by Sable Hunter
Micah rubbed his shoulder. “Why because I’m an Equalizer, save people with the Governor and all that shit?”
“Oh, that’s impressive, but not quite as impressive as the erotic romance writer part,” Brodie quipped. “I bet you have women eating out of your hand.”
To Shane’s amusement, Madison growled a cute little growl. “Let ‘em try.”
“Making women happy is my specialty.” Micah pulled her close. “I put my fantasies on paper to entice the masses, but I only act them out with one woman.”
Shane smiled. She liked Micah. “Maybe Micah could give you some pointers, Brodie.”
Jenna giggled and Logan looked on with amusement.
Brodie met her gaze. “If I buy one of his books, would you try one of those fantasies with me, Wilder?”
“Whoa!” Micah said. “It’s getting warm in here. You gotta beer, Gray?”
Logan handed out beers all around. Only Jenna didn’t accept one. Shane was glad for the distraction. Madison sat down next to her. “Shane, do you like being an EMT?”
“Yes, I do. The only hard part is the waiting. We stand by until something happens and when we’re paged, we have to act at a moment’s notice. And you never know what you’ll find when you answer the call.”
“I understand. I can’t wait until I’m certified. I want to be a pediatric nurse.”
Jenna pulled a chair close and wiggled in between them. She kissed Madison on the cheek. “I’m glad you’re my next door neighbor. With you two close by I feel so safe.”
With a giggle, Madison playfully pulled Jenna’s hair. “Nothing in the world bad will ever happen to you. Logan won’t let it. He’s big enough and scary enough to keep the devil away.”
Jenna sighed, resting her hand on her tummy. “He’s a big teddy bear, really. What’s this I hear about Micah?”
Shane was listening, but her attention was more on Brodie as he sat with Logan and Micah in front of a big screen TV. When he glanced over and caught her watching him, he grinned and she quickly turned her attention back to the women.
Madison beamed. “Can you believe it? He pretends he doesn’t like it, but he does.”
“What?” Shane’s curiosity was peaked.
“His friend, Saxon Abbott, is a programmer. He also designs video games. Since Micah is such a ‘character’…”
“You mean with the whole cowboy/Don Juan/GI Joe/James Bond thing going on?” Jenna teased and Shane’s eyes widened.
“Wow.” She took another look at Micah. “Lucky girl.”
Madison sighed. “I know. He took me to Paris for our honeymoon.”
Shane sighed too. “My first husband didn’t take me on a honeymoon.”
Jenna hugged her. “Your second one will or we’ll brain him. I think we can take Brodie Walton, don’t you, Madison?”
Shane shushed her. “Stop, Jenna. There’s nothing going on between me and Brodie. He’s…not available.”
At Madison’s questioning face, Jenna explained what Shane meant. “Brodie was engaged a few years ago. His fiancé was murdered. He’s been having a hard time getting over it.”
“Oh, I see.” Madison looked sad. “That’s awful.”
Shane needed to change the subject. “Tell me more about this video game.”
“Well, actually, Micah lost a bet. Saxon wanted to do a game based on one of the Equalizers and he couldn’t decide between Thunderbird, Jet Foster or Micah.”
Jenna nudged Shane. “Thunderbird is what they call Governor Chancellor, can you believe that?”
“I think it was his call name when he flew fighter jets.” Madison explained. “And Jet would have been a great subject, he’s a motorcycle riding MMA fighter who hunts treasure. They call him a pirate.”
Shane was impressed. “I don’t know the Governor, personally, but he’s a friend of a friend. He was gracious enough to send a recommendation in for me where I work. I can see where they would all be great characters in a video game. What did Micah do to lose the bet?”
Madison leaned forward and whispered, laughing, “he had the lowest bowling score on his team. The tournament was some fundraiser event for the city and the Governor had to have a team. They played a bunch of former city commissioners who were all in their eighties.” She covered her eyes and peeped through them. “The geriatrics crushed them.”
“Honey?” Micah called from the living room. “Are you telling all my secrets?”
“Not all of them,” she yelled back.
“Don’t tell them what a stud I am or anything.”
