Hara's Legacy (2 page)

“Justin, please don’t go,” Jane pleaded with him. She was afraid if he left now, he’d never return. Those five years he’d been away had hurt her terribly. She didn’t want to live through that again. She needed all the brothers, together, with her. “Please.”

Justin turned to her, his eyes pained but resigned. “Just for a little while, Jane. I need to think some things through. I promise you, I won’t go for good without saying goodbye.” She sobbed, turning to Caleb. His arms came around her while his eyes flashed fire at his brother.

“Go. But you damned well better be back in three days. That’s the limit of my patience.” Caleb guided Jane aside while Justin rolled the bike out the door. He led her to the chair, settling her there before he left to join Justin on the dirt driveway that led from the barn.

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“It hurts her when you’re gone.” Caleb stepped into his brother’s path. “She pined for you those five years you were away.”

Justin looked as if he’d been sucker punched and Caleb knew his brother hadn’t quite realized that little fact.

“She was nearly as bad when Mick was in school, but at least she knew he’d be back on holidays and she knew where he was.” Caleb kicked a pebble out of the drive. “She needs all of us, Jus. Her emotional bond to us is strong and her own feelings very fragile. I’m afraid if you leave us for good, she’ll never be truly happy again.”

“God, Caleb! Don’t lay this on me.” Justin looked up to the sky as if for strength. “If I stay, I’ll make her miserable too. I can’t control what I feel anymore and I don’t want to hurt either of you.” Caleb sighed. “You love her, don’t you?” Justin’s eyes hardened, but he refused to speak. “I don’t mean like a brother. I mean, you want her, right? Like Mick’s always wanted her too.”

“Jesus!”

“It’s okay,” Caleb said resignedly. “I knew Mick loved her from the start, but back then… Well, it was easy to find women, and he was in school. You were gone and she needed one of us to bring her into our family. She belongs with us. I figured Mick would get over it. But now—”

“It’s impossible,” Justin said with resignation. “It’s just frustration. Any woman would do.” Caleb looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. “You think so?” Justin refused to answer, just put on his helmet and straddled the bike.

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“You go find a woman then,” Caleb advised. “Fuck her good and hard and then tell me if it satisfies you like just the thought of fucking Jane.”

“God, Caleb! Have a little mercy. This is your wife you’re talking about!” Caleb nodded. “And I love her more than life. But I’m not the one she should have married. I stole her from Mick, or maybe even from you, if you’d been home. She always followed you around when she was a kid. More than either me or Mick. She was fascinated by you, and I think she still is. I’ve seen the way she looks at you.”

“All the more reason for me to go.” He kicked back the stand and balanced the bike as he prepared to start the powerful engine.

Caleb reached out to put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Things have changed in our world, Justin. I know it’s hard to accept, but the world we knew is over. We have to adjust to this new way of living and find a way to all be happy. One life is all we get and we were luckier than most. Don’t ruin it by running.” Justin looked up into Caleb’s eyes, questions circling visibly in his own. “You’ve seen something, haven’t you?”

Caleb nodded once and shook his head to halt further questions. “Go to the village. You’ll find a woman there. Give her this.” He handed over a gold chain and crystal pendant that had been in their family for generations. Justin’s eyes widened. “Do reconnaissance. See what’s going on and bring back news. The future isn’t clear to me yet and I need more information if I’m going to be of any use to this family.”

“Caleb,” Justin grasped his brother’s hand firmly and with purpose, “you’ve already saved us many times over. You’re our leader.” He let go, but his dark eyes sparkled with new purpose. “I’ll get the information you need and I’ll be back.”

“Three days, Jus. No longer. And fuck that woman long and hard. Bring her some pleasure to remember you by. If she likes you, I think it could help us in the end.”

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Justin knew better than to question Caleb’s cryptic words, having lived with them all his life, but Caleb knew this was by far the oddest set of instructions he’d ever given anyone.

“I’ll be back in three days.”

With a roar, the big machine started and Justin took off down the dirt road. Caleb turned with a sigh to see Jane waiting in the open doorway, her dark auburn hair glinting in the sun. He wasn’t sure how much of the conversation she’d heard, but probably quite a bit judging from her stormy expression.

“Do you really think you stole me from your brothers?” she asked, making his breath catch. It was his deepest, darkest secret, and now she knew. He wanted to collapse right there on the spot and cry like a child, but he had to be strong. For her.

