Cowboy's Barmaid: A Small Town Military Romance (Lucky Flats Ranchers Book 2)

by Piper Sullivan

  Now they simply waited on the call from the doctor. Robert had begged for them all to eat dinner, but nobody could manage to take a bite while they awaited news.

  It seemed childish that she expected everything to immediately be fine, but now they had to wait until the doctor gave them the results. Magic was difficult and often slow when it came to healing.

  Josephine escaped to the library and began her research on how to keep Mr. Williams’ bear shifter genes alive. She knew she had time to figure things out, but she had nothing else to do besides wait. She refused to think about what would happen should he not make it.

  Roman found her, hours later, buried beneath a mountain of books and various documents. She raised dry, bloodshot eyes to his and couldn’t stop the flood of tears as they rained down her cheek.

  “I can’t focus,” she admitted shamefully. “I’ve always found peace and comfort in my work, but now, I just can’t concentrate.”

  Roman clucked his tongue and gathered her into his arms where he began murmuring words in some other language. A large part of her wanted to dissect the language, identify it and then analyze it, but her brain was too tired to do much more than allow herself to be coddled.

  “Everyone is gathered in the parlor,” Roman murmured against her temple. “Why don’t we join them? Robert has a fire going and he and Leo are playing chess. I can have him fix you something to eat,” he offered.

  “No,” she refused softly. “Let’s just go and be with them. I’m too tired to do much more than breathe.”

  “As you wish,” Roman agreed, lifting her into his arms, he carried her down the hallway and into the parlor. Neither Robert nor Leo glanced up as they entered, their minds too occupied with the game of strategy and wits.

  Roman gently lay her on the lounge chair seated before the fireplace and then lowered himself to sit on the floor at her side. He laid his head back against the velvety material and Josephine couldn’t help but run her fingers through his hair.

  Finally, the phone rang.

  Roman jumped and raced across the room, snatching it from the receiver.

  “Hello?” he barked.

  She, Robert, and Leo all waited with baited breath as Roman remained silent as he listened to the voice on the other end. He nearly dropped the phone when he whirled around towards them.

  “He’s going to live!” he exclaimed with a relieved laugh. “I can’t believe it. He’s going to live,” he breathed and nearly collapsed against the table. “My father is going to live.”

  “Roman,” Josephine cried as she went to embrace him. He hugged her tightly against him. They’d spent all day waiting for news and the sun was now dropping past the horizon outside. In the last hours of the day, Roman’s father had been saved. Even though they now faced a new dilemma and possibly a difficult quest, the William’s family would continue and The Midnight Den would survive.

  “Let’s give them some privacy,” Robert whispered to Leo as the men ducked out of the room with knowing smiles.

  Roman’s warmth felt comforting against her. Soon, the room was cloaked in darkness. She approached a lamp to turn it on, but he pulled her back against him.

  “We can find a way to reverse this,” he told her, touching the bite. His desperate eyes searched her face. “You don’t have to be connected to me if you don’t want to.”

  She took a deep breathe, the tense air of the room nearly suffocating her. “Roman, I’m not sure that we need to do that…”

  The seconds passed between them like hours as she saw him processing her answer. Even in the darkness, she felt like her face was flustered before him.

  “I mean, what I’m saying is...Would it be alright if we stay like this for a while?” she asked softly as her hand went to cover the bite. His breath tickled her ear as he leaned towards her.

  “You’ve helped me save my father,” he reminded her. “You can have whatever you want.” Her heart jumped nervously.

  “Does that include you?” The question was out of her mouth before she could help it. Heat swirled around them. He let out a rumbling laugh as he leaned into her.

  “Only if I can have you,” he countered in a hoarse voice. “All of you.”

  She squeaked in pleasant surprise when he pounced. His rough hands moved against her body as if they were making music on her. She moaned and pressed her lips against his. He pressed her against the table behind them with a primal growl, a delicious sound that made her blood heat.

