Emma's Treasures (5 page)

It was dark when the boys heard her screams. They all heard her screaming their names over and over again as they rushed to the room, only to find it locked. Tate immediately kicked open the door, as Travis and Tucker rushed in to witness Emma thrashing in bed as if she was fighting for her very existence.

Tate grabbed a hold of her thrashing body, trying to wake her, but Emma in this state was so strong it took all three of them to hold her down. Emma was fighting all them as if her life was in danger. Nothing was waking her. She kept fighting and screaming their names over and over again. After about five minutes, her body broke out in a cold sweat and she began to shake.

“What the fuck is going on!” Tucker shouted as he and Tate tried to hold her body with theirs.

“Travis, call Doc, now!” Tate yelled, as Emma’s body just went lifeless in their arms. “Emma, baby, come on, sweetheart, wake up for me. Please, baby, wake up.” Tate whispered kisses over her face, trying to bring her out of this hellacious nightmare.

Travis ran back into the room. “Doc is on his way. Said give him ten minutes. He also said to get Emma into a cold shower.” With that Travis ran ahead and started the water, quickly peeling off his clothes. Tucker handed Emma to Travis, and soon he and Tate were disrobing and entering the cold spray.

Together they held Emma under the cold, icy water, allowing the coolness of the water to shock her body. It didn’t take long for Emma to awaken. Seeing her boys surrounding her with fear in their eyes, Emma just broke down and sobbed uncontrollably. Travis and Tucker left her alone with Tate, while they dried off and got dressed. They came back to help Tate take care of Emma.

Tate handed Emma over to them as they dried her and dressed her in dry, warm clothes. Travis picked her up and carried her down the hall and into the master bedroom.

None of the boys ever slept in there, and after the death of their father, they had completely gutted the place and remodeled the whole thing in the hopes that one day Emma would return. This was her room, and for some reason, this was the room they felt she needed to be in. Laying her down on the oversized king bed, Travis covered her with the thick quilt.

Emma was still crying uncontrollably. It broke Travis’s heart to see her in so much pain. “What the hell happened to her?” he whispered to himself.

They all heard the doorbell. Tucker volunteered to answer it. As soon as the doc saw Emma, he noticed her emotional state. Travis watched as the doc took her wrist in his hand, feeling for a pulse.

Seeing the tension and beads of sweat on her brow, and the fixed dilation of her pupils, he worried that Emma was on the brink of a full mental breakdown, and was surprised as the doc immediately administered a sedative. The boys watched as the doc did his job, never saying a single word while the man worked. When the doc was done, he motioned for the boys to follow him.

* * * *

In the kitchen the doc set his bag on the table and took a deep breath. “Someone want to tell me what the hell happened to Emma? That’s not the young, vibrant girl I remember seeing seven years ago.”

“We don’t know, Doc. She just woke up screaming. So we called you,” Tucker offered.

“What’s wrong with her, Doc?” Travis asked.

“I believe Emma is suffering from a very severe case of posttraumatic shock. But until I can fully examine her, I can only suspect.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Tate asked, moving closer to the doc.

“It means that something very fucking bad happened to that little girl. Whatever it was was so profound that her mind has literally built a brick wall around it, and I would wager big bucks she also built an electrical fence with a damn moat. She has hidden it so damn deep within her subconscious that it’s almost as if it never happened. I’ve only seen cases like this with returning vets, but never this severe with someone who has never seen combat.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Tate questioned.

“That’s just it, Tate, until she is ready to tell us what happened, I don’t know how to help her. If she hasn’t remembered what happened by now, I doubt she will remember in the morning,” he explained, running his hands through his hair in frustration.

“If that’s the case, what opened the door?” Travis asked, looking at everyone.

“That’s the million-dollar question. What happened in the last twenty-four hours?” Doc asked, taking a seat at the table. The boys soon followed.

“Emma took off for Denver to take care of a personal matter. She wasn’t happy when we stopped her. We brought her back here, and she went straight to my room,” Tate offered.

“That’s not entirely true, bro. Don’t forget what Tabitha said. She said that she was afraid the bad man was going to hurt Emma again.”

“Who is Tabitha?” Doc immediately asked.

“Shit, doc, we’re sorry. With so much going on around here, nobody knows, do they? Emma has a daughter, our daughter. Her name is Tabitha.” Tate explained.

“Well, that clarifies that.” The doc smiled at the happy news. “So, what about this bad man?”

“We don’t know and neither does Tabitha,” Tucker said.

