Chapter 31
Cheyenne
I rolled myself out of bed with a pounding in my head. We’d stayed up and finished a bottle and a half of wine before any of us were settled enough to go to bed. The knowledge that Rick, of all people, was the person behind this nightmare was tearing all of us apart, and when I dumped myself into bed, I cried myself to sleep in Colt’s arms. If I was this devastated, I couldn’t imagine how Colt and Tiffany were feeling, so I’d made the executive decision to stay on with them a little while longer.
You know, just to make sure they healed from everything happening to them.
I scrambled for something for my headache, then climbed into a hot shower. The water cascading over my skin felt good, and it helped to wake me up. Someone still had to tend to the horses since Tif was still laid up, and now that Rick had been arrested, they would need a great deal of help until they could hire someone else.
I was rinsing the conditioner from my hair when I heard the bathroom door open. Colt’s fuzzy outline came dragging into the bathroom, and the steam made him physically sigh before his pajamas hit the floor.
“Care to join me?” I asked.
“I didn’t plan to give you a choice.”
I could practically hear the smirk in his voice, and it lit my toes on fire. The shower glass peeled back, and as he stepped in behind me, his hands hit my hips, and my nipples stood to attention.
“Morning, beautiful,” he said.
“Morning,” I said, giggling. He placed a light kiss on my neck, just enough to make me want a little more, and when I offered up my neck up for him to devour, he sank his teeth slowly into my skin. His hands traveled up to my breasts and massaged my aching nipples, and suddenly I lost all control of my body.
I twirled around in his arms and crashed my lips into his, and pulled him into the water just to watch it run down his body. His rippling muscles glistened with the water running down their peaks and valleys. Never had this man looked so beautiful to me, and I sank to my knees while my fingernails raked down his thighs.
I could hear his anticipation; his eyes looked intensely down on me while I ran my tongue up the length of his cock. I wrapped my lips around him, relieving him of the tension I could feel in his thighs, and when I guided his hand to my hair, I reached my arms around and grabbed onto his sculpted ass.
The water poured down his body while my cheeks hollowed out around his throbbing cock. The moment he began thrusting into my mouth, I simply let him go. His pace picked up, and the tip of him reached the back of my throat. When he began to leak for me, I swallowed him down without a second thought. I looked up at the man I’d come to adore—with his eyes screwed shut and his abdomen rolling into my face—and all I could think about was how good it felt to have him shaking beneath my fingertips.
With every suck, he jumped, and with every lick, his knees trembled. I hummed in pleasure and reassurance around his cock, and that’s when his hips began to stutter. I swallowed him down at deep as I could take him before I wrapped my hand around his cock. I squeezed my hand around his base, feeling his essence cascade up his thick dick. His hands were wrapped tightly into my hair, and his chest was panting in pleasure. I swallowed as much as I could before slowly rising from my knees.
“Feeling better?” I asked. I planted a small kiss on his lips, and he pulled me into his body, but then he firmly pushed my back against the wall.
“Your turn,” he said.
Before I knew it, he fell to his knees and thrust his tongue deep inside me. My leg was thrown over his shoulder while hot streams of water ran off my nipples, and he lapped deeply into my clit and shook my entire body. I couldn’t contain my moans and groans as he shook every atom of my form, and when he pushed his finger deep into my depths while sucking hard on my clit, I almost collapsed to the shower floor.
“Oh, shit, Colt,” I said breathlessly. “Oh, my God.”
“Cum for me. You know you want to.” He hummed into my pussy while I was grinding down onto his face, and before I knew it, my body was flowing with electricity. It started in my toes and ricocheted up to my head, storming over my body as my knees grew weak. His tongue worked my clit expertly while his fingers left me breathless, and soon I was dripping down his hand while my pussy squeezed in wanton ecstasy.
I orgasmed onto his mouth, and he lapped up every drop of me. When it was all over, I slowly slid to the shower floor and felt him slip his arms around me.
“Feel better?” he asked.
“Best wake-up ever,” I said, still trying to catch my breath.
