Against Me (Cedar Tree Book 3) (34 page)

Malachi is airlifted to Durango, hanging on and Caleb... Caleb is refusing to go anywhere but follow his brother to the hospital. I can't blame him, but I try to convince him to get checked out first.

"Baby, please," I plead, holding his battered face in my hands. "I promise I'll get you signed out of there as soon as is possible and on your way to Durango, but for me... for us, let them have a quick look at you." I shamelessly grab his hand and place it on my abdomen. I'm not beyond emotional blackmail if it the situation warrants it.

"You don't play fair, little one," he croaks on a sigh, rubbing his fingers slightly over the swell of my stomach.

Bending over the gurney I kiss him gently and with my mouth still on his, say; "I'm sorry," But I'm really not. I'll do whatever it takes.

With a squeeze to his hand and a nod to the EMT's I move back so they can load him up. Gus steps up behind me and puts an arm around my shoulder.

"You ok, honey?"

I nod, keeping my eyes on Caleb.

"What happened with Guzman?" I need to know.

"He's being transported to Durango by ambulance, since his injuries are not life-threatening but he requires specialized surgery. I just got off the phone with Duarte. He knows. It's out of our hands, Katie. Go with your man, Neil and I will take care of things here, look after your mutt."

With a nod, I move to get into the ambulance with Caleb, getting a hand up from Gus, who closes the doors behind me.

Caleb grabs for my hand as soon as I sit down beside him and ignoring the EMT who is scribbling on his clipboard beside me, we focus only on each other.

"Did he hurt you?" Caleb growls beside me.

"Who, Guzman? No, he tried to, but was too hopped up on whatever he had in his system to think straight. I managed to take him down quite easily with Arlene's picnic cutlery," I chuckle.

"What?" Confusion is stamped across his face and I'm reminded he was likely out for much if not all of my confrontation with the creep.

"The only thing within reach was the wooden take out knife that came with the diner order Gus had just dropped off. I waited my chance, and well, I may have castrated him," I tell him matter of factly.

A loud clatter has me turn to look where the EMT has just dropped his clipboard and pen to the floor, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head as he stares at me in fascinated horror, causing both Caleb and I to burst out laughing. Not so great for Caleb who winces and grabs for his ribs, saying between clenched teeth to the poor paramedic, "Better watch it, her aim's been off for a while now. This is the second man she's maimed for life in as many weeks."

Three fucking broken ribs and a concussion. I wish I could've killed the bastard. Not fighting back had taken every ounce of restraint out of me, but I knew doing so would've been too big a risk. Too much at stake with Duarte waiting to have this man delivered to him alive. I expected to feel some guilt over sacrificing a human being to what was sure to be inhuman torture awaiting him, but I felt little. Not even a twinge of remorse over circumventing the FBI in our dealings with Duarte, since they were more than willing to sacrifice my brother for the sake of their investigations into the cartel. Nothing but frustration remains at being bound to a bed, with Katie sleeping in a chair beside me, waiting to be released so I can go and be with my brother.

"Hey–" Gus's low voice comes from the doorway. "Okay if I come in?"

"Please."

He must've just come from the barn and looks like shit. I'm eager to get a status on my brother's condition and have about a million questions for him.

Pulling up a second chair from against the wall, he sits on the other side of my bed, running a hand over his face.

"Long day."

"Can say that again," I agree.

"Have you heard–" I start.

"Malachi–" he begins at the same time. I nod for him to go on. "is out of surgery. The bullet hit him between the first and second rib, piercing his lung on the left side and nicking an artery, but missing the heart. By the time he got to the hospital his lung had collapsed and he was losing blood in his chest cavity, making it difficult for his heart to pump. They got him to the OR right away where they managed to stop the bleeding, repair the artery and the lung, and retrieve the bullet intact from where it was lodged in the trapezius muscle in the back. Aside from an initial rough patch in the OR, he's expected to pull through. He was lucky, my friend."

Choking back emotion, I swallow hard before I force out a shaky "Thank you" to Gus.

The small fingers lacing through mine on the bedspread tell me Katie is awake and heard every word.

"Hey," her soft voice whispers against my ear.

"Sorry to wake you," Gus apologizes.

"Not at all; we needed to know. As soon as we can get out of here, we'll be on our way."

My little one. For someone who grew up without knowing what family means, she has come in and taken hold of this one like it's all she knows.

"Neil volunteered to drive you, 'cause as far as I know the Rav is still at the shop, right?"

At my nod and Katie's 'yes', he continues. "Before they come kick me out let me quickly update you. First off; Blue is fine, albeit a little whiny. Neil is staying at the barn with him, since he went ballistic when we tried to drive off with him in the truck. He won't budge. It also gives Neil a chance to do a bit of clean up. It's a bit of a mess. Next the Feds swarmed in as soon as the calls went out on the airwaves, so be prepared for a visit at some point. The paperwork on this may follow us for a bit to come, but what else is new," he chuckles, but then sobers immediately and takes a deep breath. "Finally there's Guzman; he never arrived in Durango. A call came in to Joe about an hour and a half after they left that a state patrol car had spotted the ambulance just past the 140 turnoff at Hesperus on a dirt road maybe 100 yards from the highway.  Both EMT's and the guard were tied up and duct-taped, but otherwise unharmed, in the back of the ambulance. No sign of Guzman."

"B
lue! Where are you! Blue?"

