by Ashlee Price
Marcel had never had to give a man CPR before, but he tried to imitate the scenes in movies that made it look so easy. It didn’t help that his hands were shaking and he was terrified that something was going to happen to him. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself, insisting that they went early and with two less people than usual.
“Come on, Scott. You stubborn ass, breathe!”
Smacking his chest with the last words, he had given up on the technique and Scott started to cough up water. He had blood coming from a wound in his head and he winced when he moved, but Marcel had never been so happy to see him smile. “You okay?”
He shook his head that he wasn’t.
“Well you are here. Welcome back.”
“Did the calf make it?”
Marcel shook his head. “Who cares about that calf, Scott? I thought I had lost you.”
***
“I just wanted to see you. I heard what happened from Gemma and I had to make sure you were okay.”
Scott had been thinking about her and as she came closer to where he was laying, his eyes drank in the sight of her. Her teeth nibbled on the bottom of his lip, telling him that she was nervous.
“I’m better now that you are here.”
Lisa smiled at him, already feeling relaxed. She had missed him and when she heard that something had almost happened to him on the cattle drive and they had to come back early, Lisa couldn’t stop herself from going down there to make sure that he was actually okay. She had to see it with her own eyes. She leaned in to give him a hug before she could stop herself.
He winced and hissed out of his teeth and she pulled back. “Sorry, are you okay?”
Scott nodded that he was, even though she had elbowed him in one of his broken ribs. It didn’t matter though. She was there and it was all that mattered. Lisa had been all he could think about for so long and the smell of her shampoo reminded him of so many good times. His body reacted to seeing her as if he hadn’t seen her in years. Scott had missed her terribly and the last thing he wanted was for her to leave.
“It will be fine, Lisa. Just a few bruises.”
“Gemma said that you broke a bunch of ribs and had a concussion.”
“You know how Gemma is.”
“What happened?”
He gave her the short version and her eyes widened when he got to the end. It made her think of the what-ifs and losing him would have been something that she simply couldn’t have gotten over. “I miss you, Scott.”
It was all she could say. Her voice was quiet and it was hard for her to look him in the eyes. She was sitting down next to him on the bed and looking down at the pattern on the comfort. “I’ve missed you more than I ever thought it was possible to miss someone, Lisa.”
Scott touched her hand and pulled it into his, resting it on his bruised chest. Her blue eyes finally met his dark ones and there was a familiarity that she never wanted with someone else. She could read his soul and that was far more important than any piece of paper. If all she got was him, it was going to be enough and Scott getting hurt made her realize that.
“I don’t want to marry and have kids, Scott. If I can’t do those things with you, then they just aren’t for me. Not all women have kids and I already have two nieces. I don’t care about getting married. I just want you. Can’t we go back to the way things were?” Her eyes held the desperation she felt. Lisa just wanted them back and that was it. It was all her fault for getting greedy and wanting more.
“No.”
Her heart sank and she pulled her hand away. “Why not? Because of David?”
“David? That was who it was? The guy from the feed store?”
She started to get up. “Yes.”
“Are you with him now?”
Lisa shook her head. “How can I be with anyone when I love you? There is no one else for me. I was with David to feel something and then it wasn’t there. It wasn’t worth my time. I don’t want anyone else but you and when you just pushed me aside it hurt.”
“I know. I don’t blame you for that, Lisa. Just know that.”
“Then why can’t we go back to the way it was? You know that we were good together.”
“Because you want more.’
“I want you, Scott.” Lisa could hear the need going back in her voice. The same feeling of her throat closing up and her world caving in as before when he had told her that it was over.
“I should have asked you to marry me a long time ago. You are who I want and I am sorry that I was so pig-headed about it. I thought that marriage would be like being put out to pasture and I wasn’t ready for that. But I love you, Lisa, and there is nothing more that I want to do than get married to you.”
She looked at his face to make sure that he was being truthful. It was what she had always wanted to hear and Lisa was afraid that her mind had made it up for that very reason. “I love you too, Scott.”
“So will you marry me?”
There was no ring or grand gesture on his knees, but it was perfect. It was all she had every wanted and he could have stuck a candy ring on her and it would have been enough. “Of course I will, Scott. But I don’t want you to feel forced. We can just keep on as we are. I am perfectly fine with it.”
“I know, but I’m not. I don’t ever want to lose you again.”
Lisa rushed down to give him another kiss, ignoring the wince of pain. He was just going to have to deal with it because she was too happy to not give him a kiss.
“You aren’t on any pain meds or anything, are you, Scott? Cause I am holding you to this.”
“You better.”
Chapter 11
“Why are you taking so long Scott? I have been waiting forever. I know you are crippled now.”
“I am not crippled. I got cleared by the doctor today.”
“Oh really? What did he clear you for?”
Scott moved towards her and kissed her lips. They were supposed to be going to a dinner at the ranch, but he wanted to stay around and see what happened there first. It had been weeks since he was able to touch her, over a month since they first split up and Scott was sick of waiting. Lisa had taken care of his needs many times and he had returned the favor as good as he could, but it just wasn’t enough. What he really needed was to feel her underneath him and around him. Scott needed both embraces to be complete and as his tongue moved into her mouth, Lisa was starting to react the way he wanted her to.
