Chapter 15 #2
"You're a gem," he told her gratefully as he stepped into the water and slid all the way down. "I would kiss you, but I'm too exhausted."
"I'm just happy you're home safe. Here." She handed him the brandy and picked up the sponge to rub his back.
"Was it very rough?"
"Hmm." Leaning back, he closed his eyes and took a sip of the brandy as she rubbed his chest. "We lost some cattle who wandered out.
That's what took up most of the time. We also had a mare foaling.
It was a difficult birth, and we could not get the vet out in this weather.
" He opened his eyes and smiled at her. "The entire time I was thinking of you and wishing I was here. How are you, baby?"
"I'm fine now." She allowed her hand to drift down his flat stomach, loving the feel of his finely honed muscles.
"I'm too tired." His hand clamped down on hers to stop the provocative exploring, even while his eyes smoldered with passion. "And the fact that I'm saying that means that I'm out of my mind tired."
"Poor baby." Leaning over, she kissed him on the forehead. "Finish the brandy and don't fall asleep. I'm going to pick out something for you to put on."
"I adore you," he told her huskily.
"You'd better."
He fell flat on his face as soon as he donned the clothes she laid out for him. He mumbled goodnight, and by the time she pulled the sheets over him, he was snoring. She had planned on giving him a massage, but she supposed that would have to wait until tomorrow.
She sat up against the mound of pillows and stared at him, admiring the way the cotton t-shirt stretched taut across his shoulders and back.
His hair was tangled and falling over his forehead.
Careful not to disturb him, she used the tips of her fingers to brush it off his face.
He was beautiful, she thought achingly, her heart bumping against her chest. And he was all hers. She knew that without a doubt.
He belonged to her. Just as she belonged to him.
In the past, she had never entertained the idea that she could have a long-term relationship, much less a permanent one.
Now she was a wife and very soon to be a mother.
And she loved it. At first it was her career that meant everything to her, but not anymore.
She loved being here for him when he got home.
And her man worked very hard. He was not one of those entitled rich guys who expected everyone else to do the work.
Sighing softly and shaking her head at how contrary fate was, she slid down and snuggled at his side.
Even in deep slumber, he automatically reached for her and drew her closer to him.
The storm raged for two days and kept everyone at home.
"You're itching to go outside," Julianne commented when her husband got up from his position in front of the fireplace for the third time to look out the window.
He had slept like the dead for eight hours straight, only surfacing to get something to eat and then back to sleep.
Now he was fully awake and rested. Julianne had the feeling that his habit of going out on the grounds was so fully embedded that it felt strange that he was just stuck inside.
But she loved that he was here with her.
"Am I boring you?" she asked half-teasingly.
"Far from it," he hastened to assure her.
Tearing his eyes away from the snow piling up past the windows, he came and sat back down next to her.
There was nothing they could accomplish anyway.
Jack was one of the people who were bunking at the ranch house.
Bryson had gone down to have breakfast with them and decided to spend quality time with his wife, who surprisingly had announced that they play Monopoly and listen to classical music. "It's relaxing and good for the baby."
"I just cost you Park Place."
"What?" His eyes zeroed in on the board game where his mind had wandered away from. "That's not possible. You cheated."
"And you will never know, my friend. Pay up."
"There's no way--"
"You're a very sore loser," she said loftily. Stretching her feet out, she arched her back where the throbbing had started. She was going to have to get up soon and do some walking around.
His eyes sharpened as he stared at her. "What's wrong?" he asked tensely.
"Nothing. Just--" She rubbed her back. "It's nothing."
Pushing away the table with the board game, he edged closer to her. "Turn around," he ordered. Without waiting for her to do his bidding, he clamped his hands on her shoulders and turned her so that her back was facing him.
"You've been rubbing the small of your back since this morning. Christ, woman! Are you intent on sending me to an early grave? If you're hurting, I want to know."
"You're being melodramatic. Oh." She gasped when he lifted her sweater and pressed down on the sore muscles of her back. "It's just a small strain."
