Use Me [Dungeon Masters 5] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting) (2 page)

“That’s what I thought. It’s yet another change for them and it’ll be nice for them to have a friend they recognize visiting them each day.”

The old man shook his head at her but he was smiling. “It’s time to go home, Violetta. You can talk to the builder tonight.”

* * * *

Darcy Nelson looked at the phone number on his beeping cell phone and sighed. The Cambrisi woman was every bit as pushy as her grandfather. She was in a goddamn hurry to move into that old farm house. He knew if he didn’t check every last little thing about it before he agreed to her go there, as sure as hell she’d put her foot through a rotten floorboard or plug something into an electrical outlet and blow the entire building up.

“Hi, it’s Violet Cambrisi.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She had a nice voice on the phone. He wondered how nice she’d sound in real life. He’d yet to meet her in the flesh, but she sounded young and friendly. But pushy. Definitely pushy.

“My grandfather has agreed that if you check the fences in the field nearest the barn we can bring the horses to the farm. I’ll only use the kitchen and the little room off it. So only those two rooms need to be assessed before I move in.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, that won’t work. You need the furnace to be working because the nights are starting to get cold. And a bathroom and—”

“No, I won’t. I can shower at work, and wrap myself in a blanket if it’s cold. I own several snowsuits so heat isn’t an issue.”

Yeah, pushy. Real pushy.

“Now, how long until you think it’ll be until I can bring the horses to the farm? I want them to have some time in the grass with space to move around. It’ll be too cruel to put them in the barn for winter when they can see the grass and yet not have had a chance to roll in it and run through it.”

Damn the woman. Now she was making him sound like some cruel ogre trying to punish the damn horses.

“I’m not happy about you being in the house until I’m sure it’s completely safe.”

“What if I stay in the barn then? I thought it’d be faster for you just to check the kitchen and that one small room, but maybe if I only go in the barn that’ll make you happy.”

The pushiest woman on the planet, bar none.

“Yes, ma’am. The barn and the fence. I’ll get one of my men to check them tomorrow.”

“Excellent. Thank you so much. I’ll be waiting for you to call me.”

He stared at the screen of his cell phone. How had she done that? He’d just promised to drop all his scheduled tasks and go look at that fucking barn and fence tomorrow. He shook his head. Fucking pushy woman. But he couldn’t hide his smile. She might be pushy but she had balls. He wondered what she looked like in real life. She was starting to sound like his kind of woman.

Despite having promised to stay out in the barn, Violet couldn’t resist sneaking into the house—her house now—and peeking into the rooms. No matter what that big bossy builder said about rotting floorboards and overstressed beams, the realtor had walked her though all the rooms when she’d first considered buying the farm. Well, it was her grandfather who’d bought it really, but she was the one who’d be living here.

Her grandfather was extremely wealthy and his only child, her father, had been killed in Afghanistan by an IED. He wasn’t even a soldier, just a mad-keen photographer who’d wanted to take pictures out in the countryside. Violet couldn’t remember him. She’d only been eighteen months old at the time.

Her mother hadn’t been able to cope with the death of the man she loved, turning first to alcohol, and then to social drugs, and finally to illegal hard drugs. Grandpop had admitted her to a rehabilitation program but it was too late. She’d overdosed and was dead before Violet’s fourth birthday.

Fortunately Grandpop had been one of five children and Violet had been reared in the midst of a plethora of second and third cousins, most of whom seemed to have large families of their own.

Violet tilted her head to the side. She could hear water dripping. That was weird. The workmen weren’t here yet and she hadn’t noticed it last night. She walked into the kitchen and looked at the sink, but the faucets there were turned off properly. Next she stepped into the laundry room but once again the faucets weren’t responsible for the noise. Which seemed a little louder now.

Could the noise be coming from upstairs? Violet tipped her head up to look at the ceiling. She’d kept her word and not been up there at all, but maybe now was the time to go looking. She walked out of the laundry, down the hallway, past the little room she’d planned to stay in, and into the great room. This was the heart of the house, a gigantic space, part dining room, part living room, and part sunroom. Already Violet could picture herself here wrapped in a blanket in front of the huge open fire in winter, or sitting in a rocking chair by the window in summer.

