Love and Protect

by Lori Ryan

  “You don’t have to be alone. It’s more than okay to just stay here and let Mama help you. I know you think that makes you weak, relying on other people, but it doesn’t. Being brave enough to stick around, to make connections and ties, to gamble on people again after all you’ve been through—and considering all the people who’ve let you down—that takes guts.”

  Laura didn’t say anything, but she hoped Cade was right, because she wanted to stay more than anything now. And, she wanted to believe that it would be all right for her to do that.

  Cade watched Laura process his words and realized how much he believed what he’d said. Laura was strong. He’d been thinking she was too much like Lacey, that she’d need him to prop her up too much. But, she didn’t. In fact, it was just the opposite with Laura. He had to fight to convince her to let him help, to let him support her and care for her.

  Cade felt Laura lean back into him further. Was she relaxing into the possibility of staying on the ranch? It felt as though she were letting herself believe, if only for just a minute, that she could stay. He hoped she was. As he held her close, he realized he had no desire to let her go any time soon. Holding her felt better than anything he’d felt in a long time…and, maybe ever. He held his breath, hoping she’d let him hold her for a while longer. Just a little while.

  Laura gasped as the first kitten arrived, covered in a dark sack of wet, gooey mess. “Wow, it sure isn’t pretty, is it?” she asked and laughed.

  Cade laughed with her. “Nope, not pretty at all, but I never get tired of it. We’ve had kittens born here, puppies, foals, even a donkey gave birth here once. And, back when we ran the ranch, we had cattle calving all the time. It never gets old. Even watching chicks hatch is amazing.”

  They watched as the mother cat licked the kitten clean. Within minutes, she looked a little more like a kitten and less like a blob.

  “How long before the next one?” Laura asked, turning her head slightly to look at Cade.

  Cade couldn’t keep his eyes off her mouth, so close to his. A few inches and he could touch his lips to hers, test to see if she’d really let him. See if her mouth was as soft as it looked. He wasn’t entirely sure he was breathing any longer. Or entirely sure if he cared. Who needed oxygen, anyway?

  “Could be minutes, could be hours. We won’t know how many she’ll have either. Probably two or three, but she could have more. It’s always a mystery with strays.”

  Laura turned back around.

  Damn.

  The kitten nursed hungrily, its eyes still closed, ears scrunched up like they were still closed off, as well. Cade watched Laura’s face and could see the wonder in her eyes. He knew how she felt.

  They watched as two more kittens appeared, to be cleaned by the mama cat and begin nursing.

  “It’s hard to tell with them still wet, but we have at least one orange kitten, one calico, and then either a black or gray kitten. It’s probably time for us to name the mama and we’ll have to find names for all of the kittens. At least temporary names until we adopt them out,” Cade said.

  “When will they go to new homes?” Laura asked, turning her head again, putting those eyes, that mouth into tempting territory again.

  Cade swallowed and fought the urge to press his lips to hers. “Six weeks or so.”

  Laura turned around again and Cade wanted to curse. He liked it better when she was twisted to face him, even though he had to fight not to pull her closer and crush her mouth with his.

  “Another baby,” Laura cried and Cade pulled his eyes from her to watch one more baby deliver. This one was larger than the others, but Cade saw no movement as the mother cat licked at the sack, tearing it open. He watched a minute longer, but saw no results from the mama cat’s efforts to stir her kitten.

  “Shoot,” Cade pushed Laura up and hauled himself to his feet, grabbing a towel from one of the shelves above them.

  “What’s wrong?” Laura asked as Cade lifted the limp kitten.

  “Hopefully just a little liquid in its airway. If I can clear it, it should be fine. If it’s anything more than that, there’s not much I can do.”

  Cade held the kitten between his large hands and turned it gently but firmly upside down. Then he rubbed its sides with the towel, watching for any sign of breathing. He’d done this before, sometimes with good results, and other times with no results at all. But, he’d never held his breath quite as tensely, hoping for the best result.

