The Grandmaster's Legacy (HOT Historical Suspense, Box Set)

by Taylor Lee

  “Okay, honey, I’m getting the picture.” He lit a cigarette and took a thoughtful drag. God, will that asshole ever learn, he thought to himself, fighting down a surge of anger.

  Jesse was pale, shaking. She buried her head in her hands and burst into tears.

  “He…he…called me a whore… in front of everyone. He said they all know what a whore I am.”

  She cried harder. “He asked me what it was like to be fucked by a half breed who’s fucked seventy-five per cent of the women in Wyoming. John made him stop, but that’s when he sent me home.”

  Wyatt quirked a brow as a wicked smile flashed across his face. “That’s a little generous.”

  Jesse stared at him, her lip trembling. “What do you mean?”

  Wyatt shook his head. “Sorry, not a good time for humor.”

  Her expression tightened. “Wyatt, have you fucked that many women?”

  He couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “Well, if we’re going to use that percentage, I would insist on imposing an age range.”

  “Wyatt, this isn’t funny.”

  “No, Jesse, you’re right, it isn’t. Where is Martin now?”

  “I think he is staying in town for several days. I know they’re working on a big project. I overheard him making arrangements at the hotel to keep the room for several days.”

  “Okay, honey. It sounds like it is safe for you to go home. Just so you know I am going to have a little talk with Martin. I promise you when I am through he will not threaten you again. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, but…”

  “Honey, these are going to be some hard times for your family. Martin is in serious trouble. I will tell you that. You are going to have to accept it. But for now, go home and know that he will not bother you any more.”

  She moved next to him, tears streaming down her face. “Wyatt, can you please hold me? Please. I want you so much. I need you! I came because I thought you would hold me and…and …you know what I want…what I need. Please, Wyatt!”

  “Jesse, I can’t. This isn’t the time or the place.”

  Her face was pale, her voice strained. “It’s Lei, isn’t it?”

  “It’s a lot of things, but, yes it is about Lei. But it is also about you and Martin and serious issues. I’m going to have Alono ride home with you and make sure that you are safe and that Martin is still in town.”

  Jesse tossed her head, her lips pressed in a pout. “Alono hates me.”

  “No, honey, he doesn’t hate you. He is protective of me.”

  Wyatt walked outside and called to Alono. He shook his head when he saw him a few feet from the door.

  “Jesus, Alono, am I that bad? What were you going to do? Burst in and pull me off of her? Cuff me to a chair?”

  Alono blushed and looked down.

  “Okay, Alono, I want you and Eagle to take Jesse home. Make sure she’s safe. Verify that Martin isn’t there. She said he is staying at the hotel for several days. Talk to a couple of the Apaches who work over there. Tell them the situation, that I want them to keep an eye out for her. Tell ‘em to pay special attention when Martin is around. Got it?”

  Alono nodded.

  “One more thing. I am going to have a little discussion tonight with Martin about the dangers of abusing women. I need you and a couple of others to back me up. When you and Eagle are done with Jesse, go into Cheyenne and hang around the hotel. James, Armando, and I will meet you there at eleven o’clock.”

  Wyatt went back to the office. “C’mon, Jesse. I’ll help you get your horse. Alono and Eagle are going with you. They’ll make sure Martin isn’t there. I’ve also asked them to talk with a couple of the men over there to keep an eye on things for us. Okay?”

  “Wyatt.”

  “Yeah?”

  “When…when are you going to come over and…see me?”

  “Honey, I told you that’s not an option. This is a different time and we can’t pretend it’s not. Okay, here is Eagle and Alono now. Hop up.”

