Bulletproof Christmas

by Barb Han

  Rory could name a dozen guys who would have made her much happier if she’d given them a chance. Men with normal schedules who could guarantee they’d be home every night instead of leaving her waiting in some two-bit shack like the place he owned. And yet the thought of Cadence with another man sent pure fire shooting through him.

  His eyes had long ago adjusted to the dark.

  He picked up the spare key to the back door of the bunkhouse from underneath a boulder next to the back porch. Ranch hands might be able to account for every member of a herd but ask any one of them to keep track of a set of keys and that was a whole other story.

  After unlocking the door, he led her inside. It was past midnight and pitch-black outside. “We can’t turn on any lights.”

  Cadence had been quiet on the journey over and he figured she must be exhausted. He’d taken her on a trail he used to ride every morning. It was the best way onto the property near the bunkhouse.

  “I know we were just sitting but my legs are tired,” she’d said.

  “An hour’s a long time to be in one spot.” He’d had to be certain there was no one in the area before he would take her the final quarter of a mile to the bunkhouse.

  “A warm shower and decent night of sleep would be amazing right now,” she said.

  “My old bathroom is on an interior wall and there are no windows in that hallway. As long as you keep the lights off, you should be good.” He didn’t want to think about her naked body in the next room.

  “Not a problem. I remember when this place was built. I used to play on the slab of concrete before the walls came up. I know every inch. Don’t need light to see.” She disappeared down the hall.

  Rory dug around and found clothes for both of them.

  “Found a clean sweatshirt and jogging pants for you. They’ll be too big but you can tie the waist off,” he said, placing them on the counter.

  He made himself a cup of coffee while she finished showering and dressing. And then he popped into the shower for a quick rinse before joining her in the living room.

  “I still can’t believe there were so many spare toothbrushes,” she said.

  “May keeps the place well stocked. Leave it up to the guys who live here and it’d be a sad state,” he admitted with a chuckle.

  “Too bad she didn’t keep women’s clothes in here,” she said with a laugh.

  The oversize shirt hugged her curves—curves that were sexier than he knew better than to let himself dwell on.

  “Are you thirsty?” He’d managed to get a decent meal of burgers and fries in her earlier but that was hours ago.

  “A cold glass of water would be nice.”

  He fixed another cup of coffee for himself and brought her ice water.

  “Are you tired?” he asked, joining her in the living room. There was another thing he didn’t want to think about and that was the day she’d stood at that door, fisted hand on hip, demanding he stop running. She’d been so full of sass and confidence. And then she’d tried to kiss him, which had given him a good chuckle at fifteen. She’d been a kid then. But the few they’d shared since seeing each other again were so damn hot he started stirring every time he thought about them.

  The heat in those kisses had a habit of popping into his thoughts when he needed to stay focused on keeping her alive.

  Speaking of which, he couldn’t help but think the family would most likely be targets during the will reading.

  Rory had every intention of ensuring that Cadence made it through the next few days alive.

  Once this was over, it was going to be difficult to walk away again. Leaving her the first time had almost done him in. But now, with the babies, it was going to hurt punch-in-the-gut-like pain. The coil around his heart tightened and he took a minute to catch his breath.

  This seemed like a good time to remind himself that he had a job waiting for him in Wyoming. A life on the range that he loved.

  “Rory...” Cadence said, and he picked up on something reverberating low in her voice as she scooted over next to him on the couch.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “I’m scared.” Her chin jutted out in defiance and he knew it took a lot for her to admit that.

  “Nothing’s going to happen to you or those babies on my watch,” he swore.

  “I believe you,” she said. He could hear it in her voice that she didn’t but he decided not to challenge her on it.

  Instead, he asked, “Then what is it?”

  “Don’t let us end up like your folks,” she said.

  “That won’t happen to us.” That was a promise he could keep.

  “What makes you so sure?” she asked and quickly added, “I know you would never lay a hand on me. I’m talking about the arguments. Words can be as damaging as a fist and that hurts kids just as much as when they hear their parents fighting. You know?”

  “I do.” Experience had taught him that was true.

  She leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. It was most likely his being caught up in the moment but he wanted to be able to show her that he meant his words and kept his promises.

  So he didn’t debate his next actions. He put his hand under her chin and lifted it until her eyes met his.

  And then he dipped his head down and tenderly kissed her.

  She parted her lips and deepened the kiss. He slid his tongue inside her mouth, tasting her sweetness, which only intensified his hunger.

  Primal need had him rearranging her until she was facing him on his lap. She eagerly complied, and his body had an instant reaction. Damn, she was sexy.

  Heat ricocheted between them as her hands tunneled in his hair and her breath became ragged.

  He wrapped his hands around her hips as she settled on his groin. His erection strained the second he realized she wasn’t wearing panties. He dug his fingers into those sweet hips as she teased him with her rocking movement.

  “Cadence,” he said through quick breaths. His pulse raced at a staccato beat, pounding at the base of his throat.

