Chapter Fourteen

L edger clasped Demi by the hand and led her past the floral paintings leaning against the wall and positioned on the easels, over to the futon.

She turned to him. Fatigue had created pale bruises under each eye, but she was just as beautiful as ever. More so because of her core of steel.

He ran his hands over her shoulders and down her arms. He needed to touch her just to make sure she was still with him.

"I never should have let you make that ranch call alone."

She shook her head, her hair waving over her shoulders. "You had other issues to handle here. Did you even get to search for the wolves? Is the cow okay?"

His lips compressed. "Killed."

"Oh god!"

"The other ranch hands are out hunting for wolves now with a few of the WEST Protection crew that showed up to lend a hand."

"I can't believe how out of control all this has gotten. First the horse attack, then the wolves. Now Mr. Vale's horse and…" She trailed off, shaking her head to cast out the memory of what she saw.

He understood. He wished he could unsee a lot of things. But he was the most grateful man in the universe tonight. He had Demi. He had their baby.

Bringing her a step closer, he slipped his arms around her. With his nose buried in her fragrant hair, he rasped, "I was so scared when you called."

She locked her arms around him tighter, swaying into his body. "I'm all right, Ledger."

Inching back enough to stare into her beautiful eyes, he searched her expression for the source of the emotion that thickened her voice.

She swallowed, her delicate throat working. "I realized something tonight."

He smoothed his thumb over the crest of her cheek. "What's that?"

"I know we said we'd date, but…"

She broke off for so long that he ducked his head to force her to meet his gaze.

"Demi?"

In a rush, her words tumbled out. "I'm in love with you, Ledger. I think I fell for you when you walked up to my table carrying my favorite drink."

His chest heaved with emotion, and his heart took off in a thundering beat.

"Oh baby…I haven't been able to get you out of my head since that first night we were together. Each minute I spend with you, I want to spend two more to make up for anything I missed."

Her lips popped open on a puff of a sigh. Raising her hand, she cupped his jaw, went on tiptoe and kissed him.

At the first taste, he groaned. Deepened the kiss.

Walking his fingers down her spine to her ass, he squeezed her firm cheeks and hauled her against his growing cock.

Her soft moan of desire stole over him. Slowly, he backed her up, knowing where every table and teacup in the shed was located without even looking. He trailed his hands to the hem of her top.

She sucked in a gasp as he tore it off her.

Strumming his hands back up to her nape, he twisted her hair around his fist and plundered her mouth. The flip of their tongues fueled the fire already blazing inside his core.

He wanted her. "All those times before this, I was never fucking you, Demi. I was always making love to you."

"Oh, Ledger." Her eyes swam with tears.

Slowing his kisses, he lifted her. She wrapped her legs around him and rocked into his erection. When he lowered her to the futon, she knew what to do and started tossing pillows onto the floor to make space for them.

He lay her down, and she dragged him on top of her. Staring into her eyes was like everything he'd ever thought to want being given to him.

"This would be much better in my bed." Her words ended on another gasp as he popped the clasp of her bra and tugged it off her.

Her nipples hardened to tight points. Diving for one, he took it in his mouth in a gentle suck that caused her to arch off the mattress. The pulse of need inside her, the urge to sink into her over and over until they both exploded in ecstasy, stole through him.

Teasing her breasts with gentle sweeps of his tongue, he slid his hand to her fly and slowly unzipped her jeans.

"That sundress and no panties thing works much better." He struggled to pop the button using one hand.

She laughed and then stopped. "Ledger, when did you shower?"

"I took a quick one while you were with the ladies in the kitchen."

"Mmm. At least you don't smell anymore." She hauled him closer, tongue tangling with his.

In seconds, he had her stripped bare. When she tore at his clothes, he assisted her in removing them.

The low light filtering into the space kissed her skin with a gentle glow. Following the gleam along her ribs with his tongue, he moved upward to her breasts, throat and finally captured her mouth in a searing kiss.

At the same moment, she rocked her pussy into him. In one slick plunge, his stiff cock slid home.

"Ohhh, Ledger." She dug her fingers into his shoulders.

