Sexual Healing [Contemporary Cowboys 1] (Siren Publishing LoveEdge)

by Natalie Acres

  Brianna wrapped her arms around his neck and lowered her mouth to his, enjoying the arrangement of bodies, the friction, the closeness of two people joined together as one. Jax took her mouth and her pussy, thrusting between both sets of lips with a slow rhythm, good and easy loving. Their passion, those short and long strokes, and everything else about their tender lovemaking left her in ruins.

  She would love this man until the end of time. This man would be there for her day or night, in sickness and in health.

  She had no questions whatsoever. Jax Jackson belonged to her. Jax Jackson was her man, her lover. And while he had her body, was taking and claiming her, it was her heart he wanted most.

  Jax loved her. She would spend her life making sure she was deserving of his love.

  Chapter Twelve

  “He’s fucking her,” Tyler said, standing at the bay window overlooking Circle J Farms. “I can feel it.”

  “The only thing you feel is that hard-on you’ve had for Brianna since you were a senior in high school.”

  “Don’t be sick, man. She was just a pretty young thing then.”

  “A pretty young thing you happened to want to fuck,” Flint pointed out. “Don’t feel bad. I did, too. We all better thank God she never got a hold of me back then. Lord knows with my cocksure attitude, love-’em-and-leave-’em business cards, and don’t-call-them-because-they’ll-definitely-call-you kind of attitude, we probably wouldn’t get a second chance now.”

  “I forgot about those little calling cards you passed around,” Tyler said, remembering how he and Jax had told him the only way to make an impression on a gal was to hand off a business card after a tryst. They had gone on to forget about it. Then one rainy afternoon, their mother approached them and wanted to know what kind of older brothers would set up his younger brother to fail in life.

  Being a forthright fellow, Jax had said, “Momma, excuse me for saying so but we didn’t set him up to fail. Thanks to those cards, Flint is getting laid from here to Morristown.”

  They were grounded soon after that. Hell, they’d probably still be grounded to this very day if the damn meth heads hadn’t killed their parents.

  Tyler’s eyes watered at the memory.

  “What’s wrong now, big brother?” Flint asked. “Tell me you aren’t crying over lost time in the sack.”

  “It’s not that,” Tyler said, using his shoulder to wipe away fallen tears.

  “Mom and Dad?”

  “It’s like yesterday. One minute they’re here and the next they’re gone.”

  “Five years pass in the blink of an eye,” Flint said philosophically. “I’ve thought a lot about them lately, too. We know they liked Brianna and—”

  “They hated her father. They may have liked the girls, but they died thinking Alberto Baldini would eventually bring the very trouble he represented straight to this town.”

  “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t say it because there was never any evidence about that.”

  “No, there was not,” Tyler said, thinking back to the accident. “It was an accident. Dad had no idea what was going on in that lower barn. He hadn’t used it in years. Baldini was too smart. His boys and those who dealt with him didn’t go to abandoned properties and start cooking meth in a stranger’s barn.”

  The landline rang and Tyler grabbed it. “Tyler Jackson here. Hello?”

  “It’s Andrew. Man, I’m sorry. They walked.”

  “What do you mean, they walked?” God, he was furious!

  “We didn’t have enough evidence to hold Handsome Reynolds. He and his buddies walked out of here right after they got here. Several guys from New York picked them up.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Tyler slammed the phone down before Andrew said anything else.

  “They walked.”

  “Fuck yeah,” Tyler said, remembering the very day, the first and last hour anyone was held in conjunction with the meth lab discovered on their farm all those years ago. They’d found two fellows who had even said they ‘might have cooked there in the past but they couldn’t remember’ and due to the lack of evidence, they were never tried and never convicted. They left the Erwin area before Jax could even make it to the jail to question them himself.

  Flint picked up the phone. “I’ll let Jax know.”

  “Tell him they have more boys in town. We may be expecting trouble later tonight.”

