A Breath of Heaven: El Camino Real (7 page)

Cade grabbed her by the hand, pulling Abby
back against him in one smooth move. “Hold on, Abilene. I’ve decided you need a
keeper.” Wrapping an arm around her waist, he pushed Abby’s hair off her
shoulder and bent over, nuzzling her neck and nipping at the collarbone, much
like the stallion had wanted to do to the mare.

In her vulnerable state, she deliberately
misinterpreted his words. “I’m not a keeper,” she whispered, trying to find the
will to fight. He was too good at this and she was absolutely aching for his
touch.

Cade didn’t understand why she turned the
phrase on him like that. “I think it’s time we had a long talk, Miss King.”

“Talk?” Alarm bells were ringing in her
head, and then she realized it was the phone. “Don’t hold that thought.”
Carefully, Abby extricated herself and reached for the land line. “Dr. King.”

“Doctor King…” he drawled behind her. “You
ought to answer ‘Abby Grace in your face’ like you used to when you were a
little girl.” In many ways, he missed those days – their closeness, the way she
depended on him. The way she looked up to him.

Abby threw a box of cat wormer at him and
he laughed.

“Abilene, this is your mother speaking.”

Oh, Lord. “Hello, mom.”

“How are you?”

Abby loved her mother, but she never
changed tunes. It was always second verse, same as the first. ‘Are you dating
anyone?’ ‘When are you going to make me a grandmother?’ “I’m good, how was your
flight?”

“We didn’t fly. Didn’t you hear? Shiloh
picked us up. He was in Montana delivering one of his prize bulls and drove
through Georgetown to keep us off the plane. With that big double cab dually
and those wide tires, he said we’d be safer. I think he was right. Have you
talked to your brother?”

“Which one?” She loved them all, but she
tried to keep her distance as much as possible. Even though they looked out for
her, her siblings tended to meddle in her business.

“Shiloh. Abby, I’ve never seen him so sad.
I’m worried. And he won’t tell me what’s wrong either. Will you talk to him,
please?”

Wonder why? He was probably feeling as
boxed in as Abby. “I don’t know if he’ll confide in me, but I’ll try. Shiloh’s
my favorite brother.”

Her mother laughed. “You say that about
every one of the boys.”

Abby had to smile. “Yes, I do.” Except
Cade, he was so much more. “Trevor and Trace sent me a text message. They’ll be
driving in from Austin in time for the party and Justice may be here by now. He
hasn’t been home since the PRCA National Convention. When he left Vegas, he
went out to California to meet with a breeder.”

“I can’t wait to see all my boys,
including Cade. Is what I hear true?”

Until now, he’d been standing against the
wall, one foot propped up behind him, arms folded, staring at her. She’d been
doing her best to ignore him, but he was magnetic. Her body wanted to move in
his direction of its own volition. Damn him. “Cade? What about Cade?” Had
someone seen them kissing?

“Did your hard work for his nomination
come through?”

Oh! The nomination. “I haven’t heard, Mom.
Keep your fingers crossed and don’t say another word. He’s standing right
here.”

“Oh, he is?” Her mother made those three
words sound like fingernails on a chalk board.

“Yes, he’s just about to leave.” She
glared at him as he smirked and winked.

“Hmmm, I always told your daddy the two of
you didn’t hate each other nearly as much as you pretended to.”

“Mother.” She tried to speak volumes of
warning with her tone.

“When are you going to give me
grandchildren, Abilene Grace?”

“Oh! It would serve you right if I just
went out and got myself knocked up by some random man at Home Depot.” She
huffed with exasperation.

The snort from across the room echoed the
snort from over the receiver. They knew her too well. “Don’t tempt me, Abby.
I’m considering trying to find you a mail-order groom from the Ukraine.”

“Sorry, Mom. I’ve got to go.” She’d had
all she could handle.

“Will I see you tonight?” Her mother asked
in a hopeful tone.

“Yes, I’m coming to Jase and Jaw’s, I
mean, Pam’s party. I wouldn’t miss it.”

