And there wasn’t Joe’s preferred kind of fun anywhere around. Sure, the creation of Grindr had helped some, and Craigslist—well, that one just scared the shit out of him as often as the pics loaded to it made him horny. But even Grindr couldn’t plop a choice of gay men down real close to the ranch, and Craigslist… Joe would just take a pass on that one. He’d seen the news stories about people using that media source to find victims and all. Plus, with his luck, he’d wind up having to pay whoever he met up with. Or he’d get mugged, beaten—something like that.
So he was feeling pretty good, tired and relaxed in a way he didn’t experience often. The truck bumped along down the road, and Joe figured he should maybe grate it again and try to smooth the ruts out of the dirt. It’d mean scheduling a day just for that, so he’d need to talk to Trent about it, see when Trent could take over his chores for the most part.
“Probably shoulda thought of that before I left his place,” Joe muttered to himself. He snorted. Trent was messed up and wouldn’t have been able to plan anything. He’d added tequila shots to his beer drinking and the pot smoking. Joe would be surprised if Trent wasn’t puking sick half the day tomorrow.
Joe just felt good. Calm and mellow and relaxed. It was almost as good a feeling as the sleepy, melty sensation following a fantastic orgasm.
As he drove slowly down the road, Joe was awed by the land at night. The moon was high in the dark sky. Stars sparkled overhead like millions of hopes and dreams just waiting to come to earth. The moon was incredible, big and so bright it almost made his eyes ache.
Joe wondered just how bright it was. Curious, he turned off his headlights. Then he braked, and blinked as white spots danced before his eyes. Once his vision had cleared, or mostly, he looked out of the windshield.
“Well, shit. It’s dark out.” And he was a genius. Joe snickered and narrowed his eyes as he leaned against the steering wheel. A little concentration and he could make out the road. Not very far, but yeah, a few feet or so in front of the truck.
He drove along like that, hunched over the wheel. His beater truck was too old to have airbags, so that was a worry he didn’t have. Joe concentrated as well as he could, trying to see the road. As familiar as he was with the land, he’d have said he could drive home blindfolded. Thirty-eight years he’d spent on the place—his whole life. Trent had gone away to college since their dad had said one of them needed a degree, but he’d come home as soon as he’d graduated.
Both of the Jacek boys had ranching in their blood. Both of them were gay, too, something that would have killed their daddy had he not already been dead when Joe’d started to accept his own sexuality.
Joe’s chest ached and he took a hand off the wheel, slowed down some more and rubbed at the spot. “Hope I’m not having a heart attack like Dad.” He blinked, because surely he had something weird going on with his eyes. There was no way something was moving out there in front of the truck. “What the—?”
His first thought was that one of the cows had gotten loose, except it wasn’t big enough to be a cow. Plus, its eyes were glowing yellowish in the dark.
A chill shot down Joe’s spine. He hit the brakes too hard even though he had been poking along, and the impact of his chest against the steering wheel knocked the breath out of him.
Or maybe that was fear, because those glowing eyes were getting damned closer to the truck.
Joe didn’t know why he was so scared. He was in his truck—he hit the door lock. Unfortunately, the passenger door had to be locked manually, and he dove to the right, reaching for the little knob by the passenger window.
And he missed, falling over halfway while his foot slipped off the brake.
“Shiiiit!” Joe flung himself upright and stomped on the brake. The truck shot forward. “Fuck! Gas! Brake!” His head spun as his pulse accelerated at a speed much faster than the truck.
Joe slammed on the brakes and hit the steering wheel again. He shoved the truck into park and reached for the knob to turn on the lights again. His hand was shaking so bad it took two tries, but he managed finally to get the headlights back on. He watched as those glowing eyes faded some, but they still seemed unnaturally colored when Joe saw the critter they were attached to.
“A—” He frowned and leaned so far forward his head almost touched the windshield. “Coyote?” If so, it was a big one. The thing was almost as tall as the truck. Joe was certain its pointy ears reached the top of the grille, at least. “You ain’t no coyote.”
He felt instant relief when it dawned on him that he must be looking at someone’s German Shepherd. A big German Shepherd, sure, but it wasn’t a coyote and the markings were similar to a German Shepherd he’d seen ages ago.
“Someone must have dumped you, huh, buddy?” Joe chuckled and leaned back in the seat. “Damn, boy. Or girl. You about scared a decade off me.”
For one fleeting second, he wondered if it was a wolf, but Joe discounted the idea. Once there’d been red wolves in the area, but they’d been extinct for a long time. At least they had been from Texas. He vaguely remembered hearing something on a TV show about them having been raised in captivity and freed elsewhere.
As far as he knew, there weren’t any other wolves native to the area, so that had to be a dog, he reasoned.
It walked out to stand in front of the truck. Joe shivered as he looked into the dog’s yellow eyes.
