by Em Petrova
Slowly, he dropped his hands to his sides and clenched them into fists to keep from reaching for her again. Taking a step back was harder than he expected, but he did it. “I’ll be by tomorrow.” His voice sounded rougher too.
“Sounds good.” Hers came out faint.
He headed to the front door and didn’t look to see if she’d followed him. If he glanced back at her, he might not leave. Best to go now, while he still had enough willpower.
Outside, he stifled a groan at what he’d just done—and would do again given the chance. Get home where you belong. Leave her alone. She’s too nice for the likes of you.
He paused on the porch to adjust his cock before he busted out the zipper of his jeans for the pretty, buttoned-up veterinarian who responded all too well to his madness.
* * * * *
Brennah used a rope to tether one of her llamas to the fence. The big girl knew what was coming and pranced a bit in place just to make things harder on Brennah when she looped a strap around her middle to keep her steady.
Shearing the llamas was a long job and by the end of the morning, her hands would ache from using the clippers. But the girls were all shaggy and in need of a thorough grooming.
As she clipped down its spine first, she soothed the animal with soft words. “What a good girl, Phoebe. You’re very plump. Look at all this fur.” She continued to clip for long minutes, taking the hair off in a large sheet, almost as if already crafted into a blanket.
Phoebe was one of her favorites of her small herd, though of course she didn’t let the other girls know it. She loved all her babies, but Phoebe had chosen Brennah instead of her choosing the llama. After that fateful day at the first auction Brennah ever attended, she figured she and this particular pet held a connection like an owner did to her dog, especially when the llama leaned into her hand when she petted her.
At least the task gave her something else to occupy her mind besides what happened the previous night. Sharing dinner with Dane Moon confused her more. She didn’t know how to explain what happened between them, or her very odd reaction to him.
While she could write a thesis on how female hormones worked, and how human mating paralleled facts to that of animals’, she could only say she kissed him back because she always wanted it. But she never expected him to touch her that way.
She issued a shivery sigh. The men of her past never dared to touch her in such a dominant fashion. When Dane laid a gentle hand across her throat, her first reaction had been a jolt of desire so hot and out of control, she felt far more frightened of her emotions than his touch. Even his hard grip in her hair and the way he tugged her head back to receive his kisses ignited her in all ways.
She always held a soft spot for the man. Why? Maybe because he’d walked his life with the shadow of his father’s sins, the same as she did her mother’s.
She lifted a gloved hand to her throat, still feeling the brush of his hand there. God, she wanted to feel him yank her hair and drive inside her at the same time. None of that was normal behavior for her, and the scientist in her needed to analyze the moment further.
When he touched her that way…she gave up some of her tightly leashed control. Could the answer be that easy? That Dane Moon stripped away the one thing she didn’t know how to relinquish, and she trusted him to keep her safe even though they hardly knew each other?
She ran her fingers up to her lips. When he’d skimmed his mouth across hers… Her skin broke out in goosebumps all over again, and her breasts felt full and heavy with want. Her nipples puckered in her sports bra. She dropped her hand from her lips and clipped faster to resist the urge to touch her aching nipples.
What I really want is Dane Moon’s hands on them.
“I don’t get it, Phoebe. I’m smart. I can control myself. So why didn’t I?”
The animal made a spitting noise, and Brennah nodded. “That’s what I should have done. Have you ever met a guy you just couldn’t figure out?”
The llama didn’t answer, and Brennah moved the clippers down her side, shearing off the thick fur. When one big section came free, she dropped it into a cardboard box.
“I mean, he’s nothing like any of the guys I’ve ever dated. He looks like he’s had his nose broken two or three times.”
Phoebe grumbled in response.
“Right? Who knows—it probably happened in a bar fight.”
She understood the boy who got into too much trouble because he had a terrible home life. Now she didn’t know much about Dane, except she still had a “thing” for him, and that extended beyond simple lust.
You can’t fix him, Brennah.
He said he hasn’t drank a drop since that day I found him in the barn. And I believe him.
You couldn’t fix Mom.
I don’t want to rescue him like a puppy and tend all his wounds. Besides, he doesn’t seem lost to me right now.
She sighed. Better to keep some distance until she figured the man out. If he really battled with addiction, he’d show the signs sooner or later. Even if she didn’t see his addiction with her own eyes, she’d hear everything from her gossipy employees.
Oh Lord, if Kylie and Mindi found out she shared dinner with Dane, they’d never let up ‘til she spilled every detail. She already knew they’d ask about his appearance. Was he as hot up close as he was from a distance? What about his tattoos?
“His tattoos,” she breathed out as the sexy lines imprinted on her brain once again.
An image of him onstage as a male dancer, those sexy abs bared, oiled and on full display brought a shudder from her. A tingle of heat ran straight to her private parts, and she struggled to pay attention to how close she was clipping Phoebe so she didn’t cut her skin.
She continued to move around the llama’s body, and her thoughts circled too.
By the time she finished with Phoebe and released her into the pen to graze, the day had fully dawned. She paused a moment to gaze over the land. Even at the sight of the blackened field, a smile of contentment settled on her lips, though deep inside, restlessness stirred.
