by Em Petrova
And, he realized with a powerful punch to the gut, that Brennah hadn’t mentioned Seattle once. Did that mean she would be staying in Stokes, on her ranch, near him?
His throat closed off. For a moment, he couldn’t speak. Brennah waited for his response, and Walker watched him from under the brim of his three-hundred-dollar hat.
“That’d be an honor. Brennah’s horse is one of the finest I’ve seen.”
She practically vibrated with happiness, and he could only think about finding the closest place to be alone with her.
“Then it’s done. I’ll write you a check for the stallion today and be in touch concerning its care as well as the arrangements for future.” Walker offered Brennah his hand, and she returned his firm handshake. Then he gripped Dane’s hand, sealing the deal.
As soon as the man walked away, Brennah turned to Dane and threw herself against his chest.
“Does this mean you’re not going to Seattle?”
A soft cry left her throat. “No! I have what I want and need right here, and I can’t believe how my life has changed these past few months. I have so much, Dane. I have you and your family’s help and support. You can’t know how much those mean to me.”
He gave a gruff nod. “I think I do. I feel the same way.”
She curled her hand against his jaw. “Let’s watch the auction and then see if my pigs win any ribbons. Then I want you to take me home.” The glittering in her eyes told him she wanted much more than to go home.
Heat flamed inside him, urging him to find that place to be alone right now.
“C’mon. I told Charlie that we’ll sit with him and Mindi.” She took his hand and tugged.
He had no choice but to follow. But I’d follow this woman anywhere.
* * * * *
A lazy Saturday afternoon didn’t come around very often, but after all the work surrounding the fair and a morning of seeing patients at the clinic, Brennah would take it. She closed her eyes to let the sun warm her face, her head on the pillow of Dane’s arm.
Dane brushed his lips over her head, and she gave a happy hum in response. In the field where they lay, birds chirped and bees flitted between the wildflowers her horses hadn’t yet gobbled up.
“Brennah?” His low drawl ignited her.
“Yes?”
“What made you say no to Seattle?”
She stirred and flipped onto her side to look at him. “No offer is amazing enough to make me leave this.” For the first time in her life, she felt rooted to something besides veterinary science.
He skimmed his lips over hers, a soft caress that drew so much desire from her. She closed her hand over his shoulder and leaned into the kiss. When they pulled away, they were both panting.
“I have to tell you something too,” he said.
Oh boy. She chewed her lip. “I’m listening.”
“I got in touch with the debtor. I’ve made several payments to him already, and I should have the money paid back in a few months.”
Until the relief hit her, she didn’t realize how edgy the idea of someone hunting Dane down to get money from him made her feel. She dropped her head to his chest and issued a sigh. “Thank goodness he was reasonable.”
Dane smoothed a hand down her spine, working a path to her backside. When he cupped her cheek in one broad palm, she wiggled against him, seeking more.
“My only regret about you being out of the Vegas life is I never got to see you dance.”
He arched a brow. “That so?”
She nodded.
“Well…I can remedy that.” The slow smile cut across his rugged features, making her stomach do flips. He sat up and knelt before her. Knees splayed wide like a rock star lead guitarist, he caught her gaze. Heart pounding, she moved into a better position to watch what he would do next.
He dragged his hand over his abs, up his chest, pulling his shirt up with it. The glimpse of his carved abs got her engine purring, and she centered all her attention on this private striptease.
Slowly, he pushed up to his knees, jutting his hips outward. The bulge behind his fly made her wet her lips, and he groaned.
Then he swayed his hips side to side while drawing his shirt overhead. He whipped the cloth around and released it into the grass. She made a grab for it, brought the shirt to her nose and inhaled his musky scent.
Eyes burning down at her, he rocked his hips back and forth while flexing his chest muscles and arms in a way that would earn him a good chunk of cold, hard cash. From her, he could expect as much pleasure as he could handle.
Each move he made seemed to be to some internal music, but she could almost hear the notes as she watched. He made a grinding motion with his torso, showcasing the ripples on his abs and small, tight muscles in his chest she never noticed before now.
Suddenly, he braced his hands around her body and leaned over her. The animalistic desire on his face brought a moan from her lips. He did a pushup over her, slow and dirty. Then he shoved away and went for his belt buckle. As he tugged it open, veins snaked down his forearms and hands.
Breathless, she looked on while he unbuttoned his fly with the flick of a wrist and unzipped with a maddening slowness.
She reached for him.
He shook his finger like she was a naughty child. “You look but don’t touch.”
A noise of frustration escaped her, but she couldn’t stay upset for more than a split second, because he reached a hand into his jeans and pulled out his cock.
“Oh my God.” Somehow, seeing him move this way made the length even more impressive and mouthwatering. She had never been one to perv on men in movies or magazines, but she had no immunity to Dane.
With more hot-as-hell moves, he shoved his jeans down his body. This time he lowered himself over her in a pushup, she took control by grasping his cock. Growling, he dropped the mask of the role and captured her lips. When he tangled his tongue with hers and began stripping her right there in the field, she lost herself to another kind of music—this tune in her soul and her heart kept the beat.
