The Billionaire's accomplice

Killing me softly...

It was  early morning at the Ranch near the pond just before sunrise. I was  bending over  and tying my shoe laces  when Dane's  well furred body bumped into me with full force,  his wagging tail was telling me he wanted to play, I  fell down the well mowed lawn with a soft thud, then Sean came running  and  both of them playfully  came on top of me and  started licking  my face, and nipping  the sleeve of my hoodie, we all rolled together on the ground.  I shrieked with laughter, the two Siberian huskies  were both adorable, they became my running buddies  ever since  I stayed at the Ranch.  Jeremy gave me a five star compliment  for making them love me more than him and Gabriel as their real owners, after  just a few tries,  I eventually gained their trust and  the three of us became best buddies.

All of a sudden, Dane was alerted by some movement, a plopping sound was  coming  from the nearby pond,  his ears laid flat against his head,  and his head turned in that direction, he started to growl and bark  while showing his bared white teeth,  Sean joined him and both of them scurried away and went to the direction of the pond , I got up and followed them. Without warning,  Dane suddenly jumped into the water, a  group of toads suddenly dispersed and hopped away from him. I saw that he was trying to chase away a  big  water lizard  hiding from a bunch of water lilies  but it moved so fast and  quickly disappeared  from sight before he could catch it.  He barked when he failed, as he was trying to return to the edge of the pond, one of his paws got tangled in a thick bunch of  floating water hyacinths, got stuck, preventing him to move.  He started to squirm as half of his body started to sink into the water, he howled as if asking for help, Sean also  started to howl beside me, both of them in unison.

Without thinking, I removed my shoes and I treaded my way  while balancing  my weight slowly into the water to get him,  I gasped as I immersed my both legs underwater and felt its icy coldness touched my skin, I felt the mixture of muck and mud underneath my feet, the bottom was soft and slippery that it made me difficult to move quickly.  It wasn't as shallow as I imagined,  It reached my mid thigh and up to my waist,  I was glad that Dane only went that far, the water could have been deeper on the other side,  I reached  out to  grasp Dane and while I was freeing  his foot, he suddenly wriggled free with a splash, I lost my balance and I fell faced down into the water.

While I struggled  to get up, my feet got stuck in  the muddy bottom, I could not move freely,  a pair of strong muscular arms pulled me out of the water  from out of nowhere, and carried me to the edge of the pond with gentle ease and settled me in the  grassy ground,  My hair was all wet and plastered on my face, I could not see who it was.  Dane and Sean were  both  behind me,  bumping and licking  my legs, while barking and growling at the same time.  A stranger, someone not familiar to them. I  squinted and peered through  the strands of  wet hair to see who it was, and I saw a man with clear gray eyes I have not seen before, looking down at me with opened curiosity and amazement.

I removed my wet hair away from my face,  the man in front of me was tall and handsome,  and I immediately sensed, we were not  alone.  Gabriel and Jacob were there, riding in their horses, looking down at us.  The third horse  without its rider beside them  surely belonged to the man in front of me.   I wondered for how long they were all there watching me.  I  knew that I looked terrible and in such a mess that I suddenly felt embarrassed. I  blushed. I barely recovered yet from being caught in an awkward situation, and  upon seeing Gabriel after a long time, I felt more uneasy. 

I have not seen him in thirty days and  five hours and thirty minutes......based from my  own calculations, my memory...and heart...

Jacob quickly dismounted, with look of concern in his face, "Kelsey, Are you alright?"

"Yeah, thanks." I smiled at him without looking at Gabriel who remained in his horse, I could sense that he was observing me with his hawk like gaze.

"What do you think you're doing?"  Finally, that familiar voice blurted out.