Danger In Oleander: A Cowboy's Heart Novel

by Janessa Anderson

  Get ready to have a taste of the mud, you stupid piece of shit.

  He dug the heels of his shoes into the earth, and sent himself racing towards Johnathon’s direction. John let out a louder growl slip out of his mouth just as one of his shoulders collided with the man that Emily had been distracting from the car, and sent them both falling down to the earth, hard.

  Don’t give him a chance to get up, John! His conscience screamed at him with desperation in its concerned tone. Finish this here and now!

  John let his inner voice’s plea give him the much needed confidence he desired at the moment to straddle over Johnathon’s body and start to deliver punches to his head and face.

  His hands managed to get a few more good shots in before he discovered his tall body being rolled over to where Johnathon was on top now. His eyes focused in on the bruises already forming on his face already while he listened to the sound of his voice coming out.

  “You son of a bitch…” Johnathon said, furiously. “You are going to pay for going back on your deal with me!”

  “I never made a deal with you, asshole.”

  Without missing a beat, John used his head to hit his lover’s ex hard in the forehead without enough strength to send him stumbling backwards. He waited a few seconds before his muscular frame sat up halfway while his deep voice poured out of his mouth in an intense and serious tone.

  “I was never going to let you take Emily away from me, and do as you please with her. She means much more to me than you will be able to really truly comprehend…and you will never have the pleasure to have her in your life…For you see…She is already in mine, and no one is going to take her from me.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Emily’s heart filled to the brim with happiness from hearing John’s confession towards her former boyfriend about his stance an feelings towards her. Being able to know how strongly his emotions were for her and that he wasn’t afraid to admit them to her new love made her decision to finish her summer out there in Oleander with John to be clear and the right choice.

  Thank you, John…You have no idea how much I appreciate hearing that…and how strong my own feelings are burning for you right now.

  There wasn’t a single doubt about it. John was the one she had been waiting for all these years, and that he was the one that would always be there at her side regardless of what life had to throw at them.

  While her soul was on cloud nine from how happy and ecstatic she was, her eyes moved from where John’s body was starting to sit up on the ground, slowly, over to where her ex stood with his back facing her.

  “I am going to take care of this issue…right now.”

  The dark and twisted tone in Johnathon’s tone caused her prior concern and fear for Belle’s ranch hand and the new man in her life to return with a vengeance, leaving no part of her untouched.

  Keeping her attention on him, Emily noticed one of Johnathon’s hands moving underneath the back of his jacket to the suit that he still had on despite their previous fight before that one. They widened in fear at witnessing his hand bringing into sight a switchblade knife before flicking the sharp knife part of it out into the open while she caught the next words to come out of his mouth.

  “If there is a problem…or someone standing in my way to having a life with Emily at my side once again…I only have to remove it…by any means necessary.”

  She realized in that very second how serious things had become and where this would lead to if Johnathon had his way and she didn’t do something to keep him from going through with it.

  Don’t do it, Emily! John can protect himself from what your ex has to throw at him. You won’t be able to hold him back-

  Choosing to ignore what her conscience was wanting and going with what she wanted to do instead, Emily left the safety of the car, and raced into the dangerous scene before her.

  * * *

  I am not going to let this little worm threaten me, and make me look like I can’t take care of business.

  Determined to stand up in the face of someone that was wanting to replace his spot in Emily’s life, John made his way to his feet and moved towards his direction.

  “John, look out!”

  The sound of his lady screaming out to him in desperation caught his attention, and brought his gaze to see her darting in front of him.

  What in the hell is she doing, John?! His conscience screamed out at him in confusion and uncertainty at seeing her coming towards his direction. Tell her to get back to the car before she does something stupid!

  Even though he was not one to tell a woman what to do, John agreed with what his conscience was shouting to him from the confines of his mind. He didn’t want Emily to get hurt at all during the confrontation with Johnathon, and knew that the only way for that to happen would be for her to go back to where she had been.

  He found his words failing to come out from catching a look of pain sweeping across her face once she had moved to standing directly in front of him with her back facing Johnathon’s direction. The sight of her cringing with a soft cry slipping out of her mouth in a gasp echoing to his ears, brought an expression of heartache across the once look of determination that he had in place on his face. John soon found his spirit ravaged by sorrow from his southern angel’s sweet voice speaking out to him in a pain filled voice.

  “John,” Emily whispered, “I…I am sorry. I couldn’t let you get hurt-“

  Just moments into her speaking, John started to notice her body losing its footing and starting to fall. His hands caught her frame and held it against him. While he cradled her for a few lingering moments, his gazed upon the source of her pain.

  In the middle of her back on her black tracksuit’s jacket, a small patch of fresh blood was clearly soaking through the material.

  That…That son of a bitch…He…He stabbed my woman!

