CHAPTER 23
I ride behind Knox with Chase behind me, Judge happily trotting at the side of Apollo as we make our way back to the ranch. The weather has taken a turn, the sky is now covered in a thick layer of ominous grey clouds, and the air feels heavy and charged.
A storm is brewing, and the humidity makes me sweat worse than when it’s blazing sun. I pick at my shirt, pulling it away from my skin.
I woke up before Knox did and scrambled out of the tent, having woken up pressed against him. I don’t play fucking games, and the push and pull between us is giving me whiplash.
The first drop of rain hits my cheek, and I turn my face to the clouds.
The downpour starts slowly before it builds to a thunderous level.
It takes minutes to soak all three of us through.
But neither Chase nor Knox appears to be in any hurry to get out of the weather.
The cool water is a reprieve to my overheated skin.
“Ten minutes,” Knox calls back to me without looking.
A deep rumble of thunder echoes through the clouds, bouncing off the mountain behind us, the wind whipping through the trees and sending a shiver down my spine.
By the time we reach the edge of the ranch, I am completely drenched, the same as the horses, the guys and Judge.
Another roll of thunder splits the sky, followed by a bright fork of lightning that makes me jump on top of Apollo.
His ears pin back as his whole body goes rigid beneath me.
I am not stupid; I know my experience and a spooked horse is out of my depth.
He shifts, dancing across the gravel as his head throws back, the reins slipping through my hands.
Fear and anxiety rattle through me, making my thighs tighten on the back of Apollo. He pulls his head down, tightening the reins, and any confidence I had on the back of him leaves me.
“Elena,” Knox steers Honey around, bringing her closer but not in direct line of Apollo, who shifts more erratically beneath me.
I turn my wide eyes to him.
“Hey,” He soothes, “It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay!” A shrill sound leaves me. I’m going to get thrown off. Fuck.
“Elena,” Knox’s voice is stern, “You need to relax.”
“Relax!?” A gasp leaves me as Apollo suddenly steps back quickly, jerking me in the saddle.
“Elena, you’re scaring him,” Knox pins me with his eyes. “Just breathe, you’re not coming off.”
My heart is pounding inside my chest, rain running rivers over my face, but none of that matters, not as he pins me with his eyes.
“Breathe, darlin’.”
Slowly he brings Honey up next to us, his knee touching mine before he reaches across and cups my chin, “Breathe.”
I suck in a stuttering breath, “That’s it. Relax a little, trust he won’t hurt you. He got you up the mountain, he’ll get you back down.”
“The thunder,” I swallow thickly.
“Apollo is not reacting to the weather, darlin’, it’s you. Just take a minute, okay? Just breathe.”
A clap of thunder erupts through the clouds.
“Good girl,” Knox praises, “We can make it back. Do you trust me?”
My whole body shivers, and as much as it pains me to admit it, I do. “Yes.”
“Good,” His fingers release my chin. “Loose rein, tight grip.” He commands.
He turns around but stays close, watching me follow his instructions. Apollo relaxes beneath me. Even when another bolt of lightning splits the sky, he doesn’t spook like before.
“Good,” Knox keeps his voice steady and strong, sticking to my side as we slowly start walking again. “Keep going, darlin’.”
I turn my chin to him a little, but he’s already watching me, his body strong, one hand resting on his thigh, the other on the reins, his confidence keeping him steady.
I feed from it, a man as steadfast as Knox radiates the kind of energy you want to keep around you.
It’s safety, warmth. Everything I’ve never had from a man.
Not even my father was a safe man. I loved him, of course, but he wasn’t safe.
It just makes my heart hurt.
But it also pisses me off.
He wants me, and yet denies us both, and that makes him a coward, safe or not.
I allow him to help me and Apollo back to the stables, feeding from that quiet power of his until we get the horses safely away so they can be looked after, fed and watered before resting.
My body is stiff when I finally step away from the horse, muscles aching, ass numb, but just as I’m about to leave to get some food and a shower, my eyes clash with his.
“Elena,” He reaches for me, but I step back, causing his brows to draw low.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I snap at him. “Thank you for helping me with Apollo, I appreciate it, but it doesn’t mean I’m not pissed at you.”
“Pissed at me!?” He jerks his head back. “I made it clear.”
“Yeah,” I laugh, “That you’re a fucking coward.”
His face twists, anger coming over him for a moment. “A fucking coward?” He hisses, “You’re calling me a coward.”
“If the shoe fits,” I cross my arms. Behind him, Chase enters the stables but stops abruptly.
“Not now, Chase,” Knox commands.
I watch as his right-hand man ducks out, and I turn back to him.
“You’re a brat,” He snaps at me, “Selfish, spiteful and fucking reckless.”
“Keep going,” I taunt him, “Get it all out.”
“Don’t push me, woman.”
“Or what?” I laugh humorlessly. “You’ll run away again?”
His eyes darken, “Elena.”
“I’ll save you the trouble, cowboy,” I turn on him and head for the door behind me that leads around the back of the stables. He doesn’t come after me, but I feel his eyes burning into my spine until the door slams behind me.
The rain continues to hammer against the ground, the clouds tumbling with the thunder that rolls violently through them.