  He didn’t want Laura to have to watch this kitten die. He’d dealt with it often enough, but the idea of her seeing that didn’t feel right. Especially not while she carried her own baby. He rubbed gently but firmly and watched for any sign of life.

  “There. She’s breathing,” Cade said, grinning at Laura, who stood by his side closely watching every move he made.

  “It’s a girl?” she asked.

  This got a big laugh from Cade. “Actually, I have no idea. If you’re really good, you can make a pretty good guess with a newborn kitten, but it’s really just a guess. We’ll be able to tell in about four weeks.”

  “So, we need completely gender-neutral names?” Laura asked as he placed the last kitten at its mother’s teat to nurse, and then sat back down to allow Laura to slide down next to him.

  They leaned back against the wall of the tack room and watched the kittens nurse.

  “I guess we do. Spot?”

  Laura laughed. “For which one? None of them are really spotted. Besides, that sounds like a boy’s name.”

  Cade pointed to the orange kitten. “O.”

  Laura pointed to the black kitten. “B?” Cade laughed and nodded before pointing to the kitten that now looked grayer as its fur dried. “G,” he said.

  Laura finished, pointing to the calico kitten. “Cal. We can call it Cal if it turns out to be a boy and Callie if she turns out to be a girl.”

  Cade smiled and nodded to the mother. “What about the mother cat? Can’t keep calling her Mama Cat all her life.”

  “Hope,” Laura said, looking at the cat that licked her kittens as they nursed. “Her name is Hope.”

  Cade watched Laura as she turned toward him and couldn’t resist any longer. She looked…peaceful. Like she’d finally given in to the idea that it was safe to want more in her life.

  He lowered his head to hers, pausing just the slightest bit to let her stop him if she wanted to. He didn’t know how he’d stop this now, but if she wanted him to, he’d find a way. He held his mouth a scant half inch from hers, letting the tension stretch between them, before finally closing the distance completely and touching his mouth to hers.

  Cade brushed her lips with his, the barest touch. Just a whisper of a kiss, but that whisper sent arousal screaming through his body. His hand threaded through Laura’s hair and pulled her closer as he deepened the kiss. For one second, his heart froze while he waited to see if she would pull away or kiss him back.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Laura thought for a split second she might be dreaming. That maybe, because she’d imagined Cade kissing her, pulling her into him like this so many times…her mind had finally snapped and tricked her into believing it was happening.

  But the feel of his mouth, so soft, but strong at the same time couldn’t be denied. He was strong in a way Patrick had never been. It was a strength that would hold her and protect her, but she knew this man would never harm her.

  Laura melted into Cade’s arms, and when he pulled back and let his mouth glide slowly back and forth on hers, shivers raced through her. Her lips tingled from the slight touch and her whole body felt as if it might burst. If this was a dream, it wasn’t one she ever wanted to wake up from. Laura felt her whole body respond to Cade, coming to life under the heated pressure of his now demanding kiss. A kiss that stole the breath from her body and made her believe in possibilities.

  Meeeeaaaaaaaoooowww! came a somewhat twisted yowl from the mother cat, breaking the moment and bringing breathless laughter from both Cade and La
ura.

  “What was that?” Laura asked, turning to Hope. “Are you kicking us out, Hope?”

  Meeeaaawww, came a shorter, more satisfied meow, as if Laura had guessed correctly.

  Cade pulled Laura up beside him. “I should get you home. It’s late,” he said, taking her hand in his as they walked out of the tack room. Red followed on their heels and hopped into the truck and Cade drove them to the main house.

  All Laura could think about on the drive was that she didn’t want the night to end. She didn’t want to lose this feeling ever again. She wanted to fly high on the utter happiness she was floating on right now. She didn’t want to wake up to uncertainty and doubt the next morning.

  When Cade kissed her goodnight on the porch, she let herself sink into the thrill that rushed through her at his touch, at the feel of his hands on her arms.