"Don't speak," he told her grimly. "And don't move." Rising, he went to get the oil and a heated washcloth.
"It's normal--"
"You're still speaking," he said grimly as he came back into the room and sat behind her.
Taking her sweater off, he started with the washcloth, rubbing in a circular motion, until her muscles started to relax.
Next, he poured oil in the middle of his palm and massaged it into her skin.
She purred in satisfaction, closing her eyes as the strain on her back slowly evaporated.
"That feels really good."
"And the babe?" His constant fear with this bitter storm was that she was going to face complications with no way of him getting her to the hospital.
He was dying for the storm to abate, but the aftermath was what he was fearing the most. There was going to be massive flooding, and the roads were going to be icy.
With a storm of this magnitude, it was going to take days for everything to get back to normal.
"We're both doing very well." She sent him a glance over her shoulder. "You're worried."
"A little bit." He washed his hands and put the stuff away.
"The last time we had a storm like this, I was ten years old, and it was devastating.
The flooding was the worst." He drew her into his arms and tried to put away his worry.
"We lost several heads of cattle, four horses, and a few cottages were flooded beyond repair.
My dad was very difficult to live with, more so than usual," he added wryly.
"And what kind of problems do you envision?" She was so attuned to his moods, she knew he was trying to pass it off as something light, to set her mind at rest. "And before you try and sugarcoat it for my benefit, bear in mind that I can tell when you're lying."
"Really?" he asked teasingly, bending to kiss her upturned face.
"Yes. Now spill."
"If you insist," he said with a sigh. His arms came around her swollen waist, and he started to massage her belly slowly.
"Mostly flooding. If history proves right, it's going to be massive.
We will lose livestock; there's no way around it.
But that's not my main concern. It's you," he told her bluntly.
"I'm beating myself up for not taking you to the hospital and having you stay there. "
"I would have said no."
"Not if I dragged you there." He grinned at the look she gave him. "You're small and I'm a lot bigger," he reminded her.
"The only way you could have gotten me to stay in the hospital was if you were staying with me."
"I figured as much." He bent to kiss the back of her neck. "I've been praying earnestly. I've never prayed so hard in my entire life. I'm scared, darling," he admitted shakily. "If anything should happen to you--"
"Nothing will happen."
"If anything should happen to you--" He pressed on as if she had not spoken and turned her to face him. "I persuaded you to stay. I would have done anything to keep you here, and if--"
"Shh." She placed a long, elegant finger vertically over his lips.
"I'm scared too. When you went out yesterday in the middle of the storm, I was so scared that I had to go downstairs and take comfort from your mother, of all people.
I'm scared that your horse is going to throw you, that one of those big machines is going to crush you. But you know what?"
"What?" he asked huskily.
"I made a deal with God."
He gave her an amused stare. "What kind of deal?"
"That I would do anything, forgive him for allowing my dad to run out on us, forgive him for taking my mother away from me, if he would keep you safe."
His amusement fled when he noticed that she was being serious.
"Julianne--"
"I'm not finished." Taking his hand, she pressed it to her left cheek and closed her eyes briefly.
Just the touch of his skin on hers reassured her and made her feel contented.
"I love you more than my own life. I never dreamed I would love like this, but I do, and I want to spend a hundred years showing you how much.
" She opened her eyes, and he felt his heart picking up speed at the moisture in them. "Do you understand?"
He nodded and tried twice to speak but could not get past the lump that had formed inside his throat.
Then he tried again, and this time it came out as a croak.
"I had a lousy childhood." His hands gripped hers, eyes smoldering.
"One where I would dream of getting rid of my father.
I hated him with a virulence that was frightening, and he knew it. " He drew her to him.
"The only solace I had was the ranch. I love the land, the animals, and the entire operation.
It became my world, and then I met you. I met you, and you're my world.
Darling, you're my everything. My life began when I met you.
" He closed his mouth over hers, and for several minutes, conversation was halted.