Collapsing on top of Annabelle, he managed to find her mouth in a passionate kiss, which left her as breathless as always. He rolled onto his back taking Annabelle with him, then pulled her to him until her head was on his chest right over his heart. Unable to stop it, a tear rolled down her cheek and landed on his chest.
Immediately concerned, he leaned up on one elbow to look at her. Wiping off another tear, he said, “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
“No.” She laughed. “I don’t know where the tears came from. That was more wonderful than I could have ever imagined.”
Michael settled them back onto the bed, then said, “It was pretty wonderful for me too. I’ve never felt anything like that before.”
“Really.”
“Really.” He said, kissing her on top of the head.
As they lay tangled together, the clock on the mantle struck midnight. “Merry Christmas, Belle.” Michael said.
No one had ever called her Belle, she’d have thrown a fit if they had, but hearing Michael say it made her feel warm inside. “Merry Christmas to you Michael. I think this might be one of the best ever.” She said, leaning up to kiss him.
She fell asleep not long after, listening to his heart beat, feeling satiated and content. Tonight she’d become a woman, not just because of the sex, but because she realized the power she had. A power that she had every intention of exploring over the next few days.
Early in the morning Annabelle awoke shivering, even Michael’s body heat not enough to keep her warm since they’d let the fire die down. Michael snuggled closer to her, then stirred clearly awake as well.
“It’s freezing in here, I think the fire’s gone out.” He said, pulling her into his arms. “I’ll flip you to see who’s going to get out of bed and feed it.”
“I’d be willing to try, but I don’t know anything about fires.” She said, smiling up at him sweetly.
“Okay, I’ll do it. But tomorrow you’re getting a fire building lesson.” He said, jumping out of bed, then dancing around on the cold floor.
There were still a decent amount of coals in the bottom of the grate to reignite the fire quickly, but when Michael got back in bed, he was freezing. Annabelle squealed when he wrapped himself around her, a huge shiver going through her at his touch.
“Oh, you’re freezing.” She said, trying to get away from him.
“Not so fast. I fed the fire now you have to warm me up.” He said, his hand finding her breast under the covers.
“And how am I supposed to do that?” She said, playfully desire beginning to bloom deep inside her.
“Well, there are a lot of ways, but how about we start with this.” He said, his mouth finding one breast and his hand the other.
“Hmm, I don’t know if that’s warming you up, but I’m definitely begging to feel much warmer.” She said, barley able to get the words out.
“I might need to take your temperature though, we wouldn’t want you getting over heated.” Michael said, his hand leaving her breast to delve between her legs.
More than an hour later Michael stumbled out of bed to add more wood to the fire, then collapsed back into bed with Annabelle, asleep before his head hit the pillow. She wrapped herself around his back, loving the hard, firm feeling of him in her arms.
Just before sunrise, Annabelle woke screaming, Michael holding her in his arms tying to soothe her. “I’m sorry I had a bad dream.” She finally managed to say after she’d stopped shaking.
“That was more than a bad dream.” He said, stroking her hair.
Annabelle was quiet for a long time, trying to push the dream from her mind. It was the same dream she always had, a slow motion picture of her mother as the bullet hit her square in the chest. She watched paralyzed while blood seeped from the wound in her chest as she slumped down the wall. Usually the picture was fuzzy, but tonight it had been as clear as if she’d been back there in the dining room.
“Do you want to talk about it?” He finally said, when it seemed that she’d collected herself.
“I guess I owe you that much.” She said taking a deep breath.
“How about I make us some coffee, it’s not that long until sunrise.” Michael said, kissing her on the forehead and getting out of bed.
Annabelle sat huddled in the bed, happy to have a few minutes to prepare herself. Her therapist had told her that the more she talked about what happened the easier it would be to heal, but she’d been steadfastly avoiding talking about it for so long it was hard to find a place to begin.
When Michael came back to bed, he handed her a cup and waited while she took a few sips, then took the cup from her hand and wrapped his arms around her. “My parents were both highly respected in their fields.” She began. “My mother was a professor, head of her department with a string of published works to her credit. My father was a sought after research scientist who left both academia and the private sector to find a vaccine for cancer.” She said, feeling a little stronger.
“He raised enough money to build a lab behind our house where he could work unmolested by anyone. The summer between my sophomore and junior year, he began to act strange. My mother and I worried about him, but he wouldn’t talk about what was wrong.” She shuttered knowing what was coming next.
“On the night he told us that he’d solved the vaccine problem, some men came crashing into our house and....” She trailed off, needed a second to collect her thoughts, images of that night rushing at her.
“They shot my father, then my mother when my father refused to tell them where the formula was. But they weren’t supposed to hurt us, so when the shooter pointed his gun at me, the other man pushed him and instead of shooting me in the head, the bullet hit me in the hip.” She said, unable to hold in the sobs.
Michael pulled her back against the headboard and wrapped her in his arms and rocked her while she cried. “I can still see it so clearly in my head. My father died in my arms trying to tell me something.” She said, suddenly remembering the moment he’d died.
