Love's Ride (McCallister's Paradise Book 4)

by Rhondeau, Chantel

  The memory of their declaration of love last night helped to ease her physical pain. Luckily, Brad had been just as sore and tired as she was, and they’d fallen asleep wrapped together without either of them feeling the need to act out their love. As phenomenal as Brad pleasuring her felt, him holding her all night was better. Even with her aches and pains, she slept better in his arms than she remembered sleeping in a long time.

  “It’s getting hot in here,” he said, startling her.

  “I thought you were still asleep.”

  He groaned and fumbled behind her back for the zipper of the sleeping bag. “I’d like to be, love, but everything hurts so bad that it’s refusing to let me remain unconscious.”

  He unzipped the bag and attempted to toss it off them. Unfortunately, it barely elevated before settling back down.

  “Well, shit,” he said. “I’m too weak to lift the damn bag.”

  His obvious discomfort and stiffness had Chelsea concerned. They knew what was wrong with her, and Brad had fixed the most serious problem. While it was true she’d probably need to visit Larissa or one of the other massage therapist when they got back to the resort, Chelsea figured her stiff neck would mend after a few visits. Her shoulder already felt a lot better this morning. Brad’s back and shoulders were another issue.

  “You heard something pop when the ground collapsed and you caught me?”

  He nodded, bunching the sleeping bag in his other hand to gradually pull it off them on the far side. “Both shoulders. Not sure if I tore something, but I don’t have any strength left. Some hero I am now.”

  She turned carefully and kissed him, his fuzzy beard tickling against her cheek. “You’ve been my hero since that horseback ride, and yesterday you truly did save my life, not just saving me from falling off a horse.”

  “I’d do anything for you, Chels. I really do love you.”

  It felt good hearing him say it again, here in the daylight when she was certain she wasn’t dreaming. “I love you too. I wish I hadn’t screwed things up so badly for us.”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” He kissed her mouth with butterfly kisses before deepening it into something that made her gasp for air after a few moments of melting into him. “If this hadn’t happened, I don’t know if you would have ever trusted me and let yourself admit your feelings.”

  He had a point. After her grandmother’s death, Chelsea had been adamant about never loving again. She’d kept that vow for eight long years, but it was no way to live. Also, deep down she knew her grandma would have been disappointed in her for hiding from life. Grandma might have been too fearful to get into a car again after losing her son and most of his family to that crash, but she never stopped living life and going after the things she wanted. Chelsea was the only one who let those events color the direction of her life, making her run from taking chances.

  “You didn’t only unlock my feelings,” she admitted, relaxing her neck once again and cradling it against Brad’s shoulder. “As much as I wanted to be more adventuresome and said I wanted to do this survivalist challenge, I’ve never done anything like this before. I don’t take chances, not even simple ones. Without you, I’d still be afraid of my own shadow.”

  His soft chuckle shook her against his chest. “You’ve been afraid of everything, and I’ve been too stubborn to see all the blessings in my life. What a pair we are, love.”

  Though Chelsea’s initial inclination was to worry about that, fearing it meant she and Brad couldn’t last, she knew she had to let that go. It was time to stop being afraid. Brad had found ways to change his relationship with his family, letting Matt take over so he could only be their brother and work on repairing the hurt he’d built up over the years. Chelsea needed to do the same, to let her normally positive attitude extend to matters of love.

  She was able to think of everything else as having her glass half full. Brad was filling her love glass all the way up, and she needed to let that happen instead of questioning whether he’d stick around to continue doing so.

  “I think we’re the perfect pair,” she said, softly stroking the fuzzy trail of hair across his stomach. “We needed one another to make us realize life could be better. We have to work on our problems as individuals, but as a couple, we can support and love each other, making anything possible.”

  “I believe that,” he said. “I truly do. As long as we keep moving forward and stop looking back at the past, anything is possible. There’s no one I’d rather have by my side than you.”

