by KJ Dahlen
“What do you know about Riggs?” Gunner asked him.
“I know the cartel comes and goes from his place down by McAllen all the time,” Skeeter explained. “Logan comes off as a respectable pillar of the community but everyone in that area knows he’s as crooked as the day is long. He has more money than he’ll ever spend and no visible means to show how he earned it. He likes to throw his wealth in the faces of the locals and thinks he can do just about whatever he wants. Thinks the laws of the land don’t touch him. He claims to run horses and cattle but he doesn’t own enough of either to make a living at it. He does have ranch hands all over the land but they don’t actually work the land. Rumor around town is that every one of those hands are well armed and they keep people off his property.”
“How did the Rangers come to notice the man?” Jett asked.
“The Brago cartel was just becoming big in the area and we were down there investigating a possible route through the area,” Skeeter informed them. Then he looked over at Teddy and Grizzly. “That was August, nearly fifteen years ago.”
Teddy froze and turned her head to look at him. Her grandfather died in September, fifteen years ago. Her brain didn’t want to make that connection. She just couldn’t...
Grizzly shifted in his seat and asked, “What do you know about your grandfather’s murder?”
Teddy shook her head. “I didn’t know how he died until about three years ago. I was told when I was fifteen that he was just gone. My dad tried to protect me by not giving me the details.”
“How did you find out?” Gunner wanted to know.
“I got curious and looked into the police files. I hadn’t wanted to know before then, because he had been gone so long. I could barely stand the pain of him not being there and then when I found out he’d been murdered... I almost lost it. Then I read who killed him. I couldn’t believe my dad hadn’t told me. When I asked him about it, he refused to talk to me about it. He would tell me to leave it alone. He said my questions wouldn’t bring grandpa back and the Marshals had caught the man who killed him and he was on death row.” She paused then admitted, “My dad knew something about what happened back then. His actions told me that much. He also knew his wife was cheating on him. We have both known for years. I asked him once when I was still in high school, why he didn’t just divorce her. He looked at me and said, he took his vows for life. He told me he might not love her anymore but he did love me and he couldn’t take the chance he would lose me.”
The men in the room all waited for her to continue.
Teddy hung her head. “He suffered all those years because of me, because he loved me. He wouldn’t risk losing me if he divorced her, or she left him.”
“So why did you fuck up the shot this morning?” Grizzly finally had to ask. “You never miss.”
Teddy lifted her head and stared at the men around her. Then she turned to Grizzly. Lifting her hand to her chest she said, “I knew in my heart that my dad and grandpa would be so disappointed in me if I took that shot. Everything they ever taught me about law and order... I took to heart. I knew Levi and Reva were going to kill my dad no matter what I did. They couldn’t let him live, not after all they had done to him. I just hadn’t accepted it all yet. In that one moment when I had you in my sights, I finally accepted it. I could feel my finger tighten on the trigger and at the last minute—I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t turn my back on a lifetime of teaching. I closed my eyes and prayed.” She hung her head and hot tears dripped down on his arm. “Then I heard the shot and my heart stopped. I waited for a moment and prayed the men in the parking lot wouldn’t miss their target. Then one of the bullets ripped through my shoulder and I almost welcomed the pain of it.”
The men were silent for a moment as most of them looked troubled.
Teddy turned her head and gazed at Grizzly. “Then you were there and I was never so happy to see you were still alive.”
Gunner snorted. “Yeah, we were glad to see him alive too.” Then he looked around the room and he read the decision in his men’s faces. He picked six men then turned to Teddy. “I need the address of the house Levi and your mom are holding Ethan.”
“Call her Reva. She’s never been my mother.” Teddy snarled. Then she gave them the address and the details. Reaching out, she touched Gunner’s hand. “I know I have no rights here with what I did, but I would appreciate any news of my father.”
Gunner nodded.
A few minutes later, the men got into two vehicles and left the compound.
