Without a word to anyone, Graham went into his office, shutting the door with a soft click. A door that was usually open to everyone, being closed with complete and utter control, unsettled Paulie most of all.
In the family room, everyone pushed the furniture together and began to plot and plan. Tyler dropped down onto the overstuffed, plush sofa next to Paulie. He caught Paulie’s attention by putting his heavily scarred hand on Paulie’s leg.
“Being new to the ranch, you don’t know much about Graham, do you?” he asked.
“No,” Paulie answered. “Just that he’s the owner, and is considered an excellent boss and businessman.”
“Well, one thing you might find interesting is that Graham’s parents use vast amounts of money to help less fortunate people. They have made it their business and are very good at manipulating very powerful people, both private and in the government sector, to see things their way.”
Paulie knew his eyebrows were probably lost in his hairline. He only knew regular people, not important people that lived the high life. “Holy shit.”
Tyler laughed. “That’s one way to put it.” Sobering, Tyler said, “Graham miscalculated when the men tried to keep Xavi safe from his family. Believe me, that won’t happen again. Now he’s completely pissed off that someone on his ranch is obviously working with that maniac who is after you.”
“I offered to leave, but that didn’t go over so well,” Paulie said.
“That’s because that’s a stupid idea.” Tyler responded. “I agree with Graham. It’s time to make a stand and fight.”
“How?” Paulie asked.
“Graham is going to use his parents’ influence on certain government officials to get a handle on Pennington. Basically, Graham is going to show Pennington his dick is bigger when it comes to power and influence.”
Paulie burst out laughing at Tyler’s analogy. But he still had concerns. “What about the mole on the ranch?”
“Graham told me that even though we’ve already hired a couple of new guys this week, in a few days we’re going to be getting some very interesting-looking cowboys coming in.” Tyler laughed, his pretty blue eyes dancing with merriment. “I’ve been warned that I won’t be able to sit down for a week if I get caught ogling them. Like that’s much of a deterrent.”
Paulie felt something inside that had been wound tight for the last year loosen, just a little. Nolan sat down on the other side of him, sliding his arm around his shoulders and pulling him tight against his body.
Paulie snuggle into Nolan’s arms and watch everyone around him. For the moment, he felt safe.
* * * *
Walking into the kitchen the next morning at just about daylight, Paulie found skinny Stan standing next to Elliot, wearing a neon-pink shirt that Paulie found way too bright for a morning before coffee. Elliot was patiently giving careful instructions to the nodding Stan. Clearing his blurry brain, Paulie finally figured out that Stan was going to be in charge of serving the already-prepared-and-waiting breakfast this morning.
Paulie headed to the coffeepot, not even noticing the four plates full of steaming, hot food sitting on the island counter. Pouring coffee into a mug, he turned and leaned against the counter as he took that first beloved sip.
“Morning, Paulie. We’ll have to eat quickly if we’re going to make your doctor’s appointment.”
Paulie kind of curled his lip at the perky Elliot. He’d probably snarl a little, if he didn’t know for a fact that Elliot had to have had at least two cups of coffee in him to be this coherent. Elliot was just as bad of a morning person as Paulie.
Drinking more of his coffee, he turned and topped it off before walking over and sitting on one of the stools next to the island. Pulling one of the plates of food in front of him, he took a couple of bites of the fluffy eggs, thinking he might be able to actually speak by the time the plate was empty.
Paulie kept eating and drinking coffee, his cup continually topped off by a knowing Elliot. By the beginning of the third cup, he realized Nolan, Adam and Zaiden were sitting at the counter eating, too.
Nolan looked handsome this morning in a blue-and-white checkered long-sleeve shirt, his shiny brown hair just brushing the collar. Paulie admired his powerful, long legs encased in dark, clean blue jeans.
Some more of the coffee must have kicked in, because Paulie just realized what he was seeing. Nolan was dressed for going into town, not working in the shop. He looked at Adam and Zaiden and they, too, were dressed in clean going-to-town clothes.
“Good Morning, Paulie,” Nolan said. Paulie decided right then that Nolan was a keeper. Any man that could let a morning-hater wake up on his own and didn’t push should be worshiped for the saint that he was.