  When he rubbed himself against her, she captured his bottom lip to nibble it. His tongue pressed against her attack and he ravaged her mouth. They broke apart, panting. Her chest rose up and down, the hardened nipples peaking beneath the thin fabric of her shirt. His fingertips found them and she threw her head back to moan as he caressed her breasts.

  “Josephine!” His growl made her tremble as his hands made quick work of her clothes. Her fingers desperately tugged away his own clothing. She moaned in sweet agony as his hardness brushed up against her slick entrance. He pulled her into a hard kiss. She arched her back and pressed up against him with a satisfied groan.

  “I can’t wait any longer,” she whispered in a hoarse voice. The outline of his member against her spiked every lustful nerve within her. She wanted him. She needed him. To feel his love as he thrusted into her.

  They pressed together. Savagely, a primal urge thundering between them to touch skin against skin. Even in the dim light, she felt his hesitance. She grabbed his hand with a firm reassuring squeeze. He nodded against her, his tongue playing with the bite, earning a gasp of pleasure from her.

  He grasped one of her legs to hook behind him. Her skin was melting in bliss while he positioned himself at her entrance, yearning for him to fill her. With a light touch, he barely pushed himself into her while his fingers began to work magic just above her entrance. She gasped with pleasure and whined, writhing beneath him.

  “Please!”

  “I love you,” he said. Slow and soft, before he thrust inside of her with a husky groan.

  “Again,” she begged him. He was quick to follow her lead, thrusting in and out of her. She felt the pressure building in her as she began to respond to his movements with her own rhythm. Their breaths became quicker together as the starlight began to cloak them in a dreamy haze.

  “Fuck,” he groaned. His pace quickened. She felt a sudden rocketing in pressure as her muscles squeezed around him, a sensation that brought her to her peak.

  “Roman!” She cried out for him and threw her arms around his neck. She needed to feel the deep rumbling of his chest as he growled against her. He threw his head back with a deafening roar as their pleasure peaked together.

  “Josephine!” he screamed her name as they rocked against each other into blissful ecstasy. They collapsed against one another, the desk cold beneath them.

  “Bed?” she suggested weakly. He nodded, sweaty forehead slick against her naked chest. He grabbed her in his arms and carried her down the hall to his room. He dropped her gently with a grin on the soft bed. She moaned gratefully as she buried her face in the fabric and felt him lay down beside her. His hands trailed her sides.

  “You can continue to research the Midnight Den,” he said. “I can help you prepare documents. We just need to leave out certain parts.”

  “I wasn’t planning on revealing the bear magic,” she teased with a smile. His dazzling eyes seemed to glow in the faint moonlight.

  He smirked. “Do you remember what I told you in the beginning?”

  She furrowed her brow. “What?”

  “Not to fall in love with me,” he said slyly as his hand want to cup her face. “Here you are, though.”

  “I don’t see you complaining,” she pointed out as she propped herself up on her elbow. His wicked grin fell to her naked breasts, exposed as they slipped from beneath the sheet.

  “No, I can’t complain. Not even about my mother’s trickiness.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked with a fro
wn.

  He pulled her into his arms as they rested against the pillows together. She listened to the steady beat of his heart as he played with her hair.

  “Her craftiness caused some stress,” he admitted. “But, it did lead to some valuable discoveries.” When his handsome eyes rested on her face, she blushed.

  She’d discovered more than she thought possible too. The journey to discover the secrets behind the Midnight Den had led her to love. Strange, unpredictable love that was worth discovering for years to come.

  ***

  THE END

  Click Here to join Our Romance Connoisseurs’ Club and receive a FREE copy of Her Fake Fiancé Billionaire Boss.

  Feel free to use the Table of Contents to read an exclusive excerpt included in this book.

  Stolen Bride

  Chapter 1

  “He’s been ordered to take a mate,” Elder Seraphina’s soft-spoken words punched Jasmine like a gust of gale force wind. She turned and studied the older woman, praying the “he” in question wasn’t the one she feared.

