Eagle Down (Cyber Cowboys Series Book 3)

by M Elle Kelso

  It was David who came up with the idea of moving the paper to the ranch. There was plenty of room, they could build a special building that would house the presses and C.J. could have her office wherever she wanted it.

  That problem solved, David called C.J..

  “Hey, sweetheart, how’s it going?”

  “It’s going just great. How are you doing out there?”

  It bothered her that they had to spend so little time together because they were so far apart.

  “I’m doing fine, the ranch is doing fine and the horses are doing fine. Mind you...” he let his voice trail away.

  “What? What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing, now that I’m talking to you. Do you have plans for this weekend?”

  He crossed his fingers, not willing to admit he was superstitious, but wanting to give himself all the help he could.

  “Actually, yes...”

  “Oh.”

  His pause made her smile.

  “If you had given me another second, you’d have heard what my plans are for this weekend.”

  David felt slightly abashed.

  “Sorry. I just didn’t want to hear you say that.”

  “Well, if you’d let me finish, you’d know that I have plans to spend the whole weekend with you. I hope. That is, if you want to.”

  Her muddled explanation made David laugh.

  “Good. That’s what I wanted to hear. How be if I pick you up tomorrow right after work? Bring enough clothes and stay the weekend.”

  “Oooh, David! A whole weekend? Just the two of us?” Her exaggerated sigh might have been done in jest but it still told him how pleased she was with the idea.

  “Yeah, love, the whole weekend. Just the two of us.”

  He had to tell Blake and Jared that he wouldn’t be available after Friday afternoon for anything. Not until at least Monday morning.

  “We’ll go riding. We can laze around in front of the fireplace or we can go for walks. Anything you want to do, we’ll do. We won’t plan anything in particular, just let it happen.”

  “That sounds wonderful!”

  “Yeah, it does, doesn’t it?”

  They talked about nothing in particular for another half hour, then C.J. had to hang up. She still had the paper to finish putting to bed. Thursday was press day and nothing could be allowed to stop that.

  By tomorrow afternoon he’d have the ring; the plans could even be drawn up for her newspaper building. Everything would be ready. And because they weren’t youngsters, because she had been married before, he was sure that all the glitz and glamour of a big wedding could be avoided. He just wanted a justice of the peace in some small office, with Kaycee and Blake standing up for them.

  No fuss.

  No bother.

  On that Friday, two and a half weeks before Christmas, when David called for C.J., she was ready; her bag packed with the things she’d need for the weekend. She had gone out and bought herself a fancy, new, teal-colored, silk negligee, trimmed in ecru lace, because she wanted to make sure when they ended up in bed together, that he had to dig to get to the essential her. And to that, she wanted to look her best. How long she wore it would be up to David.

  As they landed back at the ranch, the snow started. It looked like it just might settle in and dump a good few inches. That was fine with them, they had no place to go and didn’t have to leave until Monday.

  C.J. had promised on Thursday to make supper Friday night. Her specialty was chicken, boasting a lot of garlic and hoisin sauce. Well, maybe not so much garlic for tonight, she thought. Although if they both ate it, they’d be starting off even.

  They had eaten dinner, washed the dishes and were sitting in front of the fire listening to soft, romantic music, when David finally brought up the subject. He had her cuddled against his side, her body enfolded in his arms. After clearing his throat twice, he finally got his voice to work.

  “C.J., darlin’, I know we haven’t known each other that long, but from the first you were special to me. I’m not much on making speeches, and God knows, nobody ever accused me of being a romantic, so I’m just going to straight out ask. Would you consider marrying me, being Mrs. David Taylor, C.J. Taylor? Please, love. Tell me it’s yes.”

  He was whispering by the time he finished, sure he’d made a mess of his proposal. But the smile on her face and in her eyes told him it was okay.

  “Yes, darling...”

  Before she could say anything else, David had turned her toward him and swallowed her in a huge hug. His mouth eventually found hers, and their kisses were lingering, speaking promises without words. She thought that he was right: he might not be very romantic, but he sure knew how to kiss.

  When he handed her the ring box, she cried. The engagement ring was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. A large emerald surrounded by diamonds shaped like a shepherd’s crook. The wedding band that went with it was the same shepherd’s crook from the opposite side. So when the rings were worn together, they formed a wide oval around the center stone.

  David told her about his flight to Cheyenne and assured her that if she didn’t like the rings, they could exchange them during the coming days. She looked at him, wondering why he would think she would want to exchange the rings he had chosen.

  “David, what are you talking about? Why on earth would I want to exchange this ring?” She held out her hand so he could see how it looked on her finger. “I think this is the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen, and the fact that you picked it out means more to me than you’ll ever know. So, why do you think I’d want to exchange it?”

  That was when she heard about the only other woman who’d been close to David in the past. Sonia Bronson, the woman he’d nearly married. He told her everything, including the woman’s reaction to the ring he had picked out for her.