“Didn’t I?”

His tone was desolate, and her eyes filled again. She stepped forward, into his embrace, loving him.

“Never, Caleb. I love you with all my heart.”

She reached up and kissed him then, not objecting at all when he took the kiss deeper and backed her into the barn with an urgency they hadn’t felt in a long time. She didn’t object when he pushed her into Justin’s hideaway, kicking the door shut behind them. And she didn’t object when he peeled off her jeans and panties in one move, dropping them to the side of the big easy chair. He plopped her down into the chair and knelt before her.

He spread her legs wide, dangling them in the air above his shoulders as he smiled. She was wet for him already.

“I love you, Jane. I love everything about you.” He bent over her to lick her, pausing at the hard nubbin at the apex of her thighs. Sucking her into his mouth, he felt the contractions in her tummy, signaling her excitement. He moved lower to stab his tongue into her in sharp bursts, making her come with little effort.

He knew she loved it when he went down on her, probably as much as he loved her going down on him.

But he was a desperate man with no time for finesse. Lowering his jeans just enough, he knelt in front of her, his cock at just the right

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height with the chair to do the job. With a bold thrust, he impaled her, his hands sliding up her legs to hold them high above as he shafted her.

He loved the small cries she made as she neared climax, spurring him on. He drove into her over and over, his cock a tight fit even after years of loving her. It never got old with Jane, she matched him so well, was open to every one of his desires.

“Faster!” she whispered.

He liked being open to her desires too. When she sent what she wanted directly into his mind, in her rare bursts of telepathy, the sex had been unbelievably good. But Jane wasn’t a strong telepath and only deep emotion got her thoughts through to him—or maybe it was his own gift of telepathy joining them at such times.

He sped up, swirling his cock inside her to bring that little extra pressure she needed. Within moments, she was shivering and contracting around him, milking his spurting cock for all it was worth.

“God, I love you,” he whispered, licking a drop of sweat from the side of her neck as he collapsed over her. He released her legs and they came to rest on his back, crossed daintily as she held him tight her.

“Never doubt my love for you, Caleb.” She kissed his neck, making him want to fuck her all over again, but while the spirit was willing, the flesh was weak. He needed time to recover.

Caleb straightened, meeting her sultry eyes as he rested against her. “I do love you, Jane. But I still feel like I got away with something when you agreed to marry me. I caught you at a low point in your life.

Your father had just died and neither Mick nor Justin were around to fight me for you.”

“Would you have fought for me?”

The idea seemed to titillate her and he was amused. He was forever learning new facets of this wonderful, magical woman who was his wife.

He growled, bending down to nip at her shoulder. “You bet your sweet ass I would have fought for you.

Back then, I would have died to keep you all to myself.” She stilled and he straightened once more, his gaze holding hers.

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“And now?”

He considered for a moment, all levity gone. “What I told Justin is true. The world as we knew it is over.” He lifted off her and was oddly pleased by her short whimper of protest as he withdrew. He pulled up his jeans and handed her the panties and jeans he’d turned nearly inside out in his earlier haste.

He had to smile at that. They hadn’t been so hot for each other in months, though their sex life was never dull. Still, the added edge made it even better, though he hadn’t thought it possible. That she was adventurous sexually was a good thing which might just make what had to come next palatable.

She dressed quickly, trying to keep him in her line of sight. No doubt she was feeling his every emotion, so tuned was she to him, but he had no solid answers. Still, he owed her some explanation of his conflicted feelings.

“What have you seen?” She stood, fully dressed now, and took his hand. They walked out of the room and back through the barn toward the house, picking up the eggs along the way as he tried to put his chaotic thoughts in order. She waited patiently, having been through this with him before.

“Change is coming. Big change.” Only his hand in hers kept her calm, he knew. She could feel everything he felt and he had to work to channel his emotions, to reassure her. “The aliens are curious about us, but they don’t see us as people. They see us sort of like we see the cattle, or maybe more accurately, as we see insects. Interesting, but not useful for any real purpose and quite disposable.”

“Did I just hear Justin roar away?” Mick’s deep voice intruded on the moment as he joined them.

