Heart of a Marine (The Wounded Warrior Series Book 1) (33 page)

He nuzzled her cheek, one eye on Donovan. “You trying to get me killed, gorgeous?”

Char laughed and placed both her hands on his neck. He obliged and circled both arms around her waist. “Ride ’em cowboy,” she whispered.

“Yippee-ki-yay.”

Yeah, it was nice. A hot, gorgeous blond melting into him. Why wouldn’t it be nice? He drew her a little closer and splayed a big hand just above her ass.

“I was broken hearted Marla saw you first, Dwaynie.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, sure, until my brother appeared on the scene. Don’t kid a kidder, sis. Marla was the only woman on my radar from day one, you bad girl.” He hugged her against his chest and kissed her ear. “My brother is one lucky man to have all this in his arms every night.”

“And that’s why I love you, Dwayne. You’re true blue. I know you’ll be good to my baby sister.”

He moved his head back, grinned into her big brown eyes then grazed her neck with his teeth.

“OK, OK, break it up!” Donovan bumped them with his shoulder. “Time to switch partners.” He took Charlene’s hand and pulled her away, leaving Dwayne and Marla standing, staring at each other.

She put a wry twist on her lips. “That was quite a show, Dempsey.”

“Your big sister’s a very bad girl, Danaher. My little brother has his hands full.” He embraced her. “Want to sway for a while?”

“Um hm.” Her arms went around his neck.

God, she felt perfect in his embrace. Aroused immediately, he whispered. “Step back a couple of inches, honey, or I’ll have to dance you to the front desk and get a room.”

“You sure know how to charm a lady.” She grinned and took a half step away from him. “Your brother doesn’t have a thing to worry about. Char is disgustingly, sickeningly, madly over the top in love with him.”

“I know. He’s one lucky Dempsey, and so am I.” The next wedding for their two families would be his and Marla’s. He crooked his finger at Amber. She skipped across the floor to him, and he lifted her in his arm, tucked her between them, and swayed with his two best girls.

* * *

Amber fell asleep on Marla’s lap on the drive back to the ranch. Miss Emmaline nodded off in the backseat with Dylan’s girl lying across her knees. Every now and then Dwayne would reach across the seat and brush his knuckles on Marla’s cheek.

The next time he did it, she turned and kissed his fingers. “This was very special day, Dempsey.”

He nodded and smiled. She’d never get enough of his smile. Every time he touched her, she got the familiar warm, melting sensation in her bones and all her special places. She studied Amber’s face and stroked her silky hair, ashamed of the twinge of jealousy she felt for the innocent child who worshiped her daddy. Amber’s child-woman relationship with him didn’t leave much room for Marla.

She didn’t doubt Dwayne loved her, he’d told her many times in the past few months. Did he love her enough to marry her? Her chest squeezed painfully. She mentally shoved away the doubt.

Stop it, Marla. Just love them and don’t worry about tomorrow.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Dwayne snuggled against Marla’s bare back and kissed her ear. “I gotta get up, honey. Dylan, Donovan, and I are riding out to repair a break in the fence line and round up some feisty heifers that decided to take a walk in the park.” He stroked her bottom with his big, rough hand. “God, I love your sweet ass.”

She caught his hand and laid it on her breast. “Stay.” She cracked open an eye. “It’s still dark.” It seemed to her they’d only been asleep a couple of hours. “What time is it?”

“Five. Gotta go.” He nipped her shoulder. “Cookie’s already in the kitchen. I smell coffee and bacon.” He rolled away from her and hop-slid to the bathroom, holding onto the bed and furniture.

She groaned and rolled onto her back. “Five! Just shoot me.” He chuckled and began to close the door. “Wait!” She jumped up and raced past him, her bare feet slapping on the cold wood floor. “I have to go first. Close your eyes.”

“Like I haven’t had my eyes, hands, and mouth on every inch of your body by now, Red?”

“Close them! This is different.” She made it quick and artfully dodged his hand when grabbed for her on her way out of the bathroom. She jumped back in bed. Warm with a predictable glow from his casual sensuality, she pulled up the quilts and snuggled into the low spot in the mattress he’d just left nice and warm for her.

Water splashed in the sink as he washed and shaved. There wouldn’t be a drop anywhere on the counter, sink, or floor, and the bathroom would seem like it had never been used when he left.

