Dirty Angel-BarbaraElsborg (8 page)

“What’s the matter? I just fed you.”

The horse settled again. Aden trailed his fingers over his flank and he could have sworn he heard purring.

“So I can touch you there? But not your face.”

Was that a fucking nod?
When he tried to get out of the stall the horse blocked him.

“You want me to stay? I was saving the rest of that apple for me.”

The horse opened and closed its mouth, then stared at him. For some strange reason he convinced himself the horse was trying to tell him something.

“What’s the matter?” Aden whispered.

He rubbed the horse’s neck and it blew through its nostrils. When Aden touched the side of the mouth, the same place as before, the horse backed away.

“Toothache? I’m not a dentist.”

The horse came forward again.

“Okay, let me look.” Though he had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for.

But when he gingerly lifted the flap of skin at the side of the horse’s mouth and exposed the gum, he also exposed a piece of plastic lodged between the teeth and the cheek.

“Ouch. Okay. I see what’s wrong. Don’t bite me.” Aden took hold of the foreign object and pulled. It didn’t shift and the horse whinnied. “Okay, okay. I’ll keep trying. You shouldn’t have chewed it, should you? You pull back while I tug on it.”

He tried again but the slimy plastic kept slipping through his fingers. Aden took off his sodden coat, tossed it aside and unfastened his shirt. When he had it in his hand, apart from being soaking wet, he saw the back was dark with blood and he gulped. He put his hand into the sleeve and pinched the plastic with the material which gave him a better grip. He pulled hard, the horse jerked back and Aden fell on his butt with what looked like half a bottle cap in his fingers.

The horse pressed his nose into Aden’s stomach and neighed. Aden stood up. He’d hurt his back when he’d fallen, and it took him a moment to pull himself together. He had to put the shirt back on. It was too cold not to, but he shuddered as he fastened the buttons. The material felt colder against his skin. He couldn’t face wearing the coat. It was so wet, water dripped from it. Before he tossed it aside, he took the apple from his pocket and gave the rest to the horse.

If he didn’t find something to wrap himself in, he’d freeze. Not to death, though. He smiled briefly.

“Back in a minute,” he told the horse and slipped out of the stall.

He nearly had a heart attack when he felt the nudge on his shoulder. The horse had followed him.

“How did you do that? I fastened you in.”

The animal trotted ahead and nickered at the pile of blankets. Aden stopped in his tracks. It wasn’t possible the horse knew what he needed. He grabbed three or four of the pieces of material and walked back to the stall. The horse’s name was written on a chalk board on the door. “Hello, Captain.”

The horse went back into the stall and Aden followed, double-checking the catch. When Captain snorted into his face, Aden snorted back. “Nice to meet you too. Going to lie down? Do horses lie down to sleep?”

He had no idea, but the horse settled on the straw and Aden wrapped the blankets around both of them and lay close. He pulled off his boots and curled his cold toes in the straw, thought about it, then put them against the horse’s warm leg.

“Don’t get any ideas,” he muttered. “No kissing. Not on our first date.”

Brody left the cottage carrying his coffee in a thermos mug. He’d had no calls last night, but he’d tossed and turned thinking about the guy he’d hit, wondering if he was okay, trying to figure out why he hadn’t hung around and where he could have gone—on foot and in the rain. Brody had been sure his leg had been broken, but then how could he have walked anywhere? So maybe not broken, but definitely injured. He hadn’t imagined the blood. But where had it come from? Head? Leg? Somewhere else? On the other hand, maybe it
had
been a deer he’d hit and he’d been so freaked out he’d conjured up that conversation. He was messed up enough in the head for that to be the truth.

Along with anxiety about last night, what had happened when he’d left the club kept surging to the forefront of his mind. He’d never actually been forced into sex before. Not quite, but that had been rape. He shook when the word formed in his head. He’d been right not going to the police, but what if he’d left some other guy open to that sort of attack by the same men?

He was disgusted by the risks he was taking. It had to stop. No more casual pickups. No more clubs. He’d take Grindr off his phone. He needed a hobby to occupy him when he wasn’t working. Something to stop him ruining his life. Maybe he could try painting or learn a foreign language or find some physical activity that tired him out.
Like sex?
He groaned.