Madison just shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with him.”
Jenna jumped when the alarm went off on the stove. “Honey! Come take the meat out of the oven!”
Logan came hurrying in, afraid she’d pick up something heavier than a dish towel. “I’ve got it. I’ve got it.”
Soon, they were sitting around a table filled with tasty food. Logan sat at one end, Jenna at the other. Shane and Madison sat on one side, with Brodie and Micah facing them.
“This is delicious, Jenna,” Brodie commented. “This beef just melts in your mouth.”
Shane agreed with him. “Thank you so much for having me.”
Micah and Madison agreed. “Everything is great.”
When she’d first arrived, Shane had wondered at the amount of food on the stove – a huge potato casserole, a big pot of green beans, a wide platter of asparagus, and bread – but seeing the three big men dig in, she had to admit that Jenna had known what she was doing. She hoped she’d bought enough pies.
But she needn’t have worried. Everyone ate so much regular food that when it came time for dessert, one individual pie for each did the trick.
“Now who’s ready for a ride to work off all that food?” Logan stood up with a smile.
Micah stood too. “I hate to eat and run, but I need to finish that bush hogging before it gets dark.”
Madison kissed him. “Why don’t you run home and let me stay here and help Jenna with the dishes?”
“Oh, I can do that,” Shane inserted. “I don’t mind at all.”
“No, I told you that you could ride,” Jenna protested. “Logan, you’ll saddle up a gentle mare for her, won’t you?”
“Sure will.”
“I don’t know…”
Brodie spoke up. “I thought you might go for a ride with me, Shane. Wouldn’t you like to see the Pedernales? We could ride down toward the falls.”
Jenna held up her hand. “If you go that way, Shane, would you drop off this container for me at Deacon and Natasha’s? They live in that fortress looking house up on the cliffs overlooking the river. I’ll call and tell them you’re coming.”
Now Shane knew what it felt like to be railroaded. “Oh, all right.” She smiled at Jenna, accepted the Tupperware bowl and gave Brodie the evil eye as she stepped through the door he was holding open for her.
* * *
“I can’t believe I let myself be talked into this,” Shane grumbled. Riding a horse wasn’t nearly as easy as it looked. Her whole body jostled with every step. She felt like a big sack of potatoes in the saddle.
“You’ll get used to it, just relax.”
Brodie’s even words didn’t soothe her aching butt or her frazzled nerves. After a nice cowboy had saddled her horse, she’d finally managed to climb up on the long-legged beast without making a complete fool out of herself. “I can’t believe we’re out here alone. Why are we doing this to one another? Some kind of karmic payback for misdeeds?”
“Would you quit grumbling?” Brodie muttered. “You’d enjoy this if you let yourself go with the flow.”
Shane didn’t answer, she just rolled her eyes. He wasn’t looking, so the asinine gesture didn’t do her any good. They rode behind Jenna and Logan’s house, passed through a gate, and into a back pasture, making for the Pedernales River.
“Let’s drop this container off first,” Shane said, holding onto the horse’s mane with one hand
while she clutched the reins like a lifeline with the other. “That way, if we decide to cut this trip short, we can.”
Brodie urged his horse to a slow walk, allowing Shane’s mount to edge ahead. The view was so good back here. He loved to watch her rounded little bottom as it bounced in the saddle. “You’re going to need a rubdown when this is over. I happen to have some horse liniment.”
“Horse liniment?” she repeated. “I don’t think so.” She shivered, more at the thought of his hands on her body than the idea of the burning salve.
The sound of moving water told them they were nearing the river before it ever came into view. “Man, this is great,” Brodie said and Shane couldn’t disagree. They rode down the path by the cliffs, each mesmerized by the water flowing over the rocks.
“Hey, over here!” Shane was surprised to see a lovely woman running toward them.
“That must be Natasha.” Brodie observed. “Logan said she’s the daughter of a former KGB agent. She and Deacon work for some type of paramilitary organization sort of like the Equalizers.”
Shane waved at the approaching woman. “Makes our job seem pretty boring doesn’t it? Hey!” she called out to Natasha.