“Well, whatever happened, it opened the door. I don’t know how she will respond when she wakes. She will either act as if nothing happened, and in my opinion that is really bad, because she will have repressed that memory again, or she will remember, which means she will need me, so I am not leaving until she wakes up. Better go get the coffee on, boys, it’s going to be a long night.”

* * * *

Emma walked into the kitchen to find all the boys sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. They each looked at her with concern. She noticed Doc standing against the counter, watching as she entered the room.

“Morning,” Emma said as she made her way to the coffeemaker. Everyone held their breaths as Emma poured a cup of coffee and soon began making breakfast.

The kitchen was so quiet that it was giving Emma the creeps. She turned to find them all looking at her. “What?” she asked, perturbed to be gawked at like some freak show.

“How are you feeling this morning, Emma?” Doc began.

“Fine. Why are you here, Doc? Oh my God, did something happen to Tabitha?” Emma said franticly as she quickly moved to get to her daughter, only to be stopped by Tucker. “She’s fine, baby, sleeping peacefully. I checked on her no more than an hour ago.”

Emma sighed in relief. “Then what is going on?” she asked, looking nervously at everyone.

“Emma,” the doc began, “what was the last thing you remember from yesterday?”

Emma looked from the boys to the doc, slowly sitting down. Tucker and Tate were there instantly, supporting her in any way she needed. “It’s okay, sweetheart, just tell the doc what you remember,” Tate said, gently rubbing her leg.

Something was up. Emma knew it. Her gut was screaming at her, but what? She couldn’t think of anything. She remembered everything from yesterday, from her leaving to how angry she was that Tate came to bring her back home. She remembered the quiet drive, and walking directly into the bedroom. She never came out for dinner, just showered and went to bed. That was it. Nothing had happened.

Emma told them as such, but by the looks on their faces, it wasn’t what they wanted to hear. They were hiding something, something big, and quite frankly, it was beginning to freak her out.

“Someone better tell me what the hell is going on. You’re scaring me.”

“Emma, the boys called me last night because you had a nightmare.”

“They called you for a nightmare?” Emma questioned with a hint of amusement. “I can’t wait to see how you boys will react when Tabitha scrapes her knee. What’s that gonna warrant, a trip to the emergency room?” she said, laughing. Getting up, Emma was still laughing when she patted the doc on his shoulder. “Sorry, Doc. This is so funny.”

“Emma, you scared the shit out of us last night,” Travis said, getting angry.

“Well, I’m sorry my nightmare scared you, Travis, but it was just a nightmare.”

“It wasn’t just a nightmare! You screamed our names over and over again. Then you began fighting so hard, it took me and Tucker and Tate to control you. You wouldn’t wake up, Emma…You didn’t wake up!” Travis said, grabbing a hold of her.

“Travis, let her go,” Tate said in an eerily vicious tone behind him.

The sound of Tate’s tone slithered through Emma, traveling slowly into her body till it reached her head. That tone, that evil, menacing tone, erupted violently within her, as her past came crushing forward once again. Sweat instantly dotted her forehead, her skin got clammy, her pupils dilated, and her heart felt like it was going to explode right out of her chest.

She remembered that voice, and everything in her steeled. Her eyes became unfocused, glazed over, and survival became paramount. Her surroundings disappeared, and she saw nothing but the danger in front of her. Nothing existed except freedom. She had to get free. “Get your filthy hands off me, you nasty-ass son of a bitch. Don’t you ever touch me again. I will kill you if you do,” she whispered with such rage it shocked everyone.

* * * *

The room was so damn quiet that nobody had any problems hearing the cows out in the back forty. Travis looked at the woman before him, and there no longer stood the woman he loved, but a caged animal that would do anything to get free. Fear blazed through her eyes, and in that instant Travis knew the Emma he loved was no longer there. Afraid to move, Travis slowly lowered his hands and backed away. “Emma?” he softly questioned.

Before them all was not the loving, sweet Emma. What stood in the kitchen was a woman who was about to kill. Never before had any of them seen such rage radiate from Emma. Tucker swore he was standing before the gates of hell himself, and there standing guard was Emma. Tate could see that electricity emanating from her body, and for a split second, he could swear he heard thunder clap somewhere off in the distance. Just then, everyone heard Tabitha running down the hall. When Emma went to grab her, Travis tackled Emma, while Tate and Tucker ran to head Tabitha off at the pass, before she entered the kitchen.

Travis fought off Emma’s punches and tried desperately to hold her still, while Doc injected her arm with a sedative.

“I’m calling for an ambulance. I want her admitted immediately to the psychiatric ward for a seventy-two-hour hold. I want to run some tests on her. She needs help, Travis. Help that she can only get in a hospital,” Doc informed him, getting to his feet.

