Protecting the Wolf

Rydon woke up too warm and feeling crowded. She turned her head and looked down at the woman cradled in the crook of her shoulder, her arm, and leg flung across Rydon’s body. Rydon groaned, not giving a shit if she woke the woman up or not. But of course, her luck was running low, as the woman, she couldn’t even remember her name, just shifted closer. Why did she keep doing this to herself? She had to admit if only to herself, that it didn’t happen as often as her friends believed, or not anymore, but on the occasion that she wanted someone to share her bed, the options were almost always plenty and easy to find. Most of the time they only had to hear her name, to be willing to do whatever she wanted them to do. And she was bored. Bored out of her mind, and tired of the game.

Rydon pulled her body free of the woman’s octopus-like arms and legs and rolled to her side and off the bed. She stood looking down at the sleeping woman, admittedly, the woman was gorgeous, tall, dark, and beautiful. Usually, she’d be the one to dress and leave, but this morning she was in a predicament. She’d just arrived back in town, gone down to the club where Tori and Mitch had been waiting. She’d found, the woman, quite early on, and then for some stupid reason, she’d brought her back to the ranch. Now, she was stuck with a woman she didn’t know and had no idea how to get rid of her. Without being rude, of course. She chuckled a little at that thought. Who was she kidding? Her reputation was that she was rude, wham, bam, thank you, ma’am. She shrugged and bent over to touch the woman’s shoulder. She shook her lightly. The bright blue eyes drifted open lazily and stared up at her.

“Time to go,” Rydon said. As expected, and as always. Rydon saw the anger that quickly rose to replace the contentment. She turned and closed the bathroom door behind her. Hopefully, the woman would be gone by the time she was done in the shower. She flicked on the cold water and stepped under the cool spray. Goosebumps rose and she shuddered. Then as her body got used to the coldness, she let the water wash away the night and the smell of sex that seemed to always cling to her.

“I see you decided to bring one of your, conquests home.” Jaxon, Rydon’s brother said with a grin as he forked a heap of scrambled eggs into his mouth. Rydon grumbled and filled a cup with coffee. Her brother, built like the swimmer he was, with shaggy black hair and dark green eyes that seemed to laugh all the time, broke as many, if not more, hearts as she did. The only difference between them was that she was older, her hair just a bit shorter and her muscles were from hard workouts in the gym and her work on the ranch. She turned to him after her second sip of coffee.

“Why are you here?”

“Ouch.” He placed a hand over his heart and faked a wounded look. “But, yeah, I know, I’m supposed to be at mom and dad’s place. But they have that big party this weekend. And I am not in the mood to have mom try and smear one of her best friend’s daughters on me.”

“You’re supposed to be going to that party, kid.” She pointed a finger at him. “And if mom knows you’re here, she’s going to try and pull me into that party too.”

“Come on, please don’t kick me out!” He pleaded and took a deep swallow of orange juice. “I promise, she won’t find out.”

“It’s mom, you know, our mom, the one that knows everything, all the time.”

“Yeah, but she won’t know this.” He grinned. “Anyway, I want to try to get to that pretty new woman you have here. She’s gorgeous!”

“What woman?” Rydon frowned. “I don’t have anyone new.”

“Oh, then maybe Tracy and Shae brought her in.” Jaxon shrugged. “Either way, wow!”

Tracy and Shae oversaw breeding and selecting horses for the ranch. They were a couple and fought more than Rydon thought normal, but it worked for them. “I didn’t approve of anyone being brought in,” Rydon said. “Where is she?”

Before Jaxon could answer, a kid, maybe thirteen came crashing into the kitchen. She swore under her breath then looked up at the two of them and grinned. She was blonde and blue-eyed, and Rydon thought she would break many boys’ hearts one day with that dimple that winked in her left cheek. “Sorry. I’m still getting used to the boots instead of the sneakers. Mom said since I was on the ranch with her for foreseeable future, I had to wear boots. She’s not buying me any more sneakers.” She grinned at Rydon and held out her hand. “I’m Oakley. Since you look like Jaxon, you must be Rydon. Thanks for letting us stay in the big house, mom had a fit when we got here, and she thought we’d be staying in the bunkhouse with the boys.”

“What?” Rydon felt like she was in an alternate reality. “I’m sorry, who…?” Her eyes caught movement in the doorway, and she froze. A woman, tall, slim, a soft smile on her face and her eyes sparkling, were they blue and green? Stood watching the girl, she smiled at Jaxon and then her eyes moved to Rydon, and something moved in her eyes. And yes, one was blue, one was green. She moved toward Rydon and held out her hand.

