Christmas with the Stallions (2 page)

“Shit!” Seth fell to the animal and Colt followed suit, quickly propping the horse’s head on his thick legs.

“What is it?” Haley screeched.

“Oleanders are deadly. They’re very toxic and horses, the few that can’t leave them alone, die from Oleander.”

“No,” she cried out. “There’s no way. You don’t understand.

Daisy wouldn’t have eaten that plant. Daisy doesn’t eat anything outside of a little grass, hay, and sweet feed.”

Clearly agitated, Colt pointed toward the scattered branches of the Oleanders. “She must’ve developed a taste for dead plants, too.

Horses can’t read all about Oleanders like humans can. She didn’t know she’d die if she ate the damn things.”

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Christmas With the Stallions

11

Seth studied poor old Daisy. Then he raised a question. “Why the hell would a horse that hasn’t gone near those plants all summer suddenly take an interest in Oleanders?”

Haley bowed her head. “I tried to figure out if any of the plants could be salvaged and worked all day yesterday digging up the smaller shrubs from the root. I read on the Internet that some folks move their plants inside during the winter months, around the middle of December, right before a hard freeze.”

Colt looked at her with a blank expression and then bit out, “I imagine those are the people who have live plants to save.” He set his jaw. “You should’ve read how deadly those leaves are while you perused the net.”

Haley gulped. He blamed her. Colt held a genuine passion for animals, specifically horses, and spent most of his free time riding.

Daisy’s tremors worsened and Seth snapped. “Hurry, get Doc Thomas on the phone. His answering service should give us some advice or get a quick message to him so he can call us back.”

Haley dialed the number and walked away from Seth and Colt.

They looked as helpless as she felt.

“Hello? This is Haley McIntire, and I have a mare I think may have eaten Oleander—”

“Damn it!” Colt yelled using the horse’s body to shove away from her. His silky, black hair flew behind him like a wind-ripping flag as he paced, enraged.

“She’s gone,” Seth declared, interrupting her.

Haley snapped her phone closed. She glared at the ground and the dead animal lying there. Yes, she was gone. Yes, her Oleanders died too. But more than anything else, her husband was dead and after he passed, she’d endured one mishap after the next. From plants to horses, death surrounded her.

Gaping at the cold ground, Haley decided a dark cloud loomed over her. Maybe she should cut her losses. No, there wasn’t a maybe to consider. The time had come for her to work alone.

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12

Addison Avery

She stared at Colt and Seth. Then she glanced once more at Daisy.

“You’re fired,” she said quietly, moving by them and starting for the house on foot.

“What are you talking about?” Seth tried to stop her by grabbing her wrist.

Shaking him off, she continued toward the house.

A loud neigh rang out and it sounded like anger. The noise was close enough to startle her and Haley quickly turned around.

Seth stood off at a distance. Colt seethed, and she could almost hear the anger in every ragged breath he took.

Haley shook her head. Did she imagine the loud neigh? God, yeah, why not hallucinate? Perhaps her delusions could keep her company throughout the cold winter.

“This is bullshit,” Colt said. “We didn’t kill your horse,” he continued, catching up to her and practically maneuvering alongside her at a sideways pace. “You can’t fire us because of what
you
did.”

Through the tears, she saw her home in the distance. She watched Shelly back out of the driveway in her old, black Toyota Camry. She must’ve gotten tired of waiting.

Haley stopped walking and started shouting. “I want you gone and out of here by morning! I’ll pay you two weeks wages,” she added, glancing over Colt’s shoulder in an attempt to address Seth, too. “Just pack up and get out.”

She ran but she didn’t get far. Colt caught her around the waist, snapped her wrist to her side and held her hand firmly between them.

Then he looped his arm around her middle. “This isn’t about that horse, Haley. You know it. I know it.”

“Yes…yes…it…is,” she declared, stuttering all over the place.

“No, it isn’t,” he said. “I saw the pain in your eyes just then. You wanted comfort, but you were afraid to let us console you.”

“Stop,” she said, squirming. “I’ve already told you. The both of you are fired.”

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Christmas With the Stallions

13

Seth approached cautiously. His breathing sounded peculiar too, almost like he was a stallion brought in to tease the mare he wouldn’t be permitted to take. Odd, she thought, why on earth would she compare Seth to a stallion? Maybe her bizarre thought patterns further indicated signs of stress.

She squirmed again. “Don’t,” she said. “Let me go.”

“No way in hell,” Colt said, cupping her neck, his palms rubbing her nape in an instant massage.

Her nipples spiked with the friction. God help her, she was turned on by the man’s touch. One rough caress, a back and forward motion, and she felt the heat building between them, even in the wake of her heartbreak.

Seth inched close enough to stand guard or stop the kiss Colt looked like he most definitely planned to deliver. Only Seth didn’t move again. Colt did.

Colt’s gaze firmly locked on hers, and the intensity of the neck massage changed to downright sensual. He glanced over his shoulder when the pounding of hooves sounded out around them. Haley didn’t pay any attention to the beautiful palomino circling them. She’d seen the horse plenty of times over the last couple of days. The damn stallion had become an annoyance really and sometimes he stalked her, circling and circling.

She moistened her lips and Colt most likely saw the gesture as an open invitation. His lips crashed against hers and melded to her mouth like they’d belonged there since he arrived. In many ways, maybe this was what she needed from the beginning. Only, right then and there, wasn’t the best timing for any kind of first kiss.

Pushing him away, she glared at both men. The horse behind the earlier noise seemingly vanished, and she studied Colt and Seth long enough to see if she detected one ounce of amusement, only she didn’t find humor in their expressions.

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14

Addison Avery

Maybe the kiss was sincere, she thought. No, she decided, Colt was throwing around his weight. The kiss seemed more like a claiming.

