Chapter 14
JACE
TWO WEEKS LATER
“ Y ou’re avoiding me.” I look up when I hear my uncle's voice and see him standing at the stable door. Placing down the brush I’m using to groom Buck, I move out the stall to join him.
“You’ve got staff for that,” he reminds me.
“Well, Dad always said a man should take care of his own horse. It’s how you earn their trust,” I remind him, patting Buck’s hip over the rail and avoiding eye contact with my uncle.
This whole place could have been his, he’s the eldest out of him and my father but he chose law over ranching. He doesn’t get to come here and tell me how to run my yard.
“And just for the record, I’m not avoiding ya. I’ve just been busy.”
I take a smoke out of the packet and offer him one. I’ve been trying to cut down since I decided to knock up Maddison, but I can sense some tension rising.
“Busy with that new girlfriend of yours?” He raises his eyebrows, accusingly.
“Fiancée,” I correct him, not that it will be that way for long, I’ve done my research and that license of hers is set to expire in thirty-four days. Soon as it does, I’m applying for a new one.
“I don’t know what your problem is, I’d have thought you’d be happy that I’ve found someone,” I call him out because I’m done with tip-toeing around.
“Females change our perspective,” he tells me, taking a cigarette and letting me light it for him.
“You almost sound as if you're talking from experience.” I shake my head and laugh, while he remains serious.
“I heard that she’s wearing your mom's ring.” He looks unimpressed.
“Word spreads fast.” I toke back, trying to move him to his point. If he carries on talking about my girl in that tone, this conversation ain’t gonna end well.
“Look, Jace. It’s okay to have someone, but you can’t let that someone distract you from what you do,” he tells me firmly. I’ve spent the last two weeks pretending that side of me doesn’t exist and it’s been easier than I thought. Having Maddison here seems to have lifted all the anger out of me. I even let Billy McGee go free, despite being sure that he knows more than he’s telling me.
“I got your job done, didn’t I?” I point out.
“You did, but you know as well as I do, that there will be more men like Elliot. And that the people who want that road built right through this place, ain’t gonna play fair for much longer.” He looks at me with those condescending eyes.
“Eli ain’t ever gonna let that happen, that road would destroy this town, and all the businesses in it.” I clench my fist when I think about how hard my dad and grandfather worked to build this place. They’d always been men of the community, but I don’t think they’d be proud of the kind of man I’ve had to become to follow in their footsteps.
“Eli ain’t got as much power as he thinks he does. He’s just a minion with a fancy title. He can’t hold them off forever.”
“So what do you suggest we do? Kill all the Gendrys and the counselors they pay off, one by one?” I look across at him, knowing that that could very well be his plan.
“I don’t know, but now’s not the time to be complacent or distracted. I heard you're holding a barn dance here, next week. What the fuck is that about?” He furrows his brow.
“The town is holding it, I’m just giving them my space.”
“Just stay alert,” he warns. “And keep your cool. Taking McGee was sloppy and reckless, you're lucky you put the fear of God into him or he’d be having you arrested.”
By who, Hayden?” I laugh at him and manage to hide my concerns over the fact he knows about McGee. I didn’t tell a soul about that.
“Hayden may be on our side, but that new sheriff they’ve recruited from the city won’t be. She could be a real problem. I need ya to keep ya head down and stay outta trouble,” he warns before turning to leave.
“Unless you call me, right?” I shout after him and when he turns around he’s smiling.
“You forget that I did my time, and I’ve gotten my hands dirty. Maybe one day you’ll be the one giving orders but until that day comes, you need to remember that we all got our roles and that this ain’t just my dirty work. What we do is for the benefit of this whole town,” he reminds me before he marches out.
Momma hated Uncle Jamie and he wasn't much fond of her either, you could tell just from the way he looked at her that he saw her as an inconvenience. Maybe it was because she made my father wanna be an honest man. But she, like many other people in this town, didn't know what lengths my uncle, and a select few others, would go to to protect it.
My father was as straight as they came, he showed his support by fixing roofs and raising funds for the church. I hate to admit it but Jamie is right, we all have our roles and mine forces me to leave my morals at the backdoor.
I wait until I hear his car pull off before I head out into the yard and when I see what’s about to happen in the corral, I toss my cigarette to the floor and march on over.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I grip Carter by the collar of his shirt and throw him to the ground when I see him heave my girl up onto a saddle and fix her foot into a stirrup.
“Jace!” she screeches, looking horrified as I grab the horse's reins to ensure it remains still.
“She just wanted to learn how to ride, boss.” Carter stands back up and dusts off his jeans while I grip Maddison’s waist and drag her off the damn saddle.