Mick was the youngest O’Hara brother, who’d grown steadily quieter and more serious since the cataclysm. He’d almost finished veterinary school when Caleb called him home. He doctored the animals and the family when they got sick, and ran their small herds. He also took in strays and doctored them back to health. Birds with broken wings, baby animals who’d lost their mamas, they all came to Mick.

Somehow, he

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could communicate with them—not like he used his very strong telepathy to speak with his brothers, but it was communication, nonetheless. He could calm them and reassure them and let them know he would help. It was a useful gift on a ranch full of animals surrounded by wild forest.

Mick had brought small gifts to Jane, even as a child. Her first kitten had been a gift from Mick, and the puppy that followed a few years later. He’d helped her with school science projects, incubating duck eggs until she had her own small flock living on her daddy’s pond back inMontana . He’d been a scamp and a good playmate to her while she was growing up. He was the closest in age to her, but he’d been away in veterinary school when her father died and Caleb had stolen her heart.

He had golden hair and flashing blue eyes—the only one of the O’Hara boys to inherit their sainted mother’s laser blue gaze?while Justin had deep brown pools that seemed to see into the darkest parts of a person’s soul, and Caleb’s eyes were a warm, grassy green. Both older brothers had dark brown hair, though Caleb’s was so dark as to be almost black.

“Yeah, Justin just took off for the village.” Caleb sighed and looked at Jane. “And there’s something you need to hear. I was just telling Jane what’s coming. Or what I think is coming.” Mick whistled between his teeth, taking off his work gloves as he started toward the house with them.

“That bad huh?”

Caleb nodded grimly. “Could be, if we’re not ready for it.”

* * *

They gathered at the big kitchen table and Jane poured cups of strong coffee all around while Caleb once again marshaled his thoughts. He was a very deliberate man, a thinker as well as a doer, and he had thoughtful ways that had always comforted her in times of trouble.

“So what is it?” Mick prompted, impatient as always.

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“The aliens are coming,” Jane supplied, wanting to give Caleb a bit more time to prepare his words as he saw fit.

Mick sat back, both hands on the table, clearly shocked. “What can we do?”

“I’ve already asked Justin to do some reconnaissance while he’s in the village. There’s a woman.” Caleb’s eyes squinted as if he was looking into the distance, and Mick leaned forward in interest at the mention of a woman. Women were so scarce nowadays, it was a bit of a shock to hear one was involved somehow with Caleb’s vision of the future. “She’s different. I think she’s one of the aliens.”

“And you sent Justin off to find her?” Mick was quite obviously upset, though he tried to make his complaint sound like a joke. Still, his words were clipped and his face flushed ever so slightly.

Caleb smiled ruefully. “Actually, I sent him off to fuck her.”

“What?” Mick was incredulous now.

“I don’t quite understand it myself, but it’s important that someone from this family form a bond with her.

She’s powerful, and cold, but I think she’s the key to our survival.” Jane stood from the table, trying to hide the sharp emotions that shot through her at the idea of what Caleb had sent Justin off to do. If she didn’t know herself better, she’d think she was jealous of the idea of Justin having sex with the woman. An alien at that!

Caleb continued talking with Mick, oblivious to Jane’s shock. “They’re coming. And it’s not going to be pretty, but there’s not much we can do to stop them. At least not this time. But in a few years…” Again his eyes squinted. “There’s hope, that’s all I can see right now. But not if we don’t get this alien woman sympathetic to us. That’s Justin’s job.”

“Damn,” Mick grinned boyishly, “how’d he get so lucky? I haven’t had a woman in just as long as him, but I guess I don’t rate in your visions, eh, big brother?” Jane’s gasp had Mick looking sheepish. “Sorry, Janie. I didn’t mean to be crude.”

Jane could feel the heat of a blush in her cheeks but moved back toward the table. Her family needed her.

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“It’s okay, Mick. I think I understand.” She moved her hand to cover his on the table and was nearly overwhelmed by the flash of desire he unwittingly broadcast to her before drawing away.

Caleb’s gaze flowed between his wife and his brother with a sad sort of understanding. “There’s more, but I don’t think you’ll want to hear this.”

Mick turned back to them. “After that revelation, what could be worse?” Caleb shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “This is of a more personal nature, and has to do with the frustration I know you and Justin are both feeling.” Jane flushed, remembering how she’d walked in on Justin earlier that day. He’d had his hand fisted around the longest cock she’d ever seen, his eyes closed as he sat in that damned chair, jerking off.

