Eagle's Redemption (11 page)
“Yeah. Turned out the furball here had already gotten you out.”
“But you hate fire.”
“Not as much as I love you.”
She blinked up at him and smiled. “I love you too.”
Ken cleared his throat. “I know you’ve better things to talk about, but are either of you hurt?”
Dash shook his head, though he coughed, having inhaled just a little bit of smoke.
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“Just a bump on the head,” Carmen assured them. “I think I blacked out mostly from overusing my healing ability.” Her eyes flew wider as she looked around at Silver.
“Shane—check Silver’s hip. I think I healed the bullet inside it.”
“We’ll take care of our four-legged hero,” Shane assured her. “I just hope the police caught Arroyo. He zipped past us, but since we saw the flames, we were more worried about getting here than stopping him.”
“Umm, Doc, I wouldn’t worry about that,” said one of the hands, who had just trudged up to the crowd as another couple of truckloads of men arrived. By now, most of the hands were working with buckets and the sirens grew closer, but Dash knew they wouldn’t be in time to save the shack. It didn’t matter, not as long as Carmen was safe.
“Saw his truck coming toward us, like a bat outta hell.” The hand jerked his thumb toward Dash, to indicate that it was his pickup. “Was about to hit the ditch just to get out of his way when the damnedest thing happened. Big ol’ eagle swooped right down in front of the pickup and screamed louder than anything I ever heard. Bastard ran right off the road into a tree. We stopped to pull him out, but he was deader ’n a doornail.”
“But eagles don’t fly at night,” Carmen whispered.
Ken sighed. “You know that, granddaughter, and so do I. But apparently your feathered friend forgot to read the textbook.”
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By the time the paramedics had pronounced both of them more or less fit, and the sheriff had gotten all the information he needed, it was close to dawn when Dash and Carmen limped together into her house and up the stairs. Silverfoot was spending the night in Shane’s clinic. Carmen could barely put one foot in front of the other, but when Dash drew her into the shower with him and tenderly washed her from head to toe, she returned the favor, running her hands over the smooth skin and taut muscle she’d never thought she’d have the chance to touch again.
Finally, they dried each other off then tumbled into bed in a warm tangle of limbs.
“I want to make love to you more than anything in the world,” Dash murmured.
“But I don’t think either of us can stay awake long enough.”
“I’ll take a rain check,” she replied, settling back against his chest, her bottom pressed against his groin. The warmth and strength of his arms wrapped around her made her feel safer than she’d ever felt, even after all they’d been through tonight. “As soon as we wake up though, you’re all mine.”
“Honey, I’m all yours, period,” he said against her hair. The last words she heard before she drifted off into exhausted slumber were, “Love you.”
* * * * *
When she woke several hours later, the sun was streaming in through her window and Dash was still holding her.
“Good morning,” he said, nuzzling her ear. “How are you feeling?”
“A little bruised and battered, but lucky as hell that we’re both alive. You?”
“The same. Leg hurts like a bitch, but it’s been worse.”
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She knew he had an enormous bruise on his stomach where he’d been shot. Thank god for his bullet-proof vest. There was another on his cheekbone where Arroyo had kicked him. Rolling over, she looked up at him then leaned up to kiss the bruise on the side of his face. “I almost died myself when I heard him shoot you.”
“I know. How do you think I felt when he set the damn house on fire with you inside it?”
His lips crushed down on hers, fierce and hungry and Carmen didn’t want to talk anymore. All that mattered was they were here, together. Dash seemed to feel the same.
He’d never been like this, so urgent he was almost rough, though he still took care not to hurt her. As their mouths tangled, he slid one hand between her legs, finding her pussy already soaked. Waking up with him always made her wet. With a low moan of approval into her mouth, he rolled her onto her back, settled between her splayed legs and replaced his hand with the blunt crest of his cock.
Carmen wasn’t interested in preliminaries either, not this time. She was the one moaning as he took her with one strong thrust, stabbing deep into her core. He held himself there for a bit, not moving as they continued to eat at each other’s lips. Digging her fingers into the strong muscles of his shoulder, she held him close. His weight pressing her into the mattress was wonderful, and she canted her hips, wrapping her calves around his thighs to take him even deeper.
Finally, he ended the kiss and began to move. She couldn’t exactly see him gazing into her eyes, but she knew he was. “I love you, Carmen Whitefeather.” His tone was hushed, almost reverent. “I know it’s soon but I can’t help it. What I feel for you is more than I ever thought I could feel.”
She slid a hand up to his cheek. “I love you too, Dash. Timing doesn’t matter.
Loving does.”
“God, sweetheart, you’re so damn tight.” He slid in and out of her channel, dragging against her tender clit with every stroke. Carmen pressed upward to meet each thrust, mindless in her need to meld with Dash. There was no sweetness in this 81
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coupling, just mating, raw, mindless and primitive. Carmen loved it. She didn’t even try to stifle her cries of pleasure or hide the tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. She just stared up at him and let her love for the man flow through her body as they strained together.
Just as her muscles clenched around him and her body detonated in mindless pleasure, she felt the hot, wet spurt of his release inside her cunt. They were protected, so she wasn’t worried, but the lack of a latex barrier somehow added to the intimacy of the moment. When their orgasms subsided, Dash rolled them to their sides, his softening cock still tucked inside her.
