OUT OF THE DARKNESS (THE PRESCOTT SERIES)

by B. J. McMinn

  That night she again appeared in Jason’s doorway and waited for him to fold the covers back in invitation. When he did, she padded across the dim lit room and crawled in beside him. Sleep came easily curled up next to his warm, strong, body. With his arm tucked under her head, she held his hand during the night. The darkness never invaded her slumber as long as Jason slept at her side. When he thought she’d fallen asleep, he whispered in her ear.

  “I promise I’ll make you happy, Jade.” And she believed him.

  Jason woke the next morning to an empty space beside him. Still warm from her body, he buried his face in her pillow and savored her womanly scent. He ran his hand over the warmth where she had slept and smiled. Even in her silence, she had twisted her way into his heart.

  He bounced out of bed, dressed, and went directly to Jade who stood at the stove cooking breakfast. She hadn’t objected when he’d kissed her the day before so he placed a kiss on her neck right where her pulse throbbed.

  ~~~

  Jason rode away from the house and thought about this last week. As the days passed, he would kiss Jade’s forehead each time he left the house and each time he returned. He’d stroke her arms as he kissed her, telling her his plans for the day and when he would return.

  He knew he was making progress when today she turned her head to the side, to accept his kiss on her neck. This morning he had also brushed her lips with his. Shocked green eyes had fixed on his face. Drawing a deep steady breath, he grinned at her. A tentative smile creased her lips. With another quick brush of his lips, he left.

  Jade watched Jason ride away. Since she’d first gone to his bed, he had assaulted her senses from every side. At night, as she lay next to him, she could feel his arousal grow. The fingers of the hand he draped over her side would caress her stomach until she wanted to scream.

  The ache he created between her thighs became unbearable. She wondered if she pushed his hand lower if his fingers could relieve the deep throbbing pain she felt there. The ache intensified with each kiss, every touch, until she thought she would burst into flames.

  The quiver he had created when he’d kissed her lips before he left, danced along her spine, floated around her abdomen, then settled in her loins. At no time could she remember such a feeling being aroused in her. It was pleasant, yet, it disturbed her, too.

  The mornings were just as bad. Jason no longer simply kissed her on the neck, but would nibble from the sensitive spot behind her ear to her shoulder and back again. Then he would lave the area with his tongue, bringing sweet torture to her aroused body. His lips would play along the pulse in her throat until she was sure he felt the erratic beat of her heart. Her blood would sing. Fire would race through her veins while her nerve endings twitched and tingled along her spine. Her body began to crave his touch.

  Jason rode up to the barn, unsaddled, and fed his horse. Anticipation drove him hard today. He couldn’t wait to see Jade. He burst through the backdoor and was confronted with her dazzling smile. He didn’t know whom he tormented the most: himself or Jade. If he didn’t know better, he would have sworn she had started her own little campaign of seduction.

  The night before, she’d worn one of Margaret’s idea of a nightgown to bed. It wasn’t enough to keep her warm, so she’d snuggled closer. This morning, he awoke to find her nearly tucked underneath him.

  Pure heaven or unmitigated agony, he couldn’t decide.

  He glanced around for Emma. She slept in her bed, her thumb stuck in her puckered mouth and pink blanket clasped in her small fingers.

  Jade stood by the table, a flush on her cheeks and an almost expectant expression on her sweet face. Was she as eager for his kisses as he was to give them? Hell, he hoped so. He could already feel the beginnings of an arousal.

  She took a step toward him. He encircled her with his arms. Her lips parted, and he leaned forward. He brushed his lips across hers and when she responded, he prolonged the kiss. Her small hand crept up to the back of his neck, and tugged at his hair to pull him closer.

  That was all it took for his fragile control to snap. He deepened the kiss. His tongue delved to taste the sweet nectar of her mouth. All the while, his hips thrust against her. His open palm cupped her backside and nestled her against his aching, pulsating manhood.

  He felt a kick. Then another. At first, it didn’t register in his passion-fogged mind what it was. The baby! It was reminding him it was due in little over a month.

  Jade nearly collapsed when he stepped back. His hands dropped to his side.

  “I’m…. Hell, I’m…. I’m sorry,” he stammered and practically fled the house.

  He’d spend the rest of the evening with the men. When he strode into the cook shack, poured himself a cup of coffee, and sat at the table, the ranch hands gawked at him as if they thought him crazy, but dealt him a hand in their game of poker. They played a friendly game of cards, but mostly he just sat there until one of them reminded him it was his turn.

  He glanced out the window. Even as he watched, Jade extinguished a light and darkness enveloped the house. Jason swore he would never let her spend a night without being in his arms and he wouldn’t.

  “Guess I’ll mosey on up to the house. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

  “’Bout time. “Crazy boy, what ya a’doin’ down here with us crusty ol’ cowhands when ya should be up at tha house with yer purty lit’le wife and baby gal’.”

