Marc could only laugh with joy, the tears streaming down his cheeks. He shuddered when he thought about how close they had all come to being burned alive in the fire, then said, “It’s going to be okay, you’re safe, the fire’s behind us.”
Sean seemed to understand Marc’s words, but his eyes were still big, the fear making his body tremble. “My ribs hurt,” he finally said when he’d had a minute to realize that the fire was far away.
“We’ll get someone to look at you in just a second,” Marc said, looking back over his shoulder at Michael who jumped down from the back of the truck to see if he could find someone to help them.
When he came back, he found Sean wrapped in Marc’s arms trembling but with a stubborn look on his face. Michael had brought a paramedic with him who quickly took over. After a quick assessment, he helped Sean down from the truck and over to a different truck which would take him down the mountain for further care. The four of them rode down the mountain in silence, arriving at the guest ranch in only a few minutes where Marc and Michael were pushed away so Sean could be cared for.
Scarlet was helping put out plates of food, her nerves stretched to the breaking point. It had been hours since Marc and Michael had gone in search of Sean, and as the minutes passed, she became more and more convinced that something terrible had happened. She’d been cursing herself for the entire time for not making Sean come home earlier, then questioning sending Marc and Michael up to look for him.
Now, the two most important people in her life were in grave danger. She couldn’t imagine losing one of them let alone both. Just when she thought her mind was going to explode with fear and anxiety, Annabelle came running through the door of the tent shouting that they’d found Sean.
“Is he hurt?” she asked, throwing off the apron she’d been wearing and running out of the tent.
“I haven’t been able to get that close, but he’s conscious. I was able to see that much,” Annabelle said, panting as she ran alongside Scarlet.
They reached Sean just as they were loading him onto a stretcher, and Scarlet was immediately panicked, not even hesitating to break though the men who circled the injured boy. “I’m his mother, let me though,” she shouted, using her elbows to get the men out of her way.
When she finally pushed through, Sean was sitting up, looking shocked and very frightened. Marc was right next to him, holding his hand and whispering in his ear. When Sean saw Scarlet, his face lit up then scrunched up in pain. She smoothed the hair off his forehead, leaving a clean streak where her fingers had brushed against his skin.
“Hey, you’re really dirty,” she said, holding back the tears that threatened to spill out when she saw him smile at her. “But you look like you’re okay.”
“My ribs hurt. I’m not sure why, but it hurts when I breath,” Sean said, wincing as the stretcher they’d put him on bounced over the uneven ground.
The man who was pushing the stretcher asked, “Are you his mother?” When Scarlet nodded her head, he added, “He seems to be okay, maybe a few broken ribs. We’re going to check him out and see if he needs to go to the hospital for further treatment.”
They forced Scarlet to wait outside while the doctor examined Sean. She fought to be allowed to stay with him, but Marc gently pulled her outside. She saw him wince when he grabbed her hand, and as soon as they were outside she turned on him.
“Let me see your hands. Why are you wincing?” she asked, grabbing his wrist when he tried to hide his hands.
“It’s nothing, just a few little burns,” he said, then held his hands out to her, palms up.
But when she touched the back of his hand to turn it over, he sucked in a deep breath, then gritted his teeth. While the palms of his hands were fine, there were several large burns on the back, already blistered and full of fluid. They were an angry red color and had to be very painful. Without a word, she pushed him over to one of the paramedics and pointed to Marc’s hands, unable to speak for fear she’d break down and cry.
As the sun began to rise, Scarlet’s thoughts were far from the fire that was still raging in the mountains behind her. She now had two injured men on her hands; neither was hurt very badly, but they would need some extra care for the next week. Sean had three broken ribs and extensive bruising on his side, and Marc had third degree burns on the back of his hands.
The doctor had given them both pain medication and a bolus of fluids to combat the dehydration that was sure to follow their exposure to such high temperatures. “You’ll need to fill these prescriptions and keep them well hydrated. You could take Sean in to have those ribs x-rayed, but they’ll tell you what I just have and it’s going to cause him a lot of pain.”
Michael and Annabelle helped her get them home and into bed before going into town and filling the prescriptions. “Do you need anything else? Michael is insisting on going back up there. I wish he wouldn’t, but I can’t stop him when he makes his mind up to do something.”
“No, I think we’re fine. I’ll have my hands full, but I think sleep is the best medicine right now,” Scarlet said, beginning to feel her exhaustion over take her. “I’ve got a few hours before they wake up, I’m going to take a little nap.”
When she awoke several hours later, she found the prescriptions sitting on the kitchen counter and both of the boys still asleep. Jumping into the shower in the hall bathroom so she didn’t wake Marc, she gave herself a few minutes to cry in the shower where no one would hear her. She’d been pushing the thought that she’d almost lost both of them last night from her head for so long that she had to let some of the emotion out before it drowned her.
There had never been any doubt in her mind about how much she loved Sean, but now she knew that without Marc there would be a gigantic hole in her life. She loved him and would always love him. As she showered off the smell of smoke, she promised herself that as soon as they were able to listen, she would tell them about Sean’s dad. Marc had been right, it was important that Sean was aware of what his father had done and promised to do in the future.
