Dakota Love Me: Tiller Brothers Book 2

by Lee, Judith

  He carried her over to the bathroom door. “Let’s see what you are so excited about in here.” Someone, probably her dad since they’d called and told him they were a half hour from home, had lit the candles near her huge tub and there was a stand-alone tiled shower with clear glass doors big enough for both of them with duel showers heads and a tiled bench. “Now I think your benefits package should start in here before we move to the bedroom to see how content I can make you,” and he commenced to do just that.

  ***

  The midmorning sun woke the two lovers from a very contented sleep. Dakota opened his eyes and felt extremely satisfied to have his cowgirl wrapped around him. He looked over at the clock and groaned. She opened her eyes, “Good morning,” she said in a very relaxed still groggy voice.

  “I’m starting my first day on your ranch late to help your father out with his morning chores. At home I’m up and working by five thirty, six at the latest. It’s after ten.” Even though he was upset about getting up late, he couldn’t stop himself from greeting her with a kiss.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck to keep him close, “He won’t expect us to be up early. Dad knows neither of us got much sleep the last couple of nights. Course, he doesn’t know you were busy keeping me content for most of last night,” she giggled, “but really today he will want us to take it easy.”

  “As much as I want to take you again this morning,” he kissed her nose, “I’m getting up. My stomach is growling and even though your bed is damn comfortable I’m ready to get some exercise.”

  “My body feels like I got a lot of exercise. I’m not sure I can even walk,” she groaned.

  He got up and grabbed her under her arms and pulled her up. “Come on my spoiled cowgirl, let’s work out those kinks and get some grub. Do you have food in that beautiful kitchen I can cook for breakfast?”

  “I do. I used to cook all my meals here so dad and Sharon could have alone time, but I’m sure my dad will like us to share some meals with him now and then in the future. As you say, he’s probably been up for hours and has already had breakfast. You didn’t tell me you can cook. You are a man with many talents.”

  He swatted her on the butt. “I haven’t even showed them all to you yet, but I’m good at breakfast so go take a shower and I’ll get it started.” He slipped on only his jeans.

  “Oh…another hot shower, yummy, I will take you up on your nice offer.”

  Wrapped in her fluffy bathrobe, after her shower she walked into the kitchen. Dakota already had the coffee and orange juice ready and eggs were just finishing up. He was looking out the window. He turned and smiled at her, “Your dad is just outside, let’s see if he wants to join us for some coffee.”

  She smiled at him and walked to the door and called to her dad. He came in and joined them. He wasn’t hungry but took a cup of coffee.

  “Sir, I’m sorry we’re so late getting up. I was going to help you with the morning chores.”

  “Call me Justin. I’m glad you two slept in. We didn’t get any snow so I didn’t need to go feed the cattle and I’m just finishing up feeding and grooming the horses. Need to work on some broken machinery yet this morning. You mechanical?”

  “When you live on a ranch, you learn to do it all. If you can make the motor, tractor or any other equipment run even one more year it helps your profit margin. So yeah, I’d like to help you.” He looked at Georgia, “Honey, why don’t you rest a little longer.”

  “Nah, I’m up. I’m a pretty good mechanic, too, but I’ve been wanting to polish my saddles so I’ll work on that after I eat this delicious breakfast. Thanks Dakota.”

  He reached for her hand and drew her knuckles to his lips, “My pleasure.”

  Justin asked, “What do you think of this little cabin? I didn’t want Georgia to feel she wasn’t welcome on the ranch. Sharon made such a stink that I thought it would get her off my back if we fixed this place up for Georgia. Spent quite a bit of time and money on it for my little girl and then when it was done, Sharon laid into me for making it nicer than the main ranch house. Then I heard nothing but how she wanted to redo our whole ranch house.”

  “You did a good thing for your daughter and I’m impressed with the improvements you made. I wish I had known Georgia when you were working on it, I would have loved to help you build it and I’d be happy to help you remodel anything in the main house,” Dakota said.

