by Taylor Lee
He turned as the Caballeros rode up, leading Master.
“Please meet me back in Cheyenne after the mare delivers. Alono isn’t speaking to me. When you can, I will need you to work out the security for the rallies.”
He mounted Master and galloped away, his men following behind.
~~~
Chapter 23
Wyatt threw himself into the campaign, adding meeting after meeting. Over the next seven days, they did a total of twenty events, a pace that had Tom and the Caballeros running ragged arranging train and venue schedules. Wyatt was focused and intense, although the only times he smiled were on the stage or when talking with the people in the audience.
In contrast, Lei pulled away from her usual work. She stopped sparring with the students, pleading a headache or the needing to be with the children. Joey encouraged her to practice, but she resisted, saying she was tired and needed time away from the dojo. Chief tried to interest her in helping him with the horses, but she refused, saying she preferred to be by herself. She joined the family for meals, but except for putting the children to bed or reading to them at night, she spent most of the time in her retreat room or on long solitary rides on Stealth.
Alono was working in the training ring and was surprised to see Lei ride up to the barn. He knew that she had been out for a morning ride, but she had come back sooner than he expected. He had been avoiding her since the blow up with Wyatt. He and Wyatt had not seen each other or spoken since that night in Cheyenne. He didn’t trust himself to speak with Lei. He was afraid she might ask him what happened. He didn’t want to betray Wyatt. More accurately, he didn’t want to talk about it at all. Chief had tried to ask him questions, but Alono had made it clear that he wasn’t going to discuss the party. After several attempts, Chief backed off and left him alone.
He nodded to Lei as she rode up, then went back to the horse he was training. He was startled to hear her behind him.
“Alono, may I speak with you?”
Alono turned, surprised to see that Lei had come up to the edge of the training ring leading her Arabian. He blushed and nodded.
“Do you need help with Stealth?”
“No, I want to talk to you. How much longer will you be working with the pinto?”
“I’m almost done. Maybe ten minutes or so.”
“Good. I need to rub Stealth down. I’ll wait for you in the office in the horse barn.”
She turned, not waiting for him to respond.
Alono finished working with the pinto and slowly made his way to the small office in the horse barn. He dreaded the conversation with Lei. He knew she was going to ask him questions that he did not want to answer. Thinking it over, he decided that he would tell her, as he had told Chief, that he was not going to discuss the party. He’d ask her to respect his privacy.
Lei stood with her back to the door when he walked in. She turned toward him. He saw from her expression that she was angry. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were even darker than usual. They had the flash that Alono knew well from watching her tussle with Wyatt.
She stared at him for a moment and then said in a cold voice, “How could you, Alono, how could you? I thought you were my friend?”
He was stunned. He didn’t know how to answer. He looked down for a moment and then said with a slight stammer, “I…I don’t know what you mean, Lei.”
Her eyes flashed. She stepped forward, shaking with anger.
“Oh, please. You know exactly what I mean. How could you have done that? You of all people knew how much this would devastate me. You knew that, Alono. You knew that this is what I have feared for the last three years. You knew it was why I wouldn’t marry Wyatt - even though it made him furious and even though I wanted to more than anything. You knew all of that and still participated in an orgy with him!
“Don’t look so shocked. What else do you call a bunch of men fucking a group of women who were willing to do anything they asked? Tell me, Alono, did you and Wyatt double fuck the same woman? Did you both do Sarah at the same time? One of you fuck her up her ass while she sucked the other one off? Then did you trade places? Is that what you did?”
At this point, Lei was shaking so hard she had to hold on to the desk, as angry tears spilled down her cheeks.
Alono was shocked. He put up his hand to try to stop her.
“That’s…that’s not what happened,” he said. “That’s not what happened, Lei.”
“Oh, really? Don’t tell me you took turns. That sounds boring. Or, maybe you did it with two women each or maybe, goddamn you, did you do it with the whole bunch of them, all at once?”
“Lei, please, that’s not what happened.”
She tried to get control of herself, to speak calmly, but her voice soon rose.
“Alono, you aren’t with anyone so you can do whatever you want with as many women as you can get to fuck you. But it is different with Wyatt. Don’t you see that? We are together. We have a child. I am the mother to all three of his children. I thought he loved me. He kept saying he wanted to marry me.”
“Lei, please….”
“You know that, Alono. You knew all of that and yet you still went along with it? Don’t you understand that you give him cover? You make it seem like it is okay. Wyatt knows you and I are close. He knows that it seems like one big party when you and the rest of the Caballeros stick your dicks in along with his—like it means nothing!
She was so consumed with her anger, she did not see the shock on his face or understand the pain that underwrote it.
“I want you to know that I hate him with all my heart. But I despise you for going along with it. Do you hear me? I despise you for what you did. You let me down almost as much as Wyatt did!”
Alono stood frozen with disbelief and rising anger. He was stunned by what she was saying, shocked at the injustice of it. Alono rarely spoke, but he was not a coward. He was quiet, not weak. And he was angry. Angry that Lei would think this about him. Angry that Wyatt had done what he did. And angry that Lei once again was hurt and betrayed.
