Chapter ten – The Mountains

John warned me that Jacob was an early riser, the Baptist was convinced his brother would arrive at the ranch at the crack of dawn. I asked John if it was a long trip and he simply nodded. I didn't want to know at what time the older brother would hop in his truck to come and get me. I was awake at five, taking a shower and getting dressed in clean clothes because I doubted Jacob would provide me with this kind of luxury. John sat on my bed, he helped me pack a small bag with clean clothes. We didn't speak much after my cleansing, the both of us were still trying to figure out what happened. Joseph clearly knew about us sleeping together, he took one glance at me and he knew. It was scary how observant the man was. John's obedience, his fear stopped him from sharing his opinion. I begged and John just stood there, keeping quiet. Then I lost consciousness, John stayed beside me until I woke up and let me know there was nothing he could do. It was the will of the father so we needed to obey. The will of the father, it felt like an excuse to me for Joseph to do whatever he wanted. Life in Eden's Gate wasn't all that cracked up to be but not obeying them most definitely resulted in death. So you obeyed.

John knocked on the door, "You've been in there a long time, are you okay?"

He sounded anxious, maybe he thought I fainted again. So I quickly responded.

"I'll be out in a second."

Finishing my fishtail side braid which I kept messy I walked out of the bathroom, meeting John's curious gaze. His hands grabbed my wrists, his eyes trailing over my arms. I wondered if he thought I'd hurt myself to get out of this. By now he should know I didn't want to die so I would do whatever they told me. His eyes lingered on the tattoo he gave me to remind me of the project. I didn't see the excitement in his blue eyes now. He tightened his grip on my wrists.

"Listen, don't talk back to Jacob the way you do to me. Don't give your opinion even though you want to. Just try to remain silent as much as possible." I had to press my lips together so I wouldn't laugh because those things sounded ridiculous to me, but I knew John was only trying to help me, "Jacob uses conditioning to build an army. If you prove to be useful to him you'll survive." His grip on me got so tight it hurt, my whimpering wasn't getting through him though, "You're a marshal, Gabriella. Take pride in your job and show him you were one of the few finishing the program with ease."

"Pride is a sin, John," I whispered, trying to lighten the mood between us.

It didn't make him laugh, "This." He gestured between us, finally letting go of me, "Will get you hurt. Don't do it when you're with him."

Joseph asked me if I cared for John and the answer was yes. He didn't ask John if his little brother cared for me. The answer would be, yes. Smiling I wrapped my arms around John, ignoring the way he tensed up by the sudden display of affection.

"Would you try and convince Joseph to let me come back to the ranch?" I asked quietly.

He slowly placed his hand on the back of my head, keeping me close to him, "While you're with Jacob I'll bring up the subject. You need to give me some time.""I'll wait." I whispered.

John pulled me away from him, his eyes scanning my face. I inhaled deeply when he leaned in, kissing me. I kissed him back, wanting to savor the feeling of his gentle touch. Slowly I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on my toes, deepening the kiss. He made a noise of pleasure, his hands gripping my waist. I stepped forward, guiding John to the bed. When we reached it his legs hit the bed and he fell over. I grabbed the bag and tossed it on the floor, crawling on top of the surprised looking Seed and cupped his face while I slowly leaned in to kiss him again. John moved his head to the side, my kiss landing on his cheek.

"Jacob will be here any minute." He reminded me, his voice barely above a whisper because he sounded out of breath.

I pressed my lips against his neck, my fingers working on the buttons of his blue shirt, "John, please." I whispered, my fingers trailing over the exposed skin, "We can be quick about it."

He was hesitant, I could feel it in the way he responded to me. I could push him over though, it wasn't that hard since like me John also dealt with lust. He didn't move, he kept laying on his bed, letting me undress him. I made quick work of it. Undressing him first and then slowly getting rid of my clothes. I straddled him, his hands gently trailing up and down my thighs as he watched me.

"You need to speed things up." John warned me, "You don't want to be caught with your pants down by Jacob, do you?"

I slowly pushed him inside of me, moaning at the feeling of being stretched by him. Opening my eyes I met his amused blue eyes.

"Well, do you?" He asked me.

Pressing my hands against his firm chest I started moving, picking up the pace so I could finish before Jacob would arrive at the ranch. John kept his hands on my thighs, letting me decide the pace. He was vocal, letting me know how much enjoyed it. When I tightened around him, a groan left his lips which sounded like music to my ears, setting off my orgasm. My nails raked down his chest while immense pleasure raged through my heated body. John then grabbed me by the waist, pulled me off him and pushed me down on the mattress. He hovered over me, staring into my eyes as he pushed back inside of me. I was so sensitive he made me have another orgasm. He chuckled, but I had no strength in me to smack that smug look off his face.

