Chapter 24 Furyon #2
I give the mischievous twins as harsh a look as I can muster before following my girl and Bluebell along the row.
Inside the arena, a pixie bull rider goes flying and crashes into the fence, wings crunching as he slides down the slatted side.
The bull prances around, head swinging as he looks for the exit.
He knows his bit is done, that he’s won again, and there’s likely a bucket of water and some hay in his temporary enclosure away from the din of tonight’s crowd.
When the pixie gets to his feet and grabs his fallen hat, lifting both hands above his head, the crowd shouts for him. It’s his only consolation for gettin’ bucked off before the eight seconds was up.
Ahead of me, the girls turn left and head up into the stands. I jog forward and up the steps until I’m right behind Lemon. Gripping her by both elbows, I pull her back against me and press my lips to her ear.
“The ruffles on this skirt are shredding any self-control I mighta had around you, city girl.” I nip at her earlobe with just my lips, pulling it as she relaxes and shudders against me.
She lets her head fall back, looking up at me with a sexy smile. “You just couldn’t stay away, huh? I’m starting to think you’re a little bit of a stalker, Ranger Zayle.”
I flare my nostrils, scenting her. That clean, cool smell overtakes me, curling through me like it’s rewiring my godsdamned brain to think about her and only her. Or shit, maybe that happened when I met her, and she was walkin’ on the bar singin’ like a damn country music star.
When I glance past her, Bluebell and Oz are both grinning at us as they take sips of their beer. Oz winks at me.
Rascal.
I’ll thank him later, though.
I push Lemon toward the metal bench, and she slides gracefully past the first few seated monsters. The crew makes space for me to sit.
Bluebell points a finger at me. “You can’t stay forever, Zayle, ‘cause Hadrian and Jasper are joining us in a few minutes, and lord knows that gargoyle needs space.”
Lemon snickers and hands both hot dogs to Bluebell, who shoves half of the first one right in her mouth. Ladylike ain’t never been a word I’d use to describe her, I suppose.
Lemon looks up at me. “Oz promised me a tour of the pens, but I can’t imagine a better tour guide than you. Would you show me around, in an official kinda capacity?”
I grin down at the beautiful vampire smiling up at me like seeing me’s the only thing she needs right now. Stroking my knuckles along her soft jawline, I marvel at the way dark lashes flutter against her cheeks.
“I’d be delighted to. You wanna go now, Lemon?”
She nods and hands her beer to Oz, who winks at me again.
So much winking.
He clears his throat and waves. “Listen, I’ve been showing your girl a good time, but you can take over. Plus, like Bluebell said, we need space for that absolutely enormous male about to join us.”
Bluebell rolls her eyes and elbows him while she shoves the second half of the dog in her mouth.
I grab Lemon’s hand and pull her back down the row, apologizing to the monsters we just scooted past moments ago.
We descend the metal stands and head left toward the far end of the arena where the chutes are.
Lemon comes to my side, and I slide a hand into her back pocket, keeping her close to me as we walk.
“You already ask Oz and Bluebell a buncha questions about the bull riding, or do we need to cover that?”
She shrugs, but some of the smile fades from her eyes.
“I get it. Oz in particular is a great host. Probably because he knows the only cowboys I’ve ever seen in real life are at a dive bar in Rainbow where you can ride a mechanical bull.
To be honest, after seeing this, it’s almost laughable to me that anyone got bucked off that thing.
” She jerks her head toward the pens visible past the arena and stands.
“Actually, I kinda wanted to check on the animals. Any time I see them now, I wonder if they’re affected or will be affected or what. ”
I nod. “Yeah, I promised Echo I’d check while I was out here.”
Lemon grabs a lock of my hair and tugs playfully. “So, yet again, you’re out with me but working?”
She’s laughing, but there could be an undercurrent of real concern to her question. When we get to the end of the row and exit the stands, I press her against the slatted fencing and tip her chin up, locking onto her gaze. “Lemon Knox, you listen to me.”
Dark lashes flutter as she stares, sliding both hands up my shirt to rest over my pecs. I tuck long hair over her shoulder, stroking my way down her back while I hold her close.
“We haven’t had a lotta conversations around what it means for us to be connected the way we are.
We need to, because I think it’s clear that I can’t stand to be five feet away from you for more than two minutes.
I think you feel the same. But what I will never do is have you think there’s anything in my life more important than you. ”
Her mouth drops open. “But…but what’s happening is important, Furyon, and I get tha—”
I silence her with the barest of kisses on those pretty pink-painted lips. “Nothing,” I reiterate. “I want you with me all the time, city girl, because I wanna show you just how hard a country boy loves.”
