Saving Her (Her Protector Book 2) Page 15

  “That’s enough, Lucas!” Wil shouted. Their other brother, Ian, just looked on in wide-eyed fear. He looked nearly as panicked as I felt.

  “It’s not nearly enough, little brother,” Lucas sneered the word and it was obvious that there was no little love lost between them. “I am sick and tired of these people thinking that they’re better than us. More deserving than us. Like they own this land just because a little scrap of paper says so. It’s fucking bullshit and I’m tired of waiting. It’s my turn, Wil! My turn! Jake is nothing. He deserves nothing! He’s just a pansy ass coward. He can’t even keep a woman satisfied!”

  “Actually, that little scrap of paper? I think you’re referring to the deed. Yeah, it has Jake’s name on it. Which means it’s his. That’s exactly how it works, you idiot.” My temper had flared with every word that came out of that asshole’s mouth and now it erupted in a storm I didn’t even try and hold back.

  “And Jake is the hardest working, most honest, compassionate, and courageous person that I have ever met! He’s given his heart and soul and sweat to this land. He cares more about it than you ever will! It’s his. Every inch of it is his and I swear to god, if you try and take it away from him again, I’ll…I’ll… I’ll kick your ass!”

  “Is that so? Well, I’m right here, baby.” Lucas drawled the words and the way he was looking at me suddenly made my skin crawl, “Why don’t you come teach me a lesson? No? Then maybe I need to teach you one. Starting with how some bitches need to keep their mouths shut.”

  * * *

  Jake

  I looked back as I heard Zoe’s scream and it took me a solid five seconds to realize what was happening.

  Josie’s eyes rolled wildly and she pawed at the ground in front of her before sprinting off towards the horizon with Zoe clinging helplessly to her back.

  “Josie! Josie, stop! Zoe, hold on for Christ’s sake! Hold on, I’m coming after you!” I shouted the words after her, not sure if she could hear them or not.

  I didn’t stop, didn’t let myself think as I grabbed Blaze and jumped into the saddle, racing after them. I was more than a little surprised to see Josie already a small dot in the distance. I couldn’t believe that the old nag still had that much fire in her but I’d caught sight of the snake that must have spooked her before it slithered away.

  “Fuck!” I bit out the curse, along with a string of others as I pushed Blaze as hard as I could but I knew firsthand how treacherous the rolling terrain could be. I wouldn’t be able to help anyone if I got tossed or injured Blaze because I pushed him so hard he couldn’t see what was in front of him.

  There were rocky outcroppings and steep drop-offs that I couldn’t make out until I was nearly on top of them. The slower pace made me grit my teeth as I imagine Zoe, and all the terrible things that could happen to her.

  She could get thrown. Josie could get hurt and fall on top of her, crushing her. Over and over and over, the worst case scenario playing out in my head and it was all I could do just to stay focused on catching up to her in one piece.

  It made my heart race even faster as I realized that Josie was headed straight for the south pasture. Zoe couldn’t get hurt. She wouldn’t. I had made her a promise. I had sworn to her that she wouldn’t get hurt again, that I wouldn’t let it happen. And I’d be damned if I broke my promise to her.

  My head screamed at me that there wasn’t a damned thing I could do about it, but I ignored it, rushing ahead as fast as I dared, pushing Blaze even faster than I knew was safe. But I didn’t care. All I cared was reaching up to her. All I cared about was getting her back in my arms safe and sound again.

  It was made all the more dangerous because Zoe was an inexperienced rider. She might react in the wrong way and spook Josie even more than the daft old horse was.

  I had been near four months since Zoe had crashed landed into my life, and now I couldn’t’ imagine anything else. I couldn’t imagine my day without her there, making me laugh, bringing sunshine and beauty wherever she went.

  I could just make out the racing horse and her runaway rider up ahead and I watched in fear as Josie skidded to a halt and Zoe suddenly disappeared from her back.

