"Get the gate, Taylor!" Brant's voice shouted out over the small herd of cattle being driven toward base camp. I walked as quickly as I could without scaring the oncoming cattle over to the corral gate to open it wide for the next group of cattle Brant, and another had rounded up.
It was the third day of rounding up strays up in the mountains, and each morning the men would leave early in the morning after their breakfast and return sometime in the late afternoon with another group of cattle they had roped and herded towards camp. The evenings were filled with cards in the mess hall tent, time around the fire, and recently the hired guys had been drinking and laughing around the fire.
Each day was the same for me. Get up before the sun and start a huge breakfast for the men, feed them and see them off, then clean up and prepare a huge dinner for them that evening. I would open the corral when it was needed and do other smaller tasks as needed around camp. I would also prepare lunch for any men around that time.
"On the left, Mark!" Brant shouted to his partner. Mark rode around, blocking the left side as Brant's high-pitched whistle echoed off the mountainsides, driving the cattle into the corral. Brant and Mark followed the cattle in, and I shut the gate behind them. The inner gate was opened, and the cattle were driven into the much larger back corral, where the rest of the cattle that had been gathered were.
"Alright, Taylor," Brant said, signaling me to open the outer gate to let him and Mark out after the inner was secured. I swung it wide, and both rode to the hitching post nearby. I shut the gate and turned to watch them dismount.
I was about to walk over to Brant when the sounds of approaching horses caused us all to turn and look at the trailhead. In the distance, I saw a cowboy hat slowly rising above the hill, then slowly a face, followed by a horse's ears, and gradually you could see more and more of him.
"Jeff..." the whisper escaped me, my breath catching, my eyes darting to the next in line, my heart pounding at the thought of seeing Aiden.
Each rider slowly rose from the trail into my sight, and with each one, my eyes would turn to the next, still looking for him, until Jeff rode right up to me, cutting off my view.
"He's not here, Taylor," Jeff quietly said, seeing my hopeful searching. A sigh of disappointment escaped me, and my eyes fell to the ground. Hoping was dangerous, and once again, I felt the painful sting of bitter disappointment. "He got held up at the ranch with something," Jeff finished. My face shot up to look at Jeff as he dismounted with a creak of his leather saddle. Did that mean that Aiden was back at Thunderbird?
"Which ranch, Jeff?" I quietly asked. He opened his mouth to answer as he walked up close to me, but he turned to his name being called before he could.
"Jeff!" Brant shouted in a friendly manner, smiling as he walked over to shake Jeff's hand. "I wondered if you guys would be coming up to do the same thing we are." The smile Brant held for Jeff was wide and genuine.
"We're getting a late start, but our estimation is we only have about 100 head to round up, so it shouldn't take us too long. We will use the West corrals and campsite if they're open?"
"They are," Brant smiled at Jeff.
"Let us know if you guys need any help. I doubt it would get back to Zeke. We spotted a good group of yours about a mile west of Cushing's Creek," Brant said, pointing.
"We will keep our distance out of respect for your boss, but any of you are welcome at our camp," Jeff finished, pointedly looking at me. I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face, and I stepped forward and hugged Jeff. He hugged me back affectionately and rubbed my back. He smiled down at me and then released me from the hug to reach out for the reins to his horse.
"Drop on in, Taylor, for some cowboy coffee and a catch-up soon," he said quietly with a comforting hand on my shoulder. He mounted up with another smile and headed off across the large meadow. I watched him go for a few moments before a throat clearing drew my attention.
"How do you know Jeff?" Brant asked. Curiosity colored his question, but there was something more mixed in that had me turning to look at him more closely. I studied him for a second, and he didn't shy away from me.
"I've known Jeff for a while, and we've gotten close in the last few months," I answered honestly. I saw Brant draw in a breath, nodding, and it clicked. "Brant, Jeff is just a friend." His brows furrowed.
"But I thought...." he drifted off for a second, "I mean, I know you said there was another, so I assumed by the way you hugged him and that offer that..." He had drifted off again.
"Jeff has become a good friend and recently a confidant," I said.
"Is that...how you know him then? The other guy works at Thunderbird, doesn't he?" I licked my lips and then guiltily bit them, looking down but saying nothing. "I guess I can understand you not telling me under those circumstances."
"Does it matter who he is?" I sighed, looking up at him.
"No. No, I guess it doesn't. I will admit I'm curious who the competition might be, but it doesn't change how I feel about you," Brant breathed, his hand reaching for me, pulling me into a passionate kiss that had me forgetting everything but him. His lips moving over mine, his body brushing against mine, his hand holding me to him. For that moment, it was only him. The strong but gentle man who stirred me so much and got me to open up so easily that it shocked me at times. The steady man who I was in love with.
The sounds of whistles and a whip, accompanying the sounds of cattle, had us pulling apart, looking over to another pair of the guys coming back. Farther up the meadow, another team was driving a second group. I spotted Tyler in the distance bringing in a large group behind the first.