Her breath hitches, so I take the moment to slant my mouth over hers, a needy groan rumbling from my chest. Godsdamn, this woman does something to me. Our kiss grows hungry as she slides her arms up around my neck, soft body pressed to mine.
When someone clears their throat, I part long enough to scowl. But Bryony just grins at me like the cat with the cream, sipping at a mead as she waggles her brows. In my arms, Lemon groans and plasters her forehead to my pecs.
Bryony swans off, wings fluttering frenetically behind her like she can’t wait to tell her sister what she just saw.
“Don’t pay her any mind,” I say softly. “Eventually she’s gonna get tired of seeing me kiss you in public.”
Lemon laughs, glancing up at me with a wry look. “You sure about that?”
I chuckle. “Naw, not really. But maybe another hot monster will move to the Gulch, and she can latch onto them instead. Let’s go, city girl.”
I’m anxious to see if we notice anything with the animals here. Although, given Echo’s mention of ranchers flooding our office with calls, I wouldn’t be surprised if something pops up.
We walk along the fence until we can dip through an opening to where the bull chutes empty into individual pens. A big black and tan bull snorts at us, hyped in his pen after having just bucked the pixie rider off.
“Easy, fella,” I murmur. The cattle tattoo running down my spine twinges softly, nothing worrisome necessarily. It’s just a deeper awareness now that I’m so close to so many cattle in a small space.
Lemon’s quiet as we make our way between the small temporary paddocks set up for the bulls. Most are munching on hay, and a few stand in a line, waiting their turn to move into the buckin’ chutes.
“Have you ever ridden one?” Lemon glances up at me with a saucy look.
I snort out a laugh. “Hell naw. You hear the crunch of that pixie’s wings when he hit the railing? The only dynamite I need between my thighs is you, baby girl.”
She groans. “Gods, I opened the door for that one.”
We halt at the final paddock. Inside, an all-white bull stands with his head raised high, sniffing the air as he paws the ground. Unlike the others, he seems anxious. The twinge of my tattoo morphs into a prickly sensation.
The bull turns to us and lowers his head, pawing the ground harder. His eyes shine a milky white.
“Fuck,” I mutter.
“Careful, you two.”
I turn to find one of the ranchers coming toward us with a big syringe in his hand.
I eye the pink concoction inside. “Hey, Carmine. He sick with the same as the rest?”
The big minotaur nods. “Yep, but Charlie’s my special flower, sensitive to everything.
So far, none of the rest are sick, but not only is he sick, he’s got hives all down one side of his body.
I’m gonna give him a quick antihistamine to see if I can get him a might more comfy, poor thing.
” He sighs and looks down at me as he climbs over the metal railing.
“You any closer to figuring this out, Furyon? I can’t start losing these bulls, or my business is fucked. ”
It’s not an outright accusation, but it hits like one, and I can’t lie to him.
Shaking my head, I cross my arms. “We thought we had a lead with a potion from Glimmer, but it ain’t panning out.
All we know is the horses have been showing symptoms for nearly a week, and they’re all still alive, so there’s that. ”
Carmine sucks at his teeth and hops into the pen. The bull snorts and lifts his head. Carmine probably raised him, so hopefully Charlie’s mind’s not gone enough to run him down the way the mustangs charged me.
The rancher speaks in low tones to the big bull, who shudders when the minotaur approaches. When the needle goes in, the bull shakes his head like he’s trying to dislodge a fly. Carmine pulls the needle out and pats the big bull’s haunches, still talking like he’s consoling a child.
He rejoins us, capping the needle and shoving it into his back pocket. We’re silent as we watch the bull. He remains anxious, pawing at the ground for a few more minutes.
But then something interesting happens: he stops swishing his long tail and looks over. After picking his way across the pen, he shoves his head into Carmine’s chest and nuzzles around.
“I don’t have carrots on me tonight, you big oaf,” Carmine says lovingly.
“Furyon, his eyes.” Lemon nudges my side.
Glancing down, I see the bull’s eyes are no longer white but a deep brown. He swivels his gaze up, snorting at us. Lemon backs away from the fence.
Holy shit. I look at Carmine. “What all was in that shot, friend? Just antihistamine?”
He looks at the bull’s eyes and gasps. “I’ll be fuckin’ damned. Yeah, just antihistamine. I keep it on account of his sensitive skin. Wind blows the wrong way, and he gets hives, I swear.” Carmine pulls the injection from his pocket and hands it to me. “Did we just find a cure?”
I pocket the syringe and look at him. “Don’t know, but it gives us something to try. Thank you, Carmine. Thank you so much!”
“Keep me posted!” he shouts as I grab Lemon’s hand and drag her toward my truck.