by Jewel, Bella
Vesper held out her arms to take her. “Aww, she’s so cute.”
I passed the brown teddy bear looking monster to her. “No, not cute. It’s all a ploy. She’s a she-devil and lives to make my life miserable.” I scowled at the cutest face, seeing the conniving witch hiding behind those beady black eyes. “First day I got her, she was the sweetest angel. Then the next, she peed in my sneakers. A week later, she vomited on my kitchen floor and tried to bite my hand when I went to clean it up. She lives for ways to torment me.”
Vesper laughed as the little traitor licked her knuckles and yapped happily. “I think she’s doing it to get a rise out of you.”
I lowered my jaw, drinking her in. She wore the same clothes from last night but her hair was wild and there was a glow on her face that hadn’t been there before. “You got a rise out of me last night.”
She grinned, placing the Pomeranian back on the floor as the dogs took off as another secret distracted them and their investigatory skills kicked in. “Oh, yeah?”
I grabbed her wrist, tugging her upward and into an embrace. “You’ve got another standing ovation.” Pressing her hips into mine with the flat of my palm, I smiled. “Fancy another round?”
She kissed me. “I’d love to and I plan on many more, but I’d adore a shower and for some reason, yours just spat brown goo at me and gave me the finger.”
I slapped my forehead. “Shit, sorry. I forgot the plumbers came last week to replace the pipes. It’s all lead shit that probably slowly poisoned the old inhabitants. He’s not finished hooking up the drainage yet.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re telling me I had a sleep over in a building site and I can’t even wash off the grime?”
“Hey, that grime you’re talking about is me and don’t speak badly about my house.” Turning her around, I marched her outside to survey my empire.
The sun shone on the crumbling white paint and wonky veranda. And wouldn’t you know it, the house gave me a fuck you gift as a sheet from the roof chose that exact moment to slide in a loud clatter to splat on the mud below.
I groaned. “It looks worse than it is.”
She giggled. “Oh, really? I might have a stick of dynamite in my bag if you want to try another approach?”
I squeezed her. “Don’t you dare touch my project.”
“Not even to lend a hand with a paintbrush?” She poked my work jeans. “Every time I see you, you’re spotty like a Dalmatian. I don’t think you got the memo that paint goes on the wall, not the handyman.”
“I think you need bringing back in line for such talk.” Backing her up, I kept my eyes on the barn doors to the kennel and slammed her against it.
She gasped as her spine collided and I kissed her deep and ravenous.
This cat and mouse banter between us kept all my troubles at bay. How had I survived without her lightness in my life?
Pushing my chest, she murmured, “As much as I want you again and as quickly as you’re dissolving my willpower, I’m afraid if you don’t have a shower, I’m going to have to go home and change. I can’t spend the day gross. It will drive me nuts.”
Hope unfurled. “So you’re saying you don’t have to work today?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why? What do you have in mind?”
“Just answer the question. Yes or no?”
She beamed. “Nope. It’s my day off today. Polly’s tomorrow.” Her arms twined around my waist. “I’m all yours, big boy.”
My eyebrows rose. “Big boy?”
“Well, what else do you want me to call you? Small sausage?”
“Say what?” I blurted dramatically, pushing away and placing a hand over my junk to prevent its delicate feelings. “Did you just call it a sausage? A small sausage?”
She laughed as three fluff buckets charged around her leg, chasing a Cadoodle with a headless chicken toy in its mouth. “Well, it’s better than sad salami or wrinkled wiener.”
Two hands clasped over my boys. “You’re one cruel woman.”
“Oh, relax. You’re not wrinkly or sad.” She winked. “It’s perfect. So perfect I want a closer look.”
My heart rate picked up as blood flowed from my brain –where I really did need it—to the useless head between my legs. “Now that I can arrange. Free of charge.”
She smirked. “Why? Was last night at an hourly rate?”
I laughed. “Yep. I don’t come cheap, you know.”
“And you summoned a vet on a call out after hours. I bet you my bill will be larger than yours, gigolo.”
