Forbidden Gold (Providence Gold Book 5)

by Mary B. Moore

  “What exactly needs to be done?”

  “I think he needs his nuts cut off,” she said bluntly, shocking the shit out of me. “He’s an indoor cat who can’t go out at all because of his breed, so he was potty trained from the second it was okay to do it. He also has a fuck ton of toys and trees to scratch on because he extorts them from me,” she mumbled the last bit, fiddling with the strap of her purse. “Anyway, I got him and the dogs at the same time, and I had Levi’s friend help me train them all to accept each other. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, and on the whole they all get along well so long as they stick within each other’s boundaries.”

  Glancing over at her, I saw her nibbling on her lower lip. “So…?”

  Throwing her arms up and hitting the roof, she snapped, “He keeps pissing everywhere. No, not everywhere, but in certain places. I can’t leave the cupboard near the front door open because he gets in and pees in boots. Not sneakers, but three hundred dollar boots. He also does it in the bathroom sink, which wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t brush my teeth and wash my face there. It’s unsanitary! Then he peed in the flour.”

  “The flour?” I choked, the car swerving slightly with it.

  “Yeah, the flour I bought to make bread. I found an awesome recipe online for this Spanish bread and imported the flour because we couldn’t get it here. He not only peed but took a poop in it, too.”

  “And getting him neutered will stop that?”

  “That’s what I’m going to ask tomorrow. If it will, then I’ll book it, but I really don’t want to put him through the pain of it. I feel so guilty even taking him for a consult, like the worst mother in the world.”

  No, that title went to my stepmom, but then I guess she didn’t count as a ‘mother.’

  Shifting slightly in my seat at that thought, I focused back on her problem. “A majority of pet owners have their pets neutered, and pet rescue places insist on doing it before they’ll adopt the animal out. What you’re doing doesn’t amount to animal cruelty.”

  “Yeah, it does. I’m doing it because I don’t want him peeing and shitting in weird places.”

  “That’s why a lot of owners do it,” I shrugged as I took the turning to where we were going, hoping she didn’t realize what I had planned. There were a lot of things and places in the direction we were going, but you could never tell where a Townsend’s mind would go.

  Her silence continued as I stopped at the next set of lights, so I turned and saw her gnawing away on her bottom lip.

  “What’s playing on your mind, Ari?”

  “I guess,” she paused, then exhaled loudly. “The control thing you told me about. I’m not good at giving up control in any way. It’s just not something that comes naturally to me.”

  “That’s because you’re thinking of power loss or the dominant and submissive approach to a relationship, which isn’t what I mean. I meant a temporary exchange of power—one where I’m in control of what’s happening between us sexually.”

  Her response was instant. “I can’t do that. I don’t have a submissive side to me, so I wouldn’t be able to just give up my power like that.”

  “I don’t want you to. I want you to trust me to do what feels good to you and to not think about it unless it’s something that’s causing you pain—which I would never do to anyone—or making you uncomfortable. I don’t want to embarrass you or demean you, and I don’t want a slave. Far from it.”

  “So, you’re not talking about whipping me?”

  “Fuck no. Nothing I do to you ever would cause you pain. I’d hate myself if I ever did that.” The thought turned my stomach. “I want you to just focus on what I’m doing to you when we’re in bed—or a place of our choosing—together. Just clear your mind and trust me.”

  “You keep saying when and talking like it’s guaranteed. You’re that confident?” she asked, a small smile on her face now, which helped settle the anxiety I’d been feeling. Explaining and describing what I needed was difficult, but hopefully she trusted me enough to do her right.

  Reaching over, I lifted her hand and linked my fingers with hers, resting them on my thigh as I drove.

  “Confident, no. Hopeful and determined, yes.”

  “So, no whips or chains?”

  “No.”

  “No gags or masks?”

  “Fuck no. I want to be able to hear the noises you’re making and see your beautiful face.”