  * * * *

  Jax slid his phone back in his pocket and stared at Kane Cartwell. He quickly debated how he wanted to play this. Fearing Cartwell wouldn’t let him leave with Brianna if he knew the mob was still out there looking for her, he said, “It smells like rain.”

  “That nose of yours needs an adjustment,” Cartwell said, rocking back and forth in the large wicker chair. “After that call, I smell trouble.”

  “You heard.” Jax cursed under his breath. “Now listen, Cartwell, I know what you’re thinking—”

  “You have no idea what I’m thinking, boy, but that’s a good thing because where I come from, we don’t take kindly to being pushed around. My girls have had stalkers and even a crazy woman who went to extraordinary lengths to kill my daughters. Ansley’s husbands had some complicated problems with the mob, too.”

  “How’d you handle them? The problems, that is.”

  His eyes turned nearly black and the shadows under them were a match. It was then when Jax saw the older cowboy for what he was—dangerous—and for what he wasn’t—afraid.

  “I have friends in low and high places.” He slowly rose and looked out over the lawn. “Any idea how long those fellas have been released?”

  “No, Sir.”

  Kane paced the porch stretched across the front of the house. “Where I come from, we handle our own problems.” He stared at Jax as if he were seeing straight through him. “In small towns like this one and over in Fletcher, too, we can get by with handling our own problems because issues such as these are too dangerous for the locals anyway.

  “Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll call my sons-in-law and ask them to get busy and find out what they can about this Handsome fella and where he comes from. I’ll talk to Alberto again if he calls and see if he’ll shoot straight with me, but he probably won’t. I’ll have one of my girls pick up Nory. She’s on spring break this week and doesn’t need to be here.

  “Once my family starts researching a bit and a few friends arrive, we’ll cover this place and yours, too, if you’ll let us.”

  “We can take care of Brianna. No one can breach our security system.”

  “You might be surprised, boy,” Cartwell said, clearly upset because Jax didn’t respond as he apparently had hoped. “When a man offers you a hand, don’t be too proud to take it. Take it from someone who has been that kind of man. Do I think you’re willing to protect Brianna with your very life? Absolutely.” He stopped walking and his gaze bore into Jax’s as if he were willing him to see things his way. “This is the real deal, young man. I know more about Alberto’s business than I want to know. My cousin Ann ended up face down in the swimming pool over one of Alberto’s debts. The housekeeper died because a point was being made. Whoever Alberto has cheated decided to let him know when they wanted to collect, they could come for full payment anytime.”

  “How much does he owe?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Kane said. “The point is we need to teach a few lessons ourselves. And we can start by letting Alberto Baldini’s friends in New York know that this ain’t New York and it ain’t Chicago. By the time we’re done with them, they’ll swear they went head to head with the Dixie Mafia.” He smirked. “Or the Hillbilly Mob since we’re here in the sticks.”

  Jax thinned his lips and thought of how he might have to take up arms and defend what was his—his woman, his home and brothers. “Mr. Cartwell, I have a favor to ask. Do you have e-mail by chance?”

  “What kind of question is that?” He muttered to himself and paced again. “Do I have e-mail?”

  “W
ell, do ya?”

  “Peyton does,” he snapped.

  “I’d like to send you something to look over. It’s about my parents. You said you have connections. When this is all over, do you think you could find out who was really behind their deaths?”

  Brianna joined them on the porch. “I’m ready when you are.”

  Kane smiled at Brianna and then shook Jax’s hand. “I’ll see what I can do. E-mail what you have to Peyton Cartwell at Clink dot com. It’s all lowercase.” He then focused on Brianna. “Little woman, this is no time to run. Jax can explain everything to you, but if you get mad at these fellas, if you need a place to go in the middle of the night, you call me and I’ll come right on out and get you.”

  “You know where they live?”

  Kane smiled. “I made it my business to know where you and your sisters might go in the event of an emergency.”