“What did he say?” Michael finally asked when she’d calmed down.
“I can’t remember, I just now remembered that much.” She said, taking a deep shuttering breath.
Michael just held her knowing that nothing he could say would erase the pain and scars that she carried with her. Suddenly his little fight with his brothers didn’t seem like such a big deal. In the space of a few minutes Annabelle had lost her family and almost her life, it put things in a different perspective for Michael.
“Annabelle, did they catch those men?” He asked, dreading the answer he knew was coming.
“No, the police did their best, but they’ve never been able to catch them.” She said, a quiver in her voice. “I’m constantly worried that they’re going to come after me.”
“Sweetheart, you shouldn’t have been carrying all this around with you. You need to reach out to the family and let them help you. We need to find that formula and put it somewhere safe, who ever wanted it then probably still wants it.” Michael said, a lecturing tone to his voice.
“You think I don’t know that. I think about it all the time. But what am I supposed to do? I don’t know where the formula is and the police searched the house and the lab multiple time.” She said, getting angry. She hadn’t told Michael all this so he could lecture her, she knew what the danger was.
“I’m sorry, I just got mad. I hate to think that someone hurt you.” He said, taking a deep breath. “Does anyone else know about this?”
“Yes, I couldn’t come here and not warn them, but Garrett seemed to want those men to come after me. He said something about it getting boring around the ranch.” She said, smiling at the memory. Sabrina had punched him and said she was perfectly happy with the quiet.
“I know this hard for you, but I really think we should pursue this some more.” Michael said, settling them more comfortably against the headboard.
“I’ve been avoidin
g it because I didn’t want to think about that night, but I think whatever it was that my dad was trying to tell me is the key, I just can’t remember.” She said, frustrated.
“Give it some time, you did well tonight, thank you for sharing that with me.” Michael said, kissing her on top of the head.
Annabelle was exhausted from both the dream and telling Michael about the night her parents were killed, soon she was fast asleep, her head resting on Michael’s chest where she could hear his steady heartbeat. When she woke up, Michael wasn’t in bed, but then she realized it must be a least mid-morning.
Stretching, she got out of bed wondering where he might have gone. Something smelled wonderful and when she opened the oven she was surprised to find a small turkey roasting to a golden brown. Sliding on her shoes, then opening the door, she realized immediately where Michael was. Shading her eyes from the bright sun, she could see him chopping wood a few feet from the cabin.
She slid back inside the cabin and took quick shower in the primitive bathroom with water heated from the stove, then dressed quickly. When Michael came back, arms full of wood, Annabelle was standing in the center of the room, dressed in a silky negligee and robe. “At my house we never get dressed on Christmas, it’s the one day of the year we wear our pajamas all day.”
“I think I could get used to that tradition.” He said, dropping the pile of wood on the floor and slamming the door. Before she could even catch her breath, she was back in bed, Michael sliding the silky gown up her thighs.
Hours later, between the two of them they managed to get dinner on the table, proud of themselves for what they’d managed in the rustic kitchen. Michael had even brought one of Marcie’s famous apple pies for desert. After they stuffed themselves and cleaned up the mess, they fell back in bed too full to move.
“This has been one of the best Christmas’ I’ve ever had. Thank you for doing all this, it’s made it so much easier.” She said sleepily.
“You’ve given me the most precious gift I’ve ever received, I’ll cherish it for the rest of my life.” He said, the emotion making his voice rough. “And we still have another day. I thought we might try snow shoeing.”
“That sounds like a lot of work.” She said, then suddenly remembered that she had another gift for him. “I have something else for you.” She said, scrambling out of bed.
She dug around in her bag, then pulled out a sweater. “I made this for you, I hope it fits.”
Michael took the sweater from her and pulled in on over his head. It fit like a glove and the color she’d chosen was perfect, making his blue eyes more striking than ever. “Hmm, maybe I don’t want you wearing that after all. It looks even better than I thought it would.”
“Thank you.” Michael said, then added. “It’s as soft as you, I’m going to wear it every day, but right now I think I should thank you properly.
As the sun went down on the perfect Christmas day, Annabelle found the passion and fulfillment she’d always wanted in Michael’s arms, knowing that the coming year would be better than the ones before. She fell asleep that night, dreaming of a future that included Michael, the first time she’d made any plans beyond the next day in a long time.
Chapter 10
The next day they only left the cabin to get fire wood and take care of the horses, any thoughts of going snow shoeing lost to both their passion and the exhaustion that it caused. Annabelle had no idea that she could be sore in so many places, but was happy to accommodate Michael’s desire which matched her own.
They spent long hours talking about their lives, Michael finally explaining to Annabelle about his father and brothers and the ongoing feud. “My father supports me, but Scott is only interested in making money. It’s almost become an obsession for him.”
“So he thought you’d come out here and fail?” Annabelle asked, trying to imagine a brother like Michael’s.