“Hello. You must be Rydon.” She waited for Rydon to stupidly take her hand. “I’m Billy. I hope, Trace and Shae told you we were coming, because right now, you seem to have no idea why we are here.”

“I’m sorry, no, I don’t,” Rydon said. “Yes, I’m Rydon.” But they would know that. There weren’t many people who didn’t know who she was. Her face was in the tabloids often enough. “I’m sorry.” She said again and shook her head. “I seem to be apologizing a lot this morning. Who exactly are you and why are you in my home?”

Billy stared at the woman who stood with a cup of coffee and a very confused expression on her face. She was as gorgeous as her picture that frequented the tabloids. “Look, maybe we should go down and talk to Trace and Shae, they could probably explain better.” She turned to Oakley. “You better hurry, the bus will be here soon.”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll see you later though, right? You didn’t forget about the game after school today?”

“No, I haven’t forgotten, and we will be there.”

“Okay, awesome!” She came over and kissed her mother then with a wave and wink to Jaxon, grabbed her bag on the chair in the corner, and was gone.

“Jesus,” Rydon swore and ran a hand through her unruly hair. “I’m definitely in an alternate reality.”

“Sis, remember if mom asks, I’m not here.” Jaxon stood and quickly left the kitchen. Rydon’s phone rang and she pulled it from her pocket.

“Bastard!” Rydon swore and looked at Billy who looked at her with an amused expression on her face. “My mother, Jaxon is hiding out here and now I have…” She stopped as she realized she was explaining herself to a stranger and answered her phone. “Mom, hi.”

Instead of leaving and giving Rydon privacy, Billy grabbed a cup and after filling it, heaped breakfast onto her plate and sat at the kitchen table. Oakley and she had been on the farm for the past week, and she knew, from what Tracy had told her, that Rydon didn’t believe in what she did. And they’d finally convinced her to try it. But from Rydon’s reaction to her, she would bet that Trace and Shae had gone behind Rydon’s back. She watched the woman as she spoke on the phone, as she absently ate her breakfast. She’d refused to stay in the bunkhouse, and Shae had assured her that Rydon had more than enough space inside the main house for her and Oakley. So, she’s moved their stuff in, and a day later Jaxon had arrived. He’d also said that Rydon wouldn’t mind her staying, but told her, the whole hocus pocus with the horses was going to piss Rydon off. He’d laughed when he’d told her that, saying he was going to stay just to see that. She’d not felt offended by his calling her work, hocus pocus, since she knew many people thought it was. Rydon was pacing, and Billy found herself staring at her ass as she walked. She would admit that a nice butt always caught her attention. That and a woman’s hands. Rydon had both a sexy ass and beautiful hands with strong, long fingers. But her reputation, playgirl, love them and leave them attitude and the fact that Billy was working for Rydon, was enough to deter any ideas of them ever getting together.

Rydon hung up and stared out of the window. Of course, her mother would know she’d lied. She’d not said that she knew, but Rydon knew she knew. She remembered the woman behind her and spun around. Her eyes narrowed as she watched the woman eat, obviously comfortable in her kitchen. “Look, I don’t know who you are or why you’re here. But there must be a mistake. I definitely did not approve anyone to work with the horses, or whatever, or for anyone to stay in my home.” She slipped her phone back into her pocket and crossed her arms under her breasts. “There’s a mistake somewhere.”

“No mistake,” Billy said confidently. “I’m where I’m supposed to be.” She sipped from her cup and smiled. Her eyes filled with humor. “You are the one that seems to be out of place.”

“What? This is my house, my ranch, I’m not out of place!” Rydon lifted a hand and pointed at Billy her eyebrows lifted. “You are the intruder!”

Soft laughter, soft, husky laughter spilled from Billy. “Come on, let’s go talk to Trace and Shae. We’ll clear this up.” She stood, placed her now empty plate and cup in the sink. “Look, if you still want me gone after we’ve spoken to them, then I’ll pack and go.” The laughter was gone, and again Rydon saw something move in her eyes. “As I said, I was under the impression you knew I was coming.”

“Fine, that’s fine, let’s go, so I can get you out of here.” Rydon left the kitchen and stormed across the yard to where the offices were, Trace’s truck was parked there, and she knew they were in already. She didn’t wait for Billy or look back to see if she followed. There was no way, she was letting anyone near her horses or stay in her house, especially not someone with a kid!