Broken Trouble (Broken Storm #1) (27 page)

              After a few minutes, I probably made the worst mistake by dropping my hand from his halter. I walked forward, leaving him standing at the corral gate. I resisted the urge to look back at him, only hoping that he would follow. I was giving him a choice; freedom or me.

              Storm neighed at me, like he was calling after me to wait up, his hoofs beating against the dirt as he left the corral. He paused several times, making my heart leap in my chest with worry that he would bolt. He didn't run though, he kept following me until we reached the field. When he caught up to me, he pressed his muzzle into my shirt, bobbing his head in excitement.

              I closed the field gate behind us, reaching up to remove his halter. As soon as it was off, he took off.

              I watching him run across the field, his head and tail held high as he stretched his legs and bucked. I couldn't help but feel disappointed that he had left me so quickly, but I couldn't blame him. If I was him, I would have done the same thing.

              I felt helpless.

              The hands around my throat tightened as I tried to scream for help to no avail. There was no one to save me from this monster or the next. Resisting this punishment would cause more harm than good, and even though I know I should stand up and fight, I could not. I was alone and weak, too exhausted and scared to fight any longer. I choked on a sob as the next hit came, crawling away from him in an attempt to get away. His claw-like hands grabbed my ankles and pulled me back before delivering the next punch.

              A voice in the back of my mind registered that there was no pain, but that didn't weaken the terror I felt. I dug my fingers into the floor and fought my way away from him again, streaks of red straining the concrete below me. I could never move fast enough, always in slow motion while he seemed to have supernatural ability.

              Relief rushed over me as I dropped over the edge, of what, I didn't know. Falling into the blackness of terror.

              In an instant, the feeling of falling dissipated and I felt light as a feather, floating through the air.

              I could no longer see anything around me, but the warmth of hot breath fanning across my neck and warm arms wrapping around me comforted me. I could feel hands traveling across my stomach, a murmur of a deep voice in my ear, muffled so that I couldn't understand it. I sighed in relief and curled into the warmth of the embrace, settling into peaceful darkness.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

              I woke to the view of the sunrise through the window, beaming its rays into my eyes. I must have slept in way past the time that I usually woke up.

              I still felt peaceful from my dream, snuggling deeper into the warmth of my covers, savoring a few more moments of peace before getting up.

              Someone shifted behind me, alerting me to the fact that I wasn't alone and the hot breath I felt in my dream returned.

              Whoa, wait. Someone was in bed with me?

              I sat up straight, propping myself up with one arm, while using the other to swipe the hair from in front of my eyes so I could see. Maybe it was Wyatt, laying with me so he could watch the sunrise with me.

              A low moan rumbled from behind me and I turned my head, shocked, yet not completely surprised, to see Jayden there.

              His black boxers, the only thing he was wearing, rode low on his hips. I let my eyes scan over his chest, abs and deep V, before turning my eyes back to his face.

              "Good morning Sweetheart," he murmured, his voice low and rough from sleep. It told me what I needed to know; he had slept in my bed. I worried that he had groped me in my sleep. Who knew how much fondling he was able to get in before I woke up.

              "What are you doing?" I asked, trying to recover from the shock of seeing him here. I knew Polly wouldn't approve at all.

              "Just enjoying the view," he murmured, stretching his arms up over his head, while letting his eyes roam slowly across my body.

              "No, I mean what are you doing in here? You can't just come in here in the middle of the night and get in bed with me."

              "You didn't seem to mind having me in your bed last night, Sweetheart," Jayden smirked, reaching forward to tug at my shirt, trying to bring me closer to him.

              When I resisted, trying to get out of bed, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him. I was pressed into his chest as his chin rested at the nook of my shoulder. I struggled in his hold, but he stayed still, not advancing or retreating. He wasn't kissing or rubbing himself against me like I expected, only lying still like he could go back to sleep that easily. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt me to stay here for a few more minutes, I needed to finish waking up anyway.  My arms weren't even wanting to work hard enough to push him away this early.

              I yawned and slowly relaxed as the time ticked by. Jayden didn't move, his breathing steady, like he had fallen back asleep. Slowly, I moved, testing the waters to see if I could get up yet or not.

              He hadn't fallen asleep.

              My movement only seemed to put him in action. His hands traveled down my back and his lips pressed into my neck, his kisses starting off slow, then deepening with passion.

              There was the Jayden I loved.

              I mean knew, not loved. Gah, he was good at this. Get your head back on straight girl!

              I turned my head so we were more face to face, preparing for payback for him sleeping in my bed. Jayden grabbed my hip and pulled me forward, no doubt so I could feel what was hiding in his boxers. I took a deep breath and blew right in his face.

              Jayden froze, keeping his hand on my hip, not bringing me any closer or pushing me away. He frowned and wrinkled his nose, his eyes locked onto mine. "Really? Morning breath? After all I did for you last night too," he chastised.

              "All that you did?" I asked, worried I had been more out of it than I thought and had slept through whatever he had done.

              Jayden's eyebrows furrowed then and he looked deep in thought, like he was deciding whether to mess with me or tell the truth. He made his decision quickly, smirking as he rubbed my hip. "We did plenty last night."

              I smacked his stomach, hitting hard abs as I huffed and moved to get out of bed. I rolled my eyes. I should have known that he would choose to make it sound like something sexual had happened, even if it didn't. "Get out, I need to change."

              Jayden grabbed my arm and tugged me back towards him, rising to his knees behind me. "What I meant was, we did plenty of sleeping. You had a nightmare and almost fell off the bed," he admitted, almost in defeat.

