Van, Becca - Double E Ranch [Slick Rock 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (3 page)

“Where is the bastard?” Tom asked his brother.

“He’s gone. He must have come around when Jack was bringing her to the house. I was just in time to see the tail end of his car leaving the ranch. Fuck it. He got away, Tom.”

“Once we have treated Felicity as much as we can, we’ll let the doctor examine her and the sheriff take over. I don’t think he’ll ever show his face around here again. The bastard is a yellow-bellied coward,” Tom replied as he stared down at Felicity.

The doctor arrived twenty minutes later. Even though he ordered Tom and Billy from the room, they wouldn’t budge. They just both stood against the far wall, their arms crossed over their chests, glaring at the man. They watched Doc exam Felicity, trying to use his body to keep prying eyes away.

Tom listened as Doc muttered to himself as he worked. He saw the elderly man baulk, his voice becoming louder as examined Felicity.

“I can’t believe someone could beat up such a small, helpless woman. She has bruises covering her cheeks, chest, and another beneath her jaw where a fist has connected with her skin. Her face is swollen, and she’s suffering from a concussion. She should wake up pretty soon.”

“If you need to get her to a hospital, then that’s what we’ll do,” Tom bit out. He wanted her where he knew she was safe, so if she had to go to the hospital, he would organize guards for her. Otherwise he and Billy were going to be vigilant to the point of annoying but knew if Doc said Felicity needed to be hospitalized he would take her to the hospital himself.

Tom watched Doc as he froze on the spot when Felicity moaned. He and Doc watched her intently as she slowly opened her eyes, slammed her eyelids shut again, and clutched her head between her hands.

“Felicity, I’m Doctor Foster. How are you feeling?”

“Terrible,” Felicity replied through dry, bruised lips.

“Now, I don’t want you moving around too much. You have a bad concussion, which is no doubt making you feel sick. Your face is also swollen and bruised. You need to take it easy for at least a week. If the headache doesn’t begin to go, you’ll need to go to the hospital,” Doc said.

“No insurance,” Felicity replied.

“What’s more important, money or your health? Can you open your eyes for me, little lady?” Doc asked.

Tom could see when Felicity opened her eyes that she was having trouble keeping them open. He could tell by the way she was blinking she couldn’t see. He saw her flinch back away from Doc as he shone a light into her eyes.

“Sick,” Felicity cried out as she slammed her eyelids shut again.

Tom knew Doc or he wouldn’t have time to get a bucket for the ill woman. He saw Doc glance around the room, spy a trash can near the bedside table, grab it, help Felicity to roll to her side, and hold her head as she was ill. When she was done emptying her stomach, Doc looked over to him and Billy.

“Please bring a glass of water for the young lady,” Doc demanded.

Tom sent Billy for the water, and his brother was back in moments with a glass in hand. He watched as Billy and Doc helped Felicity to take a drink and rinse her mouth. Then he saw Doc head to the bathroom, the sound of running water and the smell of disinfectant telling him Doc was cleaning the garbage can. Doc was back a few minutes later. Tom kept a watch over Felicity as she fell asleep. Doc turned to him and started giving instructions.

“I want you to keep an eye on this little girl for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Wake her up every hour for the first twenty-four hours, make sure she knows where and who she is. After that you can wake her every four hours. If you have any concerns, or if her nausea and headache don’t settle, call me right away. No pain medication at all until the headache has gone. You need to get some ice packs to bring down the bruising and swelling on her face.”

“Thanks, Doc, I appreciate you coming out,” Tom replied as he led Doc to the door.

“Billy, call the sheriff. I want him to look for that asshole and have him locked up for assault and attempted rape. Ask him to come out to the ranch so he can see what James did to Felicity,” Tom commanded then walked back down the hall to keep an eye on their injured woman.

Tom greeted Sheriff Luke Sun-Walker with the familiarity of a long-standing friendship when he arrived at the Double E Ranch thirty minutes later. He led the sheriff into the kitchen and took a seat at the kitchen table after offering Luke a seat. Nanette handed him a cup of coffee as he, Billy, and Luke sat down to discuss what James had done to Felicity.

“You know I’m going to have to see her and take photos of her bruising. I know it’s going to be hard for you, but it will be even harder for her. The last thing an attempted rape victim wants to do is relive their nightmare again. I’m real sorry to have to put her through that torture, but I need those photos for evidence. Nanette, can you come into the bedroom, too? Hopefully the presence of another female will help put Felicity at ease,” Luke stated.

Tom led the way down the hallway to the bedroom, Billy, Nanette, and Luke following behind. Tom heard Luke suck in a breath as he saw Felicity’s battered and bruised face. He was glad to see she looked like she was sleeping comfortably, and he didn’t really want to disturb her, but knew it was best to get the business side of things over and done with. He knew Luke needed to question her so he could take down her statement. Tom watched as Nanette tried to wake Felicity as gently as she could. She stroked Felicity’s forehead and called her name. Felicity didn’t budge.

Tom was becoming concerned, so he walked to the bed, sat down on the side, placed his hand on Felicity’s shoulder, and gently shook her, demanding, “Felicity, wake up.”

Still, she didn’t move or make any noise to indicate she had heard him. “Wake the fuck up, damn it,” Tom bellowed, beyond worried for the small woman.

Tom sighed with relief when Felicity groaned at the sound of his voice.

* * * *

She didn’t want to wake up. She knew if she did she would only feel pain. But the hand on her shoulder and the voice near her ear bellowing at her were so insistent she couldn’t ignore them for long. She slowly opened her eyes, thankful the room was dim. Someone must have pulled the curtains over the window to keep the sunlight out. Her vision was blurry, but she could make out four people in the room. She recognized Nanette, Tom, and Billy but couldn’t work out who else was there. In the end she was too tired to care. Her eyelids became too heavy to keep open, and they began to drift closed again.

