Lila's Loves

by Laylah Roberts

  Acres of land lay out before her. Below lay the deep lake. Maybe she could convince the guys to take a day off and they could all spend the day there, she’d pack a picnic, bring a blanket and maybe forget about that horrible encounter with her mother.

  “I hate you,” she cried out, surprising herself. “How dare you treat me like dirt? What kind of mother gives up her child?” Tears dripped down her cheeks. “How could you? You didn’t deserve me!”

  As she finished, her chest heaving, she felt lighter, more at peace. This is what she’d needed, to get all the anger out. She sat, breathing deeply for a long moment before standing.

  “I have no mother,” she said without any anger. “And that’s okay with me.”

  Wiping her cheeks with her hand, she turned to Sunshine. “Come on, fella. Let’s go back to my men.”

  A yipping noise made her pause and listen. She shook it off as her imagination. Then it came again. Leaving Sunshine tethered to a branch, she moved towards the sound. Suddenly, down the ravine she caught a flash of movement.

  “A dog,” she said with amazement. “How the hell did he get down there?”

  The dog, as if hearing her, yipped again but barely moved.

  “Shit. He must be stuck,” she muttered to herself. “Don’t worry, boy, I’m coming,” she called out. With no thought to her own safety, she started down the steep hill.

  *****

  “Hey, bro, how was your day?” Colin called out cheerfully to Gavin as he climbed from his truck.

  Gavin shrugged, looking tired. “Okay, I guess.”

  “You seen Lila today?” Colin asked as he stepped up beside him to walk inside.

  Gavin’s face instantly dimmed, worry taking over. Colin knew how he felt. Since their confrontation with Lila’s mother a few days ago, she’d withdrawn from them. He couldn’t remember her smiling much since. She’d cleaned the house within an inch of its life, even going so far as to wash the first-story windows. Gavin had forbidden her from doing the second story as a cautionary measure.

  Colin figured she would have gone on to clean them next if he hadn’t. She seemed so driven, she couldn’t sit still, couldn’t relax, could barely sleep or eat.

  He couldn’t even come close to understanding how she was feeling. To have her own mother try to blackmail her then basically tell her she was never wanted. That had to be devastating, even though she hadn’t seen her mother in years.

  Colin couldn’t imagine his own mother ever talking to him like that. The pain of losing his parents was still intense, even after all these years. But at least he’d experienced their love and affection and protection before losing them. Lila hadn’t received any of those things from her mother.

  “Nah, I just got in and she was asleep this morning when I left,” Gavin replied. “I can tell you, though, that she better eat more than four mouthfuls of dinner or her ass is going to be mighty sore.”

  Colin sighed. Gavin always got grouchy when he was worried and all of them were concerned about how listless Lila had grown. She’d lost weight and she was very stressed. Something had to give or she was going to collapse.

  “Spanking her is not the answer, Gavin,” he said patiently, following him inside.

  “No? Then what is? Because this cannot continue, she’s risking her health and that is unacceptable. She’s so sad, it’s killing me. Makes me wish I’d killed that bitch of a mother.”

  Yeah, Colin could understand that feeling.

  “I’ll talk with her after my shower,” he said.

  Twenty minutes later, he raced through the house looking for her. It was his second attempt at searching her out. He’d tried her phone but it kept going straight to voicemail.

  Trace walked through the front door, spotting him. “Sunshine is gone,” Trace said. “No one saw her leave. Gavin is saddling our horses. We’re going to head out to the lake.”

  But when they got to her thinking spot she wasn’t there. And it was fast growing dark and cold.

  *****

  Lila shivered and cuddled into the dog sitting beside her. He’d gotten his paw trapped by a heavy branch which she’d managed to move. But he must be hurt, because he’d stayed by her side instead of running off.

  She was pleased to have the company because she certainly wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

  She attempted to move her ankle, wincing at the pain that caused. She’d made it to the dog, but as she’d turned to try and make her way back up the slope she’d slipped and fallen, unfortunately her foot hadn’t gone with her, twisting beneath her.

