The Biker's Fate Chapter 197

Knight

ONE WEEK LATER, I stepped up to the horse I was examining and ran my hand over her withers, whispering as I slid my hand down the bad leg. "Good girl. You're okay."

"What do you feel, son?" Doc Farlane asked.

I was interning in my final year at vet school, my specialty working with large animals, and horses in particular, was my passion.

"Heat's comin' off her left fetlock. I feel swelling."

"Anything broken?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. She has full motion, it's just sore." I lifted her hoof and grabbed a hoof-pick to clean off the area. "She's got a nasty scab over the frog. Some dried blood. Looks like she cut it."

Doc leaned in to look and nodded. "What's the treatment plan?"

"We'll need to clean it out, give her a tetanus shot and antibiotics. I'm concerned about her fetlock, but I think it's all connected. I'd bind her leg and watch her."

Doc patted my shoulder. "Well done, son."

I smiled and lowered the horse's foot gently to the ground, patting her side. She bumped me with her nose and I chuckled, reaching in my pocket for a peppermint. "You just want me for my candy."

With Doc's supervision, I treated the horse, then handed her off to her owner, packing up my bag and disposing of my trash.

"I'm gonna head out," Doc said. "Good job today."

"Thanks, Doc." I gave him a chin lift and watched the vet walk back toward the cars. As my gaze hit the barn, I recognized Kim standing outside a stall talking to Fozzie. An older man I thought I knew, but wasn't sure from where, approached Kim and her entire demeanor changed. Her body went stiff and she moved to stand in front of the horse as though to protect it.

I started toward her. I was almost to the barn when the man turned and walked away, and Kim let herself into the stall. Her head disappeared below the side and I sped up. Something wasn't right.

Arriving at the stall door, I dropped my bag and peered over the side. "Shit!" I whispered, and stepped inside. Kim was in the corner in the fetal position, hands over her head, regardless of what looked like piss close to her, chanting to herself. For a sick and twisted second, I thought how beautiful she was even amongst filth.

"Kimmie?" I knelt beside her and touched her shoulder, awarded with a kick in the side by her swift and elegantly booted foot. "Fuck!" I snapped, holding my side.

Kim went back to her chanting, seemingly unaware that she'd even kicked me. Her horse was growing agitated, so I took a minute to calm him, deciding that leading him out of the stall would be the safest plan of action. "Good boy. I'm gonna take care of her. Just gotta keep you from tearing up the stall."

I tied him to the side of the barn and stepped back inside. I approached Kim differently this time, kneeling beside her, not touching her. "Kim?"

"He doesn't own me, he doesn't own my body. It is mine, I am me, he has no power," she chanted in a whisper.

"Kimmie?"

"He doesn't own me, he doesn't own my body. It is mine, I am me, he has no power."

Fuck! My heart twisted as I watched this beautiful woman try to beat back the demons.

"Sugar," I whispered.

"He doesn't own me, he doesn't own my body. It is mine, I am me, he has no power."

I shook my head. "Fuck me," I whispered, reaching out to pull her arms away from her head and moving into the strike zone. "Kim!" I snapped.

She let out a scream and went on the offensive, kicking, scratching, punching, anything to get me to release her.

"Kim, sugar, it's me. It's Aidan."

She fought for a few more seconds as I continued to talk to her and then her body went limp and she opened her eyes, seeing me for the first time. "Knight?"

"Yeah, sugar."

Now she was pissed.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped, pulling away from me.

I knew I had to handle this very carefully.

She jumped to her feet. "And what the fuck did you do with Fozzie?"

"He's fine, Kim. He's outside," I said, and stood slowly. Kim rarely swore, at least around me, but there was something unbelievably sexy about her lips wrapping around the word "fuck."

Kim rushed out of the stall, me following, to her horse. He whinnied as soon as he saw her. "Aw, buddy." She wrapped her arms around his neck and took a deep breath. "I'm here."

"Kim?" I prompted.

She whirled to face me. "If you say anything to anyone about any of this, I will cut you."

"Are you shittin' me right now?"

"Not one thing, Aidan." She crossed her arms, leaning against her horse. "Ohmigod, what the hell are you even doing here? Trolling for low-class, barrel racing pussy?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You know nothing about me, do you?"

"Oh, sorry, Mister Scott. You train riders for the Olympics now... I forgot."

"So you finally figured it out."

"You didn't have to keep it from me," she snapped.

"It's not a fuckin' secret, Kim. My middle name's Scott, it was a good way to keep this side of my life separate from the club."

"But you're like fifty years too young to be a trainer."

I smiled. "Yeah, when they picked me, they didn't know I was so young...just wanted the person who trained Lucy Seals."

"You trained Lucy?"

Lucy had won an individual bronze in the last Olympics, despite the fact her team hadn't ridden well. She'd been the breakout star for sure and I had been receiving phone calls for years. At twenty-three, no one would have expected me to be considered seasoned.

"Yeah."

"Well, good job." She shrugged and untied Fozzie. "I need to get him settled."

"Babe, he just pissed in there."

"Okay. So, I'll muck out the stall."

"Have you ever mucked out a stall?" I challenged.

"Of course I've mucked out a stall."

"Yeah?"