It’s been about a week, and I am finally able to eat a meal without needing to beg it to stay down. I’ve even put on a little weight, and the pain in my gut is gone. Turns out I had some ovarian cysts; Bex thinks the trauma and stress made one rupture. She said the smaller ones will hopefully go away on their own soon. Who knows. After all the shit that I went through, I am sure there’s bound to be a few broken bits. Her x-rays of my arms show a few old and healed broken spots but the rest was just bruising. She also called to let me know that all of my blood work is fine, and that I didn’t pick up some nasty sexually transmitted shit from those men. That had been a big worry, one I never allowed myself to ponder until the tests were taken. She also wants me to get a special scan of my head to make sure that it is okay, but I told her no. I don’t have any obvious symptoms telling us that I need it right now, maybe later. Luna won’t be leaving the damn barn again any time soon. Yeah, it’s stupid, I know. One day I will have to, but today is not that day, and tomorrow isn’t either.
Belly full and happy thanks to my removed roommate, I stand and stretch my stiff body. Leo continues on in the back, doing whatever in the hell it is that he does; so I leave him be, picking up my little pile of wash stuff and head to the tack room. It isn’t long before I am scrubbed from head to toe, and changed into the oversized women’s clothing he gave me a few days ago. Thankfully they were only a few sizes too big. Walking out of the room in a cloud of peach scented soap, I hear Leo cussing under his breath.
“Luna, come hold this mare, I forgot something.” Leo’s grouchy voice isn’t very inviting.
Heading toward the sound of the voice, my eyes catch sight of his muscled form now clothed in a fitted t-shirt, standing just outside the large sliding door with a beautiful palomino.
“Do you really need me to? Looks like you got things figured out.” I mean, come on, it’s not like he has a lot of ranch hands around; he’s a solo guy in this operation during this time of year. He doesn’t need me.
“Just take the reins so I can run into the tack room.” His voice grumbles, clearly upset about something. He holds up the leather straps, offering them over. The only problem is, he’s still standing outside. Glancing back and forth between the seemingly harmless lead, and the shadows dancing on the edge of the property, my irrational fears begin to stir.
“No, I can’t go out there.” I remind him.
“Technically, you’d be just outside the door for two damn minutes.”
“Yeah, and that’s all it takes to kidnap someone.” It blurts out of my mouth before I can stop it.
“No one is stupid enough to step onto my property without an invite. Take the damn reigns… please.” The please sounds quite forced.
I cross my arms over my chest, quizzically examining his classic clenched jaw and tick forming above his brow under the weight of his frustrations. “No.” I test. This man walks around like a ticking time bomb. I’m fascinated as to what will finally make him go boom. A bored girl has to find something to do with her time aside from over self-analyze.
“For fucks sake, Luna. You’re right here, and my hitch post is way over there!” His hand lifts then drops heavily by his side. He seems worn out over some stressor eating away at him. One minute his energy is high, the next it’s swinging the opposite direction as he forces basic functions. That’s not to mention all of his nervous twitches that pop up. He is fascinating for sure, and his quirks make me feel like I fit right in.
“Sounds like you need to rethink your placement of said hitch post,” I smart, unable to help myself. His brow rises, and the corner of his mouth threatens to lift on his too serious face. Without another word, he makes some clicking noises and walks her right up to me; passing the straps through the big, open walkway and slaps them into my hand. With another grunt, he shoves past and heads into the tack room.
I awkwardly stand there, mouth open, while the horse looks at me like I’m stupid. She even blows out hard through her nostrils and whinnies to prove her point.
He comes back out, shaking his head and snatches the reins.
“I don’t see what’s so funny, thank you very much.”
“You, you are a strange bird,” he scoffs.
