Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Mason
“ S o, you wanna talk about what happened yesterday with Emma?” Lucas asked me as we trotted along the fence line.
“You wanna talk about why you won’t file that report on these missing cattle?” I shot back, glaring at him. “You and I both know that a hundred head don’t just fucking disappear into thin air.”
“Yeah?” Lucas snapped. “You know what else? Some rustlers don’t load up a hundred head of cattle without a damn mark on the ground. Not a blade of grass is disturbed, and this is the second time riding these dang fence lines—we better find something.”
I nodded, feeling the frustration in his words. I was pretty sure he hadn’t slept since he found out his cattle were missing. But… As much as I hated to say it, I felt like there was more to his bad mood. He was the kind of guy who always saw the glass as half full—and right now, that side of him was being taken over by a much grumpier Lucas …
And that was my job.
I was the asshole out of the two of us. It felt off balance to be any other way. I went silent, letting the sound of the horses’ breaths and squeaking of the saddle fill the air between us. I didn’t want to push him because I also didn’t want to answer his prying questions about Emma. I hadn’t figured her out—and I was starting to feel like I owed her an apology.
My eyes traveled along the fence line on the east side of the pasture. It butted up to another one of his fields, and so yesterday, no one had really checked it too closely. If the cattle went through it, it would be obvious…
Or maybe not.
“Whoa,” I said as I sat deep in my saddle, signaling Jett to stop. My horse did as I asked, and I slid off him, my boots thudding in the grass. “That ain’t right.” I pointed to the fence, noticing the slightly disturbed ground at the post.
“What?” Lucas asked from above me. “I don’t see anything.”
“Look closer.” I used my boot to split the knee-high grass. “I think this post got pulled.”
His eyes squinted as he slid off his horse and walked over. “I mean, yeah, but…” Lucas’s voice trailed off as his shoulders dropped. “Look at that. The fence is spliced.” His voice sounded strained, full of real concern.
“Why would someone cut an interior fence?” I thought aloud, peering down at the careful—and highly skilled—splice job down with barbed wire. This wasn’t some amateur job… “What the hell?”
“I don’t know, but I had the guys ride through that pasture in case the cattle somehow crossed and were over there. I didn’t ask them to look for anything. It’s pretty remote… There’s only one access point. ”
“I think we ought to ride over and check it out.” I felt a sliver of hope. I had already made the call to the sale barns to watch out for the cattle, but that had proven unfruitful at the moment.
“We’ll have to go back around. There’s no gate into this pasture. I’m not using it this year.” Lucas sounded distracted, and I knew that his head was spinning. “I just… Why wouldn’t they take them from the road?”
“You’re asking someone who is just as shocked as you are,” I grunted as I slung myself back up on my horse.
“Let’s just cut the fence,” Lucas said, still not having mounted up.
I shook my head. “Not a good idea. We’ve got valid evidence right now. If we go cutting the fence, that’ll mess it up. Your insurance is gonna probably need that.”
Lucas didn’t say anything, but before I could ask him about that, he was up on his horse and galloping down the fence, making the long trek back to the gate. I spun Jett and he understood that we were taking chase. His black hooves thundered as we made our way across the rolling fields. The sun was beginning to creep off to the west, and a quick glance at my watch made me wonder if Jess was home yet. She was with Dara…
Or at least I thought she was.
I had never had any issues with Jess and who she hung out with, and she told me the previous day that she had stayed late at school to finish some homework. I wanted to believe her…
But something just felt off.
She needs her damn Mom.
The pang of pure hurt pummeled my chest. I didn’t miss Jess’s Mom, but I missed her having one. She needed a female figure in her life to help her with all this teenage shit. Puberty was rough and if it weren’t for Lily, I don’t know how we would’ve made it through. She had to take Jess under her wing. Lucas wasn’t married, and I was an only child—and I had no living parents.
I brushed the thought off, my eyes landing on the utility green gate coming into view. The sight of it caused my heart to jump with anticipation. I was hoping we might find solid evidence, and maybe that would at least spur Lucas to make a report.
We didn’t slow to a trot until we made it back to the spot in the fence that had been split. I scrutinized the area, hoping to find some sort of evidence that would tell us whether the cattle did come through this area.
“Maybe one of my hands made that splice a long time ago,” Lucas commented as he, too, studied the ground. “A hundred head of cattle would show up.”
I slid off my horse, taking a closer look—and realizing just how dry the ground was. “I don’t know… I wonder if they picked this spot because of the ground. We’ve had all that rain, but this is dry as the desert.” Using my boot, I kicked up dust in the air. “See?”
