by Jillian Neal
“I’ve got all my bags in the tool box, honey. I’ll get her taken care of. Trust me.”
“I do. That’s what scares the shit out of me,” she mumbled as she jerked her hand out of his and folded them across her cleavage. Still defensive and still blocking what she used to be teased about so cruelly.
“Hey,” he held his now empty hand out. “Come on, it’s me. Don’t shut me out. Scream, cry, curse, throw things, be mad as hell, be stubborn, be happy, feel anything you wanna feel, sugar. I’ll still be right here.”
Begrudgingly, she rejoined their hands. “I know you will. Don’t you ever get sick of my insanity?”
“You’re not insane, Indie. I love how there are things you’re willing to fight for, and you know I get a kick outta you letting that temper fly. Turns me on something fierce. Can’t wait to see that fire in my bed for the next two weeks. Tuck called me and said you all but beat the shit out of him for telling you to calm down. Rookie mistake. I told him he was a dumbass for ya.”
That seductive heat that whipped and whirled through her veins bloomed across her cheeks. She smacked his shoulder. He feigned injury just to hear her giggle.
“Did he tell you what my mother got for me?”
Now they were getting somewhere.
“Said something about a book. He was in awe of the power you pack in a punch, so he missed the title.”
She laughed, but whatever that book had been about had gotten to her. “It was something about losing twenty years in two weeks. Might as well have been pounds, not years.” She strangled on the harrowing confession.
Luke pulled in to the gravel driveway of her father’s farm and hit the brakes. “Look at me.”
The pain of it all darkened her pine green eyes to a deep jade. “You’re beautiful, baby. You know it. I sure as hell know it, and your mama’s an idiot. Always has been. Always will be. What’s that saying, you can’t fix stupid you can only sedate it.”
“I’d prefer to beat it back with a 2x4.”
Laughing, he nodded his agreement. “Point is, you can’t change her, Indie, bad as you’ve always wanted to, so why let her bother you so much? Long as I’ve known her she’s basically been a miserable cow. So, let her be.”
“You of all people should know that not being able to leave her be and get over it makes me almost as crazy as what actually comes out of her mouth.”
“Let’s go see about Juliet, but we’re not finished talking about your mother,” Luke ordered.
“I ain’t really in the mood to be psychoanalyzed, Luke Camden,” she huffed.
“Oh yeah?” He caught her as she leapt out of his truck. “Just what are you in the mood for, sugar? I have several plans for you, but I might be willing to negotiate if there’s something specific you’re needing.”
Her eyes narrowed, and their customary stubborn fire blazed on. Those full pink lips pursed and images of them wrapped around his cock filled his mind. He longed to order her to suck him off right then and there.
“Let’s get something straight. This two-week thing you’ve decided we’re having is about you and me in bed making up for the last fifteen years and getting our fill. It ain’t about therapy sessions over my mother, or about who was mean to me in high school. It’s about wild sex, the dirtier the better. You got that?”
Luke ran his hand over has mouth to keep from laughing. Her father, who’d walked up behind her in time to hear her diatribe, cleared his throat.
“Daddy!” Indie spun into her father. Luke lost his battle and cracked up.
Her father’s smirk said he wasn’t upset with her plans. “Does all that mean you won’t be able to help me run the shop while you’re home?”
“Are you serious? You really want me to run the shop?”
“I’ve always wanted to work with you, Indie. You know that. I can’t afford to have the shop closed, but I sure could use a day or two off. I was hoping you’d like it, maybe decide to stay more than a few weeks.”
Indie whirled around and glared at Luke. “You two think you’re so smart, don’tcha? I should have known you’d be in on this together. I ain’t moving back, so you can both get that little idea right out of your heads.”
“Hey, we can hope though, right? I miss you like crazy, baby,” Luke vowed. He reached for her, reveling in the way the tense set of her body eased at his touch.
“He ain’t the only one that misses you every day either,” her father added. “Can’t blame us for trying.”
“Long as you’re okay trying and failing. And hell yes, I’ll run the shop for you. I’d love to.”
