The persistent deer visited her once more, promising to come to help her escape to her homeland. She grimaced and pushed the thought out of her mind.
The buzzing of a dragonfly awakened her sometime later, and she sat up and scanned the area. The sun was low on the horizon, and her stomach protested the lack of nourishment it had been given today. She had not eaten much for breakfast and had not thought to bring along any snacks when she made her escape. Glancing around, she did not see anything safe to forage.
“Have a good nap?”
Cassie jumped, her heart racing at the sound of the deep male voice.
Run!
“Sorry, darlin’. Didn’t mean to startle you.”
She turned around to see a bare-chested Lucas sitting on a nearby boulder with his forearms resting on his raised knees. How long had he been sitting there watching her sleep? How had she not heard him approach?
Rather than take advantage of her vulnerable predicament as some men would have done, he had merely watched over her.
“How long have you been sitting here?”
“Not nearly long enough.”
Uncertain what he meant, Cassie stood and brushed off the dust from the bedrock. Her heart continued to beat wildly. Her fight-or-flight response to Lucas should have lessened as her trust in him deepened. Perhaps it was not fear at all, but… No! Of course it was fear. For her, fear when near a man had become as natural as breathing.
The cool air between her bare legs reminded her that her panties were hanging for all the world—and Lucas—to see on a bush nearby.
“Turn around, please.”
Lucas grinned, his gaze flicking over the pink panties before he swiveled his body around to present her with his bare back. She quickly snatched the garment off the bush and stepped into them.
“You’d been gone nearly six hours when Pic and I came searching for you. I was worried when you didn’t come back by suppertime.”
“I just needed some time alone. I also did not want to intrude on your time with your parents either.”
“They wouldn’t have minded. They want to get to know you better.” He paused. “Why didn’t you bring your phone with you?”
“Would it have worked out here?”
“Probably not. I need to get you a satellite phone.”
“You do not need to buy me anything.” She donned her jeans. “Okay, you may turn around again.”
He removed his white Stetson and ran his hand through his hair before nailing her with his intense gaze again. His affable expression disappeared. “Damn it, Cassie, if I want you to have a sat phone, I’ll get you one. I’m your husband. It’s my place to protect you and see to your needs. When you didn’t come back to the house, I imagined all kinds of things might have happened, from snakebites to broken bones to a concussion from a fall.”
Cassie placed her hands on her hips. “Lucas Denton, you are not financially responsible for me. That was not part of our arrangement. I need to remain independent and pay my own way if I am going to stay here.”
His gaze scanned her from head to boots, making her uncomfortable. She folded her hands over her chest to conceal that part of her body from him, but short of hiding behind a boulder, most of her remained exposed to him. How could he make her feel naked even with all her clothes on? Her chin jutted out as she cocked her head. “I am capable of taking care of myself.”
“When’s the last time you ate?”
“Breakfast.” Her stomach growled loudly enough for him to hear. He smiled as he walked toward her reaching into what looked like a feedbag, its shoulder strap crossing his chest between his pecs. She flushed and glanced away, noticing Picasso grazing nearby for the first time. Lucas had commanded her complete attention until this moment.
He held out an apple and a banana. “Here. Eat these.”
Too hungry to be stubborn, she accepted them. “Thank you. I did not think to pack a lunch. I would have been home in a couple of hours.”
Lucas only smiled, which infuriated her for some reason. Why she let him upset her, she did not know. She did not like being treated like a child.
“Don’t make me tell you again. Eat.”
His domineering, paternalistic tone rankled, but she took a bite from the apple, letting its juice dribble unheeded down her chin. She’d be a sticky mess soon, but he had not brought any napkins. The apple tasted tart and delicious, so she took another bite and then another. Soon there was nothing left but the bare core, which she tossed aside.
Picasso protested loudly, and Lucas laughed. “Pic was waiting to eat that, you know.” Seeing him smile at her again did something strange to her stomach. The flip-flopping sensation caught her off guard. She really had been hungry. At least he was no longer upset with her.
Cassie cast her gaze to the ground and saw that the core had landed on the rocks so she picked it up, walked over to Picasso, and held it out on the flat of her hand. The horse soon gobbled down what was left of the apple, and Cassie peeled the banana. She glanced at Lucas moments later, indicating the peel.
“No, probably not a good idea. Besides, Pic just ate before we rode out here. He doesn’t need to be stealing your snacks.”
“He was not stealing. I did not want to eat the peel anyway. I just wanted to reward him for bringing them all the way out here to me.”
“Well, now, how do you plan to reward me? Pic wouldn’t have known to come here without me.”
“But he is an excellent tracker.”
Lucas nodded in concession. “Yeah, I guess that’s how we found you so fast. He made a beeline to you, probably following your exact trail.”
“Sorry I was being a little stubborn, but I do appreciate you for coming out here. I had fallen asleep by the stream and lost track of time, but I really was getting hungry.”
“You didn’t sleep all that long.”
She stepped back and scrutinized him. “How do you know how long I slept?”
“Uh, just a guess.”
Cassie remembered the sense of being watched following the vision with the deer. She narrowed her gaze. “Just how long have you been watching me?”