  When sad, apologetic eyes met her gaze, Jazz gasped harshly, her knees going numb with shock. She folded her arms around her middle and squeezed in an effort to find some comfort. She felt like her heart had been ripped from her chest with a rusty spoon.

  Right now all she wanted to do was flee to her special Eden and pour her misery into the bluish-green depths of solitude.

  Jazz had virtually grown up under Sera’s tutelage. Her own parents died when she was just a baby, so the Elder’s had decided that since Sera’s own daughter was around the same age, she would take the infant child and raise her as her own. So to Jazz, Sera wasn’t just an Elder, she was also an adopted mother.

  They both belonged to faction of Water Elementals and since Sera made her home a reclusive estate at Mayfield Falls in the Parish of Westmoreland Jamaica, it was the perfect locale for a young dragon to harness her element. The warm Caribbean water was like manna to their Faction. But not many inhabited the area. Water Elementals stayed close to their element, but surprisingly few lived near Jamaica.

  Aside from the fact that all landowners in the area fought for the tourists’ attention, Sera’s estate was surrounded and guarded heavily as to deter any unwanted visitors. It wasn’t as much a compound as it was a safe haven for dragon-kind. The beautiful lush lawn ended where a small waterfall pooled into a massive collecting pond.

  But not even her beautiful home could offer solace for the torment raking her insides.

  Her soul mate and long, lost love had been ordered to take a mate. Since Jazz’s father had been the Crown Prince’s advisor, she and Damien had grown up side-by-side, under the same roof. It hadn’t taken long for them to fall deeply in love. They’d found a connection that most people only dreamed of. They knew they belonged to one another, forever.

  Of course that fairy-tale life hadn’t lasted long. It had all fallen apart on the night of Jazz’s sixteenth birthday. Drake had insisted that the court throw Jasmine an elegant birthday celebration.

  A few hours into the bash, Jazz and Damien had sneaked away for some private time and not long after, all hell broke loose. Apparently not all of the Faction supported Drake’s rule and rebels were spread throughout not only his court, but also his staff of servants.

  Damien had ushered Jazz into a dark corner on the balcony overlooking the lush gardens and guarded her with his own body when the fight spilled out toward them. Drake had killed his attacker and upon hearing Jazz’s gasp of shock, turned angry eyes on them. He’d instantly ordered the guards to apprehend her.

  He was convinced Jazz’s father had betrayed him and refused to have his own son swayed by the siren of such a traitor.

  They hadn’t parted ways voluntarily; Damien fought fang and claw to keep Jasmine in his arms. Known for his quick temper and even deadlier fighting skills, he’d managed to hold the soldiers off a while.

  But in the end, the powerful warriors managed to wrench her away. Her parents had died in the skirmish, so Sera had whisked Jazz away to her family’s personal oasis in exotic Montego Bay and she’d remained here ever since.

  She hadn’t dated, hadn’t wanted to. Jazz and Damien hadn’t seen each other since that summer - well over a hundred years ago. She’d never gotten over him and knew deep in her heart that she never would. She wanted Damien and no other would do.

  “I think I’ll go swimming,” Jazz murmured sadly and turned toward the path leading down to the small pond.

  “Jazz, wait,” Sera called after her. “Draken’s gone now, Damien is the Prince, and it’s his choice.”

  Jazz lowered her chin and squeezed her eyes tightly, forcing the tears back into the deep recesses to her soul. She couldn’t allow herself to hope. A small part of her had secretly hated Damien for his abandonment. In all these years, he’d never tried to contact her, not even after Draken had died.

  Jazz had broken down and called Damien only to be told he didn’t want to talk to her. She’d never told anyone about that heart-shattering experience. Especially Sera, so even though her words were meant to comfort, they only managed to cut her even deeper.

  Instead of saying anything, Jazz merely continued her way to the pool.

  * * *

  Damien stood at the edge of the secluded pond and watched the water bubble and ripple. From the moment he’d received the Elder’s decree, his only thought had been to get to Jazz as quickly as possible. His hands clenched at the memory of how she’d been ripped from his very grasp.