“Let’s go see about Miss Juliet,” Luke urged. This was perfect. If she thought her daddy needed her to come home to help with the shop, maybe that would convince her to stay if Luke couldn’t.
“I checked her a few minutes ago. Still won’t put any weight on that hoof.”
“I’ll take care of her, Mr. Harper.” Luke knew Ben was aware that he wasn’t only referring to the horse.
“I have no doubt.” He offered Luke a kind grin as they headed towards the paddock on his small farm.
Juliet had settled on her belly in some hay. Romeo, Indie’s solid copper Quarter and Juliet’s mate, stood over her, protecting her constantly.
Concern and empathy filled Luke’s soul. It always broke his heart to see any animal in pain. The way he saw it most humans fucked everything up. Animals knew what they were put here to do, knew how to love, knew when to mate, and didn’t need anyone telling them much of anything.
“All right, boy, it’s okay. I’m gonna take care of her,” Luke assured softly. He let Romeo sniff his hand and gently petted his muzzle. A moment later, Romeo eased away. The trust in his eyes levied another round of responsibility on Luke. He wouldn’t let any of them down.
Settling in the hay beside Juliet, Luke stroked down her side a few times. Indie and her father looked on. Another one of those sweet grins formed on Indie’s features. Luke offered her a quick, reassuring wink.
Juliet was hurting badly enough that she didn’t put up too much of a fight when Luke tenderly lifted her hoof. “Can you hand me my flashlight, darlin’? It’s right there in my bag.”
Indie had the light in his hand a second later. She sat on Juliet’s other side, loving her and telling her that it would be all right.
“I’ve got you, girl, just let me find it.” He kept his voice soft and soothing. Juliet gave a slight sigh of impatience. “I know it hurts. I’m gonna get it taken care of.” Reaching in his pocket he pulled out a pack of sunflower seeds he always kept on him. He fed her a handful and accepted her nuzzle of appreciation.
Luke began to hum, and Juliet laid her head in Indie’s lap and relaxed. A minute later he’d located what he’d been looking for. “Okay, she’s got an abscess. It’s right here. Hard to see, which is good, means the infection is localized.”
“What do we do?” Panic crept into Indie’s voice.
“I’m gonna take care of it, sweetheart. Just need a good-sized, clean bucket. I’ve got some Epsom salts in my truck. Need to soften up her hoof, so I can get it to drain. She’ll be good as new as soon as we get it cleaned out, and I’ll give her an antibiotic. See if you can’t get her to stand up again. I’m gonna go get everything I need. Might be a long night.”
“Buckets are in the tack room,” Ben explained.
A few minutes later, Luke had Juliet’s hoof soaking in warm salt water and the horse seemed very appreciative.
“Poor baby. I hate I didn’t see it earlier,” Indie lamented.
“She’ll be fine. They take a little while to get big enough for us to see ‘em.”
“It’s my fault,” Ben sighed. “I just can’t seem to keep up with everything lately. I should have had her re-shoed weeks ago.”
Concern darkened Indie’s features. “I’m sure she’ll be fine, Daddy. Don’t worry.”
“She just needs a little TLC. I’ll check on her for the next few weeks ‘til her sole’s stronger a
nd she’s good to go again,” Luke vowed.
“Thank you,” Indie threw her arms around him. He held her to him, reveling in the feel of those luscious curves clinging to him. His cock stirred anxiously, but he shut it down for the tenth time that night. He had to get the horse back to rights before he could bed her. Impatience surged through his veins.
Ben offered Luke a conspiratorial grin behind Indie’s back. They were definitely in this together.
“If you two’ve got this, I think I’ll head on in. I’m beat.” Ben brushed a kiss on the top of Indie’s head before he made his exit.
Three hours later, Luke gently eased Juliet’s hoof out of the water. It was improving, but wasn’t soft enough to drain as of yet. He settled her back and rubbed her side.
