by Stacey Lynn
“Oh my God.” I groaned, stretched my legs. Pain shot up my shoulder and my fingers were numb.
I’d fallen asleep, finally, while storms careened over me.
Thump.
Voices. More than one echoed through the metal door.
I scrambled to my feet, shaking off the numbness from my hands while I ran the length of the shelter, up the small stairs. My palm slapped the metal doors. “Hello?”
“Rebecca!”
Jordan. Thank God. “I’m here!”
“Hold on, honey. We’ll get you out. You’ve got a tree on the doors. We’re getting ready to saw!”
“Okay!” I shouted back and headed down the stairs. My fingers tangled together and I stepped back. Waited.
The buzz of a saw echoed through the door. It lasted forever until finally, finally, the doors were peeled open. Men’s grunts filtered down and then bright sun shone through, illuminating everything.
I covered my eyes from the bright light, carefully walking up.
But Jordan was there, rushing down. “Hey there.” He pulled me into his arms, hugged me so tightly. His voice quaked.
“I’m okay. I’m okay.”
“Holy shit, I was so damn scared for you. Cell towers are down all over and I couldn’t leave the resort last night. We lost power and I had to stay, but fuck it killed me to not know what happened here.”
“I’m fine. It’s okay. See?” I stepped back and raised my arms. “I’m safe. But I’m ready to get out of here. How bad is it up there?”
He flinched. Jordan never flinched. “What is it?” I asked, already trying to push by him but my brother wasn’t only tall and large, he was strong.
“Wait.”
“Why? What happened.”
“Rebecca.” His hand went to my shoulder and he squeezed. And, if I saw it correctly, his chin trembled. Jordan wasn’t just strong physically, but emotionally. He held me up through so much, what I saw on his face terrified me.
“Jordan?”
“The house.” He choked out the words.
“No.” My head shook. No.
“You’re safe. We’ll figure it out. But the house is gone, Rebecca.”
All the blood rushed from my body and spread to the floor. I was cold. So cold. He was wrong. He had to be. I pulled out of my brother’s hold and he let me go, he easily could have detained me, but his steps were right behind me.
“It’s just a house, honey. Just a house. You’re safe. Everyone in town is good from what I’ve heard so far. There’s so much damage all over, but it’s all stuff.”
It wasn’t just stuff. It was my house. My childhood home and the home I knew I’d always raise my children in and their children would visit. I’d be the old grandma, rocking grandbabies on the patio, watching the sunset and sneaking them sugar long after their mom and dad told them no.
I reached the top of the small staircase, my eyes unable to take in the sight.
There was nothing.
“My God.” I stumbled back, my knees gave out, but Jordan was there, his arms slamming to my stomach and pulling me against his chest. “No!”
“It’s okay,” he murmured, collapsing to the ground with me.
There was nothing. No house. A garage was down. All around me was destruction, parts of my house scattered as far as my eyes could see. Trees. Half of the barn.
“The animals,” I said, not recognizing my own voice.
“I don’t know yet. But we’ll figure it out.”
I turned into my brother’s arms and sobbed.
* * *
“I don’t know where to begin.” I surveyed the area, the complete flattened home in front of me. The goat barn and pen area were fine, all the animals miraculously unharmed. The chicken coop was destroyed, and I’d lost some chickens. The rest were wandering around the ripped up grass. Beyond the main house, the guesthouse didn’t have a single speck of visible damage. It was beyond amazing. Everywhere my eyes stretched, disaster left its mark except for the guesthouse. We’d taken Joseph’s old truck out through the land, dodging down trees and chunks of my house. A showerhead here, bedding there. Clothes and papers and ground up, unidentifiable chunks of garbage or belongings flung every which way. All of it turned to shreds, like my house had been tossed into a blender and someone hit the puree switch.
“You don’t have to start today,” Jordan said. He hadn’t left my side and he was hurting more than he was sharing. He never wanted anything to do with the ranch, but this was still his home, too.
