by RG Alexander
She nodded. “And I’ve left what you asked for under your seat, Sir.”
He caressed her lightly with his fingertips before letting go and reaching under the seat, finding the small remote device that went with the dual bullet vibrator he’d given her for the flight. “Convenient.” He turned it on the lowest setting, watching her lashes flutter in response.
“As to what I want, I think I’m in the mood for something stronger than beer today. My time in the city has spoiled me. Whiskey on the rocks should suffice.”
She didn’t move and he smiled. “You may stand now.”
“Yes, Sir.” She got to her feet, wrists still bound in front of her and hesitated. “Should I serve the pilot as well?”
Tracy hit a button on the device, pausing the vibration, and she made a low sound of regret. “Don’t be greedy. I’m a first class passenger and I require all your attention. And since I’d like to arrive at our destination in one piece, the answer to that is no.”
“Of course, Sir. I’ll do anything to make sure you fly with us again.”
She walked away to fix his drink and Tracy sighed, turning his chair toward the window. Maybe he shouldn’t have invited her onto his plane. She was a beautiful woman and a truly proficient submissive, but he was too distracted to pay her the kind of attention she deserved. He’d have her taken back home as soon as he landed. He hit the button again and saw her stumble as he gave her what he knew she wanted.
What in the hell did he want?
The question told him his instincts were right. He needed to go home and get his head on straight. Somewhere he could think. He’d make some calls and see what loosening his vice-like grip on the family’s holdings would result in while he rode his neglected but loyal American Paint through the mountainside trails he loved. Maybe a few weeks alone would help prepare him for what came next. Namely, the files of women the matchmaker assured him would be in his email within days.
A wife and family of his own. It was time to put the past behind him and make it happen.
Tracy caught a glimpse of his bound stewardess, her walk slow and shaky as she tried to perform her duties with her hands tied and the vibrating bullets inside her as an added distraction. His erection hardened once more. He was going to spend the rest of this flight fulfilling her needs as he’d promised to do.
Would a woman he could see spending the rest of his life with want anything to do with this? With his brand of kink? Would she think he was a monster?
You could make her like it.
God, he fucking hoped so, because he was a beast, but in some ways he was also a traditionalist. Just like this grandfather before him.
Marriage was forever.
Chapter Two
Alicia was upstairs with a towel wrapped around her body and another around her hair when she heard the front door rattle.
“Jinny, is that you?” She called from the open bathroom door. “I thought I told you to go to bed.”
Her sister didn’t answer. A few minutes later she heard the front door slam open and a male voice swearing.
Her reflection in the mirror showed her wide eyes in a face that had gone pale in shock. That didn’t sound like Miguel.
“Whoever the hell is in my house better show themselves by the time I count to ten, or I’ll have to decide whether to tow your car and throw your ass in jail or just shoot you for trespassing.”
Alicia hesitated for a split second before thinking about where they were. Small town in the mountains. Ranchers who lived as if they were still in the Wild West. She took off at a run, gripping the railing with wet hands and sprinting down the long hall that led to the front entrance.
“Don’t shoot!” she called out before she rounded the corner. “We were invited, don’t shoot!”
She clutched her towel and skidded to a stop when she saw him. She looked up and swallowed a surprised gasp. The stranger was a giant of a man. Big and muscular and…angry. He was definitely angry. And just as surprised to see her as she was to see him. He didn’t appear to be armed but that didn’t ease her mind. He was huge and he could no doubt snap her like a twig if she didn’t tread carefully.
“What are you doing in my house?” he repeated softly. Dangerously.
Alicia couldn’t hide her disbelief, despite her nerves. “This is your house? I thought it belonged to Mr. Patricio Reyes.”
Old Mr. Reyes, the often absent cowboy cousin of Miguel’s who’d given him a ranching job at the bottom of the mountain.
He set down his bag and leaned against the closed door, crossing his arms. “That’s what I said. My house. My land.” He looked down at her with narrowed eyes. “My towels. I didn’t send out for company, naked or otherwise. I’m not in the mood. Tell me who did or tell the Sheriff when he takes you back to town.”
Old my bare ass.
Oh shit, her ass was bare.
She should have known. Should have expected this. “Miguel. Miguel Reyes-Faris? He had a key and he said he had permission for us to stay until he made other arrangements.”
“Miguel told you…” The man stalked toward her, making her stumble backward and hold her towel more tightly to her chest. “We? Is he here shacking up with you when he’s supposed to be in the bunkhouse?”
He headed toward the stairs and she instinctively reached out to grab his arm. There was no give. He felt like hard iron under her hand. If she survived this, Miguel was in so much trouble. “He’s not…I mean we’re not…look, just let me get dressed and I’ll explain.”
He gripped her wrist and took her hand off his arm, not letting go. “You’ve got nothing I haven’t seen before, little girl. I’m tired. I’m pissed. And I’m not letting you out of my sight until I know what’s going on. Explain now.”
“Alicia?” Jinny’s voice wavered down to her from the stairs. “Is Miguel here?”
