The first time, I’d made the move. This time, he would have to. I stayed put, kept my gaze on his mouth,wantingtill I felt hot under my skin. I ran my tongue over my own lips, the featurethat had drawn in more than one guy, and hummed under my breath.
Seth muttered, “Fuck.” He fisted the front of my shirt and pulled me close, slanting a kiss over my mouth.
Grabbing his shoulders for balance, I went with him, willingly parting my lips for whatever he’d give me. Seth kissed hungrily, like he wanted to eat my mouth. He put his other hand behind my head and held me steady, driving with his tongue, then nipping my jaw, my neck, biting my earlobe.
I jumped, and he paused. “Too much?”
“God, no. Just wish these jeans weren’t so fucking tight.” I nuzzled his neck and sucked his earlobe into my mouth, playing with it, then kissed his jaw. “It’ll be easier to kneel if I take them off.”
“I like the idea of you on your knees.” He tugged my hair, though it was short enough to immediately slide out of his fingers. Fuck Dad’s idea of neat and tidy. I wouldn’t cut my hair again till I got two inches past Dad’s “makes you look like girly” length.
“Let me—” I stopped as the image on the laptop caught my attention.
Ebony stood with her legs splayed wide, swaying slowly. Then she lay down hard, but her posture wasn’t quite right. She set her nose down in the straw.
“Uh, Seth.” I caught his hand, pulling it away from my head. “I think we might have a problem.” I waved at the screen.
Seth blinked at me, seeming dazed, then quickly turned and peered at the video from the stall. “She’s lying down.”
“Yeah, but she went down funny. Swaying, not like normal.”
“Shit.” Seth eyed the view of Ebony and her calf, both looking half-asleep. “We should check on her. Sorry.”
“No sorry.” I raised his hand that I still held, nipped the base of his thumb, then sucked his finger into my mouth and out with a pop. “We’ll hold that thought.”
Chapter 8
Seth
Ebony lay in her straw, looking sleepy and heavy-lidded. She wouldn’t stand, no matter how I encouraged her, kept her head tucked in and wouldn’t lift her muzzle out of the straw. Her ears felt cold, her nose dry, and occasional muscle twitches shivered over her skin.
“Milk fever,” I told Austin. “You seen it before?”
“No.”
“Low calcium from getting her milk coming in suddenly.” I rubbed the cow’s broad forehead. “Good news is it’s easy to treat by giving her calcium. Bad news is the vet usually does it, and if not, John does. I haven’t.”
“How hard can it be?” Austin asked. “I’ve done deworming drenches into the mouths of calves. She’s just got a bigger mouth.”
“Has to go in a vein,” I told him. I kept my voice steady for Austin’s sake, even though panic clawed at my gut.Not now, not Ebony. Fuck!
“Oh.” His eyes went wide. “That sounds bad.”
“I know how to do the job!” I regretted my harsh tone when he backed up a step. “Sorry. Just didn’t want my first time running an IV on a cow to be in a snowstorm with no advice.” I checked my phone again, but the fucking bars had not reappeared. No Davis or John, or even Kendrick, to soothe my jitters.
“Maybe we could call the vet from the house.”
“We could try.” What if I was wrong about her problem? Did I need to check with the vet before treating her? “No chance the vet could make it out here in the snow, though. Especially for something routine.”
“Yeah, not like she’s dying, I guess.”
“Well, she could,” I admitted. Austin flinched so I quickly added, “But she won’t. Not if we treat her. Come on.” I needed to put on my big-boy pants and trust myself. One bad fuck-up years ago didn’t mean I didn’t know what I was doing. Milk fever. Basic shit I’d seen a dozen times. We’d lost one heifer from being too late, but we’d caught Ebony right away. She’d be fine.She has to be.“Let’s get the IV stuff.”
Kendrick kept medications in a locked cabinet in the feed room. Several bottles of calcium sat on a shelf next to the tubing and needles. Austin tagged along and I had him hold a bucket to contain my supplies. Telling him what I was getting, running through each step as I placed the items in his hands, steadied me.
We returned to the cow and I showed him the prominent vein on her belly that would be easy to use. His pale face and wide eyes forced me to act like confident as I uncapped the needle, felt for my spot, and poked. Turned out to be easier than I expected, the first needle pop and blood a bit nerve-wracking but the sameas when I saw John do this. I hooked up the tubing, connected the calcium solution bottle to the wide end, and passed it to Austin. “Hold that high so gravity can work. We need to get two bottles into her.”
“What are you going to do?”
