Her Cowboy's Christmas Wish (Harlequin American Romance) (14 page)

She was past ready when Ethan nudged her legs apart and began stroking her intimate places. Her breathing went ragged, then stilled as his mouth moved down her torso to the inside of her thighs.

“I’ve dreamed of this,” he said, placing his mouth on her.

So had she. Often.

Within minutes, seconds maybe, she was arching off the bed and hovering on the brink of climax.

“I want you inside me.”

He crawled up her body, his mouth following the same trail up as it had down.

“Hurry!” she urged.

One quick tear and he had the condom open. Levering himself over her, he said, “Look at me.”

She did, and he thrust inside her.

A shattering climax seized her almost immediately. She became a piece of driftwood riding a wild, storm-churned sea. He followed soon after, clinging to her as if she alone was responsible for anchoring him to the bed.

Eventually, he loosened his grip. When he started to roll off her, she held him and pleaded, “Not yet.”

“For as long as you want, baby doll.”

Baby doll.
That was the name he’d called her in high school.

Caitlin felt her throat close again. She wasn’t usually this weepy, but it had been a long time since she’d let down her guard. A long time since she’d felt so cherished.

“What if I want you with me a really long time?”

“I can do that.” He rubbed his cheek along hers.

“I’m serious, Ethan.”

He lifted his head to peer at her, his expression filled with—did she dare think it?—love. “

Me, too.”

They would talk, needed to talk. Eventually. But not tonight.

“What would your family say if you didn’t come home till morning?”

He did roll off her then and lay beside her, his good leg draped over her. “Probably that I finally came to my senses. And that you lost yours.”

She punched him lightly in the arm. “Not possible.”

“I won’t hurt you again, baby doll. I swear.”

Caitlin believed he would try his best to keep that vow. She also wasn’t naive. Things changed without warning. Shit hit the fan. Worlds fell apart. It had happened to her before and could again.

They needed to proceed cautiously. Lift the lid of this box that was their new relationship one corner at a time.

As Ethan’s hands roamed her body once more, inducing tiny tremors in her, she forgot all about erring on the side of caution.

Pushing him onto his back, she straddled his middle, determined to drive every thought from his mind.

G
ETTING TO THE RANCH
early wasn’t a problem. Ethan and Caitlin hardly slept all night. When they did doze, it was wrapped in each other’s arms. He could still feel her tucked against him, warm and giving. Could taste her lips and skin, smell the light, flowery fragrance of her hair.

He’d brought only one condom with him. That hadn’t stopped them from enjoying each other. They’d been careful and innovative, and next time—there would be many, many more next times—Ethan would be better prepared.

“When do you have to be at the festival today?” he asked.

Stifling a yawn, she turned her van into the driveway leading to the ranch.

“Not till ten. I can probably show up at eleven and no one will notice. I just need to be there when we close at four.”

“Go home and take a nap,” he told her, squeezing her hand.

“I think I will. What about you?”

“We’re usually busy on Sundays, but with the festival, I doubt we will be today. If the girls don’t pester me to take them on a ride, I might squeeze in a little shut-eye, too.”

Any hopes they had of not being caught were dashed the moment Caitlin pulled into the open area in front of the stables. Gavin and Sage, up for an early morning outing, were helping the girls onto their horses.

Sage, Isa and Cassie waved, with big, welcoming smiles on their shining faces. Gavin simply nodded.

“Looks like you caught a break,” Caitlin said airily. “No trail ride duty today.” She didn’t appear the least bit embarrassed at being spotted sneaking Ethan home.

He decided he shouldn’t be, either. What he and Caitlin did in the privacy of her condo wasn’t anybody’s business, though there would be questions, he was sure, from Sage. His future sister-in-law didn’t ascribe to the same to-each-your-own philosophy his father and brother did.

Caitlin continued to the bunkhouse, driving slowly, and parked out front. Their goodbye kiss went on and on.

“Any plans tonight, for after the festival?” he asked, thinking he could never get enough of her lush, ripe mouth.

“Nothing definite. I was considering buying a tree.”

He liked the idea. It rang of permanence.

“Why don’t I pick you up at four-thirty? We can go for an early dinner and then head to the tree lot.”

“A date?”

“Yeah, a date.”

“Mexican?”

“Wherever. You pick the place.”

She paused for so long he thought she was going to say no. “Mexican it is.”

“Good.”
Very
good.

“We can talk.”

“Ah.” He’d been expecting that. “I suppose we have to.”

“Yes, we do.”

“I wish I could tell you I’ll stop riding broncs.”

“I wish I could tell you I have no problem with that.” She lifted his hand and pressed the knuckles to her cheek. “Be patient with me. I swear I’ll try my hardest to cope.”

