Spirit Warrior

  “Come here,” he ordered in a gruff voice.

  “Why? What are you doing?” Allie asked, suddenly sounding very young and confused.

  “I don’t know, but I need to hold you and you look like you could use a hug,” Jacob admitted as he pulled her into his arms.

  A shudder ran through her slender figure before her arms slowly circled his waist. The feel of her hands against his cool skin felt good. He bit back a silent groan and bowed his head until his cheek rested against the silky strands of her hair.

  "I do," she whispered as she rested her head against his chest. "Need the hug, that is."

  A soft chuckle escaped him as he held her against his body. So far, two of the questions in his mind had been answered. She did feel good in his arms and she fit perfectly against his body. Now, he only needed to know if she tasted as good as he imagined.

  "Do you want to talk about it?" Jacob asked.

  A sigh escaped her as she slowly pulled away from him. Jacob wanted to kick himself in the ass when he felt her stiffen and withdraw from him. He reluctantly dropped his arms to his side as she gave him a crooked smile and tilted her head back to stare at him for several long seconds.

  "Yeah, I think I finally do want to talk about it," Allie replied, surprising herself with her admission. "Would you like some hot chocolate?"

  "Chocolate?" Jacob repeated as his eyes lit up with delight and a boyish grin crossed his face. “I had a piece of chocolate once when I was back East.”

  He ignored Allie’s quizzical expression as she glanced at him before she turned away and headed for the kitchen. His fists clenched at his side for a moment as the desire to pull her back against him and kiss her swept through him again. Drawing in a deep breath, he followed her as they wound their way through the living and dining room.

  He sat down on one of the stools at the bar and watched her as she bent to pull the milk and another container out of the ice box. The bright light lit up the area around her and he couldn’t help but admire the shapely curve of her ass and long legs. He flushed when she turned around and caught him.

  “I…,” he started to say before he cleared his throat. “Sorry, I couldn’t help it.”

  Allie’s low chuckle echoed in the kitchen. She just shook her head and reached into a nearby cabinet. He watched in fascination as she poured the milk into two large mugs and placed them into another machine he had never seen.

  She pressed a few buttons that beeped as she touched them. A moment later, a light came on in the machine and he could see the cups turning around in a circle. She opened another cabinet and pulled out a brown bottle.

  His eyes flashed back to the machine when it beeped three times before shutting off. He knew his mouth had dropped open when she opened it and pulled the two cups out. Steam rose from them.

  He blinked in amazement as she poured the chocolate out of the brown bottle. A frown creased his brow when she shook a tall, narrow cylinder before pressing the top. White foam came out as she twirled it around the top of the steaming cups. She topped her creation with more of the brown liquid.

  “What is this called again?” He asked as he stared down at the delicious smelling concoction.

  “Haven’t you ever had hot chocolate before?” Allie asked as she replaced the milk and whip cream.

  “No,” Jacob replied in a soft voice as he carefully picked up the cup. “I had a piece of chocolate at the General Store in Boston a few years ago. It was expensive, but I wanted to try it. What is the white stuff?”

  “Whip cream,” Allie answered, pulling the stool next to him out so she could sit down beside him. “I love it, especially when I’m sad.”

  Jacob watched as she stuck her tongue out and licked the creamy mixture. He felt his body respond to the unconscious, sensual act. He almost groaned aloud when she followed the movement by licking her lips.

  Instead, he did the same thing. His eyes flew to her vivid blue eyes when he heard her emit a soft moan. Pleasure washed through him as the sweet cream, mixed with chocolate touched his tongue.

  That’s not the only reason I’m feeling good, he thought as her eyes followed the movement of his lips.

  “You were going to tell me about your friend," Jacob reminded her in a husky voice.

  He regretted reminding her when she withdrew behind an invisible wall, as if to protect herself against the pain he had seen in her eyes. Her gaze shifted to her cup and she wrapped her hands around it, as if trying to absorb the heat. He didn’t press her, but waited patiently until she was ready to talk.