Shit, that reminds me. Scar.
My hands dropped as I asked seriously, “I’ll pay you for that. And for the drugs you gave him. Can you give him some more? I put him on the front porch.”
The mirth in her gaze dropped. “Seriously, Ryder, one thing you should know about me—it’s a sure way to piss me off by assuming I only care for animals for money.” Her finger came up. “If I had unlimited wealth and never had to work again, I would still dedicate my life to all creatures big and small because it’s what I need to do. Got it?”
The spit and fire in her gaze turned me the fuck on. Made even worse because I understood completely and agreed one hundred percent. I was in the enviable position of not having to work for money, yet I spent every penny I had on toys and food and making the dogs in my temporary care as happy as humanly possible.
“Sorry, you’re right.”
“And I already found Scar. He’s breathing okay and I’ve given him another dose of Metacam. He’ll be fine until tonight.” Her tone slipped into the one I recognised from her work at the surgery. “I’ll leave the bottle and syringe on the kitchen counter. It tastes like honey, so he won’t be a problem administering it. Just give him the dose I marked on the bottle and he’ll be good.”
My happiness level dropped. “You mean, you won’t be here to give it to him?”
She paused. “Well, no. I’ll have to go home tonight so I’m ready for work tomorrow.” Her eyes searched mine. “You’ll have had me for a solid twenty-four hours by the time I go home. I have a feeling you’ll be sick of me by then and glad for some solitude.”
I highly fucking doubt that.
I ignored my panic at her leaving and laughed. “God, you’re right. I didn’t think about that. Jeez, twenty-four hours…that’s gonna be tough.” Moving toward her again, I cupped her cheek, running my thumb over her cheekbone. “I’m going to be so bored entertaining you all day. Having to clean you, feed you, bend you over my couch and fuck you.” I pressed my lips to hers. “Man, what a chore.”
She trembled. “When you put it that way…maybe twenty-four hours isn’t long enough.”
I grinned. “Now you’re seeing it from my point of view.”
A Chiwoxy barked, running between our legs. The dog’s energy levels were infectious and it’d been a couple of days since I’d taken them all to the river. Good ‘ole Thorn River that this quaint little township was named after ran along the boundary of my property.
It was the sole reason why I’d bought this place—that and the land and no neighbours.
A plan formed in my head. “So, you know how you said you needed a shower?”
She nodded slowly. “Yessss….”
“Would a fresh water bath be acceptable?”
“I don’t know. What exactly does that entail?”
I smirked. “Me, you, naked.”
One second of hesitation showed; she probably thought about returning home for fresh underwear and a bikini—but then she threw all caution out the kennel window and laughed. “Sounds perfect.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Vesper
HOW DID I NEVER KNOW this existed?
I’d been born and raised a few counties over and had swum in Thorn River where it was publically sign posted, but I’d never snuck onto private property where the river meandered into paradise.
“Wow, Ryder.” I couldn’t pull my jaw from the permanent position of amazement. “This is stu
nning.”
The colours of green and turquoise over saturated my eyes with weeping willows, pockets of deeper still water, and babbling shallow brooks. Rocks stuck out of the velveteen water, slick with algae while reeds played in the depths like mermaid hair.
Sunshine speared around green leaves and brown bark, dappling the embankment.
I never wanted to leave.
“You’re the only one who’s seen this.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s my sanctuary. I’m rather possessive of it. Haven’t even shown it to my brother yet.”
I swivelled to face him. “Wait, you have a brother?”
He nodded. “Yep, two years older. Wildly successful.” He narrowed his eyes. “Why? Already planning on trading me in for a better model?”
I laughed. “No way. I’m very content with the one I’ve currently got on loan.”
“The loan could be made into a more permanent arrangement if you wanted.”
My lips parted. “Meaning?”
“This…” He motioned between the two of us. “It started off as a trial but I’m ready to cash in my thirty day right of return and keep you.”
My heart fluttered. “You say the most romantic things.”
His teeth flashed in the sunshine. “I try.”
