“Deuce, I hurt her.”
“How did you hurt her?”
“Last night, I had a dream about us,” Jake began.
Deuce remained silent. He couldn’t imagine how Jake’s dream could have possibly hurt Claire.
“We were making love.” Jake hesitated. “I was holding her down.”
Deuce waited. He knew that his brother was a strong, dominant man, but he also knew that Jake was a kind and caring man who would rather experience any amount of pain himself than cause any woman any moment of hurt.
“When I woke up I was holding Claire,” Jake said finally. “I was pulling on her shoulder. I hurt her pretty badly, Deuce.”
“Jake, I’m sure it wasn’t something you would ever do if you were aware of what you were doing,” Deuce told him firmly.
“Maybe,” Jake said, stopping him. “But I can’t take that chance, Deuce.”
“What’re you saying, Jake?”
“I’m saying I don’t want to ever hurt Claire,” Jake said angrily.
“You won’t.”
“I did!” Jake yelled.
“Jake, listen to me,” Deuce said calmly. “You’re a good man. You’re a strong man. And you’re also a gentle man who respects women. If Claire is your woman, and I really think that she is, Jake, then you will treat her with respect and gentleness. You know as well as I do that we’re each given the one woman who is our perfect mate. Claire is exactly what you need, Jake.”
“She deserves tenderness,” Jake interrupted him.
“Are you telling me that you wouldn’t be tender with her?”
Jake clenched his teeth in anger, his jaw cracking with the pressure of it. He nodded his head.
“You’re a liar, Jake McKade,” Deuce told him, leaning forward, resting his hands on the side bar of the bed, and getting right in his youngest brother’s face. “Pa would tan your hide for turning away from the woman who’s meant to be yours.”
“And Ma would be horrified with what I want to do to her,” Jake snapped.
Deuce chuckled softly as he straightened and crossed his arms over his chest. Jake looked up at him angrily.
“What the hell are you laughing at?”
“Jake, you have to stop thinking about Ma and Pa as if they were people who were innocent and unaware of the ways of love,” Deuce said gently. “They had five children together. Pa was a strong guy just like you and me and the rest of his sons. He loved Ma fiercely. Do you have any idea how many times I watched him lift her over his shoulder and carry her up to their bedroom?”
Jake’s head snapped up to look at his oldest brother in shock. “What?”
Deuce laughed as he took the seat beside Jake’s bed and settled against the high back of the comfortable chair. “It must run in the genes, Jake,” Deuce said after a moment. “We all have our needs. Don’t think you’re alone.”
Jake shook his head. Deuce didn’t really understand. And he wasn’t about to explain.
“Will you help me take care of Claire?” he asked finally.
“You know I will, Jake,” Deuce said softly.
Before he could say another word, the door to Jake’s room opened and the woman they had been talking about stepped inside. She hesitated a moment, looking from him to Jake and back again.
“I’m sorry for interrupting,” she said quickly. “I’ll come back later.”
“No, Claire,” Jake stopped her, holding out his hand to her. “Come here.”
Claire went to him without hesitation, taking his hand and sighing as peace filled her. “I’m sorry, Jake. I didn’t mean to barge in.”
“You haven’t barged in, angel,” Jake said firmly. “This is my oldest brother Deuce.”
“I’ve met him and all of your brothers and your friends, Jake,” Claire told him, laughing softly. “They’ve all been here for the last four weeks.”
Jake nodded, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “I guess I didn’t think about that time because it doesn’t exist for me,” he admitted. “I’ve just asked Deuce if you could work for us at the ranch.”
“Jake, I already have a job,” Claire said, pulling her hand free from his.
“But you’re hurt,” Jake said calmly. “You can’t work here if you’re hurt.”
“Jake, my job is to take care of you,” Claire told him, annoyance evident in her voice. “Do you think I can’t take care of you?”
“No, angel,” Jake said without hesitation. “I just think you should work on the ranch so you can sit down when you’re tired or in pain.”
“So, you’re telling me that you wouldn’t allow me to sit down if I’m tired or in pain?” Claire looked at him with her eyes blazing with the anger that was simmering inside of her.
“Of course not, Claire!”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I just want you to be safe,” Jake said quietly.
“I am safe.” She turned to Deuce and stared him down. “Do you want to fire me from my job of taking care of Jake?”
“Absolutely not,” Deuce said firmly. “I can’t think of anyone better for him.”
“Are you sure about that, Deuce?” Claire asked him warily.
“There isn’t a doubt in my mind, Claire. Seeing how you stand up to Jake tells me all I need to know,” Deuce said, getting comfortable in the chair once again and relaxing as he looked at his brother and dared him to challenge his words. “My brother is a stubborn man. He’s going to need someone who won’t allow him to walk all over them—especially if you’re going to have to fight him to help him get back his strength.”
Claire turned back to face Jake and huffed. “That will be the day I’ll allow Jake McKade to walk all over me,” she said angrily. “So you’d better decide what you want, Jake. If you don’t want me to take care of you, tell me now. Otherwise, just suck it up, cowboy.”
She turned and walked toward the door. Jake watched her go in stunned silence.