  “Well, fella, I think we just might be stuck here for a bit.” She tried to keep her voice calm, but she wasn’t fooling anyone. As if the dog understood her fear, he turned his head and gave her a lick on her face.

  She appreciated the gesture, but it would have been nicer if his breath hadn’t been quite so rank.

  Huddling closer to the hairy animal, she wished she’d put on a sweater or a jacket. The sun was going down and it was only going to get colder and colder.

  “Lila! Lila!”

  Oh God, now she was hearing things.

  “Lila!”

  Except that voice was getting closer, wasn’t it?

  “Hello! Help!” she screamed back, making the dog jump then whine. “It’s okay, boy,” she soothed, patting him.

  “Lila! Shit, where are you, baby?”

  “Gavin!” she cried out, nearly sobbing in relief. “I’m down here, I’m down here.”

  When his face appeared above her, Lila figured she’d died and gone straight to heaven. He frowned, peering down at her.

  “Are you okay?” he called down to her.

  “I’ve hurt my ankle,” she told him. “I can’t get back up the slope by myself. I need some help.”

  He was quiet for a moment. “Okay, precious, just lie very still, I’m going to call the others, we’ll get you up soon.”

  Lila buried her face into the dog’s side and waited. Twenty minutes later, she watched as Gavin and Trace moved towards her carefully.

  There wasn’t much light left and she bit her lip, hoping they didn’t trip and fall. Eventually they reached her, pulling her into their arms to hold her tight. Instantly she felt a hundred times better.

  “Damn, baby, you scared us,” Gavin said as he took off his sweater and pulled it over her head.

  Trace picked up her foot, prodding at her ankle.

  “Ouch,” she cried out.

  He sent her a look of sympathy. “Sorry, Lila, we’ll take a look at it when we get back to the house. Best we leave your boot on right now.” He glanced over at the dog. “Who is this?”

  “He was trapped. That’s how I ended up down here, I was rescuing him.”

  Gavin gave her a stern look and she bit her lower lip, feeling her butt tingle.

  “And just where is your phone?” Gavin asked. “We’ve been trying to call you.”

  “It’s in my pocket,” she told him. “There’s no reception down here.”

  Gavin looked at his own phone and swore, nodding. “Okay, baby, let’s get you out of here. Trace is going to put you on my back. You hold on as best you can so I have my hands free. But let me know if you feel you’re about to slip or you grow tired.”

  “What about the dog?” she said, looking over at the mutt. As if he understood what was going on, the black and white mutt stood and shook, then took off with a limp up the slope.

  “I think he’ll be okay,” Gavin said dryly. They followed the dog up, albeit at a much slower pace.

  When they reached the top, Colin grabbed her from Gavin, setting her down on the ground and running his hands over her. “Are you okay?” he asked her.

  “I’m fine, just a sore ankle.” The sun had nearly set by now and she didn’t need to be told how lucky she was. “I heard Sarge barking. He was stuck down there; his paw was trapped under a branch, so I climbed down to help him. His paw is sore, it needs looked at.”

  Gavin glared at her. “
Sarge?”

  She blushed, nodding. “I named him while we were waiting. Thank you for coming. I thought we were going to be stuck there all night.”

  Trace kneeled beside her, brushing her hair back off her face. “Don’t ever terrify us like this again, please. I can’t stand it. I thought we were never going to find you, I thought that maybe your mother and that asshole had returned, maybe taken you…”

  “Oh God.” She hadn’t even thought about that. She clasped his pale cheek with her hand. “I’m so sorry; I should have left a note.”

  “Yes,” Gavin agreed solemnly. “You should have.”

  “Come on,” Colin said, reaching down to pick her up. “Let’s get you home and get that ankle looked at.” He placed her on top of Sunshine. “We’ll ride while we’ve got sunlight left.”

  “Sarge is hurt,” she protested. “Can you lift him and put him up before me?”

  Colin snorted. “Dream on, shorty.” But he bent down and patted Sarge before gently picking up his paw. “You’re okay, aren’t you, fella, just a bit bruised. Can you still walk?”