  “Don’t expect that call,” Jax said, a little irritated. Brianna would be happy at Circle J Farms because he and his brothers planned to make every last one of her dreams come true.

  “Fill her in. Knowledge is power. Don’t keep anything from her just because she’s a woman.”

  “I won’t,” he promised, bracketing his arm around her waist.

  Kane looked out over the lawn. “All right. I’ll call in reinforcements. Keep your chin up, watch for tails. Get on home and stay inside for the night. When my boys arrive, I’ll let you know who will be heading out to help you.”

  “Seriously, we can handle things from our end,” Jax said.

  Kane clucked. “Not with Brianna there you can’t. You’ll be the first place Alberto’s enemies will stop when they start paying visits. They’ll come in strong and hard with everything they’ve got. Somehow I don’t think you and your brothers are quite ready for that.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Minutes later, they arrived at Circle J Farms. Tyler and Flint rushed out to meet them and in a matter of seconds, Brianna was living every woman’s dream.

  Tyler carried her upstairs while Flint grabbed her bags and Jax made a few calls. After she was settled, Tyler said, “Let me know if there’s anything you need. We’ll be back to check on you in half an hour.” Before he left he gave her a saucy kiss. “I’m glad you’re here, Brianna.”

  She released a short breath as soon as he was gone. She was still excited, but she was a bit nervous, too. Walking around a gorgeous bedroom, Brianna couldn’t help but wonder. Was this suite once their parents’ room? Did they have a lot of female guests? If so, why would they go to this much trouble to accommodate a casual overnight stay?

  Dragging her fingers across the marble top dressing table, she admired the gold leaf mirror and cushioned bench in front of it. A four-poster bed in the center of the room looked much larger than any king-size bed she’d ever seen. Had it been special ordered and if so, were they putting her in a bedroom where they’d shared other women before?

  She shuddered as she thought of such an event, kicking off her shoes and tiptoeing to the walk-in closet. The pale pink carpet wrapped around her toes as she walked. Scouring the floor, something occurred to her then. If they kept their overnight guests here, they didn’t have a lot of traffic here. The floor covering looked brand new. In fact, everything looked and smelled new, right down to the paint and wallpaper.

  Grabbing her bags, she hauled them to the closet. She opened the French doors and immediately stood back, gaping at what looked like a few hundred feet of incredible closet space.

  “Do you like it?”

  She jumped at the sound of Flint’s voice. “Flint, I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “I knocked.” His burning gaze swept over her form. “You look good, Brianna.”

  She thumbed through the clothes, suddenly a little self-conscious about what she was wearing. Dressed in faded jeans and a red, button-down shirt, she looked like the girl they’d pulled straight from the farm. And this closet was full of designer jeans, exquisite dresses, short skirts, and more shoes than she’d ever seen.

  Reaching the end of the first row, she took a right in the L-shaped area, noting the double bench in the center of the closet and another dozen or so racks packed with clothes.

  “Coco said you wore a size six and since we didn’t know what to buy you, we had several stores in Johnson City and Kingsport bring over some of their latest fashions.”

  “Why would you do this?” This act of kindness went way beyond generosity and any kind of love she’d ever known.

  Flint grabbed her wrist and turned her to face him. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? We want you to stay. We want to spoil and pamper you, Brianna. We want to make you feel safe.”

  She swallowed then and tears came to her eyes, tears she prayed wouldn’t fall. “I don’t deserve all this. Don’t you see?” She shook her head. “I—”

  Before she could say anything else, he took her in his arms and claimed her lips. His tongue swept into her mouth with a soft approach, brushing over her own with light passes, gentle caresses. When he pulled back, he whispered, “We have the money to give you everything your heart will ever desire, but stay for the men, Brianna. Stay because as you said six months ago, you ‘want to love us and no one can love us any better,’ because we believe that. We believed you then and we hope things haven’t changed now.”