  “You’re not going to embarrass me or humiliate me?” she pressed.

  “I’d rather cut my leg off than do that to you ever,” I said seriously, meaning every word.

  “Tie me up?” her breath hitched as she said this, so I turned to look at her as we stopped at a stop sign.

  “Now that I’d love to do. Tie your hands to the headboard, maybe even your ankles to the bottom of the bed, and have you spread out for me. I’d have your beautiful body wide open to me to lick and suck on.”

  Her breath hitched after I finished, and if it hadn’t been for someone honking the horn in the car behind us, I might have…

  Thoughts and mental images like that weren’t conducive with what I had planned, though, so I had to shut them down ASAP.

  Putting the vehicle in drive, I set off again, focusing on what I’d organized for her. Getting her into bed immediately would give her the wrong impression, and I wasn’t ready for that yet either. I wanted to take it slow, earn her trust, and help her get into the mindset of what I meant by me needing control. I knew she’d immediately assume something like a dominant and submissive desire, but that didn’t even feature in my plans. My control was more about consent and me leading what was happening, and I knew she’d find a way to push me on it.

  For once, I couldn’t wait.

  “I don’t have the mindset to truly dominate you in the ways of your typical sexually dominant male, baby,” I explained after the silence had continued. “I don’t have it in me not to be in control when we’re having sex. I’ll repeat my promise, though, to never abuse any trust you give me and to never cause you any pain. That I swear. Do you think you could trust me enough to believe me on that so I can show you what I mean?”

  “I guess,” she mumbled and then gasped as I pulled to a stop in front of a gate leading to a lit up field with picnic benches scattered over it, ending the discussion. “Oh my God, it’s Farm Your Heart Out.”

  Undecided on whether us halting our discussion here was a good or bad thing, I drove through the gates of the farm, smiling at her reaction regardless.

  Once a month, the owner, Sean, had an evening of barbecue, dancing, and a bar, and you could meet the animals and even look at buying some if you passed their vetting process. Given the time of year, he’d just had quite a few births, so there would be kids, lambs, whatever alpaca babies were called, piglets, chicks, and a whole load of other animals to pet and play with.

  It was the last part I was thinking of when I bought her here, considering her love for small animals. Judging by the squeal that followed it, I’d gotten it right.

  From what he’d told me when I’d spoken to him, the place had started with normal farm animals, but when the trend of fainting goats, pygmy goats, micro pigs, and shit like that started, he adjusted his business, and it’d been a wise move to make. Knowing that people also wanted the ability to meet animals like that but couldn’t look after one, he started a family farm event once a month.

  At the time, the business venture might have had something to do with his five kids—which he now had eight of because he’d adopted his brother’s three who was in jail for armed robbery—and the fact it kept them entertained. It also brought in the cash necessary to support them all, and he enjoyed the hell out of it.

  And I knew all of this because I’d been his doctor two weeks ago when he’d come into the ER with two nails from a nail gun through his hand, and he’d told me while we got them out and stitched him up. He’d also given me free entry while I’d been sticking his tetanus shot in his ass
—something which I thought would amuse Ariana, so I told her as we walked to the entrance.

  “He gave you a freebie while you stuck it in his ass?” she chuckled loud enough for the people around us to hear, getting us a few funny looks.

  “No, he gave it to me while I gave it to him,” I argued, cringing when the people staring at me raised their eyebrows.

  “Did you at least buy each other a drink first?” she snickered as we made our way over to the barbecue stand, getting in line for what was apparently the best grilled meat you’d ever eat in your life.

  Groaning, I scrubbed my hands down my face. I was wiser in the ways of the Townsends than this, so why had it gotten to this stage?

  Because Ariana fried my brain and had done for years, that’s why.

  In a rare display of pity—at least up until last night—she changed the subject. “I always wanted goats. Normal goats, fainting goats, pygmy goats, the Damascus goats with those long ears, Angoras, Kikos, and the breeds with long hair like the Irish, Dutch Landrace, and Nachi goats.” She was so excited that the words almost rolled into one as she said them.

