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

by Taylor Lee

  Wyatt woke up, still exhausted, and discovered that Lei was gone. Seeing how late it was, he assumed she was at breakfast. He couldn’t believe he had slept in his clothes, but knew how tired he had been. All he wanted to do now was to take Lei somewhere they could talk and hold each other.

  He was surprised to see Elena and Nicolas Deshi and the adults at the breakfast table, but not Alex or Lei.

  “Where is Lei, and Alex?”

  Theresa looked surprised. “Oh, I thought you knew, Wyatt. They planned last night to go for an early morning ride and have breakfast at the stream. Alex loves to do that.”

  Wyatt pushed down a wave of annoyance. He knew it was likely that Lei had arranged for the ride to get distance from him. He waited for her, thinking about where they could go to be alone.

  He was working in the barn with Alono when he heard Alex’s childish voice and Lei answering him. He walked out to meet them as they rode in and hopped off their horses at the edge of the training ring.

  Alex saw him and shrieked with excitement.

  “Daddy, Daddy! I didn’t know you were here!” He ran to Wyatt, his eyes shining, thrilled to see him.

  Wyatt looked directly at Lei who walked by, apparently not planning to speak.

  “I’m surprised that Lei didn’t tell you that I was here.”

  He reached out and reached for her arm as she went by, ignoring her attempt to twist away.

  “Lei, I want to talk to you. Now.”

  She jerked her arm free of his grasp and walked quickly away.

  “Sorry, Wyatt. I am sparring with five students today. I’m late for my first session. I know that the children will enjoy your company. I have a full schedule.”

  Lei broke into a fast jog, heading to the dojo. She didn’t look back, which was just as well. Wyatt’s face was hard, his eyes were flashing with anger. With a concerted effort, he pushed down the feelings, turning to the excited little boy beside him. With a big smile, he picked Alex up, and tossed him up in the air, eliciting a rash of excited giggles from his solemn little boy.

  “See, Alex, you’re not too old to be thrown in the air. Must be all that work you are doing with Lei on your aerials.”

  When Lei didn’t show up for lunch, Wyatt no longer tried to hide his annoyance. After lunch, he walked over to the dojo to see what she was doing. He saw her sparring with one of the more advanced students. He went to Joey’s office to say hello and see if Joey knew her schedule for the rest of the day.

  “I think she has one more session with Neiko. At least I think that is her last one. Look, Wyatt. I’ll take over if you two have something planned. I know you don’t have much time here. I was surprised when I saw that Lei had scheduled all of those private sessions today. But, as you know, the students prefer her to me any day. They all lined up when she said she was available.”

  Wyatt walked back in the dojo. He decided he was going to drag her out physically, if necessary. He was furious. He’d given her all the rope he was going to. To his surprise, she wasn’t there. Neiko said she had told him she needed to reschedule - that something had come up. He went back to the cottage and asked Theresa if she had seen Lei. Theresa saw his face and knew they were arguing.

  “Sorry, Wyatt. I haven’t seen her since this morning. She said she wouldn’t be coming to lunch or dinner. I think she has a special class tonight.”

  “Thanks, Theresa. If you see her, please tell her I am in my office. That I’m looking for her.”

  He had just sat down at his desk, when he saw her go by.

  He stood up and moved toward the door, calling out to her. “Lei, come in here. Now.”

  She tossed her head and came into his office and stood close to the entrance.

  His voice was tight, hard. “Lei, I have about had it.”

  She tossed her head. “Good! Does that mean you are leaving soon?”

  Wyatt’s face flushed with anger. He started toward her.

  She heard someone and turned to see Chief coming down the hallway. He smiled and came into the room.

  Lei turned to him and edged out next to the door. She said with a bright smile, “Hello, Chief. How was your trip? Was Wyatt as sensational as ever? That’s okay, you don’t have to answer that. He’s always sensational, right, Chief?”

  Chief looked at her, surprised, picking up on the harsh edge in her voice. He looked over at Wyatt and saw the anger on his face. He knew that he had stepped into the middle of an argument.

