by Ciana Stone
Clint chuckled. “And less than tomorrow.”
“Without a doubt. Now get off me. I’m starting to feel a little squashed.”
“Such a romantic,” he said as he rolled over onto his back on the grass.
She chuckled and climbed on top of him. “I’ll give you flowers later.”
Clint grinned and pulled her down to meet his lips. That kiss led to another and within minutes he was inside her, taking her where no one else could. Lily abandoned herself to the sensations. Sex with Clint was the stuff of fantasy, but she knew it was not simply because he was so talented at making love, but because she loved him.
With her whole heart. And that would never change.
Chapter Five
They had just snuggled up on the couch and turned on the television when the phone rang. Clint groaned and started to sit, but since Lily was pretty much sprawled across him, she pushed him back down and crawled to the opposite end of the couch to lift the cordless from its cradle.
“Marsh Ranch.”
“You fucking cunt!”
Her ex-husband Eddie’s voice was so loud she had to pull the phone away from her ear.
“What are you doing calling here?” she demanded.
“You fucking goddamn cunt!”
“Yeah, you already said that, now what do you want?”
“I want you to get these fuckers off my ass, that’s what I want.”
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about you sending a goddamn lawyer looking for me, you bitch.”
“I’m divorcing you.” She cut a look at Clint, who was sitting up, glaring in her direction.
“Not until you get these fuckers off my ass.”
“What fuckers?”
“The goddamn loan shark and his fucking goons.”
Lily felt anger roll in her stomach. “You’ll sign those papers, Eddie.”
“Like hell I will. Not unless you come up with the cash to get this psycho shit off my ass.” He went into a rant about the loan shark getting tipped off to where he was by the lawyer she’d hired and how he was going to come find her and kick the living shit out of her if she didn’t pay off the debt.
Lily couldn’t sit, not with anger boiling into a full-blown case of rage, twisting her gut. She paced back and forth in front of the couch, one hand clenching and unclenching at her side.
“Lil?” Clint spoke.
She held up her hand, index finger extended for him to wait, then lowered her hand, punctuating her words by pointing at the coffee table. “That’s your debt, you sorry sack of shit!” she barked into the phone. “You’re the one who borrowed from a loan shark, putting up my home as collateral, leaving me with nothing. You listen to me, you little rat bastard, it’s your fault I lost everything.”
“Yeah, well you mighta had something if you hadn’t burned it to the ground, you stupid bitch.”
“Go to hell, Eddie. It’ll be a cold day in hell when I lift a finger to bail your ass outta anything.”
“Lily?” Clint’s voice came again.
She whirled around to look at him in the middle of yelling at Eddie. “You’ll sign those papers if you know what’s good for you. And don’t you ever call here again.”
“Fuckin’ cunt. I’ll get you.”
“Yeah? How that work out for you last time, Eddie? Sign the papers. And leave me alone!”
“Lily!” Clint yelled.
“What?” she yelled back.
He pointed at the coffee table. The morning newspaper was smoldering, smoke rising from it. As she watched, it burst into flames.
Clint jumped up, grabbed the paper and hauled it to the kitchen sink. She tossed the phone aside, following to stamp out bits of burning paper that fell to the tile floor.
Clint turned from running water over the paper, waving his hand at the smoke billowing from the sink. “What the hell was that?”
“My rat bastard husband.”
“No, that!” He gestured toward the sink.
Lily’s heart sank. Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times, her brain racing to try to come up with a way to explain and failing. Finally she blew out her breath and looked at him. “I—I’m a little pyrokinetic.”
“A little what?”
“A firestarter. I start fires.” She waited, holding her breath as he stared at her.
After what seemed an eternity, he shook his head. “You start fires?”
She nodded.
“How?”
“I don’t know. It’s only happened a few times, when I’ve gotten really mad.”
“And you didn’t think it was worth mentioning? Christ, Lil.” He turned and walked off.
She heard the back door slam and started at the sound. She knew she had to explain, but she wasn’t sure how. She hadn’t always been that way. In fact, it hadn’t started until after Clint left. And she hadn’t lied. It had only happened a few times. Well, a few times involuntarily.
She knew how to make it happen, but her dad had warned her that she was playing with something she didn’t understand and so she had stopped willingly making it happen.
Damn Eddie. If he hadn’t called she wouldn’t have gotten mad. That thought made her ashamed. He might have gotten her mad, but she couldn’t blame him for not being able to control her anger. Just like she couldn’t blame Clint for being mad that she hadn’t told him.
She went outside to find Clint standing at the edge of the porch, his hands jammed into the pockets of his cargo shorts. “Clint?”
He turned to look at her and she walked over to stand beside him. “I’m sorry. I should have told you. I just—I just didn’t know how.”
“Well, the cat’s outta the bag now, Lil.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“So how the hell do you do that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It just started happening one day. After you left.”
“How long after?”
“A couple of months?” She looked up to meet his eyes. “I guess I was a little upset. I couldn’t talk to anyone about what happened—couldn’t let my parents know what we did. I…I missed my period.
“I was scared to death. My parents would kill me if they found out. I told myself that it was nothing. I was just late. But then I missed another one.”