“Be nice, Abilene.” Her mother warned.

“ARG!” She hung up the phone with a little
more force than she intended.

She didn’t catch a break either, because
Cade spoke right up. “Two questions. First, what were you saying about me? But
more importantly, do you need a baby-daddy, Abilene?”

He pushed off from the wall and she
couldn’t be still. “None of your business and ‘no’. If I want a child, I’ll
adopt one.”

He smiled, his handsome face melting her
heart and heating her core.

“Doing it the old-fashioned way is a
helluva lot more fun. Didn’t seeing that big ole’ stallion mounting that filly
get to you, Honey? When I wasn’t worrying about you getting killed, my cock
sure perked up and took notice.”

“Don’t be vulgar.” She huffed, her whole
body tingling at the thought.

“Oh, I can promise you, you’d like my
dirty side.” Cade’s mutter was low with promise.

How did he get between her and both exits?
Cade blocked her way out from behind the counter. God, the man covered the
ground he walked on. “I…” Damn, she forgot what she was gonna say.

“Cat got your tongue?”

He moved closer, not touching, but she
felt him in every pore of her being. “No.”

“I know where I want to put my tongue,” he
spoke with a low, nipple throbbing growl. “Between those pretty little thighs.
Would you like that?”

Abby trembled, literally trembled. How was
she going to survive this? He didn’t realize he was killing her. Again, her
answer was, “No.” Actually, she didn’t know whether she’d like it or not. She
dreamed about what it would feel like to have a man bury his head between her
legs and lick…but that would also mean… “No!”

“Okay. Enough.” Cade took her by the
shoulders and pulled her flush against him. “I want you. I want to have sex
with you. And you want me. I didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday. So,
what’s it going to take, Abilene? Let’s negotiate.”

Good Lord. Abby shut her eyes. “I can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Cade was damn confused.

“Can’t.” She hung her head.

“Explain.” Seeming desperate, he ground
out the word.

Bam
! The door opened, letting in a blanket of
frigid air and a cloud of cloying perfume. “Abby? Abby Grace?” The voice was
grating and then it turned suspiciously amused. “Oh, my! What do we have here?”

Abby had to smile. This was the first time
she’d ever been glad to see her future sister-in-law. “Nothing, Pam, not a
thing. I was just considering putting down a bothersome polecat.” The polecat
chuckled. “Cade was helping me decide.” She met his hot stare. “Excuse me,
Cade. The bride needs me. We’ll have to talk another time.”

Abby left with Pam, listening as she
talked wedding plans, guest list and last minute problems that didn’t seem to
be nearly the crisis that Bridezilla made them out to be. Abby made notes and
promised to make some phone calls that would ensure the flowers were perfect
and the chocolate fountain ran warm with Godiva. Only once did Pam stop talking
and that was when she got a text, a text that unnerved her so much that she
stumbled over the only patch of smooth ground they covered.

“Something wrong?” Abby asked.

Pam still stared at the screen. “No, just
an old friend I haven’t heard from in a while.”

“Is she coming to the wedding?” She tried
to show interest in the woman who would soon be family.

“No, no,” Pam shook her head. “He won’t be
coming. That wouldn’t be a good idea at all. ”

He? Interesting. “Not everyone likes
weddings, they make some people sad.” Abby muttered. Unfortunately, she knew
that from experience.

“My wedding is going to be the event of
the season!”

Abby grimaced. It was her opinion that Pam
was more excited about the ceremony than she was about marrying Jase.

And that was a crying shame.

“Yuck!” The small boy spit out a mouthful
of food on the floor. “Gross!”

As the catering staff hurried to clean up
the mess, Abby elbowed Trevor. “Look, even Pam’s nephew doesn’t like the vegan
food.”

“Be nice, Sis,” Jase spoke in her ear and
Abby jumped. “Little Harold doesn’t like anything. You can’t judge culinary
cuisine by a two year old.”

“Don’t sneak up on me!” Abby whacked the
prospective groom. “I’m trying to be nice.”