Mark was already at the gate to the outer corral, and the first group of cattle started filing in. Hunter and another of his buddies were driving the first group, and I saw him spot Brant and me just as we pulled apart. I gave Brant a quick look and walked away toward the mess hall tent, feeling Hunter's eyes on my backside.
I was washing the dishes from after dinner, singing to myself, my mind thinking about Brant's kiss and my body flaming to life with the memory. He had me smoldering for him. The sounds of the men around the fire outside were evidence of the quartet of hired hands drinking again. Over the last couple of nights, I had noticed that the men from Bridlewood would occasionally join in and have a few, but they still maintained self-control, unlike the hired hands. The things Brant had said near the plane about them were making sense to me now.
The sounds of the men's laughter abruptly got louder and then slightly muted again as the flap to the mess hall tent was lifted to allow entry. Some of the men had played poker when drunk, alongside the more tame card games. I assumed another game would start soon, so I focused on my work and ignored the man in the tent until he spoke.
"I knew there was schometing going on with you and a couple of the men around here. I schaw you and Brant when I got back, Tay," Hunter's alcohol breath wafted over my shoulder, his slight slurring evidence of being inebriated. I was about to turn to face him when he gripped my shoulders, his alcohol breath on my ear and neck. "You working that Tyler too. That mean you have room for one more?"
I tried to jerk from him, but his grip on my shoulders tightened, pulling me back against him. He leaned in and kissed my neck, his hands holding me firm. I growled at him, sent my elbow flying backward into his gut, and stomped on his left foot as hard as I could with my cowboy boot simultaneously. A grunt escaped him, and he stumbled back a step, releasing me.
"Ughh, Tay, what the hell?! Baby, we used to have scho much fun, and we schtill can, baby," he said, a slightly irritated scowl on his face as he reached for me again.
"Back off, Hunter, go sleep it off in your tent!"
"Don't you remember that time at Ethan's party?"
"I'm not the girl anymore, Hunter, so go sleep it off and get out of this tent," I warned him. He just smiled at me in a way that was probably supposed to be charming and seductive but failed on his drunken face.
Quicker than I would have thought possible, he grabbed me and planted a drunken slobbery kiss on my mouth, trying to force his whiskey tongue into my mouth. I struggled against him to get away and finally ended up kneeing him in the groin, causing him to release my mouth with a grunt of pain. I pulled my fist back and let it fly, sending him tumbling backward over one of the tables.
"Ahh," I hissed at the pain, shaking my hand out from the fist. Hunter scrambled around for a second like a turtle on its back, but when he did find his footing, he rose with a red face seething with anger.
"Bitch!" He screamed, flying towards me, reaching for me again. He was drunk, but he was an agile one and reached me in only a second and didn't hesitate to reach for me and throw me back in the same direction he had landed. I was flying out of control, sailing over a table to crash into the next one, hot fire of pain breaking out on my back and ribs, and the wind knocked out of me.
I was struggling to get my breath as he ran at me again. I got my boot ready to fly, but just before he was in striking distance, the tent flap opened, and Brant stepped in. It took him only a split second to assess what was going on and to step into the line of fire, sending his fist flying towards Hunter. Hunter stumbled back a step but then turned his rage on Brant, sending his own fist toward Brant's face, landing a heavy blow. He attempted to throw alcohol into Brant's face from a flask in his shirt pocket but only got Brant drenched. Hunter threw the flask, and Brant ducked. Hunter used the opportunity to get another punch in before Brant slammed into him, fists still flying. The sight helped me to find my breath.
"Tyler!" I screamed out of the tent towards the campfire, holding my ribs with the flames licking across them from the effort. I saw a man turn and come running.
Tyler burst into the tent, a look of alarm on his face. He saw the fight happening just above me and didn't hesitate to jump right in on Hunter from the side, sending him flailing. Hunter was bloody but still raging, throwing himself at his new target, Tyler. Tyler blocked one punch but then took one to the face, just before Brant used the distraction and punched Hunter hard in the gut and then sent him flying backward with a hook to the face. This time Hunter didn't get up.
The two men turned to me just as the flap on the tent was pulled back, the rest of the men coming to see what was happening, the shouting and crashing drawing attention at last. Brant was wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, Tyler had a split eyebrow, and both had bruises on their cheeks. Hunter was worse for wear, out cold on the ground, bleeding from multiple places, including his nose and mouth.
Brant squatted down in front of me, offering his hands to me. I sucked in a breath of pain as he helped me up, so he released my hands and reached for my waist to help gently. Tyler came over and helped him help me up. I held on to them to steady myself before reaching up to hold where my head had hit a table.
"You ok, baby girl?" Tyler asked, his dark eyes full of concern and restrained anger at my attacker. I nodded at him and looked at Brant. The look on his face almost crushed me there and then, full of grief for me, so I reached for him and hugged him. I felt him sigh in relief as his arms came around to hold me safe.