“You were pregnant?”
She looked down, nodded, and tried to stop the flood of emotion the memory brought with it. “I didn’t know what to do so I went to the free clinic and they told me I was definitely pregnant. A lady there talked to me and said I could always terminate the pregnancy.
“I got mad. So mad. No way in hell I was going to kill our baby. I yelled at her, and she put her hands on me, telling me she wasn’t saying I should, just that it was an option. But I couldn’t listen. All the fear was churning around inside me and it felt like I was on fire inside. My brain was burning and I couldn’t think.
“I swear to god, I didn’t mean for it to happen. I didn’t even know it was me. All I knew was that suddenly the place was on fire. It was like a nightmare. I didn’t know what to do so I ran. But it followed me—the fire—and wouldn’t stop.”
She fell silent, dreading to voice what came next. She felt his hands close around her upper arms.
“Lil?”
Lily looked up at him, seeing the concern on his face. “I don’t know what happened after that. I woke up in a hospital. My parents were there. They were so scared and upset, Clint. So hurt. I lost the baby. Miscarried. And they knew. Knew I’d lied to them, kept it from them.”
“And the fire?”
She shook her head. “No one knew it was me. And no one was killed. There was a lot of damage but everyone got out. It wasn’t until my dad got diagnosed with cancer and the barn caught on fire that I realized it was me that started the fire. I was hiding in the barn, mad at the world and throwing things, and a bale of hay in my line of fire suddenly burst into flames. I got the fire put out before anyone found out, an
d then purposely set it on fire again. When I did then I knew. Crazy as it was, I could start fires.”
She reached out to him, clutching his shirt. “I swear to god, I would never have intentionally harmed the baby. Never.”
He looked at her for a long time, then pulled her to him, enfolding her in his arms. “I know you wouldn’t,” he whispered and kissed the top of her head.
They stood there for a long time, neither of them speaking. Finally, Clint drew back. “So, tell me. Can you control this thing?”
“Yes. I can. I just have to be mindful of it. Tonight I—I wasn’t paying attention. But I can control it, I swear.”
“Are you sure, Lil?”
She nodded, raised one hand and snapped her fingers. A spark ignited, a tiny flare of light that winked in and out of existence in the blink of an eye.
Clint released her and stepped back to lean against the porch rail. “What your husband said, Lil. About your farm. Did you set it on fire?”
“Yes.”
“Shit,” Clint muttered. “Why?”
“Because I’d rather see it burned to the ground than let some sleazeball loan shark have it.”
“Did it ever occur to you that if you didn’t sign the loan, he might not have been able to take it? It was your place, wasn’t it?”
She shook her head. “I was stupid enough to put Eddie on the deed.”
“Well, what’s done is done,” Clint said and pushed away from the railing. “Just promise me one thing, okay? If you feel a—whatever you call it when you get mad like that—if you feel that coming on, please promise me you won’t set my ranch on fire.”
“I’d never do anything to hurt you or your home, Clint. You have to believe me. I—I love you. But if you can’t trust me, I understand. I’ll leave.”
She turned away, but he took hold of her arm to stop her. “You’re not leaving, Lil. Not now, not ever.”
“I’m not?”
He shook his head. “I let you go once. I’m not going to do that again.”
“What about Eddie? He’s mean as a snake when he wants to be. What if he—”
“Shhh.” He put his fingers to her lips. “He’s not going to hurt you, Lil. I promise. You’ve been hurt enough.”
Lily went into his arms. Finally, all of her dark secrets were in the open. He knew it all and had not turned his back on her. For the first time in a very long time, she believed she had a chance at real happiness.
* * * * *
It was her first time out in public with Clint. He and Cam took her out to dinner and then to a country-western club that had opened in Kissimmee. So far, she was having a blast.
It was quite the experience seeing all the female attention Clint and Cam drew. The women were on them like flies on shit. Not that Clint gave any of the other women the time of day. To her delight, his attention was all on her.
Cam, on the other hand, was as in demand as a water bucket at a fire brigade. The man no more than got rid of one before another was tugging him to the dance floor or trying to sit on his lap.
“Is it always like this?” she asked Clint.
He shrugged. “Sometimes it’s not so slow.”
She laughed and watched Cam be pulled along behind a shapely brunette. She could see why the women were so crazy about him. Not only was he drop-dead gorgeous, with a killer body, but Cam was fun. He liked to dance and laugh and was what you might call a “good time” guy.
Lily had a feeling that Clint was too. There’d been quite a number of disappointed ladies when he declined their invitations to dance or let them buy him drinks. Lily didn’t even mind all of the nasty looks she’d gotten from the ladies. She was proud to be with Clint.
She leaned over and kissed him. He didn’t seem to mind the public display of affection and not only returned the kiss, but transformed it from a chaste act to one that had her blood pumping fast and hard.
Lily was just thinking that if she didn’t stop she was going to have to drag him out to the truck, when a shrill voice came from directly behind her. “Oh hell no!”
She didn’t have time to turn before someone grabbed her hair on the back of her head and yanked as if they were trying to snatch her head off her shoulders.
