He reached for her and felt his whole body ignite as their skin made contact. Brushing his mouth against her neck, Gray made a trail of kisses beneath Nina’s ear and then suckled on her earlobe, causing her to suck in a sharp breath of air. She dug her fingers into his shoulder and moaned. He continued his journey down to her shoulders, and then, cupping her breast, he suckled on her nipple until she cried out in exquisite pleasure.
They moved to the floor where the blankets where spread out waiting for them to get tangled inside. They lay on top, lying side by side, as Nina wrapped her leg around his and arched up so that his arousal was pressed against the sweet nest of downy hair between her legs.
“I want you now,” she said.
And then she kissed him with such passion that Gray couldn’t take any more. He rolled her onto her back and dug his fingers into her hair as he deepened the kiss with an intensity that made him want to weep. It had been so long since he’d felt anything at all that the tidal wave of emotion he felt now threatened to choke him. He continued to kiss Nina as her hands roamed his body, giving him pleasure as he pleasured her. And when he entered her, she cried out and threw her head back against the comforter.
The flickering light from the fire played against her flesh, illuminating it, and teasing his senses. He moved inside of her until his body couldn’t take any more. As he drove himself into her, he felt her body tighten around his arousal, surging him on. He barely heard her cry out when she climaxed, tightening around him like a vice, bringing him higher. He joined her seconds later in a climax that was so strong that he fell against her, completely depleted of strength and washed of emotion that tears filled his eyes.
He’d wanted Nina for so long. And now that he’d had her, Gray didn’t think he could let her go.
* * *
The roaring fire had turned to smoldering embers and the room was still dark when ringing woke Gray and Nina.
“Whose phone?” he said, reaching on the floor for his pants. Trying to focus, he realized he’d flung them across the room hours earlier.
“I think it’s mine. I left my cell phone on the counter in the kitchen,” Nina said. She bolted from the floor, grabbing one of the sheets they’d become tangled in during their lovemaking, and wrapped it around her body as she ran into the other room.
Gray slumped back on the comforter and closed his eyes. His body ached in a way that left him sated. For the first time in years, he felt alive. It was an odd feeling to feel joy in his heart after such a long time of feeling numb. And it was all because of Nina.
In the past six months, Gray had been out with more women than he could count. Grace had been right. He didn’t give any of the other women he’d dated a chance. He was just killing time. But it wasn’t because there wasn’t anything wonderful about them. He was sure they were nice girls. They just weren’t special like Nina.
He heard Nina’s voice rise as she talked on the phone. When she gasped, Gray bolted upright again and leaned on his side, propped up on his elbow, trying to make out what she was saying. Something was wrong.
Seconds later, Nina stood in the doorway. Tears were streaming down her face as she held the sheet with both hands like a security blanket.
Gray sat up fully. “What happened? Are your parents okay?”
She swallowed hard as she nodded. “They’re…at the hospital.”
“Did they get into an accident?”
She shook her head. “Then never made it out of town yesterday. They went to check on Jen because she had that fever.”
“They were there all night?”
Nina nodded and started to sob. “Jen is dead.”
* * *
Black was never her color and Nina didn’t relish wearing it today. In fact, she’d rather be wearing a potato sack anywhere else than at her sister’s funeral.
Her sister had died. All the while Nina was making love to Gray, Jen was dying. Nina still didn’t understand why her parents’ hadn’t called her when things started to turn bad during the night. She and Gray would have come to the hospital to be with Jen.
But she hadn’t been there for her sister. She was in Gray’s arms, loving him and letting him love her.
No, she thought as she watched the parade of family and friends climb out of their cars and walk through the snow covered cemetery to where they’d lay Jen to rest. She and Gray had had sex.
It was easy to see in the light of day that both of them had been overrun with emotion these last few weeks. Taking comfort in each other’s arms was only nature. They were both human. But seeing the stricken look on Gray’s face now as he stood next to his brother Ian on one side, and his sister Grace on the other as he looked onto Jen’s grave, it was clear to Nina. Gray was devastated that Jen was gone because he’d loved her, not Nina.
It didn’t matter how much everyone had talked about the possibility of Jen dying. Nor did it matter how much they’d all prepared for what may come. Hearing the news that her sister had died was just as shocking as it had been the day Nina had received the news Jen had been in that awful accident with her horse trailer two years ago.
Gray had loved her. And now losing her, really losing her, had shattered him.
As the preacher started his sermon, her father reached out and took Nina’s hand. Nina wanted this day to end. She wanted to go back to a time when her heart wasn’t broken and when she didn’t love Gray McKinnon.
But that was impossible. A few nights ago she’d been in Gray’s arms and thought just maybe she should stay here. Stay in his arms. But now her destiny was clear. He could never love her the way he loved Jen. She had to get as far away from Gray McKinnon as she possibly could.
* * *
Gray stood across from Nina at Jen’s grave. He wanted nothing more than to stand with her. He wanted to tell her they could get through this together. She stood between her mother and father. He stood with his parents and his family surrounding him. But the only comfort he really wanted was from Nina.
