Collecting the Pieces

by L. A. Fiore

  “It’s perfect. Don’t you think?”

  Abel didn’t respond. Turning my attention to him, his was completely on me.

  “What?”

  His voice was a bit gruff when he said, “What I think is perfect is seeing how happy this has made you.”

  Maybe there was part poet in him after all. “And you?”

  “I drove up my drive today to see my woman sitting on our porch waiting for me. In the course of little over a week you made us a home and now you’re standing outside freezing your ass off to look at the twinkling lights you put up mostly because you want to give me my first Christmas. Yeah, I’m fucking happy. Now could we please go inside? There are a few ways I have in mind to warm us up.”

  He didn’t wait for a response, lifting me into his arms, and started back into the house. Wrapping mine around his shoulders and encircling my legs around his waist, I affectionately whole body squeezed him. “Welcome home, Abel.”

  He spent the next few hours showing me just how happy he was to be home.

  I followed Abel to his shop; his friend would be arriving shortly to start the work on converting the empty building into Pipes II. We talked about his father, what Jasper had learned. Abel wanted someone with me for the visits to the farms, I told him no. I wouldn’t say we fought, but we both were quite adamant. I’d be careful, but I wasn’t changing my life for his father, no way. But I did bring Cain with me because it eased Abel’s worry a bit, not to mention my worry about Owen breaking into the house. If he thought I was there, would he try to kidnap me? I didn’t know what the man had planned, but I did know the cats would hide from an intruder; Cain would attack. I wasn’t risking him.

  Abel climbed from his bike, and I happily watched as he strolled to my driver’s side window.

  Leaning in a bit, he asked, “What are your plans for today?”

  “I’m visiting each of the horse farms. I’m stopping at the Hellar’s place first, to check on Speckled Egg and Domino and to meet with Chris. McNealy, just because I enjoy his gruff and almost inhospitable manners, and lastly the Roberts’ farm because Keith wants to go over a few things with me.”

  His jaw clenched; he wanted me in the clinic. “I really don’t like you driving around with Owen in town.”

  “We talked about this. He isn’t going to have that kind of power over me.”

  “Your car is a piece of shit. So what happens when it breaks down on the side of the road?”

  “That isn’t going to happen.”

  “How the fuck do you know?”

  “What would you suggest?”

  “You stay at the clinic with Rylee.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Then take another truck.”

  “Whose?”

  He pulled his phone from his pocket, scrolled to a number before putting it to his ear. I only heard his side of it. “Jayce, need your truck. Stubborn, yeah. She’s stopping there first. Thanks, man.”

  “Let me guess. Jayce is offering me his truck because I’m being stubborn.”

  “Yeah, switch out when you get to the farm.”

  “You’re a pain in the ass. You know that right?”

  “What I know is my father is a fucking dick, possibly more dangerous than I thought and my woman is being stubborn, putting herself in potential danger. And even though it goes against everything in me, giving you this, I also know I have to give in. So if I’m fucking giving in, you’re going to be in a brand new fucking truck that won’t break down on the side of the fucking road leaving you fucking vulnerable.”

  I was grinning and not just because I was crazy about this man, but I’d missed his overuse of the word fuck.

  “Why are you grinning?”

  “You only used fuck five times in that explanation. You’re losing your touch.”

  His eyes lit with humor, I even got a little grin, but then he was back to all business. “Doors locked, windows up and you stop for no one. At least you’ve got Cain. He senses anything, you come right here. Understood?”

  “Yes. And thank you.”

  “Just be fucking safe.”

  I had to say, Jayce’s truck rocked, a 2016 Dodge Ram 2500 Limited. I could take down small buildings with this baby. Maybe it was time to upgrade. Speckled Egg looked wonderful and Domino was growing fast and he loved to run. I’d over heard Chris and Garrett talking, they were thinking about putting Domino in some races. Sure, Thoroughbreds ran the races of the Triple Crown, but there were races for Appaloosas popping up all the time. He was young and he liked to run; it might be an interesting fit.

