Forever Wild: A Camden Ranch Novel

  Forever Wild

  By Jillian Neal

  Forever Wild

  Written by Jillian Neal

  Cover Design by The Killion Group, Inc.

  Edited by Chasity Jenkins-Patrick

  Copyright © 2016 Jillian Neal

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincident

  Published by Realm Press

  36 South Court Square

  Suite 300

  Newnan GA 30263

  http://realmpress.net/

  ISBN 978-1-940174-36-5

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2016941567

  First Edition

  First Printing – July 2016

  For Chasity

  For believing in me then and helping me become who I am now.

  For being there every step of the way.

  Listening to me laugh and cry.

  Talking me off ledges.

  Putting up with my insanity.

  And loving me through it all.

  Not many authors are blessed with someone like you to hold their hand through the ups and downs. Not sure what I did right to end up with you, but I’d do it a thousand times over again. Thank you for all you do. I couldn’t have done any of this without you.

  Other Books by Jillian Neal

  Camden Ranch

  Coincidental Cowgirl

  Rodeo Summer

  Gypsy Beach

  Gypsy Beach

  Gypsy Love

  Gypsy Heat

  Gypsy Hope

  The Gifted Realm

  Within the Realm

  Lessons Learned

  Every Action

  Rock Bottom

  An Angel All His Own

  All but Lost

  The Quelling Tide

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  “She’s a wild one, with an angel’s face. She’s a woman-child in a state of grace,” sang loudly from Indie Harper as she flew up I-80 in her ’68 Camaro Z28 in toreador red. Faith Hill sang on, so did Indie. “She’s a wild one, running free.” Her long, dark auburn hair whipped out the open windows. “Woohoo!” she chanted as she flew past the Nebraska state line. Oklahoma and Kansas were now behind her.

  She was going home, and for all of the complications and shit sure to come from seeing her mother she couldn’t wait to get there. At least that’s what she kept telling herself. Nerves tingled up her spine, but she made a valiant effort to ignore them. This would be good. She hadn’t been home since the Christmas before, over a year ago.

  Her baby sister was getting married. She could endure her mother long enough to get her fix of Pleasant Glen, see her daddy, love on her sisters, and ride her horses. After that, she’d head back to Oklahoma City and get back to wrenching cars.

  In a matter of moments, the scents of sweet corn and hay coupled with manure. The breathy memories filled her lungs. Her grin expanded. Had to be a Nebraskan cowgirl to get off on the smell of home.

  Slowing as she came up behind a ranch truck hauling cattle, she listened to the radio DJ. “We’re throwing it way, way back this Memorial Day weekend. That was Faith Hill’s ‘Wild One’ from 1993. Up next we’ve got your farming report. You’re listening to Husker’s Radio KXNP.”

  Switching off the farming report, Indie frowned. “It’s not way, way back. It wasn’t that long ago.” Okay so, maybe she wasn’t exactly a woman-child anymore. Staring down 33 decidedly made her more woman than child. Glancing in the passenger seat, where she’d slung her duffle bags since her tool boxes and spare tires were in the trunk, the corner of that damned reunion invitation taunted her.

  How the hell had she been out of high school for fifteen years? She could’ve sworn she was eighteen like two weeks ago. Leave it to Melony to follow their mother’s orders and plan her wedding one weekend before the reunion, leaving Indie without a good reason not to attend. Indie adored her little sisters, but Melony’s endless desire to make their mother happy galled her to no end.

  Their daddy always said Indie got the portions of rebelliousness that were meant for her twin sisters, plus an extra shot. Grinning again, she floored the accelerator and shot around the truck, over the double-yellow line. An oncoming Pontiac laid on their horn. She whipped her Camaro back and flipped them off for good measure. God, it was good to be home.

  Fifteen miles outside of Pleasant Glen, her car began its customary lurching clunk. She should’ve replaced the tires before she left, but she’d figured she had a few hundred miles left on them, and she’d switch them for the Hoosier CO6 radials she’d been eyeing when she got to her father’s shop. The Goodyear E70’s weren’t a great match since she’d cut the quarter panels. Flats were something she was growing quite accustomed to. “Just couldn’t wait ‘til I made it to Daddy’s, could you?” Sighing, she pulled off on the shoulder and hopped out.

  Not in any way surprised that a truck pulled in behind her, she tried to hide her eye roll. She was in the land of well-bred cowboys, after all. Hauling her jack and wrench set out of her trunk, she didn’t stop until her eyes landed on Grant Camden climbing out of his F-250.

  Shit.

  “Can I give you a hand, ma’am?” Concern thrummed in his tone. She lifted her head, and a broad grin spread across his face. “Indieanna Harper, is that really you, darlin’? My God, it’s been a day or two since you showed up back here in the Glen, hadn’t it? We missed you, girl. It’s good to see ya.” He scooped her up into an all-encompassing hug.

  “More than a day or two. How are you?” Tension tightened in her throat as she hugged him back. So, maybe there was one other ginormous reason besides her daddy and her horses that Indie was looking forward to being back home.

