Hard To Love (3 page)

“Oh yeah, I just think I got too hot out here tonight,” she answered. That wasn’t far from the truth, so it was an easy lie.

“You look a little flushed. Are you sure you’re okay? I can drive you home,” she offered.

“No, that’s okay. I’m good, really.”

“Okay. Call me later, okay?”

“Absolutely.” They hugged one another and Ella made her way to the front parking lot to find her car. Fumbling around in her clutch, she found the key fob to open her car door. As she approached her car, adrenaline pulsed through her veins, seeing a tall, dark figure leaning against her car. Slowing her steps, she started to turn around and run, when she saw the dark figure’s face in the moonlight.
Carter!
Definitely should’ve turned around and run.

On an exasperated sigh, she asked herself, “Now what?”

“Sweet little things like you shouldn’t be out all alone in dark parking lots,” he smirked.

“Yeah, I know. I may run into a crazy psychopath. Oh wait, too late,” she shot back to him. “What do you want, Carter?”

“I thought I had made that clear. Maybe you need another reminder?” He stood from the car, and stalked toward her with a smirk written across his self-assured face.

Oh god, she knew she wasn’t strong enough to fight him off this time. Although her mind told her to run for the hills, her feet weren’t listening. He stopped mere inches from her, his scent assailing her senses. Her breath hitched as he raised his hand, stopping just before he touched her. Scanning her body, he paid particular attention to her plumped up cleavage. That Victoria’s Secret sure knew what they were doing.

“So, do we need a reminder?” he asked, finally making eye contact.

“No, no, NO! We are not doing this.
You
, are not doing this.” she scowled. “I don’t know what your problem is tonight, Carter, but I’m not dealing with you.” Sidestepping him, she made it to her car door before he pushed her up against it, grinding his hard-on against her backside.

“Oh, sweet Ella, we are going to do this. Maybe not tonight, but soon. I’ve thought about you for six years. Every time you’ve run from me has made me want you more. I will have you again, it’s just a matter of time, and Ella,” he said, licking his way up her neck to suck on her ear. “I can’t wait to show you what kind of
man
I’ve become.”

“Fuck off Carter,” she panted, feeling the surreal feel of him moving against her ass. Her heartbeat raced, and the moisture seeped from her body.

“Mmm, I’ve always loved that dirty mouth of yours.” When he covered her throat with his large hand, Ella felt heat radiate between her thighs. Dammit, how could such a douchebag turn her on so much?

He squeezed her neck with his big hand. “Your heartbeat gives you away darlin’. I can feel how hard it beats for me.”

“Psychopaths have that effect on people.”

Chuckling in her ear one last time, he squeezed her ass cheek before kissing her neck and releasing her.

“Tonight when you touch yourself, you’ll be thinking of me Ella,” he smirked, his hot breath tickling her skin. “And I like that idea.”

“You’re ten kinds of crazy, you know that?” she sneered.

“Goodbye sweetness. I’ll be seeing you soon.” Smiling with a devil’s glint in his eyes, he turned on a heel and strode back towards the pavilion.

Crazy ass man!
Little did he know, she already thought of him every time she touched herself. Which had been often in the past six years, since she hadn’t found a steady man in her life.

Ella had gone through a horrible divorce from Derek. That crazy son-of-a-bitch tried suing her for alimony since she made more money than he did. Thank goodness the judge held his infidelity against him. She managed to keep her house and changed her name back to Reid. There was no way she wanted to go through life with that asshole’s name.

Driving home, she couldn’t get Carter out of her mind. She could still smell his scent on her body, leather and soap. She was still feeling his hands roaming down her thighs, entering her wet pussy with his large calloused fingers, the roughness creating a frenzy of sensations throughout her body. A shudder ran through her at the thought. Now, she couldn’t wait to get B.O.B., her battery operated boyfriend, out of the drawer.

Not wanting to rinse his scent from her body, Ella stripped out of her clothes and climbed under the cool soft sheets of her bed. Closing her eyes, she tuned out the hum of the vibrator, focusing on the memory of his hands and hot breath delighting her skin. She ran the tip of the vibrator across her clit, back and forth, pinching her nipples, as she remembered his moist mouth from long ago, dragging the pebbled tips between his teeth. Ripples of pleasure shot through her body as she screamed out his name.

