RanchersHealingTouch (9 page)

“Think we really did it?” She whispers.

“Sure hope so. No way to know for sure if it takes tonight, but I have a good feeling. Lord willing, we're gonna be doing this every night until I start to see that baby bump.”

Smirking, she rolls back and kisses him goodnight – or is it good morning?

This is my anchor. Soon as I'm pregnant, I'm here for good. And nothing is going to take me away
from him.

Not the cops. Not a heartbreak. Not my stupid fears. Not even the past.

V: Remember When

Weldon Ranch hasn't seen such peace for years. The old floors creak beneath their weight over the next several weeks, floorboards that have shouldered generations witnessing the creation of a new one.

Brax dives into his work happily, but the late nights are behind him, except when administration forces him to burn the midnight oil. Even then, he creeps into bed, waking her if he needs to.

Sadie receives him eagerly, presenting her hands and opening her legs. For coupling with such a handsome man, anytime is a good time, and any amount of weariness a welcome price for his affection.

“Look at that proud bastard.” Dinkie nudges Charlie Cole, causing the gangly man to drop his wrench near the old pump.

“Damn it! Look what you made me do.” Annoyed, he looks off in the distance where his pot bellied co-worker is pointing.

After a minute, he adds his high pitched titter to Dinkie's low chuckle.

“Yeah. Guy's getting a hell of a piece, ain't he? I'm happy for him, though.”

“I wasn't sure about that hot little number he keeps as his live in maid at first. But I think she's alright now. Just as long as he keeps her out of the fields and away from the barns.”

“Come on, man. I think she's more than just a maid. Might not be too long before we have a

company wedding here.” Charlie laughs at the expression on the pudgy man's face.

Bug eyed and bewildered, Dinkie runs his dirty fingers through his windblown hair. His stomach growls, as if it's already anticipating a celebratory feast.

Taking his noontime break near the old windmill, Brax whistles an old, airy tune his father used to hum in idle moments. He stops.

“No, this isn't right. Workman's music isn't any good now. I'm better off basking in the silence.”

Smiling, he climbs the crates, shielding his eyes from the bright sun.

It's amazing what a good woman can do, a woman who gives you your deepest desires. I don't need
to tick away the minutes whistling and working anymore.

Every one of them is special now. With her, every second is precious.

The joyful thoughts sputter when he narrows his eyes. Across the field, a sleek black sedan is parked near the curb, oddly close to the spot where Sadie's Mazda had its crash.

“It can't be...”

Despite encroaching middle age, Brax knows his vision is flawless. His eyes don't deceive him.

A short balding man is huddled in the driver's seat, a slim pair of binoculars in his hand. The man brings them up to his face and begins to take in the ranch.

When he reaches the spot where Brax is standing, he freezes. They eye each other across the distance.

The rancher's fists clench at his sides. He spits at the ground and jerks his head back up, mulling a quick trip to his truck.

Inside the dark car, detective Hank throws his instruments in the passenger seat and takes off.

Open mouthed and angry, Brax watches the dust left in his wake, curling off the unpaved road like tawny streamers. He jumps to the ground, grabs his knees, and takes off for the old shed where the crushed up Mazda waits.

“Shit.”

I've got to keep everything away from here. If they raid this place, looking for evidence of – what? –

there's no telling what they could do.

I won't let them take her away from me.

He bursts into the spare garage, scraping his heels on the beaten concrete. The radio blares, the only company the elderly mechanic named Pete normally has.

“Pete! Need your attention for a second.”

The man rolls out from underneath a tractor, his cheeks splotched with oil. He looks up as though he's seen a ghost.

“Well, rare seeing you 'round these parts lately. What do you need, boss?”

“What's going on with the car over there? Is that damn thing fixed yet or not?”

The mechanic stands, wincing as he rises on old knees that have been bent for far too long. He eyes the heap of metal in the corner.

“It's getting there, slow and sure. Why? Do you need it for a spare or something?”

“Yeah. Something like that. Might have to get it out of here in a hurry.” Brax pauses.

