by Dee Palmer
“I missed you too, darlin’.” I reach the bottom step and hold out my hand to help her up, pulling her into the big bear hug. I kiss the top of her head, and when she looks up, my heart breaks all over again.
“You want to tell me about her?” she says softly. My eyes glaze, and before I get to reply, the front door opens. Charge leans against the doorframe, breathless from his morning run.
“It’s a long story, Finn.” I step past her.
“Your story wouldn’t have anything to do with why there’s a woman in a wedding dress running down our drive now, would it?” Charge holds the door wide, and Finn and I both rush to where he’s standing before he’s even finished speaking.
“Fuck! Buttercup!” My words are lost in the wake of the dust circling and the sound of my bare feet skidding on the porch as I race down the drive.
“Well, that’s not something you see every day.” I hear Finn chuckle behind me.
“What? You up before midday on the weekend?” Charge quips.
“Arse.”
My chest feels like it’s going to explode. I’m still dead from the long drive. I’m a wreck, running on empty, with zero reserves and a severe lack of sleep. For a gut wrenching moment, I think I must be hallucinating.
This can’t be real.
Each stride brings me closer, clears my vision, and I can see very clearly now. This is as real as it gets. Tears streak her face in long dirty lines from her red, swollen eyes, and the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. Her dress looks like it has swept up half the surface of the drive, and just like Cinderella, she’s only got one shoe on her feet. She looks perfect, and the reality of the image has brought me violently back to life.
“What are you doing here?” She leaps into my arms, melding her body to mine like a second skin. Her legs dangle, hindered by the swaths of lace and chiffon that ceased to be pure white some time ago. I scoop her fully into my arms, not really caring about her answer. It doesn’t matter. She’s here now, and that means… What does that mean?
“Hoping you’ll save me a second time.” Her sweet breath washes over me like a balm. Her lips look parched, and when she tips her pink tongue out to wet them, I have to kiss her. It’s just not an option.
“Darlin’, you’re the one doing the saving.” I exhale, our foreheads touching, and she’s looking at me like I’m the only man on the planet.
“Don’t ever leave me again.” Fat tears roll down her cheek.
“Don’t go marrying some other guy and I won’t have to.” My brow arches high and serious. She purses her lips as she considers my request, then almost instantly, they spread into a glorious smile that dazzles brighter than the midday California sun.
“Deal.” When she drops her head to my chest, I can feel my heart triple in size with each step I take back down the drive. This is what more feels like; I fucking knew it.
“What happened? I waited, you never came.”
“I told Grampa and he was fine, more than fine. He’s going to move in with Shellie. Said the Masons can have the farm. He thought I wanted to marry Kurt. He’d never make me do something. I feel like a fool for not telling him.” She’s shaking her head. Any regret at not telling her grandfather sooner is eclipsed by the pure joy lighting her eyes and making them sparkle.
“And Kurt?”
“He didn’t take it so well. He locked me in the chapel chamber, stripped me of my clothes, took my phone. I didn’t think I was ever going to get out of there. My Gramps and Patty appeared right out of the floor, just in time.” She swallows thickly, and I chill from the inference and intonation. “I’m here. He didn’t win.” Her reassurance is as much for her as it is for me. She stretches to kiss me, and I have to stop walking to absorb just how good that feels. Soft, sweet, perfect.
“How did you get here?”
“Patty let me take her rental. I went to town, took out all the cash I could, and just started driving west. I avoided the main roads until I got out of Texas, that’s why it’s taken so long.”
“How did you find me?”
“Payton Park Sanctuary, you gave them the address for Daisy. I called them when I got to California, the GPS got me close though and…” She sucks in some steadying breaths; her voice trembles.
“Wow. So where’s your car?”
“I ran out of gas about a mile back, and I lost my shoe back there when I saw… I just wanted to get to you. ” Biting her lip, tears trickle down her face.
“God, I love you, princess.”
