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Duke grinned. “Doubt it. I’ve ridden bulls that make him look like a girl scout.”
Duke was an experienced rodeo rider, but he hadn’t yet reached the heady heights that their infamous father had reached.
“Bulls are tough but they’re not smart. Not like Thunder.” Chuck still hadn’t gotten to the bottom of the startlingly beautiful Friesian horse. What he knew was that his previous owner had treated him very badly — using him as a work-horse, and repeatedly branding him. Thunder was a very unpredictable horse, and that made him dangerous.
“I dunno, he doesn’t seem so bad.” Thunder slowly walked to the front of his stall, his eyes burning as he stared at Duke.
“Don’t touch him.”
“Why?” Duke lifted his hand. “Come here, boy.”
Before Duke could stroke the horse, though, Chuck stepped in, grabbing his brother’s wrist.
“Because he doesn’t like being touched.”
“Like you?”
There was something about the way his brother said that, something about the implication, that hit some deep-hidden nerve in Chuck. He did his best to control his anger, but it was like fighting the tide.
“Get the fuck out of here,” he growled, throwing his brother’s hand free. “Don’t come bothering me or the horses again.”
“Seems likeyou’rethe animal that needs the most work in here,“ Duke said.
It hurt, but deep down, Chuck knew that his brother was right.
That’s why he liked animals more than humans — because animals wouldn’t judge him for his anger, for his issues, or for his pain. He decided that he needed a break.
“Sunrise, what do you think? You fancy a ride?”
CHAPTER TWO
“Idon’tliketocall it a dude ranch. More like a Daddy ranch.” Takis smiled at his own joke.
Millie grinned too, but it wasn’t the easy, relaxed grin of someone who felt comfortable. Nope, Millie wore the crazed grin of someone with severe anxiety, trying as hard as she could to seem like everything was just fine.
“That’s funny,” she said, like a dork.
The ride from Littlecreek hadn’t taken so long. The country was beautiful, but slightly bleak, too. She understood why Bob called her a neighbor. There really was nothing around except a long, poorly-maintained road, cutting across seemingly endless pasture land. On the horizon, she could see snow-topped peaks, robed in the dark green of fir trees.
Before too long, though, they arrived at a shoddy-looking fence, bisected by a huge gateway. Above the gate, the words Littlecreek Ranch were emblazoned on a couple of planks of old hardwood.
“Home sweet home,” Takis said. “Hard to believe that just half a year ago I was living in New York. So much has changed since then.” He paused the car and looked back at Millie in the passenger seat. “You must be feeling all over the place, too?”
He seemed sweet enough, but she hadn’t known exactly what to expect. Before Littlecreek Ranch, she’d been at another, very different, ranch.
Rawhide Ranch was a world-famous BDSM retreat. She’d followed her best friend, Princess Zara Sussex, there. Zara had been prescribed a stay at the ranch to get in touch with her inner Little. Millie had been surprised by how much she’d enjoyedherselfat the ranch, too. It sure had been an eye-opener.
Now, they started up a rough, dirt track toward a collection of squat, rustic-looking buildings. This was a very, very different world from the luxurious, hi-tech world of Rawhide Ranch.
“I’m feeling a little lost at sea,” she admitted.
“I hope that soon you’ll come to view Littlecreek as a safe island in the big, scary sea. That’s what we aim to be — a sanctuary for all, a home for everyone.”
“Sounds nice.”
“That’s the plan. Now, let me show you around.”
The first stop on the tour was the ranch house. It seemed to be just a single-story building and was as wide as it was grand. It was charming, that’s for sure. And very… woody.
