N A T E
The subtle sound of Echo’s hooves striking the hard ground made my head throb and my ears ring.
The slow gait of my horse sent continuous shards of pain through my body.
It was like the flu, only self-inflicted. God, I felt like crap—no two ways about it.
“You look rough, brother.” Ryke rode up next to me, kicking up enough dirt to choke me. His deep chuckle grated on my nerves as his eyes raked over me.
Overindulging was my usual of late, and my liver was begging for a reprieve. The previous night had been no different than many before—me staying out way too late and drinking way too much. I’d been so drunk, it had taken several tries to hit the speed dial on my phone. To top it off, I hadn’t even gotten laid.
Bad shape was an understatement.
Even though he’d grumbled and griped, Ryke had picked me up around two in the morning and shoved me into bed to sleep off the alcohol. However, the alarm had blared three short hours later. You had to be on death’s doorstep, and not by your own doing, to miss a day’s work on the ranch.
“You have no idea,” I groaned, coating my dry, cracked lips with a layer of sparse saliva.
My morning had been spent in the barn mucking out the stalls at Silas’s request, followed by cleaning the sheaths of several geldings. Nothing like a handful of horse penis to start your day out right. The scent of fresh horse manure, urine-soaked hay, and huge billows of dust had embedded deep within my nose. There was no doubt in my mind the asshole did it because he knew my stomach was fucking churning like a drunk on a merry-go-round. As I lost my breakfast a couple of times, I caught Silas and Ryke laughing, not even trying to hide their mirth. The agonizing pain in my head was like the darkest of clouds hovering over me with no chance of clearing anytime soon.
Why did I drink again?
After lunch, Silas had told me to help Mira clip the show horses. The mere idea of being trapped in the barn, upside down most of the time, with hair flying in my eyes and mouth . . . Hell, there was no way I could have done it. With my tail between my legs like a fucking pansy, I’d gone to him, begging and protesting. Turned out the jerk had said it just to piss me off. I didn’t have the energy to feel anything but relief when he’d reminded me it was a bit early for full clipping. Thank God.
Instead, I ended up riding the fences with my brother. With fall fast approaching, the weather was a bit cooler than previous days. The light breeze helped clear my gritty vision. I tilted my face to the sky, confident in my ability to stay in the saddle. The sunlight soothed my skin, providing enough warmth to make me feel a tad better. Very little in my life couldn’t be fixed by being on the back of a horse. There had always been such a peaceful connection between me and the large animal. Echo was a gentle giant, one that allowed me to be in control.
“Why are you staring at me, Ryke?” Sight wasn’t necessary to feel the burn of his gaze. When I finally opened my eyes, he didn’t try to hide his concern as he handed me a bottle of water.
Ryke and I were fraternal twins, and although he was born a mere six minutes before me, he always acted like a much older brother. Our early home life had been a struggle, to say the least, and Ryke had done everything he could to protect me, even when it meant trouble for him. He’d had my back then, and still to this day, even though I didn’t need him to any longer.
“You’re not sleeping.”
He wasn’t asking, and as much as I wanted to deny it, I couldn’t. Nights were hard for me. This probably explained why I self-medicated with alcohol and sex. For most people, sleep brought rest and renewal to replenish the strength needed for the next day. For me, it brought sorrow and fear, and a reminder of the loss and hurt I worked hard to keep covered. My past refused to stay in the past, preferring to haunt me nightly.
“No,” I sighed, glancing in my brother’s direction. “I got it, though.” That he spent so much time worrying about me bothered me more than I could say. His focus belonged on himself, not me.
“You sure?” Ryke asked, his low voice dripping with worry.
“Yeah, brother. I’m okay, really.” The waver in my voice told him I’d lied; however, he nodded and let it drop, not pushing me as usual.
Sharing the smaller bunkhouse with him made it impossible to hide stuff from Ryke. Though our rooms were separated by the living space, there was no way he missed my nightmares. Most of the time he let me work it out, but on occasion, he came in and did what he could to help pull me out of it.
“We need to get back. Mira’s friend’s coming in today, and she has a dinner planned for everyone. She’ll kick our asses if we aren’t cleaned up and on time.” Ryke nudged his horse ahead. Our serious conversation was obviously over, and I was grateful. I didn’t want to dig deeper into the reasons I wasn’t sleeping.