  My brain short-circuited at the number of types she knew. For me, there was only one—the goat. I had no idea what the different ones were like, but I wasn’t so dumb that I didn’t realize pygmies were small and fainting goats fainted. I mean, it was right there in black and white what was special about them.

  But a goat was a freakin’ goat, right?

  Thankfully, I didn’t say any of that. What I did say was, “There are long-haired goats?”

  “Yes,” she squealed quietly. “They’re gorgeous.”

  Again—they were fucking goats!

  However, yet again, I didn’t say those words out loud. “Sean said some of his had given birth a couple of weeks ago. I don’t know which types, but he’s keeping them in the barn away from the public and noise because the babies are so little. He’s going to let us go and see them, though. I just have to give him a call when we’re ready.”

  That’s what I’d done today. I’d called the guy—who was a stranger aside from his hand and ass— and explained briefly about tonight and that I wanted to see her smile. After I’d finished, he’d told me what to do and said he’d be waiting for me to let him know when we were ready. I thought she might think it was dumb, but seeing the new look of excitement on her face, he’d gotten it right.

  When we finally got to the area where the meat was laid out, I looked around, trying to get over what I was seeing. I was a carnivore I loved meat as much as the next guy (although, not the one standing next to me who was discussing the vegetarian option available with his friend), but what was in front of me was every animal lover’s worst nightmare. Mountains of steak, different sausages, patties, jerky, bacon, pot roast…

  “That’s a lot of meat,” Ariana mumbled as she reached for a plate and eyed the table.

  Looking behind us, the answer to why was clear when I saw how the line went almost back to the parking lot now.

  “Apparently there’s a lot of meat eaters,” I whispered, not wanting to upset the vegetarian who was guesstimating how many animals had been killed.

  Choosing what we wanted, we put it on our plates and moved down the row of tables to where the sides were laid out, then made our way over to an empty table with scary plates of food.

  As soon as we sat down, a woman appeared beside us.

  “Sean says you need beverages. You can’t eat big meat without one. Whatcha havin’?”

  “Uh, soda water?” Ariana hedged, looking at me for help.

  “Y’all are having sweet tea and a beer,” she told us firmly, totally negating her previous question.

  “I can’t have beer,” I told her and did my best not to shrink under the glare she shot me like I was almost spitting on the sanctity of ‘big meat,’ even though I was driving and on-call.

  Grunting, she turned and disappeared, leaving us gaping at where she’d been standing. We’d only just snapped out of it when some drinks were dumped on the table in front of us.

  “Drink. Eat.” It wasn’t a request, it was an order, so the two of us smiled at her and stayed frozen until she’d disappeared again.

  Reaching for the bottle of beer, Ari took a mouthful out of it and choked. “She put whiskey in it,” she wheezed, reaching for one of the cups of sweet tea. “I think half of it’s whiskey.”

  Picking the bottle up, I sniffed it and shuddered. “I think it’s whiskey with a shot of beer.”

  “She obviously thought the date needed something,” she winked and stuck a fork full of what looked like brisket into her mouth, chewing and groaning loudly. “Holy shit, this is better than sex."

  I really hope not, that would be embarrassing for my skills.

  Forking up some of my own, I shoved it in my mouth and quickly decided I’d get better at sex, nothing would get better than what I’d just eaten. I’d intended to pick her brain to see how she was after last night, but the two of us were so busy eating that it didn’t happen.

  And then, almost like he’d been watching and waiting, Sean appeared after we’d taken our last mouthfuls.

  “Doc,” he greeted and then looked at Ariana. “Female Townsend.”

  There was a flash of something in her eyes, but it was gone before anyone who didn’t know her would see something was up.

  “Sean, this is Ariana,” I introduced, getting a warm look from her like I’d said something right.

