by Jan Springer
JJ brightened now that her men were home. Before clearing a runway for Blue, they’d been out with the snowmobiles and trailers loaded with hay for the cattle in the one of the closer sections of their property.
An all-day job for them would have taken her only a couple of hours with the plane, but because of her current condition, she was grounded.
“Wow! Beautiful!” Dan said as he stopped in the open doorway and peered into the bedroom where she’d just changed into the dress. He was joined by Brady and Rafe, who peeked in over Dan’s shoulder.
Appreciation sparkled in their gazes and her three cowboys suddenly whistled in unison.
“Hot and sexy,” Brady murmured. His voice was thick and hoarse. Full of lust and love.
“Sweet and sensual,” Dan complimented with a wink.
“Any other night, baby…” Rafe let his words trail off and shook his head slowly.
JJ laughed. She knew what Rafe meant. Any other night and they’d be undressing her, loving her and they’d all be late to dinner.
But with their guests about to arrive, her men appeared to be well-behaved or they would have quickly peeled her out of her dress.
Well Rafe wasn’t behaving, for he suddenly dashed away. He shouted that he was getting the upstairs shower. Dan swore, and he and Brady raced for the bathroom across the hall. Dan won as the door slammed shut in front of Brady.
JJ tried hard not to laugh as Brady returned. He stopped a foot away from her and stared. He was shaking his head as if in wonder.
“Just stay there, baby. Just let me look at you. Let me remember you this way, because soon you’ll just be a skinny lady again.”
JJ gasped with mock shock and swatted his broad chest. “Just skinny! Are you saying I’m fat now?”
Brady laughed and grabbed her wrists before she could smack him again.
Oh, he looked so damned sexy with a scruffy five o’clock dark shadow hugging his chin and cheeks. His gaze darkened, and his head lowered. Her heart thumped with a maddening speed as he stopped mere inches from her mouth. She parted her lips, eager for his love.
“I want you so bad, Jennifer Jane, that it hurts,” he whispered.
“Me too,” she answered.
She ached so much for him to make love to her. For all her men to make love to her again. But they’d held off on sexual intercourse in order to protect the baby.
Cold air blew off him, but it did little to cool her down.
“You’re cold from the outdoors,” she said. Sympathy for his comfort rocked her. She should be letting him go, urging him to go up to her room and use her shower to warm up. But she just loved the way he looked at her. His blue eyes lit with sparkles of love and his hands held her so firmly, yet so gently.
“Not as cold as the other day when we got that Christmas tree. Remind me to properly punish you after the baby gets here. Punish you for being such a vixen that I cannot say no to you. In the meantime…”
His lips were hot and firm as they melted with firm possession over hers. He caressed her mouth, every stroke making the sensual tension mount within her. Before her anticipation could soar to a maddening pleasure, Brady broke the kiss. She whimpered her frustration.
He moved his head away, blew out a tense breath and closed his eyes. A muscle twitched in his left cheek, a sign of his self-control.
“Oh man, JJ, you’re killing me here,” Brady growled.
“You’re killing me,” she breathed harshly. Her legs trembled with excitement and when he let go of her wrists, she grabbed him by his sweater, and held him, preventing him from leaving. Then she splayed her hands over his warm chest, felt his muscles bulge beneath the wool.
“We’re not done, Brady,” she teased, allowing her wild side to unleash. She leaned closer and kissed him full on his succulent mouth. Pleasure rocked her, and a guttural growl ripped from his chest and into her mouth. His tongue followed the animalistic noise and he sensually stroked between her lips.
She jolted as he mated with her tongue, touching, swirling and probing. He made her body hum. Made her feel loved. Made her want more.
A grumbling noise broke through JJ’s pleasure. Plane, she thought numbly.
But his scorching kiss held her attention and she instinctively pressed herself harder against Brady. His body was solid and muscular, and he always made her feel so safe and able to be herself. He always ignited the flames of need and the naughty girl buried deep inside of her. Just as he was doing now.