“But in the meantime, I need that thing covered up and tucked away. We might have a safety

inspector coming through in the next week and I don't want him seeing anything around there that might not be kosher, if you know what I mean.”

The rancher inhales sharply. There's no joy in lying to the old mechanic. If it's the price of protecting Sadie, though, then he'll do it without hesitation.

Pete's eyebrows go up. “Well, you're the boss.”

Satisfied, Brax retreats, listening to Pete's annoyed mumbling about busy work as he leaves the garage. The day has darkened with grayish clouds, signaling a coming storm.

Later, he's inside cleaning up, listening to the raindrops spattering the windows. Thunder rolls overhead.

It's good to shed his shirt and pants, swapping them for cleaner clothes. A new outfit almost washes away the danger he's spotted right outside the ranch. Almost.

Wish my memory could go out like a switch. At least the part that knows Secret Agent Man is lurking
around here.

“Hey! I thought you were never coming down.”

Sadie gives him a brisk peck on the cheek. He smiles, warmed by the sight of her in a green summer dress and the appetizing spread on the table.

The stuffed chicken is just as good as the orange glazed asparagus. He laughs lightly halfway through the meal.

“Damn, beautiful. This place has really come a long way on the culinary scale since you took over.

But I'm glad you don't share this kind of stuff with the boys. My expenses would shoot up a fortune!”

“That might change one day. Everybody here works hard. Maybe they can get a nice Christmas

dinner this year?”

“If we're up for all that clean up, I'm game.” Brax takes another bite and lets the flavor lend a welcome distraction. It's good to get the rain and gloom off his mind.

Maybe I should tell her about what I saw. But what good would it do?

“I have news for you,” she says, just before dessert and coffee are normally served.

He looks up, amused at the cautious mask on her face. Sadie straightens her dress – one of the few mannerisms he's noticed that indicates nervousness.

Oh, boy. Hope it isn't bad news...I don't need any more of that today.

“I'm late, Brax. It's been that way for more than a week now. Last time we went into town, I picked up one of those home tests and...I'm pregnant.”

He locks his eyes on her, slowly digesting her confession. Then, all at once, he leaps out of his chair and gives off a wild yell that drowns out the steady thunder.

“Sadie! Is this for real?”

She's deep in his arms, with just her toes touching the ground. When he wants something, he grabs it swift and holds it tight, but now he's gotten what he wants most.

“What do you think, cowboy? I'm sure you'd turn me out if I were that kind of prankster.”

“Thank God.”

They kiss, lengthy and sweet, letting the natural patter of the rain guide their movements. Brax slowly turns around in place, stopping when he sees the table across her shoulder again.

“Clean up can wait until later. Right now, nothing's more important than getting you upstairs and showing you how much I appreciate this.”

Her lips curl up and she moistens them with her tongue. Anticipating his naked flesh is almost as enjoyable as actually feeling it on her, inside her, swarming her like she's the only woman in the world for him.

“Lead the way, Daddy.”

He grins at the title he thought he'd never hear.

They're across the threshold to the bedroom when everything outside the second story window goes blindingly white for a split second, and then fades to dark gray. The resonant thunder crack sounds like a cannon.

The light in the hallway sputters and goes out completely. Bathed in darkness, he grasps for her body, feeling his lust rise with the unexpected outage.

“Hold me tight. Protect me.”

I shouldn't be so alarmed. Somebody tell me I'm not afraid of storms too?

Sadie's breathing picks up, coming in ragged puffs. But when she settles against his chest, the panic lessens, washed away by his unique and addictive spell.

There's nothing to be afraid of here after all.

If his muscles soften her fears, then his lips are the ultimate reassurance. They nip and pluck at her silky petals. In every kiss, their hunger grows, intersecting in earthy lust.

“Strip for me. I want to feel every last inch of you, beautiful. Doesn't matter if I can see you in this darkness or not.”

More lightning crackles beyond the glass as her dress falls. The luminescence shows him the curve of her hips, the cream colored skin he loves most, winding up to her ripe breasts.

