9781618850676UnchainedMelodyHunter

by Unknown

  * * * *

  Game day had finally arrived! It was the first Texas Longhorn game of the season and they were playing at home in the Darrel K. Royal Memorial Stadium. That morning Alex surprised Annalise by driving a massive RV to the front of the B&B and proceeded to load mountains of food and drinks into its storage units. Annalise had learned that in addition to helping Ethan run Lost Maples, Alex was an environmental consultant who helped companies navigate their projects through governmental compliance and impact assessment procedures. Apparently, it paid very well.

  “I admit it’s big.” He laughed as she explored the forty-five foot Newmar Essex that had set him back more than half a million dollars.

  “My Lord, Alex, this is a mansion on wheels.” Everything was white leather and cherry wood, the gourmet kitchen had every conceivable feature and the bed in the master bedroom was the biggest she had ever seen. “I can’t wait for Scarlet to see this, she has always dreamed of having an RV.”

  “I can’t wait to show it to her.” Alex was becoming more intrigued by Annalise’s sister every day. He had been tempted to ask Annalise for a picture, but he just hadn’t found the right time. Today Annalise seemed all right, but he was beginning to develop an instinct where she was concerned. Something was wrong, or should he say, something was wrong besides the usual. Around Ethan she was careful to maintain a smile on her face, but when he wasn’t near, it was like the air went out of a balloon—she deflated. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but she wouldn’t be still long enough so he waited for an opportunity.

  Bobby was already back in Austin; the team gathered early in the day to begin their preparations for the football game. Ethan handled all the last minute B&B business while Alex and Annalise iced down cases of beer and soft drinks. Alex watched her carefully, starting a normal conversation. “This is going to be fun, just you wait and see. Did you go to many games while you were at UT?”

  “Just one or two. I didn’t have a lot of extra money to spend on things that weren’t absolutely necessary. That’s one of the reasons I started writing. It was something I could do to earn money and I could do it anywhere, anytime—day or night.”

  “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” Quick and to the point.

  “Oh, you’re good,” she halfway teased him. “Alex, I am going to talk to Ethan soon. I can’t stand it anymore. He deserves my honesty and I just hope he will understand my deception.”

  “You haven’t really deceived him; you’ve just kept the details to yourself. Believe me, he’s going to understand.” Alex had no doubt his brother’s love for this woman could scale any hurdle. About that time, the door of the RV opened and Ethan entered. He was decked out in a burnt orange t-shirt, blue jeans and cowboy boots.

  “Are we ready to go?” He looked so excited that Annalise couldn’t help but smile.

  “Waiting on you.” Alex crawled in the captain’s chair behind the wheel and Ethan drew Annalise down beside him on one of the matching white leather couches sitting back about ten or fifteen feet from the front control area.

  She laid her head on his lap, determined to enjoy the day. “Do you know you are pure eye candy in these tight jeans and cowboy boots? If Alex wasn’t…” she ran her hand up over his thigh and higher.

  “I can hear you,” Alex teased them. “Remember, I have the good hearing, Bobby can smell a donut a mile away and Ethan can see in the dark. We all have super powers.” At Alex’s innocent remarks, Annalise tensed up like a wound spring. She eased off Ethan’s lap and sat up.

  “You can’t really see in the dark can you?” She asked him with her heart in her eyes.

  “Not perfectly, of course. I was born with a mild form of color blindness; I have trouble with blues and greens. A side effect or benefit of this disorder is an enhanced ability to see in low light situations.” He watched her closely.

  She commanded herself not to react. Instead, she edged closer to him. He held his arm out and she slid under it, laying her head on his chest. What did he mean? How well could he see in the dark? God, she needed to get rid of this burden weighing her down. And she would tell him, she insisted to herself, but it shouldn’t be in front of Alex. Cowardly, she chose to steer the subject into safer waters. “Heroes have superpowers and I have always thought of you as a hero. That’s why I had no other choice, but to write about you.” She had special ordered something just for Ethan and now seemed to be the perfect time to give it to him. It would always remind him of the fact every word she had ever written celebrated the love she felt for him. Reaching into the pocket of her ever-present sundress, she drew out a leather cord with a charm on the end of it.