"You're enjoying yourself quite a bit, hm?"

I wrapped my arms around his neck and wrapped my legs around his waist, holding on for dear life. Things between us were intimate. We stared into each other's eyes as John moved his hips slowly. I was so wet he could move inside of me at whatever pace he wanted. He tortured us both by setting such a slow pace. Whatever happened to rushing things because his brother was on his way? I would have taunted him if I wasn't a hot mess right now. Words just wouldn't form, all I could do was feel.

"Oh, John!" I moaned, losing it when he pushed deep inside of me.

He cupped my face, "You like that?" He asked as he rolled his hips.

"Yes!"

He leaned in and kissed me, "You'll come once more for me, darling?"

I shook my head, "I can't."

"Yes, you can." He whispered in my ear.

I wanted to laugh but I couldn't because John picked up the pace, his movement rough and fast. His breathing changed, when I met his gaze again I could tell his eyes were clouded. He was close. He moved his hand between my legs and rubbed my sensitive bud, pressing our lips together he muffled my screams. When I had my third orgasm I tightened around him which set him off and made him grip my hips tightly while he came inside of me. He pulled out of me and rolled next to me, both of us trying to catch our breath.

I glanced at John whose eyes were closed, grabbing his hand in mine snapped his eyes open to stare at me in confusion, "You better keep your promise." I warned him.

His lips twitched, "You're going to miss me?" He was only teasing me but I'd miss him.

I leaned my head against his shoulder, "I'll miss you and this ranch."

He wrapped his arm around my waist and pressed his lips against my hair, "I'm a man of my word."

I think we both drifted away, tired of our little session. I jumped awake when John shook me, my eyes focusing on his face to see a panicked look in his blue eyes.

"Go get cleaned up, Jacob is here."

I sat up, my body covered with the silk sheets of the bed I wouldn't be using anymore. John probably did that when he got dressed in a rush. I held the sheets tightly to my body and tried to wake up so I could start moving. Thankfully my bag was packed and all I had to do was quickly hop in the shower to wash away the evidence of John and I doing the dirty. Also, it sounded disgusting to me to sit beside Jacob for a very long ride to the mountains while being sticky and God knows what else.

"Come on, Gabriella." Though he sounded impatient, he brushed his hand over my hair and then walked to the door, "We'll be downstairs waiting for you."

When he closed the door behind him I started moving, hopping in the shower to get cleaned up. I didn't have time to wash my hair so I only fixed the braid. Throwing my clothes back on I grabbed my bag and met up with the Seed brothers in the living room. Jacob had his back toward me as he quietly spoke to his brother about upcoming Sunday. Joseph always requested their presence and they tried to make it. John noticed me the minute I set foot in the living room, his blue eyes trailing to me. Jacob must have realized his brother got distracted and turned around to face me.

"Took you long enough, marshal."

The way his eyes took me in from head to toe made me anxious. I shifted uncomfortably on my feet, trying to ignore the little smirk which played on his lips. There was no way he didn't know what transpired between John and me. You just had to glance at John and then at me to verify it.

"I'm sorry." I apologized quietly, staring at my feet.

"Jacob," John warned, thankfully letting his brother know to keep quiet about the obvious.

Jacob ignored his little brother, "You had your fun, now let's head to the car."

My cheeks heated, my eyes flickering to John who looked awkward as well. I stepped forward, remembering John told me to do whatever he says. I didn't want Jacob to think I was disposable. The elder Seed brother looked pleased I moved without needing to be told twice. I headed to the front door, I didn't have to say goodbye to John since we more or less did that in bed. When I opened the door I glanced over my shoulder to see the brothers sharing a hug. Jacob placed his hands on John's shoulders and whispered something in his brother's ears. John looked amused, shaking his head at his brother. Jacob chuckled quietly and then pulled away, his eyes flickering to me.

"Let's move to the truck, marshal."

Doing as told I walked out of the ranch and moved to his red colored truck. It was flashy and though I figured it was something John would drive Jacob proved me wrong. The younger Seed brother drove a black pick-up truck. I knew he also loved flying his plane but I hadn't been beside him long enough to know what it looked like. There was also the little promise of John flying us through Holland Valley with his beloved plane. I wondered if it would ever happen. I hopped into the truck and placed my bag near my feet, putting on my seatbelt and quietly waiting for Jacob to get behind the wheel. Once he did he started the car, soft music playing in the background as he drove away from the ranch. I glanced over my shoulder to the ranch, hoping John would keep his promise and try and convince the father to let me stay beside him again.

"The fact that you two don't hide that you're fucking is why Joseph agreed to let me take you away from John."

I did not want to have this conversation with Jacob, but we were having it because he wouldn't let it go.

"We tried to hide it."

