Page 15 of Runaway Hucow

But she wasn’t at Duffy Ranch. She was just going to have to figure it out on her own.

First, she tried squeezing her breasts as hard as their tenderness would allow. They were noticeably softer than the day before, and she could actually feel the milk squelching inside her, but it didn’t want to come out. She tried squeezing harder, but the pain was too much, and she had to stop. Tears sprang to her eyes.

The sun was up now, peeking over the horizon like a big golden eye. There wasn’t much time left. Spike would be awake soon, and Tess needed to be finished before that happened.

She sniffed back her tears and got to work again.

This time, she tried a different technique. She cupped her hands underneath her breasts, starting at the place where they joined her chest, and she rolled her fingers toward her erect nipples in an attempt to push the milk out of her. The result was only slightly better. A few white droplets leaked out of her, but it was not enough. She tried once more, but again only a few drops came out.

God, at this rate, it would take her all day to finish.

And she didn’t have all day.

The sun was all the way over the horizon now, sending bars of yellow light through the branches overhead. The birds were still singing up there, but they no longer sounded indifferent to Tess’s situation. They seemed to be mocking her inability to make her body do what she wanted it to do. Even the river seemed to be mocking her as it flowed easily past.

Why can’t my milk flow like that, Tess thought.

Something was blocking her, some invisible dam inside.

There was no dam on her eyes, though. Tears spilled freely down her cheeks, and sobs broke from her lips. She tried massaging her breasts more deeply, but that didn’t help at all. It only made her hurt more, which made her cry harder.

But she didn’t give up. She was determined to make the milk come out—determined to make her body obey her will.

“Tess?” Spike’s voice called from behind her.

An unexpected jolt from the cattle prod would have been less shocking. Tess squealed in surprise and turned around to face the minotaur, forgetting that her shift was pulled all the way up to her chin, leaving her breasts on full display.

Her breasts… and all the rest of her too.

When she saw the minotaur’s wide eyes, she remembered. She tugged her garment down too quickly, and the roughspun cotton abraded her sensitive nipples, making her wince in pain. As she struggled to get the fabric all the way down past her exposed sex, her legs got tangled beneath her, and she tumbled backward. Her butt splashed down in the shallow water behind her, and the rest of her followed after. Before she knew what was happening, her whole upper body was submerged in the cold, clear stream.

Then the bisonman’s hands were on her. He was gentle with her, but she could feel the terrible strength in those huge fingers as they wrapped around her arms and slowly lifted her upright again.

She came up sputtering, water sluicing down her body. Her hair was completely drenched, and it clung wetly to her face, blinding her for a moment. When she swept it away, she could see Spike’s handsome, bestial features right there in front of her.

His big, dark eyes were aimed right at her chest.

Tess flushed as she realized how exposed she still was. She had pulled her shift down to cover herself, but the garment was soaked now, and the wet cloth was clinging around her breasts and nipples like a second skin. The bisonman could see everything.

Tess gasped and quickly crossed her arms across her chest to hide as much as she could, but Spike’s expression didn’t change, and his eyes didn’t move. He seemed to be in a sort of daze. Ever so gently, he reached down and plucked Tess’s arms away from her chest, first one, then the other, leaving her exposed and vulnerable again.

Tess didn’t try to fight him. Not that she could have if she’d wanted to. Her strength was no match for the bisonman’s. If he really wished to see her breasts, he would.

And the truth was, Tess wanted him to see.

She liked the way his eyes felt on her body, and she wanted to feel the other parts of him too. His hands and his fingers, his lips and his tongue. Her lower body was submerged beneath the surface of the river, but she could still feel the warm arousal leaking between her legs, a wetness that was even wetter than water.

It was so wrong. So very, very wrong.

Even though she was a hucow, Tess still thought of herself as a lady, and she scarcely knew the male who was kneeling there in front of her, drinking in her body with his eyes. All she really knew about him was that he was dangerous. A killer, and a good one.

“Spike, what are you doing?” she whispered. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“I came to help you, ma’am.”

CHAPTER 10

“I don’t need help,” Tess said, feeling suddenly defiant.