“So bossy, cowboy,” I tease.
“Elena,” He’s got the tone, the one where I know if I push him just a little bit more, he’ll either storm off or fuck me into oblivion.
“I’m going,” I roll my eyes, shimmying up the bed until the pillows are behind me and I can drop onto them. He grabs the sheets and yanks them up to my chin before he tucks them in so tightly I almost can’t breathe. “Knox!” I scold.
“I saw that look,” He grumbles, “You want to play and trust me, darlin’, I’d like nothing more, but right now, you have to sleep.”
I sigh, “I’ll try.”
He climbs in beside me, disturbing the sheets tucked around me, and then lifts his arm, waiting for me to slide up next to him. I go, tucking in tothe side of his body, my head resting in that soft spot between his neck and shoulder. His arm comes around me, squeezing initially before he shifts and starts running the tips of his fingers down my scalp and then through the ends of my hair.
His breathing is soft and even, the lamp bathing the room in a muted golden glow from the bedside table. My skin prickles with the sensation of his hand, the gentle way he cares for me, the way his fingers knead my scalp and how my hair snags a little in the calluses on his fingers; it doesn’t pull but I feel it. I never thought I’d love it the way I do.
He is rough and raw and steadfast. Large and yet he is gentle, kind but hardy. He is my opposite in every way, a man I never should have dragged into the hell I live.
But I am selfish.
So I let him soothe me to sleep, his body my foundation, his strength swimming through my blood.
CHAPTER 40
The car kicks up dirt behind it as it speeds toward the ranch house. I don’t need to see it to know Cade has returned.
Knox pulls Honey to a stop, offering her a gentle hand to ease her nervousness, and I do the same with Apollo, my hat shielding my eyes from the high noon sun. Dust and dirt coat my skin, making it feel tight, lips a little dry.
It’s been days since Cade left to deal with my uncle, no word, no way to contact him, and now he’s here.
He comes to a stop by the side of Knox’sChevy, cutting the engine until silence falls, the dust settling behind him.
“Is he going to get out?” Knox grumbles.
I try to see him through the glare on the windscreen, but the angle of the sun makes it impossible, and nerves flitter through me. Throwing my leg over Apollo’s back, I jump down to the ground, his reins loose in my hands as he follows me a few steps toward the car. Knox remains on Honey, but he keeps at my side.
Cade finally opens the door, climbing from behind the wheel with a pair of sunglasses shielding his eyes and a cigarette dangling from between his lips. He adjusts his suit jacket and then plucks the cigarette from his mouth, letting it rest between two fingers.
“Miss me?” He asks cockily, a curl of smoke rising with his grin.
“It’s been fucking days!” I snap at him, Apollo following dutifully behind me. He huffs a breath, clearly uncomfortable.
“It takes time,” Cade shrugs. “I had to put on a ruse to get your uncle to trust me enough.”
“What the hell do you mean?”
Beside me, Knox gets down from Honey, tying her up to a post before he takes Apollo’s reins and does the same.
“This is no time for games, Caden,” Knox pinches the bridge of his nose.
“I do you a favor and this is the thanks I get?” Cade shakes his head.
“Cade, please.” I step closer, but Knox grips my hand, stopping my forward motion.
Cade sighs heavily, taking a long drag on his cigarette before he throws the smoking stick down onto the ground and treads on it with the toe of his black leather boot. He crushes it into the gravel and leans on the hood. “He’s distrusting. Anxious.”
“As he fucking should be,” I grumble.
“One would think he is being haunted,” Cade laughs, “Even when you’re not around, you call the shots.”
“What happened?” I ask.
