Pushin' Buttons (Boot Knockers) (16 page)

Quay gave her a lopsided grin. His boyish good looks would tantalize almost any woman. With sandy hair that flopped into his smoldering eyes and tanned, baby smooth cheeks and jaw, she couldn’t help but wonder which lucky woman he’d been paired with.

He leaned his elbows on the table and spoke low and urgently. “We’re planning a joke for tonight. On Booker.”

At the name, Hugh sat up straighter.

Quay’s eyes lingered on Sibyll as she chewed, and Riggs smacked him in the shoulder. “You here to talk jokes or ogle our girl?”

Sibyll’s face flamed, and Quay let his gaze slide away. “So Booker has his sex toy fetish, right? We’re going to pull all the batteries.”

Riggs’s eyes bulged. “All of them? There must be a hundred dildos alone. That’s going to take some time.”

“He guards that toy cupboard like a he’s a Knights Templar. How are we going to open a hundred dildos as well as vibrating butt plugs and other toys and dump batteries before he sees us?”

Quay grinned. “Six of us are in on it already. With you two, that’s about twenty sex toys to disarm per person.”

Riggs burst out laughing. “I’m in. What’s our time frame?”

“Well, Booker is locked down pretty tight with this new girl. Apparently she has some kind of sex-toy fetish too. Who knew? Holly does a great job of reading between the lines when she matches. Anyway, Booker is only coming up for air long enough to feed the poor girl. So by my watch we have…” Quay glanced at the sports watch around his wide wrist “…about ten minutes.”

“Not enough time to gather mini screwdrivers to open the battery compartments.” Hugh raised another bite for Sibyll, but she took a drink of coffee instead.

“We’ve got a handful of screwdrivers at the ready. You guys in?” Quay looked between the guys, but carefully avoided looking at Sibyll.

“I’m in. Meet you around back in a minute.” Riggs horked down half his burrito in one bite.

“Count me out,” Hugh said. When he looked at Sibyll, she noted the strain around his lips.

“Ah man, you’re always with me during these pranks. C’mon, Donovan.”

“I’m sitting this one out.” Hugh’s tone brooked no argument.

Quay straightened and gave him a begrudging smile. “I don’t blame ya. Have fun.” He waggled his brows.

Riggs’s face darkened as Quay moved away. “Maybe I’ll sit this one out too.”

“Nope. They need you. Better hurry if you’re going to disarm all those dildos, Archer.”

Riggs gave a nod, eyes softer, less suspicious. He climbed off the bench and grabbed his half-empty plate. “I’ll catch up to you two later?”

Hugh grew quiet, but Sibyll’s heart lurched at the thought of not having Riggs in her bed again. “Yes,” she spoke up.

Before walking away Riggs pressed a kiss to the side of her throat. Instant heat wove through her body, and her nipples puckered.

Once she and Hugh were alone, she studied him. He polished off his sausage and began on his burrito, letting her take over feeding herself. Something was bothering him.

“You really can go join in the fun if you’d like. I’ll just go back to the room and read for a little bit.” The bookshelf in the bungalow was crammed with erotic novels as well as magazines. Mere thoughts of perusing that content made her sweat.

He shook his head. “Nah. I’ve been part of a lot of practical jokes in my time here.”

She swallowed another bite of paper-thin pineapple. “Like what?”

The corner of his mouth tipped up in a grin. The green sparks in his eyes seemed to flare brighter. “Gluing a Boot Knocker’s ass to the toilet seat. Replacing parmesan cheese with wood shavings. Ropes tied up in knots so they can’t use them on their…uh, women. Those sorts of things.”

Looking around the dining hall that was slowly emptying of people, she smiled. Picturing the camaraderie between the Boot Knockers made them seem like more of a family and less like employees.

That word was icy water splashed over her soul.
Employees.
She was seated across from one—Hugh got paid for sitting with her, making sure she was full and comfortable.

And for fucking her.

