by Jillian Neal
Indie fought not to gag and settled for rolling her eyes instead. “I don’t need Luke fightin’ for me, and that wouldn’t be much of a fight anyway, Eliza. Thanks for letting me leave the car here.” She opened the door to her Camaro before she leaned to brush a kiss on her father’s cheek. “I’ll be back later tonight.”
“Uh huh, I’ll believe that when I see it.” He turned to Eliza and smirked. “Indie ain’t gonna make Luke fight Clarke for her. She much prefers to make him fight her stubbornness instead, and trust me, ‘Liza, that will be one hell of a fight.”
Before Indie could argue or make a retort, her father waved and headed back to his truck. His chuckle was drowned out by the crunch of the gravel under his tires.
Eliza’s lips were pressed together to keep from laughing. When she managed to unhinge them, she smirked. “I’d say your daddy’s right about that, Indie, and if it were me, a strong hunk-a-man like Luke Camden wouldn’t have to ask me twice to be his. I’d have my suitcases unpacked in his house and supper on the stove ‘fore he had a chance to change his mind.”
Simpering, Indie slammed the car door and drove away. “Have supper on the stove ‘fore he had a chance to change his mind,” she mocked indignantly. Rolling her eyes, she pressed the pedal harder. She wasn’t cut out to be a rancher’s wife. She was a mechanic, for crying out loud, and a darn good one. Besides, this wasn’t 1955.
In less than 24 hours half the town already knew they were back together. In Oklahoma City no one cared what the hell she did, and she liked it that way. As she turned onto the long dirt road that would ultimately lead her to the ranch, she tried to drown out the rest of her thoughts with the radio. No one in Oklahoma City cared what she did because no one cared … at all.
Chapter Seven
Indie slowly guided her Camaro through the rusty gates of Camden Ranch. A million memories rushed through her, stealing her breath. Miles of pasture land extended in front of her car. Everything was the same, but somehow different than she recalled. The seasons had passed, leaving nothing entirely unchanged. Improvements had been made. Part of her had wished right up until the moment she’d passed through the first set of gates that the ranch would be precisely the way it had existed for her entire teenage life.
As she passed his parent’s home, the large, clapboard two-story with chimneys on all sides and a wide front porch, she longed to race up the front steps and not stop until she’d made it to Luke’s old bedroom, top floor, second door on the right. She wanted to see the old football trophies that used to sit on top of his chest of drawers, making shapes in the dust left behind.
She wanted to inhale the aroma of Luke mixed in with Lava soap, saddle oil, and his mama’s cooking wafting up the stairs from the kitchen. She wanted to watch him turn the knob on the door before he eased it closed so his parents wouldn’t hear it shut and wouldn’t know they were up there alone together.
For a moment, she wished she could erase the last fifteen years the way his mama used to wipe away the hearts Indie would draw in the dust with her fingertip, right beside her name, when poor Ms. Camden finally understood that the dust didn’t bother Luke at all. He spent his days kicking up dust and mud, generally mixed with manure. A little dust on his furniture didn’t concern him. She’d always loved that about Luke. He was never afraid to get dirty. And based on what he’d shared with her the evening before, he was more than willing to get down and dirty with her over the next few weeks. A broad grin spread across her face as she turned down the well-worn path towards the largest barn in the center of Camden Ranch. She couldn’t wait to get started.
She parked her car along a barbed wire fence beside a few trucks she didn’t recognize. Her eyes scanned the horizon. Luke was seated on the ground with something in his hands. Grant and Holly were hunched over him. The thought that he might be injured had Indie sprinting from the car. He was cradling a calf. Grant had a bottle to its mouth and hungry slurps filled the relative quiet of the morning. Indie’s heart sank. “Did her mama not make it?”
Luke lifted his head. His sexy grin filled her with something dangerously akin to a depth of love she already knew would pull her under. “Hey, sugar. Sorry, I meant to meet you at the gates.”
