14. Nora
CHAPTER 14
Nora
I know it sounds crazy. I absolutely know that. But there’s no doubt in my mind that Aaron started that fire. It’s his lighter. I’d know it anywhere. He got the stupid thing when he graduated high school, and every time we went to a party, he would make a huge deal out of offering people a light with it.
The memory of it lighting candles on my birthday cake is vivid for me, and as I stare down at it, I have a violent reaction. I grab it and throw it into the corner.
“Nora,” Clint says, walking to where the lighter landed. “The fuck did you do that for?”
I sink my head into my hands. “I don’t know. I just…”
I just needed to do something. Aaron coming up here to follow me? It’s impossible.
“It can’t be him,” I whisper.
“I think that the evidence is saying it probably is,” Landon says quietly. “I reckon that he’ll be coming back anytime, so we need to get a game plan together.
A game plan. A fucking game plan.
I shake my head. “I?—”
“Show us what he looks like,” Clint barks. “If that motherfucker comes close, we’ll shoot him on sight. ”
It still isn’t computing for me. There’s no way that Aaron could be here. I never took him home. I never even told him where I lived. I guess that he could do some kind of research to figure it out, but still… It’s impossible for him to be here.
Isn’t it?
My eyes widen as I remember all the weird shit that’s been happening lately. “Holy shit. Do you think that he also messed with the flamethrower?”
“We don’t know, Nora,” Shane admits. “But we need to know what he looks like, in case we do see him.”
“Because you’re going to shoot him?”
All three of the guys are dead freaking quiet.
I close my eyes. “I just… Aaron’s an asshole, but he’s not a murderer.” Why would he burn the barn down? Why would he try to mess with our stuff? How am I going to keep him from coming back?
This is all my fault.
I put my head in my hands, unable to stop the tears now.
“Nora?” Landon lays his hand on my back. “Hellcat, you have to tell us what’s wrong. If you don’t tell us, we can’t fix it.”
“You can’t fix any of it!” I practically yell, snapping my head up. I stand up, pacing around the living room. “You can’t fix any of it. The ranch is going under. We’re not going to be able to pay our mortgage. You can’t make my dad heal faster from his cancer diagnosis. You can’t keep my psycho ex-boyfriend from stalking me. You can’t…”
Strong arms, thick with muscle, surround me.
“We can’t fix some of that, Nora,” Clint rumbles. I press my face into his chest as he holds me close. “But we can help with some of it. Now, pull up a picture of this fucking dead man, so that we know who we’re looking for.”
The command settles me. I nod, pulling out of Clint’s arms and robotically digging out my phone from my pocket. I pull up my camera roll and go to the only picture of the two of us that’s left. I hold it up.
“I didn’t delete it because my hair looks really good here,” I mutter.
Shane takes the phone. He taps, looking up at me. “I’m sending this picture to Landon, Clint, and myself. And I’m saving all of our numbers in your phone. ”
“If you so much as get a hint of him, even just out of the corner of your eye, you fucking call us,” Landon says.
“Wait. Are you leaving?” I hate that my voice shakes.
Clint shakes his head. “No. I meant what I said. I told your dad we would guard you, and I fucking meant it.” He turns to Landon and Shane. “Shifts. You two take the barn and the house, and I’ll swap out with whoever’s watching the house when you need it.”
Both Landon and Shane give sharp nods, then walk out.
I look at Clint. “What are you going to do?”
He looks down, then back up. When he does, I can see a softness in the corners of his eyes that I’ve never seen before. He leans forward. “I’m not leaving you alone, Nora. I’ll sit right down here, on the couch, until morning.”
I bite my lip. My bedroom is upstairs, and I want to walk up there and shower and fall into it.
But Aaron has been here. What if he’s been watching me sleep? What if…
I shudder. “No.”
Clint’s eyes widen. “No?”
“No. I mean, I don’t want you to stay down here.”
“Nora, you don’t exactly have a fucking choice?—”
“Because I want you to be with me,” I say softly.
Clint steps back like the words hit him in his chest. “What?”
“He’s been here, Clint. He’s been in my barn. Around my house. I don’t want to be alone up in my room just thinking about him. Come upstairs. With me,” I whisper.
Clint agrees to come upstairs with me. I leave him sitting on my bed, and I turn the shower on in my adjoining bathroom. For a moment, as I strip, I wonder if I’m forcing him to do this.
He was the only one who just… watched the other day. Does he hate me? What if Clint only puts up with me because of what Landon and Shane want?