              I paused, unsure how to react. For once, Jayden was being sincere, instead of a total horn dog. What he said made sense. He pulled me out of my nightmare last night. I glanced back at him, finding his eyes were glued to my back, his hands on my arms.

              "Thank you," I whispered.

              Jayden winked at me and I knew the moment was over. "No need to thank me just yet, Sweetheart. I have plenty more to do to you in this bed."

              Rolling my eyes, I stood up and picked out my clothes for the day, digging through my dresser drawers for the right ones. I didn't hear Jayden get out of bed, his arm just seemed to appear beside me like magic as he reached around me and into my drawer, pulling out a shirt. His other hand had found its way to my hip as he handed me my Screaming Mercy shirt and kissed my neck. He whispered into my ear, "Wear this for our date today Sweetheart. We're leaving early, so it's time to rise and grind," before pressing the front of his boxers against by butt. He jerked his hips a few times for good measure, causing me to gasp and swat at him. My attempts at punishing him were ignored and he stepped back and left the room, going on his merry, horny way.

              I counted off the days in my head. Yes, it was Saturday. My date with Jayden was today. It would be interesting to see what someone like him thought was a good date, and if all of his bragging had a basis in reality.

              I walked downstairs a little while later, bathed and dressed for whatever Jayden's date threw my way. Everyone else was already up and breakfast was almost on the table, showing how late I was running.

              Polly smiled at me and waved me into the kitchen. "We all pitched together and got ya something. I don't want to any excuses, just say thank ya," she said, pulling out a cell phone with a black and white skull and crossbones case.

              I opened my mouth ready to say I couldn't take it, but one look at Polly's face had me swallowing the words. I reached out and took the phone, "Thank you, though I'm not sure who I'll be calling on it."

              "Well, for starters, I know Starre would love to talk to ya this morning. She's already called," Polly suggested as she went back to cooking, "Ya can also call if Jayden isn't behavin' on your date."

And there it is, the reason she was giving me the cell phone. She wanted to make sure that Jayden wasn't being an idiot. She gave me the ability to escape by calling her if he was.

              Jayden looked annoyed. "She won't need to."

              "Don't hesitate to call us," Polly assured me, ignoring Jayden completely, "all our numbers are already in there."

              "I added your ringtone," Dylan told me, his voice the usual soft, hesitant tone. I wondered what he had chose, knowing whatever it was I would love it.

              "First things first, selfie time!" Landon yelled, darting in beside me. I fumbled with the phone, bringing up the camera app and moving it around to try and get the shot.

Everyone herded in, trying to get in the picture, except for Gavin, who hung back. Polly grabbed his arm and pulled him into the shot. Chili strode into the kitchen and stood beside everyone too. With me on the end, we were able to squeeze everyone in, but just barely. I pressed the screen, taking my very first selfie.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

              After breakfast was over, I called Starre on my new phone. It rang once before she answered. I hadn't talked to her much since Trevor proposed, and I wondered how she was doing.

              "Hey! You have a phone now, so we can talk as much as we want! I have so much to tell you!" There was noise of her moving around, like she was nestling herself into a comfortable position to talk. "So late last night, I was watching The Little Mermaid with Trevor. I’d changed into this little nightgown that I bought last time we were at the store. Anyway, he started kissing me and things got real hot, real fast. The things he was doing and the way he was acting," Starre paused to sigh dreamily, while I giggled. "But I know he's probably wanting to take the next step soon and I'm not sure that I'm ready for that yet."

              "Well, you're engaged to him now, but that doesn't mean that you have to do anything with him. I'm sure he'll understand," I assured her, speaking for the first time since calling her.

              "Yeah, but I want to. I just... don't, you know?" Starre sighed, then changed the subject. "I heard you're going on your date with Jayden today! What are you wearing?"

              "Well, after waking up with him in my bed-"

              "Wait, you woke up to Jayden in bed with you? That man needs to learn a thing or two about boundaries," Starre interrupted.

              "Yeah, but I think he was actually trying to be good. He wants me to wear my Screaming Mercy shirt."

              "Ooh, he chose your clothes for you? You know what happened last time that happened to me. Maybe he really is making an effort."

              "We'll see," I said, turning around to see Jayden standing behind me, leaning against the wall listening to my conversation. How long had he been standing there? "I've got to go now Starre, I'll text you soon."

              "Okay, keep me up to date and send lots of pics! Bye."

              I pressed end and turned around, placing a hand on my hip as I looked at Jayden expectantly.

              He walked forward slowly, his eyes darkening, making his slate blue eyes look like smoldering stone. "I don't know what turns me on more, when you're wearing your ranch clothes or dressed like this," Jayden paused, running his hands across my hips and grasping my butt, pulling me snugly against him. He groaned lowly in approval, "This, definitely this."

              I rolled my eyes and stepped back out of his embrace, his hands falling away to his sides. "Where are you taking me?" I asked, trying to ignore the burning desire that he had lit inside of me from his touch, "And don't say to your bed."

              Jayden grinned, "It will be more exciting if I don't tell you. I'd rather let the suspense build until you're begging me."

              I grinned right back, accepting his challenge, "That will never happen."

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

              "Please just tell me where we're going," I begged, shifting in the seat to give my sore butt some relief. We'd been on the road for four and a half hours, whatever conversation we could have possibly had was already long spoken.

              I was so freaking bored.

              "I told you that you'd be begging," Jayden boasted.

              "Well you didn't tell me we'd be stuck in the truck for so long. Where are we going, another country?"

              There was his stupid smirk again. If I saw it again I’d rip it off his face.

              I huffed, half from exasperation and half from boredom, turning the radio back on and scanning idly through the stations. The only good thing about this drive was that we were in range of some decent radio stations. "Can't we stop and stretch our legs?"