"Sweets, he'll come when he's good and ready."

"Yeah but what if he doesn't come back?"

I chuckle when I spot her pouty lip again; something she's taken to doing from time to time and I can't quite figure out whether she does it on purpose ‘cause I think it's cute, or whether pregnancy hormones have brought out some new and unusual behaviors. Doesn't matter to me, I'll take it either way; it's still cute as hell. Especially on hard-nosed, ball-busting Katie Acker.

Last night she let Blue out and he hasn't been back since. I say he's got a bitch lined up somewhere he goes to visit every now and then, but Katie is convinced he's hurt or caught in a trap somewhere or something. She's been protective as a mother hen over all of us, Blue, me and even Malachi ever since his release from the hospital. I thought she'd cry when he announced he was going back to the apartment over the diner instead of staying with us. His reasons were clear, and apologetic when he saw Katie's disappointment, but he just didn't want our house to be overrun with law-enforcement day in and day out. They have been relentless in their pursuit of answers from him, but there just haven't been many to give and there is little concrete that can be pinned on him other than suspicions and conjecture.  Guzman is still in the wind without a trace and none of us knows where the hell he is, although some of us have a pretty good idea who might.

Mal figures at least when the FBI visit him at the diner, Arlene and Seb might get a few extra customers out of it from time to time. With his stairway next to the kitchen vent, there's no way anyone can walk out of there without getting a good whiff off Seb's cooking. And that is not easy to walk away from.

Other than that life has been fairly calm in the past three weeks. By the time I got out of the hospital, Clint was already back at the barn with his crew finishing up the drywall Mal and I had started. I reluctantly let him finish since my main interest was the woodwork anyway. The guys stayed on for a week; enough time to tape, mud a few layers and paint. They even tiled and installed the hardware in the bathrooms. Including a surprise I have for Katie in the en-suite upstairs, but I haven't let her go up there yet. I have a plan for that.

Katie's been busy getting her garden in the ground. It's been a labour of love, with help from Faith, Seb's little sister who has the mental development of an eight-year-old, but when it comes to growing vegetables, she is like a living encyclopaedia. She's spent a few afternoons here, going over Katie's sketches and plans and giggling like a little girl at Blue's nuzzles and licks. Damn mutt seems to have a thing for women. Well... and Malachi. He loves Malachi. Only seems to tolerate me because Katie loves me.

And she does love me.

Looking up at me from where she is digging in the soil, her short hair starting to grow out a little again and dirt streaking her face, she is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I'd rather bite my tongue and swallow it than tell her, but since she got pregnant she is filling out even more and I am loving all the swells and dips it creates on her luscious body. There is something so wholesome about a strong, plump and feisty woman, this one in particular.

I get up from the lounger and stalk over to where she is on hands and knees planting seeds, my shadow covering her.

"Watcha doing?" She peeks over her shoulder up at me, a knowing gleam in her eyes.

I drop down on my knees behind her in the dirt and wrapping my arms around her, haul her up so her back is flush against my front and she can feel the steel of my arousal firmly lodged between our bodies.

"God, Caleb. It's been so long," she moans. My lips taste the salt from the skin of her exposed neck. It's been too fucking long. Other than curling herself around me carefully every night and giving me some much needed relief between her delicious lips, Katie has refused to let me fuck her, or make love to her since the doc said to take it easy.

"I need you, little one. Need inside you."

"But the doctor said–"

"Fuck him. I'm fine. Been three weeks, baby. Three fucking weeks without this," I mumble against her ear as I slide my hand inside her pants, straight down to her pussy, already slick with her want. "Fuck you're so wet for me, sweets. So juicy. Slide your pants off."

"Here? Outside?"

"Right fucking here. Our house, our yard, right here."

A few quick moves has her pants down to her knees and I help pull one leg free and drape it over my lap so she sits, spread wide on my knees, her back against my chest. It takes even less time to undo the few buttons that hold down my straining cock and once free, it stands up straining and full. An arm around her waist and a hand under her leg, I help her lift herself over and torturously slow onto my erection.

"Ah fuck, babe. Nothing better. Nothing fucking better than being inside you. Put your hands on my knees and let me do all the work."

Katie leans forward, grabbing my knees and I push up her shirt in the back to get a view of that glorious white ass. With one hand sliding between her legs and the other behind me for leverage, I start slowly at first; lifting my hips and pushing into her. Watching my cock disappear into her tight channel and then pull out, slippery with her juices is the most erotic fucking thing I've ever seen. My finger on her clit is rubbing circles and my movements increase as the light breeze that picks up over the fields only adds to heighten the experience. Exposed, wet, hard― the soft grunts from her throat every time my cock bottoms out inside of her. The wet slide of my fingers through her curls and over her nerve centre brings out my own groans.It’s everything, and not enough. In one move I have her under me, still lodged firmly with my body wrapped around hers, one arm holding her hips up and the other hand working her clit furiously, while I pump into her.

Hips pistoning, I can feel the walls of her vagina start to contract around me and a tingle starts at the base of my spine. With her hands clawing the soil, she is panting with her mouth hanging open.

"Fuck. Caleb, now. Coming nowww..." Arching her body and throwing her head back, Katie screams out her release, and I follow closely behind. Curved over her body, my cock planted as deep as it'll go I can feel my hot seed spill inside her.

"Holy hell," is all I manage to formulate before I roll on my back, taking Katie with me, turning her in my arms.