“I don’t want you to always be worrying about me.”

“It comes with the territory. Because of who I am, my profession, my brother, and because of how I feel about you.”

He was tempted to ask her exactly how she felt about him but decided to wait until dinner tonight.

“One day at a time, okay?” she said.

“Sounds good to me.”

“See you at four-thirty.”

“If not sooner.”

Her eyebrows rose.

“I was so busy with the wagon rides, I never got a chance to check out the festival. Is it possible to get a tour?”

“I’ll see what I can arrange.” Her mouth curved up in a smile that proved irresistible.

They were going to be all right, Ethan thought during another lingering goodbye kiss. This time, their relationship would last. It wouldn’t be easy, but unlike when they were young, they knew full well the obstacles facing them, and that would make all the difference.

Caitlin could hardly believe it was Christmas Day already. The ten days following the Holly Days Festival had flown by in a blur. A happy, exciting, cloud nine kind of blur where she and Ethan were together every possible minute. They didn’t run out of things to talk about or places to go. Neither did they tire of making love. Most nights they ended up at her place—no prying eyes and nosy family members, particularly those age twelve and under.

Missing the lower half of his left leg affected Ethan very little. He was an incredible lover. Attentive, considerate and generous. He also brought an emotional intensity to their lovemaking that hadn’t been there years ago. She found that aspect more exciting than anything else.

She had wanted to spend today at the ranch with the Powells, but that wasn’t possible because of her family obligations. No way on earth would her mother have tolerated her missing Christmas dinner.

By late afternoon, Caitlin couldn’t wait a moment longer to see him, and after calling Ethan, left for the ranch with a promise to return to her parents’ by seven. Or seven-thirty. Maybe even eight.

“You made it.” He hurried across the back patio to meet her.

“Finally!” Eight o’clock for sure.

Caitlin had attended Christmas Eve service with the Powells, their first time stepping inside a church together since Ethan’s mother’s funeral. It had been a sentimental and moving experience, for Caitlin, as well.

Afterward, they’d returned to the ranch for coffee and dessert. Isa had hot chocolate. Cassie insisted on drinking coffee like the grown-ups. Her face as she forced down each sip had had everyone in stitches.

“I’ve missed you.” Ethan lifted Caitlin off her feet and held her tight.

“Me, too.” She liked being eye level with him, and showed him how much by giving him a smacking kiss on the lips.

He set her down then, but was slow to release her. “Hungry?”

“Are you kidding? Mom made enough food to feed five families.”

“Same here. We’ll be eating leftovers for a month.”

“Everyone inside?”

“Mostly outside. Gavin wants to try riding Prince again today.”

“Is he still giving Gavin a hard time?”

“It’s funny. Gavin and Prince have always had this special connection. But for some reason, Prince doesn’t like him riding him. He hasn’t been able to get on the mustang since the day we broke him.”

They strolled in the direction of the stables. Caitlin could see Gavin in the round pen with Prince.

“It’s Christmas,” she said. “Don’t you guys ever take a day off work?”

“Riding Prince isn’t work.”

“Spoken like a true cowboy.”

The setting sun gave everyone and everything it fell on long, skinny shadows, and a strong breeze from the east tousled hair and jackets. After the hectic family celebra
tion, Caitlin welcomed the quiet change of pace the ranch afforded.

And she’d missed Ethan.

They hadn’t resolved any of their issues. He was still riding broncs at Clay’s arena. They didn’t talk about it, and Caitlin chose not to think about it. Avoidance, yes. Denial, absolutely. And the day would come when they’d have to deal with both his lifestyle choices and her fears.

Next week, maybe, after New Year’s and the high school jackpot. She wasn’t about to put a damper on the holidays. Till then, she could almost pretend Ethan didn’t court danger on a regular basis. It was easy as long as he didn’t show up in her clinic injured, and she didn’t have to watch him ride broncs at the rodeo arena.

“Merry Christmas,” Caitlin said to Gavin when they reached the pen.

“Same to you,” he answered distractedly, without taking his eyes off Prince.

At the sight of Ethan, the horse nickered and bobbed his head.

“He likes me better,” he whispered to Caitlin.

“Who could blame him?” she whispered back.

He leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek, which turned into a brief kiss, then a deep one.

“Ew!”

The comment came from Isa, who rode up on old Chico, the horse’s dull clip-clop an excuse for a trot. Cassie was noticeably absent. She’d gone to visit her mother back in Connecticut during the school break between Christmas and New Year’s.

“No comments from the peanut gallery,” Ethan admonished the little girl, though his voice was hardly stern.