“I’m glad.” She rests her head on my chest, my easy strides taking us closer to home. I can’t wait for the others to meet her. She lets out a satisfied sigh and shocks me for the second time in the same day. “Since I’m already dressed for the occasion, how about I answer that question?” Buttercup interrupts my inner euphoria, and I have to check myself. She’s pursing a cute smile and holds my gaze with utter confidence.
“Baby, I never asked you that question.” I’m pretty sure I would remember asking someone to marry me.
“Sure you did. That truck did not haul a U-turn all on its own, now, did it?” She bites one side of her lip holding back the shit-eating, knowing grin that makes me bark out a deep throaty laugh.
Damn, this woman.
The End
Preview of Forever Wanted: Part Two
An excerpt: subject to full edit
Tug
MY FUCKING DAY OFF, AND I have to get up at the butt crack of dawn to check on the damn horses. None of us minds pitching in to help Pink out from time to time, but this is his gig. And leaving like he did has dropped us right in it, especially as the farm hand he sorted is a no show. Finn is all worried about him, and she’s got enough on her plate, what with all the changes with us four, and now Hope’s mother’s heart attack has her high-tailing it back to England, leaving just me and Toxic to take care of everything. It fucking sucks.
The flashlight swings, redundant in my hand; I could walk the path from the farm to the yard with my eyes closed. A sprinkling of stars still cling to the inky sky, and there’s the finest line glowing with the threat of morning on the horizon behind me. We’ve turned most of the horses out to pasture, even the ones that need to be worked. Toxic may have a little more time than I do, being on sick leave, but neither of us have the skill to be breaking-in the youngsters. Molly, however, has been stabled overnight for the last few days. She’s heavy with her foal and due any time.
There’s barely any light, but still I notice an unfamiliar shadow blocking the entrance to the yard. Edging forward until I’m only a few feet away, I can now see the outline more clearly. It’s big, really big, maybe a mountain lion, or stray dog. Flicking the torch on, I sweep it ahead of me and catch the luminescent reflection of gold-green eyes staring at me. The eyes are eerie enough, the flash of white teeth also bad, however the low threatening growl has me reaching slowly in my back pocket for my phone. That’s a fucking big dog.
“She better be giving birth.” Toxic grumbles.
“Not exactly,” I whisper.
“It’s your turn, Tug, why the fuck are you calling me?”
“Tox, we’ve got a problem.” The hushed urgency in my voice has the desired effect. I can hear him moving, his voice muffled momentarily with the sound of clothes being pulled over his face.
“What? What’s happened?”
“Get your ass up here and see for yourself.” I palm my phone and slowly slide my hand to my back pocket, releasing the phone and making no further movements, certainly no sudden movements.
“Okay, there, boy, shh, shh. Put the teeth away and look see, I’m all unarmed.” Holding my palms up with a show of full surrender. Soothing my early morning gravelly voice to a soft hush seems to make no difference. The massive dog has its hackles reaching for the sky, its sizeable teeth bared, and it is snarling like it’s possessed. It’s also standing its ground like it owns the place, like it owns our place. What the hell!
“I’m gonna kill Pink when h
e comes home, leaving me and Tox to deal with this shit.” I mutter to myself.
Fast-paced footsteps skid to a halt on the gravel beside me. The dog doesn’t move, doesn’t even bark at the sudden arrival of another person. It just continues to stare us both down. It’s probably the most menacing thing I’ve witnessed outside of a Stephen King novel.
“That’s a big dog.” Tox says, slightly out of breath.
His eyes are wide with justified concern. It is, still I’m a little surprised when I see what he’s carrying in his right hand. “You brought a gun?”
“You sounded like it was needed.” He shrugs.
“I’m not going to shoot a dog, Tox.”
“No, I get that, I didn’t know it was a dog. I thought you might be being attacked.”
“By who, look at the size of me, who’s going to attack me?” It might be too dark for him to see my eyes roll. However, my tone is rightly incredulous.
“Better to be safe that sorry.” He retorts, lowering the barrel of the gun to the ground. “So where did that come from and why is it protecting our yard?”
“I have no idea, you wanna ask it?” I quip, nodding for him to be my guest.