She touched her mouth with her icy-cold fingertips. “I want you…to go. I mean it. If you can get packed up and out of here tonight, I’ll pay you each an additional week’s salary.”

Seth shook his head. “We’re not going anywhere, Haley.”

“You’re fired,” she informed once more, still shaking from the earth-moving experience.

She wondered where the wild horse went and searched the field for the palomino that had been there a minute before. The stretch of open land lured her eyes, but the deserted area looked basically bare with the exception of Daisy’s dead form.

“I fired you,” she stated again.

“Like hell you did.” Colt said, taking a few steps back, allowing more distance between them. “We’re not leaving, and you’re not ordering us off this property again. If you do, I’ll tie you up and bound you to your bed until you beg for mercy.”

She swallowed hard. “You’ll what?”

“We’re fresh out of patience here, Haley,” Colt informed. “We’re gonna tell you what’s on our minds. Then, we’re gonna show you.”

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Christmas With the Stallions

15

Seth insisted she ride rather than walk. She refused to get in the truck on her own so Colt picked her up and tossed her in the back.

Thank God there were heavy horse blankets to keep the chill from nipping too hard at her exposed skin.

Once the truck came to a stop near her porch, she decided stubbornness hung onto her like a disease for which she’d never find a cure. Her peaked anger didn’t warm her whatsoever.

Colt offered her a hand while Seth grabbed their coats and gloves from the truck. She flatly refused Colt’s generosity.

Colt grunted. “Have it your way.”

She thought she’d won. Squaring her shoulders, she started to jump down. When she did, Colt scooped her up and carried her to the porch.

“Damn it,” she screeched. “Let me go!”

“I’m going to,” he replied. “Give me a minute.”

“I’ll be right there,” Seth called out. He turned his face toward the wind and, tilting his chin upward, his nostrils flared. He immediately wheeled around on his boots, staring at Haley with pure lust in his eyes.

Colt grinned. “I know. Don’t even say it. I know.”

“You know what?” she demanded as Colt turned the doorknob.

“Christmas Eve is tomorrow,” he said, walking through her hallway.

“So what, it’s Christmas Eve? I can’t fire you the day before?”

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16

Addison Avery

“You’re not firing us,” he reminded gently. “And we’ve already been over this. I guess you liked the idea of being strapped to a bed for long and indulgent hours of foreplay.”

She slid down his body as if he orchestrated the exact way he wanted to let her go. Smiling, he said, “Nice.”

The audacity! She should’ve slapped the cocky expression right off his smug cheeks. Instead, she found herself speechless as she watched him bend over and light the gas logs in the fireplace. The one mention of foreplay spiked her interest in a way she should’ve never allowed.

When he stood again, he pulled the curtains back. The large picture window overlooked the lower field. There, in the paddock, the beautiful palomino ran from one gate to the next. He reared high, kicking out his front legs as if the world angered him.

She watched in awe as the horse acted out on some kind of tantrum. “Where did you say that palomino came from?”

Colt didn’t answer her. Instead, he shrugged out of his coat and leaned in behind the massive Christmas tree and plugged in the Christmas lights.

“The horse, Colt?” she asked, halfway turning her head to glance at him but unable to look away from the beautiful golden stallion as his erect penis dropped and he stamped at the dusty ground beneath him.

“Oh, my God,” she whispered. “He’s excited, aroused.”

“Seth’s not the only one.”

She turned around and said, “Where are the mares?” Then, his response hit her square in the face. “What did you say about Seth?”

* * * *

Colt and Seth disagreed on a primary point. One of the reasons Seth ran for the lower field to thrash out his fit was because of the Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.

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Christmas With the Stallions

17

discussion they had driving back to the house. Seth didn’t want Haley to know about them, at least not yet.

Colt couldn’t postpone honesty especially since they were running out of time. Stallions with a mate to claim were required to stand with their mare before Christmas morning. Colt felt an obligation to tell his mate the truth before he took her and honesty would lead to his claiming.

He couldn’t tear his gaze away from Haley. The woman was more beautiful than any woman he’d ever pursued. The way her auburn locks bounced like curlicues accentuated her ivory complexion, casting a hint of color on her high cheekbones. When she looked at him, her royal-blue eyes sparkled with the lust hiding behind them.

Yes indeed, he loved everything about Haley McIntire. Colt’s feelings had grown from love at first sight to an obsession, a dire need even Seth couldn’t explain to him.

Seth had been in love with a human shifter once before. Colt, on the other hand, had loved only Haley. The experience was new, fresh, and so exhilarating.

Clearing her throat, she said, “What did you mean about Seth?”

Now or never, he thought. “Haley, I think there’s something you should know,” he began, pointing to the couch. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

God help him if she sat too close. His erection pressed against his zipper, already harder than he ever recalled. If she took a seat next to him, he wouldn’t deny himself. All the more reason to remain on his feet, he mused.

Seth continued to show off. He ran from one side of the corral to the next, stretching out his front legs in an effort to slide within centimeters of the fence. Then, his tail arched and he made a mad dash for the other side. Colt silently gave him credit. The damn boy was beauty set in motion.

Colt couldn’t wait for him to give up the show. Then, maybe Haley would redirect her focus.

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18

Addison Avery

“You didn’t answer me,” she said. “Are the mares secured in the barn?”

Ah yeah, Haley, he thought. The one Seth wants is already inside, safe but not necessarily protected from a good breeding.

“Haley,” he sighed, touching her curls and admiring the silky ringlets as they looped around his finger. God help him, from the moment he first saw her, he wanted to run his hands through those strands just to see if the pretty locks were as soft to the touch as they looked.

He worked his hands through her hair and indulged. At first, he was able to resist, fingering his way through the length, but then he weaved his hand closer to her scalp.