Lace & Lassos (12 page)

“Did someone say brownies?” Wyatt said as all of the Cameron males seemed to perk up.

“I thought you were saving those for me.” Zane swatted Jessie on the butt as she moved away from her chair.

“Ha.” She turned and shook her finger at him. “Better watch it if you want some of those brownies at all, Mister.”

He held up his hands “I give.”

Jessie glanced at Dillon who was getting ready to deal. “I’ll sit this one out,” she said before she turned away.

Zane watched his wife leave the room, clearly enjoying the view from behind.

“I’ll help with the brownies and sit this one out, too.” Danica got up from her seat. She pointed at Kaitlyn who had started to get up. “You, stay.” Danica gave a mischievous grin. “It’s great having the boys lose at cards for a change.”

Dillon started dealing cards for Texas Hold ’em.

Kaitlyn was grateful that no one asked her about the house or the problems dealing with Harold. It was nice to not have to think of it. The thought went through her head and she pushed it right out. She intended to completely enjoy tonight.

Dinner had been a smorgasbord of Italian food, breadsticks, and salad, which Kaitlyn had loved. She and Wayne had brought over a fruit salad and a case of Pepsi.

She hadn’t laughed or enjoyed herself so much in as long as she could remember. She loved the easy way the Camerons talked and joked with one another and how they had brought her back into their fold like she’d never left.

Jessie brought out a plate full of brownies and Danica started handing them out on paper napkins to everyone around the table.

Kaitlyn made a sound of appreciation as she took a bite of the rich chocolate treat. “These are amazing.”

The brothers dittoed her comment and for a moment the game was on hold.

When they got back to the game, Kaitlyn won that hand and the next.

“I’m out.” Wyatt tossed his cards onto the pile with everyone else’s. “There’s no beating Kaitlyn tonight.”

“I was just getting started.” Kaitlyn began counting her chips. “Looks like ninety-eight grand is mine.”

Danica cashed out Kaitlyn’s chips and handed her ninety-eight dollars out of the bowl of cash. They’d each put in twenty so that left twenty-two dollars to divide up between the other players who still had chips.

She and Wayne said goodnight then walked out of Zane and Jessie’s ranch house. It was the home that had been in the family for generations. As the oldest, Zane inherited the house and a portion of land. Each son and the one daughter had inherited land and cash that equaled approximately the value of the ranch house. The Camerons had done well over the past century and that wealth had been passed on through the family.

Wayne held Kaitlyn’s hand as they walked out to his truck. “I really enjoyed tonight,” she said with a smile. “Thank you for bringing me.”

He stopped and took her into his arms. “Are you kidding? You’re part of the family.” He brushed his lips over hers. “And this time I’m not letting you go anywhere.”

Chapter 12

“Win!” Kaitlyn grinned at Wayne as she pointed to her target. “All six shots, bull’s eye.” She raised the barrel of her 30/30 rifle and blew on it as if blowing away smoke before she lowered the gun again.

He looked at his own target and shook his head. Five shots neatly in the bull’s eye, but the sixth a fraction outside the line. “And to think, I was considered a sharpshooter.”

She laughed. He loved her laughter, loved that side of her. Since she’d returned he hadn’t seen it and had been determined to. He’d done his best to get her mind off of what was happening in her life right now and it seemed that he was succeeding at least temporarily.

“You and Daddy taught me well,” she said with a grin. “So you were a sharpshooter in the service?” she continued as they took their targets with them and walked back toward the horses.

He nodded. “Something like that.”

She tilted her head to the side. “What did you do while you were in Special Forces?”

Memories flashed through his mind. The thunder of gunfire. Friends shot and going down. Agony as a bullet slammed into his knee. Crawling to his dying brothers-in-arms.

Pain seared his head and he shook it off. “Fought in the war like everyone else.”

She rolled her eyes. “Mr. Modest War Hero.”

“I’m no hero, Kait.” He took her target and rolled it up with his own. He stuffed them into a saddlebag then holstered their rifles. “I just did my job.”