He grinned. “I’d say since last fall when I first saw you in the waiting room after Adam’s puma attack.”
His response was not what she had expected. While some men might give off a “creep” vibe saying something like that, she did not feel that with him at all. The man had saved her life and asked for nothing in return. Still, she wanted to make it clear this could never go anywhere other than friendship.
“You have been a good friend, Lucas. Better than any I could ask for outside Kitty. You risked your life and Picasso’s to go after me during the wildfire.” She shuddered. “I do not want to think about what might have happened by the time anyone else found me and my babies.” She stroked Picasso’s mane. “And they probably would not have had your specially-trained tracking horse either.”
Before she knew what she was going to do, Cassie closed the gap between them, licking the stickiness of the apple from her lips as she walked, and planted a kiss on his cheek. Realizing in horror how that might be misinterpreted, she put some space between them again and met his gaze. “Thank you for everything.”
“That’s what friends are for, darlin’.” Did she note disappointment in his eyes or voice? While he had agreed to companionship only, he probably wanted to be more than friends.
“Why don’t we head back to the house? Momma made some jalapeno cornbread and two pots of chili—I asked her to hold some out for you without the meat in it.”
She smiled. “Thanks for thinking of me, Lucas.”
He untied Picasso from the branch and hoisted himself onto the horse’s bare back. He held his hand out to her.
“Oh, I can walk.”
“I don’t want you stumbling over the weeds out here and getting hurt. It would be dark by the time you walked all the way back”
True. She eyed the place in front of him on the unsaddled horse and
then behind him. Deciding the back might be the safest place, having been in front of him before, she held up her arm and soon found herself seated behind him, her arms around his waist to keep from falling off. At pressure from Lucas’s knees, which she felt against her thighs as well, Picasso headed for the house.
Having her bottom against the horse’s bare back differed from her first ride in the saddle with Luke. When she had sat in front of him that day, her lady bits made constant contact with the saddle horn. This time, instead of grinding against that spot, her breasts were rubbing against Lucas’s bare back making her nipples hard.
Dear Goddess, do not let him feel them.
She pulled away to break contact, but at this dizzying height she quickly became unsteady and had to draw closer again to keep from falling off.
“Hang on, darlin’.”
“I am trying.” They rode in silence a while but all she could think about was her bunched nipples and now the stirrings in her lady bits that, though less blatant than on the last ride, were steadily increasing. She let go with her left hand long enough to wipe the sweat off her upper lip. She did not want him to think she was drooling down his back.
“I guess your parents have gone back to the hotel for the night.”
“Yep. Left after dinner. They had a long drive today.”
“Are you sure I am not putting them out? I think they would prefer to stay with you.”
“No, Momma was right, as always. My dad and I need our space from each other. I’ve always been a disappointment to him, I think.”
“How can you think that? Any father would be proud to call you his son.”
“Well, my dad’s just…different, I guess. I don’t think he approved of my decision to become an artist. Not the manly profession he expected me to pursue. That’s probably part of the reason I chose to do carpentry on the side. Woodworking was more acceptable to my dad than carving little critters into headboards.”
“You make incredibly beautiful furniture, Lucas. Do not belittle your art. Your bed is an absolute delight. Every time I look at it, I find some new creature hiding amongst the flowers.”
“Thanks, Sweet Pea. Coming from a world-class artist like you, that means a lot to me.”
“Oh, please. I am barely known outside of Denver and my small village in Peru.”
“Well, that makes you internationally known, doesn’t it?”
She chuckled. “Okay, then, I accept the lofty designation.”
After a moment, he continued in a more serious tone. “Listen, Cassie, I want to apologize for snapping at you this morning. I didn’t realize how stressed I was that my dad was actually coming along with Momma. Got the text before you awoke this morning and it just put me in a bad mood. But I had no right to take it out on you.”
She stroked his arm in an effort to relax him. “Thank you for your words of explanation. This morning I worried I had done something to upset you, so knowing it was something—or someone—else makes me feel better. Do not think of it any longer. I think your dad is going to get to know you better during this visit. Perhaps some fences will be mended, as you say.”
They rode on in silence, still only halfway back to the house. She must have been lost in thought on the walk to the stream, because she had no memory of most of the distance she had traversed.
Suddenly, Cassie became aware that the heat emanating from Lucas’s body had increased. Making certain she wouldn’t fall off but wanting to put some distance between them, she placed her hands on the sides of his hips instead of directly around his waist and on his skin. She sat up straighter, putting space between their torsos, too. Better.
She stared at the muscles in his tanned back. His arms told her he worked outside without a shirt often in the summer, but exposure to the sun in winter kept his tan uneven. The ripple of his muscles reminded her of this morning when she had caught him chopping wood without a shirt.
It was going to be a long, long summer.
“Dad seems to approve of my horse rescue work, though. He’s always liked horses.”
“Perhaps you will find common ground there. Something to build on for the future.”
“I hope so. Time will tell this week, I guess. They’ll be back in the morning. Dad’s going to help me train O’Keeffe to the saddle.”