Smiling, he said, “Good Morning, Nolan.”
“We need to leave, Paulie,” Elliot interrupted.
“The truck’s out front,” Zaiden said. “Let’s go.”
Paulie looked at Elliot, confused. “Elliot, is Zaiden going with us to my doctor’s appointment?”
Elliot shot both Adam and Zaiden a nasty look. “My significant others have informed me that until Pennington and whoever else is involved are taken care of, I will have an escort or two accompany me everywhere I go.”
Paulie watched in fascination as Adam and Zaiden both crossed their muscled arms over their solid chests and stared Elliot down. Elliot, being Elliot, put up a good fight. For about two seconds. Then his sunny smile came out and with an extra sway in his hips, he sashayed over to the two men and was soon enveloped in between them, receiving a three-way kiss.
Paulie felt a familiar, warm arm wrap itself around his own shoulders, and looked up into Nolan’s handsome face.
“I’m going with you, too,” Nolan stated.
Paulie blinked. This wasn’t the first time Nolan had ever, point-blank, no-talking-about-it, informed him how something was going to be. And he wasn’t sure if it gave him the warm fuzzies or kind of made him want to push back.
Before he could make up his mind, Nolan put his other arm around him and pulled him close. Firm lips captured his. Nolan didn’t waste any time and deepened the kiss, making Paulie forget everything. Soon, Paulie opened his mouth, giving Nolan everything he was demanding. A large hand burrowed under Paulie’s shirt and rough calluses rubbed over the sensitive skin on his lower back.
Paulie arched, his small cry captured in Nolan’s mouth. Paulie rubbed his hard, cloth-covered cock against Nolan’s leg. Bringing his hand up, he was more than ready to explore the equally hard dick that was rubbing against his belly.
“Holy shit, this is better than porn,” Stan exclaimed.
All five men broke away from each other and looked at Stan, standing just a few feet away with a large metal spoon in one hand and a plastic spatula in the other. Poor Stan’s cheeks were flushed red and he was sporting a hard-on that was threatening to break through the zipper of his extra-tight jeans.
For a long, solid minute, nobody said anything. Then Adam grabbed Elliot’s hand and said, “We’re going to be late. Let’s go.”
Nolan laced his fingers through Paulie’s and place one more gentle kiss on his tender lips and together, they followed the other three out to the truck.
* * * *
Nolan walked beside Zaiden down the brightly lit department store aisle. In front of him, Adam was pushing a shopping cart filled with jeans, T-shirts, socks and underwear for Paulie. Elliot and Paulie were in front of Adam, busy picking out shampoo, deodorant and other toiletries from the packed shelves.
They had already stopped at a shoe store and, after much discussion, outfitted Paulie with both work boots and just the perfect pair of cowboy boots. Of course, now that he was on a ranch, he had to have a cowboy hat, too. From what Nolan could see, Paulie now had pretty much everything he needed for day-to-day life on the ranch. Which was a good thing, because as far as Nolan was concerned, Paulie was staying, and preferably at Nolan’s side.
While Nolan had lain in his big,
luxurious bed last night, he made a few decisions. The first one, if he had anything to say about it, was that that was going to be the last time he was sleeping alone.
Just like Paulie had his life put on hold because of a stalker, Nolan’s life had been held back by his shyness. Because it was so hard for him to get the words out, and he worked on machines, others thought he was just a big, dumb grease monkey. Little did they know, he had been at the top of his class in high school and in secondary school. Just for the fun of it, he sometimes took online college courses, the last one in philosophy.
Shyness had caused him to avoid public places or hide in the corner when he was forced to participate in life outside the security of his job or family. Combine that with the worry that his size could become a problem, and it took a very aggressive man to get him to take them to bed.
Last night as he lay there, looking up through the skylight set in the ceiling of his bedroom and watching the stars twinkling in the dark sky, Nolan decided he was at a turning point in his life. It was time for him to shit or get off the pot.
The time had come to let his true nature out. Little did anyone know, he could be possessive, demanding and a bit dominating. The sweet thing was that he knew Paulie could handle it. In fact, from their past intimacies, Paulie could be a little demanding himself.
