Dead of Winter (Battle of the Bulls #2) - T. S. Joyce Page 0,64
the way she made him feel.
“Are you bucking this event?” he asked. “I’ll do your flank rope.”
She shook her head. “Not this one. This one is all about you. And I’ll be sitting out there when you’re done to tell you it’s okay, no matter what happens. Always.”
Dead let off a shuddering breath. It released a hundred pounds of tension he hadn’t even realized had settled over him in the past few weeks.
It’s okay. Everything was okay.
“Are you ready?” she asked, gripping his shirt.
“To buck?”
She shook her head, and she looked so damn pretty in the light of his changing room, looking up at him like he was important. Like he was everything. “Ready for a life with me?”
He grinned. That was the easiest question in the world, but he wasn’t going to answer it with a simple “yes.” He wasn’t going to answer like she expected. He was going to answer like she deserved.
Dead grinned down at her, gripped her waist, and then inhaled a deep, steadying breath because he’d never done this before. “I sure love you, Raven.”
He would never forget her answering smile as long as he lived. This moment settled something tight in his chest. It freed him. When she whispered it back, he swore to all the stars he would never get tired of those words falling from her lips. He kissed her just to taste them.
She’d come into that rodeo arena a month ago and shook up his whole life. Shook up the herd, carved out her place with his friends, and took ownership of his heart and soul. And now she was lighting a fire in him to go and be the best because he could get her that ranch she wanted. She’d just kickstarted his motivation. He could help her save and build them a life that was good and fulfilling.
“You’re ready to give up your old life and trust me to build another one?”
“I adored my old life,” she murmured, “but I feel whole with you.”
“Aawwww!” Two Shots called from the other side of the door.
Dead frowned at it. When he yanked the handle inward, the dumbass fell right to the floor by his feet.
Appalled, Dead glared at Cheyenne and Quickdraw, who were standing right outside, looking around at anything but Dead. “Were you guys spying on us?”
“Not spying. Cheering you on,” Two Shots said, pushing up from the floor.
“Aren’t you supposed to be bucking soon?” he demanded to Quickdraw.
“Oh, shit.” The giant ran off and then reappeared in the doorway, skidding in the hallway dirt. “I hate Dead less when you’re around,” he told Raven.
Raven beamed, but Dead was at least fourteen percent offended. But before he could tell that asshole the statistics, Quickdraw had disappeared again.
“You said the L-word,” Cheyenne crooned.
“Yeah, for Raven’s ears only, and you guys ruined my moment.”
“Want me to take a picture? For the next photobook?” Cheyenne held out her camera.
“No,” Dead said at the same time Raven and Two Shots said, “Yes!” in unison.
They crowded him on either side, and Cheyenne snapped a picture. Dead was pretty sure his smile looked more like a grimace.
Why was Two Shots even in this picture?
“That one’s going on your social media!” Cheyenne sang as she walked away.
Dead looked down at his nethers. “I don’t have any pants on.”
“I’ll put a smiley face over your dangly bits.”
“Dude, you told her you loved her for the first time while you were butt-naked,” Two Shots said, clapping him on the back. “That’s some confidence.”
Raven had the mushiest smile on her face. “I think it was perfect.”
“I didn’t know she was coming here,” he called out the door to Cheyenne and Two Shots’ receding backs. “I would’ve got her flowers or pastie thingies! You know, those nipple stickers, but sparkly because heifers love sparkles. Or maybe cereal or something. I can be romantic!”
“I like that better than flowers,” Raven said, pointing to his dick.
With a growl, he picked her up and wrapped her legs back around him, walked her toward the bathroom sink.
“Two minutes, Dead!” the handler yelled in the doorway.
Which scared the crap out of him so that he almost dropped Raven, who was cracking up.
Dead cleared his throat and set her gently down in front of him to hide his boner. “Be right there!”
When Raven scurried toward the doorway, he reached out to yank her back in front of him. “No, no, no, no!” But she was too fast so he had to whip his hands in front of his boner.
Raven turned at the doorway, all sex appeal with her wicked sideways glance at him. “Dead, Dead, you’re good in bed.”
He canted his head. “You’re so beautiful, Raven.”
The smile faded slightly from her lips, and that pretty blush took her cheeks. “I don’t want my old life anymore. I want this one. With you.”
“You’re sure?” He had to know he could make her happy. Had to hear it again.
“Dead, Dead, I choose you instead.”
Up Next in the Series
Quickdraw Slow Burn gets his story in
Quickdraw Slow Burn (Battle of the Bulls, Book 3)
Coming November 2020
Newsletter Sign-Up
For new releases, exclusive sneak peeks, and giveaways, sign up for T. S. Joyce’s Bear Shifter Romance Newsletter HERE.
More Series by this Author
Kaid Ranch Shifters
Steal Her Heart (Book 1)
Make Her New (Book 2)
Lift Her Up (Book 3)
Love Her Better (Book 4)
Keepers of the Swamp
Swim Deeper (Book 1)
Dig Deeper (Book 2)
Bite Deeper (Book 3)
Daughters of Beasts
Novak Grizzly (Book 1)
Beck Bear (Book 2)
Ash Bear (Book 3)
Sons of Beasts
Son of the Cursed Bear (Book 1)
Son of Kong (Book 2)
Son of the Dragon (Book 3)
Red Havoc Panthers
Red Havoc Rogue (Book 1)
Red Havoc Rebel (Book 2)
Red Havoc Bad Cat (Book 3)
Red Havoc Guardian (Book 4)
Red Havoc Bad Bear (Book 5)
Harper’s Mountains
Bloodrunner Dragon (Book 1)
Bloodrunner Bear (Book 2)
Air Ryder (Book 3)
Novak Raven (Book 4)
Blackwing Dragon (Book 5)
Kane’s Mountains
Blackwing Defender (Book 1)
Blackwing Wolf (Book 2)
Blackwing Beast (Book 3)
Bears Fur Hire
Husband Fur Hire (Book 1)
Bear Fur Hire (Book 2)
Mate Fur Hire (Book 3)
Wolf Fur Hire (Book 4)
Dawson Fur Hire (Book 5)
Chance Fur Hire (Book 6)
Saw Bears
Lumberjack Werebear (Book 1)
Woodcutter Werebear (Book 2)
Timberman Werebear (Book 3)
Sawman Werebear (Book 4)
Axman Werebear (Book 5)
Woodsman Werebear (Book 6)
Lumberman Werebear (Book 7)
Fire Bears
Bear My Soul (Book 1)
Bear the Burn (Book 2)
Bear the Heat (Book 3)
Gray Back Bears
Gray Back Bad Bear (Book 1)
Gray Back Alpha Bear (Book 2)
Gray Back Ghost Bear (Book 3)
Gray Back Broken Bear (Book 4)
Lowlander Silverback (Book 5)
Last Immortal Dragon (Book 6)
For More from this Author
Check out her The Official Reading List of T. S. Joyce
Or visit
or
T. S. Joyce’s Amazon US page
About this Author
T.S. Joyce is devoted to bringing hot shifter romances to readers. Hungry alpha males are her calling card, and the wilder the men, the more she'll make them pour their hearts out. She lives in a tiny town, outside of a tiny city, and devotes her life to writing big stories. Foodie, bear whisperer, ninja, thief of tiny bottles of awesome smelling hotel shampoo, nap connoisseur, movie fanatic, and zombie slayer, and most of this bio is true.
Bear Shifters? Check
Smoldering Alpha Hotness? Double Check
Sexy Scenes? Fasten up your girdles, ladies and gents, it’s gonna to be a wild ride.
For more information about T. S. Joyce and her work, visit her website here.