He kissed my cheek while the shower sprayed our bodies, and we trembled against one another, cherishing the time we had. I knew I had to get out and take care of the horses and Colt had to get to the restaurant, but I wanted some time with him before we had to part ways.
“You think we’ll hear from the sheriff today?” I asked.
“I figured they’d call if they knew anything.”
“How’s Tiffany?”
“Don’t think she’s up yet,” he said.
“I gotta go tend to the horses.”
“I know. And I gotta get to the restaurant.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what?” he asked.
“For everything you’ve done for me.”
“How’s your arm?” he asked.
“Don’t deflect. I’m serious,” I said.
“I’m not deflecting; I’m curious.” He ran his fingertips down my arm, and we both could see the bruise that had formed. I knew Colt was still upset that I hadn’t told the sheriff anything about our encounter, but I figured it wouldn’t bring anything but trouble.
And we’d just wiggled our way out of trouble already.
We peeled ourselves from the shower and went our separate ways, but later when we all gathered after our workdays were over, Michael joined us. Tiffany and Colt were talking about the fundraiser, and I was chatting with Michael about the adoption of my horse, but I could tell Michael was having a hard time concentrating.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” I asked.
“Tif? Oh, yeah. She’s a pretty woman.”
“You should tell her that,” I said.
“Tell me what?” she asked.
“That you’re easy on the eyes,” Michael said with a grin. I shot Colt a look, and he glanced down at his sister, but she seemed unfazed by the compliment.
“Not with this stupid cast on, but if all goes well, I’ll be in a boot before December rolls around.”
“How long will you be in that?” Michael asked her.
“Four weeks, then there’s a bit of physical therapy. I’m hoping to be back out and with the animals before the turn of the year.”
“If you need any help, I could offer my services,” Michael said.
“That’s very kind of you, thanks. With everything that’s happened with Rick, I know that would help us out a great deal.”
Colt rolled his eyes, and I couldn’t help but giggle. She had no idea that Michael was flirting with her, and it was painful to watch her sidestep him without even realizing it.
“Anything for you,” Michael said with a smile.
“Well, I’ll get you a potential schedule, then,” Tif said.
“Tiffany!” I exclaimed.
“What? He offered to help! We could use it with Rick being locked up for pulling all his bullshit.”
“Such a dirty mouth for a pretty woman,” Michael said.
“You just haven’t met women like me yet,” she said.
She was absolutely clueless, and it was becoming physically painful. I was glad when a knock on the door saved us from the painful conversation, but when Colt opened the door and we saw the sheriff, things got serious very quickly.
“May I come in?” he asked.
“Of course. We’re all in the kitchen.”
He sat down with us with a solemn look on his face, and I knew that something else had developed. I felt my chest clench with anxiety, and Colt grabbed my hand underneath the table to try and steady my breathing. I felt the world already spinning beneath my feet, and I wasn’t ready for another hiccup.
I wasn’t prepared for the sheriff to do any more than update us on Rick, then to take credit for his capture.
“Well, Rick confessed to everything,” he said. “But he kept telling me to tell you that he never meant to actually burn anything to the ground or kill any horses. He just wanted to create a small fire that spooked them.”
“Because that’s better, somehow?” Tiffany said.
“He said he meant to just open up the stable and scare the horses into fleeing the smoke from the ignited hay, but the fireworks he used accidentally caught the stalls on fire instead. He had brought a gas can, but had decided he didn’t want to go that far. He left the gas can when he panicked and ran, and that is what burned down your barn, Cheyenne. Bill must have seen something happen and decided to check it out for himself, placing him at the scene of the crime.”
Colt squeezed my hand, and my heart still ached. I had figured that if I had answers, I’d feel better. That if I knew exactly what happened, I could find peace.
But all it did was make me feel sick.
“He also admitted to the spiders and the snake, Colt,” the sheriff said. “He said he was also responsible for a flat tire? I guess I didn’t know about that.”
“I woke up one morning, and Cheyenne’s tire was flat. I changed it and thought it was slashed and not punctured, but we didn’t report it. It was well, you know—better than a charred barn.”