By the time he came back to the bedroom she was wide-awake and treated herself by watching him dress. Clad in jeans, two T-shirts and a heavy flannel shirt, he attached the prosthesis with his work boot on it. He took a quick glance in the mirror and finger-combed his thick black hair.

He caught her smile in the mirror. “What are you looking at, Danaher?”

“I’m admiring my man, Dempsey. Come over here and kiss me before you go.”

“Nope. No way. If I do, I’ll never make it out the door. If Donovan can show up the morning after his wedding night, what would it look like if I didn’t? I have an image to maintain.”

“If you don’t kiss me good-bye, I’ll get up and follow you down the hall in my birthday suit.”

He grabbed his heavy barn jacket and winked. “I dare ya.” He threw her a kiss and closed the door. She heard male voices in the hallway. Dwayne and his brothers trooped down the stairs.

Marla fell back with a sigh. Holding the quilt tight against her chin she sighed again and counted the knots in the pine ceiling, wishing she could go back to sleep.

She groaned, crawled out of bed, and lifted her pajamas off the floor and pulled them on. She went to the bathroom and took Dwayne’s heavy flannel robe off the hook and wrapped it around herself and cinched the belt. It was so big on her she felt positively dainty.

She slipped her feet into slippers and headed to the kitchen to join the men. Might as well drink in some eye candy while she had breakfast. Skipper bounced downstairs from the kid’s rooms and skittered happily around her feet.

“How’s my teeny weeny widdle Skippy Wippy cuddle bunny-poo?” She scooped him up and nuzzled his warm wriggling body.

“You and that dog.”

She turned at the sound of Char’s voice.

“Do you think I love him too much?” She gazed into his big, buggy eyes and grinned. “Do I love you too much, Skip?”

Charlene scratched his chin. “How would I know how much is too much where a dog’s concerned?” She grinned. “He is a little sugar pie.”

Char didn’t have a trace of makeup, her thick blond hair tumbled around her shoulders, and the belted robe she wore did little to disguise her fabulous curves.

“You look like a woman in love, Char.”

“That’s because I am.” She took her arm. “Let’s go down and enjoy looking at my brand new husband before he leaves for the day.”

“Just what I had in mind.”

Greeted by loud wolf whistles when they entered the kitchen, the twin sisters bowed slightly, fluffed their hair and tossed it over their shoulders as if they’d rehearsed it before coming down stairs.

Char swayed her hips as she vamped her way around the table. “Howdy, boys, mind if we join you?”

Donovan threw an arm around her hips and pulled her close. “We’d mind if you didn’t, sweet thing.”

Dwayne scooted over on the bench to make room for Marla. He puckered his lips for her kiss and slid his hand down her back when she took her seat. “Good morning, my love.”

“And good morning to you, my handsome hero.”

Cookie’s shoulders bounced with silent laughter. She flipped a pancake, her back to the room. “It’s gettin’ mighty thick in my kitchen.”

She carried a heaping platter to the table. “You boys eat up then skedaddle. You got work to do, and I got a lot more folks to feed this morning. You hear?”

Dylan smiled at the woman who’d been cooking for the Burwell-Dempsey family beyond memory. “Thanks for this great breakfast, Cookie. We love you.”

“Go on now, I know you boys think you can butter me up, you jest git and use your charm on them cows you’re lookin’ for today.”

Marla had asked Dwayne about Cookie shortly after they’d arrived, but he’d told her he couldn’t remember a time when the woman wasn’t there, creating her special magic at the big kitchen stove. Another reason Dwayne and her brothers loved the ranch so much. Kathleen had maintained a wonderful home-away-from-home for her sons and their families.

Despite the early hour, the big house stirred with laughter and voices from upstairs. One-by-one the kids made their way to the kitchen. Grace came in, fully dressed, and kissed Dylan. “See you this evening, honey.” She grinned when he smacked her on the butt before heading out the door behind Dwayne and Donovan.

Charlene stood. “Cookie, Marla and I’ll finish our coffee and make room for the kids. Will there still be some breakfast left after we shower and dress?”

“You gals go right on, sugar. I’ll be cookin’ for another hour yet. I got all them men in the barn to feed. Don’t you never worry about gettin’ enough to eat in this house.” She tossed warm bacon to Jarhead and Skipper.

Marla shook her head. “Skip’s been completely spoiled by you, Cookie. How will I ever convince him to eat his dog food again?”

Cookie chortled at the dogs anticipating their next treat with enthusiastic tail wagging.

