“The’til death do us partkind?”
“Theforeverkind.”
* * *
DEAN
“Babe, this bed can’t take much more.”
Tessa grins down at me from her throne—-otherwise known as my lap—with my dick buried inside her. “We have yours as backup.”
“Yes, but your downstairs neighbors are gonna be pissed if this one ends up in their living room.”
She throws her head back and laughs as she rides me. “Can’t believe we get to do this all the time now.”
I dig my fingers into her hips, my self-control wearing as thin as the mattress. “Fuck, babe. I’m gonna come if you keep doing that.”
“That’s the point, boss man. I come, you come, rinse, lather, repeat.”
The pressure at the base of my spine builds, and my balls tingle and—
My phone rings.
“Fuck!”
“Ignore it,” she says breathlessly.
“I can’t.” Because the only phone calls I ever get this late at night are either from her or the ranch. Since one of those things is currently bouncing on my dick… “It’s Kaden.”
“What?” She stops and pushes her hair back from face. “Are you sure?”
I reach for the phone on the bedside table and show her the screen.
“Answer it. Hurry.”
Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I accept the call. “What’s up, McMurray?”
There’s a beat of silence before his sigh crackles through the line. “I don’t know what to do about Smoke. Holden already went back to Missouri, and I can’t get a hold of him.”
“Okay. What’s going on?” He took a turn for the better after the last vet check. We thought we’d bought him a little more time.
“He’s down. Ben and I have been trying to get him up for two hours, but he won’t even look at us, man. He’s hurting. Bad.”
Dammit. I scrub a hand over my jaw. “I think you know what has to be done.”
“I do. But you know him better than anyone. Shit, he’s like family to you. I don’t want to be the one to make that call.”
And that’s about as close to an apology as I’ll get. “Call Dr. Petrova. I’ll be back in the morning to help get him moved and buried.”
The relief in Kaden’s exhale is as apparent as the tears in Tessa’s eyes.
“Can I talk to Tessa for a sec?” he asks.
“Yeah. Hold on.” I offer her the phone. “He wants to talk to you.”
She swipes at her tears and clears her throat before she takes it. “Hey, Kade.” Her face crumples almost instantly. “I’m sorry, too. I never—” She nods and bites at her lip while she listens. “I know. I love you, too. And I’ll forgive you as long as you—oh my god, I’m not going to hurt him.” Just like that, her remorse turns to irritation. “Oh, you need him. Uh-huh. I see. And I renege on that forgiveness.”
She thrusts the back at me. “I’m done.”
