Cowboys in Her Heart

by Jan Springer

  Wow. He’d need to start working on names for the kid. He’d have to ask JJ if she knew the sex. He hadn’t even thought to ask. He really didn’t have a preference. Girl or boy. It didn’t matter. As long as the baby was healthy, that was all he wanted.

  Without warning the cow suddenly moved her head and nipped him. He cussed as pain sliced through his right forearm. He yanked away his arm before she could do it again.

  Damn! He’d been careless and stupid. Daydreaming around cattle, especially ones that were half-wild due to being outdoors most of the time, was a dangerous thing to do.

  The bite throbbed and Brady winced at the sight of blood gushing from the wound. He’d need to clean it with soap and water and get some antibiotic cream onto it. The last thing he needed was an infection and a trip into the city to a doctor. He had way too much work to do here.

  Shaking his head, he headed off to the barn. They kept a first-aid kit in there as well as one in the house and several others that they carried along with them when riding the trails. When he cleaned the wound, he’d start on fixing the tractor and think on some names for the kid.

  Brady chuckled beneath his breath. He wondered if JJ would allow them to name the child some cowboy or cowgirl name. Maybe John like in John Wayne, his favorite western actor. Or maybe Cheyenne for a girl. He’d always liked that name.

  Yeah, John or Cheyenne. The news of his becoming a father was all so surreal. But he swore he’d never felt happier in his life. Yes, life was good.

  Chapter Four

  The shotgun blast from right beside Rafe had him cursing as the harsh report sliced through the mid-day silence like a bolt of crackling thunder. Hell, it was worse than thunder and it was right beside his friggin’ ear!

  Dan grinned and lowered the rifle. If Dan was expecting to get an earful from Rafe, he wouldn’t be disappointed.

  “You couldn’t wait until I was a few feet away from you? You know how I hate loud noises,” Rafe complained as he watched three wolves saunter away from the herd of cattle and calves settled in a meadow.

  “Had I waited we would have lost the element of surprise,” Dan retorted.

  They fell silent and watched. The wolves angled toward the wood fence line that had been erected around the pasture to keep the cattle in. At the fence, the wolves got down on their haunches and bellied their way under the barricade and disappeared into the nearby woods.

  Rafe watched the young calves in the field and noted that all of them tended to stick by their large mothers. But he also knew at this tender age of between one to two months, the calves were relatively easy prey to predators, especially if the calf wandered away from the protection of the mother and the group.

  “May as well do a perimeter check while we’re here,” Rafe commented.

  Dan nodded and followed him. They headed toward the fence where the wolves had just disappeared.

  “The wolves are getting used to us. They aren’t running scared like they did last year,” Rafe commented.

  “Yep. They’re getting used to our smell. We’ll have to find another way to scare them away. Or if it gets bad we might have to try to live trap them and take them on a long trip out of the area.”

  Rafe inhaled and nodded. “So far we’ve been lucky. Just a few kills by the pack, but they might acquire the taste for beef.”

  “Chances are small at that happening. Wolves prefer rodents and there are plenty around. Besides, the cattle are too big for the wolves to take down a cow putting up a big fight. Five hundred to a thousand pounds of beef coming at a small wolf or several wolves, not such good odds for the little guys. The calves unfortunately are another story. We’ll just have to start doing more perimeter checks in the pastures where the cows and calves are housed. Most are closer to the ranch, so the distance travelling isn’t bad.”

  Rafe knew Dan spoke the truth. More frequent checks would be the best way to go to be a deterrent. The ranch was making good money with their prime beef. They could afford help.

  “Maybe it’s time to call up Brady’s sister, Jenna, and see if she can send us over some help from that Cowboys Online company she runs?” Rafe suggested.

  Dan nodded. “We’ll pass that by Brady. Not sure if he trusts her after what she pulled by sending us JJ instead of men as ranch help.”