  Sarge licked his hand and Colin laughed. “He’s all good. Let’s go.”

  By the time they reached the house Lila was so tired and in pain she felt nauseous. It had been a long trip, the men having to move slowly once darkness hit, climbing off their horses to walk while leading Sunshine. Sarge had limped along beside Lila, seemingly happy to follow them home.

  Gavin reached up and pulled her off the horse, holding her close against his chest as he walked into the house. “Colin, will you take care of Sarge?” she called back over her shoulder as Trace led the horses away.

  “Will you stop worrying about that damn dog,” Gavin snapped and she tensed, looking up at him. Gavin wasn’t the type to ignore an injured animal. But right now he was wound up tighter than a jack-in-the-box.

  He walked into her bedroom and placed her on the bed.

  Lila grabbed his hand as he went to remove her shoes. “Gavin, I’m okay,” she told him. “I’m here and I’m alright.”

  His gaze snapped up to hers and she nearly flinched at the furious worry in his eyes. “You very nearly weren’t. Do you know how close you came to having to spend the night outside? Anything could have happened to you…” he trailed off with a shudder.

  “But you found me and I’m fine,” she soothed.

  “You’re injured,” he snapped, removing the shoe on her good foot first.

  “It’s just a sprain, I promise I’m okay.” She’d say it as much as he needed to hear it.

  “What the hell were you doing? Why didn’t you leave us a note?” he asked harshly.

  “I needed to get out of the house, to think. I’m sorry, I just didn’t think about leaving a note. I had to get away.”

  “Not good enough. We could have been looking for you all night.”

  “Gavin, I’m okay,” she told him again. “I’m here, safe with you.”

  Gavin shuddered, dropping his head. Then he stared straight at her. The fury had diminished but the fear was still there and it felt like a lead balloon in her guts.

  “You terrify me,” he told her. “You’re so fragile and precious and you don’t seem to know it! Don’t you realize how much you mean to me? Since that encounter with your mother you’ve put up this barrier between us and I don’t like it one bit. I get that you need to think things through and that your mother upset you, but you have to let us in.”

  “You’re right,” she said quietly. “I did a lot of thinking. I’ve been letting Abigail get to me and that’s exactly what she wanted. I’m not going to let her ruin my life. She didn’t raise me or love me and she has no part to play in my life. You guys have always been there for me and I’ve been keeping a part of myself blocked off from you. It wasn’t fair of me and I’m sorry.”

  Gavin leaned up and kissed her as he leaned back, she looked up and saw Colin and Trace standing there.

  “You heard that?” she asked them. They nodded, smiling.

  “How’s Sarge?” she asked Colin.

  “He’s fine, just a bit bruised. He’s down in the kitchen, feasting. I brought up some ice.” He held up an ice pack. “How’s that ankle looking?”

  Gavin eased her shoe off and she hissed as pain engulfed her. Trace sat beside her and took hold of her hand. “Squeeze my hand, baby.”

  She smiled up at him as Colin poked and prodded. “I think it’s just a bad sprain but we’ll take to you to visit the doc tomorrow,” he said.

  “It’s fine, I don’t need the doctor,” she said quickly as Colin placed the ice pack on her ankle.

  “Ahh, that’s cold,” she protested.

  “You will be going to the doctor,” Gavin said sternly.

  “You heard Colin, it’s just a sprain,” she replied, biting her lip as her ankle throbbed.

  “I’m not arguing with you about this, Lila. You’re going to the doctor.” Seeing that he wasn’t going to bend, she nodded reluctantly.

  “Do you think I could have a shower?” she asked as she leaned back on the bed, closing her eyes. God, she felt tired and yet she couldn’t go to sleep when she was so dirty and cold.

  “A bath would be easier,” Colin said. “I’ll go run one for you.”

  “You scared us to death, Lila,” Trace told her, running his thumb over the back of her hand. “Next time, you need to leave a note or call us and let us know where you’re going.”

