Protected by a Hero

by Susan Stoker, Cristin Harber, Cora Seton, Lynn Raye Harris, Kaylea Cross, Katie Reus, Tessa Layne

  He led her from Lena’s room, but instead of heading downstairs, he tugged her into the bedroom he’d been staying in at the other end of the hall. He shut the door, locked it, scooped her up and carried to her the bed. Sitting down, still cradling her in his lap, he trailed searing kisses down her neck. “Finally. We’re alone.”

  Cass laughed. “Have you been waiting?”

  He answered with another kiss. “Haven’t you?”

  She nodded, her pulse tripping in anticipation.

  “We have a bed this time and everything,” he said. “What do you say?”

  She couldn’t resist him when he looked at her like that.

  “Heck, yeah.” Cass gave in, fumbled with his shirt, then leaned back while he stripped it off, the muscles in his arms and chest rippling with his movements. She didn’t know what she wanted to touch first; the hard planes of his chest, his bulging biceps or the flat washboard of his stomach. She reached for the buttons of her blouse. Brian gently pushed her hands away and did it for her. As each button slid free of its hole, exposing more of her to view, Cass felt no trepidation. She had no secrets left. Brian had seen them all and accepted her for who she was. She couldn’t wait to bare her body to him. She wanted him to touch her even more. She moaned when her blouse fell open and he shifted her on his lap so he could bend down and trail warm kisses along the edge of her bra cups.

  Still perched there, she slipped out of her jeans and Brian helped her out of her panties. He slid them down and helped untangle her legs from them, an acrobatic feat that left them both laughing in between kisses. He stood up, lifting her easily, and she wrapped her legs around his waist while he unbuttoned his jeans and shucked them off. His boxer briefs followed and when he sat down again, shifting her to cover his hardness, they both moaned.

  Brian cupped her bottom and settled her more firmly against him, then slid his hands up to unhook her bra and peel it off. Cass moaned again, wanting him to touch her, but instead he buried his fingers in her long hair. Tugging her head gently back he kissed her, exploring her fully, tasting her and allowing her to taste him. Cass wanted more. Her nipples tingled every time they scraped against his chest. Now that they were engaged, any amount of space between them seemed like too much. She shifted, wanting him inside her, but Brian caught her around the waist and held her in place. His kisses left her reeling and when he finally brought his hands to cup her breasts and run his thumbs over her sensitive nipples, she thought she might lose control right there. She leaned back and allowed him access. He bent to kiss first one and then the other and then gave himself over to laving and playing with them until Cass could barely breathe.

  “Has anyone ever told you you’re magnificent?” he murmured against her skin.

  She whimpered with need, wrapping her legs tighter around his waist, and he finally took pity on her.

  “We’ll use a condom this time,” he grunted into her hair as he shifted, lifting her along with him, and reached into a pocket of his bag, pulling one out after a fumbling search.

  Condom?

  Cass hadn’t thought about what had happened at the stone in days.

  Speaking of days… She began to count, but there was no time to think the equation through. Brian ripped the packet open with his teeth, eased it out and tossed the wrapper aside. He got it on one-handed after a bit of swearing, then sat up straight again, positioning Cass over him. “Ready?”

  “What?” Cass was still counting, but as he gripped her hips and moved her into place she forgot about everything but him. She braced her knees on the edge of the bed and eased down, closing her eyes as she slowly took him inside her. Brian groaned, his muscles flexing as he lifted her up and then coaxed her down again. Soon they worked together, moving in tandem. The position allowed him deep access and Cass clung to him as he picked up speed. She didn’t think she’d be able to hold on long, but at the same time she wanted their lovemaking to go on forever. Her hands sliding over his skin, she leaned forward to press kisses against his neck and over his shoulder. Every inch of him turned her on and she wanted to touch him everywhere.

