Nate's Naughty Nymph [The Doms of Club Mystique 5] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Mardi Maxwell

  Cassie piped up. “Don’t worry about it, Nymph. I don’t like to cook either. I’d rather be at the shooting range.”

  “Me, too,” Nymph said.

  “Guns scare me,” Ravyn said. “Give me a kitchen any day.”

  “Me, too,” Jenna agreed.

  They talked about makeup and pedicures until the door to the kitchen swung open. Jackson entered with a large bowl of scrambled eggs. Logan carried in a platter of toast and a bowl of sliced fruit while Luc walked around the table, pouring fresh cups of coffee. A few minutes later they were busy eating.

  Nymph sipped her coffee. “That’s good coffee, Luc.” She smiled. “Your dad makes really good coffee, too.” She took another sip. “Sorry, I mean Nate. He makes good coffee.” She smiled. “We made an agreement when he got out of the hospital that he’d cook and I’d clean. It’s worked out for us.”

  “Hospital?” Addison asked.

  Nymph swallowed the last sip of coffee. “You know, when we first met.”

  “So he was doing okay when you met him?” Jenna asked.

  “Well, sort of. He’d been in the ICU for months in critical condition. They didn’t think he was going to make it, and if he did he’d never walk again. He proved them wrong.” She placed a spoonful of eggs on her toast and bit into it. She chewed it while she let them think about what she’d told them.

  Finally Jackson asked, “He was hurt that badly in the explosion?”

  Nymph nodded. “He nearly lost his right arm and leg. The explosion blew a lot of glass around. Then there are the burns down the right side of his body.” She smiled. “I’ll never forget the day he first walked again. He’d taken eleven steps that day and we were celebrating when someone shot at us through the window of his hospital room.”

  “Shot at you!” Ravyn said as she sat forward.

  “Turned out it was one of the drug dealers I’d been tailing. He followed me to the hospital and took a shot at me. Nate saw the laser dot on me and dove from the bed to push me out of the way.”

  “Was he hit?” Logan asked.

  “Not that time.” Nymph served herself a couple slices of fruit. “Let’s not talk about that anymore. Every time he was shot I was sure I’d lose him. I don’t like remembering.”

  “Every time?” Logan asked. “How many times has he been shot?”

  “Just shot? No knives?” Nymph asked, then began mumbling to herself as she counted on her fingers. She got to four then added another finger. “Four times, but a fifth time he was barely nicked when a bullet took a groove of skin out of his thigh.”

  “I’ve had that happen," Luc said. "It’s damn painful.”

  Nymph nodded. “This was really good. Thank you.” Nymph began gathering the dishes and placing them on the rolling cart. The royals helped her, chattering all the while about a craft idea Ravyn wanted to try and how they could get their hands on the needed items.

  Jackson grabbed Jenna, gave her a kiss, then told her, “Call the store and tell them what you need. I’ll have one of the hands drive into town and pick it up.”

  Jenna hugged him. “Thank you, Jackson.”

  He swatted her on the bottom before he put his hat on and adjusted it until it was just right. “I have horses to feed. Come find me later.”

  * * * *

  Nate walked in on one of man’s greatest nightmares—women doing crafts! He started to back out the door, but Nymph looked up and saw him before he could escape. She sent him a “gotcha” look and he sent her a frown. He was sleep deprived and irritable, and they were chattering like magpies while Ravyn and Addison glued sparkling pieces of fruit, berries, and leaves to larger objects made from woven brown twigs. The table and floor around them was covered in glitter.

  “You’re making a mess of my kitchen,” he said. “Couldn’t you do that somewhere else?”

  “Well, we weren’t sure you’d be up in time to cook lunch so Jenna was going to do it,” Addison said. “But now that you’re up we can visit with you while you do it.”

  Nate pulled the refrigerator door open and scanned the shelves. There was a package of hot dogs and a package of hamburger on the top shelf. He got them out and held them up. “Junk food?”

  “I baked hot dog buns. Whole wheat,” Nymph said. “Addison wants a chili cheese Coney and French fries for lunch.”

