by Iris Abbott
Marla rested her head on the back of the chair and closed her eyes. If she wasn’t careful, she might fall asleep right there in the chair, despite her nerves. She could definitely use a nap. Since breaking the intimate ice a week ago, Copper couldn’t seem to get enough of her. She definitely couldn’t get enough of him. They went to bed early every night, but sleeping was the last thing on their minds.
Copper teased and caressed her until she was a writhing mass of want and need. Then just when she didn’t think she could take anymore, he entered her, thrusting and stroking, until both of them screamed their releases. It was intense and pleasurable, but it was exhausting too.
Afterwards, well sated from great sex, Marla fell asleep. She always felt safe when she was surrounded by Copper’s hard muscled body and held in the tight circle of his strong arms. That still didn’t change the fact that they did way more loving than sleeping, and the wild nights and lack of sleep were starting to catch-up with her.
She was in that ambiguous state between wakefulness and sleeping when a large hand grasped her shoulder and forcibly shook her. Her eyes popped open. She was surprised to be staring into the flinty eyes of her ex-boyfriend turned stalker. She’d been waiting for the other shoe to drop, but she hadn’t expected it to happen today on Metal Cowboys’ property. She’d been telling the truth when she told Copper she felt safe in his home. Coming face-to-face with her ex-boyfriend at the barbecue was as unexpected as it was chilling.
“You shouldn’t be here, Rob.” Marla tried to sound nonchalant, but she was scared to death. She felt frozen to the spot, and her body trembled. She flinched when she heard the evil sound of Rob’s laugh.
“You and me, we’ve got some unfinished business to take care of,” he said with a smirk.
Stalling might be her only chance to get out of this current dilemma fairly unscathed. She’d been away from Copper longer than she planned. Surely, Copper, her sister, or one of the other Metal Cowboys would come looking for her soon.
“Really? I don’t think so. We said everything there was to say to each other years ago. You should drop whatever perceived vendetta you think you have against me, and just go back to wherever you came from,” she added through clenched teeth.
The fingers on her shoulder tightened. “Perceived vendetta? You ruined my life, bitch!” He spit out the angry words in a harsh and clipped tone. Spittle flew from his mouth while he talked. It was obvious he was in a rage.
Her blood chilled. Rob was acting like a lunatic. In the back of her mind, Marla knew she should be afraid, but his words sparked her temper. Before she even knew what she was going to do, she threw off his hands, and jumped out of the chair, erasing some of his height advantage.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” She could feel the blood rushing to her head, and she didn’t know if it was from anger or the abrupt movement from sitting to standing. Either way she felt like she was going to explode. She was so mad she forgot to be afraid of her tormentor.
“I was the victim, not you. You’re solely responsible for any negative fallout your life took after you pushed me down the stairs and caused me to have a miscarriage.” She was getting louder with every word she uttered. “Admit you are the one responsible for your actions, and take the consequences like a man.” She was practically standing toe-to-toe with the sorry excuse for a human being, facing him down.
He glared at her through narrowed hate-filled eyes. “Why you stupid cow!” He drew back a hand, presumably to smack her.
Marla took a quick step back and almost tripped over the lawn chair. She let out a muffled squeak of alarm. She flinched, closed her eyes, and waited for the blow that was sure to come.
The thudding sound of flesh hitting flesh caused her eyes to pop open. Natalie and Mercury were standing about five feet behind Rob. Copper was directly behind her ex, who was slowly sinking to his knees, begging the much larger and muscled biker for relief from the pain. Evidently, Copper caught Rob’s arm when he pulled back to strike her. The offending arm was twisted behind Rob’s back, sending him to his knees.
Copper let go of the sniveling coward. The forward momentum of his sharp movement caused Rob to fall face first into the ground. As soon as he was out of commission, Marla ran into Copper’s arms and buried her face in the side of his neck. She felt the gentle glide of his strong hands up and down her body.