  “I put hours into picking that ring. I knew what I wanted her to have, there was some symbolism behind the design, but when I gave it to her, she laughed. Said it didn’t suit her at all. Wasn’t nearly big enough for one thing; that it would be lost on her hand. She went to the jewelers the first day he was open after I gave her the ring and exchanged it. Then about two weeks later, she was gone, leaving the ring on the desk in my office, with a note, telling me that she’d had time to think about it and she didn’t want to marry me after all. So, I just wanted to make sure that you got the ring you wanted. I didn’t want you to accept something you didn’t like.”

  C.J. was flabbergasted. She decided the time had come to enlighten him on everything she had taken from Allan, including the heavy handedness in the way he physically treated her, his cheating and his theft of all her savings and inheritance.. By the time she finished, they knew more about each other than they had and they understood things that went very deep about each other.

  They didn’t care about the rest of the world. They talked about what was most important to them, what they wanted out of life and how they felt about each other. They knew more about each other just by talking than they had ever imagined they could learn. And the understanding between them grew with each word.

  By the time the evening drew to a close, her suitcase had been moved from the guest room, where he’d first put it, to the foot of his bed.

  C.J. was not shy, but neither was she forward. David held the bedroom door, while he wondered how to proceed. He’d decided to let her set the pace. He didn’t want to rush in and do something that would remind her of her ex-husband. So if he let her lead, he’d know what she liked.

  C.J. wondered how David would lead up to taking her to bed. It took her a few minutes to realize that he was going to let her show him what she wanted.

  She smiled to herself as she changed in the bathroom. Knowing David was a strong, leading type, this sudden about-face was a revelation. His deference to her was something new. In business, he seemed like a natural leader. With other men and women she’d met in his presence, he was a strong, outgoing type.

  But sudden
ly, alone here with her, he was backing off. Well, that was fine. Now that she had figured out what he was up to, she would lead him where she wanted him to take her.

  They would make this a night to remember.

  When she awoke some time later, it was to find David spooned to her back, his arm holding her tight against him and both of them snug under the blanket on the bed. The candles had long since guttered, leaving them in darkness. Reaching to turn on the light, she felt David turn over as she pulled away from him. Her gasp woke him.

  “My God, David, what happened?”

  She was running her fingers over the welts that bisected his back. Hiding beneath the black matt of hair, she had been unable to see them in the candle glow, but now, with the light on, she could see. Lines that told of pain, lines that told of much time spent healing.

  “You shouldn’t look at them, C.J. They aren’t very pretty. Turn out the light and come back here.”

  “No, I won’t. Not until you tell me what happened to you. This is not just some little scrape David, this was an injury that must have caused you incredible pain. Pain that I can feel in my own body, just looking at yours.” She wrapped her arms around her body as though she could stop his pain.

  “C.J. don’t. It’s not something you need to know about. If we keep the lights low...”

  He stopped talking because C.J. had climbed out of bed, gone around the foot of the bed to turn on the light on his bedside table, then she went to the wall switch and turned on the overhead light.

  “Okay, David. Now I want to see your back and I want to know what happened.” Her tone told him she meant exactly what she’d said.

  She had picked up the robe that matched the gown she had long ago discarded and was busy wrapping it around her as she spoke. Standing with one hip jutting, the robe slipped open to reveal one long leg, with a peak at the red curls he had found before.

  “C.J., you don’t want to hear about this. Women think it’s ugly. They don’t want...”

  “Don’t you dare tell me what I don’t want, David. I am not Sonia. I see those scars and I feel incredible pain. There is a story behind them, and I’m not coming back to bed until you tell me what it is.”

  With that, she turned to the chair beside the bathroom door and sat.

  “I’m waiting, David.”

  She crossed her arms, looking like a defiant warrior, standing up to the man issuing the commands.

  “Come on, David. I’ll stay here until you tell me.” A sudden look of comprehension crossed her face.

  “Just a minute. I think I know what the problem is. Sonia couldn’t stand to look at your back, could she David? That’s why you think every other woman who might see it would be sickened by it.” She got up and moved with purpose toward his side of the bed. She stood looking down at him for a moment, then, faster than he thought she could move, she had flipped him over on his stomach, climbed onto the bed and was sitting on his hips.

  “Okay, David. I want to tell you what I see. I see red, angry lines that make me think there was broken glass or metal; you’re lying in it. You crashed, didn’t you? A car, a motorcycle. Something. You crashed, and your injuries left you with these scars. Are there others I can’t see, David, other scars like these?”

  Her tears began to flow, falling on his back like healing rain. He sighed, certain she wouldn’t want to hear this, but more certain that she wouldn’t quit until he told her.

  “All right, C.J., I’ll tell you. But first will you lie beside me, where I can see your face?”

  He turned his head and waited. Finally, she moved, bringing her body down onto the bed beside him, enfolding him in her arms.

  “I don’t want to tell you this, but if you insist, I will. It’s not very pleasant. In fact, it will turn your stomach.”

  He waited, hoping she would tell him it was okay, he didn’t have to tell her anything, but she said nothing.

