Cowboys in Her Heart

by Jan Springer

  She inhaled sharply as Rafe reached out and slid his fingers beneath the waistband of her shorts and panties. She lifted her butt and he slid off her garments.

  Then he he gripped her ankles, lifted them, and placed her feet wide apart near the edge of the table, fully exposing her lower half to his appreciative gaze.

  He licked his lips and JJ just about moaned aloud as she realized what was coming next.

  "You’re creaming, baby. I mean really creaming. You're going to be a banquet for me. For us."

  She whimpered as Rafe dropped to his knees before her and stared between her legs. His calloused hands traveled up along her inner thighs, his hot touch sending her legs to trembling.

  JJ jerked as his fingers massaged the outer folds of her pussy. He dipped a finger into her vagina, collecting juices, then caressed her aching clit.

  Dan suddenly appeared beside her.

  "Let me help you with this," he said as he began to unbutton her blouse. Within seconds, he opened the edges of her top and cupped her sensitive breasts.

  “Come on, baby. Lay back and make yourself more comfortable,” Dan suggested.

  She did as he said and lay down, careful to keep her feet on the picnic table. She settled her head onto a plump pillow and reached up to cup her hands against the back of Dan’s neck, drawing him closer. He let one of her breasts go, and then replaced it with his hot mouth. Warm lips melted over her nipple and he sucked.

  "Oh that is wonderful," JJ gasped at the erotic pressure.

  The feel of Dan’s tongue as he flicked gently against her tender left nipple snapped pleasure through her.

  With every week that passed, her intimate parts became more and more sensitive.

  Between her thighs, Rafe’s hot breath caressed her pussy. She cried out as his mouth melted over her clit. She closed her eyes and sank into the pleasure.

  She just lay there and adored how their hungry, desperate mouths made her shake involuntarily and increase her need for penetration.

  Dan moved his mouth to her other breast. She thrashed about as he circled and licked the areole and then drew her nipple into his mouth and sucked like it was a lollipop. She shuddered as convulsions rocked into her.

  The need for lovemaking grew so strong and so intense, so quickly, she was keening for them to take her.

  They ignored her pleas.

  Their mouths slurped and licked and made love to her senses and to her body.

  Erotic frustration made her keen louder.

  Finally, Rafe broke down.

  "I'm taking her," he snapped in a guttural growl.

  JJ keened her relief. Dan pulled away from her.

  The air around her moved as both men quickly changed into new positions.

  She arched and gasped as Rafe’s thick, hot erection slid into her. Her pussy clenched around the wonderful intrusion and she shuddered as Dan ordered her to open her mouth.

  Instincts told her that Dan had climbed onto the table and was now lowering himself over her face.

  Opening her mouth, she then accepted his shaft. She tangled her fingers near the base of his erection and held on as Dan started a fast pistoning between her quivering lips. Erotic shudders rocked her as Rafe stretched his penis into her vagina. His shaft was hot and heavy, touching all the aching areas deep inside of her that needed to be loved.

  Rafe joined Dan in a fast, yet tender thrusting rhythm. It didn’t take long before both men were warning her they were about to come.

  But she barely heard them. Tremors of electricity embraced her and swept her away. It was all so wonderful.

  Sensations of color and pleasure and sweet pain. They intermingled like a kaleidoscope and burst through her mind in searing ecstasy.

  This was so exactly what she needed tonight.

  Yes! Yes! Yes!

  A rumble of thunder echoed through JJ’s sleep and with it came an ominous feeling that something was seriously wrong. She didn’t know what. Didn’t know how she knew, but it had to do with Brady. Shivers and dread snapped through her and she opened her eyes.

  Lightning blinked at the windows and snores from Rafe and Dan reverberated through Rafe’s bedroom where they’d ended up after an evening of picnic table sex, followed by supper and then another round of hot sex in here.

  She snuggled deeper into the blankets and against Rafe and Dan as thunder roared close by.

  Her tummy clenched with dread as the phone suddenly rang.

  No.

