Hernando Heat

Chapter Six

Rainy season finally arrived. The next afternoon, Mason made it to her shop’s front porch scant seconds before the threatening sky opened up, releasing a torrent of fat raindrops punctuated by frequent lightning and rumbling thunder.

He smiled as he stepped through the shop door and removed his hat. “Looks like we’ll be here for a while,” he softly said.

She nervously smiled. “Yes.” The afternoon summer storms arrived like clockwork and would last for nearly an hour before petering off, leaving behind steamy, soggy roads.

Meaning she’d be stuck there, with him, making small talk and trying to ignore the blatant attraction between them.

Stuck wasn’t the right word. But after living with the cousins for nearly three weeks, it was obvious to her how close they were, and how attracted both men were to her. Coming between them was not an acceptable option in her mind, no matter how much she found herself in love with them…and no matter how many sexy, lustful dreams the men inspired in her. Several more times she’d dreamed about them just to awaken and find her own hand between her legs.

He glanced through the shop’s windows, pushed the door shut behind him, and shot the bolt. Then he flipped her sign from open to closed and pulled the curtains shut. He walked toward her, caught her hand, and led her through the curtained doorway to the back room where her unused bed lay.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for so long, I’m about to burst,” he rumbled as he pulled her into his arms and lowered his lips to hers.

A soft gasp escaped her as her arms encircled his neck. Who was she kidding? His body felt good against hers, his hungry mouth lighting fires inside her even the hardest Florida rainstorm could never extinguish.

He finally broke their kiss, his forehead resting against hers. “I’m sorry if you hate me for that, Katie, but—” She kissed him again, shutting him up.

His hard cock pressed through his trousers, enticing, tempting, making long-untouched places within her ache for his body. He tasted good, his body firm and warm and smelling of horse and leather and the Hernando county pine woods he rode through. Afternoon stubble on his cheeks rubbed against her flesh in a scratchy, pleasant way, just the way it had in her dreams.

Mason’s hands roamed over her back, rubbing her skin through her cotton dress, holding her tightly against him. Finally, he lifted his head again, his breath coming hard and fast. “You feel so good, Katie,” he hoarsely whispered. “So good I can’t help myself from wanting you.”

She prepared to melt against him again when he gently released her and stepped back, leaving her startled and swaying on her feet. “What? What’s wrong?”

He shook his head. “Not like this. I won’t sully your reputation.” His pants stood out in front of him like a small tent. “I swear, Katie, I’m gonna court you right and proper so no one can say anything foul about you.” He took another step back as she stepped forward.

“What if I don’t care about my reputation?” Right then, as frenzied as she felt, she wouldn’t care if the townsfolk said she ran naked down the middle of Main Street if he’d scratch her itch.

He smiled. “But I do. You’re a good woman, and I don’t want anyone sullying your reputation.” He took a deep breath and sat in the chair at her small table, then reached a hand out to her.

Katie took his hand and let him pull her into his lap, where his brown eyes stared into hers. “You’re beautiful, Katie,” he whispered, his hand stroking her cheek. “I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about you. I want to do right by you no matter how much I feel like I could…” He blushed. “I feel like I could throw you down on that bed and take you right now.”

“Then why don’t you?”

He looked stunned before he laughed, long and hard. “You don’t make it easy to be a good man.”

“You are a good man, Mase.” She was going to try to entice him into another soul-wrenching kiss when a sharp crack of thunder sounded like it split the sky directly over her shop. She jumped, startled, as he held her tight and laughed.

“Please, don’t tempt me harder than you already do,” he softly said. “Let me do this right.”

She sensed how important this was to him. Heck, she’d already had a courtship and a marriage…and then a mournful pang touched her soul.

Paul.

She nodded. “All right.” She settled in his arms, letting him hold her as they listened to the storm wind down outside so they could head home.

The next day, Mason stopped by the shop before lunch. His horse was loaded down with gear like he’d be traveling. She was alone in the shop, and he didn’t bother glancing around before he kissed her.

“I have to go away for a few days,” he announced.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Sheriff needs me to lead a posse, up toward Ocala. A guy over from Silver Lake killed a man, and we think he headed up that way. He’s got family up there.”

A tendril of fear rolled through her. “You be careful.”

He smiled, but it looked sad and melancholy, as if something else weighed down his soul. “I will. I promise. On my way out, I’ll stop by the sawmill and tell Joe. He’ll come pick you up tonight.”

“I am capable of driving a buggy. I told you that.” Irritation mixed with love ran through her. She’d been taking care of herself for a while now, but it was nice to have someone worried about her and trying to take care of her.

