by Susan Stoker, Cristin Harber, Cora Seton, Lynn Raye Harris, Kaylea Cross, Katie Reus, Tessa Layne
Then he flopped down on it, reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a slip of paper. Cass wondered what it was. It had to be meaningful because Brian stared at it a long time before crumpling it up in his fist and sighing. He looked up at the stone. “I hope you’re telling the truth.”
Cass stilled. Had he asked it a question and received a response? She hadn’t expected that. Like most people, he’d treated the whole thing as a big joke, and she couldn’t blame him. You had to live with the stone, see it get things right over and over and over again before you stopped trying for logic and just accepted what was.
Suddenly conscious she’d intruded on a private moment, Cass stepped back, but she must have made a sound because Brian was on his feet in an instant.
“Cass? Is something wrong?”
“No. Nothing’s wrong.” If you didn’t count the missing money, the rebellious hands, Alice’s premonitions, Jo’s disappearance and the multiple buckets even now waiting to catch the leaks from the oncoming storm.
“Good.” He glanced at the stone. “Oh, I can leave you alone, if you like…”
“No, I was looking for Jo. I’m not sure where she’s gotten to.”
“Are you worried about her?” He gestured to the bench. “Why don’t you sit down?”
“Okay.” Cass did, admiring its beautiful construction. Brian sat down beside her.
“You don’t mind, do you? That I put it here? Seemed like a good place for one.” He looked a little sheepish. “After making fun of Alice, I figured it was the least I could do. She seemed to like it.”
Cass studied him and wondered again if he was truly a different breed from the men she’d known—or if he was just more devious. She wanted to believe there were good men in the world, but with the year she was having, that was hard.
“It was a lovely thing to do.”
“Well, I’ve waltzed in here and trespassed on your hospitality. I know you don’t want me here. Figured I’d better start making myself useful or you’ll never change your mind.”
His grin made it hard for her to keep hold of her common sense. “Can I ask you something? Why did you take this particular mission?”
He dropped his gaze to his hands resting on his knees. “I didn’t have much of a choice. You rarely do with missions, you know.”
“Does the Navy really allow Army generals to send their SEALs to Montana?”
“Not usually.” Brian sighed. “I fucked up. Big time. Ran a mission wrong, got in a mess of trouble. Navy wanted to keep things as quiet as possible, so I needed to disappear.”
“And what better place to disappear to than Chance Creek, Montana?”
“I guess that about sums it up. I’m on my way out of the military, Cass. I don’t know what kind of paperwork they’re doing back there, but the end result is I won’t be a SEAL anymore. I need to carve out a new future.”
“So you arrived at Two Willows and decided you’d like to stay?”
“Something like that. I guess I should tell you… I’d seen your picture before. Been staring at it for weeks before I got here.”
That set her back. “Really? Where?”
“At the base. Your father’s got pictures of you all over the place. You and your sisters. And your mother. Most of all your mother.”
“He does?” Cass couldn’t fathom it.
“I think your dad cares more about you than you know.” He raised up his hands to ward off her protests. “I don’t agree with the way he shows it. I’m just saying.”
“We’re not talking about the General. We’re talking about you.” She needed to keep this conversation on track. She’d mull over what he’d said about the photographs later when she was alone.
“This ranch pretty much sums up what I’ve always wanted. A home. Land. Cattle, because that’s in my blood. When I’m feeling really optimistic, a wife and a family. I can’t stop thinking you’re the right woman to make that family with.”
Longing throbbed through Cass, leaving her empty of everything except the desire to make his words true. Linking her life to Brian, facing the world with him at her side, establishing a haven at the ranch for all her sisters for years to come. She couldn’t imagine a better future than that.
Brian reached to cup her chin as he bent to kiss her. A raindrop hit Cass’s forehead at the same time, then another, as his mouth brushed hers once, twice, and he wrapped her in an embrace Cass felt like she’d been waiting for her entire life.
“I want you,” Brian murmured against her cheek. “More than I’ve got a right to, given we just met. I don’t know what it is about you.” He kissed her again.
Cass knew she should stop him, knew this was going too far, too fast, but instead she found her hands braced on his chest, her fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt. As his arms tightened around her, she melted against him, conscious of nothing but the taste of him. His warmth.
His strength.
Thunder rumbled overhead and the spatter of raindrops hardened into a shower, but neither of them pulled away. Something shifted in Cass as lightening crackled across the sky, and need inundated her like the rain coursing toward the ground. She’d thought she’d had it under control. She’d thought she’d liked doing everything herself. But as Brian’s kiss intensified she realized she’d only been holding her needs in check by the barest thread.
She wound her arms around his neck and clung to him as thunder rolled across the ranch and echoed through her. Brian tightened his hold on her, crushing her against his body. Desire sparked a flame inside her no amount of rain could put out. When lightning shot down from the sky again, hit the earth somewhere close by, far more powerful than any of her tame explosions, her nerves resonated with it, thrilling to life as Brian caressed her and she opened her mouth to let him deepen the kiss. She didn’t want the controlled, barren existence she’d planned for herself. She didn’t want to keep everything she felt inside all the time. She slid her hands over his shoulders, and clung to him as another wave of longing swept over her, leaving her breathless and gasping, wanting to be closer to Brian as the rain soaked her hair and turned her clothing sodden.
