Cowboys Down by Barbara Elsborg Read Free Book Online Page A

you,” Calum said.
    “Right.” Jasper took a deep breath.
    “What happened to your brother?”
    “He came off his horse and…hit a car. Ended up paralyzed from the neck down. Ben was only fifteen years old. He spent the next nine years unable to even breathe on his own before he died.” Jasper’s voice had dropped to a whisper. “I don’t want that to happen to me.”
    “Oh fuck.”
    “Oh fuck sums it up.”
    Calum struggled for something to say. “How about I promise to shoot you if it does?” Oh crap, not that you idiot.
    But Jasper released a strangled laugh and then looked straight at him with those big chocolate eyes. “Would you? If I asked?”
    Calum’s answer came straight from his heart. “Doesn’t seem right to let humans suffer when we’re prepared to put animals out of their misery.”
    “Not as simple as that though, is it?”
    And that told Calum a lot. “Did your brother ask you to kill him?”
    “All the time.” Jasper untied the reins and slipped on the gloves. He put his left foot in the stirrup, grabbed the pommel, swung up onto the horse and then pulled down his sunglasses.
    Drop the subject now. Calum sighed. “You made that look pretty easy.”
    “I’ve got my eyes closed. Am I sitting the right way round?”
    Calum laughed. “You’re fine.”
    “I’m fucking scared shitless.”
    “Need me to fix your stirrups?”
    “I can do it.” Jasper reached down and then gave Calum a puzzled look. “Where’s the strap?”
    Calum smiled. “Maybe you’d better let me get that. Kick your foot out of the stirrup.”
    Jasper moved his leg forward and Calum lifted the fender and adjusted the stirrup leathers in the buckle. Jasper murmured quietly to Zander as Calum fixed the other side.
    “Walk him round a spell when you’re ready.”
    Jasper made a clicking sound, squeezed with his legs, kicked once with his heels and Zander moved out into the corral. Calum saw a confidence in Jasper that hadn’t been there a moment ago, though he was holding a rein in each hand.
    “Western horses neck rein,” Calum said. “I suspect you’re used to horses responding more to direct pressure on their mouths than reins on the side of the neck.”
    “I use a combination of the two.”
    “Try holding the reins in one hand, palm up with one rein between the thumb and forefinger and one between the forefinger and middle finger.” Calum watched as Jasper changed his hold. “That’s it.”
    When he saw Jasper got it, Calum relaxed and leaned on the rail. He tried to imagine being unable to do anything for himself, if he couldn’t scratch an itch, fuck or jack off, and what he’d do if someone begged him to flip a switch and end a life. Hell, whichever way he looked at it. Had Jasper cracked in the end and done what his brother had asked? Killed him?
    “I’ll get Blue. You okay in here on your own?” Calum asked.
    “Fine.”
     
    I’m doing it. Jasper’s pulse raced, excitement overwhelming his fear. After making such a fool of himself earlier, there was no way he’d have given up and retired to the pool when Calum stood watching him. If the animal had been foaming at the mouth and pawing the air with his hooves, Jasper would have still tried to ride. To think he’d spent all this time worrying about getting on a horse, when all he needed for that extra push was a good-looking guy’s gaze fixed on him.
    Jasper patted Zander on the neck. “Good boy. Are we going to have some fun? That doesn’t include you throwing me and then standing there whickering. You treat me well and I’ll return the favor. Okay?”
    The horse whinnied and Jasper laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
    Calum returned on a lively looking black quarter horse, followed by Bessie, and leaned down to open the corral gate to let Jasper out.
    “Is she rounding us up?” Jasper asked, nodding at the dog.
    “She’ll follow to the bottom of the first pasture. She’s too old now to run along with me.” Calum reined