“Maybe Molly’s giving birth, and it’s protecting her? Like an animal sense or something?” he muses, and this time I sweep my hand forward highlighting the way.
“Again, I’ll say, you wanna ask it?”
“I’m just guessing, man, I’m still asleep.” He rubs his face and roughly shakes his head, trying to wake himself up. “So what should we do?”
“I don’t know, wait, what’s that noise?”
“What noise?” I press my finger to my lips, and Toxic tilts his head waiting on the faint sound. “Oh, I hear it. It sounds like running water.”
“Someone’s in the barn.” We both take a single step forward and freeze. The dog lowers its head, growls, snarls, and generally looks like it’s eyeing up its next meal.
“Oh, wait, I got something.” I fish around in my jacket pocket and find what I’m looking for. I wave the half-open wrapper of a Snickers bar triumphantly at Toxic.
“Aren’t dogs allergic to chocolate?”
“And? Either way, he either loves it, and we’re through, or he’s allergic, and he dies, and we’re through. Problem solved.”
“I don’t want to kill the dog, Tug.” Toxic grabs my arm when I turn to face the dog. I shuck out
of his hold and his misplaced concern.
“Neither do I. Dogs are allergic to chocolate, but not a dog this size with a bar this small. It will be fine.”
“What about the peanuts?”
“A nut allergy? We’re seriously discussing a nut allergy possibility for a dog that looks like he’s about to eat us both?”
“Right, okay, do your thing.” Toxic tips a two-finger salute and nods for me to continue.
“My thing? I was going to give it to you.” He shakes his head and neatly tucks both his arms behind his back.
“Hey, man, you said yourself, look at the size of you.”
“Pussy.”
“Says the man that called for back up.”
“Fine.” I unwrap the chocolate and take a small bite to release some fresh chocolaty aroma. With one hand over my nuts and the other stretched out waving the Snickers, I take the first step forward, then another. The dog tilts its head, his teeth still gleaming and bared, but he’s sniffing, and he licks his lips, which I’m not quite ready to take as a good sign. He could just be eyeing up his appetizer, me first, followed by Toxic as the main course. Behind me, I hear Toxic click and load the gun. I know he doesn’t want to shoot it, anymore than I do, however he’s also not about to let me get mauled to death.
Crouching lower with each step, I close the distance between me and the massive canine. I’m careful not to make direct eye contact and make soft sounds that are surprisingly steady, given that I can feel my hand trembling. I stretch my arm so far out front, my shoulder feels like it’s going to snap. The dog starts to walk closer, sniffing, and it begins to lose a little height in its hackles. The teeth are still showing. I finally let out the breath I’m holding when I see the first swish of its thick tail.
The next moment the dog has snatched the treat from my hand and has shoved me back onto my ass. His muzzle nudges me further until I’m almost on my back, I cough and splutter as he continues to lick the surprise from my face with his enormous slobbery tongue.
“Grab your coat, Tug, you’ve pulled. Oh, wait, it’s a boy. Never mind, you’ve still pulled.” Toxic barks out a dirty laugh.
“Fuck off and give me a hand.” Groaning with the effort to get the beast off of my chest, I nearly succeed when Toxic interferes.
“Here, boy, you missed a bit.” Toxic points to some part of my face that isn’t covered in chocolate saliva.
I manage to shift to the side and scramble to my feet, punching Toxic on his arm when I jump to my feet.
“Thanks for the help, man.”
“You didn’t look to be in mortal danger, maybe death by drowning, but at least you have a new best friend.”
“Yeah, and timely now that you’re on my shit list.”
“Ah, you couldn’t hate me if you tried.” Toxic throws his arm over my shoulder. We both start walking into the yard toward the far end of the long barn. The dog is now sniffing at my pockets and happily walking alongside me.
The main stable block is locked up, the hay barn and storage sheds are all as I left them. The foaling stable at the far end has a light on, and somewhere behind that I can still hear the sound of running water. Toxic has the gun locked and loaded, only I’m not sure that whoever it is, is dangerous. If anything, it sounds like they are having a shower. There’s a light humming sound, and as we round the wall to the grooming area, my jaw hits the floor, and my jeans tighten in the crotch area.