  But, it wasn’t enough.

  It was over all too soon and she was alone, walking up the stairs to her room.

  *

  “This isn’t getting us anywhere,” Paul said, kicking at a bottle in the parking lot by the tire of their rented sedan.

  “We’ve only checked two of the towns. There’s still Evadale and Evers. Besides, Alec Hall is paying for this wild-goose chase, so what do you care?” Mark asked.

  Paul glanced away, and Mark knew right off the bat his partner was hiding something. Paul had never really mastered the art of a poker face.

  “What the hell, Paul? What didn’t you tell me?” Mark asked.

  “When I talked to Hall, he said he wanted us to chase down every lead, but he also said he expected results from this or we’re done.”

  “Damn, Paul. So you all but guaranteed we’d get results down here? Even if we find the doctor, we have no way of knowing if Laura’s with him. He could really be on vacation for all we know. What the hell were you thinking?”

  “I was thinking I didn’t really have a choice. What was I supposed to tell him? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but people who tell Alec Hall ‘no’ don’t always walk away in one piece. At least this way, if we have to deliver bad news, we’re a few states away. We can run before he gets someone down here to deal with us,” Paul said, kicking the bottle again. This time it hit the concrete wall of the gas station and sent green glass flying.

  Mark paced for a few minutes, trying to figure out which town to head to next, and how much time Alec would give them before he sent someone looking for them—or looking to replace them. And the kind of replacement Hall would have in mind wouldn’t simply be a pink slip. The man usually dealt in the kind of replacement that meant an unmarked grave off the side of a highway in some desolate part of the country. Why the hell had they gotten involved with a man like Hall?

  “Call your contact at the police department back home. See if they’ve heard anything on Laura’s whereabouts. Maybe we’ll catch a break,” Mark said and then waited while Paul made the call.

  Paul gestured for the map after talking for a few minutes. “Where was that?” he asked into the phone while Mark laid the map out on the hood of the car for him. Paul scanned the map and grinned pointing at Evers. “Thanks. I owe you one, man.”

  He hung up and turned to Mark. “A sheriff reported speaking to Laura Kensington. Said he had no grounds to bring her in. She was unharmed, didn’t seem to be a danger to herself or anyone else and didn’t want to go home. He said she was on her way out of town. Thing is, his jurisdiction just happens to have Evers, Texas smack in the middle of it.”

  “Let’s get over there and get this done. I’m ready to be finished with Alec Hall,” Mark said, jogging around to the driver’s side door.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “Do you think I can learn to ride a horse?”

  Laura and Cade were leaning on the rails of one of the pastures, watching some of the newly retired horses graze in the morning sun.

  Cade wrapped an arm around Laura’s waist. “I think you can learn to do anything you want. Although, we may need to wait until after you have the baby for the horses. I guess we can ask Doc what he thinks.”

  Laura smiled and patted her still fairly flat belly. There was the slightest rounding under her hand. “I know. I can wait. I just mean someday.”

  “I like hearing you talk about someday here at the ranch. It’s much better than that talk about running and leaving all the time,” Cade said and he pressed his mouth to Laura’s neck, bringing a sigh from her as she leaned into him.

  When he pulled back, though, he found Laura frowning.

  “What’s that look for?”

  Laura twisted her mouth up in the pouty little way she sometimes did when she didn’t want to tell him something. Cade put his hands on her waist and lifted her onto a flat section of the top rail of the paddock.

  “What’s up? Why the look?”

  “Can I ask you something?” Laura asked.

  “Anything.”

  “Why would you want to get involved with me? I mean, I’m having another man’s baby. Doesn’t that seem like a bad time for you to want to start something?”

