The Virgin's Revenge: Rancho del Cielo, Book 4

by Dee Tenorio

  Afraid to hope, Cole slowly pushed through the swinging door and had to blink a few times. “Amanda?”

  She stood there, looking fresh and…well, wonderful. Jeans and a soft cream blouse that had just enough ribbon and lacy innocence to make a man think incredibly dirty thoughts. Pearl buttons gleamed, unsnapped, at her neck, showing hints of the golden skin his mouth actually watered to taste. She’d clipped her hair back from her face, so he couldn’t miss the flicker of her lashes or the tremble of her pink lips when she smiled at him.

  She was nervous.

  But all he wanted to do was yank her to him and kiss her senseless. She came. He didn’t care about anything else.

  “I-I hope you don’t mind that I barged in,” she suddenly spouted. “You said to come, so I did. I used the emergency key you left at the house to get in—you really should use the chain. I knocked first, just in case.”

  “What are you doing?” Like he cared. He curled his fingers into fists to keep them at his sides instead of reaching for her. If this was a dream, he didn’t want to screw it up by realizing it.

  “I figured you’d been working when no one had seen you. I wanted to…make sure you were okay.”

  “Oh.” He rubbed the back of his head. “No concussion—you don’t have to worry. I got checked out.”

  She frowned. “Your vision doubled?”

  “What? Oh, no, I just figured you were right. A few dents, nothing that won’t heal.”

  “Good, I…I was worried.” She stirred the pot in front of her, where the heavenly smell was coming from. “I made soup for the boys, and I know you don’t take care of yourself when you work.”

  She always accused him of that. “I survive.”

  Amanda tipped her head toward the pot. “You’ll survive a little better with this. It’s clam chowder.”

  He took a chance and stepped fully into the kitchen. “So if you cooked for your brothers, does that mean you forgave them?”

  Her mouth softened into a grin. “There wasn’t a lot to forgive, really. As Andrew pointed out, Locke should have guessed I knew something was up when I didn’t freak out because none of them were ripping you a new one.”

  Couldn’t argue that one. Surprisingly logical from the family musician. “So what does cooking for me mean?”

  She stopped stirring. He held his breath, waiting as she tapped the spoon on the rim of the pot she had to have brought with her, then put it down on a paper towel she had on the counter. It took her a few more seconds to turn and face him, her expression more vulnerable than he’d ever seen it. Normally, she’d get herself in a fluster, trying to do a dozen things at the same time, teasing him into a joke or something to distract from her discomfort. But she just stood there, looking at him as if she could find something on his face to tell her it was all okay.

  “You were right. Back at my house. You were right.” She blew out a breath, closing her eyes and looking like she was trying to find a center she’d lost. “You never actually lied to me.”

  He saw the way her hands twisted each other and her cheeks turned a fiery red. “Amanda—”

  “No, I have to say this, so just stay over there and let me through it. When I’m done, you can totally throw me out and I’ll completely understand. I’d deserve it, to be honest. But please, just let me say this.”

  Cole swallowed the knot in his throat, though it came right back up, and nodded. He didn’t trust himself to say anything because odds were good he’d say something stupid like, “I don’t care, just stay with me.”

  “I’m not a confident person. Maybe it’s my brothers’ fault, or maybe it’s just the way I am. I don’t know. I just…I let all these opportunities pass me by. Not because I didn’t want them but because I just, I was afraid, I guess. Afraid my life would change again.

  “When my parents died, everything changed. Everything. I felt like I didn’t even breathe the same afterward. Locke did what he could to keep us going. Not just as a family but as individuals. He made sure none of us lost ourselves in grief. It got to be automatic to let him make the decisions. To expect it of him. To resent him when it wasn’t what I really wanted. I’m not saying it was the right thing to do, but that’s what I did. He didn’t deserve that, and you didn’t deserve for me to take it out on you. You especially didn’t deserve for me to play stupid games with your feelings.”

  “Or my body,” he added.

  She sighed, her eyes falling shut with what looked a lot like mortification. “Or your body.”

  “But if I asked you to, would you?”