I could hear the anger rising in Colt’s voice, and I squeezed his hand to try and calm him down.
“In his defense, he was trying to make sure no one got hurt. It was just supposed to be about scaring Cheyenne,” the sheriff said.
“I don’t give a shit about how you defend him. What I want to know is why,” Tiffany said.
“Apparently, someone contacted him over the internet and offered him a great deal of money to do all this stuff. He said it was all anonymous, and we did confiscate his laptop just to be sure. When we checked his bank records, we found that he’d been paid by some internet service or whatever. It’s a bit over our heads, so we’ll actually need the big guns to help us out.”
“So, that’s good then, right?” I asked.
“Well, the feds aren’t all that interested in some small town rural drama, so until we can convince them to come help, we’re at another impasse.”
“Are you serious?” I exclaimed.
“Don’t worry, he confessed. He’s still gonna get locked up; we just can’t figure out who paid him to do all this to you,” the sheriff said.
“So the brains behind the operation could just hire someone else?” I felt Colt try to squeeze my hand, but all I did was rip it away from him. I knew there had to be a catch—something this damn town wouldn’t be able to do—and I was absolutely irate.
And I was shocked when Colt wasn’t.
“Cheyenne, it’s over. I promise,” Tiffany said.
“No, it’s not! Can’t you guys see that?” I yelled.
“Rick was the one doing it. Even if he was paid—”
“So the person paying him will just find someone else!”
I felt the tears welling up, and my hands began to shake. It was hard to catch my breath, and when I brought my hand up to my face, everyone saw my arm.
Including the sheriff.
“Cheyenne?” the sheriff asked. “What happened to your arm?”
I threw myself back from the table and stormed off. My head was reeling with the information I had just received, and I could feel myself panicking. I heard Tiffany limping up behind me before she threw her arm around me, and that’s when Colt started in telling of the confrontation I’d had with Bill. I didn’t care anymore if he told the whole world. I was so upset and so angry that this incompetent town couldn’t even wrap up this investigation right that I couldn’t see straight.
We did all the fucking work for them, and the first obstacle they encounter they throw in the towel? What the hell?
By the time Tiffany got me to calm down, the sheriff had left. Colt and Michael were talking quietly in the kitchen, and when we walked back in, they turned around.
“So, the sheriff is officially opening an aggression case against Bill,” Colt said.
“Because we don’t have enough to deal with now as it is,” I said.
“Do you trust me?” Colt asked.
“What?”
“I said, ‘Do you trust me’?”
“Yes. Yes, of course I do,” I said. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“So, when I tell you that Michael and I have this under control, and that you should continue to stay here and keep a low profile, and that your arm has raised enough suspicion in the sheriff to look into some things we’ve given him, you believe me?”
“What did you give him?” I asked.
“Don’t worry yourself with it. Just know that both Michael and I still think Bill is somehow behind this. The pieces—that were only theories before—are starting to fall into place.”
“You’re chasing a drunken theory?” Tiffany asked.
“Better than no theory,” Michael said.
“Trust me,” Colt said. “When we told the sheriff what we knew, he took your arm into consideration, and it got his lazy ass kicked into gear.”
“Must’ve been some intense stuff,” Tiffany said.
“We’ve got this, Cheyenne,” Michael said. “Just do what Colt asks. Stay here, keep a low profile, and let us deal with it.”
And at this point, my nerves were no longer giving me a choice. My breaths were coming in short spurts, and tears were bubbling up again. Colt had to wrap me up in his arms before I felt rooted to the ground again.
To reality again.
To my life again.
“Okay,” I said into his chest, slowing exhaling and trying to calm down. “I trust you.”
“Good. Because I think we’ve almost got it,” Colt said. Then he pressed a kiss to the top of my head and started swaying with me in the kitchen.
“Tiffany. Care to sit on the porch?” Michael asked.
“Sure! We can talk more about the fundraiser,” she said.
“She’s clueless,” I murmured into Colt’s chest.
“Welcome to my sister,” he said, chuckling. “So brilliant, so oblivious.”