Brian was murmuring something in between his kisses. Endearments. Prayers. Lightning struck again, closer this time—like her fireworks, but so much better—because the lightning wasn’t a substitute for her feelings; each bolt that struck the earth echoed the electric sensations jolting through her body. Cass fumbled with the buttons of his shirt, her mouth on his and when she couldn’t get them open, she pulled with all her might. Buttons popped. Fabric tore. She splayed her hands over his muscled chest.
Good. He felt so good.
“Cass—are you—”
She wasn’t here for conversation. Lightning shattered the sky and Cass tugged her own shirt over her head. She reached behind for the catch of her bra and found Brian’s hands there before her. When it came free, her breasts spilled out of the cups and she tossed it away, eager for his touch. He didn’t disappoint her. Palming one and then the other, he leaned down to take a sensitive nipple into his mouth.
Cass gasped and arched back, reveling in the sensation as Brian went on a sensual journey with his mouth, teasing her, tugging, nipping and laving until she thrummed like a string pulled tight on a bow. She reached for the button of his jeans, got it open, reached in and closed around him.
Yes.
Lightning crashed again. Dimly, Cass realized the danger. They were out in a storm. The rumble of the thunder echoed overhead only moments later. But when Brian kicked off his boots, tugged his pants off and tossed them aside, all thoughts of leaving flew from her mind. He slowed down as he shucked off his boxer briefs, however, as if wanting to give her time to change her mind.
She wasn’t going to change it. She kicked off her boots, slid off her shorts and panties, and let him get a good, long look. Her skin was hot despite the rain and she ached for him.
“Protection?” he asked. Standing face to face in the pouring ra
in, only a step between them, stripped bare, Cass thought she’d never felt so alive. Brian’s body was a masterpiece of long lines and sharp planes. She didn’t think she’d ever seen a man so shaped by his trade. If war had been a cruel mistress, Brian had been an excellent student.
“I’m not… I’m not on the Pill.” She never could stand the headaches it gave her.
“I don’t have… anything.”
The rain poured down in rivulets off his short hair, down the ridge of his nose and over his lips. Cass knew they’d gone much too far to stop now.
It’s okay not to be careful, she heard Alice say again in her mind.
“I’m clean,” she whispered. She didn’t know if he heard her over the rumble of thunder.
“I’m clean, too, but without protection this is more than sex, Cass.” He stepped forward. Put his hands on her hips. “It’s a promise. A promise we’re in it for the long haul. Forever. Are you going to be my wife? Because otherwise the answer is no.”
Cass knew she needed to stop. She needed to think.
But her body had already made up its mind.
She placed her hands on his chest again, her heart thundering against her ribs. She was right where she wanted to be, despite the dangers. Brian’s touch had cracked her heart wide open and she couldn’t stop what he had started. She couldn’t go back. She wanted to touch him. Wanted to feel… everything.
Brian met her with open arms and swept her into a crushing embrace.
Lightning crashed again as their mouths met and to the accompaniment of the rumbling thunder, Brian lifted her up and stumbled forward until they slammed against the stone. Cass wrapped her legs around his hips, hungry for him—desperate to feel him inside. When he shifted and pressed against her, she tipped her head back and closed her eyes, letting the raindrops wash her face as he pushed slowly into her.
It felt so good, Cass was helpless to do anything but take him in. Lightning danced in the sky above her. Thunder rolled and echoed across the pastures, but she was lost in a rhythm she’d craved without realizing what she’d been missing. Making love to Brian was like careening down a rushing river, no boat, no life-preserver—lost to the current, nothing to do but surrender to it and hope to survive.
As her longing increased, so did the care Brian lavished on her. As their bodies fell into a rhythm all their own, his hands teased her, his mouth tasted her and he stoked her desire to the breaking point. Brian increased his pace, the rain beating an erotic dance on her breasts when he leaned back to fill her full. She wanted him so badly—wanted him right where he was, forever; inside her. Making her blaze with need. Pushing her to the edge of ecstasy. He pushed in again with a long, strong stroke and Cass cried out, crashing over the edge in an explosion of feeling. The afterburn of the lightning streaked across the inside of her eyelids as she shut them, blind to everything but the bliss that enveloped her. Wave after wave of ecstasy washed through her. Cass could only hold on and ride them out, the riot of feelings inside her unlike anything she’d known before.
Brian followed soon after, his thrusts pressing her against the warm, wet stone as he gasped out his release. She kissed his neck, tasting the salt of his skin mixed with rainwater, and rode with him as he pulsed inside her, thrilling with the feeling of him. When it was over, they stayed like that, Brian’s strong legs bracing them, his arms holding her, Cass wrapped around him, until their breathing slowed down. When she finally pulled away and untangled herself from him, it felt more like a loss than a simple, necessary action. Brian didn’t let go of her, though.
“Tell me you’re okay.”
When had the rain begun to slow? Even as they stood there it lessened to a soft patter, the lightning moving farther off, the thunder rumbling but nowhere near as strong as before. “I’m fine.” Unsteady, but more than fine. Glorious.