  “Cole.” She didn’t want to laugh, her mouth pursing until it was almost pinched. Terrible thing to do to such lush, delicious lips. “Do you want this apology or not?”

  “Not really, no. I told you that morning after the fight. We all made mistakes. I wanted to start over right then.”

  Her eyes flew open and her jaw dropped. How was he supposed to turn down an invitation like that?

  Letting go of his relaxed demeanor, Cole stalked over and cupped her jaw in both hands before claiming her mouth. He didn’t care if it hurt his mouth, he had to have a taste of her. Breathe in her sigh and her scent and feel her melt into him. She kissed him back, just as hungrily, just as desperate, and finally everything felt right again. It felt like it was supposed to be.

  He held her that way, savoring her, the way she wrapped her arms around his waist. Only when he had filled his senses with her, his hand buried in her hair, was he able to pull back. Even then, he had to look down at her, satisfied that her flush had nothing to do with embarrassment this time. Her lips were slick and swollen, inviting more kisses. Invitations he had every intention of accepting.

  But something had to be settled first.

  “All I want is you, Amanda. I want you to be my friend and my lover. I want you, only you. Always you.”

  He almost worried when she looked up at him with teary eyes. “I love you,” she whispered. “I never said it, but I’ve always meant it. I’ve loved you for so long. I just didn’t know how to reach out to you.”

  “You just did.” He kissed her softly, quieting her. “You just did.”

  “I want us to start over. For the right reasons this time. Because we love each other. Because it’s what we want.”

  “That’s what you don’t understand. That’s why it started in the first place.”

  Then it happened. All the shadows left her eyes, leaving behind only the happiness he felt coming from her heart straight to his.

  “I think we’d better turn the soup off,” he murmured, already pulling her toward the swinging door.

  She turned the dial slowly, watching him with a growing smile as the numbers made their way down to “off”. “I should put it away.”

  “Leave it.” He tugged her again, determined not to stop until he had her in his bed, naked and wrapped tight around him. “We’ll need it in a few hours.”

  “Hours?” she asked on a laugh, running to keep up with him as he crossed the apartment.

  He spun around as they entered his bedroom, gathering her close. “Possibly days.”

  She pulled up on his shirt. “Days would be amazing.”

  He laid her on the bed, right in the pool of fading sunset glow. Her hair lit, her skin ablaze in a way he could only call ethereal. “Forever?”

  She didn’t answer, not with words. Just a kiss, a smile…and her entire heart.

  Cole woke up suddenly, blinking, trying to figure out what had woken him up. With a frown, he noticed the time and then the far more disturbing fact that he was alone in his bed. For the last three days, as he’d promised, he and Amanda had been inseparable. She’d managed to lure him out of the apartment a few times, to get food and oxygen—both of which he thought were overrated—but the truth was that they hadn’t really wanted out. The peaceful cocoon of his apartment was perfect for them. If they hadn’t been making love, they were talking. Laughing. Hydrating. He’d especially liked hydrating in the shower… H
uh, that was probably where she’d gone.

  He blinked, listening for the telltale sound of the water. Yup, there it was. But that wasn’t what had woken him up at the godforsaken hour of eleven a.m. He thought about it, trying to figure out what it had been when it sounded again.

  A knock. One so loud he had to wonder if the wood cracked under the blows.

  Then he realized who he knew that knocked like a sledgehammer.

  In a rush, he spotted his jeans near the doorway where he’d kicked them the night before while Amanda had laughed her head off. He was still pulling them on when the third knock came, and he pulled open the door.

  Locke stood there, a giant framed by a doorway that just barely cleared his head. Cole looked the older man over, not minding the return perusal from the cool blue gaze. While Locke studied Cole’s black eye, bruised cheeks and battered bottom lip, Cole was happy to see a couple of bruises coloring the big Nord’s jaw. Not black, but a satisfying green-purple blotch decorated Locke’s jaw, the left side of his nose and his chin.

  “Got a minute?” Locke asked, his deep voice miraculously tempered to a low volume. He lifted a six pack of bottled beer.

