Chapter Twenty-One
Ellie refused to cry. She refused to feel sorry for herself. Her life was better now than it had been before meeting Jacob and for that alone she would be forever grateful. She was free from Otis. She was going to be making honest money. She was able to spend time with her sister and would be able to see her much more often when she started school in Austin than she had when Liza had been in New York.
While her heart ached for Jacob and she wanted desperately to feel those gentle hands touching her again, to feel his lips on hers and to hear his deep, soothing voice whispering how much he loved her, she knew now that she would never feel or hear those things again. He was too set in his own ways and too determined to be alone.
"Shit!" Kent cursed. "Sorry about my language, Miss Thompson, but I told you he wasn't gonna be none too happy that you left without letting him say goodbye. And dammit he told me to stay away from you... I'm fired for sure!" Kent exclaimed with dread as he pulled up the reins and brought the wagon to a stop.
Ellie looked behind them and saw Jacob riding toward them at a full gallop, with dust flying beneath his horses hooves. Her heart filled with hope. Hope that maybe, just maybe, he had finally come to his senses. She tried to push that hope down to save herself the pain that would come if he rejected her, but still it rose. When he drew his horse to a stop beside the wagon and she saw the possessive, hungry look in his eyes, the hope grew leaps and bounds until she was nearly bursting with it.
Jacob held his hand out for her and she bit her lip and glanced at Liza. Liza's eyes widened as she nodded and seemed to say, 'What are you waiting for?'.
Ellie turned her attention back to Jacob. His green eyes were locked with hers and his jaw was tense. She knew if she took his hand everything between them would change. She knew if she took his hand then she would be forgiving him for the past month with just that simple gesture. Was she ready to do that?
"What are you waiting for, Miss Thompson? I think the man wants you to come with him," Kent whispered in her ear.
Ellie couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face and she held out her own hand. She yelped with surprise when Jacob grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the horse, the same way he had the night she had tried to steal the money and run away. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and she wrapped her arms tight around his neck and rested her head on his chest.
He smelled of dust, sweat and that familiar masculine scent that she had missed so much.
Jacob kept one hand on the reins and the other arm wrapped tight around her, "Turn that wagon around, Kent, these ladies aren't going anywhere."
"We aren't?" Liza demanded, trying to hide her smile.
Jacob shook his head, "No, you're not." Ellie trembled at the quiet assurance in his voice.
Kent rubbed his neck, "Uh.. Mr. Atkinson... I didn't mean to go against your orders but she....."
"Just take Liza and the wagon back to the ranch, Kent, and I'll forget about the fact that you ignored me." Kent nodded and turned the wagon.
"Where are we going?" Ellie whispered as Jacob started the horse off into the surrounding wilderness.
"Just trust me," Jacob replied. "I want to be alone with you for a while."
Ellie snuggled her head against him and listened to the steady beat of his heart as they galloped across the plains. She glanced around as he brought the horse to a stop and she recognized the oaks and the small pond that they had picnicked at the day they had made love.
Jacob jumped from the horse and sat her on her feet. They stared into each others eyes for several long seconds and then without a word Jacob pulled her to him and crushed his lips to hers.
Ellie moaned and leaned into his embrace. His hands closed over her rear and pulled her tighter against him. She could feel the evidence of how much he had missed her and how much he wanted her pressed against her stomach. Ellie knew that she should tell him no. She should tell him that they needed to talk about things and that he couldn't have her that easily.
She didn't tell him either of those things. Her body was on fire and yearning for his touch. Her heart was hungry to feel their bodies joining together.
Jacob wasted no time. Too long he had been denying his body what he wanted and his body refused to be denied any longer. He raised his hands and undid the buttons down the front of her blouse and as it fell to the ground, his hungry lips kissed along her bare shoulder.
He ridded her of her skirt and Ellie stood there in nothing but her thin undergarmets, beneath the shade of the oak as Jacob's lips formed fiery paths along her shoulders, down her arm...
He crouched and slid off her boots before kissing trails up her legs. Ellie's knees nearly buckled and she grabbed onto his head for support as he pressed his lips to her most sensitive flesh, through the thin fabric of her underclothes.
He rose up and his hungry mouth sought her nipples and worked them into hard, swollen peaks through the fabric. Ellie gasped and moaned his name as she threw her head back. Jacob crushed his mouth back to hers as he quickly slid out of his own clothes and boots.
With one swift motion, Jacob rendered her nude from the waist down. Without breaking the possessive hold he had on her mouth, he laid them both down upon the grass.
Ellie wrapped her arms tight around him as he braced himself over her. She ran her hands down the tight rolling muscles of his arms and felt him tremble, "I love you, Ellie." he vowed, looking deep into her eyes.
Ellie felt a tear slip down her cheek and then his lips were kissing it away, "I love you too, Jacob. Make love to me," she whispered.
Jacob didn't keep her waiting, he had done far too much of that. Sliding his hand along her hip, Jacob positioned himself and the slid inside of her in one fluid motion. He moaned her name and buried his face in her neck as they lay there perfectly still for several long moments.
Ellie whimpered impatiently beneath him and twisted her hips. Jacob kissed her softly as he began a slow rhythm inside of her.
The sun shone brightly, the birds sang and the water of the pond shown like diamonds as their moans filled the summer air. They went over the peak together, their cries of ecstasy ringing out in unison as they clung to one another with near desperation.
Jacob collapsed on the grass beside her and Ellie curled up on her side against him. Jacob was still in a daze from the intensity of what they had just shared. He ran his fingers along her delicate back and then froze when he felt her shoulders heave and her hot tears began scalding his skin.
"Ellie... Why are you crying? Did I hurt you?" he demanded gently as he put his hand under her chin and raised her head.
