by Liv Brywood
“I need you too,” Rachel whispered.
Mack stretched his arms overhead. “Will you be okay if I head over to the cafeteria for a few minutes? I need a snack.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Want anything?”
“Some coffee would be great.”
Mack gave her a crooked smile. “Watch over him while I’m gone.”
“I will.”
After Mack left, she grabbed a chair and dragged it over to the side of the bed. She sat and watched his eyes for any sign of movement. She didn’t know how long he’d be stuck in a coma. It was all her fault. If she hadn’t kept Jimmy from his father, then maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe this was punishment for keeping Jimmy a secret all these years.
She sniffed back tears. She couldn’t fall apart now. She had to stay positive.
She whispered, “If you can hear me, I need you. I don’t think I can live without you. Jimmy deserves to have a father. Even if… even if we can’t be together… at least you’ll have a son.”
She paused to listen to the heartbeat monitor. Nothing changed. A wave of despair overcame her. What if he never woke up? What if the price of saving her son was killing his father?
***
Brady struggled to open his eyes. A heavy weight held them closed. Even after summoning every ounce of strength, he still couldn’t bring himself out of the deep sleep which seemed to drag him under.
A soft, feminine voice spoke to him. At first he didn’t recognize it. But a slow realization brought on by his bear senses hit him hard in the chest. The woman, whoever she was, was his mate. His bear felt it, and he also felt it in his heart. His soul sang with recognition. He’d been searching for her his entire life but hadn’t recognized it until now.
An annoying beep picked up tempo as he was finally able to force his eyes open for a second. His lids fell closed but not before he’d been able to sneak a peek at his mate. He instantly recognized her soft brown hair and bright green eyes.
“Rachel.” His voice came out so softly that he could hardly hear it.
“I’m right here, honey.”
“What… what happened?”
“You came in for a bone marrow transplant. Do you remember?”
“So thirsty.”
The grip on his hand released. Footsteps retreated then returned. Something freezing cold and moist pressed between his lips. He gratefully licked what he finally realized was an ice cube. He tried to sit up but couldn’t move. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this weak.
Once the ice cube had melted, he opened his eyes. Rachel leaned over him, giving him a great view down the front of her sweater. He was operating at a corporeal level. Nothing mattered beyond food, water, and a glimpse of his sexy mate.
She must have noticed the direction of his gaze because she grinned. “It looks like you’re already on the road to recovery.”
He tried to laugh, but it took too much effort. “Hello, beautiful.”
Her smile dissolved as her bottom lip quivered. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“You’ll never lose me.”
“The last few days have been so crazy.”
He crawled his fingers across the blanket until he could reach her hand. Just seeing her had given him enough strength that he was able to squeeze her hand. “How’s our son?”
“He’s in recovery. He’s doing well so far. We won’t know if the transplant took for a few months, but for now, everything looks good.”
He smiled. “I’m glad he’s okay.”
“I know I did a terrible thing by keeping him from you. But I hope that maybe in time….”
“We need to get to know each other again. We’ve both been through so much in the last four years.”
“But there’s a chance?”
He nodded slightly. “Come here and kiss me.”
She leaned over and pressed her soft, warm lips against his. The gentle caress of her mouth slid to his cheek as she spread kisses across his face.
From across the room, someone cleared their throat. Rachel pulled away quickly. A bright flush rose up from her neck to color her cheeks.
Mack stepped into the room. “I hate to interrupt, but I heard you’d woken up. How are you?”
Brady looked at Rachel and smiled. “Getting better by the second.”
Mack chuckled. “Why do I get the feeling I’m going to have to cook for a few more people day after tomorrow?”
“What’s happening then?” Rachel asked.
Mack said, “It’s the first night of the twelve days of Christmas. Every night for twelve days, we get together as a family and celebrate everything we’re grateful for. If Jimmy’s up for it, you’re welcome to join the family. Bring your mom too. We have a lot to celebrate this year.”
Brady rolled his head to the side so he could look at Rachel. “Will you join us?”
She beamed. “I’d love it. Dr. Landry said Jimmy should be up and walking tomorrow, so we should be able to come.”
Mack said, “Great. I’ll count on three more. I have to get back to the farm, but if anything comes up, call me.”
“I will,” Rachel said.
As soon as Mack left the room, Brady used his hands to push himself into a sitting position. The fog in his brain receded with each passing minute.
“I should let you get some rest,” Rachel whispered.
He smiled. “You’re not going to stay and give me my sponge bath?”
She blushed. “Wait until I get you alone again. You’ll get more than a sponge bath.”
“Close the door.”
She laughed. “I’m sure the nurses will love that.”
He flashed a wicked smile. “Okay, maybe not right now. But as soon as I’m on my feet again, you’d better be ready.”
Chapter 10
Two nights later, Rachel leaned back from the Grant family’s dining room table and patted her stomach. Several other brothers were still shoving huge bites of pie into their mouths. The Grant boys sure liked to eat, something she could understand all too well.
She eyed the last two bites of caramel apple pie on her plate. “I think I’m going to explode if I eat another bite.”