I picked up a cracked dinner plate and tossed it like a Frisbee. It slammed into a downed sweet gum tree and shattered. “I have to do something.”
The shock came in ebbs and flows. A photo here, a scrap of lace underwear beneath my feet. God. I’d seen tornado damage before but never this extensive. My belongings had to be spread through the town for miles.
“How’s town?” I asked Jordan. Our cells were still down, but he’d had to drive completely through it to get to me.
“Most of it looked okay other than downed trees. Downtown was good. Few businesses lost windows. Just the outliers were hit the worst.”
“Whitman’s? Jefferson’s?” I hated the Jeffersons, but I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.
“Whitman’s were good. Haven’t seen Jefferson’s. My priority was getting to you.”
“Good.” I stood and stretched. I didn’t even know how to begin setting up piles, what was trash, what was salvageable. For a brief moment, I thought about setting fire to all of it.
A small, white car caught my attention and I focused on the small car coming closer. “Who’s that?”
“No idea.”
It slowed at the main road, rumbled over the cattle guards and pulled in.
“Holy crap.” It left me in a breath, but I was already running. I felt him.
Without a phone, I hadn’t been able to even try to get ahold of him, but as I’d sobbed in Jordan’s lap hours ago, I’d cried harder, missing Cooper and his own strength and determination.
I met him on the drive, nowhere near the house. The car pulled to a sudden stop, wheels sliding on the gravel and then he was there climbing out of the car.
I scarcely noticed his rumpled clothes, his rolled up white and gray striped dress shirt before I flung myself at him, tears of joy and relief and fear and sadness all rushing through me. “You’re here.”
I jumped and his hands went to my ass, one foot going back a step as he caught me. “Holy shit. Are you okay?”
“I’m good. Safe. Not hurt. Just everything else.”
“No fucking shit. Your house—”
“I know.” I shoved my head into the crook of his neck. “But you’re here. I was so worried.”
He laughed, pressed his lips to my hair. “Worried about me? I’ve been scared to death about you since I couldn’t get a hold of anyone. Called Max, flew to Lincoln, drove here. All fucking night.”
“What? Lincoln? As in Nebraska? But that’s four hours away.”
“Three and forty-one minutes.”
“You came for me.” Adrenaline and emotion crashed together and I hugged him tighter. “You came for me.”
“Always.” His arms squeezed me tight and he started walking, carrying me like a young child and he didn’t give the first fuck. “I’ll always come for you. This is some serious fucked up shit. Scared out of my brain as soon as I hit Kansas. There’s shit down all over the place. Roads closed. Towns destroyed. I almost had to stop and throw up more than once, Rebecca. You have no idea how terrified I was.”
“I’m safe.”
“Thank fucking Christ.”
He stopped where Jordan and I had been. “Hey.”
I assumed it was to Jordan. I was correct when Jordan slapped his shoulder, walking past us. “Glad you’re here, man. Good to see you.”
It was probably time to stop clinging to Cooper like a starfish. I unwound my limbs and slid down his body, cupping his cheeks as my feet hit the ground
. “You’re really here.”
I was grinning like an idiot.
He looked as handsome as ever. “Always,” he repeated. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“And…before I puke at the cuteness of you two, I’m going to head out.”
I rolled my eyes at my brother. “Thank you. For everything.”
“I’m just glad you’re okay.” He snagged the back of my head with his hand and yanked me to him, giving me a brotherly kiss on the top of my head. “I’ll come back later, but I need to see to the resort now that you’re not here alone.”
I hugged him again. He clasped hands with Cooper.
Then, once he climbed into his car, Cooper and I turned back to where my house stood yesterday. “What the hell do we do now?” he asked.
