Chapter Twenty

Will woke with the dawn the next morning. His body was still humming and throbbing deliciously from the many times that Turner had loved him in the night. Will had had no idea that making love could feel as good and as tender as it had in Turner’s arms.

The sunlight through the window danced across the hard planes of Turner’s body as he laid sprawled out beside Will, the blankets slung haphazardly over his legs and barely covering his hips. Turner was truly something impressive.

Will felt a bit like a voyeur as he scanned Turner’s sleeping form. His eyes traced Turner’s tapered hips, his hard waist, his broad chest. He frowned when his eyes fell on a scar marring Turner’s chest. Turner had more than a few scars, some quite worse in appearance than this one but this one caught Will’s attention. It was clear that he’d been shot and the bullet had been very close to his heart and lungs

Who would shoot Turner? And why?

“Enjoying your view?”

Will smiled as he looked up and found that Turner had woke up and was grinning sleepily. Will feigned indifference and offered a small yawn, “It’s not too bad.”

Turner growled, pulled him down and kissed him long and lazily. Will groaned and relaxed against him, enjoying the way Turner’s tongue entwined with his own.

Slowly Turner pulled away, “Not too bad, huh?”

Will winked, “For an ol’ fella’ you look pretty good”

Turner laughed, “I have to go tend to the animals but when I get back you’ll pay for that.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Will replied.

The hunger in Turner’s eyes was plain to see and Will could tell he was forcing himself from the bed as he stood and slid into his pants. Will watched him dress and after one more slow kiss, Turner headed out the door.

Will stood slowly and stretched out his aching muscles. He had no idea how Turner was moving so easily this morning. Will’s entire body was feeling the effects of Turner’s loving the night before… the man was insatiable; not that Will was complaining.

He pulled on his pants and boots and went to the fire to stoke it up and add a bit of wood. He stood in front of that warmth a moment before making his way back into the kitchen and building up a fire in the stove. He was starving and he was sure that Turner had worked up a nice appetite as well.

When Turner returned an hour later, Will had eggs and biscuits ready and waiting on him, “Can I eat before I teach you that lesson?” Turner asked as he came up behind Will and buried his wet nose in his neck.

Will gasped and pulled away from him, “Yeah, you’ll need your energy and I’d like to give you some time to warm up.”

“Speaking of warming up, there’s something we need to talk about,” Turner admitted with a sigh as he sat down and Will put a plate in front of him.

“Okay,” Will sat down across from him and scooped some eggs onto his fork, “What’s on your mind?”

Turner stared down at his food a moment and when he looked up at Will, the eggs Will had just swallowed rolled slowly in his stomach, “I had to go to town to get your medicine the other day and while I was there I saw Thompson.”

Will sat down his fork as his fists clenched, “Did he talk to you?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Are you friends or something?” Will wasn’t sure why he asked that or why he was snapping at Turner but there was simply something about hearing Thompson’s name that made him uneasy.

“Of course not, dammit, and don’t be griping at me,” Turner scolded. “That man has a goddamned beacon on my ass every time I go into town. He wants me on his side and it irks him because I don’t ever come walking over to kiss his damn feet like those lap dogs of his.”

Will nodded, took a slow drink of water and then met Turner’s gaze again. Those dark eyes seemed concerned as they studied him carefully, “I’m sorry,” Will mumbled, “I shouldn’t snap at you.”

“Will, the man kept you tied up, drugged and allowed men to rape you while he pocketed a small fortune. I don’t blame you for getting a bit riled up when you hear his name,” Turner sighed. “And it gets a bit worse.”

Will pushed his plate away now that his appetite was thoroughly ruined, “How much worse?”

“He asked me about you,” Turner admitted, his eyes hardening, “He suspects you’re here.”

“How’s that?!” Will demanded. “Hell I could have wondered anywhere up on these mountains and froze to death!”

Turner nodded, “Calm down. He saw me buying the medicine and put two and two together. I won’t let anything happen to you, Will, so quit worrying so much. You’re about to make yourself sick.”

Sick? Good Lord, he was about to hyperventilate! Thompson couldn’t find him! If he did, he would drag Will right back to that place and there wouldn’t be anyone that could stop him. He had too many men that would fight with him for Turner to be any protection. Thompson and his men would kill Turner and take Will back….

Will felt Turner’s hand close over his on the table, “Will, please calm down. Thompson won’t get his hands on you. I promise.”

“How can you be so sure, Turner? You didn’t hear the things he said to me… you didn’t see how he treated me!”

Turner’s grip on his hand grew almost painful in its intensity, “I’m not a man most men want to mess with, Will.”

Will frowned and let his eyes drop to Turner’s flannel covered chest and remembered the bullet wound that marred the skin beneath. Slowly he looked back into Turner’s dark eyes, “What kind of man are you?”

Turner’s expression was unreadable and his voice emotionless when he responded, “One who’s willing to do whatever needs done to get what he wants and protect what’s his.”

Will swallowed hard and knew that Turner was speaking the truth. What kind of man had he fallen in love with?

“We still got time before the snow melts enough that they can clear the path up the mountain. If he shows up here I’ll send him packing and if he won’t leave us be then we’ll deal with that when it comes,” Turner offered as he removed his hand from Will’s and continued eating as if nothing was wrong.

“You said you have a ranch… couldn’t we just go there and avoid Thompson altogether? You know he’d never leave me alone and would always be sniffing around and I can’t be near him every single time I go into town…”

“You’re panicking again,” Turner grunted.

“And you’re avoiding talking about the ranch. Why can’t we go there?”

Turner tossed down his fork, shoved back his chair and rose to his feet. He strode across the cabin, keeping his back to Will as he leaned against the mantle and stared down into the fire.

Will waited patiently for him to speak as he wondered what was going through the man’s head, “That ranch was Peter’s. He put it in both our names a few years after we met and when he…” Turner’s voice grew gruff and he cleared his throat, “When he died it became mine but I couldn’t stay there with the memories. So Beaux, Bernice and I packed up and moved here and we’ve been here for three years.”

So Peter had been Turner’s lovers name. The lover that had died and left Turner broken hearted and alone. Will couldn’t stand to hear that pain in his voice. He swallowed hard, stood up and walked to Turner. Will wrapped his arms tight around him from behind and pressed his cheek against broad back, “It’s okay, Turner. We can find somewhere else to go.”

“I don’t like the idea of running away from that bastard,” Turner growled.

“I’m not asking you to run away, Turner, but I can’t be around him. I can’t see his face every time I go to town. I can’t stay here forever…. And I don’t want to leave alone.”

“You aren’t going anywhere alone,” Turner assured him as he turned and pulled Will into his arms. Will listened to his heart beat beneath his ear, “We’ll figure it all out later. Just now I believe I had a lesson I was going to teach you.”

Will knew that Turner was stalling and yet he was unable to refuse the man as he covered his mouth in a hot, dominating kiss.

A/N: I hope you all liked the chapter. I'm still having MAJOR issues with wattpad. I've had several people tell me that chapters are duplicated (they are breeding y'all!) and I promise it's not me doing that. I've messaged wattpad but they've yet to message me back. Anywho.. thank goodness for my hubs computer because I can at least upload from it! Sorry if I haven't been responding to messages or comments much but it's hard with the way my wattpad is now messed up!