Military Romance Collection: Contemporary Soldier Alpha Male Romance (13 page)

“I don’t know,” Ada said. Two months had passed since she and Charlie had gotten married, and the couple had started settling into a comfortable routine. After discovering that not all of the horses on the ranch were hell-bent on bucking off every rider, Ada had become quite an equestrienne. She’d gotten into the habit of going into a ride almost every evening, with Charlie by her side. “I was worried that at some point, you’d turn out to be an ax murderer or a serial killer or some horrible thing like that, but here we are, and it’s all still good.”

Charlie laughed. “Well, if you want me to take up a new hobby…”

“No, that’s quite all right, sweetheart. One criminal in the family is enough.” They’d learned that morning that Matthew was going to be spending at least the next six months in jail; the judge had been unwilling to consider an alternate sentence that would have resulted in Charlie’s older brother going to an in-patient facility for gambling addiction.

“I hope he does all right in there,” Charlie said.

Ada shrugged. “I’m not sure anyone does all right in jail,” she said, “But some people have an easier time than others.” Over the course of her IRS career, she’d seen a number of people convicted of tax evasion and other offenses. “If he can keep his head down and stay out of trouble, he’ll be out before you know it.”

“And then it’s just a matter of building his life all over again from scratch.”

“People do it,” Ada said. “It would have been easier for him if Amy had been willing to stick with him.” That hadn’t been the case. Amy had filed for divorce even before Matthew’s case went to trial; she’d had the marriage dissolved in record time.

“Some breaches can’t be healed,” Charlie said. “Once all the trust is gone, that’s pretty much it for the relationship.”

Ada nodded. “You can buy an awful lot of trust with a quarter million,” she said.

“Money’s funny,” Charlie said. “For some people, it’s the most important thing in the world. They care about how much they have, how much they’re going to get – it’s the number one thing that drives their decisions.”

“It’s nice to have enough to do what you want to do,” Ada said. “But you’re right. People who are too hungry for money tend to get themselves in a world of trouble.”

“Luckily, we’re going to be safely broke for the rest of our days,” Charlie laughed. The couple had just spent close to two thousand dollars on emergency vet bills; one of the mares had suddenly exhibited signs of distress and it had taken some expensive interventions to keep her and her unborn foal alive.

Ada smiled. “We can live on love,” she said.

“You want to show me exactly how that works?” Charlie asked. He pulled his horse up alongside Ada’s so he could give her a kiss. “Because that sounds absolutely delightful to me.”

Her kiss was as passionate and intense as his own. “Let’s find a place to tie the horses up,” she said. “I’m not a good enough rider to do this on horseback yet.”

Charlie chuckled and led the way to a small patch of scrub pines. “That’s good,” he said. “It means we’ve got a goal to work toward.”

Ada pulled a fuzzy blanket out of her saddle bag. “You are a perpetual optimist,” she said.

“Is there any other way to be?” Charlie asked.

She shook her head. “Not if you’re going to leave a start up and go into ranching,” she said. “Not if you’re going to propose to a woman after spending a single night with her.” Ada started unbuttoning her shirt, causing Charlie to grin.

“You’ve got to admit, it’s all working out pretty good so far.”

“Get out of those jeans, cowboy,” Ada said, “if you want to talk about how things are working out.”

Charlie undressed in record time, stretching out on the fuzzy blanket. “Is this how you want me, Ma’am?”

Ada settled on top of him with a smile. “That’s exactly how I want you.” She moved her hips, and a groan escaped from Charlie’s lips. “This is always how I want you.”

In the distance, a coyote howled. “What?” Ada said. “Did your Granny let her damn dogs out for a visit?” She still hadn’t exactly forgiven the pack of hounds for their addition to their wedding day, although she would laugh about it on occasion.

“I don’t think so.” Charlie let his hands settle on his wife’s hips, guiding her motions with increasing intensity. “It’s too far for them to make it out here anyway. That’s a wild critter.”

“You’re a wild critter,” Ada said. Then neither of them talked, as their breath was needed to keep them going as the passion built between them. Ada bit her bottom lip, flushing beautiful as her orgasm approached.