  “With onions,” Addison added.

  Nate shook his head. “No French fries. Salad, fruit, and a small portion of cheesy oven fries.”

  “Hold the salt,” Jenna added.

  Nate got to work and managed to tune out their chatter until Addison began talking about the past. About how she’d met Cade when she was thirteen and he was nineteen.

  “I had this huge crush on him,” Addison said. “I followed him around and spied on him and he just put up with it—most of the time.” She laughed. “One night I had decided to come over and see him, but I saw a girl he’d been dating sneaking into the house. I stood below his window and sang a dirty ditty about what a Scotsman wears under his kilt as loud as I could. Cade got so mad. He came out, picked me up, and dropped me in the horse trough. Katherine made him fish me out and carry me into the house so I could dry off. Then she made him take me home.”

  “How old were you then?” Nymph asked.

  “Sixteen. Cade was twenty-one. He’d just graduated from college and joined the Army. He didn’t come home again until I was seventeen. That was the third time he saved my life.”

  Nate spun around and took a step toward Addison. “What do you mean—the third time?”

  “Well, you know I’m really wealthy and people are always trying to kidnap me. Cade and I were checking the fences and four men came out of the trees on dirt bikes. Cade made me ride ahead of him while he shot at them to keep them back.”

  “Where was your security team?” Nymph asked.

  “I didn’t have one then. My dad took off after he moved me and my nanny, Maggie Malone, to Rendezvous. I guess he thought I’d be safe here.”

  “Did he hire one after the kidnap attempt?” Nymph asked.

  “No. Cade called him and told him what had happened, but he said he couldn’t be bothered. Cade went to court and got guardianship of me. He hired a security team to protect me while he was deployed.” She rubbed her baby bump. “If the baby is a girl she’ll never get to have any fun. Cade will have her locked down and surrounded by tough guys with big guns.” She winked at Nate while the other royals smothered giggles.

  “Do you remember that really hot guy with the French accent and those amazing gray eyes?” Jenna pretended to swoon.

  “Ryker,” Addison said. “He was nice.”

  “Nice?” Jenna laughed. “He banged every female in Rendezvous! Hell, I think he even slept with eighty-year-old Grace Johnson.”

  “He told me his goal in life was to make as many women happy as possible,” Addison said.

  “Well, everyone should have a goal of some kind,” Nymph said.

  “What’s your goal, Nymph?” Cassie asked.

  “Keeping Nate’s sons and the four of you alive.”

  “That’s a good goal.” Ravyn held up her wreath. “What do you think? Does it have enough fruit on it?”

  “Looks fine to me,” Nymph said. “What do you think, Nate?”

  I think you’re going to pay for this later, he thought, then looked at the thing Ravyn had made. After a moment he said, “It’s nice.”

  Laughing, Nymph began gathering up the supplies and placing them back into the box they’d arrived in. Cassie wiped off the table and Jenna swept the floor.

  “Lunch will be ready in thirty minutes,” Nate said before he grabbed Nymph and kissed her. “After lunch we’re going to spend some time at the cemetery watching the ranch.”

  * * * *

  Nate parked his truck a hundred feet from the cemetery entrance. He reached into the back seat and grabbed his backpack along with a sleeping bag and mat. Nymph shrugged into her backpack and they walked up to the entran
ce. They spent a few minutes walking through the cemetery while Nate pointed out his grandparents’ and his mother’s graves. When they found Jake and Katherine’s graves, Nate stood by them, his head down. Nymph slid her hand into his and gave it a little squeeze.

  “They were wonderful and so in love. They were together at the end,” Nymph said.

  Nate pulled her in front of him and looked into her eyes. “I wouldn’t want to live without you, Nymph. Not for a single moment.”

  She hugged him as tears glazed her eyes. “I love you so much, Nate. I don’t ever want to wake up one day and know you’re not in the world with me.”

  He leaned down and kissed her before he wrapped her in his arms and just held her. After a few minutes he pulled her along with him to the monument at the top of the hill.

  Two of Cade’s security team stepped out. “Nate.”