Travis looked up at the doc while holding Emma’s now-sleeping body in his hands. “I can’t let you do that.”

“You have no choice. You wouldn’t want to risk her around Tabitha, would you? She needs help, Travis,” Doc shouted.

“Emma is not leaving this house,” Tate said from the doorway. “Whatever she needs, we will help her. You can stay if you like, but Emma is not leaving this house.”

“You guys are crazy, you know that! This woman needs professional help. She is a danger to you and her daughter,” he shouted back.

“She is not leaving,” Tate said resolutely.

“Fine, have it your way, but let me tell you, if Emma so much as acts likes she is getting ready to run with Tabitha, I will call child welfare and have Tabitha removed from this house and you!”

Travis watched as Tate moved stealthily nose to nose with the doc. “Don’t threaten me, Doc.”

“Tate, I am only concerned for Emma. She needs help. Help I can get her at a hospital. Look,” Doc said, taking a deep breath, trying to get control of the situation, “how about I send Kelly over here? She has a degree in psychology and child welfare. She is young, but very good. Kelly has been helping me with some of the soldiers that live around here. I will ask her if she could help out over here. Is that okay?”

“Are you talking about Kelly Brannon, Margaret and Conner’s daughter?” Travis asked, holding Emma.

“Yes. She has been working for me for over five months now, and has been wonderful with helping the vets. She has this ability to get them to open up and talk,” Doc replied, trying to calm the situation.

“See if she can come over. We will pay whatever she asks, but I am serious Doc, Emma is not leaving this house. I just found her, and I will not lose her again,” Tate said, taking Emma from Travis and taking her back to the bedroom.

“I’m going home, but understand this, that wasn’t a threat. I meant every word. Call me if you need me,” Doc said, grabbing his bag and leaving.

Emma woke with Tate holding her. She could feel his soft breath tickling her neck, and she giggled, quietly. Rolling over, she snuggled closer to him, loving the feel of his arms around her. Emma knew that the situation she was in was still not resolved, but for this one moment, she just wanted everything to be fine. She wanted to feel his strong, loving arms around her again. Out of all the boys, Tate was the most compassionate, the most loving. He understood her where the other two didn’t always understand. Each of the boys had a trait that Emma adored, and it was Tate’s undying compassion that she loved.

It was Tate who, when Emma was eight and fell off of her horse and broke her leg, carried her all the way to Doc Jenkins’s office, and held her hand while the doc set and casted her leg. When she was thirteen, Tate had held her when she cried because her first date ended horribly. He listened to her retell her story, holding her for hours as she cried into his shirt. He was there when at fifteen he found her crying in an open field, because she had just learned that her father was losing his ranch. Tate had been her rock her whole life. She talked to him and he listened, and she loved him.

“You awake?” he whispered, holding her tighter.

“Yeah, sorry I woke you.”

“No need to apologize, sweetheart. I wasn’t really sleeping, anyway.”

“Could’ve fooled me.” Emma laughed as she looked up at him.

“Emma, we have to talk, baby.”

“I know, but not right now, okay?”

“Emma,” Tate said, moaning, releasing her as he sat up in the bed. “Sweetheart, you scared the crap out of me. Something is going on, and I really need you to help me understand. This isn’t about you withholding Tabitha anymore. We can talk about that later, but this,” he said, emphasizing his arms wide, “this whole mess is getting out of hand. You’re fighting something that I think you can’t win against. Please talk to me.”

Rising from the bed, Emma donned Tate’s robe. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re lying, Emma, to me and to yourself.”

“Honestly, Tate, I am sorry my nightmare scared the crap out of you, but that’s all it was. A nightmare. Hell, I can’t even remember what it was.”

“What about when you freaked out on Travis in the kitchen. Doc had to give you another shot to calm you down. You were acting like a madwoman, Emma.”

“I did that?” she said, sitting back on the bed, trying to remember what had happened, but nothing came to mind. All she remembered was talking with the boys and Doc about her nightmare. Then she remembered Travis getting angry. That was it, nothing more.

Emma felt Tate place his hands on her shoulders and begin to rub gently. She always did love when he did that. It was like he knew she needed the attention to relax. Moaning into the massage, she let her head fall back against his chest, enjoying how he was kneading the tension from her body.

Her moans were pleasure to his ears as he remembered their first time together. She was so sweet, gentle, loving. Trusting, that was what he remembered the most. She trusted him. She gave herself willingly to him.