The sisters left the kitchen, but before going upstairs Char opened the front door in time to see the brothers and Arturo ride off in the distance, the sun barely up. They clutched their robes tight against the cold morning air.

* * *

The Dempsey boys had covered many acres of land before they found the break in the fence. They dismounted and removed tools and wire from their saddlebags.

Arturo inspected a couple of broken posts. “I can fix this if y’all want to see where the heifers run off to.”

Dylan unloaded the rest of his tools. “Go on. I’ll help Arturo. Keep an eye out for anybody who looks like he doesn’t belong. Len told me he saw a light in the old trapper’s cabin on Wolf Creek the other night. It was too late to investigate, but we’ll ride over there tomorrow and have a look.”

Dwayne and Donovan touched the brim of their hats and rode through the fence break to search for the cows.

It took a few hours to round up the escape artists, but they found all of them. They drove them slowly back to the fence line and urged them through the small break Dylan and Arturo had left open. “Looks like you’re about done with it,” Dwayne remarked.

Dylan straightened his back and wiped his face with a bandanna. “Yep, just waiting for you and the cows.”

Arturo and Dwayne piled up the debris and packed the tools while Donovan and Dylan secured the last of the wire to the posts, then they mounted and headed at a leisurely pace back to the ranch house, their heavy jackets tied to the saddles.

Dwayne rolled his shoulders in the warm sun. He loved this ranch with every fiber of his body and soul, but he couldn’t see himself living here full time. He thought perhaps he’d change his mind years down the road when their mother could no longer handle it alone.

They dismounted at the barn and unsaddled the horses. Bart led their mounts inside where he’d finish taking care of them after the long day on the range. “I got ’em. Go ahead to the house and drink some of Cookie’s lemonade.”

Jarhead lay sprawled in the sunlight on the porch steps, snoring in the last of the afternoon warmth. Dwayne bypassed the kitchen and headed up the stairs to use his bathroom and wash up. He hadn’t seen Marla or Amber in or around the house. He entered the empty bedroom, shrugged at not finding either of them there, and then removed clean jeans and a shirt from the closet.

He finished quickly and went downstairs, entered the kitchen, and gave his mom a hug when she poured him a big glass of lemonade. “Where’re my two girls?”

“They took Skipper for a hike in the south meadow. Amber wanted to show Marla the last of the summer’s Indian Paintbrush blooming out there.”

“How long have they been gone?”

“About two hours.”

“My God, we’ll be picking ticks out of that mouse’s hide all evening.” He finished his lemonade, set the glass down, and stood. “I’ll walk down the road and meet them.”

“Help!” Marla’s frantic screams alerted everyone within hearing range. “Help me! Somebody, help!”

Dwayne and his mother charged out the door as men ran from the barn and corral.

Marla collapsed on her knees at the bottom of the steps, sobbing, hugging Skipper to her chest. “They…they…took…” she gasped.

Dwayne bellowed, “Where’s Amber? Is she hurt? Where is she?” A horrible feeling of dread filled his chest, paralyzing him. His daughter, his little girl.

Kathleen rushed to the bottom of the steps and helped Marla to her feet. “Sit here, honey. Tell us what happened.” Marla slumped down on the top step, still hugging her baby. He hadn’t moved.

Dwayne grabbed her shoulders and shook her. “Where’s Amber! Was she hurt?”

She looked at him with stricken, devastated eyes. He’d seen this look on soldiers in battle when someone got killed. His gut twisted and he gulped air, afraid to hear her answer.

“Francine…on horseback…they took her.”

He screamed in her face. “You let them take her?”

Charlene rushed to Marla’s side and shoved Dwayne out of the way then sat next to her. “Are you OK, sis? What happened? Are you hurt?” She touched the knees of Marla’s torn and bloody jeans.

Dwayne grabbed fistfuls of his hair and paced in a circle. He stooped to look at Marla’s face and said, “You let them take her?”

She shook her head. “No, I, I couldn’t stop them. I tried. Skip chased after them. One of the horses kicked him. He…he…won’t wake up.” Her body wracked with sobs. “I’m sorry, Dwayne, I couldn’t—”

Charlene brushed her hand on Marla’s hair. “It’s OK, sis. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not your fault.”

“Like hell it’s not her fault! She let them take my daughter, and now she’s crying over a goddamned dog? Where in hell are your priorities, Charlene?”