She whipped off her apron with a sigh; she had to make this right. Even if they could not be together, she couldn’t lose him as a friend. He was so good with Jamal, and really kind to her but even he had to admit that marriage was another kettle of fish.
I can’t do this, she told herself, slamming out of the kitchen. If he was going to avoid her just because she had hesitated at his offer of marriage, she was going to tell him a thing or two about what she thought of his behavior!
“Have you seen Christian?” she asked the first man she came across.
He was bent over a task that looked to her like he was shoeing a horse, his large cowboy hat covering the better part of his face. He didn’t bother to look up as he grunted “Barn!”
Then he spat out a huge, fat glob of tobacco and saliva, aimed straight at her feet. Tiana escaped the splash only barely by jumping back just in time.
She marched out to the barn, anger helping her along as she blew furious breaths out through her nose. The bunkhouse was empty, she realized immediately as she stepped into it.
Suddenly, a chill blew right across her and she shivered. Goose bumps appeared on both her hands without warning and every last hair on the back of her neck stood right on end.
Oh God, Hank had found her?
Slowly, she turned around, her heart in her throat, and then she paused in surprise. It wasn’t Hank at all; it was that annoying cowboy who had given her a speech about riding while hitting on her. What was his name?
“You!” she said. The cowboy hat told her that he was the same ranch hand who had almost decorated her feet with tobacco few minutes ago.
“I see you remember me, huh?” he asked, chewing some more tobacco.
“Christian isn’t here,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Yes, I know,” he agreed.
“Then why did you say he was?” she asked, past the constriction in her throat. Surely she was wrong. He was looking at her with that familiar and disgusting way he had, his eyes seemingly stripping her shirt and jeans right off of her.
She felt dirty and naked.
“I wanted to have some time alone with you,” he murmured. He grinned stupidly at her, his slack-jawed expression making her want to plant her fist in his face.
Rick! His name was Rick, she remembered.
“Well, Rick, be assured that I am not interested in spending time alone with you today or any other day,” she said.
She saw surprise flare in his eyes and realized he had counted on her not recognizing him, much less knowing his name. Well he obviously had something bad planned but now he knew she could identify him, she relaxed, banking on the fact that he was a coward and he would turn tail and run.
His next words however, froze her heart in her chest.
“Of course you remembered me. I knew the moment I laid eyes on you that we were soul mates.”
Then he began to walk towards her, his stupid dopey grin slashing his face. His stench reached her from five feet away and automatically, she took three hasty steps back. His grin vanished, his eyes taking on a cold, hard quality.
“Why are you running away from me?”
“I’m not. I just... I need to check on my son,” she lied desperately.
“Mm. The handsome little boy. What is he, four? He’s definitely a cutie.”
The way he asked made Tiana’s skin crawl as she realized with absolute certainty that she was in the presence of a pedophile.
“You keep away from my son,” she said, her anger fueling her with enough courage that she stealthily began to search for a weapon.
Her temporary distraction was all the opportunity Rick needed, and he sprung, his heavy hands wrapping about her shoulders in a bruising grip as he wrenched her close to him.
Tiana screamed; fright, anger and revulsion surging through her all at the same time. She lifted her hand and slapped Rick as hard as she could and then in the next minute, all the breath whooshed out of her as he shoved her backwards and sent her careening into a stall door. She collapsed to the floor, dimly thinking that she was bound to have a bump the size of an egg on her head by morning.
Rick knelt astride her, his huge legs pinning her down even as she felt his ham-sized hands fumbling with the buttons of her shirt.
“Help,” she screamed, still struggling weakly beneath him.
His hand brushed her breast and suddenly, she couldn’t hold back again, she retched, vomiting right all over him and herself.
She saw his face twist with revulsion and then thankfully, just then, he was wrenched away from her by another force. She stared blearily as she heard the sickening sound of knuckles connecting with flesh.
Christian roared with rage as he slammed his fist repeatedly into Rick’s face. Tiana decided she must have taken quite a blow to the head when she bumped into that stall door because she could have sworn just then that she saw Hank appear and jump into the melee. Except, he wasn’t helping Rick fight Christian; it was actually the other way round.
Warm hands raised Tiana tenderly from her prone position and she looked up into the kind eyes of Ambrose the head gardener.
“Come on, sweetie. Rose will help you,” he said as he guided her towards the door.
“Christian,” she began spinning around in alarm as she heard someone grunt.
“Will be just fine. You should fear more for that Rick guy,” Ambrose told her gruffly, his gnarled hands holding hers with surprising strength.
“You poor thing,” Rose crooned immediately when she saw Tiana. “We always knew that Rick character was up to no good.”
Tiana nodded her agreement as Ambrose guided her into the house then she wrapped her arms around the tea mug Rose had thrust into her hands and watched as Ambrose called the cops. His white head bobbed repeatedly as he earnestly made his report to the dispatcher.
Tiana smiled in spite of herself when she heard Ambrose say, “You ask me one more idiotic question in that tone, Cyrus, and I’m gonna come down to that station and blister your ear myself! And you tell your mother I want to speak to her!”