Slowly rubbing her shoulders, Tate was lost in her moans when his hands began to slowly move down her arms, and before he knew what he was going, he was fondling her breasts, kneading them gently, reverently, as if they were the most precious things to him. Emma moaned louder, turning her body to allow him better access. The moment her mouth was in range, Tate gently took her lips, caressing them, reacquainting himself with her taste. Her soft, supple lips were an aphrodisiac to his soul.

Emma deepened the kiss, sliding her tongue into his mouth. It was Tate’s turn to moan, and he did just that. Slowly getting to her knees, Emma never broke the kiss as she removed the robe. Pushing Tate back, Emma laid herself on top of him as she devoured his mouth.

Tate groaned as Emma sucked his tongue into her mouth, swirling her tongue around his mouth, over his teeth, his lips. Straddling him, Emma began to grind her pelvis into him, as the passion from her kiss began to quickly heat his body to the point of boiling. Tate wrapped his arms around her, and quickly maneuvered her under him. Coming up for breath, he removed his shirt, never saying a word. He helped Emma out of her shirt, leaving them both naked from above the waist.

Tate slowly lowered his mouth to hers once again, kissing her gently, slowly trailing kisses down her neck and shoulders, ending at her breasts. Holding them gently in his hands, he brought them to his mouth and began to suckle her tiny nipples. She arched into him, moaning as he nipped her pert nipples between his teeth. Taking his time with her, like he did all things, paying special attention to every detail, he moved slowly down her body, kissing her stomach and hips. When he reached her panties, he hooked his fingers in them and slid them slowly off of her body. Spreading her legs, Tate lowered his mouth to her wet pussy.

She thrust her breast and hips up, as Tate’s mouth connected with her clit. She cried out when he sucked her nub into his mouth, tickling it with his tongue. Her pussy clinched and within seconds began to pour. Tate took his time, licking up every juicy morsel, still nipping at her clit every chance he could get.

Raising his head up from her delicious pussy, Tate could see the passion and hunger in Emma’s eyes, and it was all for him, just him. Standing, he slowly unbuttoned his jeans, letting them fall from hips to the floor. Crawling back onto the bed, he stopped to kiss her stomach one more time before her laid himself over her. With one hand on his cock and his lips on her mouth, Tate gently entered her warm, wet sheath.

Her cry of pleasure was just the poison he needed. Moving within her, Tate loved Emma the only way he knew how—with his body.

* * * *

Emma was on fire. She wanted Tate, and he was slowly killing her with his attentiveness. She couldn’t contain her arousal anymore than she could control the seasons. Emma felt pleasure from her head to the tips of her toes. Holding onto to Tate as he took his time making love to her was what she needed. She felt loved. She needed him so badly she thought her heart was about to burst. He took his time, as he always did, sliding his cock in and out of her, extracting pleasure from her body in places she never knew existed. His mouth never left hers as he loved her. She began to feel the ripples of pleasure reach her pussy once again, as he continued to stretch her with his soft plunges. Groaning into his mouth, Emma raised her legs, allowing him better access, and Tate took advantage, holding her leg high on his hip as he used hips to slowly circle her dripping pussy. Her moans became louder, as Tate continued his assault on her senses.

Emma heard Tate grinding his teeth as he pleasured her with his body.

Tate felt her pussy ripple along the length of his hard cock. Moving a little faster, Emma released him from the long kiss and panted, and her walls clamped down on his buried flesh as he continued to plunge himself deeper and deeper. When his throbbing cock pushed in one more time, Emma could feel his pulses of cum shoot into her hot pussy, extracting her own climax as she milked him of every last drop.

Tate was panting as he fell onto on Emma, as she wrapped her arms around him, holding him closely to her heart.

Her breathing finally returning to normal, she felt bereft when Tate rolled from her body. Turning to look at him, he just smiled, grabbed the comforter, pulled her close, and turned the light off.

“I love you, Emma. I never stopped,” he whispered into the dark room, leaving her speechless.

* * * *

The boys kept a close eye on Emma over the next couple of days until Kelly arrived. Even though Emma wasn’t too thrilled with having Kelly underfoot, she accepted the fact that the boys firmly believed she needed the help, and it would also help Kelly with her externship with the doc. So, Emma relented and accepted the help.

Hours turned into days, and before they knew it, a few weeks had passed without any transgressions from Emma. For all intents and purposes, it was like nothing had happened. She still hadn’t talked about what was going on in Denver. Actually, it was like she had wiped it from her mind. But still, every now and then, each of the boys or Kelly would see Emma jump from odd sounds, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was following.

Soon, Emma and Kelly had worked themselves into a routine, and before they knew it, it seemed Emma was looking forward to Kelly’s visits.