  Rafe laughed as he remembered how pissed off Brady had been that cold winter night when North Country Air pilot Kelly had flown in their new helper. The hand had turned out to be a pretty woman and drunk as a skunk after getting into some wine on the plane in order to “calm her nerves”.

  Personally, he hadn’t thought it would work out with a woman because of the seclusion, but hell, he’d been so wrong and was glad he had been too. Very glad.

  Suddenly he couldn’t wait to see JJ again. It was the same kind of overwhelming need he’d experienced late last summer when he’d had that accident with the axe slicing into his leg and then being incapacitated while waiting for help. He’d thought he’d never see her again and that’s when he realized he couldn’t live without her.

  He missed her whenever he was away from her. When he worked around the ranch, he enjoyed watching her. He liked the sultry way she moved as she hung up the laundry on the outdoor line. It was so sexy to see her arms up like that while she pinned the clothes. That position reminded him of having her in the shower, her arms lifted and tied, with her at his full mercy. It made him want to grab her by the waist and just start making love to her right there out in the open. And he really liked her cooking and loved making love to her.

  He blew out a tense breath and tried to push aside his thoughts of JJ by concentrating on the surroundings. The afternoon sun was bright, the sky cloudless with a mild breeze. This meadow was lush green and of high quality. It was a special meadow, one of many of the same, that had been planted with seeds earlier this spring. The thick blades of grass would meet the nutritional needs of new mothers and the calves.

  Other meadows were reserved for the dry cows, their calves already weaned. They also had pastures specifically planted for the weaned calves.

  At the fence line, they split up. Rafe going one way and Dan heading the other. The barriers were makeshift. Made to keep the cattle from wandering into the woods and getting lost. Their spread was just too big to make every pasture secure and keep out the predators.

  In order to do that they’d have to go barbed wire and that would interfere too much with the wildlife, so they most likely would never go that far. After a good half hour walk they met up again and started toward their all-terrain vehicles. They still had a couple more pastures to check and then they’d head back to the camp. Tomorrow there was some more clearing to be done and then they’d head back home.

  Yeah, he really wanted to have JJ back in his arms again.

  “Oh my God. What happened to your arm?” JJ asked as she spied the white bandage wrapped around Brady’s tanned forearm. He’d just stepped into the dimly lit bedroom where she’d been settled snugly in his bed eagerly waiting for him to come out of the shower across the hall.

  At dinner, he’d been unusually quiet and she wondered if he was still digesting the news about him becoming a father. When she’d prodded him on the subject, he’d smiled and put her heart at ease by asking about her doctor visit and if she knew the sex of the baby. She’d told him no she didn’t know, and then he’d fallen quiet again. She hadn’t noticed the white gauze bandage around his forearm because he’d been wearing long sleeves, which come to think of it, he must have changed to a long-sleeved shirt sometime during the day, cause he’d been wearing a T-shirt this morning.

  Brady frowned and gave her an absent look before gazing down at his injury.

  “Oh, this? Nothing. Just got nipped by a cow. I’ve laced it with antibiotics. Should be okay in a few days.”

  Concern rushed through her. “A cow bit you? Brady, let me take a look at that.”

  She made a move to get out of bed, but he smil
ed at her, waving her to stay in bed.

  “Seriously, not a problem,” he said with such confidence that her apprehension about the bite disintegrated.

  He wore only a pair of briefs and she could easily make out the thick knot of an erection pushing against the thin white material. She trembled with arousal, whipped aside the sheet and comforter from his side of the bed and patted the mattress.

  “Come into my lair, if you dare,” she teased and wiggled her eyebrows up and down at him.

  He chuckled and slipped his fingers beneath the waistband of his briefs. She held her breath as he slid the black material over his hips and downward.

  Heat flushed through her as his cock sprang free. His erection was in full salute and it looked so yummy she couldn’t help but lick her lips as she remembered the times she’d taken his luscious shaft into her mouth.

  “The baby…” he said and then he worried his lower lip as if he’d just blurt out his words without intending to.