A thunder of doggy paws interrupted our conversation. “Oh, help, they’ve found us.” Ryder chuckled.
I braced myself as a cloud of brown dogs, white dogs, spotty dogs, and patchy dogs hurtled around the huge oak tree protecting this amazing river grotto and berserk chaos found us.
When Ryder had grabbed my hand back at the kennel and unlocked the gate where a lot of the dogs were lolling in the grass or playing with one another, he’d assured me he’d done this before.
As the pack of mutts took off into the distance, Ryder guided me back to the house, entered a rickety temporary work shed, turfed out two bags of concrete that were taking up prime real estate in a wheelbarrow and wheeled it around to the front porch.
I’d known instantly what he was about to do.
And I couldn’t stand it.
Why was this guy so damn perfect? He had to have a flaw. He had to be a closet cross dresser or explosive temper or something that made him normal.
Because next to him, I felt like an unappreciative teenager while he was bloody Ghandi.
Without looking at me, he’d strode up the porch steps, scratched Scar behind the ear, and bundled him up with a nice fat cushion to plop him into the wheelbarrow.
The moment the weary dog was comfy, he pushed off as if it was an everyday occurrence to wheel a Pusky Bull across a perfect meadow while the raucous of unruly dogs barked on the horizon.
I’d stayed pace the entire way from his timeworn mansion, resting my hand on Scar’s back as his tongue lolled and he wheezed, sticking his nose into the air and looking so damn happy it made tears prick my eyes.
When we’d arrived at the river, we’d placed Scar under a large weeping willow in the shade, lashed a leash around his neck just in case he attacked the other dogs, and gave him some fresh water.
We’d had a moment’s peace before the pack arrived.
As the river went from serene to a splashing mess as dogs threw themselves at each other and barked and yipped and swam, I tried to count how many there were but lost track after nine.
Moving closer to Ryder, I asked, “Aren’t you afraid some of them will take off? How will you catch them all when it’s time to go home?”
He smiled. “I have a secret weapon.” Pulling his phone from his back pocket, he swiped on the screen and brought up an app with lots of blinking green dots on a map. “This is that lot.” He waved in front of us to the four-legged fiends. “When I rescue them, and after they’ve been assessed and micro chipped by you, I call up the company who own the recorders on the chips and assign them to a GPS tracking app that’s normally used for stalking cheating husbands or wives. If a dot goes red, it means they’ve gone ten metres too far and I use a sheep-dog whistle—” He pulled a small plastic horseshoe shaped device from his other pocket “—and call them back.”
Inserting it into his mouth, he puffed. The highest, sharpest whistle erupted.
Every single one of the dogs, including Scar, stopped dead. No tail wags, no tongue lolling. Utter focus and awareness.
“See?” Ryder smirked at the undivided attention. “Works like a charm.” Patting his thigh, he ordered, “Come here.”
As one, a cloud of dogs trotted forward under his complete command. Even Scar, leashed in his wheelbarrow, tried to heel.
I gasped at the level of respect these mismatched mutts had for Ryder. He was their pack leader with no argument or contention.
Once we were surrounded by canines, intensely waiting for the next order, Ryder put the whistle back into his pocket and clapped his hands. “Okay, guys. You’re free. Continue to play.”
Instantly, whatever spell he’d put them under broke and the sheer focus in their intelligent gazes switched to unruly happiness once again. The pack broke up into little groups, leaping and nipping, returning to their river games.
I whistled low. “That’s impressive. I’ve seen owners go to puppy school for months and still unable to control a single dog.”
He shrugged. “Like you said last night. It’s all about the internal intentions. They know when I’m relaxed and happy for them to be animals and embrace freedom. But when I whistle, it’s listening and obeying time. Otherwise, they’re out of the pack.”
“You should teach people how to be better carers.” I nudged an algae covered pebble by my foot. “So many people yell and scream and don’t take the time to understand doggy language.”
Coming toward me, he tucked a loose curl behind my ear.
I trembled at the soft but sexual feel of his finger.