“Who’s next?” she asked the llamas.
Five animals stared back at her, and she laughed.
“Come on.” Brennah lured another into the shearing area by using a slice of apple. She tethered her the same as the first and set to work.
As she started in on the llama she called Shama Llama Ding Dong, she hummed the song that went with the animal’s name. When she got to the second verse, a low creaking sound reached her.
She lifted her head, and Shama Llama craned her neck at the noise.
Brennah gave her a pat on the back. “I’ll just be a minute.” She drifted around the barn and spotted the team of two horses with an old-fashioned—and very rusty, by the sounds of it—plow hitched to the back.
Her stomach pitched at the view of the man driving the ancient contraption. He must have rustled that up from an even older neighbor. Then something else caught her eye.
“Dear God,” she whispered, that heat grabbing her insides and twisting.
He was shirtless.
* * * * *
When Dane offered to plow the field and replant, he hadn’t thought of those guys taking their tractor or how he’d afford seed. He’d spent half of breakfast racking his brain to find a solution. Then he walked out back of their barn and almost tripped over one possible answer.
The old set of metal discs were a century old, and they’d sat in the same spot since the time Dane could remember. Unearthing the machine from the high grass took some muscle, but he’d eventually hooked up one of the horses to help him pull the contraption out into the open so he could take a better look at the thing.
Rows of metal discs were hooked to a metal frame, and all seemed to be in working order, though a bit rusty. Rigging the pair of horses to drag it all the way from the Moon Ranch required a bit of ingenuity, but in the end, the animals were able to comfortably draw the heavy apparatus.
Zayden took one
look at him and laughed outright. “What the hell are ya doin’, Dane?”
“I told Brennah I’d plow her field.”
He cocked a brow. “I’ll bet you will.”
Dane shook off the dirty innuendo, because if he gave the woman more than a second of thought, he’d pop a boner. He didn’t need his brother putting more ideas into his already filthy mind.
Hell, in his dreams he’d undressed her ten ways to Sunday. Kissed every inch. Woken with a hard-on the size of a club, which he’d had to take in hand and stroke to even more scandalous thoughts of Stokes’ new veterinarian.
Jesus, what a glutton for punishment. He didn’t need a woman complicating things for him. He already had enough to bounce back from after Vegas.
He cocked a brow at Zayden. “Think it’ll work?”
Peering at the contraption, his brother nodded. “Worked for our ancestors. Wonder where the hell Dad even got the thing.”
“Probably stole it off someone, thinkin’ of valuable scrap metal.”
“Sounds about right.” Zayden grunted. “Look, Esme and I are spending the afternoon together. If I’m not back to feed the horses, would you mind doing it?”
“No problem.” He held back the smile that wanted to peek out. His brother was finally putting more responsibility into his hands. He couldn’t let him down, not this time.
“Thanks. I got the truck runnin’ again, if you need to go into town.”
“’Preciate it.”
“I also squared away things with the feed store and tack shop owners concerning you using my credit. If you see we need anything, feel free to pick up the supplies.”
He had a credit line available to him at the feed store. Did they sell grass seed?
“Well, I’ve got things to do. Before I pick up Esme, I plan to talk to the sheriff about the tractor.”
Any light at the end of Dane’s tunnel of doom vanished with his brother’s statement. The tractor. Shit. He needed to do some digging to find Big John—maybe even talk to Liz.
Zayden clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t disc up our field on your way to the doctor’s place.”
“I worked out how to keep that from happening.” He flipped a metal handle, and the whole frame lifted the discs off the ground.
As he started toward his truck, Zayden threw him a wave. Dane stepped onto the platform he’d rigged to drive the team, took up the reins and started off.
He hadn’t driven a hundred yards before the rattling noise had him grinding his teeth. By the time he reached Brennah’s place, he’d be too deaf to hear her moan for more of his kisses.
No more kisses. He’d behave this time around.
When have I ever behaved? I’m a Moon.
The day was already warm, and sweat trickled from under his hat and down his nape. It felt good to be home in Colorado. With the big sky and the mountain views, a man could breathe. In Vegas, he’d felt closed in, corralled like a wild animal.
Progress was slow and by the time he reached Brennah’s blackened field, sweat dotted his forehead.
At the boundary of their fields, he scoured the area to find the source of the fire. The outbreak had started close to the boundary, nearer to the Moon Ranch.
With a low groan, he climbed off the platform and attempted to lower the discs to the ground.
He shoved at the handle, but the thing didn’t budge. Great—the damn thing had rusted tight just on the way over. With more force, he pushed on it. After giving a fraction of an inch, the whole unit seemed to freeze up.
Kneeling on the ground, he looked under the thing in case something prevented it from moving. Not even a gnat flew under the thing.
With no roadblocks in sight, he positioned a boot on the handle and used his weight. The discs lowered a bit more, but not enough. So he jumped on the handle ‘til the metal plates touched earth.
Dang, now he’d really worked up a sweat. Reaching between his shoulder blades, he yanked the T-shirt overhead and then stuffed the corner of fabric into his back pocket to hang down his thigh.
“Here we go. Let’s roll,” he told the horses.