“You can tell administration of your decision,” she called to him as she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. “Stubborn man.”
The door closed quietly behind her. Deuce waited until it shut completely before he let loose his laughter. Jake turned to him and snarled.
“What the hell are you laughing at, Deuce?” he demanded.
“You go on and tell me that that woman isn’t meant for you, Jake,” Deuce said, struggling to control his laughter.
“Shut up.”
Chapter 7
Present Day
Claire covered her cheeks in embarrassment. Who would have ever thought she would be watching porn with the women of the McKade ranch. She could barely stifle her laughter. Watching the woman on the television screen swallowing the biggest cock she had ever seen, made her think about Jake and how she wanted to do exactly that with him.
“It takes practice,” Melanie told them. “The trick is to use your hand at the base of his cock so you don’t go too far down, and you have to breathe through your gag reflex.”
Jamie and Gracie were giggling. Becca and Lainey were laughing, and Claire was completely overwhelmed by all of their feelings. She could feel their happiness, but she could also feel their sadness. Becca’s heart was breaking. Claire could feel the pain that the young woman felt in her bad hip, as well as the pain she was feeling in her heart from the way Rafe McKade ignored her love.
Jamie was overwhelmed with the thought of loving John and not being good enough for him. Gracie ached for the man that she loved but was afraid to open her heart to him. Deuce was a lucky man to have a woman love him so much. Claire wished all of them would find that the men that they loved actually loved them back.
In the last year, she had found her heart being crushed every day by the way Jake kept himself from her. Sure, he was always willing to offer her his hand when she needed his touch to help her shield the emotions that surrounded her, but it was never anything more. Jake always made sure to keep his distance.
She helped him with his physica
l therapy. She helped him with his pain, but she was never allowed to touch his heart. It was as if he had put his own mental shields in place. She knew he had done it on purpose to keep her out. She hated that she was unable to merge with his mind and his desires. She missed the intimacy of it. She missed the way it made her feel. She missed Jake.
When Jake was finally released from the hospital, Deuce had asked her to help out at the McKade ranch as their housekeeper and cook while she finished her schooling. He had said that he needed her to be close to home so that she could make sure Jake did his exercises. She did, but each day made her feel more sadness. Jake denied their destiny to be mates. The pain in her heart was becoming too much to bear. She didn’t know what she was going to do about it.
“Just watch and learn.” Melanie’s voice broke into her thoughts. “All of you need to see what men like to have done to them. It will help you make your husbands happy.”
“Like I’m ever going to have a husband,” Gracie muttered more to herself than to any of the other women.
“Me, too,” Claire added.
“No way in hell,” Becca mumbled under her breath.
“You can’t have a husband if you don’t even have a date,” Lainey said in exasperation.
“Oh, stop being so morbid,” Melanie chastised them. “Every one of you will be married within the next six months, so you’d better watch the rest of this movie so you can get some ideas of what you can do to drive your men crazy.”
Claire felt her mind wandering as the women talked around her. If what Melanie said was true, and each of them would be a married woman within the next six months, Claire had some serious decisions to make.
If she wanted to be mated to Jake, she would have to take the initiative. She would have to be bold and take the lead by bringing their relationship where it was destined to be. She had to make Jake understand that everything would be okay. She would not run screaming from his needs or his dominance. She would be running directly into his arms and loving him silly. Maybe he would finally accept her love and their mating after they’d had their third or fourth baby.
She thought about the images that she had seen in Jake’s mind when he had held her as he recuperated in the hospital nearly a year ago. She wanted to be in that beautiful home she had seen in that vision. She wanted to be there with Jake sitting on the floor of the living room and playing with their kids. She wanted to feel him pull her onto his lap and rub her pregnant belly tenderly. She wanted her mate.
Claire walked down the main staircase to the large living room below. All of the McKade brothers as well as their friends John and Tim were sitting there in silence. Claire watched as Jake tenderly touched little Robbie’s back and caressed him gently. He loved his nephew so much. Claire smiled at the sight. Jake might want the rest of them to think that he was tough and cold, but the way he treated that little boy was the true testament of his nature. The way her man was with Robbie told her everything that she needed to know.
Even though she had already seen into his soul and into his heart, this outward expression of love that he never once tried to hold back for his little dude showed Claire exactly what a good, kind, and loving man he was. It also reinforced what she already knew. Jake McKade was going to be a wonderful father. She knew he would treasure each baby that they had together. She just had to get him to understand and accept that truth about himself so they could move forward in their relationship and maybe start having a family of their own.
Jake watched silently as Claire excused herself and started to walk from the room. She hesitated as she passed the couch that he occupied. She turned to look down at him and smiled tenderly as he looked up at her silently. Hell! She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He ached with how much he wanted her.
Claire saw the hunger in his beautiful blue eyes, but more than that, she saw his pain. She knew she had to help him. It didn’t matter that he would probably push her away again. She had to try. She had to take the first step. They may indeed be small steps, but they were steps in the right direction.
“Hi, Jake,” she said softly.
“Hi, Claire,” he answered just as quietly. He couldn’t help but smile at the adorable woman before him.