When she tiptoed into the bedroom, Marc was awake, sweat pouring off his pale face. He was sitting on top of the covers, his hands held out in front of him. She immediately ran to his side. “It looks like you’re really hurting. What happened?” she asked, not sure what to do.
“I had to use the bathroom,” Marc said, trying to smile through the pain. “I guess that wasn’t a very good idea.”
“No, evidently not. Let’s see if we can get you back into bed,” she said, helping him to his feet.
Once she’d gotten him settled, his hands resting on a pillow on his lap, she sat with him until the pain pill she’d given him took him into a drug-induced sleep. After she’d gotten dressed, she smoothed the hair off his forehead, pleased to find that it was cool and dry. Then she crossed the hall to check on her other patient, who was still sleeping but bound to wake up soon. She thought about waking Sean but instead pulled a chair close to the bed and napped while he slept.
It was mid-afternoon before Sean awoke. Scarlet was woken from a sound sleep by a small squeak from Sean when he tried to get out of bed. When she opened her eyes to find her son awake and watching her, she smiled and said, “I thought you were going to sleep all day.”
“It feels like I’ve been asleep for days and I really need to use the bathroom,” Sean said, trying to sit up.
Scarlet rushed to his side. “Let me help,” she said, helping from the bed.
“You’re not going in there with me,” he said, a little of the old Sean returning. He’d always been a very independent child and she was happy to see that hadn’t changed.
“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said, leaving him at the door a big smile on her face.
Chapter 12
Louis sat in the crappy chair in the cheap motel room he’d had to rent after his release from jail yesterday. He’d had other plans, but when he’d called the contact number his lawyer had given him all those years ag
o, it had been disconnected. It hadn’t taken him long to discover that all his carefully laid plans had been turned to dust over those long years he’d spent in jail. Of course he should have known that nothing would work out the way he’d planned, that bitch of an ex-wife of his had seen to that from the very beginning.
He’d left instructions for her with his lawyer, but the stupid woman had done just the opposite. Instead of protecting their money and holdings, she’d handed it all over to the government to pay back his investors. Just thinking about it made him want to hit something. He’d worked hard for that money and property, and all she’d have had to do was sit tight and plead ignorance. Eventually, they would have left her alone.
It didn’t matter that his lawyer had said differently. He was completely convinced that they would have let Scarlet and his son keep the money. Then instead of sitting here in this hell whole, he’d be in the Caribbean living the high life; it should have been easy. Word on the street was that she’d disappeared as soon as she signed everything over and never been seen again, but she had to be out there somewhere and with his son.
Since he’d learned of her deception, he’d had one goal in mind: find her and get even. In the process, he’d reclaim his son. It was way past time for him to know what a great man his father was. He had so much to teach him. Together, they’d rebuild the family fortune. It would be the perfect partnership, one he’d been dreaming about since the day the boy was born.
He was impatiently waiting for a phone call from one of his old associates when a story on the news caught his eye. They were reporting on a big forest fire in Montana, the flames leaping in the background hard to look away from. He was just about to change the channel when in the background he was sure he saw Scarlet. The longer he watched, the more convinced he became it was her. Hoping to see a shot of her face, he watched on the edge of his seat.
When Scarlet’s face appeared on the screen, he jumped to his feet and yelled, “You’re mine now, bitch.” Then began filling a bag with some clothes. He was on his way to Miner’s Ridge, Montana and a long put off pay back for his ex-wife. Smiling from ear to ear, he grabbed his keys and jumped into his car, squealing the tires as he drove out of the lot.
It had been three days since the fire had started, a long three days if you asked Scarlet. Both of her patients had begun to recover from the injuries, becoming more demanding as the days passed. She’d finally resorted to making them both beds in the living room so she didn’t have to run back and forth between the bedrooms. But today even that hadn’t helped that much since the boys were becoming tired of being cooped up inside.
Sean had been content at first to spend his time playing video games, but Marc hadn’t been able to use his hands at all the first few days so he’d been sitting idle, tired of watching TV and getting grumpier by the hour. As soon as she’d gotten them both to bed that night, making them both take their last pain pill just to give her a good night’s sleep, she snuck back into the living room and gave herself the gift of a few minutes alone.
But she found that exhaustion was making her eyes heavy and the last thing she needed to do was spend another night sleeping on the couch. She’d spent every night there since the boys had come home, and the lack of sleep was beginning to get to her. As she stumbled to the bedroom, all she could think about was sinking into bed and sleeping for eight hours, but when she walked through the door, it was to find Marc wide awake.
“I thought you’d be out like a light,” she said, stopping just inside the door and putting her hands on her hips.
“I spit the pill out. I like it when you stand that way,” he said, grinning at her, mischief in his eyes. “Is Sean asleep?”
“Yes, but whatever you’re planning, forget it,” she said, but her body was already responding to the look in his eyes.
“But I’m bored,” he said, trying to look sad. “Maybe you can entertain me for a little while before we go to sleep.”
Scarlet couldn’t resist his teasing tone. It felt like it had been forever since he’d held her in his arms, although it had only been a few days. “What did you have in mind?” she asked, warming to idea of a little entertainment.