  “Lise, oh, baby.” Ethan lowered his head so she could slip it around his neck. He caught it in his hand, examining it closely.” It said “HERO”. “I’ll never let you down, I promise.” Kissing her gently, he pulled her close.

  “Am I going to have to spray you two down with a water hose?” Alex bellowed from the front.

  “Drive, Alex. Just drive,” Ethan growled at his brother. Holding Annalise close, he whispered in her ear. “I love it. I’ll never take it off.” Content, they watched the miles go by.

  “Tell me what’s going to go on today?”

  Ethan was happy to explain. “Bobby has reserved us a place in the parking lot next to the Texas History Museum. All the roads in and around campus are closed on game day. The students even have to move their cars off campus, due to the multitudes of ex-students and fans that flock to the games. I know you thought we were leaving early, but some people spent last night in the lots, just getting ready to tailgate today.” He kissed the top of her head. “We’ll cook lunch, drink margaritas, visit with friends and then head over to the stadium about four-thirty for the pre-game festivities. Like Big Mack says, “We’ll come early, be loud, stay late and wear orange.” As excited as Annalise was about watching Bobby play, she was ready to get back home, get Ethan alone and tell him everything. If he wanted her to stay then they could begin the rest of their lives. If he didn’t—well she couldn’t bear to think about that.

  * * * *

  Annalise couldn’t believe the number of tailgaters there were. She looked around at the sea of burnt orange. Student organizations were everywhere, selling t-shirts, hats, memorabilia and everything else imaginable. Dozens of people stopped by to reconnect with the Stewart brothers. Annalise even met Bonnie, Alex’s ex-wife. Unbelievably, they were still friends. Their divorce hadn’t been an ugly one, both had realized they weren’t in love with each other—they were just friends.

  When it came time to head to the stadium, Alex, Ethan and Annalise walked together. The crowd was huge. The Longhorn stadium could seat over ninety thousand people so just getting to their places was an adventure. Ethan never turned loose of her and she was glad. ‘The Showband of the Southwest’ was warming up on the field in their unique, fringed western-style uniforms. Typical Texas fare played on the speaker, The Eyes of Texas, Amarillo by Morning, The Yellow Rose of Texas and Deep in the Heart of Texas. Big Bertha, the world’s largest bass drum was on the field as well as Old Smokey, the cannon fired at every touchdown. But the star of the show as far as Annalise was concerned—except Bobby, of course—was Bevo. Bevo is The University of Texas’ mascot, a Longhorn steer with its appropriate burnt orange and white coloring and horns measuring an amazing seventy-two inches from tip to tip.

  The Alpha Phi Omega brought out the largest Texas state flag and paraded it proudly across the field. The flag measured an impressive seventy-five feet by one hundred twenty-five feet. Everyone stood up and clapped; Ethan leaned in and whispered, “Everything’s bigger in Texas, right? I look forward to reminding you of that, later.”

  Making sure she heard him correctly, she glanced up and sure enough, his eyes were burning with passion. “Later,” she assured him.

  “Promise?’

  “I’ll hold you to it.”

  “I hope that’s not all you do.’

  “Remem
ber the hearing!” Alex shushed them. They both laughed.

  Texas was playing the University of Colorado. Annalise oohed and aahed when Ralphie, the Colorado’s buffalo mascot, came running out to signal Colorado’s entrance onto the field. They all stood and screamed when Bobby came into view. It was obvious they loved their brother. The game started out with a present for the Texas fans. On the first possession, the UT quarterback made a touchdown, running seventy-four yards on the third down. Colorado was a good team, but today they didn’t have a chance. It was a home game, the weather was nice and the crowd was wild. Bobby made two really great plays and Annalise cheered as loudly as his brothers. Like everyone else, they stood up for most of the game, only sitting during time-outs and half-time. When the game was over the score was 42-28. Another winning season for Texas was on its way.