  Brian sped up again and soon all she could do was hold on as he thrust into her. Slick and wet and aching she leaned back and gasped when Brian took one nipple into his mouth. One of his hands on her bottom, the other cupping her neck, he laved and nipped at her breasts until Cass couldn’t hold back anymore. She came with a cry and moments later, Brian grunted, bucking against her, his fingers digging into her skin until he came, too, shuddering against her. His last thrusts filled her, coaxing more tremors from her until he collapsed back onto the bed, pulling her with him to lay against his chest.

  Cass listened to the pounding of his heart, smiling to know she’d made it race. It felt so right to be with Brian this way.

  And she’d be with him forever.

  Whether or not she was pregnant.

  “You call yourself a Navy SEAL?” the General thundered late that afternoon. “You are a disgrace to your uniform. I sent you there to solve problems, not drag my daughters into a shootout. I oughtta—”

  “What’s done is done. The important part is your daughters are safe and the men who came after them won’t bother them anymore. I’ll see to it that there’s no more trouble, but it’s time you came home and saw the lay of the land for yourself.”

  “You don’t watch the news much, do you? The shit’s hitting the fan all over the world and you want me to come home and play nursemaid? You’re the one who lost control of the operation. You get it back on track.”

  “This isn’t an operation,” Brian told him. “These are your daughters and they’ve been through a frightening ordeal. They need their father!”

  “They haven’t needed me since they were little girls,” the General retorted. “You’re trying to cover up the mess you made there by blaming me. I wasn’t born yesterday. Get my house in order and get my girls in line. Now!”

  He was about to sign off. Brian knew he had to stop him. He’d thought the General would question him carefully on all aspects of what had happened, but now he had the sense the man had heard the details about the shootout already from someone else. Didn’t the General care about his daughters at all? When he’d filled in the other men back at USSOCOM about what had happened, they’d fallen all over each other asking questions.

  “You might want to get a plane ticket anyway,” he said quickly. “Because Cass and I will be getting married—in about three weeks.” Neither of them had wanted to put it off now that they’d decided. They were looking around at their options for a venue, but as Cass had said, “They shot up the house, not the gardens. We can always hold it outside.”

  The General hesitated. “Married?”

  “That’s right—married. You’ll need to be here to walk Cass down the aisle. And you need to know that marrying Cass puts me on her side, not yours. I won’t spy for you anymore. But I will love and care for your daughter. I’ll fight for her until I take my last breath.”

  The General rubbed his chin, the first time Brian had ever seen him so uncertain. His gaze shifted somewhere off the screen and Brian thought he was looking at the photograph of his wife he always kept close by.

  “It’s her mother she’ll miss at her wedding,” the General said softly.

  “She’ll want you there.”

  The General shook his head. “I doubt that. Besides, these are uncertain times, and she knows how busy it gets here.”

  Brian couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “General—”

  The other man muttered something. Brian caught the words “crisis” and “leadership” and “duty.”

  “General, wait—”

  The screen cut out, leaving a logo behind. Brian stared at it for several long minutes.

  The General wasn’t going to come. He was going to break Cass’s heart all over again.

  “Brian? What’s wrong? I thought I heard voices.”

  He started. Turned to see Cass framed in the doorway and was
struck again by that mixture of sweetness and beauty that was unique to her. He would do anything to protect her from harm, but he was helpless to protect her from her father’s cruelty.

  “Just talking to… someone I know.”

  What could he say? He realized he was going to have to be more to this wonderful woman than just a husband. He had to make up for the gaps in her life, as she was already making up for the gaps in his. He swallowed past a lump in his throat. “I love you. You know that, right?”

  She smiled uncertainly. Brian stood up. “I just want you to know, I’m going to be the man worthy of you. I swear.”

  “Of course. You already are—”

  “And when we have children I will be there for them when they wake up in the morning and I will be there when they go to bed. I’m not going to miss… anything.” He crossed the room and pulled her into an embrace. “I love you, and that’s forever,” he said again, and kissed her. “You understand that, right?”