Brody wasn’t working today, but he still had stuff to do for Des. In return for allowing Brody to stay in one of the two self-contained holiday cottages next to the farm—and pay for the privilege—Brody had to do his fair share of the work associated with the business. It was hard not to be resentful when their parents had chosen to leave everything to Des even though Brody sort of understood why they’d done it.

Saturday was the day when many of those who lodged their horses at the livery came to exercise them. Des employed a few local youngsters to do the mucking out and grooming in return for lessons. Brody didn’t have the patience to teach, not that Des had asked him to. As he made his way to the barn he thought again about last night. His stomach churned with anxiety. Maybe he ought to go and have another look for the guy. Or for a deer.

Des was just going into the stable when Brody turned the corner.

“I’m going to check on the mare,” Brody said.

“You still look like crap.”

“I’m fine.”

“Stay, Nelson,” Des said to his dog.

Brody followed Des inside.

“Have a look at Captain too. He was off his feed yesterday. I’ll have to hold him. He’s the most bad-tempered brute I’ve ever seen and this week he’s been worse.”

“Yeah, I noticed. I’ll look at him.”

“He’s fed up and pissed off. If you’re not going to ride him, you need to sell him.”

Brody gritted his teeth. “No.”

“It’s not fair on the horse. Let him go to someone who wants him.”

“Not yet.” Brody didn’t try to keep the snap out of his voice.

Des sighed. “Fine. We’ll see him first.”

Brody walked down the line of stalls wondering if he and his brother would ever be better friends. Des was always surly, always criticising, though Brody knew it was because Des worried about him. His brother was right about Captain, but Brody couldn’t let him go. Captain was his link to the period of his life that hadn’t been blighted by Matt. Just by death.

Be nice to Des.
“Want to go out for a ride later?” Brody asked.

Des looked at him as if he’d just suggested they go and have their nuts chopped off. “You going to ride Captain?”

“No.”

“Then no. I don’t have time.”

Why did I bother?
Brody needed to look for somewhere else to live. He and Des were better apart.

When they reached Captain’s stall and looked over the half-door, they both started.

“What the hell?” Des growled.

A guy lay on his side under blankets with his head resting on the horse’s flank. It was the man Brody had hit last night. His face was streaked with blood.

“Christ,” Brody whispered.

“Wake up,” Des barked.

“Don’t freak out the horse.” Brody’s heart jumped as he imagined Captain’s hooves slamming down on the guy’s head.

The man opened his eyes and looked from Des to Brody.

“Get the hell out of there.” Des clenched his fists on the top of the door.

“Move slowly,” Brody added. He was shocked to see Captain lying down.

The guy pushed to his feet and let the blankets fall away. Captain stood up at his side. The man picked up his coat and slipped it on, an expression of what looked like discomfort on his face. When he stepped toward them, Captain nudged him back away from the door.

“It’s okay.” The man rubbed behind the horse’s ear.

“It’s not bloody okay,” Des said. “You’re trespassing. I’m going to call the police. How dare you—”

“Shut up. I know him,” Brody said.

The guy looked at him in shock, then his face lit in a smile. “Hello again.”

Brody’s relief that the man was alive and well was joined by a bolt of sexual interest. He hadn’t been able to see much last night but those navy eyes were dark and sexy. So was that slightly crooked smile.
Oh shit.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Des demanded. “Have you touched him? Done something perverted? Cut him?”

“What?” the guy gasped.

“He was lying down,” Des snapped. “Horses rarely lie down and they don’t lie down next to strangers.”

“They do if they feel safe,” Brody said.

Des turned to him. “You know this idiot?”

“Have you been in there with him all night?” Brody asked.

“Yeah. Totally platonic.” He glared at Des. “Not an easy bedfellow. He lay down, got up, lay down again, got up again. But he kept me warm. Nibbled my ear to warn me when he was going to move, as well.”

Captain hung his head over the guy’s shoulder, nuzzled into him and the guy winced. Brody couldn’t believe the way Captain was behaving. Not the easiest animal at the best of times, for the last week, he’d been murderous, kicking at the walls of the stall, stamping, not letting anyone near him including Brody.