As far as Nolan was concerned, his single days were over. As soon as he got Paulie on board with the idea, he was taking his grandfather’s gold wedding ring from the bottom of the nightstand drawer and putting it on Paulie’s sweet finger.
Nolan’s attention was drawn back to Paulie bending over, reaching for a box of something on the lower shelf. The grey sweatpants he was wearing were molding themselves to Paulie’s tight, firm ass. Now that the stitches were out, Nolan had plans for that ass.
At the clinic, if the doctor was surprised by three large men and one medium-sized man coming into the clinic with Paul “Smith,” he never said a word. The doctor just proceeded to usher Paulie and Nolan into the examining room and carefully, and sometimes painfully, remove every stitch on Paulie’s body.
Paulie had multiple slashing cuts on his arms and legs. It took a while to remove all of the stitches and Paulie’s face was as white as snow by the time the doctor finished. Then the doctor started removing stitches from Paulie’s chest and abdomen. Nolan, who was sitting by the examining table that Paulie was lying on, could see Paulie was struggling to keep his composure. Reaching out, Nolan enfolded Paulie’s ice-cold hand in his.
“Just a little more, Paulie,” he said. “Then he’ll be done.” Nolan thought Paulie’s injuries looked a thousand times better than the last time the doctor had to repair everything Paulie had torn. Nolan figured he would have lasting scars, but for him, they couldn’t diminish the beauty of Paulie’s lean, muscled frame.
“Nolan,” Paulie pleaded.
“Can we stop for a minute, doc? Give him a little break?” Nolan asked.
“I’m almost done. Just a few more and I can put some soothing cream on everything,” the doctor replied.
Paulie’s face crumpled and his eyes reddened becoming glassy with unshed tears. Glancing down, Nolan could see the doctor had already pulled out the stitches from the four deep, angry red slashes that ran vertical down Paulie’s belly. Now it looked to Nolan like he was going to remove the ones he’d had to put in around the knife puncture wound and surgery incision.
The doctor had told Nolan the last time he was here, that dissolving stitches had originally been used to close those openings, but Paulie had ripped them to pieces.
“Paulie, look at me.” Nolan reached over and cupped the side of Paulie’s face, his fingers buried in Paulie’s shaggy, dark-blond hair. “Keep looking at me and don’t look away,” Nolan demanded.
Nolan stared into Paulie’s beautiful hazel eyes, not letting Paulie look anywhere else. Paulie winced, but did as Nolan ordered, his eyes never wavering.
“I’m just about finished, Paul. If you experience any pain after this, an over-the-counter pain medication should work fine.”
Paulie broke eye contact and looked at the doctor putting cream and light bandages on his wounds. “Thank you, doctor,” he said. And shortly after, Paulie briskly led the way out the clinic door.
Now Nolan just wanted to get out of the crowded store and back to the ranch so he could have a little alone time with Paulie, preferably naked.
Paulie straightened up with the box in his hand and turned toward Nolan. His eyes were wide and Nolan saw stark fear on his face. Nolan didn’t hesitate and was at Paulie’s side in seconds.
“What’s the matter?” he asked. By now, the four other men had noticed something was up and were surrounding them.
Paulie grabbed Nolan’s shirt tightly with both hands and calmly said, in a voice that belied the panic on his face, “Nolan, the hair on the back of my neck is standing up.”
Nolan immediately put Paulie behind the shopping cart. “Adam, Zaiden, could you walk on either side of Paulie while I follow him?” Nolan asked. “Elliot, could you walk beside the cart?
“What’s going on, Paulie?” Elliot asked.
“I can feel him, Elliot. When I felt like this before, Pennington was always near,” Paulie explained.
That was all Paulie had to say, and everyone took the positions Nolan had asked them to. Quickly, they went to the self-checkout register and Paulie took care of his purchases. They left the store with everyone on guard while surrounding Paulie, Nolan guiding the shaking man with his hand on his lower back.
When they reached Nolan’s truck, they all stopped, staring in shock at the vehicle. All four tires were flat, the rubber cut to ribbons. Nolan walked around it, seeing that, in the classic move of vandalizing a car, someone had taken a key and deeply scratched the paint on all four sides.
