The Taming (The Black Thunder Series) (43 page)

“He’s a menace,” he raised his voice
. “He ain’t good for auctioning, and he’s already stirring up the mares that are penned. I don’t see that I have a choice.”

“You do have a choice,” snapped Kate as she pulled her hand away from his
. “I’ll never forgive you if you kill him.”

“Do you think I want to do this
? Christ, Kate!” Jack ran his fingers through his hair. “But we can’t keep him. It would be worse on him to try to break him. He’d probably rather die than to be trapped, or worse beaten into submission.”

“You wouldn’t beat him?” Kate gasped thinking she didn’t know Jack McBride at all.

“Of course not, but he can’t stay at the ranch,” he sighed. “He’ll disrupt the mares.”

“Then let him go,” Kate started to cry
. “Please Jack, just let him go, for me! Let him run wild.”

“I wish I could, but then we’d be back where we started, him busting up the ranches finding mares again.”

“So you’re going to shoot him like it was nothing,” she said angrily. “Who are you, Jack? Because this man standing before me I don’t know or like.” Kate stood from the chair and grabbed her purse then headed for the door. Within three strides he was upon her, swinging her around to face him.

“I am the same man you’ve always known,” he shouted at her
. “Sometimes being a man you have to do things you don’t want to do. I don’t like it any more than you, but it’s what happens around here. I’m a rancher. I work hard, my hands are covered in dirt, and I know nature. It’s survival baby, of the elements, of the adversities, and of the land.”

“Well, now your hands are going to be covered in blood, and I want no part of it or your damn cowboy code!”
She fumed.

“That’s who I am, Kate,” he grabbed her by the arms and made her look at him
. “I fight for what is mine, and I fight hard. And if it means I have to put down an animal that is destroying what I have worked hard to protect, I will. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again, and I’ll be damned if I will make apologies to you or anyone else. Do I make myself clear?”

“I hate you,” she glared at him.

“I’m sure you do at this moment,” he said with sadness in his voice. “But it doesn’t change my mind.”

“I want to see Black Thunder.”

“He’s back at the ranch,” said Jack as he released her. “But I don’t want you going near him right now. He’s all riled up and dangerous.”

“I’ll be the judge of that
.” She stormed past him and marched through the halls of the school with Jack close on her heels.

“What are you going to do?” he called after her as she made her way into the parking lot and to his truck.

“Give me your keys, Jack,” said Kate as she stopped abruptly and he almost ran into her.

“Why?” he gave her a questioning look like she was up to no good.

“Just give them to me.” She held out her hand and waited. Jack sighed seeing how stubborn she was. He reached in his pocket and placed them in her hand.

“Now what?” he asked.

“Go get ‘em-” she said as she flung her arm back and threw the keys across the parking lot.

“Shit Kate, why the hell did you go and do that?” his temper flared.

“For spite!”

“Damn, now stay put,” yelled Jack as he hustled across the gravel to retrieve his keys.

“And to give me a head start,” said Kate under her breath as she darted for her car.

As Jack bent down to pick up his keys, he heard her car start up and its tires screech against the pavement, watching her take off through the parking lot and onto the street.

“Son of a bitch,” he growled as he made a line straight for his truck.

He knew she was going to disobey his orders
. He needed to stop her before she got hurt. She had a short lead, but it was long enough for Kate to get herself in trouble. Jack stepped on the gas pedal and roared toward the ranch.

Once at the ranch, Kate went in search of the great stallion
. She didn’t have to go far seeing him tethered and bridled in the corral by the stables. It nearly broke her heart.

Kate opened the gate and entered as tears streamed down her face witnessing the humiliating captivity of a beast who was meant to roam free
. She placed her hand alongside the animal’s face, and stroked him tenderly, soothing him with her soft voice.

“Shh
h, it’s alright. I’m here,” she whispered then reached around his neck and clung to him.

Black Thunder allowed a roll of wind to escape his bitted mouth as if it was his turn to let this woman wash away his fears
.

“I won’t let them hurt you,” she cried harder stroking him in a protective manner.