She could feel his desire for her coiled inside of him and the restrained tension in his kiss. She was surprised when he curled his hands over her shoulders and lowered the sleeves. Due to the dress allowing her to nurse, when the time came, the garment was easy for him to maneuver, and her plump breasts easily spilled free. She hadn’t worn a bra because the dress had one sewn right into it.
“Brady,” she moaned as she watched him lick his lips. Suddenly she wanted his mouth on her flesh.
JJ inhaled as Brady cupped her breasts and then dipped his head. She moaned with pleasure as he drew an engorged nipple into his mouth. He sucked gently as he kneaded her other breast with his hand.
She moved her belly against his, gyrated her hips and tried hard to ignore the warning in her head that yes, she could hear an approaching plane outside. But Brady’s mouth felt so wonderful as he sucked. Her pussy grew hot and wept with a fierce need for penetration.
She whimpered her distress and then suddenly Brady stopped.
Oh shoot. No.
He groaned and moved his head away from her breast.
“They’re here,” he mumbled. He ran a hand over his beard stubble and then frowned.
Who is here? She numbly thought and then like an ice-cold avalanche it suddenly hit her that guests were coming to dinner.
Her legs trembled, and she quickly blew out tense breaths and rearranged her clothing. Her face felt hot as he just stood there and watched, a needy look on his face, his lips red from suckling her nipple. She had no doubt he would masturbate in the shower, now that he was aroused. Oh, how she wished she could join him.
“Go! Upstairs to my room and shower in there! I’ll greet the guests,” she urged. But before he could go, she reached out and grabbed him.
“Your clothes! They’re all cleaned and pressed. Don’t forget your clothes!” She shrieked as a sudden burst of panic shot through her.
He gave her a look as if to say, where are they?
Her men! If she didn’t dress them, then they would show up to the party wearing their work clothes!
She nodded to the bed. She’d lain out a freshly laundered pair of pants and a shirt for him on the opposite side of the bed where she’d had her dress. She’d also put fresh clothing out on Rafe’s bed and on Dan’s bed.
Brady chuckled and went to the other side, bundled everything into his arms and then came around and headed toward the door.
JJ nodded her approval, her panic ebbing. She pushed past him.
Had they not stopped when they did, they would have ended up in the closet, with her bent at the waist and Brady taking her from behind for a quickie. That’s not exactly the thing to be doing when she was so close to her due-date and a house full of guests arriving in the cold outdoors.
As she waddled toward the mudroom, she giggled at the thought of making out while her guests pondered on why no one was around to greet them. Behind her, she heard Brady’s hurried footsteps as he rushed down the hallway and then up the stairs.
A moment later, JJ gazed out the frost-edged windows of the mudroom. Flurries whipped around the outdoor light fixtures and the path one of the guys had plowed earlier to the lake, already had a layer of fresh snow. Through the swirl of snowflakes, she made out the blinking lights of Blue’s bush plane. Then the lights went out and she smiled as several dark shadows moved quickly out of the plane.
She counted them. Six. Happiness burst through her. They had all come! There had been an ulterior motive in inviting all the single people th
at she knew. Hmm, with Layla not coming, they now had three guys and three girls.
It was going to be fun watching how they interacted with each other and maybe she could see if she could maybe pair them up as couples.
She gasped as the baby gave her another swift punch. Man, she couldn’t wait for the baby to arrive. She tenderly patted her swollen belly. Not tonight, sweetie. Not tonight.
Chapter Three
“Brace yourselves! It’s really cold out here!” Blue shouted as she slid open the plane door and shivered against the onslaught of the frigid north wind and icy snowflakes that snapped against her face. She’d kept the interior nice and toasty for her passengers, so it was going to be a bit of a temperature shock when everyone got outside.
Usually she wore a wool hat and many layers of clothing, but tonight was different. She’d dressed for a party and that included wearing a dress, leggings and not the warmest of an ankle length winter coat.