  *.*.*

  Allie stared blindly at the cup of hot chocolate in her hands. She wondered if she was acting out of character because of the emotional release she had felt this evening combined with exhaustion. To say she had been startled when Jacob had touched her in the hallway was an understatement. All the way home, she had fought with a mixture of emotions ranging from relief, to sorrow, to acceptance, and back again.

  She didn’t understand why she was suddenly ready to move on. Or at least, she hadn’t been until Jacob touched her again. Confusion swept through her, making her wonder what in the hell was going on inside her head.

  She had just met the guy today. Hell, she didn’t know a damn thing about him and she was about to spill her guts to him. As out of character as it was for her, something told her it was the right thing to do. He would be gone soon enough. Maybe it was because of that, she felt like she could talk to him. He would ease the pain and take it away with him when he left.

  “I fell in love almost two and a half years ago with a really awesome man,” she whispered, not looking at Jacob’s face. She could feel him stiffen beside her, but refused to stop. He’d asked her if she wanted to tell him and for some reason, she did. “He was a friend of my younger brother, Taylor. Chris was a rising star on the rodeo circuit. Unlike a lot of the guys, namely Taylor, he was more focused on building his career instead of just finding a different girl every night,” she joked in a cracked voice. Releasing a sigh, she lifted the cup to her lips and took a sip of her drink. Her head bowed as she set it back on the bar. “The first time we met, we talked half the night away before we knew it. Soon, we were talking every day.”

  “You went to see this… Chris, tonight?” Jacob asked, calmly.

  “Yes, I go just about every day if I can,” Allie replied. “After a few months, things started to get really serious between us. He asked me to marry him and I said yes.”

  “So, you married him?”

  “No,” Allie said, finally looking at Jacob. His face was calm, but she could see the taut line of his jaw and the nerve pulsing in his cheek. “He wanted to wait until he could prove to my dad that he was marrying me because of me… not because of the Whitewater name. He was close to sealing a deal with several really big sponsors. He had already won one National Championship. If he had another one under his belt, he would be in the big league.”

  “Something happened,” Jacob guessed.

  “Yes, something happened,” Allie whispered as she remembered that night. “He was in the last round of competition. I knew the moment he came out of the chute something was wrong. He was struggling to stay on the horse he was riding. As the horse twisted around, the strap on the saddle broke, throwing Chris. The horse kicked out, striking him in the head as he fell. He suffered severe head trauma. The doctors tried to control the internal bleeding and swelling. By the time they got it under control, it was too late. Chris had suffered severe brain damage that left him in a vegetative state.”

  “Where is he now?” Jacob asked quietly.

  Allie glanced at Jacob again. This time, compassion and understanding was reflected in his eyes. She gave him a watery smile.

  “In a nursing home,” she replied. “I talked to the nurses earlier today. One of them is a friend of Aleaha, so she tells me more than some of the others. She said the doctor came in early this morning…” Allie glanced at the clock and her lips twisted when she saw it was a little
after two. “Yesterday morning. He said that Chris’s body is beginning to shut down and that he sent in an order for a nurse from Hospice to come in. They can’t give a specific time, but she warned me to be prepared. That Chris wouldn’t be… that he wouldn’t…”

  Jacob stood up and drew Allie into his arms when it became impossible for her to speak. He rubbed her back as her salty tears dampened the skin of his chest. This woman amazed him. Her devotion, her compassion, her strength, and her passion drew him to her.

  “Life sometimes gives us great challenges,” he murmured as he held her tightly against him. “But, it can also bring us many great rewards. Chris is a very fortunate man to have found you, Allie Whitewater.”

  Allie didn’t respond to his softly spoken comment. She just turned her face into his chest and closed her eyes. It had been so long since she’d let down her guard and let someone else help shoulder the weight.

  “Allie,” Jacob whispered, sliding his hand up to cup her chin so she was forced to look at him. “I mean it.”

  “I know,” she replied in a husky voice.