Jack pulled his truck behind Kate’s car. He climbed from the cab and raced toward the corral. He saw her folded against the steed. His first reaction was of panic as the threat of Kate being trampled overcame his good sense. He paused at the gate in a state of astonishment watching the fair haired woman tame the beast inside the corral. Still, he aired on the side of caution knowing full well that Black Thunder was wild and unpredictable.

“They don’t know you like I do,” he heard
her whisper to the dark demon. “But you’ve got to stop stealing from them. You’ve made them mad, and now they want to stop you from being free.”

“Okay, Kate
. You’ve made your point,” said Jack in a calm tone not wanting to spook the stallion. “Now come on out here so we can talk.”

“No,”
she said stubbornly as she laid her head on the stallion’s neck and held him tighter.

“Fine, then I’m coming in,” said Jack thinking that when he got his hands on her he was going to throttle her
.

Jack took slow and deliberate steps, so not to startle the steed
. He eased open the gate and stepped inside the corral taking ginger steps toward her. He stopped when Black Thunder turned his head and stared at him in a challenge, then turned his attention back to the woman soothing him.

“Come here now, Kate,” he ordered in a tone that was flat and guarded
. He reached out his hand for her to take, but she refused.

“I’m staying right where I am.”

Jack cursed under his breath. “Woman, you and that damn horse are going to be the death of me!”  He inched closer until he was right beside her. “Let’s go, Kate.”

“Touch him, Jack
.” She reached for his hand. “See, he’s really quite gentle.”

He
reached forward as if he were going to touch him. Instead he jerked Kate away, swinging his arm about her waist and hoisting her off her feet.

“Stop!”  Kate yelled as she kicked at Jack.

He planted her feet on the ground and far out of Black Thunder’s path. “Now listen up ‘cause I’m only going to say this once,” he yelled back at her. “I forbid you to get anywhere near this animal again. You got that?”

“I can’t hear you,” cried Kate as she covered her hands over her ears
. “I won’t listen to you when you’re being an overbearing arrogant asshole!”

“You will listen to me and obey my orders,” he demanded as he grabbed her hands and held them down by her side, shaking her back and forth
.

“Stop,” Kate broke and started to cry.

Suddenly Black Thunder grew restless. He moved kicking his feet in the earth and shaking his head. Jack heard the rope snap. He turned just in time to see two hooves ready to crash down upon them. He pushed Kate back and she went sailing across the corral landing hard on the ground. Jack jumped back and drew his gun. He aimed it right at Black Thunder as the animal went into a frenzy trying to break free.

Kate only saw the gun
. She sprang to her feet and ran at Jack.

“Don’t shoot him,”
she pleaded, grabbing his arm. “Oh Jack, please don’t shoot him!”

“Get out of my way, Kate.”
He pushed her aside, still aiming at the crazed stallion. “A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.”

Jack sighted the steed making sure one shot would end in quick death
. Their eyes met, Black Thunder challenging him in a deadly calm. He whinnied then bobbed his head up and down while a single hoof scraped the ground as if he was ready to charge.

And then the horse
just stopped. No longer kicking wildly, he just stood perfectly still as resigned black eyes stared into the man’s violent green. Black Thunder extricated a short snort from his snout as if he were waiting to die.

“Go ahead Jack, shoot him,
” Kate yelled angrily. “You want to shoot him? Do it now and get it over with.”

“I will,” he shouted back with gun cocked, aimed, and ready to fire.

His hand was deadly still. One shot between the eyes and it would be all over. All he had to do was pull the trigger.
Pull it dammit!
He heard himself say inside his head.
Be a man and do what needs to be done!

There was sweat dripping from his brow
. Jack wiped it away with his free hand, never once letting the animal out of sight. His finger twitched on the trigger, pushing it into a firing position, the click echoing through the corral.
Do it now!
The voice screamed within him.

But o
nce more their eyes met. Jack looked deep into the dark night of Black Thunder’s eyes and knew he couldn’t do it. He released his thumb and gently returned the cock of his gun into a safety position. He moved his finger away from the trigger then dropped the gun to his side.