  An intense amount of absolute rage burned within him the moment his piercing stare discovered the reason for her losing her balance and strength in her legs. His eyes looked towards her ex-boyfriend with a look to match his inner emotions of hatred as he stood in a spot with a bloody knife in his hand and an expression of fear morphing across his face.

  Never taking his eyes off of him, John placed Emily’s body to lie on her back against the ground in a way that she would be most comfortable and the blood could soak up in the ground and keep it from pouring out of her any quicker. He straightened his tall frame, and let his deep voice come roaring out to him, letting his intentions for him be crystal clear.

  “You have just dug your own grave.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  With the speed of a cheetah chasing down its prey, John wasted little time on closing the distance between Johnathon, his target, and driving one of his strong, broad shoulders deep into his abdomen. He sent them both falling down to the ground again, but much harder than they had previously. John sat himself up to straddle over his prey’s weak body, and grabbed the back of his head to where his eyes would meet his and see the unadulterated hatred that was burning there.

  “You crossed the line when you placed your hand on Emily.” John growled to him, letting each and every word roll off of his tongue in a growl. “Now…You will pay the price for that decision.”

  He balled up his other fist, lifted it up from his side and delivered a hard blow to a side of Johnathon’s temples as hard as he could manage. His eyes watched his face cringe in pain but not as badly as Emily had when she took the tip of the blade in her back to keep him safe.

  He deserves more, John…This little punk is nowhere near suffering the amount of pain that your lady is under right now.

  With his conscience’s words encouraging him to continue with what he was doing at the moment, John started to increase the number of blows to his target’s head and the amount of strength he was using in his hand to cause as much pain as he could deliver.

  Johnathon deserved what he was getting. He had caused Emily nothing but grief and trouble. La
st month, he had arrived into town, stalked her outside of the dress shop, crashed Belle’s party, and even placed his hands on her grandmother, his boss. Now, he was thinking that he could threaten him with a gun, stab Emily with his knife, and be able to walk away with little trouble.

  Not on his watch.

  John wasn’t about to let this little prick get off so easy. He planned to make him pay and pay in his own blood. He wouldn’t stop until Johnathon was bleeding and suffering from his own pain like Emily had been.

  It suddenly hit him: Emily. He had left her on the ground nearby moments before his shoulder took both Johnathon and him down to the ground and he had started to punch him over and over in the face.

  Turning his attention away from the man that was sprawled out onto the mud floor beneath him, he focused on the weak and pain stricken form of his woman nearby with her eyes looking at him, pleading for him.

  “Emily…”

  He moved to his feet, hurried away from where Johnathon’s body lied with blood trickling down from his forehead, and headed full force over to where his country princess was in need of him.

  * * *

  Emily’s weak gaze focused in on John’s quickly approaching body from where she remained on the ground with her hands nestled at her sides. Her blood had slowed down its speed on its way out of the wound on her back but her complexion had grown a little paler due to the amount she had already lost.

  “John…”

  Her voice slipped out of her mouth at a tone that wasn’t above a whisper. She tried to speak louder than what her voice had come out sounding.

  “John…”

  She found her words falling silent from the warm sensation of her lover’s strong arms moving underneath her body, scooping her curvaceous body within them, and cradling her to his muscular chest. Her eyes moved to the strong, concerned features on his face while she made another effort to speak up once more.

  “John…I am okay…”

  “No, you are not okay.” John replied back to her with a firm yet saddened sound in his voice. “You are far from being okay at the moment…but I am going to help you start getting better.”

  “What about…about…”

  “Don’t worry about your ex right now, Emily. All you need to focus on at the moment is taking it easy, and letting me care for you.”

  Even though she knew that her body needed to rest and let John mend her wound she had suffered by her ex-boyfriend’s hand, Emily didn’t like the idea of being unable to do anything to help him or even help herself. She wasn’t the lazy type of woman. There wasn’t one thing about her that was ‘lazy’ or let on the impression that she was the type to slack off a lot.

  With her body nestled in his strong arms, she managed to catch a glimpse of the front door to John’s home opening up before her gaze moved towards the direction of his face.

  There wasn’t a single sign of weakness or a tear coming to John’s strong face. All that resonated upon his expression was an unspoken determination to get her somewhere safe in order to tend to the knife wound in the middle of her back.

  If there is any doubt about his true feelings left in your mind, Emily, your need to erase that away, completely.

  Her conscience was correct. The seriousness that poured off of his face was all that was needed to tell her how much her cowboy was deeply affected by her sacrificing her body to keep him safe from her ex-boyfriend, and the intense amount of desire he possessed inside of him to return the act of kindness back to her.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Making quick work up the stairs of his home, John moved inside of his bedroom and carried her gorgeous body over to where his large bed was nestled. He took the time to ease her to lie on her stomach in a way to where she would be as comfortable as possible and to keep from the blood from trickling out of the wound.