He has a faint vision of her body ripening even more with their baby, and it turns his swelling erection to steel. Brax snaps forward, holding her bare flesh close, stroking her from the top of her hair all the way to her thighs.

She falls backward onto the mattress, opening her legs. One hand catches his shoulder before she falls, dragging him with her.

Brax can't say no to such need, the same raw desire mirrored in the hot goosebumps dancing on her skin. He falls, tugging off his pants.

She helps him pop the buttons on his shirt, and before it falls, she runs her hands over his chest.

Admiring his peaks and valleys never gets old, especially as the hills grow wilder to the south.

With boxers and open shirt, she feels his hard cock beneath the fabric. The turgid length writhes in her hand, allowing her to feel its power as it flexes at her touch.

“God! I want this to make me pregnant over and over again.”

His hardness twitches a second time, angry and insistent, anticipating its creative destiny with unruly satisfaction. Brax rips away his shirt and throws it into the void around them.

She falls back toward the headboard, letting him admire her openness.

“What'll it be tonight?” She says with distant lightning gleaming in her eyes.

“No ropes. No belt. Just you and I. Open your legs for me, beautiful. These hands can hold you down, and these abs and hips will do the rest.”

Clasping her wrists in his tight hands, he pins her flat beneath him, raking his stubble across her neckline. His sharp prickles feel good.

She rubs her neck into him, hoping it leaves a mark. Their relationship has never been secret, but now she wants the entire world to see their love, to witness her devotion to him with the soft marks he leaves on her in their passion.

“Suck my skin, cowboy. Bite it hard.”

Her heated words make him bite her harder than she expects. She yelps with surprise, feeling a sharper pleasure crackle across her nerves as hot blood circulates the area around his teeth marks.

That's your reminder, Missy. I'm the one giving the orders around here,
he thinks, gliding his mouth to her breasts.

Her hard nipples turn to soft beads beneath his tongue. All the while, her hips squirm hard, desperate to draw his length inside her, not caring that her womb is already full of his growing seed.

I need him bare like nothing else! Right. Fucking. Now.

She kicks her ivory legs around him. Brax pulls her ivory nipple with his soft bite when he feels her sweet calves stroking his.

“Ahh. Careful with that. You know what it does to me, don't you?”

Her lips tilt mischievously. Brax releases one of her wrists, moving his hand to the steaming wetness between her legs, testing her swollen folds with his fingers.

“Two can play at that game. A bad girl like you deserves to be teased, Sadie.”

“Yeah? Just teased?”

His fingers push into her. She moans and sucks air, loving the way her sex conforms to his fingers.

“You're after something else, huh? Let's see how you like it on my lap.”

The exquisite curl of his fingers disappears just as soon as it starts. She groans, disappointed but curious.

He drags her onto his thighs, holding her tight against him, just on the edge of the bed. Her trim pubic hair passes over his thick cock. The contrast excites her.

“Let's see you squirm for real. Just wish I could see how red your ass gets after a few good whacks.”

A spanking? Is this for real?

She starts to laugh, but his swift palm connecting with her plump cheek silences her. The impact sounds like another bolt of lightning, except much too loud to be outside.

Frozen in shock, he smacks her opposite side, and then returns to the first. His blows smart – less painfully than she expects and strangely arousing – cranking up the wet heat to the part he's punishing.

After three or four strokes, the timing becomes predictable. She grips his hard bicep holding her in place.

One, two, three...four...five...

Wincing on the last blow, he releases her at least. Her head is spinning with confusion and lust when he lifts her up again, locking her small hands on his shoulder.

Brax lifts his body, moving them to the bed. With her on top, he rubs the invisible redness he just created on her rear, feeling the brute heat pulsing in his hands.

“You gonna be a good girl and obey?”

“Yes! Let me show you how, cowboy. Sir.” She adds the last word, almost as an afterthought.

Smiling with his eyes, he lowers her onto his cock. They exhale happily as he roots himself inside.

It's instant, enjoyable satisfaction, an easy way to get lost in the sexy enigma of how two people can fit together so perfectly.