“Caitlin, see my new boots?” Isa stuck out her foot to show off a brand-new pink boot with black trim.

“Very pretty.” It had taken some coaxing to get both girls to call her Caitlin away from school and the clinic. “How’s Cassie doing?”

“She’s coming home next week!” Isa squirmed excitedly. “I can’t wait. Mama’s going to take us to buy dresses for the wedding.”

“Really?” Caitlin looked at Ethan for confirmation. “She’s coming home?”

Gavin’s custody arrangement with his daughter had been only temporary. There was a chance when he’d put her on the plane to Connecticut that she might not come back until the following summer, if then.

“Cassie called this morning to tell Gavin the news,” Ethan said. “She asked to live with him permanently, and her mother agreed.”

Caitlin’s heart soared. What a truly wonderful Christmas present for the Powells. “I’m so glad for both of them.”

“Gavin’s happy. Or he was,” Ethan corrected, “until today.” He stooped and climbed through the rungs into the pen.

Caitlin watched, leaning her forearms on the second rung. Isa also watched, from her vantage point atop Chico.

Prince was in a mood, for sure. He alternately pawed the ground impatiently and swung his head from side to side. Twice he bared his teeth at Gavin.

Ethan approached the horse with less caution than Caitlin deemed prudent. She bit her tongue to stop from crying out.

“Easy, boy,” he crooned.

To her surprise, Prince settled almost immediately. Even pushed his nose into Ethan’s hand.

“Try getting on now,” he suggested to his brother.

Gavin collected the reins, took hold of the saddle horn and raised his foot to put it in the stirrup.

Huffing loudly and humping his back, Prince danced sideways. He got only as far as Gavin’s hold on him allowed.

“Stand!” Gavin commanded.

Prince stared at him, challenge burning in his eyes.

“What’s with him?” Caitlin muttered.

“There’s some new mares in the motel,” Isa answered. “He always acts stupid around mares.”

Caitlin didn’t want to think about how knowledgeable Isa was on horse breeding.

Ethan reached out to stroke Prince’s neck. The stallion permitted it, though he stood stiff and tense.

“That’s it…” Ethan murmured.

Caitlin studied the two brothers, alike and yet so different. Both were intense. Ethan, however, was outgoing and gregarious, whereas Gavin tended to be reserved and private. Both loved passionately and both had suffered immeasurably when they’d lost a loved one. While Gavin withdrew, Ethan ran.

What would happen if Ethan was confronted with another devastating loss? Caitlin couldn’t bear it if he left again.

“Go on, you ride him.” Gavin nodded at Ethan. “One of us ought to.”

“I’ll warm him up for you.”

With the ease of an experienced horse trainer, Ethan swung up into the saddle. Prince’s legs trembled violently. But when Gavin released his hold on the bridle, the mustang circled the pen, responding perfectly to Ethan’s cues. Walk, trot, lope and walk once more.

Man and horse were so beautiful. Ethan, tall and rugged in the saddle. Prince, strong and athletic, his long black mane and tail flowing in the wind like silky banners.

Caitlin wasn’t the only one captivated. She glanced at Gavin and Isa and noted the two of them couldn’t stop staring, either.

Ethan nudged Prince into a fast lope, then reined him to a
sudden stop that ended with a shower of dirt exploding from beneath his hooves.

Caitlin let out a small gasp.

“Back, boy, back.”

Prince lowered his hind quarters and dug his hooves into the ground, each backward step given reluctantly—a hard-won victory for Ethan. Such strength and power in the horse, yet Ethan controlled it with ease. Thrived on it. Reveled in it.

It must be like that when he rode broncs.

Who was Caitlin to take that from him for purely selfish reasons?

After a half-dozen more turns around the pen at a comfortable trot, Ethan brought Prince to a halt beside his brother, an elated grin on his face.

“Your turn.”

“What do you think?” Gavin asked the horse.

Prince rubbed his head on Gavin’s jacket sleeve and exhaled lustily.

“All right, partner, if you say so.” He patted the horse and took hold of the bridle so Ethan could dismount. “Let’s give it a go.”

Ethan grabbed the saddle horn and removed his left foot from the stirrup. Prince stood quietly, and Caitlin dared to relax. She could do this, she thought—watch Ethan ride and not suffer a panic attack.

One second the air was still, the next a cold gust of wind whipped past them. An empty plastic bag tumbled through the rails and into the round pen.

Prince balked and snorted, disliking the object and the crackling noises it made. That might have been the end of it if the plastic sack hadn’t brushed against his underside. The horse went into a frenzy, kicking out with his back legs.

“What’s wrong?” Isa asked in a small, scared voice.