  “I am going to step in the bathroom, and get the first aid supplies for your back that I am going to need, darling.” John said. He spoke to her as calmly as he could even though his voice had a shaky sound to it, slightly. “I will be right back to bandage your back up.”

  There was another reason to why he was going to the restroom other than to fetch the items he needed to bandage her back up in order to keep any infection from getting in or anymore blood from coming out of it.

  Moving across the threshold of his room, John left her nestled on his bed, and walked down to his decent sized bathroom at the end of the hallway that wasn’t nowhere near the size of the ones at Belle’s home. He walked inside the room, and flipped the light switch on.

  The beams of the light nestled in the light bulb shot out, dancing over every inch that the room had to offer.

  He walked up to where his medicine cabinet was hanging on the wall, and opened up the door on the front of it. His eyes locked on where he had a decent sized, blue medical box that contained all the necessary items that he would need to mend Emily’s wound on her back. John brought the box down, and eased it on top of the back of the toilet. Flicking the switches on it up, he opened the lid, and peered inside.

  Amongst the bandages, medical tape, and ointments, a small, black velvet box was nestled all the items.

  This is the perfect chance for you to ask her, John.

  His conscience’s opinion seeped into his mind to where it consumed his thoughts, and gave him the confidence he had been needing for the very important question he had for the southern belle resting back in his room for over the last month.

  Nodding his head to himself, John secured the lid to the box before his right hand slipped over the handle of it. He moved towards the direction of the doorway, and headed down the hallway with something very important and special to ask, as well as do, to his woman.

  * * *

  I really don’t want to be lying here and doing nothing.

  Emily had grown annoyed with herself on his bed and not being able to do anything like she wanted to.

  I am not some poor little princess from the city that doesn’t know how to do anything or some bum who lets others do things for her when she gets a little hurt.

  She had been taught to rely on herself, and not on others around her. There was never one time that she had gave in to the temptation of letting someone else do something when she had the ability do it just fine.

  Screw this…I am getting out of this bed, and-

  Her train of thought abruptly ended due to the sound of John’s big feet moving towards the doorway of the room. She turned her attention over towards it, and focused on the sight of his muscular body coming in there, and moving in her direction.

  “Sorry for taking so long, sweetheart.” John apologized to her as he moved to sit his medical supplies by a side of her body close to one her ankles. “I am here now though, and I am going to get started on fixing your back up.”

  “Can’t I do anything to help you?”

  Emily desperately wanted to do something if anything to help him and to keep her from going crazy of frustration.

  “I hate being like this, and not moving around like I want to.”

  “I know this is bothering you a lot, darling, but you need to take it easy right now.”

  “Don’t you think that I have taken it easy enough already?”

  She noticed how her question had gotten a faint chuckle out of him as it slipped out of his mouth at the same time the faint sound of the medical box’s lid being flipped open.

  “Can’t you just take it easy for once, angel, and let someone take care of you like you need to be?”

  Emily had never really been the type to lie around and let someone else tend to her if she had the mentality in her to do it herself. Even when Johnathon would hurt her, she would force herself to work through the pain, and focus on getting things done regardless of how she felt.

  However, here she had a wonderful, hardworking, highly attractive man wanting to dote on her, and give her the very kind of attention that she had been without for such a long time. John only wished to care
and treat her like a woman should be by a man.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Now, darling,” John said, “I am going to go ahead and warn you that I am going to lift the bottom of your jacket enough to where I can get at your wound.”

  He didn’t like the idea of just pushing the fabric of her top to her outfit without her being aware of it, and cause her to be more on edge than she needed to be. Her comfort was the main priority at the moment, and he was prepared to take any measures necessary in achieving that.

  Slowly, the tips of his fingers inched a small portion of the bottom of Emily’s jacket into each of his hands until he could keep a good grip on it. John followed it by sliding the black fabric up her fair complexion on the backside of her curvy, seductive frame.

  His eyes danced across the curves on her back, soaking in how it looked and thinking back to their night alone in the loft of her grandmother’s barn. The visual brought a smile to his face.

  The smile didn’t lost however due to him finding the stab wound on her back, and a small amount of her blood that was still trying to slip out of the opening. The place where the knife had made contact with her was small in size, but it had a ring of her blood on the outside of it from the soaked spot on her coat that had pressed against her body, making it appear worse than it really was.

  Well…Time to get to work.

  John eased the bottom of her jacket up to where it could be folded, neatly, and give him plenty of room to take care of the wound. His attention moved to the medical box once more before he flipped the lid open, showing all that was nestled inside of it.

  Don’t let her see the surprise, John!

  His conscience had become frantic at him exposing everything, including the black velvet box, and making it easy for her to spot it if she turned around at that moment.