My mouth opens to shoot off a rebuttal but stops short as the towering beast of a man trips over thin air, and goes down in slow motion, knocking his head against the big open door frame we were positioned in. He lands on my side of the threshold, on his wrangler covered ass with a thud, and a low groan. My eyes bulge and my hand rises to cover a gasp. The mare just stands there, watching us. Probably laughing inside as her lead dangles in the air, not that she could care, she didn’t have any plans of going anywhere. That just tells me he was attempting to bate me out of this safety zone.
“Fuck,” he grumbles like a bear and narrows his eyes at me, daring me to laugh.
That look is all that it takes to set me off into a horrible snort laugh. His eyes menacingly shift, and I try to reel it in, slapping a hand over my mouth.
“Clearly the only thing hurt is your pride.” I giggle then stop as a drop of blood buds on his forehead and slowly beads down.
Kneeling beside him, taking care not to touch him, I look closely at the bump now forming before my eyes. His musk reminds me of something that I can’t quite put my finger on. It isn’t off putting like most colognes I’ve encountered, which allows me the ability to shift closer with the edge of my blanket, and gently dab the little welled up area before it runs off into this eye. Leo winces, and pulls out of my reach. In that moment our eyes meet, the vulnerability and pain suddenly casting in his blues does something weird to my insides. It’s as if a cord of some sort tethers us together in that moment. I’ve seen that same look staring back at me in the old shattered mirror of my cell. Leaning back on my heels, I give him the space he needs. The clump of nearby hooves breaks the intensity of our locked eyes as the old mare makes her way past us to her stall and heads in, buttoning herself back up for the day.
“That’s why she needs to be held on to, lazy old broad never wants to leave that stall.” He jumps up, clearly trying to avoid eye contact as he dusts off his pants. He heads in and grabs the mares lead, clearly still upset. She doesn’t want to move. Leo tries to do everything to get her out, making all sorts of noise. His anger becomes palpable under my watch as the two stubbornly standoff with one another.
“Fuck it!” he yells, the reverberation is deep, making my spine crawl as he storms out past me to the yard.
Steel decides to reappear at that moment, jogging into the barn and sits by my side as we watch his master slam some things around the yard, I’m not really sure what, before he gives up and heads inside his house in a fury.
“Well, Steel, that was some weird shit. Did one of those horses kick him in the head at some point?” I pet between his ears and get up from the cold, packed earth. “Shall we make our rounds?” Steel nudges my leg, and we begin our afternoon routine. You see, I hate sitting around and all of my new neighbors in here are a perfect reason to get to know some other living things. Every afternoon for the last week, I’ve made it a point to visit each horse after they've been worked, pastured and brought back. It’s been great talking to them, brushing them, getting to know each one. Felt like it was the least I could do since they had to suffer through listening to my night terrors. They’ve also been the reason why my speech has improved. This time with them gives me someone I trust to actually talk to. Leo wasn’t very chatty and the jury is still out on him as far as I’m concerned.
My first stop is that same mare named Bell, well, that’s what the nameplate on her door says anyhow. She wasn’t lazy like Leo accused her of, just tired and set in her ways, I get that. My soul could commiserate right along with her. Bell doesn’t care for the brush, so I take my time giving her a good scratch up behind the ears. She always seems to like that by the way her eyes lower and she leans into my hand. Her apricot coat twitches as she shifts her weight toward me and we get lost in the
comfort of one another for a moment.
I almost hate leaving her after all of the harsh words Leo spat, but she gets finicky when I am in here too long, she likes her solitude; can’t blame her. Slipping out of her stall, and slowly closing it behind me, the whiney of my favorite beast catches my attention. I usually save him for last but it’s hard not to heed his call. My heart beats a little faster in anticipation as my slippered feet pad down to the lone stall that sits just off the main walkway. Leo had said this one was too spirited to be next to the others and needed to be separated or he started trying to kick through the paneling to the next stall. His black coat glints through the bars as he anxiously paces.
“Hey Tyrone,” I greet as I pick up one of the brushes from the basket.