Even from where she sat, Tiana could hear Cyrus apologizing profusely for asking Ambrose if the suspect was armed.
Several minutes later, the cops pulled into the driveway, sirens blaring as they carted Rick away and took him for a little ride downtown.
***
“Tiana?” someone said, shaking her awake insistently. “Tiana!”
She opened her eyes, staring around in confusion as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. She was in her bed and dusk had fallen! How had she gotten here?
“Tiana!” the voice said even more insistently.
She turned in the direction of the voice, although she already knew who it was; Christian!
“Are you alright? He didn’t hurt you did he?” Christian asked, his eyes serious and darkened with concern as he stared into hers.
“Uh, no. I was... That is, you saved me just in time.”
His gray eyes watched her carefully, holding her gaze.
“Are you sure? I could have sworn...”
“He tried to hurt me, but he didn’t,” she interrupted. She wasn’t eager to relive what had happened in the barn.
“I suppose he confessed to the slashed tires and other stuff?”
“No. It’s weird but he swears he didn’t do it,” Christian said.
Images of what he had been willing to do to her flashed through her brain. Nausea roiled within her and she felt as though her entire skin was crawling with worms.
“I want to take a bath,” she announced, rolling off the bed and right to her feet.
Christian rose from the side of the bed immediately. “Sure. I understand. But come find me in the library when you're done. We need to talk, plus there is someone here to see you.”
“Someone?”
“Uh... how about we wait till you get downstairs after your shower?”
“It’s not Hank, is it?” she asked in a small voice, feeling faint.
But she wasn’t taking any chances though. “Jamal needs to be away from here,” she said, striding towards the door.
“Take your bath first and then hear Hank out. Your son is safe, I promise.”
“Where is he?” she asked, her eyes wide with fright and apprehension.
“I sent him to Tiny Tim’s with Rose and Ambrose and my foreman, Chase.”
Tiana relaxed a little then with a little nod, she fled into the bathroom; her body did itch all over.
She scrubbed her body vigorously, washing off Rick’s stench. She washed her hair while she was at it, enjoying the flush of the warm water through her hair.
She was done in record time and she hastily tugged on a short skirt and a New York University t-shirt she had picked up from the Salvation Army years ago.
She quickly dialed Tiny Tim’s from memory as she walked down the stairs.
“Tiny Tim’s, who the hell is this?” someone asked over the phone.
“Tiffany?”
“Tiana, honey. We don’t get to see hide nor hair of you these days. How’s it going?”
“Tiff, listen, I don’t have time to talk. Is Jamal there?”
“Jamal? The little demon is right over there. He just used my lipstick to draw a pattern on Rose’s handbag. She does not look happy,” Tiffany said cheerfully.
Tiana grinned, “Watch him for me?”
“Don’t I always, hon. Come around one of these days. I miss you.” Tiffany laughed.
Tiana stared at the phone disbelievingly. Had the world suddenly gone mad? Then it hit her in a flash; Tiffany was always teasing her because she liked her.
With a shrug, she rushed down the rest of the stairs and straight into the library without bothering to knock.
Christian rose to his feet, ever the perfect gentleman; then like the very stuff of her nightmares, Hank rose slowly too, his hands clasped together in front of him.
Even though she had had some warning of sorts of his presence, Tiana was still shocked to see him. Her gaze flew to Christian’s reassuring presence, and then she stepped farther into the room, taking care to keep as far away from Hank as possible.
“Tiana. It’s good to see you,” Hank said quietly.
“I’m sure you’ll excuse me for not saying the same thing,” she said coolly as she shifted closer towards Christian. “Lying is still a sin in my book.”
“Yeah. I totally deserved that,” Hank agreed.
“Why are you here? Why have you been stalking me?”
He exhaled, “I have not been stalking you. Not really. I just... I wanted to talk to you.”
How was Christian allowing this, Tiana wondered wildly.
“You had a restraining order against me, Tiana, and I just needed to talk to you. If I had tried to break it by approaching you formally I could end up back in jail. I realized how wrong I was in prison and when I got out, I came straight to our old house to apologize but I found out you were gone. Look I messed up okay? I did inexcusable things but Jamal is my kid and I do love him.”
“Stay away from my son!” Tiana ordered through gritted teeth.
“Tiana, I have turned my life around, I swear. I got a job, I have a fiancée now whom I respect and I have never tried to hit her, nor will I. I learned my lesson, I swear. The times we were together, I was going through some bad stuff in my life. I was a drunk, but now I'm sober. Things have changed now. Plus, I want to start another family and I need you to not be scared of me. I want to be part of Jamal’s life but that’s entirely up to you. If you don’t want me around him, I’ll clear out.”
His dark eyes blazed sincerely into hers and Tiana slowly released the breath she had been holding.
“Send me your address and I’ll send you pictures of Jamal. You get to talk to him on phone every Christmas but no personal visits until he’s an adult and can decide for himself,” she said, decisively.