  He brought his right hand up to wrap around her neck and grazed his thumb across the base, a matching rhythm to his thumped against the pad.

  “Do you really want to talk right now, Rory?” She froze long enough to look into his eyes. Even in the dark, he could see that hers glittered with need.

  When she put it like that, she had a point. “No.”

  “Good. Because I want you to make love to me right now, Rory Scott.”

  That was all the encouragement he needed to keep going.

  Until he thought about the babies.

  “I don’t want to hurt you...them.”

  “I’m not a fragile doll, Rory. I won’t break and they aren’t much bigger than my fist. There’s no way you can hurt them.” She crossed her arms and gripped the hem of her oversize shirt, freeing her generous breasts. He issued a primal grunt as he took one in his hand and then the other. Her nipples beaded against his palms as her mouth found his again.

  He rolled her nipples between his thumb and forefinger, causing her to moan.

  She brought her hands to the waistline of his jeans, fumbling around for the snap. She lifted herself off him, giving enough room for him to remove them. His stiff length ached to be inside her.

  Her jogging pants hit the floor next, and she stood there naked and beautiful and everything he wanted in a woman. Her body was perfection but there was so much more to their chemistry. She was the perfect mix of spunk, intelligence and kindness.

  He barely had his T-shirt off before she’d straddled him. Not long after that, she was guiding him inside her, home. Her silky skin against his rough hands nearly did him in, so he distracted himself by thinking about something else—anything else—besides how soft her skin was.

  “You better slow down if you don’t want this fi
nished before it gets good, Cadence,” he warned.

  And that made her laugh. It was a sexy, throaty sound that came from the excitement of her being in total control and knowing it. She loved taking the lead in the bedroom.

  “From what I remember, your stamina was never in question, Rory.”

  “It’s been a few months,” he defended. “And I missed the hell out of you.”

  As far as his heart went, Rory didn’t normally go there but this was Cadence. She was his weakness and he was man enough to admit it.

  Yeah, he was pretty much putty in her hands when it came to sex. And yeah, Cadence was the only person who had that effect on him. And then there was the simple fact that their sex had been beyond any experience he’d had in the bedroom, which was saying a lot because there’d been plenty of good sex before her. Since had been the downer. He’d gone on a few dates, none of which had netted anything more than boredom and a reminder of how much he missed her quick wit.

  After being with someone he could really talk to and care about, having sex for sex’s sake had lost its appeal.

  And he didn’t want to examine the reasons.

  Rory didn’t want to do anything but bury himself deep inside Cadence and finally find his way home again. He wrapped his arms underneath her legs and stood. She wriggled her hips, burying him deeper and he released a guttural groan.

  “I missed you, Cadence.”

  “I missed you, too, Rory.”

  He walked over to his old bedroom. The door was open so he dropped to his knees at the foot of the bed and set her sweet round bottom on the edge. She tightened her legs around his midsection and dug her nails into his shoulders as she gripped him. Her body was flush with his and her breasts pressed into his chest as she rocked back and forth, as he met her thrust for thrust.

  Deeper. Harder. She drove him into a fever pitch.

  Rory wrapped lean fingers around her hips, driving faster until both of them were gasping for air, climbing...tension building...muscles cording and straining with a need for release.

  He could feel her muscles clench and release around his shaft and that rocketed him toward the edge as she flew over.

  His body became a battlefield of electrical impulse.

  Bombs detonated inside him, releasing all the pent-up tension.

  Cadence’s mouth found his and kissed her hard.

  “I love you,” he said low and under his breath when they finally broke apart in order to catch some air. And that was the problem. He did love her. And sex was tainting his thoughts, confusing him because right then, he wanted to find a way to make a relationship work.

  It wouldn’t.

  And his heart was about to be ripped apart a second time.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Wake up, sweetheart.” Rory’s voice was a soft whisper in Cadence’s ear as he woke her up from a late-afternoon nap the next day.

  She blinked her eyes open slowly.

  Rory’s face filled her field of vision and her stomach flip-flopped like a champion gymnast. He smiled out of the corner of his mouth but she could see tension written across the lines of his forehead, reminding her of the harsh reality waiting for her.

  She didn’t want to focus on that now. She’d had a few hours of happiness and she wanted to hold on to that for as long as she could.

  “What smells so good?” she asked.

  “I made tacos.”

  “Seriously?” Tacos after the deepest sleep she’d had in months and the best sex of probably her life. She’d have been even more thrilled if she wasn’t facing down the reading of her father’s will in—she checked the clock on the nightstand—an hour and a half. “You cook?”

  “Not a lot. But I can manage a decent meal.” He didn’t kiss her and she could tell from his expression that he’d constructed a wall. Was he distancing himself because of the threat they faced in a little while?

  Rory held up a finger and then returned a few minutes later with a plate and a glass of ice water. He handed over the offerings before making another trip. When he returned he was white-knuckling a coffee mug as he took a sip and sat down on the edge of the bed.