He took a deep breath and said again, “Lei, that is not what happened.” When she started to break in, he held up his hand. The angry expression on his face seemed to stop her.
His voice was shaking. He fought to speak calmly. “Lei, that is not what happened. I would never do that. I would never participate in something that dishonored you. I can’t believe that you think I would. Do you think I would betray you like that? That I would encourage him to do that to you? How can you think that about me?”
Lei stepped back. For the first time she saw how upset Alono was. She was as surprised by what he was saying as he had been at her words. She had assumed he had gone along with Wyatt. It never occurred to her that he had not.
He went on, his voice rising.
“I was furious with Wyatt. I told him how angry I was. We argued and I left. We haven’t spoken since.
“Don’t you understand, Lei? Do you think I don’t know how much this hurts you? How betrayed you feel? Don’t you understand anything?”
His voice caught. He turned away from her, not wanting her to see how hurt he was. Lei stepped back, seeing the pain on his face. She looked confused. Before she could say anything, Alono whirled back to face her. He didn’t try to hide the tears in his eyes or his shaking voice.
“Why don’t you understand, Lei? Why don’t you know how I feel? How can you not know how I feel about you? That I would never do that to you?”
Before she could answer, he stepped closer to her, his voice sharp with pain. “Don’t you know how much I envy Wyatt? That he has your love? Wyatt knows that, why don’t you, Lei? I told him that he has what every one of us would give our lives to have – your love. The love of the most beautiful woman in the world. I… I… never mind.” He couldn’t finish his sentence. His face was flushed, constricted with hurt. He swiped at the tears that filled his eyes. He looked at her and then shook his head and turned to leave.
Lei w
as stunned by what he said. How upset he was. She had no idea he felt the way he did. She was horrified that she said the things she had. She was sure he had gone along with Wyatt. It was unfair, but she hadn’t realized, she hadn’t known. He was right. She didn’t understand how he felt.
“Alono, wait. Don’t go. I’m sorry. God, I am sorry.” She reached out, trapping his arm in her small hands. “I’m sorry. I assumed you were with him. I know that is unfair but ….God, Alono, I had no idea.” She put her arms around him and said, “Please forgive me, I didn’t mean to upset you, to hurt you.”
He gasped when she burst into tears.
Sobbing, she said, “Hold me. Help me understand why this is happening. Why is he doing this to me? Why, Alono? Why did he do something that he knew would hurt me? God, now I have hurt you. I…I am so sorry.”
He held her close to him trying to comfort her, but she cried harder.
“Oh, God, this is such a mess. I don’t understand anything. Why is this happening?”
“Don’t cry, Lei. I can’t stand to see you cry. To be hurt. You don’t deserve this. You deserve so much more.”
She was crying hard now, sobbing uncontrollably. He held her tight and rubbed her back, stroked her hair, tried to brush the tears away, but she was crying too hard. Without thinking, he pulled her close to him and held her tighter, wanting to help her, wanting to take away the pain.
She felt soft. He smelled that spicy smell that had always driven him crazy when he was close by her. He pulled her up against him and felt a rush of heat flood his body. To his horror, he felt his cock swell. For a moment, all he wanted to do was push against her, to feel what it would feel like to press his hard cock against her body, up between her legs. He gasped and pushed her away.
Lei was startled. She was crying so hard that she hadn’t realized how tightly he was holding her. When she felt his erection she was stunned and drew away from him. His face flushed bright red. He stepped back from her, shaking his head and holding his hands out in front of him to keep his distance from her.
“God, Lei, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. Please forgive me. I don’t know what happened. I didn’t mean that to happen. God, I’m sorry.”
She stood still for a moment. She studied him, as though she was seeing him for the first time. He wasn’t as tall as Wyatt, but he was lean, like him, and strong. When he held her, she had felt how strong his arms were, how hard his body was. He was young, almost the same age as Lei. He was darker than Wyatt. He was a full blooded Indian. His hair was thick and coarse. His eyes were dark, almost black. He smelled like the earth and she recognized that strong male smell that seemed familiar.
She hesitated and then said, “Fuck me, Alono.”
“Jesus, Lei! I can’t do that!”
Her voice was tortured, contorted. “I…I want to do what he does.”
“No, Lei, no. I won’t do that.”
She stepped back and glared at him. “Why not? Don’t you want me?”
“Oh, my God. Do you have any idea how much I want you? Jesus, Lei, I love you.”
“If you love me, why…why won’t you fuck me?”
“I can’t. God, I can’t do that to you—or to Wyatt.”
Her voice was shrill. “You do it to people you don’t love. Wyatt does it to all kinds of people that he doesn’t love. If you love me, why won’t you fuck me?” She started to cry again.
“Lei, please. Don’t cry. Don’t you see, that’s how much I love you?”
She looked at him and saw the desire on his face. His eyes were dark, intense. She could see how aroused he was.
Her determination flared. She reached out and felt his erection. She rubbed his cock through his pants. He grabbed her hands and pushed her away. She shook him off and quickly unbuttoned his pants.