He stills at the sound of my voice. With an outstretched hand, I slowly approach the giant thoroughbred. He had to be about seventeen hands high. Stamping a foot, he bellows a bit but holds still. As my hand connects with his hide, I begin to methodically run one hand over his hide as the other lightly brushes him. Keeping my voice as steady as possible, I talk to him about all the mundane things that run through my head. I’m not entirely sure they make sense but it feels good to practice just talking out loud again, past the trembling voice box that had been silenced with a hand so many times.
“He will barely even let me bridle him.” Leo’s voice sounds out behind me, causing me to startle as my heart jumps out of my chest.
“Fucking Christ!” I breathe, realizing it’s just him.
“You have a filthy mouth for such a young thing.” He approaches from the shadows.
“What’s your point?” I fire back.
“Young ladies shouldn’t speak like that.” His voice is firm and unforgiving.
“Pft. Fuck if I care what ‘young ladies’ should or shouldn’t be doing. I’m twenty three, shit, twenty four and barely survived hell on earth. I’ll say what I want.” God that bastard stole two whole years of my life. Swallowing the truth isn’t something that is happening overnight.
“Fair enough. I just came out here to apologize for actin’ the way I did.”
“No worries, it’s your house, act how you want. But maybe try wearing a damn bell or something.” I shrug it off and go back to brushing.
That small attempt of a grin turns the corners of his mouth. “How do you know stuff about these guys.” He lifts his chin toward Tyrone.
“My grandfather. I know a thing or two about a lot of things; problem is remembering stuff the right way.”
“Looks like you are gettin’ it.”
Small talk starts to lose its appeal, my throat is already getting sore from all the chattering, and I don’t want to push it any further.
“All right then. I need to work him, had to save him for last. He’s a tough one.”
“Sorry.” I slip out from the enclosure, and toss the brush back where it lives.
“You don’t need to apologize to me for nothin’ Luna. Just do you.”
“Thank you.” A small smile escapes me at that. It’s nice to know I can be real with him even though he may not like my choice of words to do so.
“Ain’t nothin’.”
That’s where he is wrong, something so simple is everything.
Chapter 5
Leo
The loud crack of lightning hisses across the sky, connecting with something too close to home and has my naked ass flying up out of bed; gun in hand, as I run to the window. After the morning work was done, I had decided to leave the horses out to pasture, trying to give them a bit more time out in the open before the impending storm rolled in. Thinking I would be up before the clouds thickened, my tired ass collapsed for a quick nap. What a mistake by the looks of it. The fucking late night runs with the boys has been wearing me thin as we try to close up some old business and a new arms deal. Not to mention worrying about that fucked up woman with a mouth that won't stop in the damn barn. Part of me wants to pull a weapon on her just to scare her back into that trembling, mute state. Not gonna lie, my dick pulses every time I think about making some fear grip those big grey eyes. Never claimed to be a saint, couldn’t be further from the truth. Ripping my jeans up my legs, and shoving my bare feet into my boots, I run like hell out the front door, across the yard, and down the slippery hill.
Lightning cracks in deafening tones not far off from my property, the vibrations of its sheer power palpable throughout the air. Dark clouds choke the big open sky as moisture clings to the air. Smoke billows up from a junk pile just off the pasture as flames lick the fence, spreading like a virus, scaring the shit out of the animals. The herd is up in arms, hooves thundering in panic, the coral in complete chaos. I have to get the animals inside, under cover, before they break through the fence and take off. A few of them are prized animals, their owner’s board here over the winter, their owners being some of the more soulless types.
