He rolled on top of her and kissed her throat. Didn’t she see he had to make this right? The bastards were playing God. “Honey...” Tori looked at him and shook her head still trying to control her emotions.
Jacob dropped his head to her shoulder and nodded. The obvious solution assailed him. “Alright.”
Tori stroked his back and sniffed before she wiped the tears from her cheeks with her free hand. “You gave in too easy. I must have overlooked an angle.”
Jacob shook his head. “No. I promised you I would let it go.”
Tori sighed and closed her eyes. He knew she was completely exhausted both mentally and physically. As she drifted off Jacob’s mind raced. The promise was easy to make. Jared and Jason ran domestic operations. He would brief them on the situation and get the information he needed. He held her in his arms. Her steady breathing and soft warmth wrapped around him. His training deeply ingrained he scanned the room one last time before closing his eyes. Allowing sleep to overtake him, he drifted off.
*
Something pulled Jacob from a deep sleep. He felt her move seconds before her small cry turned into terrified panting. Jacob lifted onto his elbow and pulled her closer. Tori immediately fought his attempt to gather her to him. Her body thrashed spasmodically. Pinning her beneath him Jacob lowered his mouth beside her ear. “Shhh, baby. It’s alright. I have you. Nobody is going to hurt you. Tori…wake up, baby.” Her struggles stilled under him. His murmured words must have registered on some level and she woke with a start searching for something familiar. He saw fear before she recognized him and collapsed into tears again. The mental anguish she lived with tore at him as he held her. Her sobs finally abated and he wiped her face with the pads of his fingers. “I got you baby. I promise no one is going to hurt you again.” His lips brushed her sweetly and tenderly.
Tori buried her head in his neck. “I’m so sorry, so sorry.”
“Hey, now…you didn’t do anything wrong baby. You told me you still had nightmares. It’s okay. I’m here, Tori. Just relax, baby. You’re safe.”
Chapter Eleven
A quiet knock on the bedroom door pulled Jacob from the bed where he had been holding Tori long after the tears abated. He threw his flannel shirt at Tori, who had bolted from the bed right behind him. Within seconds, Jacob was at the door, wearing only his jeans, a Winchester in his hand.
The instant he opened the door, Doc’s concern registered. Jacob recognized the quiet intensity and professional demeanor immediately. He had seen it too many times in too many hellholes not to know something was wrong. “I checked on Keelee. Her fever has spiked. I need to give her some antibiotics, but I can’t get her to answer me about allergies. Ask Tori if Keelee is allergic to anything.”
Tori pulled the door open wider wearing only Jacob’s flannel shirt. Her eyes were red and puffy. Damn. There was no way Doc wouldn’t know she’d been crying. Thank God Doc was smart enough to know what was going on was none of his business.
“No. She has no allergies.” Adam nodded as they all went back into Keelee’s bedroom. “What are you giving her?”
“This is a stabilized form of antibiotic that we use in the field.” He thumped the syringe. “Tori roll her over. I need to administer this in deep muscle tissue.”
Jacob smiled when Tori looked at him blankly. Jacob rolled Keelee over. “Bare a cheek for your sister, Tori. She is getting a shot in the ass.”
“Oh shit, she is going to be pissed.”
Adam applied the alcohol and said almost to himself, “I rather have her pissed and healthy than happy and dead.” He administered the shot.
Throwing the blanket back over her, he nodded. “I got it from here.”
Jacob gathered Victoria and led her out of the room. “Come on, honey. Doc is the best. She’ll be okay.” Tori nodded and allowed him to push her out of the small room.
After closing the door, he circled her in his arms. “Couple more hours until daybreak. We have a long hard day ahead of us and we both need some sleep. Come on, gorgeous, bed for you.”
He pushed her ahead of him into the bedroom and pulled the sleeping bag back waiting for her to crawl in.
“I’m sorry Jacob. The dreams, sometimes they are so vivid, it takes a while before I can go back to sleep.”
He pulled her into his chest and stroked her hair as she settled against him. “If you can’t sleep, at least relax. I got you baby. Nobody is ever going to hurt you again.” His hand combed through her hair in a repetitive soothing motion. He forced his own muscles to relax when he heard her breathing regulate and deepen. How she survived the hell she had been put through he would never know.