When they met, Natasha bent over, resting her hands on her knees to catch her breath. “You must be Shane and Brodie.” She raised up to clasp their hands. “It’s so good to meet you.”
“Good to meet you too,” Shane agreed, untying the container from the saddlebag. “Here you go.”
“Great, thank you. This was full of eggplant salad with a balsamic vinaigrette, spiced up with little bits of pineapple.” When Brodie made a face, Natasha laughed. “Those are labor inducing foods; I was just trying to do my part to make that baby take a notion to be born.”
“I don’t think it helped,” Brodie murmured, “she’s still very, very pregnant.”
“First babies tend to take their time I’ve heard,” Shane said with a smile. “You’ve got an amazing home.” She hadn’t seen it at first, it rose up out of the cliffs so naturally it seemed a part of the natural landscape.
Natasha turned around and waved. “You can’t see him, but my Deacon is watching every move we make. He sits up there in that turret like an eagle searching for prey.”
Brodie shaded his eyes and stared toward the turret. “Does he use binoculars or a telescope?”
Natasha laughed. “Oh, no. There are cameras everywhere.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “And traps.”
Shane’s eyes widened and Brodie looked around, trying to determine what she meant.
“Oh, not here. You’d have to be on our property and off the trail to trigger them,” Natasha explained with a straight face.
Shane took her at her word. “We’re going another direction.”
“Oh, not trying to run you off. Won’t you two come in for some coffee?”
“Thanks, we’ve got plans,” Brodie commented, clearly ready to be on his way.
“If you pass the fire station, stop in and see us. If both ambulances are there, we’re probably inside watching training videos.” Shane grabbed onto the saddle horn when her mount lurched to one side.
“I’ll do that. Watch it,” Natasha warned, “a bee is buzzing around the horse’s…”
She didn’t get to finish. Shane’s horse whinnied and reared. She hung on with everything in her. “Brodie!” she screamed as her seemingly docile mare morphed into a bucking bronc.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.” He waved to Natasha and took off after Shane, his heart in his throat.
“You don’t have me! I’m up here and you’re nowhere to be seen!” Shane yelled as she held on for dear life.
“I’m right behind you.”
Shane didn’t know whether to shut her eyes and hide, or watch as the scenery rushed by in a mad haze.
In a move to rival a movie stuntman, Brodie rode up next to Shane. Reaching out, he wrapped his arm around her waist. “Turn loose of the reins and the saddle horn and give yourself to me.”
She was in the midst of a scary situation, but his words sounded prophetical.
“Trust me, Shane.”
Holding onto the sound of his voice, she let go and gave herself over to him. “Gotcha.” Just that fast, he lifted her effortlessly. One moment she was on the back of a runaway horse, the next she was in his arms.
With her heart pounding in her chest, she clung to him, arms wrapped around his neck. “Don’t let me go.”
“I won’t.”
She rested in his arms until the steady beat of his heart and the slower rhythmic gait of his horse lulled her into calm. “I can walk,” she stated, placing a hand on his rock hard chest and giving a little push.
“I know you can,” he agreed, without making a move to allow her to slide to the ground. “I don’t want you to and you don’t want it either.” With a quick graceful move, he shifted her like she weighed nothing until she was astraddle facing him, wedged firmly between the saddle horn and his manhood. Their chests were touching, her hands resting on his arms to steady herself. Her face was mere inches from his.
“You have no idea what I want,” Shane said through gritted teeth. She looked to the ground, then over her shoulder, seeming to be searching for a way to escape.
“Your nipples are as hard as diamond points, they’re poking me in the chest, telling me how much you want me.”
Shane pulled back just enough to keep from touching him. The moment she did, her breasts protested. “Please let me go.” Why did she ache so much for this man? Her entire being begged for him – heart, body and soul. “We can’t always have what we want.”
He wished he could let her go. Even as he knew it was a mistake, he couldn’t deny a longing stronger than his will to resist. “You can. I’m right here,” he taunted her, “take what you want.”
Shane bit her bottom lip, hard enough to bleed. “You don’t want me, you want Mary. You’ll just be pretending I’m her.”