  Jason felt his cheeks burn with color. No one could make him feel like a low-down-dirty-dog the way Cookie could. He all but fled out the door and strode across the moonlit yard to the house.

  “When the weather turns bad and Jade’s time draws near, ya best stay put, in the house, where ya belong,” Cookie hollered after him.

  CHAPTER 22

  Jason tugged his coat closer and shuddered as a blast of cold air wormed its way down the back of his collar. Winter was full upon them with lower temperatures and an occasional snow. Lately, he spent more time in the barn where he kept his woodworking tools than he did in the cook shack. He chuckled into the stillness around him. The ranch hands probably didn’t miss his brooding silence.

  A special project waited for him to finish it, and he had a tendency to lose himself in his craft. With a wife as far along in her pregnancy as Jade was, he needed something to occupy his mind.

  Laying the small piece of wood on his workbench, he pushed the knife’s sharp point deeper into the wood. It slipped. Hell and damnation. If his mind had been where it should have been, instead of thinking about caressing Jade’s sweet body, his hand wouldn’t be bleeding all over the place. Wrapping his wound in his kerchief, he headed for the house.

  Jade was laying Emma down for her nap when Jason came in the backdoor. Placing the medical supplies beside a pan of water, he submerged his hand in the cold water to stanch the flow of blood and clean it.

  “Jade, would you get Cookie to come in here?”

  Her gentle touch on his shoulder alerted him to her presence behind him. She always walked so softly. If he wasn’t watching her, the only way he could tell she was near was by the way his body responded to her womanly scent. Moving aside, he held his hand up for Jade to realize why he needed Cookie.

  Blood! Blood soaking into the ground. Blood seeping into her dress from a source she didn’t dare name. Blood dripped from the hand held suspended above more blood. Blood everywhere. Her mouth opened to scream. It was as silent as death, yet echoed over and over in the empty chamber of her mind.

  When her face turned deathly white, Jason knew she was about to faint. Reaching out with his uninjured hand, he caught her before she fell. He grasped her around the back and held her tightly to his chest. With one hand holding Jade, the other bleeding everywhere, he was in a pickle about what to do next.

  “Jason, ya alright? I saw ya rushing to the house with yer hand drippin’ blood.” Cookie yelled from the backdoor.

  “Get in here quick.”

  At the panic in his voice, Cookie barged
through the door. Jason didn’t dare let Jade slip to the floor. She was heavy in her pregnancy, and he didn’t want to harm the baby.

  “What happened?”

  Cookie gently took Jade from Jason’s arm and laid her on the floor. Grabbing a towel from Jason, he placed it under her head.

  “I seen ya a comin’ to the house holdin’ yer hand, thought maybe ya might have cut yerself.”

  “I did,” he rasped. Jason wrapped a thicker towel around his bleeding hand.

  He soaked a clean cloth in cool water, rung it out then handed a damp cloth to Cookie.

  “Wipe her face with this.”

  Filling a cup with water, he knelt beside her. Eyes flickered open to reveal confusion and a deep-seated pain.

  “See if she can take a sip of this. Then help her to her room,” Jason commanded. He tried to keep his bleeding hand from visual contact with Jade’s haunted eyes.

  Helplessly, Jason watched as Cookie managed to bring Jade to her feet and lead her to her bedroom. Her eyes held a distant look, as if seeing into the past. A past she couldn’t remember, yet tormented her with its presence.

  “She’s asleep,” Cookie stated when he returned to where Jason stood, his hand still wrapped in the blood soaked towel.

  “Are you sure it’s sleep? She didn’t faint again did she?” Jason could not keep the tremor of suppressed fear from his voice.

  “Yeah, she’s asleep. Let me look at yer hand.” Cookie unwrapped the towel to expose the cut along the outside of Jason’s thumb. His gnarled fingers scraped across his bristled chin as he studied the open wound.

  “For a little cut, it’s sure bleeding a lot. I don’t figure it’ll take more’n two stitches.”

  Cookie sifted through the medical box until he found a needle and a length of catgut. He threaded the needle and poked the sharp point into Jason’s flesh.

  “Ouch, that hurt,” Jason complained as Cookie tied of the last stitch in his thumb and bandaged it in a clean cloth.

  “Serves ya right. You shouldn’t of asked Miss Jade, in her delicate condition, to put these stitches in for ya,” Cookie scowled his displeasure.

  “I didn’t ask her,” Jason explained. “She passed out the second she saw the blood.”

  “You reckon she’s one of them fragile women what can’t stand the sight of a little blood?”

  “No, it went deeper than that,” Jason explained as he flexed his hand to test his grip.

  “Thanks for fixing me up.” Both men glanced up as Jade came from her bedroom.

  “I’ll just take these out to clean ‘em up.”

  Cookie hurried out the backdoor, bloody towels in hand, leaving no sign of blood where Jade could see.

  Jade acted as if nothing had happened as she began to prepare supper. Picking up Emma from her nap, Jason placed her in her seat with her usual pan and spoon to bang on. The more racket the little girl made, the louder she giggled. Jade gave her an indulgent smile. Her gaze met his and they shared the lighthearted moment.