  * * * *

  Annalise slept all the way home. They would have stayed, but duties at the B&B didn’t stop just because of football games. When Alex parked the RV, Ethan carried Annalise to their room and laid her on the bed. Not planning on waking her up, he gently undressed her and was about to put on her favorite nightgown when she woke up enough to realize where she was.

  “Did you carry me? Why didn’t you wake me up?” she asked him sleepily.

  “Because I enjoyed carrying you. Did you like the football game?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “Are you tired, sweetheart?”

  “Yes,” then realizing what that would mean, “no! That is, I mean, I’m not too tired to love you.” She rose from the bed, naked as the day she was born and walked to him. She dropped to her knees in front of him, unzipped his pants and confirmed the fact that, yes, indeed, everything is bigger in Texas.

  “Look at you. I never tire of looking at you,” Annalise purred. She took his penis in both hands; he was longer than her hand from palm to the end of her fingertips. If she had taken the time to look up, the love shining on his face would have taken her breath away. Cradling him in her hands, she kissed him tenderly, licking him from top to bottom. A groan broke the silence. Lise massaged his length in her palms, rubbing her hands alternately around and over the head, adding just a hint more pressure every time. Big and hard grew to massive and stone. She felt Ethan’s thighs tremble with the effort it took to remain on his feet. “I could just eat you up,” she teased.

  “I think I’ll die if you don’t,” Ethan gasped.

  Needing no more encouragement, she took him in her mouth. This time, there was no hesitancy and no shyness. Lise went down on Ethan so completely the tip of his cock went down the back of her throat. She swallowed and the motion nearly brought him to his knees. With a touch to his hip, she indicated she wanted him to move. “God, that feels good.” Holding her head with both hands, he began to move in and out of the warmth of her mouth. She accommodated him and added to his intense pleasure by moving her tongue and lips on his hungry cock. Humming her own pleasure, she didn’t realize the vibrations in her mouth only intensified his excitement.

  “Oh, baby. My God. I have never felt anything like this,” he groaned. “I’m going to come. Let me pull out.” He tried to extricate himself, but Annalise refused. Instead, she milked him—anxious to have it all.

  When he erupted within her mouth, she hungrily accepted every drop, lavishly sucking him dry. Ethan stiffened every muscle, locking his knees; the ripples of ecstasy exploding through his body were unbelievable. When he finished, she cleaned him with her tongue, unashamedly gathering every drop of his essence, treasuring every bit of the evidence of his passion.

  “I love you, Ethan.” He dropped to his knees and gathered her up close then carried her to bed. He could tell she was exhausted. Still, he wanted to tell her how he felt.

  “I don’t just love you, babe. I cherish you, I adore you, I thank God for you,” he whispered all of this into the warmth of her neck, but she was fast asleep.

  * * * *

  Sunday was a busy check out day at the B&B. Of the twelve cabins, ten had to be cleaned and refreshed for the next round of guests. Annalise was committed to doing her part. If she ever became a part of this family, she wanted to be a useful part. She had chosen Antoinette’s Leap and the Bandera Cabin for her share. She didn’t have to do the custodial work, the Stewart brothers had a great couple who tended to those chores. What the family did were the special touches, stocking the refrigerator, putting out fresh flowers, checking and replenishing the supplies in the bathrooms and coffee bar and tending the flowers in the window boxes.

  Annalise loved Lost Maples, she enjoyed everything about it. She knew what her problem was—she had stars in her eyes, a song in her heart and wedding bells on the brain. But first she had a confession to make. She had intended to tell him last night, but passion and exhaustion had gotten in the way. Today was it. In her mind, she began to rehearse. Ethan, I have something important to tell you. Do you remember when I told you about the attack? That’s right, the attack that kept me from returning to you. Well, it was more than I made out. I have scars. That sounded stupid.