  Beside her, Dan grumbled something and she held her breath as he rolled away from her and reached for the phone.

  “Moose Ranch,” he said in a gravelly, sleepy voice.

  He said nothing for a moment, then he sat bolt upright.

  Another round of lightning flashes allowed her to see the expression on Dan’s face. His eyes were open, his forehead furrowed.

  Brady. It had to be. Something is wrong with Brady.

  “Yeah, sounds like it. What’s the temp?” Dan said in an unusually calm voice.

  Temp? As in temperature?

  On her other side, Rafe moved and then he sat up too. Any other time she would be loving the way the lightning illuminated the room allowing her to see his muscles ripple across his chest as he scrubbed a hand over his bristled jaw while he yawned, but right now she just couldn’t think straight.

  “Can you walk?” Dan asked.

  Oh my God!

  “What’s going on?” Rafe asked. She heard him flip the switch on the bedside lamp. Nothing happened. The electricity was out. They’d have to get the generators going.

  “I’m not sure what’s happening,” she whispered. Cold shivers were racing through her and her heart thundered with an ominous sense of anxiety.

  “We’ll head out right away. Stay lying down and pop some pain killers,” he said into the phone.

  Pain killers? This was not good. Had Brady injured himself?

  Dan hung up.

  “It’s Brady, isn’t it?” she asked. She hoped against hope she was wrong.

  Oh, please be wrong.

  When he nodded, her hand flew to her mouth to stifle the scream. Fear rocked through her and she thought she might faint.

  “We need to get him to a hospital. He suspects lockjaw from a cow bite.”

  “Lockjaw? Brady didn’t think the bite was serious!” she shouted.

  How long ago had that bite been? Days ago. Lockjaw was deadly! Why had she allowed him to brush that injury aside so easily. Why had she forgotten about it?

  “Aren’t his shots up-to-date?” Rafe asked as he hopped out of bed. He padded over to the corner of his bedroom where he kept a battery-operated lantern on his desk. A moment later a dim light lit the bedroom allowing her to make out Dan’s facial features. He was pale. He looked…devastated.

  “He said he didn’t give it much thought when it happened a few days ago. Says he figured the bite wasn’t too deep and he’d cleaned it thoroughly with soap and water and has been applying antibiotic cream. Lockjaw only sets in if it doesn’t have oxygen to survive so he figured since the bite wasn’t deep he was safe. But after waking up and feeling under the weather and having some symptoms that steer him toward lockjaw, he thinks that he might have been overdue for a booster. If he is right and we can get him to a hospital in time, maybe they can do something…”

  “Can you fly the plane in a storm?” Dan asked as he turned to JJ.

  Automatically she remembered what she’d learned about flying in bad weather. The best thing was not to fly unless an absolute emergency. Her thoughts turned to the frightening flight last year when she and her flight instructor had flown in the dark and landed at daybreak in a small lake to rescue Rafe who’d seriously injured himself and had holed up in one of the many shelters on the ranch. That had been when she’d made up her mind that having their own floatplane was essential.

  However, during that rescue trip, she’d had help from another pilot. A very
experienced one. But she’d also been doing a lot of flying since then and despite the creepy shivers crawling over like a bunch of spiders at the thought that this would be her first solo storm flight, she knew she could not let Brady down. The plane was the fastest way to get to him.

  “JJ? Can you fly in a storm?” Dan asked again. He’d climbed out of bed and was gazing out the rain-streaked window.

  “What time is it?” she asked.

  “Four-fifteen,” Rafe called out as he tugged on a pair of jeans.

  “If I can see, then I can get us there,” she said with a firm nod. “I need you guys to get the gear, food, first aid kit and maps together and whatever else you think we need and meet me at the plane.”

  It would be best if they waited out the storm. But Brady was in serious trouble. There was no room for doubt. No time to wait. She had to get to him before it was too late! Or maybe it was already too late?

  No! No! She would not let the father of her baby die. No way in hell!

  JJ paced her breath as she sped up the plane. Rain pummelled her windshields and the wipers were flying at full blast. But she could see. Barely.