"I love you. Fuck, I love you so damn much. No one is going to take you from me. I'm never letting you go." He punctuated his words with thrusts of his hips.

Her teeth skimmed over his throat, raising a growl from him. "I love you! You feel so good. So big. So…" Her words cut off on another low moan that blistered his senses.

Staring down into her eyes, he said the only thing that mattered in that moment of passion.

"Mine."

* * * * *

Bang, bang, bang. Bang, bang.

Loud pounding filtered into Demi's dream. She bolted upright, her sleepy mind scrambled. She blinked into the darkness to see Ledger standing a few feet from the futon, yanking on his jeans.

"Who is it?" She tugged the sheet over her nudity.

"It must be one of the guys. Something's wrong." In three strides, he reached the door and pulled it open.

Colton's deep voice woke her fully. But what he said filled her with terror. "There's a fire on the Davidsons' ranch."

"Fuck!"

"Hurry—we need all hands on deck to move the cattle."

"I can't go. I can't leave Demi."

"Webb's staying behind. He'll keep watch over her and everyone in the house."

Demi called out, "You have to go!"

"Let me get dressed. I'll just be a minute."

"Meet us at the truck."

Ledger spun toward her.

"I'm coming with you." She scrambled out of their love nest, gripping the sheet tightly around her body while she located the clothes that he'd stripped off her earlier.

"No. You're staying here."

"I can help!"

"Promise me you'll stay here. Keep the door locked and don't leave."

"Ledger—"

He grabbed her by the shoulders and thrust his face close to hers. "Baby, please listen to me. I don't like being split up from you. Shit goes wrong when we're apart. But I won't risk you being in the middle of a wildfire while we try to get frightened animals to safety."

She stared up at him, seeing the determination carved on his rugged features.

When she didn't respond immediately, he slid his palm over her lower belly. Over their child.

"For him. Stay here for him."

She nodded, struck mute with emotion. Then she cupped his jaw and went on tiptoe, stamping her mouth over his in a hard kiss.

"Stay safe. And come back to me!"

He clutched her hard against his chest, then he finished dressing and was gone.

Demi stood in the middle of the room, heart hammering. She raked her fingers through her hair, wondering what to do with herself.

She could go to the Graceys' house and be with Meadow and Ivy. With any luck, Opal and her daughter were asleep in the guest room too.

But Ledger asked her to stay in the shed. Sitting here alone, worrying about him and the guys, and even the neighbor rancher and his animals, was her only option.

Covering her lower belly with her hand the same way that Ledger had, she sank to the futon again and drew the blanket around her shoulders. The world was going crazy lately. Tonight, they'd already lost one man.

She sat there, listening to the loud silence and the thrum of her own heart. Before long, her baby would hear it too. It would know her from the sound of its beat.

Digging her fingers into her eyes, she scrubbed away the tears that leaked out. "Please come back to us," she whispered into the darkness.

The harsh vibration of her phone a few feet away made her jump. Her heart rocketed into her throat.

She snatched it up and stared at the screen, desperate to see Ledger's name.

Instead, she was looking at the after-hours service that was connected to her office's emergency hotline. Someone had a sick or injured animal.

"Dr. Demi."

"Hi, Doc. It's Robin Peterson. I hate to call at this hour, but we've got a cow that's been laboring for hours. She's not making progress."

Oh, no. She'd promised not to leave.

She had to. It was her job. It was who she was.

When she learned about the baby, she'd been so determined to go it alone. Now that she and Ledger admitted to deeper feelings, Demi's goal was to figure out how to let him into her life. Everything was changing, and it frightened her.

But a crisis with an animal she knew how to handle. She was a veterinarian. She couldn't forget that. She'd built her practice from the ground up, solo, and this job would support her family.

It's showtime.

"What cow is it?" She jumped off the mattress and hurried to find her boots. She knew the Petersons' stock very well. All of their cows had calved at least once before.

"It's Nellie."

"I pulled her last calf, didn't I? It was breech."

"Yes. Jeff thinks this one might be breech as well."

"I'll be there as soon as possible." She yanked her boots on and fetched her jacket too.

