by Lynn Hagen
“How come?” Gabe asked.
“Military brat.” Legend smiled. “Dad always had us moving. Even after I joined the service, I was always shuffling around. And after that, I never really settled in one place.”
“Very unstable,” Gabe teased. “How long do you plan on staying in Bear County?”
Legend turned and his amber eyes were filled with wistfulness with a touch of something wholesome and warm. “I plan to lay down roots here. The guys want to start a cattle ranch.”
Gabe chuckled. “Do they know anything about ranching?”
Legend grinned. “Not a damn thing. But T-Rex tells me that the Triple-B is willing to help and can send some men to train us.”
“Sounds promising. I guess it’s never too late to switch careers.” Which was something Gabe planned on doing. He no longer wanted to work in a bank. He liked the outdoors too much. He had already thought about what he was going to do. He’d have to talk things over with his father because he wanted the man’s input, but Gabe was pretty confident that he could become a freelance retirement consultant.
The job would allow him to work from home while he tended to his child and mate. The more he thought about becoming a parent, the more he liked the idea. He just wasn’t sure how much he would like carrying the babe. He’d seen pregnant women and they looked uncomfortable in their last trimester.
“You never told me how you feel about having a family,” he said to Legend.
The man fully turned and pulled Gabe into his arms. Legend placed a gentle kiss on Gabe’s neck. He smelled of spice and clean soap, and the fragrance was quickly becoming one of Gabe’s favorites. “I’ve always wanted a big one. I grew up with a large family and now I want one of my own.”
“How large?” Gabe asked. “Don’t forget, you won’t be the one carrying the children.”
Legend’s hand smoothed over Gabe’s flat belly. “As many as you’ll give me, sweetness.”
Gabe blushed as Legend continued to stroke his stomach as if Gabe were already showing. “Let’s work on the first one and then we’ll go from there.”
“And after that, we can practice on the second one.” Legend’s lips trailed over Gabe’s neck, making him shiver as his mate held him close. Gabe sighed at the attention Legend was giving him. He would never grow tired of this.
Legend released Gabe and glanced around. It was the same look Legend had outside that motel room when he thought someone was watching them.
“What is it?” Something whizzed past Gabe’s ear, making the strands of his hair dance slightly. He wasn’t sure what it was but suddenly Legend had him on the ground, covering Gabe with his body. “Was that a bullet?” Gabe nearly shrieked the question.
His heart was thundering in his chest as Legend scrambled to get the back door open. He grabbed Gabe by his arm and tried to haul him inside, but another whizzing sound had Legend throwing Gabe back to the porch floor.
“Sam!” Legend shouted as he tucked Gabe’s head under his massive chest.
Sam appeared in the doorway.
“Get down!” Legend said. “Someone is shooting at us.”
Sam dropped into a crouch and then slipped back inside the house. Gabe thought the man had abandoned them until he returned seconds later, a rifle in his hands. He dropped to the floor and glanced through the scope of his weapon. Gabe thought for sure Sam would be shot. The man was in the doorway, in plain sight. But Sam began to fire as Legend grabbed Gabe and shoved him inside.
Gabe stumbled and then hit the kitchen floor. The house seemed to come alive. He could see Colton and T-Rex heading his way, rifles gripped firmly in their hands. Legend made it inside and then grabbed Gabe under his arm.
“Get into the communications room. There aren’t any windows in there.”
“But what about you?” Gabe had a sense of déjà vu. Hadn’t he gone through this at home? Hadn’t he worried about his father getting hurt?
“I was trained for this,” Legend said. “Now get into the room.”
Gabe rushed to his feet and hurried down the hallway. But before he could make it to the communications room, the living room window shattered and a hail of bullets littered the wall. Gabe dropped to his side and covered his head. The only thing between him and the window was the couch.
Stripper shot out of the communications room and crouched down, inching his way toward Gabe. “Scoot closer to me,” he said. The man was wearing his boxers, but it seemed he’d forgotten that he had a rash because his moves were filled with precision as he made his way to Gabe.