“He even took me to the pile of blankets,” the guy said.

Brody gaped at him and Des snorted.

“No way,” Des said. “Horses basically think along three lines—What can I eat? How can I get free? Where can I find more of my own kind? They don’t lead someone they’ve never seen before to a pile of blankets because they know they’re cold.”

“But that’s what he did,” the guy said. “By the way, my name’s Aden.”

“I’m Brody. This is my brother Des.”

Des glared. “I thought you knew him?”

“We hadn’t been introduced,” Aden said.

“Another one of your fuck buddies?” Des bristled with supressed rage.

Brody could feel the anger pouring off his brother. Brody had never brought a guy back here. Des had no right to speak to him like that and it wasn’t as if he was homophobic, just overprotective. But before he could open his mouth, Aden spoke.

“Brody knocked me down last night.”

“Sure it wasn’t the night before?” Des asked.

“I hit him with my car last night.” Brody stared at Aden taking in the hard planes of his narrow face, the line of his jaw, his paleness, and that dried blood.

“What?” Des turned to Brody.

“I called the police, but by the time an ambulance arrived, he’d disappeared.” Brody stared at Aden. “Coincidence you ended up here?”
Or did you follow me?

“I needed to get out of the rain. This was the first place I came to.”

Brody swallowed his sigh of relief. That was true. The farm
was
the first dwelling he’d have passed. Worry that all this had in some way been planned, that Matt was behind it, employing someone to look for him, dwindled to nothing.

“Where’s the blood come from?” Des asked. “You need medical treatment?”

“I’m fine.” Aden fastened a button on his coat and slipped past Captain to get out of the stall. He held out a piece of plastic. “This was stuck in the horse’s mouth. I pulled it out.”

Des took it from his fingers. “Damn Leo Carter. I’ve told him not to bring his plastic bottles of pop in here. I’ll kill him.” He renewed his glare when he looked at Aden. “You’re still trespassing and you’re lucky Captain didn’t kick you in the head. He’s temperamental. Good thing you know your way around horses, though you should know better than to pull a stunt like this.”

“Are you good with animals?” Brody asked.

“Only puppies and spiders.” The skin at the side of Aden’s eyes crinkled as he smiled. “I’ve never been this close to a horse in my life.”

Oh my God, I like you more and more.
Funny
and
attractive? If he had a rough streak as well, Brody was toast.

“You don’t know horses?” Des gaped at him and then at Captain. He put his hand over the door and the horse tried to nip him.

“Hey, none of that,” Aden said. “This guy is feeding you and putting a roof over your head. You should be endlessly grateful and do anything he wants. And that includes letting him ride you.”

Brody caught the quick glance Aden threw his way and his stomach churned.
You’d let me fuck you?
Brody’s cock thought so and he was relieved it was hidden under his coat.

“I think you’ve said and done quite enough,” Des said through clenched teeth.

“Sorry for trespassing,” Aden said. “And for any inconvenience caused. I’ll be on my way.”

“I’ll give you a lift.” Though Brody intended to persuade him to stay for a while.

Aden backed off. “No need.”

Don’t go.
“Like some coffee?” Brody held out the thermos.

Aden hesitated before taking it. Their fingers brushed and he felt his heart skip a beat.
Christ, he’s got cold hands.
Except that wasn’t why his heart had lurched.

Brody turned to his brother. “I somehow think Captain will be back on his feed now. I’ll take a look at the mare, then come back.”

“Come back? Why? Where are you going?” His brother followed him to the mare’s stall. “Get rid of this guy.” He lowered his voice. “He’s trouble. You’ve got enough to deal with without inviting more aggravation into your life.”

Brody chewed the inside of his cheeks as he examined the mare. “She’s okay.” He dropped his voice. “I hit him with my car and he wandered off. He was obviously confused and disorientated. The least I can do is drive him home.”

“Fine.”

Not that I need your permission.

Brody went back to Aden who held out the flask.

“Thanks,” Aden said.

“Like something to eat?” Brody heard himself ask.

“That would be good. Steak and chips?”

Brody raised his eyebrows. “Eggs and bacon.”

He gave a heavy sigh. “Suppose I can make do.”