The noise was definitely louder. She hurried now over to the staircase only to stop in surprise. Water was trickling down it, forming a puddle at the base of the lowest step.

“Hot damn. Some idiot must have left water running all night.”

Violet began to run up the stairs, glad the water was only a trickle, and that the workmen would be here soon to clean up the mess.

Just as she reached the top, there was a booming crack, as if a thunderstorm was directly over her head, and Violet was drenched in water. The ceiling dropped down in pieces all around her and water, harder than any rainstorm, pelted over her, soaking her to the skin in a heartbeat. Violet found herself sitting on her ass, the force of the water racing her down the stairs and dumping her at the bottom in the midst of a growing flood.

She picked herself up and staggered through the swimming pool that had been her living room ten seconds ago to open the front door and let the water out. Then she gripped the handrail of the stairs and pushed her way against the tide to find out what faucet needed turning off. Once again, she’d just reached the top when a loud voice said, “Are you crazy, woman? What the fuck are you doing?”

She lost her grip on the handrail in her surprise, and once again splashed down to land on her ass and be swept down the stairs. The water wasn’t pouring out as fast now, and it was just like riding a waterslide at the fun park. She landed at the bottom of the stairs, laughing hard. “Oh, my god, what a ride.”

Two brawny arms hauled her to her feet and held her tight. “Are you injured?”

She looked up into the tanned face and brown eyes of the bossy builder. “I’m fine. That was the most amazing waterslide I’ve ever ridden in my life. There seems to be a problem upstairs.”

“No kidding. What the fuck were you doing? I told you to stay out of the house.”

Violet pulled away from him. “I only came in because I heard a faucet dripping. I didn’t make it upstairs to turn it off before the ceiling fell in.”

“The ceiling fell in?”

“Are you okay?”

Violet turned to look at the doorway. The second voice was her yummy cowboy. He was ankle deep in water but staring at her. Suddenly Violet realized she was soaking wet and fast getting really cold.

“I’m sure you two will figure out what the problem is. I’ll be out in the barn getting dried and changed. Then I’ll feed the horses.” Walking carefully because her boots were full of water, Violet headed out the back to the barn.
Thank god I brought several changes of clothes with me.

* * * *

“Who the hell are you?”

“What the fuck is going on here?” asked Raff almost at the same time.

It’d been almost two years since he’d walked out on his high-powered job in New York, but Raff still remembered how to close his lips tightly and keep glaring at another man until he received the answer he required. He supposed it was like riding a bicycle. A skill once learned that was never forgotten.

The other man was maybe six two and bulky with it. He had thick thighs, muscular arms and—Raff drew in a deep breath. Hell, the man was a fucking shape-shifter. A wolf.

Raff ignored the water swirling around his ankles and draining out the front door. He crossed his arms, kept his weight evenly spread on both feet, and waited.

The big man stretched out a beefy arm to shake his hand. “Darcy Nelson. Nelson’s Building and Home Maintenance. Old man Cambrisi hired me and my crew to fix this place up for his granddaughter.”

Raff grinned and shook the hand offered to him. “Raphael Allsop. I’m to come each day to feed and groom the horses. If you need a hand to sort out whatever went wrong upstairs, I’m happy to help. I don’t need to be anywhere for a while yet.”

Actually, he didn’t need to be anywhere at all today. Now that Pedro and Princess had left the horse shelter and no new horses had arrived there, his hours had been cut back to three days a week. Which meant he wasn’t going to be able to pay his rent. He wondered if he could sleep rough in the barn here if he got thrown out of his room.

“Yeah, let’s do that before the rest of the ceiling comes down.”

Raff followed the wolf up the stairs, dodging chunks of wood and drywall as he went. At the top of the stairs was a veritable mountain of drywall and plaster and god only knew what else underneath a hole in the ceiling which exposed a big metal cylinder still trickling water.

“Is that the hot water unit? What’s it doing there? What kind of an idiot would put one at the top of the stairs?” asked Raff.

“Yeah. Good question. Although, in old houses like these, I’ve seen some strange things, I’ve got to tell you. Not a hot water unit over the stairs before, though.”