Now they would have to wait and see what the men found at the house in Beaumont.
Grizzly lifted her up as he got to his feet. “She needs to rest.”
“Grizzly, you can’t ignore this,” Gunner stated as he turned hard eyes to the man. “We can’t ignore this.”
Grizzly nodded. “I know boss, but whether it's now or a couple of hours from now, nothing is going to change. She’s still going to be here. She isn’t going anywhere. We all know that. She’s already turned in all her weapons and she’ll face the consequences of what she did. But she’s hurt and heartsore at the moment. While we’re all waiting, can’t you allow her to rest?”
He then turned and carried her down the hall without even waiting for an answer from Gunner. But he didn’t take her back to the infirmary. He took her to the room he was using for now. Opening the door, he shut it with his foot and took her over to the chair by the window. He sat down with her in his lap and just held her for a moment.
After a long time she whispered, “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why did you defend me against your brothers?” She wanted to know. “I almost killed you this morning and all you’ve done is defend me. Why?”
Grizzly shook his head. “Because you admitted closing your eyes at the last minute. You had no intention of killing me this morning.”
“You don’t know that for sure,” she whispered.
“Yeah, I do sweetheart.” He laid his head on the top of hers. “You and me... were a lot alike. Law and order is strong inside our very being. You could no more shoot to kill me than I could shoot an unarmed man. Yeah, I had a gun but I was no threat to you and you knew it. You knew in your heart, no matter what you did, your dad might not survive this ordeal. You apologized for not being able to save him but you knew he wouldn’t want you to do the deed.”
“So what will happen now?” she asked him softly.
“That will depend on what the brothers find when they get to Beaumont.”
“If my father is dead, I will hunt Levi and Reva down to the ends of the earth and get justice for him,” she vowed. “Neither one of them will escape justice.”
Grizzly believed her. He felt the same way she did. He also knew Darren was behind this whole plot. Now, he needed to prove it. He turned his head and narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t looking at anything particular in the backyard but instead, he was thinking about what they found out this morning, about Logan Riggs.
Did he have anything to do with the death of Theo Alexander? He had a feeling the man was in it up to his neck and he was somehow going to prove that as well. He might be fifteen years too late for it to matter to anyone but the small woman in his arms, but he wasn’t going to let this go.
Chapter Five
Grizzly looked down at her and saw her eyes were closed and he shook her awake, “Come on sweetheart, you need some rest.”
Teddy groaned. “But I don’t want to move, you’re so comfortable.”
Grizzly chuckled. “Well, that’s a first. Most people think I’m too hard.”
“Not me.” She snuggled into his neck. “To me, you’re just right. Not too soft and not too hard.” Her voice faded away as he got to his feet and walked over to his bed. He peeled back the covers and laid her carefully down on the mattress. He took off her jeans and her boots then stared at her body for a moment. Her limbs were so fine, her skin so creamy and soft. Her waist narrow, her tummy flat and taut while her hips roun
ded while her legs seem to appear longer than they actually were.
He remembered the glimpse of her chest this morning. For a small woman her, breasts were incredible. Full and round and more than a handful, he would bet. They sure overflowed her black silk bra.
He felt his blood stir and Grizzly had to shake his head. He pulled the covers up and turned to move away.
“Please stay with me,” she whispered. “I really don’t want to be alone right now.”
Grizzly groaned and tilting his head to the ceiling he closed his eyes. “I’ll be over in the chair honey. I just can’t share the bed with you right now.”
Teddy froze, then whispered. “Oh, I-I understand.” She turned her back to him and curled up into a ball. Her whole body shook.
He thought he heard her sobbing. The sound tore at his heart and he couldn’t stand it. He went over to the other side of the bed, took his cut off, then he toed off his boots and crawled into bed with her. He gathered her close to him and whispered in her ear, “Hush now, darlin. Don’t cry anymore.”
“I’m sorry, but it hurts too much.” She sobbed.