  Allie’s eyelashes fluttered as Jacob lowered his head. Her lips parted as he pressed his over them. Her hands moved on their own up his chest until she wound them around his neck. An explosive hunger gripped her as she opened for him.

  Their breaths mingled as the chemistry in their kiss pulled at both of them. Allie’s fingers tightened in Jacob’s shoulder length hair as she rose up on her toes to get closer. It took several long seconds before she ripped her mouth away from his and pulled back.

  “Don’t you dare,” he interrupted before she could speak.

  Allie’s mouth compressed on the denial she had been about to make. He was right, she had wanted… needed the kiss as much as he did. Turning, she scooted around the chair, suddenly needing to be alone.

  “Goodnight, Allie,” Jacob called behind her in a soft voice.

  Allie paused at the doorway leading into the dining room. Her back was stiff as she placed her left hand on the door frame to steady herself. Drawing in a deep breath, she didn’t look back as she responded.

  “Goodnight, cowboy,” she said in a husky voice before escaping.

  *.*.*

  Jacob stared at the empty doorway for several long minutes before he sat back onto the stool. He turned and picked up the cooling cup of hot chocolate. Draining it, he licked his lips as a smile curved his lips. It reminded him of Allie. She tasted like chocolate.

  Reaching over, he picked up her cup. She had barely taken more than a sip out of it. It was too good to waste. Sipping on it, he thought over what she had told him. He knew she was hurting. Yet, there had also been the sound of acceptance, along with a touch of defiance, in her voice.

  “Perhaps what you need, Allie, is a new place to start over,” Jacob muttered as he looked down into the empty mug. “A place that is as wild and untamed as you.”

  Chapter 8

  Allie refused to look at Jacob the next morning. She knew she was being childish. After all, pretending like he didn’t exist and last night never happened wasn’t exactly the most mature thing to do.

  Hell, I feel like I’m back in high school, she thought in disgust as she pulled up in front of the hanger.

  “I need to do a flight check,” she mumbled as she pulled the truck up next to the large, metal building. “You guys stay here.”

  She opened the door and slid out as Allen, the Whitewater Ranch’s head mechanic, stepped out of the building. She had called him early this morning and asked him to do a maintenance check as well.

  “Morning, Allen,” Allie said with a nod as she passed him. “Did you get a chance to go over the plane?”

  “Mornin’, Allie,” the old mechanic replied. “Yep, everything is good. I left what I did on the seat for you.”

  “Thanks,” Allie replied, not stopping.

  They had a long flight ahead of them and she wanted to get up in the air as soon as possible. She stepped into the bright hanger and walked over to the Cessna Turbostation. Walking around the outside of the plane, she did the outside check before climbing on board. She slowly ran down the checklist and reviewed the maintenance Allen had done earlier.

  When it came to flying, Allie was almost paranoid. Several years back, a buyer from Kentucky had flown out to their ranch to take a look at some of the mares they had. He never made it home.

  While crashes happened, his had occurred because he hadn’t done the required pre-flight check. If he had, he would’ve found the cracked oil cap. She double checked the flight plan she’d recorded and turned on the controls to make sure everything came up. Satisfied, she slid out again and pulled the chocks out from around the wheels. Walking over, she hung them on the hooks by the office door.

  Stepping up to the control for the hanger door, she pressed the button to lift it. She stuck her head out the side door to call for Jacob and Jonathan. In the distance, she could see Allen’s old blue truck as he drove away. He’d come back and close everything up when he was done with whatever task he needed to complete.

  “You guys ready to go?” Allie called out over the rumble of the door. “The plane is ready and my flight plans are filed. We’re wasting daylight.”

  *.*.*

  Jacob started when the large metal wall began to move. His curse blended with Jonathan’s. He drew in a deep breath and released it as he saw a strange metal wagon sitting inside the building. He looked suspiciously at it. Ever since Sam had mentioned ‘flying’, a sense of unease had gripped him.

