brides for brothers 03 - cowboy groom (22 page)

Starting the car, he backed out of the small hospital parking lot and soon had them on the road back to the ranch.

“I want to thank you for helping tonight,” Anna whispered, not moving as she leaned against him.

“No problem. I was real proud of you,” he added, turning to kiss her brow.

She swallowed noisily, then seemed to struggle to say, “There wasn’t a lot I could do. I wasn’t s-sure the baby would make it.”

“It must be hard for you when something goes wrong.” He couldn’t imagine having to face the death of a baby. Or a young woman in the prime of her life. His arm tightened as he thought of Anna in Carrie’s place.

She was pressed against him, one hand clutching his shirt. It made him feel good to know that she wanted him to hold her close. That she depended on him. As tired as he himself was, however, it took a few minutes to realize that Anna had begun to tremble.

“Anna, are you all right?”

She didn’t answer except for a low sob.

He pulled the car to the side of the road and shut off the engine. “Sugar? What’s wrong? Is she not going to make it?”

Though he tried to see her face, she buried it in his shirt. He was relieved when she shook her head, but her sobs were deeper. He ran his hands up and down her back, unsure what to do.

“Anna, what—?”

“It’s my mother all over again,” she cried. “Only there wasn’t anyone to help
her.
Just me…and I couldn’t!”

“Of course you couldn’t, Anna. You were only six years old. It’s not your fault. And you saved Carrie tonight. And the baby.”

She gulped several times before she rubbed her hand over his shirt. “Sorry. I’ve got your shirt all wet.”

He didn’t mind. Especially since she stayed pressed against him. He brushed her hair back and stroked her cheek. “No problem.”

“It’s just that…every time, I see my mother. I feel that panic rise up in me, as if I were six years old again.” Her sob turned into a hiccup, and she buried her face again.

“Mercy, sugar, you go through this every time?”

She shook her head. “Only when—when it’s bad, like tonight. And usually I’m by myself when I fall apart. Sorry, Brett. Guess now you know what a coward I am.”

He wrapped both arms tightly around her. “I don’t know any such thing. I know you’re brave, and skilled, and caring. I know that you care more about other people than you do about yourself.” He tilted up her chin to kiss her trembling lips, trying to restrain his urge to devour her.

Those soft lips molded themselves to his, and she pressed even closer. Her need only fed the fire burning inside him. He loved her response. There was nothing coy about Anna O’Brien. She made him feel good all over…in more ways than one.

He only hoped he did as much for her. He worried that she would later think he’d taken advantage of her emotional needs. “Anna, are you sure?”

She looked up at him, her eyes wide. “I’m sure. I was sure earlier, in your bed. I’ve fought what you do to me for too long. I need you, Brett. I need to feel you inside me, around me. Don’t stop.”

Whatever the lady wanted, he readily agreed, his lips returning to hers. As if it were a sacrifice. He would’ve died if she’d backed off.

She was such a little thing, and yet she held his heart in her hands. His lips left hers and trailed down her neck, tasting her soft skin.

Just like this afternoon and earlier tonight, he was claiming her, and she wasn’t saying no.

His hands slid under her sweatshirt as his mouth devoured her. He had to touch her skin, to feel her warmth. He came to an abrupt halt, however, when he realized she wore nothing beneath the sweatshirt. If he’d known that earlier, he wouldn’t have been able to think of anything else.

Pulling his lips away, he gasped, “You’re not wearing a bra!”

Embarrassed, she pulled her shirt down and tried to sit up. “No. I’m—I’m not very big. No one can tell.”

Brett pulled her back across his chest, his mouth returning to hers and his hands sliding up her slim form. His hands eagerly slid under her shirt again, cupping her breasts.

Several minutes passed before he lifted his mouth to respond to her comment. “You’re perfect, Anna O’Brien. Absolutely perfect.”

He began pushing the sweatshirt up, unable to wait to see her milky skin in the moonlight, to touch every part of her. He’d forgotten his exhaustion, and hers, too.

When he’d removed the shirt, he paused in reverent awe before his hands cupped her small breasts again, his thumbs gently stroking. Her breasts were the most beautiful he’d ever seen.

She gasped several deep breaths but didn’t protest him having pulled her sweatshirt from her slim, lithe figure. His lips sought hers as his hands stroked her.