“It’s just so hard for our sister to be
nice.” Shiloh sipped his scotch and water. “Is Cade still alive? I hear he’s
been rooming with you.”

Abby kept a poker face. Cade was driving
her crazy, but in an entirely different way than normal. “Oh, he’s here
somewhere. I haven’t killed him. Yet.” She’d been watching his every move,
actually. When he’d gone outside a moment ago, it had been all she could to
keep from following him. But she’d gone out of her away to avoid him. They
hadn’t talked since she’d made her escape with Pam earlier in the day.     

Jase ruffled her hair as if she were the
same age as Harold. “Cade and Abby sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.” She tried
to elbow him, but he grabbed her in a headlock. “Stop it, squirt. That’s what
you get, having six brothers twice your size.”

“Five brothers, I have five brothers.” She
had to make that distinction and she didn’t want to give the reason why a lot
of thought at the moment. “And paybacks can be excruciating.” Abby threatened,
and then laughed as Jase turned her loose. Their father was giving them an evil
eye. Even though they were all adults, Sam still could quell them with a look.
“Speaking of Harold, did Pam tell you her decision?” Abby couldn’t believe her
future sister-in-law had refused to let Jase’s German Shepherd be the ring
bearer in the wedding. Jase and Scout had been together for twelve years. The
dog was well behaved. A gentleman.

Unlike Harold.

“Speaking of Harold.” Abby pointed as they
watched the wild child streak across the room, screaming at the top of his
lungs. The music was at a lull and a whole room full of elegant people stopped
to watch the childish spectacle. A wholesale sigh of relief was heard when he
disappeared out the front door with his father hot on his heels. “I bet that
behavior runs in the family.” She snorted.

Jase got in her face. “If you don’t
sheathe those claws when you’re talking about my bride-to-be and her family,
I’m going to tell everyone you and Cade were necking in your office this
morning.”

Abby blanched. “What did you say?” She
tried to look affronted while Jase smirked.

Shiloh roared with laughter, which alerted
Trevor and Trace that something was up. “What’s going on? What did Baby Doc do?”

“Baby Doc is older and wiser than you,”
she snarled at the two Greek Gods who just happened to be her baby brothers.
She rounded on Jase. “And who told you I was kissing Cade? Pam? Was she spying
on me?”

“Cade? I knew it! You owe me a hundred
dollars.” He held his hand out to his brother.

Trace grumbled, but he got out his wallet,
glaring at Abby all the while. “I can’t believe you were swapping slobber with
your arch enemy. What is the world coming to? The next thing you know, Justice
will be dating Charlee Parker.”

“Not a chance in hell.” Justice joined his
siblings just in time to hear Trace’s comment. “Charlee is hard-headed,
opinionated and cold as ice.”

“Sounds like a challenge to me.” Jase
grinned.

“You better keep your mind on matrimony,
Short-timer.” Justice, being the oldest, did love to boss the rest of them
around.

“Do you want to dance?” Shiloh asked his
sister. He was ever the gentleman and knew she normally didn’t take a turn on
the dance floor.

“Thanks, but God, no.” Abby had consented
to dress up. She knew she couldn’t wear her boots and jeans to the dance, but
she was as uncomfortable as heck in this dressy get-up. “My feet are killing me
in these shoes.” She held up her foot, trying to gain sympathy for the four
inch heel.

“I bet Cade—” Jase didn’t get to finish
his statement before the screams began. “What the fuck?”

They all turned to look. Pam and her
sister, Harold’s mother, were yelling and waving their arms. “He’s out on the
pond. Jase, Harold followed your damn dog out on the ice!”

“My Baby! My Baby!”

Some stood in shock, but several started
running, including Abby. “The ice can’t be very thick.” She worried. The pond
had been her playground when she was younger. There wasn’t an inch of it she
didn’t know by heart. “This can’t be good.” She and her brothers took off. By
the time they reached the side of the pond, it was obvious Harold was in
trouble. Scout had crossed on over to the other side, probably after a rabbit
but the baby was toddling around out in the middle of the two acre lake.