  He and Jonathan had been talking about the journey to Los Angeles. Sam told them that a law man named Trey would be meeting them at the airport at noon. How Sam thought they would get from Wyoming to California in a matter of hours was beyond him. It would take weeks of hard riding and a change of horses to make it. Even with the hard topped roads and Allie’s metal machine, he didn’t think they would make it all the way to California in the time frame Sam was talking about.

  Jacob watched as he stared at the long, narrow metal machine. This one was different from the ones he had seen so far. It had things that looked suspiciously like… wings.

  He and Jonathan started forward, staring with a wary gaze at it. Maybe the long sides helped to steady it. It looked like it would fall over without them. Even the wheels were smaller than the ones on Allie’s truck and it only had three of them. Feeling a touch better about his analysis of the ‘airplane’, he decided it was called that because it could move through the air faster.

  “Well, come on,” Allie said with an impatient tone as she stood aside and waited for them. She scowled at the worried frown on their face. “You don’t have to be nervous. I’m a damn good pilot.”

  “Yeah, well, I hope you really are better at driving this thing than you were the other one,” Jacob muttered. He jerked his head toward her pickup truck. “You damn near hit another metal wagon yesterday and this one takes up more room.”

  He wished he could take back the words as soon as they left his mouth, but the truth was… he was terrified of traveling in the metal wagons the people of this time took for granted. Man wasn’t made to go so fast. He much preferred a good horse under him any day.

  Allie rolled her eyes as she turned away from him. “Just get in,” she muttered. “Pansy…”

  Jonathan’s chuckle echoed as he climbed through the narrow door. He didn’t know what had happened since yesterday, but something had. Jacob’s eyes had been glued to Allie since they went downstairs to breakfast.

  “What’s a pansy?” He asked Jacob as he settled into the soft leather seat with a sigh of appreciation. “I swear, they do know how to travel in comfort in this time.”

  Jacob scowled at Jonathan’s comment. “A nice saddle broken in, isn’t so bad.”

  “What happened last night? You don’t look like you slept much,” Jonathan asked in a low voice.

  “I don’t want to talk about it here,” Jacob muttered as Allie climbed in.

  “Here,?
?? she said, handing each of them a set of headphones.

  “What do we do with them?” Jacob asked in confusion, turning the black padded item over in his hand. It had a long tail with a small metal piece on the tip.

  “You put it on your head,” Allie said with a frown, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. “Like this!” She added in exasperation when he looked at her with a confused look.

  Jacob winced as she took one of the pairs she held in her hands and put it over his ears. She grabbed the small metal piece of the end and pushed it into a hole on the side of the seat he was sitting in. He looked up at her when she said something.

  “What?” He asked in a loud voice.

  He felt bad when Allie grimaced. She reached out and pulled one side of the headphones off his ear by about half an inch before she repeated her statement. He could tell by the tight line of her mouth, she didn’t believe he didn’t have a clue as to what she wanted him to do.

  “I said, buckle up,” she repeated.

  “I am buckled,” Jacob muttered as his hands went to the waistband of his pants.

  Allie’s mouth dropped open, but she didn’t say anything else. He watched as she bent over him and grabbed two straps on either side of his seat. His eyes immediately went to the front of her yellow blouse. He couldn’t help it. She was mere inches from him and when she bent forward…

  Sweat beaded on his brow as he drew in a deep breath when he saw the white lace cupping her honey-colored breasts. Her head turned toward him when she heard his sudden inhalation of air. Her eyes followed the direction of his gaze. A pretty flush swept up her cheeks as she snapped the buckle and straightened.

  She turned to Jonathan, but Jacob grabbed her arm to stop her. She stared into his intense face for a moment before a rueful smile twisted her lips. She shook her head as she pulled the headphones out his hands and handed them to his brother.

  Jonathan shot him a questioning look before putting on the headphones and seatbelt like his brother was wearing. He shrugged his shoulders and mouthed ‘later’. At least this way he couldn’t talk, or at least that was what he thought until Allie sat down in the front seat ahead of them.