Cass shivered a little in a breeze that lifted a long strand of her hair. She could only imagine what she looked like—ravaged by the storm.
By Brian.
Cass smiled, and Brian searched her face. “I don’t regret this,” he said. “No matter what happens.”
No matter—
Cass understood with a shock, and she dropped a hand to her flat belly. She hadn’t thought about the consequences at all, she who thought of consequences all the time.
It’s all right not to be careful…
But—
He’d asked her to marry him.
She’d said—
She hadn’t said anything, had she?
She’d given her body to him without holding back. She’d taken a risk on starting a family with him.
“I—” Cass didn’t know what to say as the enormity of what she’d done overwhelmed her. She’d as good as said she’d marry him.
Was she ready to take that step with Brian?
Too late to turn back now, her conscience told her. She’d made love to him without protection—
Brian distracted her with a kiss that sizzled through her veins all the way down to her toes.
Much more of that and she’d do it all over again, Cass thought wildly. She was insatiable where Brian was concerned. Unable to think rationally—
In over her head.
“I don’t regret it,” he said again, his hand cupping her cheek. He bent to find their clothing, separating it as he went. Cass automatically took her blouse, jeans, bra and panties from him, but didn’t relish stepping into the sodden items. She didn’t know what to think about what had happened, and decided not to think about it at all for the moment. First she needed to get her bearings.
And get dressed.
“If there’s a child, I’ll welcome him—or her,” Brian went on. “I’d do anything for you, Cass—you know that. I’ve always wanted a family. I’ve always wanted a ranch like this.”
Cass froze, about to step into her panties. A family—and a ranch. Why were those two always linked when Brian was speaking?
Was that why he’d made love to her without protection?
To solidify his claim on this land?
“Nothing like climbing into wet clothes,” he joked, making a face as he pulled on his boxer briefs. “I guess if we walked back without them on there’d be questions, though.”
“Yes, there would,” Cass said slowly, her head spinning, as she drew her panties on. Did he want her? Or Two Willows?
Did he love her at all?
“Cass? Something wrong?”
She couldn’t find the words to ask him, suddenly so cold she had goose bumps all over.
“Hey, you’re freezing. Let’s get you back inside.” But as Brian reached for her, Cass batted his hand away. Memories of Bob overwhelmed her. The way he’d courted her. Used her. Had sex with her.
Stolen from her.
Tried to take control of the ranch.
Brian reached for her again. She slapped his hand away again. “Don’t touch me.” She needed to think this through. She took a step back, pulling on the rest of her clothing quickly.
“Cass—”
She remembered the way she’d told Bob her secrets. Trusted him with her heart. Let him smash it to pieces. What made her think Brian was any different?
He doesn’t want you—he wants the ranch, she heard Bob say in her mind. Hadn’t Brian all but admitted it?
What had she done?
“Cass—”
“Don’t! Stop pretending to want me. Why are you here?” She had to know right now, before another moment passed. If he was going to eviscerate her, let it happen right now.
“I already told you—your father sent me—”
“Sent you to screw me? To get control of the ranch? Is that why you came? Did you think you could marry me and take over?” Pain lanced through her as she realized she’d been fooled again. How was Brian any different from Bob really? Because he was better spoken? Better looking?
A Navy SEAL?
Cass staggered back as the truth washed over her. She’d made the same mistake—twice. She’d
allowed her heart to lead her head—and she knew better than that.
What if she was pregnant? How would she ever escape Brian? She’d walked right into another trap. For a moment she’d thought she’d found a partner, but she’d been wrong. She’d thought there’d be someone to share her burdens with, but there wouldn’t. Brian wanted what every man wanted—control of her. Control of the land. No one wanted her for herself.
No one.
She’d be alone forever. Just like she’d always been since the day her mother died.
Pain lanced through her chest and she pressed her hands to her heart, trying to keep it from splitting in two. This was everything she’d tried to avoid. Her feelings were clawing at her like ravenous dogs. She had to hold them back. Had to clamp them down. Because if she let them loose, she’d remember—she’d remember—
Images of her mother’s limp body flooded her mind, and Cass doubled over with a cry. She’d been at Amelia’s side when she’d passed—when she’d slipped away to a world where Cass couldn’t reach her—leaving her in charge—of everything.
Her father had never stepped foot on the ranch again, and she’d missed—she’d missed h—
“Cass—”
She’d missed having someone to turn to. Someone who knew what to do when things broke, sisters fought, hired hands rebelled—
“Cass—”
Someone who could help when hearts got broken, men lied, and she couldn’t—couldn’t—
“Cass!”
Someone who’d loved her once—she knew he had—before she’d screwed up, before she’d let him down—before he’d come to hate her for being alive when his wife had died—
Cass batted Brian away from her, sobbing in great, awful gasps that left her choking, aching, fighting for breath. This was why she didn’t feel. This was why she locked it all away. It hurt so bad.
Loving hurt so bad.
“Sweetheart, I’m not going to lie to you. The idea of getting to live on this ranch is pretty intoxicating.”