  Mr. McNealy didn’t disappoint and was as grumpy as usual though I was picking up on the nuances of his grumpy and I swear when I pulled down his drive, I caught him grinning. I reached the Roberts’, but their truck was gone, not a surprise since they shopped on Monday. Pulling around the back, I parked next to Keith’s truck.

  “You stay here. I don’t think the horses will like having a wolf in the barn.”

  Cain’s head tilted, like he really understood me. I left the window down; his head immediately filled the space. “I’ll be back.”

  Strolling toward the barn where Keith had an office setup, I heard the horses as I approached; they were making more noise than usual. I suspected they sensed Cain. Keith’s office was at the back of the barn. I stopped to soothe each horse, loved that they reacted to my presence and did settle. One of the stables was empty and when I reached Keith’s office that too was empty. He was probably out on a ride and just lost track of time.

  Pulling my phone out, I called him and heard his phone ringing in the distance. I left the barn and headed around the back of it. Bile rose up my throat at the sight that greeted me even as I ran closer. Morning Star, one of the Roberts’ horses, was lying on her side, huge gash marks over her belly. I didn’t see Keith, but his phone was in the grass just to my right. It had to have been the mountain lion. My hands ran over Morning Star and even as I inventoried her wounds, I knew she wasn’t living through this. Tears collected in my eyes, her death rattle growing weaker with each breath. I rubbed her head and wished I could get the morphine I had in the truck to take the pain away, but she wasn’t going to last long enough for me to get it. So I sat with her, stroking her head and watched as she took her last breath. A painful lump formed as the need to cry and scream moved up by throat. I heard the gunshot seconds before a flash of black flew by me. Cain.

  “No! Cain, no.” I never in my life ran as fast I did in that moment because the thought of Cain going head to head with the mountain lion...and Keith, what condition was he in, especially after seeing poor Morning Star? When I reached the scene, I saw Keith leaning up against a tree, his head down, his arm held at a funny angle. His shotgun on the ground next to him and about fifty yards from him was the mountain lion. Blood smeared its mouth; his front paws tinted red.

  “Keith, talk to me.”

  “Stay back, Sidney.”

  “I can reach the gun.”

  “Don’t move.”

  “I have to.”

  I hadn’t even taken two steps when the mountain lion charged me. My hands flew up in a useless defensive gesture, but before the mountain lion reached me Cain lunged, putting himself between the cat and me. I fell back on my ass, scurrying closer to Keith and the gun, my eyes fixed on Cain and the mountain lion in a death match. Tears streamed down my face, my fingers searching for the gun but my focus never left Cain. It happened so fast, but felt like forever. A horrible death wail sounded, birds took flight and the woods silenced, and there was Cain standing over the body of the cat whose throat he’d ripped out. His head turned in my direction, before he limped his way over to me. I dropped to my knees and hugged him, not just hugged him, I buried my face in his neck and hugged him. He was okay, thank God, he was okay.

  My focus shifted to Keith and that’s when I saw the gashes on him, the blood rapidly pooling from them. “I need to stop that bleeding.”

  “Morning Star?” His voice
was barely over a whisper.

  “No, I’m sorry.”

  “He came out of nowhere, like something spooked him. Jumped us.”

  “Don’t talk. Conserve your energy.”

  Reaching for my phone, I called 911.

  “I need an ambulance at the Roberts’ farm. Keith was attacked by the mountain lion. We’re about three hundred yards beyond the back of the barn.” I let my phone drop from my ear as I helped settled him against the tree.

  “Your arm is broken.” He obviously knew this, but I was in a bit of shock.

  “Fell on it when I was thrown from Morning Star.” His voice turned hoarse. “She threw me off her back to protect me.”