  “They haven’t,” she whispered, glad she’d showered at home because the way Flint was looking at her then made her want to jump-start a cowboy right there in the middle of the fancy walk-in closet. She pecked his lips and pulled away. She glanced around again and couldn’t help but laugh. “You realize this is a little over the top, right?”

  He looked bewildered. “We thought every woman dreamt of having a closet that looked like a high-end boutique.” He tilted his head at some of the built-in cabinets. “I designed those myself. Come here and look.”

  Flint proudly showed her all the different drawers and closets. A few of them had secret walls, places where she might want to store something of value. “I could fit back there.”

  “Don’t try it,” Flint said. “I didn’t think about that when I built it and you could slide back there without a problem but getting out might present one.”

  “I guess I won’t be playing hide and seek anytime soon.”

  “I’ll always find you,” he promised, dragging her back to him. “So what do you think?”

  “In the words of Annie, ‘I think I’m going to like it here,’ but I also think you guys went above and beyond what is practical.”

  “We don’t want to be practical,” Flint said. “You are an exceptional woman who deserves sensible men who only want to give you an extravagant life.”

  “And you think that’s sensible?” She laughed, wondering if she should go ahead and pinch herself.

  “We work all the time, Brianna. If we don’t spoil you, one of these days, we’re going to have all this stuff and no one to leave it to.”

  “Do you want children, Flint?” She immediately jerked, wondering why she’d ask such a question. She certainly hadn’t thought of offspring. “Don’t answer that. I had no right to ask that right now.”

  “You had every right,” he said, dragging her back to him and holding her face with his palms. “I want children. Jax and Tyler want children. We want a houseful of kids and you. It’s all we’ve ever really wanted.”

  His blue-hot gaze, relaxed, thick jaw, nice tan, and shag-style cut made him look like he belonged in a lifeguard chair on a beach somewhere, but she could see the cowboy in him, too. She turned his hand over and studied the fine lines in his palm and noted the calluses on his fingers. “You work so hard. You should be able to enjoy life, too.”

  “We work the farm because it’s what we do. It’s what we enjoy. It’s who we are, Brianna. So many people go through life saying this is what I do but not who I am. They don’t want others to see them as a janitor or a secretary or whatever their career suggests they are, but I am a cowboy. I want people to know tha
t when they see me coming. I also want them to know something else.” He lowered his voice and whispered, “I want them to know the woman who has my heart is the only woman for me.”

  * * * *

  “Thanks, Kane. Yes, we’re in for the night. We’ll be up bright and early and watch for the McKays then.” Jax had just started to hang up when something occurred to him. “By the way, how will we know who they are?”

  “You’ll know,” Kane said. “Brianna has met Vicky in the past.”

  “Who is Vicky?”

  “Vicky belongs to the McKays.”

  “I see.” Jax was beginning to think that Kane Cartwell only kept friends who shared their women. Even the man’s daughters apparently had multiple relationships. Perhaps he and his brothers hadn’t been so unusual after all. Then again, times were changing, too. In the south, so many women had wasted away to nothing thanks to the drugs in the rural communities. It was rare to find a good woman and with men working harder than ever before to keep good family businesses afloat, one woman would likely feel neglected. Three or more men could keep a woman happy and there were fewer demands on one man.

  Dragging himself away from his thoughts, he said, “Kane, I just sent the information I told you about to Peyton’s e-mail.”

  “All right. We’ll take a look at it and see if there’s anything we can do to help.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Don’t mention it. See you tomorrow.”

  “Yes, Sir. See you then.” He hung up the phone and faced Tyler. “I know. I should’ve waited.”

  “You fucked her.”

  “Damn right I did.”

  “Fuck, man!” Tyler looked deflated. “What happened to waiting for one and all?”

  Jax smirked, remembering when he’d told his brothers that cockamamie bullshit. “I was out of town a lot back then. I was afraid you and Flint might get some kind of big ideas of bringing her here and having your way with her before I had the opportunity.”