“What hurts too much? Your shoulder?”
“No, this thing they call living, every breath I take... hurts. Knowing I caused my father’s death, taking that shot this morning. That just about killed me.” She wept in his embrace. “Lord, I wish their return volley had been true this morning. I wish it had gone through my heart instead of my shoulder.”
Grizzly tightened his hold on her. “Well, hell sugar, I’m not. I’m sorry the damn thing hit you at all.”
“I will forever regret taking that shot this morning. I knew in my heart, it wouldn’t do any good. I knew Levi would still kill my father and not think twice about it.”
“Hush now, try to get some rest,” Grizzly told her.
She snuggled into his side and laid her head on his broad shoulder. “You feel so good.”
Grizzly chuckled. “So do you, sweetheart.”
Her arm slipped under his shirt and rested on his belly.
Grizzly inhaled slightly and froze. When her hand didn’t move again, he relaxed, let out a slow breath, and even closed his eyes.
For at least a little while, they both slept.
When Teddy opened her eyes, she noted the sun was at an angle that told her it was late afternoon. She almost hated to move as she was so comfortable. Taking a deep breath, she inhaled his scent. He had an earthy scent, rich earth and pine. It was heady to her senses. She inhaled again and nuzzled her face into his neck. Her hand was still under his shirt and as her fingers moved over his skin, she got goosebumps. His skin was smooth and the hair on his chest felt so soft. Her fingers dipped down his belly to the band of his jeans.
But before her fingers could begin to dip below the band, he growled and gripped them, almost crushing them in his hands. “Woman, you are poking at the bear.”
“Mmm-hmm.” She smiled at the joke. “I am. I want him to wake up and growl maybe?” She suckled his earlobe into her mouth. “Maybe I just want to feel something more. Something good.”
Grizzly growled and pushed her hand against the rock hard pole in his jeans.
Teddy groaned while letting his ear go, to lick and suck the skin along his neck. Her hand pressed the entire length of his cock through his jeans. She leaned up and looked into his eyes. “Grizzly, I want you. I know you have every reason to tell me to go to hell but I want to feel you inside me. Please? Even if it is just once.”
“Damn you, woman.” He growled as he grasped the back of her neck and brought her mouth down on his own.
Teddy whimpered as he crushed her lips with his. She ground her core against his pelvis.
Grizzly’s hand tore his jeans open and he pushed them down, lifting his ass to free his cock.
Teddy groaned as she rubbed her hot core against him. He was huge and hard as steel at the moment. Then without warning, her own hand went to her panties and she yanked them to one side. While still on top of Grizzly, she rubbed her juices all over his skin, coating his cock. Then she opened her eyes and saw him staring at her.
Lifting her hips while staring into his eyes, she came down on him.
He slid inside her warm, wet tight core and he groaned as she slowly lowered herself down onto his very large and firm erection.
“Damn girl, you’re so tight.” Grizzly let out a low growl as he fought the urge to surge into her. He felt her natural lubrication helping him and he was grateful as she pushed down on him. He groaned with need then grabbed her hips and helped her.
He knew he was bigger than most and she was smaller than average. But she felt so damn good. She wrapped him so tight she fit him like a glove. He withdrew slightly then surged again and again. When he bottomed out inside her, he hissed. “Holy ...dayum woman, you feel so good.”
“Please, I— need more Grizz, mmooorre—give me more...” She begged.
Grizzly shook his head. “If I gave you more, I could hurt you.”
“Uunnhh, don’t care, feels so, so good. I need you—all of you, at your most,” she kept telling him. “Please, fuck me like you need me too. Please?”
Grizzly lost control when he heard her pleading, begging for more, her words were so heartfelt. He flipped her onto her back, looked into her eyes, and began pounding inside her. Pinning her to the mattress, he stroked inside her hard and deep. She was tight and when her body began to near the edge of the abyss, he felt it.