“Oh, God. What are we going to do?” Jase
grabbed lights from the back of his truck. Abby ran on to the pond’s edge and
what she saw made her heart go up into her throat. Cade, her Cade, was slowly
making his way out to the little boy.

“Cade, no, no,” she whispered. She knew
someone had to rescue the child, but Cade was too big, too heavy. “Come back,
Cade. Let me go! I’m small. I won’t break the ice!”

“Somebody get my baby!” his mother
screamed.

“Call him, call him. He might turn back
around and come to you,” Abby cried. She held her breath, watching Cade make
his way slowly and carefully toward the middle. A crowd had gathered around the
perimeter and every eye was on the pair. One little boy who had no idea he was
in danger and one very big brave man who knew the risk he was taking – but went
anyway.

“Harold! Harold! Come to Mama!” His father
made the same plea. And with a squeal of delight, the toddler took off across
the icy surface.

Abby couldn’t move as she watched him
scamper back to safety. She was relieved the baby was okay, but he wasn’t the
only one who’d been in danger. Cade was still out there. He stopped, then
started to turn around when there was a loud CRACK!

Just that fast, he was there one moment
and gone the next. A man-size hole opened in the ice and he went under. Abby
screamed. Others screamed. She started forward, but Shiloh gripped her arm.
“Cade!”

“He’ll come out, Abby. The ice is thin. No
matter where he is, he can punch out.” Jase held her by the shoulders.

She waited, maybe five seconds. Nothing.
Nothing.

“I’ll go.” Justice started. Shiloh grabbed
his arm. “You’ll crack the ice. You’ll go down too.” He warned, his voice
filled with alarm.

“No!” she yelled and yanked her arm from
Shiloh’s grip. She started moving, throwing off her shoes as she went. Then she
was running, slipping, sliding, crying, covering the distance in a few seconds.
Without a thought, Abby jumped into the dark water, feet first.

GOD! The frigid, icy water hit her system
like a thousand knives cutting her flesh, completely stealing her breath. Abby
gasped, fighting for air. It didn’t matter. She had no time to lose. She went
under. It was black dark. What could she do?

Frantically, Abby felt around. Left.
Right. Up. Down. Her limbs were slow. It was so, so cold. This was hopeless. He
couldn’t die! He just couldn’t! She wouldn’t survive. Her heart cried out to
Cade. And then she touched something with her foot. Was it him? Please, Lord!
Her lungs were hurting already, burning like flames of fire. But she dived
down. When her body hit his, hands reached out and grabbed her. His hands. She
felt up and down him. What was wrong? And then she found it. He was hung, his
foot caught in the fork of an old tree trunk. With the buoyancy of the water,
he wasn’t able to pull free. Abby sank down to brace herself on the bottom,
grabbed his leg and tugged for all she was worth. Despite the freezing
temperature, her whole body was on fire. She needed to take a breath of air so
badly she couldn’t stand it. Soon, the instinctual need of her body would take
over and she would open her mouth and inhale – and die. Frantic, she pulled and
she pulled. Cade struggled, trying to help her. Finally, she held the top of
his boot and he managed to get free.

Abby was so tired, she just let go. It
would be so easy to take a breath and just float away. But strong arms
encircled her waist and they began to rise. A few more moments. A few more
moments. The top of her head hit the ice. He kept pulling them. Pulling them.
With a powerful punch, something gave. And what was an icy, wet grave was now
blessed cold air.

“Let me have her,” someone said.

Abby gasped, coughed and gasped again. Her
lungs ached. Everything hurt. She couldn’t open her eyes. She felt numb. She
felt lost.

“Grab the rope.” Another voice instructed.

Abby was jerked around, and then her legs
were in the water again and she whimpered.

“I’ve got you, Abilene.”

“Cade?”

“Open your eyes!” he commanded.

