Page 11 of Kentucky Nights (Dead Man’s Ranch #1)

I pride myself on being a good man, a decent man, the kind that would do anything for anyone if it meant they got a better life. Free will is the most important for anyone, human or paranormal, and Dru thinks she has it.

She’s probably in her room planning a way to escape, wanting to go home where she belongs.

I’m afraid I can’t allow that to happen.

I can’t let her go. She’s meant to be here with me. If she leaves, I’ll have to hunt her down and bring her back. If I kidnap her, that will set me back even further when it comes to gaining her trust.

Everything I felt about dying has changed because of her. Dru can be mad at me for being a vampire; she has the right to be afraid of me after what happened, but I’m also angry.

Her arrival in my life has changed all my plans. Death can no longer be an option because I refuse to let her die. I’m not that cruel. My life has always been controlled by outside forces. My free will has always been abused, bent, and molded by someone else.

I thought I had finally taken control back, living my life by sunsets and sunrises. I was ready to die under the night sky, the stars beckoning me into their space to welcome me home.

Yet again, the universe has other plans.

I’m starting to realize that home isn’t a place.

It’s a person.

And she’s inside the house right now, probably planning my demise.

I’m going to give her the space she deserves. I’ll let her come to me when she’s ready. Even with my own turmoil about our situation—I’m hopeful—I could scent her interest.

The fear was strong and bitter on my tongue as it filled the space of the bedroom. Behind that and the anger—and there was a lot of anger—I smelled desire.

Whether she likes it or not, she’s attracted to me.

“You are going to get me fired.”

I hang my head, my hand gripping the twine bundling the hay bales. “You’re going to make me commit murder if you keep popping up unannounced.”

“How else am I supposed to talk to you, Kentucky? Do you even have a phone?”

“Of course I do.” I’m learning how to use it. It’s dead in a drawer somewhere. All the technological advances over the years can be hard to keep up with.

I’m working on it.

“We will circle back to that and talk about why you didn’t give me your number. Have you thought about what I said?” Lorcan jumps on the bales of hay and sneezes. “This barn is dusty. Do you clean it?”

How does someone kill someone who is already dead? Maybe the internet can tell me when I’m done working for the day.

“I clean it, but it is hay, Lorcan. You might be allergic.”

“I’m a paranormal entity. We don’t have allergies, Cowboy Dracula.” He sneezes again, and this time, his head pops off, rolling across the barn in quick bumps.

His mouth is smashed into the stall. “Hey, can you bring me back to my body?” Lorcan mumbles. “The dirt tastes so bad.”

His body falls from where he sits, his arms stretched out, looking for his head.

“I don’t know. Seeing your skull rolling around brings me more joy than it should.”

Lorcan manages to roll his head back and away from the stall. His mouth parts on a gasp, inhaling more dust. He sneezes, the force causing him to roll down to Romeo’s stall.

“Oh my god, it reeks over here. What do you feed him?” He gags. “And where is my damn body!” he cries, but the body in question rams into a beam.

I grin, knowing damn well I wouldn’t laugh at all if it weren’t for Lorcan.

Tossing the bale of hay over my shoulder, it lands with a loud thump in the bed of the old truck I have parked in the barn. My plan was to fill the feeders out in the pasture for the cattle, but with the rain steady, I’ll have to fill the row barn instead, where most of them will be huddled anyway.

A few creaks and groans have me turn to see Lorcan twisting his head back on. He cracks his neck left and right, then shakes his body.

“Okay, that’s better. That was rude. You could have helped me.”

I shrug a shoulder. “Seems like you had it under control, Lorcan. Who was I to interrupt your process?”

He holds a hand to his chest, offended. “I’ll remember that when I have to take you to Purgatory.”

I toss another bale of hay into the truck. “What’s that?”

Lorcan knocks his head into the beam a few times, groaning. “You really don’t know much, do you?”

“Only what you tell me.” I grunt, throwing two more bales down from the loft. “Other than that, I don’t care, Lorcan.”

Lorcan takes a seat on a bench, then screams at the top of his lungs when one of the barn kittens scurries across his legs. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him move so fast.

“What is that beast ?” He hides behind me on the loft, leaving the little kitten down on the main level.

The grey kitten sits down, peering up at us with big blue eyes. “Meow.”

“So vicious. You should be afraid. He probably smells your bones and needs a good chew.”

