Riley's Downfall [Brac Pack 29] Read Online Free PDF Page B

much danger he had been in.
He thought Hell Raiser was just a damn horse and not the spawn of Satan like everyone else knew he was.
Riley doubted the man would last much longer on the ranch and he couldn’t figure out if he was glad about that or sad. There were so many things that could happen to the human. Sterling was way too— “Sterling?” Riley spun around in a circle when he lost sight of his mate. “Where in the hell are you?”
Riley spun around again and then squatted down to look under the horse’s belly. He saw a set of jean-clad legs sticking out of a stall at the other end of the barn. Riley closed his eyes and leaned his head against the side of his horse.
Sterling was driving him mad.
“Sterling, what are you doing?”
When he received no answer, Riley walked around his horse and over to the stall Sterling was half lying in. Riley paused at the edge of the stall and looked over the top railing. Sterling had squirmed his way under the bottom railing and lay on the straw floor, halfway inside the stall.
Oh hell, he was cooing softly to a pile of piglets as he stroked his fingers down their backs. Surprisingly, the mama sow was just lying there. In Riley’s experience, mama pigs with new piglets didn’t let anyone near them.
“Can I have one, Riley?”
The eagerness and hope in Sterling’s voice cut him to the bone. Riley was surprised at the feeling. He knew he had to say no. He needed to say no. Pigs were for meat. They were not pets. But the pleading in the light-grey eyes staring back up at him stripped away any of Riley’s intelligent thoughts. He found himself nodding even though he knew it wasn’t a good idea.
Whether Riley wanted to openly admit it or not, Sterling was worming his way inside Riley’s heart. How, he wasn’t sure. But he could feel the soft emotions fighting to surface, and Riley felt powerless to stop them.
“Really?”
Riley’s breath stuttered in his throat at the glowing smile Sterling sent him. He was so busy basking in it that he was totally unprepared for Sterling to jump to his feet and hug him. Riley awkwardly patted Sterling on the back while trying to ignore how good Sterling felt in his arms.
He especially didn’t want to think about how Sterling’s jumping and bouncing made his cock harden in his jeans. Every time Sterling bounced, he brushed up against Riley. It was driving him crazy.
Damn piglet.
“Okay, pick one out, and I’ll tell Pa that it’s yours.” Riley couldn’t believe he was doing this. It was so…un-Riley. He was giving in to his mate just because Sterling had looked so breathtaking when he smiled up at Riley.
Sterling whirled around with a happy little squeal. Riley rolled his eyes when Sterling dropped to the floor again and scooted under the lowest railing. When he started talking to the little buggers, Riley had had enough. They were farm animals for crying out loud. You didn’t croon to them.
“Can I have this one, Riley?” Sterling asked as he held one of the little piglets up into the air.
Riley didn’t even look. He just couldn’t. “Pick out whichever one you want, Sterling.”
“Yes!”
Riley blinked when Sterling scooted back out from under the railing, a small pink piglet cradled to his chest. Oh good lord, he’d picked the runt of the litter. The damn piglet couldn’t weigh more than two or three pounds at best. He was baby pink from head to toe except for his corkscrew tail and a patch over one eye, and those were both as black as midnight.
“Isn’t he adorable?”
“Yeah.” Riley grimaced as he glanced around, making sure none of his family members were listening, especially one of the twins. He would be razzed until the end of time if they heard him right now. “Adorable.”
“I’m going to go show Darcy.”
Riley’s mouth dropped as he watched Sterling race out of the barn with the damn pig clutched to his chest. What in the hell happened to learning to ride the damn horse?
Chapter Three
    Sterling was so