“I just let myself in. I figured your daddy wouldn’t mind. If you want to keep people out, you might want to change the keycodes on the locks once a decade or something.” She tried for a joke, but she really hadn’t even considered that time had built a distance between herself and the Camdens all its own.
“No one minds, Indie Jane. How are you, girl?” Austin stood from his position by another calf and gave her a hug. Holly and Natalie both smiled and came to greet her.
“I’m good. Are they okay?” She gestured to the calves.
Luke’s extended blinks were telling. He was beyond exhausted. “That one’s fine.” He pointed to the one Austin and Brock had been checking. “Mama will be okay. She’s a little weary after all that, and she won’t take this one. Being damned ornery about it, in fact. She took the other, nursed her twice, but don’t want this one anywhere near her. And this little girl is bad weak. Looks like we’re gonna be bottle feeding and caring for her. I think we already paired up the few that lost their calves earlier in the spring. She was late calving, so we’re out of luck.”
“Been a long time, Indie. It’s good to see you,” Brock Camden grinned at her. She returned the gesture.
“You too, Brock.” She gave him a quick hug before turning back to Luke. “Her mama doesn’t want her?” That thought snared her voice. She slunk down to sit in the pile of hay beside Luke. She understood not being wanted by your own mama all too well. “Poor thing. Can I feed her?”
Giving her his sexy half-grin, Luke nodded for Grant to relinquish the bottle. He stood upright and stretched his arms over his head. “She’ll let you mama her, for sure. She’s bad off.” He shook his head. Regret weighted his voice.
The calf was too weak to stand to be fed, so she did indeed let Indie love on her while she ate hungrily at the bottle. “I didn’t get to say hey at Saddleback’s last night since Luke up and mauled me. Are you back on the ranch for good?” Indie asked Brock as she continued to rub the calf’s side and let her nuzzle against her thigh.
Everyone including Luke laughed.
“You know how stubborn my brothers can be when they want something, but Luke’s not the only one glad you’re here to visit.” Holly managed to hug Indie around the bottle and the calf.
“If that ain’t the pot calling the kettle black, I don’t know what is.” Luke grunted. “You got enough stubborn in your head to take on a bull and win.”
Holly stuck her tongue out at her brother, making Indie giggle.
“I missed you, too, Hol. How goes the psych degree? You got plenty of crazy right here in the Glen to treat, I’m assumin’.”
“You kidding me? I’m getting out of the Glen as soon as possible. I’m the baby so they have to let me come back and ride my horses whenever I want, but I plan on setting up shop in a city where no one knows my daddy and my brothers. No one knows me as little Holly Camden. No one knows me at all,” Holly declared.
All of her brothers rolled their eyes simultaneously. Indie nodded her understanding. She remembered thinking those very things, so she certainly couldn’t argue with Holly. She’d made her escape as well. Gazing out at the rolling pasture land while she cared for an adorable calf with Luke by her side made that desperate desire to fly away much harder to locate however. She wondered if Holly would regret her decision someday. She could always return to the ranch in the future. It would always be a place Holly could fall, a net that would keep her from harm. Not everyone had that.
“Being away from the Glen kind of makes you miss it sometimes, though,” she admitted.
Luke couldn’t hide the broad grin that spread across his face. Indie rolled her eyes. “I never said I was moving back, just that I miss it sometimes.”
“I’ll take whatever I can get.” He wi
nked at her.
“Trust me, I lived away from the Glen for damn near a decade, and I’ll admit it’s got its quirks. Took Hope a few months to get settled in, but there ain’t no place like it. Nowhere else on the planet where I know Hope and Nathan are safe and cared for constantly. There’s just no place like home,” Brock vowed.
“Hope and Nathan are …?” Indie had a guess but wanted to confirm.
“My wife and my little boy.”
“Wow.” Indie shook her head. “I guess I still think of you as the kid who could catch anything Luke threw, but you’re all grown up.” If she wasn’t mistaken, she would say Brock Camden blushed at her declaration.
“Well, I guess I did finally get my shit together. Once we’re sure the calves are getting fed and settled, I’ll get Hope to bring the baby out here so you can meet them.”
