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My body rolled against him, his lips breaking from mine to trail down my neck, my chest, pulling my strap over my shoulder to expose my breast to him. On I went, through the gentle graze of his teeth on the delicate flesh of my nipple, through the feel of his hands on me, desperate for skin. On I went, seeking pressure, seeking release. Harder I rode when he lost the wherewithal to touch me, his lips parted and panting against the flesh of my neck. He was close—I could feel it in the grip of his fingertips, in the swell of him inside me. I cradled his face, pulled back to see him, watched him until I was blinded by the hard burst of my desire. And watching me come was too much to stop him. A flex, a groan deep in his throat, and he grabbed my ass and took what he wanted, how he wanted it. And I gave it freely.
He lowered me slowly, wrapped his arms around me, buried his face in my breasts. And I cradled his head in my arms, kissed the top of his head. He listened to my heart beat.
And I wondered if he knew it was his.
24
Red and Blue
JAKE
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Olivia popped out of bed like a sleepy-eyed jack-in-the-box, scaring the shit out of me. I blinked at the clock. One thirty. Her room was silent other than the soft ping of rain on the windows.
“Was that the—” she started before another thump, thump, thump.
“What the fuck?” I muttered, flipping back the covers.
Olivia slid out of bed in the dark, reaching for her silky robe.
But I was already padding down the stairs, flipping on the porch light when I reached the door.
My heart jerked at the sight of Mack, wild-eyed and frazzled on the other side. His hair was damp, the shoulders of his Carhartt jacket dark from the rain.
I pulled it open with a whoosh. “What’s the matter?” I asked gravely.
“Th-the stock, Jake. We’re missing a herd.”
Instantly, I was awake. “What do you mean, missing a herd?”
“Just that. Number fifteen, every animal gone.”
I swore, raking a hand through my hair. “Wait here.”
The door was shut with a slam before he responded, and I was halfway up the stairs in a heartbeat. Olivia stood at the top, peering down at me.
“Missing?” she breathed.
“I’ll find them,” I promised as I passed her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
She followed me into her room, flipping on the light as I tugged on my jeans. “I’m coming with you.”
“Just wait here. I don’t know what we’re dealing with.”
“If you really believe I’d just sit here by myself, you don’t know me at all.”
I would have chuckled if I wasn’t so worried. “All right, but wear something warm.”
“Sure, Dad,” she said from inside the sweatshirt she was getting herself into. She’d already put her jeans on.
Once my shirt was on, I hurried down the stairs, stuffing my feet into my boots. Olivia was behind me, pulling her hair into a bun when I opened the door again.
Mack waited on the porch as I’d asked, his face bent with worry and his hands deep in his pockets. I didn’t stop, just marched out the second the door was open for my truck.
“Tell me everything.” I climbed in and started the engine as he talked, Olivia sliding in between us before I took off for the barns.
“Jimmy was on rounds tonight, said everything was the usual until one of the other herds got out. Animals were restless, noisy—one of the barns on the other side of the farm was open, the cows put to pasture. And while he and a couple of guys were gettin’ the animals rounded up and back in the barn, somebody let herd fifteen out to their pasture. They’re gone.”
“Where the fuck did they go? Forty one-ton cows don’t just disappear. How long was Jimmy gone?”
“Maybe a half hour. Half the guys followed the gates to the pasture. There was sign of the livestock, but nothin’ was left of them except hoofprints, tire tracks, and a thousand pounds of bullshit.”
Olivia and I shared a look.
I turned down a dirt road that headed in the direction of the empty pasture. Headlights glowed in the distance.
“I assume you called the police?”
“They’re on their way. I came straight to get you.”
For a moment, we drove in silence but for the gravel beneath my tires and the ping of rocks against the undercarriage.
The fire. The missing livestock. And just a few weeks apart.
If I hadn’t already been convinced the fire was sabotage, this would have done it.
The gate to the pasture had been left open, and I rolled in, heading for the cluster of trucks and ATVs. There wasn’t much action, just the lot of them standing in the headlight beams, looking stiff and worried. I noted tire marks, big ones. Duallys with double tire tracks inside wider sets so deep, they made six-inch ruts toward the gate. Somebody had let the cows into the pasture where three, maybe four trailers waited to haul them off. I followed trails of hoofprints to the huddle of vehicles, parked, exited the truck. Stalked into the group and looked around.