“Wow, would you look at that?” Ryke halted his horse right outside of the main property.
My gaze followed the direction of his, and I stopped, sucking in a breath, awestruck by what I was seeing. Long blonde hair flowed from under a helmet. Horse and rider danced fluidly over the ground. I’d seen horses move like this in competitions, but never on the ranch. And to be honest, I didn’t remember anything as perfect as this woman and her horse. Delicate arms outstretched, it was as if she was floating on air, completely one with the animal beneath her.
“Holy fuck.” My voice was low and raspy as if tired from yelling. The tightness in the front of my jeans made my mouth drop open in surprise. I was getting fucking turned on by a woman on a dancing horse. I really should’ve gotten laid last night.
“That horse is beautiful,” Ryke sighed.
“Really?” A chuckle erupted before I could stop it. “You’re looking at the fucking horse, brother?”
Ryke winked and nudged his horse, Domino. Only Ryke would notice an animal and not the beautiful woman. His work took priority over everything but me, which meant I never saw him with women, much less knew of him getting laid.
“You do like girls, right?” I asked, trotting until we were side by side. His sideways glare made me laugh.
“You gonna go work your magic?” Ryke murmured as we approached the paddock.
The full-on grin as I dismounted and handed over the reins was the only answer my brother was getting from me.
She was incredible, no two ways about it. Strong legs gripped the sides of the horse, lifting her up and down out of the saddle in a way that had me feeling jealous of the large animal. Her arms were strong and steady as woman and beast glided around the paddock. Ryke was correct in saying the horse was magnificent, but the rider was who I couldn’t pull my eyes away from.
The pair came to a sudden stop in the middle of the ring and began to dance backward, the horse’s hooves gracefully high-stepping.
“That’s something.” My voice carried my amazement. Arms folded on the gate, I watched the private show of two of my favorite things in life—women and horses.
The rider stopped the horse and turned toward me, her creamy skin blushed from the exertion of her ride. Wraparound sunglasses covered her eyes. A strip of pink rhinestones ran down the center of her black helmet. Sun-kissed blonde hair hung around her shoulders, cascading down her back. Her tight-fitting breeches were not typical on the ranch, but fuck if I was going to complain. They hugged her ass as if they were sewn right on her body. As she came closer, the words across her polo shirt made me chuckle. Ridin’ Dirty. Yes, please.
“What’s your name, cowboy?” Her melodious voice was the icing on the cake. I had no doubt she could’ve asked anything of me in that moment, and I would’ve done it twice over.
Squaring my shoulders and standing taller, I grinned up at her, pulling out all the charm I could muster. “I’m Nate, ma’am. And who might you be?” The thick attraction in my voice made my Southern twang stronger.
Her head flew back as she let out an adorable laugh. “Such a gentleman, Nate.” She grinned down at me. “I’m Shiloh Nichols, and this beautiful girl”—she patted the neck of the horse—“is Melody.”
“That’s fitting.” She tilted her head to the side at my cocky smirk.
“Why’s that?” Her fingers combed through Melody’s mane, and the motion made me wonder what it would feel like to have her do the same to my hair.
“The way you move together is like music. Melody is a perfect name.” Her radiant smile was my reward for the compliment, and my confidence, among other things, swelled.
“Hey, Nate!” Ryke hollered from the doors of the barn. “You better get cleaned up for dinner. If that poor girl gets any closer, it won’t matter how much charm you put on; your stench’ll have her high-tailing it for the hills!”
I responded with a fully extended middle finger. “That’s Ryke, my brother.” Asshole.
Her small hand went up in greeting. “Hi, Ryke!” Her cheerful voice carried through the air. He waved before continuing toward our bunkhouse.
“I better get cleaned up. Mira’ll have my balls if I show up for dinner straight out of the field.” I cursed under my breath at my crassness.
But she didn’t give it a second thought as she turned her horse around, glancing back over her shoulder.
“See you around, Nate.” With a click of her tongue, she and Melody danced off.
My long strides ate up the ground to the bunkhouse. I had my t-shirt halfway off before the door closed. That woman was gorgeous and way out of my league. I was going to need to pull out all the stops this time.