Indie was half asleep against the wall of the barn opposite him. A round of old hemp rope hung on a hook several feet over her head. If that wasn’t temptation, he didn’t know what was. Leaving Juliet to soak for a few minutes, he slid down the wall and seated himself beside her. He brushed a tender kiss over her lips, deeply appreciative of her responding grin. “Go on to bed, baby doll. I’ll stay up with her. It’s gonna be nearing morning before I get it all cleaned up and wrapped.”
“No, I don’t want you to be up with her by yourself.” A deep yawn almost stole the words from her lips.
“Indie, darlin’, go on to bed. I’ll come inside and tuck you in then I’ll come back out here. I need to know my girl’s warm and comfortable.”
“No.” She seemed to be regaining her typical reaction to being told to do something. Shaking his head, he chuckled.
“Fine.” He stood and quickly located a clean horse blanket before reseating himself beside Juliet. “Come here, then.”
She debated arguing for the sake of arguing. She always did, and that stubborn spite always spiked his blood.
“Now,” he pointed to the spot in the hay beside him.
Her mouth twisted in consideration, but she could barely hold her eyes open.
“You used to like sleeping in my arms, darlin’. That changed in the last year?”
Sighing, she stretched her arms over her head and popped the crick out of her neck. “Definitely not.” With that, she crawled on all fours across the slight space, making him moan. The delighted smirk on her face said she knew she was pushing every button on his body with her luscious ass up in the air, slinking to him like a sex kitten that needed his satisfaction. She settled her head on his lap and traced her index finger up the bulge against his zipper line, grinning over the effect she’d had on him. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to come over here. It’s that I know if I lay down on you, I’ll go to sleep and I wanted to stay up with you.”
Luke settled the blanket over her and began gently easing his fingers through her long auburn hair. “How about you let me take care of Juliet and my girl. Lookin’ after you was always my favorite job. You promised me two weeks. That starts right now.”
Her blinks extended in length as he played with her hair. She’d always loved that, a surefire way to soothe her day no matter what it might’ve held. “Pretty sure it started when you kissed me like you owned me back at Saddleback’s in front of the whole damn town.”
Chuckling softly, Luke nodded his agreement. “I do like the sound of owning you,” he goaded. “Rolls right off my tongue, real sweet like.”
She eased to her back so she could stare up at him. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, cowboy. We both know I ain’t a tamable kind of girl. Nobody’s gonna own me.”
“Oh sugar, I have no desire to tame you. I want you wild. Dirtier the better, just like you so eloquently told your daddy,” he laughed.
She covered her face with her hands. “I cannot believe he heard me say that.”
“He didn’t seem too surprised. I got the distinct impression he don’t really care what we do as long as you might think about moving back. ‘Sides, there’s a difference in being tamed and being owned.” He carefully lifted Juliet’s hoof again and pressed along the abscess. It was getting closer.
“I’m going to indulge you in this line of ridiculous conversation because I’m sleepy, and I want you to get back to playing with my hair. What’s the difference?”
Luke considered for a minute as he returned his fingers to her hair. “Being tamed ain’t all that bad if you like the person doing the taming, I ‘spose. Since trying to tame you would work ‘bout as well as lighting a bottle rocket in a Dixie cup, I got no interest in that. To me, owning you would mean it’s my job to see to everything you need in my bed and out. Anything you want or need is my top priority. Means you’re willing to give me total control of what happens between us in my bedroom. Means you’ll let me explore, let me show you what I’ve longed to share with you for the past decade, let me own your pleasure, take it all for myself, give you everything I know you’ve needed, and everything I sure as hell want from you.”
Intrigue lit the fire in her eyes. She stared up at him for a long drawn minute before she settled on giving him her sexy smirk. “My God, Luke Camden, have you gone and gotten kinky on me?”
Never dropping her gaze, he traced his fingers over the soft curve of her cheek and gently teased the mark he’d left on her neck in the parking lot of Saddlebacks. The first of many he intended to leave on her body. My God, the things she did to him, the way the mere mention of her name could shoot fire through his veins until he was nothing more than a savage, wild and demanding. He never would’ve had his hands up some woman’s shirt or marked them all for himself in a damn gravel parking lot. That wasn’t him — until he was with her.