He lifted her off her feet and moved her several feet away from her ex. “Are you all right?” his voice was shaking.
“Barely, y’all got here just in time. I was braced for the worst, but it didn’t happen.” The arm around her waist tightened.
Natalie came to her side and hugged her as best as she could. It was a little awkward, because Copper refused to relinquish his hold on Marla. “I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I saw Rob approaching you,” Natalie said in a breathless voice. Her eyes were watering. She looked like she was getting ready to cry.
“I decided to get help instead of confronting him, just in case he was armed. Copper and Mercury were nearby, so it worked out, thank God! I’d be devastated if something horrible happened to you because I made the wrong choice or didn’t act fast enough.”
“It all worked out,” Marla reassured her sister. She turned angry eyes on Rob, who was none to gently being helped to his feet by Mercury. “What I want to know is how he got on the property? I wouldn’t have wandered off by myself if I thought there was any chance he could crash the party. I know you guys weren’t sloppy with the security precautions.” She vigorously shook her head back and forth. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Good question,” Mercury snarled as he jerked Rob around to face him. “So what’s the answer to the lady’s question? And you better think twice about feeding me a line of bullshit, because I’m itching to try and knock some sense into that hollow head of yours,” Mercury said with a growl.
Copper finally let his arm drop from around Marla’s waist. He gently moved her closer to her sister. “You’d have to stand in line for that privilege,” Copper said with a smirk.
“I’ll just be leaving now,” Rob said, trying to extract himself from Mercury’s talon-like grip.
“Not happening, at least not until we get some answers,” Copper promised, taking a menacing step toward the interloper.
Before he could say or do anything else, Sheriff Davis joined the fray. “Well, what do we have here? Looks like trouble, guess I’m in the right place today.”
Rob took advantage of the law officer’s presence to rip his arm out of Mercury’s bruising grasp. “I was just talking to Marla,” he aimed his thumb in her direction. “These thugs attacked me for no good reason.”
“Really?” the sheriff raised his brow and gave Rob Storey a look filled with amusement and disbelief. “Now why would they do something like that during a barbecue for friends and associates of the Metal Cowboys? Doesn’t make much sense to me, could be bad for business. And these men have a nose for business.”
Rob threw his hands up in the air and took a couple steps away from Mercury and Copper. “Don’t know, but that’s what happened.”
“He’s lying,” Marla bit out. “First of all, he verbally attacked me and then he raised his hand to me. Copper and Mercury were defending me from a known threat. Sheriff, this is the man Natalie and I issued the restraining order against.”
“Is that so,” Sheriff Davis looked more than a little interested now.
“Yes,” Marla answered his question even though she knew it was rhetorical.
“Well then,” Luke said turning all his attention to Rob. “It looks like I’m going to have to take you down to my office and have a few words with you,” the sheriff said with a gleam in his eyes. “I don’t take too kindly to men harassing women in my county.”
Marla could tell the man was enjoying himself. It made her like him just a little bit more.
“What! I don’t know anything about a restraining order! I haven’t done anything w
rong,” Rob insisted, hoping to win the sheriff over to his way of thinking.
Sheriff Davis pulled a folded set of papers from the back pocket of his pants. “I thought you might say that. Rob Storey, consider yourself served.” He stuffed the papers into the other man’s shirt pocket. “Now get out of here before I haul you into my office for trespassing and violating the restraining order you are now in possession of and can no longer deny.”
“Wait just a minute,” Copper insisted. “He came here with ill intent. I have a couple of questions I need answered before he can leave.”
The sheriff gave Copper a meaningful look. “Under the circumstances,” he glanced behind him at the yard full of guests. “You don’t have a choice, got to let him walk, for now anyway.”
“He’s not going anywhere until we know how he got onto the property. We have guards at the gate taking invitations and checking identification, and the rest of the property is locked down tight. I have to know where the breach in security occurred so that it doesn’t happen again.”