Forty-One
Cooper
We ended up taking a nap. Before that, I insisted on seeing the cattle. The devastation of her main home and several buildings was obvious, but for my own knowledge, I had to see everything. She climbed in next to me on the Kubota and we drove the pastures, double-checking the cattle and destruction. We fed the goats, gave them fresh water.
We’d come back later and bury the animals we lost, but fortunately, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d imagined.
New animals would be purchased. Stuff was just that. Stuff. It could be replaced.
She didn’t have electricity. That had been lost well before the cell phone service and who knew when it’d come back.
Plus, exhaustion was finally setting in. We needed food and sleep.
I didn’t sleep a single damn wink on the plane. Adrenaline and fear coursed through me, kept my eyes peeled on the weather channel. I was a fucking storm spotter last night, tracking eight different websites, both local and national watching the devastation occurring as it happened.
And I’d never been as terrified as I was, flying thousands of feet in the air, everything completely out of my control.
The flight attendant kept my coffee mug hot and fresh the entire flight and by the time the plane landed, I was on the verge of passing out and sleeping for eight hours or running a marathon. I hoped like hell I didn’t crash and pass out behind the wheel and got moving.
Rebecca insisted on staying and starting to clean up.
I insisted we get food and rest.
We argued. Her stubbornness cute despite the purple rimming her eyes and my inability to speak without yawning.
I won.
She grabbed the bag of clothes she’d taken with her to the cellar and we headed to the Carlton Golf Resort and Spa.
Ten minutes after we arrived, we were checking into a one-room suite.
Two minutes later, we were stripping down our clothes and climbing into a hot shower.
Twelve minutes later, we were asleep on the bed, naked and tangled together, clean and safe.
I woke up to Rebecca’s hand on my chest, her fingers playing with my hair. My hand covered hers. Thank God.
“I never rode a storm out alone in the cellar before,” she whispered. Her lips were at my shoulder, her warm breath wafted over me. Her hair was still damp, pressed against the pillow, my chest, it was everywhere. I pulled her closer.
“You’re safe, Rebecca. And thank fuck. I’m glad you’re okay.”
“All I wanted last night was you with me.”
Jesus. A spear to the heart couldn’t hurt worse than hearing her lingering fear.
“I sat there, listening to the storm, knowing how bad it was and all I could think about were all the people in my life I’d lost well before I was ready to lose them, all the things I didn’t say to them when I had the chance, and I couldn’t get ahold of you—”
“Shh.” I shifted us, rolled so I was on top of her, and my intent hadn’t been sexual in the least, I just wanted the weight of my body on hers to know I was there. We were fine, everything else would be fine, too. “I’m here. You’re here.”
“I know.” She nodded frantically, pressed her hand to my cheek. “But you’ve been gone a month, and all this time, all I’ve realized is that I didn’t need that month apart from you. I didn’t need the time. I was just being stupid and scared, but I love you. And I don’t want a minute to go by when you doubt it. Ever.”
“I don’t.” I pressed my lips to hers, and she opened immediately. I kissed her slowly, relaxing more of my weight onto her. Her body responded, legs shifted to make more room for me and I settled my length against her center. I needed to feel her. Make love to her. Touch her and treasure her. “I won’t,” I whispered, sliding my mouth to her jaw, her throat, that spot right by her ear that always made her fingers dig into my ass. “I need you and I don’t have a condom.”
“I went on the pill.”
I was almost to her breasts, my mouth watering to taste her, slide my tongue around her nipples until they hardened and she’d arch her hips into me. “What?”
She grinned that sheepish little smile she always had when she was embarrassed or nervous. “When you were gone. I didn’t want the next time we were together to have anything between us.”
“Shit.” I rested my forehead to her chest. Just the thought of being with her, bare, her needing that as much as I wanted it almost made me come.
Her hand slid up my back. “Was that okay?”
I laughed against her skin. Lips kissed every area of her I could reach and I shook my head. Crazy woman.
“Yeah, Rebecca,” I murmured, my tongue finally seeking what it so desperately desired. I slid it over her nipple and she gasped. “It was okay.”
