by Ellis, J. J.
“Hey Dylan, what would I have to do to get you to let Rizzy stay here with us for a while?” Russell would have to find a puppy for Miranda to own and take care of. It seemed that animal therapy was going to be one thing that would help his daughter.
“Well big brother, my intention had always been to get your beautiful daughter to fall madly in love with Rizzy and want to keep her. I’m away from home way too much to take good care of her.” For once, Dylan Harper actually looked embarrassed. Miranda on the other hand looked joyous
“Can we keep her Daddy? Can we please?” she squealed, bouncing in her seat.
Russell and Evelyn answered at the same time. “Yes! Of course Rizzy can stay.” Miranda jumped up from her seat and crawled under the table to play with the sleepy pup. She was oblivious to the adults moving to the family room. It took Russell several tries to coax the two out from under the table.
Russell oversaw his daughter’s bath and bedtime story while the other adults enjoyed coffee and dessert in the family room. It was almost as if nothing had ever happened that day. Except now Rizzy had become a member of their family.
“Daddy, you should go take Miss Emily home now.”
“It’s okay honey, I want to make sure you are okay.”
“I’m fine Daddy. I was sad and I’m okay now. Go take Miss Emily home and you can stay if you want.” Russell’s heart stopped for a beat. Did his Ma tell Miranda to say stuff like that? “You know, visit with her for a while. I’ve got Rizzy and Grandma here. Grandma’s right Daddy, you need to spend more time with people your own age.”
“Well, well aren’t you such a grown up girl now!” Russell smiled. He kissed his daughter on the forehead “Okay sweetheart I’ll take Miss Emily home. Meanwhile, you and Rizzy need to get some sleep.”
“We will Daddy. You know, I’m kinda glad we think we know why I’m so different from other kids now. It just feels better knowing that there’s a reason. And Miss Emily said there are things we can do to make life easier for me. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier, Daddy!”
“And that makes me happy too, my dear sweet daughter. Good night pumpkin. Goodnight Rizzy.”
“Night Daddy,” she said with a yawn. Both Miranda and her new puppy were sound asleep before Russell reached the end of the hallway.
CHAPTER 6
“Emily I’ll take you home. It’s really dark out there,” Russell offered, walking into the family room smiling.
“Nah. I’ll take her home bro,” Dylan said with a twinkle in his eyes that was definitely predatory. Russell knew that look all too well and suddenly felt protective of Emily.
“No!” he nearly growled at his brother. He felt as if he wanted to pounce on Dylan for even thinking about Emily that way. What was wrong with him? Emily Zane’s sex life should not have been an issue. “You. Will. Not. Dylan,” he ground out. He was pleased to see his brother back up a step
“I’m sorry, we really do need to talk about Miranda,” Emily mumbled looking away. She blushed, and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him after her.
Russell chuckled as he tried not to trip behind her. “Whoa! Slow down Em, if I run I’ll be dragging you.” Emily didn’t listen, she just quickened to a near run before stopping dead in front of Russell’s SUV.
“Sorry, but I know your brother’s reputation,” she stated with a shudder.
“Wow!” Russell grinned at her. “A female who can resist him.” Emily Zane must be some kind of angel, an angel sent to torture him. “Dylan started young and never stopped,” he sighed. “I mean he charmed himself into his fourteen-year-old girlfriend’s pants and has never looked back. God, I for one will forever be scarred by him.”
Emily looked at him curiously with her cool green eyes. “What do you mean scarred?”
“I walked in on them,” he chuckled. “It completely freaked me out at the time. Hell, I thought I would go blind, or at least I wanted to for the longest time.” Russell shook his head as if trying to clear it. “I saw that vision in my head for weeks. The decision to go into the cabin without knocking was the biggest… correction, the second biggest mistake of my life.”
Emily laughed. “Wow, I can see why you were scarred.” Her look suddenly turned serious. “What’s your biggest mistake Russell?” With every minute, Emily was more and more interested in this intriguing man. If he thought walking in on his brother having sex was the second biggest mistake of his life, she couldn’t wait to hear what the biggest was.