  She nodded and buried her head in his neck. When her words came they were muffled. Breathless. And everything he’d ever wanted.

  “I love you, too.”

  Brian took a deep breath, told his future bride her father wouldn’t make it to her wedding, and held her while she cried.

  Cass thought dinner would never end. Brian’s words rebounded in her mind as she ate, but it wasn’t his declarations of love that made her dizzy with shock or the news that the General couldn’t make it to the wedding. She’d had her cry and the world hadn’t ended. It was what Brian had said about children. Lovely words she could barely remember now because—

  Cass counted back. Counted again.

  Could she be…?

  She’d wondered more than once since they’d first made love. But then things had gotten so crazy she hadn’t had a chance to check. Enough time had passed that a test should be able to answer the question once and for all.

  When Brian and Lena went to check on the cattle after their evening meal, she called Wye, told her about the errand she needed to run and met her a half-hour later in town.

  “Do you really think you’re pregnant?” Wye whispered as they hurried down the aisles of the local drugstore.

  “I don’t know. I feel a little… funny. Here, put this in the basket, too.” Cass added mouthwash, several toothbrushes, a package of disposable razors and a serving platter shaped like a sunflower.

  “What do you need that for?” Wye pointed to the platter as she steered her toward the pregnancy tests, scanned the packages and chose one.

  “I don’t want anyone to notice I’m getting a test,” Cass hissed. “I’m going to camouflage it among the other things I’m buying.”

  “It’s not going to work.”

  It didn’t. The cashier definitely paused when she reached the pregnancy test and scanned Cass’s face. Luckily, Cass didn’t recognize the teenager and evidently it was mutual. The cashier went back to ringing up her other purchases.

  Wye followed Cass home. Upstairs, Cass sequestered herself in the second-story bathroom and followed the box’s directions. Stuffing the test stick into the bag she’d brought it home in, she washed her hands, opened the door to find Wye pacing the hall, and led her downstairs and out to the maze. The sun was low in the west, but it was still warm.

  “It takes two minutes,” Cass told her.

  Wye pulled out her phone and started a timer. “What I really don’t understand is why aren’t you doing this with Brian?” she asked as they walked the grassy paths of the maze.

  “I don’t know. Everything has been so crazy. Being with him without protection was crazy. That’s not how I am. I’m not ready to face him with this, and if I’m not pregnant, then we can wait to talk about it some other time.”

  “Have you talked about kids at all?”

  Cass nodded. “He says he wants them.”

  “Good.”

  They reached the center of the maze and sat together on the bench.

  “Ten seconds,” Wye said. “Nine, eight…”

  Waiting for the results was excruciating. Cass could barely breathe.

  “Zero. Take a look,” Wye said.

  Cass opened the bag, checked the test, and her eyes filled when she read the results.

  “I’m going to have a baby.”

  Wye wrapped her in a hug and bounced up and down on the bench. “Oh my God! I’m going to be Aunt Wye! I’m so happy for you!” She pulled back from Cass. “Are you happy?”

  Cass clung to her, still too dazed to take it in. She was going to be a mother.

  A mother.

  Feeling faint, she braced her hands on her knees. Visions of her own mother filled her mind. Amelia teaching her to cook, to ride, to read and write. Digging in her gardens. Presiding over family dinners. Stopping everything to listen to what her girls had to say. Cass’s throat thickened with a longing to see her again.

  “Are you okay? Cass, what is it?”

  “I’m okay. I’m just… overwhelmed,” Cass said. “My mother left me so early. I wish I could tell her. I wish she was here.”

  “You know what? I think she is here,” Wye said, hugging her again. “I think she always has been. And I think she’s so proud of you, Cass.”

  A tear slid down Cass’s cheek, and then another. “I feel her sometimes. Especially here.”

  Wye hugged her again. “Remember how many people love you. I know you think you’re alone sometimes, but you’re not.”