She swiped her hand across her face and bit her lip to try to stop the flow of her tears, "Jacob, I can't lose you again," she sobbed, "Please tell me that you came after me because you can't lose me either. Please say you're going to marry me."
Jacob stared into her deep blue eyes, so full of pain and desperation. He cursed under his breath and hated himself more than ever before. What had he been thinking? How could he have thought for a moment that he could live without this woman? Without feeling her tiny hands dancing across his bare skin? Without seeing her smile? Without tasting her kisses?
"I'm a fool." he said finally.
***
"It's time to say your vows," George Bass urged with a warm smile on his dark, wrinkled face.
Brody sat with his wife and children and couldn't help but smile at the sight of the same man who had married him and Elizabeth, marrying his brother and Ellie. Lexi fussed in his arms and he bounced his knee and kissed her cheek to silence her as Elizabeth's arm slipped around his shoulders and she smiled lovingly at him.
Ellie repeated the vows that George recited to her and she saw the shine of tears in Jacob's eyes.
George turned to Jacob and Jacob shook his head, "I was wanting to say my own vows to her," he said. "Is that okay?"
George tipped his head graciously, "It's your wedding."
Jacob looked down at his soon to be wife and coughed nervously in front of the small crowd of family and friends, "Ellie, I am honored and humbled by the fact that you want to be my wife," he began, his voice shaky and full of emotion. "I still say you deserve better but I've learned the hard way to just grab onto the gift that God gave me and not let you go. I promise to you that I will do everything I can to make sure every dream you ever have comes true. I was lost in a fog before you, Ellie. I never thought I'd find a woman who would love me and everything that came with me. Thank you. Thank you for loving me, despite the fact that I have hurt you more than I've ever wanted to hurt you and more than you ever deserved. I can promise you right now that I will never hurt you again. I love you, Ellie." Ellie smiled through her tears of happiness and reached out her hand to wipe a stray tear from his cheek, "I love you too."
George finished up the ceremony and then tucked his bible under his arm, "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride." J Jacob pulled her to him, ran his hands over the white silk of her gown before settling them on her hips. The kiss he pressed to her lips was a passionate one that had the ranch hands whistling.
"Alright now, there's kids around," Brody scolded as he walked up behind Jacob and patted him on the shoulder.
Jacob moved his lips from Ellie's but didn't release the hold he had on her.
"Welcome to the family, Ellie Atkinson," Brody said moving Lexi to his hip and holding out his hand.
Ellie shook his offered hand and couldn't believe there had been a time when she'd been afraid of this man, "Thank you, Brody."
Jacob looked down at Brody's hand still wrapped around Ellie's and felt jealousy spark. Then when Brody pressed his lips against her knuckles in an intimate display Jacob nearly exploded with possessive anger.
He turned his glare to Brody's face and found that his younger brother's eyes were locked with his and there was an amused twinkle in them and a grin on his face, "I owed you one, Jacob. You asked my wife to marry you, remember?"
Jacob was about to reply but then smiled smugly, just before Elizabeth's hand fell across the back of Brody's head, "You can let go of her hand now," she said sternly.
Brody gave a sheepish grin and dropped Ellie's hand before turning to his wife, "Are you jealous, cowgirl?"
Elizabeth shook her head and kissed his scarred cheek, "No. There's not another woman in the world that would put up with your grouchy backside."
"You got that right!" LeRoy exclaimed as he joined them.
"Jacob! Jacob!" Susie exclaimed as she came running across the yard.
"What?" Jacob demanded with alarm.
"Sally's fighting with a boy! She's beating him up!" Susie replied, her eyes wide with fear.
Jacob and Brody looked at each other and then over at the barn where the sounds of a scuffle could be heard coming from within, "You got any second thoughts about coming into this family?" Jacob asked Ellie.
Ellie shook her head, "Not a single one," she assured him.
A cry of pain came from inside the barn and it was clear that it wasn't Sallie's cry of pain, "I better get in there," Jacob said with a sigh.
"Let me go," Brody countered with a grin.
"Why, so you can encourage her!?" Jacob demanded and then he shook his head and headed toward the barn. "That girl is just like you and she is going to be the death of me."
"Jacob!" Ellie called out causing him to stop and turn to face her.
He raised a brow, "What?"
"I love you!" she said, just wanting to see if he would yell it across the yard for everyone to hear.
He smiled, "I love you too," he called back and then he turned and disappeared into the barn.
"Would you yell out your love for me like that for the whole world to hear?" Elizabeth teased as she pulled Brody to the side.
Brody frowned, "What kind of question is that?" he demanded and he saw the slight disappointment in her eyes.
"A ridiculous one I suppose," she replied.
"Elizabeth, I live for you. I have died for you and I have killed for you. I have sold my soul to Satan himself for you. There is nothing that I wouldn't do for you."
Brody looked around at the crowd, which was now milling around and eating the free food, "Hey everybody!" he yelled and everyone turned to look at him. "I love this woman!" he vowed, wrapping his arm around Elizabeth's shoulders.
"Jesus, Brody, we done know that! Let us eat in peace," LeRoy grumbled and everyone else seemed to agree as they went back to what they had been doing.
Elizabeth laughed and hugged him tightly, "You are crazy, Mr. Atkinson."
Brody tipped his hat, "Been told that a time or two, ma'am."
"Is everything okay?" Ellie asked Jacob when he jogged back to her side.
"The boy has a black eye and a busted lip and Sallie's got some cuts on her knuckles... I think that's the last time that boy will ever try to steal a kiss from my sister," he replied and Ellie could hear the pride in his voice.
"You are an amazing man." she said as she leaned into his arms and he kissed her hair.
"I don't know about that, Ellie, but I will say that you make me better. You definitely make me better."
A/N: The next story in the series is 'Breaking Down Defenses'