“They’re firing at the back of the house, too,” Gabe said as he slid across the floor to reach Stripper. “We’re surrounded.”
Stripper nodded but his eyes had turned cold and flat. “Been in worse situations.”
Gabe couldn’t wrap his mind around anything worse than having the house shot up by men bent on killing him.
He didn’t want to know what situations had been worse than this. He wasn’t sure he could handle it.
“You’re our number-one priority and, rest assured, we won’t let anything happen to you.” Stripper grabbed Gabe’s upper arm and pulled Gabe the rest of the way toward him before placing himself between Gabe and the window.
Gone was the fun-loving guy who battled his online adversaries and cursed up a storm. The man before him was lethal, his face drawn tight, and not an ounce of mercy in his eyes.
Legend came barreling through the living room, firing his weapon at the window before he grabbed Gabe from the floor and practically slung him into the communications room. His mate then dropped to the floor next to Stripper as they guarded the room Gabe was in.
This was unreal. Gabe curled up on the floor close to the doorway, watching Legend and Stripper vigilantly protect him. Gabe wanted to scream for whoever was shooting up the house to stop, to leave them alone. He had a feeling it was the same men who were after his father.
Legend’s moves were precise as he crawled over to the living room window. He stayed low as he glanced quickly out the window and then ducked back down when a hail of bullets came flying through.
“Legend!” Gabe shouted, as if his voice alone could stop his mate from being harmed.
“I’m okay,” Legend called out to Gabe. “Just stay where you are. Don’t come out.”
There was no way to get out of this. There couldn’t be. The house was surrounded and everyone was pinned down. The men who had come after Gabe would turn this house into Swiss cheese and they would all be dead.
Gabe didn’t know where the other four men were but he prayed they were safe. Gabe hadn’t meant to get any of them involved in this mess. They seemed like good guys and he would hate for one of them to be hurt or killed.
The night turned silent. His nerves were on edge. Gabe’s muscles were drawn tight as he waited for the next round of bullets to come flying through the windows and front door. Although the house was set far enough back from the road to be somewhat secluded, there was no way in hell the neighbors hadn’t heard anything. But he couldn’t be sure.
The front door flew open and T-Rex walked in, dragging a man behind him. He threw the stranger across the floor and then aimed his rifle at the man’s head. “One fucking move and you’re as dead as your friends.”
Gabe’s heart was in his throat and he wasn’t sure if he should come out or stay hidden. He was peeking around the corner of the doorframe, watching the scene unfold.
Sam, Colton, and Shott came in next, their rifles slung over their shoulders.
Legend glanced up at T-Rex.
“There were four,” T-Rex said. “I figured we’d save this one for questioning.”
“Sparrow is on his way,” Colton said as he closed the door. Gabe didn’t see the use. The door was barely hanging on its hinges. But Colton stood there with his dark looks as if he were protecting it from anyone else coming inside.
Gabe lay there on the floor and watched the men around him. Living with them was one thing. Watching t
hem interrogate a person was something he wasn’t sure he wanted to witness. But he couldn’t force himself to go upstairs. Gabe wanted to know if this stranger had information about his father—if the guy knew of any plans that could be passed on to Maxwell.
Gabe wanted his father to have any advantage he could get.
A kitchen chair was brought into the living room and the stranger was tied to it with duct tape. It was Stripper who did the questioning. Gabe could see the hostility in the man’s hazel eyes. Stripper was pissed, but his voice was smooth, steady.
T-Rex and the others stood by and watched, and Gabe soon realized that they were letting their best interrogate the intruder. Stripper had changed to a person Gabe never wanted to meet in a dark alley.
At first the stranger refused to say a word. His stalwart behavior was grating on Gabe’s nerves. Gabe wanted answers just as much as the other men in the room.
Gabe shielded his eyes from the scene unfolding in front of him. Stripper was ruthless.
“I’ll never talk,” the stranger said in a heavy accent. “Do your worst.”
And Stripper did.
