Page 17 of Stirring Up Trouble (Saddle Up #1)

Fifteen

Robin

By some miracle, I woke up before Blaze the next morning.

Though, I imagine it had a lot to do with the way the man had worn me out the night before.

He was… magnificent .

I couldn't think of a better word. Because he fucked me so good.

I never thought that it was something I would say. I never pictured myself being a greedy bottom who wanted to be pounded into the mattress every night.

But I could see it with him.

All I wanted was more of him, of his mouth and his hands and his cock.

Every time I came and caught my breath, I was ready to go again. The libido I thought to be non-existent had returned with a vengeance, making up for lost time. And the man who brought forth all this pleasure was just perfect.

I had zero complaints.

Could not have asked for a better partner.

So when I rolled over and he was still snoring softly asleep, I decided to spoil him too.

I knew Ms. Connie would probably already be working on breakfast, and if there were any leftovers from the day before, I could put something together quickly.

I'd bring it back up to him and wake him up before we had to all load up to leave.

I threw on some pajama pants and a t-shirt, then went downstairs.

As I suspected, Ms. Connie was already up and laying out everything for breakfast. She smiled when she saw me enter the kitchen. Then her eyes went wide.

"Oh, sweetheart, he definitely decided to let everybody know you were taken."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

She pointed to her neck. "You ain’t passed a mirror? Looks like someone attacked you."

I gasped, clutching at my neck and running off down the hall. Her laughter followed me all the way up until I pushed in the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I took a minute to breathe before I faced my reflection.

It was then I saw what she meant. There were hickeys everywhere. It really did look like I'd been to war.

And while a part of me was embarrassed by it, another was deeply aroused.

He marked me.

He wanted people to know — as if the kiss wasn't clear enough yesterday — then this would be. There was no mistaking it.

No mistaking us.

After that, I stood a bit taller. I made sure there were no other marks on me, which to be honest, was dumb in hindsight. I was covered. Everywhere his mouth and hands had been held an echo of the pleasure he’d brought me.

I straightened myself up and went back to join Ms. Connie. She raised her brow when I walked in. "You better now? Or do you need another minute to admire his handiwork?”

I laughed as I pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Thank you for letting me know. And yes, I was embracing it. There's just something about Blaze,” I sighed wistfully.

She nodded as she pulled toast from the oven. I watched as she buttered it in silence because I could tell she had something she wanted to say.

Once she laid it on the plate and loaded more bread inside, she turned to me, arms crossed.

“I need you to know the Anders family loves with their whole heart.

I've been with them on this land for a long time.

Blaze isn't the type to be nonchalant about anything. At least not when he means business.”

“And you think he means business with me?’ I asked, curious to know her perspective.

She gave me a nod. “Yeah, I do. Because I saw the way he looks at you. I've seen the way he speaks and moves. Sure, he tried to deny things at first, but there was no escaping this pull you two have to one another. The rest of us saw it long before you did.”

My jaw dropped at the revelation.

She laughed and swatted me with a towel that had been over her shoulder.

“Yes, sweetie, everyone knew that you two were going to wind up together.

I don't care about all this whole sexuality identity stuff that people say.

You love who you love. It doesn't matter what they claim themselves to be because people change and grow.

“I've got a friend I used to go to church with who, after thirty-some-odd years of marriage, found out that her spouse did not identify with the gender they were born with.” She struggled through the words slowly.

“Sorry it takes me a minute. It's sometimes confusing considering how long I've known them.”

I smiled softly, understanding where she was coming from and also proud of her for acknowledging this change.

“Anyway, as I was saying, things changed between them, and she stuck by their side.

People wanted to put labels on it and tell her who she was and who she wasn't. People at the church got upset and at the end of the day, I looked her dead in the eye and told her, 'Honey, do what you want to do because those people don't pay your bills.

They don't warm your bed at night. They don't love you the way your partner loves you.' I tried to get her to see they simply wouldn’t open their minds no matter how hard she tried. It was exhausting for them both, you know.”

My eyes watered at the grace she had extended her friend. It wasn't every day you heard stories like that, especially from elder people within the Queer community.

“Are the two of them still together and happy now?” I asked, curious to know the outcome of their story.

She nodded. "Yeah, they are. I see them every now and then, but they've kind of pulled back after all the hate they faced.

A lot of their time is spent connecting with friends they have online or taking trips to all the places they had wanted to go when they were younger.

There's a big wide world out there and a lot of them don't care about any of the other stuff that the people in a small town would.”

Her words felt a bit like a warning. Like maybe she was trying to tell me to look out for the people here. Blaze had already said that he had trouble in town due to racist idiots. I had to wonder just how much trouble it was and how much trouble there would be.

Would our relationship cause problems for him?

Would people not want to support the rodeo or the ranch?

Ms. Connie's hand on my cheek pulled me out of the tornado of thoughts.

