by Tina Bass
“Yeah, she did, and she did it like a fuckin’ pro, and the bitch of it is, before tonight, she’d never even heard of muddin’. Didn’t have a damn clue what the hell I was talking about.” It was the proudest moment in his life. That’s when he heard Velgada bust out laughing and when the laughter slowly died, he cleared his throat.
“Go hold your woman, man, and know we got this shit.” So Kade ended his call and went back to the bedroom, shucked his clothes on the way to the bed, climbed in, pulled his woman into his arms and held her all night long.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Krista awoke, breathing in…Kade. She felt his skin under her. She heard his heartbeat. She was lying mostly on top of him, cradled to his hard body. Like he was holding her to him, even in his sleep. She felt cared for. She felt safe. She inhaled, breathing him in. “My Irish.” She sighed aloud and felt his arms tighten. The hand cupping her butt glided up to the small of her back and then back to her butt where she felt a light squeeze. Krista moved just enough so she could raise her head and look at him. That beautiful man tilted his head down and met her eyes. Those sparkling green eyes were staring at her. She felt her heart jump and she knew that no matter what happened she would love this man for the rest of her life. Krista smiled at him and slid herself up his chest until she was face to face with him, then leaned in and kissed him, slow and gentle. When she lifted her head from the kiss, she whispered to him, “Good morning.” She felt her body move as he rolled her off him and onto her back and then his mouth took over. After that smokin’ hot kiss, he raised his head and looked at her.
“Mornin’, beautiful.” He moved off her and rolled to his back, taking her with him, her head back on his chest and his fingers running through her hair. “How you doin’, baby?”
“I’m fine.” She felt his fingers tighten in her hair. Then she was flipped onto her back, off of Kade, but he came with her, staring down at her. His mouth was tight.
“Don’t give me that ‘fine’ shit. I was there Krista. I watched you fall apart right in front of my fuckin’ eyes. You are not fuckin’ ‘fine,’” he hissed. “Gonna’ be,” he stated with determination and then leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Gonna be a lot better than fine, but right now…” He shook his head. “You’re not fuckin’ fine.” His mouth was still set tight despite the light and gentle kiss he’d just given her.
“Are you okay?” she asked timidly.
“Fuck no!” he declared. “Baby, I watched you fall apart right in front of me and I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it.” He buried his face in her hair at her neck. “So, fuck no, I’m not okay,” he murmured. She brought her hands up to hold his head to her.
“You will be,” she promised him like he’d promised her as she rubbed a hand down his head. He raised his head and looked into her eyes.
“I want him dead,” Kade stated and she could see the fierceness of his statement shining in his eyes, and hear it in his voice, before he dropped his head back into her neck. “I can’t take back what he did, I wish like hell I could.” He moved, rolling both of them to face one another as his arms wrapped securely around her. “I would give anything, every fuckin’ thing to be able to change that for you.” He kissed her forehead. “Any fuckin’ thing,” he added as he pulled her flush against him. They shared that quiet declaration and then got up to start their day.
Kade was standing at the kitchen door with his eyes locked on Krista as she sat on his back deck sipping coffee, just looking out at the view. He’d told her about his call last night to Dr. Davison and that the doctor wanted her to call this morning. He didn’t, however, tell her about his phone call to Lee Velgada. She didn’t need to know that bit of information. While Krista called the doctor back, Kade went downstairs to fix them some breakfast. When she joined him in the kitchen, he could tell she’d been crying, despite the small smile she managed to give him. She walked straight to him and locked her arms around his waist, laying her head on his chest. His arms went around her automatically. “Thank you,” she said softly. He closed his eyes, resting his cheek on top of her head.
“Baby,” he whispered back softly. They stood just like that for a beat, then two, before he straightened, stepped back, and looked down at her before he stated firmly. “You need to eat.”