“Please, honey,” Charlie said. “Go with it. Don’t fight it.”

She smiled, put her head back, and let out a scream that sent any nearby coyotes scattering for cover. “Oh, yes!” she cried. “Now, baby, now!”

It was too much for Charlie, who closed his eyes and let his need explode. “God, I love you,” he moaned, pulling his wife down into his arms after. “You are absolutely amazing.” They cuddled for a little bit after that, and then Charlie looked down at his wife and grinned.

“Are you going to be able to ride your horse home after that?”

Ada laughed. “Are you kidding? I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to stand upright after that.”

Charlie leapt to his feet and pulled on his jeans. “Don’t worry, my lady. I’ve got this.” He looked around. “Or I will, after I get my boots on.”

“They’re over there,” Ada said, pointing off toward the edge of the clearing. “You kind of kicked them off in a hurry.”

She watched as her husband went and retrieved his boots, shaking them out carefully before sliding his feet inside. “What are you worried about?” she asked him.

“Scorpions,” Charlie said. “They like warm, dark holes. It’s their favorite place to hide. So whenever you take your shoes off, you want to make sure they haven’t decided to crawl on in there. They don’t take kindly to being stepped on.”

It was Ada’s turn to leap to her feet. “There are scorpions here and we’re just lying on the ground?” she yelped.

“Honey, this is Texas,” Charlie replied. “There are scorpions everywhere. And tarantulas. And fire ants.”

“You’re sure we can’t raise rough stock in Tennessee?” Ada asked. “It’s horse country out there. Scorpion-free horse country.”

“We could,” Charlie replied, “But I don’t know that anybody’s fixing to die and leave me a ranch any time soon.”

“That is a problem,” Ada agreed. She was carefully shaking out her clothes, taking practically forever checking the tiny pockets on her jeans before putting them on. Charlie didn’t complain: he enjoyed the view.

“Maybe you just have to tell the scorpions you’re with the IRS,” Charlie said. “That should scare them off.”

Ada smiled. She’d settled nicely into the Austin regional office without any controversy following her sudden marriage to a former problem tax case. “I’m not sure how much longer frightening people with my job is going to work,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Charlie said.

Ada flattened her hand over her stomach. “Well, with any luck, sooner or later, we’ll be expecting our first baby. When that happens, my job is going to change. I’m not going out in the field on cases when I’m pregnant. Not every case turns out as well as yours did.”

“Well, that’s good,” Charlie said. “I’m not sure I’d want you rescuing every hard-luck cowboy who has a sob story for you.”

“They all have a sob story,” Ada said. “That’s what made you different. When I told you what happened, you didn’t try to get out of it, or shirk the debt. All you asked for was time.”

“That’s all I’ve ever wanted,” Charlie said. “Lots of time with you.”

Ada pulled Charlie closed and kissed him. “Keep that up, and we’re going to wind up rolling around with the scorpions again.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Charlie said.

“It is a bad thing,” Ada protested. “I don’t want to wind up getting stung you-know-where.”

“If that happens,” Charlie said, very solemnly, “I promise to kiss it and make it all better.”

Ada raised an eyebrow. “Not that I doubt the healing power of your kisses, sweetheart, but I’m not willing to test it with scorpion bites on my tender bits.”

“That’s probably a wise decision.” Charlie picked up his wife’s boots and carefully shook them out. “Here you go. And it worked, you know. Worrying about the scorpions gave you plenty of energy to ride home.”

“That’s my baby,” Ada said. “Always seeing the silver lining.”

In the spring, the first foals were born. Blackberry was the first to show signs that she was ready to deliver. Charlie went a little nuts, bringing the bemused mare into a specially prepared stall in the barn and watching over her every minute.

“She’s done this before, you know,” Ada said. She’d been putting her forensic skills to work sorting through Grandpa Chuck’s chaotic breeding records. “At least twice. And both times, it all turned out fine.”

“But that was when Gramps was here to watch over everything,” Charlie said. “I don’t know what I’m doing. What if something goes wrong?”