“Well, my hands are the only part of my body that’s hurt. The rest of me is just fine,” he said, pulling off the covers to show her just how fine the rest of him was.
He was lying there naked, his erection stiff and welcoming. Scarlet drew in a deep breath and locked the bedroom door, knowing that Marc had issued an invitation she couldn’t resist. Her body was already humming with desire, the moisture collecting between her legs.
“I’d hate to hurt you, but I think maybe if we’re careful, I might be able to entertain you for a little while,” she said, stripping off her clothes and climbing up on the end of the bed.
Marc opened his arms up to her, but she only shook her head no and climbed further onto the bed until she was kneeling between his legs. Sliding them further apart, she slid her hands up his thighs, her eyes never leaving his. When she took his erection in her hands and stroked him, he laid his head back against the pillow sucking in a deep breath.
Emboldened by his reaction, Scarlet leaned down and licked the tip of his penis with her tongue, her hands still stroking his throbbing penis. She slid one hand down and began to stoke his testicles and the flat space behind them, making him arch his hips in pleasure. Then she slowly took him into her mouth, opening her mouth farther and farther, until he was as deep as he could be.
When she began to move, her mouth sucking on him, he grabbed her head with his hands, his fingers twining into her hair. Scarlet was surprised to find herself turned on by the intense pleasure she was giving him, the moisture between her legs beginning to drip down her legs. That hard knot in her stomach beginning to form as Marc writhed under her as she’d done so many times for him.
Knowing that she was in full control, she continued to suck and stroke him, feeling him respond only making her bolder. Marc was moaning her name, completely lost to her hot mouth, but when she thought he would let go and cum in her mouth, he untangled his finger from her hair and tugged on her arms.
“I need to be inside you,” he said as she climbed on top of him, her mouth finding his.
Straddling him, she slid herself over his hard penis which had come to rest between her slick folds, making Marc arch his hips and grid them into her. Afraid that he’d hurt himself, she raised herself off him and reaching between them grasped his throbbing cock and slid it inside her, sinking down until he was fully inside her.
She rested there, Marc buried deeply inside her, knowing that something had changed between them. While sex with Marc had always been wonderful, when he looked into her eyes at that moment, she knew that they were meant to be together. With Marc buried so deeply insider her, it felt as if she was complete again, as if a piece of her that had been missing had finally been replaced.
But the pressure deep inside her was far from satisfied and it was up to her to find that satisfaction for them both. She began rocking her hips, riding Marc as she’d never done before, his only contribution the thrusting of his hips when she came down on him. Even with the bandages on his hands, he managed to find her nipples with this thumb and finger, sending a new wave of pleasure rushing through Scarlet.
“I want to feel you cum. Touch yourself like I touch you,” he said, pulling one of her hands down between them.
Scarlet was unsure of herself but did as he’d asked, feeling strange but the look on his face when she began to rub herself banished those feelings. Hands back on her hips, he guided her as she rode him, moaning as her body tightened around him as she took herself over the top of a world-shattering orgasm. She was still trembling and shaking, her hips grinding into Marc’s, when he grabbed her hips and pulled her off him and onto her hands and knees.
In one smooth movement, he kneeled behind her, spreading her legs farther and entering her in one deep thrust. She braced herself and pushed back against him as he fille
d her over and over again, the pressure starting to build again deep inside her. Even with his injured hands, he managed to reach between them and rub her clit, sending her spiraling into another orgasm almost immediately.
With her body clenched around his and her moans of pleasure came from deep in her throat, she drove Marc over the edge. With a cry of his own, he buried himself deep inside her and let go, his orgasm so powerful that he cried out her name. When their bodies had finally stopped twitching, Marc collapsed beside her, completely spent. He was vaguely aware of the some pain in his hands, but nothing could penetrate the feeling of wellbeing that Scarlet always gave him.
Scarlet carefully snuggled up next to him, aware that his hands probably hurt, then laid her head on his chest. Marc was completely overcome with emotion at the feeling of her in his arms, unable to speak for a second; he couldn’t reply when she asked if he was okay.
“I’m fine,” he finally managed to say, unable to put words to the feelings he was having.
Then he finally realized what it was he was feeling. It was love: full blown, no turning back love. The kind of love he’d thought he’d never find. Scarlet started to get up thinking that he was in pain, but he pulled her back down. “I’m fine, really. How could I not be after that?” he said, finding her mouth for a kiss that let her know that everything was fine.
Marc drifted off to sleep, but Scarlet laid there for a long time unable to sleep. She wanted to tell Marc how she felt, but there was still a barrier between them, one she’d created herself. Knowing that sleep wouldn’t find her that night, she got out of bed and headed to the couch, but she’d barely sat down before Marc came out of the bedroom, his eyes still sleepy.
He came and sat down next to her, and carefully put his arm around her. “Can’t sleep?” he asked, planting a kiss on her lips.
“No. I think it’s time we talked,” she said, her heart hammering in her chest.
Hold Me Close: BWWM Romance (Brothers From Money Book 6) Page 12