  He started to answer, but Lei said again in a bright voice, “Really, I don’t need to hear. We all know how wonderful he is. There’s no need for you to tell us again, and again, right? How many times do we have to agree? Is it asking too much that you spare us the ‘isn’t Wyatt wonderful’ accolades? At least occasionally?”

  She headed out the door, then looked back at both men who were staring in disbelief at her rudeness. While she was often rude to Wyatt when she was angry, she never was to Chief.

  Her hands on her hips, she glared at them both. “By the way, that’s some operation you fellows have set up at the campaign headquarters. I haven’t seen that much pussy since my father took me to a whorehouse when I was eleven years old. Not to do anything bad, you understand. Just to wait for him while he got his daily fuck from the group of women lined up waiting for him. You know how it is, right, Wyatt?”

  She reached back and pulled the door shut behind her with a hard slam.

  Wyatt and the Chief both stood dumfounded for a minute, staring at the door. Then they looked at each other and Chief shook his head. Both of them started to smile at the same time and then both laughed out loud. Her outrageousness was too much to be anything but humorous.

  Chief shook his head and grinned.

  “Now, Wyatt, you know that I don’t believe in hitting a woman or in corporal punishment of children. But, I will tell you…”

  “Not necessary, Chief. If I have ever seen anyone begging to have her ass spanked it is our little warrior woman. And I have a strong feeling that before the day is out - or tomorrow at the latest - I will need some of that ‘all purpose, heal anything’ cream of yours. As long as it works on a freshly spanked ass!”

  Chief chuckled. “Oh, to be twenty years younger and have a feisty woman in my life.”

  Wyatt laughed. “Don’t worry, Chief. I’ll lay a couple on for you. It’s one thing for her to be a rude brat to me, but quite another to act that way with you. Yeah, I think warrior woman has about used up her supply of ‘excused tantrums.’”

  Even though he and the Chief enjoyed Lei’s saucy tantrum, Wyatt was surprised at how angry he was when she didn’t show up for dinner. He had only one more day before he needed to go back to the campaign. He was furious at her for wasting precious time they could be together. He decided he would forget the spanking unless it was part of foreplay, because what he wanted and wanted bad was to fuck her. Which he intended to do tonight, at great length.

  After dinner, he and Alex and Elena worked on a large puzzle that he brought for them from Cheyenne. It was nine o’clock when he tucked them in bed and went down to their bedroom to find Lei. He heard the bath water running in their bathroom. He smiled, knowing that Lei liked to begin a long evening together with a relaxing bath. His body was hot with anticipation. He was not going to let her get away with how she had been acting today, but he was aching to hold her, love her.

  He walked into the bedroom and saw Lei sitting naked at her dressing table. He could smell her damp fragrant body and reached behind him to lock the door. When she saw him come in, she turned, exposing her breasts for a fleeting second. Grabbing a robe from the end of the bed, she slipped it on. It clung to her hips and breasts that were still damp from her bath. He grinned at her and shook his head. God, she was beautiful. He knew he couldn’t stay angry with her.

  “I liked that robe better on the end of the bed.”

  “Shh, you’ll wake Deshi,” she said pointing to the little boy who was asleep on the pillow in the c
enter of the bed.

  His rage was so pure that he felt like an animal, taut, coiled, about to strike. He had to pull himself back to keep from walking over to her and slapping her across the face, knocking her over. He knew he would never do that, but the fact that he wanted to startled him.

  “He wanted to sleep with me, Wyatt. If you don’t want him in our bed, I’m pleased to take him upstairs and sleep with him there.”

  He stood staring at her for several long minutes. He couldn’t remember when he had been this angry with her. He also realized he was feeling something else - a more subtle, hidden emotion. He hurt like hell. Ever since he had left her over a week ago, he had hungered for her; not just her body, which he craved, but he wanted to hold her close to him. The ugly fliers had devastated him. They were a white hot knife through his spirit. More than anything, he wanted to hold her and protect her, never let her see what had hurt him, struck him at his core. Now she’d seen them, as well. Instead of wanting him to hold her and protect her and tell her everything was going to be all right, she was pushing him away, angry, hurtful, and mean. She was more concerned about the fucking women at the headquarters that he hadn’t touched or even fucking looked at. He glared at her for another long hard moment. With a shock, he realized that he despised her. His voice was controlled, hard.