There’s a young woman, nigh on naked but for the tiny white underwear she’s wearing. A deep golden tan covers her skin from head to toe, there’s barely a tan line anywhere. Her dark brown long hair is slick to her back and reaches just below the middle of her shoulder blades. She has an intricate tattoo of a dream catcher that starts on her hip and disappears beneath her panties, curving nicely over her ass cheek. She’s hooked the hose for washing down the horses high up on one of the rafters and is standing under a constant stream of steaming water. She’s soaked to the skin and oblivious to the two men staring at her. I feel Toxic look at me, and I very briefly glance his way. This is not a sight you see every day.
“Should we?” Toxic whispers.
“Should we what?”
“Should we stop her?”
I’m about to nut punch that crazy idea out of his head when the damn dog does exactly what Toxic suggested. He barks out a loud deep sound that echos around the empty barn. The woman spins on her bare feet and sucks in a shocked breath. She doesn’t cover herself, if anything, she straightens up and locks her frame. Shielding her eyes from the downpour, she reaches over and turns the tap, killing the flow of water. She sweeps the last trickles from her face and takes her sweet time squeezing out the excess water from her hair. Her skin prickles with the early morning chill in the air, and her nipples couldn’t be any harder if they were in my…
She interrupts my inappropriate thought when she steps out of the wet area and starts to walk toward us. She fixes her eye contact on me first, then Toxic. “I’d say is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me, but I can see you have your gun right there.” She arches her brow and wiggles her finger at the gun Toxic is holding limply in his hand. I’m pretty confident it’s the only thing that is limp. She places her hands on her hips and knocks the air from my lungs with her bold and breathy proposition. “Well, guys, are you both just going to stand there, or are you going to help me?”
My body is way ahead of my mind, interpreting her invitation, however, Toxic is slightly more measured in his response. I’m about to step forward, when Toxic’s arm slams across my ches
t.
“We’re taken.” He declares flatly, scowling at me.
“Not to each other,” I clarify to the woman, who seems to look more confused. No, no, don’t change your mind. My jaw is tense with the effort to keep my voice calm, as I try and reassure my brother. I know I’m thinking with my cock but in fairness it’s been a while.
“Toxic, things have changed, remember?” Surely he can see this gift horse in all its semi-naked glory. Why the fuck is he cock-blocking, she did say guys…plural?
“I don’t think this is what Finn had in mind when she said she wants us to find…”
The woman coughs, her smile pulled into a knowing smirk. “Sorry to interrupt the domestic scene,but I meant help with the mare. She’s just had her foal, it got a little messy, hence the shower, and I think she’s going to need the vet.”
“Fuck! Molly had the baby?” I blurt, and we both dash the length of the old barn to the foaling stable.
“Oh, wow.” I exhale, all sinful thoughts from only a moment ago have disappeared the instant my eyes fell on the sight of Molly curled up tending her baby. I don’t care how manly a man, or hardened by the horrors of life, there is something magical about a birth, especially when you’ve witnessed so much death.
“Why is she lying down, shouldn’t she be on her feet?” Toxic asks
“You’re asking me like I should know? How do you even know?”
“I read up on it,” he says, and I’m about to shrug, because I’m none the wiser, when the woman, who is now behind us, answers.
“She has been up on her feet, and the foal has fed. It’s not uncommon that she’ll want to have a lie down for short periods. She’s had a tough night.” The woman has one of the horse blankets wrapped around her and is leaning on the door of the stable, an affectionate smile curling her lips and lighting up her flawless face.
“So what’s wrong? Why do you think she needs the vet?” Toxic asks.
“The foal is fine, although it’s always good to have a newborn checked over. She’s a filly, by the way. Anyway, she’s fine, but the placenta wasn’t entire, and that could lead to complications later. The sooner Molly is treated, the better chance she’ll have.”