  He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. He helped her up on her horse and nodded to his men.

  ~~~

  Wyatt went to the dojo, but Lei wasn’t there.

  “Hey, Ri, where is Lei?” he asked her brother.

  “I’m not sure. She said she wasn’t feeling well. I think she went to her room.”

  Wyatt headed over to Lei’s quarters. He gave a quick knock on the door, then walked in. He took one look at her face and shook his head. “Hell, that news didn’t take long to spread. Christ, poor old Sam Morse. Too bad he’s dead. I would tell him he should forget inventing the telegraph. If he just harnessed the power of angry women, he could’ve saved himself the trouble.”

  Lei stood across the room, her fists clenched at her sides. Her eyes flashed. “You’re not funny, Wyatt!”

  “The hell I’m not!” He grinned. Reaching out, he wrapped his arms around her, tugging her close.

  “Wyatt, stop!”

  “Stop what?” He lifted her up on the table and spread her legs apart pushing his thighs between them. He unbuttoned her jacket and then her pants.

  She squirmed back, slapping his hands away. “Don’t! Don’t do that. I’m angry with you!”

  “I know you are. But you’re sexier than hell when you are angry.”

  “Wyatt, don’t make fun of me! This is serious.”

  He shook his head. “Only if you make it serious, Lei.”

  He worked his fingers in the waistband of her pants and slid them over her thighs. Slipping them off, he tossed them to the floor.

  “Now, honey, I intend to fuck you. You can decide if you are going to enjoy it or if you’re going to pout and make me work a little harder to make you come. One way or the other you are going to come, aren’t you, baby?”

  He grinned when he felt her quiver. He kissed her neck, her breasts, then laid her on her back. Spreading her legs wider, he pushed her knees up to her chest, exposing her crotch. Leaning down, he bit her pussy through her underwear. She panted, moaning in response. Tangling her fingers in his hair, she pulled his face tight against her throbbing mound.

  “God, I love silk. Jesus, you Chinese are amazing. Kung fu and silk. What ingenuity!”

  Wyatt pressed his lips against her silky crotch breathing in the heady odor of her arousal. “Know what I like best about silk, darlin’? It holds the hot smell of you. Tells me you are as crazy for me as I am for you.”

  In a startling aggressive move, Lei flipped off the table, arching her foot to catch him off guard. He was too quick. He caught her and spun her around, holding her in a vise against him. The way he did in that first match in the dojo. He roared with laughter when she started kicking and tried to bite him.

  “Oh, yeah,” he said, laughing. “I remember this position. That was the first time I knew you had a great ass. Mm, hmm, and, Christ, those boobies.”

  “What?” she shrieked. “You made me cry in front of everyone and you were feeling me up? When you were embarrassing me in front of all the students?”

  She kicked harder, but he held her tighter, laughing louder.

  “Hell, yes! Come to think about it, after I made you cry and after I made you apologize, I should have put you down on the floor like this. Yeah! Ripped your underwear off. Like this! Maybe that’s when I should have spanked you. Oh yeah, a bare-assed spanking. That would have given the class something to talk about.”

  He pressed her down against the floor, holding her legs open with his strong thighs. His breath came faster. She groaned in response. Panting, she pulled him down on her.

  Wyatt growled. “Yeah, honey. That’s definitely what I should have done. Would have saved us a lot of time.”

  He tore open her camisole and buried his face in her breasts. She shuddered, a soft groan escaping her lips. Grasping her breasts in both hands, she fed her nipples to his mouth begging him to suck on them.

  “Oh, Christ, Lei. I love the way you feel. The way you taste. And holy Christ, the wa
y you smell, baby! It lights me on fire. I want you, Lei. I want you bad, honey. Bad and hard.”

  She wrapped her legs around him, pushing her pussy up to his hard cock. “God, yes. Don’t stop, Wyatt. Please don’t stop!

  “Don’t worry, Lei. I will never stop.”

  Later they lay naked in bed, wrapped in each other s arms. He stroked her face, ran his fingers over her breasts, pinching her nipples. He leaned down and sucked on one taut beaded tip then the other. She moaned and pushed them up to him not wanting him to stop.

  Lifting his lips from her soft flesh, Wyatt murmured, “Lei, honey, I have to go to Cheyenne.”

  “Tonight?”

  She rolled away, but he reached out and pulled her tight against him. Nestling her in the curve of his body, he nuzzled the sensitive place on her neck just below her ear. Lei quivered, expelling a soft, giggly sigh.

  “Yeah, baby. I’m going to have a discussion with Martin on the fallacy of abusing your wife. Seems like he’s been giving Jesse a bad time. I need to stop him. James and Armando are going with me. Alono and Eagle took Jesse home earlier and are meeting us. Do you understand, Lei? Do you understand why I need to do this?”

  She was quiet for a moment then nodded. “Wyatt, will you kick him hard? In the balls for me? Like I would if I was there?”

  “Hell, yes! One full knee kick to the groin courtesy of the most beautiful Warrior Princess in the world.

  Later, as he strapped on his holsters and prepared to leave, he leaned over the bed. Grasping a large handful of her hair in his fist, he tipped her face up to his. His voice was low, a sexy growl. “Good night, sweetheart. Don’t wait up for me. But don’t lock the damn door. I’d hate to have to break it down.”