  “What the hell? Zoe! Zoe! Come on, Blaze. We gotta go save our girl!” I pushed the horse even faster and he must have sensed my urgency, my panic, because he suddenly seemed to be flying across the grassy pasture.

  I barely waited for the horse to stop before jumping off his back and I was so focused on getting to Zoe, to finding her, that I didn’t notice the other’s until I heard the deep voice cutting through my fear.

  “…Jake is nothing. He deserves nothing! He’s just a pansy ass coward. He can’t even keep a woman satisfied!” I recognized the voice and saw red as my anger erupted. I stomped forward, halting when I heard Zoe’s voice answering back.

  “Actually, that little scrap of paper? I think you’re referring to the deed. Yeah, it has Jake’s name on it. Which means it’s his. That’s exactly how it works, you idiot and Jake is the hardest working, most honest, compassionate, and courageous person that I have ever met! He’s given his heart and soul and sweat to this land. He cares more about it than you ever will! It’s his. Every inch of it is his and I swear to god, if you try and take it away from him again, I’ll…I’ll… I’ll kick your ass!”

  “Is that so? Well, I’m right here, baby. Why don’t you come teach me a lesson? No? Then maybe I need to teach you one. Starting with how some bitches need to keep their mouths shut.”

  “Stay the fuck away from her.” I growled, stepping forward, and four sets of eyes jumped towards where I was standing, just walking into view. I took in the Calhoun brother’s, their shovels, the half-dug holes everywhere. And then my gaze focused only on Zoe.

  She was sitting in the dirt, cradling one arm with the other. Mud and grass streaked her face and her eyes were wide with an emotion that tied me into knots.

  “Jake!” She said, shooting me a smile that threatened to melt me on the spot. I rushed to her, kneeling beside her.

  “Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt? Of course you’re hurt. I can see that. God damnit!”

  “It’s really not that bad, Jake. I finally got Josie to stop and I well, I sort of took a tumble. Knocked the wind out of me and scratched up my arm a little, that’s all.”

  “I think she has a mild concussion.” Wil stepped forward and I had to fight back the urge to swing at him. “You’ll want to get that arm washed and bandaged but it doesn’t look like it needs stitches. No broken bones or any other injuries.”

  “No thanks to your brother.” I snarled and Wil sent me a sympathetic shrug.

  “Lucas is an asshole but he doesn’t hurt women.” Wil sent a glare at Lucas when he opened his mouth and the other man finally caught the hint and stayed quiet.

  I scooped Zoe up in my arms, my only concern for her.

  “I want the three of you the fuck off my land. Now. I don’t know what you’re doing out here. I don’t care either. But whatever it is, it stops. You could have killed her.”

  “She was the one riding hell bent without a lick of common sense–.”

  “You could have killed her, Wil!” The words came out in a sharp shout, cutting of whatever the other man was going to say. After a minute, he nodded.

  “Sorry, Jake. It won’t happen again. We won’t be bothering you anymore.”

  “Fuck that, Wil–.”

  “It won’t happen again. I swear it.” Wil said, stopping Lucas from whatever was going to come out of his mouth. In my opinion, it was the smartest thing the man had ever done because I was on edge, shaking with anger, and didn’t know what I would do.

  “Come on.” Wil waved at his brothers, forcing Lucas to take a step away, and then another as they headed back towards their father’s property.

  I turned, with Zoe still cradled in my arms, and helped her up onto Blaze’s back before climbing up after her. Even that small moment apart made my breath catch in panic. My arms once
more around her, Josie’s reigns tied to the loop on the back of Blaze’s saddle, I whistled to the horse and took her back towards the farmhouse.

  22

  Zoe

  Every single part of my body ached as Jake took us back over the rolling, grassy hills. I let out a deep breath and let myself sink into him, my back against his strong chest. His arms were wrapped around me so tight they almost hurt my bruised skin and muscles but I didn’t care. The little bit of pain was worth it.