He made sure she ate well and then he sent her out to finish her coffee, while he cleaned up the kitchen. Now, he stood there, just watching her. She truly did amaze him. Looking at her now, if he hadn’t seen her break right in front of his eyes last night, known she’d relived that nightmare a-fuckin’-gain this morning while she was on the phone with the doctor, he would swear it never even happened. She was smiling. Fuckin’ smiling! He didn’t know about what, until he heard her laugh and looked from her to follow her line of sight and saw a couple of squirrels running around chasing each other. A-fuckin’-mazing, he thought as he walked out to join her.
She whispered to him, “Look!” She nodded her head in the direction of the squirrels. He looked out at them as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Her head tilted into his chest as they continued to watch the squirrels together.
“I thought about getting a dog. It’s been years since I had one. With living in the city, I never thought a dog would be very happy, but I’ve always missed not having one,” she told him and then laughed softly as they watched the two squirrels tumble over each other. “But, now, I think I want two. So they’ll always have each other, never be lonely.” Krista finished. And, yeah, she would think of a dog getting lonely, because only his Krista would think about the happiness of a damn dog, even before she thought about her own. But, this, yeah, he thought, this I can do. If she wanted a dog or two, fuck it, if she wanted twenty damn dogs, he was giving her what she wanted. He wrapped his arm around her, giving her a little squeeze. He looked down at her because he would never get tired of looking at that beautiful face.
“Wanta’ give the horses another go?”
Chapter Thirty
Krista walked in the front door in search of Kade. They’d been out riding and he had tried to get her to try solo riding again, but she’d refused. She enjoyed riding while Kade held her to him too much, enough to never want to learn how to ride by herself. They didn’t ride far, or very long, because Kade wanted to check on ‘some shit.’ One of which was a small horse he had just gotten a few days before. The poor thing had been abused so badly she had scars over most of her body. Kade told her that Starlight was her name, but to Krista the name didn’t match the sadness and fear reflecting in her eyes. Kade spent some time with the horse, talking softly, and touching her lightly. She remembered him doing the same thing with her the night before, and she couldn’t help but fall just a little more in love with him. She wandered around the stables, stopping and petting each horse, when she ran into Lank who was doing something to one of the horses’ feet.
“Is she okay?” Krista asked. Lank looked up from what he was doing and stared at her in surprise.
“Dang, girlie, you walk so lightly, didn’t even hear you,” Lank said, shaking his head, and turned back to what he was doing. “Yeah, darlin,’ but it’s a ‘he,’ not a ‘she.’ She could hear the laughter in his voice. She bent down to look under the horse and then stood back up.
“Yep, he’s a boy,” she stated as she reached up and rubbed the horse’s neck. “Sorry about that, big man,” she said to the horse. She heard Lank bust out laughing, but didn’t know why. “What?”
“Sweet.” Was Lank’s response, then he questioned her. “Where’s Kade?” Krista turned and pointed in the direction which she came from.
“He’s with Starlight. I thought I would give them some time alone. That poor horse has had it bad enough. She didn’t need an audience witnessing her fears.” She explained to Lank and again heard him mumble under his breath.
“Sweet, darlin.’ All the horses like to be pett
ed, but what they really love is those treats.” He nodded at what looked like big square buckets hanging on the wall. She walked over to them and saw it was four, each with different stuff, or different ‘treats’ in each one. She looked back at Lank.
“Does it matter which treat I give to which horse?” Krista wanted to know.
“Nope, although some have a favorite.” he told her, but he didn’t bother to tell her which treat was which horse’s favorite.
Well, okay then, she thought. She got one of each treat and then went to the first horse’s stall. Looking around, she spotted a flat square, big—but not too big—piece of wood.
“Can I use this?” she asked Lank as she picked it up.
“Yeah,” he answered curiously. She smiled and turned back to the first horse.
“Now, I’m going to give you a choice,” she stated as she placed the treats on the board, each spaced far enough apart to leave enough room for choice. “You only take your favorite this time, so I’ll remember which one you like the best.” She looked up into the horse’s eyes. “Okay?” Then she lifted the board to the horse as she looked above the stall to read his name, and then called him by his name. “Samson.” She watched as the horse picked his favorite treat. “All righty, Samson.” She sat the board down, returned to the treat buckets and pulled out two of the treats that were his favorite, then went back and held out her hand with the treat for Samson. “This one is your favorite.” She gave him another rub. Then Krista picked up her board, replaced the treat Samson had eaten, and moved on to the next horse. She repeated the process with each horse, remembering the treat they liked the best, along with their name. She was about half way through the horses when she head Kade’s voice.