The faces of the people who’d come up to him to offer condolences this week had become a blur just like every moment had been since Nina had received the phone call from her parents that Jen was dead.
Jen was dead. It was still too hard for Gray to grasp. Tears that he should be shedding had been shed a long time ago. He’d heard at least a dozen times just this morning from family and friends who’d come to the funeral that they were going to miss Jen. The truth was, he’d missed Jen long before she died. He realized when he woke up this morning that he’d already mourned her passing a little bit each time he’d gone to see her at the hospital. Each time he couldn’t pick up the phone and hear her voice.
Jen had only died a few days ago. But she’d been gone from Gray for a long time. Despite everyone telling him that for the past two years, it hadn’t really hit him until now.
He glanced up at Nina just as the minister walked up to the grave. He had let Jen go a long time ago. He didn’t know exactly when that happened. But he knew there was no way he could have made love to Nina if he hadn’t.
The memory of the two of them lying naked in front of the fire was still burned in his memory. He could still smell her scent and feel her skin. When she’d taken off her jeans that night, he’d been genuinely surprised that she hadn’t been wearing any underwear. Today she wore a black dress that was fitting for the funeral and he couldn’t help but wonder what was underneath her dress.
He closed his eyes as a wave of guilt slammed against him hard. What kind of a man would think this way at the funeral of the woman he had loved? What kind of man would lust after another woman?
Except, it wasn’t just lust. It was Nina. He cared for her. He’d always cared for her. As much as he’d missed Jen, he’d missed Nina, too. Where his relationship with Jen had been like a flash fire. His relationship with Nina was more of a slow burn, smoldering and warm. It had taken all this time for him to see how much Nina’s friendship really meant to him.
When the service was
over, everyone gathered at a local church's banquet hall. Nina had been busy with her parents, doing what she could to help them deal with their loss. Now it was time for them to catch their breath and visit with the people who cared about them the most. Except every time Gray looked for Nina, she was somewhere else in the room, talking to a family member or old friend, getting someone a drink or plate of food.
Gray was in the middle of talking to an old friend and fellow bull rider, Jesse Knight, when he saw Nina disappear into the kitchen. Gray hadn’t seen Jesse in a while since he’d left rodeo and gone into the military. He’d heard Jesse was back after spending some time in the military and he was glad to see him. But he wanted this moment alone with Nina.
“It was good to see you, Gray,” Jesse said. “Don’t give up on rodeo. I’m older than you and I’m still climbing into the chute.”
“Who knows? You might see me in Wyoming yet.”
They said their goodbyes and Gray moved through the crowd quickly to avoid getting caught in conversation with someone else. He reached the kitchen and pushed through the door, expecting to find Nina there. Caterers were refilling trays and handing them off to servers who were circulating the banquet room. He looked around, but Nina wasn't in the kitchen.
Gray was about to turn around when he saw light illuminate the hallway at the back of the kitchen and then go dark again. A caterer carrying a warming box full of food came into the kitchen and put the warming box on the counter. Gray walked through the kitchen toward the back hallway. He found the door leading to the outside and pushed the handle.
After a few seconds of adjusting to the light, he looked around. The catering van was parked next to the door, blocking the view of the parking lot. He heard the sound of traffic on the main road and then… Gray walked around the van toward the sound of sobbing. His heart broke when he found Nina crying as she sat on a wooden crate behind a parked car.
“Nina?”
She stood up quickly and swiped her face with her hand when she heard his voice.
He didn’t have to ask what she was doing out here alone. He knew.
He reached for her to pull her into his arms, but she bristled with his touch and stepped aside.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head, unable to look at him. “It’s just been a rough few days,” she finally said.
“I know. Let me—”
“What? Hold me? With all those people in there thinking you’re brokenhearted for Jen?”
“I am brokenhearted for her.”
“Exactly.”
“So are you. There isn’t any reason we can’t be there for each other.”
She chuckled wryly and looked around as if she was checking to see if people were watching them. “Like we were there for each other the other night?”
He felt her regret like it was a slap to his face. Stinging. Leaving its mark.
“You don’t have to go through this alone,” he said.
“I came out here to be alone. I didn’t want my parents to see me like this.”
“Why not? You’re human, just like the rest of us.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Gray. My sister died. Instead of being with all those people, all I want to do is run away.”
He stood impossibly close to her without touching. To his relief, Nina didn’t back away.
“I saw you in there. You’ve been strong for your parents. You made everyone feel better just talking to them.”
“Busy work. That’s all it was. That’s all it’s been for the last few days.”
“I want to hold you.”
She snapped her gaze at him. “Why?”
“Because I think you need it. I know I need it.”
Her bottom lip quivered. “I need to get back inside.”
“No more walls, Nina. It’s me. Talk to me. What can I do to help you through this?”
“Right now I just want to be alone.” She chuckled and put her hands on her cheeks. “Do you know what I’ve been sitting here thinking about?”