“I know you can, but I don’t want you to be alone.”

“I wouldn’t be alone. I have my shotgun.” She smiled.

“Let Joe come get you,” he firmly said. He kissed her again before putting his hat back on. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“How long?”

He shook his head. “Don’t know.” She couldn’t shake the suspicion that he was sad about something, that maybe this was more of a good-bye than he let on. “Hopefully no more than a week, or I’m gonna be right sore with the sheriff. He would’ve sent Carl, except Carl’s down with a bum ankle. He can’t get himself up in a saddle.” He mounted his horse then offered her a sad-looking smile as he tipped his hat to her.

She watched him ride off, knowing in her heart she was lost.

She loved him.

Katie tried to work, but by three thirty, with little to do and no customers, she decided to try to beat the afternoon rainstorm home. She grabbed her shotgun, gathered her things, locked the shop, and walked the three blocks to the livery stables.

Kendall Wentworth was surprised to see her instead of Joe, but he quickly readied the buggy and horse for her. In ten minutes she was on her way out of town, heading for home.

As the afternoon clouds grew so dark and angry they looked nearly purple, the winds picked up, growing cool as the storm threatened. She snapped the reins, urging the horse faster. It wouldn’t kill her to get wet, but it wouldn’t be very pleasant. The scent of impending rain filled the air as the temperature dropped.

Then she happened to glance behind her. In the distance, she spotted a lone rider, heading east from Brooksville and gaining on her fast, a cloud of wind-swept dust kicking up behind him indicating his speed.

With her heart now racing, she snapped the reins again, wishing she had a buggy whip. The horse responded. Before long she was totally focused on keeping the buggy upright and her place on the seat as the buggy bounced along on the rough washboard clay road. That’s when the sky opened.

The wind roared around her, from the storm and the speed of the horse. She didn’t dare glance behind her and prayed they didn’t hit a rut wrong and spill. She let out a terrified cry as she heard a man screaming her name behind her. Terrorizing thoughts filled her soul as she prayed the rider’s horse didn’t outrun her normally slow and gentle steed. It was only as the rider finally pulled alongside she realized it was Joe, looking angry and as sopping wet as she was.

Now crying with relief, she reined in her horse and brought the trembling beast to a stop as Joe pulled his own mount up short next to the buggy.

“Katie? What in hell is wrong with you? What do you think you’re doing?” he yelled over the storm’s fury. He jumped off and tied the reins to the back of the buggy before climbing up next to her.

She threw herself into his arms and hugged him. “I’m sorry! I finished early and thought if I came home it’d save you a trip.”

He pulled her closer. “I left the sawmill early to put in a feed order. By the time I got to the livery, he said you’d already left. Why didn’t you stop when I yelled for you? Didn’t you hear me?”

She cried harder, unable to admit the terror that she thought it was one of Dorchester’s men after her.

“Shh, it’s all right, sweetheart,” he soothed, his voice gentling. He draped his jacket over her and kept one arm around her, pulling her tightly against his side as he snapped the reins with the other to get them moving again. She felt him nuzzle the top of her head. “It’s okay, Katie. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

“I’m sorry,” she finally sobbed. “I just felt so scared. I didn’t realize it was you.”

He laughed harshly. “Obviously.” He squeezed her tighter. “Next time, listen when we tell you what to do.”

By the time they reached the house, they were both drenched through and she was shivering from the cold rain. No sooner they pulled up in front of the house that the rain petered off and the sun broke through.

She looked up at the sky. “Thank you very much for the inconsideration!”

He laughed. “If you’d waited, we would have hung around your shop and stayed dry.”

One of the stable hands ran over to take the horses. Joe climbed out then offered his hand to her. She reddened in the face when she realized even with her chemise, she was so soaked he couldn’t miss but see her body. Every inch of fabric on her was sodden and clung to her.

When he helped set her on her feet, she also didn’t miss the feel of his stiff cock through his trousers. She looked up into his blue eyes. There was no mistaking he understood she’d felt and recognized the significance.

After a moment he finally stepped back from her. “Go on inside, honey,” he hoarsely said. “I’ll bring your things. I need to clean and oil that shotgun before it rusts.”

Wordlessly she nodded and hurried inside. In her room she dropped her wet clothes to the floor where they landed with a loud splat. She threw on a housedress after drying herself. Carrying her things so not to get herself wet, she dumped everything into the kitchen sink until she could get a washtub filled on the back porch to wash and hang them out.

She heard Joe in his room and rapped on his door. “Give me your things and I’ll wash and hang them.”

Footsteps crossed the floor, and then the door opened. He stood there, a towel draped around his shoulders, dry trousers on, feet and chest bare.