“What happened to my optimist?” Ada asked. She reached out and took her husband’s hand. “Childbirth is a natural process. Blackberry knows how to handle it. She’s experienced.” She waved her hands around. “You’re probably stressing her, fussing around like this.” She calmed her hands. “You’ve got to be mellow. Let it be. It’s going to be all right.”

Charlie looked at her skeptically. “When did you learn anything about breeding horses?” he asked.

“I haven’t learned a damn thing about it,” Ada said. “But I’ve been looking pretty heavily into the human experience, and I figure it can’t be all that different.”

“Does that mean…” Charlie asked. He felt a tide of excitement rising in his stomach. “Are we going to have a baby?”

“We have to keep working on that,” Ada said. “But I, for one, don’t mind the practice.”

“Me either,” Charlie said, leaning forward to kiss his wife on the forehead. “We could go practice now, if you’d like.”

Blackberry had other plans. No sooner did Charlie and Ada start heading for the door than the mare started circling. She was breathing heavily, and every few paces, she’d stop and let out a great big exhalation.

“I don’t know, baby,” Charlie said to Ada. “I’ve never seen her do this before.”

“Her eyes look pretty wide,” Ada said, “And she’s got her nostrils flared right out.”

“Maybe I should get in there with her and try to get her to calm down,” Charlie said. He reached for the stall door, and was surprised when Ada grabbed his arm.

“I think going in there is the absolute last thing you need to be doing,” Ada said. “I don’t think that’s a good idea at all.”

“Well, I’ve got to do something,” Charlie protested. “She looks like she’s in pain.”

“She’s about to have a baby, Charlie,” Ada said. “I imagine she’s at least a little uncomfortable.” She sounded stern, but then softened her words with a smile. “If you’ve got to do something, call Wyatt. He said to give him a ring any time you had questions. And you’ve got questions now.”

Calling Wyatt turned out to be good advice. The older rancher was full of reassuring information. Unfortunately, the signal on Charlie’s cell phone kept cutting out. “Step outdoors and call me back,” Wyatt said. “Nothing’s going to happen while you’re talking to me.”

Charlie stepped out, and listened to Wyatt explain the necessary steps he’d have to take once Blackberry had her baby, and she calmed down enough to let Charlie get close to her foal. “Be prepared, buddy,” Wyatt said. “Chances are you’re in for a real long night.”

Charlie thanked Wyatt, hung up, stepped back into the barn and discovered his mentor was wrong. While he’d been talking, Blackberry had delivered the tiniest foal Charlie had ever seen. She was currently licking it, cleaning the afterbirth and mess away from her baby’s nose.

“Look, Charlie,” Ada said. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “It’s a little colt.”

Charlie couldn’t speak. His emotion had rushed upward, choking off his ability to form words. All he could do was reach out and take Ada’s hand. “Wow,” he whispered.

“He’s just perfect,” Ada said.

They stood there, hand in hand, watching Blackberry fuss over her new baby. Then, after about half an hour had passed, Blackberry turned away from her foal and buried her nose in the feed bag.

“What’s up with that?” Ada whispered. “Is she rejecting him?”

Charlie shook his head. “No,” he said. “Wyatt told me this was going to happen. Watch.” Unbelievably, the colt, who was not even an hour old, began to struggle to his feet. “It’s time for him to get his first meal.”

“I don’t think he can do it,” Ada fussed. The colt had made it only halfway upright before crashing back down into the bedding. “You’d better go in there and help him.”

“Blackberry doesn’t want me doing that,” Charlie said. “Wyatt said not to go in there unless I absolutely, positively had to.” He watched the colt intently. The little guy was breathing heavily. “I think he’s going to give it one more try.”

Ada held her breath, fingers crossed. “Come on, baby. You can do it.”

Then, all at once, with the energy of a spring uncurling, the colt got up on his feet. He swayed in place for a long moment. It looked like he was going to fall, but he didn’t. Then, almost miraculously, he got himself turned around, and took a few tottering steps toward his mother’s flank.