She just stared at the steps. Had they always looked this painful?
“You all right?” Cody came up from behind. And had the burning sensation, which started in her neck and went straight to the tips of her tennies, been less severe, she would have moaned in pleasure instead of pain when Cody’s hands made their way under her shirt, his thumbs pressing into her lower back.
Shelby shook her head. She wasn’t all right. She was dirty and achy and afraid she would never be able to sit again. And too tired to pretend otherwise.
“How about I get JT fed and ready for bed, while you go take a nice, hot bath?”
“With bubbles?” Shelby asked, leaning back into Cody, afraid her legs might, at any moment, turn to liquid.
Cody wrapped his arms around her waist, pressed his body firmly against her back, and kissed her hair. “With bubbles. And maybe a glass of wine. Then, when the kiddo’s down, I’ll get out the lotion and rub out each and every ache.” His hands shifted their course to due north.
Shelby leaned back and moaned, certain she’d be a big puddle on the ground if it weren’t for Cody holding her up, but for a whole different reason this time.
“Maybe make a few new aches that need tending to.” Cody kept up his sensual exploration. Despite her current condition, more aches popped up by the second. Thoughts of wild, crazy sex with Cody pulsed through her breasts, her stomach, and lower. But there was more than the desire to let his hands slide up—or down—so they could work their magic. Being held by Cody made her feel protected and utterly adored. And she hadn’t felt that in a long time.
“There’s a problem with your plan.” Shelby smiled, and even that hurt. “For any of that to happen, it means I have to somehow make it up those steps.”
“Ouch,” Cody chuckled. “That bad, huh?”
Shelby nodded.
Holding Shelby by the waist, Cody stepped around to face her. “Then hold on.”
Shelby did, barely, her head falling to rest against his chest. Cody stooped down, crushing her curves into his hard plains, and lifted. With her legs dangling like a rag doll, he walked up all three of those torturous steps, into the house, down the hall, and upstairs, setting Shelby on her feet right outside her bedroom door.
Looking up, Shelby couldn’t help but press a kiss to his lips. “Thank you. I would have eventually made it up the stairs, but not before Jake saw and I’d never hear the end of it.”
“Glad I could be of service then,” Cody reasoned, sliding his hands over her ribs, around and down, palming her tight backside. Shelby groaned, but not the kind Cody had been hoping for. “I should have forced you to ride with me.”
“Would it have made me hurt any less?”
“No, but I would have enjoyed the day even more,” Cody said, gently massaging her aching bottom. “Go get in the tub and I’ll bring you that glass of wine.”
Cody had made it no more than two steps when Shelby opened her bedroom door. The sight of smeared red and wanton destruction scraped down her spine, stealing all of the oxygen from the room. The walls swayed and contracted, pushing their way closer, practically on top of her, causing the blood to rush from her head to the ground, her body following, to collapse in the threshold.
Strong hands closed around her waist, pulling her into even stronger arms, and shielding her face from the scene. Too late she thought, numbly. Shelby had already seen the torn mattress, upturned furniture, shredded blankets, and pile of jagged emerald ceramic, all that remained of her luck dragon, a Mother’s Day present from Jake. But worst of all were the lines and humps of red painted on the walls, that when strung together made her heart catch painfully in her soul.
Go home, Bitch.
Cody sat on his mama’s swing, idly rocking and swirling his sweet tea, which had long since gone warm, and stared out at the miles upon miles of trees and land, but saw nothing. The sun had fallen behind the hills, and in its place was a sliver of moon giving off barely enough light to see where the gravel ended and the fields began. The wind had picked up, tearing through the oaks and bringing a bone-deep chill to Sweet Plains.
He squinted, trying to make out the road. Even though he couldn’t find it through the darkness, he knew it was there. It had always been there, calling out to him, telling him to run. But just like when he was a kid, he couldn’t take it because he had people counting on him.
JT was tucked in, lights out. Shelby sound asleep in Cody’s bed. Logan and his men long gone. Pictures taken, evidence bagged, everyone questioned. No closer to knowing who was behind it all.
And Cody was doing his best to get his emotions under control and figure out what was going on. Someone was out to get him and his family, including Shelby and JT, off the land and he needed to know why. Figure out who had the most to gain.
