The Grandmaster’s Legacy: Masters of Love and War (A Taylor Lee HOT Historical Romantic Suspense Collection) (The Grandmaster's Legacy)

by Taylor Lee

  Tom whispered to Chief, “I am telling you this guy is going to be governor someday. If I could get him to agree, I know I could get him appointed to head up the New Mexico territory tomorrow. Christ he has everything going for him.”

  “Yes, it would seem that he does,” Chief said with a sigh.

  The next morning, Tom called up from the lobby inviting Wyatt and the others to the dining room for breakfast. The children were allowed to come after strict instructions from Wyatt that they were to be quiet and polite or Alono would take them back to their room. At each place setting, Tom put the front page of the Washington Post. At the top of the fold down the left hand side of the paper was a three column story on Wyatt, titled, “The New Face of the West.” In addition to a story that was unabashedly positive about the conservatorship and about Wyatt in general, the Post’s photographer had managed to capture the wry grin that most people in Wyoming associated with their handsome hero. The photo filled the top left hand corner of the page.

  Tom was beaming. Wyatt nodded with a good natured grin. “Good work, Tom. You know how to make a guy feel good.”

  “It’s more than that, Wyatt. I told Chief yesterday, you are going to be governor someday. I’m telling you, I could make you territorial governor of any of the four territories next week if you are willing.”

  “No, Tom, I’m not. What I am interested in is how this puff piece will bring new business to San Francisco Partners, Inc..

  “Are you kidding, Wyatt? I have had seven telegrams since yesterday asking if I have connections to you. This kind of newspaper publicity is the wave of the future. It will make or break men.

  “Speaking of broken men – or about to be broken – I have it on good authority, since I am their source, that the Washington Post cover story tomorrow will be of great interest. The story is all about the five men who tried to steal four million acres of public land in Wyoming while their ringleader was running for governor.”

  “Whew! Now, Tom that is a story I am looking forward to reading.”

  “I imagine you will recognize many of the quotes, attributions, and facts since you are the one who fed them to me wholesale.”

  Wyatt grinned. “I might start to like this town. You guys are as vicious as I am. Only sneakier.”

  “Wyatt, you can see the impact that handsome face of yours has on today’s story. Just wait until you see the photos of Martin and his cronies being dragged out of the Cheyenne Hotel after the news broke and they were all arrested. Every one of them has his head in his hands trying to block the photographers. Talk about a sorry looking bunch of thieves.

  “Wyatt, that isn’t all. You see this nice profile of you I got placed? Martin is getting a full page profile, as well. Only his is the story of an insufferable good for nothing patrician prick that never worked a day in his life. Yet he still thought he had the right to steal from his elderly uncle and the state he wanted to elect him governor. Once again, Wyatt, thanks for the suggested copy. The editors loved it. Nothing they like better than political scandal, especially if it brings down one of their own.”

  Wyatt grinned for the second time that morning. He asked, “I’m curious, Tom, how the hell do you get a story like that run in the paper? Do you have to know the reporter, editor, or the owner, or who?”

  “Well, it depends. On a story like the one on Martin that will ruin a man, you need all three in your pocket. If it is a good juicy gossip piece then one of the muckrakers usually puts it in his scandal sheet. If it gets enough attention the Post will run it as real news the next day. Why?”

  “Just curious how your world works.”

  Two days later, Tom pounded on Wyatt’s hotel room door. When he opened it, Tom was standing there with a scandal sheet in hand and the biggest grin Wyatt had seen on the understated man’s face.

  “You ruthless son of a bitch! Just curious how my world works, huh? You wouldn’t happen to know a Miss Bonnie Blue who works at the Back Door Saloon and Brothel in Cheyenne, Wyoming?” He added with an insincere groan, “Tell me that’s not the real name of the saloon, Wyatt!”

  The headline with a full frontal photo of Martin read: Former Candidate for Wyoming Governor Awaiting Punishment gets SPANKED in the Back Door.

  What followed were three days of salacious headlines. Equally salacious stories detailed Martin’s various sexual proclivities. According to Miss Blue, those proclivities included diapered spankings over the knee of a whore to bare assed whippings from the in-house dominatrix.