  Justin tipped his coffee cup to Dakota, “Thanks I’ll take you up on that. And sounds like you’re going to be around for a long time, and I like that even better,” he winked at Georgia.

  “I love my little house,” Georgia bantered. “It was the best surprise and it gave me my independence. When I was home I still spent most of the days working with my dad and that used to piss Sharon off, too. Still can’t believe how dishonest she was and all her lies. And why did she have me followed? Dad, that’s just creepy and I admit I was a little scared.”

  “Me too, Georgia. The judge should have the restraining order in place by Monday.”

  Dakota watched Georgia clean up the breakfast dishes and it felt good…like he was in their home. He had always thought he would live the rest of his life on his family ranch with his family, but with all his brothers, sister and new brother-in-law, for the first time he was thinking there was a possibility he could live somewhere else and be happy. No not just somewhere else-with Georgia where ever she wanted to live. It was only a two hour drive to Gillette and he could always go help his family when they needed him. Yes, he could get used to this idea. As she walked by him to get dressed, he caressed her hand. They exchanged knowing glances.

  When she came back, Justin and Dakota were in a big discussion about the best time for calving season. Dakota liked to calf in February when it was still cold enough that the calves didn’t get diseases as easy. If they had bad weather, he and his brothers were always busy making sure none of the calves froze and giving the heifers more feed, but he felt the decrease in lost calves from disease was worth it. Justin said he had tried early fall and late spring calving and wasn’t stuck in the mud about when the best time was. “Depends on the health and weight of the heifers and available feed, and sometimes manpower,” Justin said.

  “Well while you two discuss the pros and cons of calving, I’m off to work on my saddles. As I get them cleaned and oiled, I’ll bring them out and lay them on the small corral fence, so I can clean up in the tack room while I’m there.” She leaned down and brushed her lips softly against Dakota’s mouth, “Might want to get the rest of the way dressed, Dakota, not that I mind looking at your abs and muscled chest but it’s a bit cold to be mechanicing,” and then she pecked her dad on the cheek giggled and sashayed out the door.

  “She’s pretty bossy isn’t she?” Dakota said with a big smile. He got up to go get dressed.

  “I’ll meet you at the big tractor out front.” Justin put his cowboy hat on and walked out the door.

  When Dakota joined Justin, they could see Georgia as she walked out with her first saddle. She waived at them. A bull in the next corral stomped his feet and hit the fence with his horns. Georgia jumped back and went back inside.

  “She hates those damn bulls. I brought this one in because the vets coming in later to check on his torn hind quarters. Hand me that wrench.” He loosened the bolts. “Come on into the garage, I’ve got the transmission almost put back together in there. Think I got it fixed, just needs a few bolts and then you can help me bring it out from the garage.

  When they came back out of the barn and sat the heavy transmission down Dakota noticed a truck speeding up the road. “Who’s that?”

  Justin looked up. “Don’t know whose truck that is.”

  Dakota felt his skin prickle and swung his head back toward the open barn door where Georgia was. He started walking swiftly toward the door and he noticed the gate from the next corral was open and he didn’t see the bull. “Justin, the bull!”

  They both took off running. Dakota got th
ere first and leaped over the fence and ran into the corral door where he froze. Georgia was standing paralyzed. She was gripping a saddle in front of her. She looked terrified. The bull was pawing the ground a few feet in front of her, blowing snot out of his nose and ready to charge.

  Fuck.

  Dakota yelled at the bull and he took off his cowboy hat and hit the bull in the rear. The bull spun around, his back hooves too close to Georgia for his comfort. Dakota backed up and started slapping his hat against his thigh. The angry bull charged Dakota who ran and leaped on the fence. Justin grabbed his rope and started swinging it against his leg and the bull charged after him into the other corral. Dakota jumped down and slammed the gate and saw that Justin had climbed the fence and was safe.

  Dakota ran into the tack room and Georgia was shaking, quiet with tears running down her face. In a near-catatonic state, she was still staring at where the bull had been. He grabbed the saddle and threw it to the ground and swept Georgia up into his body holding her as tight as he could. “Shhhh darlin’… I got you. I got you. The bull’s in his pen. Take a breath Georgia...it’s going to be okay. After a few moments she finally quit trembling.