“Oh, Jack,” cried Kate with relief as she reached out to touch his shoulder.

“Don’t!”  Jack bellowed in a sharp cold growl as he shrugged her away. He turned and glared at her. “Damn you, Kate!” he said with wounded pride. “Damn you to hell!”

Jack
walked away, leaving the corral with gun by his side. He headed for the house as his ranch hands watched their employer pass them, too beside himself to speak. Jack climbed the porch steps and marched through the front door not bothering to close it behind him, then he stormed into his office and slammed the door shut.

Kate stood momentarily stunned
. She couldn’t move. He hadn’t shot Black Thunder, but at what price? He was a proud man, deep in the belief of living and taming this rugged land. He was the earth and all the danger that came along with it. She had robbed him of it, knowing how he felt. He had gone against everything he knew was right to please her, but at what cost?

Kate went after him, running up the stairs and into the house
. She saw his back as the office door slammed behind him. She ran to the door and tried the handle but it was locked.

“Jack,” she knocked
hard, pounding against its wooden frame. “Jack, let me in.”

“Go away Kate before I do something I might regret,” he shouted through the door.

“But Jack-” She heard his volatile cursing’s followed by a loud crash as if he’d thrown something hard at the door.

Kate
flinched as more smashing sounds echoed from the room. It was evident he wasn’t coming out anytime soon, and she hoped he wouldn’t trash his study altogether before settling down. She felt a thickness in her throat for pushing him too far and she clutched her stomach, knowing she was to blame. With her head hung low, Kate quietly left the hallway and went upstairs to her room.

Thirty-Three

Time to Pay The Piper

K
ate lay in bed unable to sleep. It was already two in the morning and Jack had not come upstairs. This fight between them was big, and she worried if it would all end tomorrow. Most likely it would. She had pushed him too far and wounded his pride. That was the worst thing that could happen to a man like Jack McBride, and Kate had succeeded quite well in doing it all.

Tomorrow he would probably ask her to leave
. Her thoughts went to Black Thunder and what would happen to him. She had saved him for the time being, but his future existence was still in danger. She couldn’t leave without making sure he was safe.

She
knew what she had to do. It would be the last of her defiance before leaving Jack and the ranch. She slipped out of bed and darned her robe then tiptoed down the stairs, pausing to see Jack’s office door still closed before quietly exiting the house.

Kate walked in the direction of the
stable and saw Black Thunder tethered, barely able to move. She opened the gate and stepped inside. The stallion lifted his head and released a snort.

“
Shhh,” she whispered to the animal and stroked his neck. “I’m going to get you out of here, okay?” She pulled the knife from her robe’s silk pocket and cut the rope, freeing Black Thunder. “Follow me,” she coaxed him with her voice as she took his lead and led him out of the corral.

She headed for the south end of the ranch, passing the picnic pavilion and its adjacent corral, steering him toward the canyon
. Kate stopped at the base of the canyon.

“Now listen, no more stealing mares from the ranchers, or they’re going to kill you,” she said as she stroked his nose.

Black Thunder nodded like he understood. She removed the bit from his mouth then rubbed in between his eyes and gently placed a kiss.

“Now go, get out of here!”
She slapped him on his backside and the animal took off.

She watched as Black Thunder
ran free and disappeared into the canyon. Kate sighed and said a silent farewell. It was the right thing to do, though it would cost her relationship with Jack. She rubbed the leather bridle between her fingers and headed back to the house.

Jack awoke from a deep sleep
. He was not sure why, but he bolted upright in his leather back chair and looked around his study. He had a sense of something wrong, but what it was he wasn’t sure.

He stood from his chair and walked to the door
. He unlocked it and left, making his way upstairs and to his bedroom. He looked at the bed, hoping to see a sleeping Kate but instead he saw an empty bed with the covers drawn back. He checked the bathroom and found it empty too. An all-knowing sense filled his gut and he shook his head.

“Oh Kate, tell me you’re not doing what I think you’re doing?” he growled suddenly realizing what his sense was
.

He bolted from the room, down the stairs and out the front door
. He headed straight for the corral, and stopped seeing it empty. Black Thunder was gone. He checked the ropes and found they were cut.

