The Circle Eight: Tobias (19 page)

That didn’t mean she was done getting to the bottom of why Tobias settled in Briar Creek. As she galloped through a beautiful meadow of bluebonnets, she thought about what she wanted to hear him say.
 

What if he said he loved her? How would she reply to that? Did she still love him or had the pain of the past soured those deep feelings she had first felt when she was only seventeen?
 

Too many questions and no answers. Rebecca could always find what she needed in books or from those who had knowledge. In this situation, she couldn’t use any of those to help her. She was on her own and that frightened her.
 

Rebecca could set a broken leg, stitch a bleeding gash or lance a boil, but she squawked at facing the man who broke her heart. She rode without seeing the beautiful landscape, without enjoying the warmth or the actual ride on her horse. Ocho must have known she was distracted because he strayed from the path numerous times.
 

To her embarrassment, she didn’t notice until a minute or two had passed. She kneed him back onto the path and he shook his mane as though he was telling her, “Pay attention. You’re ignoring me and I don’t like it.”
 

The sun sank low in the sky and she realized she’d been rising for at least two hours, much longer than she intended. Doctor Radicy would be worried about her. Not to mention her stomach was howling for supper. She’d been so distracted by Tobias she’d let herself forget about everything else.
 

She kneed Ocho into a gallop and leaned forward, letting herself become one with the animal. If he could have, the horse would have smiled. He stretched his legs, his big chest pulling in the air he needed to run. This was what people didn’t see when they looked at her horse. He wasn’t pretty to look at and had an abominable disposition. But he rode like the wind, with more stamina than most horses.
 

By the time they saw the town ahead, she was sweating but laughing. The freedom she found on the back of her gelding was equal to none. It was joy in its most primitive form. She slowed him to a trot and finally to a walk. Both of them needed a drink of water but she suspected Ocho was as refreshed as she was from their ride.
 

Her good mood lasted until she arrived at the livery. Then she remembered who was there. Every encounter with him had been intense but short in duration. She’d be seeing him all the time on a regular basis.
 

Was she ready for that?
 

Rebecca squared her shoulders and dismounted. She patted Ocho’s neck. “Good job, boy. You and me both needed that.”
 

“Miss Becky?” Will appeared, a smile on his face. “Tobias said I should be respectful and call you Miss.”
 

“That’s very gentlemanly of you, Will.” She searched for signs of the man he used to be but only saw the wide-open expression of a child. The skull above his right ear was indented with a scar. The hair did not grow over the white crescent shape, a stark reminder of all he’d gone through.
 

“Thank you kindly, Miss Becky. Can I help you dismount?” He held up his hands, his brown gaze earnest and sweet.
 

She could dismount on her own, but he wanted to help and she had genuine affection for this man. “Of course.” She held out her arms and he grasped her waist, plucking her off the horse as though she weighed no more than a sack of flour.
 

When he set her on her feet, it was a jarring impact. She stumbled and he cried out in dismay.
 

“Oh, no! I’m sorry, Miss Becky!” He stepped back, distressed.
 

“It’s nothing, Will. I’m perfectly fine.” Her teeth had clacked together but other than that, she wasn’t injured.
 

“I ain’t got the manners yet to be around ladies.” He sounded so miserable.
 

She patted his shoulder. “You will learn. And I think you did well with your manners.”
 

Will nodded and took Ocho’s reins, his face full of remorse. “You’re too nice, ma’am.”
 

He disappeared into the barn and she knew her horse would be taken care of. She turned to leave and saw Tobias in the shadow of the doorway, watching her. Rebecca stopped, her heart kicking into high gear.
 

She stared for a moment then walked toward him, not understanding why she was so drawn to this man. The closer she got, the more her body tingled in anticipation. She stepped right up to chest, noting he smelled of man, of horse, of outdoors. She breathed deep, pulling him into her body, deep into her blood, into her soul.
 

No matter what she told herself, her heart knew the truth. This man was her mate, the person who was her other half. She didn’t want to love him. He’d been nothing but rude, stubborn, fractious and contentious. How could she have such a deep connection to him?
 

His brown gaze locked with hers and she was helpless to look away. She saw years of pain and unhappiness, layers of a man who hadn’t accepted he was worthy of love. Rebecca reached up and cupped his jaw, the whiskers rough on her palm from a day’s growth.
 

“Why you?”
 

“Damned if I know, Becca.” He leaned into her touch, his eyes fluttering shut.
 

“I don’t want this.”
 

“I know.” He opened his eyes again. “I can’t stop what I feel any more than you can.”
 

But, oh, how she wanted to, so very much. Her body had other ideas though. It yearned for his, warming in such close proximity to his. She leaned toward him and he leaned down. Without any conscious thought, she pulled him down toward her lips and suddenly they were kissing.
 

It was a sweet, gentle kiss. His lips were warm, moving over hers with languidness. One kiss followed another until she was lost in the touch of his mouth to hers. When his tongue ran along the seam of her lips, she opened her mouth, eager for more. She should stop him, step away and go about her business.
 

But she didn’t. She couldn’t. She was lost.
 

His lips fit against hers as if they were made from two sides of the same mold. Heat blossomed within her, spreading through her limbs until she turned to liquid, melting against him. Rebecca had forgotten what it felt like to be in his arms, but her body remembered within seconds.
 

Her nipples tightened against his chest, pushing for more, aching for attention. He groaned low and deep in his throat. It resonated through her, sending tingles across her skin. When his tongue slid across her lips, she opened her mouth.
 

Rebecca forgot where she was. Their tongues tangled and danced, a symphony of movement from her mouth to his and back again. His hard staff pressed into her belly and she shivered. Although her only experience with him had ended in disappointment, she craved something more.
 