Despite her small stature, just five feet four inches tall compared to his six feet three inch height, he knew that she possessed a strength of will that matched his own. She had been beside him throughout his hospital stay, taking care of him and seeing to his needs when all he ever did was growl at her. She had been by his side through every physical therapy session, not allowing him to give up when all he wanted to do was shut himself away and be pissed at the world.
Claire was his strength, but she also was his gentle reminder that there really was goodness in the world. She soothed him with her touch. She calmed him with her laugh. And she annoyed the shit out of him with her sarcasm. She was perfect.
He remembered how her curvy body had pressed up against his that one night that she had slept beside him in his hospital bed. Since that night, he had been careful not to encourage that closeness again even though he ached to repeat it. When he had hurt her injured shoulder, he had made a promise to himself that he would never allow his strength or dominance to ever cause her any pain ever again. It would kill him to know that he had hurt his angel.
He rubbed his hand across his chest as the familiar ache settled deep once again. Working long hours at the family’s construction company had kept him occupied, but his mind always wandered back to his sweet angel. He wanted to come home to her and love her. He wanted to hold her tightly beneath him as he filled her with his cock. He imagined her belly heavy with his baby, and the thought made him ache to see it become their reality.
But he couldn’t want those things with Claire. Not without including all the other parts of him. He couldn’t take a chance on Claire running from him because of his dominant nature. He would rather have her in his world as a friend than not at all. But even that thought was getting really old. He wanted more. With his Claire. With his angel.
Claire watched his face intently for a moment before leaving the room and going into the kitchen. She returned quickly and took the beer bottle he was holding from him, replacing it with the bottle of water. He accepted it without question and didn’t protest when she reached out to take his hand and place two pills into his open palm.
“Take these,” she told him quietly. She waited while he threw the pills into his mouth and downed the entire contents of the water bottle. She reached out and took the empty bottle from him, ignoring the shocked looks from the other people in the room. “I’ll bring some rubbing liniment to your room in a few minutes. Go on and get settled for bed.”
“Claire,” Jake’s deep voice warned her.
“Oh, be quiet and go get ready for bed,” she told him softly, dismissing his warning before turning and walking toward her room that was at the back of the house next to the kitchen.
Jake sat stubbornly on the couch for all of thirty seconds before he slowly stood and walked toward the staircase without another word. By the time he reached the top landing, it was obvious that the effort of the climb had taken all of his strength to make it without caving in to the pain in his leg.
Claire never waited to see what Jake would do. She knew he would eventually give in and go to his room. He looked exhausted. She also knew that he was in a lot of pain. She was determined to take care of that. Neither she nor Jake had been sleeping well. The best night’s sleep she had ever gotten was that night in the hospital bed with Jake. With him holding her, she was completely shielded from the world. She had been able to sleep soundly and peacefully, and she knew that he had done the same. If it hadn’t been for her stupid shoulder, they would have slept that way every night since then. She had no doubt in her mind about that.
Jake’s unintentional hurting of her had caused him to pull away. She had heard his thoughts. He had damned himself for his forceful nature, but she knew that he was wrong. No
matter what she had said to him, he had refused to believe that she was fine. Well, he had been kind of right, she hadn’t been fine. Her shoulder had hurt like hell, but he hadn’t hurt her on purpose. He would never hurt her on purpose. Somehow, she was going to have to prove it to him. She just had to figure out a way to do that.
Now that Melanie had just told all of them that they were going to be married to the members of the McKade family within the next six months, Claire knew she had to make that come true. Jake certainly wasn’t going to initiate it. Stubborn man. It was going to be up to her.
Closing her bedroom door behind her, she quickly removed her jeans and pink blouse. She dropped them into her hamper, following them quickly with her bra, underwear and socks. Walking into her bathroom, she stood before the sink and looked at her reflection in the wide mirror that ran the length of the counter. She tried to look at herself with a critical eye.
She wasn’t a bad looking woman. She actually thought she had a nice face. Her brown eyes were wide and held a softness to them that she hoped showed her compassion and kindness. She liked that her black hair had gotten a bit longer and now hung just below her shoulders. It was thick and shiny. She pictured Jake taking firm hold of her hair and holding her in place while he kissed her. That was a very nice thought. Maybe tonight, she would get him to do just that.
She looked at her body and sighed. She was curvy, her breasts were large but they were firm, and her hips were wide. Some men liked hourglass figures. Sometimes she caught Jake staring at her and she could hear his thoughts. He liked her figure.
Claire knew that Jake would be an incredible lover. She could tell by the way he looked out for her and protected her. He was kind, and good, and loving. She saw into his caring heart and saw the beauty of his soul. She had seen the way he touched her and loved her when their minds had merged. She had experienced his passion. He had shown her unimaginable pleasure. He had offered her a life filled with love and babies. How could he ever think that he would treat her with cruelty and abuse?
Claire was certain that if Jake spent some time with her, he would know that what was possible between them would be good and exciting. If she could just get him to touch her and show her everything that she ached to learn, he would see that she wanted him just as he was. She needed him to give them a chance. She didn’t think she could continue being with him every day and not be able to take him within her heart.
Jake's Angel [Cowboy Mates, Psychic Connections 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 7