“Felicity, don’t you dare go back to sleep. Open your eyes, baby. Sheriff Luke Sun-Walker wants to ask you a few questions. He also needs to take some photos of your face and chest for evidence. Come on, baby, open those eyes,” Tom demanded.

Felicity groaned again, lifted her arms, and cradled her aching head in her hands. She just wanted to be left alone and go back to sleep, but knew Tom wouldn’t leave her alone until he had what he wanted. She opened her eyes once more, feeling sick to her stomach as everything moved unnaturally before her vision. A large man she’d never seen before was standing close to Tom’s side.

“Felicity, this is Sheriff Luke Sun-Walker. He needs to ask you a few questions about James.”

“Hi, Felicity,” Luke said in a quiet, gentle voice as he knelt down on the floor beside her. “I know you’re in pain, sweetheart, so I’ll try not to keep you awake too long. Can you tell me what James did to you?”

“Water,” Felicity croaked out from between her parched lips. She was grateful when Tom and Luke helped her to a half-sitting, half-reclining position against the pillows. Tom made sure her body was covered decently with the quilt, and Luke held the glass to her lips, letting Felicity sip a few times until she pushed the glass away.

Felicity continued to tell him all the details, up until she had hit her head. “He was standing over me, and I knew he was going to try and r–rape me, so I kicked him. He punched m–me. I don’t remember what h–happened after th–that,” Felicity finished on a sob.

“It’s okay, baby. He can’t hurt you anymore. He didn’t get to you. Jack found him hurting you and knocked him out,” Tom crooned in a soft voice as he smoothed a hand up and down her arm.

“I’m sorry I’ve had to upset you, Felicity, but I need to know more. Tom said Jack found you with your shirt ripped open. Did he hurt you, honey? Did he touch you where he shouldn’t have?” asked Luke.

“I–I–I don’t remember,” Felicity sobbed out.

“Shh, it’s okay now. That’s okay. You may remember later. I need to take some photos of your face and chest, Felicity. Will you let me do that, so I can charge James when we find him?”

“You can’t find him? Where is he?” Felicity asked, letting her fear show.

“It’s all right. Don’t you worry about a thing, sweetheart. I’ll find him, and when I do, he’ll be in jail for a long time. Will you let me take those photos, sweetheart?” Luke asked again.

Felicity clutched the sheet and blankets to her chest, curling herself into a small ball. “I…I can’t.”

“Shh, that’s okay. What if I give the camera to Nanette and we let her take the photos? Can you deal with that?”

“Okay,” Felicity agreed with a sniff, wiping a hand over her cheeks, wincing in pain as she touched her bruised face.

“Good girl. We’ll leave the room and leave you in Nanette’s capable hands. You just rest up and get better, all right? If you remember anything else, you let Nanette, Tom, or Billy know and they’ll give me a call. Take care, sweetheart,” Luke stated gently. Felicity watched as Tom and Billy left the room, Luke following after handing the digital camera over to Nanette.

* * * *

Luke looked up at Nanette when she handed the digital camera over to him without a word. She turned her back on him, trying to conceal her tears, but he had seen them and was worried about what he’d find on the camera.

Luke turned the camera on and knew the other two men could see his jaw clenching with anger the more he looked at the pictures. He wanted to find that bastard and kill him but, being the law, knew he would have to do everything by the book. Seeing Felicity, so small and fragile, with bruises marring her flesh had his whole body tense with anger. He looked up at Tom and Billy to see them eying him. He handed the digital camera over to Tom and Billy, not surprised when Billy slammed his fist down on the table. He wanted to do the same thing.

“We had Doc check her out. The bruising and swelling you saw. She’s also got a concussion. Doc says we need to keep waking her every hour for the next twenty-four hours, then every four hours after that. She was sick when Doc was here, and he was thinking of putting her in the hospital,” Tom stated.

“Son of a bitch,” Luke hissed through clenched teeth. He eyed the two men and knew they had feelings for the little woman. He wanted to haul her out of here and take her to his place behind the sheriff’s station. Luke knew she was the woman meant for him as soon as he had seen her beautiful, bruised face. He just wondered if the two men in front of him had any claim over her. Luke knew the two brothers shared women and were also dominant men who liked to be in control in the bedroom. Luke was also a dominant man, but had never thought about sharing a woman with anyone before. He tried to picture these two men pleasuring Felicity in front of him while he participated. He was surprised when he began to get hard.

“Are you two dating Felicity?” Luke asked as he took a sip of coffee from his mug.

“Not yet, but we’re working on it. Why?” asked Tom.

“I want in,” Luke replied, holding Tom’s gaze with his own. There was no way in hell he was backing down. He wanted Felicity just as much, if not more, than the two men in front of him.

“Fuck it, Luke,” Tom said as he wiped his hand down over his face. “I don’t know how we are going to get that woman interested in one of us, let alone three, after what she’s just been through. She’s only been at the ranch a few weeks. We were trying to give her time to settle in before we made a move on her. I don’t know what to do now that fucking asshole has abused her.”

“I’m not going to back off. I’m not going to stand back and watch you two claim her. I want her just as much you do,” Luke stated quietly, but firmly.

Luke turned his head as he heard Nanette stomping over to the large dining table. She made him jump as she slammed down a pot of coffee and glared at him and his two friends.

“I know I am only the cook and housekeeper, but I can’t believe you three are talking this way about that little girl right now. She has only just been hurt. If I catch any of you putting the moves on that woman and scaring her, you will answer to me. Do you understand?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Luke and his friends replied then grinned at each other when Nanette harrumphed and stomped away.