“I called the police.” Nolan turned to see a young, blonde woman who looked to be in her twenties, wearing a red tank-top and blue jeans standing in front of the truck.
“Did you see who did this?” Adam asked.
“Yeah, kind of. It was a short guy wearing baggy jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. But the hood was pulled over his face, so I didn’t get a good look at it.”
Chapter Nine
The police car pulled into the parking lot a short time later, followed by a white cube van with the name of the local tire sales and repair shop painted in bright blue letters on its side. After taking down the witness’s account of what happened, and a stone-faced Nolan’s information, the sympathetic, but not very encouraging police officer left.
It took a while for the two men in blue coveralls to replace the ruined tires, but finally the five could get into the truck and go home. On the way back to the ranch, the truck was an eerie tomb of silence, everyone contemplating how close they had been to Paulie’s stalker.
They made it home just before lunch, with Stan coming through for Elliot and having everything under control in the kitchen. Lunch ended up being delayed for a while when Graham walked into the room and saw the angry expressions on all their faces.
“What happened?” he asked.
They all went into his office and Graham a listened to everything, his face so emotionless it was unnerving. When they got to the keying of Nolan’s car, Paulie saw Graham was gritting his teeth and a small tick had formed on the side of his mouth.
When Adam finished explaining what had happened, a thought suddenly popped into Paulie’s mind. “Wouldn’t the parking lot have surveillance cameras?”
“You’re right,” Graham said. “Most do. Why don’t you give me a few minutes to make a few phone calls, and then I’ll join you for lunch?”
On the way out of the office, Paulie heard Graham on the phone, demanding to talk to the sheriff.
* * * *
When Paulie sat down to the noon meal with most of the cowboys that were working on the ranch that day, the hair on the back of his neck was standing straight up. He wasn’t sure if Pennington was close or if he was still unea
sy from the parking lot incident.
As usual, Nolan was sitting next to him, one strong leg pressed tightly against his. On his other side sat Stan. He was again batting his big, blue eyes at the cowboy next to him with the handlebar mustache. If Paulie remembered right, his name was Hank. Unfortunately for Stan, Hank kept his head down and continued to eat his meal.
Looking around the table, Paulie finally got a chance to look at the two new cowboys, who had been working on the ranch for only a few days. From what Tyler had told him, the two special cowboys would be arriving later today or tomorrow.
Paulie thought the two new hires couldn’t be more opposite in appearance as night and day. One he could tell, even sitting down, was tall and slender, with dark-brown hair, cut almost military-short, although he did have a scruffy shadow of a beard. To Paulie, he looked more like a cop than a cowboy. The other was a short, stocky black man. He was clean-shaven and his crinkly black hair was cut close to his head. To Paulie, he looked like he would be more comfortable in the city.
“The tall guy is Nate,” Nolan whispered, his breath tickling his ear as he put his arm along the back of Paulie’s chair. “And the other guy is Travis. Both don’t have a lot of horse experience, but Trace thought they seemed like hard workers. We’ll see how long they last.”
Green eyes looked down at him and for a moment, Paulie lost himself in their depths. Now the hair on the back of his neck was standing up for a different reason. Paulie’s cock was as hard as a rock and his hole was twitching with want.
Paulie was tired of waiting. Ignoring everyone else, he entwined his smaller hand through Nolan’s fingers. With a surprisingly gentle pull, considering how much he needed, Paulie led Nolan out of the room, not realizing he had three sets of eyes watching him. One pair held deep-seated anger and hatred. The other was coldly calculating. And the last was observing all of them, worry marring his brow.
By the time they reached his bedroom, Paulie had turned and climbed Nolan’s body, wrapping his legs around Nolan’s thick, muscled waist and was sucking Nolan’s tongue as far into his mouth as he could. Nolan had his big hands on Paulie’s ass and was squeezing it, causing Paulie’s cock to rub against Nolan’s belly, the friction delicious.
Summer, Bellann - Paulie's Protector [The Men of the Crazy Angle Ranch 4] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) Page 7