Chapter Twelve
It had been a week since the shooters had shown up in Bear County and tried to end Gabe’s life and the lives of the men who lived in the McMaster place. Once Stripper broke the stranger, the guy sang like a bird. He told them everything, which enabled the FBI to take down the men who were after Maxwell—or so Gabe had been told. He just knew that his father was no longer being hunted down.
Maxwell insisted Gabe stay longer just to be on the safe side of things. Gabe felt as if something more was going on with his father, but didn’t question Maxwell. If his father said he was safe, then Gabe believed the man.
“It’s too noisy,” Legend said after breakfast. The men were working on rebuilding what the gunmen had tried to destroy. There were sawhorses, construction supplies, and power tools everywhere. “Why don’t we go into town and pick a new front door?”
Having been stuck in the house for nearly two weeks, Gabe jumped at the chance to go shopping. It usually wasn’t his cup of tea, but he was willing to do anything for a change of scenery.
It was a beautiful sunny day, not a cloud in the sky. Gabe could feel the warmth on his skin as soon as he walked outside. His heart skipped a beat and excitement gripped him at the prospect of exploring the small town. He was a city boy, but there was just something about this place that captivated him. It might have been the fresh smell of the countryside or the picturesque beauty of the mountains, but he knew what it really was.
Legend.
Being around his mate added an extra spring to his step. For the first time in his life, Gabe was in love.
Legend smiled and threw his arm around Gabe’s shoulder and the contact made Gabe feel…giddy. He shook his head at the emotions coursing through him. Everything seemed brighter, more magical, and he couldn’t believe he was so buoyant. In some ways he felt a bit foolish for acting like a teenager with his first crush. But in other ways, he wouldn’t trade the happiness for anything in the world.
“What are you smiling about?” Legend asked as he released Gabe and opened the car door for him.
Instead of getting inside, Gabe tilted his head back and stared into Legend’s eyes. A fluttering began in his stomach and his pulse raced. He hooked his hand into Legend’s front pocket and pulled him closer, wanting to feel the man’s weight pressed against him.
Legend gave a low growl as he pressed his body into Gabe’s. “What are you up to, sweetness?”
A feeling of euphoria washed over Gabe and he just couldn’t stop smiling. “I love you.”
There, he’d finally said what he was feeling.
Legend’s amber eyes darkened as he cupped Gabe’s face. One corner of Legend’s mouth turned up, and a grin slowly grew until his entire face was lit up with a dazzling smile. “Yeah?”
Gabe nodded.
Lowering his head, Legend brushed his lips over Gabe’s. They were soft and inviting and Gabe groaned as he moved even closer, sweeping his tongue over Legend’s bottom lip. He didn’t care that they were outside and that the men on the porch were catcalling and whistling. He blushed, but he wasn’t going to pull away.
This man was his life.
“I think I loved you the first time you tried to run from me and I spanked you.”
Gabe chuckled. “Come on now.”
“It’s true,” Legend said as his fingers tightened on Gabe’s jaw. “I knew there was something different about you and my bear was going nuts to get next to you.”
“That’s so…weird.” Gabe grinned. “But romantic.”
Legend dropped his arms and then placed his hands on Gabe’s ass, squeezing, bringing their groins closer together. Gabe could feel the man’s erection and he was five seconds away from calling off their trip and hauling his mate inside.
“We better get out of here before we end up going nowhere,” Gabe said.
Legend pecked him on the lips and then pulled back. The guy looked as if he wanted to gobble Gabe up. And that was fine by him. But he wanted to see the town.
He’d let Legend devour him later.
They headed out and in no time they were driving through a quaint little town that had Gabe smiling. There were shops with flowers and sidewalk signs placed outside. There were a few shop owners watering the sidewalk, waving as Legend drove by. Gabe could see a pharmacy, grocery store, post office, and so many other places that reminded him of days gone by.
This was the perfect place to raise a child.