  He hated himself for his inability to protect her. He wished he’d killed every one of the guards; sometimes he wished he’d even killed his own father.

  He knew she’d never taken a mate of her own and had chosen to remain at Seraphina’s estate. He hoped she would forgive him for brushing her off after his father’s death. He’d been mourning deeply and feared that he’d break at the mere sound of her voice. He’d meant to contact her well before now, but his father had left the Faction in a bit of a political mess and it had taken all his time to grasp the flailing reins and bring everyone back under command.

  Then the High Council had dropped their little bombshell. Damien’s first thought had been total elation. He could finally be with his soul mate - in the most official capacity - and no one would ever separate them again. Then following quickly on the heels of his glee was morbid fear that she wouldn’t have him.

  Female numbers among the Four Factions were minimal at best and neither Faction knew complete details of the other. That was where the High Council of Elders came in. They didn’t necessarily govern the groups. They more or less provided mediation in certain matters that required Cross-Factional communication. That’s why their “mate” decree had rocked Dragon-kind on its heels.

  He sensed her long before she stepped through the six-feet-tall elephant ear plants providing a natural protection barrier between the small pond and the rest of the lagoon.

  She’d been watching her feet as she walked the small path so she stopped suddenly, her lush lips parted in complete shock when she finally looked up and saw him.

  “Hi,” he said shyly. Now he understood the meaning of the word “speechless.” Of all the things he’d wanted to say to her, they’d all abandoned him when he saw her. He scolded himself for a coward and merely waited for her to respond. He just hoped she didn’t attack him.

  “What are you doing here?” she demanded harshly. It wasn’t exactly the welcome he’d hoped for, but he’d take what he could get. At least she hadn’t unsheathed her talons and tried to rend his flesh from his bones.

  “I was gathering my nerve,” he explained, sweeping his hand toward the clear water and pulled the liquid toward him in small tow waves. He brushed his hand back and allowed the ripples to resettle. “I was afraid to call first. After the way I refused your call, I figured you would tell me not to come,” he admitted softly and turned back to her.

  She was still beautiful, even more breath-taking after all the
se years. She wore her auburn curls short with a colorful bandanna wrapped snugly around her head, taming the few wayward wisps. Her dark brown eyes curved upward in the most exotic, cat-like arch. She blinked thick eyelashes as she merely studied him as if he owed her one hell of an apology.

  She wore a body-forming, white sleeveless tank-top, matching shorts and white canvas sneakers. The contrast of white material against her sun-tanned skin made him drool with lust. She’d developed into a woman in the time they’d spent apart and it pleased him to see that she wasn’t as skinny as most women tended to be.

  Her breasts were that plump roundness every man dreamed of fondling and her hips flared wider too. Just the way he liked. She was lush and gorgeous.

  The extra flesh was just icing on the cake. He never like bony women to begin with. The mere sight of them turned his stomach. He never understood why men went for skeletons.

  Given the way his body reacted to the mere sight of her, he knew his adolescent feelings were real after all. They weren’t “riddled hormones of a horny boy” as his father had explained.

  They were real. She was real - flesh, bone and blood. And he would have her, no matter the cost.

  “You’re right,” she conceded. “You shouldn’t have come.” With that she turned on her heel and marched back through the greenery, slapping the vibrant green leaves out of her way.

  “Jazz, wait!” he called and rushed after her. He lurched forward, his arm stretched and his hand curled around her bicep. He caught her before she’d gone too far. True to his memories of her sassy nature, he wasn’t shocked when she wrenched from his grasp and whirled on him, drilling her finger into his chest like a jackhammer in concrete.

  “Don’t tell me what to do,” she warned through gritted teeth, punctuating each word with a forceful jab at his solar plexus. “I may be one of your subjects, but I am not your slave.”

  Throwing his hands up in defense, Damien took a retreating step backwards. Apparently her temper hadn’t improved either. His own rose to the challenge. His Dragon was her Alpha and his inner leader demanded that he show here - right then and there - that his word, his will and his wants were absolute. They were law as far as his subjects were concerned.