Jake's Angel [Cowboy Mates, Psychic Connections 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  Cowboy Mates, Psychic Connections 4

  Jake’s Angel

  Jake McKade is a man who needs control. The death of his parents made him understand that everyone he loves will be taken from him. Loving a woman would be no different. The accident that put him in the hospital made him give up on life. Until he met Claire.

  Claire Hamilton can feel the emotions of others. She can’t survive the pain in her head from her empathic ability. Taking care of Jake allows her to see into his soul, which tells her three things. He’s her shield from the pain of the world. He’s a good man whose need to dominate doesn’t frighten her. He’s her mate, and she wants him just the way he is.

  He calls her his angel. He knows she’s his mate. Others plan to destroy their love. Their happiness depends on Jake finding the courage and the strength to accept the love of his angel and the babies she will gift him with.

  Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Western/Cowboys

  Length: 144,285 words

  JAKE’S ANGEL

  Cowboy Mates, Psychic Connections 4

  Lynnette Bernard

  EROTIC ROMANCE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Erotic Romance

  JAKE’S ANGEL

  Copyright © 2014 by Lynnette Bernard

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-418-2

  First E-book Publication: October 2014

  Cover design by Christine Kirchoff

  All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

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  This is Lynnette Bernard’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Lynnette Bernard’s right to earn a living from her work.

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  DEDICATION

  Robbie, this one is for you. You are a loving cousin and a trusted friend. I am blessed to have you in my life. I treasure you.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  JAKE’S ANGEL

  Cowboy Mates, Psychic Connections 4

  LYNNETTE BERNARD

  Copyright © 2014

  Prologue

  Colorado Territory

  1863

  An Indian brave fell in love with the daughter of a white settler. Their love was deep and pure, and they both knew that they had found their true mate. The young woman’s father captured the young brave and was determined to kill him for daring to fall in love with his daughter and taking her innocence. He beat and whipped the young brave while his true love was forced to watch. The father had every intention of killing his own daughter, too. He was not going to allow her to live and give birth to the brave’s child. But the daughter would not allow her mate to die alone. She ran to him, wrapped her arms around him, and tried to protect him from her father’s whip, receiving many lashes in her attempt to shield the man that she loved.

  Two young brothers who worked for the young woman’s father saw his cruelty and stepped forward to stop it. Putting their bodies between the couple and the girl’s father, they received several lashes of the whip themselves before they were able to overpower the crazed man. By that time, more of the ranch hands had come forward to help.

  The two brothers hitched up a buckboard and took the couple to their parents’ ranch—the McKade Ranch. Their parents welcomed the ranch hands, and they took in the couple, taking care of their wounds and making them a part of their family. When their child was born, he was welcomed with love.

  Because of that unselfish act of compassion and caring, the Great Spirit blessed the land and the people. From that moment on, each person was gifted with a mark of golden entwined links that appeared on the nape of their neck when their true mate was found and the mating was accepted by both mates. Since that time, every man had been taught the blessing to whisper as they held their destined mate in their arms.

  This blessing had been passed down through the generations and had been engrained in the c
ulture of the land. To find your true mate and to be marked with the mating mark was truly a miracle—one that every person hoped would be gifted to them.

  Chapter 1

  One Year Ago

  “We’re losing him!” EMT Jack Porter called out to the driver of the ambulance.

  “We’ll be there in five,” the driver called back to him. “Just keep him alive until we get there, Jack!”

  Jack looked down at the man before him and sighed. Jake McKade was a mess. It had taken the rescue team nearly an hour to pull him out of the mass of iron that used to be his truck. The drunk driver that had plowed into him had been killed instantly. Only Jake’s seat belt and the protection that his truck had given him had saved his life. Maybe.

  “We’re coming in hot, Denver,” Jack called into his radio. “Male victim, thirty-one years old. Severe head trauma. Compound fracture of the left femur. Possible internal injuries. Respiration labored. BP is seventy over forty. Heartbeat is irregular. Neck and spine have been immobilized. IV has been started. Need a neurologist and an orthopedic surgeon on hand. This is a bad one.”

  Jack looked down at Jake McKade and said a silent prayer for him. He had known all of the members of the McKade family his entire life. They were a good group of people who had helped his uncle out many times. He and his older brother Martin went to school with the McKade brothers. Martin had been a real piece of work growing up, always flirting and getting into trouble. Jack had been the reserved one. He had never fit in. He didn’t think he ever would.

  The ambulance pulled up to the emergency bay, coming to a halt before the waiting team of doctors and nurses. The back door to the ambulance was opened quickly and the gurney that held Jake McKade was removed from the vehicle with as little jarring motion as possible. Despite their care, the groan of pain that escaped the injured man made them all cringe.

  “I’m going to need a full set of X-rays and an operating room standing by,” the trauma doctor on duty yelled to his team.

  There was a flurry of activity as the well-trained medical personnel did their jobs and took care of the broken man. Thankfully, Jake was aware of nothing as he was poked, prodded, and X-rayed. Unconsciousness served him well in those first few hours after the accident and well beyond.

  It was a long time before Jake McKade was settled in a private room to recuperate. Only the steady beeping of the many machines that were hooked up to him made any noise at all in the solitary room. The damaged man lay sleeping, unaware of the turmoil he had gone through or the long road of recovery that lay ahead of him—if he survived.

  Deuce McKade stood beside his brother’s hospital bed, his tan cowboy hat crushed within his large hands. He looked down at the pale complexion of his brother and had to fight back the memories of a similar accident.