Legend pulled into a parking lot in front of a woodworking shop. When Gabe got out, Legend walked over to a man who was holding one child in his arms, with another standing beside him licking an ice-cream cone, chasing the scoop of strawberry with his tiny tongue as it teetered.
“Hey, Harland.” Legend shook the man’s hand and then made the introductions.
Harland grinned at Gabe. “This here is Austin,” he said proudly as he nodded to the boy in his arms. “And that’s Markey.”
Markey waved without looking up, his tongue swirling around his frozen treat that was quickly melting down the side of his arm. Gabe took the cone from Markey’s hand. “Stick your tongue out as far as you can.”
The child did. Gabe twirled the ice-cream at a high rate of speed until the melted parts were gone. Markey grinned. Apparently he liked the game. He kept his tongue stretched, waiting for Gabe to do it again.
“So easy to please.” Harland chuckled.
Gabe listened to Harland tell Legend that the “expert” he’d called about starting up the cattle ranch would be by this afternoon. Rowdy Sheppard was a foreman who was looking to start over and thought Bear County would be the perfect place.
In Gabe’s opinion, anyone looking to start over had something to hide. But he could he wrong. Gabe had been whisked away to Bear County in order to stay alive and now it was a place he would be calling home.
After handing the cone back to Markey, Gabe stood there and listened as the conversation went from one topic to the next. He watched the townsfolk walk past, gazed at the hanging plants that were on every other street post, and smiled as Legend pulled him closer, placing his strong arm around Gabe’s waist.
He’d been afraid of the unknown and hadn’t wanted to leave the Summerville estate. But as he leaned into Legend’s side he realized that starting over wasn’t so bad after all.
* * * *
It had been three months since Gabe had come to Bear County. He sat on the front porch, rubbing his hands over his distended belly as he enjoyed the fresh air. Lately it was hard for him to move around and sitting in one place for too long made his back ache. But Gabe couldn’t resist gazing over the landscape he’d fallen in love with.
Plans were underway for the stables and bunkhouse to be built. Blueprints were gone over twenty times, slight changes here and there. The men had finally settled on what they wanted and now the construction would soon begin.
<
br /> Gabe couldn’t wait. He’d never ridden a horse before and was looking forward to the experience.
He sat forward and frowned when a car pulled into the driveway. Gabe knew he shouldn’t have come outside, not out front at least. He wasn’t supposed to be seen while pregnant. Not by any outsiders, at least.
He struggled to sit up and then eased to the edge of his chair. He stood and began to waddle toward the door when he heard a familiar voice.
“Gabe!”
He turned to see his father getting out of his dark luxury sedan. Gabe would’ve run to the man but he could barely move these days. Instead, he turned and gave his father a wide smile. “Dad!”
But his father wasn’t smiling. His hazel eyes were filled with fury as he slammed his car door and headed toward the porch. Gabe backed up to the door and held his arms wide, as if he could stop Maxwell from entering the house. “Now wait,” he said as his father stormed onto the porch.
“Where is he?” Maxwell asked, his jaw flexing.
Just then Legend walked from the side of the house. His eyes locked on to Maxwell and then flickered to Gabe.
“Dad, no!” Gabe tried to grab his father’s arm, but Maxwell was off the porch in seconds, heading straight for Legend. Gabe gasped and then waddled quickly toward the steps when his father slammed his fist into Legend’s face.
“You son of a bitch. I trusted you with my son,” Maxwell said, his words snarled.
Legend worked his jaw from side to side. “I deserved that one. But if you hit me again, I’ll forget that you’re my mate’s father.”
“Mate?” Maxwell appeared baffled. “Is that what you told my son after you knocked him up?”
“It’s true,” Gabe said as he made his way down the steps. He held on to the banister, panting before he crossed the yard.
“Bullshit,” Maxwell snapped. His eyes fell to Gabe’s stomach and his expression filled with bewilderment. He shook his head. “Strangely enough, you look radiant.”
“We really are mates,” Legend said. “I never would have betrayed your trust if my bear hadn’t gone crazy for Gabe.”