CHAPTER 17
“Why you gotta get me in the feels, hm?” I say to the horse as I bring him in for the night. He comes willingly, letting me settle him into his stall so I can remove his halter and rope.
Reaching into my pocket, I pull out one of the snacks I grabbed from the mess hall earlier after dinner.
The cookie is a little broken thanks to it being shoved into my back pocket, but Apollo doesn’t seem to mind as he takes it from my palm.
I run my hand down his muzzle before I exit the stall and lock him in.
He immediately shoves his head over the top, nudging me with the end of his nose.
“Yeah,” I give him another scratch, “I kinda like you too.”
Knox got Honey in earlier, and she’s happy eating her feed in the stall next door, paying no attention to me.
We ate with everyone earlier, all the hands Knox has here—which isn’t many—Chase and Knox.
It was loud and chaotic; there was more food on the table than on the plates, but they treated me like I was one of them. It was nice.
Which of course meant I got the fuck out of there as soon as I had eaten my plate and went and kept Ralph company instead. Knox had left me to it, seeming to give up on keeping me away from the bull. He’d gotten Honey and told me to get Apollo when I was ready to come in for the night.
But the evening air was warm, and the stars were out in full force, so I stayed out later than I’m sure he intended for me to.
But then a yawn had stretched my jaw wide, and my muscles reminded me I did in fact need to rest, so I fetched Apollo from the pasture and walked him back to the stables.
I let my hand drop away from the horse and step back so he can’t demand more. He looks at me with these big eyes that catch me right in the chest, but I’m fucking exhausted.
“Night, Apollo,” I tell him and begin to make my way to the exit. The ranch is quiet around me, the hands off somewhere doing their rounds. Even Ralph seems quiet tonight. The dogs are patrolling while Judge is inside the house with Knox.
It’s peaceful.
I move across the gravel and turn to make my way to the house when a scuffing sound freezes me to the spot. It’s so dark out I can’t see much, and the light above the stable barely illuminates the space around me.
A low growl pierces the air followed by a second and then a third before it becomes a hum that has the hair on the back of my neck standing up.
I swing my eyes around, searching for the source, but I see nothing but several sets of glowing eyes.
My heart drops into my stomach.
Somewhere on the ranch, the two Heelers Knox has to protect his livestock start to bark.
Oh fuck.
My feet scuff in the gravel.
Survive the mafia… get taken out by coyotes.
Behind the pack, I see the door to the house open, but he’s too far away. They’re coming in closer, heads low to the ground, teeth bared as the snarling continues. Behind me, Ralph huffs and paws at the ground with his hoof, and I assume it’s him they’re here for.
Panic and fear works through me, my skin breaking out in a sweat.
“Elena!” Knox’s voice roars through the darkness.
The coyotes begin to close in, forcing my feet backwards until the fencing containing Ralph hits my back.
I can smell the predators, wet and earthy, the low menacing growls making my heart race and stomach knot in fear.
I can’t get to the house, not when they surround me.
I can only go backwards, so that’s what I do.
I hear the paws and claws scuff into the dirt as I hop the fence and run.
Right toward the bull facing my way. Behind me, they chase, so close I swear I feel their breath on my legs.
Ralph lets out a bellow, his head swinging left and right as his tail swishes and his hooves make a deep divot in the ground.
Loud huffs of air blow from his large nostrils, and while I don’t know a thing about bulls, I can understand that this one right now is pissed.
Hopefully, it’s at the coyotes and not me. I suppose it won’t really matter if I become food for them if he tramples me to death. I get to his side, running my hand down his thick, muscular body.
“Please don’t kill me,” I whisper, voice trembling.
The coyotes come to a skidding halt before they start to create a semi-circle around both me and Ralph, eyes watching, analyzing, trying to figure out the best way to attack.
The one in the front lunges, and a scream rips from my throat, the coyote latching on to Ralph just below his neck.
He throws him off only for another to come in on the other side.
“Knox!” I scream, but Ralph knocks into me, his weight pushing me to the ground as another one nips at his ankles.
“Elena!” Knox’s voice is closer. “Don’t move!”
What the fuck does he mean, don’t move!? Does he even see –
My thoughts cut off at the first sound of the shotgun, the boom of it ricocheting off the mountainside to rattle inside my brain.
Another sounds a moment later as he shoots at the ground to scare the predators away.
The coyotes scatter, darting off in every direction.
The Heelers begin chase, the shouts of the hands filtering in a second later.
“Darlin’?” I swing my gaze around, seeing Knox lowering to a crouch ahead of me, but my eyes fix on the blood running down Ralph’s leg.
“He’s hurt!” I scramble to my feet, using Knox to help me up, and don’t hesitate to go to the bull. He’s breathing heavy and fast, eyes wide, and I spot another wound, just below his neck. I don’t think about what I’m doing as I begin to scratch his muzzle, trying to get a better look at the wound.
“Shit, Knox!” Chase jogs toward us, his own shotgun in hand. “We saw ‘em running off, didn’t even hear them arrive!”
“They’re hungry,” Knox grumbles, “And desperate.”
Ralph turns his head toward Chase and paws at the dirt.
“Might wanna get the fuck outta here,” Knox warns, “Injured or not, his sight is set on you.”
Chase tips his hat. “I’ll call the vet.”