  “Dan. How’s it going? Any movement?”

  “Only the ranch hands,” Dan said. “Have you met Mike?”

  “No.” Nate shook hands and introduced himself and Nymph. “We’ll take over for the next three hours.” Nate tossed him the keys to his truck. “Have whoever takes over from us bring my truck back.”

  Dan and Mike grabbed their supplies then headed out.

  Once the sound of the truck’s motor faded, Nymph walked around the monument. “It looks like a small Greek temple.” Four white marble columns held up the roof. A plaque on one column caught her eye and she pointed to it. “Addison’s mother, Fiona O’Rourke. It only has her picture, her name, date of birth, and date of death. That’s sad.”

  “From what I’ve been told she barely knew her parents.”

  Nymph walked around the life-sized ebony statue of a stallion that stood in the center of the building. A brass plate with the name Diablo had been installed in the floor by the front hooves. “I know Texans love their horses and trucks, but this is a little over the top don’t you think?”

  “Diablo died after Jake and Katherine so Cade or Jackson must have had this built.”

  “Probably Cade since Diablo belonged to Addison.”

  “There’s no way Jake sold that horse.”

  Nymph sat down on the bench. “Actually he did. Addison made a deal with him. She’d own him but he’d have exclusive stud rights.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Women talk to each other while they do crafts. That’s why we do them.”

  Nate rolled the sleeping mat out in front of the bench, spread his sleeping bag on top of it, and lay down. “You’ve got watch. Wake me in three hours or sooner if anyone heads this way.” He adjusted his hat over his eyes.

  “Is this why we’re up here? So you can sleep while I work?”

  “I’m going to beat them at their own game. They’ll wear themselves out keeping me up all night while I catch a nap in the afternoons.”

  “So, we’re going to be spending a lot of time up here?”

  “Yup. Every afternoon.”

  “Is this about the age jokes?”

  “A little, but mostly it’s about winning.”

  “You know we could get naked and get in that sleeping bag together?”

  “That would be irresponsible. Someone has to keep watch and I can’t do that with my mouth buried in your pussy. You can’t do it while I’m fucking you. You’ll have to wait until Friday.”

  She poked him with the toe of her boot. “Then get some sleep because you’re going to need to be rested for Friday night.” She saw his lips curve up before his breathing evened out. A cool breeze came up so she pulled a rescue blanket from her pack and tucked it around him before she began scanning the ranch with her binoculars.

  Below her, several cowboys herded cattle from one field to another. Jackson worked with a horse in a corral near the stables while several men stood along the fence watching him. A movement by the trees that lined the river caught her attention. She watched it until she recognized another one of Cade’s security team.

  As the hours passed, Nymph moved around the monument, watching the ranch in a full three-hundred-and-sixty degree pattern. When a glint of light a mile away on a smaller hill drew her attention she watched it for a few minutes but didn’t see it again. She jotted down the time and location in her notebook before changing position. She and Nate would check it out or they’d have one of Cade’s men do it.

  A soft beeping sound drew her back to Nate just as he woke up and stretched. She dropped down next to him, and he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “Thanks, baby. I feel a lot better now.”

  “It’s a good plan.” She looked around then placed her lips against his neck below his ear. “Do you think they have this place bugged?”

  “Yes. Cameras on the roof but none inside.”

  Nymph licked his neck. He shivered and tightened his arms around her just as the sound of an approaching vehicle reached them. Nate jumped up and pulled her up beside him.

  “The only movement of interest was a glint of light on that hill.” She pointed toward the hill in the distance.

  Before he could pick up his bedroll, she grabbed it and carried it over to the other side of the monument along with her backpack and weapon. She dropped her backpack then flipped the bedroll out and laid down on it.

  Nate watched as two of Cade’s men got out of his truck and walked toward him.

  The first guy introduced himself. “I’m Rodriquez.” He pointed to the guy next to him. “This is Harris.”

  Nate shook their hands, introduced himself and reported about the glint of light. “You might keep an eye on it. I’ll tell Cade so he can have someone check it out.”

