Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 56395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
“Eyes on me.”
Her lashes fluttered, but she gave me her azure eyes hazy with need. “Brogan, I—”
“Relax, baby,” I soothed. “Just let it happen.”
I pressed harder on her little bud, curling my finger until her entire body jolted. “That’s right. Come for me, baby.”
She shattered with my name on her lips, her thighs clamping around my hips as pleasure took her hard and fast. I was mesmerized by the sweet flush that spread across her face while her body pulsed around my finger, and the sight nearly brought me to my knees. Nothing I’d imagined came close to the reality of Jacqueline coming apart on my hand.
I was still breathing hard when a shrill tone cut through the kitchen.
What the fuck?
10
JACQUELINE
Brogan pulled his phone from his back pocket and thumbed the screen. The video feed filled the display. A section of fence along the far back of the property had been cut wide open, and my chestnut mare was pacing near the road, her head high and ears pinned.
My heart lurched. “Daisy.”
We didn’t waste time. I grabbed a carrot from the fridge and a soft lead rope from the stable. Brogan started up one of the ATVs, and I climbed on behind him. As we crossed the far pasture, I spotted Daisy.
She was closer to the road than I liked, her eyes wide and white-rimmed, her body tight with tension. One wrong startle, and she could bolt. Luckily, Brogan stopped the ATV about five hundred yards away and immediately cut the engine.
I quickly climbed off and slowly approached the elderly mare. “Hey, sweet girl. It’s just me.”
Brogan moved in slowly from the opposite side. The deep rumble of his voice was gentler than I thought it could get as he murmured, “Easy now. You’re all right. Nobody’s gonna hurt you.”
He stayed a few feet away, leaving me in charge of the situation. Daisy snorted and shifted, but she didn’t retreat. I stepped closer from my angle, offering the carrot.
“Her flight mechanism kicks in when she’s this stressed,” I explained in a soft voice. “Sudden movements make it worse. Let her come to us, or else she’ll bolt, and then we’ll spend the next several hours trying to catch her.”
He nodded and remained perfectly still. I kept talking to her in the soothing cadence Grandpa had taught me years ago until Daisy was finally close enough to stretch her neck and sniff the carrot. I slipped the lead over her head while Brogan remained a calm presence on her other side.
“That’s it.” He slowly lifted his palm to stroke her neck. “Good girl.”
The same hands that had snapped a man’s arm without hesitation were now gentle against her trembling hide. The contrast made my throat tighten. It was further proof of why Grandpa had trusted him.
He remained by my side as I turned to walk her back. “What about the ATV?”
“I’ll make sure it gets back to the barn after we get Daisy where she belongs.”
I appreciated that his focus was on what was most important to me, the mare I’d learned to ride on as a child. We walked Daisy back together, with him matching my pace and following my quiet instructions when she spooked at a shadow.
Once she was safely in her stall, still blowing hard but calmer, Brogan turned without a word and headed for the barn’s tool area. He grabbed a roll of wire, a pair of cutters, a post driver, and a handful of staples.
I followed him. “What are you doing?”
He was already walking in the direction we’d just come from. “I’m not leaving that hole open overnight. Not with your safety on the line. Or the horses.”
I wasn’t even surprised by how perfect his answer was. It had only been three days, but I was already getting used to it. And that didn’t scare me the way it probably should.
I would’ve loved to sleep in the following morning, but I had chores that wouldn’t wait. And even though Brogan had stayed up to fix the fence, he was already in the kitchen when I came down.
The first thing I noticed after I managed to drag my eyes away from him was the new can of premium coffee beans sitting next to the coffeemaker. Definitely not the store-brand stuff Grandpa had always used. Then I spotted Brogan’s laptop open on the table, a neat stack of papers beside it. Little pieces of him were settling into the house like they’d always belonged there.
He handed me a mug without a word, then went back to whatever he was reading on his phone. We ate a quiet breakfast together, the easy silence feeling so domestic. Almost as though we’d been doing this for years.
Just as we finished the dishes, the rumble of a truck and several bikes pulling into the driveway drifted through the open window. I followed Stryker through the house and onto the front porch, surprised to find how many of his club brothers were here.