“Son of a bitch,” he exclaimed, rolling the fragmented rope around his shoulder as he sprinted toward the canyon.

Hopefully, he could catch up with her before she released the animal back into the wild. Jack knew exactly where she would release him. He raced towards the south end of the ranch and the base of the canyon. He got as far as the pavilion and saw Kate sitting on top of the picnic table with the bridle in hand. He was too late.

Kate sat on the picnic table thinking about how everything ended badly except for Black Thunder
. She hoped at least he would have a chance of happiness even if it cost her own. Kate heard her name called and knew by the tone it was Jack.

It was time to pay the piper
, she sighed, but when she saw the look of fury in his eyes she had second thoughts. Jack was never rational when he was mad, and the look on his face told her he was downright dangerous.

Kate bolted from the top of the picnic table, leaving it as a barrier between them
. He stormed the picnic table, slamming his hands down on top of the wood.

“What did you do?” His voice was like thunder and his eyes hard as steel.

“Now Jack, I know you’re mad at me, but please let me explain.” Kate fumbled over her words.

“You had no right interfering with my ranch,” he continued to shout moving around the table.

“And you had no right interfering with my job,” she shouted back, taking a few steps away keeping the table as a shield between Jack and his fury.

“I fixed it,” he hollered
. “How are you going to fix this?”

“I don’t know.”

Jack moved around the table as Kate did the same. “Oh, I know how you’re going to fix this,” he slammed his hands again on the wooden surface.

“How
?” She jumped back.

“For starters, you are going to stop trying to emasculate me.”

“I’m not trying to emasculate you.”

“Oh, but I think you are,” he gave her a cold menacing grin
. “You may wear the shorts around here, but don’t you forget I wear the pants.”

“How chauvinistic of you,” she laughed.

Jack took another step toward her as Kate shifted quickly around the picnic table. “You think this picnic table is going to prevent me from grabbing a hold of you and spanking that sweet little ass of yours?”

“It’s working so far,” said Kate fueling the fire as she saw his eyes narrow and his mind begin to whirl
. “Now Jack, don’t get any ideas. Can’t we talk this through?”

“I’m done talking
.” In one fell swoop Jack jumped over the picnic table. Kate screamed and started running with Jack chasing after her. She headed for the corral and slipped through the boards entering the circle and placing the fence between them. Jack leaned against the corral fence as Kate tried to catch her breath.

“You got nowhere to go, baby,” said Jack as he hoisted himself up on the fence, swung his leg over and jumped down
. Kate ran to the opposite side of the corral.

“Come on, Jack,” she said as she watched him walk with slow strides toward her
. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, you’ll be sorry all right
.” Jack released the rope from around his shoulder and tied a loop on its end.

“What are you going to do with that
?” She gulped as she skimmed the fence with her back.

“The question is
, what am I not going to do with it?” he said as he began circling it by his side. “You know I hold the fastest record for steer roping.”

“You wouldn’t!”  She watched him raise the rope, circling it over his head
.

“Oh, I would,”
he said matter-of-factly. “Seeing how you released my stallion back into the wild, I got me an out-of-control filly to tame, and I aim to tame you.”

“Oh, holy shit,” gasped Kate as she made a mad dash for the gate.

Before her hands made it to the steel fence, Jack released the rope, sailing it across the air and over Kate. He jerked the rope back as it tightened around her arms pinning them to her sides. Kate felt herself being pulled backward as she heard Jack McBride’s laughter over her shoulder. She heard his spurs digging into the Nevada dirt as he closed in on her.

“I got you, baby,” he pressed his body against her back and whispered in her ear
. His hot breath sent a sweet tingle down her neck and her own breath increased.

“What are you going to do with me now that you got me?” Kate panted feeling the tingle turn into a surge in her belly.

“I’m going to hog tie you,” he whispered back and smiled triumphantly when he heard her gasp.

Kate had no time to react as Jack swiped her legs, lifting her feet from the dirt
. He grabbed her bottom and in one swift move planted her on the ground like a steer. His movements were quick, and in less than six seconds he bound her hands to her feet. He knelt beside her, smacking her square on her now breezy rump.