  ~~~

  Wyatt sent James on ahead to meet up with Alono and Eagle. Knowing Martin would end up at the saloon, he gave James instructions to give Martin’s whore. He also gave him an envelope to give to the woman. “Rose will appreciate this. Christ, with what she puts up with that asshole, she more than deserves it.”

  At precisely eleven-thirty, as arranged, Martin came out of the saloon heading back to the hotel. When he turned the corner, he flinched at the movement in the shadows. He staggered back when Wyatt stepped forward smoking a cigarette.

  Martin paled, fear widening his eyes. Attempting to hide his fright, he blustered. “What the hell are you doing here, McManus?”

  Wyatt took a drag off his cigarette and flicked the ash off the end.

  “Waiting for you.”

  “What the hell.” Martin glanced around. Seeing the four Caballeros in the shadows, he turned a paler shade of grey.

  “Don’t worry, Martin. I’m the only one who’s going to be talking to you tonight.”

  Wyatt tossed his cigarette. He moved closer with the lazy predatory grace of an animal stalking his prey.

  “Apparently, you don’t hear well, Martin. Seems you need to have even the simplest instructions repeated.”

  Martin’s voice quaked as he tried to move away. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “I told you I wouldn’t tolerate you abusing your wife.”

  Martin’s face was pasty, grey with fear.

  Wyatt smiled from half lidded eyes. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you or castrate you -- at least not physically. That’ll be next.”

  Martin was shaking now.

  Wyatt circled him, holding him in his gaze. “You can relax. I’m not going to leave a mark on you. You’ll still look pretty for campaign photos. But I promise -- you will not take a shit or a piss for months without thinking about me.”

  Martin’s voice quavered. “I will have you arrested if you touch me!”

  “You do that, Martin. The papers will love it. Candidate for governor attacked leaving a slut hut by a guy who fucked his wife. Good copy. The citizens will love it.”

  With a quick flip forward, Wyatt slammed an elbow into his solar plexus. Martin went down with an audible rush of air from his chest. He struggled to his hands and knees, trying to catch his breath, moaning. Wyatt stepped back, motioning him to get up. When Martin teetered to his feet, Wyatt lunged forward with a double strike to his gut. Once again, Martin fell to the ground. Clutching his stomach, he sobbed, begging Wyatt to stop.

  Wyatt strode in a lazy circle, giving the sobbing man a chance to rise. Martin got as far as his hands and knees when Wyatt came from behind driving a full on kick to his ass. The audible crunch of a bone resonated. As Martin rolled from side to side writhing, shrieking in pain, Wyatt glanced over to his men in the shadows. He said with a grin, “So much for that tailbone.

  “Martin, that was to remind you of me every time you shit for the next month or so. And this is courtesy of Lei.”

  With a loud spirit yell he flipped the cowering man to his back and drove his heel full force up in Martin’s groin. A piecing scream shattered the quiet night.

  Wyatt shook his head in disgust. Leaning over the blubbering man, he spit out the words. “You fucking coward. Listen to me this time. If you so much as speak crossly or impolitely to your wife, I’ll be back. Next time I’ll cut your balls off. Don’t test me. Ask anyone who knows me. I always deliver.”

  As he walked away from the wailing man rolling back and forth clutching his groin, Wyatt said over his shoulder, “Your wife’s not the whore, Martin. You are. And the world’s gonna know it. Damn soon.”