The muddy pasture gives way under my heavy boots as I move as fast as my large body can manage. Another loud boom shakes the property, sounding too much like war gunfire. My heart thuds against my rib cage as my normally calm façade falters, a cold sweat beading above my brow, and my vision tunnels briefly before snapping back. I shake it off and hop the fence in one fluid movement, landing on the other side to square off with one of the younger geldings. The wild eyed beast doesn’t know what to think as he rears back with a scream. As if to answer his call, the sky suddenly opens, rain coming down in sheets, beating against my bare chest as another bolt of lightning strikes the ground in the middle of the exercise pen where I had left Tyrone. That damn horse gets too full of his stupid self when out with the others. A dominant beast that cannot play well with the herd. He never has been able to. That is probably the real reason why I bought him off the breeder, and the fact that they wanted to tote him to the glue factory. No one wanted to buy him because he was so difficult. My ornery ass horse bucks up and starts railing on the side of the pen trying to bring down the wall to get free.
“Tyrone! No, Goddamn it!” My voice attempts to bellow over the raging storm but is lost over the screaming winds.
There’s no way I am going to get to him in time. The gelding I almost have in grasp takes off in the other direction. Belle, the typically lazy one, gallops by and I manage to snag the lead. I dig a heel into the muck and almost land on my ass, as I fight with all of my strength to bring her back around and line her up with the way out. She fights me again with a backward pull, making the muscles in my arms ache like hell before she switches gears and trots forward. We start trekking up the hill, fighting the slick mud under foot as she tosses her head, fighting with her instincts to run even though she knows where we are headed. Sure, now she doesn’t want to go inside.
Tyrone pauses his hammering on the wall, and circles around the pen before stopping near the door, locking his attention on a ghostly face peering out from the barn door, one stunned in horror. I’m getting nearer to a place where I can hitch Bell and grab my asshole steed but still don’t trust that head strong horse. It’s only a matter of time before he tears something in his leg trying to get through that wall, not an injury either of us can afford right now and could threaten his life.
“Luna! Grab Tyrone!” It was a split second request. But, if anyone can catch him in a mess like this, it’d be her. That horse won’t even allow my best ranch hand near but he seems taken with her.
“You crazy?” Her voice rolls down the hill in a squeak. I can see her hand tremble as it pulls her quilt tighter, fuck! My cock twitches. Now is not the time to have my body react to her. I can’t believe myself.
“Fine, stay in there like a scared pussy,” I bark, beyond pissed with everything, especially myself. I don’t have time for her or this horseshit.
“You’re the fucking pussy, asshole!” she screams, not missing a beat, and a whole heck of a lot louder with a resounding strength she forgets that she has.
She huffs, throws off her blanket, looks back and forth between my horse and her ne
st inside before cursing up a storm as she runs straight for my bucking stallion trying to put himself through the fence again. My heart freezes in my chest as I rethink my instincts and fear for her. My voice starts to rise in an effort to tell her to forget it but catches in my throat as I watch her slow, cautiously approaching him. Her thick hips sway as she shifts on bare feet, opening the latch of the ring. Long black hair mats against her back as the oversized white shirt I had given her clings to her large, bouncing round breasts in the down pour. I yank the stubborn ass mare through the gate a little too hard as I try and get a grip. What the fuck is wrong with me.
Luna slips into the pen, and starts speaking to him as his head tosses. Her hand slowly rises, palm out, and extended toward him. Like a moth to a flame, he whinnies as he allows her to come right up to him, that hand comes to rest on his sleek, rain soaked neck. Her free hand snakes up and grabs him by the halter. With a few reassuring strokes down his forehead, Luna eases him to the gate. She literally just tamed the beast in a fine tango of calm and sheer panic. My eyes are locked on them, mesmerized by her grace with the most difficult horse I’ve ever had to break. Doesn’t that just beat all. She sends me a sideways glance as her features run wild, her eyes angry yet her soul shining through, seeming to love the freedom she just experienced pushing herself and finding strength in an unlikely circumstance. Guiding Tyrone inside, Belle and I jog in right behind them.
“Thank you, Luna. There’s five more in the paddock, can you please help me darlin’?” I try to steady my breathing and rushed words as we lock the stalls.
Winter's Absolution (Obsidian Blades MC Book 1) Page 6