*
Jacob followed Tori out of the bedroom as the sun started to rise. The faint lightening of the gray, overcast sky did nothing to warm the bitter cold temperatures.
Doc stood by the fire pouring himself a cup of coffee. Tori grabbed two cups and held them out for Doc to fill.
“How is she?” Worry riddled her quiet question.
“She has pneumonia. Her temperature’s gone down, but it’s not at an acceptable point. She’s been vomiting and is dehydrated. I don’t want to start an IV unless I have to, but I will if she begins to retrograde. Needless to say, she and I won’t be riding out of here today.”
Tori handed Jacob his cup of coffee and took a drink from her mug. “Jacob and I can move the herd down to Hell’s Canyon by ourselves. The old cows know where we are going, and there aren’t any deep breaks that we can’t cover. We’ll leave our supplies, and we can send any extra the men haven’t used back up to you. Bring her down when she’s feeling better. If she gets worse, we’ll get a helicopter to come up here and take her to Rapid City Regional Hospital. Is your satellite phone still charged?”
Doc nodded. “Three-quarter battery. Should last for a while.”
Jacob drank his coffee as he looked at Keelee, asleep on the couch. Doc had evidently moved her for the warmth of the fireplace. “Doc, you okay being up here alone?”
Adam looked at his boss. “Hell no, Skipper. I’m afraid of the dark and I think I might just break down and cry.”
Tori burst into a fit of giggles and pulled Jacob towards the door. “You got breakfast, Doc. We’re heading to the animals.”
Just for good measure, Jacob waited until Tori got her coat on and walked out the door before he whistled. When Doc looked up, Jacob threw him the finger. “You’re an asshole, Cassidy.” Doc’s laughter followed him out the door.
*
Tori and Jacob headed out. She watched Jacob use a bull whip to start the herd moving down the slopes. The tired cows resisted the move at such an early hour and would’ve preferred to lay in the high meadow chewing their cud. Her man expertly used the whip to crack the air above the cow’s ears making them lurch forward down the canyon towards their meeting with her father. She marveled at the natural way he sat his horse, and she was amazed at how quickly his wound had healed. He moved his arm as if he’d never been injured.
After several hours of pushing the herd, she could see her father and Jacob’s men working the cattle down from breaks. As the herds mingled, her father emerged from a break in the canyon chasing a calf back to the fold. He quickly stood in his stirrups and looked her way. She knew when he realized Keelee and Doc weren’t with them. An ear-shattering whistle from Frank drew Chief’s attention. Tori saw him motion to the Indian for him to take over. Of course, her dad would ensure the animals were kept moving down the mountain. The Cherokee nodded and immediately assumed control. Frank galloped over to her. His natural gruffness seemed intensified. “Where’s your sister?”
“She’s sick and is laid up at the line shack. Doc’s given her some antibiotics, but she’s still out of it. We need to send a rider up with any supplies you have left.”
*
Frank didn’t hide his concern. Jacob glanced over at Victoria. “Honey, would you go ask Dixon to collect the supplies? One of the team can take them to the line shack.” Tori nodded and spurred her horse to a gallop heading out.
Jacob sat his horse and squared up on the father of the woman he loved. “Frank, Doctor Adam Cassidy is the best combat doctor in the world and my friend. He’ll take care of your daughter, and she’ll be safe with him.”
Frank turned in his saddle and made sure Tori was gone. “How bad is she?”
Jacob shrugged. “Adam felt he could take care of her. If he needed assistance, he would ask for it.”
The old man rubbed his graying stubble. “Alright, I’ll play it your way.”
The older man shifted in his saddle watching the progress of the cattle. “Are you taking Tori out of here soon?”
Jacob nodded. Damn. He really liked this in-your-face old man. “Yeah, I am. As soon as my company needs me, I’m gone. I want her with me. We’ll work together in Virginia.”
Frank spat on the ground and looked up at Jacob. “If you take her, you damn well better have a plan on how to take care of her if you die in an op overseas. She’ll never come back here to live. You damn well know that as well as I do. Not in her nature to be a country mouse anymore.” With an irritated grunt, Frank spurred his horse to chase a calf that had decided to head up the mountain.