They both mounted their horses and she was quiet for a moment. “I want to know everything about you, Wayne. Don’t hold anything back from me.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said, fighting off the familiar feelings of anger and pain when he was reminded of the war and the loss of his friends.

“I want you to tell me about it.” Her voice was firm. “I shared some tough moments in my life. I want to know what you went through.”

He raised his Stetson just enough to push his hair back in a frustrated movement. So much tension balled inside of him when he thought about that time. But she was right, if he expected her to tell him things that were hard to talk about, then he should do the same for her.

“I can’t share a lot of it,” he said and she tipped her own western hat up a bit so that she could meet his eyes. “You know, classified.”

“Tell me what isn’t classified,” she said as she studied him

“I’ll tell you as we ride.” He patted his mare’s neck. Lily started forward and Kaitlyn’s gelding, Jack, started walking at their side.

He took a deep breath. “When we were in Afghanistan, my team of six was assigned to take out an important target.”

“A terrorist?” she asked.

“That’s the part I can’t talk about, but lets say we had our target to take out.” Somehow the bright sunshine helped pushed away the darkness that always seemed to accompany his memories of that time. “We located our target and were waiting for the right time to take him out…but we were ambushed. At least fifty to our six.”

She seemed to hold her breath as he told the story.

“We fought them off for a long time and my guys were shot up pretty bad.” He forced himself to continue as he relived that day in his mind. “A couple of guys on our team were trapped and needed help. By the grace of God I was able to get to them and fought off the enemy. Took out a whole lot of the bad guys.

“When there was a break in gunfire,” he went on, “I helped one of my men get out of the spot we were in and to a safer area. We barely made it without getting shot. Then I went back for the other guy. Tried to get him to relative safety, too.” He rubbed his knee. “That’s when I took one in my knee. Managed to crawl back with him, but he took another bullet and died as I dragged him with me.”

The sometimes ache in his knee flared up, whether real or imagined, he didn’t know. “By the time reinforcements arrived, all five other members of my team were dead.” The backs of his eyes burned as he continued. “I was the only one who survived.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said quietly. “What were the three medals that you received?”

He shrugged. “The Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, and a Purple Heart.”

“Tell me about the medals,” she said.

“Just got the star for some other things I did.” He looked uncomfortable. “The Purple Heart was not a big deal. Only got that for not being able to get out of the way of the bullet that tore up my knee.”

“What did you do after you were injured?” she asked.

“I could have stayed in, but I went in to fight,” Wayne said. “I wouldn’t make much of a trainer and I never saw myself as an administrative guy. With my leg like it was, my days as a Green Beret were done. It was the end of my time and I decided to not continue.”

She nodded. “What did you do next?”

“I went to the families of the five guys who lost their lives and told their relatives how brave they were. I’ve never seen anything like what they did,” he said quietly. “Then I came home.”

By her expression he knew that she wanted to comfort him.

“It’s strange being here knowing I came back but those guys didn’t,” he said. “It made me appreciate this.” He gestured around them then turned his attention back to her. “Two things saved my life from wasting away from drinking and partying, and throwing away my life. You saved me and serving my country saved me.”

“I wasn’t here for you then,” she said, her voice small.

“We’ve already been through that.” He met her gaze. “You saved my life by what you did before you left and by what you had to do by leaving.”

She said nothing.

“I still have friends there.” He thought about the men who were still fighting. “The Green Berets are a brotherhood, the closest I ever felt to family other than my own family. It made me appreciate even more my brothers, sister, and aunt. We stick together.”

He continued, “I’m one of the fortunate ones. Not everyone has what I have.”

Something inside him seemed to swell as he looked at her. Kaitlyn had been the love of his life, and she still was. Even though he’d lost her for a while, somehow he’d known he’d get her back. When he’d learned she was married a part of him had shattered but he moved on. But now he had her. She was his and he wasn’t about to let her go again.

He changed the subject to some of their escapades as children and soon he had her laughing again.