“Feed me,” the kitten says into my mind.

“Go to your mom. She’ll feed you,” I reply . “You aren’t ready for big kitty food yet.”

“That’s terrible. Why would you keep such a creature here when you know that all I am is bones?”

“That’s exactly why I keep him here, Lorcan.” I school my features, doing my best to seem serious.

The kitten hisses at us before running away and slipping under an unused stall.

He shakes his bony finger at me. “This is why I’m taking your ass to Purgatory if you ever die. And before you ask”—he places his hand over my mouth to silence me— “Purgatory is the place all paranormals go. Consider it the next town over from Hell.”

“Sounds like a vacation,” I say, my tongue dry and my attitude uncaring.

“It isn’t so bad. I really like it there.”

“So go back and let me do my job.” I grip the twine again, launching it through the air.

Lorcan dodges to the left to miss the rectangle charging at him. “I know when someone is trying to get rid of me. We need to talk, Kentucky. And it can’t wait.”

“Yes, it can.” I throw another bale through the air, and to my surprise, Lorcan freezes it mid-air and gently places it down with the rest.

“Surprise. I’m not a complete wreck. You don’t know much about the paranormal life.

I have respected your choice to remain a loner, to not give you the knowledge that you need for survival, but since you never cared about survival before, I gave you space.

” He snaps his fingers, and I’m forced to sit down.

I can’t move.

“Yeah, don’t even try to use your little vampire speed.

You don’t have shit on me, bucko.” Lorcan dramatically flaps his black robe just when Romeo lets out a large neigh.

“Hush. I’m not going to hurt him or anything.

I don’t have a mean bone in my body.” He smiles, raises his brows, and waits for me to laugh.

“Get it? Because all I have are bones that make up my body. Get it, Kentucky? Get it?”

I roll my eyes, wishing I could blur away from him.

He can be annoying when he is determined.

“I get it, Lorcan.” Rain clatters against the roof, proving how much longer my day is going to take, especially with Lorcan here.

“I can’t wait for a lecture all day. I have shit I need to do.

Romeo needs new horseshoes, the cattle need to be fed, and I need to make sure I don’t have any other injured animals on top of needing to do a perimeter sweep of the fences.

If any posts are broken, I need to fix them.

I have a few cows that are due to give birth any day now.

I might need to help them with that. So get on with it. ”

“I understand you are busy. You have been running this ranch for a very long time, and you should be proud of yourself and your success. This is the best ranch in the south. People pay a high price for one of your cattle. You should be proud of that, but I’m not here to talk about your ranch, Kentucky.

You don’t have a long time before you start to wither away now that your mate is here.

You know of her existence now. She’s in your home.

The scent of her will fill every room, taunt your control, tug at your will, and I know you have a lot of control.

You are unlike any vampire I have ever met, but you can’t wait to make a decision when it comes to her. You don’t have that kind of time.”

I try to lean forward, but his magic stops me. “What kind of time frame are we talking about? Months? A year?”

Lorcan frowns, followed by a long sigh. “You might have a week before you start to go mad from hunger. You won’t be able to feed from anyone else.

All the blood bags you have? That’s all over now.

You will throw up anyone else’s blood. Your body will reject it.

I know you’re already feeling the need for her blood.

It will just get worse. You will spiral.

If you don’t complete the bond, you will die, and that will kill her.

You can’t live without one another now. You have to decide what you want more. Her or death.”

“A week?” I know I sound confused and in disbelief. I knew there was a chance we could die from what I’ve read, but a week? I thought I had longer to wrap my head around living for all eternity.

And Lorcan is right. She has only been here a day, and I’m already craving her blood. I want to know if the taste of her will be the end of me. Will I succumb and give in to the undying need of her blood in my veins?

The thought alone has my mouth watering. My fangs lengthen, and I bend my head down to keep my reaction private. Any reaction Dru ignites from me belongs to her.

“I’m sorry, Kentucky, I?—”

A knock on the barn door interrupts us. I try to stand, but Lorcan’s magic still has me frozen. By the aromatic scent cutting through the musk of the barn, it’s Dru, and for some reason, she has come to see me.

I narrow my eyes in warning at him if he doesn’t let me go.

“Oh, fine.” He snaps his fingers, freeing me from his damn invisible prison. “This conversation isn’t over.” Lorcan vanishes, leaving me alone at last.