

      He tried to tune into the sounds around him. The music drifting from the row of clubs along Sixth Street. The footsteps up and down the nearby sidewalk. The whir of passing traffic and occasional bleep of a horn. But he found himself picking up only her. The steady beat of her heart and the faint in and out of her breaths and the excited flutter of her pulse.

      “Stop.” Her soft voice pushed inside his head and he turned just as she dug her heels into the asphalt and pulled him to a stop.

      “I thought you wanted to get out of here.” His gaze collided with hers and he read the doubt that rolled through her. Half of her wanted to turn and run. Before she did something she would surely regret.

      At the same time, that’s what this moment was all about. Doing something completely and totally opposite of what she usually did. A few moments of fierce and naughty and memorable to see her through the years and years of nothing special that she knew waited in the future.

      “Out of there.” Determination fired her gaze as she glanced around the parking lot. “Here is just fine.” And then she leaned up on her tip-toes and pressed her lips to his.

      The sudden connection sent a jolt through him. His muscles stiffened and his groin throbbed and he quickly took the lead.

      His hands slid around her waist and he pulled her flush against him. He plunged his fingers into her hair and tilted her head back to give himself better access.

      She tasted like the sweetest wine and the most decadent sin and he couldn’t get enough. He wanted to be inside of her, his cock deep between her legs, his mouth locked on hers.

      He wanted it so badly that he nearly pushed her up against a nearby car, shoved her skirt up to her waist and took her right then and there. But she had something else cooked up in her fantasies—a small alley near the rear Exit door—and Cody was all about pleasing his partner.

      Especially this one.

      Before he could dwell on the outrageous thought, she rubbed her pelvis against his crotch and electricity zapped the head of his penis. The sensation sizzled through him and gripped every nerve ending until his entire body buzzed.

      In the blink of an eye, he picked her up and headed for the narrow alley that ran between the club and a neighboring building.

      Her eyes went suddenly wide a heartbeat later when she realized they were standing between the two buildings. “How did you move so fast—” she started, but he silenced her with his mouth.

      His lips plundered hers, his tongue pushing deep to stroke and explore and leave her breathless. He pressed her up against the brick so that she could feel the pulse of the music from inside. The excitement. And then he leaned into her, his body flush against hers, so that she could feel his excitement.

      Emotion rolled through her, a mix of wonder and fear and hurry the hell up.

      “Anyone could walk by,” he murmured, feeding her impatience and the dangerous thrill of being caught.

      That’s why she had no intention of following him back to his hotel room or taking him home with her. She wanted to live on the edge a little while before she plunged over. She needed it. She’d denied herself for so long and now she wanted to experience the forbidden just once.

      The information glittered hot and bright in her gaze as she stared back at him for those next few seconds.

      She was through relying on her imagination. She wanted to live up to her reputation. Right here. Right now. Despite the fact that she was hours from home with a man she didn’t know.

      Because of it.

      She didn’t want any strings any more than he did.

      The truth bothered him a hell of a lot more than it should have and Cody stiffened.

      He ignored the strange tightening in his chest and focused on the only thing that mattered—pleasuring her. It was her pleasure—her climax—that would feed the beast inside of him.

      He caught the neckline of her skimpy top and pushed it down to her waist. Her luscious breasts spilled free. Dipping his head, he caught one rosy nipple between his teeth. He flicked the tip with his tongue before opening his mouth wider. He drew her in and sucked until a moan vibrated up her throat. The sound fed the lust roaring in his veins.

      He knew even before he caught the hem of her skirt and felt the bare skin beneath that she wasn’t wearing any panties. Pressing one hard thigh between her legs, he forced her wider until she rode him. Her sweet