  “I’m good. I’m guessing you don’t need my help with that tire, though.”

  Forcing a chuckle, she grinned. “I know it ain’t in the Camden way of doing things to leave me here, so stand back and watch me work, cowboy.”

  “You got it.” Grant held his hands up in surrender, a hearty laugh accompanying his broad grin.

  When she rolled one of the spares she carried to the flat, she waggled her eyebrows. “Time me.”

  Still laughing, Grant checked his watch. “All right, go.”

  Letting the timer drive her, she whipped off the lug nuts, had the car jacked up, and the tire replaced in minutes. She lowered the car and tightened the nut
s before standing. “How’d I do?”

  “Seven minutes, fourteen seconds. Damn, girl, if Luke wouldn’t lay me out flat when he beat the shit outta me, I’d propose.” He winked at her.

  And there it was. Luke. Her heart sped frantically. Luke Camden. She’d never been more than a friend to Grant, but his big brother Luke, well, there was enough history there to fill every textbook back at Pleasant Glen High. “You admitting your big brother could knock you on your ass, Grant Camden?”

  “Don’t tell him I said that out loud. He’d get way too much pleasure outta that.”

  The words pleasure and Luke rolled through her mind and sent a flash fire of heat spiraling down to her breasts. It didn’t stop its collision course until it had taken up residence between her thighs. She’d been back home at least two-dozen times since she and Luke had ended their five-year relationship, when they were freshman at Nebraska-Lincoln. Every single time they were within a hundred miles of one another they sought each other like moths to a flame. She’d knock on his door late the last night of her typical weekend visit and spend several long, delicious hours allowing her body to be worshipped by his. God, it was like nothing else she’d ever experienced.

  They never really talked about anything of any importance, never did much more than set his bed sheets on fire, reminisced a little, and promised to call and text more often. She’d wait on him to go to sleep, spend a few hours absorbing the heavenly contentment he offered just holding her in his arms, remind herself why she could never stay there with him, and then she’d run away again.

  “Deal.” Indie grinned. “How is Luke?” Geez, anxious much, Indie? She’d gone far too long without a tryst with him, and it was clearly getting to her.

  “He’s good. I’m guessing you’re in for the wedding. You staying for the reunion, too?”

  “Not sure yet. We’ll see how long I go without wanting to pulling my mama’s hair out and fileting the mayor.”

  Laughing again, Grant nodded his understanding. “Carolyn’s got the whole damn state coming to this wedding. She’s in her element, I’m assuming.”

  “Oh, I’m sure.” Indie rolled her eyes. “Speaking of Nebraska’s pearl-clutcher-in-chief, I better get to the mansion and get this over with. Tell Luke I can’t wait to see him.”

  Grant smirked. “Sure thing. See ya ‘round, Indie.”

  Climbing back in her car, she was left with nothing but memories that scalded her throat with regret. She’d followed Luke to college. Okay, so that had been his dream, not hers, but the way it had ended, God, what she wouldn’t give to go back and … And what, Indie? Luke Camden is too good for you, too stable, too secure, too … rancher. He was tied to the land that was tied to the Glen, and that was far too many ties for Indie. She’d always be in love with Luke, but sometimes love wasn’t enough. She couldn’t stand Pleasant Glen, couldn’t stand her own mother — who was married to the freaking mayor of the town she despised — and couldn’t erase the past any more than she could ever settle down and become a rancher’s wife.

  ***

  “So, Indie’s due back in town for Tuck and Melony’s wedding. I’m figuring that’s why you’re dancin’ around here like you gotta gnat in your sac. You change the sheets on your bed and clean up your shit or you figure it’ll take her a day or two to come knocking on your door?” Austin Camden, Luke’s little brother, laughed.

  Luke rolled his eyes. “Fuck off, Austin.”

  “Oh, come on. Don’t even act like you aren’t playing the part of the three-balled tomcat in this situation. You two get so loud we all have a cigarette afterwards.”

  Even Luke’s father, Ev, joined in the laughter over that. Luke slung another hay bale in the back of his truck. When Grant’s truck pulled up, he knew things were only going to get worse. No one but his family and Indie’s father knew of their late night trysts whenever she came back to the Glen. Since he shared his family’s ranch with his parents, cousin, brothers, and sisters, it was next to impossible to have someone in his home without everyone knowing. The ranch was massive, yet somehow his family always knew when Indie’s Camaro headed through the front gates.

  Grant’s shit-covered boots hit the dirt. Something had clearly happened. Grant looked far too pleased for Luke’s liking.

  “Never guess who I just ran into,” he chuckled.

  “Oh, I bet I can,” Luke sighed. Every one of the 198 people that lived in Pleasant Glen had inquired as to the possibility of him and Indie getting back together permanently, since everyone assumed she’d be in town longer this trip than she ever had before.

