Downpour: A Grumpy Sunshine Romance (The Griffith Brothers Book 2)

The band was incredible. The beer was half-decent. The food was great. The company was bar-none.

I stood between Ray’s knees with my bottle in the air, screaming the words to an old Travis Tritt song. His hands were warm and strong against my waist as he moved with me.

Ray looked absolutely sinful in a tight black t-shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots. He usually wore sneakers, but the boots did something to me. It was like seeing him in his natural habitat.

“You gonna get another drink?” he asked when I finished off my beer.

I shook my head. “No,” I shouted over the band. “Just one for me so I can drive us back to the motel. Do you want another one?”

“Nah. I shouldn’t drink that much with my meds.”

As great as the band was, I was still unfairly horny from him teasing me before we left for the bar. “Do you want to go?”

He smirked. “Not yet. I like watching you.”

I leaned up on my tiptoes. “You could watch me naked back in the room.”

Fingers slid across my bare midriff and ghosted over my sides. “I like watching you here.”

The lead singer on stage announced they’d be taking a break, and the lights switched over to the padded ring where a mechanical bull sat in the middle. I felt Ray stiffen behind me.

“You sure you want to stay?”

“I’m fine,” he grunted.

I didn’t quite believe it, but I didn’t have the right to argue with him either. If he was fine with watching some mechanical bull riding, then I had to trust that he was.

I leaned backward, and Ray slid his arms around me. “Did you ever ride mechanical bulls or just the real ones?”

He chuckled. “Only when I was really, really drunk.”

I laughed. “I get the feeling you were the wild child of the Griffith brothers.”

“I used to be.”

“Is it different? Riding a machine rather than an animal?”

“Yeah. Same mechanics. Different applications. Different stakes.” His mouth grazed my ear. “But, uh… bull riding here is a little different.”

“What do you⁠—”

One of the bartenders had grabbed the microphone, drawing everyone’s attention to the ring. A silhouette sat on top of the mechanical bull. Her head was tipped back with long hair spilling down her spine.

Spotlights danced over the rider’s body. Slowly, they focused on her as the music grew, and the bull started to rock.

“Oh my god,” I whispered. “She’s hot.”

Ray chuckled from behind me. “Topless bull riding is a tradition around here. It’s been going on for decades.”

That’s when I realized there was nothing but a thong beneath her chaps. Her ass and tits bounced with each swing of the bull. Her chest was mostly hidden—for now—beneath an open leather vest.

“You mean she’s going to⁠—“

Ray’s hands were steady as he skated them down my arms and laced our fingers together. “We can go if you want.”

I whipped around. “Are you kidding? I want to watch.”

“You sure, baby?”

I was fairly sure I nodded, but my focus was fixed on the rider. She grabbed a rope hanging from the ceiling and pulled herself up to stand on top of the bull, skillfully surfing it as it rocked and spun. She shook her ass as people cheered and made it rain dollar bills.

“She’s so good.” I gasped when the bull slowed and she did a backflip.

Her boots slammed into the back of the bull, and she dropped down to straddle it again. The bar erupted with applause when the vest fell open and her breasts bounced free.

“How does she stay on like that?” I asked when the woman operating the control panel made the bull whip around, changing its direction halfway through the turn.

Ray wrapped his hands around my waist and gently lifted me, placing me on his lap. “Close your eyes.”

I let the music and the feeling of his chest against my back transport me away from the chaos and cheers.

Two fingers ran down my spine. “Focus right here.” He trailed them across the back of my hips. “And right here. Move them in two different directions. Your hips go with the bull. Lean into the tilt. Your spine and shoulders counterbalance it.”

His hands wrapped around my thighs, gently parting my legs. Heat surged down my spine and pooled in my core.

“Tight legs. Loose hips.” He slid his hands down the inside of my thighs. “Tighten these muscles right here.”

I clenched, feeling his hand slide higher and higher up my thighs.

My lips parted, and I tilted my head back against his shoulder. Ray placed a hand across my stomach, pressing me against his chest as his fingers grazed along the thin fabric between my legs.

I sucked in a sharp breath.

“Right here,” he murmured, his thumb pressing into the crease of my thigh and pelvis. “That’s where you squeeze the hardest. Your knees and your adductor muscles.”

“How does this not turn you on?” I whimpered. It felt like we had gone through hours of foreplay, but all he had done was point out muscle groups.

Ray’s chuckle was dark. “It’s a little more sobering when there’s a two-thousand-pound animal under your ass trying to kill you.”

“It feels like you’re trying to kill me,” I gasped when he pulled me back further, pressing his erection into my backside.