  She knelt by the coffee bar and put a new box of gourmet flavors in the cabinet.

  When she rose up, she was not alone.

  Jeff Ramsey.

  With a gun.

  “Well, hello Annalise. You’re looking well.’

  “Jeff, what do you want?”

  “You owe me and I’ve come to collect.”

  She was on the wrong side of the coffee bar. He stood between her and the door leading to the outside—to Ethan. There was absolutely no escape. “Why do you think I owe you anything, Jeffrey? You didn’t want anything to do with me, remember?”

  “You owe me because you ruined my life and my reputation.” He walked slowly around the end of the bar, the gun still pointing right at her heart. He was a big man, but he wasn’t nearly as big as Ethan. Unfortunately, he didn’t have to be very big to put her at a disadvantage.

  “How could I possibly have ruined your life? I haven’t seen you in four years.”

  Now, he was within reaching distance of her. She had backed up until she was against the wall. “You kept my name. What you have chosen to do with your life directly reflects on me and my reputation,” he snarled.

  Annalise darted to the right, she had to at least try and get away. She didn’t get very far; he grabbed her by the arm and hauled her back over to him. His fingers dug cruelly into her arm. Yet, she did not cry out. “You are the worst kind of false advertising, Annalise. To look at you, one would think you are beautiful and soft and perfect, instead you are ugly and disgusting.” He twisted her arm behind her back until she winced with pain.

  Funny, his words had lost the power to hurt her. “I still don’t understand how you can say I ruined your reputation?” She was not going to give in as easy as he would have liked.

  “Everybody that knows me, they know who you are and what you do. You have no shame! You haven’t even tried to keep it a secret. All of those write-ups in the paper, don’t you know that everyone has seen them? How did you expect me to work in the ministry with you writing that explicit pornography? Your Dad was right. He said you had become the worst kind of sinner, a Jezebel.” He laid the gun down and grabbed her by the hair, jerking her down to her knees. “Why do you write shit like that, Annalise? Was it because you couldn’t get a man of your own? Did you crave sex so much you had to write it for yourself?” With one steel tipped boot, he viciously kicked her in the ribs. Annalise gulped with pain, but again, she did not cry out.

  “I write love stories, Jeffrey. Beautiful love stories.” At those words, he kicked her again.

  “I want money, Annalise. You owe me. Your family owes me. Someday you’ll find out the truth. Your father had a secret life; in fact we’re practically family. I used to see your dad a lot, did you know that? He came over to my house all the time; he promised me I could have his lovely daughter—if only I’d keep his secret. I kept it, for awhile—until I saw your horrendous scarring. After that, I
told my little brother, Rick, everything. I told him who his father really was. Your dad offered me hush money, but guess what? He died. So now you owe me. And I’m here to collect.”

  Annalise didn’t understand half of what he said. Why was he rambling about her father like that?

  “Why should I give you money, Jeffrey?” He was still holding her arm painfully up high behind her, not giving her a chance in the world to get away from him.

  “I’ll tell you why. Because if you don’t, I’m going to kill you.” He said the words so low and so coldly, she didn’t doubt them for a minute. “Why don’t you scream for help, Annalise? If you scream, one of those men might come to your aid. Then I can kill one of your friends as well. ”

  Annalise refused to cry for help, not if it meant putting Ethan or Alex in danger. This was her problem and she would deal with it, somehow. And if she didn’t, she would rather something happen to her than to anyone she loved. Maybe if she agreed to give him money he would let her go. “How much money do you want?”

  “How much do you have?”

  “Not as much as you might think.” He twisted her around until she was facing him.

  “Are you still scarred, Annalise? God, you were a sight to behold. Gorgeous breasts, smooth skin and then I opened your legs and I have never seen a more pitiful sight. As for the money, I think a million dollars would do nicely. We will go out and get in my car and then we will go to a bank and you’ll transfer money to my account. Or else.”