Chapter 16
My Hero – Foo Fighters
Tally
Another morning waking alone, desperate for the feel of a large, calloused hand on my stomach. Loneliness enveloping me when I knew it would never truly be there. Contemplating the meaning of my thoughts, I rolled onto my back, stretching my sex-ached limbs.
A cobweb hung from the wooden rafter, fluttering a dance like a whispered promise. I smiled, glancing at the window cracked open an inch. Wilder and his insistence on fresh air in the room.
Turning my head to my nightstand, I noticed a piece of paper. Reaching for it, I read the untidy scratch of words.
Brownie,
Didn’t want to wake you after putting you through your paces last night. Must say it was some of my best work.
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help grinning. It felt good not to have to hide it for once. The secret smile he elicited just by being…him. Touching my lips, I continued reading.
There’s something I need to do. I’m sure you can guess what it is. Maybe it’ll be the worst decision I ever make, but maybe not. I did wear a pink tee once that did nothing for my eyes.
See you later, Wilder x
Letting the note flutter onto the covers, I let out a long sigh.
Not sure whether it was one of relief for him that he’d decided to visit his dad, or whether it was for myself.
I felt a release in my chest that he hadn’t left without a word.
Not after what we’d experienced the night before.
The emotion and intensity, the way we’d both lost ourselves in each other so that we could forget the noise.
If that was all we had then so be it. I would treasure what it was. I would miss it, too, because of what it was. All the things that I knew we could never really be.
“This is not getting the day started,” I muttered to myself. Throwing my leg out of bed, I felt the wonderful ache of incredible sex in my limbs and another smile ghosted my lips. If nothing else the memory would keep me warm for a time.
Gunner had sent Ruthie home with a heavy cold, so I was helping by finishing up some paperwork for another horse that would be leaving us the next day.
It was a task I was more than happy to do because the temperature outside had dropped at least two or three degrees.
I was still struggling to get the warmth back into my fingers even as I typed.
All day I’d struggled to get my head into work, my mind constantly drifting toward Wilder. Wondering how his visit was going. Whether he’d got the answers he so desperately needed.
When the door opened, I expected it to be Gunner, but when I saw who it was, heat was restored to my veins. Not the exciting, fiery, frenzied, passionate kind. The ugly, angry heat that came with the arrival of my damn husband.
“What the fuck do you want?” I spat out, pushing my chair away from the desk. “I thought I’d said everything there was to say. Unless, of course, you have the signed papers I’m desperate for.”
“And good afternoon to you.” He ran his eyes over the office, taking everything in. Assessing, with his beady little blues that I’d grown to hate.
“How the hell did you get in here without one of my bosses seeing you?”
“I always have been stealthy.”
Shuddering, I reached for my phone. “I have nothing to say to you, Declan, so I’d like you to go.”
Scrolling through my contacts, I paused when I got to Wilder’s name. I wanted to message him, but he wasn’t around, was he?
I clicked on Gunner’s name instead.
Me:
SOS in the office.
“Do you want to know why I’m here?” he asked, his voice the slither of a snake. “Ask why I came back.”
“No, Declan, I don’t.” The fury churned like a pot on the brink, slow, relentless bubbles licking the edge, one breath away from spilling into chaos. “But if it’s to tell me you’ve signed the divorce papers then great. Thank you and goodbye.”
Glancing at the door, I prayed for it to swing open and Gunner to walk in. To rescue me from having to look at his supercilious smirk. Like he knew something that I didn’t. Some huge life changing secret.
My heart sank. It was obvious he wasn’t standing in front of me with good news about our divorce.
“Is that it?” I asked, hoping that maybe I was wrong. Maybe he had signed the papers after all.
His lips pursed, like he had something disgusting under his nose. “I’m here to tell you that I’m taking Dream Maker back.”
He said the words like they were simple. Matter of fact. Like I was going to just look him in the eye and say, “Okay, then, want me to get him ready?”.
“No.” I pushed out of my chair, my finger shaking as I pointed at him.
“No.” My voice cracked like a whip. “Over my dead, trampled, stomped-to-dust body.” Taking two steps closer I felt the vomit rise in my throat.
“You can’t. Bernard agreed I could have him as long as I didn’t report him for animal cruelty.
” The sting of tears stabbed my eyes and panic seized me.
I moved to go past him, but Declan grabbed my arm, fingers digging into my skin.
I struggled but he held me tighter, pulling me against his body.
“There is a way you can keep him,” he told me. The way his eyes raked over me, made my spine stiffen and my skin prickle with distaste.
“No way and you’re not taking him. You have no right.” It took all my strength, one hand pushing against his chest, to get myself free of his grip, moving for the door. I had to make sure that Dreamy was safe.
“Tallulah! Get back here now!” Strong fingers gripped my braid, yanking my head back. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“What the fuck is going on here?”