I took my time with her. I moved down her body with my mouth and my hands until I reached her ankles, kissing, touching, caressing every inch of her. Memorizing the feel of the curves of her calves, the sweet, soft skin of her inner thigh, and then I moved back up to her stomach, the flare of her hips, the swell of her breasts.
I tasted and teased her entire body before my balls grew too tight with the need to be inside of her. And then I took her, slowly. My elbows by her shoulders, I gave her all my weight as I slid inside of her, moved like we had all the time in the world. Our gazes locked, our bodies molded together, we rode the wave of ecstasy together, stealing each other’s groans, swallowing my grunts and her cries, until we reached our peaks. I followed her over the edge shortly after I ensured she fell first.
“I love you.” Her fingers were at my scalp, brushing through my hair, my head was on her shoulder. We were sated, breathless, a fine sheet of sweat coated our bodies. “I never want to be without you.”
“You won’t be.” It wasn’t a promise. It was a vow. One I’d ensure I never broke for as long as I lived. “I love you, too.”
* * *
“I want you to come back to Los Angeles with me.”
The raspberry Rebecca was about to pop into her mouth froze at her lips. We’d showered again and were dressed in robes. While she worked on drying her hair, I ordered room service, a full menu of breakfast and lunch because I’d lost complete track of time. The food arrived quicker than humanly possible which meant Jordan had rushed it. I gave the staff who brought it up to us all the money in my wallet as a tip. Hundreds, probably. I didn’t care.
I needed to eat and I need them gone, so I brought the food in myself and set it up at the small dining table.
Her brow furrowed and she set down her berry. “I can’t leave the ranch now, Cooper. There’s no way.”
I’d been prepared for her rebuttal. While she showered, me insisting she went first and that we took them separately so I had time to order the food and not become distracted by her, I’d come up with a plan.
“I can push back the start of filming for a week or two, but no longer. They can even start without me, filming scenes I’m not in if they need to. But it’s too late to walk away from this movie.”
“I know you can’t walk away. I’m not asking you to, but—”
“We just promised we’d never be apart, Rebecca. Hear me out, please?”
She popped the berry into her mouth and chewed. “Okay. What’s your idea?”
I set down my silverware I’d been using to cut my steak. A delicious, Kansas-grown filet that was succulent and already half-gone. “First, you have to know, this will be the last movie I act in.”
“What?” Her eyes went wide. “You can’t.”
“I can and I will. Last night before I headed out here, I made plans. From now on, I won’t be acting, but I’ve talked to the head of the studio producing this current film. They’ve agreed to hire me on as a producer. Mostly, I’ll be in charge of securing financing for future projects. Maybe I’ll help with casting. It’ll require traveling, but the trips will be short, and I can figure out logistics of all that later.”
“Cooper—”
I reached across the table and took her hand, squeezing it. “I want this, Rebecca. I want you and our life on the ranch, but I love the industry and I can’t give it up completely. I want all of it, and maybe that’s selfish, asking you to understand that.”
“I would always want to support you in whatever you want.”
“Then why do you look so damn terrified at the idea?”
She laughed and shook her head. “I have it all as long as you’re with me, Cooper. That’s all I need. If you want to act, do it. You’re amazing at it.”
She’d finally watched my movies. In the month we were apart, she confessed to watching all of them, further confessing she watched the ones where I spent half my time shirtless repeatedly. Needless to say, Rebecca had become my biggest fan.
My favorite one, too.
“I want to do something different, stretch myself. And I don’t want to spend the months apart from you.”
“I don’t want that either,” she admitted, smiling softly. “I just want you to have everything you want. However that comes and as long as I’m a part of it.”
Good God, this woman undid me. I pushed away from my chair and pulled her to her feet. Then I yanked her into my lap and kissed her, brushing her hair off her face and behind her shoulder.