Lisa had been afraid of hurting him. There had been a couple of times that Scott had gotten a little too riled up and hurt himself. He didn’t seem worried about it, anxious to do it again, but Lisa hated to see him hurting, even if he tried to pretend like he wasn’t. Scott seemed sturdier that day, something was in him and her body was starting to feel the same awakening.
“I don’t think you are ready Scott. I am afraid I am going to hurt you.”
Scott’s tongue lines her earlobe and made her shiver. “I thought I was the one that usually said that.” His hot breath and light words made her tremble even harder. Lisa didn’t want him to stop touching her, her body yearning for more. Their makeup had not been complete and by the look in his dark eyes, he was about to rectify that.
“You won’t. Even if you did I wouldn’t care, but you won’t. Don’t worry about it.”
It was hard to think about anything else but the lips at her jaw, then throat and then along one shoulder. He pushed her down onto her soft mattress and her eyes fell on the scarf she had been putting on before he came in and made her brain go to mush. Pushing away softly on his chest, she tried to sit up a little. “We are supposed to be going to dinner, remember?”
He nodded like he was listening, but they both knew that he wasn’t. His eyes were on the swell of breasts that kept rising and falling with the labored breath. The longer he stared the more aroused she became, only making the whole issue even worse than before. She had always been breathtaking, but there was something in the idea that she was his, soon to be officially. Scott
felt like he had won the lottery, but he would not be giving his family any satisfaction that they were right.
“I want my dessert first.”
Scott’s hands moved up her thigh, pushing the skirt up to view the tiny pink panties that made him even more needy until his hands were shaking. He wanted everything to be perfect, but she looked too beautiful and Lisa was not helping his control with her sounds of need. When she went to begging him to take her, it was hard for Scott to not oblige her. His searching hands became more forceful, ripping her underwear off of her with a ripping sound and a hard jerk. Lisa whimpered as she felt the cool air on her overheated skin.
“Please Scott.”
He wanted to savor their first time, but she was just as ravenous as he was. Her small hands were rubbing his hard chest, trying to get her hands on his manhood that was what she truly sought. “Please!”
Scott growled at her, sitting back long enough to release his need and climb back on top of her. He pulled a muscle that made him groan, but she didn’t seem to notice, pulling him down, her lips searching out his. Opening her legs, her hips lifted up to help him along. He didn’t know who was in control at that moment. When he slipped an inch inside of her suffocating heat, it didn’t matter who had control or who had started it. All that mattered was what was going on in those seconds.
Lisa said his name low in her throat, the sound bringing back a surge of memories and he pressed deeper to hear the gasp that he had been waiting to hear for too long. “Damn I have missed you, Lisa.”
Her eyes were closed and she just nodded in agreement. Small hands and nails gripped his bottom, pushing her towards him closer as he started a slow and steady rhythm inside of her. He had always felt perfect, like he was made for her or something. Moaning out his own sounds, the two were both on the brink of ecstasy when he stopped and looked down at her. “Promise me that I will be your last, Lisa?”
She whimpered when he stopped moving, so close to her end. Rolling her hips on him, Scott groaned and slammed home to silence her. It did the opposite though and made her cry out with her release. Her body clenched him and he clenched his teeth, trying to hold out for an answer. But Lisa got what she wanted in the end, his complete loss of control.
Scott took her as he had been dying to for so long. Her hands dug into his back as he moved quickly to his own ending. Panting hard and pressing deep, Scott gave himself over to the urge. He felt Lisa flush around him, tightening as she cried out his name. Wrapping her arms and legs around him, she clung to him as tightly as she could.
Neither one of them moved, basking in the glow of their love for each other. Lisa had never felt so peaceful and all she really wanted was to stay there forever. A phone ringing off in the distance finally made Scott move, but they both gasped when he was pulled out of her. “I promise Scott.”
She leaned up and kissed him one last time before she went to freshen up before the dinner. Her face was beet red, but she didn’t care. Nothing could make the day turn bad.
“Are you ready to go tell the family about our engagement?”
Lisa had already told Gemma and true to form, she was sure that the woman had told the rest of the world as well by now. She never could keep a secret. “I kind of told Gemma.”
His face fell a little. I am sure Elna would like to hear it from you as well though.”
“Yeah, right. We both know that I won’t need to.”
“Are you nervous about it? Wanting to back out?”
He shook his head and kissed her on the lips again. “Not at all. I am glad they know because I really want to get married here.”
She had always wanted to have a spring wedding at the ranch, but they would have to move quickly. In the end she really didn’t care where she was married or when, just that Scott was with her. They were supposed to be together and it was in the peace she felt then, now that everything had been righted in her world and what was supposed to happen, had happened.