  Her dad had come in and was rubbing her back. “You’re going to be okay baby girl.”

  “How did he get out?” she whispered in a shaken voice. Dakota picked her up and carried her to the cabin. He sat down in a chair and kept her in his lap.

  “Don’t know Georgia…unless it was someone in the truck,” he swung his head to see what Justin thought.

  “Son-of-a-bitch, it had to be Sharon or one of her thugs. You take care of Georgia and I’m going to call the sheriff.” He stroked her head before he turned to leave.

  “Justin, I’m going to get Georgia to lie down for a while. We’ll be up to the house later.”

  “Take as much time as you need. Rest Georgia…” He looked into Dakota’s eyes, nodded his head once in appreciation, “Thank you Dakota for saving my little girl.” Justin’s voice was unsteady.

  ***

  Later in the afternoon after he had gotten Georgia to take a nap by holding her while she slept, they went to the main house to check to see if there was any news from the Sheriff.

  Her father was sitting in his recliner with his leg elevated on a pillow and an ice bag on top of his ankle. “Dad, what happened to you?” Georgia ran over to him and grabbed his hand.

  “Didn’t realize until after the Sheriff came that that damn bull had gored my ankle… but it didn’t need any stitches. Luckily my boots took the brunt end of his horns, but my ankle is swollen. After the shock wore off, I started limping and looked at my boot and noticed that it had a big tear in.”

  Removing the ice pack and towel he had put between his ankle and the ice, Georgia groaned when she realized how swollen it was. “You’re going to have to stay off it for a few days.” She was worried about her dad. From her experience, he would just ignore his injury and carry on even with a bad ankle. He could be stubborn like that.

  “Well if it had to happen, now is as good as any time,” Justin said. “Not much going on around the ranch. Jeffery and Peter will be checking on the herd and making sure no fences are down.”

  “Dakota and I can make sure the horses are feed so don’t worry about anything. I’ll cook your meals. Heck, I can feed the horses by myself if Dakota wants to keep tinkering with that tractor.”

  Justin smiled at his daughter. “Always looking out for me, aren’t you? Like I said not much going on.”

  “What’d the Sheriff say?” Dakota asked as he sat down on the couch next to Georgia.

  “Well since we didn’t recognize the truck and didn’t see who was driving, and we can’t prove someone else opened the gate, there wasn’t much they could do.”

  That’s shit. Georgia knew her dad wouldn’t have left it unlocked and the only one who had a vendetta against the family was Sharon. She was worried for her dad, but she didn’t voice her opinion.

  Dakota’s phone buzzed. “Jared, you guys made it home okay?” After a few minutes listening to Jared talk, Dakota said, “Man, that sucks. No I think I can get there. Tell Matt to not even try driving out of Laramie if they got hit by snow, too. I have my chains and I can get there as soon as I can. Don’t let Jenny go out in the blizzard. She’ll want to try to help but no sense putting her in danger, too. In fact, don’t send any of those young ranch hands out alone, they’re still too green not to get in as much trouble as the frozen cows. I’ll call you when I leave.”

  Georgia had sat in silence. Oh God, can anything else go wrong. She knew what happened in deep snow blizzards, the cows and heifers could freeze or die without hay being brought into them. She asked him, “Is it bad?”

  Dakota ran his hands through his hair. “Yeah, I gotta go. They’ve already had over a foot of snow just this morning, and it’s still snowing. We could lose a lot of cattle. I don’t want to leave you but you need to stay and take care of your dad.”

  She was torn between going with the man she loved and helping the Tiller family or staying with her dad.

  “This fucking sucks,” Justin said. “Sorry, Georgia. I heard they were going to get snow, and we were expected to get it bad, but it went by us. I’d go help you if I thought I wouldn’t just get in your way. I could probably drive a truck…I just couldn’t get out and help.”

