“Fair enough. Did you find your room in the barn all right?”
He nodded.
“I’ll get you some towels, sheets, and that blanket then.”
When she reached for his empty plate, he covered her hand with his. Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open when she looked up at him. The electricity that sparked from that touch shot straight to his groin, and he beat down the growl that threatened to erupt from his chest. He was sure she’d felt it too.
“I’ll clean up.”
She nodded, and slowly tugged her hand from under his before getting up and hurriedly disappearing into the other room. He licked his lips and threatened his cock with bodily harm if it didn’t settle down. Unfortunately, it took his threat as a challenge. Myka might be small, but she had a nice curvy butt he’d like to sink his fingers into while pounding into her sweet, creamy— Stop it! He growled to himself.
By the time he’d put the plates in the sink, she’d returned. Patrick followed her with his own plate and glass.
“You leaving now, Galen?” he asked as he put his dishes in the sink.
“Yep. Myka says I have to stay in the barn.” He winked at Patrick. “Which is exactly where I belong.”
Patrick grinned, waved, then ran back into the other room.
“Here.” Myka handed him the pile of linens.
“Thank you. What do you need me to do in the morning? I’m an early riser.”
That was an understatement. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept for more than a couple hours.
“I stripped the stalls today. There are six of them. They will need picked out every day and stripped once a week. I’ll show you what and how much to feed the horses as well. They will need watered daily too. It’s taken care of for this evening. I turn them out every morning unless the weather is bad. Two of the horses, the black-and-white mare and gelding named Buddy and Chloe, are mine—actually, Buddy is Patrick’s. The other four are boarders. Patrick is not allowed around the horses unsupervised. There are some repairs that need done on the house, barn, and chicken coop, and the pasture fencing will need maintained regularly. There’s more, but I’ll fill you in as we go along.”
Which meant she’d fill him in if he was still around.
“See you tomorrow then, Myka.”
“Oh. Tomorrow, Mr. Ryan—Tom—will be delivering my hay stock for the rest of fall and winter. I’ll need help unloading and stacking it in the barn. It’s a big load, around six hundred bales.”
He frowned. “Did you have someone else besides me lined up to help tomorrow?”
“Nope. It would have been a long day for me and Tom. I’m glad you’ll be here to help. Tom will be happy to see you too.”
“Are you telling me that you would have unloaded all six hundred bales yourself?”
“No. Tom helps.”
He was impressed if a little slip of a thing like her could unload six hundred bales of hay in a day. He wasn’t sexist by any means. He’d met women in his time who were stronger than a lot of men. He supposed he was reverting back to caveman days because she was his mate. He didn’t like the thought of her working so hard. Whether she was in shape and strong or not, her size alone would make it a challenge to handle the awkward, heavy bales.
“I’m sure Tom and I can deal with the hay tomorrow if you have other things to do.”
“I always do my part.” She squared her slim shoulders.
He hadn’t thought it would be that easy to dissuade her. Although he’d known her a short time, he had no doubt of her responsible and probably stubborn nature. She would have never gotten by on her own out here taking care of Patrick thus far without those two traits. He admired her for her strength, but at the same time hoped his stay would make things easier for her. Tomorrow he’d have to make sure to find a way to distract her as much as possible from the hay.
“I have no doubt of that.”
“Good night, Galen.”
“Good night, Myka.”
He carried the linens to the small apartment in the back of the barn and made the bed after putting the towels in a small cabinet in the bathroom. Afterward, he stretched out on his back on the surprisingly comfortable twin-sized bed. His feet hung off the end, but it was heaven to be lying on something other than the hard ground. His wolf itched to get out, but he refused.
Not tonight.
He closed his eyes. It was still fairly early, but he knew once the deep of night kicked in, he’d be wide awake, and decided to grab a couple hours of much-needed sleep now if possible. As his muscles relaxed, his instincts sharpened and stood on alert, waiting to sound the alarm bells if any type of danger was detected. Any noise, any scent that didn’t belong would set off his inner warning.
He pulled in a deep breath. Speaking of scent. Myka’s called to him with every breath he took. She had the main scent that all potential mates carried, but the mated scent was the one that called to him strongest. The mated scent was detectable only by one’s fated mate. When that second scent had hit him earlier, his knees had nearly buckled under him. Knowing that he was the only one privileged to that second scent made it all that much harder to resist claiming her.
He groaned and stretched his arms over his head, then linked his fingers behind his neck. Staying here with Myka without touching her was going to be one hell of a challenge.
Chapter Three
Myka groaned when she rolled out of bed the next morning. It was barely daylight, the gray overcast of the sky making it nearly impossible for what little sun there was to peek through the window. She was up early most days, but she never had been, wasn’t, and never would be a morning person. She glanced at the clock. It was only five forty-five, even earlier than her usual wake-up time of six thirty to seven o’clock. She’d try to doze for another hour if she thought she’d actually get back to sleep, but she’d tried that trick before. The few times she had fallen back asleep, she’d been more tired when she had to get back up such a short time later.
Patrick didn’t usually stir until around eight or eight thirty. Most mornings that allowed her enough time to get the horses fed and watered and breakfast started before he was up. She dragged herself to the shower after getting her underwear, jeans, and T-shirt, hoping the water would help wake her up. Twenty-five minutes later, she was still struggling with sleepiness and started a pot of coffee before slipping on her socks, boots, and jacket and heading to the barn.
She sighed as the thick, undulating clouds began spitting a misty rain. This was not going to be a fun day to unload hay. A couple minutes later, she stood in front of Buddy’s stall. He, along with the rest of the horses, were munching happily on hay.
“I didn’t give them grain because I wasn’t sure how much.”
She spun around to find Galen standing behind her. Her breath whooshed from her lungs at the sight of him. He wore a pair of black jeans that hung low on his hips, a black belt, and the same hiking boots from yesterday. And while the jeans looked delicious on him, it was his bare torso that caught her eye. Though she wouldn’t call it cold out, she thought it a bit chilly to be going without a shirt. He, on the other hand, didn’t appear fazed in the least by the chilly morning.
She licked her lips. He was beautifully sculpted, and she couldn’t help but admire the wide chest on display. His skin was the perfect shade of gold, and dark brown hair dusted his pecs. As her eyes roamed downward, she took in his etched six-pack, and the fine line of hair that started just under his belly button before it dove under the waist of his jeans. She couldn’t help but be a bit envious of that happy trail.