Undoubtedly Mick was just as sexually frustrated. If Caleb was right in thinking Mick had wanted to marry her years ago, the whole situation had just gotten even more complicated.

Couple that with the flash of desire that still had her reeling from when she touched Mick’s hand, and her thoughts turned downright shocking. But the serious expression in Caleb’s turbulent green eyes and the emotions she could feel rolling off him in waves warned that he too was facing some rather odd and unsettling thoughts. Mick must have sensed the changed mood in the air. He stood, palms held outward.

“You’re right. I don’t want to hear this.”

Caleb carried on though, planting a scandalous seed in the youngest O’Hara brother’s mind. And in Jane’s as well.

“The world as we knew it is gone, Mick. There are no women for you to make a life with. There’s only Jane and she’s been in love with all of us since she was old enough to know what love was.”

“That’s enough, Caleb.” Mick’s voice growled low in warning. Jane couldn’t handle fighting between the brothers. She went to Mick, daring to touch his arm, preparing herself as best she could for the onslaught of his emotions, but he was under tight control this time.

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“It’s all right.” Her low voice caught his attention, making him face her, making his sparking blue eyes meet hers. “Just hear him out.”

“God, Janie!” The passion in his gaze and the feelings she sensed gave her hope she could hold the family together even through the trial to come.

Caleb stood, facing his brother, remorse clear in his expression.

“I owe you an apology, Mick. Probably Justin too, but you especially. When Jane’s dad died, you were in school and Justin was gone. I thought there’d be plenty of girls who could make you forget Jane. With her empathic gift and her understanding of our own special abilities, I knew she belonged with us. I always figured it’d be you, or maybe Justin, if he ever came home. I didn’t expect to have her, but by God, I love her.” Caleb seemed to run out of steam as he sat back down, practically collapsing in his chair.

Jane released Mick, feeling the compassion in his heart as he realized his strong older brother was human after all. Things would be okay now. The air between them all was beginning to clear.

“You think I should have married Jane?” Mick sounded as if the idea wasn’t all that foreign to him. That surprised her. Jane was learning a great deal today. Things she’d never suspected.

Caleb nodded in answer to Mick’s question, his expression miserable.

“Well, I didn’t,” Jane said forcefully, reminding them both that she was there. “I married you, Caleb, so you’re stuck with me.”

He smiled as she’d intended, but Mick’s eyes were still troubled.

“He’s probably right, though, Jane.” Mick’s serious tone surprised her. “If I’d been finished with school, I would have been after you like a shot. But I had nothing to offer you at the time. I thought it was for the best that you married Caleb. He’d inherited the ranch and he could support you.” Jane’s eyes widened as she stared at Mick. Only now did she feel the emotions he’d been so adept at hiding from her for so long. He’d wanted her all this time and she hadn’t known.

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“Dammit, Mick, how’d you learn to hide your emotions from me?” That, more than anything, had her head spinning. The rest she couldn’t quite assimilate yet. She needed to think.

Mick smiled, a sparkle in his blue, blue eyes. “Fooled you, huh? Well good. It’s not healthy for a woman to know every thought in a man’s head.”

His teasing made her smile even though she was still in shock about the revelations of the past hour. “I’m not a mind reader, Mick.”

“And thank God you’re not!” Mick joked, but there was an edge to his words that didn’t escape any of them.

“With the way things turned out, well, Mick, I’m sorry.” Caleb’s quiet voice was full of remorse. Mick shrugged, but Jane could tell he was deeply moved by his brother’s words.

“It was fate. That’s all.”

“We can’t change the past, that’s for certain, but the future…” Caleb squinted again and both Jane and Mick caught their breath at what he might reveal. “The future is foggy. Like it hasn’t been since before the cataclysm.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Mick was serious, but he was never serious for long. A devil entered his eyes as he teased his brother once more. “Other than having Justin seduce an alien woman, that is? And dammit, why didn’t you pick me for the job?”

Jane chuckled and Caleb smiled despite the grim vision of the future in his head. “There’s one thing more we can do, and I’ll need your help, Mick. You’re the closest thing we have to a doctor and I need to know…”

Jane felt the difficulty Caleb had with whatever he was going to say and moved closer to him, supporting him. The regret in his eyes spoke to her.

