Working in the barn, caring for the animals helped ease his need to take action. If it weren’t for the fact that he would be leaving Dee completely vulnerable, he’d go find Bradshaw and end it all. But with Case out of action for a while, his options were limited, and they were all playing a waiting game.
Making that deal all those years ago, he would never have imagined the kind of chaos that was playing out in their lives now. He didn’t regret for anything trading Deidre’s life for Bradshaw’s, but he should have known even then that the situation would get complicated. He took for granted the amount of resources he had compared to Bradshaw.
Raine had been entirely too restless since he’d come to the barn. Finishing up with brushing Honey, he moved towards the giant of a horse, grabbing an apple from the bin on his way between stalls.
“Hey, big guy,” he murmured, offering the apple for him to chomp on. Dom often had to treat Raine like he would child, soothing his fits so he didn’t act out. But he figured the horse knew something was in the air. That change was coming.
“You wanna go for a ride?” he asked, grabbing the halter from the hook beside his stall. “We have to make it quick and stay in the yard, though,” Dom explained as he prepared him.
A few minutes later, he had the creature settled and ready to run. Hopping on his back, Dom sat tall running his hands through the horse’s mane. Bending forward, he told him, “Let’s go,” and they shot out of the barn like a rocket.
Raine was a smart horse. Had been since Dom found him abused and neglected after an assignment just before Jaxson had been dropped on his doorstep over three years ago. He’d found him in Alberta, Canada after being sent to find a group of missing teenagers. They’d been fine, went to some weekend-long concert instead of camping like they’d told their parents. He’d been pissed as hell at the spoiled ungrateful kids at first. As he was lacing into them about respect and honesty and lecturing them for some unfounded reason, he’d spotted Ra
ine in the distance.
As far away from the animal as he’d been, Dom could see he was severely undernourished. His hips lacked such a severe amount of muscle that he could see the bones. His ribs were showing, and he his tail and mane hair were slowly thinning out.
From the minute he saw the horse, he’d felt a kindred spirit in the animal; the first time he’d connected to someone since leaving Deedee. The pull to Raine had been immediate. Helping the animal hadn’t been a question; how to do it became a huge one.
He’d had Goldie for years by that time and already knew how to handle a horse. But his experience was nothing when it came to abused animals. So he’d done what any determined person would do. He set up camp so he didn’t lose the animal and stayed out there for nearly three weeks before the horse would come close enough to accept the smallest amount of food from him.
Raine left the first night but had come back the following day. His curiosity obviously needing to know what Dom was about. After that, Raine watched him from a distance.
He met with the local RCMP detachment when he’d come looking for the kids and remained in contact with them again about the horse, and together they found out Raine was abused and threatened to be taken from a local farmer. Instead of surrendering the animal, the man had set him free to fend for himself.
As far as authorities were concerned, Dominic could take the horse back to Maryland so long as he cared for him and got him healthy, then found a veterinarian that would approve the animal was able to travel to another country safely. So he’d spent the following three months gaining Raine’s trust and getting him fit enough to bring home.
It wasn’t until shortly after Brooke had dropped Jaxson in his lap that Raine had even allowed Dom to ride him. For the first time in he couldn’t even remember how long, he’d been watching the horse in the paddock on a sunny day just playing. It seemed weird to think of a horse in those terms, but he had been playful. He used to kick beach balls around the paddock, buck around for no reason. And it suddenly hit him that day that he was doing it for Jaxson.
Jax had been only a couple weeks old and wasn’t quite laughing yet, but somehow watching Raine run around the paddocks always calmed his son like nothing else could. On that day, Dom had been at his most vulnerable—worried that he couldn’t give Jaxson the life he deserved. He knew nothing about babies, let alone how to be a single dad. He remembered crying that day from just the thought of failing such a tiny person. He’d only spent a short time raising him so far, and already he felt like he’d somehow failed him.
As he’d bent over the fence to hide his tears from God and everyone, Raine galloped over to him, nudging his shoulder relentlessly until he’d looked up into his big brown eyes. Eyes that somehow held everything in them that he, himself, had been feeling.
Lost.
Alone.
Scared.
Raine knew.
And together they’d found a neutral peace. From that day forward, he’d found out how freeing it was to ride, to feel the wind in his face. The strength of the beast between his legs as he ran so fast it often felt like they were flying through the fields.
On that day, the day he felt like he’d been falling apart, they’d found an unbreakable bond.
*****
Deidre watched with a mix of fascination and arousal as Dominic rode Raine around the yard. Controlled him with such accuracy that he didn’t even need to give the animal instruction before he anticipated what Dom would command next. They were one as they rode together. She’d never seen a more magnificent sight in her life.
Stepping through the back door, she quietly sat down on the porch steps, not wanting to disturb the moment in front of her. For the first time since meeting Dom, she saw an emotion in his eyes she’d never seen before.
Absolute freedom.
Something to be treasured. To be envied.
Raine’s muscles flexed and tensed with every silent command from Dom. His eyes were alight with pleasure from the attention and care of his master. She’d never given thought to how an animal would feel about not seeing their owners for days or weeks at a time. She’d never had an animal, so it was shocking to see the bond they obviously shared.
It was a connection nearly identical to what a parent and child could share as well. Something so special many would probably take advantage of. But with Dom, he seemed to know just how fragile that relationship could be. From what she could tell, every time he was gone for an extended time, he always came home to show affection to not just his son—though he was of course first—but immediately after that, he took care to pay extra attention to his animals.