The moment he slid a condom in place and her thighs wrapped around him, she cupped his angular jaw and stared into his eyes. “I love you.”
“Love you, Brennah. So damn much.” He took her mouth again as he sank into her body. Her wet folds enveloped his length, and they began to move. Each pump of his hips gained a gasp from her. He moved faster, faster…
Bliss overtook her. When he reached between their bodies and swirled his thumb over her clit, the heavens broke open and she came.
“God… So beautiful.” His words came out rough and untamed. She clung to him through the waves of ecstasy splashing over her and just when she felt him tense, his roar sounded.
As he collapsed atop her, she couldn’t hold back the giggles bubbling up.
He leaned away. “What’s funny?” he rasped, eyes still dilated.
She bit back a snort. “The horses in the field took off running when you…when you…”
“That’ll teach ’em for eavesdropping. Next time they can go to the other side of the field.” His grin reminded her of the old mischievous kid he’d been in high school but who was now the amazing and strong man she loved.
Right now, in this moment, she had everything she could ever want.
* * * * *
“Dane!” Brennah’s shriek hooked him in the gut and turned his bowels to water. He spun from the stove and the skillet where he had bacon frying. He switched off the flame and ran toward the sound of her scream.
She exploded in through the front door, eyes wild. “My horses! My horses are gone.”
“What?”
“They’re not in the barn. I just checked. We didn’t leave them out, Dane. Even the stallion’s gone! What’s going on?” She shoved a piece of hair out of her eye.
His stomach balled and then pitched as if to expel the coffee he’d just sipped while fixing breakfast. Though he wore only jeans and was barefoot, but he ran out the front door, leaped off
the porch steps and ran around the side of the barn. Sure enough, there weren’t any horses in the barn, pen or in the field beyond.
“Dane, what happened?” Brennah stood at his elbow, panting after her sprint outside.
“I don’t know.” But his voice came out flat, because he did know. The same people who’d driven up to the Moon Ranch and taken the tractor must have made away in the night with Brennah’s horses. Goddammit—he could kick his own ass for not hearing a thing and sleeping like the dead with Brennah in his arms.
“Oh God…I don’t know what to do.” She bent forward, breathing hard.
“You’re going to hyperventilate. Sit down. Here.” He sat her on a hay bale. “Put your head between your knees. I’m going to look around.”
She ducked her head forward, and he took off again. It’d been a dry summer so far, and there weren’t any footprints in the mud around the barn. After a thorough search, he ran back to the house and put on his boots with no socks so he could run down the driveway. Though unlikely that someone had driven in without them waking, he still wanted to take a look around for tire tracks. Dammit, why hadn’t Brennah fostered a good watch dog?
Nothing looked out of place. It seemed as though the horses had just vanished, but that couldn’t be the case.
He yanked out his cellphone. Though early in the morning, he had to hope somebody would answer his call.
“This is John.” The man’s sleepy tone spoke of long nights supplying other gamblers the funds they needed at the craps table to continue losing.
“It’s Dane Moon.”
“What the fuck, Moon? It’s barely light out.”
“I know. But I have to ask you something. Did you send your guys out here to take our horses?”
“What the hell do you think I am, Moon? I don’t even know where Stokes is and I don’t care as long as you keep paying me.”
“You didn’t take the tractor a few months back for payment?”
“What the hell would I do with a tractor?”
Dane stared into space. If Big John wasn’t responsible…
“And you’re certain you didn’t send anybody after some horses?”
“Hell no. Man, you’re crazier than I thought. I’m hanging up now. Get that next payment to me by the end of the week.”
Dane stood there listening to the dead line for a long minute. Could Zayden be right—that their old man was behind this mess?
He whirled and ran the distance back to the barn. Brennah wasn’t there, but he found her inside on the phone. He stared at the slump of her shoulders and ached to make this all right.
“Thank you,” she said before hanging up. She turned to him. “That was the sheriff’s office.”
He nodded. “Good you called.”
“Dane…” Her throat worked, and then the tears started to fall.
“Oh baby doll.” He stepped up to her and drew her against his chest. If he could, he’d shield her from the entire world.
She shoved away and narrowed her eyes at him. “Is this because of you? Is there something you didn’t tell me?”
“No. You know everything, Brennah.”
“You haven’t been gambling again?”
“Hell no. Not since I lost all my tree money on the bet down at the bar.”
“Who else could have done it? Why would somebody steal my horses? And how did they get them away without us hearing anything?”
He shook his head, guts churning. “I don’t know. We had a late night and slept heavy. But I just made a call and the man I owe isn’t responsible for this or the tractor.”
“What does it mean then?”
He spread his hands. “I don’t know. It’s not me.”
When she scrubbed the tears off her face, it broke his damn heart. Seeing her hurt by something possibly connected to the Moon family ate him up.
“Look—I’ll make this right. I promise you.”
She searched his face as if looking for a lie, and damn if that didn’t cut him to the quick. “I’m going outside and check on the other animals.”
“I’ll call Z and Asher. Get some help over here.”
She brushed past him, leaving him standing in the icy air she left behind.
