Chapter 5 #4
“Yep. They’re taking good care of the horses,” Jensen said as he hung his hat on the coat tree by the door. “Babe, you want to shower before bed?”
“Yeah, I think so. Do you mind?” she asked, and when Jensen shook his head, she darted up the stairs.
Leo seemed to be checking to make sure she was out of earshot before he said, “She’s a quiet one.”
“Been through a lot,” Jensen offered as he pulled off his boots and sank back into the softness of the sofa.
“What’s this ‘a lot’ she’s been through?” his younger brother asked, and Jensen knew it wasn’t about judging Shyanna. Of the two brothers, Leo had always been the more sensitive one. He got the distinct impression Leo didn’t want to say something that would hurt Shyanna in any way.
“Parents were drunks. Nobody gave a shit. Didn’t have any friends because of it. Wound up in an abusive relationship where she got the shit beaten out of her and was almost killed, then went to prison for jacking up the bastard when he tried it again.”
“There’s no justice in the world,” Leo mumbled.
“My thoughts exactly,” Jensen agreed. “So what have you been up to?”
“Working around here. Pop’s almost up to a hundred percent, but he still needs to take it easy. So how serious is this thing between the two of you?” Leo asked, and Jensen could see he planned to refuse to let the conversation take a different turn.
“What ‘thing?’” Jensen asked, hoping he could smoke screen.
“You know damn good and well what ‘thing’ I’m talking about. You can fool some people, but you can’t fool me. Spill.”
“I really don’t know what to say.” He was telling the truth. What was the “thing” between them? They were sleeping together. Was it more? He’d like for it to be. “Let’s just say we’re taking it slow and we’ll see where it goes.”
Leo shrugged. “Nothing wrong with that.”
“You seeing anybody?”
Leo shrugged again. “Not really. I went out a couple of times with a guy I met through our little piddlin’ LGBTQ activists group here, but it didn’t really amount to much. Can’t seem to find the ‘one,’ if you know what I mean,” he said. “Especially around here.”
“You’ll know when it’s right.” Jensen heard the water shut off upstairs and decided maybe it was time for a shower. “Well, sounds like she’s finished. See you in the morning.”
“I doubt it. I’ll be out and moving around before you even get out of bed. You’ve got stable hands for a change. Sleep in. I sure as hell never get to,” Leo said with a sigh as he dropped his head onto the back of the overstuffed chair.
“Hey.” When Leo’s head snapped up, Jensen leveled his gaze at his younger brother. “I’m glad to see you, and I’m glad to be here. Thanks for stepping up to the plate when … well, you know. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. I love it here. Great place to hide,” Leo said with a smirk, and Jensen knew what he meant. Their parents had made peace with the fact that Leo was gay, but it still wasn’t easy being a gay rancher in a small South Carolina town.
“Stop hiding. Come out into the sunshine with the rest of us. I promise, it’ll rain on you fifty percent of the time out here just like it does in that closet of yours,” Jensen said with a chuckle and slapped Leo’s knee on his way out of the room.
He’d made it up two risers before Leo called out quietly, “Hey!”
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad you’re home too. It’s good to see you.”
Jensen smiled at his little brother. “Yeah. It’s really good to be home.”
The bedroom door was closed when he reached it at the end of the hallway, so he opened it slowly and watched as Shyanna grabbed her towel to cover herself. “Relax. It’s just me,” he said as he slipped into the room and closed the door behind him.
“Scared me to death,” she whispered as she dropped the towel again, and Jensen was treated to a view of that glorious body. Lord, the girl was stacked! “I don’t have any real pajamas. I’m not used to being in a house.”
“Then we’ll go get you some tomorrow. How’s that?” he asked, trying to imagine her in something thin and lacy.
“Sounds good. Can I wear one of your tees?”
Jensen rummaged through his bag and pulled out a blue tee with the University of Wellingham crest on it. “Here. You’ll fit right in,” he said as he handed it to her.
“Thanks. Shower?” she asked.
“Yep. Be out in a minute.” It only took him a couple of minutes to shave and then he jumped into the shower.
That took no time at all, and when he stepped out of the bathroom, towel around his waist, Shyanna was already in the bed and sitting up, her back resting in a pile of pillows as she glanced through a magazine she’d found on the nightstand.
“Good reading material?” he asked as he climbed onto the bed, still clutching his towel.
“It’s about eight years old. Looks like nobody ever uses this room,” she said as she pitched the magazine back onto the nightstand.