  Cass nodded. That was true—she was beginning to believe it.

  “I think I need to be alone for a minute, though.” She straightened and wiped her eyes. “Before I tell Brian.”

  Wye nodded, patted her shoulder and stood to leave. “I’ll find him and send him along, but I’ll take my time walking out, okay?”

  “Thank you.”

  Alone with the stone, Cass stared at its tall, impassive flank, and wondered what would come next. When her daughter was born—and somehow she knew it would be a daughter—her name might be Lake, but she would still be a Reed. Which meant she’d give her heart and soul—her blood—to Two Willows.

  She’d grow to take her place in the line of women who’d tended the cattle, worked the soil, kept the house, protected the property.

  It was a good life, she decided. One she’d be proud to pass on to a child.

  Especially now she had a partner to share it all with. She sat back on the bench and let the evening enchant her. Took in the birdsong around her, the summer smells of fresh grass and flowers. A soft breeze caressed her cheek.

  Mom, is that you?

  Wye was right; she felt her mother’s loving presence everywhere on the ranch. And now that Brian was marrying her—and the General seemed to condone that, even if he couldn’t make it to the wedding—she felt more secure about her future here. It still hurt to know her father wouldn’t break his self-imposed exile from the ranch in order to come, but now that she loved Brian, she thought she understood—at least a little. The traces of her mother’s presence here soothed Cass—but she thought they caused her father pain. He couldn’t face what he had lost. And he couldn’t see that by not facing it, he was losing even more.

  “Cass?”

  She didn’t need to turn to know that Brian had come to find her. He touched her arm. Sat next to her on the bench.

  “Wye told me you were here.”

  “I’m pregnant,” she said without preamble. She didn’t want to soften the words. She wanted to know how he really felt about it.

  Brian drew in a breath. “Pregnant?” When he reached for her with both hands and kissed her, Cass had her answer, but there was still one more thing she needed to know.

  “You don’t know how unbelievably good that sounds.” Brian kissed her again. “My wife. My baby.”

  “Brian—”

  “I’m going to treat you like a queen. You’ll be the most spoiled bride—” He pulled back suddenly. “Are you all right with this?”

  She nodded. “I think so. B
ut… I’m afraid,” she admitted.

  “Because of the General… and your mother?”

  “Yes.”

  “Because you’re wondering if I’ll leave?”

  She couldn’t believe he could know her worst fears without even being told.

  “I will never leave.” He braced her shoulders with his hands. “Never. God, Cass, do you know how badly I’ve always wanted everything you’re giving me now? How badly I want to wake up to you, make love to you and spend my day out on this ranch creating a life for you and our children? How badly I want to work with horses and cattle, outside in all weather, running this spread? How honored I’ll be to work beside Lena because I know she’ll give that job her heart and soul, too? Do you have any idea what I’d do to keep the rest of your sisters safe and happy? You’ve given me a whole life. Everything I’ve always wanted. And now you’re giving me a baby, too?” He swallowed. “Honey, that’s more than I ever hoped for.”

  “But how do I protect her?” Cass ached for him to understand. “How do I protect my sisters? What if we open our hearts to a man—to you—and you let us down?”

  “I won’t do that,” he assured her. “I’m not your father. And I’m not Bob, or any of the others. I guess you just have to trust that.” But he didn’t seem satisfied, and neither was she. Brian scrubbed his hand over his mouth, scanned the ground in front of them and raised his gaze to the stone. “Ask it,” he demanded, pulling her to stand before it. “Ask it if I’ll stay. You said it’s always right.”

  His words seared through her. He was right; she’d get an answer one way or the other, just as she had before. The stone had said she’d marry him. Rose had said she’d be happy. But neither had said how long that would last.

  Did she really want to know?

  Cass stared up at the stone, debating the answer. Then she stepped forward and placed both hands on its rough surface. Why not take the bull by the horns and find out once and for all? “Will Brian stay with me—until I die?”