Cassie hoped they didn’t break O’Keeffe’s spirit in the process. “I’m glad you refer to it as training and not breaking.”
“We’ll be as gentle as we can with her, but she has a future in SAR rescue work, and not everyone rides bareback like I sometimes do. I need her to take to the saddle if that’s what her SAR worker needs.”
“I understand.” In a way. Cassie didn’t plan to be there to watch, though. Maybe she’d borrow the truck and go to town for supplies. Could also visit Kitty and the babies for the day. The possibilities were endless.
“I’d like to have you there.”
She tensed. “Why?”
“Well, you’re a horse whisperer. You can help me know when I need to try something new or just back off.”
Oh, Lucas. Don’t ask me to watch that.
But O’Keeffe might need her. What if they hit a trigger or the horse was in pain or frightened and the men didn’t pick up on it?
She sighed. “All right, I will stay, but you have to promise me you will listen to me if I say stop.”
“I will if I hear the message. We’ll need to work out some kind of code word. Red for stop, yellow for slow down or pause, green for go.”
“Like a traffic light.”
“Yeah—among other things.”
She didn’t understand the chuckle that followed, but her mind was too focused on the dreaded breaking of O’Keeffe. Her heart hurt already at the thought.
“We’re planning an early start of it. About six. Then if it takes all day, we’ll have plenty of time.”
She nodded.
“Gotta speak up. I can’t see you from this position.”
“Yes. I will be there.”
Even if it kills me.
They arrived at the house soon after, and Picasso headed straight for the barn. Lucas helped her down and dismounted before leading the horse inside. The clicking of the alpacas lifted her spirits. Her babies must have sensed her presence.
“Mamá’s home!”
Her call was followed by much movement and bleating in their stall. She smiled, happy Lucas had put them in for the night before coming to search for her. All she wanted right now was to take care of them, visit a while, and then head to her bedroom where she could be alone.
Well, after sampling his mother’s chili and cornbread. She was famished, and the woman had gone to special lengths to make it for her.
Tomorrow was going to be a very long day.
“I told you I could break you, Casandra.”
Cassie’s heart pounded to a halt before beating wildly again. Sweat broke out on her upper lip. She didn’t want O’Keeffe to blame her for breaking her free, wild spirit.
Before she went into a full-blown panic attack, she needed to go to her babies. “I had better settle the girls for the night.”
She ran into the stall wishing tomorrow would never come.
* * *
Luke brushed Picasso while Cassie took care of her alpacas. What a roller-coaster day. Between his parents’ arrival and that mind-blowing horseback ride with Cassie, he was ready to hit the sack. Only thing holding him back from heading straight there—other than making sure Cassie had some supper—was that he knew the minute he closed his eyes, he’d see his Peruvian beauty naked, arms stretched up to the heavens, chanting who knows what to the gods. Or her goddess, more likely. Man, he’d about come in his jeans at the sight. Reminded him of the night he’d found her in her hot tub on her mountain.
Hot damn!
How was he supposed to view her from now on without seeing her high, firm breasts and wanting like hell to touch them? Squeeze them. Lick them. Hell, even nibble on them a bit!
; Aw, hell.
He needed to pull himself together—and maybe take a cold shower—before going into the house with her.
Cassie wanted friendship from him, nothing more. The minute he’d seen her in that stream—well, maybe the minute after that—he’d hightailed it away far enough for her not to sense his presence. And, well, to stop gawking at her in such a private moment.
When he’d checked on her again by the stream, wondering why she hadn’t headed home yet, she had been asleep on the rocks beside the water. Half-naked, although he hadn’t seen anything. He may have looked like a perv, but he couldn’t just let her lie there vulnerable to whatever animal came alone.
He’d watched her for more than an hour. Her face changed when she slept. Peaceful. No edge. Her mouth and jaw relaxed. He didn’t realize how tense she was all the time until then.
He wished he’d had a sketchpad, although he watched her long enough the images from today were seared into his brain. He’d put them on paper tonight when he went back to the workshop.
“All done.”
He glanced over Pic’s back to see her standing at the closed stall door. Thank God the horse hid his raging hard-on. He set down the brush on the ledge of the stall and patted Pic on the neck. “Let me go heat up your supper.”
“No need. I can find everything, I am sure. Thanks for the…ride, Lucas.”
Don’t even think about riding her, Denton.
“Night, darlin’. Get a good night’s rest. We have a lot of work ahead of us tomorrow.”
He liked the sound of that “we.” Having her with him tomorrow would make a huge difference.
He sure would miss her when she left.
Now he’d better try and catch some shuteye himself.
* * *
The alarm blared, and Luke reached out to slap it into silence. He lay there a few minutes, surprised he’d slept until five-thirty. Usually, he was up an hour earlier, but as he’d predicted, the night had been filled with horny thoughts of the girl sleeping in his bed.
Without me.
Just the thought of her lying there gave him a hard-on. Okay, maybe this one was just because it was morning. He tossed the blanket off and headed for the bathroom. By the time he relieved himself, he remembered what he needed to be doing and decided to skip the shower and dress quickly.
Nobody's Dream (Rescue Me Saga #6) Page 46