  “Indie Harper had a flat out on Route 410. She was heading into town. I pulled over to see if she needed any help,” Grant explained.

  Luke grunted at the very idea of his Indie needing any help with a flat tire. It was preposterous.

  “Yeah, yeah, I know, but I didn’t know it was her at first. Anyway, girl changed that tire in under eight minutes. She’s something else. When she was leaving, she said to tell you she couldn’t wait to see you.” He stuck the tip of his tongue between his teeth and laughed.

  Luke stared his brother down. Grant was lucky they were related. Two days ago when Sloane and Ashley Patrick had droned on for the better part of a half-hour about how Indie was surely coming back to the Glen for Melony’s wedding and their high school reunion, and how great it would be if Luke and Indie got back together in time for the reunion and she stayed this time, Luke had decided to place a well-aimed fist in the mouth of the next person that spoke Indie’s name to him. Seeing as this was his brother, he only ground his teeth.

  “I ain’t pulling your chain, man. Those were her words. All I’m saying is you ain’t over her, and apparently she can’t wait to see you.”

  “I ain’t deaf. I heard you the first time.” Luke let that information tumble around in his head. At one time he’d known Indie the way the stacked lightning knew the mid-western storms, the way the ocean knew the shoreline’s kiss, the way the Cottonwood trees sought the silt banks of Nebraskan streams — because they knew how to survive.

  Awareness of her always sank in long before anyone had to tell him she was back in town. He could sense her presence long before he laid eyes on her beautiful body. His mouth watered as he considered every single thing he knew about Indieanna Harper. The taste of her musk, wild and ripe, the sweet spun sugar of her lips, the way she gasped on his first thrust, the raspberry heat of her nipples when he swirled his hungry tongue around their stiff peaks, the dark fire in her eyes when she wanted more. The way she came with a whimpered cry of his name.

  “All right, both of ya. Leave him be,” Luke’s father commanded. “Austin, if you’re taking your newest little one into Lincoln for that doctor’s appointment, you need to get a shower. Grant, we still got a dozen heifers that ain’t calved yet, and I’m getting worried. You and Brock go check ‘em.”

  Luke was well aware that his brothers and cousin were being sent away so his father could join the throngs of people who had an opinion on how he should handle Indie’s return. He made no effort to hide his eye roll. Clearly, no one in the Glen thought he had a brain. The fact that he’d graduated with a master’s degree in veterinary medicine and took care of every animal in the local area clearly meant very little.

  “Quit rolling your eyes and let me say my piece. You’re nearly 33, son, and God knows I ain’t gonna fuss about anything you and Indieanna Harper want to do, but I will say this: you’ve been in love with her since the first day of ninth grade. There hadn’t ever been anyone else. You knew she was the one from the moment you saw her. That’s how the Camden men work. You know that, too. So, it seems to me she’s gonna be here for a few weeks. You’re both gonna be in Tucker and Melony’s wedding. Maybe you ought to take the opportunity the good Lord’s seen fit to provide ya, and see if you can’t make her amenable to staying this time.”

  “You really think I haven’t thought of that?”

  His father, his brothers, and the entire tow
n of Pleasant Glen needed to butt the hell out. Yeah, he had a plan. Indie wasn’t running away from him this time. He’d make her see that he could be everything she needed. He’d make up for her mother’s constant disdain and the affair that had torn his baby completely apart. He’d make up for the hell this town had put her through, and most importantly he’d make up for being an idiot when he was nineteen. ‘You keep me sane, Luke Camden, and I’ll keep you wild’. That was how they’d always worked until he’d dragged her to college with him. Somewhere she had no interest in being, while her life here fell completely apart. And then, to ice the cake of stupidity he’d baked, he’d begged his mother for his grandmother’s engagement ring and had proposed. He’d put their entire relationship in a pressure cooker and had turned up the heat. Trying to tie Indie Harper down was the very last thing in the world she’d needed at nineteen years old. So much for keeping her sane. He’d done nothing but make her run. There was one thing it had taken him years to understand: without her wild soul, he had no sanity.

  This time he’d show her how they were two sides of the same coin that couldn’t exist apart. He’d keep his normally calm head on his shoulders and see if he couldn’t bring a little sanity back into both of their lives, and then he’d show her just how wild she always made him. She always brought out his most primitive instincts, his savage soul, when she took him to bed. He’d prove to her that he never wanted to tame her wild being. He wanted to sate her in every possible way. There’d be no more caging her in. He knew better now. If she wanted to run this time, he’d fly with her.

  As it stood, every single time she came knocking on his door, he inhaled her like a junkie too long without a fix. His body took over his brain. He rushed, desperate to absorb the seductive heat that clung to her curves like nothing he’d ever experienced before. This time he was going to take his time and show her that he’d learned a thing or two since they were a permanent fixture in the Glen. He’d drowned his sorrows in dozens of other women in the last fifteen years; none of them had any hopes of measuring up to Indie. Now he had to show her that he knew precisely how stoke her fires in a slow burn that would last forever.