“Whatever it is, we’ll work through it together.” She held his big hand to her lips and kissed it gently, offering comfort.

He grasped her hand so tight it hurt, but she said nothing. He needed her to be strong now. It was rare that he leaned on her. More often it was the other way around. But this time, she sensed the despair

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in his soul and knew she would do anything to remove such desolate feelings from the man she loved more than life.

“Jane, I know you’ve wanted a child and I have to wonder if there’s something wrong. I want Mick to find out why we haven’t conceived, if he can.”

She gasped at the sudden overload of emotions—her own and Caleb’s mixed with Mick’s shock and sympathy. Tears ran down her face. Caleb had managed to stun her.

“Okay.” She took deep, calming breaths. “If Mick can help us, I’ll do whatever he asks for the tests.”

“I think the problem might be with me, sweetheart, and I’m so damned sorry.” She hugged him close. Mick shuffled a bit, his own emotions tightly under control once more, his face grim.

“How will this help when the aliens come?”

Jane knew Mick’s businesslike tone was for Caleb’s benefit. He needed something to focus on that would remove him from his own sense of failure and loss.

Silently, she thanked Mick, throwing her thoughts at him the way he’d taught her as a child. She hadn’t attempted to use the very modest telepathic skills he’d taught her in over a decade, but was gratified to see him hold her gaze and nod. He’d heard her, though he was probably the only one strong enough telepathically to pick up on her weak signal. Caleb straightened, releasing her.

“If Jane is pregnant when the aliens come, they’ll spare her. That I can see for sure. If Justin is successful with the alien woman, there’s a good chance they’ll leave us all in peace, but the odds tip in our favor if Janie is pregnant.” The anguish entered his eyes again. “But whose child? If I’m sterile, it’s got to be either you or Justin, Mick.”

Jane collapsed into her chair as she realized what he was saying.

“You mean you want me to artificially inseminate her? Like she was a cow or something? Jeez, Caleb!” Mick looked both alarmed and disgusted.

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“No.”

That single word from Caleb hung in the air, with all its implications. The three of them stared at each other.

“First things first.” Caleb finally broke the silence. His shocking words had given them food for thought,

“Can you run tests to see what the problem is?”

Mick nodded shortly. “I can try.”

“Test me first, then if I’m okay, we’ll see about Jane, but I don’t think we’ll have to go that far.” Caleb’s eyes hardened and she could feel grim resolution wash through him. “We have a very short window of opportunity. If Justin is following my directions, he’s making a baby as we speak.” Jane was shocked yet again. It was a day of revelations that had her reeling. Caleb laid one of his hands over hers.

“Giving the alien woman a child will make her more sympathetic to you. It’s coming clearer now. I saw you both together in my vision, both round with pregnancy. She doesn’t understand us. She doesn’t have the same emotions we do. She’s so cold, it’s scary, but I think you’ll have pregnancy in common if my visions hold true, and it could be the key to saving us all.”

“So that means we have between three and nine months before the aliens come in earnest,” Mick said, reminding them all of the bigger picture. The brothers wore grim expressions.

“That’s about the size of it.” Caleb nodded. “Both Jane and the alien woman were showing. There was no doubt they were both heavily pregnant in my vision.”

“Dear Lord.” One thought became instantly clear in Jane’s turbulent mind. “I’m really going to have a baby?”

Caleb grasped her hand. “You’re going to be a wonderful mother, Jane. I’ve wanted that for you for a long time.”

Bittersweet tears of joy gathered in her eyes as she clasped Caleb’s hand to her heart. “I love you so much, Caleb. You’re going to be the best father.”

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“Uncle, at least.” He shrugged, trying to hide his feelings unsuccessfully.

Mick went to the door and opened it, reminding them of his presence. “We don’t know about that yet, Caleb. If it’s within my power, I’ll make it happen for you both. You deserve a child together.” Jane kissed Caleb on the cheek and rushed over to Mick before he could leave, needing to share the love and joy in her heart.

“Thank you, Mick.” She threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek much like she’d just kissed Caleb.

Mick met Caleb’s eyes over Jane’s head and Caleb nodded his understanding as Mick’s arms tightened uncontrollably, just for a moment, around the girl he’d loved since childhood.

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