It was one thing to screw with him, call him out. But scrawling threatening words in lipstick—his mama’s color, to be precise—on Shelby’s walls took this from a school-yard prank to a life-threatening situation. God, what if she’d been home alone?
Cody paced the porch, kicking at the railing and hating how useless he felt. While he’d been trying to get in Shelby’s pants, some sick bastard had been in her room, fingering through her things, making sure his message played on all of her insecurities. And instead of heading out to find the Judas, Cody was stuck on the damn porch, too scared to leave for fear that something would happen to Shelby or JT.
Fishing his cell out of his pocket, Cody dialed his brother. And this time when Noah answered, it sounded like he was in a bar rather than a war. And with their history, Cody wasn’t sure which one was better.
“Hey, little brother,” Noah shouted over the noise in the background.
“Hey there, yourself,” Cody answered, needing to feel connected to his brother for just a moment. “Got me a problem here.”
“Imagine that,” Noah joked, but there was no humor in his voice. “Tucker’s Crossing. A woman. And you have a problem.”
“Had another breakin,” Cody began, trying to keep the worry from creeping in. “This time they went after Shelby’s room.”
He obviously wasn’t as good at hiding his feelings as he’d hoped, because by the time Noah spoke, the background noise had shifted from bar patrons to a car starting. “On my way.”
Not good.
“Hang on, Tex.” A smile broke across his face at his brother’s bust-some-heads tone. “Before you come riding into town, guns blazing, I was calling to ask you to run some names, not rough someone up.” There was a long pause, and Cody could almost see Noah deflate over the disappointment of there being no shootout at the T.C. Corral. “At least not yet.”
Cody explained about the breakin, the message, and the lipstick quill of choice. He listed all of the men he’d fired, the ones who remained, the ones he’d hired, and the ones he figured might walk any day now. He could hear his brother making mental notes.
Noah agreed to pull up some background info, shot off a few questions of his own—which Cody answered the best he could—mentioned he’d get in touch with Logan, and then went silent for a moment. “You going to keep Shelby and JT there with you?”
Good question. The rational course of action was to pack them up and send them somewhere safe so he could concentrate. But part of him wondered if he’d confronted Shelby all those years ago, been the kind of man she’d needed instead of the kind that left skid marks, whether they’d be in this situation.
Maybe they’d have a house of some kind in Austin and Cody would have told his dad’s lawyer to go to hell. Or maybe Shelby somehow would have convinced him to mend things with his old man before it was too late.
For the first time, even though his immediate reaction was that the asshole didn’t deserve a second chance, Cody wondered if the dad from his youth, the one who took him to see the Cowboys beat the Redskins, taught him how to rope and fish, bought him his first pair of boots, had still been somewhere in there, under all the booze and anger.
A rustling of movement sounded faintly behind him. Cody turned and felt his heart kick up. Shelby, in her robe and not much else, stood in the kitchen doorway, holding a glass of tea, the glow of the oven’s overhead light casting a golden halo around her body, making her look way too good not to touch.
“Cody?” Noah pressed, his tone decidedly apprehensive.
“Still here,” Cody said, his eyes never leaving Shelby’s. “Look, I gotta go. Call when you hear something.”
Cody could hear the slight hum of the cell through Noah’s silence. “Hold up, you called me, remember? And now you’re fixing to dump me for a woman?”
“Damn straight.”
Noah chuckled. “And I’m guessing by your tone it’s Shelby. Not that I blame you. That woman is one hot piece of—”
“Watch yourself,” Cody growled, not even surprised at the possessive instinct that ignited inside. Shelby had been the only one who could shatter his control and that’s what made this whole situation so dangerous.
“Be careful and let me know if anything changes,” Noah said before ending the call.
“Was that Noah?” Shelby asked, holding her place in the doorway. “Is he coming home?”
“Yes and no.” Cody leaned a shoulder against the porch column, crossing one ankle over the other. “Didn’t realize you two were already acquainted.”
“Imagine how surprised I was to learn you even had a brother.”
He tried to ignore the look of hurt in her eyes. “How come you didn’t mention it earlier?”