  Jake’s accident had occurred at the exact same dangerous intersection on the stretch of road where their parents been involved in an accident that had killed them instantly. How many times had Deuce petitioned the town to put up a traffic light instead of the yield sign that was currently there? Their parents’ deaths were not enough. Would it take Jake’s death, as well, to make the town finally listen to him?

  He said a silent prayer that his youngest brother wouldn’t be taken from them, too. The discolored bruising on Jake’s face, neck and arms, and the bandages and weights that surrounded his left leg made Deuce worry that his brother’s strength wouldn’t be enough to get him through this.

  The death of their parents when Deuce had been a senior in college had been devastating to all of them. Deuce had been the one who had taken his natural place at the head of the family and held them together. He had taken over the running of their ranch and had made sure that his brothers were taken care of.

  Jake had been the brother who had taken the death of their parents the worst. It wasn’t that Deuce and his other brothers didn’t love their mother and father just as fiercely as Jake did. It was because Jake was the youngest. He had had his dreams of the future and what was due him and his family ripped away in an instant. The fact that he had always believed that if you were a good person, and you worked hard, everything would turn out for the best, just proved how naive he really was. It had been a healthy dose of reality that had crushed his spirit at the loss of their kind and loving parents.

  Ever since their deaths, Jake had become withdrawn and angry. His once carefree personality had become dark and forbidding. Jake had shut himself off from everyone. None of the brothers had been able to break through his barriers. Deuce had never been able to get him to trust that life had any good in it for him after that.

  Luke had found his mate Melanie and was a happily married man. The rest of the brothers hadn’t been lucky enough to enjoy their lives with the women that the Great Spirit had destined for them, but each of them had hope—except for Jake. Deuce was worried about him.

  Reaching out, he touched his brother’s right hand and squeezed it gently. He knew that the man who stood silently on the other side of the bedrail from him cared just as deeply for Jake as he did. Brody remained silent, waiting to talk to him about Jake. Deuce wasn’t sure he was going to be able to handle it, but Brody Walters was a good man that Deuce trusted to help Jake without worry or hesitation. His cousin was a competent doctor who loved Jake like a brother.

  Deuce looked up and faced his cousin. It was funny. When he looked at Brody, he still saw the twelve-year-old boy who had come to the McKade Ranch so many years ago with nowhere to go and no one to care about him. Brody’s mom Veronica was Mary McKade’s older sister who had not had a happy life. She had been in love with a man who had used her and had left her after one year. She had been pregnant and alone. She had been a strong person who had raised her son with love and unconditional support. When she had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, she had been forced to make some very important decisions in a small amount of time. Her life had been cut short within a month after the diagnosis.

  Mary McKade had been devastated by her sister’s death. She had gone through a lot of emotional upheaval because of it. Deuce’s father had been there to support his wife. Jake McKade had loved his wife fiercely. The elder Jake would do anything for his wife and sons, and had proved that countless times with his instant support and caring. His father had opened his home and his heart to Brody without hesitation.

  Deuce remembered the day that Brody had come to live with them. He and Brody were the same age and had shared a love for the land and the animals on the ranch. Their cousin had been a quiet kid who loved the ranch and working with all of the McKade brothers.

  Despite the fact that Mary and Jake McKade were Brody’s aunt and uncle, he loved them as deeply as if they were his own parents, and they had loved him and Spence’s friend Tim just as fiercely as they loved their own sons. Brody never felt like an outsider. He was truly one of the family. When John Blackstone’s father began to work for them as their ranch foreman, John had been taken into their hearts, as well.

  All of the McKade men and their friends had supported Brody throughout his life and had helped him as he went to school. They were proud of him. He had become a successful physician and surgeon. Deuce loved his cousin deeply, but he was concerned for him.

  Deuce could sense the loneliness in him. Deuce knew that Brody didn’t think he was a man worthy enough to be a mate to any woman. Although Brody’s mother had shown him deep love and support, Brody had always felt that there was something wrong with him. His father’s disappearance from his mother’s life was his fault—at least that’s the way Brody perceived it to be despite what everyone else tried to tell him.

  “Deuce, are you ready to hear Jake’s prognosis?” Brody asked him gently.

  “Go ahead, Brody,” Deuce said softly after a moment, looking back down at his brother and watching him for any sign of awareness.

  “First of all, you need to understand that Jake has been put into a medically induced coma,” Brody explained calmly. “He’s had major trauma
to his head, his chest, and his leg. Allowing him to become aware of his surroundings right now would be dangerous. The pain he’s in, and the frustration I know Jake will feel at having his movements restricted, will cause his blood pressure to elevate to a dangerous level.”

  “I understand,” Deuce said softly.

  “Good. I believe it’s best if we keep Jake in this condition until the majority of his injuries have healed.”

  “What about his head injury, Brody? Do we have to worry about brain damage?”

  “That’s always a possibility,” Brody told him honestly. “The scans we’ve done have shown a significant amount of brain swelling. I’ve talked to the neurologist, and she feels we can hold off putting in a shunt for a little while. We’ll keep him under observation to see if the swelling lessens. Once we take Jake off the meds that are keeping him in the coma, we’ll be able to assess the level of impairment—if there is any.”

  “Do you think he’ll be okay, Brody?”

  Deuce looked up from his brother before facing his cousin once again. Brody’s hazel eyes held such compassion, Deuce was almost afraid to hear what he was going to say.

  “I have no guarantees for you, Deuce,” Brody said honestly. “I really do hope that Jake won’t have any lasting effects from the head trauma, but I would be lying to you if I gave you any promises right now. His ribs will heal and so will his leg, but I’m concerned with the damage the compound fracture has done to the muscles of his thigh.”