Sweat beaded his forehead as he hammered into her. When he felt the zing at the base of his spine, he knew he wouldn’t last much longer but he wanted her to come first. His fingers found her clit and he began rubbing it. Teddy screamed as she flew over the edge of the abyss and that set off Grizzly’s reaction. He gave her one, two, three more pumps and then exploded inside her. His hot seed painted her walls, giving her an instant second orgasm...Grizzly had to groan when he felt her core muscles gripping his cock, milking him.
They had to stay where they were as their heartbeats calmed down to a normal pace and only then... did Grizzly move away.
Teddy whimpered while protesting when he did.
He flopped down beside her and didn’t move for the longest time. Raising his hand, he stroked her hair and his voice seemed to come out as a growl yet again, “What the hell did you do to me, woman?”
Teddy barked out a laugh. “Do you really need me to tell you? If so, you weren’t paying attention.” She turned her head to view him. “But I have to thank you for making me feel something other than the fear and sadness I’ve felt the last few days. You gave me hope in those few moments I wouldn’t have had otherwise. I don’t know what my future holds, but at least... I’ll have this to remember. So thank you for that much anyway.”
Grizzly leaned over her while feeling in awe over what she just said. “What the fuck?”
Teddy smiled and pulled him down, so she could kiss him. As soon as their lips touched, Grizzly groaned and devoured her lips under his. They lost track of time and place as the kiss deepened. When he finally lifted his lips, they both gasped for air but he just stared into her eyes. Then he lowered his own eyes to her lips. They were red and almost bruised looking. Her face just might be the most beautiful breathtaking sight he had ever seen. Her eyes sparkled while her creamy skin was a sweet pink.
But before he could do anything or say a word, a pounding sounded on his door. He lifted his head and glared at the portal.
“Grizz, we got news from Beaumont!” Boone called out through the door.
Grizzly snapped his gaze back over to watch Teddy react to the news. He saw the daze of their kiss fade quickly as terror come back to her face... just that fast.
She raised her startled gaze to him, searching his eyes.
“We don’t know what they found yet, so don’t be thinking the worst,” he warned her. “Let's find out what they discovered first.”
She nodded.
Grizzly went to get a warm washcloth and came back to gently clean he
r between her thighs. His eyes met hers for a few seconds as he did so. He saw surprise there in her gaze. Didn’t a man ever take time to care for her?
She finally broke their locked gazes, moved to the edge of the bed and got up.
He cleaned himself a bit, then pulled up his jeans and buttoned them up. He leaned over to grab his boots pushed his feet into them. He turned to see her getting dressed as well.
Heading over to his dresser, he opened a drawer, and pulled out a t-shirt. He threw it to her.
Teddy caught it and didn’t say anything as she changed her torn shirt with his t-shirt.
He waited by the door and when she was ready, he held out his hand. When he felt her smaller hand in his, their fingers instinctively wrapped around each other’s and he opened the door.
Together, they walked to the main room like they were possibly heading to a funeral...and maybe they were.
Everyone in the room looked grim.
“What did you find?” Grizzly asked, as they walked to the table and stood there, facing them. He pulled her close, holding Teddy tightly as they waited for the news.
“It was what we didn’t find that concerns us more than what we found,” Gunner announced.
“You didn’t find my dad, did you?” Teddy whispered brokenly.
Gunner glared at her and slowly shook his head. “No, we didn’t.”
Teddy slowly began to crumble and she would have fallen to her knees but Grizzly held her up. He grasped her shoulders and lifted her up to glare at her. “Don’t you give up yet, girl. If he were dead, you’d feel it in your heart.”
“But he could be anywhere!” She cried out. “Levi threatened if he killed him I would never know because his body would never be found.”
“Then we keep looking for him.” Grizzly wanted to shake her but he was afraid she might break down on him. He felt like she was beginning to fall apart and he needed to bring her together. “Do you think for one moment your father and grandfather would want to see you like this? You are an Alexander damn it, where the hell is your pride?”