“Are you crazy?” I stare into those wide, pretty, blue eyes and watch them blink in shock.
“Are you crazy?” She stares right back, and when I realize we got the attention of everyone in the yard, I give them all a look of warning so they get back to work.
“You could be pregnant,” I remind her under my breath. “What the hell are you doing climbing on a damn horse?”
“Two things. One, I could be pregnant, and two, pregnant women ride horses all the time.”
“Now, I’ll tell you two things.” I grip the front of the jeans she’s wearing and drag her closer. “None of those pregnant women are carrying my baby, and you very likely are.” I go to kiss her but she holds me off.
“Jace, don’t you think you're being a litt?—“
“Did you check the app today, your period’s due. Did ya get it?” I’ve been waiting for her to tell me that fact, but I guess I’ll have to bring it up myself.
“Well, no, but you can’t rely on an app.” She looks around the yard in case there’s anyone listening. “I was just trying to fit in around here. Lunch is already prepared and I thought I’d give this riding thing a go. Everyone around here seems to do it, and I’d love to go riding with you. You look all hot and sexy on that horse of yours.” She takes hold of the front of my shirt and fiddles with the buttons, it almost distracts me from the fact I’m mad at her.
“Darlin’, it ain’t safe for you to be up on a horse if you're pregnant.” My hand automatically moves to cover her stomach. I’ve put every effort into ensuring she’s caught and the wait to find out is getting hard to stand.
“I just want to keep you both safe” I explain.
“There’s probably no baby to keep safe, it’s very rare for a couple to conceive in the first month of trying. You shouldn’t get your hopes up.” She forces my hand away and blushes.
“We could take a test?” I suggest. The last thing I wanna do is pressure her, stress is about as good for pregnant women as riding a fuckin’ horse, but like I said, it’s killing me not knowing.
“We will, let’s just give it a few days.” She smiles as she reaches up and kisses my cheek.
“Fine, but no more mounting horses,” I point my finger at her
“I promise.” She offers me some kind of girl guide salute and smiles. “Though, I’m sure I would be safe if I took a ride with you. You could wrap your arms around me, and make sure I don’t go anywhere.” The way she wets her lips as she talks makes it sound appealing.
“I guess I could compromise on that.” I tie the horse she was on to the railings then, taking my girl's hand, I lead her to the stable so I can saddle up Buck.
“This wasn't exactly the look I was going for.” She readjusts the riding hat I’ve made her put on and blows a strand of hair from her nose.
“What were you expectin’, Princess?” I laugh.
“I don’t know, my hair blowing in the breeze as we canter through the plains.” She’s on the verge of another brat attack, and I love it.
“I agreed to give you a ride, and we’re riding. There’s no way I’m cantering and you don’t need the breeze in your hair, you look real cute as you are.”
“I look like I came from Pony Club.” She turns her head to look at me over her shoulder.
“Can’t you make him go any faster?” She looks back down at the back of Buck’s neck and pouts.
“Sure I can, but this is the pace we take when he’s carrying precious cargo.” I slide the hand that I’m not holding the reins with around her waist. Her brattish behavior never fails to make me hard.
“I was expecting some thrill not a?—-“
She silences when I unbuckle her belt and pop open the buttons on her jeans.
“Jace, what are you doing?” she asks as my hand slides into the front of her panties.
“I’m giving you a thrill,” I whisper in her ear as her head rests back against my shoulder and I skim my fingers through her pussy lips.
“You’re wet, pretty girl. Has riding this saddle got all you riled up?”
She nods her head as she soaks my fingers, and I tease her entrance a little before giving all my attention to her clit.
“That feels good,” she tells me, clutching my forearm to keep it where it is.
“You wanna come for me?” I nip at her ear lobe and pause my fingers.
“Of course, I do,” she growls in frustration.
“So, are you gonna promise me not to take any more stupid risks, and trust what I say so I can keep you safe?” I hold her orgasm to ransom till she tells me what I need to hear.
“Yes.” She strains against my body, desperate to get more friction.
“Promise?” I whisper in her ear, making sure my breath skims over her skin.
“I promise, just please—-” she moans when I give her what she needs, and it barely takes seconds before she comes all over my fingers.
Slowly I slide them out of her underwear and lift them into her mouth. “Taste it, Princess, tell me how it is.”
I slip my fingers between her lips and when she sucks on them it makes my dick press into her spine.
“It tastes good,” she whispers, letting her body sag against mine in relief.
“You wanna go home, and finish this up?” Guiding her hand around her back, I stroke those soaked-wet fingers over the front of my jeans so she can feel what she’s done to me. “Because after hearing you come on the back of my horse, I can guarantee if you ain’t pregnant already, you will be by the time I’m through with ya.”