His face fell then he seemed to gather himself before her eyes and said, “In that case, I’ll be on my way. Thanks, Tiana,” he added as he handed her the address on a sheet of paper.
Their fingers brushed and she looked up into his eyes; she used to be so in love with this man at one point that she could barely breathe without him. But now, she couldn’t imagine being married to him. She would have to think over whether to let Jamal see him but for now, her decision stood. Only time would tell whether Hank would last as a good person.
“Goodbye, Hank,” she said with finality.
“Goodbye. And for the record, I know nothing about no damn slashed tires or burnt stalls. Your man here asked me about that before you came down. Ain’t never been on this ranch until today,” he finished earnestly.
Tiana studied him. She had always been able to tell when he was telling the truth and this time, he was.
So if he didn’t do those things and Rick didn’t either, who did?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Tiana?” Christian said as the library closed behind Hank.
“Yes?”
“I am so sorry,” he said, coming around the desk to clasp both her hands in his. “I’m sorry about the way I have been acting. I’ve been a regular dick. Can you forgive me?”
“It’s fine Christian, I just...”
“I need you, Tiana. I love you. I am in love with you,” he declared softly.
The familiar panic clawed at her insides, the room seemed to recede before her eyes and then she relaxed, drawing on an inner reservoir of strength she hadn’t even known she had.
“I love you too, Christian, with all my heart,” she told him in a voice as clear as bells.
He froze, and then with a mighty roar of laughter, he grabbed her right up into the air and began to twirl her around in celebration.
He stopped, his lips melding with hers in a kiss that was as hot as it was sweet. His tongue lightly licked her lower lip, sending a thousand sensations coursing through her. Tiana grabbed the back of his head and deliberately deepened the kiss.
Christian’s hand found her breasts and as he began to knead them, his arousal grew so hard he was tempted to take Tiana right there and then.
She moaned and kissed him harder, her hands encircling his neck as she raised her long, slim legs and wrapped them around his thigh.
Sweat beaded on Christian’s forehead and he grunted as his hand dipped between their bodies to caress her through the soft material of the skirt she was wearing.
Tiana gasped, rubbing herself harder and harder against his hand until making love to her was all he could think about.
Christian lowered her onto the tabletop in his office, his hands squeezing hard, rubbing, caressing and stroking every inch of her until Tiana was certain she would expire if he did not make love to her.
“I need you,” she gasped, her legs spread wide on the table.
Christian sank onto his chair, pulled it closer to the table’s edge. Gently, he guided her to lie on her back on the table, leaving her legs dangling over the edges and her panties level with his face. He then leaned forward and sniffed her vagina through the thin cotton of her panties. She smelled fantastic, he thought. She smelled like wild roses and clean natural fun. She made him think of flowers in spring with their tender petals only just opening up.
Slowly, he edged her panties to the side, exposing her glistening wetness to his gaze. With a moan of pure desire and uncontrollable lust, Christian leaned down, flicked out his tongue, and licked her slowly, his tongue tasting, teasing, inflaming the sweet core of her. She groaned, and spread wider for him.
Christian gently nipped her clitoris between his teeth, enjoying the way she gasped and bucked, sighing his name and squirming for all she was worth.
His tongue began tocircle her clitoris in slow, continuous motions sweeping from the base to the tip, again and again and again and again. Pleasure
began to pool in the pit of her stomach and Tiana groaned uncontrollably, pressing forward as she offered herself up to him.
Christian gently dipped two fingers into her core, enjoying the way her tight sheath folded around them immediately while his tongue continued to lick at her clitoris.
He took her higher and higher and higher until she was panting and writhing and begging.
Pleasure roared through her, sending a kaleidoscope of colors exploding beneath her eyes and she knew she was about to let the tension send her over the edge into the oblivion of orgasm. The pleasure built tighter, tighter, higher, higher and then...
A loud jarring knock interrupted, making them both jump almost apart. Tiana struggled to a sitting position even as Christian hastily got to his feet and dashed to the door to intercept whoever it was.
It was Rose. “Oh, Christian,” she breathed, her face wreathed in anxious lines. “You must come at once. At once!”
From where she was straightening her clothes, Tiana heard the alarm in the old woman’s voice and she hurriedly shoved her fingers through her hair before running to join Christian. They both exited the library at a virtual run, Tiana’s heart thudding in her chest as fear clawed blindly through her.
What had gone wrong now?
Oh dear Lord! Someone had opened as many of the stalls as possible and set the horses running amok around the ranch. The faint smell of gasoline told her why and she rushed there with Christian but there seemed to be no one at all in sight. On a hunch, Tiana slid away and started checking the stalls one after the other. Christian was a bit pre-occupied trying to catch some of the horses as were his men.
His hands were occupied with trying to calm down Aasifa and Caesar at the same time. Tiana walked noiselessly through one stall and the next, searching for the perpetrator. If the smell of gasoline was any indication, whoever it was would stick around to actually set and enjoy the fire. Statistics and studies had shown that arsonists often hung around to enjoy the roar of the inferno; something about it filling them with a sense of power.
The Love Ranch (BWWM Romance) Page 9