Through the Dust (Black Springs Ranch, #2)

by Amber Palmer

He had his black felt hat pulled down, concealing him beneath the shadows. Like, who did he think he was? An outlaw on the run? Get over yourself.

I didn’t have to look to know his eyes were on me. His attention was hard to get, but even harder to ignore.

I’ll say this about the kid… He’d found his balls but found them at the wrong time.

“Easy there, killer,” Bishop chuckled. His deep, throaty tone sent shivers down my spine. “I think you’ve done enough damage.”

Lennox Hayes and I were like fire and ice. She burned hotter than a thousand fucking suns and had the temper to boot. I was the dick who acted unaffected but was anything but. That woman had a way of getting under my skin like no one else had. She drove me crazy, slipping further into madness with each moment we spent together—which was way more than I liked.

I barely heard the grumble of disappointed men behind me, too aware that Lennox Hayes was wearing my hat. My. Fucking. Hat.

one night of our dirtiest fantasies coming to life. Come sunrise, things between us would go back to normal, and we’d go back to fussin’ and fightin’.

I was no better than a man, gawking at something that was never mine to have.

And then there was that slutty fucking gold chain around his neck. Who knew it would be so hot?

I’d learned early on that blood didn’t define family. It was determined by who showed up for you day in and out when shit got tough, the ones who rallied behind you and lifted you up until you could stand on your own two feet.

The soft scent of honey and vanilla filled the air, invading my senses. I’d recognize it anywhere. It was fucking imprinted in my memory. Sometimes, I swore I could still smell it on my pillow at night, like it was haunting me. Today, though, I savored it.

“It probably should be, right?” “Probably,” I agreed. “I don’t really want it to be⁠—” “Then it isn’t,” I said. “This is whatever you need it to be.” Lennox settled into my arms, laying her head on my chest. Her fingers fiddled with the button along my shirt collar, and it felt natural.

I guess whatever common ground we’d found was over and done with. It was almost funny how quickly we had gone from falling asleep next to one another to standing here at odds.

Get it the fuck together, Bishop. You can’t be foaming at the mouth over her at dinner. My head knew that, of course, but my dick? Not exactly. And that didn’t take into consideration the pathetic thump of my heart hiding in my chest.

Lennox Hayes was a goddamn lightning strike to my heart. She’d cracked the wall I’d carefully erected, letting in dangerous ideations that threatened to send me to my knees.

But for me, it was sickeningly different. It’d become obvious after our first kiss that she would turn my world upside down.

Is this what it felt like to go insane? Hell, maybe I was already there—so far gone I didn’t know which way was up. Maybe Lennox Hayes had well and truly fucking destroyed me.

I thought that this life on the ranch was all I ever wanted, but I would give anything to stop Lennox from looking so goddamn sad.

There were moments I caught him staring at me from across the room. Each time, I held my breath, wondering if it was going to be the moment he made good on all those longing looks and said, “fuck it,” before storming over to kiss me.

For a moment in time, I wasn’t a twenty-seven-year-old woman walking an unknown path who was terrified of losing her father. Instead, I was just a girl dancing with her first love as we watched the sun rise over the peak of the barn.

Fuck

Seeing her so happy, I realized, made me happy.

I hated that I wanted to know what was keeping him up, that I even cared in the first place.

A question like that wouldn’t stump most people, but I wasn’t most people. I didn’t have anyone who didn’t already belong to someone else. No one for me to put first or vice versa. It felt pathetic to admit that.

She groaned into my mouth as my fingers dug into her hips. I hoped they bruised. I hope she left this loft with my fucking mark imprinted on her skin.

And it was the sound of my name in that desperate fucking tone that broke the final tether of my self-control.

I was sure he felt me trembling in his touch, thrilled that it was happening and altogether terrified of what we would be when we were done.

Suddenly, I was a worn piece of string wrapped so firmly around her finger that I’d do almost anything she asked me to. Maybe I always had been.

He kissed me again, softer this time, but I felt just as much heat behind it. I felt his conviction, his earnest words, and his tender truths. We were both a mess, but we could be a mess together.

I might have fallen in love after just one night, too, but I wasn’t talking about the goddamn mattress.

He tipped his head back and laughed. God, I loved when he did that. It wasn’t often, but when it happened? It almost made me forget why I was mad at him in the first place.

Whenever Bishop walked into a room, I gravitated toward him, keenly aware of his every move. If he glanced my way in a crowd, I felt his gaze like static skittering along my skin. It was something I’d shrugged off as an annoyance. Of course, I knew where the most aggravating person I’d ever met was.

I just hoped he felt the same because I wasn’t sure how to return to a world where I didn’t love Bishop Bryant.

I may not have known much, but I knew one thing. Lennox Hayes was mine, and I wanted to make sure she stayed that way.

“Who are you, and what have you done with Bishop Bryant?” “Dunno,” I said, ducking my head so I didn’t have to look at her. “Heard he went and fell in love.”