  To be wrapped up in him. To be treated like I was the most precious think in the world to him. I let my mind go blank, pushed aside the lingering adrenaline that was still making my entire body shake and the threats from Lucas Calhoun. And I just melted against Jake. For the first time in, maybe my whole entire life, I let myself lean on someone. Let someone else take care of me.

  As a kid, there hadn’t been anyone. Not really. My mother was checked out most of the time, my dad non-existent. There had been Mrs. Magney, but even still I hadn’t really relied on her. I’d never even told her the truth about my what my mom had been doing those times she’d kicked me out of the one bedroom apartment in the middle of the afternoon. Even though I’m sure that she suspected if she hadn’t outright known.

  Even with Elliot, I hadn’t ever let myself rely on him fully. I always insisted on my own bank account. Paying my own share of things separately. Even after he’d proposed, I’d insisted on it.

  But with Jake, everything was different. I knew, deep down, all the way in my bones. That I could trust him. Truly trust him. In a way that I had never been able to before.

  It opened something inside of me, a part of myself that had been locked away for nearly my entire life. It opened, and it filled with bright light and tenderness and an emotion that I didn’t want to look too closely at because it scared me nearly as much as my monster did.

  Jake slowed the horse to a halt, sliding down to the ground somehow with me still held securely in his arms as he walked me towards the front door of the farmhouse.

  “What about the horses.”

  “The damned horses will be fine for a little bit. I’ll see to them later. You’re more important.”

  My eyes hot up to his and I saw the anger still there, bubbling beneath the surface.

  “It wasn’t Josie’s fault, you know. Something scared her or she wouldn’t have taken off like that.”

  “I know,” He sighed, his jaw still clenched, looking straight ahead as he carried me inside. “There was a snake and it spooked her. I saw it slither off into the bushes after she started her marathon.”

  “Are you…are you mad at me, then?”

  “What?! No, of course not, I’m not mad.” He let out a huff of a breath, “Okay, I’m furious but not with you. I’m pissed off at the Calhoun’s for all the ridiculous shit that they’re…no, no, honestly? I’m furious with myself. I was supposed to teach you how to ride, I knew you didn’t have any experience. I should have stayed with you.”

  I reached up and cupped his jaw in one palm, feeling how tense it was beneath my skin and made him look down at me.

  “In no way is this your fault, Jake. It’s no one’s fault. It was an accident. It could have just as easily have happened to you, or Owen. It was just my lucky day, I guess.” I tried a small smile, trying to ease the tension in him but he just shook his head as he carried me to the bathroom upstairs and sat me on the edge of the tub.

  He hesitated for a long moment as if he didn’t want to lose the contact and I didn’t want him to let go either. But then he was stepping away, opening the old medicine cabinet and pulled out a first aid kit.

  “Let’s get that arm taken care of.”

  He was so tender and careful with me, treating me like a piece of porcelain that might shatter right in front of him as he cleaned and wrapped the wound on my fore arm.

  “You know this wasn’t your fault, right?” I whispered the words and saw him flinch, “Still, thank you for rescuing me. My knight in shining armor.”

  “From the sound of things when I got there, you didn’t need much rescuing.” Jake said with a stiff laugh and I shook my head, reaching out my hand for his.

  “I did, Jake. I don’t…I’m not good at asking for help and I’m really not good at admitting when I need it, but you really did save me. I’m glad you came and found me.”

  He met my gaze, his own intense and almost silver as he kneeled beside me.

  “I will always come and find you,” His voice dropped an octave, deepening with emotion and rough with desire as he spoke, “I made you a promise. A promise that you wouldn’t get hurt. That I would protect you. I won’t break it again. I swear to you.”

  The words I was going to say, the joke to lighten the mood and break the tension froze on my tongue because I could see it there, in his gray eyed gaze, that he meant every single thing he was saying. It hit me in the solar plexus, knocking the breath from my lungs for the second time.

