Clive
* * *
When had William become so brawny?
I’d wanted to be careful not to hurt him, but within seconds, I was fighting in earnest, the only way to keep him from walloping me.
My jaw was aching from his first punch, my gut from his second, but I’d managed to dodge the third and give him a good one in his side. He was faster, though, and I quickly realized I wasn’t going to be able to lay him out the way I’d thought. My best chance was to take him to the ground and use my heavier bulk to keep him there.
Launching myself at him, I slammed my shoulder into his middle, tackling him to the ground. William shouted his outrage as he went down, twisting and taking me with him. We rolled along the ground, kicking up dust as we grappled for supremacy.
“Stay down!” I growled, bracing my arm across his chest, but he didn’t listen.
He threw me off and dove for me, then we rolled again, dangerously close to the horses, who started to dance, hooves flashing. That brought us both back to our senses. It was one thing to wrestle with each other, but if we spooked the horses, we were both liable to be trampled, then where would we be?
Panting, we broke apart, scrambling back from Blaze and Thunder, who eyed us nervously, still shifting their weight. We eyed each other. I rubbed my jaw, wincing when I hit a sore spot. William probed his ribs, hissing when he touched where I’d landed a punch.
A lot of the anger I’d carried with me all the way home was gone. Instead of being a ball of rage, it had dropped to a low simmer, and I was already starting to feel ashamed of some of the things I said. I had a temper and knew it, but it always ran hot and was over with just as quickly.
I was grateful Sassy hadn’t been around to hear it. I glanced at the house, which wasn’t that far away from us. At least, I hoped she hadn’t heard me. I wasn’t sure how loud I’d been. I’d been so worked up…
“Feeling better now?” William asked, rolling his head around his neck and clapping his hands against his chaps to get some of the dust off.
“A bit,” I admitted. “I still want to know why she lied to us, though.” I didn’t like lies. Once someone started lying about little things, it was easier to lie about big things. That was one of the reasons I’d partnered up with William—the man was honest as the day was long and utterly incapable of subterfuge.
“If you call her a lying whore again, we’re going to do this all over,” he warned, sending a flinty look my way, his blue eyes hard.
I winced. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
Not really.
“Good. I don’t care if she was a whore. As far as I’m concerned, we’ve been reaping the benefits of her experience.” A little smile kicked up on the side of his face.
That was one way of looking at it.
“What if she’s been faking her pleasure?” I didn’t like the insecurities now niggling at me, and that one was at the top of the heap. William and I had both been strutting around like roosters with our erotic prowess. What if it had all been false?
“Then she is the greatest actress in the world,” William said with a snort, not bothering to hide his contempt for the idea. “What does your gut tell you?”
That her body’s responses were honest, even if she hadn’t been. I sighed, getting to my feet and dusting myself off.
“She still lied.” I clung stubbornly to the fact that bothered me the most.
“We’ll spank her ass and tell her she’s not to do it again,” William said, following me to his feet. “I don’t think she’s lied about anything else.
She’s avoided talking about it. I don’t think she likes lying to us.”
As usual, I thought William was taking a rosy view of the situation, but for the first time, my cynical self wanted to believe. I didn’t want everything we’d been building with Sassy to have been false. I wanted her…
I wanted her to care as much about us as we did about her.
I wanted her to love us—to love me, the same way I loved her.
That’s why I’d been so damn angry. I’d gone and fallen in love with my wife and couldn’t be sure she felt the same way. Couldn’t be sure she should be trusted, even if she said she did, and the uncertainty made my stomach churn.
It was easier to be angry than hurt.
“We should find her and ask some questions,” I said firmly. “Then she’s definitely getting a spanking.” William nodded his agreement, but before we could move, we heard the whinny of a horse, and movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention.