The Damaged Heroes Collection [Box Set #1: The Damaged Heroes Collection] (BookStrand Publishing Mainstream)

by James, Sandy

  “Not until you answer my question and I have my say. And for once, you’re going to listen, damn it.” James dragged her back into the bar. He stopped and looked out over the crowd who now gaped at the couple. Obviously changing his mind about talking in front of such a large audience, he marched into his back room.

  Until she heard the squeak of the doors as they swung in their wake, she hadn’t realized the crowd had quieted to a whisper. Shit, not only had they all seen her carried around like a sack of grain, they were undoubtedly listening in on whatever it was James had to say to her. Before she could utter a word, he carried her through the room and out the far door. She hadn’t realized there was a spiral staircase in the small storage area behind James’s room.

  He put her back on her feet, spun her around to face him, and slammed the door. The only light filtered down from the second story, giving the room a dark, foreboding air.

  Although dim, it was bright enough she could see the angry scowl on his face. “You can’t go to that dance with him. You pouted for five whole days after you took that ballroom dancing class.”

  Putting her nose in the air, Susan turned her back on him. Sure, she might be the clumsiest person in the world. How many people stomped their dance instructor’s instep hard enough to fracture his foot? But James was a cad to remind her, and she wasn’t much in the mood to have this conversation with him. Once upon a time, he had the right to boss her around. He sure didn’t have that right now. What she did was none of his—

  A hand on her shoulder twirled her back around to face him.

  “Stop pushing me around,” Susan scolded. “You’re making me dizzy.”

  Fisting his hands against his hips, James glared down at her. “I mean it. You’re not going to that dance with Daniel Miller.”

  She took a step closer, tilting her head up so she could frown at him. She had to resist the urge to shake her finger in his face and scold him like a disobedient student. “The hell I’m not.”

  His last step put less space between them than the span of her hand. “The hell you are.” She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen him so angry.

  “What’s it matter to you anyway?”

  “He just wants in your pants.”

  “I’m not wearing pants.”

  “Quit being facetious. I’m serious, Suz. You’re not going on a date with him.”

  For a moment, she could almost believe James felt jealous. The heat from his eyes seemed too intense to bear. She glanced away. “Don’t call me that.”

  “Call you what? Suz?”

  Didn’t he know how much hearing that endearment hurt her? “Please don’t call me…that.”

  “But you’re always Suz to me.” His voice had softened, his mood seemingly changing in a heartbeat as a hand stroked up her arm and across her shoulder until his fingers found her chin. With a gentle coax, he made her lift her face back to his. “Always.”

  His dark eyes held her captive, and she was amazed sparks didn’t ignite between them. In that moment, in that nearly dark room, time stopped, stretching between them for what could have been a moment or a year.

  James leaned in, his eyes searching hers for some reply to a question he didn’t have to ask. Susan answered him by meeting him halfway.

  Despite what he’d expected, she let him kiss her. He’d been aching to take her into his arms ever since she’d waltzed into the Golden Nugget. Now that he had her back in his embrace, he wasn’t sure how to hold tight, but he’d move heaven and earth to keep her there.

  God, she tasted sweet—even sweeter than he remembered. James wrapped his arms around her as she threaded hers around his neck.

  The gentle pressure of their lips suddenly intensified, quickly turned consuming, as if they couldn’t get enough of each other. He pushed his tongue into her mouth, demanding she respond. He’d make her forget any other man who ever dared to touch her. Susan was his. Always had been, and, no matter what it cost him, always would be.

  Her tongue rubbed across his, as wild as his own, exciting him even more. He’d been hard from the moment he’d grabbed her, and the gentle push of her hips against his erection was almost more than he could bear. She still wanted him. She told him so with her kiss, with her body, and with the mewls rising from her like the notes to a beautiful love song.

  Susan’s head swam. How long had it been since he’d kissed her like this? This was his two-in-the-morning, roll over and sprawl on top of her kiss that always made her blood run so hot and wild.

  She reveled in his taste and in the feel of his arousal pressed against her, surprising proof that he still found her desirable. She wanted to feel him, thick and hot inside her, to wrap her legs around his hips as he pounded into her until they both found release.

  Her hips moved in an erotic rhythm that she couldn’t control. Rising on her tiptoes, she tried to make every inch of her body touch his. So long. It had been so long. Too long.

  Pulling his lips away from hers, James threw a smug smile at her when she tried to follow him with her mouth. She liked the way he kissed her. He’d known that, but the proof swelled him with desire. Susan wanted him right now as desperately as he wanted her. His erection twitched in response. That passion they’d shared when they were younger, before the kids, before the stress and strain of leading a middle-class life, before they’d lost the baby had returned.

  His hand moved up to cup her breast. Her hardened nipple rubbed against his palm through her thin clothes. She wasn’t wearing a bra. He kissed her cheek, her neck, her ear. “I want you, Suz. I want to be inside you. I want you to come for me. Now.” She trembled. He nibbled on her ear lobe. “Your room.”

  “My room,” she echoed as she ran her hand down his back to his butt. Palms against his backside, she pulled him harder against her. “Now, James.”

  He kissed her again, long and deep, promising to make this an experience neither of them would ever forget. Her tongue was as wild as his, coaxing his into her mouth so she could gently suck on it. He growled in response.

  Sliding her leg up the outside of his, Susan savored each sensation James sent ripping through her. He held her knee against his hip, pushed against her core, and groaned. She’d probably come the minute he was inside her. They’d almost certainly fail to get all their clothes off before they joined their bodies. It would be so sweet and—

  “Big Jim!” a shrill feminine voice screeched.

  Her head took a moment to clear from the sensual haze. Everything burned into her memory. The feel of James nestled against her, his hips pressing gently between her legs. The taste of him on her lips. The masculine smell of him.

  “You’re supposed to be kissing me! We were supposed to meet here, remember? Why are you with her?”

  Caroline. The high-pitched, whiney voice belonged to Caroline. Her words took a little longer to register. When they did, Susan froze.

  “What the hell?” James practically shouted.

  Susan knew then what was really happening in that dark room. He’d made plans to seduce Caroline, not her. He knew about that spiral staircase because he had planned to use it to take Caroline up to her room and make love to her.

  The thought of James with another woman, especially one as beautiful as Caroline, made her nauseous. She remembered every time Caroline flirted with him and how he never pushed her away. Susan tried to pull her knee loose, wanting to run away from this nightmare as far and as fast as she could.

  She was the queen of fools.

  James wouldn’t let her go, holding firm to her knee and keeping his other arm wrapped tightly around her. “No, Suz. No. I wouldn’t…You can’t believe…”

  The nickname that had been so endearing now set her off like dynamite. She struggled as if getting away meant saving her life.

  His grip became as tight as a vise. “Don’t. Just…just listen.”

  “Let me go!”

  James couldn’t believe what was happening. Susan fought like a tiger, twisting and turning. He fi
nally let go of her knee because he was afraid he would hurt her. Grabbing her shoulders, he tried to get her to listen. “Stop. Please, just stop.”

  “Big Jim! What are you doing with her? You’re supposed to be with me!”

  He’d never hit a woman before, not in his whole life. But, damn it all if he didn’t want to deck Caroline right then and there. Susan wasn’t going to listen to a word he had to say now. She’d never believe he had nothing to do with Caroline’s interruption. When Susan flipped herself around, his arms encircled her waist and pulled her back against him. He never saw the blow coming.

  Her elbow came back so hard against his stomach that his breath came out in a big whoosh. Before he could even straighten up, Susan drove her foot into his instep.

  Slamming the door to his room open, she took one last look back, first scanning Caroline from head to toe then settling back on him.

  Hopping around, unable to put his throbbing foot down, he finally glanced over at Caroline and realized why Susan had been so pissed when she’d looked her over. Shit. She was dressed in a robe that spread open in front, revealing what probably looked to Susan like sexy undergarments. All James saw was an annoying little girl trying to look like a woman.

  If only Susan would yell. That he could handle. Yelling meant she cared, that she was furious with him. She didn’t say a word. “Please, Suz. Just let me—”

  The door slammed behind her. Sore foot or not, he tried to follow. Caroline grabbed his upper arm. “At least she’s gone now.”

  Whipping his head back around, he shot her a glare. “What are you trying to do?”

  “I want you, Big Jim.”

  A week ago, he might have found her attention a stroke to his ego. A week ago, he was still in the middle of a ridiculous midlife crisis and questioning his worth in the world. He’d been unsure of his marriage and whether he and Susan loved each other anymore. Now, when he’d finally figured it all out and realized just how much he loved Susan, he’d probably lost her. And he hadn’t even done anything wrong. “What in the hell were you trying to prove?”

  “I love you.”

  His temper boiled over, and she looked to be as good a target as any. “You don’t even know what love is. You’re a kid. Just a stupid little girl.”

  She took another step and held her robe wider open. “I’m a full-grown woman. And I’m yours. I’m all yours.”

  “I don’t want you!”

  “I can make you want me. I know what men like.” Her fingers reached out for his waistband.

  James slapped her hand away. “Stay away from me. Just stay the hell away from me.”

  He jerked the door open, limped through his room, and slammed the swinging doors out of his way. Just as he took a stumbling step toward the stairs, intent on going to Susan’s room and making her listen to him, he heard her shouted obscenity followed by the shattering of something against her door.

  “What’d you do to my Peanut?” Li’l Jim asked when he came to stand by James’s side where they both stared up at the empty hallway.

  “Nothing.”

  “Seems to me a lady don’t yell that word and send nothin’ crashing against her door ’less she’s got a good reason.”

  He wasn’t about to tell Li’l Jim about Caroline’s shenanigans. “We had a tiff.”

  “Tiff, huh?” Li’l Jim leveled a hard, paternal stare at James. “You best not hurt her again.”

  James turned to look at his boss and realized just how much Susan had come to mean to him. Li’l Jim’s face had flushed red, and he’d folded his arms over his chest where they rested against his big belly. “I didn’t…I wouldn’t…” But he had. He’d hurt her. James hung his head. “I’m sorry.”

  “Damn right, you’re sorry,” was shouted by someone in the crowd, and James glanced up to realize that not only had Li’l Jim come to Susan’s defense, so had the patrons.

  He turned to Li’l Jim. “I’ll find a way to make it right.”

  The grunts and nods from the men told him they’d make sure he followed through.

  * * * *

  Susan had to stomp around her room and let her temper cool before she could do something as simple as pick up the pieces of shattered pitcher and clean up the splattered water. Everyone in the saloon had to have heard her throw that thing against the door and yell her “last resort” word.

  She’d never be able to face any of them again.

  Where was her pride? She’d just thrown herself at a man who didn’t want her anymore. Why would James waste his attention on her when he had someone as young and beautiful as Caroline clearly ready to take the place Susan had once held in his heart?

  She felt humiliated, not only in James’s eyes but because the patrons had all witnessed her disgrace. God, he and Caroline were probably sharing a good laugh over how foolish Susan had been to believe that James still wanted her.

  Her life had become a nightmare from which she couldn’t wake. Weeks ago, she’d been a successful teacher with a marriage and children and a future. Now, she was alone and sang in a saloon for drunken men after serving them the drinks that reduced them to that sorry condition. The grief and sorrow hit her from every angle.

  Susan threw herself down on the bed and cried, letting the sobs rise from her chest and not even caring if everyone in the bar could hear her.

  She cried over feeling like an old woman when compared to someone like Caroline.

  She cried because she missed Lynne and John almost more than she could stand.

