Page 5 of Captivated

“How come you haven’t looked for a BDSM club nearer to you? Unless there aren’t any.”

Derek rolled the glass between his palms. “I wouldn’t go to it even if there was one, and that isn’t likely, considering where I live. No, I like to keep this part of my life separate from Nate.” He gazed down at the ranch. Paul was in the paddock grooming Sorrel, a big ole sweetheart of a horse. “He’s very good with them, isn’t he?”

Robert smiled. “Never met a horse yet that Paul couldn’t bring around to his way of thinking. Mind you, Zeeb’s almost as good.” He studied Derek, noting the lines he felt sure hadn’t been evident his last visit. “We’re friends, aren’t we? I mean, I’mnot just the guy who runs this place.” He chuckled. “Except I don’t. Mostly it’s Teague, and Toby takes care of Deliverance.”

Derek frowned. “Of course we’re friends.”

Robert drank a little whiskey, appreciating its warming effect. “Okay then. What’s on your mind? You usually come here to forget about real life for a while. This time I’ve got the feeling you dragged it with you and you can’t unhitch it.”

Derek said nothing, but returned his attention to Paul in the paddock. Robert waited. He’d opened the door a crack. It was up to Derek to decide if he was going to step inside.

Derek’s shoulders sagged. “I don’t talk about Nate. You might have noticed that.”

“Yeah, I did, but I didn’t pay it much attention. It’s not as if the two of us are ever stuck for topics of conversation.”

That brought a smile. “I know, right? But the reason I don’t share stuff about Nate is because…well… it’s complicated.”

Robert smiled. “Doesn’t that just sum up life these days?” He took another drink.

Derek pointed to Paul. “Watching him work with the horses… It reminded me of something Nate’s therapist said recently.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to comment on someone of Nate’s age needing therapy, but then he clammed up.What do I know about his situation? And who says you have to be a certain age to need therapy?

Derek stared into his glass. “He brought up the subject of equine therapy. Thought it might be good for Nate. So I did some research. It talks about how interacting with horses can help people who’ve experienced trauma, allowing them to rebuild trust, to connect with another being in a non-threatening way.”

One word lodged itself in Robert’s mind.

“‘Trauma’?”

Derek gave a half smile. “I said it was complicated, right?” He gazed at the landscape before them, the rolling hills, the far-off mountains. “Nate would love this,” he murmured. “He’s an artist. There’s so much here to inspire him.”

When Robert got an idea, he liked to run with it.

“Sounds as if he could use some time here.”

Derek frowned. “I don’t think that would work. To give you an idea why, Nate’s got this tee with the wordsToday I Don’t Want To Peopleacross the front. It isn’t meant to be funny. He… he finds it hard to trust people. And living in the bunkhouse, mixing with the hands?” Derek shook his head. “Uh-uh. Not going to happen.”

“Then we’d make other arrangements.” Robert smiled. “What if he had a place all to himself, somewhere quiet, away from the bunkhouse?”

He blinked. “There’s a place like that at Salvation?”

“Remember that cabin I showed you when we went out riding one morning? A little place by a creek?”

Derek smiled. “Ah. The one your hands use if they want to bring an overnight guest to the ranch.”

“That’s the one. Well, what if Nate stayed there?”

He bit his lip. “I don’t think they’d be happy about giving it up.”

Robert laughed. “We’d be talking a week, two at the most. I think they can cope with that. And if they’rethatdesperate, there’s always the hotel off Highway 191.” He cleared his throat. “So I’m reliably informed.”

Derek’s frown was back. “But he can’t ride horses all day.”

“No one says he’d have to. He could help Paul groom them, if he felt like it. But he could also bring his artist stuff with him.” Robert flung his arm out. “He’d have all this to paint and draw.” He peered at Derek. “Art therapy is a thing too, isn’t it?”

Lord, he could almost see the idea taking root in Derek’s mind. His slow smile, the light in his eyes…

I just gave him something he needed.