Opening her eyes, she let out a sigh of relief as she curled up under her comforter. Carter Dawson was the last man she wanted to think about, and the only one she dreamt of.
Heaven help her.
Knowing she was in trouble if she ever saw him again, she promised herself, she would keep away from him at all costs.

Chapter Three

Carter tossed and turned all night, having wild erotic dreams of Ella. Six years ago he had the best sex of his life with her, and seeing her tonight in that tight black skirt flooded his mind with their one night in heaven.

No woman had ever compared to the way Ella’s body responded to his touch, and Carter had definitely had his share of sex with beautiful women. Women loved a man with a guitar. They practically threw themselves at him. But not Ella, she avoided him like the plague. That in itself made him want her more. But tonight, when he managed to get close enough to her to smell her sweet, spiced-vanilla scent, he was a goner, setting his mind on fire and leaving his body wanting.

The phone ringing snapped him out of his own head. Grabbing his phone from the nightstand, he saw Gabe Thomas’ name on the screen. Gabe was Carter’s childhood friend, as well as his business partner. Both had a love of horses, so they started training horses and opened a farrier business. Gabe, however, had become the local horse whisperer.

“What?” he snapped.

“Damn son, uptight much? You sound like you need to get laid, my man,” Gabe laughed.

“Shut up, dipshit.”

“Are you going with me to that new horse rescue? They have three new horses we need to check out.”

“Yeah, I’m going.” Rolling over, he sat up on the edge of the bed, scrubbing a hand down his face.

“You alright? You don’t sound like your fun loving self.”

“I’m fine,” he said gruffly. “I just didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Well, get your boots on man, and pants ain’t optional. I’ll be there in fifteen.”

Pants ain’t optional? Asshole.
He was taking a cold shower. Gabe could wait, because this raging hard-on wasn’t going to.

Cold water shot from the spigot, causing Carter to curse out loud. It did not, however, help his engorged dick. Turning up the heat, he imagined Ella’s hot, wet mouth wrapped around him, while he fisted himself, pumping up and down. He placed his forearm against the shower wall, leaning his head against the coldness of the tile, as he pumped himself harder. Feeling his balls tighten as his orgasm crept up on him, he yelled a string of curse words, shooting the creamy fluid against the wall.

That should’ve made him feel better, but it didn’t. He still couldn’t get his mind off Ella, seeing her piercing green eyes staring back at his reflection in the mirror. Shaking his head, he grabbed a soft white towel to dry off, before he dressed and met Gabe in his kitchen.

Gabe was sitting at the island typing something in on his phone.

“I sure as hell hope that you made some coffee, since you decided to make yourself at home,” he snarled.

Gabe harrumphed, pointing at the coffee pot. “Seriously, I don’t think a gallon would tame your demons, dude.”

“Whatever,” Carter scoffed. “Just shut up until the coffee kicks in.”

Gabe chuckled, shaking his head at his longtime friend.

“Alright, so, what are we doing with this horse rescue? And you better not tell me we’re doing this shit for free.”

“It’s a
rescue
, ass. We can use it as a tax write off. Jesus.” Gabe rolled his eyes. “Seriously man, do us all a favor and get laid.”

“Dammit, Gabe. Shut up!” he snapped. “Let’s get this over with.” Grabbing his favorite university ball cap from his desk, he stomped to the front door. “You coming?”

“It’s gonna be a long ass day,” Gabe mumbled to himself.

The drive to the horse rescue was a short, quiet one. Carter wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. Gabe was right, he needed to get laid in the worst way. Not only had he been on a dry spell, he hadn’t found anyone that sparked interest, that is, until seeing Ella again last night. Closing his eyes, he thought back to how her pulse accelerated under his fingers, how her body submitted to his touch. His cock twitched at the thought, as he adjusted himself from the uncomfortable position.

“So, what are we walking into here?” he finally asked, breaking the silence. He desperately needed to get Ella Reid out of his mind.

“Well, I reckon this girl just rescued three horses from the next town over. Not sure of the details, just that they’re in desperate need of hoof treatment and were damned near starved to death. There’s a mustang that’s pretty skittish too.”

“Well, if it’s bad enough, we may have to use a tranquilizer. Were they sheltered at least?” Carter knew Gabe hated to sedate a horse, and they had rarely used the technique, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

“I doubt it. Probably dealing with rain rot too,” Gabe replied.

“People are stupid assholes,” Carter mumbled.