“Yo, Ems! I’m here,” Kelly shouted as she walked through the front door.

“In the kitchen,” Emma shouted back.

Kelly set her bags down on the table and observed as Emma prepared dinner. She had done everything the doc had requested from her, but yet was unable to get Emma to open up about what was causing her trauma.

It only took Kelly two weeks to agree with the doc that Emma was suffering from posttraumatic shock. The problem was trying to figure out what was causing it. Since arriving here at the ranch, Kelly had tried everything she could think of to get Emma to open up, from talking about her past, to talking about dreams. The only thing Kelly was able to find out was that Emma didn’t dream, and when the word “nightmare” was brought up, Emma would tense up. So, for the time being, she agreed with the doc, and decided to allow things to happen naturally.

“So, what’s on the agenda today?” Emma asked as she was cutting up vegetables.

“Oh, not much. After I get done here, I get to head over to see Kevin Morris. His unit was released from Walter Reed two weeks ago, and they are finally here in Treasure. Half of the boys are staying out at the Morris’s, and the rest are with Doc out at his parents’ place. The Town is working hard to find them all a place where they can recover in peace.

“It must be so hard for them. I will talk with the boys and see what we can do.”

“Any help will help.”

“So how is Kevin? I haven’t seen him since fifth grade. He was such loner back then.”

“He is doing okay, but needs some help and someone to listen. That’s where I come in. Plus, I get to see all of his friends, and that’s a major plus for me!” Kelly said, smiling.

“Girl, you are so bad. I thought you were not allowed to date your patients?”

“Ah, but I’m not a doctor. I am just helping out the doc, and plus I have a good ear. So, while I am there, I talk with Kevin and the rest of them, and if Daniel Meyer just happens to show up…Yeah me!”

“Ah…” Emma whispered.

For the last couple of weeks, all Kelly could talk about was the incredibly handsome but shy Daniel Meyer. When Kevin returned home, he had brought the remaining members of his squad with him, since apparently none of them had anywhere else to go. Within days of their return, the town had adopted all of them, and all were doing everything they could to make them all functional members of society once again.

Emma continued chopping vegetables and preparing dinner, when Tabitha ran into the house, laughing and squealing gleefully.

“Whoa there, Calamity Jane, where are you running to?” Kelly asked, snagging Tabitha and sitting her on her lap.

“I gotta git! Daddy’s gonna find me and he said when he does, he’s gonna throwed me in the pond,” Tabitha said quickly, trying to get out of Kelly’s lap.

“Now, why would your daddy want to ‘throwed’ you in the pond?” Kelly laughed.

“Because he saw me swimmin’ in the pond, after he told me not to.”

“Ah. Well then, proceed,” Kelly said, letting Tabitha go, watching her take off like a bullet out the front door and down the steps.

She turned her attention back to Emma and noticed that she had stopped moving. Her back was ramrod straight, and the whites of her knuckles were firmly gripping the sharp knife. Standing slowly, she moved a step closer to Emma, and speaking in a very calm voice, she said, “Emma, are you okay?”

Emma never moved. Her breathing was erratic, and her protective stance was still very firm. The moment Kelly took another step, Tucker ran through the back door calling for Tabby, letting the door slam. Emma instantly turned with knife in hand and froze, never feeling the slice of the cold metal across her palm.

“Emma! You’re bleeding,” Tucker said, moving toward her, but was stopped when Kelly shouted, “Do not move, Tucker!”

“What the hell, Kelly, she’s bleeding.”

“I know, but Emma is not herself right now. I need you to walk behind me and go find your brothers and get someone to watch over Tabby. I will be fine here with Miss Emma. Isn’t that right, Emma? You and I are going to sit and have ourselves a nice little conversation,” Kelly said, looking directly at Emma.

Kelly moved and pulled out a chair for Emma to sit. When Emma didn’t move, Kelly slowly walked over to her. “Okay, Emma, I am going to touch your arm and help you over to that chair. Then we are going to sit down, okay?”

The moment Kelly touched Emma’s elbow, Emma snapped out of her daze and blinked, dropping the knife on the floor. The instant pain from the cut on her palm grabbed her attention, and Emma turned to run her bleeding hand under water. She didn’t stop Kelly when she wrapped a towel around her hand and guided her to the table. When they both were seated, Emma looked up at Kelly as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I did it again, didn’t I?”

“It’s okay, Emma, we just need to figure out why, and we will, just as soon as you open up and start talking. Till then, don’t worry. I’ve got your back,” Kelly said, wrapping her arms around Emma as she cried.

Neither woman noticed the three men standing off to the side in the kitchen, watching the scene unfold.