by Claire Adams
But the moment she winced, I knew something was wrong.
“Listen to me, he wasn’t acting like himself,” she said. “He was really tired—sick-looking—but he was raving, accusing me of the same types of things that have been happening to us. Issues with his horses, sabotaging his barn.”
“He put his fucking hands on you, Cheyenne. Rules go out the window,” I said. I was absolutely infuriated. There were red crescents on her arms where his fingernails had dug in and a bruised imprint of a hand on her skin. I’d rip his fucking head off then feed him to the wolves. He should’ve known better than to put his grimy, disgusting hands on anyone, but he sure as hell wasn’t getting away with putting them on Cheyenne.
“If you want to handle this properly, then call the sheriff. But if you go after him, we don’t stand a chance of catching anyone tonight, Colt. If you get arrested for aggression and assault or shooting someone to death, it’s not gonna do anyone any good.”
“He hurt you!”
“And thanks to you, I was equipped to defend myself and run him off. He’ll get what’s coming to him. One problem at a time,” she said.
“This problem trumps my barn.”
“And that’s what makes you a good man, Colt. I’m fine. I swear. I’m actually feeling kind of empowered. Right now, we need to figure out if these cameras are gonna even work. So, you didn’t tell anyone you were having them installed?” she asked.
“No. Only the sheriff and Michael. No one else,” I said.
“Then let’s focus on that, and when we go to the sheriff with what we find, then we’ll show him my arm.”
I was shaking with anger, and every single time I looked at her arm, I got a new surge of fury and adrenaline. She’d talked me down, if only because she was now intent on using my cameras to figure out what was going on, but she wasn’t leaving my sight. Bill had crossed a line he was going to pay for, whether he was behind this barn shit or not, and I knew that with Cheyenne’s injury, along with what Michael had found out, he was sure to be convicted of something.
Cheyenne fell asleep fairly early, exhausted from the excitement of the day. After tending to the horses, she was ready to shower and sleep. I ran my fingers through her hair until her eyes were fluttering closed, then I pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“I’ll come crawl in with you after a little while,” I said into her ear. She nuzzled her cheek against my lips which brought a warmth to my heart I hadn’t felt in a while, and I was so glad she had decided to stay and decided to trust me when I told her I could protect her if she’d just give me the chance.
I was still on overdrive and had been so all day, not letting her out of my sight. I poured myself a mug of coffee and went to sit at my computer. I’d had really nice security cameras put in, complete with night vision access. Everything was crystal clear on my screen, and I knew the perpetrator didn’t stand a chance. If they were really after Cheyenne and her presence had made us targets, then they’d be back.
This time, I was waiting for them.
I sat back in my chair and kept my eyes glued to the screen. I had the cameras automatically toggle every fifteen seconds to a different camera on the property, which gave me enough time to analyze the screen before it hopped to another view. Slide after slide popped up with nothing happening except the cool fall wind rustling the leaves from the trees. There was a part of me that was ready to give up and go slide in next to Cheyenne. The softness of her warm skin was beckoning to my body, but my need to protect her was shouting over my incessant bodily desires.
This needed to be finished, if only for her sake.
With the conversation Cheyenne said she’d exchanged with Bill and the way he confronted her, even going so far as to barge into her home and put his hands on her, I knew he’d try something soon. Even though I was convinced the arson on my barn wasn’t him, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t come after her again.
And when he did, I’d be ready. I would put my hands on him just like he did Cheyenne, just to see how he liked it.
Two hours passed with absolutely no activity, and I had drained the coffee pot dry. My energy was fading, and the howling of the wind was lulling me to sleep, but then the camera angle flashed to the one just beside the barn. It overlooked my driveway and most of my front lawn, and when I saw the figure emerge from the side of the camera view, I stopped the toggling, zooming in.
There was a figure in a ski mask, and they were headed straight across my driveway to the barn that held Cheyenne’s horses.
“Cheyenne!” I called. I ran up the stairs and burst into her room, and she was already stirring from her sleep.
“Cheyenne. Call the police. Someone’s on the property.”
“What? Where are they?” she asked.
“I got it. Just call the police.”
I dashed into my room and grabbed my shotgun before I loaded my pockets down with rounds. I flew back downstairs and took another look at the cameras, and I saw the figure with the mask dash to the side of my barn.
This was it. This nightmare was about to be over, and if Cheyenne wasn’t calling the police, then I’d be dragging them out of my barn with bloodied legs they couldn’t walk on.
I decided not to call out to them. I knew they were there and that they weren’t carrying a gun big enough to scare me, and that was enough. I kept the floodlights off and ran towards the stables, just as the horses began to kick up. I saw the shadow of the intruder edging around the barn, so I darted off to the opposite side and decided I’d cut him off from the back entrance. He obviously learned from his last attempt to stay away from the front door, but I knew exactly where this fucker was, and he wasn’t getting away this time.
I found him around the back of the barn trying to jimmy the door open, and I held the gun up to his back.
“I’ve got a gun,” I said. I watched the man put his hands in the air, and immediately knew once again I wasn’t looking at Bill Coates. This man was too tall and slender to be that asshole, but I didn’t care. I was ready for this nightmare to be over so Cheyenne could feel safe in this town again.