  The morning Wyatt was leaving to go back to Wyoming. Tom met him for breakfast. His eyes were dancing. “Remember how I told you there is nothing this town likes better than a political scandal? Well there is one thing; that is a sex scandal. I guarantee you; this will follow Martin for life.” With that, Tom opened to the editorial page of the Post to a classic political cartoon.

  Lady Justice was dressed in a dominatrix outfit. One side of her blindfold was rakishly lifted to allow her to smack the bloated backside of poor naked Martin, who was sprawled across her knee. The caption spoken by Martin read, “Harder, please. Harder!”

  Wyatt took a drag off his cigarette and shook his head. “Christ, Tom, I just cut off their balls, stick em in their mouth, and tie them to a post in the public square. You guys go for the whole package, don’t you? At least there’s no blood. Guess that is why you are considered the civilized part of the country.”

  ~~~

  When Wyatt, the children, Alono, and Chief returned from Washington, Joey walked out to the barn to greet them. The children jumped off their horses and ran to him.

  “Uncle Joey, we saw the White House and the president! And we had ice cream every night!” Elena shouted in excitement.

  Alex added, “We got to ride on a street car and the train engineer let me sit by him. It was fun.”

  “He let me, too!” said Elena.

  They babbled and chatted. Their excited sentences ran over each other’s. Wyatt, Alono, and Chief stood behind them. From the somber looks on their faces, Joey knew that it had been a challenging ten days.

  Elena looked sad. “One bad thing, Uncle Joey. Lei didn’t come. I miss her. I wanted her to come. She wanted to come. I know she did! She was excited like me. Daddy said she had to go home, but I still don’t know why she didn’t come.”

  Alex added in his somber way. “She didn’t say good bye to us either. I wish she had.”

  Elena perked up. “Maybe she came back here. Is she here, Uncle Joey?”

  Before Joey could answer, Wyatt broke in. “That’s enough Elena. I told you Lei is not here. You know that. Please pick up your travel bag and go to the cottage. Theresa will be excited to see you. You too, Alex. Please take your bag and put your new things away. You can tell Uncle Joey all the news after you eat dinner. Now go!”

  Joey saw from the children’s faces that they had become accustomed to this strict tone Wyatt rarely used with them. Joey waited until the children left and then said, “Welcome home. How was Washington?”

  “Crowded,” said Wyatt as he turned and followed the children to the cottage.

  Joey said to the Chief, “Is this how it’s been the whole time?”

  Chief responded with a sigh, “Pretty much.”

  That evening, Joey was outside the dojo and saw Wyatt walk by heading to Lei’s room. With a sigh, Joey followed him.

  Wyatt stood in the doorway of the empty room and stared as if in shock. Joey stood behind him without speaking.

  Wyatt turned and saw him there. “I would like to be alone, please.”

  Joey nodded and went back to the dojo. He was in his office late and heard fists smashing the punching bag. He walked out to see Wyatt driving fierce punches into the bag in a way that he had not seen him do for many months. He saw his face and knew the pattern well. This was the Wyatt he had known as a boy, then a young man, and then the man he knew today. Why it surprised Joey, he didn’t know. Of course this was where Wyatt would come to blast against his anger, his
rage. Even after all these years, the fearsome anger that drove him as a child was as close to the surface as it had ever been. Joey knew there were long nights ahead in the dojo.

  ~~~

  An uneasy pattern settled over the ranch. The work of the ranch continued as usual as did the training of the kung fu students. What changed was Wyatt. His usual easy going banter and pleasantries were gone. He spent most of the day in his office working or riding with the children or many times riding by himself.

  Every evening around midnight, he went to the dojo and practiced until dawn. His body already strong and powerful became the fighting machine that Joey had watched him build nearly six years ago after Vivian died. As then, no one went near him when he practiced. Sparring was out of the question. He would have destroyed his opponents. Joey wondered if Wyatt understood how similar his actions were to that earlier time. He also wondered if Wyatt appreciated the fact that unlike Vivian, Lei was not dead.