Brady leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Save some room for my private dessert.”
She blushed and quickly looked around the table to see if anyone had heard his naughty comment. The only person who seemed to be paying attention was her mother. She winked knowingly. Rachel couldn’t help but laugh. Her mom didn’t miss a thing.
Brady pushed back from the table. “We should put Jimmy to bed.”
June spoke in a suggestive tone. “I can do that if you guys want to spend more time… alone.”
Rachel nearly died from embarrassment. “Mom!”
June snickered. “What?”
Brady jumped in to save her. “I think we’d like to put him to sleep together if that’s all right. Trust me, you will get plenty of babysitting duty. But tonight, I’d like to be able to tuck him in.”
Rachel smiled softly. “Me too.”
June said, “No problem. Just let me know when I can step in to help.”
“Can you watch him tonight?” Brady asked.
Rachel gave him a questioning look.
Her mom grinned. “No problem. Tuck him in and I’ll join him in a few minutes.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Anytime.”
They rose from the table and walked over to where Jimmy sat playing with a tower of blocks.
Jimmy said, “I’m making a big Christmas tree so Santa can bring me presents.”
Rachel laughed. “I think Santa needs to consult her bank account.”
Brady said, “Santa’s going to need two sleighs to bring you all the presents he has for you.”
Under her breath she whispered, “Don’t over promise.”
Equally furtively, Brady said, “I’m not. I have a little saved up and four years of presents to make up for.”
>
Jimmy looked from one person to the other then grinned. “More presents!”
Rachel scooped him into her arms. “Let’s get you to bed before we plan our toy store massacre.”
“What’s a massa…masur…that thing?”
“It’s what happens when a mommy and a daddy love their son so much that they want to give him the world.”
Jimmy’s eyes went wide. “Are you my daddy?”
Rachel froze. They still hadn’t told Jimmy that Brady was his father. She’d wanted to wait until she was sure they’d be able to rebuild their relationship.
“We’ll have to talk about that later,” Brady said with a guilty look on his face.
“I hope you’re my daddy.” Jimmy’s voice trailed off as they walked down the hall to June’s bedroom.
“Your brothers were so nice to let us stay the night,” Rachel said.
“There was no way I was going to let you drive back in the middle of the night. It’s too dangerous.”
They walked into June’s room and laid Jimmy on the bed. Rachel undressed him and put his monkey pajamas on. As she laid his head on the pillow, Brady joined her in helping to get Jimmy settled. Rachel and Brady reached for the blanket at the same time and laughed.
Brady said, “May I?”
She nodded. As she watched Brady tuck their son in, her heart fluttered in her chest. They hadn’t had a chance to really talk about their relationship since they’d left the hospital. Every time Brady had wanted to bring it up, she’d changed the subject out of fear. Things seemed to be okay between them for now, but she knew they had a long way to go.
Brady tucked the blanket around Jimmy’s shoulders then bent to kiss his forehead. “Sweet dreams, little man.”
Rachel kissed Jimmy goodnight and turned off the light. As they closed the door, she turned to find Brady standing close to her. She looked up at him and found him gazing at her with more love in his eyes than she’d ever seen.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
“For what?”
“For raising our son.”
She smiled. “Thank you. So…what now?”
“Hot cocoa on the porch?”
“Sounds good.”
After grabbing two steaming mugs of marshmallow-covered hot chocolate from the kitchen, they moved outside to the porch swing. They sat side by side, both clutching the mugs in their gloved hands.
“It’s a full moon,” Brady remarked.
“Do you remember the time we went to Old Faithful in the middle of the night?”
“I remember how beautiful you look in moonlight.”
“Thank you.”
The porch swing creaked as they rocked back and forth. She wondered how to start the conversation that they needed to have, but couldn’t find the right way to begin.
Brady finally broke the silence. “I forgive you.”
“You do?” Hope rose up to form a lump in her throat.
“I’ve been thinking about things a lot and I think I know where we went wrong.” He turned to look at her with luminous brown eyes.
“Where?”
“We didn’t talk to each other, and we didn’t listen when we did talk. I should have known something was wrong that night. You’d never reacted with so much anger before. I should have been more sensitive.”
She took a sip of cocoa to give herself a few seconds to gather her thoughts. He was right, he hadn’t been sensitive, but she hadn’t been either. “You couldn’t have known. Sometimes I’m too good at hiding what I’m really feeling.”
“What are you feeling right now?”
“Scared. Hopeful.”
He caressed the side of her face with the backs of his knuckles. “Don’t be scared. We’re talking now and that’s what we need to do. We can’t keep secrets from each other. Not ever again. Not if we want this relationship to work…”
She said, “I have to ask you something, but I’m afraid to hear the answer.”
“Ask me anyway.”
“Are you only doing this because of our son? If I was alone, would we even be having this conversation?”
He sighed. “I honestly don’t know. But I’d like to think that we would have found each other again. We’re meant to be together. I know it, and my bear sure as hell knows it.”