  “That won’t be necessary, Lei. Good night.”

  Chapter 14

  The final straw that pushed Wyatt over the edge happened at lunch the next day. Lei didn’t show up for breakfast. Neither did Elena. When Wyatt asked Theresa where they were, Theresa said she thought Lei said that she and Elena were going to ride early so that they would have a longer time in the dojo. The anger rising in Wyatt was hard, cold. Lei obviously intended to push him away today, as she had yesterday. She knew he had to be in Cheyenne the next morning. Taking Elena with her this morning was one rebellious act too many. Added to her open defiance last night, pulling Nicolas Deshi into their bed, he was done. He would not permit her to drag the children into their quarrel. It was inexcusable. He wouldn’t allow it. He waited for them to come back from their morning ride, but missed them. Once again, Lei had scheduled morning sessions with Kung fu students. He seriously considered going into the dojo and dragging her out by her hair, if necessary, but didn’t want to upset Joey. He decided that he would wait until lunch and then insist that she come with him regardless of any previous commitments.

  When he got to the dining room, lunch had begun and once again Lei and Elena were nowhere to be seen. He was stunned at her bold defiance. Clearly, she was pushing him harder than she ever had, insolently taunting him. Alex said he didn’t know where they were. Both Chief and Theresa noted Wyatt’s tight jaw and angry eyes. They didn’t have long to wait for the fireworks to start. Wyatt glanced up to see Elena and Lei waltz by the dining room on their way out of the house. Wyatt went to the doorway. His expression was cold, stern.

  “Elena, please come here.”

  “What, Daddy? Lei and I are going to have a special lunch in her private room.”

  “No, honey, you’re not. Please come in and sit down at the table.”

  “But, Lei said I can eat with her in her other room. We’re going to pretend to have a picnic.”

  “That sounds like fun, and you can do it some other time. Today, both you and Lei are going to eat lunch with the rest of us. Aren’t you, Lei?”

  Lei’s eyes flashed. She looked up at Wyatt and was surprised to see the hard anger on his face. She knew he was furious last night when he saw Nicolas Deshi in their bed, but she’d ignored him. Making a quick decision not to confront him on this issue, Lei tossed her head and walked past him into the dining room. She nodded to Chief and Theresa and decided to sit by Chief. Wyatt followed her into the dining room. The look on his face convinced her not to argue with him. He went back to his chair, never taking his gaze off of her.

  “Let’s see, Lei. If you don’t want to sit in your seat at the other end of the table, why don’t you come and sit here. Next to me.”

  He pulled out the chair for her. She hesitated, glaring at him.

  He was smoking a cigar and took a puff on it, piercing her with a hard glare.

  “Come over here, Lei.”

  Pointing to the chair, he said, “Sit down. Now!”

  Lei was openly angry, but walked over to the chair next to him. Without looking at him, she sat down, her back a rigid column.

  Wyatt said in a taut voice, “I’m sure you and Elena want to eat what Theresa spent the morning preparing.”

  Theresa exchanged a look with Chief. He raised an eyebrow, shrugged, and shook his head.

  Wyatt turned to Elena. “Elena, you need to understand. We eat as a family unless you’re sick or travelling, as I have been. Except for those reasons, we eat together here at the dining room table. Do you understand?”

  Elena looked startled at his tone of voice. She whispered, “Yes, Daddy.”

  Wyatt turned to Lei. “Do you understand?”

  She stared at him, furious that he was confronting her like this, in front of Chief, Theresa and the children.

  “I asked you a question, Lei.”

  Her eyes flashed. She flushed a rosy pink, but didn’t respond.

  “I didn’t hear you.” Wyatt’s voice was low, ominous.

  She looked down and whispered, “Yes.”

  Elena seemed scared by Wyatt’s expression. She looked up at Wyatt, with tears running down her face, and asked in a trembling voice, “Daddy, are you mad at me?”

  “No, honey, I’m not. This isn’t about you, Elena. Lei and I have had a misunderstanding and you got caught in the middle.

  “I think we are both clear now, right, Lei?”