Wet, his blond hair almost looked like the color of honey, and the damp golden whorls on his chest were still plastered to his skin.

When their eyes met, he pulled her into his arms and planted a kiss on her she didn’t want to fight and wouldn’t if she could. His body felt hot against her still-damp flesh, warm and inviting and she felt she could…

He pulled away, his face reddening. “I…I’m sorry, Katie.” He turned away from her. “That was wrong of me. I’m so sorry.”

Refusing to let him retreat, she followed him, grabbed his arm, and spun him around. “You don’t get to turn away from me like that.”

“You have every right to be angry—”

She kissed him. This time his arms slipped around her waist, holding her body tightly against his as he thoroughly explored her mouth with his.

Katie whimpered with need as the feel of his body flooded her mind and heart with long-suppressed desires. Mason made her body burn. Joe made her heart melt.

He lifted his lips from hers. “We can’t do this,” he whispered. “This isn’t right. Mason loves you.”

“You love me.”

“That’s not the point!”

“Yes, it is!” She looked into his blue eyes, her own filling with tears. “I love both of you.”

There. It was out.

He stared at her, stunned. “Both of us?”

She nodded and buried her head against his chest as she cried. “I can’t and won’t choose between the two of you. I love both of you.”

If he pushed her away she knew she couldn’t stand it. But instead he held her tightly against him, his lips pressed to the top of her head as they stood there for what felt like forever.

Eventually, she composed herself and carefully pulled away before turning for the door. “I know what you must think of me,” she softly said, “and I’m sorry I’ve disappointed you.”

He grabbed her, not letting her go. “What do you think it is I’m thinking?”

Forcing her gaze to his, she whispered, “That I must be some sort of loose woman.”

He looked angry and pulled her tightly to him again. “I think you’re a smart, beautiful woman any man would be proud to have by his side. If any man ever said a bad word about you, I’d show him my fists.”

“But how can I feel like this! The two of you are so different, and I love you both so much…” Tears prickled her eyes again. “I can never choose one of you over the other, because it would hurt both of you.”

“Both of us?”

“Whoever was chosen would still end up estranged from the other, right? How could I ever do that to you!” She felt her heart breaking as she stared into his beautiful blue eyes. “I’d rather be alone and watch the two of you find happiness with someone else and still be friends with each other than to ever break the bond you have.” She quickly pulled free and scooped his wet clothes up before heading to the kitchen.

He followed her a moment later, now with an unbuttoned shirt on. He didn’t say anything as he stepped behind her at the sink and slipped his arms around her waist.

Katie closed her eyes and let him pull her back against him, wordlessly holding her. After a few minutes, he asked, “What if you don’t have to choose?”

She shook her head. “I won’t allow one or the other of you to leave because of me. I’d leave first before I come between your friendship.”

Fear gripped him unlike any other. The feelings he’d had for her terrified him, ironically, more before her confession. He’d loved her but thought her heart belonged to Mase. Now that he knew how she felt, he suspected there might be an unusual solution to keep everyone happy.

If Mase would agree to it. Not exactly how Joe would have wanted it, but however imperfect, it meant both she and Mase would also be happy, and he wouldn’t lose her.

When Mason had confessed to him that afternoon what he felt for Katie, his next admission had shocked Joe even more. “I can’t do this,” he’d whispered. “I love her, but as much as I love her, I can’t court her.”

Joe had stared at him, stunned. “What the hell are you talking about? Why not?”

He’d never forget the pain in Mason’s brown eyes when he looked at him. “Because I know you’re in love with her. And I can see she loves you. After what you went through, I’d rather see you happy. You’ve been through enough pain. When I get back, I’ll have a talk with her and tell her I can’t court her and that she has my blessings for you to court her.”

The revelation had spun his world on its axis. The truth was he didn’t need to place a feed order today, but he’d used the excuse to get away from the sawmill early, to take his time riding to town, alone, to clear his head before he picked her up to bring her home.

Pulling his thoughts from that afternoon, he kissed the back of her neck and enjoyed the way her body melted against his. “What if,” he slowly said, “the two of us don’t want you to leave?”

“What?”

He made her turn and look him in the eye. “He loves you. I love you. What if we both love you and won’t let you leave?”

“What are you saying?”

He kissed her again, deeply, waiting until her body relaxed into his before he answered, “Do you mean it when you say you love both of us?”

She nodded.

“Then you let me talk to Mase,” he hoarsely said.

“I won’t come between you!”

He smiled. “Baby, if I get my way, you won’t have to worry about that, and we can all live as a happy little family.”