His girl didn’t have a clue about the beast her distressed arrival had unleashed, or the strength of will it took for him to keep that side of himself under control, he thought later as the picnic got underway. Watching her pleasure in the short trip into Brooksville, meeting some of the friendly townsfolk, and now how easily she fit in with his ranch hands that afternoon, laughing at their crude jokes, brushing off their flirtations with a smile and pitching in without being asked was sheer torture. He almost wished she hated ranch life and was chafing to get back to her friends and job. Just the opposite seemed to be true, which made sticking to his decision to give her time and space a poorly thought out idea but one he meant to honor. She deserved that consideration after the way he had left her with a pathetic excuse for their breakup instead of the truth.
It had been all he could do to hold back when she’d told George she was just passing through. The ache in her voice when she’d told Clive and Rosemary they were lucky, he’d wanted to announce then and there they could have the commitment and an even closer bond than his friends. Stifling the need to claim her in every way kept riling his wolf into painful aggravation he was hard pressed to control. Something had to change between them, and soon, just as he’d told her.
Cody strode over to where Gavin stood leaning against a tree and handed him a cold beer. “Thanks. Drake decided not to come, didn’t he?”
His brother sighed with barely suppressed frustration, his blue eyes clouding with the constant concern they both shared for their youngest brother. “Damn it, it’s been ten years. We have to convince him to get help.”
“He’s fine, Cody. He was under the military psychologist’s care for six months before he was discharged. He’ll tell us what went down with his escape someday. Killing is never easy, even if it’s to save your life.” Gavin could only imagine the suffering Drake had endured at the hands of two Taliban soldiers when he had been held prisoner in the Afghanistan mountains, but it had driven him to use his wolf to get him the hell out of there.
“Yeah, I know. He’s always been the most stubborn of the four of us, and the least social going all the way back to high school. So”—Cody nodded toward Aislyn who was tossing horseshoes with a few of the hands—“when are you going to insist she tell you what’s going on?”
“I’m trying to give her time. Whatever prompted her to seek me out has her spooked enough to want to be sure she can trust me with it.” He remembered when she’d trusted him with everything, her thoughts, her body, her feelings.
Grinning, Cody slapped him on the back. “I gotta admire your patience, brother. Good luck. She’s a sweetheart.”
Yeah, she is, Gavin thought, glancing at her flushed face and wide smile as she tossed a horseshoe and it wrapped around a post with a clang. “It looks like Casey and Mark think so.” His employees were eying Aislyn’s legs in the short denim cutoffs with the male appreciation of randy twenty-year-olds. He didn’t begrudge them looking as long as that was all they did. The sharp nip of jealousy from just thinking about her with someone else reminded him of her self-denial these past years. Guilt and relief still mingled over that surprising admission. As much as he hated thinking of her with someone else, the thought of her suppressing her submissive desires for so long added to his already extensive guilt.
Cody eyed him askance. “Jealous, bro?”
Ignoring the teasing undertone in his mild inquiry, Gavin straightened from leaning against the tree and tugged his hat down. “I think I’ll see how she likes fishing. In the meantime, you might consider talking about your own demons regarding your sudden resignation and mood swings since coming home.”
****
Aislyn grew warm, and without turning around, she knew Gavin was approaching. It had always been that way, her body responding to his nearness with a soft pulse of need she had yet to get used to. Neither time nor distance had lessened the ache even though she had eventually conditioned herself to go days and then weeks without thinking about him, pining for him. Three days around him again and she was as necessitous for his touch as when they first met. More so since he deprived her of a climax after that spanking.
She’d enjoyed the trip into town, meeting his friends and the time spent with him. Since coming here, she’d seen different sides to the lawyer and Dom she’d known in Boise. Successful rancher suited him much better than attorney, but maybe that was because he looked damn good in tight denim, cowboy boots and hat, she thought, watching him approach in that loose-limbed swagger with a small smile curving his lips.
“Come on, little one. Let’s see if you’re as good at reeling in a fish as you are at tossing a horseshoe.”
Aislyn scrunched up her nose at the thought of handling a wriggling, scaly fish, but wasn’t opposed to spending more time with Gavin while he was in such an amicable mood. After that heated look the night before when she spied him returning from the woods again, she wasn’t sure what kind of mood he would be in today. Other than a few unexplainable looks and comments with undertones, he’d been at his friendliest since she’d