  She cried over the hole left in her heart when her baby had died.

  And she cried over the fact that the only man she had ever loved didn’t love her anymore.

  Her marriage was over. That fact hit her like a tidal wave, drowning her in sorrow. Until she’d seen Caroline standing there in her silky underwear, Susan thought she could somehow put her marriage back together. Hadn’t Harry told her to find her destiny? As far as she’d been concerned, her destiny should include James. At least that was what she used to think. And when they first arrived in River Bend, she’d held some tenuous hope they’d been taken away from their lives so they had to work their way through this new world together. Marriage counseling by time travel.

  The sexual connection they’d just shared resurrected that hope until Caroline had shown up for her tryst with James.

  What’s left for me now? What possible destiny awaited her if James was involved with Caroline? How could she possibly stand by and watch him be with another woman?

  Woman? Hell, Caroline was nothing more than a kid. Probably younger than Lynne.

  What other options did she have?

  Win him back!

  That notion set Susan to crying again. If she was supposed to be in a battle with feminine wiles against Caroline Simon, she found herself sorely lacking in ammunition. A thirty-nine-year-old body was probably as arousing as a long dunk in ice water. Sure, he’d been physically responding when they kissed, but it wasn’t like men needed an emotional connection to make a physical one. Any vagina in a storm, one of the coaches at her school liked to joke.

  No, if given the choice, James would want someone prettier and younger. James would want Caroline.

  Who do I have left?

  Daniel.

  But did she really have Daniel? He’d befriended her, taken care of her when there was no one else to turn to. He had all but come out and say he was pursing her, and she knew what he wanted, what a man of this era expected when he gave that type of attention to a woman. Marriage would be his goal.

  Her battered and bruised ego wanted her to immediately go find him and agree to be his wife. Daniel cared about her. Daniel worried about her. Daniel would make a fantastic husband.

  Could she ever love another man the way she loved James?

  James didn’t want her anymore, and she might be stranded here for the rest of her life. If she was stuck here, Susan needed to find a way to live, not just survive.

  When she finally pulled
herself out of her queen-sized sulk, she realized the Golden Nugget had grown quiet. The bar had closed. James would surely be asleep by now, and she could sneak down to the kitchen and find something that might serve as comfort food.

  * * * *

  The flickering light and muffled noises woke him. Probably because he’d expected them. Susan was in the kitchen in the middle of the night, like back home in their suburban Chicago home. When she got too stressed, she snacked at the oddest hours. And what she usually snacked on was chocolate ice cream.

  James wished he could make the treat appear for her out of thin air. He’d been stocking ice cream in the freezer for her for years. She never bought it at the grocery store because she said it was too fattening. Knowing how much she loved the stuff, James kept buying it anyway and smiling as it disappeared.

  Yawning as he threw his legs over the side of his less-than-comfortable cot, James slipped on his boxers and T-shirt and made himself get up. How long had she been awake? As he shuffled sleepily into the kitchen, he wondered what she would be eating because he doubted there was a local convenience store with any Baskin-Robbins in River Bend.

  He found Susan sitting in the middle of the big butcher-block table, her legs folded yoga style. Leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, he was content to watch her.

  She wore a pink silk robe that parted open to reveal some old-fashioned undergarments. They looked a little like the pajamas she wore during the summer months. Lightweight fabric. Lace on the edges. On her, they were the sexiest thing he’d ever seen, even though they covered more than they revealed. The tease was exquisite.

  She purred as she licked her spoon in such as erotic fashion that he got hard just watching her, knowing what she was capable of doing to his body with that talented tongue. She seemed so content with her eyes closed, the same look she had when she’d been thoroughly kissed. That tongue smoothed whatever treat was stuck to her spoon with one, long lick.

  “What in the world are you eating?” he finally asked, hoping she’d stop driving him insane.

  Her smile came as a surprise. Perhaps her comfort food had done just that. Comforted her. “Cookie dough.”