  “Got any sharp weapons I should be concerned about?”

  Locke just stared at him.

  “All righty then, come on in.” Cole backed up, holding the door wide. Locke needed the wide berth.

  Once the bigger man passed through, he gestured to the balcony. “Can we sit out there?”

  Cole nodded, gesturing for Locke to go out ahead of him. A flash of movement from the hallway caught his eye, and Cole turned his head to see Amanda peeking out from the bathroom doorway, her eyes wide. He swished his hand to tell her to get out of sight then turned back to where Locke was opening the sliding door. “Gimme a sec to grab a shirt.”

  He only stayed long enough to see Locke’s quick nod. By the time he got to the hall, Amanda was already making wild gestures with her hands, while holding her towel around her body with her clamped arms. He took hold of her elbows and backpedaled her into sitting on the closed lid of the toilet.

  “What’s he doing here?” she hissed, trying to see over Cole’s shoulder.

  “I have no idea, but I don’t think he’s here because he wants to off me.”

  “Why? Did he say something? Is he looking for me?”

  “I’m assuming the fact that I’m breathing means I have a shot of surviving. He didn’t seem really urgent, so he’s probably not looking for you.”

  She finally stopped flapping. “Why wouldn’t he be looking for me?”

  “Because he’s smart enough to figure out you’re here and you’re hiding in the bathroom.”

  Her shoulders dropped, and she sighed. “I’m being stupid, aren’t I?”

  “Let’s go with freaked out. Just stay here or in the bedroom. I think he just wants to talk.” At the silent question in her eyes he admitted, “He brought beer.”

  “Oh, God, this is one of those annoying male bonding things, isn’t it?”

  “Probably.” Definitely.

  “Great, so I get to sit here bored out of my skull while you two sit there and say nothing until the beer is gone.” The tried-and-true man-approach to settling beefs. Jackmans were especially big on the silent part.

  “Pretty much.” He had to laugh at how put upon she looked.

  “Fine, but I’m going in the bedroom and I’m raiding your bookshelf.”

  “Deal.” His room mostly had code books so she wasn’t going to be thrilled with her end, but hey, she made the request. He kissed her, raced to the bedroom to grab a shirt off the top of his dresser and rushed back out to the living room.

  As expected, Locke was still on the balcony, forearms on the railing, his hair getting ruffled by the breeze. Cole stared at him for a second, wondering what was so different about the man. He was still huge, still stern. But there was something… His shoulders weren’t as rigid. And when the breeze blew, he closed his eyes and raised his face. As if he was enjoying it. Pondering that, Cole walked out, grabbing a bottle before joining Locke at the rail.

  Locke held out a bottle opener almost instantly. “Sorry about your face.”

  Cole looked at him for a second, eyeing the opener suspiciously, which amused Locke enough that he actually smiled. It might have been a muscle twitch, but Cole decided to go with the first thought, however unlikely. “No you’re not.”

  A rusty chuckle erupted from Locke’s chest. “No, I’m not.”

  Funny. “Asshole.”

  Locke fixed him with a bored glare. “Dumbass.”

  They stared at each other for a long moment before Locke tilted his bottle out.

  “Yeah, all right.” Cole clinked his against it and they both took a deep drink. Well, that was one problem solved. “Wanna tell me why you set me up with your sister and then beat the shit out of me?”

  “Not really,” Locke answered, taking a sip from his longneck. “But I probably owe you that much.”

  “Probably?”

  Locke tilted his head in concession. “I’m not really sure what happened. I wasn’t expecting to see you there, I guess. Sure wasn’t ready to see Mandy like that, either.”

  Definitely not the time to mention she’d looked like that for the last three days and was currently sitting in his room looking like that still. Good to know.

  “You had to know where it was all going to lead, Locke.”

  “I knew.” Locke nodded. “But it’s one thing to want her to be happy and a whole other thing to know how she’s getting that way. Guess I wasn’t as ready to let go as I thought.”

  It was as close to an apology as Cole was going to get, and he knew it. Besides, if he had a sister, he probably wouldn’t have handled seeing her half naked with a guy any better. “So you’re going to be okay if your sister and I have a relationship without your interference?”