“We all grew up, sugar,” Luke’s reminder was barely a whisper. “Everything may look the same around here, but it ain’t all the way you remember it.”
The calf let the bottle slip from his lips and lolled in Indie’s lap, still weak and tired. She reviewed Luke’s plans for the next two weeks. He was right. Things had changed, specifically him.
As she watched him stand and gently check the calf that the mama had nursed, she caught sight of his broad shoulders and his more-than-capable hands, the way his muscles contracted with the effort of making certain the calf was healthy, and the firm set of his jaw. He’d certainly changed, all for the better.
Regret that she hadn’t taken more time to really study him every time they’d been together in the past fifteen years ate at her. She used to try her best to visit her daddy and sisters, endure a little time with her mother, while pretending away her own needs and desperate desires to be back in his arms if only for a few hours. Her stubborn will would dissolve completely, and she would fly to his front door and right into his bed under the cover of darkness. Now, she had the next two weeks to indulge herself in him. It was high time she figured out just what brand of kink Luke Camden wanted to bring to her bedroom, and she was more than interested in discovering what else might’ve changed about him.
Eventually, the rest of the Camdens headed out to check the other herds. She and Luke stayed behind to watch the ailing calf. Another deep yawn contorted his face as he rubbed his eyes. “I can stay with her if you want to go back to bed,” Indie offered.
“Nah, I’m okay. Just beat. I want to see her stand and walk around a little ‘fore I leave her. She needs another bottle here in a few minutes anyway.”
“Been a long time since we bottle fed a calf.” Indie recognized the longing in her own tone.
“We’ve always been a hell of a team, darlin’, and don’t be sitting there thinkin’ I’m gonna be putting the two of us off another night just ‘cause I’m tired. I’ll come up with the energy to show you exactly how the next two weeks are gonna work.”
Unable to help herself, Indie leaned and brushed her lips across his. A hungry grunt accompanied his fingers tunneling in her hair.
“Give me some more of that,” he commanded.
She turned her head and lost herself in rough abrasion of his stubbled chin against her face, the hungry masculinity of his breaths, and the flavor of wild abandon that always came when she tasted his lips. With the calf still lying across their laps, she dragged her palms down the chiseled planes of his chest. He caught her right hand and pressed it to the steel bulge behind his zipper. She gasped at his forceful nature and the fierce rigidity of his denim-covered cock.
“Feel me, sugar. Rub me. You still owe me for gettin’ you off last night. Came home alone with the scent of you on my fingertips. Made me crazy wantin’ you, needin’ you.” He turned his head and captured her breath with another panty-melting kiss before he continued. “Mmm, darlin’, I dreamed about you, and you made me wait. I’m fucking tired of waitin’. Then you call me up this mornin’, tell me you didn’t follow my instructions. Seems to me you need to be reminded who’s running this portion of our reunion.”
Her mind raced faster than her frantic pulse. Her clit throbbed against her panties. “Yes,” she managed as she traced along either side of his wide cock, taunting him instead of touching him. Danger flashed in his eyes. Desire darkened them to a deep indigo. His hand landed on hers once more, pressing it to his cock.
“I said rub me. Up and down, just like that. You keep your hand on me, feel what you do to me, what you’ve always done to me. Feel how bad I need you.” His body jerked as she stroked with more vigor. Heat from his crotch poured into her hands. His musk, saddle leather, and a fresh mountain stream filled her lungs. Her entire body required his. Patience had never been her forte, and she’d never had any at all when it came to him.
“Luke, can’t we just go to your house for a few minutes? God, I need you. Please.”
“I’ve a good mind to stand up right here in the barn, tie your hands behind your back, and feed you my cock ‘til I come hard and fast between your lips, make you swallow everything I give you. You suck me like a fucking dream, sugar. I need some of that pretty mouth.”
“Yes. Do it. Now!” She whimpered from the thought alone.