“I’m never letting you go, you know,” he murmured, kissing the top of her head.
This had been the first time in his life he’d had sex without a condom, but with Carmen, it just felt like coming home. “Can you live with that?”
“Mmm-hmm.” She rubbed her cheek against his chest, the softness of her skin amazing him all over again.
“So, I guess I have to go ahead and build a house…” he began, letting his voice trail off.
“Or,” she interrupted, “we could just add on to this one.”
“I was thinking about that too,” he admitted. “Add an office for me and a studio for you on the first floor then a couple extra bedrooms upstairs.”
“And what would we do with all that extra space?” Her voice was teasing and she tickled his spine lightly.
“Well, I was thinking maybe in a year or two we could think about filling the extra bedrooms with a couple of kids.” There it was, he’d laid his dream of the future open for her to accept or reject, and he held his breath, waiting for her response.
Slowly, she nodded against his chest. “We could do that. Only one problem I can think of.” A soft giggle punctuated her final words.
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His tension relaxed. She wasn’t turning him down. “What problem is that?”
“Well,” she teased, “you see, my grandfather has this big-ass shotgun…”
Dash laughed at the sheer joy flooding his system. He shifted them so he could look into her beautiful eyes. He knew that she could sense his regard even if she couldn’t clearly see him back. “Carmen Whitefeather, will you marry me? Share your home, your life, maybe even someday a family with me?”
She lifted her lips and placed a kiss on his. “Of course I will, Dash. I love you with all my heart.”
“Then that makes me the luckiest man alive,” he murmured. Later, after he’d kissed her thoroughly, he said, “You sure you want a man who doesn’t even own a shirt for his back?”
Carmen’s soft, sweet laugh answered him. “I like you better naked anyway.”
* * * * *
Later that afternoon, they dragged themselves out of bed long enough to run into town and replenish Dash’s wardrobe a bit. They also had to talk to the cops again. At least his wallet and cell phone had survived the fire, along with his boots and jeans. Ken had dropped by to feed the animals while they slept and had left a clean shirt on the kitchen table. Thankfully, since both truck and house were ranch property, Leah had already called the insurer about those. Since he’d decided to stay, Dash figured he’d better buy a vehicle of his own anyway, but that would wait for another day. Today, he simply rented a loaner from the local dealership.
Finally, they found themselves at Hell’s Bells, surrounded by friends and family who’d come to celebrate Leah and Shane’s return. Mac had set a table for the family right next to the bandstand, and of course he dragged the newlyweds up onto the stage for a toast. Once all the cheers and kissing had finished, Shane and Leah sat down, but Mac stayed at the microphone.
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“Now, y’all might have heard that we have a bona fide hero with us tonight. Let’s hear it for my long-lost brother Dash Hyde, who faced down a killer and ran into a burning building to rescue one of Morgan’s Creek’s own.”
Dash felt his skin heat with a flush that probably went down to his toes as the room erupted into a cacophony of whistles, stomping and cheering.
“Dash, buddy, get on up here and talk to the folks.”
Carmen kicked him and nodded, and Leah and Shane both yelled his name.
Reluctantly, Dash stood, but before he went, he grabbed Carmen by the hand and dragged her with him up the two steps to the small stage.
“All right, all right. I did what I had to do, what any man in this room would have done if it was his woman in that house.”
That brought out another round of cheers, though this one was mixed with laughter.
“Seriously,” Dash said, feeling his throat constrict at the raucous welcome these people had shown them. “I’m really glad you seem to approve, because as it turns out, I’m going to be staying right here in Morgan’s Creek.” He waited through another round of applause then looked at Carmen and squeezed her hand. “Seems this is where my wife is going to be.”
This time the room fairly exploded with sound. When Dash and Carmen left the stage, one of Mac’s employees was passing out glasses of champagne, and Mac led another toast, this one to the newly engaged couple. For the next half-hour, Dash and Carmen sat in their chairs as groups of townsfolk came up to congratulate them and wish them well. Dash was told over and over how glad they were to have him stay, and his heart overflowed. Not only had he found the love of his life, he’d found a place he could truly call home.
A few hours later, both still wiped from all the turmoil of the last couple of days, he lay beside Carmen in their big, warm bed.
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“The wedding has to be soon,” he said, playing with a lock of her straight, silky hair.
“Fine by me,” she murmured sleepily. “We can run up to Vegas tomorrow for all I care. Or let Leah put it on at the ranch in oh, three weeks or so. Whatever you want. As long as we’re together, I’m easy.”
“As long as you’re only easy for me, that’s good,” he said. “And I think having a small wedding at the ranch is a great idea. You see, your grandfather has this big-ass shotgun…”
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About the Author
Cindy Spencer Pape has been, among other things, a banker, a teacher and an elected politician, though she swears she got better. Her degrees are in zoology and she currently works in environmental education, when she can fit it in around writing. She lives in southern Michigan with her husband, two teenage sons, a dog, a lizard and various other small creatures, all of which are easier to clean up after than the three male humans.
Cindy welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her
author bio page at
www.ellorascave.com.
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