Wild Heart (The Wild Heart Series)

by Culbreth, Jennifer

  As her mind slowly stopped spinning, Ani pulled her truck out and headed towards the home goods store down the road. She could only hope that it would be free of both cops and bikers.

  knox

  Bloody hell. Knox ran his hand through his long hair as he sat against the seat of his bike. Never in his life had a woman stolen the breath from out of his lungs, but this beautiful creature had done just that. He tried to fight the feeling developing in his chest, the feeling that it would explode if he didn’t go into the hardware store and learn more about her right now.

  “Knox, we’re good, brother,” Rage said as he left the package store. “He wants us to do a run next week.”

  “Aye. Next week,” Knox answered in a daze.

  “Brother, you alright?” Repo called out next to him.

  “Aye, I’m fine.” He glanced over to Repo, who eyed him suspiciously, before glancing over to the hardware store.

  He cranked the engine, absorbing the vibrations as they flowed through his body. The connection between himself and his bike pulled him from his thoughts. He glanced back up and watched her walk to her truck, hopping in hastily before chancing another look down at them. He wasn’t sure why his head was fucking with him, but he needed to snap out of this shite. He had a day full of business to attend to and he needed his head in the game, not on a sexy pair of legs. But with each corner he leaned into, he couldn’t stop the images of her floating back into his mind; she was his Lianhan Shee, and he knew he’d eventually succumb to his temptress.

  Chapter Three

  Mud and mischief

  “So are you going to take me for a ride in your truck tonight?” Cash asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his paint covered hand.

  “See, I knew you couldn’t come help just to help. You always have a hidden agenda.” Ani cut her eyes over at him as she finished painting the white x’s on the barn doors.

  “Hidden agenda? I just figured that since we have been working for three days getting this place fixed up, that you could treat yourself to some fun. Come on, when’s the last time you went out and just had fun?” Cash questioned.

  “I have fun all the time, Cash. I am a blast to be around,” she said sarcastically.

  “No you’re not. Not anymore. You’re a stick in the mud now.” Cash stood and wiped the hay from the back of his pants before offering his hand to help Ani up off the ground.

  “I am not!” she protested. To be honest though, she was a bit of a stick in the mud. She hadn’t been out in years.

  “Prove it to me.” He bumped his hip into hers as they walked back towards where Stevie was cutting the grass in the front.

  “You’re impossible, Cash.”

  As they made their way around the side of the house Stevie came flying up on the lawn mower, stopping it in front of the shed right before crashing into it. She smiled at the stupid grin on his face as he stepped off and headed over toward them.

  “That thing drives like a race car!” Stevie shouted, removing his earmuffs, “So did she say yes?” He looked over at Cash in expectation of a yes.

  “Nope, she’s being difficult. Why don’t you love on her a bit, Stevie?” Cash grinned as Stevie came toward her covered in dirt and oil.

  “Hell no! Get away from me, Stevie!” Ani shouted, taking off running in the opposite direction.

  “Ani, it’s either we cuddle or you come with us to The Hill tonight.” A boyish grin spread across Stevie’s face.

  “The Hill? Really? You’re still going out to that old mud hole?” Ani rolled her eyes.

  It had been the popular hangout of all the high school kids back in the day. They would all wait until a good rain passed through and then take their trucks out to see who could get stuck first. There had never been a shortage of mud, beer, and girls in skimpy outfits; and Mr. Baxley would always bring the tractor to pull out those who did get stuck.

  “Come on, Ani. Please,” Stevie’s brown eyes pouted as he begged.

  “It hasn’t rained in days,” she said, trying to keep from looking up at the clouds now forming across the sky. She had been able to feel it rolling in all day, but she wouldn’t admit that to them.

  “It’s gonna rain in about twenty minutes and you know it. You mean to tell me a few years in New York and all of a sudden you have lost your connection to nature?” Stevie’s eyes cut sideways at her.

  “Damn it. Fine! I’m gonna go take a shower and I’ll see you in a few hours. If you’re not here by eight I’m going to go to bed.” Ani marched back toward the house. There was no way she would let them see the excitement in her eyes.