“I’ll tell you when we get to your house,” he said opening the car door for her. Russell was plotting a scene out in his head as he winked at her. He was going to do something that he would probably regret for the rest of his life. But because of how Emily had dealt with Miranda, he had a newfound appreciation for the woman sitting next to him. She was brilliant and sexy and beautiful. And he had been completely alone for too long. He craved her company, he needed her closeness, just for a little while.
“Pleeeeease tell me,” Emily begged, batting her eyelashes.
“I think I like it when you beg,” he confessed, a slight smirk crossing his face. Damn she was sexy when she begged. Oh how he desperately wished it was for something other than information.
**********
Russell pulled up to the cottage and turned the engine off. “May I walk you in?”
“I’d like that,” Emily said softly as she reached for the door handle. Harper boys were always gentlemen and it was nice to see he hadn’t lost that quality to the city.
“Whoa, hold on a minute,” he said, rushing out of the vehicle and over to the passenger side. He opened the door and held his hand out to her.
“Thank you,” she murmured with a smile. She expected him to let go of her hand as soon as she was out of the seat, but he didn’t. The feeling of his large warm hand enveloping her small one felt good. It felt right. “I appreciate the ride.”
“It was my pleasure,” he returned softly as he opened the picket gate for her.
Emily stepped through and turned to him. “We’re at my house, you can tell me what that biggest mistake was.”
Russell raised an eyebrow at her. “You remembered.”
“Yeah. I have a very good memory,” she said with a sly grin. “So spill it.”
“Invite me in and I’ll tell you,” he returned with his own sly grin.”
Emily tugged his hand, pulling him up the walkway. She pulled the key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. As soon as he stepped through, Russell spun Emily around and planted a kiss on her irresistible pouty lips. At first she welcomed the intrusion, but after a moment she pulled away. “I know what you’re doing, Russell. Tell me your biggest mistake then we can kiss all you want.”
He sighed and looked into her eyes. Immediately he knew she wouldn’t budge on the idea. “Okay, let’s sit and I’ll tell you. But please save all of your judgments until I’m done talking.”
“Of course,” she murmured, pulling him over to the couch. It must be something big. Something much worse than walking in on his brother.
They sat next to each other, Emily a bit forward on the cushion and turned toward him. Their knees touched. “Go ahead,” she encouraged.
Russell sighed then began. “I love Miranda with all of my heart, but…” He took a deep breath and released it slowly. “I wish I had never married Vivienne. She was so wrong for me. I guess I always knew that but she represented everything I, and my roots, weren’t. She represented the kind of life I thought I wanted.”
Emily smiled and grabbed his hand. “It makes sense. I think a lot of us fall in love with ideas of what we want and not the actual person.”
Russell nodded his agreement. “I still feel guilty though, because if I hadn’t married her, my little girl wouldn’t exist.”
“Technically that’s not true,” she informed him. “You still could have conceived Miranda without being married to her mother.”
Russell laughed. “You are so right. We moved the wedding up by four
months because she was pregnant. I guess my biggest mistake of marrying her is accurate. It has nothing to do with Miranda.”
“Exactly. There is no reason to feel guilty. Just because you hate your ex, doesn’t mean you feel the same about the child she gave you.” Her hand reached up to touch his cheek.
His gaze moved up and their eyes met. “You shouldn’t have done that,” he growled.
“What? This?” she asked, reaching up to touch his face with her other hand.
“Yeah,” he breathed. “That.” Their lips met in an all-consuming desperate kiss.
Russell’s hands found their way to Emily, slowly trailing up and down her sides. Shivers raced through her taut body, and a deep moan escaped her lips as they broke apart. “You like that, I take it?”
“You could say that,” she replied with a smile. Pulling back slightly, she lifted her blouse up and over her head, exposing her perfect bare breasts. She was obviously excited as evidenced by the perfect rosy tips.