Rob smirked at the assembled group. “I’m not trespassing. I came with a date in possession of an invitation with a plus one, so I have every right to be here.”
Marla lightly bit her bottom lip and shook her head. She couldn’t believe someone else was a horrible enough judge of character to fall for Rob’s crap. She really hoped she got a chance to warn the poor woman off of Rob. Marla couldn’t think of any woman who deserved to get saddled with a crazy and dangerous man like her ex.
Copper made a move toward Rob. His fists were clenching and unclenching. He looked eager to knock the smug look off of Rob’s face. Luke put a restraining hand on his shoulder and asked him to stand down. “Who is it?” Copper demanded to know.
Just then, Tina came sauntering up to them. Oblivious to the tension in the air, she pushed her way through the group, and linked arms with Marla’s stalker. “There you are. I wondered where you’d gotten off to, Rob.” She smiled at everyone, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“See, I’m an invited guest just like I said.” He gave the group a smug I told you so look.
Now it all started to make sense. Marla couldn’t believe Tina would do something so spiteful. The other woman knew that Marla and Natalie were staying on the property and that they were attending the barbecue. Tina was a native of the area too. Just about everybody in the county heard the rumors about Rob’s attack on her right before he disappeared from the area.
Tina had to know bringing Rob to the barbecue would cause trouble. Nonetheless, she did it anyway. Marla hoped that Tina was prepared for the consequences, because if looks could kill, she would have just dropped dead from the ferocity of Copper’s stare. Marla didn’t doubt there would be consequences, and they would be swift and harsh.
“Why am I not surprised?” Natalie said with a snort. She shook her head. “You are unbelievable.” The insult was aimed at Tina.
Copper crossed his arms and glared at Rob and Tina. “Consider your invitation revoked. That goes for both of you. Tina, you’re fired.”
“What?” she spluttered in outrage. “You can’t do that!”
“I just did,” Copper said with a cold menace scary enough to make most sane people shut their mouths. “This wasn’t an accident. You brought Storey here to make Marla uncomfortable. That is unacceptable behavior. You only worked here, Marla lives here. She has every right to be safe and free from worry in the place where she resides.”
Copper was silent long enough for Tina to vehemently object. He made a pained expression. Her shrewish voice was probably hurting his ears. “Enough!” He raised a hand and swiped it through the air, silencing her objections.
“Marla and Natalie, find Chrome, Steel, and Iron. Gather enough food and drinks for all of us. Mercury and I will join you as soon as we take out the trash.” The harsh tone of his voice said he meant business.
“Mercury, escort Tina to her desk, so she can clean it out. She will not be welcome on Metal Cowboys’ property ever again. Write her a check for a month’s worth of salary and escort her to her car. The sheriff and I will escort Storey to the sheriff’s SUV, and then Sheriff Davis will see to it that he leaves the property ASAP!”
Marla watched Copper with fascination. She loved the way he quickly and efficiently slipped into the role of leader. It seemed as natural to him as breathing was to everyone else. He put a plan together immediately and started issuing orders. She could easily picture him on the battlefield, fighting the enemy until it was cowering in defeat or running in retreat.
It was a big turn on. It made her even more reluctant to leave his side, especially since she found trouble when she wandered off alone. She just kept looking at Copper with a goofy grin on her face, refusing to move her feet.
Mercury put his hand on Tina’s arm and guided her toward the garage. Her shrill voice could be heard until they entered the large metal structure. Marla breathed a sigh of relief when they disappeared, and the irritating voice died down. Tina’s screeching was starting to give her a headache.
Marla eyes were still glued on Copper. Before she could contemplate more on how he made her feel, Natalie started tugging on her arm. She reluctantly moved her gaze from her lover to her sister.
“Let’s get out of here,” Natalie whispered. “We are not going to let those two spiteful people ruin our day,” she said in a determined voice. She linked arms with Marla and urged her to move away from the men.