  Tears were streaming down my face, but I couldn’t think about Morning Star and her courageous act because I had to stop Keith from bleeding to death. I took off my jacket and used it to staunch the flow. Keith was losing consciousness.

  “Stay with me, Keith. I need you to stay with me.”

  “He saved you.” Keith was looking at Cain. “He fucking saved you. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

  Sirens came from the distance. “Do you hear that? They’re coming. You’re going to be okay.”

  It felt like eternity before I heard the paramedics calling out.

  “We’re over here,” I called back.

  I never felt such relief as I did seeing them running toward us. “His right arm is broken and he’s got four very deep gashes across his chest.”

  “We’ve got it.”

  I stepped back and turned my focus on Cain. Outside of a few superficial cuts and the impact injury causing the limping, which would work out on its own, he was fine. Cops arrived, Sheriff Lenin among them. He took in the scene, including the mountain lion, before his eyes came back to me.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Keith though.”

  “They’re doing everything they can. Your wolf took out the cat?” There was both incredulity as well as awe in the sheriff’s voice.

  “Yeah, but not before the cat killed Morning Star.”

  The sheriff was looking at Cain in wonder. “Unbelievable, he was wild.” He seemed to shake it off before he added, “I saw Morning Star, damn shame that.”

  A cop came up behind me and placed a blanket over my shoulders. Sheriff Lenin’s strong but gentle hands steered me to the front of the house. Cain never left my side. A gurney with Keith came around shortly after. They loaded him up into the ambulance, the sirens kicking on as they sped down the drive. It was only minutes later when a motorcycle came barreling up the drive. “You called Abel?”

  “I had dispatch call him.”

  “Oh shit. He’s going to be seriously pissed.”

  That earned me a grin. I personally didn’t see anything humorous about the situation. Abel had worried I’d find myself in harm’s way, I convinced him I would be fine and yet I arrived on the scene of a wild animal attack. He was going to lock me in the cabin or chain me to him. Though the idea of being chained to Abel was not a bad one. Humor fled when I saw the expression on Abel’s face, an expression I never wanted to see again. Tormented pale blue eyes settled on me, the expression that followed caused tears to burn my eyes from the beauty of it. He moved with almost super human speed, cutting the engine, climbing from his bike and moving toward me in quick determined strides. When I was in his arms I could feel his heart pounding even as his hold tightened like he wanted to absorb my body into his. I touched his face, running my fingers over his beard. “I’m fine.”

  Those pale eyes moved over my face like he was committing to memory all he took in. Even his voice was strained. “What happened?”

  “The mountain lion. Keith said it was like it was spooked; he attacked Keith while he was on Morning Star. Morning Star didn’t make it and there’s a chance Keith won’t either. But Cain killed the cat when it came at me.”

  His entire body went rock hard; the devastation I’d seen when he first pulled up washed over his face again. His focus shifted to Cain as he lowered himself in front of him. Something definitely passed between them, and then Abel was yanking me close—holding me so tight I was having trouble breathing. “Son of a bitch.”

  “I’m okay, Abel. It’s Keith we should be concerned about. And his parents. Oh God, someone has to tell his parents.”

  “I’ve got an officer tracking them down,” Sheriff Lenin said. “I’ll need a statement, Sidney, but it can wait.”

  “I’ll be in tomorrow.”

  “Good enough for me. You can take her home, Abel. I’ll have one of the boys drive your motorcycle back to your house.”

  “Thanks Sheriff,” I replied. Abel said nothing.

  He led me to Jayce’s truck, held the door for Cain, before he belted me into the passenger seat.

  “Keys.”

  I handed them over. He remained silent during the ride, but the tension in the air was palpable. We arrived home and I didn’t hesitate to climb from the truck, Cain following me. I knew the storm was coming; the clouds had been collecting for the entire ride home. I braced myself since I had been a bit reckless, charging ahead knowing there was a dangerous animal in the area, but I wouldn’t have done one thing differently. Abel climbed from the truck and put some distance between us. That was not a good sign. Now that the shock had abated, anger replaced it. He was so pissed he had to pull himself together before he could address me. For the first time since I met him, I was scared.