“Oh shit…” Lucas let out a sigh. “You’d think they’d have scoped the damn area out beforehand.”
“They probably did,” I said, shaking my head as I climbed back up on Jett. “I think our best bet is to look for signs of anything. You said you had some guys check this area, right? Did they see any fresh cow shit? That would’ve shown up. You can’t move that many cows and they don’t leave some sort of trail.”
He nodded. “I don’t know how extensively they searched, to be honest, and the grass is so dang tall that you might not be able to see it… But they should’ve been looking for it. ”
“Only way to make sure something gets done right is to do it yourself,” I grumbled under my breath. Lucas didn’t hear me as we headed toward the only access point along a side road.
“No one lives down this road up here,” Lucas said, as we trotted through the tall grass. “My guess is that the guys only checked to the north of the creek. The cattle never cross the water, ever. It’s a steep decline.”
“But can they cross it?” I asked, furrowing my brow. He was right, though. In all the years, I had never trekked to this part of this specific pasture. The cattle just never went that far.
“They can. My grandpa used to have them cross it. It’s the old loading site.” He realized what he was saying as soon as the words left his mouth. “Holy shit, I bet they backed right up to the old chute. It wouldn’t be that easy, but based on how they spliced that fence…”
“Yeah, they could’ve handled it.” I shut my eyes for a moment before glancing down past my boots in the stirrups. “Cow shit,” I stopped Jett. “Look, Lucas.”
Lucas glanced down around him. “How the hell did Jake and Connor miss that?”
“Because they probably rode right through it, looking for cattle, not shit. I don’t know.”
“I’ll talk to them when we get back.” Lucas led me straight down the trail into the woods, and the closer we got to the old corrals and chutes, the more it became evident cattle had gone through the area. The soft dirt was torn up with tracks, and the moment we hit the clearing of the wooden corrals and old chute, it was obvious…
Right down to all the truck tires out on the road.
“How the hell did we miss this?” I exasperated, removing my hat and wiping the sweat from my forehead. “This is just bad work on our part.”
“Everyone always forgets that this side road exists…” Lucas’s voice strained as he shook his head. “I don’t… Someone would have to be knowledgeable of the area. The access point to this road is nothing but grass.”
I met my best friend’s gaze. “Someone did their homework.”
The creak of the front door made me cringe as I stepped inside the cabin. It was late by the time I got home from collecting all the evidence we could from the Lowe Ranch. It took more time than I wanted to admit, and while I tried to convince Jess to stay with Dara for the night, she insisted that she would be fine at home until I got there.
My footsteps were silent as I padded down the hallway, peeking into Jess’s room. The lights were out, and listening closely, I could hear her draw long, even breaths. I smiled to myself, shutting the door and heading to my own room. I was in desperate need of a shower, and I hung my hat on the rack as I stepped into my own room, letting out a sigh.
Fucking long day.
However, now that I was home and away from everything that was going on, the only thing on my mind was Emma. My body filled with need for the woman, her curves replaying in my mind. My dick went stiff as I stripped down and stepped into the warm water. I needed to stop by and see her, offer an apology for that night… After all, that was the first time I had hooked up with anyone in years…
She needed to know that I wouldn’t destroy her reputation .
The temptation to think about her washed over me as the warm water poured over my shoulders.
“Oh, oh, ooh.” Her voice reverberated around in my head, my chest heaving in response. Giving into the temptation, I stroked myself, picturing Emma naked in my bed, straddling my hips. Her pussy was tight and so fucking wet when I had fucked her… I could only imagine what it would feel like to be in her as deep as I could.
“You’re so fucking good,” I growled, her ass bouncing as her fingernails dug into my chest, those green eyes burning a hole into mine.
She gave me a wicked smile, biting her bottom lip just before tipping her head back. Long dark hair fell down her back, and her little pants turned to moans as she moved faster. My hands palmed those full, ample breasts, bouncing with her movements.
“Are you gonna cum for me?” she whined between moans, her own body growing closer and closer to the edge.
A growl escaped my lips as I exploded inside of her, my hands bearing down on her hips.
I gasped for a breath, the water like knives in my back. I spun, realizing I had left it turned all the way on hot. Quickly, I switched it to warm, blinking a few times in surprise at the fact that I just jacked off to the baker.
I have to apologize to her.
Well, not for that, though. She didn’t need to know that she had taken over my mind, too.