More
.
 

She clutched at his shoulders, her hands sliding into his soft, dark hair. She knocked his hat off in her explorations but she didn’t care if it hit the dirt. She pulled at him in frustration, knowing what she needed. She knew it wasn’t just kissing.
 

More
.
 

Tobias cupped her behind and lifted her against him, grinding his hardness into her softness. She gasped, breaking contact between them. He lurched backwards, steadying her shoulders and himself. Her mouth throbbed, swollen and wet, while the rest of her thumped right along with her heart.
 

“What was that?” His voice was hoarse.
 

“That was kissing. It’s when two people’s lips meet.” She could barely string two thoughts together. The abrupt loss of his body heat, and his arms, left her reeling.
 

He chuffed a laugh. “I know what kissing is, darlin’.” His hands trembled on her shoulders, surprising her. He’d been as affected as her by what they’d just done. It didn’t make her feel better, but it made her feel less foolish. “It’s been a while since I kissed. Five years.”
 

His dark gaze held hers and she wished she had more experience with men to know what it all meant. Rebecca was naïve when it came to men, although she was not a virgin. This was the man who she’d been intimate with but it was obvious neither of them knew what to do next. The kisses told her what they had between them was still vibrant, a living thing. He hadn’t kissed anyone since his lips had touched hers.
 

“I have to get back. I’ve been gone too long.” She turned and walked away as fast as her legs could carry her. To be honest, she ran from him. From the feelings she didn’t know what to do with. From the man who had reappeared again and tempted her with a future that conflicted with her current life.
 

It scared her.
 

No, it terrified her.
 

Chapter Ten
 

It had been three days since Tobias had seen Rebecca. Since the kiss that still made his dick hard. He was distracted and that made it dangerous for his well-being. He’d had his foot stepped on twice by two different horses, he’d smashed his head on a beam so hard he saw stars, and he forgot to cinch a saddle before he tried to mount the damn horse.
 

It had been a disastrous three days. All he wanted to do was go talk to her. A lie, of course. He wanted to kiss her, touch her, taste her, bring her to pleasure. Five years ago he’d failed to cherish her gift. He didn’t expect her to give him another chance, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to ask for it.
 

He wanted to confess everything to her. All he’d had to do over the last few months to get where he was. Tobias had thrown away the angry man he’d been and created a new man. He wasn’t completely certain if he made the right choice, but he knew his old self would not win Rebecca. His ultimate goal was to put a ring on her finger and change her last name to Gibson.
 

It was a lofty goal to be sure. He never expected to marry, or wonder of wonders, have children. Rebecca had shown him who he could be. Now he had to convince her he was the right man for her. How he was going to do that, he had no idea.
 

Will was busy shoveling stalls and setting out fresh hay for the horses. He spoke to them as he led them to and from the stalls. His low murmurs were a comforting sound. Tobias had the tack room almost set to rights, the way he liked it. Waldeck had no opinion about the changes, but in Tobias’s opinion, the old man was pretty damn slovenly. There was mouse shit everywhere and the building hadn’t been painted since it was built twenty years earlier; even the hinges on the doors were crusted with age.
 

Replacing the hinges was his job that afternoon. He was tired of them creaking, screeching, and the flakes of rust that flew into his eyes every time he opened the damn doors. He knelt on the ground, pry bar in hand, trying to remove the hinge at the bottom of the back door. The nail had rusted to the hinge and it was stuck like an old lady’s drawers to her thighs.
 

He popped off the top of the screw, then after heartily cursing, worked on prying the hinge off the door. He didn’t have enough money to fix the livery from top to bottom, and that included new doors. There was little left over from selling the rest of his land and the cabin. Enough to see
them through the winter and then he would have to rely on the livery to keep himself and Will fed and clothed.
 

It was a sobering thought. A distracting thought too. The pry bar slipped and slammed into his left palm with all the force behind his attempts to remove the hinge.
 

“Fucking hell!” Blood spurted down his arm and onto his trousers, dripping onto the sandy ground beneath him.
 

He yanked the handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around his hand. The wound throbbed and hurt like a bitch. He got to his feet and walked to the well pump. Cool water would help with some of the pain. Then he remembered something very important.
 

Rebecca was now the town’s doctor.
 

Despite the agony in his hand, he smiled. It was a very tangible reason to seek out the woman he loved, despite the fact she ran from him three days ago. After he kissed her and she kissed him back. That kiss gave him hope and he was going to hang onto it.
 

For now he would go to her and ask her to tend to his hand. After all, that’s what the town doctor did, wasn’t it?
 

He poked his head in the barn and shouted to Will. “Gotta go see Rebecca. If you need me, go to the clinic.”
 

“I like Miss Becky!” Will always made Tobias smile.
 

“Me too, brother.” Tobias walked to the clinic holding his hand up. A few folks glanced at him with concern and he managed a pained-sounding response. “Going to the Doc’s.”
 

Although his hand hurt like mad, he had to hide the stupid smile on his face. What was he thinking? Not much of anything but seeing her again.
 

Becca.
 

He hadn’t stepped into the clinic before. There was a tidy front porch, whitewashed and well swept. There were even a couple of rocking chairs inviting people to set a spell. There was an
Open
sign hanging in the door along with a shingle that said “Briar Creek Medical Clinic”.
 

Tobias opened the door and a bell tinkled above his head. The room on the right had a few chairs and a settee. A woman with a little boy on her lap sat in one. Otherwise, the room was empty. She glanced up at him.
 

“The Doc is in with another patient. She’s gonna see Timmy next.” The woman stared at Tobias as though he would push her aside and demand to be seen.