  “This looks amazing.” She wasted no time taking a bite. It was cooked to perfection. Why didn’t she know this about him before? Because neither had ever stuck around long enough after sex to find out, a little voice said. She didn’t want to go down that road again. “It’s even better than it smells.”

  Normally, he would at least smile at the admission but he studied the wall next to her like it was a treasure map.

  “Everything okay?” she asked, figuring he wouldn’t tell her but she wanted to ask anyway. Rory had always held his cards to his chest, even with her.

  “I need to protect you and I keep making mistakes that put you at risk,” he admitted.

  Was he talking to her about something real instead of brushing her off?

  “Is it too obvious to point out that I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you?” She touched his arm and half expected him to pull away. When he didn’t, she took it as a positive sign that he wasn’t completely shutting down on her. He’d done that, she’d noticed, right before he told her that he couldn’t be in a relationship with anyone. The fact that he’d quickly added, If I could, it would be with you, had done little to stem the pain.

  He shot her a look of appreciation. There was something else behind his eyes, an emotion that looked a lot like shame, and she knew him well enough to realize that he believed he was letting her down.

  “You’re the best at what you do and I realize this whole situation is in reverse for you. Normally, you’re on the offensive and this is pure defense. But I’m alive because of you and the babies are safe because of their dad.” She brought her hand over her stomach protectively. “If there’s a problem in all this, it’s me. I’m not doing a good enough job remembering. I’ve been thinking that I might be the key. I mean, if someone’s after me then I have to have done something to them, right?”

  He’d angled himself toward her and was listening intently. The old Rory would’ve held tight to his anger and put up a wall too high to climb. She could work with this and they could come up with a solution together.

  As he seemed to be taking a minute to soak in what she’d said, she cleaned her plate. After downing a glass of water, she felt more like herself than she had since losing her father.

  Was being around Rory calming her overactive mind?

  She’d bet on it. As a matter of fact, she’d go all-in. Forgetting him before had been torture and the thought of co-parenting, being close without being together, set her nerves on edge. She’d fallen for Rory the minute she’d seen those wild eyes and untamed hair. She’d also known anything short of setting him free to roam the range would be like placing a choke collar around his neck and chaining him to a tree in the front yard.

  But it was his sadness, his loneliness that had touched her somewhere down deep. It had left an imprint on her heart that wasn’t so easily shaken off. As much as she didn’t want that to be the case, she couldn’t deny what she felt.

  There was no man who had made her feel smart, sexy and beautiful in the same way Rory had. Even being around him now with no makeup and hips that seemed to grow wider by the day made the world feel right in so many ways. He made her feel desirable.

  The heat in the kisses they’d shared blew her mind and had been missing in every other kiss her whole life before him.

  Even she knew that they couldn’t repeat what had happened last night. Technically, this morning. That was obvious. And it was most likely the danger she faced, the reality that Dex or whoever was tracking her might catch up to her that had her craving another night with Rory. That made her want to reach out and touch him, get lost in his arms again.

  She excused herself to go to the bathroom to freshen up so she could regain
perspective. Because right now, she wanted to pull him down on top of her for another round of mind-blowing sex.

  After washing her face and brushing her teeth in a real sink for a change, she returned to the bedroom.

  Rory was bent forward, elbows on his knees. He looked up at Cadence; those wild eyes seemed so lost to her. His hair was disheveled and there was stubble on his face. He was in beast mode, detached, and she could see determination on his face.

  “What’s the plan?” She knew there was one.

  She stopped in front of him and he took her hands in his.

  “Run away with me. Let’s get as far away from Cattle Barge as we can,” he said, and there was so much pleading in his steel eyes.

  “I want to more than I can say. But if I don’t show up tonight, good people, honest people would lose their ability to earn a living. These guys have families and they can’t afford to stop working. This is what they know and Hereford is their home.”

  * * *

  RORY ADMIRED CADENCE’S sense of sacrifice. Even on her worst day, she was better than most people could ever hope to be.

  “I hear what you’re saying,” he admitted. “Nothing in me wants to march you into that house where I’m afraid there’s going to be a trap set. One I might not be able to save you from. You understand what I’m saying?”

  She nodded. Standing there, beautiful and determined with the fire in her eyes that said she had to do the right thing, caused the viselike band around his heart to tighten.

  “How would I ever sleep at night if Dale’s niece had to be pulled out of the preschool she’s in because he couldn’t afford to send money to his sister? You know Sara’s just starting to match the development of her classmates. That costs money and these men deserve to be paid. They sacrifice so much of their lives living at Hereford instead of living in their hometowns with their families and yet they’ve always looked after me. Dad has helped a lot of young men, like Rupert Grinnell, our newest hire. If he’s off the ranch for too long or out of work, who else will hire him? He’s still young but he deserves a chance.” She made a lot of sense.