  “Yeah! That’s the spirit!” Stevie shouted as the men walked back to Cash’s truck.

  Ani made her way into the lower living room. Her dad was lying on the couch snoring as Storage Wars hummed out from the TV speakers. She knew he hadn’t been sleeping well so she left him and quietly walked toward the stairs leading upstairs. As she made her way into her bathroom, she realized just how disheveled and dirty she really was. For the past three days Cash, Stevie, and she had been working on getting the chores around the house and barn finished. They had been able to get more than she’d expected done and, aside from popular belief, she was actually looking forward to going tonight. She hadn’t seen any of her friends from high school since she had left for New York and with Stevie going, she wasn’t as worried about being with Cash alone.

  After showering, she slipped into a pair of cut-off jean shorts, a tight fitting white tank, and a loose long sleeved pink shirt. It was much warmer here at night than in New York, but she didn’t want to be stuck out in the woods cold. She dusted her face with powder, fixed her mascara, and topped it off with her favorite coral lip gloss. A light layer of hair spray and she was ready. She slid on her boots and made her way out to the kitchen just as Cash and Stevie came in the door.

  “Hot damn, woman!” Stevie said, coming over to her and hugging her tight.

  “Stevie, I have a knife in my boot and I will use it,” she joked.

  “That’s even sexier.” He beamed at her playfully.

  “You boys want some food before y’all head out?” her dad asked as he came up the stairs to the kitchen. “I can fix you something.”

  “No sir, Mr. Forrest. We had a sandwich before we left the house,” Cash replied as he strolled over toward Ani. “I appreciate the offer, though.”

  His eyes were hungry, but not for food. She could feel him consuming her as he crossed the floor to her, it made her stomach twist and stole the breath from her throat. He looked handsome in his black shirt and camouflage pants. There wasn’t much that was sexier to her, than a man who looked like a man. And Cash was the very essence of that; from his boots up to his dark hair. He wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and Ani was toying with the idea of what it would be like to have those hands against her body once more. One thing they had always had in their relationship was passion. It was a fire that even after years had obviously not burnt out.

  She eyed him playfully as he closed the remaining distance between them. She could now feel the wall she’d put up, slowly coming down in his presence. Where once she’d felt anger toward him, she was beginning to feel excitement; excitement of what was to come.

  “You look as beautiful as ever, princess,” his smile reached his eyes as his strong hands grabbed her hips.

  Princess. An endearment she’d never get tired of hearing.

  “Thanks, Cash. You don’t look too bad yourself.” She eyed him once more as the flames flowed from her stomach and down lower.

  “You ready to go? I wanna see what that truck of yours has to offer.” His thumb brushed across the bare skin of her hip, lingering before he turned to the door.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said quietly to herself.

  “Well, you kids have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Ani’s father said, hugging her goodbye.

  “Let’s be honest, Mr. Forrest, you and I both know you had
some wild days back in the military. You’ve told me the stories,” Stevie joked as he bounded across the kitchen toward the door.

  “Yeah. That’s true. I won’t wait up,” Mr. Forrest chuckled as Stevie ran out the door.

  How the hell Stevie had so much energy was beside her. He hadn’t changed a bit since high school. Still the same energetic class clown with floppy strawberry blonde hair. He hadn’t gained any weight or lost any either; still just a scrawny southern boy. But Stevie had been there for her after she and Cash had broken up; and for the first year after she had left, he had been the only one that had kept in touch aside from her family. Over the years, she and Stevie had grown apart like she had with everyone else. But she knew she could always trust him.

  “It’s like high school all over again!” Stevie said, jumping into the back seat of Ani’s Toyota and drumming on her headrest with his hands.

  “Is he going to be this hyper all night?” Ani laughed, glancing over at Cash who hadn’t taken his eyes off her.

  “He hasn’t changed a bit,” Cash smiled.