  ~~~

  Jason wondered if the nightly routine of her coming to his door and waiting for him to fold back the covers in invitation would change. A sigh of relief escaped him when the soft patter of bare feet echoed in the silent room. She stood next to his bed for a moment then crawled in. Placing his uninjured hand under her cheek, she smiled and fell asleep.

  A soft moan of anguish drew him from sleep. Jade’s nightmare had returned. A false sense of security had invaded their lives over the last weeks. He realized the sight of blood had affected her more than he’d realized.

  Held in the throes of her nightmare, she flung herself half over him and her knee grazed his groin. That part of him quickly came to attention. Desire had no place in the kind of comfort Jade required, yet, it raced through his body like hot silver. To quiet her, he whispered soothing words in her ear. His thumb touched her cheek and removed the tears seeping from underneath her closed eyelashes. A burning flame of desire kindled to life as he stroked her from her nape to her waist. With loving caresses, he urged her into a peaceful sleep.

  It was late when she quieted. What happened in her past to provoke such a reaction to the sight of blood? His hand stroked the softness of her hair. He wished he could spare her the burden she suffered during her nightmares. His admiration for this small, brave woman grew as he watched her courageously overcome each incident, each uncertainty, each fear that plagued her.

  Pulling her tighter, he promised he would do all within his power to rid her of her frightening dreams. The warmth of her body, the scent that was Jade’s alone and assured by her steady breathing, Jason closed his eyes and waited for sleep to overtake him.

  A week later, Jason brushed a kiss across Jade’s luscious lips. “You get the decoration ready, and I’ll bring back a Christmas tree when I come home,” he said with a wide grin.

  He wanted the first Christmas he shared with Jade and Emma to be special. It was tradition in his family to celebrate the Holiday with family and friends. Deep snow prevented John and Margaret from making the trip to the ranch, but Cookie, Willie, and Pete were here. He and Jade would give a party in the Prescott time-honored tradition.

  Jason tugged on the end of the four-foot pine tree he had cut earlier while riding out to check on the herd in the west pasture. Placing it in the living area in a large bucket, it stood straight and tall. The pungent scent of fresh cedar filled the room.