“Nobody ever does. My mom fixed it up when we thought we were getting a female foreign exchange student, but that never happened.” Jensen remembered how excited Dora had been.
“What happened?”
He shrugged. “What they told us was, ‘Nobody wants to come to the middle of nowhere. That’s not a slice of American life.’ If living on a cattle ranch isn’t a slice of American life, I don’t know what the hell is.”
“No shit,” Shyanna said, shaking her head. “What do they want, New York City? That right there’s a fate worse than death.”
“You got that right.” Jensen drew the covers back on his side of the bed and scooted in, letting the towel fall to the floor. He knew what he wanted to do, but he also knew he had some housekeeping to take care of. “Hey, I want to ask you something.”
“Shoot.”
“Why do you keep saying once everybody gets to know you they’ll hate you?” He watched as her gaze fell and she picked at the coverlet with her fingernails. “Because I can’t imagine that.”
“They always do,” she muttered under her breath.
Jensen was really confused. “But why? Do you do something to make them hate you?”
She shook her head weakly. “No. I don’t do anything to make them hate me. They just do.”
“Why?”
“Because.” He didn’t respond, just waited to see what she’d say.
When the silence finally got to her, she said, “Because rodeo and the culture around it is very conservative. I’m not supposed to rope or ride in rough stock events.
I’m supposed to wear a frilly apron and hang around in the kitchen, cooking for my eleven kids.
I’m supposed to say, ‘Yes, dear,’ and ‘No, dear,’ and sweep and mop and all that shit.
And trust me, when they find out about my family and then where I’ve been, well, they don’t want their sons dating me.
Never in a million years. ‘Oh, hey, my son’s got a new girlfriend.
Female bull rider who did six years in medium security in Missouri.
She’s a real peach.’ Right. Like that’ll ever happen.
” She let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes.
“Shy?” When she didn’t answer, he said, “Shy, look at me.” It seemed an extraordinarily long time before she tipped her head to the side and glanced up at him from under those beautiful lashes. “Did you realize Leo’s gay?”
“No.”
“Well, he is. And Mama and Pop love him just like he is. Don’t you think they could do the same for you?”
She shrugged, a little tiny shrug that seemed to be more frustration than anything. “I dunno. Nobody ever has.”
“Shy, I don’t care that you were in prison, and they raised me. Where do you think I got that from, that thing that lets me care about people who seem less than perfect? Because, you know, babe, none of us are perfect.”
The corners of her mouth turned up almost imperceptibly. “Well, that just blew my opinion of you.”
“Sorry to burst your bubble, doll, but I’m a long way from perfect,” he said with a chuckle.
“I dunno.” Shyanna grabbed the covers and yanked them toward the foot of the bed, and the stiffy Jensen had been harboring underneath them turned to a full-fledged hard-on. Her voice was a hoarse whisper when she said, “You look pretty damn perfect to me.”
Jensen didn’t get a chance to argue with her before she engulfed him, and every question he’d had for her evaporated.
It didn’t matter. All that mattered was what she was doing at that very moment.
It was his whole world, and he wasn’t the least bit upset about that.
She made a few sucking and slurping noises, all of which just increased his need for release.
Shit, she was good with her mouth, and he’d have to remember to tell her that.
At the moment, however, he was fairly certain he couldn’t speak.
When he ran his fingers into her hair and tugged, she moaned deep in her throat, and the vibrations from it made him groan.
“Jesus, Shy,” he whispered down to her and watched as her eyes rotated upward, reflecting the grin she couldn’t quite make work around his length.
“Oh, god, I’m …” He didn’t have time to say another word before his body shook with the climax he’d been waiting for and needed so badly.
Trying to move didn’t seem like an option. He lay there, spent, and felt Shyanna move up beside him. “Good?” she asked.
“Oh, god, babe. Yeah. The word good doesn’t even touch it.
” Without ever opening his eyes, he reached for her and drew her up in his arms. In seconds, he was above her, leaning down to kiss her, savoring those lips that had pleased him so thoroughly just moments before.
When he drew back, he whispered, “Everything about you is good. No―great.”
“There’s nothing great about me,” she whispered back. “I’m a misfit and an outcast, and that’s all I’ll ever be.”
“You’re wrong, Shyanna Owens, and I’m going to prove to you that you’re wrong. You just wait. You’ll see,” he whispered into her neck, then slid down her body. “Spread ’em, cowgirl.”