Russell leaned forward and took a nipple into his mouth. Biting gently, he ran his tongue across the tip, causing her to gasp and wind her hands in his hair. His hand worked its way to her other breast and cupped it, allowing his thumb to run circles across her sensitive flesh. He heard her gasp in pleasure, again.
Emily whimpered when Russell moved away to rest his hands at her waistband. She felt her hips lifted as he tugged her shorts off, exposing her feminine body to his gaze.
“Beautiful, perfect and so…” he breathed as his mouth lowered to her. Emily called out in pleasure as his tongue began to trace a pattern upward, trying to find the piece of swollen flesh he craved.
Her hips raised to him, and taking her cue he began to tease and nibble, quickly driving her over the edge as her body was wracked with spasms. “I haven’t felt that good in forever,” Emily whimpered as he pulled back. “After what happened. I never thought…”
“Shh, now is not the time to think about that,” Russell murmured as he pulled off his shirt and undid his belt. “Now is only about us.”
Emily smiled as he came fully into view. His well-developed muscles glistened with sweat. As her eyes wandered down and she took in the sight, she couldn’t help but think she should have gone after him all those years ago. Before she could do or say anything, he was next to her, kissing her again, positioning himself between her thighs. Her hips thrust upwards as he began to ease inside of her. Her body took him deeply, causing a moan to escape.
What started off as slow, even pressure, quickly turned into frantic movements that brought Emily close to the edge once again. Within moments, she felt herself falling as her body clenched tightly. “God! Yes!”
Russell felt every spasm, every shudder as she came apart. He wanted this to last, to give her more pleasure than she could imagine, but it had been so long that his own sensations were too strong to ignore and his own climax exploded just after hers.
He moved onto his side and wrapped her in his arms in one quick movement. “God, I’m sorry Em. I didn’t mean for that to happen. I planned on coming in here to ask you on a date because I’ve been alone for so long now, and I want to spend time with someone who makes me happy and…”
“Shh,” Emily whispered “Don’t apologize, I had a say in what happened too. Truthfully I’m glad we did this.”
“You are?” he asked as his hand caressed her hip.
“Yes. You know, Chuck wasn’t the only one I had a crush on in school.”
Russell took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. “So, you’re telling me you had a crush on me?”
“For all of senior year,” she admitted looking away. “And maybe before that even. I noticed you first, but then Chuck was always teasing me so…”
Russell chuckled softly and shifted Emily to lie on top of him. “I thought for sure you two would end up together.”
Emily lifted her head up off of his chest. “He didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?” he asked curiously.
Em let out the breath she was holding and clamored up to a sitting position. She pulled Russell up to sit next to her. “Did you ever wonder why, in senior year, I didn’t try to hang around you guys?”
He shrugged. “I just figured you grew up that summer when you stayed with your grandmother.”
“No,” she said softly. “I was trying to heal a broken heart that summer. All of the chasing had finally paid off. I caught Chuck.” She sat silent for a few minutes trying to quell the anger she still sometimes felt when she thought back on the end of junior year.
Russell sat and watched her. The emotions she was feeling were apparent on her face. “It was you,” he whispered. “The girl Chuck bragged about screwing then leaving stranded. We always thought he was just talking and being a dumb ass.”
Emily took a deep, steadying breath and looked over at the man she’d just had sex with. “We went to the old campground just outside of town. I willingly gave him my virginity on a blanket on the ground. When we were done, he snatched my clothes and took off. I walked home at eleven p.m., wrapped in a scratchy old blanket. God! I was so stupid to think he actually liked me.”
“He was the stupid one,” Russell ground out. “If our group had known, he wouldn’t have gotten away with it.”
She reached over and grabbed his hand. “I went to my grandma’s in Casper for the summer and when I came home, I was a totally different person. I was stronger but more wary. That’s when I decided I was going to Seattle for good.”
“And now you’re back here. Don’t the memories haunt you?”