“Jack, untie me!”  Kate screeched as she struggled fervently to free herself from the constraints of the rope.

“No.” He lowered his head to her face then entwined his fingers through her hair and jerked her head back.

He kissed her, planting his lips over hers and tasted what was his
. He teased her, nipping her flesh with his teeth tugging that sweet mouth of hers into submission. Jack released her and hopped to his feet. He swung his arm around her waist and lifted her from the ground planting her bare toes into the blackened soil.

“Well aren’t you a pretty little picture,” he grinned
seeing her sweet derriere poking up in the air. He ran his hands along her cheeks, pushing up the silk material of her night slip and robe.

“Why you are a naughty girl after all,” he said admiring her hot pink thong
. “But as hot as you look wearing them, they have to go.” In one swift move he yanked them down till they fell at her feet. “Much better.” He said with a smirk.

“Jack,” Kate cried trying to lift her head above her ankles. “I am so going to get you for this.”

“I don’t think you’re in any position to threaten me, baby,” he said
with a grin. “Come to think of it I kind of like this position. I have wanted to poke you like this ever since finding you in my bedroom vacuuming.” He placed his leathered hands against the soft flesh of her ripe cheeks, running them slowly over her skin.

She
gasped when she felt two fingers slip between her and begin their tortuous tease, moving in and out in a slow fashion then picking up speed.

“You like this don’t you, Kate,” he asked huskily.

“No,” she said not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was working his magic on her.

“You’re lying to me again,” he said as he placed a kiss to her cheek then took a bite
. “God, you are so wet.”

Jack knelt before her and parted her as he slid his tongue inside her and tasted, never stopping his hands from roaming across her fleshy skin
.

“Oh, God,” she moaned, as her head flopped down like a rag doll.

“Come for me, Kate,” he urged her as he devoured her with his mouth.

Kate felt the building in her flesh as a sweet surge settled at the place of his mouth
. Like a flower opening its petals she spilled a delicious orgasm, a groan of pleasure escaping her lips.

Then suddenly, s
he felt a hard slap to her cheek as he laid his hand across her backside which made her orgasm erupt into a pleasurable pain. She cried out in heightened ecstasy.

“That’s what I like to hear,” he coaxed her with his voice as he ran his hand over the reddened
print. “Come for me again, baby, so I can feel that sweet ass of yours on the palm of my hand.”

He sunk his mouth deeper inside her, tongue probing and stroking the swollen walls
.

“Damn you, Jack,” she groaned feeling her body succumb to his touch
.

He was relentless
until she cried out again. Once more his hand connected with her flesh as her body exploded from the sound and sting on her cheek, bringing a strange and wondrous intensity to her climax. Her legs began to shake beyond control. Jack seized her by her hips and stilled her.

He squeezed her cheeks pushing them up as he clamped his mouth over her sex again
. Kate felt another surge as he expertly took control of her body and made her feel things she had never experienced before. He was punishing her, but Kate didn’t care as long as he gave her the release her body craved.

She was close again, feeling his tongue roam over her
while a growing ache in her belly needed a different release.

“I want you inside of me,” she whimpered needing more
. “Please, Jack.”

“Is the ache bad, Kate?” he said with lustful satisfaction.

“Yes, oh God yes,” she said in sexual desperation.

“No baby, the ache needs to get worse,” he tormented her.

“Oh Jack, I can’t take it anymore,” she moaned. “Don’t punish me like this.”

“Is that what I’m doing, punishing you?” he said as he slapped his hand across her cheek again.

Kate cried out as she felt the pain spiral her need for release.

“What if I tormented you with my fingers instead,” said Jack as he slid two fingers by her sex and teased her
.

Kate released a high-pitched whimper as her insides twisted in knots begging for release
. He felt a rush of hot liquid on his fingers and pulled out knowing she was ready to fall over the edge. He stood as he ran his palms over and around her fleshly cheeks.

“Don’t stop,” cried Kate
. “Oh God Jack, don’t stop!”