  As they pulled out onto the main road, Ani made her way down toward the corner store, stopping for the guys to grab a handful of snacks and a few too many cases of beer. After loading the truck with enough stuff for a weekend trip, they headed toward The Hill. Even though she hadn’t driven out to the mud hole in years, she still knew exactly how to get there. She took a left onto a dark dirt road, covered by the canopy of the trees that still dripped from the heavy downpour earlier. She hit every puddle in the road, throwing Stevie back and forth in the back seat. I told you to put on your seat belt.

  As they neared the end of the dirt road, she took a small cut-off to the right and followed it until the trees opened into a field. Large dirt hills still sat in the back corner of the property, worn from the constant pounding of the ATV’s that drove over them. Toward the far left corner, she could see the orange and red glow of the bonfire coming from between the trucks that circled around it. As she rolled down the windows, the faint sound of Hank Williams Jr. came floating into the truck, growing louder as she drove closer to the bonfire. Yep, I’m officially back in the country.

  She hadn’t seen any of these people in years and the butterflies were beginning to flutter in her stomach. She wasn’t sure why she was so nervous, but if Cash and Stevie hadn’t been in the truck, she would have happily turned around and headed back home. The dark figures standing around the fire turned and she could feel them staring at her large SUV as she pulled up to one of the empty spots.

  “Who’s that, babe?” She heard a girl ask from the tailgate of a truck.

  She let out a deep breath and looked over at Cash who was smiling proudly.

  “No need to be nervous. It’s just like old times,” he smiled as Stevie hopped from the truck, hooting and hollering at the guys gathered around the fire.

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about,” she smiled back at him weakly, hopping out of the truck and making her way over to Cash. She followed him to the fire as a few blank stares landed on her.

  “Holy shit! Ani?” a shrill voice came from the back of one of the trucks.

  She squinted over the fire to see a flash of blonde hair running her way. Trisha Stephens came running up and flung her arms around Ani’s neck, almost knocking her over. Trisha had been one of Ani’s closest friends growing up. They had played softball together and would ride their horses through the trails almost every weekend. However, high school drama had forced a wedge between them their senior year, but that obviously didn’t matter now.

  “Guys, you all remember Ani, right?” Trisha yelled to the group of smiling faces.

  Ani scanned the crowd looking for one face in particular, frowning when she didn’t see the hazel eyes she’d secretly been hoping to find tonight. Ani could admit that she had been a horrible friend, the one person she should have said goodbye to before she left was Kate. Being selfish and in a hurry to leave she hadn’t and every attempt she’d made to call after that was met by a voicemail. Eventually, Ani stopped trying.

  “Is Kate coming out tonight?” Ani asked Trisha.

  “I don’t think so. I think she’s opening at the bank tomorrow,” Trisha giggled, hugging Ani again, “It’s just so good to see you!”

  “Thanks, it’s good to see you too, Trisha.” Ani followed her back over to the tailgate where a few other girls sat.

  “Ani, this is Shelby, Sarah, Linsey and Yadi. She’s our transplant from California.” Ani shook their hands as Trisha introduced them. “Ladies, this is Ani. We go way back.”

  “Hi,” Ani smiled. She vaguely remembered some of these girls from high school, but hadn’t really been friends with any of them.

  “I see you’re with Cash,” Shelby hopped down, bumping into her hip playfully before leaning into the cooler for a beer. “You want a beer?” she asked, smiling up at Ani.

  “Sure. Unless you have something stronger,” Ani laughed.

  “As a matter of fact.” Shelby stood, handing Ani a beer before she made her way to the cab of the truck.

  “Oh, Lord. Here she goes,” Yadi laughed, taking a swig of her drink.

  “What you doing, Babe?” A large bald man asked from the front of the lifted Ford F-250.

  “None of your damn business, Johnathon!” Shelby yelled. Ani glanced over at the large man worrying he would start a fight, only to see a large grin on his chubby face.

  Shelby made her way back over to Ani and handed her a clear mason jar.

  Shit.

  “It’s apple pie. Just made this batch the other day.” Shelby smiled, “I’ll take a shot of it with you if you want. It’s really smooth.”