  He moved so fast, had me in his arms and in the house before my brain caught up. I was vaguely aware of Cain padding to the living room when Abel pushed me up against the door, his hands working my zipper before he yanked my jeans and panties down my legs. His jeans slipped to his hips as he pulled his cock free and slammed into me, almost painfully. I expected a fast, hard ride but he went completely still as soon as he filled me. He dropped his head on my shoulder. His fingers were digging into my thighs and with the weight of his body pressing against me I was pinned to the door.

  “Abel?”

  A shiver went through him and feeling his big, strong body shake unnerved me. I could barely hear him. “They only said there’d been an attack, mentioned you were there. I thought it was you. I thought I was driving up the Roberts’ drive to identify your body.”

  “Oh my God.”

  “When I saw you, standing, alive. I almost fell to my fucking knees.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. God, I’m—”

  His mouth closed over mine, his tongue pushing past my lips tasting me with a thoroughness that left me weak. His hips got into it, slowly at first, a delicate slide in and out, but before long his thrusts turned hard and fast as I rocked my hips into his rhythm. The orgasm nearly tore me in two. Abel came right after me, the thick muscles of his neck rigid as his head tipped back and his eyes closed. After a few minutes, I cradled his face, traced his lips with my tongue, pulling him closer to me by linking my feet at his ass.

  “I’m okay.”

  I didn’t like the look I saw in his pale eyes, devastated. “How did you do it?”

  “What?”

  “Go on after losing Jake.”

  “I found you.”

  His hold on me tightened. “I couldn’t do it. If I lost you…I couldn’t fucking do it.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” Forcing his gaze on me I said again, “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Some of the shadows lifted from his expression, he even gave me a half grin, before he shifted his hips. The moan that escaped my lips couldn’t be stopped.

  “No you’re not.”

  And to prove his point, he carried me to the bedroom and kept me there for the rest of the day. That night when I stirred from sleep, Abel still had me wrapped tightly in his arms with his face buried in my hair.

  Abel followed me to the clinic in the morning; kissed me long and deep before he headed to his shop. I stopped at the bakery for coffee and ran into Mr. Milburn and Cooper, but it was the state of Mr. Milburn that stirred conce
rn. He looked worried, but more he looked disheveled when he usually was so tidy in his dress.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I just heard about Keith. It’s terrible.”

  “It is, but he’s going to be fine.”

  “Yes, thank goodness. To think you were there though, so close to danger.”

  “That mountain lion won’t be hurting anyone anymore.”

  “That’s a relief. I don’t want to keep you from work, I just heard and wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  How sweet. “I’m fine, but thank you. How are you?”

  “Good. A little freaked out by current events.”

  I understood that. “Me too.”

  “I’ll see you later then.”

  “Maybe you’ll come to dinner sometime this week.”

  “I’d like that.”

  “I would too.” I waited while he and Cooper walked away before I stepped into the bakery. Ichabod hollered from his place at the counter.

  “Yo, Sidney. What do you want?”

  “Just two coffees.”

  “How you doing, honey?” Stella called.

  “I’m good. Better knowing that Keith is going to pull through.”

  “Yeah, I heard that. It’s wonderful news. I should send him some baked goods.”

  Baked goods from Stella, Keith would love that.

  “I’ll get Tiny to drop them off.”

  Ichabod joined me, handing me a carrier with the coffee. “I don’t like hearing about animals dying, but I got to say I’m glad that mountain lion isn’t roaming around anymore. And Cain, no one understood why you took him in, thought you were slightly nuts for doing it, but he’s a fucking hero.”

  “Yeah, he is.”

  “I’ve got to get Jeshaiah his coffee or his disposition is just shit. My turn to buy the next round at Brass Bull.”