  Cade frowned at her. “I guess I don’t think of it the same way you do. The baby is just part of you. You’re a package deal. It’s no different than me getting involved with you if you were a single mom,” he said. “It seems to me, we need to be careful about the baby’s feelings until we’re sure where this is going, but we have several months for us to figure that out before the baby is in the picture. But, as for me wanting the baby if you and I decide we want a life together? That’s not even an issue. It’s your baby, Laura. Of course, I would want to raise it with you, to love it as my own.”

  Laura didn’t answer, but it was clear the gears of her brain hadn’t stopped grinding. She was chewing on something.

  “You gonna tell me what else you’re thinking about?” Cade asked, his hands rubbing up and down her thighs.

  “What if the baby is like him? What if it’s a boy and…” She swallowed and couldn’t seem to finish her thought, but Cade knew where she was headed. He shook his head before looking her dead in the eye.

  “This baby has you in him as much as he has his father’s genes. And, he or she will be raised by you, loved and taught by you. That’s what will matter.”

  Laura didn’t respond but her features softened, like she might believe a bit of what he was saying.

  Cade gave up trying to get her to talk. She’d talk more when she was ready. He pulled her down off the rail and into his arms, lowering his head to capture her lips. So soft, always so ready for him, melding to his mouth…as if her lips were the perfect match to his. Yup. He could definitely wait for her to be ready to talk.

  Cade pulled Laura down in the grass, settling her so she straddled his lap. He wrapped his arms around her, loving the smile that stretched across her face as much as he loved the way her body fit to his, molded to him.

  “Let’s just focus on being together now. Let’s forget about the past, stop worrying about the future, and just be here together. Now.”

  Laura smiled and leaned down, gently kissing his mouth, tracing the seam of his lips with her tongue. He’d first pulled her onto his lap like this the other day, thinking she might need to be in control when they kissed, after what she’d been through with Patrick. He doubted Patrick had ever allowed Laura to take such a position with him. As it turned out, Laura did like the position. And, so did Cade. She was sexy as hell straddling him and taking what she wanted from him.

  Her sighs went straight to his groin as he moved his mouth to her neck and kissed her throat, nipping gently at the soft skin. He traced her jaw line with his teeth and let his thumbs brush the soft nipples of her breasts. She rocked against him in response and his cock swelled. Everything in him was screaming to plunge into her body fast and hard, with all he had.

  But, he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t take what he wanted. They were taking things slowly, making sure she was ready for this after all she’d been through, but it took every damn bit of
control he had. He gritted his teeth as her hands wandered his body, setting him on fire with every touch.

  The woman turned him on in ways he had never imagined any woman could. His erection pressed against his jeans, and he wanted nothing more than to delve into her core over and over until they both found the release they needed, but he’d be damned if he’d rush her. He never wanted to make a misstep and see fear in her face or feel her tense in his arms. So, he shoved aside his urge to possess her and let her set the pace, let her take the lead.

  And, damned if she wasn’t erotic as hell while she did it.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Cade came up beside Laura as she put Red’s food dish down for breakfast and slipped his hand into hers. Laura loved the feel of his fingers threaded through hers. It was a feeling worth keeping, worth fighting for, and she smiled up at him.

  “Let’s go on a date tonight. We can go somewhere nice for dinner. Maybe drive over to the city?” he suggested.

  Laura shook her head, making his face fall.

  “No? You don’t want to go on a date?”

  “I don’t want to go to a fancy restaurant. I want to get pizza and go to the movies,” Laura said with a smile.

  “Ah. Let me guess? Going to a movie was considered beneath you? Patrick never took you to the movies?”

  “Nope. No pizza, no movies. Only five star for us. I used to go to the movies sometimes during the day, but we never went as a couple. I miss just being normal, you know. I want normal,” Laura smiled up at him, rising up on her tiptoes.

  Cade dropped a kiss on Laura’s lips, then pulled back to look at her again. “Then normal’s what you’ll get. I’ll see what’s playing. What are you doing the rest of the day?”

  “Your mom and I are making pies for the Strawberry Festival. She said it’s a pretty big deal around here.”