Pulling up to a large wooden barn with a lean to, they noticed a sign that read ‘Second Chance Horse Rescue’. There was a round pen adjacent to the barn, and a large fenced in pasture past that, for the horses to graze in. Three emaciated horses stood under the lean to, two huddled together. A bay roan mustang stood in front of the mares, ears laid back and tail swishing.
Oh yeah, he was pissed
.

“Looks like you’ve got your hands full brother,” Carter whistled. “That stallion is one pissed off looking horse.”

“Yeah, he’s seen some hard times,” Gabe replied.

“Hey boys.” They turned to see a tall, beautiful, young brunette. Thick dark chocolate colored hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and fell to her waist. Carter thought he heard Gabe’s breath hitch. He could understand why. The girl was gorgeous, at least 5’8”, thin, yet curvy in all the right places. What wasn’t there to like? Except Carter still couldn’t get Ella out of his mind.

“Hey,” Carter said. “I’m Carter Dawson, this is my partner, Gabe Thomas.” He nodded toward his friend, still standing dumbfounded.

“Nice to meet you. I’ve heard you play down at Moonshiner’s. You’re good.” Liv said, shaking his hand. “I’m Liv. Sorry to call you out in such a hurry. I just got these guys in yesterday. They’re in pretty bad shape, and old George said he just can’t handle the stallion,” she said, nodding to the obviously agitated mustang.

“So, what’s the story?” Gabe asked, finally finding his voice.

“Well, from what I understand, their owner was deported. They were left in a field to fend for themselves for god only knows how long. The girls are a bit uneasy, but they seem to have been socialized at least. Mr. Mustang on the other hand, just seems mad at the world.” Liv said, shaking her head.

“Well, I’ll go on and get started on the girls. I can see their hooves are in bad shape from here.” Grabbing his tools and hoof stand, Carter headed toward the lean-to.

“You might want to hang on there, brother,” Gabe called. “Let me get the mustang a little more comfortable first. He may not take a liking to you messing with his ladies.”

Gabe winked at Liv, grabbed his lariat from the back of the truck and slowly entered the round pen. Right away the mustang snorted, throwing his head back and forth warning Gabe to stay away. Carefully, Gabe made his way closer to the mustang, hoping he wouldn’t charge. Tossing the lariat at the horse’s legs, Gabe got him to run to the other side of the pen. The horse made a quick turn to make a charge at Gabe, but he slapped the lariat on his leg to stop the mustang’s charge.

“Whoa boy,” he called to the mustang.

Gabe continued to work on submission techniques, having the horse do outside turns by slapping the lariat on his leg. As he persisted with the maneuvers, the horse challenged him, rearing up on his hind legs and roaring in Gabe’s direction. Before he had time to respond, the horse lunged at him, causing Gabe to lose his footing a tad. Seeing his chance, the horse quickly turned, kicking up his back legs, and hit Gabe in the left shoulder.

Liv covered her face and gasped as she watched the scene play out before her eyes.

“Dammit!” he yelled, grabbing his shoulder.

“Are you okay Gabe?” she yelled.

“Yeah, I’m fine. He kicks like my old Ruger shotgun,” he laughed. “Come on Ruger, let’s do that again.”

“He’s fine darlin’,” Carter reassured her. “It’s not the first time he’s been kicked. We’ll ice it down later.”

She smiled. “It’s gonna hurt like hell too. Ruger? I like the sound of that. Well, at least now the mustang has a name.”

Almost two hours later, hot, sweaty and shirtless, Carter was headed to his truck to get a cold water. Walking through the dark barn into the bright sunlight, he was temporarily blinded, not able to see the person coming through the barn door. They collided with a thump, knocking the breath out of him.

“Oh, shit!” he called. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t see for the sunlight,” he tried to explain to the otherwise known stranger. Stepping back and taking her by the shoulders, he realized it was Ella. A salacious grin spread across his lips at the scared, shocked expression on her face.

“Carter? What the hell are you doing here?” Ella sputtered.
No, no! This can’t be.
Why was he here? Cautiously, her eyes took him in from head to toe. Wearing only jeans, his farrier apron hung low and seductively off his hips, and the grey band of his underwear showed, displaying bright yellow lettering.
Oh my!!
Sweat beads sheened across Carter’s tanned skin, trickling down his taut abs. Ella felt her heart race as his unique scent invaded her senses, leather, soap and now sweat. She wanted to lick the droplets from his body.
Snap out of it woman!