Lily saw Clint getting to his feet, his eyes on something behind her as she was dragged back. She reached up, grabbed the hand fisting her hair, and pressed with both thumbs as hard as she could into the soft flesh of the inner wrist.
A yelp accompanied the sudden release of her hair and she whirled to face her attacker. A tall, willowy blonde in skintight designer jeans, a crop top that looked painted on and breasts way too round to be real, stared across Lily’s head at Clint.
“You fucking cheat!” the woman screamed.
“Buffy, I told you—”
“Buffy? Seriously?” Lily cut a look over her shoulder at Clint then back at the woman. “Buffy.”
“Yes, Buffy!” the blonde said in an imperious tone. “The girlfriend. So, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll walk the fuck away, bitch.”
“Or?” Lily was trying not to get angry, but the woman was making it damn difficult.
Buffy screamed and made a swipe at Lily, fingers armed with inch-long nails spread wide.
Lily wasn’t keen on fighting, but she had never backed down from a fight, and this was no exception. When Buffy came at her, she ducked to one side, balled up her fist and drove it up, connecting solidly with the underside of Buffy’s chin.
Flailing wildly, Buffy lurched back and fell into a rather large woman at the next table. The woman shoved Buffy, and another woman, obviously friend to Buffy, slapped the woman.
And it was on. Buffy came at Lily again, this time both hands outstretched. Lily let her come, ducked down and as Buffy’s momentum brought her in close, bolted up. Her shoulder caught Buffy at the waist, bending her forward. Lily continued upward, sending Buffy flying over her back.
She pivoted on her heel just in time to see Clint catch Buffy. Upside down. Lily burst out laughing. She couldn’t help it. It was hilarious. Clint had Buffy around the waist, trying to dodge her kicking legs while her hands beat at the air.
Meanwhile, behind Lily, Buffy’s friend and the big woman were going at it, with more people joining in the fray. It promised to be one hell of a fight. Clint got Buffy righted, grabbed Lily’s hand and started plowing his way through the crowd toward the door with Buffy screaming behind them about him being a cheating shit.
Once they were outside, Lily looked up at him. “That’s your girlfriend?”
“I dated her a few times.”
“She seems to think it was more.”
Clint blew out his breath. “Look, like I said, we dated a few times, then she left to go somewhere in the Caribbean with friends and this is the first time I’ve seen or talked to her since.”
Lily didn’t think he was telling a lie, but she needed to be one hundred percent sure. “Clint, if you—”
“I don’t,” he interrupted. “Lil, she’s just some gal I hooked up with a few times. She means nothing, don’t you know that by now? I love you, Lil.”
“Me too. Let’s go home,” she replied and took his hand. “Then you can show me.”
“Now you’re talkin’ my kinda evening.”
She laughed and started for the truck, then remembered. “Wait! What about Cam?”
Clint stopped walking, turned and looked at the club with a sigh. “Shit. Okay. I’ll go get him. No, wait—” He pulled out his cell phone.
“Cam?” he yelled when a blare of noise came over the phone. “We’re leaving…What? What? Okay, later.”
He looked at Lily. “He’ll catch a ride home. Come on, I suddenly feel like a swim.”
Lily’s pulse spiked. She knew what Clint’s idea of a night swim was and it was for sure there would be nothing cool about it. She grinned and hurried alongside him to the truck.
Chapter Six
It had been two weeks since the call from Eddie and in
that time there’d been no more fires. At least not the kind that burned down houses. Lily felt as if she was on fire more than half the time. Just looking at Clint was enough to ignite flames of lust.
She smiled to herself as she finished filling the last of the water troughs. Clint and Cam were rounding up the stock in preparation for the sale tomorrow. With luck, they’d show a good profit.
Lily headed into the stable to take a look at the stalls. She’d planned on cleaning them in the morning, but wanted to check on Skiddles, a mottled mare in foal. She was about to pop and feeling a little puckish. It seemed to ease her when Lily brushed and talked to her.
She had just reached the door to the tack room when she got a shock. Eddie stepped through the door.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded.
“I need money.”
Lily laughed. “Well, you’re barking up the wrong tree. In case you’ve forgotten, thanks to you I don’t have any.”
“Lily, that fucker sent his goons after me. If I don’t come up with something there’s no telling what they’ll do to me.”
“Not my problem,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“You’re such a fucking bitch. You’re my goddamn wife and you don’t care if those fuckers beat the shit outta me, break my legs?”
“Nope, don’t give one fat hoot.”
Eddie stormed over to her. “Well you better start giving a hoot, you cunt. You’re gonna get me that money. Or else.”
“Or else what?” Cam’s voice came from the door to the stable.
Lily saw Eddie’s eyes widen. She hurried over beside Cam. Cam took a step in front of her and addressed Eddie. “Get off my property.”
“I’m here to get my wife.”
“Don’t think so,” Cam disagreed. “Lily’s not going anywhere with you.”
“You got no right to keep a man’s wife from him.”
“I do.” Clint stepped from the tack room.
Lily watched Eddie jerk around toward Clint. Clint must have entered from the outside door to the tack room, she realized. That put Eddie in a pickle. His head was bonging from Cam to Clint like someone watching a tennis match.