Her fear disappeared. She didn’t care how intimidating this man was, her sister needed her protection. Alicia struggled against his hold and glared at him when he didn’t release her “Take your hand off me,” she whispered angrily. “If you’re actually Mr. Reyes, then your cousin brought us here when I refused to leave the ranch until he explained why he wasn’t taking care of his wife and unborn child.”
The forbidding man released her wrist abruptly and stepped back, studying her body in silence.
Alicia sighed. Now he thought she was pregnant. At least he’d stopped touching her. Her wrist was still tingling from the contact. She raised her voice. “Jinny, come on out honey. Miguel forgot to tell the giant, scary owner of the house that he had company.”
“Oh no. He couldn’t have.” Her sister appeared, walking around the corner toward them with one hand protectively cupping her rounded belly through her pink tank top.
Alicia looked at her through the stranger’s eyes and knew what he saw. Very pregnant. Too young. Pale and far too slender for her condition, with shadows under her eyes and her beautiful golden curls mussed from a restless sleep.
She wanted to kill Miguel all over again, the same way she had when she’d answered Jinny’s call and driven to Colorado after the last day of the June session and found her like this.
Jinny’s gray eyes were wide when she looked up at their new arrival. “The owner? You’re old Mr. Reyes?”
Exactly.
“I’m the owner, anyway. But I wish you ladies would stop with the flowery descriptions before I get a big head.” His expression changed in an instant from hard to handsome. Kind. He smiled and Alicia’s breath caught in her throat. “My name is Tracy. Jinny, is it? Miguel never told me he had such a lovely bride. And my aunt didn’t tell me she was going to be a grandmother, which I would imagine she would want to shout from the rooftops.”
Jinny sent a guilty glance toward Alicia. “She doesn’t know yet. Miguel said we needed to wait until he could afford a place for us before he told her he was married with a baby coming.”
“Son of a bitch, Jinny,” Alicia exploded, forgetting abo
ut their witness or the tenuous situation. “He hasn’t even told his mother you’re married? It’s been nearly two years, what the hell is he waiting for—your fiftieth anniversary? And why are we still here, again? Let me take you back home. You can start taking college courses and I’ll find you a good obstetrician… You don’t deserve this kind of abuse.”
“I’m here because my husband is here.” Jinny’s chin jutted out defensively. Looking the same way she did when she was twelve and the seventeen year old Alicia refused to let her get her ears pierced. “Miguel loves us and he’s doing the best he can. No one ever gave him a chance until now. He brought us here to start a new life thanks to Mr. Reyes, but a bunkhouse full of men is no place to have a pregnant wife.”
Alicia looked down in frustration and the towel on her head unraveled and fell to the floor, her long wet hair covering her face until she swept it back angrily. “Well, neither is that rat trap I found you in.”
“It was all we could afford.”
She noticed the man watching her and flinched. “Pardon my language, Mr. Reyes. I am truly sorry for invading your home like this and bothering you with our problems. I assure you there is no need to call the Sheriff. Let us get dressed and packed and we’ll be out of your way within the hour.”
He tilted his head, studying her. “I don’t think dragging a pregnant woman around town looking for a hotel at ten o’clock at night is the best idea, do you?” He smiled in Jinny’s direction. “We aren’t city folk, and most places are shut down by now anyway. If Jinny is Miguel’s wife, she’s my family. I don’t turn family out on the streets.”
She shook her head. “I appreciate that, sir, but it isn’t—”
“Why don’t we let her get back to sleeping for two, and you dress in something besides that towel?” He interrupted softly, the smile he’d had for Jinny dimming slightly. “I’ll be in my office making a few calls. When you’re ready, I would appreciate you coming down to continue this conversation.”
He wanted more information. It was beyond uncomfortable, and she’d rather just leave and endure her embarrassment in a hotel room far away from here, but since the poor man hadn’t expected to come home to an episode of General Hospital and he was related to Jinny’s husband, she knew he deserved answers. She nodded and turned back toward her sister, who really did look like she needed some sleep.
“Alicia what?” His question stopped her and she glanced over her shoulder to meet his dark, penetrating stare. He must have heard Jinny say her name.
“Bell. Alicia Bell.”
She felt his gaze on her even after she’d disappeared from his view. Tracy Reyes was a striking man, and nothing at all what she’d expected.
He wanted to talk to her alone.
She took a steadying breath. She’d faced down enough raging parents and stubborn students. She could handle one angry rancher, no matter how overwhelming his presence was. Jinny, on the other hand… “We need to get you to bed, baby girl.”
Jinny chewed on her lower lip. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about his mother. She’s had it rough until recently and she always taught Miguel to keep his business to himself. He’s a little overprotective of her. Of both of us. I knew you’d be upset if I mentioned it, and I didn’t want to ruin our week.” She smiled. “It’s been perfect, hasn’t it? Like when we were kids.”
She was still a kid. A twenty-one year old, married and eight months pregnant child who didn’t seem to know what she was getting herself into. Alicia forced herself to smile in return. “When we were kids we lived in an apartment the size of a closet and you hated my guts. I know because you told me every day.”
Jinny waited until she was standing beside the bed and turned to hug Alicia, a task made more difficult by her bulging middle. “I was a brat, I know. And I was lying because I love your guts. I always have. Thank you for coming when I called, Al. I missed you. I feel better every day and so does the baby.”
