Chapter Six #3
“You don’t get to try to make me feel bad about my decision, Theon, especially since you’re the one who drove me to make it.
” A cow mooed loudly, and she almost snapped at it to be quiet.
“I had a hard time believing you cared for me in the slightest. You know, at some point I started to wonder if it was because I was the first woman you’d dated since your wife... ”
She trailed off then, realizing she’d gone too far, but it was too late.
The words were already out. The rest of her sentence died in her throat.
Janice swallowed, gazing up into Theon’s face.
Was he angry? He’d never really liked to talk about his late wife.
And she’d gone and brought her up mid-argument.
Theon’s expression was almost unreadable, but she saw his jaw clench. Those grey eyes stared back at her. What thoughts were going through his head right now?
“I’m really sorry,” she began, preparing to give herself a mental kick. “I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean to—”
His hand closed around her wrist then, shutting her up in an instant. Then he pulled her closer, covering her mouth with his before she knew what was happening.
In the seconds that followed, Janice felt her senses go into overdrive.
Theon kissed her long and hard, caressing her lips with his, and she was instantly aware of their bodies pressed together, her breasts crushed against his chest. For a second, she hesitated, appalled as she felt her nipples harden.
Then Theon’s hand fell to the small of her back, pulling her groin to his, and she sighed resignedly into the kiss.
Without so much as a thought, she placed a hand on his shoulder, gripping it as their kiss deepened.
There was something urgent about the way he kissed her, almost primal, but she could’ve sworn there was a tenderness to it as well.
His fingers curled against her back, and she felt a slight throb as his erection prodded her.
A thrill raced through her, heat searing through her gut. It had been forever since she’d been this way with him, with anyone. In the past three months, she hadn’t so much as gotten a caress from anyone. And being kissed by Theon made her realize just how starved she’d been.
All reason flew out the window. She moaned into the kiss, craving more of it, more of him.
His hand fell to her buttock, giving it a squeeze, and she nearly went wild, grinding her hips against him.
He was just as aroused as she was, his incredible hardness still poking her through his pants.
He kneaded her butt again, sucking hard on her lip at the same time, and her body almost completely sagged against him.
God, she’d missed this.
Everything else aside, Theon Gardener had always been an amazing lover.
And in the months since they’d broken up, that fact hadn’t changed.
It didn’t matter that they were in a barn right now, or that they’d just been having an argument.
She was ready for him, ready to feel more of him against her, inside her...
It was a series of moos that jerked her back to her senses. They broke apart, Theon’s hand sliding off her body. He stepped back, blinking at her as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened. And then the realization hit her, too.
“I...I...” She felt herself go red in the face, even more so when she realized they were both still visibly aroused.
“Sorry,” Theon said, looking anything but apologetic. “I shouldn’t have kissed you.”
You shouldn’t have stopped, a part of her wanted to say. But she should be glad he had. He was the last person she should think of getting intimate with. Thank goodness those cows had interrupted them when they had.
She bit her lip without meaning to, torn between wanting to put as much distance between them as possible and wanting those lips on hers again.
“You’re right,” she said finally. “You shouldn’t have.”
He started to respond, but just then, the barn doors shuddered. A second later, they swung open.
“There you are!”
Svenson stood just outside, flanked by a couple of ranch hands.
The ground was strewn with toilet paper, some of it hanging from the roof of the barn.
The old man’s eyes were wide, almost teary, and his chest heaved like he’d run all the way here.
The men flanking him had similar expressions on their faces.
It took Janice a moment to realize what it was.
Horror.
“You...y-you were right,” Svenson said, his gaze darting between her and Theon. “You were right!”
Theon was the first to respond. “What are you talking about?”
“There’s blood everywhere! Cows, horses...slaughtered! And my vegetables...they’re ruined!”
Janice and Theon exchanged a look. Her insides formed a tight knot. The ranch had been attacked? They hadn’t even heard a thing. Then again, they’d been too busy making out to even notice much about their surroundings.
Five ranches attacked. And not once had she been able to prevent it from happening. Not once had she managed to get a glimpse of whoever was responsible.
Then again...
She watched a piece of toilet paper fall to the ground, and a thought occurred to her.
“It looks like we’ve found our culprits,” she said to Theon. She ground her teeth together. “I’m going to need a large coffee.”