  “Now, we just have one big problem left.” She heaved a sigh, wondering how they could fix their current situation. Love wouldn’t heal their physical pain or provide them with food. “We have to get back to the resort, and you can barely move.”

  He chuckled again. “Now who’s the grumpy one? It isn’t the end of the world, Chels.”

  “How do you figure?”

  His lips brushed over her hair as he kissed the top of her head. “You wanted to have a survival situation and not a camping trip, and now we do. This is our adventure, love, and we’ll get through it.”

  * * *

  Brad honestly didn’t feel as if he could move. His back and shoulders burned and cramped all at the same time. Anytime he attempted to roll onto his side, his shoulder would flare with pain so intense he feared he might pass out.

  Although he’d begged Chelsea to stay inside the tent with him and rest for the day, she’d insisted on cooking them food. He could hear her outside, the crackling of the fire mostly masking her movements.

  It was hard to lie here as though he were an invalid, letting her do all the work, but Brad reminded himself that he and Chelsea were partners now. It wasn’t unmanly to allow her to help him when he needed it. He had to trust that their budding love would grow into something permanent, which meant that once in a while it was okay if he had to lean on her strength.

  He’d never had that before. All his life, he thought letting someone else take control and make decisions would mean he was weak, which was part of the reason he always fought with Parker and Quinn. His older brothers wanted to take charge, tell him what to do whenever Brad did try to hang out with them. It had always made him feel like they didn’t trust him to be as smart or strong as they were. Truthfully, Chelsea was helping him see that his brothers had bossed him around because they cared about him, not because they didn’t.

  Brad must have drifted off again because a noise startled him and he looked up to see Chelsea standing above him, cooking pot in her hand.

  “Are you ready to eat?” she asked.

  Brad took in her sexy bare legs, following them up toward her panties showing just beneath the T-shirt he’d given her last night. Allowing a slow smile to cross his face, he said, “Depends what you’re offering. You do look good enough to eat.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. You can’t even move, so no trying to get feisty.” She lowered herself carefully to the tent floor. “Not to mention my head is pounding so hard, I might get sick in the middle of it.”

  “Way to make a guy feel special,” he teased.

  “I’ll make you feel more than special once we're both healed,” she said. “Now, do you think you can sit up, or do I need to feed you?”

  Brad weighed his options, wondering if it would be worse for her to witness him crying as he attempted to sit up or if having her feed him like a baby would be more humiliating. Then again, he’d have to get up at some point today. There were certain things Chelsea couldn’t do for him, and it wouldn’t be too long before he needed to make a pit stop in some bushes.

  “Can you help me sit up with your good arm?” he asked. “I know your neck is bad and I don’t want to make it worse.”

  “It’s okay. I can help.”

  Breathing a soft sigh of relief that he wouldn’t have to manage on his own, Brad instructed her to hold her good arm out in front of him. He held onto it to stabilize himself, using his core muscles to do a sit-up until he made it upright.
r />   “What’s on the menu?” he asked.

  Wrinkling her nose, Chelsea looked into the pot. “It said eggs and peppers, and it kind of looks like scrambled eggs. Let’s hope it tastes at least remotely reminiscent of them.”

  As she scooted the pot between them, Brad could only agree. It looked horrible. “Since you cooked, I’ll be the guinea pig.”

  No matter how bad it tasted, they’d have to eat it. He had five more envelopes of breakfast food in his bag. If they only stayed here until tomorrow and ate just one meal a day, he hoped that would be enough to get them home, but he knew that wouldn’t keep them full and nourished. While they could both lose a bit of weight with no harm done, Brad sure hoped those early-blooming fruits he’d counted on finding before would somehow appear on their way down to the beach.

  Spooning up a portion of the lumpy yellow ‘eggs,’ Brad carefully lifted them to his mouth. Surprisingly enough, although they weren’t like any egg he’d ever eaten before, the green and red peppers in the mixture gave it a pleasant taste.