Jacob changed the station, the little grumble that came from him made me think he didn't prefer the Eden's Gate station. I noticed that John loved it. They were so different, these two. But I knew Jacob cared a lot for his younger brother. Always keeping his eye on him, always making sure John was safe. Being nosy and reading about their private parts of their lives in the book of Joseph sounded very intriguing right about now.

"What a good job you did." He muttered sarcastically.

I glanced at him, trying not to stare at his wounds too much. I tore my gaze away from him and stared out of the window instead. It was early morning, the sun rising while there were already people working on the farmlands we passed.

"What are you going to do with me?" I asked.

"Joseph made it clear he wants you unharmed." He informed me.

"You made it clear you don't like me," I muttered.

"I don't like you being a threat to my brothers." He glanced at me, "But since you're fucking John things are different, are they not?"

I avoided looking back at him, making sure to keep focused on the lands we passed, "I'd never do anything to make John lose his trust in me. He's the only person I have in this damn county."

Jacob chuckled, "True. You've lost everyone's trust when you stabbed them in their back."

So there were still people in the resistance who weren't caught by Jacob and John that night. That was a relief. It surprised me when I heard Jacob humming along with a song playing on the radio station. I recognized it, I heard it before when I sat on John's pick-up truck. It seemed to brighten his mood a little. It made me relax, leaning back in my seat and quietly humming along as well. I didn't even notice I was doing it. A peaceful moment settled between us and the ride to the mountains proved to be not so bad after all.

I didn't think I'd be staying at a veteran center from now on, we passed so many cute little cabins when we headed to Jacob's base. Then again the cabins did look very small so we'd be in each other's space all the time which didn't sound that appealing to me. The veteran center was spacious, we could avoid each other if we wanted to. Joseph warned Jacob about me so, for now, I didn't have to be scared of ending up being sacrificed or whatever Jacob kept promoting. The tapes were on repeat but I couldn't focus on his preaching because the man himself led me through the center to the room I'd be staying in. My heart jumped when deputy Pratt met up with us.

"Peaches." The deputy stepped forward, Jacob took my bag from me and handed it to deputy Pratt who looked like a shell of his former self. It made me swallow painfully seeing him so jumpy, "You get her what she needs."

The deputy opened the door to the room I was going to stay in. I didn't step inside which made the elder Seed fold his arms across his chest and stare me down, "What?" He demanded to know.

I got into his space which made him raise an eyebrow at him, "So you take me away from Holland Valley but have no clue what to do with me?"

The way his eyes darkened made me step back, this is what John told me not to do. I was such an idiot. I might not like marking people and torture them in isolated rooms but I sure as hell did have outbursts like the man I was attracted to. I needed to control it, unlike John Seed, I wouldn't be able to get away with it.

"What was that?" Jacob asked.

"Nothing," I muttered, looking away from him.

He didn't let it slide though. He dropped his arms to the side and stepped to me, grabbing my collar and forcing me to look him in the eyes, "I was wondering when you'd show me this side of yours." He released my collar and tapped two of his fingers against my temple, "I wanted you here because I wanted to explore that side of yours. Joseph has other plans though." He stepped back and gestured to the room, "So until I find something for you to do you're going to stay in there, quietly."

I sighed, "Great." I whispered.

"Peaches, she causes trouble you let my hunters know." He turned his back to me, already on the move, "One arrow should do the trick." He called and was out of sight then.

I turned to look at the deputy, "You okay?" I asked.

He stepped into the room, it was small and only held a bed and bedside table in it. He placed my bag on the bed, his eyes scanning my face.

"I know what you did." He spoke quietly.

"I'm sorry." I was sorry for what I did, but I couldn't turn back time, "I didn't want them to get hurt."

"You do what you have to do to survive."

The change in tone worried me. Something dark, something sinister flashed through his eyes and I didn't like it.

"Well, that's true, but they didn't deserve that."

"They were weak." The deputy muttered, "Some of them are going through Jacob's trials others were send to Faith's bunker."

"Are they alive?" I asked, hope spreading through me.

"For now." He then walked to the door, "Don't wander around. Jacob wants you to stay in your room. If you need anything let me know."

"How do I do that?" I asked, "If I can't leave this room it'd be hard to let people know I need something. Like a shower and food, you know."

He nodded, "I'll ask Jacob if we can give you a radio."

He left the room, leaving me in the small room which felt quite similar to my cell in John's bunker. I'd stay put though, I watched as deputy Hudson got shot with an arrow, I didn't want to go through that as well. I doubted Jacob's threat was empty, he wasn't allowed to hurt me but I was sure Joseph would allow an arrow to the thigh if it meant I was kept obedient. I sat on my bed and went through my clothes in the small bag, having nothing better to do. Jacob would find something for me to do, at least I hoped he wouldn't forget I was at his base. I didn't want to lose my mind to boredom.