“I’m not saying I know what I’m doing. But I will admit the whistle is useful. I currently have eighteen four-legged brats but once I had over thirty. I haven’t lost one yet, and this way, I can take them on a group walk and not worry about them vanishing on me. Not to mention, when I find their forever home, I give the new owner all the information including the app so they’ll never lose them again.” His eyes turned sad. “Too many pets are lost and put into the system and killed because loving owners never tagged them or bothered to register the microchip correctly. A lot of pointless deaths could’ve been avoided.”
We stood side by side, watching as the dogs slowly calmed from their manic antics and broke off into smaller packs to investigate bushes and interesting smells. One or two detoured to check out Scar in his wheelbarrow but one vicious snarl from the killing Pusky Bull and they quickly kept their distance.
I was worried that Scar would try to jump free and chase them. That he’d feel left out or his murderous training would be too hard to overrule, but the moment the dogs had vanished in a shiver of foliage, he calmed right down and closed his eyes with contentment.
“Ah, peace at last.” Ryder took my hand, looping his fingers with mine. “Now, I believe it’s time for your bath. I can’t believe you’re still wearing the same clothes, you dirty girl.”
I laughed as we walked along the river edge toward a deeper blue swimming hole. “You can’t talk. You’re constantly in dusty work clothes. I can’t tell if your entire wardrobe is an unknown renovation designer label, or if you don’t own a washing machine.”
“Did you just offer to do my washing?”
I pushed him. “I did nothing of the sort.”
His dark hair caught the sunshine as he glanced at me. “I think you did. I think you were complaining about my lack of cleanliness and like any good girlfriend offered to care for her man in order to keep him fresh and publically acceptable.”
“I’m your girlfriend now?”
He balanced on one leg, ripping off a sneaker before doing the same with the other. His socks flew off, too. “Do you want to be?”
I cocked my hip, tapping my finger against my lips in serious fas
hion. “Hum, that’s a loaded question. What terms and conditions does such a title come with?”
Tearing his t-shirt off, he looked me up and down. “For starters, you get me.” He boldly unbuckled and stripped his jeans and boxer-briefs off in one go. Fisting his cock, already standing tall and at attention, he murmured, “You get this any time you want.”
“Well, that’s very tempting.” I tilted my chin, allowing the sunshine and jokes to warm me inside and out. “But I reckon I could have that any time I wanted without being your girlfriend.”
His eyes narrowed. “Are you calling me easy?”
I giggled. “Hey, if the description fits.”
Ryder growled. “Woman, I’m anything but easy. Ask my brother.”
“Ah, yes. The brother I might upgrade to.” I squinted in the bushes. “Is he around by any chance? I might get him to dish the dirt on you, seeing as you’re asking for such a big commitment.”
Prowling toward me, Ryder watched beneath a lowered brow. “He’ll be here in two weeks. You can ask him then.”
“Two weeks?” I sighed dramatically. “That’s a long time. I don’t know if this ‘arrangement’ between us will last that long.”
I took a step back as Ryder lashed out and grabbed my wrist. My heart winged as he jerked me into his naked chest. His lips slammed against mine as his hands tangled possessively in my hair.
Our tongues clashed, our mouths connected, and our breathing switched from rational to completely erratic.
By the time he pulled away, I swayed on the river bank as my pussy throbbed. I’d slept with this man once but it hadn’t taken my edge off. It’d done nothing to damper my desire for him.
If anything, it had added more firewood to an already out-of-control inferno.
Cupping my nape, Ryder whispered against my mouth, “If you think two weeks is a long time, I pity you.”
“Pity me?” I blinked, trying to understand.
A tell-tale smirk twitched his lips. “Yes. I pity you because you really have no idea what you’ve just done.”
I shivered as his touch dropped from my nape, down my arm, to grab my fingers. Never breaking eye contact, he pulled my hand forward and ever so slowly wrapped my palm around his hot, hard cock. “Two weeks is a single heartbeat to me, Vesper. The moment you turned up at my house last night was the moment you became mine.”