His mouth was warm on the back of my neck. “Does watching her ride that bull turn you on, baby girl?”

I nodded. Each press and suck of his mouth against my neck made me tumble further and further down the rabbit hole. I was three sheets to the wind, drunk on lust.

I rocked my ass against his cock.

Ray chuckled. “You enjoy putting on a show, don’t you?”

I nodded. “I want you to see me.”

He cupped my jaw and turned my face, leaning in to brush his lips against mine. “You’re pure sunshine. There’s no way I could miss you.”

The crowd erupted in applause as the rider finished her performance.”Let’s hear it for Jo Reed!” the bartender announced into the microphone.

My vision was blurred as Ray pulled away from the kiss so we could clap for her.

“The ring is open. Automatic cash prize if you last more than thirty seconds, and a generous crowd ready to tip for a good show, if you catch my drift.”

I chewed on my lip and peered at the empty ring.

“You gonna try it?” Ray asked, running his hands up and down my legs.

I wanted to. It looked so exhilarating and carefree. I’d never tried anything like it before. The way Jo—the first rider—looked when she was up there was something I wanted.

To feel powerful.

“I’d probably fall off,” I said.

“I think you want to,” he murmured. “I can watch you from here.”

“I can’t do backflips. I’d break my neck.”

Ray chuckled. “Yeah, I don’t recommend breaking your neck. It sucks.” His stubble brushed against my skin as he kissed behind my ear. “But if you want to try, there’s nothing stopping you.”

“You’re okay with me taking my top off in front of a crowd of strangers?”

“I’m fine with you doing whatever makes you happy. Life is short. Shake your tits and have a good time.”

I leaned into him, soaking up his strength.

“Can I give you a piece of advice?” he murmured. “Don’t count. Just breathe.”

My body felt numb as I pushed my way through the crowd and flagged down the bartender. She whisked me into a back room where Jo, the girl who had ridden first, helped me put on a pair of chaps. I looked over my shoulder at the mirror on the wall and studied the way my butt peeked out of the assless chaps.

“Oh my god, you have an amazing body. You’re gonna kill it out there.”

I pressed my hand against my bra. “I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

She grimaced. “You haven’t had a lot to drink, have you? If you vomit on the mats, you’ll have to clean it up.”

“Just a beer.”

“That’s perfect. A little buzz is good. Tequila shots, not so much.”

“Solid life advice.”

“You gonna show your tits or keep your bra on?” Jo asked as she held out the vest.

I looked at the vest. “What would you do?”

She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I pay my bills this way. There’s no shame in going all the way or just dipping your toes in the water. It’s your body, your decision.”

Fuck it.

I pulled my bra off and slipped my arms into the vest. “Let’s do this.”

“Hell yeah!”

Jo led me through the narrow corridor. The bar noise grew the closer we got to the ring. “Is that your man over there?” she asked as she pointed to Ray.

My body was electric with nerves. “Yeah.”

She smirked. “I’ll get Jenny to give you a good song to drive him crazy. Good luck out there.”

And just like that, I was on my own.

My heart was in my throat. Blood rushed in my ears, drowning out the roar of the crowd. Was this what Ray felt every time he got on the back of a bull?

It was terrifying and exhilarating all at once.

Sure, he did it fully clothed. But he also performed in front of arenas packed with thousands of people.

Holy shit. He was so brave.

Somehow, I managed to get up onto the back of the mechanical bull. But when I looked up, I couldn’t find Ray in the crowd.

A sharp whistle pierced the air. I looked over and gasped. Ray was leaning against the side of the ring. His knuckles were white as he held on. A man in a cowboy hat carried a tall chair over so he could sit.

“Don’t worry,” Jo said from the controls as she stood beside Jenny. “Ryman’s got your boy.” She winked. “Give him a show.”

Spotlights swirled around, and the music started. I tried to copy what Jo had done, pushing my ass out and arching my back, but it felt awkward and disjointed.

I closed my eyes as the bull spun, squeezing hard with my legs.

It was like I could feel Ray’s hands holding me to the machine. His thumbs pressing into my spine, telling me to separate it from my hips in my mind.

Cool air danced across my chest, and the bar cheered.

Oh my god. They could totally see my boobs.

I caught Ray’s eyes when the bull turned and shuddered. I slid down the front with my ass in the air and held on tight as it shook back and forth. I recognized that whistle and holler. It was Ray’s.

It made me sit taller. Swing my hips more. Smile brighter. Throw my head back and laugh.