The builder went back outside, presumably to his truck, and came back with a stepladder and a tool box. Raff spent most of the next hour passing things to him and holding things. Finally the wolf packed up his tools and picked up his ladder. “That’ll do it for now, but that unit has to go.”

“Hell yes. The woman was laughing about the water this time, but once she’s got a nice rug on the floor and her walls all painted she might not be so happy if it happens again.”

“She could have been killed. Why couldn’t she stay outside like she promised?”

“Have you ever known a woman to do what she was told to?” Raff asked.

The wolf laughed. “No, I guess not. Women in my community tend to be strong minded.”

“I’d better go feed and groom the horses.” Raff turned to go and then remembered he was only semi-employed and would soon be homeless. “If you need a laborer, I’m looking for more work. I’m not a builder, or a carpenter, but I’m used to hard work and I’m pretty useful with a hammer or paint brush.”

“Ms. Cambrisi is pushing for this renovation to be done fast. I might need another worker at times. Give me your number so I can contact you.”

Raff told him and then said, “I’ll be here each morning for the horses anyway. If you discover you could use more help, just ask.” The builder gave him a piercing look, but simply nodded, so Raff walked out the open front door and around the back to the field where Pedro and Princess were standing. There was no sign of his beautiful woman, so likely she’d gotten changed and left long ago. She had a job. Well, he did, too. These patient, gentle horses.

* * * *

Darcy was still holding his cell phone, so he tapped the speed dial for his right-hand man, Jason.

“Yo, boss man. Hammer and Cam are both off sick today. How soon can you get here?”

“Damn. I was hoping you could go get the generator and the big fan and bring them to me. There’s been a leak at the Cambrisi job. I need to dry out the woodwork.”

“Sorry, boss, but I’m already down two men.”

“Just do your best. I’ll come and get it myself.”

Darcy eyed the mess. Before he could even think about drying out the stairs, which were all wood, he’d have to get the debris and water swept out and cleaned up. That’d likely take him an hour. Another hour to fetch the generator and big blower and then half an hour to ensure it was all working. He’d be lucky if he got to the worksite before lunch time.

He gripped his cell phone more tightly. The cleanup here wasn’t complicated. Anyone could do it. Like the cowboy. If he hadn’t left already.

Darcy raced through the house and out the back door. The cowboy was in the field brushing one of the horses. He slowed down to a walk and made his way across to the fence, staying outside the gate.

The cowboy looked up at him and smiled. “This is Princess. She’s a beautiful, gentle animal.”

The horse snorted as if embarrassed at the introduction. Darcy couldn’t help smiling. “If you say so. All I know is that one end bites and the other end kicks and to groom them I brush from bite to kick.”

The other horse rubbed its head on the cowboy’s hip. “Yes, Pedro, you’re beautiful, too.”

This time Darcy laughed out loud. “How long until you finish with the horses? And how much time have you got available today?”

A slow smile spread over the man’s face. “Does that mean you have some work I can do? That’d be great. I don’t have a shift at all today. I can work as long as you need me.”

“It’ll only be a couple of hours.” The other man’s smile faded a little, but he still looked pleased. “I have to go back to base and pick up my generator and the big blower to dry out the woodwork from the staircase. If you could sweep out all the water and bag up all the trash while I’m collecting the generator, that’d be great and save me a lot of time.”

“Sure, I can do that. Likely there’s a shovel and a broom in the barn. Maybe even a trash bin to put the broken drywall in.”

“Do you mind looking for the tools now? I’ll leave you mine if there aren’t any here, but I need to get moving. Will the horses object if you stop in the middle of caring for them?”

“Oh, I’ve finished their grooming. I was just chatting to them so they don’t get lonely. They’re used to having people around them at the shelter.”

He climbed over the gate and walked beside Darcy to the barn. They unearthed a broom, a shovel, and even a roll of thick black trash bags.

Gratefully Darcy hurried back to his truck and headed to his base which was a warehouse on the northern fringe of town. Fortunately he could cut across on side roads and avoid having to enter town at all. He hoped Raff was a reasonable worker. He’d been fine for the short time they’d worked together this morning, but that was no guarantee of workmanship. Still, beggars couldn’t be choosers and it wasn’t that hard to clean up fallen lumber and drywall.