  Wind buffeted the plane and lightning flashed high in the grey sky. Thunder boomed. She knew she was being irresponsible going up in this weather, but she really wasn’t thinking about herself, her baby or anyone else. She only hoped God understood why she was going up and that he would protect all of them.

  Rafe and Dan hadn’t asked her anymore questions about the weather and flying. They’d shown up at the plane in record time.

  Rafe informed her that he had radioed Brady’s brother, Mitch who told Rafe that not only was Paul a veterinarian, he was also trained as a Wilderness Emergency Medical Responder. They had debated on the phone whether they should swing by and pick Paul up and then head over to Brady with him, or cut out the lag time and just go and get Brady and then pick up Paul on the way to the hospital.

  She’d been mildly relieved to learn that Paul was a Wilderness Emergency Medical Responder and she wasn’t sure the right decision had been made about getting to Brady first without Paul, but she understood that those men would have to get their gear and then paddle through a storm in a canoe up a river to get to the lake for her to pick Paul up. Too many precious minutes would be lost sitting in the lake waiting for them. But if Paul knew something that might help Brady, then getting to Brady first without Paul and medical assistance might kill him. Either way, the scenario was not good.

  Bubbles of uncontrollable panic reared and JJ forced herself to stay focused on getting the plane into the air. It was hard. Really hard not to think about Brady. Especially with the guys being so quiet in back.

  Too quiet.

  A moment later she sighed with relief as the plane lifted off the bumpy waves and into the air. Swiftly she angled the plane toward the northeast. Toward Brady.

  Dan replayed what Brady had told him over the phone. His gut twisted at Brady’s symptoms. He hoped to heaven Brady was going to be okay. Man, the guy was soon going to become a dad. Nothing could happen to him. Not now.

  He gazed out the side window of the plane. The sky looked moody. Bleak. It was getting light and maybe it was just his wishful thinking, but it almost seemed as if the rain wasn’t so heavy anymore. However, it was windy as hell. Every few seconds, the plane would shake and his grip on the seat rests tightened.

  Up ahead, in the cockpit, JJ was quiet as death. If he was to venture a guess he’d suspect her anxiety was way over the 1-10 scale. Yet, she flew the plane like a freaking pro. He was so proud of her.

  Blades of lightning forked out of the sky, startling him. He suspected if he reached out, he could grab the lightning. Maybe harness the power somehow and get this plane to Brady faster?

  He shook his head at that crazy thought. Man, when the phone had rang early this morning, he’d instinctively known something was wrong. No one called this early unless there was an emergency.

  Shit! Why the hell hadn’t Brady told them he’d been bit by a cow? But JJ had known? She hadn’t mentioned anything. She hadn’t seemed surprised when he’d told them. But Rafe had been startled. They should have said something about the bite.

  Dan bit his bottom lip. Hard. Anger burned through him. Maybe it had been just a nip and Brady hadn’t put much mind to it, but still, they could have had a wound looked after by a doctor. Could have checked Brady’s medical records or something. They had taken first aid courses and alarm bells should have gone off.

  Brady, you damned idiot!

  He knew he shouldn’t be getting all pissed off. But he was so fucking mad, his head was spinning.

  Chapter Six

  Despite the constant rain pummelling the windows and the mist curling around the plane, Rafe was able to spy the lake they were needing to land on and he quickly headed to the cockpit to let JJ know. His heart ached as he found her brushing tears from her cheeks. She’d been crying and flying a plane. He was so proud of her. She was the strongest woman he knew.

  “He’ll be fine. We just need to get him to the hospital,” he said and gently patted her shoulder.

  She nodded and angled the plane toward the little lake he pointed to. When he didn’t leave the cockpit, she gazed up at him, her eyes full of tears.

  She frowned. His gut clenched at all this shit she was going through. Stress was not good for her or the baby.

  “You need to get on your seatbelt, Rafe. The descent could get rough. I don’t want you flying into the windshield,” she warned.

  Rafe chuckled. “I think I’d make a nice window ornament for your plane.”