  “It’s not eggs,” he said, “but still tasty. It’ll give us protein for the day.”

  Chelsea dipped her spoon into the pan, nose still wrinkled. As she placed the food into her mouth, her features smoothed. “Oh, good. You weren’t trying to be positive and fibbing about the taste. I’m glad because we have two packages of oatmeal, two more of these eggs, and a bag of granola.”

  “I’ve been thinking about it, Chelsea. I think we should take the lighter, the water container, and the pot with our remaining food inside when we leave tomorrow. I don’t think I can put the backpack on my shoulders, and we’ll travel easier without everything else anyway.”

  “I agree you can’t carry the pack, and you had a lot more weight in your bag than I could handle.” She frowned and continued eating, seeming to consider it. “What if we left the tent up here, put everything else inside, and came back for it later? I’ll carry the backpack, but we’ll just strap the sleeping bag to it and pack the items you suggested. This way, next time we find papaya, we can load up on them to keep us fed but it won’t be too heavy for me to carry.”

  It didn’t seem fair to make her haul everything, but he knew she was right. They could handle being rained on at night if that happened, but not having the sleeping bag to protect them could result in one of them catching a cold or worse. They needed to stay warm. Even when they made it closer to the beach and the temperature stayed in the mid-seventies overnight, that would still be too chilly if it rained.

  “We can try that,” he said. “I hate asking you to do most of the work, but it seems like the best option.”

  She leaned in for a kiss. “You have no reason to feel bad about me doing it. We’re a team. Let me take care of things for a while.”

  Chapter 24

  Chelsea shed her clothing, entering the hot spring first before turning around to help Brad. She knew it had to be difficult for him to lean on her so much, allowing her to take control. It spoke to how much worse his pain must be than hers that he even considered it.

  Hopefully a late-afternoon soak would help them both feel better before going to sleep. Brad was determined to head out tomorrow morning. She agreed with him that the sooner they started the better, considering their lack of resources. However, she hoped he was able to move more easily. Right now, any obstacle in their path would be impossible for him to climb, considering his arms were virtually useless. Luckily, the most challenging bit of the terrain was a few large hills and some narrow trails. At worst, they could sit down and slide across the grass and ferns.

  She held out her uninjured arm for him to grab onto while he stepped into the pond, and a smile spread across his face.

  “This is nice. At least we don’t have to wait our turn at the resort’s spa to get into a hot tub.”

  She nodded, relaxing her arm when he sat on the rock ledge, and then sat beside him. “Even better because I’m sure they wouldn’t let us in there together, naked.”

  “Not that we can do anything right now,” he replied, sounding wistful. “It’s a waste. All that gorgeous flesh next to me, and I can’t take advantage.”

  “My grandma used to say, ‘Can’t means won’t try.’”

  A strangled sound came from Brad and then he laughed so hard it rippled the water around them. “I’m pretty sure that wasn’t her way of saying you should have sex!”

  Chelsea wiggled her eyebrows and then winked. “It would be making love not having sex, and she never specified what she meant.”

  “So, you’re up for the challenge?”

  “Oh, am I ever.” She rubbed her hand across his stomach and moved her leg against his. “You aren’t up for it quite yet, but I know I can get you there.”

  “I never knew you were so naughty.” He sucked in a deep breath when Chelsea lowered her hand to stroke him more intimately. “I like that in a woman.”

  Giggling, Chelsea crawled across him. Her legs tried to float away, but she kicked until she could get her knees back in place on either side of Brad’s body.

  He tried to reach for her, but his face contorted into a mask of pain.

  “None of that,” she scolded. “You sit back and relax. No moving those arms. It’s my turn to make sure we both have fun.”

  * * *

  Brad nuzzled Chelsea’s hair as she half floated and half sat in his lap, exhausted but entirely satisfied. “Can’t means won’t try,” he repeated. “I like that, and I’m so happy you tried.”