Marla’s feet started working, and she followed along beside her sister. That didn’t stop her from looking over her shoulder at Copper. He and Luke closed in on a belligerent Rob. They grabbed her stalker by the arms and dragged him out of the back yard and around the house to the front gate.
“I’m glad that’s over,” Natalie admitted in a whisper as they neared the picnic tables that were loaded down with all kinds of food. “It could have gotten a lot uglier. He’s got to be crazy to try something with all these witnesses milling around.”
“Maybe that’s why,” Marla shrugged. “It’s obvious that Copper wanted to take him apart, but the sheriff and the threat of witnesses kept him from making a move. Maybe that’s what Rob was counting on, no retribution.”
“It’s too bad, because Rob deserves everything Copper wants to dish out to him.”
“That’s the truth. You know me, I am by no means a bloodthirsty woman hungry for revenge, and I don’t normally condone violence. But I really wanted Copper to hurt him. I’m tired of Rob tormenting me and the people that I love. And I’m sick of his dangerous games and retaliations for perceived slights that only happened inside his warped head.”
Natalie stopped walking and turned to face Marla. “Do you love Copper? It’s kind of sudden.” She gave her sister a worried look.
Marla shrugged. “I’ve been aware of him for as long as you’ve worked here, and that’s been years, so it’s not all that sudden. Getting shot and stalked by a crazy ex-boyfriend made me take a good hard look at the way I’ve been living my life. I’m tired of playing it safe and living a dull and boring existence just to protect myself. I want to actually live my life not sleepwalk through it.”
“Copper makes you feel like you’re doing that?”
Marla sighed and took a seat on a deserted bench. “He is so much larger than life,” she admitted. “He makes me see more, feel more, be more. I’m not ready to give that up. I’m going to fight for whatever is developing between us and hang on to the good feelings and Copper for as long as I can.”
“That definitely sounds intense,” Natalie said with a sigh. “But love?”
Marla lifted her shoulders once again. “I’ve never been in love before. What I felt for Rob, even during the best part of our relationship, pales in comparison to what I feel for Copper. Is it love? I don’t know. I do know Copper makes me feel things I’ve never felt before, and I don’t just mean physically. We’ve only been staying here a week, but I already have a hard time imagining my life without him in
it.”
Natalie leaned over and hugged her sister. “Sounds like love to me but then again, I wouldn’t exactly know too much about how that feels.” She gave Marla a look filled with sadness.
The melancholy words made her realize that Natalie wasn’t as happy as Marla thought she was. She grabbed her sister’s hand and squeezed it tight. She wanted to say something to comfort the other woman, but she didn’t have words that were adequate enough. Marla saw her sister as the strong one. In reality, she knew her sister was as vulnerable as the next person was, even though she seemed invincible to Marla.
“Listen to me going on and on, forget I said anything,” Natalie begged. “We should go ahead and start loading down plates before all the food is gone,” she suggested.
Marla knew her sister was trying to make light of the conversation they just shared. She didn’t want to let it go, but before she could say anything else, Chrome stopped by their table.
He nodded a greeting to the two women. “Seen Copper or Mercury lately?” he wanted to know.
Marla glanced at Natalie to see if she wanted to take the lead, but she didn’t say anything. “Um, Tina’s plus one turned out to be my crazy stalker ex-boyfriend.”
“Are you kidding me,” Chrome said in disbelief. “I seriously questioned Tina’s intelligence every now and then, but this is a new level of stupidity.”
“Well, that goes for Rob too. He accosted me when I was taking some alone time by the house. Natalie, Copper, and Mercury came to my rescue just in time.”
He gave a curious look around, seeking out the other Metal Cowboys. “Where are they now?” He looked ready to take off in a split second if his brothers needed him.
“Copper fired Tina, so you’re going to need to hire a new secretary. Mercury is making sure she gets off the property and takes all of her things with her. She won’t be back.”