12-Alarm Cowboys (134 page)

Titan blinked, refocusing on his friend, accepting the beer he pushed toward him. “Nowhere, it’s just been a rough couple of weeks.” He dragged his fingers through his hair, causing it to spike up. “I’ve got a fence to mend at home, my pond needs to be cleaned out. The spring has debris in it.” When he saw his friend’s eyes glaze over, he knew he’d complained enough. “Never mind, let’s drink up.”

For the next couple of hours, he was the recipient of toasts and a couple of challenges at the pool table. He’d switched to root beer after the first drink, but even the absence of alcohol didn’t do much to lessen the level of fun everyone seemed to be having. Several times he glanced over toward Makenna and the last time he did, it was to see Damien sitting next to her, their heads close together. A pang of jealousy hit him between the eyes. If he hadn’t been feeling so low, Tammie Woods would never have got him to agree to take her out. She’d come along in all of her bleached blonde glory and draped herself over his arm like a cat in heat. He wasn’t a saint, and he wasn’t celibate, but flirting with someone else in front of the woman he loved didn’t feel right. No matter how off limits she was. Still, he found himself going along with Tammie’s plans.

“You won’t be sorry, I promise.” She gave him a big wink, wetting her lips, which were painted bright red. Titan watched Tammie walk away, putting as much of a twist in her hips as she could manage. She was his next door neighbor on the south side. They shared a fence line. Titan knew she’d like to merge more than their ranches and their herds.

When he finally returned to the table, it was to find Makenna gone. Damien was still here, which didn’t sit well with Titan. But what the hell was he supposed to do? Maybe she drove herself. She was a strong independent woman. She often came alone to their meetings, mostly because Damien was usually already at the station. Nevertheless, he couldn’t keep from walking out front, just to make sure she wasn’t standing outside alone. He wondered if anyone had even walked her to her car. There was no sign of her, so he presumed she’d headed home.

It was summer, the night was hot. Not even the Hill Country could cool down when a Texas August came calling. Stepping out far enough into the lot, he scanned the cars. Out here, the sounds from inside the tavern were muffled. The lows of a few cattle sounded through the night and in the distance he could hear hoof beats of horses. The noise reminded him of the old ghost tale about the phantom horses that supposedly haunted the Backbone. Many had supposedly heard their hoof beats drawing close, but when they would look—nothing was there. Old-timers spoke in a hush about confederate soldiers, a Comanche raiding party, even pioneers who still roamed these hills and hollows long after they were dead and gone. Titan had never seen anything himself, but he knew people who swore they had.

Out of nowhere, his pager went off. He’d no more than started toward his truck before the rest of the unit all came running. “There’s a four alarm over at the ale brewery. Let’s go before the whole thing blows!”

*

She was such
a coward. “Damn!” she yelled, grabbing a blue sofa pillow and hurling it across the room. How did her life get to be such a mess? Sneaking home because she couldn’t bear to be in the same room with him. Even as she processed the thought, Makenna realized she didn’t know for sure which man she was referring to—the husband she despised or the man she pined for. Both of them made her uncomfortable in different ways.

What was she going to do? She’d been so close to telling Allie everything about Damien and their situation on the phone this morning. It had been on the tip of her tongue to spill it all—the beatings, the way he held her head underwater, how he deprived her of food, made her sleep on the floor or stand in one spot for hours. Makenna’s life was hell, yet she kept it all inside.

Her friend had called and invited her to go shopping. And Makenna had refused—again. A few times when Damien was busy on sales calls that took him out of town or if there was a fire Makenna would sneak away to be with Allie, but not often. Damien’s work as a representative for a RV manufacturer didn’t take him away on overnight trips, so her freedom was limited. Allie had pressed her earlier, telling Makenna that she knew something wasn’t right. She’d had to bite her tongue, but Makenna kept her own secrets. She couldn’t afford not to.

Keeping up appearances was tough. Her strategy for staying alive was to keep out of his way and do nothing to set her husband off. Anyone would wonder why she remained, why didn’t she just slip out the door and disappear? Well, there was a very good reason.

Retaliation.

He’d warned Makenna often enough, but she’d learned he was serious the hard way. The only time she’d tried to leave, Damien had come after her and when he’d hauled her home, he not only beat Makenna and broke her arm, he killed their black lab right in front of her. And it had been his dog. Damien did it because he knew Makenna loved the animal and to give her a visual, lingering reminder that he meant exactly what he said. He told her coldly that the dog wouldn’t be the only one to pay the price. He clearly promised her that if she ever told anyone the truth, he’d make her and the one she trusted pay dearly. Makenna had no reason to doubt him. He’d been very liberal with his demonstrations.

She had the scars to prove it.

His threat still rang in her ears. “Don’t test me, Makenna. You’ll be sorry. I know how to deal with idiots and I won’t tolerate anyone interfering in our lives. It won’t pay you to get attached to anyone. If you step out of line, anyone you care about is in jeopardy.”

Makenna knew Damien was dangerous, as dangerous as a coiled cornered Texas rattler. But no one in this town would ever believe her, even if she did escape his revenge. This was his home town and he was loved. When Damien was younger, before he’d taken the job with the fire department in Fort Worth and met her, he’d become a hero in Hays County. Almost singlehandedly he’d rescued a Sunday morning congregation in the Baptist church after a fire had started in the empty baptistery. All they could figure out was that someone had knocked some candles over, but no one remembered lighting them. The story was told how he’d been passing by, noticed the smoke coming through the roof and rushed in to guide everyone to safety, returning to fight the fire before the structure was a total loss. And that wasn’t his only claim to fame. During his previous service in the Hays County VFD, Damien had performed more than one of these happenstance heroics. He always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Johnny-on-the-spot to dash in and save the day. When they’d abruptly left the Dallas/Fort Worth area, the Wades had been welcomed home with open arms and he’d been instantly placed in the leadership position in their all-volunteer department.