“Ah, hell, I must be more messed up than I thought.” Joe rubbed at his eyes before giving the dog another look. His stomach did a weird flip. “German Shepherds have some red on them, don’t they?” He racked his brain trying to recall, but all he came up with was a black and tan dog.
“That’s it. I’m totally wasted and seeing things.” What else could it be when that dog was grinning at him? It was, too, he was sure of it.
Normally, a few tokes and a few beers didn’t do much more than make him relax. “Guess I got some good stuff, or bad stuff, or something. Bad beer. Shoulda checked the expiration…date…” he trailed off, because that dog put first one big ol’ front paw then the second on the hood so that the critter was staring straight at him. “Oh, shit.”
Joe slapped at the horn, remembering too late that it had quit working weeks ago. “Those are some fuckin’ freaky eyes, dog.” They were really yellow. “Aw, now what’re you doing?” he asked, whining just a little when the dog leaped and there it was, the big burly maybe-not-a-dog after all, pushing its nose against the outside of the windshield.
“No, no, no, don’t do that, you’re getting the glass all slimy.” He gawped as he got a look at the long, sharp canines. “Uh, okay. You just lick until you’re all licked out, bud.”
Something kept him from putting the truck in gear and driving off. One, it went against Joe’s nature to hurt anything, except for flies and mosquitoes. Those were such nuisances that he could get over his embarrassingly squeamish and okay, soft-heartedness, and off the little bastards.
But anything else? Trent had to handle it when any of the cattle needed to be put down, or when there was butchering done for their own freezers. Joe just didn’t want to mess with that part of it all.
And there was a reason he didn’t have a dog. Once Roscoe had died, his heeler he’d had throughout most of his childhood and into early adulthood, Joe hadn’t been willing to have his heart broken like that again.
So he didn’t want to hurt whatever the hell was on his truck, dog or hallucination or some coyote or extinct wolf. “Besides, it ain’t real. Probably.”
But Joe did flick on the windshield wipers, knocking them into the spray position.
It might have been funny had the dog not yelped like it’d been hurt. Joe felt like an asshole as the animal scrabbled on the hood before sliding or jumping off, he couldn’t tell with the wipers and the water going.
He couldn’t see where the critter had gone, either, and after a couple of minutes, he began to worry. “What if it broke a bone, or…or hit its head on the bumper and died?” The thou
ghts raced around in his head until finally Joe risked opening his door. Slowly. Very, very slowly, in case he’d pissed the dog off and it was just waiting to rip out his throat.
There was nothing out there on his side of the truck except dirt and scrub. Joe almost took the rifle off the gun rack, but he didn’t want to shoot anything. He’d just have to hope, if the animal tried to attack him, that he could run back to the truck and get away.
So he was really going to do it, get out and see where the dog had ended up. Joe was a little quivery inside, and his head was still spinny from the beer and pot. He was beginning to question whether maybe Trent had laced either of those things with something stronger, because the night was turning out to be so freaking bizarre.
The ground crunched under his boots when he slid out of the truck and made contact with the dirt. Maybe he wasn’t loud, but it sure seemed like it in the quiet of the night. Even the purr of the engine had an almost animalistic sound to it, as if the old thing belonged out there, one of Mother Nature’s beasts.
But Joe’s boots on the dirt didn’t fit in at all. So much for being stealthy. Shit. He held onto the door handle with one hand and the left side of the frame with the other. His arms burned from the tension and strength of his grip.
The door was in the way, so he had to scoot out and around it. That meant letting go of his two supports, which turned out to be harder than he’d have thought.
Joe’s concentration was split between letting go and watching for a vicious killer dog. Every canine horror movie he’d ever seen ran through is head—which meant Cujo was on a loop upstairs.
Joe got his fingers to cooperate and he flattened himself against the truck as he slid to the left. The rear passenger door handle jabbed him in the back and he hissed.
And froze as a low, rumbling growl came from down low, way too close to him. Joe gulped and looked down.
“Fuck,” he yelped as he froze in place. The head of that big, snarly dog-thing was between Joe’s calves, the ornery beast having gotten under the truck. Joe’s heart tried to pop right out of his chest and he damn near swooned, something he’d thought only women in old romance books did.
He wasn’t telling how he had come to that idea.
The critter growled again and Joe tried to judge whether or not he could dive for the interior of the truck without getting bitten. Those were some big-ass teeth in that mouth, and those yellow eyes gleamed up at him as if the animal was already imagining how Joe would taste gutted and spread out.
Fuck it. I got thick boots and he’s under the truck mostly. Joe dove—
And yelped when his right ankle was caught in a vise. It was the dog’s muzzle, he knew it. Joe was jerked by that leg, hard to the left. It completely threw him off balance, and since he was a little—or more—stoned in the first place, his attempts at keeping upright only ended with him clawing uselessly at the truck as he went down.