  Lei hesitated, then looked down at the table, obviously angry.

  “Are we clear now, Lei?”

  It was clear everyone at the table felt the tension. There was an audible sigh of relief when Lei nodded.

  Lei was furious that Wyatt was doing this to her in front of the family. He wanted to underscore to everyone that he was in charge of her. That she had to do what he told her to do. She wanted to scream at him. Throw something at him, but she could see that Elena and Alex were upset. She didn’t want to make it worse. She didn’t speak for the rest of the lunch, and Wyatt didn’t ask her any additional questions.

  “Daniel, I have some work to do this afternoon. Are you available to take Alex and Elena riding?”

  “Absolutely, Wyatt. If they want to come with me.”

  “How about it, Alex? Elena? Yes? Okay. When you get back, Nicolas Deshi should be up from his nap. We can all spar together. I haven’t seen you children practice for over a week. I’ll bet I’m going to see some great new moves.”

  When they finished eating, Wyatt stood up and told the children to go change and to meet him and Daniel outside. Millie had already taken Nicolas Deshi for his nap. Wyatt turned to Lei and said in a low voice, “Go to our room. Wait for me there.”

  She glared at him, her eyes flashing with anger.

  “I’m not going to say it again, Lei.”

  Without speaking to anyone, she left the dining room. When she got to the hallway, Lei debated whether she would do what he had told her to do. She thought for a moment, then with her head high walked to their bedroom and closed the door. She knew Wyatt was angry, but so was she. She could not believe what he had done at the table. God, she wished he would go back to Cheyenne. Thinking back to the lunch, she felt a fresh surge of anger. Goddamn him. That was so much like him. He was angry that he couldn’t control her, so he was going to make a big public statement that he was the boss. Well, fuck that! He may think he was her boss, but no one was, least of all not him.

  She turned when he came in and saw from his face that he was as angry as she was. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it. He lit a cigarette and stood glaring at her, his eyes cold and hard.

  Lei took a deep breath, and said in a voice shaking with anger, “What the hell
was that about? Goddamn you, Wyatt. Who the hell do you think you are?”

  He took a drag off his cigarette and held her gaze.

  “Hmm, maybe we should start with who the hell do you think you are?

  “Let’s see. You haven’t spoken to me for two days, even though you know I need to be back at the campaign in the morning. When you couldn’t avoid answering me, you were childishly rude, not only to me, but to Chief, which is inexcusable. You are purposefully involving the children in our argument – using them against me, which is an ugly thing to do. You apparently don’t think anything of dragging Alex or Elena into your spiteful, disrespectful games. I guess you think that putting children in bed with you will keep me out.

  He moved toward her. At the expression on his face, she stepped back. “Is that what you think, Lei? That you can flounce around here with little or no clothes on to taunt me, and then put Nicolas Deshi, our son, between us? Is that what you think you can do?”

  She was surprised by his anger, but had so much anger of her own that she didn’t appreciate the depth of his. She was unwilling to acknowledge the truth of what he was saying. She shook her head and didn’t respond.

  “But, let’s go back to your question. Who the hell do I think I am? Was that your question?

  “Well let’s see. First, who I’m not. I’m not your husband, even though that’s what I would like to be more than anything. But you don’t want to marry me. You don’t want to be my wife. You don’t want me as a husband. I have come to grips with that, Lei. I’ve accepted it. Not happily, but I will live with it. I’ll tell you what I won’t live with.”

  He ground out his cigarette in the ashtray on the table and grabbed her arm, looming over her. He yanked her next to him. With his finger and thumb he tipped up her chin and brought her face up close to his. His anger was palpable, his voice tight, his words clipped.

  “Now let me tell you who I am. I’m the man who won’t live with you using sex as a weapon against me. Let me be clear, in case there is any misunderstanding between us. When I want to fuck you, I will fuck you. When I want to fuck you up your ass, I will fuck you up your ass. When I want to fuck your mouth, I will fuck your mouth. When I want to fuck you with my fingers in your cunt, that is how I will fuck you. When I want to fuck you with a goddamn dildo or any piece of machinery I choose, that’s how I will fuck you. If I want to stand you on your head and fuck you, that is what I will do.