A knife pierced his heart at the mention of Mary’s name. “You’re wrong. I want you. I love Mary. I know all too well that you aren’t her. She’s gone.” He groaned. “But I’m still alive and my body is desperate for yours. All I’m offering you is what we can give each other in bed, nothing emotional. But I think you want that just as much as I do.”
Shane stared at him. God, she hated him at that moment. She hated him with every breath in her body. But she also loved him. She loved him more than life, she wanted him more than her next breath. How had this happened? Was she just a glutton for punishment?
The horse danced sideways and Shane instinctively grabbed his shoulders. When she did, she looked at him – really looked at him. She knew he was a good guy, the best. He would risk his life to save someone in need. He’d loved once and well. The pain he’d endured was something no one should have to go through. In some ways he’d never recover from losing the woman he loved. And no matter what she gave him – just her body or everything she was – she’d never be able to replace Mary.
But she didn’t want to.
“You’re right.” Shane waved the white flag of surrender. “I do want you, I want whatever part of you that you’re willing to give me, for however long you’re willing to give it.”
A second or two passed as he processed what Shane said. As much as he’d been hoping, as convinced he was that he was right, Brodie hadn’t expected her to agree. His muscles stiffened, his fists clenched and his cock filled to capacity. Staring down at her face, feeling the heat from her delectable body, Brodie felt his desire rise, relief sweeping over him.
She’d said yes.
“Kiss me, Wilder.”
Inside Shane, a war was waging. Take what she craved and tomorrow be damned? Like ice thawing, she felt herself grow warm, her muscles loosening, her body being drawn toward his. Yes, she knew she’d lied. Her lips had formed the words to tell him she would be satisfied with just part of him. The truth was that she’d never be satisfied until he loved her as much as she loved him.
“You want me to kiss you, Walton?”
“I would give everything I own,” he breathed.
“Oh, to hell with it,” Shane muttered, framing his face and crashing her lips to his.
Brodie wrapped his arms around her, keeping her safe, holding her close. One arm was around her shoulders, the other across her back, cupping her bottom and making sure there wasn’t a hair’s breadth between them. Underneath them, the horse shifted, impatient to move. Without breaking the kiss, answering each nip – each lick – each caress – he took up the reins and headed them back to the barn.
It was time.
* * *
Following her, Brodie stayed on her tail, half expecting her to veer off on a side road and try to lose him. With every mile, he weighed his actions, questioned his judgment and thanked heaven she’d given him a chance.
But a chance for what? A chance to fuck her. A chance to hurt her. A chance to take and not give anything in return?
Seeing she was putting a little more distance between them, Brodie checked his speed limit. “Dammit!” Shane was speeding. Was she trying to outrun the inevitable?
…Ahead, Shane kept checking her rearview mirror. She half expected him to come to his senses, turn off on some side road and find another way home. When they’d gone to thank the Gray’s for a wonderful time, Shane couldn’t help but think that if Jenna were to go into labor at that moment, the excitement and chaos of the event would give her and Brodie a chance to reevaluate their decision. But Jenna hadn’t gone into labor and Brodie hadn’t taken his hand from the small of her back. He’d almost seemed afraid she would disappear.
Now, she was speeding down the highway toward her home and following behind her was the man she’d been dreaming about for weeks.
When Brodie pulled in behind her, he was out of the car and over to hers before she could stand up and get the door shut. He held his hands out for her keys and she placed them in his hand. Neither said a word as they made their way up the walk and up the stairs. His palm found its way to the small of her back again.
With a hand that was shaking slightly, he pushed the key in the lock and turned it. Brodie was finding it hard for his lungs to take in enough air. The moment he followed her over the threshold, he lost every semblance of control. “I can’t wait,” he whispered, moving right into her space, crowding her, storming Shane until he had her pressed against the wall. Dipping his head, he claimed her lips, licking the seam, seducing her to open up and let him in. And when she did, Brodie sank within her, mapping the inside of her mouth, sucking on her tongue. He made love to her mouth until they were both gasping and panting.
