Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 110802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Keenan scratched the back of his head. “Well, she wanted to ride a bull —”
“And you didn’t think to stop her?”
“I would have done, but she snuck off!”
Not a surprise. “And you didn’t save her from herself because…?”
“The event is safer than it looks.” Keenan winced as a demon bashed his face on the bucking bull’s horns just before he hit the ground hard.
“If it makes you feel any better, it’s not her first rodeo,” said Devon. “No pun intended.”
Levi turned to the hellcat. “She’s done this before?”
“Imps love bull riding,” said Devon. “Especially when they’re drunk.”
“When they’re drunk?” repeated Knox. “They take part in this undeniably dangerous sport when they’re drunk?”
Devon raised a brow. “You’re really that surprised?”
Having spent a lot of time around imps recently… “Actually, no.” Knox looked to see his mate being led toward the chute, where a white stomping bull waited. Harper, do not get on that damn bull.
Her head shot up, her eyes found his, and she waved with a huge smile. She. Waved.
Harper, I’m serious, he clipped.
Relax, I’ll be fine, she assured him, like he was being melodramatic and this was merely a pony ride.
I will not allow you to put your safety at risk, Harper. They didn’t call bull riding “the most dangerous eight seconds in sport” for nothing.
No one “allows” me to do anything, Knox.
His blood boiled. He wanted to yell at her, demand she come to him, forbid her from doing this… but the reality was that he could order her around all he liked and it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference. In fact, it would make her even more determined to go through with this just to be contrary.
He’d known when he took her as his mate that he would never control her; that she had a mind of her own – a mind that didn’t always operate the way he’d like it to. He’d known and accepted this. But bull riding… yeah, he had a major fucking issue with that.
Trying a different approach, he softened his voice and said, Baby, don’t do this.
Her shoulders stiffened and she looked at him, conflicted.
Come over here to me, he coaxed.
Alethea sidled up to him and put a hand on his arm. “She’s really going to ride that bull?”
Harper’s eyes cut to the female and narrowed slightly; then a blank mask settled over her face.
Fuck it all. He moved away from Alethea, but it was too late. Harper, she’s no one to me.
Nothing.
“Look, all she has to do is hang on tight for eight seconds or more,” said Devon.
Knox ground his teeth. “Yes, but she has to hold on to a two-thousand-pound bull.” And as his mate looked the monstrously big, huffing, pissed-off bull right in the eye, Knox couldn’t understand why she hadn’t thought that, hey, maybe this wasn’t the best idea.
“Honestly, I’ve never seen the imps suffer any major injuries,” said Devon. “Sometimes they walked away with a concussion, a broken arm from an awkward fall, or a broken foot after being stomped on. But, really, that’s it.”
“That’s it?” echoed Knox.
Devon pursed her lips. “Nothing I say is going to make you feel better, is it?”
“Not a thing.” Knox looked back at his mate just in time to see her start to mount the bull. “Fuck.”
Harper held onto each side of the chute as she slowly eased onto the bull’s back. Beneath her, the bull snorted, no doubt angry and uncomfortable at the rope wrapped around its flank. Her demon was excited. It had always enjoyed the sport. Each pump of adrenalin increased the entity’s excitement.
“The rules are pretty simple,” the rodeo clown told Harper. “You’ve got to hang on for eight seconds. If you touch the bull, yourself, or the rope with your free hand, you’ll be disqualified.”
She nodded, already well aware of that.
“When you fall, get up and run because trust me when I say he’ll come after you.”
“Got it.” With her gloved hand, she got a firm, solid grip on the flat, braided rope.
The rodeo clown sighed. “You sure about this? I have a feeling your mate won’t be pleased.”
Yeah, well, her mate was currently standing with an ex… whatever she was. And the bitch touched him. Not in the mood to be nice, she said, “You’re in my way. Move.”
He chuckled and stepped aside with an expression that said, ‘It’s your funeral.’
“You’ll be fine,” Khloë told her. “You always were the best at this.”
“See you in about eight seconds.” Harper nodded to signal she was ready, and then the bucking chute opened.
The bull stormed into the arena, and Knox’s heart slammed against his ribs. There was no gentle build up, no moment of reprieve. The bull bucked. Kicked. Reared. Twisted. Spun in fast, tight circles. All the while, his mate clung on with her thighs – one arm in the air. The crowd hooted and hollered and cheered her on, including her friends and the sentinels.