She lowered her gaze. The candle of feelings inside her flickered. She couldn’t give her heart to these guys. They only worked for her.

But as Hugh used a knuckle under her chin to raise her head to meet his intense stare again, her candle burned brighter once more.

Hugh made absolutely certain Sibyll was asleep before he pulled the outer door closed. He didn’t want her leaving on her own—last time she’d roamed the ranch alone she’d brought Riggs back to their bed.

Anyone but Riggs would mean good or bad sides. On one hand, Hugh wasn’t “into” other Boot Knockers. The flip side of that coin was he
was
into Riggs.

He paused on the stoop of the bungalow and gazed across the glory of the ranch. Sun beat down, hot on his shoulders. He tipped his hat lower against the glare and struck off across the field.

What he needed was half an hour with the horses. How long would Sibyll sleep? They’d kept her up all night, loving her, with only short power naps between sessions.

Damn, she’d been a wild woman with him and Riggs. Seeing her finally release had done warm things to his insides. And the connection between her and Riggs was undeniable.

Hugh still didn’t know if he liked that or not.

As he strode through the taller grasses toward the paddock, he spied Paul and a few other hands working around the barn. It shouldn’t bother him that Paul had seen him and Riggs together intimately, but it did.

After Travis…

Hugh scrubbed a hand over his face, catching the scents of Riggs and Sibyll. No matter how many times he’d washed since their last encounter, it seemed those two were in his pores.

He dropped his hand to his side and circled away from the other guys. What he needed was time to think.

Once he reached the gate, he rested his elbows on it and simply stared at the horses. A group of them trotted together, around and around, displaying gleaming tails and proud necks.

He stared at their beauty and strength, and all he could think about was last night. Seeing Sibyll come apart was one of the best moments of his life. He could count on one hand moments like that. And one of them happened to be the day he’d met Travis.

Being with that man had changed Hugh. In weeks he’d tapped a tender well of emotion, but weeks later when Travis had dumped him, Hugh had thrown as much dirt and garbage on top of the sweet waters as possible. Burying the memories and making them into something dirty and polluted worked best.

But the same flood of feelings he’d felt for Travis lived in his heart for Sibyll. Seeing her with Riggs both tormented and thrilled him. His protective hackles had risen. Hugh had fought for her and won her.

Only because I used Riggs’s feelings to demand he back off.

The truth was a jagged bed of guilt that he had to lie in. Riggs wanted more with Hugh. For professional reasons, they couldn’t allow more than a chance meeting or the sharing of a client. But dammit, if someone came in and tried to sweep Riggs away, Hugh wouldn’t like it one bit.

And Sibyll was the same. When Quay had come sniffing around her, Hugh had battled the need to crush the man. And what he’d said in passing, about Holly’s ability to match perfectly, bothered the hell out of Hugh. What was it about Damian that made Holly believe he and Sibyll would be a good pair?

Now Hugh was happy he didn’t need to speak with Damian or Ty to get advice about helping Sibyll reach climax. He didn’t need to let his guard down around her any more than he had already.

Hell, if he were honest, he’d let a wall shielding his heart collapse. The instant she’d heart-throbbed him, he’d been a goner.

The horse trainer gave an order, and the horses picked up the speed, circling the paddock. One broke away from the others, faster and more agile. It was the mare he and Riggs hoped to breed to begin their herd.

As Hugh watched her, he tried to forget about relationships and the tough emotions that came with them. He was here to do a job. He’d stay with Sibyll a few more days then send her out into the world, primed for orgasm.

The idea of another man touching her…
Grrr.

He shoved away from the gate and took off walking. Halfway to the office, he glimpsed Riggs.

Purposely turning in the other direction, he fought to keep his mind off the man and woman who were becoming too damn important to him.

Riggs stared after the man, too aware of the lines of his body and his own reaction to them.

