Page 118 of Wrangled

Robert coughed. “I think supper’s over, don’t you? Besides, you’ve eaten every scrap of food. And if Butch licks his plate any cleaner, he’ll bring the pattern off the china.”

Diana’s eyes sparkled. “And why are you in such a hurry to go to bed?” Then she glanced at me and her face lit up with another grin. “Oh, I see.”

She didn’t seem unhappy about the idea.

A muted howl rose up outside, followed by yet more, and I froze. “That’s not good.” Around the table, all eyes went to the windows.

“No, it sure isn’t.” Teague stood, the others with him. “Walt, you take Declan and Garrett down to the bunkhouse. Toby, you stay here with the boss. Me, Zeeb, and Butch will take care of this.” He gave a grim smile. “Let’s go, boys, before those wolves decide it’s their supper time too, and the cows are the entrée.” He glanced at Robert. “Thanks for supper. I’ll call you with an update.”

The others murmured their thanks before following Teague out of the house.

Diana stood too. “I’d better go. I told Newt I wouldn’t be back late.” She gave me a sideways glance. “At least I know you’ll have company.” She walked to the end of the table where Robert stood, and kissed his cheek. “Have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Another grin. “On second thoughts…”

He let out a low growl. “Diana…”

She flashed me a smile. “Good to meet you, Toby. I hope to see more of you.” She bit her lip. “I only wish I got to see as much of you as my brother gets to see.” Then she headed for the door.

I grinned. “She can be a handful, can’t she?”

He rolled his eyes. “You havenoidea.”

Matt wasn’t long after her. “Just going outside for a smoke, boss.” He grabbed his jacket and hat, and followed Diana.

Then it was just the two of us.

I estimated there’d be a delay of maybe five seconds before Robert exploded.

He didn’t even make it to two.

He glared at me. “You didn’t turn it on.”

“Of course not,” I said calmly.

His eyes widened. “What do you mean, ‘of course not’?”

I went over to him, and laid my hands on his shoulders. He was trembling. “It would have been wrong,” I said in a low voice. “It would’ve opened you up to humiliation, especially when Diana turned up.” I stroked a finger over his cheek. “You said you trusted me, remember? You consented to our play, but your ranch hands and Diana didn’t.” I smiled. “Sometimes pleasure doesn’t come from flicking a switch…” I kissed him on the lips, slow as you please. “It comes from the private anticipation of seeing how it plays out.”

He gaped at me. “So you never intended using it in the first place? It was just a mindfuck?”

I beamed. “And awonderfulpiece of mindfuckery too. So I guess that means…” I leaned in and kissed him, and he sighed into it.

“What does it mean?”

I kissed his forehead. “You get a reward. So let’s go upstairs and take out the massager. I’ve got something else that’ll feel so much better in there.” I grabbed his hand around the wrist and drew it to my crotch. “Because watching you all night got mesofucking hard.”

“But… Matt’ll be back.”

I snorted. “Trust me, after that supper, he’ll know exactly where we are—and what we’re doing. And if I think you’re getting too loud?” Another kiss, this time to the tip of his nose. “I’ll gag you.”

Robert

Sunday was spent mostly in preparation for leaving the following day. The men gathered the tack and the grub, then packed the chuckwagon with the supplies, including all Matt’s food and cooking utensils. There were cool boxes filled with meat and other food that needed to be kept fresh. Bedrolls were added, stuffed into crevices and any space that would take them. Declan and Garrett groomed the horses, and Paul cleaned all the saddles and bridles. It would be an early start, but by late afternoon we would reach the camp.

I was looking forward to it. It had been awhile since I’d done this, and the prospect of a gentle ride, the herd moving forward in a slow wave, was a pleasant one.

I’ve put too much on Teague’s shoulders the last few years.That would stop.

I was back.