Page 15 of Tusks & Saddles

Chapter Ten

Boone

B oone wrapped an arm around Will’s stomach, ignoring the tension in it as he settled onto the saddle.

Betty tossed her head about, upset about the added weight but not enough to buck him off.

Or worse, I've seen that horse genuinely upset before. The Paladin didn’t have time to worry about if the horse would hold a grudge against him, they needed to move.

Not only were the cattle moving, but they needed to as well.

One dead sand slither would attract other non-friendlies their way and he’d selfishly wasted too much time healing his cuts and trying not to kiss Willamina silly.

Boone hoisted a hand over Will’s head, whispering words that floated from him in golden, flaming script.

His spell swirled around in his palm, forming into a glinting sphere.

With a pop, like a simple soap bubble, a compass fell into his hand.

Boone leaned over Will, showing her the compass.

She was already kicking at Betty’s sides gingerly, encouraging her to walk toward the cattle.

Roger came up alongside them, snooping on the compass.

Thankfully, it pointed in the same direction the cattle were headed, toward the stronghold.

“Strange,” Boone murmured. He wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, or nothing, but.

..it was weird that Kaffa, in her fear, wouldn’t head to Roger and the herd nor back home where she was kept most. There was a chance the horse got turned around, but Kaffa did this route often.

Much like Gracie, her usual rider, the horse did this route four times a year, every year for the last Sun Bringer knows how long.

Maybe she thought it would be safer out of the sands?

Boone didn’t have any answers; none that were good anyway. So long as that horse kept his saddle on, and as she didn’t have thumbs that was a high possibility she would, they’d find her.

The ride through the sands was rough. Between catching up to the herd that decided to get a decent head start, to doing his damnedest to forget about Will’s ass rocking against him as they rode, to the bullying heat, it was atrocious.

He’d slogged through many a terrible dungeon, the swamp once or twice, and even a dragon’s lair.

None of those compared to the torture of feeling the woman of his dreams rubbing against him and not a damn thing he could do about it.

There was definitely sand in his pants and between his fingers, there was blood caked on most of him, and he was pretty sure his tusks were singed a little.

Nothing quite as sexy as swamp ass, which currently plagued him.

However, the relief of a river was in sight.

He felt the shift from trotting on sand to soft soil, and there was an almost instantaneous shift in the morale of the party as the first tree popped up before them.

The cows slowed down. Betty’s pace slowed even further as the cows crowded around the river.

A mile or two west was the man-made ramp.

Something Last Chance Ranch built long ago, shaving down the natural river edge then filling it in with stone, to allow the cows to slowly and safely wade across to the other side.

It had a gate that, when unlocked, allowed the wooden boards to work as a small damn.

Thus choking the water to an ankle-deep stream for the hour the cows walked across.

Then they would return the boards, no harm, no foul .

For the night, they would stay on this side of the river to rest, wash, and drink up...tomorrow they would cross.

“Any sight of her?” Roger slunk up beside them, hopping off his horse.

“None,” Boone sighed, glancing down at the compass.

It still pointed in the direction they were going, which meant she was either resting in the valley, or somehow ahead of them to the point they couldn’t see her.

Either way, there wasn’t anything but loose gatherings of trees and shin high grass for miles around the river.

“KAFFA!” Will screamed, cupping her mouth with her hands, but it did nothing. Boone was silent as he slid as gracefully off Betty as he could. Will called out again and every time she did, the sound was more broken.

“Gracie’s gonna be heartbroken if we can’t find that horse,” Roger muttered under his breath to Boone who only glared at the Minotaur.

“Hush.”

“What?”

But the damage was done, Will’s cracked voice echoed off the water, the sky, even the moons creeping up in the late evening sky. “ Kaffa!”

Boone shot Roger a disapproving look that persuaded the Minotaur to usher the cattle up closer to the river.

He stood with his hands holding the reins, Betty standing still as her rider called out one last time for the missing horse.

It didn’t escape him that Will was tense.