The joke on Booker had been pulled off without a hitch. Just about now he should be opening his toy cupboard only to find every toy was dead. Quay had carried away a five-gallon bucket full of batteries, and the rest of the Boot Knockers had sneaked off, holding their stomachs against the laughter.

But now Riggs didn’t feel a hint of humor. Was Hugh avoiding him because of Sibyll?

When Riggs had first joined the pair, he’d been hopeful he and Hugh would achieve their goal and have fun in the process. About five minutes into the love play, Riggs had recognized the passion between all three.

Hugh had feelings for her—that was evident. And Riggs wanted Hugh with a blazing passion. After staring into Sibyll’s eyes and seeing her unravel, Riggs had an inkling that putting her on a plane back to Atlanta wouldn’t be as easy as he’d first guessed.

As he watched Hugh stalk across the field away from him, Riggs muttered, “Fuck.”

What had gone on between Hugh and Sibyll after Riggs had left? Their developing relationship tasted bitter going down.

More and more Riggs was beginning to believe he should make a break from the Boot Knockers. Maybe he could stay at the ranch, do the job of one of the hands like Paul.

His conversation with Sibyll echoed through his mind. Talking about building the herd excited him. And the things Sibyll mentioned made perfect sense. The endeavor was doable—lucrative even. At the moment the challenge of breeding horses seemed more exciting than taking another woman to bed.

Especially when bedding any woman but Sibyll would feel wrong to the marrow of his bones.

He jerked at the revelation.

Growling under his breath, he stomped into the four-wheeler shed and selected a key off the nail on the wall. In seconds the engine was screaming as he raced the four-wheeler across the field.

He hit the peak of a hill and dropped into the valley. Jumping on the gas, he flew up the opposite hill. The wind on his face smelled of Hugh, though. And when Riggs licked his lips, he tasted Sibyll.

“Damn.” He slowed the four-wheeler. He could keep running—on horseback or ATV—and in the end, his heart said the same thing.

He trundled at a slower pace around a bend where field converged with woods. Something gray streaked along the horizon, and Riggs squinted to get a better view.

For a second he couldn’t make sense of what he was seeing. Only when the horse crunched in half, bucking madly, did his mind accept the situation. He’d seen a horse buck like that after stepping on a bee nest. Only a hurt animal would make that motion.

Riggs gunned the ATV toward the horse. It continued to leap across the horizon. The closer he got, the more he realized something else was very wrong with this animal. Its ribs stood out, the hide sucked in around each curved bone. And its tail was choppy as if the hair was falling out.

He’d heard of animals being abandoned to the wild. Times were tough for people. But dammit, if this were the case with the horse…

Cutting the engine, he worked out how to approach the animal. It was half out of its mind, bucking for minutes at a time then gasping for breath. Starvation made it weak.

Riggs had to reach it, throw a rope around it and get it back to the barn where he could have a vet examine it. If it was too far gone… Well, they’d deal with it if the time came.

Using slow movements that wouldn’t spook it further, he opened the metal trunk on the back of the four-wheeler and removed a rope. The Boot Knockers were always prepared to lasso an animal or pull a friend out of the mud, so they kept rope in every trunk. After looping it, he approached the horse.

Up close it was in sorrier shape. Patches of hair were gone, and its tongue lolled out.

Riggs crooned to it, nonsense words. It eyed him and threw its head. “Easy boy.”

The horse was sixteen hands high easy, once a strong beast. What had happened? Had it broken free, gotten lost? Not all ranchers spent countless hours searching for lost animals.

“Let me help you.” He threw the rope. It dragged over the ground, catching air. He reeled it in and threw again, stepping into the move.

The horse reared.

Riggs came to—on his side, stomach burning with pain and bile in his throat. Through blurry vision he spotted the horse still doing its bucking pain-dance and his rope lying uselessly in the grass.

He tried to sit up, gasped and vomited. He collapsed again, jackknifed around the pain splitting his side. Broken ribs, maybe worse. Internal injuries.