He tempted the top swells of her breasts and loved that her breathing changed with nothing more than a gentle caress from his fingertips. “So many things I crave to do with you, honey. So many things I want. Every time you came to me in the past few years, and I was so needy for you I never took my time, I hated myself. I owe you better. I owe us better. You’re so damn beautiful, Indie, and I have always loved you. I want to know you again, really know you. Know all the things you’ve never shared with anyone else. Know things you won’t even admit to yourself, things you don’t think anyone should know. You never have to say them out loud, sugar, I’ll figure ‘em all out and guard them with my life, but I want you to know me that way, too. You still drive me wild. You always will. But I want to be your sanity again. I let you down on my end of our deal. I want to make you feel things you’ve never felt before. Let me show you, honey. Let me show you how it could be between us.”
She sat up, chasing her breath. Her bottom lip slipped through her teeth. “I take it the answer to my question is yes, then.”
Chuckling, he brushed a few strands of her hair behind her right ear, watching her eyes close in an extended blink as he caressed her cheek with his thumb. “Okay, yes. The things I want to share with you would probably be qualified as kinky. That okay with you?”
“Oh, hell yeah, cowboy, but fair warning, there’s been a kinky Luke Camden in my dreams for years now. Gonna take a helluva lot of skill to out-do my fantasies.”
Certain that he was going to combust in his Wranglers, Luke let that information travel on the blood flowing rapidly from his brain to his cock. His entire body was honed in on nothing but her scent and the need that darkened her eyes. His muscles tensed, desperate to hold her, to share more with her than kisses and a quick feel-up. His cock ached. He needed the relief that could only come with burying himself inside that tight, silky channel that always felt like it had been sculpted for him alone. He wasn’t a horny teenager anymore. He needed more. “Just so you know, Indie Jane, I’m taking that as a direct challenge.”
“Good.”
Ticking his left eyebrow upward, he decided to see just how much she might let him get away with. “That means I’m in control. You do what I say when I say it.”
She laughed at him outright. “In bed, hell yeah. You think I’m going for that out of bed? You’ve clearly lost a large portion of all of those bra
in cells you had up there back when we were in school. I wouldn’t make that deal with you or anyone else, and you know it.”
His customary grunt of annoyance was louder than he’d intended. “Can’t blame a guy for trying,” he allowed.
“Can’t blame a girl for telling him he’s crazier than a shithouse rat.”
“What is it you’re so afraid of? Surely it ain’t me. Somewhere in all of that stubbornness you know good and well I’d never do one single thing that didn’t bring you pleasure.”
“I ain’t doing your laundry, cooking your dinner, or cleaning your house. I ain’t playing your wife.”
“And you’re really gonna sit there and tell me that you thought I’d ask you to do those things? I’m a grown man. I do my own laundry, clean my own house, take care of my own shit, and mostly cook my own meals. I do eat up at Mama and Daddy’s occasionally to keep Mama happy.”
“Oh my gosh, your mama’s cookin’. Now, that’s something I might consider moving back for.”
“Well, then I sure as hell will make sure you get it on the regular, darlin’. But take back all of that insanity about me getting you to do chores for me.”
“Fine, but you still only get your say in the bedroom.”
Indie wasn’t certain how much longer she was going to be able to pretend she was unaffected by his confession and his plans. The red satin panties she loved were soaked thoroughly. So wet she longed to beg him to lay her out on the blanket he’d covered her in, remove them entirely, and bathe her swollen skin with his tongue until he soothed the liquid fire flowing readily from her pussy. Her nipples throbbed anxiously against the lace of her bra. Suck me. The words formed on the tip of her tongue, but she ordered herself not to beg … yet. She felt fevered and raw, in need of relief. She had no idea that his sexual preferences had darkened dramatically with age, but she intended to fulfill his every fantasy, just as long as he did the same for her. Two weeks wasn’t nearly long enough. Her dirty dreams of him came by the dozens. Hell, her favorite vibrator might as well have been named Luke. She’d figure something out. Maybe coming back to the Glen more often wasn’t such a terrible idea.