Her shoulders were nearly at her ears and her face was pinched.

“Will, come on.”

“She’s out here! She’s gotta be. ”

“We’ll find her, but first you need some fresh water, come on.” He led the horse slowly downstream, to give her some space. The cattle were too interested in lapping up water and munching fresh grass to go anywhere. Roger was over there too, Killer headfirst in the river with the cows.

Boone would pray to the Sun Bringer when they went to bed for some guidance and maybe a helping hand.

While his goddess was usually a neutral party in the affairs of mortals, she had a soft spot for animals in need.

He’d press his luck when Will was nestled safely in his arms. First he undid Betty’s harness and let the horse happily gulp down fresh water.

After they’d gotten a bath in and a hot meal, they could figure it out.

Will was surprisingly compliant when he whispered, “Come on, baby, down we go.”

She let him guide her to the riverside, saddle plopped behind them.

He wrestled her out of her boots and they both rolled up their pant legs just to stick their poor heels in the running water.

There was nothing like cooling off the little piggies after a long day.

Boone reached behind him into their sack, something that surprisingly didn’t get stomped to death in the stampede of skeletons, and rummaged around for their food bag.

It took a little grumbling and mumbling, Will staring blankly across the river the whole time, but he got the sack out.

Fishing out two beers, he popped the top on them with the tip of his tusks and handed her one.

Will didn’t even question it, which is how he knew she was devastated.

“Baby, we’re gonna find her—”

“I’m a pessimist at heart. If I always think something’s gonna break or go wrong, then I’m never shocked when it happens. It hurts less that way,” she blurted out before glancing his way .

Boone blinked once, at a loss for words. It took him a minute to connect the dots, but when he did, he nodded. “That’s alright, I’ll make sure not to let you drown in your dark clouds, my little ostrich.”

“Fuck you! I’m not an ostrich.”

“Standing in the rain, mouth open, drowning in it, sounds like an ostrich to me.” He smirked before tossing back a sip.

“Fine, but I’m mean too.”

“You already said that,” he laughed, drying his lips on the back of his sleeve, “and I already said I like you mean.”

“I'm not a princess. I’m not dainty or demure.” Willamina took a long, heavy sip before she finally looked his way again. “I’m not delicate.”

“And when did I even make you consider that’s what I wanted in a partner?

” Boone raised a brow at her. Will scowled, but he knew he’d won when she spun toward him and slugged him right in the chest. He let out a pained wheeze, cackling the whole way down.

Thankfully, he spared the beer, setting it onto the steady ground nearby as Will leaned over him staring down at him.

“I guess it’s not much of a list, huh?” she exhaled.

“I didn’t reckon there’d be much on it,” Boone teased, reaching up a hand to brush her hair back behind her ears. “Seeing as you were pretty much handmade by the Sun Bringer for me.”

Will stared at him hard. He could see the cogs spinning in her head and they were likely to catch fire with all the thinking she was doing.

He knew she was trying to find a reason, any reason to rationalize not letting herself have an ounce of happiness.

It’s what Will did best. She gave and gave and gave, because the moment she asked for anything in return, she could get rejected.

Torn down. Or left behind. It was easier to accept disappointment if you’re not used to a single endorphin.

“Get in the river with me, baby.” He plucked the beer from her hands and immediately ripped his shirt off.

“What? What about Roger?”

“So? He’s absolutely seen my ass a few times, thanks to Jacobus.

And I’ll put my big back in between you and him.

Pull those rotten clothes off and let me get the blood out of your hair.

” Boone didn’t let her question it, pulling her up onto her feet on the riverbank.

He was already halfway out of his pants and boxers when he caught sight of her skin.

Goddess save me. Boone froze down to the bone as she peeled her shirt fully off her torso.

Those glowing eyes of hers snapped to him and his stomach clenched.

Will smirked at him before her hand snapped out toward him. She flicked him across the nipple, causing him to jump back, slapping a hand to his chest. Cackling wildly, she shoved her pants off her hips. “Now we’re even.”