“No,” she said shaking her head emphatically. “That was nothing compared what happened to…in Seattle.”
“I’m sorry,” he murmured as he raised her chin so he could look into her eyes. His lips inched toward her, settling gently on them. The sweet gentle kiss quickly turned deep and passionate. “Where’s the bedroom?” he asked breathlessly.
“Over there,” she returned, pointing down the hall. “I’ll grab our clothes and meet you there.”
CHAPTER 7
Russell smiled when he heard his favorite song on the radio but then the damn thing kept sticking on the chorus.
“Russell...Russell, your phone is ringing.”
He sat bolt upright at the sound of Emily’s voice. “Miranda! What’s wrong with Miranda?” Leaping up, he rushed to the chair where he’d put their clothes, to dig for his phone. “Hello.”
“Hi son. Don’t worry, Miranda is fine, but I need you to come home.”
“What happened, Ma?” he demanded as he sat on the edge of the bed.
Evelyn sighed. “It’s your brother. He’s had an accident and I need to get to him. Someone needs to stay with your daughter.”
“Okay Ma, I’ll be right there.” He hung up the phone and started to get dressed.
“What’s going on Russell? Is there anything I can do?”
“My brother’s been in some kind of accident and Mom needs to leave.”
“Oh no!” Emily worried. “Which brother?”
“She didn’t say, but it has to be Dylan. I swear Logan never leaves that damn grocery store anymore.”
Emily nodded and rose from the bed. “I’ll come with you. You never know how Miranda will react to the news.”
Russell didn’t argue, he just moved so Emily could get to her dresser. Somehow he already knew, this early in their relationship, not to bother arguing with her. And he could really use her quiet comfort right now.
The word ‘relationship’ reverberated in his head. What they had was so new, he couldn’t call it that yet. Could he? Yes, they got along well, and yes the sex was fantastic. He really liked her but…
Shaking off his troubling thoughts, he grabbed his keys and turned to Emily. “Ready?”
She nodded and headed for the living room. With a growing sense of urgency, they left the former bunkhouse and headed to the main house.
**********
Evelyn was waiting in the backlit doorway
when the SUV pulled into the driveway. Russell and Emily rushed over to her. “What happened?” he asked.
“Dylan ran off the road and was thrown from the car,” she said quietly as another round of tears formed.
“Ma, you can’t drive in this state,” Russell insisted as they made their way to the kitchen. “Let me drive you.”
Emily busied herself with making coffee while Russell and Evelyn sat at the breakfast bar.
“I didn’t plan on driving myself, son. Evangeline Ballas is taking me. Tomorrow is her weekly trip to see her mother in the nursing home so she said she would just go up today instead.”
Russell released the breath he’d been holding and covered his mother’s hand with his. “He’ll be okay Ma. You know Dylan, he won’t leave a world where there are still women to conquer.”
A small smile appeared on Evelyn’s face. “You’re probably right Rusty, but just in case, keep praying.”
“I will, Ma. But ixnay the icknamenay,” he whispered with a sly glance to Emily.
Evelyn chuckled as she accepted a cup of coffee. “Thank you, dear.”
Emily sat down next to Russell and joined the somber conversation. “Did they take him to Casper or Billings?”
Evelyn took a sip of coffee and closed her eyes. “Billings,” she murmured.
They all knew that if he had been taken to Billings, Montana, there were traumatic injuries. Casper wasn’t as equipped to handle cases that serious.
The doorbell rang, breaking the mood in the room. Russell hurried to answer it with Evelyn and Emily not far behind. “Hello Mrs. Ballas. It’s nice to see you again.”
“Well Russell dear, it’s good to see you home,” the attractive older woman said as she blew into the room, followed by an equally attractive dark-haired young woman.
Evelyn gasped. “Nicoletta what are you doing here? I thought you were working as a nurse on a cruise ship.”
“I was, Mrs. Harper,” the young woman admitted. “But I’ve run away from the real world for long enough.”