Wilder’s muscular frame stood in the doorway, so big and wide that he blocked the watery afternoon sunlight. His stare met mine and then went to Declan’s fingers around my hair and he let out a roar.
“You bastard. You’d better let her go now!”
Declan’s grip loosened and I took the advantage to rush toward my savior. His hands came to my face, cupping it gently as he stooped to look me in the eye.
“You okay, Brownie?” His thumb brushed against my cheek. “Even if you are I’m still going to bury him in a ditch for touching you.”
“He’s going to take Dreamy.” My chest heaved as my fingers trembled at my lips. “He said he’s going to take him.”
Wilder looked over my shoulder, his jaw clenching tight. His brown eyes turned black with uninhibited fury.
“Get behind me,” he whispered, his stare still on Declan. “He’s not taking anything.”
“It’s not her horse to keep. She damn well stole it.”
Wilder gently moved me to one side and took a step away from me. “You have five seconds to get out of here and never set foot on my land ever again.” Hands clenching into fists he inhaled slowly, chest expanding, stature growing.
“I’m not going anywhere without Bernard Kennedy’s horse.”
“He’s mine,” I cried. “He agreed I could keep him.”
“You heard her.” Wilder stood to one side, guiding me behind him. “Now get the fuck out.”
Declan looked me up and down, disgust and want mixed in his gaze. “I will get what I want, Tallulah.”
Ice trickled down my spine because I wasn’t sure as to what he was referring to; me or Dreamy.
“I think you’ll find you’ve got three seconds left before I punch you,” Wilder snapped.
Declan took a step then halted, looking around the office. “Not exactly what you’re used to is it, Tallulah?”
“A yard full of misogynistic pricks,” I offered. “You’re right. This place is a thousand times better.”
He scoffed. “Hardly comparable is it? This set up.”
Wilder cleared his throat, but Declan continued watching me. Appraising, as if he was wondering why he’d married me in the first place yet wondering how he could make sure it remained that way.
“This place is the best place on earth,” I told him, not keeping the bite from my tone. “Mainly because you’re not here.”
Wilder gave a quiet chuckle that turned to a growl when Declan lifted a hand toward me.
“Don’t even think about it.” His voice was low and deep, full of threat.
I’d always considered Declan to be astute in many ways but when he ran a finger down the curve of my cheek, I wondered whether he was still in possession of a brain.
Wilder, never a man to procrastinate, pulled back his arm and landed a fist right in Declan’s stomach.
With a loud exhale of pain, he doubled over. Groaning he staggered back, one arm cradling his stomach like it might keep his pride from spilling out.
“You’re insane,” he rasped.
Wilder stepped forward, not touching him but close enough that the warning was clear.
“Next time you so much as look at her wrong, I won’t aim for your stomach.”
Declan’s eyes flicked to me, his mouth curling into something between a sneer and a pout. “This isn’t over.”
“No,” Wilder said. “It really is.”
Declan took one last look around the office like he was trying to remember something about it, then turned and left. His shoes scuffed down the porch steps and he was gone.
The silence after felt heavy and my legs wobbled but Wilder was already there. Hands gentle as he caught my arms, grounding me like he always did.
“You alright?” he asked, voice low.
I nodded, then shook my head. “He said he was taking Dreamy. That I stole him.”
“You didn’t steal a damn thing,” Wilder muttered, eyes dark. “I was with Gunner when he got your message. He was showing me pictures of the new stallion. I just…left.”
My stomach twisted. “You think he’ll wonder why?”
Wilder shrugged, jaw ticking. “Probably. Doesn’t matter now, does it? Cat’s out of the bag.”
My breath caught. “What do you mean?”
His hand ran up and down my arm, comforting, but there was something distant in it. Like his mind was already somewhere else.
“I mean, now that your ex has put on a show in the office and I’ve made it clear I’ll throw a punch for you, there’s no point pretending anymore.” He gave me a tight smile. “We can still be just sex. Just… less sneaky about it.”
Something twisted deep in my chest. It shouldn’t have hurt. That was the deal, wasn’t it? No strings. No promises. Just something physical to burn the loneliness out of our bones.
But hearing it framed that way now, with the sting of Declan still on my skin and Wilder’s mouth so close to mine, it didn’t land like it used to. Now it felt less.
I smiled back, brittle at the edges. “Right. Less sneaky.”
His thumb brushed my cheek. Not seeming to notice the way I blinked a little too fast.
“Dreamy’s going to be fine. The amount of security Gunner has on this place, there’s no way he’s leaving without you saying so.”
I nodded, swallowing the ache as his handsome features blinded me with want.
“You’re safe too,” he added. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know.”
I knew he meant it, but it wasn’t what I needed to hear. Not this time.
Because for the first time, “just sex” didn’t feel simple anymore.
And for the first time, I wasn’t sure I could keep pretending it was.