Before Caitlin or anyone could answer her, Prince bolted, galloping around the pen. Ethan held on, his prosthesis flapping uselessly.

“Whoa, whoa!” he hollered, sawing on the reins.

Prince came to a stop, only to rear, his front legs slashing the air. Gavin dodged out of the way, escaping one sharp hoof that came perilously close to his face.

Ethan leaned forward in the saddle, struggling to maintain his balance.

Caitlin pressed her hands to her mouth, willing him to stay seated. He’d ridden a crazed Prince once before, on the day he broke him. He could do it again.

At last Prince came down. Nostrils flaring and flanks heaving, he stood quietly, even hanging his head.

“Is it over?” Isa squeaked.

Caitlin dared to breathe. “I think so.”

“Easy there,” Ethan murmured, and visibly relaxed.

Without warning, Prince tensed, then bucked again. High.

Ethan flew out of the saddle. Sailing head over heels, he landed in the dirt with a gut-wrenching thud, then lay immobile.

“Uncle Ethan!” Isa screamed.

Blood-chilling fear galvanized Caitlin, and she ran to the gate.

“Stay back!” Gavin shouted.

At the sound of his voice, Prince spun and charged, flinging Gavin against the railing.

Rearing yet again, the horse came down on Ethan’s still form, his front hooves striking him repeatedly in the center of his back.

Free at last of both humans and the terrifying plastic sack, Prince loped in circles, stirrups bouncing and reins dangling.

“Are you all right?” Caitlin hollered to both men.

Neither one answered.

Disregarding her own safety, she flung the gate open.

“Look out!”

At Gavin’s warning, Caitlin dived to her left, narrowly avoiding being trampled by Prince as he lunged through the opening and thundered toward the stables.

Caitlin raced into the round pen. “Ethan, can you hear me? Ethan!” She dropped down beside him, frantically taking in every detail. The closed eyes. The irregular breathing. The cuts and contusions. “Ethan, sweetie, can you hear me?”

His eyelids fluttered once, then went still.

Gavin stumbled toward them.

She looked up at him. “Do you have a cell phone on you? Call 911.”

“Give him a minute. He’ll come around.”

“A minute? Are you insane?”

She was normally levelheaded in a crisis, one of the qualities that made her a good nurse. With Ethan hurt, being levelheaded flew out the window.

“Call 911 and do it now!”

Removing his phone from his pocket, Gavin placed the call.

Caitlin touched Ethan’s bare head, his arm and back with just the tips of her fingers. She didn’t dare disturb him, having no idea the seriousness of his injuries. A concussion, no doubt. Fractured bones. Internal injuries. A broken neck. Oh, dear God, he’d landed so hard, and his left arm lay at an unnatural angle. His hat sat upside down on the other side of the pen.

“Ethan, please.” Tears blurred her vision, and her voice splintered. “Talk to me.”

“He’s going to be okay.”

She was only dimly aware of Gavin’s voice as it penetrated her escalating terror.

“You don’t know that.”

Her composure crumpled. She was once again in the hospital, pacing the halls, waiting for the doctors to deliver news of Justin’s condition. And when it finally came, it had devastated her and her parents.

Sobbing, she barely felt Gavin’s hand giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

“Go fetch your mother,” he told Isa, who scampered off.

“Stay with me, sweetie…” Caitlin would give anything to hold Ethan in her arms, lay his head in her lap and stroke his hair. All she could do was watch helplessly as his chest rose and fell with each shallow breath he drew.

Where was the closest fire station? She couldn’t remember.

Ethan groaned softly.

“I’m here. I’m here.” She tentatively stroked his cheek with her index finger.

“See, I told you,” Gavin said. “He’ll be fine.”

Only, Gavin was wrong. Ethan didn’t rouse, and his face lost even more color.

“Gavin!” Sage came out of nowhere. “What can I do?”

“Keep everyone away. Direct the emergency vehicles here. And tell Javier to find Prince.”

How could he care about that damn stupid horse after it had nearly killed his brother?

Finally, mercifully, she heard the distant wail of a siren.

“Help’s on the way, sweetie,” she told Ethan. “It won’t be long now.”

Long until what? The doctors came to the hospital waiting area and delivered a hopeless prognosis?

Ethan had been through so much already. He’d lost his mother and his leg. Plus the cattle operation that had been in his family for a hundred years. It wasn’t fair. He didn’t deserve tragedy heaped upon tragedy.

The paramedic unit pulled up alongside the round pen.
Two uniformed men rushed through the gate, lugging equipment. A fire truck came next. As Gavin guided Caitlin out of the way so the paramedics could examine Ethan, more uniformed men arrived. Seven altogether.