  I didn’t have the words. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to explain the tangle of emotions inside me. So I did the only thing I could do. I leaned forward and kissed him.

  I put every ounce of emotion into that kiss until I was drowning in it, and I was taking Jake down with me.

  The meeting of lips was slow, soft and unhurried. Savoring every touch, every taste, everything sigh. I wanted it all. I wanted to imprint this moment in my memory so that I could always pull it out and relive it over and over again like a treasure just for me.

  When I reached for him, my fingers tangling in the fabric of his shirt, the movement was just as slow. Just as deliberate.

  I wanted every single moment. I wanted every feeling branded onto my brain and into my memory.

  Desire filled me, heady and heavy, weighting down my body and I felt like I could just sink against him and be perfectly content to wade there in his waters.

  That need pooled between my thighs until I was so wet I could feel the slickness on my skin, could feel it burning into steam just beneath the surface but still it wasn’t hurried, or rushed. There was no frantic race to the finish line. This was pure, honest love making and it made my breath catch in my lungs and my heart beat out a hard, heavy pattern.

  The sound of my pulse filled my ears along with his whispered words, so low and rough I could barely make out the words but I could feel them. With every one he worshiped me, and every one filled me with even more desire.

  But after a few moments, and all too soon for my tastes, he was pulling away, shaking his head.

  “We shouldn’t, Zoe. We should take it slow. Maybe you should rest.”

  I stared up at him, his gray eyes dark with desire warring with concern.

  “I don’t want to rest,” I whispered roughly against his lips, “I want you, Jake. I want you inside me.”

  I saw the moment he lost his battle, desire winning out. He bit off a string of curses, lifting me so that I was perched against the edge of the bathroom sink. Even though he was losing control, need riding him just as hard as it was riding me, he was still so careful with me. So gentle.

  Every touch was so reverent it brought tears to my eyes and I hid my face against the crook of his neck to hide from the emotions rising wildly inside me.

  His fingers worked at the button of my jeans and he slid the fabric from my hips until they pooled at my feet. My boots were long gone. My shirt followed after, thrown behind us blindly.

  The heat grew inside me from a simmer to a boil as his hands grasped at my newly revealed skin. His calluses were rough against my hyper sensitive inner thighs and the lightest touch had a gasp bubbling out of me.

  Jake spread my thighs, exposing the most secret, needy part of me and I was desperate for more but we were both caught in the spell of the moment, and I felt like I was moving through thick honey, every movement slowed, every touch and kiss even more intensely sweet than ever before.

  His fingers found me, sweeping across my clit in a way that had me writhing and moaning
in his arms. Just that easily I lost control.

  “Jake,” I panted his name, “I need you now. No teasing.”

  “No teasing,” He said, just as breathless as I was, just on edge. His voice was deeper and gruffer than I had ever heard it and he was hanging on just as desperately. “I just…I don’t want to hurt you baby.”

  “You won’t. You never could.”

  “I let you get hurt today.” He said, suddenly sounding broken and I kissed it away, all the worry and fear that had both of us in its grip.

  “Jake. Please.” I speared my fingers in his hair, arching my hips needful against his. I could feel the head of his thick, hard cock dip into my wet entrance just enough to have us both groaning out in pleasure. It was all the convincing he needed.

  In one, achingly slow thrust, he pushed all the way into my body until we were connected, as close as two people could be.

  Everything else dropped away and it was only us. Only ever us. He moved, in that same slow, deliberate rhythm that had me panting and crying out his name. I bit my lip, trying to hold back the tidal wave of pleasure but I couldn’t.

  It all built up inside me, every moment, every emotion, everything that had happened, it all crashed inside of me, dragging me under like an undertow, impossible to escape and I didn’t want to.

  I gave myself up to it, to him, taking every ounce of pleasure that he could give me and wanting even more.

  Jake switched suddenly, thrusting inside me in circles that hit every nerve ending deep inside me. I help on, my fingernails digging into his back as he sent me spiraling back up into bliss.