As she ended the call, she walked out of the shed. In long strides, she hastened toward her SUV, but then she realized she needed to tell someone where she was going. Just in case.

She took a detour to the big house. When she knocked on the door, Meadow answered, fully dressed with an expression of worry pinching her brows.

"Demi. Are you okay?"

Through the side window, she saw Opal and her daughter sitting in the living room with Ivy. They must have all been sitting up, talking and offering comfort to each other.

"Yes. I just got a call about a breech birth. I need to go help."

"Is it wise to go out alone again?" Meadow asked.

"Have you seen Jeff Peterson? No one is going to mess with me on his ranch."

Meadow eyed her, then glanced over her shoulder at Opal. The woman was curled on her side, crying.

"Maybe you're right. Do you want me to come with you?"

""Opal needs you," Demi said softly. "I'll be fine. I'll drive straight there without any stops, pull the calf, then come straight back."

Meadow stepped onto the porch and gave her an unexpected hug. Stunned, Demi embraced her in return, feeling safe and protected with her new sister in a way she never experienced before.

"The guys will be back as soon as they get the animals safe. Webb stayed behind to watch over things here. Do you want me to ask him to drive you?"

"No, I'll be fine."

"Be safe, Demi."

She threw her a wave and quickly descended the porch steps to stride across the yard.

The drive to the Petersons' only took minutes. Jeff and Robin greeted her in the driveway.

"Is the cow in the barn?" Demi asked.

Jeff shook his head. "I found her in the field about four hours ago." He waved to the ATV sitting there. "I'll drive you out there."

She nodded and jumped into the passenger seat of the side-by-side ATV while he settled the metal calf puller in the back.

As they rounded the barn on the path to the field, the orange glow of fire lit the edge of the field.

"What the…" Jeff braked.

They stared at the land edged by flames.

She slammed a palm into the dashboard. "If we hurry, we still have time to birth that calf before the fire comes too close!"

He zoomed across the field.

Dry conditions made every field for twenty miles dangerous ground. If the Davidsons' ranch was up in smoke, and the fire was eating up the field at the Petersons' in such a short amount of time, then she had to work fast.

And pray the wind didn't shift again and push the blaze to the Gracey.

Panic threatened at the back of her throat. But she gulped it down and focused on what she needed to do.

Moving a cow in labor wasn't possible. They had to pull the calf—now. When she spotted the dark hump of the downed momma, she gripped the seat, prepared to jump out and hit the ground running.

Jeff pulled up alongside the animal and grabbed the equipment to pull the calf.

Demi stared across the field, gauging how far away those flames were. She had time. She was confident.

"Think we got time, Doc?"

She looked at Jeff. "If the wind doesn't shift. Let's get this baby out!"

She hit her knees beside the momma. Mindless words meant to soothe the animal ran out of her in a stream as she worked to check the calf's position.

Twisting her head to the owner, she confirmed, "Breech."

"Tell me what to do."

Just then, her hair blew across her cheek.

Panic swept through her. Oh no. The wind had shifted.

She swung around to look, and sure enough, the flames shot higher, flaring brighter.

Coming right at them.

"Hurry!" She grabbed the chain and reached for one of the calf's tiny hooves. But only minutes into her efforts to get the calf into the correct position, Demi felt that wall of heat surging closer.

Too fast.

"Do you have a water tank for the cattle?" she asked Jeff.

He threw a look at the flames inching toward them and gave a brisk nod.

"Wet down as much of the field as you can." The wind gusted. "Hurry!"

Her muscles shook from the effort of moving a calf into a better position from the tight confines of a laboring cow. But Demi was not leaving her position until conditions made it impossible to continue.

As she worked, so did Jeff. The rancher grabbed hoses and ran them to the big water tank that he used during dry spells. As he sprayed down the grass, Demi urged the cow to push at the same time she pulled on the metal equipment.

The chains stretched between her and the calf, but the baby only seemed to budge half an inch each yank.

She didn't have time.

"Doc! We need to call it quits!"

She looked up to see Jeff silhouetted by fire.

Oh god. How had the wall of flame come so close, creating a circle around them?

They were trapped.