  “Ok, but someone’s gonna have to hold my hair later if I get sick,” Ani protested.

  “I’ll take care of that.” Cash came up behind her. His warm hands slid under the edge of her shirt, causing desire to shoot through her body in every direction.

  Oh yeah. I am gonna be naked within the hour.

  She pushed the thought out of her mind and twisted the lid off the jar, letting the warm spicy liquid roll down her throat. She could taste the sweetness of apple and the burn of cinnamon as she swallowed down a mouthful.

  “Damn girl! You need to party with us more often! Fearless.” Shelby beamed, taking the jar from Ani and downing a large sip as well.

  “That is the best moonshine I’ve ever drank, Shelby,” Ani said, wiping the remaining liquid from her mouth.

  “I’m a ninth generation moonshiner,” Shelby smiled proudly, passing it to the next girl in line.

  “You wanna go take that truck of yours in the mud yet?” Cash whispered in her ear.

  “I don’t know, what do you say girls?” Ani cut her eyes back at Cash. Two can play this game, smartass. “You want to go play in the mud? I didn’t have many chances to get her stuck up in New York. This will be her maiden voyage.”

  Shelby didn’t answer, but bounded off the tailgate and jumped up into the passenger seat of Ani’s truck smiling. Yadi and Linsey smiled at each other before nodding yes and following both Ani and Trisha to the truck.

  “I love your truck, Ani!” Trisha said excitedly as she climbed across the back seat.

  “Thank you,” Ani said, cranking the ignition. The truck came to life with a purr as Cash came up to her window.

  “Not what I had in mind, but I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.” He stepped up onto the roll bar, leaning into her window and kissing her on the cheek. Yep, panties just melted off.

  Giggles floated from the back of the truck as she put it in reverse and pulled out toward the mud hole. She could see the large mud pit and with today’s rain, she wasn’t sure how deep it was. It was about two hundred yards long and nothing but a mix of red clay and black mud.

  “Ok girls, is it deep?” Ani asked. She could feel the moonshine beginning to warm her stomach, giving her just enough courage to not care either way.

  “Nah, it’s not that bad,” Shelby chimed f
rom the passenger seat.

  “Everyone buckled?” Ani looked in the rear view mirror.

  “Aye, aye, Captain!” Linsey gave a thumbs up from the back seat.

  “Hold on to your asses,” Ani said, stomping down on the gas pedal and launching the SUV directly into the large puddle of mud. She could just make out the hoots and hollers of those watching from the bonfire as the engine roared to life. Shrills and squeals came from the back seat as mud slung out in every direction. Some making it into the windows of the truck, sprinkling down on them all.

  “Hell yeah!” Shelby yelled from the passenger seat.

  As Ani made it through the mud hole and to the other side, she pressed the gas once more, slinging the truck completely around in the other direction. They took off one more time through the mud and pulled back up to the campfire. Laughter erupted from the truck as the girls all jumped out. Ani was beaming as she hopped out and brushed the dirt from her shirt. She grabbed her beer off the hood of the next truck over as Cash came up and ran his hands along her arms.

  “You still got it,” he said as he smiled down at her.

  “I know.” Before she could realize what she was doing, her arms were wrapping up around his neck. Quickly she pulled them back down and turned to walk back to the fire.

  “Ani?” She could hear Cash’s voice calling out for her, but she needed to walk away from it. Not ready for this.

  “Where’d that moonshine go?” Ani asked as she came back up to Trisha and Shelby.

  “Right here, little lady,” Shelby smiled, holding it up.

  Ani took the jar and another large swig from it. Over the next two hours she drank, drank more, and drank some more after that; avoiding Cash at all costs. She knew she couldn’t go there, she knew that even if she got close to him she would cave. They’d had an amazing relationship when they were younger. He had been more than her boyfriend, but one of her best friends too, which had made their break-up that much harder. She felt betrayed at the way he had handled the whole conversation that afternoon in his truck. He had always taken up for her and supported her decisions before. So she’d never been able to wrap her head around why he hadn’t supported her decision to go to school outside of Tennessee.