Her heart broke open. Every fear she’d been holding onto, every worry, every ounce of trepidation blew out in a single breath. She gazed into his eyes. “I’ve known that you were my perfect mate ever since that night at Old Faithful. My heart knows it, and although I don’t have an inner bear to contend with, my soul knows it too.”
As he smiled, the magic of Christmas swirled through falling snowflakes. Flickering Christmas lights twinkled through the windows to cast a shimmering kaleidoscope of colors across his hair. He reached for her mug and set it on the ground next to his. The warmth between them grew as Brady leaned in to kiss her.
Soft and sweet, his lips played across hers with a gentleness that stole her breath. She shivered, not from the cold, but from the way her heart plummeted into her belly. She moved closer and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders. She couldn’t stand being apart from him for another minute.
Brady scooped her up, carried her into the house, and strode down the dark hall to his bedroom. After setting her down, he closed the door behind him. He moved to draw her back into his arms. She melted against him as he pulled her close.
She moaned softly.
His breath was hot against her ear. “We have to be quiet so we don’t wake up the whole house.”
She giggled. “I feel like a teenager again.”
He laughed. “Only this time there’s no one here to bust us.”
She stepped back and drew her sweater over her head. “Take me to bed, cowbear.”
***
As he unbuttoned her shirt, he murmured, “I love that nickname.”
“It fits you. You’re part cowboy and part bear.”
“I’m breaking in a new horse. We’ll go riding together once he’s ready.”
“What if I want to go riding right now?” she asked in a seductive tone.
He swallowed. God, how had he ever left her? He’d been an idiot.
Her hands worked the buttons on his shirt, slowly stripping him. When her hands grazed his nipples, they hardened. She bent to draw one between her lips, giving it a little tug. Heat flooded his cock. He stretched and grew, aching to be inside her. But he couldn’t rush tonight. No, tonight he wanted to give her all the pleasure in the world. He needed her to know that he’d never leave her again.
She backed him toward the bed and then gave him a playful shove. “Lie down, cowboy.”
He growled low in his throat as she climbed up to straddle him. In a slow, seductive strip tease, she unbuttoned her shirt.
“Have you been a naughty cowbear, or a nice one?” she asked flirtatiously.
“Very, very naughty.”
She inched the sides of the shirt open just enough to give him a glimpse of the curve of her breasts. He swallowed and groaned. She was going to kill him at this rate.
When he reached up, she playfully slapped his hands. “Ah ah. Not yet.”
“I want you.”
“I know.” She grinned.
His voice went low and husky. “I need you.”
She peeled the shirt open and whispered, “I need you too.”
He reached up to caress the curve of her belly. As he cupped her full breasts, he couldn’t help wanting to admire the two perfect handfuls on the sexiest woman he’d ever known. He couldn’t believe he was this lucky. Some bears never found their mate and he’d been wondering if he’d ever find his. Now that he had her, he’d never let go.
She moaned and rolled her head back. As she pressed into his hands, his cock strained against his jeans. He cursed his clothes and wanted to tear them off, but he also wanted to follow her lead. He’d seen her erotic side before, but nothing like this. He was willing to suffer just to see what she’d d
o next.
“Brady?”
“Yeah?”
“Undress me.”
He sat up and wrapped one arm around her waist to steady her while he used his free hand to unbutton her jeans. After yanking down the zipper, he pulled her against his chest and dragged the jeans down. She wriggled out of them and kicked them off the bed. The only thing he could see was her perfect, silky breasts, but he wanted to see everything.
He rolled her onto her back and knelt between her thighs. When she reached for him, he grabbed her hands. “Wait, honey. Let me look at you.”
She slid her hands down the sides of his hips then lay back. His gaze raked across her flesh, finally stopping to rest on her panties. Blue satin. Damn, she looked so good in that color. But… the panties had to go.
He smiled at her as he slipped his fingers into the waist of her panties. He pulled them down and off her feet, then tossed them aside. She arched, cat-like and seductively, giving him full view of the soft, warm space between her thighs. He groaned.
“Kiss me,” she whispered.
He knew exactly what she meant. He dipped his head to kiss the insides of her knees. After leaving a trail of sultry kisses up her thighs, he blew a warm breath across her lips. She shivered and reached for his hands. He laced them together as he dipped to kiss her sweetness.
She cried out.
He raised his head. “Sweetie, the whole house is going to hear you.”
She groaned. “This is so hard.”
He chuckled and shifted his hips against the bed. “You have no idea.”
With a swipe of his tongue, he had her moaning again. Over and over he kissed and licked the sensitive flesh until she panted. She was more than ready for him, but he wanted her to ache with carnal need. He wanted her to remember why they were so good together. Not only were they best friends, but they were also dynamite in bed.
She reached for his head. After tangling her fingers in his hair, she yanked him up. “I can’t wait. I need you. Now.”
He slowly kissed each hip before brushing his cheek across her soft belly. He loved the way she felt, as fluffy as a down pillow. He continued up to swirl his tongue around each taut nipple. It wouldn’t be right if he didn’t nuzzle her neck and nip at the edge of her earlobe.