“Baby, what the hell are you doing?” Krista turned toward him with the board in her hand, holding it out like a waiter.
“I’m getting your horses to tell me what their favorite treat is.” She turned back to the next horse and continued with her process. She heard Lank discussing her with Kade, but wasn’t paying enough attention to really know what they were saying.
“Your girl, Kade, sweet as sugar, smart as a tack,” Lank stated, then added with a twinkle. “Easy on the eyes too.” She heard a low growl from Kade and Lank busted out laughing. A few seconds later, she felt Kade’s arms come around her and as her back was pulled against his front, he questioned her again.
“You ‘bout done, baby?” She turned her head to look up at him. He was smiling down at her.
“I’m only about half way, and I can’t stop. It wouldn’t be fair to the other horses I haven’t gotten to yet.” Hoping she didn’t have to leave quite yet.
“That’s fine, baby, take your time.” He kissed her forehead, gave her a little squeeze and then stepped back. She watched him head back toward Lank. Dang, she did like the sight of his backside. Shaking her head to let that train of thought go, she focused on the horses. She had only two horses to go, when she heard Kade say her name again and when she turned to look in the direction he called, she saw him standing in the open doorway with the sun shining around him, and she caught her breath. Just the sight of him standing there like that was breathtaking. “Baby, got to run up to the house for a few. You gonna be all right until I get back or you want to ride back with me now?” Kade asked her.
“I’m not finished quite yet so I’d like to stay?” She questioned as she watched him walking toward her.
“That’s fine baby. Stay as long as you like,” he told her, right before he leaned down and kissed her, and then he was gone. Krista finished up with the horses and since Kade hadn’t made it back to get her, she decided to walk back to the house. It was a good walk and when she arrived and entered through the door, she walked toward the kitchen, but didn’t see Kade, so she turned and made her way up the stairs. Krista followed down the hall toward the sound of his voice and then she heard him say her name, but she could tell he wasn’t talking to her. She didn’t know who he was talking to, as she walked to the door of his office and saw him sitting in his desk chair, turned so his back was to the door. He started speaking to whomever he was talking to. “Yeah, she’s doing okay right now, down at the stables with the horses.” There was a pause and she assumed he was listening to someone talk. She knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop, and started to turn away, when she heard him speak again. “All right.” Another pause. “Yeah.” And the pause was too short for her to interrupt without being rude. “I told you already that I know she’s been through a lot of shit. It’s fucked up, and I’m goin’ to see her through that shit first, try and fix what some asshole broke, and then I’ll send her on her way.” Krista was too shocked to move now and there was another pause and Kade continued speaking. “She’s a sweet filly, but she’s not a long term keeper, at least not for me.” There was another pause and that’s when Krista had heard enough. She unfroze from her shock and ran down the hall, down the steps, and back out the front door. Kade didn’t want her. He just wanted to ‘fix’ her and then ‘send her on her way.’
Could it be that that was all she was to him, something that needed fixing? She never asked him for anything, never asked him to fix her, and as far as she was concerned, her life was just fine before he came along and her life would be just fine with him not in it. “Yeah, just keep telling yourself that and maybe one day you’ll start to believe it,” she told herself. She’d run all the way back to the stables and when she rounded the corner, she saw Lank getting into a truck. He looked her way as soon as he saw her.
“Got to go into town, darlin’, and don’t think Kade would want you in the stables by yourself,” he told her, as she ran straight up to the passenger side of his truck.
“You’re going into town?” she asked Lank, but before he could answer, she’d jerked the door open and was climbing in. “Can you please give me a ride? I’m meeting some of my friends and Kade is tied up at the moment. Please, if it’s no trouble, because I really hate to keep them waiting.” She sounded like she was trying to catch her breath and she plastered on a fake smile and hoped he would buy it.