“Yes, I guess so. I haven’t talked to him since I got here. I call my dad all the time, but I don’t want to talk to Scott.” He said, shaking his head at the sorry state of their relationship.
“What about your other brother?”
“He does whatever Scott tells him. His whole life has been about trying to be just like Scott. It’s really sad if you think about it, I didn’t realize how bad it was until we started fighting.”
“I’m really sorry to hear about your brothers. I always wanted siblings, it might have made growing up easier.”
“Sometimes I wish I was an only child.” He said, laughing.
When they got back to the ranch the next morning it was to find Sabrina and Garrett headed to the hospital. Garrett was a total wreck, gone was the domineering man who had everything under control, replaced by a man who was suddenly facing one of the most important moments of his life and scared to death.
Donovan was elected to drive them to the hospital and his calming presence seemed to help. Annabelle and Michael just stood and watched as the family scrambled around getting everyone loaded up and on the way. Annabelle just managed to catch them as they were getting in the car.
“Good luck, I know everything will be fine. I can’t wait to meet the baby. Have someone keep us posted.” She said, hugging Sabrina.
“Thanks, Annabelle.” Sabrina said, then always the mother of the group, asked. “How was your trip?”
Touched, Annabelle told the truth, “I think I’m in love.”
“You couldn’t have picked a better man.” Sabrina said, squeezing her hand.
By New Year’s Eve, not only had Sabrina given Garrett a healthy son, but Allison and Nate had added another girl to the family. Both babies had been healthy and would be home after the holidays. Annabelle knew that once they were all home the real work would start, so she was happy to have a break before that happened.
Baby Jonathan was over two months old now and Leslie was an excellent mother, so Annabelle had free time again. She’d been spending it trying to decide what to do with her life from here, she didn’t have any plans to leave soon, but eventually she’d have to. But then she realized that she could take classes online from anywhere, which might be the perfect solution. The idea of going back to a crowded college campus held little appeal for her right now.
Michael was busy that week between Christmas putting the final touches on the cabins which would be ready long before his deadline, giving him not only a bonus but the time to work on the secret project he and Nate had been planning. Construction on Allison and Nate’s cabin couldn’t start until the spring, so he’d have time to complete the project before then.
Annabelle had been bugging him about the project, curious what he was doing, but he’d promised to show her on New Year’s Eve so she was looking forward to the night. He wouldn’t tell her any of the plans for that night, but she decided that she liked surprises.
He picked her up just after dark and drove down town, parked by the café and pulled her down the sidewalk to stand in front of an empty building. “What do you think?” He asked.
She looked at the building, it looked old and worn down, the paint peeling, the door covered with plywood. It was dark inside but she was sure it would be just as decrepit inside. “Well, it’s an old building, so I’m guessing you and Nate have some big plan.”
“Nate wants to build the space for Allison. The café was only the first part of his plan, this will be a full service restaurant featuring Allison’s pastries and coffee, but a full menu as well. There’s plenty of business for another restaurants in town and this space will be perfect. It’s an old dry goods store.”
Annabelle looked at the building skeptically, but she knew how talented both Michael and Nate were, if anyone could revitalize this place, they could. “Show me inside.” She said, with a sigh, knowing all too well that once he started working here, they’d have to work harder to see each other.
“I thought you’d never ask. We have to go around back, I’m going to keep this door sealed until we’
re done. But there’s a door that opens onto the alley, come on.” He said, pulling a flashlight out of his pocket.
They traipsed around back, through almost a foot of snow that had built up over the last few days. When Michael opened the back door, it was just as dark inside as outside, but with the flashlight she was able to see some of the features of the building. The first thing that she noticed was that the ceilings were very high, with an open second floor.
Michael pulled her into the center of the room. “Okay use your imagination, we’ll put the kitchen back in the store rooms through those doors, then the coffee bar and pastry cases right by the front door. The rest of the space will be filled with tables, downstairs will be mostly for the pastry and coffee bar while upstairs will be for the full service menu.”
As he shined the flashlight around, she could see it in her mind, but what she also saw was that the place was in bad shape. “That’s going to take a lot of work, it looks pretty bad.”
“But the bones of the building are in good shape, it’s mostly going to be cosmetic, except of course for putting in the kitchen and coffee bar. I’ve got the best crew in the country on their way, it’s going to cost a fortune but when it’s finished it will be fantastic.” He said, his enthusiasm reminding her of a little boy with a new toy.
“I know you’ll do a fantastic job.” She said, shivering. It was cold in the old building. “Hopefully you’ll be putting in some heat.”
“First thing on my list, but come with me I want to show you something else.” He said, pulling her back towards the storage rooms.
When they walked through the door Annabelle couldn’t help but let out a little “Oh” at the sight that greeted her eyes. Instead of a storage room, Michael had created a romantic hideaway. He’d used old fashioned lanterns to light the space giving the room gentle glow, thick rugs and cushions created a space where they could comfortably relax and a small heater provided enough warmth that Annabelle could take her coat off.
I'll Be There: BWWM Romance (Brothers From Money Book 5) Page 10