“Must have slipped my mind. Between you telling me to get out, scaring off my judges, and someone taking a knife to my mattress, I’ve been a little stressed lately.”
Man, when she put it that way he came off like a total ass.
“Fair enough.” Cody pushed off the railing and eased himself down on the top step of the back porch. Needing to touch her, he reached out his hand and gestured for her to come closer.
“Sheriff told me about the other breakins and the pipe,” Shelby said, stepping out onto the porch and looking for something to talk about that wouldn’t make her cry. She noted the empty glass of tea and offered him her cold one.
“Come here.” Cody took the glass from her fingers and set it on the step next to him.
There it was again, that little quiver of excitement as Cody encircled her wrist and guided her to the step directly in front of him. She tightened the belt on her robe and eased down to sit between his legs.
“You still sore?”
“Uh-huh.” Cody wasn’t even touching her, but he was so close she could feel his heat seep into her pores. Feel him getting hard against her back. Shelby bit her lower lip. Sore or not, she wanted him enough to know she was in big trouble.
A second later he was pressing forward, his hands slowly working her shoulders, which were about as tense as a bull rider settling in for his first ride. He started gently, then pressed into her back hard and held as the knotted muscle spasmed under the pressure and then loosened to Jell-O. Kind of like what the rest of her ached to do.
“That feel good?”
She let a moan escape. That was all the answer she could get out. His hands continued working their magic as the breeze rustled through the trees and the crickets sang their night songs. His fingers were so warm and strong, her whole body ached to have them all over her.
“How come you didn’t tell me?”
Cody’s hands didn’t even falter, but she heard his hesitation. “I didn’t want to scare you. And, well, I . . .”
“Thought I was after your land?” His silence was telling. He didn’t trust her and that hurt. Big-time.
“Yeah,” he admitted. “Are you?”
Shelby stole a glance over her shoulder. At least Cody looked pained admitting it.
“Do you really have to ask?” she whispered.
“No.”
“I gain nothing if you leave.” Then, after a long time, she added, “But I stand to lose everything.”
Cody palmed her neck, running pressure up either side of her spine then sliding back, under the collar of her robe, to follow the muscles down to her shoulder and spread out. She knew where he was headed and she should have stopped him, but she didn’t. She only sighed when his long, more than capable fingers dipped under the cotton of her gown, finally lowering to lightly, but skillfully, tease the soft swell of her breast. Shelby sank back into him, the robe sliding off her shoulders completely now as the warm night breeze rolled over her skin.
The desire that had pulled at Shelby all day was now a yearning, heavy and all-encompassing, pressing down, making even the simple act of breathing impossible. He was a temptation she no longer wanted to resist.
“What do you lose?” Cody whispered and she felt his words in her chest.
Another silence fell between them, heated and punctuated, as she watched one of Cody’s hands disappear completely under the bodice of her nightgown to cup her breast gently. His work-roughened hand molded to her, then lifted until her peaked nipple spilled over her nightgown. Shelby couldn’t look away, panting as his hand worked her breast, rubbing his thumb back and forth over the pink bud and causing the flesh between her legs to moisten.
Turning her head, Shelby reached back and locked her hand behind Cody’s neck, pulling him toward her. His hair was thick and smooth and slightly damp against her fingers. “You. I lose you,” she whispered against his lips, before capturing his mouth.
She’d only meant to give him a small kiss, something to tease but not satisfy, just like he’d done the night before, but the moment their lips met it was as if a magnetic force took over and she was driven by the all-consuming need to possesses and be possessed.
“Christ, woman, you’re enough to drive a man insane,” Cody growled, and she missed his mouth on hers until he pulled her closer, and rained tiny nips and open-mouthed kisses along her jaw to her neck. He was amazing, just like before, but somehow different. Better.
Shelby, on the other hand, felt out of control, desperate for him. She couldn’t turn around fast enough, couldn’t get close enough, kiss deep enough—she just couldn’t get enough. It had never been like that before.
The last several years, Shelby had felt about as sexy as a farm-raised trout. Actually, passionless, too reserved, and unimaginative were words that had often been used when describing her.