I’m so preoccupied that I take a step too far into the bathtub. My foot hits the smooth porcelain, and I slip. I shriek, barely catching myself from falling flat on my face.
The door to the bathroom bursts open.
“Nora?” Clint says, his face frantic. “What happened? Are you okay?”
I’m just frozen. I’m totally naked, my limbs everywhere, bracing myself up in the shower.
Clint’s eyes travel over my body. I watch as he goes from a somewhat clinical detachment to… interest.
“I’m fine,” I say, my nipples tightening under his gaze. “I’m fine. I just slipped.”
“Slipped,” he repeats.
I nod.
Clint looks me up and down again, and I can’t help it. The question on my mind comes bursting out of me. “You don’t like me, do you?”
His eyes snap up to mine. “What makes you think that?”
“Because… the other night…”
Clint’s eyes get even darker. He steps into the bathroom. His hands move forward, wrapping around my waist. I shiver. The calluses on his palms rake against my skin, and it makes me bite my lip against the moan that’s bubbling there.
“I wanted you then, Nora,” he says in a low, sexy voice. “You’re a fucking smoke show, and I wanted you then.”
“So why didn’t you?—”
He tugs me up. He’s fully clothed, and the contrast between us makes my heart beat with arousal.
“I didn’t because I didn’t. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to,” he grunts.
I look up at him. “So, if I said I wanted to kiss you now, would you kiss me?”
He glances away. “Nora…”
“Please?”
Something snaps in him. Clint turns, his hands lifting up to cup the back of my neck, and he plants his lips on mine.
Oh, good lord. Kissing Clint is intense. I throw my arms around him, plastering my body to his clothes. He grips the back of my neck, making a fist in the hair there. I moan when he tugs my head back to reveal my neck, kissing down the column of my throat and toward my breasts.
“Clint,” I whisper.
He steps back, gasping. “Nora. I…”
“I want more,” I murmur.
He looks at me, his eyes round. I step back, opening the shower curtain all the way. He’s soaking wet, there’s no point to him standing there in those clothes. “I want you.”
Clint growls.
My fingers drift up, tugging at the snaps on his buttons. “Clint,” I whisper, pulling the shirt to reveal his chest. “I…”
He grunts. In a remarkably fast move, he tugs his shirt off more.
“Touch me,” he commands.
Oh, I can do that.
The bathroom is getting absolutely soaked, but I run my hands over Clint’s chest. He’s not burly like Shane or wiry like Landon, but somewhere in between. He’s covered in scars, though. Some of them have a familiar horse jaw-shaped bend, and some are just scars.
Clint hisses when I trail my fingers down his side. There’s a huge bruise coming around from his back, and when I peek at it, I see the clear indent of a horse hoof over where his liver is.
I suck in a breath. “Did Thunder do that?”
He gives a sharp nod.
“Clint, I’m so sorry…”
“Don’t be,” he says roughly. “She’s a tough mare. She was defending her foals, and she wasn’t about to let me or anyone else fuck with them.”
I laugh. “You would like that. Everyone else sees her as a mean, contrary bitch.”
“I see that. But she’s also fierce and powerful,” he says, his eyes going soft.
I shake my head. “You really love horses, don’t you?”
“Always have. They… they’re easy,” he mutters.
The unspoken implication hangs between us. And humans aren’t.
I lean forward again, my fingertips skating down the hard lines of his abs. I tug at his belt buckle. “You wanted to protect me, right? ”
Clint nods.
“I almost slipped in the shower,” I say, my eyes looking up at him. “It’s pretty dangerous in here.”
“Nora…” But he doesn’t flinch as I undo his belt and the button on his jeans.
“I think you need to shower with me. To keep me safe from falling,” I murmur. Clint groans as I trace my fingers over his impressive erection. I look up. “Please, Clint.”
I’m finding that one word seems to undo him. Clint roughly shoves down his pants, stepping into the shower with me. I watch as the water starts to sluice over him, running in large rivers down the topography of his body.
I want to show him how much I appreciate him being here with me. How much I like that he’s there to protect me. Slowly, I kneel.
Clint’s eyes go wide as he watches me. “Nora…”
“Clint,” I murmur, my nails skating over the thick muscles of his thighs. “I want you.”
I’m repeating the same thing. I know I am. But something tells me that Clint needs to be wanted. He needs to know that I want him, specifically. And that I’m not going to say it and then walk away.
“Nora, I—” Clint’s words cut off in a groan as I let my hands wander over to where his thick length is protruding forward. I tug it down, a little nervous because it’s even bigger than Shane.
Then, in one movement, I take him into my mouth.