***
Elna smiled at the family around her table. It was the first time in almost a month that she had all of her kids around the dinner table at once. Scott had taken care of his demons, while her other son was off the oil rig for a few weeks. It wasn’t just that making the older matriarch of the family smile. The fact that all of her children were married or about to be married, made her wish that she had pushed it more from the beginning. There was something akin to contentment in her body. It had all worked out how it was supposed to. That she was sure of.
It had been a couple of weeks since Scott had been hurt on the cattle run, but he was healing well and back to his old self. Elna thought that more of it was because of Lisa next to him, more than the actual mending, but it was enough. She watched them all smiling and laughing, her heart was full. There was nothing else that she had wanted to see more.
~THE END~
Big Jake’s Seed
Chapter 1
“Jake, I can’t believe you are going to work for the Douglas’. If your father was here…”
He nodded, it wasn’t the first time he had heard it and he knew it wouldn’t be the last time. “He’s not, so Collin and John got it. I just want to move on and do something else. There is no place for me here anymore, I need to train horses. I don’t even like cows.”
“The family business is supposed to be for you three boys. He wanted you to always have that, stay close.”
It was the way it was supposed to be. That was the plan laid out in the will, but his father was a cattleman and he wasn’t. Jake had loved horses since he was knee high and his main concern had been riding the horse, not the cows he was supposed to be coaxing one way or another. It had never been about taking over. He had stayed so long because of his father, but now that he was gone, it was time to go. He hated to leave his mother behind, but her home was there, not in Texas where he was going. Jake also reminded himself that she still had two of her boys around close.
“I’m still here if you guys need me, but I have dreams that don’t include Jerica, Kansas. I won’t be far away, just a day trip in the truck.”
“Promise you will come home and visit.” Ana had already come to the realization that he was leaving. There was no sense in trying to change his mind. He’d always been as stubborn as his father.
“Of course.”
“What about Elise?”
A blush spread over his face as it heated up with the reminder that he hadn’t told his girlfriend yet. In a way he was afraid of her reaction, in another, he was concerned that she would want to go with. It wasn’t that he didn’t like her and care about her, but there was something missing after almost two years of dating. There had been attraction, lust and then companionship, but never really love. Not on his side anyways and in honesty, he didn’t think that she had ever loved him.
“I haven’t told her yet, but I planned on stopping by on the way out of town to see her.”
Ana frowned. “I thought I brought you up better than that Jake.”
Sheepishly, he went back to pushing the last few shirts into his large duffel bag. “Don’t be like that. I don’t love her, it’s that simple. I know you want me to be happy and I will be as nice as I can be about it. I don’t want to hurt her. Elise is a great girl, just not the one for me.”
“Well, let her down easier. She was like the daughter I never had and I have to live in town with her after you run off. It is how it looks, that she is chasing you out of town.”
“It’s not like that. You know that this is what I want to do.”
“I know. It’s just going to be hard without you here. I am really going to miss you. And I’m serious about Elise, you be nice to her.”
He promised that he would be and bent down to give her one last kiss on the cheek. Jake wasn’t going to call her or tell her later, but he had made a promise, so he would have to stick to it. It was one less thing he wanted to do, but knew that he better get there and get it over with. Elise was dramatic and he knew that she was not going to ta
ke it well. Jake dreaded seeing her and having the conversation they probably would have had months ago if he’d had the balls.
***
Driving down to Texas gave him a long time to think. Mostly for the first hour it was thoughts of Elise and what she had said. Her words echoed in his ears and he wondered if what she said was true. Was he really incapable of love? Jake was almost thirty and had never felt what made the people around him go crazy. He never thought of ending his life for a woman, so in that way, maybe he had never been truly mad in love. But did it mean he was incapable of it? He hoped not. Even if he didn’t understand love, Jake wanted to feel that craziness just once with one person.
The sign for Texas had him perking up and he followed the GPS to the small ranch in the northeast of Texas. There was something so charming about the place and for those that didn’t know, it may look like a small enterprise. It was a lot smaller than many in the area, but Archer Training was the best in the business. The very fact that he had been hired and was given a chance to work there, was better than any other accomplishment he could think of. The only worry he had was if he was good enough. Only time would tell if he would be.
Jake was a few hours late and it had already gotten dark. He had been given a bunkroom and the keys were sent with his sign-on bonus. He wasn’t supposed to start till the next day, but he had hoped to have a conversation with the owners before he went to bed. With that not an option, he moved towards the small row of bunkhouses, eyes straining to find the one that was to be his.
Finally spotting the numbers, he found his was the one on the end and he searched his pocket for the key. After unlocking the door, he moved to push it in, but an inside slide lock stopped his progress. Confused, he pushed again and then saw the chain. “Hello?”
A short, curved woman answered the door, sliding the lock back and looking up at him with clouded brown eyes. “Yes?”
“Hi, I um…” Jake was floundering, the woman in front of him hypnotic and sidetracking from what he was even there for. Had he gotten the wrong room? He stepped back and looked at the number again, matching it to the keys in his hand. It dawned on him then that it was the right key, so it had to be the right little house, right?