Lover of My Dreams (3 page)

“Thanks,” Roy said, nodding slightly to his friend. “Don’t worry about me. Let’s take care of Rachel.”

Sam barely acknowledged his appreciation, turning to look around the area. He cradled his left arm against his chest, holding it still to ease the throbbing pain.

“Look for some short branches so we can secure Rachel’s leg. Try to get some that are as straight as possible.”

Roy nodded and turned to seek out the needed branches. Sam turned toward Rachel, walked toward her slowly then stopped and knelt down beside her. She was leaning back on her hands, looking comfortable as she watched him, but he knew that she had to be in some serious pain.

“Which leg?” he asked quietly, holding his left arm securely against his chest as he moved toward her.

“The left,” she told him, gritting her teeth in preparation for his touch.

He reached forward with his good hand and, as gently as he could, placed his hand on her leg. Beginning at her hip joint, he carefully felt the muscle and bone all the way down to her ankle. When he looked up at Rachel, he saw that she was covered in perspiration and her complexion was pale. He watched her eyes carefully, worrying that she would lose consciousness.

“Are you going to pass out on me?” he asked her, his voice rough as he tried to control his own pain.

“Well, you almost did! Why can’t I?” she told him defiantly.

“No reason,” he told her, smiling. He reached forward quickly to hold her as she lost her tenuous grasp of awareness and fell backward. He did the best he could to steady her, but without the use of his left arm, it was impossible. He found himself being pulled toward her as she fell backward. His right arm protected her from injuring herself as she fell, but it also prevented him from doing anything but lay on top of her.

He couldn’t move. He closed his eyes and swallowed then took a steadying breath. There was no way that he could pull himself away from the softness of her curves. Instead, he could only rest against her body, his chest against hers and his face touching her cheek. He smiled as he breathed in the fresh scent of her hair. For those brief moments their cheeks touched. He turned to look at her, smiling as his attention was drawn to the unique birthmark at the corner of Rachel’s right eye. He closed his eyes, feeling a sense of comfort seeing the mark that had captured his interest ever since he could remember.

As she lay beneath him, wrapped in his embrace, his body reacted without concern of what should or shouldn’t be. Her breasts pushed against his chest and with each breath that she took, he was reminded of their fullness. He wanted to explore their beautiful softness with his hands.

He had the sudden flash of a picture of him taking each soft mound into his mouth and teasing her peaked nipples with his tongue. It made his breathing quicken and his body tense with arousal. He was so hard, the confines of his jeans were nearly strangling him. He tried to think of anything to get his mind off the desire that was shooting straight through him at the incredible feeling of her body beneath him.

After the third time of reciting the five times table, he was finally able to control his body and felt the tightness in his chest and groin easing. With one last brush of his face against her temple, he breathed in the alluring scent of her soft hair then rested his cheek against hers to wait patiently and, if he were to be honest with himself, with a great deal of contentment, until Roy returned.

“Sam, get off my cousin,” Roy told him with humor in his voice.

Sam smiled and found his cheek making contact with Rachel’s one more time. “I can’t,” he told Roy in a muffled voice, his mouth against the collar of her shirt.

Roy put down the two relatively straight pieces of branches that he was carrying and reached forward to grab Sam by the waist and gently pull him off his cousin. He saw that Rachel was unconscious and knew that this was no time to give Sam a hard time about his close proximity to his cousin.

“What happened?” Roy asked him worriedly.

“She passed out when I was examining her leg,” Sam explained. “Come on. Let’s get it splinted before she comes to. The less she has to feel the better.”

Roy nodded and bent to retrieve the branches. They worked together, with Sam guiding him and Roy doing most of the work, and splinted Rachel’s leg quickly.

Rachel slowly became aware of the reality of the hard ground beneath her and the tugging at her left leg. She opened her eyes slowly, gradually becoming aware of Roy tying the last piece of cloth in place to stabilize the branch that was supporting her ankle. She watched as Sam slowly took a length of his shredded shirt and looped it around his neck. She tried to reach up to help him but was too weak. Roy stepped between them and made a loop at the end of the material for him then carefully reached down to lift Sam’s left hand into the makeshift sling. He saw his friend grimace in pain and mirrored his expression.

“Sorry,” he told him quietly.

Sam nodded and reached up to rest his good hand on Roy’s shoulder. The two stood slowly then turned to face Rachel.

“Roy, do you have any aspirin in your backpack?” Sam asked quietly, knowing the three of them needed some kind of help to get through the pain while they traveled back down the mountain.

“Yeah, I do,” Roy said, bending down and grabbing for his bag. “The next time either one of you even thinks about busting my ass for being prepared for any emergency, remember today.”

Rachel laughed softly then turned serious in an instant when Roy’s angry attention snapped at her. She raised her hands in surrender.

“I promise. I will never bust your ass for being an overprotective mother,” she told him seriously.

“Rachel,” Roy warned her.

“Okay, okay,” Rachel said quickly, doing her best not to upset her cousin.

Sam couldn’t help but laugh softly. Roy was such a caring guy. He definitely looked out for the both of them. It was in his nature to be that way. It was a good thing, too. Today’s emergency was perfect proof that Roy’s tendency to always be prepared for any disaster was valued by all of them.

Roy opened the small bottle of aspirin and shook two pills into each of their open hands as well as his own then handed them his water bottle to wash down the medicine. He drank from it last, making sure Sam and Rachel were taken care of before he saw to his own needs. Capping the bottle, he placed it into his backpack and shrugged it back onto his shoulders.

“Let’s get moving,” Sam said once he was sure everyone was ready to move. His voice was strong despite the pain he was in or the worry he was experiencing.