  To his surprise, she cracked a grin.

  “If you don’t want to go in back, then strap yourself in here,” she replied.

  He did as she asked and stared out the windows as the earth began to draw closer and closer. He’d never been one for flying in a small plane, but with JJ at the helm, he wasn’t scared. Much.

  “If you can get us to the southern most tip, then Dan and I can hoof it through the woods to get Brady,” Rafe said as he pointed toward the far end of the lake.

  “I’m going with you,” she said. Her voice was firm and he knew this was not the time to argue with her, but he needed to set her straight.

  “You stay put, JJ. We can’t risk anything happening to you. We can move faster without you.” He’d expected her to argue but thankfully she didn’t. Maybe she’d tuned him out in order to bring down the plane.

  His stomach sank in a sickening feeling as she started a steep descent.

  “Hey, it stopped raining,” Rafe said. He’d suddenly noticed she’d switched off her wipers already.

  “It’s just a lull. Look off to the south,” JJ instructed.

  Rafe looked out the front window and noted the dark, ominous clouds rolling in the horizon. Brilliant forks of lightning arrowed through the sky.

  He blew out a tense breath. That was exactly the area of the cabin. And Brady. Why couldn’t they just catch a break?

  Brady groaned as he lay in the bed. He was on his right side, in the fetal position, facing the wall. He’d pulled up his legs and pressed his knees against his sore gut. Everything hurt like hell.

  Sweat poured off him. He felt feverish and his heart was beating faster than it should be. His abdominal muscles were stiff and painful. The muscles in his jaw and neck were stiff too and he was having trouble swallowing and breathing. Those were just some of the symptoms he was experiencing.

  Every time a crack of thunder snapped through the tiny cabin, the muscles in his body seemed to react to the noise and started a painful spasming that lasted for minutes. The same thing happened when he’d seen lightning flash at the windows. Light just seared into him and made his muscles spasm so bad he hadn’t known such intense pain even existed. His senses were in overdrive and he was reacting to everything. He felt so bad…he just wanted to die.

  Oh man, he was screwed. He’d never heard of a good ending for
someone infected with tetanus. Why the hell hadn’t he thought about getting the bite looked after? Why had he brushed it off? He should have listened to JJ and taken it seriously that night she’d found out about it.

  But he hadn’t wanted to worry her and he’d cleaned it out so thoroughly and doused it with antibacterial ointment. It had seemed to be healing so nicely, then he’d forgotten about it until last night.

  Man, he was glad he’d been able to get through the satellite phone to the ranch. Just hearing Dan’s voice had brought him a good amount of relief. Dan had sounded cool as Brady had told him his symptoms and his suspicions. But Brady had been able to detect the underlying current of worry.

  He wondered how JJ was holding up? He hoped the guys didn’t make her fly in this weather. It was too dangerous. He also instinctively knew if they didn’t, he was a goner.

  Brady grimaced as another round of spasms snapped through various areas of his body. He’d heard some people infected with tetanus had such bad spasms, their bones would break. Oh boy. If he survived, he just hoped the bones in his arms were okay so he could hold his baby.

  A deep well of emotions bubbled up from his chest. He wanted so bad to see his kid. Would it be a girl? Or a boy? As long as the baby was healthy, he didn’t care what the sex would be. The kid would be beautiful no matter what because JJ was his or her mother and JJ was gorgeous.

  Shit! Why hadn’t he taken the bite more seriously? Obviously, his tetanus booster hadn’t been up-to-date.

  He was so damned stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

  A noise at the door made him stiffen. Pain gripped his muscles. Everywhere. He winced at the sound of voices. He could hear Dan and then Rafe.

  “Oh my God, Brady!”

  Oh man, JJ. They’d brought JJ. He didn’t want her seeing him like this. He groaned as her gentle hand curled around his spasming shoulder.

  “JJ,” he managed to whisper.

  “You’re going to be okay. We’ve got a litter and we can carry you to the plane.” JJ was saying other things but her words seemed to melt into each other. He wasn’t sure he understood everything.