He groaned trying to shove her hands away. “No, Lei, no. Stop. Oh God, please, stop.”
She freed his cock from his pants, running her hands along the length of him. With a moan she started to go down on her knees.
He grabbed her and held her up. “No, Lei! We can’t do this. I won’t!”
She burst into tears. “Please, please, I want you to fuck me the way he fucks other people. I want to know what it is like to do what he does, what he does so easily. What he does without thinking about it; without thinking about me. ”
She was crying hard now and fighting to get her hands free.
“I will swallow you, the way I swallow him. I think I can do it. No, I know I can do it. I’m …I’m sure I can. Just give me a chance. I’m sure I’ll be able to if you give me a chance.”
She sobbed harder.
“Please, Alono. Fuck me the way he fucks other people.”
“No, Lei. No, I won’t!”
He pushed her away hard. He stepped back and shoved his cock back in his pants.
She took a deep breath, steeled herself, and began to unbutton her blouse. She smothered her sobs, determined to stop crying. He held up his hands as though to stop her. She continued to undo the buttons until the blouse hung open revealing her lacy camicole. She was shaking now and tears streamed down her cheeks. She pulled down her camisole and freed her breasts. She knew how beautiful they were. God, how many times had Wyatt held her and fucked them both to a hard riveting climax just by fondling and kissing and sucking her breasts. He told her that in all his life he had never seen breasts like hers on such a slender woman.
Alono was shocked, then groaned with desire, stunned by her beauty. He reached out and touched her, his hands shaking. She felt soft, but firm. Her nipples were pink and upturned. Her breasts were even fuller than his stolen glimpses had promised.
“Oh, my God, Lei, you are beautiful. You are even more beautiful than I imagined.”
He stared at her and struggled against the overwhelming longing to touch her nipples, to pull on them, to make them hard; to take her in his mouth and suck on her. He was shaking. He jerked his hands back and forced himself to look away.
He almost screamed at her, “Jesus, god, Lei, don’t you understand? I can’t, I can’t do this!”
He turned and ran out the door sobbing, his face a tortured mix of fear, anguish, and desire.
Lei fell to the floor crying so hard that she thought she might break apart. She laid there for nearly an hour, crying harder than she ever had. When she could no longer cry, she got up, buttoned up her blouse, and ran blindly to her private room. She went inside and locked the door. She knew that she had to have dinner with the children. She couldn’t look like this. She took cold washcloths and held them against her eyes to make the swelling go down. She poured herself a small glass of bourbon and sat on the bathroom floor sipping the bourbon, pressing cold cloths against her eyes, doing her best not to start crying again.
~~~
Chapter 24
Wyatt and Tom had agreed that it would be good for Wyatt to have a couple of days downtime before the big rally in Cheyenne. At the last minute Wyatt decided to go back to the ranch. He missed the children and, even though he was angry with Lei, he missed her. He wanted to see her. He needed to try to make her understand what had happened. He hoped that the week they had been apart had helped. God, if she would just let him hold her, he knew that he could convince her how much he loved her.
He and the Caballeros who were guarding him left Cheyenne later than expected. He was disappointed that he wouldn’t get back to the ranch until after the children were in bed. But the more he thought about it, the more he decided that was a good thing. They would only have one day at the ranch before they all needed to go back to Cheyenne to prepare for the big rally. Tonight might be the only chance he had to be alone with Lei.
When they rode up to the barn, Wyatt asked Paul if he and Stew could take care of Master for him. They quickly agreed and Wyatt started toward the cottage. He noticed that the light was on in Chief’s medicine room and stopped to let Chief know he was back. When he got close to the doorway he saw that Alono was inside with Chief
. They had not spoken or seen each other since that fateful night of the party. Alono had told Tom that it would be better if he went back to the ranch rather than go with them on the trip around the state. Wyatt agreed. He told Tom he thought it was important that he and Alono have a break. Wyatt was still angry with him, even though he knew he had no reason to be. More than anything, Alono reminded him of what he wanted to forget. Like Alono. he could have, and should have, walked away from the party.
He hesitated, trying to decide if he was up to seeing Alono when he realized that Alono and Chief were in the middle of an intense conversation. He stood for a minute, not wanting to interrupt when he heard his name and realized they talking about him. For once Alono was doing all the talking. From the sound of his voice, he was angry.
“You don’t understand, Chief. You just don’t understand.”
“ Alono, help me understand. I know how upset you have been, but you won’t talk about it. For once, why don’t you tell me what is wrong. Let me see if I can help.”
“Doesn’t it bother you, Chief, what Wyatt has done? Doesn’t it make you angry?”
“Of course, it does. It also makes me sad. Wyatt is my son. I love him more than my life. Yes, I am angry at what he did. That doesn’t mean that I don’t love him or that I will stop talking to him. How will that help, Alono?”
“What about Lei? Don’t you care about her? Don’t you care that once again he betrayed her? Shamed her? Hurt her? Don’t you think she deserves better than that?”