  “No Justin, you need to stay here and keep an eye on your ranch and especially Georgia. Cody said he’d try to be there by tomorrow but the airports are having all sorts of cancelations. I’ll go get packed up. I can probably get there by tonight unless they close down a road, but with chains I’ll probably just go around. Sounds like we might lose a lot of cattle with the heavy snow and freezing temperatures. Shit.” He put his arms around Georgia. “Come with me while I load the truck. I already have a first aid and weather emergency kit, but could use an extra sleeping bag in case I get stuck somewhere.”

  “I have one at the cabin and extra candles. I’m going to be worrying about you. You better call as soon as you get there.”

  At the cabin, he closed the door and pulled Georgia into his arms. “God, I’m going to miss you. After I thought I’d lost you forever and now when we are back together and I want to stay with you…this happens.” He put his head on her forehead. “I love you, honey. Stay safe and stay with your dad. Don’t go into town by yourself, until they find out what Sharon is up to. I don’t trust her not to try to hurt you or your father. Keep your dad’s shotgun loaded. Damn, I don’t want to leave you.” He kissed her as if he didn’t ever want to let her go. “Maybe I should take you to the bedroom and give you some contentment before I go.”

  She kissed him, “As much as I’d like to keep you here all afternoon, I’d rather you left right away so you aren’t driving in the dark and in the snow.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes, go before I change my mind and keep you here and never let you go and your damn cows all freeze.”

  “Harsh…I better go before you tie me to the bed,” he laughed. “I’ll call you wherever I have a signal.”

  It was five hours later when Georgia finally heard from Dakota. His voice had sounded weary and she knew he was exhausted. “Was it bad?” she asked.

  “Yeah, luckily I followed a snow plow, but I did have to put my chains on before I drove into the ranch. I’m going to get some coffee and then Jared and I are going to pull the hay sleds with our snowmobiles and I’ll see how bad it is. Jared had just gotten back an hour ago and he already saw a dozen cows frozen. He has to warm up before we go out again.”

  She wanted to tell him not to go out in the frozen darkness, but she knew if the situation was reversed, she and her dad would be doing the same thing. Her eyes closed as she visualized Dakota with his five o’clock shadow on his face and his tired eyes. She knew he was a strong man who could handle this crisis and she had faith in him. Still she wished she were there working beside him so that she wouldn’t worry.

  “I miss you already
. Be careful and don’t push yourself to the point of total exhaustion or you won’t be any good to anyone. When the snow ends, you’ll need your strength to get all the dead cattle buried. I heard the Governor is going to file a state emergency and you’ll get some financial help I’m sure. Dad said a few of the ranchers from around here are going to head out tomorrow to see if they can help. Wish I could come.”

  “No honey, you stay with your dad. Who knows how long this will take. Cody and Tammy won’t be able to get in until tomorrow, if the airlines don’t cancel their flight again. Can I call you when we get back to the ranch? It might be really late, but I need to hear your voice.”

  “You better. Love you Dakota. Call me.”

  Four hours later, she woke up to the ringing of her phone. “Dakota, you okay?”

  “A few frozen toes and fingers and…I’m still trying to thaw out. Got the fireplace going and I’m almost asleep under several quilts, wishing you were here.”

  “If I were there, what would you do?” she asked in a soft breathless voice as she placed her fingers over her lips and closed her eyes.

  “Well I’m afraid I would have my frozen hands and feet wrapped around your warm body, but I don’t think it would take more than a few minutes for us to heat up because I’d have to suck your breasts and put my fingers in your warm oven, and you’d already be dripping that cream I like so much. You’d be running your fingers through my hair and over my cheeks as I made your nipples so hard you will feel it all the way to your toes.”

  “Oh my God, your raspy, sexy voice is washing over my body and I’m feeling hot from just your words. Just thinking about what your tongue and mouth would be doing to me is about to make me come, Dakota.”

  “My thoughts exactly. Next I’d have to place my tongue against your pussy and flick my tongue back and forth and rub my thumb until you are on the verge of coming and then I’ll suck you until I feel you quivering. I’ll flip you over and jam my swollen cock into you” he paused and took a breath. “You coming yet, Georgia?”