  She kissed him, then pushed away to float on the water. Her luscious breasts stuck out of the water like oversized buoys, and Brad almost found himself ready for a repeat performance without any time in between. She was so damn gorgeous. He couldn’t believe she’d agreed to be with him.

  The wheels where going full speed in Brad’s head, making plans for when they returned to the resort. While they both had important jobs, Brad knew they could find enough time. Once a week they had to go horseback riding. He needed that for his mental health. Brad had a feeling she’d agree to it. After the wild way she’d attacked him a few minutes ago, Brad had the impression that Chelsea was now fearless. Admitting her past issues and facing them had helped to heal the hurts she’d suffered.

  In fact, she hadn’t even bothered with finding a condom before having her wicked way with him. Never before had Brad allowed that to happen, always protecting himself. However, Chelsea never questioned it as she climbed aboard. Protecting himself against an accidental child or possible diseases were things he normally worried about but not with her. Chelsea admitted how few men she’d been with, and really, why would she want many partners if it had never been fun in the past. He had confidence she didn’t have any unknown health issues.

  As far as unwanted children, that wasn’t a concern either. They might not know everything about each other, and certainly they had things to work on to make their relationship a success, but Brad was willing to do whatever it took. Chelsea was the soul mate he’d searched for. She was the woman worth any amount of fighting to make things work.

  Chelsea splashed in the water, getting her feet under her so she could look at him. “What are you thinking over there? Do you need help out of the pool?”

  Brad shook his head. “Nope, it feels nice. As far as what I’m thinking, we need to lay some ground rules.”

  “Ground rules? For us?”

  “Yep.”

  She shook her head and swam slowly toward him. “Brad, don’t complicate this. Can’t we enjoy each other’s company and be happy? Why make rules and cause problems?”

  “Well, enjoying each other and being happy are the rules I want to have.” He winked. “You told me I’m in charge of my own happiness, and I’ve been thinking about that a lot. I need to take a horseback ride at least once a week, and I want you with me when I do it. That’s my rule. Now, what is one thing you need us to do in order to help promote your happiness?”

  Her eyes widened and she tucked herself against him. �
�Oh, those kinds of rules. I thought you were going to tell me we had to pretend we didn’t know each other at work and I had to lie to your family.”

  “What in the world?” Ignoring the grinding sound in his shoulders, Brad lifted his arm and caressed Chelsea’s cheek. “What sort of moron would want to hide you away?”

  “The only boyfriend I’ve ever had. Not really a boyfriend, I guess. We were friends with an occasional booty call. I helped Dustin with his schoolwork, so he didn’t want our professors to know we were a couple. He didn’t want someone to accuse him of cheating.”

  That knowledge made Brad’s blood run hotter than the spring around them, and he gritted his teeth tightly together, taking in several breaths before calming down. “No wonder you have so many issues about love.” He ran his thumb across her bottom lip, loving the way she looked at him while he did so. “You never have to worry about that again. I’m honored to have you in my life. If anyone has a problem with that, they can kiss my ass and continue with their miserable lives while you and I remain deliriously happy.”

  She smiled, kissing his thumb. “I warned you that I was screwed up, but you said you wanted to know.”

  “He was screwed up,” Brad corrected. “Your family situation was messy and you were vulnerable, hoping for love. That man exploited you and left you with a deep distrust of romance.”

  “Who’s the therapist now?” She grinned. “However, I never loved Dustin. We met in graduate school after Grandma passed. He was someone to keep me company at a bad time in my life, and it didn’t occur to me to mind the way he acted.”

  Brad knew he couldn’t let himself get frustrated and angry every time Chelsea revealed something about her past. If he did, she might quit sharing. Still, it was a damn good thing this Dustin jerk was nowhere near him. Once Brad healed, he would have had to kick his ass, even if Chelsea claimed his actions hadn’t hurt her. Maybe she wasn’t ready to face it, but compounded with her grandma’s death, Dustin’s treatment of her was probably the final step to sealing her belief that she shouldn’t love and would never be loved.