As she stood on the cleared ice, by the wing of her plane, she accepted the two bags filled with presents from Kelly and made sure the others were able to descend okay, pointing out to be careful of accumulated ice at the right side of the exit. The three men came out first. Being the gentlemen that they were, they assisted Kelly and Kaley. Blue had to stifle a laugh as the girls would have no problem climbing out. They were bush pilots like herself and worked at North Country Air. They were used to the harsh elements and hopping out of planes in all kinds of weather.
This evening, her co-workers looked different. The girls were dressed up with makeup galore and their hair all fancy with curls and they wore pretty dresses beneath their coats. It wasn’t often the girls from North Country Air went to parties, but when JJ had invited them, they couldn’t turn her down. She was the best cook ever and a joy to talk with and she lived all alone out here with three very sexy cowboys.
Despite the cold enveloping her, Blue felt a zip of heat rip through her as she remembered staying over at the ranch one stormy night. She’d been sleeping in one of the upstairs bedrooms when she’d been awoken by odd noises. She’d climbed out of bed and gone down the stairs to investigate. She’d found JJ and Rafe and Brady in the living room. The three of them had been naked with JJ sandwiched between the two men. They’d been having sex.
At first, Blue had been shocked. Had almost gone back upstairs, embarrassed at intruding on their privacy. But the tangle of arms and legs and bodies, not to mention their sultry moans and groans of pleasure, encouraged her to watch the caring way those two men had kissed and pleasured JJ.
After spying on that sensual ménage, she’d began to crave a loving relationship like that for herself, but she knew she could never have it. What JJ had, was special. Something like that would never happen to Blue.
Besides, she had no time for men and dating. She had her young daughter to look after and a full-time job as a bush pilot. It was just the two of them, and that’s the way she liked it. Ivy had been invited to come along to the party too, but Blue had left her with the sitter for the night. The sitter was a lovely elderly and lonely woman who enjoyed Ivy’s company. Besides, Blue wanted to be selfish tonight, and just enjoy adult company.
The three men that had started a horse ranch business some miles from here had also been invited to the first annual Moose Ranch Christmas party, as JJ had stated in her invitation. The three guys were relatively new to Blue.
She’d met one or the other on several occasions when dropping off their monthly mail. Early this Spring, she’d flown them here to Moose Ranch to surprise Brady.
Mitch, was Brady’s younger brother, and he looked a lot like Brady. He was kind and easygoing and liked to talk to her, but she didn’t encourage him because she needed more time to get over what she’d experienced in her past with men.
Paul was a nice guy too. He liked to talk about his latest animal patients who weren’t limited to the race horses they were now housing on their ranch. Paul had a knack for finding injured animals in the forest and healing them. Currently he was tending to an injured elderly rabbit who it appeared had gotten into a fight with an owl and had somehow managed to escape its captor.
Then there was Daegen. She hadn’t gotten more than ten words out of him since she’d known him. He was starting to look like a gruff mountain man, growing out his hair and having a beard and moustache. He was a quiet one. But that was okay. Everybody was different and lived in the world their own way.
“The ranch house sure does look pretty, doesn’t it?” Kelly asked from beside her as they all gathered around and stared up the slope toward the ranch.
There was a trail of red and green lights that twinkled amidst the snowflakes and the lighting would make it easy to follow the path to the ranch.
“I love how they decorated the trees with so many pretty lights, but it is a shame there are no neighbors around to see the beauty of it,” Kaley said.
“Hey! We’re neighbors,” Mitch chuckled.
“They did it for us, I’m sure. It’s a nice warm welcome. I should have brought my camera,” Paul replied.
Blue noted Paul smelled nice. He wore a delicate scent of cologne that she couldn’t put a name to. The men were just as dressed up as the girls. They wore pressed pants, nice jackets and aside from Daegen, the other two men were clean-cut.
“Hey, where’s Daegen going?” Blue asked when she spied him strolling away from the group and toward the area where she’d first touched down with the plane.
“Going to turn out the gas lanterns,” Mitch explained. “No use burning fuel.”
“We should go and help him,” Kaley suggested.