So we all could feel safe again.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked. I cocked my shotgun, and the man simply stood still, but I saw his shoulders rise with a deep breath. I knew exactly what was about to happen, but what I didn’t predict was how fast he would take off.
Before I knew it, he had bolted around the barn and was out of my sight again.
“Shit,” I said. I ripped the barn door open and ran right through the stables, and when I opened the latch, throwing the front double doors open, I heard and felt the impact of something solid crash into them.
“There you are,” I said, growling. I dropped my gun and stepped around the doors, and that’s when the floodlights at my house turned on and illuminated the entire driveway. I watched the man in the ski mask get up, and before he could go anywhere, I threw a nasty right hook into his jaw and knocked him solidly to the ground.
“Colt?” Cheyenne called from the porch. “Colt? Are you alright?”
I grabbed the back of the man’s black jacket and pulled him into my driveway, and he kicked and scraped his hands along the ground, trying to get away.
“You think you can terrorize people in this town and get away with it?” I asked.
He stumbled to his feet and tried to get away, but I put my knee into his stomach, and he doubled over, trying to catch his breath.
“You think you can come onto my property and terrorize my animals?”
“Colt!” Cheyenne shrieked.
I could hear sirens in the distance, and I knew this debacle was finally over. I felt pride surging through my veins as my vision began to tunnel, and the only thing I had left to do was rip this asshat’s ski mask off and reveal to the world who it was. Cheyenne was running towards me and Tif had hobbled out onto the porch, coming to see what all the commotion was.
Then I felt Cheyenne grab onto my arm, begging for my attention.
“Take a breath, Colt,” she said. “We’ve got him.”
I pulled the man up to his feet by the collar of his jacket before I grabbed the back of his ski mask. Police cruisers were charging up with an ambulance in tow, and I felt a rush of relief when I heard them pulling up into my driveway.
When I ripped the mask off the man I held in my grasp, I was stunned.
“Rick?” Cheyenne asked.
“Rick?”
His eyes were wide with terror, and I heard the doors of the police cruisers opening. His mouth stayed screwed shut while tears brewed behind his eyes, and I was stunned silent while the sheriff walked up beside me.
“Before you say anything,” Cheyenne said, “we’ve got it all on camera.”
“When did you get cameras installed?” Rick asked.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I asked.
I couldn’t believe that we had missed it. All the signs were there, but I was so focused on placing the blame on Bill that I had completely missed even thinking of Rick as a suspect. He was never around when things were going down, and he had no idea I had cameras installed. When I thought about it, I didn’t remember seeing him around the day we had cameras installed. I cursed myself for missing such huge signs.
“Who is it?” Tiffany called from the porch.
“Rick!” Cheyenne shouted out.
“What?”
“Why, Rick?” I asked. “What in the world were you thinking?”
“I’m so sorry,” he said as he panned his gaze to Cheyenne. “I never meant for any of your horses to die.”
“You only meant to burn down my barn?” she asked.
“So, this is our guy, huh?” one of the deputies asked.
“Yep,” I said. I tossed him into the hands of the man who was handcuffing him, and I heard his rights being read to him as I turned my back. I’d trusted Rick for years at this place, and to think he could turn his back on everything and hurt us the way he did was throwing me for a loop. I felt Cheyenne thread her arm around me before she tossed my arm over her shoulders, and the two of us started for Tiffany who was standing on the porch with tears in her eyes.
“It’s Rick?” she asked softly.
“Come on, you guys. It’s over,” Cheyenne said. “Let’s get some coffee, or maybe a glass of wine to help us settle down.”
“It’s over,” I said.
“Yes. It’s finally over.”
I looked down at Cheyenne while Tiffany hobbled inside, and the sparkle in her eyes slowly brought me back to why I’d done this in the first place. A glass of wine didn’t sound half bad after what we had just experienced, and while the three of us were shocked, betrayed, and hurt, we were also relieved it was finally over.
“Does this mean you’ll stay?” I asked. “Now that your barn is no longer under siege?”
“I suppose I could stay a little while longer,” she said cheekily.
“White or red?” Tiffany called out.
“Whatever is stronger!” Cheyenne yelled.
“That’s my girl,” I said.
“I’m hardly your girl,” she said with a smirk.
“Oh, really? So exactly what are you, then?” I asked.
“I’m the brain to your brawn.”
“Did you just call me dumb?” I asked.
“Oh no, Colt. I would never do that,” she said.
“You’ll pay for that, you know,” I said with a grin.
“I’m counting on it,” she said.
Chapter 31
Cheyenne
I rolled myself out of bed with a pounding in my head. We’d stayed up and finished a bottle and a half of wine before any of us were settled enough to go to bed. The knowledge that Rick, of all people, was the person behind this nightmare was tearing all of us apart, and when I dumped myself into bed, I cried myself to sleep in Colt’s arms. If I was this devastated, I couldn’t imagine how Colt and Tiffany were feeling, so I’d made the executive decision to stay on with them a little while longer.