  Chapter 25

  At first the scene with Jesse at the Cheyenne Hotel that precipitated Lei’s rage made Wyatt reluctant to see Jesse. Then almost as if he could rub Lei’s nose in it, he started going to Jesse again. With Lei gone, sex with Jesse was what he wanted and needed. She wanted it hard and fast and didn’t care if he spoke during the encounter. He could act out his anger and she didn’t seem to care. It was impersonal in the way it was with good whores. Wyatt used them as well to deaden his loss.

  Martin fled back to Boston, abandoning his campaign. He frantically sought legal help as both the state and federal government prepared to bring legal action against him and his co-conspirators. That left Jesse alone at Frank’s ranch, which made it convenient for Wyatt to stop by when he felt the need. Over time, Jesse was emboldened. If he hadn’t been by for a while she came to Blue Canyon looking for him. Wyatt ignored the looks from Chief and Alono, daring them to confront him. Joey was openly angry with Wyatt and didn’t seem to notice Jesse or care if he did.

  Wyatt and Alono were in the training ring breaking a new filly when Jesse rode up and climbed up on the railing to watch them.

  Wyatt nodded to her. “Hi, Jesse. Be with you in a minute. We’re getting this filly used to being ground tied. First, she’s got to learn how to deal with these hobbles.

  “Don’t know if you use hobbles to train, but I’ve found I can cut the time to break a horse in half. Granted it can scare the shit out of them, but they soon learn who’s boss. I don’t have to use the lunge whip once they get accustomed to being restrained.”

  Jesse watched as Wyatt attached the hobbles to the front legs of the filly and gave them a tug to let the horse know she was restrained. The horse was skittish and seemed like she might panic. Wyatt patiently tugged and released the lead rope, speaking in continuous soft whispers. Soon the filly stood patiently waiting for the next command.

  Wyatt murmured, “Good, Girl. See that wasn’t so bad. It’s a lot easier, isn’t it, honey, when you do as you’re told.”

  When they finished he turned to Alono. “I’ll put this stuff in the barn. Will you put the filly back and keep an eye on things for me?”

  Alono nodded. He didn’t meet Wyatt’s eyes or look at Jesse.

  Wyatt motioned to Jesse to follow him and led her to the barn with the empty stalls. They walked to the back of the barn and Wyatt started to put the equipment away. Then he turned and looked at Jesse with a sly grin.

  “You know, honey, this equipment isn’t just for horses. It’s for all kinds of fillies who need to be taught a lesson. Know any fillies around here that might benefit from being restrained?”

  Jesse flushed and looked uncertain. She smiled a shaky smile. “What lessons do I need to learn, Wyatt? You’ve taught me more in six months than I learned in my whole life.”

  “Sweetheart, you haven’t learned the half of it.”

  He stood back against the wall and lit a cigarette. He kept his gaze on her with a look between a leer and an amused half smile. She peeked at the lunge whip and hobble restraints he had put on the floor at his feet.

  “What are you going to do, Wyatt?”

  “Let’s start with what you’re gonna do. Take your clothes off, baby.”

  Jesse looked uncertain. “All of them?”

  “Yep. All of them.”

  “Wyatt, I feel strange doing that here. What if someone comes in?”

  “What if they do? You will make their day. One look at that body of yours they will think they’ve died and gone to heaven… or maybe they’ll want to watch.”

  “Wyatt, I don’t know if I want to do this.”

  “See, honey, that’s what I’m talking about. The first lesson is to do as you’re told. I said take off your clothes.”

  Jesse tried to hide her excitement, but Wyatt saw it flash across her face. He shook his head amused at her desire to be dominated. Christ, she and Martin have more in common than they know he thought with a grin. After she took off her clothes, he separated the hobbles and slipped one on each of her wrists.

  “Did you ever wonder what those stakes were for?” He asked pointing to the stakes on either side of the stall.

  “I think they’ll work just fine for the purpose at hand.” He laid her on the floor and spread her arms wide apart, fastening them to the stakes.