“He’s fine. He likes to be alone. He said for us to go on up without him,” Mitch replied.
Blue hadn’t heard the men talking, but she figured Mitch lived with the guy, so he must know him best.
“Okay. He can catch up, because I don’t know about you, but I’m freezing!” Paul complained as he cupped his hands to his mouth and blew. White plumes of mist floated all around his face.
“Here, let me give you a hand with these,” Mitch said as he grabbed the bags from Blue.
Blue was grateful and smiled as Paul waved his hand, urging them to follow him. They all moved quickly toward the ranch house.
It sure looked homey here and it was so quiet. The only thing she could hear was the crunch of freshly fallen snow beneath their feet and the frozen lake as it cracked off a couple of spooky gunshot-like sounds in the area where Daegan had headed. But Blue knew the ice wouldn’t break. The lake was solid. The creepy noises were just the lake forming more ice.
A sense of wanting a place like this for her very own, washed over Blue. The little apartment where she and her daughter lived was noisy all day and all night due a busy traffic intersection nearby and there were plenty of loud tenants. But the lady who took care of Ivy was so reliable and so sweet, that moving away from her just wasn’t an option at this time.
However, every time Blue came out this way, a longing for a quiet place like this for herself and for Ivy always grabbed a hold. She wanted a place where her daughter could run around in the fresh air and sunshine and swim and be happy and be free of dangerous traffic and savory characters.
As they drew closer to the ranch house, Blue noted spirals of smoke curling out of a couple of chimneys and buttery lights splashed from the first and second floor windows of the log cabin. The lights shone across the snow-covered yard illuminating a tall six-foot snowman wearing a scarf, a wool hat, sticks for arms, a carrot for the nose and some small stones for eyes and mouth.
From in front of her, Mitch laughed. “My bet is Brady built that snowman. He always liked making snow people.”
Blue wondered if Mitch knew about JJ sleeping with more than one guy here at the ranch. She knew the baby was Brady’s, because Kelly had told her, but Blue had never told anyone what she’d seen that one night with JJ, Brady and Rafe.
An owl hooted from somewhere close making her jump. The forlorn sound of several
continuous hoots sent a round of chills up Blue’s spine. Such a spooky sound.
Soft murmurs of surprise rippled through the crowd.
“Shhh everyone, he’s up there,” Paul whispered.
Blue noted to where Paul pointed. Not more than ten feet up, almost just above them, perched right on top of the laundry post beside the ranch house, sat a big owl. The light from an upstairs bedroom glared perfectly upon him, revealing its features.
It was a mostly medium grey color, with tufts of dark grey, plenty of dark rings around the eye area. It had a black chin and white patches that made it look like he wore a bow tie. It gazed down at them with small yellow eyes, seemingly undisturbed by them being here.
“It’s so fluffy,” Mitch observed.
“It’s huge,” Kelly murmured.
“I’ve never seen one before,” Kaley said.
“It’s a Great Grey. Canada’s largest owl. We’re very lucky to see one as they’re very secretive. He must have a good hunting ground around here or he wouldn’t be here,” Paul explained.
The owl emitted another volley of hoots and to Blue’s surprise, there came an answering bunch of hoots from somewhere deep in the surrounding forest.
“Must be his mate,” Paul said.
They stood in the cold for what seemed like an eternity, watching the owl as it leisurely blinked down at them. Soon, the tip of Blue’s nose began to get really cold and her toes were freezing in her fancy boots. It was time to head inside.
She was about to make a move forward when she spied JJ in the mudroom window watching them. JJ waved to her and Blue waved back. Excitement burst through her.
“Hey, there’s JJ!” Kaley shouted.
Upon her shout, the owl suddenly took flight. Large wings flapped noisily in the quietness of the night and then it was gone.
Everyone laughed and teased Kaley for scaring away the bird and then Blue led the way as they all strolled forward, happily waving to JJ.
Wreaths laden with pine cones and puffy red bows hung in the mudroom’s frosted windows and tiny yellow fairy lights twinkled along several of the window sills.