He was pleased when she began unbuttoning his shirt. The feel of her fingers on his skin set him on fire. Soon he was bare-chested, too, and she ran her fingers through his chest hairs, sending shivers all over him.

In spite of the small space in her front seat, Brett was eager to completely disrobe. All his plans for a beautifully romantic seduction, which he’d almost achieved in his bed earlier that evening, had flown out the window.

All he knew was that Anna was his. Forever and ever. And he was going to get around to informing her of that fact in case she had any doubts. Soon. Right now he had other things on his mind.

He did have a momentary thought about a condom, since Jake had always preached responsibility, but he couldn’t stop now. It didn’t matter, since he and Anna would be married right away.

When he entered her, Brett felt the most incredible sense of peace and homecoming, of rightness, that he’d ever felt. It was immediately replaced by intense excitement, a driving urge to completion that consumed him. Fortunately Anna was urging him on, crooning to him with a sweetness that made the final explosion all that much more powerful.

As silence and stillness fell in the little car, he twisted the pair of them so he was on bottom and she could rest atop him.

“We should—”

“Rest, sugar. Rest. We’ll deal with everything later.” He knew how tired she was and, more than ever, he wanted to take care of her. Soon he’d take her back to the ranch and they’d sleep in his bed, but for a few moments, he needed to hold her here.

He kissed the top of her head and held her against him, feeling her relax, sinking onto him, making him feel even more that they were one.

Anna let a small sigh of contentment escape as she snuggled into Brett. She wasn’t willing to debate her behavior tonight. She’d tried too long and hard to resist this man, but tonight she couldn’t. Tomorrow she’d face the pain of loving him. Tomorrow she’d worry about the future. Tonight she’d just love him.

With a grand, glorious, incredible love.

Chapter Seventeen

The ringing bothered her.

It wasn’t close. Muffled. That was how it sounded. She should answer it. If she knew where it was coming from.

But she was so comfortable, so warm, so…content.

The ringing came again. She opened one eye, expecting to see her bedroom. Instead, she saw the car dashboard.

About the same time, she realized she was stretched out stark naked on top of Brett Randall.

“Dear God, what have I done?” she said with a gasp, her words as much a prayer as anything.

The ringing of the phone again sent her diving over into the back seat, scrambling for her bag. She kept the cellular phone there and only used it in emergencies.

“Hello?” she gasped.

“Anna? Where are you? It’s time!” Pete’s voice was frantic, and he didn’t bother to take time to breathe. “She’s in labor. Hurry, Anna.”

“I’m on my way. Ten minutes at the most.”

Brett’s head appeared above the seat. “Anna? What’s wrong?”

He looked groggy, but Anna couldn’t spare the time to be concerned about him.

Or about what she’d done.

“Janie’s in labor.” She twisted and turned, trying to find her clothes. Her jeans were in the back seat, but she couldn’t find her panties or her sweatshirt anywhere. “Damn it, where are my clothes?”

Brett held out her panties, and she snatched them from him. “Is my sweatshirt up there?” Later, she was going to be horribly embarrassed about her situation. She didn’t have time now.

“Get dressed, Brett,” she snapped as she grabbed her top from him and shrugged into it. By the time she had her clothes on, Brett had pulled on his jeans and was buttoning his shirt.

She clambered back over the seat and slid behind the wheel, shoving Brett’s leg out of the way. Without looking at him, she started the car and rammed her foot on the accelerator.

Dawn was just breaking, but there wasn’t much light because a thunderstorm was building all around them. “This storm is going to panic Pete.”

“He’ll be all right. But what about Janie? She’s not due yet, either.”

“She’s thirty-three weeks, only three weeks early. That’s fairly normal for twins,” she said tersely, staring at the road ahead of her, checking her watch.

He didn’t ask any more questions. Much to Anna’s relief. She was focused on getting to Janie. But on the fringes of her mind, she was replaying what had taken place in her car a few hours ago.

Their lovemaking had been unbelievably wonderful…and incredibly stupid. She wasn’t the kind of woman who slept around. But Brett wouldn’t know that.

He probably thought they would have an affair.

She couldn’t do that. She couldn’t offer him casual sex when the urge overtook him. All she had to offer was her entire being, in particular her heart. And when he rejected it, she would be devastated.