He and Roy reached forward to help Rachel up. When she was relatively stable, they stood on either side of her, Sam to the left of her and Roy to her right. They waited for Rachel to put her arms across their shoulders. Sam was grateful that Rachel held on to him by gently placing her hand behind his neck and resting her arm against the middle of his back to grip his shirt tightly. He was thankful that she made sure that she put no pressure on the joint of his injured shoulder.

Once she was settled, Rachel nodded. They reached around her back and took hold of her waist by the belt loops of her jeans then lifted her and began to walk down the mountain, careful not to let her feet touch the ground. She did her best to keep her left leg bent so she could use her right foot to help in the journey.

“Looks like you’re going to be going back to college with a cast on,” Roy told his cousin laughing.

“Shut up, Roy,” Rachel told him with only a little bit of annoyance. It was her own fault that he was teasing her. She had done the same to him when he had broken his arm just before he had left for college four years before.

“Make me,” Roy challenged her.

“You’re annoying. You know that, right?”

“Yeah. Deal with it.”

“Sam, what makes you want to be friends with him?” she asked with a huff. “He’s such a pain.”

Sam could only laugh. He knew that Rachel didn’t mean any of the words that she spoke.

“Rachel, you know you love him,” he said finally. “And he loves you, right, Roy?”

“Maybe,” Roy muttered.

I love you, too, Sam
, Rachel whispered within her mind.

She smiled at Sam, blushing slightly as he caught her eye. Trying very hard to push aside her erotic thoughts of him, she held on to him tightly, reveling in the fact that she was able to touch his body and hold him close to her as they made their way down the mountain. She knew it would end way too soon and she would have to let him go. She was determined to enjoy every single second of it while she could.

Her stomach seized and she felt a rush of heat settle deep inside her at being so close to him. She stole a glance at him out of the corner of her eye and saw his determination as he helped to carry her to safety. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, wishing that he would feel for her even a fraction of what she felt for him.

Sam smiled at the teasing banter between Roy and Rachel, glad that the comfort of it helped to ease their worries as they made their way down the mountain. They had a long way to travel to get back to Roy’s old, beat up truck. He concentrated on taking one step at a time. The two cousins seemed to be doing the same. It was a quiet journey, each wrapped in their own thoughts, but Sam felt a familiar peacefulness as the three supported each other down the steep path.

* * * *

Rachel rang the bell of the front door of the estate that belonged to the McCoy family. The family butler Jarod opened it slowly within seconds and faced Rachel in silence. Rachel smiled up at the elderly gentleman, noting that his appearance hadn’t changed much in the last fifteen years. He stood straight and tall and, as always, was dressed impeccably. His face showed lines of age and his hair was sprinkled with white, but he still possessed a strength and youthfulness that Rachel, Sam, and Roy knew to be a part of his character. His eyes held warmth for her as he gazed down at her. He stepped back silently to allow her entrance.

“Master Samuel is not in right now, Miss Rachel, but Mrs. McCoy has asked to see you when you arrived,” he told her, bowing slightly as Rachel entered slowly, maneuvering her crutches to carefully stand inside the foyer.

“Thank you, Jarod,” Rachel said quietly. She was always intimidated whenever she entered the McCoy home, but Jarod always welcomed her sincerely. He was such a good guy.

“Elegant cast,” Jarod told her quietly, smiling slightly.

Rachel looked down at the neon pink cast that ran from just below her knee to her toes. “Pretty jazzy, huh?” she asked, laughing. “How’s Mrs. McCoy?” Her smile slowly disappeared as she asked the last question. She was really worried about Sam’s mother. She had been sick for a very long time.

“The same,” Jarod answered sadly. “She’s looking forward to visiting with you though.”

He led the way to the master bedroom, walking slowly so that Rachel could keep up. Rachel observed the ramrod straightness of his back as he led the way through the beautifully furnished estate. Jarod never seemed to age. Her memories of him from the time she had been a child were nothing but warm and loving. The familiarity of him was comforting. He was always sharply attired in his formal black suit, white shirt and black tie. She never really knew his age but she did know his kindness ever since she had been a dirty, knee-scraped kid of five who padded along after her cousin Roy and his friend Sam. The three of them had been the recipients of Jarod’s guidance and caring for many years.

She was brought out of her reminiscing as Jarod stopped before the closed door of Mrs. McCoy’s suite. Rachel saw that he took a calming breath before he reached forward to place his hand on the doorknob. He opened the door and announced her arrival then left Rachel to visit with Joanna McCoy and closed the door behind her.

Rachel hobbled over to the massive, ornate bed and smiled down at the slight woman who lay almost lost in the mounds of white satin fabric within. Dark hair framed the petite woman’s face, and she smiled warmly up at Rachel as she approached. Rachel smiled and leaned forward to gently kiss the woman’s frail cheek.

Joanna McCoy hugged Rachel to her strongly despite her weakness, and patted the bed beside her for Rachel to take a seat. Rachel leaned her crutches against the wall then sat and held Mrs. McCoy’s tiny hand. She looked down into her ice blue eyes and smiled. How alike she and Sam were.

“You’ll be going back to school next week,” Joanna said smiling.

Rachel nodded, unsure what to say. “Yes. I’ll be leaving a week from Tuesday. Classes start on Thursday,” she finally told her, glad that her voice remained strong.

“You be sure to work hard and do your best. Make sure you finish school. No one can ever take your education away from you. Make sure you can take care of yourself. Make sure you don’t allow anyone to treat you with anything but respect.”

Rachel could tell that Sam’s mother was very weak and that it took all of her energy to speak to her in short bursts. Her voice was wispy. There were hesitant pauses between her sentences as she fought for her breath. She wished that she could make all of Joanna McCoy’s suffering disappear. This woman was so kind and so caring. She deserved a long and healthy life. Tears stung Rachel’s eyes as she looked down at her.

“I will, I promise,” Rachel told her softly.