The saddle creaked as the gelding, Jack, picked its way through the small canyon and sunshine was warm on Kaitlyn’s face. She’d laughed so hard at the stories Wayne had reminded her of that now her stomach hurt.

She swayed with the rhythm of the Quarter horse’s movements and the clip-clop of Jack’s hooves echoed through the canyon. She imagined that cowboys in the Old West had been right here in this very area and she pictured the cowboys’ horses coming to a halt and drinking from the stream just ahead of them, beneath the old oak trees.

“You look like you’re going to fall asleep.” Wayne’s voice roused her from her daydreaming and she looked at him. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a date fall asleep on me before.”

“Is that what this is?” She looked at him from under her straw western hat and smiled. “A date?”

His grin was purely sexual as he brought his mare, Lily, closer to her mount. Their knees brushed and she felt a thrill in her belly. It amazed her how just touching him could send electrical sensations throughout her body.

“Why not?” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, whatever time I spend with you is special.”

She returned his grin as Jack stopped next to the stream. “You know the sweetest things to say.”

Wayne’s mare came to a halt a few feet away from Jack, and both Kaitlyn and Wayne dismounted.

“Used to make the best mud pies here when we were young.” She walked to the stream, knelt beside it, and slipped her fingers into the mud. “The perfect consistency.”

He gave a low laugh and crouched beside her. “If you dig deep enough you can probably come up with some earthworms. Weren’t you saying how much you enjoyed them in your lunch box?”

“You’re lucky I’m not squeamish.” She picked up a handful of mud. “Or you might be eating this.”

Wayne gave her a wink. “Hungry?”

She rinsed mud off her fingers in the stream. “Not yet. But go ahead and eat if you are. I might even find a worm for you to go with your sandwich.”

“Is that right?” He cupped the back of her head with his hand. “Trying to start a war?”

“Is that what you call it?” She moved her mouth closer to his. “A war?”

“Mmmm.” He brought his mouth down and brushed her lips with his. “If that’s what it takes to make you mine.”

“It’s going to take a lot more than that,” she murmured.

He smiled against her lips. “I’m up to the challenge.”

“Go ahead,” she whispered. “Try me on for size.”

Wayne kissed her hard, taking her by surprise. He took her down to the ground so that she was on her back and he had her pinned with his big body. Small but smooth rocks poked into her back. She struggled, trying to break free, but he was too big, too strong.

“No fair,” she said when he drew away. “You’re bigger than me and you didn’t give me a chance to prepare.”

“The element of surprise is important in a war.” He kissed her hard again and he groaned as she kissed him back with as much fervor.

Heat rose inside her and she braced her palms on his shoulders. She wore a blouse that only reached her midriff and he pushed it up and over her breasts.

She caught her breath as he licked her nipple through the lace of her bra. He moved his mouth to her other breast and sucked the nipple before lightly biting it. She grew damp between her thighs and squirmed with desire. That was all it took with Wayne. Amazing kisses and the way he touched, stroked, and licked her body.

He pulled her bra beneath her breasts and sucked her nipples even harder and she reached between their bodies and grasped his cock through his jeans. He was big and hard and she didn’t want to wait long to have him inside of her.

“Come on, Wayne.” Her breath was already coming in an uneven tempo. “I want you now.”

He caught her hand in his then grasped both wrists in one of his hands and put her arms over her head, stretching her out.

“In war, prisoners are taken and restrained.” He pumped his hips against hers, rubbing his cock on her belly.

He stood up in such a smooth, fast movement that he caught her off guard. She cried out in surprise as he threw her over his shoulder.

“What are you doing?” She hung upside down, her ponytail over her head as she laughed.

He reached the horses. “Like I said, prisoners need to be restrained.”

She couldn’t see what he was doing but she heard the creak of leather and a brushing sound as he retrieved something from the saddle or saddlebags.

Blood was rushing to her head, making her lightheaded. Her bare breasts rubbed against his black shirt and the ache between her thighs increased. Whatever he had planned, she wanted him to hurry. She wanted him now.

Her ponytail swung over her head as he turned around and started walking toward the oak trees. Her heart beat faster.