  He nodded to his men, mounted Master, and the five of them rode off toward the ranch.

  ~~~

  Chapter 19

  For years Wyatt watched wealthy men conspire with corrupt governments to manipulate and plunder public lands in the West. Millions of acres were transferred from the public domain to the economic and political elite for a tiny fraction of their value, always under the knowing eye of government officials who shared in the spoils through an accepted system of bribes and open graft. Wyatt was gratified that little by little a backlash was developing. Reform movements across the country were flourishing. Conservation and protection of public lands became the rallying cry of the reformers. But as Wyatt knew well, old ways die hard.

  For every federal government office created to manage public land honestly in the interest of all the citizens, there were crooked officials within that office who were easily bought off. The old ways won out. Wyoming was no different. The tussle between the reformers and the land grabbers was as acute as anywhere in the country. As the century came to a close, the reform movement had gathered strength, but the system had the usual cracks.

  Looking back, Wyatt thought, Martin’s plan was simple. It followed the basic rules laid out by scammers and thieves for years. Martin and his cronies knew where the loopholes were, where the weaknesses flourished, and manipulated them. They also knew the end of an era was fast approaching. Significant legislation was ploughing through a Congress that would crack down on the fraudulent transfer of public lands. The time for graft and bribery was now. If they were to beat the reformers.

  Wyatt heard from his sources that Martin assured the corrupt officials in the General Land Office in Washington that they were working with the next governor of Wyoming. The officials agreed to transfer four million acres of public lands that were not for sale to a high level group of Eastern moneymen. The true beneficiaries were Martin and his group, who agreed to the bribe price and the ownership percentage their Eastern intermediaries required. The price they agreed to was fifty cents an acre, a high price for a bribe, but a pittance of what the land was worth on the legitimate market. The need for secrecy and speed was imperative.

  Wyatt learned later, Martin agreed to put up the half of the two million dollar bribe. Reasonably easy for him to do because it was Frank’s money, not his. His four partners each agreed to put up two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The agreement would have made Martin one of the largest private land owners in Wyoming, second only to me, Wyatt thought with a grin.

  Martin’s plan was simple. Frank had generously allowed each of
his dependent relatives to draw their monthly allotment from his trust account. The understanding was anything larger than the allotted amount required written permission from Frank. Martin intended to drain the money he needed from Frank’s account and transfer it to the Eastern intermediaries. By the time Frank found out what had happened, the bribe would have been paid. Frank would have ended up owning a bit of land instead of having a million dollars in cash. Plus, Martin was convinced Frank wouldn’t dare turn him in. As far as anyone knew, it was Franks’ money. It would sure as hell look like it was Frank, not Martin, who was stealing from the state. After he took Frank for a million dollars, he planned to blackmail him for the rest of his life.

  The Eastern moneymen required a third of the money up front to consummate the deal. Not wanting to raise any suspicions with Frank, Martin had used personal funds and what he borrowed from his brother and cousins to pay his portion of the up front cash.

  Everything was on track. The only thing that could queer the deal was for any of it to become public. It would be unseemly at best for a candidate running for governor of Wyoming to benefit from a fraudulent transfer of his state’s public lands. Unfortunately for Martin, when Wyatt pieced the scheme together, he went to Frank. He convinced the old man to do two things. First, to transfer all the cash from his trust account to a private account. Second, not to tell anyone except his banker.

  ~~~

  Wyatt stood with Joey along the wall in the dojo, watching Lei spar with Zhi, the strongest fighter in the dojo. Joey gave Zhi specific instructions. He was to come at Lei with everything he had-- not hold back. Swallowing his fear of retribution, Zhi did as he was told. Knowing they had to compensate for Lei’s slight frame and relative lack of power, Joey and Wyatt designed a series of aggressive moves that combined her aerial wizardry with her astonishing agility. Wyatt spent a couple of hours a day sparring with her. He was impressed as hell with her innate talent. The only thing stronger was her will to win. The combination was formidable. After several months of concentrated work, they were ready to bring out the new Lei.