“Do that,” Knox confirms.
“Is he going to be okay?” I hold the bull’s head as if he’s just some oversized puppy, and I swear he leans into it. Knox looks at the two of us and shakes his head with a sigh before he turns to inspect the wounds, his lack of urgency on the matter pissing me off.
“He’ll need a shot,” Knox says as he inspects the lacerations.
“You’re going to shoot him!?” I cry.
“No, Elena, I am not going to fucking shoot him. A shot. A vaccination to make sure he doesn’t get any type of infection.”
“Oh,” I deflate.
He rolls his eyes at me.
“Wait a damn minute!” I yell at him, “Why the fuck are you getting pissy at me? So what? I care about him, and he saved my life.”
Am I being a tad dramatic? Perhaps. But I’d also like to believe that this big guy here did, in fact, want to save my life. He didn’t run away or try to hurt me, and I’ll take that as a win.
“You’re insufferable,” Knox turns toward the car currently speeding down the driveway, the pickup kicking up dust as its headlights cut through the darkness.
Letting the bull go, I drop my arms only to wrap them around myself. Despite the heat still clinging to the air, chills run through me, making my body quake. As the car comes to a stop close to the fence line, Knox turns back to me and takes me in.
“Are you hurt?” He asks as he shrugs out of the shirt hanging off his shoulders. He’s wearing a clean white tee under it that molds to every ridge and muscle.
I shake my head, my breath stalling as he throws the shirt over my shoulders and then wraps his big arm around me, pulling me into the side of his body.
“Adrenaline dumps are the worst on the human body,” He mumbles, his attention returning to the woman, who is now out of the car and hopping the fence.
Ashy blonde hair, beautiful big eyes with freckles and pouty lips.
She’s a knockout, especially in those cycling shorts and sports bra combo that shows off the toned muscles in her thighs and torso.
“I came right here,” The woman says to Knox, lifting a hand to rest it on his other arm. “How is he?”
My spine stiffens, something hot and venomous churning low in my gut. Fuck the adrenaline.
Who the fuck is this?
“Thanks for coming, doc,” Knox tightens his arm and subtly shakes off her hand. “Seems okay, but gonna need patching.”
“Those damn coyotes,” The woman sighs before she cuts her eyes to me and then the arm around my body. Her shoulders go back, her chest popping out a little further than it was before. “Hi, I’m Everly.”
“Elena.” There’s not a single ounce of warmth in my tone, but by the way Knox greeted her as doc means she’s his vet and I’ll at least be civil if it means she’ll fix Ralph.
“Shocked you’re in here to be honest,” The vet laughs, giving me a once over and there’s a slight curl to her lip, “I’m the only woman Ralph has tolerated before this, isn’t that right, Knox.”
“Actually–” My voice is sharp but cut off as Knox gets us walking.
“You good out here, Everly?” He asks but doesn’t wait for an answer. “Need to get Elena inside. She was out here when they attacked.”
“Oh right,” Everly slides her eyes down Knox before she licks her bottom lip and gives him a flirty smile. “Of course. I’ll come find you when I’m done.”
I hope Ralph tramples her.
“Put your claws away,” Knox snaps when we’re almost at the house. “She’s my vet and completely harmless.”
“Harmless?” I scoff, stepping up onto the porch, “Please. She wants to climb you like a tree.”
The door slams behind him. “Are you jealous?”
“Jealous?” A laugh bursts from me. “Pssh, no.”
His head cocks to the side a little, and the smallest smile curls up one side of his mouth. “No?”
I plant my hands on my hips. “Nope.”
Knox steps a little closer, crowding me back against the wall.
“Tell me something,” He curls his big hand around the side of my neck and presses his thumb into the tender spot on my throat, just beneath my chin, forcing me to tilt my head back.
“What?”
“Did you go and touch yourself after you got off my thigh the other day?”
My mouth drops open, and his eyes flick to it, “Did you?” He urges.
“Yes,” I won’t lie.
“Did you come?”
“No.” I give him the truth again.
“Why not?”
“Couldn’t get there,” I wet my lips, “I tried.”
“And yet you were so ready to come all over my thigh,” He muses.
Fuck. What the fuck is going on? I feel powerless as warmth spreads through me, an ache blooming between my legs. I’ve allowed no man to take the power from me, but I’m willingly giving it away.
“I was,” I admit.
His thumb presses in a little harder, the bite of pain tilting my head back further. He leans in, and for just a second it feels as if he might kiss me, but then he drops lower, and he runs his nose up the column of my throat. I press my thighs together, my knees threatening to buckle.
The coarse hair of his beard scratches at the sensitive skin, the pulse point in my neck pounding against the pad of his thumb.
“I can feel how needy you are,” He rasps, lips pressed to my neck, breath warm.
“Knox,” There’s a tremble to my voice, and he’s right, I feel fucking desperate.
“Would you beg?” He asks, “Or take what I give silently?”
“Fuck,” I moan.
His chuckle sets my blood on fire, and my pussy throbs, clenching around nothing.
But then he pulls away, dipping his eyes down me, lingering where my thighs press together tightly.
“Since you’re not jealous,” He steps away, leaving me using the wall for support, “I’m just going to head back out and check on Ralph.”
“Knox,” I growl. He is not about to leave me hanging again.
“Sleep well, Elena.”