I’m almost around the stables when I hear the door open and slam shut, and then he’s behind me, grasping me by the arms to push me against the fence, the wooden posts biting into my abdomen with his weight pressing into my spine.
“You fucking test every limit I have,” He growls in my ear, “My patience, my temper. Everything.”
I push back on him, but he doesn’t spare me an inch. He’s stronger, and I feel his anger shaking through him.
Perhaps I should be scared, but it’s excitement that rattles through me.
“Better than fear,” I bite back, pushing my hips into his groin.
He sucks in a breath. “You think I’m scared?” He laughs, the deep chuckle far from amused, “I’m not. I am pissed. I fucking hate who you are and what your family has done. And I fucking hate myself because I want you.”
He releases me enough so I can turn, but his arms continue to cage me against the fence. Raindrops roll down his face, catching in his lashes and his beard, but his eyes blaze.
“Then get the fuck off me,” I hiss at him.
His chest heaves with his breaths, a muscle in his jaw ticking wildly, and just when I think he’s going to move so I can go, his mouth slams onto mine.
It takes me a second to catch up, my brain short-circuiting until his tongue traces the seam of my lips and I automatically open for him.
He plunges inside as his hand comes around the back of my skull and his fingers curl into my hair, taking hold of a fistful.
He yanks my head back, the bite of pain forcing a moan from my lips.
He chuckles against my mouth. “You’re a greedy fucking woman, Elena.”
With his hand in my hair, he forces my head further back, stretching my neck to allow room for his mouth. His beard scratches my skin as his teeth graze down the column of my throat.
“This what you wanted, hm?” He rasps against me as he shoves one of his large hands up my shirt, palming my breast above my bra. “For my hands on your body? My mouth tasting your skin?”
Wetness and heat pool between my legs. He sucks all the power away from me, forcing me to submit.
“Answer me,” He rips away from me, “Now, Elena.”
“Yes,” I breathe heavily.
He releases my hair before his hands go to the button of my pants, and he yanks the denim down my thighs, taking my underwear with them.
There’s nothing gentle about it, nothing soft or sweet, and when he grasps my hips and spins me, I have to snatch out to grasp the fence to stop myself from falling.
I hear the buckle of his belt unclip before he yanks my hips back, forcing me to hinge at the waist, and then the head of his cock is right there, nudging into me.
“This is what you wanted,” He growls behind me before he thrusts forward and impales me in one quick and brutal push.
The rain batters us both as he pulls back and slams forward again, his fingers biting into my hips as he yanks with every thrust. He’s fucking big, and the stretch is enough to have me whimpering.
His powerful body jerks against mine, every slap of his hips pushing me forward, but he doesn’t allow me any give.
He keeps me against him, forces me to take every inch of his cock.
And I do. I take it and I give back, my moans joining the thunder and the rain.
“Fuck,” He groans, “You feel too fucking good, Hellion.”
My nails bite into the wood of the fence, body convulsing around his thick length. I’m wet and I’m aching, and he feels so fucking good.
Powerful.
Brutal.
Safe.
I give myself over, I let him have me, use me.
His hand comes around my front, skirting up between the valley of my breasts until the rough skin of his hand presses around my throat, and he pulls me back, bending at the knees to keep his pace.
He squeezes the edges, restricting but not taking away as he continues to fuck me, hard and fast. Desperate and messy.
My inner thighs are soaked, the denim around my knees not budging, making the fit of him impossibly tight. He strokes every part of me, deep and true, and all I can do is hold on.
I feel his anger, it surrounds us, charging the air.
“Look at you,” My head thumps against his shoulder. “Taking it all, so damn greedy for my cock, you’re making a mess all over your thighs.”
“Knox,” My voice scratches from my throat.
“You’re going to come all over my cock,” He demands, “Fucking give it to me.”
“Fuck,” I whimper, and his fingers give a gentle squeeze, my head turning a little fuzzy before a sense of euphoria sweeps through me, making me lax and dizzy with it.
I can feel every part of me tightening, muscles trembling as every stroke of his cock sends me higher and higher. There is no give, no reprieve. He is relentless. A loud moan tumbles from me, and his responding chuckle rumbles against my spine.
“That’s fucking it,” He praises. “It’s mine. Your pleasure is mine.”
“Please,” I beg.
“Such pretty manners.” He slows his pace, withdrawing from me inch by inch, almost pulling all the way out before he thrusts back in. My knees wobble, my heart pounds as everything knots, my pussy throbbing around him.
“So fucking perfect,” He rasps, “Tight and wet. This cunt is mine now, do you understand?”
Jesus.
“I said,” He slams in hard enough I swear my bones rattle, “Do you understand?”
“Yes!” I cry.
“Good fucking girl.” He rewards me by pinching my clit between his fingers, and it’s game over.
I shatter around him, coming so hard and fast, I see stars behind my eyes.
I no longer feel the rain or the wind, it’s just him as he works me through my orgasm, following me over the edge.
His cock jerks as he comes, filling me up, and his deep, rasping moan sends a shiver down my spine.
His body drapes over mine as his heart pounds against my spine, his breath whispering against the skin on my neck.
“The house,” He rasps, “Now. We’re not done here.”