  “We’ll leave your feet free this time. It’ll be easier to get at the parts I wanna explore.”

  She closed her eyes and moaned softly.

  “I think this will be more fun if I surprise you, don’t you, honey?” He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a bandana and tied it over her eyes like a blindfold.

  Her breath came faster. He saw the combination of anxiety and excitement on her face.

  “Now if I recall you like it hard and fast, right, honey? Well just so you know, you don’t always get what you want. Today, I’m going to show you what hard and slow is like. You might change your tastes.”

  She gasped in excitement.

  “I know you can’t see a damned thing, but I gotta say you look erotic as hell. Oh, one more rule of the game. I’ll let you know when you can come. In case you forget, I’ll remind you.” He snapped the lunge whip lightly across her legs.

  She jumped. “Wyatt, you’re not going to hurt me are you?”

  “Not if you do as you’re told.

  “Bend your legs, honey. Spread them open. That’s right – nice and wide. Yeah, you’re good at that. On second thought, let’s start here.”

  He leaned down and took one of her nipples in his mouth sucked on it hard. She moaned when he nipped at it then bit down hard. When she shrieked, he moved over and did the same thing to her other nipple.

  When she begged him to stop he said, “Not a chance sweetheart.” He pinched and pulled on the tender tips until she was begging for mercy. And begging him not to stop.

  “Wyatt, you’re going to make me come if you keep doing that,” she said breathlessly, arching her back trying to force her nipples into his mouth.

  “Better not, honey,” he said with a light snap of the whip. She flinched and whimpered.

  He trailed his mouth across her stomach sucking and biting her as he slid between her legs to the inside of her thighs.

  “Okay, now, honey, you can open these nice and wide,” he said spreading her legs.

  He ran his fingers over her puffy labia and began to tease and explore her slit. She moaned. He smelled the musky odor of her aroused pussy.

  “Wyatt, feel up higher.”

  “Honey, we’ll get higher but not right now,” he said as he feathered his fingers and then his tongue across her throbbing clit.

  He leaned down and licked her labia along the outside edges nipping them as she groaned and pressed up against him. When she started panting and straining toward him, he teased her clit rubbing it maddeningly between his fingers and thumb, until she was begging him to let her come.

  She thrashed under him, tugging against the restraints. “Wyatt, please! I have to come. Please let me come!”

/>   “No, no, honey,” he said snapping the whip lightly across her thighs. “I’m not done with you yet.”

  “How about you pull your legs up like this and back so that I can get a better look at that beautiful ass of yours, especially here,” he said licking lightly around the puckered opening.

  “Oh god, Wyatt, do that, do that!”

  “Anything you say, baby.” Holding her legs up high and back he teased the space between her pussy and ass. He used his fingers first, then his mouth. He licked and nipped at the soft skin until she was begging him not to stop, to let her come.

  She was moaning harder now. He could taste her wet pussy, hot and tangy. He moved back down to her ass and ran his tongue around the tight pucker.

  As he thrust his tongue in and out, she groaned. Almost sobbing she cried out, “I can’t wait, Wyatt, please, please!”

  “What do you want, honey?”

  “I want you to fuck me. Fuck me now. Hard!”

  He moved his hard erect cock up tight against her pussy and whispered hoarsely in her ear, “Is this what you want?”

  She desperately tried to open her legs wider to push her pussy up harder against him. “Yes, yes, fuck me now.”

  “And hard, right honey? Always hard.” He thrust up inside of her deeper and deeper as she screamed. With a deep shuddering groan, he pulled out shooting cum over her mound.

  She struggled against him trying to maintain contact with his body while her orgasm quieted. But he moved away from her, then sat up and leaned against the wall.

  She was trembling, shaking. “Untie me, Wyatt.”

  “Yeah, baby, in a minute.” He dug out a cigarette, lit it and took a long deep drag staring sightlessly at her trembling body. He closed his eyes and sat with his head against the wall. After a couple of minutes, he took a final drag on his cigarette and tossed it to the ground. He leaned over, unfastened her restraints and took off her blindfold.