“I love your guts too.”
Her sister lowered herself onto the mattress and frowned. “He must have forgotten. Mr. Reyes, I mean. Miguel swore he told him we were here.”
Alicia snorted. “Old, forgetful Mr. Reyes?”
Jinny’s eyes sparkled. “I did have an entirely different picture of him in my head. That man obviously ate his spinach as a child. He’s definitely related to my Miguel, though. Did you see how handsome he was? That family is blessed in the gene department. My baby is going to be gorgeous.”
“And stubborn,” Alicia added. “There’ll be a few of your genes in there as well. You just wait and see.”
“I’m sorry about this mix up, Al.”
Alicia shook her head. “Look, don’t worry about it now. The baby needs you rested. I’ll take care of it and I’ll see you in the morning. Try to go back to sleep.”
She turned out the light and went across the hall to the bedroom she’d been using. Jinny’s was obviously the master suite. His room. She would have to let Mr. Reyes know before he got another surprise when he tried to go to bed.
She closed the door, dropping her towel and reaching for her underwear. The thin white cotton pajama bottoms dotted with apples lying at the foot of the bed beside them were not going to cut it. Apples. Jinny was always getting her teaching related presents. Her birthday. Christmas. Alicia didn’t have the heart to tell her to stop, even though she had enough apple-scented shampoo to get her through the apocalypse.
She rifled through the drawer and pulled out a long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. Showing up in pajamas didn’t make the right kind of statement when you were planning to apologize for squatting. She needed armor to face this dragon in its lair.
Absently staring at her reflection in the mirror, she brushed and braided her damp hair. Dragon wasn’t really the best comparison. Maybe it was the Colorado Mountains or the way he walked, but Tracy Reyes reminded her more of an oversized mountain lion. She thought about the dark waves of his hair and his rich brown eyes…or a panther.
Predatory. Dangerous. Territorial.
Sexy.
Despite Jinny’s blessed genes comment, Alicia had a hard time believing the bumbling Miguel was related to someone who exuded authority the way the man downstairs seemed to. It wasn’t just his size or his height—though he must be at least six foot six and wide as a wall. Tracy Reyes wore his confidence more comfortably than most men wore clothes. His reactions—from enraged and suspicious to kind and solicitous of Jinny—didn’t distract from her awareness of his masculine charms. Or the unnerving affect they had on her as she stood beside him, practically naked.
She puffed her cheeks and blew out a forceful breath. That train of thought led to a town called Trouble, and she’d be smarter to avoid it entirely. Mr. Reyes actually seemed to care about family, unlike Miguel, and she couldn’t repay his compassionate hospitality for Jinny with coherent conversation if she was drooling over the rich toffee goodness of his massive biceps.
She finished her braid and let it hang instead of wrapping it in a bun the way she always did for work. It swayed saucily against her behind as she walked down the stairs again and toward the office she’d already explored days before when they arrived, curious about this family member who had “saved” Miguel.
Alicia’s search for clues during Jinny’s naps hadn’t yielded as much information as admiration. The large, high ceilinged room was filled with an impressive selection of books and warm, masculine furnishings. There were antiques on the wall that shouted cowboy, in case anyone had missed the stable a few yards away from the two-story house and the private road that ended at a cattle ranch. An iron horse bit, an old rusting spur, a faded photograph of the Reyes ranch and its original owners. There was also a long, worn rope hanging from a brass hook.
From his literary collection she could tell he was educated, from his knick-knacks, his computer and wall-length flat screen television she could see that he had a healthy respect for history while still enjoying the comforts of the present.
> It was the same in his living room and master bath, as well as the large wrap around deck that had stairs leading down to the most decadent hot tub she’d ever experienced and an infinity edge pool with a breathtaking view of the mountains beyond.
No one with this kind of mountain hideaway—the kind that cost more than she’d make in her lifetime—would trust a man like Miguel with its upkeep. Or welcome strangers without any supervision. Alicia knew it, in the back of her mind she’d known as soon as he’d brought them here, but the relief and awe in Jinny’s expression had made her hold her tongue. Even if it had only been for a few days, her sister deserved to be spoiled. Miguel owed her that much.
Now Alicia just had to explain that to the owner.
Mr. Reyes was speaking on his cell phone in rapid Spanish but he stopped the moment she stepped through the door. She sent him an apologetic expression and started to back out, but he lifted one hand to stop her.
“I will talk to you in the morning, yes? Get some rest.” He disconnected the call without taking his eyes off of her. “Come in, please. Can I get you something to drink?”
She folded her hands in front of her and stood, feeling like she was being called on the carpet by her school’s principal. “No, thank you.”
He walked over to the small bar, pouring himself a glass while he took in her clothing. “You don’t look old enough, anyway. Are you cold?”
She sucked in her cheeks and nodded, not really lying. “It does get chillier here at night than I expected. And I’m old enough. I’m also a lightweight, and I believe you wanted to find out more about why there are strange women in your house instead of how badly off-key I’ll sing when I’m tipsy.”