"Drag that son of a bitch to his tent, Jason! Nick! Find all the liquor and get rid of it, now!" Brant started saying orders in his stern manager's voice. When he turned on the other three hired hands, his voice lowered even further with an edge of danger I'd never heard from him before. "You men will dump all your alcohol and settle down, or I'll send you packing home without pay. You will keep your distance from Taylor or end up like Hunter before I send you on your way." With that, he pushed past them with an arm around Tyler and me in tow, eyeing them up.
Brant led us out of the mess hall tent and down a row of larger tents than mine, and Tyler held the flap open for the last one. It was situated the farthest away from the fire and other tents, after mine on the other side of the camp.
"Taylor, would you feel uncomfortable sleeping in here tonight? I'm worried about what the rest of those drunk fools might do or if Hunter wakes before he's had a chance to sober up," Brant asked gently.
"In here with you, you mean?" I asked.
"Yes, with Tyler and I," Brant said, gently pulling me over to a cot and sitting me down, causing me to suck in a breath of pain. He knelt in front of me, looking at me. "How badly are you hurt, Taylor?" He asked in a whisper that broke my heart.
"I don't know. I'm guessing my ribs will be sore for a while, but I'll be ok." I watched Brant and Tyler exchange a look, clearly not believing me.
"You'd best let him take a look, baby girl. I'll step out and check on things outside. Make sure our boys and them are doing as instructed," Tyler said, ducking out of the tent.
I sighed and reached up to unbutton my shirt, drawing in a breath at the pain.
"Here, let me, Taylor," Brant gently offered, reaching up to unbutton my shirt for me.
As I looked at him, his gentle fingers had me drawing in a breath for an entirely new reason. I swallowed with guilt, looking at his bruised and bleeding face. My fingers reached out to gently wipe the line of blood running down his jaw from his split lip.
"Brant," I almost cried, the pain of seeing him this way hitting me. He had taken those blows for me, stepping into harm's way to protect me. I could feel the sting of tears pulling at my eyes, tickling my nose. Brant had just finished unbuttoning my shirt and looked into my eyes.
"Shhh, Taylor, it's ok," he comforted me, gently pulling me to him for a kiss from where he knelt before me. "I'm ok, so let's make sure you are." I nodded at him and shrugged out of my shirt.
Brant's gentle hands on me, using a lantern to check me over, made shivers roll down my spine. I groaned with pain as he examined my ribs and back, bruises starting to form where I had crashed into one of the tables. His fingers sliding just under my braw caused me to shiver and look at him; our faces caught close to one another. Brant looked at me, and I leaned forward, slowly meeting him for a slow, smoldering kiss, careful of his split lip.
Suddenly his hands were framing my face, holding me to him, our kiss deepening. I reached for him and pulled him closer, desperate to feel him.
"Brant...," I whispered in desperation, opening for him. His hot tongue teased mine, driving my mind wild, my hands seeking his skin.
"Taylor," he moaned before kissing me again, his arms coming around me. I was on fire for him, desperate to feel his skin on me, to show him how much I loved him, but we were both hurting; even my kiss now hurt him. Brant pulled back, his eyes heavy with arousal. I reached out and ran a hand through his hair, gently kissing him again.
"Brant!" Tyler shouted as he came near the tent. "There's a rider coming up. You'd best get out here."
Brant sighed in irritation as he released me. He turned and pulled his whiskey-soaked shirt up and over his head, showing off his trim muscled chest, making me bite my lip. I saw him reach for a fresh shirt and step out of the tent with it in his hand. Smelling like a distillery didn't precisely bode confidence in his authority, so I understood the quick change before meeting the rider.
I heard a horse come close and snort, and a very familiar voice stopped my heart altogether before picking up.
"Good evening. I'm looking for my men," Aiden's deep, rich voice said. I gasped and ran out of the tent, forgetting I wasn't wearing a shirt.
"They're camping on the West side, Mr. Patterson," Tyler answered.
"Begging your pardon, Mr. Patterson. We just arrived here a few days before them," Brant said, drawing Aiden's eyes as Brant was pulling his shirt on.
And then Aiden's deep blue eyes, black in this darkness, slid over to me as I stumbled up behind Brant from the same tent he had just come out of. I watched Aiden look at me for a moment, his eyes turning to Brant, who was just finishing pulling his shirt down. Aiden's eyes returned to me and took in my state. I watched his face tilt up just enough to let me know that he was drawing some conclusions in his mind, seeing the two of us in the state we were, coming out of the same tent.
Aiden turned to Tyler, "Thank you." He looked at Brant again and nodded respectfully.
His eyes turned to me, and there was so much in his look, longing, pain, and a coolness I hadn't seen since that first day I had crossed onto his land.
"Ma'am," he said, reaching up to slightly tipping his hat as he turned the huge Friesian away. He then turned and disappeared into the dark on Samson, his back to me.