“Don't go begging for trouble, sweetheart.

You and him are what matter most. It's the whole point of my story. I just want you to understand that Blaze's heart is big. He may seem like a gruff rancher to a lot of people, but he's not. He's had to overcome a lot. People do not want to see a Black man succeed in this community. Hell, they don't want to see a Black woman do it either. Blaze’s mama fought hard to keep this ranch when her daddy left it to her. Then that bastard came along and tried to steal it from her by disguising it as love. It’s hard to judge people’s intentions, especially those who don’t look like us.”

I raised my hands to let her know I didn’t take offense at her words.

“I've seen it myself. A lot of times, there's judgement against other people who are different and don't fit their beliefs. I’m all for correcting people who look like me when they’re wrong. It shouldn’t matter what you look like or who you sleep with.”

She nodded. “That's pretty much it for me too.

Anyone not in the predetermined bubble of perfect is pushed to the side or forced out.

But Blaze isn't one to sit down. Not when he believes in something.

And the way he looked at you yesterday told me everything I needed to know.

So the whole reason I'm saying all this, the whole reason I'm pulling you aside instead of letting you take that man breakfast, is to tell you that I love you, and I'm welcoming you to this family. But if you hurt that man up there, if you break his heart, well, I know a couple of people who could break yours. Know what I mean?”

My jaw dropped. “Ms. Connie, are you threatening me?”

She shook her head, then turned around and swished her hips extra wide as if trying to distract me.

“No, of course not. I would never. But you should still be careful,” she said looking over her shoulder.

Shocked at her words, I missed hearing Blaze until he was in the kitchen with us. “What are you two doing down here?”

“Just great! You aren’t supposed to be down here.”

“Why not? I woke up because you weren't beside me. Of course I came looking.”

I threw my hands up. “Well, I came down here to get you breakfast and it turned into a talk. Now that you're here, we might as well eat.”

Ms. Connie giggled, then finished making our plates and handed them over. “You two go sit at the table. I'll be right over. Leslie will pop in any minute now.”

She brought her plate and Leslie's plate over and sat them down.

“What about Elton and Bobby Allen?” I asked when I noticed there wasn’t anything for them.

She waved her hand. “I took them up some sandwiches this morning and set them outside the door. Figured the two of them might want some more alone time. I imagine being away from home, even when they're together, is a bit stressful. I get the sense that Elton's had a hard go of it.”

I gave her a nod. “That's true. It's not my story to tell though.”

She patted my hand. “I know, sweetheart. People have to tell their truth in their own way.”

Her eyes moved over to Blaze before a noise at the front door distracted us all.

“Please tell me what I'm smelling is Ms. Connie's cooking because I am about two seconds away from passing out,” Leslie drawled as she made her way into the kitchen.

When she saw us all sitting there, she squealed and rushed over into her seat. She shoveled food in like she was on the edge of starvation. When she realized the rest of us weren't moving, she squinted at us.

“Why are you eating like a wild animal in my kitchen?” Ms. Connie asked her.

Leslie finished chewing what she had in her mouth, swallowed it down, then replied, "Because I’ve been missing a few meals between the rodeo and a certain someone."

Blaze snorted. “You’re sleeping around with one of the barrel racers this time.”

“How do you know who it is?” Leslie asked him defensively.

"I've got eyes and ears everywhere woman. You think I don't know who you're shacking up with? You're going to break that girl's heart, you know?"

Leslie puffed up her chest. "I will do no such thing. She knows the score. Besides, she lives hours and hours away. It's not like we could make it work."

As soon as she said the words, the room went silent. I think she realized what she'd done a second later because she went and looked around at us.

“That's not to say that other people can't make it work. It's just not for me. I am fickle and reckless and all these other negative emotional things that you should not take into account when you think about your own life. Please don’t kill me for rambling."

Blaze shook his head as he ate.

"There's no reason to go killing anyone today." I said as I tilted my head towards the woman across from me. "Right, Ms. Connie?"

"Of course, sweetheart. I already told you that. Nobody is dying. We're just all going to be happy, right?"

Blaze stopped eating and held his fork up to point around at everyone. "That's enough talk about murder and such. Let's move on. First breakfast, then we gotta load up and head on out. It's another busy day. We're about at the halfway mark, though."

Leslie did a little happy dance in her seat. "Yes, and then we don't have to worry about it for another year."

At her words, I felt this tug in my chest. I couldn't wait another year to see Blaze. We couldn't just be a rodeo fling.

Griffin had told me he believed in me. That I could have my own practice. He wasn't holding any grudges about me needing to leave. His assessment of me having ties to the community there was accurate as well. I literally had nothing keeping me in that place.

Everything could change. And I had no doubt that Blaze would let me stay here while I got my practice set up.

But would moving in with someone after only knowing them for a week be too much? Yeah, probably so.

Was that gonna stop me from doing it? Probably not.