  “Nearly five years ago, I was a passenger in a helicopter that was ferrying a bunch of businessmen from a small airport in Utah to Denver, Colorado. There had been some bad weather and the planes were unable to take off on time. But because they could fly at lower altitudes, helicopters were still allowed to take off. Three of us chartered a helicopter because we were in a hurry. Shortly before we should have landed in Denver, the copter suddenly developed some kind of mechanical problem. I’d had my license to fly helicopters for a couple of years so I was sitting in the front seat beside the pilot, asking him questions, until things started to heat up. That’s probably what saved my life. We started to go down. He was trying to set down before he lost complete control, and he told everyone to assume the crash position; you know, head between your knees and hold on, all that. For some reason, I undid my seat belt, so I could bend over further, I guess. We all did what we were told, and when we hit the ground, The strut on my side hit first and the angle popped the cockpit Plexiglas right out of the frame and dumped me out, onto the ground, with the crumpled strut doing a number on me on the way down. The others weren’t so lucky. There was a fire and they were all unconscious, I guess, or couldn’t undo their belts. Whatever. None of them made it out. I pulled myself away from the crash site when I realized that the helicopter was burning, and when they first investigated the crash, they didn’t even know I was there. Thankfully, one of the crash scene techs had to take a pee and wandered off into the trees. He literally tripped over me. I don’t remember anything from then, until I came to in the hospital. I couldn’t even remember the crash. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to get into flying too many people around in the helicopter I bought until I was satisfied I’d overcome the results of that crash. I’m working up my nerve to take more than one passenger at a time. The accident had nothing to do with my flying, but I wasn’t too keen on flying again until just recently. Not until I realized that if I wanted to get to you in a hurry, that was the fastest way I could do it. So I renewed my license, and I’m slowly getting over the trauma of that crash. But these scars, C.J., will always be there. And no, there are no more; just the ones on my back.”

  She leaned forward and let her lips gently caress his. Inching her body closer, she moved her arms so that her hands were behind him, her fingers moving slowly over the faint ridges she could feel. Looking him in the eye, she took a deep breath.

  “David, do not ever equate me with that unfeeling bitch you were engaged to before. I am not her. I will never be her, and it wouldn’t matter to me if your entire body was covered in scars like these. It’s not your body I’m in love with, it’s you. Your mind, your personality, your...your inner self. I don’t care what the outside looks like. I can get along quite well with knowing that you have scars you will wear forever. Hell, David. Pardon my language, but you are making me so damned angry! You could be crippled, you could be in a wheelchair, you could be missing a limb, it would make no difference to me. It is the inner you I’m in love with. And don’t you ever forget that.”

  David crushed her to him, feeling thankful to have found this woman. She was everything he had ever wanted. She loved him for himself, not what he was or what he had.

  “How did I get so lucky to find you? Hmmm?”

  They held each other tight, unwilling to be separated, until they fell asleep. Sometime during their sleep, they turned, to lie on their sides, facing each other, and held within the circle of each other’s arms. That was where they found themselves when morning finally broke.

  “Man, oh, man, darlin’, I don’t know if I can get out of this bed. My legs feel like mush.”

  David gazed into her eyes, smiling and planting small kisses across her mouth, slightly swollen with sleep, and as tantalizing as anything he’d seen. It was a beautiful mouth. Just made for kissing.

  She opened one eye at him, scowling; she was annoyed that anyone could be that happy first thing in the morning. She guessed she’d better get used to it. If she was marrying this man, and she had said yes, then he’d be like that every day, forever and ever
.

  She groaned. “Are you always this happy this early in the morning?”

  “Nope. Just since I found you in my bed.”

  His silly grin told her he was lying. He never had trouble getting up in the morning. If she wasn’t a good morning person, well they would learn to compromise.

  “Want some coffee? Maybe that’ll wake you up faster. You go take a shower while I put the coffee on, then I’ll shower and we can find something for breakfast.”

  He gave her a gentle shove toward the edge of the bed then watched as her nude body walked away from him. Thoughts of devilish actions were running through his brain as he ran downstairs to start the coffee.

  By the time he was back upstairs, she had only just made it into the shower. Opening the sliding door to the shower stall, and thanking the gods for whoever had put in the double size shower, he climbed in behind her, sliding his arms around her wet body and hearing her squeak in surprise. He turned her to him, took the soap from the corner dish and began to soap her body, starting with her breasts, and getting no farther than her belly before his arousal made itself known. Circling her waist with his hands, he lifted her, impaling her, causing her to gasp. With just a few hard, fast thrusts, he took them both over, both of them falling to their knees in the shower.

  The water kept pounding down on them, keeping them slick, keeping them warm. And while the water beat down on their bodies, they responded once again to each other and once more David found himself lying over her, driving her to completion on the hard wet floor. When they came together again, the screaming of names was barely drowned out by the sound of the water. David helped C.J. sit up, holding her body to his, afraid to move. And, God, something about this woman must be awful special, because he felt himself starting to respond again. This time, he gently picked her up, keeping their bodies joined, and wrapped her in the bath sheet hanging by the door, as he made his way back to his bed. This was where he wanted to take her this last time, in the softness of the bed they would share after they were wed.