Knight, Kayla - Her Long Hot Surrender [Raw Texas Heat 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (3 page)

He couldn’t resist breathing in her womanly scent. “Madi, I—”

“I’m going back to Washington when this is all over.”

“If you say so, Madi.”

“I’m Madison, cowboy. Always will be.” Holding her head high, she spun quickly on her heels and went inside the house.

Chapter Two

As soon as Madison closed the door she sagged back against it. Just what was it with Gabe Hayes anyway? He’d made her act like a surly teenager. Surely she’d outgrown that spoilt brat behavior? She shook her head. He was a cowboy. She’d always hated cowboys. They hung about cattle all day, and smelled of horses.

Only—Gabe had made an impression on her today, and in a big way. Something he’d been unable to do when he was just a skinny teenage kid.

She closed her eyes, trying not to think of his big, strong body and his wonderful, powerful shoulders towering over her. Now age thirty, she guessed he was about six-three and two hundred pounds. He still had the same abundant jet-black hair. But now the whole package seemed far more enticing. She could easily imagine him being masterful with her. There would be no going slow. He’d rip the clothes from her body before fucking her in the most basic of ways. Fast and furious. That would be Gabe’s style. She’d known it the moment she looked into his amber eyes.

Thank goodness she’d had ten years experience walking the halls of power in Washington. She’d learned the hard way to keep her feelings closely guarded. That was one of the good things that Carson had taught her over the years.
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer
. He’d been right. Carson had never let his true feelings be known, not to her, especially not to her.

Well, she’d sent Gabe Hayes away with a flea in his ear, just like she done all those years ago. Only—he was just the type of man she needed right now. Rough and ready, that was Gabe’s way. She guessed what he lacked in polish, he more than made up for with carnal enthusiasm.

Madison shook her head. What was she thinking of? Gabe Hayes was a cowboy, plain and simple. Oh, he might co-own a large spread with his brother Tyler, but she’d met good-looking, rich, powerful men before. They surrounded Carson. They had surrounded her life. These Washington guys could buy and sell the Hayes brothers ten times over. So why did this rough-and-ready cowboy make her heart beat so rapidly?

Maybe it was because he was different. She doubted he even owned a suit and tie.

“Madison, Madison, come quickly. I need you.” Her mother’s voice sounded frail and frantic, and she rushed to her bedside. “I need my medicine. The pain is unbearable.”

Madison cursed her own selfish behavior. She should be thinking of her mother, instead of letting her thoughts be filled with sexual images of Gabe Hayes. Her mother looked terrible, writhing in agony. She poured a measure of the liquid morphine and helped her mother to sit up so she could swallow. The cancer had spread to her bones, and morphine was the only drug able to take the edge off her pain.

“This heat is suffocating me.” Her mother’s eyes remained closed until the pain began to subside. “I pray the Good Lord will take me every night while I sleep.”

“Please don’t say that, Mother. It upsets me. You don’t mean it.” Madison adjusted the fan on its stand, positioning the flow of air to give maximum relief to her mother. She then dabbed her mother’s perspiring forehead with a cool damp towel.

“I do. Every night I pray that I won’t wake in the morning, and have to face another day of this constant battle with pain. He must want me to suffer,” she said bitterly. Madison saw her cough a little blood into her white handkerchief. “I wasn’t such a bad mother, was I?”

“Of course not, Momma. You were the best mother a girl could ever have.” A tiny white lie wouldn’t hurt now, and she began tucking her in, pulling the sheets tight against her mother’s failing body. “Enough of this maudlin. I’ll read to you until you fall asleep.”

“I know I’ve always been cold toward you, and I never told you I love you, but I always wanted what was best for you, Madison.”

Madison knew it was the morphine talking. Her mother would never have uttered such sentimental words had she been fit and healthy. Her lack of parenting skills were clearly playing on her mind the closer she got to meeting her maker.

Her mother began drifting away as the morphine took hold. Her words became whispered, incoherent and rambling. “Carson was a good man. He’s a Senator you know. Did you know my daughter’s marrying a Senator? What happened to you? I only wanted what was best.” Her voice began to trail away. “Only the best for my Madison. Only the very…best for…” Eventually her mother fell into a fitful sleep.

A teardrop slowly slid down Madison’s cheek as she stared at her mother. It wouldn’t be long now. Her need for morphine had increased in the last couple of days. It would be a blessing when she finally went.

* * * *

Tyler drove the pickup into town, and parked in a bay just outside Doug’s Livestock Feed. He hummed a tune as he made his way inside, sidestepping the bags of grain in the dimly lit, dusty store, until he came up behind a customer at the counter. His light mood took a turn for the worse when he realized
whom
Doug was serving.

Doug only had smiles for the svelte and still-beautiful Madison Allen. Doug never smiled, but Madison’s undoubted beauty seemed to have made him change the habit of a lifetime. Hell, this whole town had come unstuck since she’d moved back here. Well, he wasn’t going to smile. The woman thought she was too good for the people of Buffalo Springs—she always had. That was why she’d left when she was just nineteen and run off to Washington to marry the thirty-five-year-old Republican Senator, Carson Delaware.