  “I didn’t think I’d be gone so long. I just meant to ride to lookout point then return,” she told him.

  “Yes, but things just seem to happen to you,” he replied. “You’re going to start letting us know exactly where you have gone, understand me?”

  “Yes, I understand,” she said meekly. “Gavin’s already read me the riot act.”

  “Bath’s almost ready,” Colin said. Gavin and Trace immediately stripped her, their hands calm and sure. “I’m going to go check on Sarge and have a shower.”

  “Me too,” Trace said. “I’ll lock up the house. See you soon.”

  The two of them left, leaving her alone with Gavin who lifted her up, and grabbing the ice pack, carried her into the bathroom and set her on the counter.

  Leaning over, he turned off the taps before testing the temperature of the water with his hand. “Not too hot,” he muttered. She felt a surge of love, how many men would test bath water to ensure the temperature was right for their lover?

  “Okay, baby, let’s get you in there and then you can place your foot on the side of the tub with the ice pack on it.”

  He placed her in the steaming bath water. Lila sighed, her eyes closing as he lifted her sore foot carefully and placed the cold pack back on it.

  “Gavin, you’re so good to me,” she said as he started washing her.

  “It’s no less than you deserve, baby girl.”

  She lay silent for a long moment, just letting him take care of her. He swiped the cloth over her nipples, making her shiver with anticipation, then he moved down her stomach to between her legs, rubbing gently, his finger slipping between her legs to play with her.

  “Gavin,” she panted as arousal overtook her.

  “Shh, just let me make you feel good,” he told her. She held still as pleasure overtook her, tumbling through her until she let go in a huge rush.

  “Ohh,” she groaned as wave after wave continued to flood her with bliss. Gavin chuckled.

  “Gav?” she asked a few minutes later, once her brain had started to function once more.

  “Yeah, baby?” he asked.

  “Did you ever go searching for your parents?” she asked, opening her eyes to look at him.

  He was staring off into the distance. “I already knew who my parents were, baby. When I was five my mother was killed. Drunk driver. My father lost it, went on a bender. Drinking, gambling, whoring, you name it, he did it.”

  Lila remained silent, watching him. He’d never told her about his parents before. She’d just assumed he knew little about
them.

  “When I was twelve, he got into a bar fight, hit a man too hard. The guy fell back and hit his head. Three days later they shut off the life support and my father ended up in jail for manslaughter and assault. That’s the last I ever heard of him.”

  “Oh, Gavin.” She clasped his hand in hers. “I’m so sorry.”

  He shrugged then ran his fingers down her cheek. “I guess it all worked out in the end, didn’t it? I met Trace and Colin, then Clay adopted me and then he found you. And darling, there is nothing more important to me than you.”

  With a smile, she leaned up and kissed him.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Lila loaded the last of the shopping bags in the back of Clay’s mammoth truck. It had been the only available vehicle left at the ranch this morning, so even though she wasn’t that comfortable driving it she hadn’t had much choice. They were low on groceries and she didn’t want to have to ask the guys to take her every time she needed to go into town.

  She’d driven into Freestown to do her shopping. The store in Haven was good for small things, but for a bigger shop she preferred Freestown. She heaved a bag of potatoes into the back. She really needed to get started on a vegetable garden.

  Luckily, her ankle was fully healed. The guys had taken excellent care of her, taking her to the doctor, carting her around, making sure she had everything she needed so she didn’t have to walk around much when they were at work.

  And to show them how much she appreciated them, she’d decided to do something special. She just needed to do a little bit of shopping first.

  Crossing the road, she entered the lingerie store she’d spotted earlier. As soon as she saw the emerald green gown, she knew it was the one. It was sheer with just a bit of lace to cover her nipples and mound. Paying for the item, she walked out into the hot sunshine with a small smile on her face.

  This was going to blow her men away. Opening the back door to the truck, she placed the bag on the seat.

  “Like mother like daughter, huh?” a snide voice stated. Turning, Lila found a woman leaning against the back on the truck. She stepped back and closed the door. Why did this woman look familiar?