Page 49 of Legacy of Danger
Shelby's horse, Bob, rolled his eyes and flared nostrils in disdain.
Vaughn had started his training session at nine, after finishing the last of his chores this evening. That was when his father had gone to bed. Nurse Ruth said Dad needed to rest.
But sleeping for twelve hours per night wasn't normal.
The memory of his father shuffling down the hall with his walker this evening, one leg dragging, accompanied by ever-present Ruth, turned an invisible knife in Vaughn's gut. He'd never expected his old man to be laid low by a damned stroke. Getting run over by cattle or thrown by a horse, sure, but not something like a stroke.
At least Dad got out of bed now. According to Garrison, the first week back from the hospital, Dad had made zero effort and was dwindling right in front of everyone. Enter one tenacious nurse, accompanied by her laughing Cajun husband, Odie, and Dad had turned to putty in their hands, eating better and participating in daily physical therapy sessions.
What would Dad do when Ruth and Odie left?
What would happen to all of them when Vaughn left? That life back in New York, the one with the successful professional and MMA career, waited for him.
He pounded the bag with merciless upper hooks and jabs.
Damn it.
Shit. He also tried to pummel away the memory of Mariah's soft lips and the way her small form melted into his. His perpetual hard-on persisted, despite the attempts to exhaust himself with a wicked training session. Parts of his body wanted her, no matter how tired he got.
Wanted.
Needed.
His mind—a damned gerbil spinning on a wheel—tried to figure out Mariah. Tried to figure out his own fucked-up self.
He might have cleared the air with Garrison, but Vaughn still carried a boatload of shame for what had happened with his brother's wife.You're not in the right headspace for a relationship with a quality woman like Mariah, man. You don't deserve her, and she doesn't deserve your baggage.
And she sure didn't deserve a quick roll in the sheets followed by his inevitable departure from Copper River. Unfortunately, that was all he had to offer.
But wow. Her eyes. Her mind. Her body.
Pow. Bambam. Sweat soaked his T-shirt. It should chill him to the bone, but his blood boiled with the need to taste more than her sweet mouth. He wanted her under him, moaning in pleasure. Then his power surged with its own list of needs. Vaughn would slay anyone or anything that threatened her. Plain and simple.
After that damned kiss, it took an act of God for him to step away from her. At least his brain retained some small control. If he got her in his arms again, there was no guarantee that he could let go if things got hot and heavy.
Maybe. Barely. Probably not.
Christ.
"Snack?"
"Holy fuck!" He jumped at the low, feminine voice, then peeked at his tented shorts and scooted over so that the punching bag hid the evidence. "Sorry. Hi, Ruth. Odie."
"We thought you might want a snack." One corner of the nurse's mouth rose, but her face otherwise remained impassive.
The woman should be a poker player.
For his part, Odie couldn't tear his gaze away from her. Even though she was easily six solid feet worth of woman, Odie treated her like a priceless treasure. Vaughn didn't need Shelby's gift of reading emotions to figure out that the guy was utterly in love with his wife.
"How is the training, my friend?" The man's southern lilt sounded so strange here in Wyoming. His short beard and moustache fit right in, though. A Cajun cowboy. Who would've thought it?
Vaughn laid his cheek against the bag while praying that parts of his anatomy would deflate already. "Fine. This Saturday should be a good bout."
"Will you be ready?" Ruth asked, holding out a glass of what smelled like fruit and protein. Man, she was perceptive. Too perceptive.
Weirder still, when Vaughn saw Ruth, he got a flash of the recurrent dreams he'd been having for the past few months: a woman's arm. Lava. Heat. How did it relate to Ruth?
He bent and swigged water from his sports bottle, then took the drink she offered. After a sip, he held up the glass. "Wow. Thanks. This is really good."