“Now you know precisely how I’ve been feelin’. Damned infuriating, isn’t it? Gotta feed the calf first, but then, honey, we’re gon’ do a whole lot of that.” He pulled away and stood to prepare another bottle of colostrum. She panted for breath. Irritated gall swam in her veins. So, that’s how he was gonna play, making her beg and then wait for him.
“So, this is my punishment for wearing socks to bed?”
His dark chuckle did nothing to calm her raging libido. “Oh honey, you’ll know when you’ve been scolded for not following my orders.”
Cocking her jaw to the side, she tried to mean mug him, but his answering smirk said she hadn’t hit the mark. “You’re so damn cute when you’re curious and being impatient, and you already know that temper drives me wild with wantin’ you. Don’t worry, sugar. I ain’t forgettin’ the socks. I’ll take care of you as soon as I get you home.”
At that moment, Holly entered the barn. Her smirk said she’d heard at least some of their spat. Her mouth twisted to the side as she eyed her brother, mischievously. “Hey, Indie, did Luke tell you he broke the engine on the tractor?” She stuck the tip of her tongue between her teeth and giggled as Luke turned to glare at her.
Indie laughed at him outright. “Uh, no, he didn’t. What’d you do, honey? You know you oughta leave the wrenching to those of us that know what we’re doing.”
He rolled his eyes and handed her the next bottle. “Yeah, I know. There’s yet another reason why you should come back home. I may can deliver twin calves, but I suck at motors. It kept starting and then it’d die. I decided to rebuild the engine.”
Nodding, Indie almost felt sorry for him. She appreciated that he’d readily admit when he wasn’t good at something. He, unlike every other man she’d dated briefly in the last few years, never had a problem with the fact that she was a mechanic. He honestly admired her work and was proud of her. Another round of desire worked through her. “You have leftover parts, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” he sighed. “You can harass me about it all you want if you’ll just fix the damn thing.”
“Would it quit all of a sudden or did it die a slow death every time?”
“It’d make it a round pulling the bailer, then it’d just quit.”
“Sounds like it’s a fuel tank issue. May not be the engine itself at all.”
“See, this is yet another reason why I love you.”
He kept saying that. She knew it was true. She also knew that love wasn’t enough to keep them together forever. Nothing lasted forever.
“Well, what does it mean if it’s a slow-death thing?” Holly inquired. Indie recognized the intrigue in her eyes. Holly had been like that since she was a little girl. She loved learning things. Holly was only six when Indie and Luke had begun dating at fourteen. Back then she used to announce to e
veryone that she was going to be an astronaut that lived in space so her brothers would leave her alone, and she wouldn’t have to muck horse stalls. Now, Holly Camden was all grown up as well. Indie’s mind continued to spin over the years she’d missed.
She finally forced a grin. “Electrical problem. Fuel-pump is a much easier fix. I’ll look at it when we get the calf fed, and I’ll put the engine back together using all the parts.”
“You can look at it tomorrow. We have plans this afternoon,” Luke insisted.
Holly laughed at him outright. “I’ll just leave you two to your plans then.”
“Actually, tomorrow afternoon I have to go play good big sister at the mayor’s house and endure my little sister’s bridal shower.” She stuck her finger in her open mouth pretending to gag herself.
Chuckling, Luke handed the bottle back to Indie, and the calf took it readily. “Damn, a whole afternoon with your mama showing off, the mayor, and other girly shit you hate. I’ll have to come up with some way to spoil you up good when you get here tomorrow night after enduring all of that.”
“You better. If I make it through the whole damn afternoon without choking either my mama or one of my aunts, it’ll be a miracle.”
Luke grinned. “It ain’t like they don’t all deserve to go a few rounds, but I’m guessing Tuck and Melony would appreciate you keeping that fiery temper in check. You can bring it all over here afterwards tomorrow, and we’ll find some way to work all that heat out of ya.”
“I’m guessing you have several suggestions of how I might do that.” Indie couldn’t hide her delighted grin over his plans.
“Have no doubt, darlin’. I’ll always take care of my girl. Don’t matter what you need.”
Indie directed her attention to the calf who was attempting to stand.