Riley's Downfall [Brac Pack 29] by Lynn Hagen Page B

Sterling loved Riley’s laugh. It was deep, sensuous, and made Sterling sigh every time he heard it. He hadn’t heard it often, but when he did, his cock always jerked in his pants.
“Nothing, hon. But Bacon is a girl.”
“Are you sure?” Sterling asked as he looked over Riley’s arm.
“I’m sure, Sterling. She’s missing the vital parts that would make her a boy.”
“Well, damn,” Sterling said as he sat down next to Riley and watched his mate tie the intricate knots to hold Bacon’s harness.
“Disappointed? We could always trade her for a boy when we get home.”
Home . Sterling loved the sound of that single word. “No,” he replied. “It just means that I’ll have to be extra careful with her. Girls are very delicate.”
Riley finished the knot and handed Bacon off to Sterling. “Just keep her away from Iam.”
“If he comes near her, I’ll…I’ll toss him over the pit and roast him!” Sterling was not about to let anyone eat his little girl for breakfast…or lunch, or dinner for that matter. “He’s barbaric and evil. Only evil men would want to eat a baby pig. I swear, I’ll kick him in the shin again if he even thinks about trying.”
“Calm down, Sterling. No one is going to eat Bacon.” Riley glanced at Sterling and then laughed. “Not your Bacon, at least.”
Sterling swatted Riley on the shoulder and glared at his mate before taking Bacon outside for her morning walk. He had to find some milk for her. She was just a baby and needed her nutrients. The supply he had brought with him was almost gone. He had found a feeding bottle in the barn before they left the ranch, and then stored some milk in a jar and shoved it in his bag. But the jar was almost empty.
“Excuse me,” Sterling asked the first elven man he spotted.“Do you perhaps know where I might find some piggy milk?”
“ Piggy milk?” the man asked, looking at Sterling as if he were daft. “I’m not even sure I’ve ever heard of that. But there is a sow in a pen past the outhouses. You can leave the piglet with the sow if you want to fatten him up.”
What was with everyone trying to eat Bacon? Sterling wasn’t sure if he should yell at the man or just ignore him. It didn’t seem to do any good when he had a holy cow fit. So he chose to ignore the man and head toward the pen.
Maybe the mama pig would let Bacon have some milk straight from the source. The piglet had been a little ornery eating this morning, and Sterling knew it was because the milk he had brought along with him wasn’t warm.
If the sow let Bacon nurse, his little girl would be in heaven.
“Sterling, right?”
Sterling stopped in midstride and turned to see Chey walking up behind him. He switched the rope to his other hand and stuck out his right to shake Chey’s. “Yep, and from my eavesdropping, I take it that you are Chey.”
The man studied Sterling’s hand for a moment but didn’t shake it. Instead he smiled politely and nodded. “I’m Chey. I’m sorry, Sterling, but I don’t touch people. I have a gift and a curse and I wouldn’t want to…set you back.”
They exchanged a polite, simultaneous smile.
Yeah, okay. This guy wasn’t strange in the least. “I was heading over to the pigpen. Do you want to come with me? Bacon needs to eat.”
“Did you just call your pig Bacon?” An arched eyebrow indicated his amused surprise. Sterling was getting really tired of people making fun of his piglet’s name. What the hell was wrong with Bacon? It was adorable. He didn’t think anything was wrong with naming his pig Bacon, but it seemed everyone else had a different opinion. Sterling just wished he knew why everyone looked so dang surprised when he said his piglet’s name.
“I did,” Sterling grumbled as he walked away, heading for Bacon’s breakfast. He didn’t like people making fun of his pig.
“I wasn’t trying to offend you,” Chey said as he caught up with Sterling. “It’s just an odd name for a pig.”
“Why?” Sterling