He wheezed, his throat too constricted by fear to let out even a peep. Joe smacked the back of his head on the truck and saw a brilliant array of stars, brighter than those in the sky, as he hit the ground.
He didn’t lie still. Joe kicked and immediately began pushing himself up on his elbows. And wished he hadn’t because… That’s a big fuckin’ wolf coming at me!
And it was a wolf, Joe suddenly had no doubt. There was a feral, primeval feel to the beast.
Maybe I’m just about to shit myself in terror. Joe scrambled for an explanation as the wolf let go of him and began stalking its way up his legs. Those eyes are just… He shuddered and it broke something free in him. “Git! Go on, you damned—” Joe waved his hands as he yelled, but one snarly, snappy show of teeth had him gripping his own throat, hoping to keep from having it torn out.
“Fuck you,” he spat back at the wolf. Joe’s vision went wonky, going dark around the edges. Oh, no. He was not going to pass out.
Except that darkness kept cloaking his vision and the wolf was a blur as it placed huge paws on his stomach.
His determination not to pass out wavered. That pissed him off. He wasn’t like one of those cute little fainting goats that dropped unconscious when they were spooked. He was a man, damn it all, not a freakin’ goat!
Plus, if he lost consciousness, his hands would probably slip and that would be the end of him.
Joe stopped being a passive Patsy and kicked his legs as hard as he could while he bucked up at the same time. It was really a whole body convulsion, with him trying to shake off the wolf.
It got him a back paw to the balls and that darkness he’d been fighting pulled him right down into it. Joe didn’t even have a chance to panic about dying.
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About the Author
A native Texan, Bailey spends her days spinning stories around in her head, which has contributed to more than one incident of tripping over her own feet. Evenings are reserved for pounding away at the keyboard, as are early morning hours. Sleep? Doesn’t happen much. Writing is too much fun, and there are too many characters bouncing about, tapping on Bailey’s brain demanding to be let out.
Caffeine and chocolate are permanent fixtures in Bailey’s office and are never far from hand at any given time. Removing either of those necessities from Bailey’s presence can result in what is known as A Very, Very Scary Bailey and is not advised under any circumstances.
Email: [email protected]
Bailey loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at http://www.pride-publishing.com.
Also by Bailey Bradford
Breaking the Devil
Dark Nights and Headlights
Texas and Tarantulas
Belt Buckles and Cowboy Boots
Southwestern Shifters: Rescued
Southwestern Shifters: Relentless
Southwestern Shifters: Reckless
Southwestern Shifters: Rendered
Southwestern Shifters: Resilience
Southwestern Shifters: Reverence
Southwestern Shifters: Revolution
Southwestern Shifters: Revenge
Southwestern Shifters: Reluctance
Southwestern Shifters: Renounced
Southern Spirits: A Subtle Breeze
Southern Spirits: When the Dead Speak
Southern Spirits: All of the Voices
Southern Spirits: Wait Until Dawn
Southern Spirits: Aftermath
Southern Spirits What Remains
Southern Spirits: Ascension
Southern Spirits: Whirlwind
Love in Xxchange: Rory’s Last Chance
Love in Xxchange: Miles To Go
Love in Xxchange: Bend
Love in Xxchange: What Matters Most
Love in Xxchange: Ex’s and O’s
Love in Xxchange: A Bit of Me
Love in Xxchange: A Bit of You
Love in Xxchange: In My Arms Tonight
Love in Xxchange: Where There’s a Will
Love in Xxchange: My Heart to Keep
Leopard’s Spots: Levi
Leopard’s Spots: Oscar
Leopard’s Spots: Timothy
Leopard’s Spots: Isaiah
Leopard’s Spots: Gilbert
Leopard’s Spots: Esau
Leopard’s Spots: Sullivan
Leopard’s Spots: Wesley
Leopard’s Spots: Nischal
Leopard’s Spots: Justice
Leopard’s Spots: Sabin
Leopard’s Spots: Cliff
Mossy Glenn Ranch: Chaps and Hope
Mossy Glenn Ranch: Ropes and Dreams
Mossy Glenn Ranch: Saddles and Memories
Mossy Glenn Ranch: Fences and Freedom
Mossy Glenn Ranch: Riding and Regrets
Mossy Glenn Ranch: Broncs and Bullies
Mossy Glenn Ranch: Hay and Heartbreak
Spotless: Hide
Spotless: Hunt
Spotless: Home
Spotless: Heart
Co
yote’s Call: Off Course
Coyote’s Call: In from the Cold
Valen’s Pack: Run with the Moon
Valen’s Pack: Exodus
The Vamp for Me: My Life Without Garlic
The Vamp for Me: Don’t Stake My Life on It
Yes, Forever: Part One
Yes, Forever: Part Two
Yes, Forever: Part Three
Yes, Forever: Part Four
Yes, Forever: Part Five
What’s his Passion?: Unexpected Places
What’s his Passion?: Unexpected Moments
What Remains Page 12