King's Treasure (Oil Kings Book 3) by Marie Johnston (great novels .TXT) 📗

she’d grown up in. The least I could do for her was get us back to Montana.

I wrapped my arm around her and tugged her closer, grateful the conversation was over. I could deal with Montana later. Capturing her lips with mine, I deepened our kiss before pulling back to murmur, “Think we can keep the springs from squeaking?”

Chapter 16

Savvy

The airplane touched down. I had my face plastered to the window for the last hour. Giddy that I was back in the States, but already missing Kosovo and my friends, I soaked up the sights.

“I expected more mountains,” I said sheepishly. I knew nothing about Montana other than it had Yellowstone Park, mountains, and cowboys. The terrain out the window could very well have plenty of cowboys, but it was flatter. I’d spotted the river valley from Xander’s pictures as the King Oil jet descended.

A private jet. What a freaking waste of jet fuel, but we were broke for a little over five more months. Saving the world was easier with a steady cash flow.

“They’re there,” Xander replied, his usual rugged, sexy self in the same blue jeans he always wore and his hemp pullover. The cowboy boots were more worn than before from his time in the country, but he’d mentioned getting another pair while he was back. “Just not so much in eastern Montana, where there’s more buttes, and we’re in a river valley. It gets really green in the summer, but brown this time of year.”

I nodded. Yeah, green was giving way to brown outside the window. I’d expected to be surrounded by buildings and unable to see the land, but the airport at King’s Creek was a little more than a few square metal buildings that were probably hangers. A parking lot was scattered with a few cars on the other side of the main building—the actual airport.

This was a small town.

“Is it bad that this is the smallest town I’ve been to?”

Xander chuckled and unbuckled himself. He stood and stretched. The hem of his sweater rode close to the top of his waistband. I waited for the tantalizing bit of skin to show, but the damn sweater was too long.

I was getting a possessive streak regarding my husband. I’d like a room to ourselves. A bed to ourselves. And the ability to be loud when we had sex. Nothing that was a necessity, but there it was. I might not know what I wanted to be when I grew up, but free to have noisy adult relations with Xander whenever I wanted was essential.

“A few of the villages in Kosovo were smaller,” he pointed out.

“We traveled through them. We didn’t stay there.” He was from here. All of Xander’s past was here. I wasn’t sure what our future was going to be like after the start we’d gotten, but everything that made him him was in this town. Where he’d gone to school, his first kiss, the roads he’d learned to drive on.

I’d never seen him drive. “How are we getting to Dawson’s?” Did King’s Creek have Uber? Did it even have a bus?

“He and one of his hired guys, Tucker, dropped off a vehicle.” He sucked in a breath and peered out the window toward the parking lot. “Hopefully it’s not Beckett’s old wheels.”

“Why?”

He smirked. “You’ll see.” Lifting his chin toward Shirley, he said, “Great flight as always.”

The flight attendant grinned, her expression indulgent, like she’d gotten to fly her kids around the world. “You always take me to the best places.”

“Taking off somewhere else after this?”

She shook her head. “Going back to Billings to be on standby. Kendall rescheduled all the meetings for the next couple of weeks. I think we might be picking up Eva and Beckett this weekend.”

Xander’s jaw tightened. Did his family stress him out that much? I’d be thrilled if I could be with all my sisters again, even pain in the ass, bossy Em. I’d taken for granted how long we’d all lived in proximity to each other. Photos over the phone weren’t the same.

My scant luggage was waiting at the bottom of the steps leading out of the jet. Xander hefted both our bags, his backpack slung over his back. I clutched mine for dear life and smelled the fresh mountain air—

And coughed. Exhaust fumes and the smell of hot tarmac weren’t fresh mountain air. I scrunched my face up and waved my hand in front of my nose.

Xander grinned. “Living with Hector and Eris spoiled us.”

Mentioning our friends sent a pang of longing through me. Their little girl had a head full of dark hair and looked like a miniature Hector. Xander and I had stayed long enough to meet the new arrival. Brady had remained behind, muttering something about helping them through the winter, but he was always watching Rina. I hoped he lasted the winter. Hard work and a woman who didn’t put up with his shit agreed with him more than the soul-sucking job hunting he’d been doing.

A man with sparse, graying hair rushed out to meet us. He wore nothing but jeans and a T-shirt and had a set of keys dangling in his hand.

“Hey, Xander. Dawson left these for you.”

“Thanks, Rick. I’ll apologize ahead of time for the noise.”

The man chuckled. “Every time I hear those pipes, I expect to see some teenage King boys. Now that you’re all grown up behind the wheel and obeying the speed limit? It’s just odd.” He rushed back inside.

Xander led me through the one-room airport and out the front doors.

I soaked up King’s Creek. In the distance, mountains were just visible in a haze. The sun was warm, similar to the weather we’d just left.

“Will it get cold here at night too?”

“Probably. You never know. We could get snow next week and then have temps in the sixties all October.” He tipped his head toward a large, obnoxious, gas-guzzling pickup in the corner of the lot. “That’s our ride.”

“Seriously?”

“Not exactly environmentally friendly.