He let his gaze wander up her back as she stood ramrod straight at the counter. From the buckskin boots, jeans, and fine green blouse, Madison was pure class. Her hair lay over her shoulders in glossy blonde cascades, and trailed invitingly down her spine. Every so often it would swish back and forth as she flicked her head. Her expensive perfume wafted to his nostrils. It smelled of money and sex appeal. Which, he grudgingly had to admit, she had plenty of both.

Doug nodded to him. “Be with you in a moment, Tyler.”

His name must have rung a bell, because she turned in his direction.

He lifted his hat. “Howdy, Madi.” He knew using her shortened name would make her pissed. He’d gained that useful piece of information from his brother, and he used it to good effect now. He could just see the irritation as her beautiful green eyes widened. “Good to see you again.”

“You, too, Tyler.” She stared at him for a moment and then said, “Actually, could I have a word with you when you’re finished here. There’s something I’d like to ask.”

“Sure thing, Madi. I’m just parked outside. Mine’s the black pickup.”

She picked up the package containing chicken feed, and then headed outside. “See you in a minute.”

“That’s one fine-looking woman,” Doug commented when the store door finally swung shut. “Pity she can’t keep her men. But then she always did have a sassy tongue on her.”

“Yeah, guess what she really wants is her wings clipped. Women like her need a firm hand.”

“Go on, tell me more,” Doug insisted.

Tyler lifted his hand and flexed his fingers. “A good spanking, Doug. Always works. Guess Carson Delaware forgot who was in charge.”

Doug shook his head and chuckled. “I reckon you’re right there. Now what can I do for you?”

When Tyler collected his order, he found Madison waiting outside by his pickup. The air was hot and still, making his T-shirt cling to his body. He tossed the two large bags of cattle feed in the back. “Ten years is a long time, Madi. How have you been? Gabe told me he’d paid you a visit. Tells me the end is close for your ma.”

“Yes. It won’t be long now.”

“How can I help you, Madi?”

“I feel slightly foolish asking really, as it’s only a minor thing. The weather vane on top of the roof has all rusted up. It squeaks something terrible in the slightest of breezes. I’m afraid the noise is unsettling Mother, making her unable to sleep.”

Tyler lifted the hat from his head and combed his fingers through his hair. The woman was obviously distressed by nursing her dying mother. He could see it in her eyes as she followed the movements of his hand. “I’m truly sorry about your ma, Madison. I can come by later and put some oil on it.”

“Oh, would you, I’d be really grateful. I’ll pay, of course, for your time.”

Tyler held up a hand. “I wouldn’t dream of taking money from a woman nursing her sick mother. It’s the least I can do for a neighbor in distress.”

As soon as he got back to the ranch he told his brother who was on top of the barn, hammer and nails in his hand.

“I’ve just run into Madi Allen.”

“Where?”

“Doug’s.”

“How was she? Still looking hot?”

“Can’t say I noticed,” he lied. He’d always confided everything with his brother, but lusting over someone who had put him down all those years ago was only asking for a smart comment. He knew Gabe would have plenty of those. “I’m going over to fix the weather vane on her ma’s place. Says it’s keeping her mother awake with its incessant squeaking.”

“For someone who says he’s not remotely interested in Madi Allen, you seem mighty keen to get over there.” Gabe couldn’t quite conceal the sarcasm in his voice.

Tyler pulled the ladders from the side of the barn that Gabe had used to access the roof. He then loaded them onto the back of the pickup. He smiled at his brother.

“Guess you can’t come with me now.”

“You fucker. Put those fucking ladders back. There’s a twenty-foot drop here.”

“Sorry, Gabe, can’t hear you. I should be back in an hour or two.”

He climbed into the pickup and slammed the door shut. “Don’t worry, Gabe. If there’s any fucking going on, I’ll give you the lowdown when I get back.” He knew his brother would be intensely jealous, and he enjoyed winding him up.

“Tyler, don’t you even think of leaving me up here.”

As he sped away, he felt the hammer and a handful of nails hit the back of the pickup. He laughed to himself. “Wow, he’s pissed.” He then floored the gas pedal and drove from the ranch in a cloud of dust.

Chapter Three

Madison glanced outside when she heard a vehicle turn around in the drive. Tyler Hayes, true to his word, had come almost immediately. She squeezed her mother’s hand. “Someone’s come to fix the weather vane. I won’t be long.” No need to tell her it was Tyler Hayes. It would only upset her mother further.

“That’s good,” came back the faint reply. “What with the heat, it’s damn near driven me insane.”

By the time she got outside, Tyler had the ladders slung over his shoulder. He looked so masculine in the noonday sun. His hair shone raven black and shimmered in the hot breeze. The top buttons of his shirt were undone and she could see a smattering of dark, manly hair on his chest. He was as beautiful as his brother, and just as tall. He had an impressive physique, too. His large hands gripped the ladder tightly, making the veins in his forearms stand proud. She guessed this guy was well used to physical labor. When he looked at her, his amber eyes held her captive.

“It’s best if I get onto the roof from the second-floor balcony.”

Madison nodded. “Whatever you think best.” The Colonial house stood three stories high. It had been her mother’s dream to own such a house, and she’d achieved her goal after fifteen years of marriage to her father, William Allen. The same year they’d moved in, he’d become mayor of Buffalo Springs. How proud she must have been.

The large weather vane grated noisily as the dry wind whipped it mercilessly around, emphasizing the urgency of the task.