She did. She saw lights. She saw family.
Trace, her favorite brother, had crawled out on the ice with a rope tied around
his waist. He was slowly pulling them back to the bank.

“Get a doctor!”

“We need to get them warm!”

“I don’t need a damn doctor.” Cade
snarled. “See about Abby!”

“Pam’s Uncle, Doc Williford’s here,” a
familiar voice called.

Abby closed her eyes again. It was all
just too much.

* * *

“If you don’t wake up, I’m going to kiss
you.”

Abby’s eyes sprung open instantly.

Cade was lying next to her in the guest
bed—his bed. They were dry, warm and safe. “Hey,” she whispered. What was she
doing here?

“Hey, yourself.” Cade sent a prayer of
thankfulness up to heaven. It had been hours since they were rescued. Amelia
had wanted to call Lifeflight and have them flown to Austin to the hospital but
Pam’s uncle had examined them and deemed that neither was suffering from
hypothermia. Since the weather was so bad and dangerous to fly, the family had
called in the local doctor, Curtiss Parker. He was getting old and frail, but
he’d known what to do and Cade was feeling better – and now Abby was awake.    

She tried to sit up and realized she only
had on a T-shirt and panties, very brief, very revealing panties. Oh, God. Abby
scrambled for the sheet. “Who undressed me?” She asked frantically.

Cade gave her a sly smile. “You were soaking
wet, Sunshine. We couldn’t let you freeze.”

“Who undressed me? Who changed my
clothes?” She was panicking. Abby clutched the sheet under her chin.

Like a ton of bricks, Cade realized Abby
was sincerely freaking out, she wasn’t kidding. What the hell? “Your mother
undressed you, Abby. Dr. Parker was here and checked us both out. I wasn’t even
in the room, if that’s what you’re worried about. Everything’s okay. You just
slept through it. He gave you a mild sedative.” Cade put a hand out toward her
and she immediately scrunched up in bed. She seemed about to hyperventilate.
“Are you hurting somewhere, Abby?”

“No, no.” Abby moaned, laying her head
down on her knees. She tried to calm herself. The last few hours seemed like a
horrible dream. Cade could have died. She could have died. Oh, God, what if
she’d lost him? Turning, she looked at him silently for a moment. “Are you
okay?” 

“Am I okay?” Cade got up off the bed and
paced across the floor.

Land’s sakes, he made everything in the
room look small. She didn’t know what she expected him to say. Maybe a ‘thank
you’ would’ve been nice, but she wasn’t prepared for what she got.

When he looked back at her, he was stern,
no-nonsense and pissed. “What were you thinking coming in that lake after me?
Don’t you realize you could have died? It’s a miracles you don’t have
hypothermia!”

A sob stuck in her throat. “Well, how
about you? I was thinking I didn’t want you to drown, that’s what I was
thinking!” She fired back at him.

He stalked over. “Why you, Abby?” He threw
his hand in the air. “Why did you have to be the one to come after me? There
were a dozen other people standing there. One of your brothers could—”

“Stop it!” She screamed. Hell. Jerking the
sheet off the bed, she stood up. He wanted a reason? Maybe because she cared?
He had no idea this was the second time she’d risked her life to save him, and
she wasn’t about to share that particular piece of information. “I did it
because I was the only person small enough to get out there without breaking
the ice. Someone had to get to the hole you fell through. Someone had to save
you. Think about it!”

“It was foolish.” Cade stepped toward her,
his jaw set and his eyes blazing.

“It was necessary.” Abby stood in front of
him, refusing to back down, clutching the sheet over the top swell of her
breasts.

“I’ll show you what’s necessary.” Stepping
to her, he caught her shoulders and hauled her up against him, taking her mouth
in a total, complete claiming. This was no gentle kiss – it was hot, desperate
and hungry. Abby fought not to respond, but she couldn’t resist. With a sigh
she let go of the sheet and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her surrender
seemed to fan the flames and he tightened one arm around her waist, cradling
her head with his other hand. Only the fact that their bodies were pressed
together held the sheet in place.