If only she had the strength to do something about it. Several times she’d considered going to Titan, telling him the truth about Damien…about everything. But she didn’t have the courage. How could she open up to a man she didn’t really know? Oh, she’d built up a fantasy world around him, one where he would be her knight-in-shining armor, fight her own personal dragons for her. They’d shared some heated looks, but her experience with men was so limited, Makenna was afraid she might be misinterpreting that look for interest when it was actually indigestion.

Her husband didn’t allow her much interaction outside the home. He insisted on approving everywhere she went and everyone she came into contact with. It was a wonder he put up with her volunteer work at the nursing home. Perhaps it was because he didn’t feel threatened by the elderly residents. Little did he know that she had found friends there. They might all be in their twilight years but that didn’t hinder them caring for her. Makenna smiled thinking of Miss Rosa and Miss Ethel, two little ladies who taught her to play chicken-foot, a hilarious domino game. She would sit with them and help them do their nails. And then there was the old gentleman, Mr. Winfred, a WWII veteran who had more stories than he could find people to listen to them. He’d noticed her bruises, the times she’d had her arm in a sling and he’d guessed. It killed Makenna to lie to him, but she did so just in case he might mention it to someone else. Damien was dangerous and she had to take precautions to protect herself and others, especially her friends.

A few years ago, right after they’d moved to Hays County, she’d once gotten in his face after he’d slapped her around. Everything within her told her to fight. She’d never been a violent person, but the injustice of it all just ate her alive. Makenna threatened to go to the police, and he’d informed her with a smirk that she’d get no help there. He had friends, he said. Friends who would make sure no one believed a damn word that came out of her mouth. To show her he meant what he said, Damien had methodically begun to plant seeds. He told folks to help him ‘watch out for her’, that she sometimes got confused and that she’d undergone psychiatric care. Yes, it was true about the therapy, but she didn’t need monitoring and there was no time when she wasn’t painfully lucid. Damien knew good and well that her time seeing a psychiatrist was due to a trauma, not to any mental problems on her part.

Recently, he’d acquired a concealed handgun license and he’d flashed it around in front of her, telling her how easy it would be to pick someone off, like a sniper. He’d made her blood run cold. Honestly, she wouldn’t put anything past the man. He was crazy. So she feared to talk to anyone. All she could do was escape into her own mind until she formulated a way to leave without endangering anyone else.

When reality became more than she could handle, Makenna resorted to day-dreaming. Fantasizing. Walking to the window, she stared out into the night, imagining a different end to the evening. Condensation had built up on the glass, so she took her finger and drew MTF several times. If she were with Titan instead of Damien, he would be here with her now. She could almost feel his warmth, his strength at her back. He would place his hands on her shoulders and she’d lean into him…his palms would slide across her chest to cup her breasts.

Makenna turned in his arms, seeking his lips. He didn’t make her wait, capturing her mouth and claiming her lips as if he couldn’t survive a moment longer without her kiss. She wanted him so much. Clinging to his broad shoulders, she rubbed herself against him, showing him without a shadow of a doubt how much she needed him. She could take pleasure in him, and she would…but right now she wanted to give.

Guiding him to the bed, she bade him undress until he was gloriously nude, his big body a playground for her amusement. He wanted her, she could tell. His cock was strutted with desire, bobbing in front of her eager mouth. Yes, he wanted her. Titan wanted more from her than cries of pain or promises made to escape a beating. He wanted her—just her. “I need to love you,” she whispered as she wrapped a hand around his cock and brought him to her waiting lips. The very act of taking him into her mouth was a sacred one—she did it because she wanted to, not because she was forced.

With trembling anticipation, she gently sucked at the tip, teasing the sensitive spot beneath the flared head with her teeth. Titan’s groan was her reward. He fisted the sheet at his side with one big hand while cupping the back of her head with the other. With greedy relish, Makenna sucked and licked until he lost control.

Shifting his hips he pressed forward, bucking inside her welcoming mouth. Makenna smiled, using her hand to stroke him as she slid her lips up and down his shaft, taking him deeper down her throat each time. Oh, how she loved this. Mindlessly she sucked, giving him as much pleasure as she could, reaching down to play with his sac, rubbing his balls between her fingers.

How long had she been denied such pleasure? Being with a man who only wanted to please her—not hurt her. She kept sucking his cock until his grip tightened on her hair and he shouted, bowing his back. And all the while she licked, sucked, swallowing him without mercy until he was gasping for air. “Makenna, my Makenna.”
Leaning her head against the cool glass of the window, she massaged herself between the legs until she jerked, giving herself a modicum of release.

As she straightened her clothes, Makenna heard the sirens. As always, a tingle of apprehension slid down her spine. She was always afraid one of the firemen would be injured or there would be a fatality. Firefighting was a dangerous occupation. Even with her hatred of Damien, her need to be free of him, she wouldn’t wish a fiery death upon him or anyone. But he wasn’t the main one on her mind. Oh, she worried about them all—Hotshot, Blaze, Maverick, Dallas and the rest—but Titan was the one she prayed for. So pray she did, asking for his safety, his care. She turned up the volume so she could hear the dispatcher’s voice while she got ready for bed.

As she stood nude in front of the bathroom mirror, Makenna studied her reflection. Oh she paid no attention to her looks, what little she had, or to her too generous figure. What caught her eye was what she had to hide. The fresh bruises on her breasts, the older yellow and purple ones on her ribcage, and the black finger marks on her shoulder where he’d grabbed her and flung her against the wall the night before.