“Goddammit.” He strode into the bedroom, grabbed his T-shirt and yanked it over his head. His mind worked over everything he knew and so much he didn’t. In the end, he decided talking to his brothers in person was better. He went back outside and found Brennah with her llamas.
“Can I take your SUV back to the ranch? I need to talk to my brothers.”
She nodded. “Keys are by the front door.”
“Thanks.” He watched her a moment, and she didn’t look up. Dammit, he probably deserved her lack of trust.
Without a word to her, he returned to the house for the keys and headed home. The minute he pulled into the driveway, Asher drifted from the barn to see who their visitor was. As soon as he climbed out of Brennah’s SUV, Asher ducked back into the barn.
“Z!” he called out.
Dane strode toward his brothers, who both emerged from the barn, looking like they might kick his ass for something he couldn’t even claim to have done yet.
“Trouble at Brennah’s,” he said.
“What sorta trouble?” Zayden’s face hardened.
“Her horses are gone.”
“Gone?” Asher asked.
“Yeah, we woke up and she went outside to let them out to graze while I fixed breakfast.”
“You fix breakfast?” Asher started to grin.
Dane glared at him. “Look, her horses are gone—including the stallion. Somebody let them out of their stalls and led them off the property during the night while we were asleep. The barn’s a bit of a ways from the house, and we didn’t hear a thing.”
“What the hell?” Zayden looked at both him and Asher. “Dammit, I knew all this couldn’t come to us so easy.”
“What do you mean?” Dane asked him.
“With Dad. He had so many enemies.”
Dane’s chest burned. “I thought they were my problems following me from Vegas.”
Asher let out a low whistle, but Zayden rounded on him. “You’d better start talkin’.”
“I owe a guy for gambling debts. He took all my money back in Vegas and my truck too, but that wasn’t enough to cover the debt. I thought he took the tractor—”
Zayden bunched his fists at his sides. “My tractor?”
“Yeah, and I made arrangements to pay him back. I’ve been wiring the guy all the cash I earn to pay him back, and I was gonna work to get you another tractor next. But then the horses came up missin’, and I called Big John.”
“Big John Antonio?” Asher spoke up.
He and Zayden stared at their brother. “What the hell do you know of the guy?” Dane demanded.
“Enough. Go on.”
He gave his little brother a look before continuing, “I called him this morning and asked if he took the tractor and horses, and he didn’t.”
“How do you know he’s telling you the truth?” Zayden glared from beneath lowered brows.
“Antonio’s good for his word,” Asher cut in.
“Okay, what the fuck’s going on here, Ash? How do you know the guy?” Dane demanded.
“I’ve been around is all. So if he doesn’t have the horses and tractor, then someone else does. You’re certain you don’t owe someone else?”
He shook his head. “Not that I can remember and if someone was looking for me, my ex would be the first to call and let me know.” Now that he spoke the words, he knew they rang of the truth. He couldn’t be to blame, for any of this. “I’ll own my problems and debts, but it doesn’t look as if I have anything to do with this.”
They all exchanged a look. “Dad,” they said in unison.
Zayden jerked his head toward the vehicles. “Let’s go.”
Dane jumped behind the wheel of Brennah’s vehicle while the others took Zayden’s truck. For the first time, he
wished their ranches didn’t share a boundary and he could gain some time to think before he saw Brennah again. She was angry with him—and no wonder if she believed him responsible for the loss of all her horses, including the stallion who was slated to bring in so much revenue for them all.
When they arrived, the sheriff had just pulled in. Brennah rounded the barn to speak with the lawman. Meanwhile, Zayden and Asher joined them, but Dane hung back. There had to be evidence of the horses being led off the property, and he would find it.
He started walking the land, searching for tracks. Due to the dry weather, he might not find any hoof prints, but he might see some trampled grass that would indicate a direction they’d been taken.
He searched for a solid hour. When Asher joined him, he glanced up. Asher wore a grim expression that probably mirrored his own.
“I think I can track down these bastards.” His brother’s statement had Dane’s brows shooting upward.
“How?”
“I just know, okay? I’ve already got some ideas about who they might be or where we’d find them.”
Dane stared at him. “What the fuck have you been doin’ for all these years? Do I even want to know?”
“Prob’ly not.”
Zayden crossed the yard to them at a clipped pace. He looked between them. “What are you motherfuckers plotting? Because I’m in.”
Asher gave a hard nod. “If I’m right about who did this, then we need to do a little investigation—the three of us.”
“I want Brennah safe first. I’m takin’ her to sit with Mimi.” Dane cast a glance toward her house.
“Good. Esme’s already at the ranch. They can keep each other company,” Zayden added.
Dane pointed to the ground where they stood. “We meet right here in twenty minutes.”
All three of them extended their fists and bumped knuckles. Then Asher took off across the yard, head down like a bloodhound sniffin’ a trail, and Dane went after Brennah. Convincing her to go sit with the other women while they handled this situation would take some doing. He prepared himself to pull out all the stops and sweet-talk her. If that didn’t work on the woman, then he could always find a length of rope.