I wanted his gaze. I wanted his approval. I wanted him. All of him.

Somehow, I managed thirty seconds on the back of the bull before I was flung off. I landed in a pile of limbs and leather against the padded wall where Ray was seated.

“Brooke!” Worry and panic raged in my name as he leaned over the partition. “Baby, are you okay? Look at me. Are you hurt?”

I laughed, rolling onto my back and holding the vest closed. “I’m so good.”

I opened my eyes and watched the storm clouds break in his gaze. Ray let out a scared breath. “Fuckin’ terrified me,” he said quietly.

I scrambled up to my feet and pressed a kiss to his mouth. “How’d I do, champ?”

He reached over the wall and palmed my ass as he kissed me. “Like a firecracker, baby.”

Ray was waiting for me at the table when I came out of the dressing room with my clothes back on.

A thick white envelope was in his hand. “Looks like everyone else thought you were a star too.”

I laughed as I peeked inside, then almost choked at the stack of bills. “Damn.”

“You want to hang out and watch the band?”

I let out a heavy sigh. “Honestly, I’d rather get out of here.”

Ray kissed me long and hard. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

I hadn’t started a tab, so we gathered our things and headed out to the truck. I was grateful that the drive back to the motel was short.

The motel room door slammed like a bomb exploding. The deadbolt echoed like a gunshot. I froze, knowing Ray was behind me.

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget seeing your ass in those chaps…” The footrests on his chair knocked against the back of my ankles. “Shorts off,” he said.

“Are we finally going to finish what we started?”

“Are you going to stop talking back to me and do as you’re told?”

I shimmied my shorts off, standing in front of him in my panties and tank top.

“That’s my good girl,” he murmured as he tugged my underwear down to my knees. “Bra off and touch your toes.”

I yanked my shirt and bra over my head and slowly bent over. It was like an unseen force took over my body when he spoke to me in that deep, gruff voice.

It felt like being hypnotized. Out of control, yet desperate.

“Already wet or still wet?” he asked as he slid a finger through my pussy.

“Still,” I whispered. “Still wet.”

“Poor thing,” he said with a depraved chuckle. “It’s been hours.”

I shook my head. “It’s been weeks.”

“Weeks, huh?” Ray slid two fingers inside me. “Sounds like I need to take care of some business, then.”

“Please,” I begged. My back ached and my arms trembled. “Please.”

He curled his fingers, stroking inside me. “I loved watching you ride that bull. Did it make you wet? I liked knowing all those people were watching my girl. Knowing every single one of them wanted what only I get to touch.”

“Yes,” I rasped.

“You’re gonna get on that bed and ride me, baby girl. It’s time for my show.”

I scrambled onto the mattress while Ray got undressed and settled against the headboard.

His cock was thick. An angry, swollen color flooded the head as he stroked it.

I crawled toward him, moving up his body. My slit grazed his shaft as I straddled him.

“Is this what you’ve been missing?” he murmured against my chest. “My cock in your pussy?”

I nodded.

“Go on then. Drop down on me. Let me feel how tight you are. How ready you are.”

I dug my fingers in his thick hair, holding his head against my breast as he sucked and bit my nipple. With each pull of his mouth, I sank further and further onto his cock.

It was only when I was fully seated with him inside me that I took a breath.

He laid back, allowing me to brace against his chest as I eased off him, then slammed back down.

I gasped for air. After what felt like ages of foreplay, I needed it rough. “Please, daddy,” I begged. “Fuck me hard.”

His eyes flared and darkened as he growled, his fingers digging into my skin. “Say that again.”

“Fuck—”

“No. Say all of it.”

I gasped as he teased my clit. Whimpering, I choked out, “P-Please fuck me, daddy.”

Ray pulled his hips back into the bed, then thrust into me. My tits hung in front of his face, brushing against his cheek with each push.

“This is heaven, baby girl. You’re my heaven,” he grunted, using his other hand to play with my clit.

I wanted to live between his arms. I wanted to be consumed by him.

Fire raged inside of me, flashing like bolts of lightning with each touch of his hand, each push of his cock, each pull from his mouth.

“Ray,” I keened when he grabbed my hips, holding me against him as he slammed inside of me, grinding our bodies together. “I-I can’t stop it. I need to⁠—”

I couldn’t get the words out before my world shattered.

Strong arms caught me as I collapsed. Warmth flooded my core as he shuddered, coming violently inside of me.

Ray pressed his lips to my temple. “How was that?”

Our chests stuck together, fused by sweat, adrenaline, and comfort. “Like I’d wait lifetimes for you, if only to find you once.”