You know, just to make sure they healed from everything happening to them.
I scrambled for something for my headache, then climbed into a hot shower. The water cascading over my skin felt good, and it helped to wake me up. Someone still had to tend to the horses since Tif was still laid up, and now that Rick had been arrested, they would need a great deal of help until they could hire someone else.
I was rinsing the conditioner from my hair when I heard the bathroom door open. Colt’s fuzzy outline came dragging into the bathroom, and the steam made him physically sigh before his pajamas hit the floor.
“Care to join me?” I asked.
“I didn’t plan to give you a choice.”
I could practically hear the smirk in his voice, and it lit my toes on fire. The shower glass peeled back, and as he stepped in behind me, his hands hit my hips, and my nipples stood to attention.
“Morning, beautiful,” he said.
“Morning,” I said, giggling. He placed a light kiss on my neck, just enough to make me want a little more, and when I offered up my neck up for him to devour, he sank his teeth slowly into my skin. His hands traveled up to my breasts and massaged my aching nipples, and suddenly I lost all control of my body.
I twirled around in his arms and crashed my lips into his, and pulled him into the water just to watch it run down his body. His rippling muscles glistened with the water running down their peaks and valleys. Never had this man looked so beautiful to me, and I sank to my knees while my fingernails raked down his thighs.
I could hear his anticipation; his eyes looked intensely down on me while I ran my tongue up the length of his cock. I wrapped my lips around him, relieving him of the tension I could feel in his thighs, and when I guided his hand to my hair, I reached my arms around and grabbed onto his sculpted ass.
The water poured down his body while my cheeks hollowed out around his throbbing cock. The moment he began thrusting into my mouth, I simply let him go. His pace picked up, and the tip of him reached the back of my throat. When he began to leak for me, I swallowed him down without a second thought. I looked up at the man I’d come to adore—with his eyes screwed shut and his abdomen rolling into my face—and all I could think about was how good it felt to have him shaking beneath my fingertips.
With every suck, he jumped, and with every lick, his knees trembled. I hummed in pleasure and reassurance around his cock, and that’s when his hips began to stutter. I swallowed him down at deep as I could take him before I wrapped my hand around his cock. I squeezed my hand around his base, feeling his essence cascade up his thick dick. His hands were wrapped tightly into my hair, and his chest was panting in pleasure. I swallowed as much as I could before slowly rising from my knees.
“Feeling better?” I asked. I planted a small kiss on his lips, and he pulled me into his body, but then he firmly pushed my back against the wall.
“Your turn,” he said.
Before I knew it, he fell to his knees and thrust his tongue deep inside me. My leg was thrown over his shoulder while hot streams of water ran off my nipples, and he lapped deeply into my clit and shook my entire body. I couldn’t contain my moans and groans as he shook every atom of my form, and when he pushed his finger deep into my depths while sucking hard on my clit, I almost collapsed to the shower floor.
“Oh, shit, Colt,” I said breathlessly. “Oh, my God.”
“Cum for me. You know you want to.” He hummed into my pussy while I was grinding down onto his face, and before I knew it, my body was flowing with electricity. It started in my toes and ricocheted up to my head, storming over my body as my knees grew weak. His tongue worked my clit expertly while his fingers left me breathless, and soon I was dripping down his hand while my pussy squeezed in wanton ecstasy.
I orgasmed onto his mouth, and he lapped up every drop of me. When it was all over, I slowly slid to the shower floor and felt him slip his arms around me.
“Feel better?” he asked.
&nb
sp; “Best wake-up ever,” I said, still trying to catch my breath.
He kissed my cheek while the shower sprayed our bodies, and we trembled against one another, cherishing the time we had. I knew I had to get out and take care of the horses and Colt had to get to the restaurant, but I wanted some time with him before we had to part ways.
“You think we’ll hear from the sheriff today?” I asked.
“I figured they’d call if they knew anything.”
“How’s Tiffany?”
“Don’t think she’s up yet,” he said.
“I gotta go tend to the horses.”
“I know. And I gotta get to the restaurant.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what?” he asked.
“For everything you’ve done for me.”
“How’s your arm?” he asked.
“Don’t deflect. I’m serious,” I said.
“I’m not deflecting; I’m curious.” He ran his fingertips down my arm, and we both could see the bruise that had formed. I knew Colt was still upset that I hadn’t told the sheriff anything about our encounter, but I figured it wouldn’t bring anything but trouble.
And we’d just wiggled our way out of trouble already.
We peeled ourselves from the shower and went our separate ways, but later when we all gathered after our workdays were over, Michael joined us. Tiffany and Colt were talking about the fundraiser, and I was chatting with Michael about the adoption of my horse, but I could tell Michael was having a hard time concentrating.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” I asked.
“Tif? Oh, yeah. She’s a pretty woman.”
“You should tell her that,” I said.
“Tell me what?” she asked.
“That you’re easy on the eyes,” Michael said with a grin. I shot Colt a look, and he glanced down at his sister, but she seemed unfazed by the compliment.
“Not with this stupid cast on, but if all goes well, I’ll be in a boot before December rolls around.”