  “Well, what do you think, Jade?” Jason stood back to admire his tree selection. “Will this do?”

  If the smile on Jade’s face was any indication of how happy she was, Jason didn’t know if she’d be able to contain herself.

  She’d strung popcorn and wrapped it around the tree. Colorful bows, made from yarn, she tied haphazardly on the trees branches. Each gift she’d made, she placed under the tree with care. He’d wrap his gift later and surprise her on Christmas morning.

  Jade had worked furiously for two days to have everything ready. He’d helped with Emma as much as possible. Jade peered out the door for the hundredth time. Four inches of new snow had fallen during the night. By her excited smile, he could tell Cookie, Pete and Willie were tromping their way to the main house. Jade swung the door open and welcomed the three old cowhands.

  “Come on in boys. Jade’s been in a dither all morning.” Holding Emma in one arm, he draped the other over Jade’s shoulders.

  Helping Jade organize this small get-together for the ranch hands had proved to be a challenging experience. He learned real quick Jade wanted things done to perfection. Thankfully, she had relived her nightmare only the one night after the incident with his cut hand. She looked happy and well rested.

  “You can put your packages under the tree. Jade has dinner on the table, and we’ve been waiting for you,” Jason said as he placed Emma in her chair.

  Pete and Willie, never ones for idol conversation, ate silently except to ask for another serving of the food they had just devoured. Cookie on the other hand was his usual long-winded self.

  “These sure are good sweet taters Miss Jade, you’ll have to tell me… er…show me how you fixed ‘em.” Cookie continued to praise Jade on her cooking until her face suffused with color.

  Cookie stood and snatched her empty plate from the table. “Us men will take care of this. After a delicious meal like that, it’s the least we can do. Right boys,” Cookie offered.

  The others nodded in agreement.

  Jade had asked Jason to arrange the chairs in a semicircle around the Christmas tree. Emma opened her gifts first. She rattled the rocks inside the small can that Jade crocheted around after replacing the lid. Other toys, she stuffed in the skirt of her pinafore.

  Colorful scarves that Jade had knitted hung around each man’s neck. They had accepted her gift with smiles of appreciation. She had taken particular care in choosing the right shade of blue for Jason’s. It matched his eyes perfectly.

  Cookie took some good-natured teasing about his red scarf matching his fad
ed red long johns and socks. He countered with, “anything Miss Jade makes me I’ll wear with pleasure.”

  She giggled. Since everything he wore had a red tint, she thought it was his favorite color.

  Emma played on the floor with a variety of toys the men made her. Willie’s prized piece of driftwood laid in Jade’s lap along with the pair of moccasins Pete had given her, made from the mountain lion’s hide he and Jason had killed. A box, with a hinged lid, filled with recipes was Cookie’s offering. The gift that brought tears to her eyes was Jason’s exquisite hand carved mirror.

  Roses, carved in tiny detail, created a charming bouquet on the back while the front held a precise circle of mirror. As the reflection gazed back at her, Jade wondered why it brought no sense of recognition. She was a stranger, even to herself.

  Her fingers traced the tiny rosebuds and marveled at the hours that it must have taken to create such a lovely pattern. She rose from her chair and kissed Jason’s cheek.

  Jason gazed at her as if no one else was around. Cookie nodded to Pete and Willie and headed for the door.

  “We’ll see you later Jason, Jade.”

  Mesmerized by Jason’s blue gaze, she barely heard the door close.

  Emma played quietly on the floor with her new toys. The flames in the fireplace cracked and popped, warming the room. But the warmth between her and Jason kindled an everlasting flame that she could only fan, nurture, and eagerly embrace by the unspoken love in her heart.

  CHAPTER 23

  “Jade, tomorrow is Emma’s first birthday. Would you mind baking a cake, and we’ll have Cookie and the boys in for a party?”

  Not wanting the past to leave a shadow over the joy of Emma being brought into his life, he planned to happily celebrate her birthday. She had learned to walk recently, getting into everything she could find. Jade shared his joy in watching Emma take her first step and to hear her first word. Dada.