“What?”
“That damned tree house. I want to climb up there and just stay there until I feel better. Can you imagine? A grown woman wanting a stupid tree house.”
“You have good memories there,” he said. “It’s a place of comfort.”
Nina shook her head, and then sniffed back tears. “Not anymore. Jen isn’t going to come up there to find me.”
“I will,” he whispered, reaching out to her.
She stared at him for a long moment. “No, you won’t. I won’t let you.”
She reached for the door leading to the kitchen and yanked it open. She didn’t look back at him before disappearing inside and leaving him in the cold.
#
Chapter Eight
Nina had refused to see Gray after the funeral. Every time he’d text her or call her, she wouldn’t respond. Her parents had left for Chicago. He knew Nina was alone in that big house all alone.
Gray threw himself into working at the oil rig. He volunteered for extra shifts and kept his mind busy. Work was good. Work was his salvation. Anything else left him with too much time to think.
“If you don’t watch out, you’re going find yourself face down on the dirt at the bottom of this rig.”
Gray turned when he heard his father’s voice call up to him. That’s when he saw the crane lifting a pipe moving closer to him. Now that he saw the pipe, he moved out of the way so the crane operator could set the pipe on the platform.
He’d been distracted. The rig platform wasn’t a place to be distracted.
Once he was out of the way, he called down to his father, who was standing on the platform below. “Hey, you’re not a roustabout. What are you doing out here, Dad?”
John McKinnon made a disgusted face. “Any chance you want to go back to school for engineering? Daryl Banks gave his notice last week. He got a swanky job in the Silicon Valley. An offer he couldn’t refuse.”
“He’s lived in South Dakota his whole life. What’s with everyone leaving?”
“I know. It was hard enough for me to get Daryl in to do these soil samples. I have to do them myself until I get someone to replace him.”
Gray climbed down from the higher platform to where his father was standing.
His father looked at him with narrow eyes. “You should have taken more time off, Gray. You’re going to get yourself hurt if you work yourself to death.”
“Work is good for me.”
“Not if that pipe had hit you.”
“Sorry about that. I only have a few more days on the schedule. I’ll make sure to stop by the house when I get back to Rudolph.”
His father rubbed his chest with his pen. “You be sure to do that. We’ll have everyone over. Hell, maybe we can even get Julian back from wherever he is now.”
“Oklahoma.”
“Oklahoma? What’s in Oklahoma?”
Gray shrugged. “Probably a woman.”
His father groaned. “That boy is going to be the death of me.”
“I thought I was?”
Laughing, his father said, “At least you’re working for the family. You and Grace are the only ones.”
“Two out of five isn’t bad.”
Gray heard the sound of feet pounding on the platform getting louder. His father’s face grew serious.
“Gray?”
He turned and saw Tessa running towards him. She was out of breath.
“I need to leave, Gray,” she said.
His father placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Calm down. What’s wrong?”
“Is it Haley?” Gray asked.
Tessa shook her head. “I just got a call from the boy who takes care of the horses while I’m working out here. He said there was an accident at the ranch.”
“What kind of accident?”
She shook her head. “He didn’t give me any details. He just said that they had to call the veterinarian for one of the horses. I’m responsible fo
r those horses I board. I need to find out what’s going on and talk to the vet.”
“Then go. Everything here is under control right now. If I have to call in Stevens for tomorrow to do some welding, I’ll do that. He’s looking for more shifts,” Gray said.
Tessa’s expression was apologetic. “I’m really sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Gray said.
She turned and started running to the ladder leading down to the ground.
“You be careful driving, Tessa,” his father called out.
One of the horses needed a vet. Gray knew that Nina’s horse was boarded out at Tessa’s ranch. But Tessa also boarded other horses. Gray needed to know what happened at the Rolling Rock Ranch. But he still had a lot of work to do on the rig before he could call it a day and find out.
* * *
Nina paced back and forth outside of Dusty Surprise’s stall as Gabe Rinehart, the vet who’d looked after Dusty for the last several years, inspected her horse’s injuries.
“When did you notice he threw a shoe?” Gabe asked.
“It all happened at the same time as the fall. He pulled it and then stumbled. I rolled off his back as he went down. When he got back to his feet, I noticed he was limping so I walked him back to the stall.”
He pointed to the mud on her jacket. “He didn’t throw you?”
“No.”
“You have Nate Collins as a farrier?”
“Yes.”
“When was the last time he was out to redo his shoes?”
“Six weeks ago? I was going to have him come out again before I left.”
“When is that?”
“A few days.”
Gabe carefully rubbed Dusty’s cannon bone, testing to see if the horse protested. Dusty bobbed his head.
“He’s a little tender. He might have some swelling. I want you to keep him tied so he’s stays in the center of his stall while the hoof is healing. I don’t want him pawing or banging his hoof against anything. I’ll give Nate a call and let him know when he can come out and replace those shoes.”
His Dakota Heart Page 8