  I was replaying the words that’d gotten me that look, trying to figure out what I’d done right, and missed what was being said until Ari kicked me under the table.

  Looking up at both of them, I shook my head and smiled. “Sorry, I was just thinking about something. What’s up?”

  “We’re heading to see the new babies,” she told me as she got up from the table. “Are you ready?”

  Smiling through the dread of the thought of wading through animal shit and straw with bacteria on it, I nodded. “Absolutely. Let’s go see them.”

  Following behind them, I listened as they discussed the animals and she asked about the long-haired goats that she liked. Apparently, Sean knew someone who bred them in Texas, which didn’t say much given how big the State was, but okay.

  “My friend has a fainting goat and a pygmy that are like dogs. They have a doggy flap in the back door that they go out of when they needed to go potty, but the rest of the time they hang around with her. She’s lucky because she works from home so she’s always there with them, but they’re actually like little children. I’d love to have that in my life.”

  “Not going to get that with one of the bigger breeds, Ariana. You’ll have to leave your door open, and some of them get bored if they don’t have enough space to run around in,” Sean told her as he opened the door to the barn, letting us in before he closed it again.

  What we’d walked into was nothing like I’d imagined. I’d pictured pigs, goats, horses, and sheep on bales of hay. Probably piles of shit all over the floor, food scattered everywhere with rats nibbling on it and shit like that. I wasn’t a country boy, farms and ranches weren’t my thing, so it made complete sense to me that it would look like that. Instead, there were enclosures and pretty fences with names written on them, the hay looked fresh and clean, the walkway between them only had a few pieces of hay on them but was otherwise spotless, and everything was organized neatly.

  “Wow!” I looked around incredulously. “It’s like the animal version of the hospital.”

  And it was, even down to the baskets attached to each pen that had special items in them like medication or supplements.

  “Yeah, gotta keep it neat, or you’ll give the wrong stuff to the wrong animal. Also got a feeding schedule for each pen, so we know they’re getting the right amount,” Sean pointed at a chalkboard on the wall with the numbers of the pens and names of the animals on it.

  “What are these numbers?” Ari asked, pointing to a second row of them.

  “The number of
babies. If any die, we put them in this row here,” he pointed at the next one. So far, no deaths, something which made her very happy to see.

  “I love it,” she breathed, looking around us again and almost melting when she saw something behind me. “Oh, it’s so cute!”

  Giving me a look that screamed ‘typical woman,’ Sean shook his head as we followed behind her to where she was squatting in front of a small goat.

  “That’s Gaynor who’s a fainting goat. She’s three months old, but she’s had some stomach problems so we brought her in to see the vet this afternoon.”

  “Gaynor?” I asked at the same time that Ari asked if she could hold her.

  “As in Gloria Gaynor,” Sean explained as he opened the gate to let her in. “When she bleats, we swear it sounds like I Will Survive, so we called her Gaynor.”

  Just then, she let rip and started climbing on Ari’s knees and thighs, butting her head against her tits. Sure as shit, her baaaaaa sounded something like someone drunk singing the words ‘will survive.’

  “I love her,” Ari whispered, sticking her face into her neck and laughing when Gaynor started frantically rubbing her head against her.

  “Seems she feels the same way,” Sean muttered, watching them with amusement.

  Moving closer and squatting down, I hesitantly brushed my finger down the goat’s side, shocked when I felt how silky but coarse the hair was. “How’s her stomach now?”

  “Doc says she had too much green grass. Apparently she’s a beast when it comes to food and wants to eat more than her body can handle. We’re starving her for twenty-four hours, and then she’ll be given some food little by little.”

  That sounded like what I’d suggest to one of my patients too. “What if she does it again?”

  “She probably will,” he admitted, scratching his chin. “We have a zero euthanizing policy on the farm—unless it’s essential—so she’s going to take a lot of looking after.”

  Meeting Ari’s eyes, I almost groaned when I saw the sparkle in them. I just knew what she was going to say.