When he drove the team forward, the discs cut into the ground. He watched for ten feet…and twenty more, staring in shocked awe at the earth actually being tilled up behind them.
“Woohoooo!” His hoot echoed across the field.
He couldn’t wait until he could rub this in Zayden’s face. He just knew right this very minute his brother was relating the whole story to Esme, telling them his idea would never work. Well, Dane’s big brother wasn’t the only one with brains between his ears. Their old man always said Dane was the stupid kid of the bunch, but who was stupid now?
As he drove the team across the field, he reveled in the sharp tang of freshly turned earth and the sun on his face and shoulders. The moment Brennah’s house came in sight, his insides coiled. The woman watched him—and his gut reaction was to jump off the rig and go talk to her.
Maybe tease her a little, get her blushin’.
Then tilt her oval face up to his and get another taste of those sweet, honeyed lips.
She lifted a hand and waved.
Damn—he wanted to drive over there and test the feel of her in his arms again.
She did kiss me back.
He gripped the reins tighter. The kiss had been a mistake—one he didn’t plan to make again.
* * * * *
Brennah emptied the pitcher of sweet tea into her tallest thermos and screwed the cap on. Then she grabbed her lunch bag, loaded with an assortment of sandwiches. If Dane didn’t like turkey, there was ham. Or pickle loaf. Not many liked pickle loaf, though. She liked the flavors because her grandmother always made sandwiches for her when she came to visit, and Brennah’s fondest memories were wrapped up in the flavors. But Dane would probably laugh at her for even buying such a thing.
Who cared what kind of sandwich he preferred? She didn’t.
Setting off on foot with the lunch bag and thermos in hand, she squinted into the bright summery day. A look at the blue sky and brilliant green of leaves revealed summer in full swing.
Underfoot, the short, black stubs of grass were few and far between, mostly burned past the point of return. Dane’s idea to plant was a solid one. Otherwise, it might take months for anything to grow again.
When she reached the part of the field Dane already plowed, she picked her way more carefully along the uneven ground.
The cowboy surprised her by showing up with the team and old-fashioned plow to work the land. Odd, when pretty much every ranch required a tractor to do the heavy lifting. Perhaps his brother needed to use theirs, and if so she had to credit the cowboy, coming up with a way to keep his word, even if he used the most difficult and time-consuming method.
When she waved at him, he turned his head. Her breath rattled around in her lungs but didn’t provide all the oxygen she needed to keep staring at the man.
Tall, tanned and tattooed. The triple play caused her insides to melt again and memories of his hard lips moving over hers repeating in her mind.
His fingers tugging her strands of hair.
The angle of her throat and his big hand spanning her flesh in that exciting and wholly dangerous way.
Lean in.
Kiss.
Rewind.
Fingers tugging…
He stared her way. She shook herself and raised the items in her hands. No point calling out to him over the shriek of the rusty discs.
He drew the horses to a stop and jumped off the platform. As she approached, shyness overtook her, and she couldn’t quite meet his direct gaze.
“You’re doing a great job,” she said, watching the horses’ tails flick away the flies.
“Glad you’re pleased.” His low drawl brought her gaze to his.
“I brought lunch. But now I wonder if we should take the horses up to the creek and water them.” She pointed toward the creek that meandered through both their properties.
“Good idea
. I’ll unhitch ’em.”
He still didn’t wear a shirt, and as he worked, Brennah gawked at the ripple of muscles of shoulders, back and biceps. His body glistened in the sunshine too, and she had to blink several times to force herself to look away before he caught her.
With the horses freed of the plow, he moved to unharness the team.
She hurried forward. “Let me take one.”
He relinquished the reins to her, and she started across the field, leading the stocky workhorse. A moment later, Dane matched her steps. The quiet between them was starting to be a thing. Not an uncomfortable thing or something to cover up. But the atmosphere felt like a loaded weapon about to blow, and when it did… She could only imagine the explosion.
Maybe that happens when you hitch a man to your tractor and haul him out of your barn.
Or let him touch you that way.
Suddenly, a solution to him plowing the field hit her out of nowhere. She jerked her head around to look at him.
“What is it?” Under his hat brim, the shadow turned his eyes a darker brown, but she knew those eyes a little too well to forget the shade of amber they really were.
“It seems you need a tractor, and I have a tractor. You don’t need to use the team to plow the field. Just hitch the plow to the tractor and use it.”
He shook his head. “I couldn’t use up your gas.”
“Why not? It’s my field, and all I’m paying you is a pickle loaf sandwich.”
He cocked a brow. “What the hell is pickle loaf?”
His rough words sent a ripple of excitement through her. Yeah, she definitely reacted to the bad boy in Dane Moon. Nothing good could come of that, but she wouldn’t slip again and end up in his arms.
His very strong, capable and bulging-with-muscle arms.
She grinned. “Pickle loaf is… Well, you’ll just have to eat some and find out.”
He snorted. “Lookin’ forward to it.”
Twisting to throw him a glance, she said, “Maybe you’ll like it.”
“Ohhh, I’m sure I would.” When his voice took on that edge, her body broke out in goosebumps as if she was an animal responding to his mating call.
