Page 111 of Branded

She’s right. She’s proven it again and again, taking Janie’s place at the auction, surviving my cruelty, recovering the cattle, facing my family’s suspicion, her family’s questions. She’s steel wrapped in softness.

“I know you don’t,” I say. “That’s not why I’m trying to protect you.”

“Then why?”

“Because you’re the only good thing in my life right now. And it would kill me if I lost you to something I can prevent.”

The words hang between us, raw and vulnerable.

“You won’t lose me,” she says quietly as she gently places her hand on my cheek. “The only way you lose me is if you go back to being the man who threatens and controls instead of trusts and protects.”

She kisses me, gently, and I feel some of the tension leave my body. I hold her tighter, needing her close. My cock comes to life against her thigh, and Lennox smiles against my mouth before she pulls away.

“Come on,” she says as she lets me go. “It’s almost dinner time. Whatever you’re planning can wait until tomorrow. Tonight, let’s just be us, and I want to deal with that later.” She winks and grinds her hips against me, making me moan.

“You’re a sadist, you know that?” I let her pull me toward the door.

“Payback’s a bitch.” She laughs as we walk to the kitchen.

35

LENNOX

Sebastian has been working long hours in the week we’ve been home, constantly on the phone or locked in his office with Nathaniel and Caroline. Planning something. I could feel the tension radiating off him every time he came to bed this week, his body tight with stress even when he tried to hide it.

But he kept his word. He doesn’t threaten me, doesn’t try to control where I go or what I do. And makes me come till I can’t scream any more. God, sex with this man will probably kill me before old age. But each time we’ve been intimate, a little more of Sebastian appeared, and I like the man I am seeing. He’s still very much in control in the bedroom, which I don’t mind, but there’s more than just primal need. We are connecting with one another, making more of our time together. Since Montana, it feels like we’re making love, rather than doing whatever it was before.

I spend my days working at the ranch. Riding out with Pete to check fence lines. Helping move cattle between pastures. Learning the rhythms of this operation the same way I learned my father’s. The work is familiar enough to be comfortable, different enough to require attention.

With all this work, I’m able to avoid the palace. Walker’s home, and I still don’t want to face him after the accusations. But that also means I see very little of James since he’s the one keeping Walker informed of everything that’s happening. James is a light in this family, the only one who seems to have escaped the pressures of the name.

On the fourth day back from Montana, I’m in the barn grooming Duchess when I feel it.

Eyes on me. Watching.

I turn slowly, scanning the barn. Nothing. Just horses and shadows and the familiar smell of hay and leather. But the feeling persists. That prickling awareness that comes from being observed.

“Hello?” My voice echoes in the empty space.

Nothing. No response. No movement.

I go back to brushing Duchess, but my shoulders stay tense. The mare feels it too, shifting nervously, her ears swiveling toward the barn entrance.

“Easy, girl,” I murmur. “It’s nothing.” Which is a total lie; it absolutely is something.

I finish quickly and lead Duchess to her stall, keeping my back to the wall as much as possible. The feeling of being watched intensifies near the tack room, and I grab my phone, ready to call Sebastian, Pete or anyone.

Then it’s gone. Whatever presence was there, if anything was there at all, vanishes like smoke.

Paranoia. I’m being paranoid. Too much stress, too many days of watching Sebastian plan something he won’t tell me about is too much. Thomas Marshall is probably looking to avenge the man that I shot. I can’t help but wait for the retaliation to come. Because it always comes.

I head back to the house, trying to shake the unease crawling up my spine.

Sebastian is in the kitchen making coffee when I come in. He takes one look at my face and frowns.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Well, probably nothing.” I lean against the counter. “I felt like someone was watching me in the barn. But when I looked around, there was no one there.”