  “Brady,” she whispered, loving how much he already cared for their child.

  “I told you that the doctor said the baby is fine. Please, don’t hold back with me. I need your love. I crave it.”

  He sat upon the bed, pursed his lips in thought and was silent for a good half-minute as he gazed at the nearest window. Man, he was really frustrating her. What else was wrong?

  Before she could ask, he suddenly nodded, lifted his feet onto the bed and covered himself beneath the comforters. To her further frustration he lifted his arms, clasped his fingers together and slipped his hands beneath his neck.

  “Do with me what you will, woman,” he breathed. The tips of his mouth were curled upward and she giggled. Sometimes he gave her the reigns with their sex life. It was rare, but it happened.

  She smiled and didn’t waste any time slipping off her pyjama bottoms and her top. Normally she didn’t even wear this much to bed, but tonight she’d caught a weird little chill she hadn’t been able to shake. But the chill was quickly forgotten as she moved over Brady.

  He gazed up at her and her heart sang. Love so rich and raw sparkled in his eyes and she could barely believe he belonged to her. As she pulled aside the comforters she gasped as his cock stood straight up.

  “Oh my,” she whispered.

  “I’m all ready for you.”

  “You sure are,” she giggled. Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to take that juicy looking shaft into her mouth.

  His eyes twinkled with approval as she lowered her face toward his penis.

  Excitement poured through Brady as she threw him a teasing grin. Man, he was so lucky having JJ in his life and now she was giving him a baby and so much more.

  Brady held his breath as she moved her head closer. He clenched his jaw and fists and moaned as she gently pressed her lips upon his cockhead. Her silky hands wrapped around the base of his pulsing shaft and pleasure flames stroked along his swollen length as she licked and lapped a trail of hot fire upon his entire length.

  He growled as she gently nipped his flesh evoking sparks of pain and then she dabbed the tender spots with her sweet tongue. He watched with wide eyed appreciation as she opened her mouth and part of his cock disappeared into her. The heat and pressure from her mouth shocked ecstasy through him.

  Automatically he tensed.

  “You like?" she asked as she pulled her head away.

  "You sure know how to make a man feel good," he growled.

  She cocked an eyebrow at him and her brown eyes sparkled with mischief.

  "Just good? She asked.

  His heavily veined shaft jerked near her mouth, begging for more attention.

  “Maybe a little better than good,” he teased.

  The tips of her lips curved upward. She said nothing and he tensed some more as she drew his cockhead into her mouth again. She sucked hard and impulsively he reached up and sifted his hands through her hair, holding her head steady as she began to bob her head allowing his shaft to enter a few inches and then out again.

  “Words don't describe this...ah," he couldn't talk anymore as pleasure ripped through him. She was torturing him with her tongue.

  His release was nearing at lightning speed. He wrapped his fingers into her silky curls and hoped he wasn't hurting her. He bucked his hips and sucked in frantic breaths as she bobbed.

  She slurped and sucked, twisted her hands around his shaft until he was a quivering mess. Her lips squeezed, her teeth nipped and her tongue stroked his throbbing flesh like a seductive lover.

  In and out, he plunged.

  When he sensed he might come, it took every ounce of his self control to pull away from her.

  "On the bed," he growled. "Hands and knees!"

  He hoped she understood what position he needed her to be in for safe sex. During the day, when JJ had been cooking, he’d snuck onto the computer and searched the Internet for safe sex while pregnant.

  He wished he could formulate sentences and tell her exactly why he wanted her in the position, but he could barely get a thought together due to his fried brain. He watched as she got onto her knees and hands. He scrambled onto his knees and positioned himself right behind her.

  Then he grabbed the base of his swollen shaft.

  She moaned as he slowly penetrated her vagina. She was already sopping wet and her muscles clamped tight around him.

  Sucking his cock turned her on. It was foreplay for her as well as for him. He knew from previous experiences that she would be turned on big time and would need very little stimulation to orgasm.