The lights of the ranch house drew her thoughts, but she took one last look at Brett, one lingering look of love, before she faced what lay ahead. Both for Janie and herself.

When they reached the ranch, Jake was on the back porch watching for them. Anna didn’t ask Brett to bring her bag this time. She didn’t want him anywhere near her.

“I’m here,” she announced unnecessarily as she ran past Jake.

Within seconds she was in Janie’s room, reassuring both Pete and Janie that everything was progressing as it should. She sent Pete out to call Janie’s mother and Doc, and she drew her first deep breath since the phone had awakened her.

“W
HERE HAVE YOU TWO BEEN
?” Jake asked as he led Brett into the kitchen and poured him a cup of coffee.

“Uh, I went with Anna, remember? Carrie and Gabe Brown. If it hadn’t been for Anna, Carrie and the baby might not’ve made it.”

“Everything’s okay now?”

“Yeah.” Brett cleared his throat. Yeah, everything was great. He and Anna had worked out their differences. Hadn’t they? He only knew they belonged together. No question about that now. He grinned, his gaze dreamy.

“So you just left the hospital?”

Jake’s question brought him back to reality. He looked at his sharp-eyed brother and dismissed any idea of lying to him. “Uh, no, not exactly. When we left the hospital, Anna seemed okay, but after a few minutes, she started crying. I stopped the car to console her and—and we decided to rest for a while. And—and we fell asleep.”

Kind of an expurgated version of the truth, but—

“I guess that would explain why your shirt is buttoned up crooked,” Jake said, a grin on his face.

Though he felt his cheeks heating up, Brett couldn’t hold back a smile. Damn! Being with Anna felt so good he wanted to tell everyone. “Yeah, I guess it would.”

“She’s a good woman,” Jake said softly. “You got lucky, brother.”

“Yeah.”

J
ANIE WAS TAKING HER TIME
.

Brett felt sure he was going crazy. Several times, he’d gone upstairs and rapped softly on the door of Janie’s bedroom. Each time, Janie’s mother, Lavinia, opened the door to tell him Janie was doing fine. When he asked about Anna, she told him Anna was doing fine also.

“But she hasn’t had much rest,” he whispered back the second time.

“She’s taken several naps.”

“Can I bring her some food? And you, too, of course,” he hurriedly added, remembering his manners.

“Red has brought us some food, thank you, Brett. Why don’t you get Pete to go downstairs for a while?”

So instead of getting to see Anna, he escorted his brother downstairs. And paced with him. And listened to him talk.

“I think Janie should go to the hospital,” Pete burst out.

“Want me to call an ambulance?” Brett offered.

“No, she won’t go. She wants the babies to be born here. Like we were. And Anna says there’s no reason to transfer her to the hospital right now.”

“Did she talk to Doc?”

“Yeah. They’re talking all the time. I’d better go back up there.”

As Pete headed for the stairs, Brett grabbed his arm. “Your mother-in-law told me to keep you down here for at least half an hour, and it’s only been five minutes. Let’s go to the kitchen and get something to eat.”

He watched the struggle on Pete’s face, knowing his brother couldn’t think of eating while Janie was in labor. He could sympathize with him.

And he hoped his and Anna’s…activity only a few hours ago didn’t result in a pregnancy. Not that he didn’t want babies. Of course he did. But he wasn’t ready to face what Pete was going through just yet. He wanted some time with Anna. Just the two of them.

Chad and Jake, along with Janie’s father, were in the kitchen with Red when they entered. All conversation halted as Pete and Brett entered.

Waiting was difficult, Brett decided, but having family around certainly made a difference. He thought about how hard it must’ve been on Anna, being all alone. But she wasn’t anymore. She was going to be a Randall. And their family was growing every day.

“Does this ever get any easier?” Pete asked as he plopped down beside Jake.

“Don’t look at me,” Jake returned. “You’re the first one to go through this fathering business.”

“But he’s not going to be the last,” Chad said.

No, he wouldn’t be the last, Brett agreed silently.

“It never got any easier for me,” Hank muttered.

Everyone remembered that he and his wife had suffered several miscarriages.

“It was pretty hard for Gabe and Carrie last night,” Brett said. “Looks like she and the baby will be all right, but I’m not sure about Gabe. He passes out at the sight of blood, but he went into the operating room to be with her.”