  Nymph walked up behind them with the rolled up bedroll, tied it to her backpack and shouldered her weapon.

  Nate smiled at her. “This is my fiancée, Nymph Lachlan. Nymph, this is Rodriguez and Harris.”

  “Hi, nice to meet you.” When they glanced at her bedroll, she laughed. “Marble is cold and hard on boobs.”

  Rodriguez and Harris laughed.

  “Hell, wish I would’ve thought of that. It gets cold up here at night.”

  “You can use mine if you like,” Nymph offered.

  “We’ll get one of the guys to bring our gear up here when they bring our dinner.”

  Nymph glanced at her watch. “Speaking of dinner we better get going if we want to get it on the table on time.”

  Nate shouldered his backpack and weapon then led the way down the hill to his truck. Once inside, he grinned at her but didn’t say anything. Instead he mouthed “bugs” and she smiled back at him.

  “So, what do you have planned for dinner?”

  “Steak, baked potatoes, salad, and dessert. Tomorrow I’m going to roast a couple chickens. I think we’ll keep the menu simple so we can patrol in the afternoons until the McCabes return.” Nate drove down the ranch drive and parked his car to one side.

  “Good plan.” Nymph slid out of the truck when Nate opened her door. “I’ll chop the salad. You can make the dressing.”

  “It’s a deal.”

  * * * *

  Three nights later Nymph had just settled on Nate’s lap when someone knocked on the door. She glanced at the clock. Two in the morning. Right on time.

  “I’ll bet you a blow job that it’s Ravyn,” Nate said.

  “I’ll take that blow job and raise you a month of back rubs. My bet’s on Jackson. He hasn’t had his turn yet.”

  “Jackson’s too sensible to come knocking on our door. He hasn’t been at any of the meetings either.” Nate scooted her off his lap. He waited until she was in bed and covered up before he opened the door. “Jackson, what can I do for you?”

  “Dirk McCabe called the house phone and said they were tracking a couple guys along the river but they got away,” Jackson said.

  Nate pulled his cell phone from his pocket, looked at it, then turned to Nymph. “Check your phone. Someone’s messed with my settings.”

  Nymph grabbed her phone from the bedside table. “
Mine, too. The sound is turned off. I have six text messages from Dirk.”

  Nate crowded Jackson, forcing him to step back. “Tell Luc he’s gone too far this time.”

  “What makes you think it was Luc?”

  “What makes you think it wasn’t?” Nate asked before he closed the door.

  Nymph called Dirk’s phone. When he answered she put it on speaker so Nate could hear the conversation. “Dirk, its Nymph. Sorry you couldn’t reach us. One of Nate’s sons messed with our phones.”

  A deep chuckle came over the speaker. “Sounds like something one of my sons would do.”

  “What about the guys you were tracking?” Nate asked.

  “It was odd. They weren’t moving toward the ranch. More like they were trying to keep someone else from moving toward the ranch.”

  “New players?” Nate asked.

  “Don’t know. I’ve got Orin and Miles out there and Cade has two of his guys with them. They’ve dug in and are keeping watch.”

  “Two days ago we were watching from the monument on the hill, and I saw a glint of light on the smaller hill to the west,” Nymph said. “Cade was supposed to have it checked out. He hasn’t told us if they found anything or not.”

  “That’s too damn close,” Dirk said. “Hugh and Doolin are at the monument tonight. Dirk, Bridget, and I will take over in the morning.”

  “Nymph and I will start patrolling along the river tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Keep in touch. We’ll be nearby if you need us.” Dirk hung up before they could say anything further.

  Nymph set her phone on the bedside table. “Just what we need. Wonder if the new guys are good guys or bad guys.”

  “Sometimes it’s hard to tell the good ones from the bad ones.”

  “Well, maybe we’ll find out tomorrow. In the meantime, we’re alone and the door is closed.” She patted the bed and grinned. “Want to play?”

  Nate moved toward her, eyes narrowed. “Are you topping from the bottom?”

  “Yes.”

  He’d just reached the bed when someone knocked on the door. “Hold that thought. I’ll be right back.”