  He withdrew, then plunged into her again. She gasped, called out at his name and her body suddenly trembled as she exploded.

  Her velvety muscles spasmed around his flesh, short-circuiting his senses. He pistoned faster and faster, moving in a rhythmic grind until destructive convulsions lashed him.

  JJ joined him in her own climax, her pussy muscles squeezing and within seconds his testicles released the pressure.

  He came inside her, crying out her name and shuddering so intensely he swore his entire body was being ripped apart.

  But in a good way. A really good way.

  Afterwards, Brady stayed inside of her. Holding her slightly rounded belly, he gently brought both of them down onto their sides upon the bed. He reached out, grabbed the tangled sheets and comforters and tucked them in around them.

  “That was good,” she breathed. She snuggled back against him, and he kept his hand over her belly. Over his baby.

  Man, his baby.

  “Only good?” he teased.

  She giggled sleepily.

  “Before you nod off, have you been thinking about names for the baby?” he asked.

  “I have. But I love all of the names I come up with. I doubt the kid would want a string of a hundred or so middle names and no first name.”

  Brady chuckled. She had a point.

  “Have you been thinking of a name?” she asked softly.

  He buried his face into her silky hair and inhaled deeply. She smelled so fresh and clean. She’d be the perfect mother.

  “Yeah, plenty of names. I think if it is a girl we should give her your mom’s first name and my mom’s first name as her middle name.”

  She remained silent for awhile. He wasn’t sure if she’d fallen asleep or maybe didn’t like the idea and didn’t know how to tell him.

  “Mary Jane, or M.J. for short? I love it. I truly do. Oh my gosh, why hadn’t I thought of that?”

  “You would have.”

  “And if it’s a boy?” she asked.

  “John after John Wayne.”

  JJ giggled. “Seriously?”

  He cuddled her closer to him.

  “Do you know what? We’ll name the kid whatever you want, sweetness. Whatever you want is perfect for me. Just like you’re perfect for me,” he muttered.

  “I love you, baby daddy,” she whispered.

  “I love you too, baby momma.�
�

  They slept.

  JJ was just removing supper from the oven when she heard the roar of all-terrain vehicles coming into the yard. Her heart pounded with excitement as she looked out one of the kitchen windows and saw Dan and Rafe on their vehicles, trails of dust-devils following them as they drove up to the vehicle maintenance shed.

  They would be hungry and she’d prepared tons of food for them. Quickly she placed the veal stew into a dish and set it upon the table. She’d tried for a baby theme for supper, wondering if the guys would pick up on it and ask questions.

  Or as Brady had mentioned the other day, Rafe and Dan had already been suspicious and might guess right away when they spied the miniature sized vegetables she’d picked fresh from the garden only an hour ago.

  For dessert, she’d serve her men white chocolate dipped strawberries. They were in the fridge right now.

  She’d drizzled some light pink and baby blue-colored chocolate icing over the white chocolate dipped strawberries to add to the baby theme she’d planned for tonight’s supper. Brady had loved her idea when she’d asked him earlier after venturing out to the equipment shed, were she’d found him still working on that old tractor that he loved so much.

  She’d purchased a bunch of fresh strawberries the other day while in the city because she’d been craving strawberries for weeks. She’d anxiously been waiting for the ones in their garden out behind the ranch house to ripen, but that wouldn’t happen until the last week of June or early July, still some weeks away.

  Quickly she got the coffee machine going and placed the several groups of baby vegetables onto a large dish. If Rafe and Dan didn’t catch on, then she had another type of desert as backup.

  Her breath quickened as the back door squeaked open and her men’s joyful voices echoed down the hall as they entered the mudroom. She could hear them stop and remove their boots, before coming down the hall.

  Rafe entered the kitchen area first. His clothes looked dusty and rumpled, his bangs were wet and his forehead shone with sweat. But that smile on his face made her heart leap with joy. He didn’t say a word as he scooped her into his arms. He hugged her and then kissed her ever so sweetly on her mouth.