Her mouth turned nearly inside out now as she fought against the core of sadness. Her little chin quivered, and she ran three fingers over her forehead. “I’m moving out.”
“You’re what?” Braden’s head snapped to attention.
“I can’t let you do that.” Kane refused her before Braden had too. Besides, the responsibility fell on his shoulders to some degree.
She stormed to the cross-ties and studied the magnificent creature tied up there. Evan moved closer, anticipating the same thing Kane did, no doubt. She patted Quizzard, stroked him as he tried to bite at her hand. The damn horse was as ornery as the woman petting him.
Braden must’ve believed she feared his horse because he didn’t seem to notice her sudden interest in the unruly beast. “Peyton, we’ll all sit down and talk about this.”
“No! I am not talking to him.” She shook her finger in Kane’s direction, waved it around in the air and then glanced back at Evan. “And you! For the record! I wouldn’t blow you with someone else’s jaws!”
Evan’s lips curved in an easy smile. “Last night, you didn’t need someone else’s. Yours were ready to go to work. If we hadn’t had an audience, darlin’, I promise you, my cock would’ve swelled in between those sweet cheeks long enough for you to drink in every last drop.”
Damn it! Kane gawked at Evan. “Got a way with the ladies, don’t ‘cha?”
Peyton’s mouth opened but she closed it immediately, and the tears really poured now. “See! That’s it! That’s it! I’m out of here.”
Kane turned around, and then walked maybe two steps, three at the most. Evidently, Evan turned away at the same time and before either of them knew what happened, she was on Quizzard’s back galloping out of the barn.
“What the…” Braden rushed into the tack room and pulled out a horse tranquilizer. They’d need it to stop him. “Bareback? That’s suicide on that horse!”
Kane grabbed his mare out of a nearby stall, and with nothing more than a lead rope, jumped on her back as Evan hopped on a dirt bike and headed for the gates.
Kane called out behind him as he galloped up the pavement. “Get up to the road, Braden! That crazy animal of yours is headed for the damn highway!”
She waited for the pendulum of time to stop altogether. The dripping sound remained in the distance as the tick-tock, tick-tock continued to move closer. Back and forth, back and forth, something there in her hospital room kept a precise time.
Braden kept his voice down. “Is she going to be all right?”
“Maybe, if you boys can keep her off of your horses, she will. Who the hell let her have that stallion of yours?” The doctor she heard in the distance sounded like their neighbor. Right now she couldn’t think of his name.
He was a handsome thing. Single, available, probably in his early thirties and…weird. She’d never noticed it before. Now she did. She had time to think about it. He didn’t look at her like other men looked at her. She wondered why sometimes. Not now. She didn’t care why he didn’t look then. Every bone in her body felt shattered beyond repair so gaining or keeping a man’s attention proved irrelevant.
She blinked. “Doctor?”
“Yes, child.”
“Oh shit, he did not just call me child.” She rolled her head from side to side and that’s when she saw Vicky.
Evan laughed in the distance. “Act like one and wear the title, kid.”
“You like keeping these guys on their toes, I hear.” The doctor moved closer.
Vicky patted her arm. “You scared them too death, is what you did. How many times have they told you? Braden’s horse doesn’t like you.”
“Ouch!” Peyton hollered when she tried to move. “He loves me, can’t you tell?” With another moan or two, she tried to sit up. “What happened?”
She heard a loud groan. Braden walked out of the room.
Kane studied her from the corner. “He threw you.”
“I got that part, Kane. Leave.” She turned back to Vicky, “What happened?”
“He dumped you on the highway, right Evan?” Vicky asked.
Evan agreed. “Yeah and Braden is ready to put him down, teach him a final lesson for misbehaving.”
“What?” Peyton didn’t understand.
Kane crossed his arms over his chest. “Braden is so pissed at you and his stupid horse right now. Care to guess which one he’s taking it out on? He wants to put the horse down, put him to sleep, out of his misery.”
“Tell him to put me down instead,” she moaned.
Vicky looked rather amused. “You?”
“There’s an idea,” Evan said.
“I’m serious.” She motioned for Braden as he reappeared in the doorway. “You can’t put him down, Braden. I couldn’t live with myself if you did. There’s no way. This is all my fault.”
“No it isn’t. The damn horse is crazy. I knew it when I bought him. He was abused by his previous owners and he’s nuts. One of these days, Peyton, he’s going to kill someone. I couldn’t live if the someone he chose-”
“Uh-huh. No, he isn’t. You’re wrong.” She swallowed tightly. “It’s not his fault I can’t handle him. He’s wild and free and needs to run. I can’t hang on to him long enough. I don’t have the strength or the knowledge.” She closed her eyes and then opened them again to Kane’s.
With a stiff upper lip, she continued with her dramatic monologue. “It was fun while it lasted. I felt wild and free, just like he did but I can’t keep up with him and I know it. He has too much power and when I’m on him, he takes total control, and the control I’m forced to give him could destroy me. I realize it now.”
“Are we still talking about Braden’s horse or him?” Evan waggled his finger at Kane.
“Both.” She closed her eyes and fell into a restless sleep.
When she woke up a few hours later, everything was a blur. Now, she enjoyed the comforts of home, those found in her own deluxe bedding.
“Doc Davis said you didn’t have broken bones. Your tests were good too. He said he’d check in with us on his way home tonight.”
Evan stretched out on the bed. “My job is to make sure you stay put. You won’t get hurt here in bed.” He smiled as he kissed her forehead.
“I don’t know, Evan, with what you’ve got in your pants, I might.”
“Peyton, don’t start. You’ve had enough fun for one day. I’d like nothing more than to spank your pretty little behind but the fact is you’re on too much pain medicine. You won’t remember it, and I want you to know whose bed you’re in when I take you to mine.” He added with a wink, “Besides, when I paddle your ass, I want you to feel the burn all the way to your pussy.”
“Threats and promises. Should I shake and shiver or just yank my pants down and bend over?”
“That’s enough, cowgirl,” he playfully warned.
“Nope, not yet but it will be. You’ll see.”
“Not if I keep my pants on, sweetheart.”
“You won’t. I promise.” She sighed, curled up in his arms, and went right back to sleep.
When Peyton woke up again, she felt pretty good. She rolled over to the left and then to the right. Suddenly, she changed her mind. She felt far from splendid.
She felt like a horse threw her, a car ran over her, and a train used her body for tracks. She pretty much decided her body was bruised from head to toe. It didn’t matter. The pain disintegrated with a naughty memory. The damp area in between her thighs reminded her instantly of a wet dream she had-it was sexual all the way around. All in all, she’d never felt better, at least while she relived her fantasy.
“Smiling, I see?” Doctor Davis interrupted her daydreams as he walked into the room. “How’s that thick
