Page 84 of Bleeding Blackheart

Since Montana’s been back, she’s asked me daily if she can get on Violet for a ride. I know Violet misses Montana too, but I’m still on the fence about whether I want to keep that horse or not. She let my first love die, and she caused me to almost lose my second one too.

I plate her food, giving her a hearty helping of toast, eggs, bacon, and fruit, and put it in front of her. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Today is her first day without bandages, and I’m not even sure she’s strong enough to sit upright on Violet.

Montana huffs and rolls her shoulders back. “Well, I want to have some fun. I’ve been allowed to do nothing but lay in bed the past seven days. I’m ready for a good time.”

I get my plate and sit at the table across from her. “You can have a good time inside.”

Her eyes rake over my white T-shirt that’s soiled from working outside this morning. “You’re right. I can have a good time inside.”

My mind goes straight to the gutter, and when I see her eyes travel down my body, I know hers has too. “Montana, you’re underweight, and you have a cracked rib.”

She frowns and looks up at me with her wide doe eyes. “Do you not think I’m attractive?”

I nearly choke on my piece of toast. “Montana, are you serious right now?”

Her eyes roll, and she bites into her eggs. “Well, you’re acting like you don’t want me. You’ve hardly cuddled me at night, and you won’t even consider anything else.”

I grab her chair legs and pull her beside me. “Montana, I want you just as much as I did the day that I met you. However, I just got you back after you almost died, and with four weeks of not being inside you, I’m worried I might take things too far.”

She softens against me immediately, leaning against my shoulder. “You won’t.”

My body heats from her touch, and I feel myself starting to get hard. “You don’t know that.”

She grips my bicep with her small hands, squeezing me as much as she can. “I do know that. You can control yourself. Control yourself for me, Gunner. I miss you, and I need you. This’ll help me feel better and get better faster.”

I’ve spent every night this week, tossing and turning while I watched Montana rest, hoping her little heart didn’t give out. And while I was hoping her heart didn’t give out, I was beating off beside her, missing her touch and wondering when I could feel her body underneath mine again.

I don’t feel like I can control myself. My hunger is too great, and I want her too much. But she’s right. I can do it for her. I can act like a civilized lover and give my little fox slow and tender sex for the very first time. And it won’t just make her feel better. It’ll make me feel better too.

I clear our plates and help her up from the table gently, picking her up while she wraps her legs around my hips. “Alright, Montana. You win. Let’s go have some fun.”

36

Montana

Icling to Gunner’s shoulders while he carries me up to our bedroom. I’ve spent the past week feeling like death, but today, I almost feel like myself again.

The day my father snatched me off Violet was the worst day of my life. I was less scared about what would happen to me and more worried that Mason would kill my horse. That my man would think I ran out on him. But things only got worse the moment I opened my eyes and realized I was in a freezer.

The three weeks I spent under his torture blur together in my mind. I spent my days starving, getting spanked, slapped, and spat on, and my nights were spent in rooms with loud sirens, blinding lights, and extreme temperature conditions.

I had no idea how long I was with him. Some days it felt like a few hours. Others, it felt like years. I rarely saw the sun, and I breathed in dank, artificial air. I begged God totake me home just so I wouldn’t have to suffer anymore. Then I opened my eyes, and Gunner was before me.

At first I thought he was a mirage. Something my mind made up to help alleviate the strain of the suffering I was in. But I felt the pain when Gunner shoved me out of my chair to protect me. And I felt nothing but satisfaction while I watched him stomp Mason’s head in like a useless piece of fruit.

Those days were filled with pain and heartache, but they’re over now. And the pain I might feel in the next few minutes will be the kind I enjoy.

Gunner takes me into the room and places me on the bed like I’m a baby. I watch him closely while he undresses, and I slip his shirt off my shoulders, leaving myself naked on the beige quilt below me.

I feel the slightest bit embarrassed about my body sitting here bare. A month and a half ago, I had curvy hips, plump tits, and a figure my friends envied. Now I’m a lot smaller, and my assets aren’t what they once were. But Gunner makes any insecurities I have go away when he looks back at me.

“I love you how you are now, Montana, and I will love you in your health too. You know that I want you. So spread your legs for me like the goddess you know you are.”

I lie down on the bed slowly, feeling a pain in my right rib when I do. Apparently it’s cracked, but it’ll be alright in a few weeks. Gunner’s been making me use an inhaler daily, and I’ve been given ample pain medicine to help too. On my back, the pain is almost nonexistent. And my mind is taken off of the pain completely when he crawls onto the bed and puts his face between my legs.

His lips press soft kisses against my inner thighs while he holds my legs wide with his strong hands. “You’ll never know how much I missed you, Montana.”

My back sinks into the quilt, and I sink my hands in his soft, brown hair. “I thought about you every single day, Gunner.”

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