“Yeah, darlin.’ You let Kade know I’m giving you a lift,” he told her.
“I will.” She buckled her seatbelt, avoiding his eyes. They were going down a different road that didn’t lead back to the house. Lank noticed her looking at him somewhat suspiciously.
“It’s a shorter way to town.” He reassured her as he nodded out the windshield at the road ahead.
“That’s fine and thank you so much.” She pulled out her phone and texted Marissa, hoping she was still in town and could meet her. A few minutes later she heard her phone, looked down and saw it was a message from Marissa saying she and Lance were having lunch at the small diner in town, and they would be happy to give her a ride home. They’d been staying at Mrs. Worley’s house until she was released from the hospital. When Lank pulled into a parking space just a little ways down from the diner, she spoke to him. “Thank you again. My friends are waiting for me at the diner now, so I better hurry.” She opened her door and got out of the truck.
“No problem, darlin’, see ya later,” Lank said with a kind smile.
“Yep, see you later,” Krista answered automatically, but knowing there probably wouldn’t be a ‘later’ for her. Then she turned away and headed to the diner.
Chapter Thirty-One
Krista walked down the road from Mrs. Worley’s to her house as tears ran down her face, the tears she’d been holding back ever since she had heard Kade’s words. “She’s a sweet filly, but not a long term keeper.” She didn’t want anyone to know. She didn’t want to have to explain. Worse, she didn’t want to hear anyone ask her, what did she expect? A man like Kade wanting her, yeah, she was just fooling herself. Just like Dee had said when they were muddin’, why would Kade want her if he could have someone who looked like Dee? To fix, and that was the only reason he’d been with her in t
he first place. Just like that poor abused horse. Take them in broken, fix them, and then send them on their way. Well, she wasn’t a horse and she might have her share of problems, but she wasn’t broken. She’d been once! Krista admitted that. But, now, she was fixed and she had fixed herself and become stronger. She’d taken some self-defense classes. She’d taken other classes too! She’d even learned how to handle a gun, she could shoot pretty dang good. Krista did not need some man scooping her up and ‘fixing’ her. She’d been just fine all these years alone.
“Yeah, Kade! I am fine!” She spoke loudly and out loud, just as she reached her door. At first she didn’t notice, had forgotten Kade made sure she’d locked her door when they left. So, when she just pushed her door open, it didn’t hit her at first, until she stepped into her living room…or what used to be her living room! Every piece of furniture was broken, ripped, turned over, and just… destroyed! She stood frozen for a minute, just looking at the destruction in front of her, turned back to the door, and that was when she saw the door was busted and the lock was broken. Someone had broken into her house! She took another step back as she pulled her phone out of her pocket, managed to hit the few buttons she needed to hit, put the phone to her ear and finally, after an eternity, she heard the voice on the other end of the line.
“911 what is your emergency?” the operator said.
* * *
Kade walked down to the stables. Krista should’ve had plenty of time with each of his horses. He smiled at the thought of her with those horses, the way she’d figured out each one’s favorite treat by offering them all to each horse. He had no doubt that she’d remember every single one of the horses’ names and the treat they chose. She fits in here, he thought. She seemed happy here, whether they were riding the 4-wheeler, muddin’, or riding the horses. Although she didn’t seem too happy on the horse by herself, but up on the horse with him, she was. Krista was happy, and unless she had her past slapped in her face, she seemed like a truly happy person. He was going to talk to her, try to get her to stay with him longer. Hell, maybe he could convince her to just move in. He stopped at that thought, took a minute for himself to think it through, and then knew he wanted her here permanently. He didn’t want to think about his house or his bed with her not in it. He’d walked all the way around the stables, in his own head, before he realized that Krista was nowhere to be seen. He ran back out of the stables, looking everywhere for her. He saw Lank pulling up on the other side of the stables, so he ran in that direction. By the time he reached the truck, Lank was getting out.