  “Okay isn’t quite the word I’d use, but as long as you treat her right and she’s happy, you’ll get no complaints from me.”

  “Are ass-kickings included under complaints? You know, just for future reference.”

  Locke’s smile this time was unmistakable. “How about we keep that on a case-by-case basis?”

  If his face didn’t hurt so much, Cole was pretty sure he’d be scowling.

  “Relax. I don’t plan to mess up your pretty face any more than I have. Amanda would never forgive me.”

  Well, in Locke’s world, that was as good as a promise. “Works for me.”

  Locke looked along the horizon while Cole studied him. Definitely something different. Something…peaceful. He was tempted to ask what had happened, but Locke turned his head, and Cole spotted a familiar, dark reddish mark just under the collar of Locke’s shirt.

  The sneaky bastard had a hickey.

  Well, wouldn’t Amanda find that interesting. And so would all the other Jackman brothers.

  Locke rolled his shoulders, and the mark went back into hiding under the fabric of his shirt. “I never thanked you for getting her help the way you did. It makes it a lot easier, knowing she’ll be taken care of.”

  Well, hell, how was Cole supposed to rat the guy out if Locke was taking the fun out of it with his gratefulness? “It wasn’t actually me very often. She made all those deals on her own. She’s a smart woman, she can take care of herself. But wasn’t that the point all along? To show her she could do it?”

  Cole put his back to the edge of the balcony, brows rising when he saw Amanda standing next to the sliding door. She was dressed in that little pearl and lace shirt and jeans again, a soft pair of socks on her feet. Her hair was still a little wet, pushed away from her face. It was clear she’d been there a while. Her blue-gray eyes were misty, and her smile was tinged with sadness. Grateful, but sad.

  Locke shook his head. “When you’ve watched one of yours grow up enough to leave you behind, you tell me if that’s really the point.”

  “Who said anything about leaving you behind?” she asked, her voi
ce a little husky but clear enough that Locke’s shoulders stiffened. She stepped out onto the balcony, fitting herself against Cole’s side, leaning into her brother’s space until she got him to look at her.

  “You surprised me,” Locke murmured. “I thought for sure you were going to stay in the bathroom until I left.”

  Amanda gave her head a little side-to-side wiggle, as if she were agreeing and rejecting at the same time. “I’m trying something new. It’s this weird, newfangled thing called ‘taking responsibility’ and ‘facing situations like an adult’. Getting kinda good at it, actually.”

  “You think?” Cole asked, remembering the panicked look on her face once she realized her brother was there.

  “Well, there’s always room for improvement.” She reached out to touch Locke’s face with the back of her hand. It was a sweet stroke, something Locke leaned into, his eyes closed. For just a second, he reminded Cole of a lion again. One finally relaxing, his cub nuzzling the side of his giant head.

  Amanda sighed. “I’m so sorry I hurt you, Locke. Some of the things I said…I shouldn’t have. Your personal life is your business. I had no right to judge you for the things you’ve sacrificed to raise us.”

  “Hell, Mandy. There wasn’t much sacrificing going on, if you want to know the truth. You kids were my priority, yeah, but it’s not like women were breaking down the door trying to get to me. I have a few regrets, but probably no more than anyone else with a few what-ifs in their closet.”

  Cole concentrated on his beer, trying to hide his surprise to hear Locke say so much at one time.

  “Still. I’m sorry. You have to know.” She swallowed, drawing both his and Locke’s gazes. “You have to know that Mom and Dad would be so proud of you.”

  “Mandy…” Locke sounded dismissive as he shifted back to take his weight off the balcony rail, but even Cole could tell the big man was backing away from the intense emotion mottling his face and adding a sheen to those eerie blue eyes.

  “No, really, Locke. You may not be my father, but he couldn’t have done a better job of making me feel loved and protected than you did. Than you always have, and I’m grateful. Please know that. I’ll always be grateful.” She left Cole and threw herself into her brother’s arms, hanging on tight until Locke finally hugged her back, his Adam’s apple bobbing.