Renegade Love (Rancheros)

by Fletcher, Donna

  He shook his head again chasing away the image. He couldn’t do that to her. It wasn’t right. She was his wife and should be treated with respect. He reached and picked an orange off the tree, and then froze as he turned to look over the orchard. He felt someone approach before he saw him.

  He recognized the man right away, one of Pacquito’s men, Carlos. He was of no great importance in Pacquito’s camp, but then few were. What mattered was serving Pacquito, doing his bidding, and above all making no mistakes that would cost you your life.

  Esteban said nothing even when Carlos stopped in front of him. He waited, rolling the orange around in his hand, as if the man’s presence meant nothing to him.

  “A gift, how nice.” Carlos grinned and reached for the fruit.

  “If you value your hand, you’ll keep it at your side.”

  Fear sprang in Carlos’s eyes. He had seen what Esteban was capable of whether he carried a weapon or not and he lowered his arm, making certain to keep his hand away from his sheathed knives.

  “Pacquito says it’s time for you to return home.”

  “I am home.”

  “Pacquito never released you. He’s giving you a chance to return on your own and suffer no consequences.”

  Esteban took a quick step forward, causing Carlos to stumble back in fright. “I am done with Pacquito.”

  “No one is ever done with Pacquito unless... death claims you.”

  Esteban knew all too well how true that was, which was why when he left he knew it wasn’t over. It was just a matter of time. “I’m done.”

  “That you are, my friend.” Carlos sneered and turned to walk away.

  “Carlos.”

  He stopped and turned his head.

  “If you dare step foot on my land again, I’ll kill you.”

  The man hurried off and Esteban knew he couldn’t wait, there was too much at stake now. He had to move his plan along. And as much as he didn’t want to leave his wife just now, he had no choice. It was imperative that he see to this immediately.

  He quickly gathered what he needed and without a word to anyone he was gone.

  ~~~

  Rosa couldn’t bear another minute in bed, especially since it had been hours since Esteban had left and he had yet to return. He had been so concerned about her that she thought he would have surely come to see how she was feeling.

  She hurried into her skirt and blouse, slipped her sandals on, ran a quick comb through her long hair before twisting it up and securing it with an ivory comb, and then went in search of her husband.

  The day was beautiful, the sun bright, the air warm and she felt more alive than she had in some time. Even though the visit with her true parents hadn’t turned out as she had hoped, meeting Gaby and becoming friends with her had made it all worthwhile. She had learned much from the talks she had shared with Gaby and from watching her deal with Raphael, a powerful don. It had made her realize much about her own situation with Esteban. And of course missing him as much as she had was a realization in itself. That he had come for her hadn’t been a surprise, but that he had listened so intently to her last night had been. And that he had held her in his arms while she had cried had endeared him to her even more. Now however she had questions for him. The one that troubled her most was... why had renegades been with him?

  After making the rounds of the hacienda and not finding her husband, Rosa began to worry. Dona Valerianna didn’t seem to think anything of it when she found her in the small parlor working on her embroidery.

  “He’s probably busy with his father in the vineyards,” she said stopping work on her stitching to look up at Rosa. “How was your visit with your parents?”

  “It did not go as well as I had hoped,” she said, not wanting to go into detail about the ordeal.

  “And your twin sister?”

  “Unfortunately, I learned that my twin died when she was just a baby, the padres having replaced her with another baby girl.” Rosa couldn’t help but smile. “Gaby is wonderful and though she isn’t my sister by blood, she is a sister to me. She will soon wed a powerful don... Raphael Cabrillo.”

  Dona Valerianna gasped and her hand rushed to press at her chest. “He is a powerful don, or so I’ve heard.”

  “He can be commanding, but it is obvious how much he loves Gaby.” Rosa laughed recalling the pair. “And Gaby is so full of life and laughter, and she is so much in love with Raphael. They make a perfect pair.”

  “And Raphael’s parents,” —Dona Valerianna asked nervously— “they treated you well?”

  “His father has passed, and his mother had been in frail health until Gaby became her companion. Now the woman appears well healed and enjoying life.”

  “Raphael weds his mother’s companion?”

  Rosa’s shoulders went back, her head up. “He weds a peasant just as Esteban has done.”

  “You are no longer a peasant, Rosa, you never actually were,” Dona Valerianna reminded her.

  “I may have been born of noble birth, but I was blessed to have been raised by two kind and loving peasants. To me, they are my true parents and therefore I am a peasant as well. And I have no doubt that when Gaby and Raphael come to visit you will treat her as graciously as you have me.”

  “They are coming to visit... when?” Dona Valerianna asked anxiously.

  “I hope soon, though I don’t know when exactly.”

  Color suddenly drained from Dona Valerianna’s face and Rosa hurried to her side. “Are you all right?”

  “A bit lightheaded.”

  “Rest your head back while I go fetch a cold cloth.”

  “No, it will pass in a moment, and then if you wouldn’t mind helping me to my room where I can rest.”

  “Of course,” Rosa said worried, “but perhaps I should find Don Alejandro.”

  “No, he will only worry needlessly. It is nothing more than my sleepless nights finally catching up with me. A bit of rest and I’ll be fine.”

  Rosa wasn’t sure of that, what if she was ill and not telling anyone? She decided she would keep a closer eye on her mother-in-law and see for herself. With an arm around her waist, Rosa helped Dona Valerianna to her bed chamber.

  Dolores came across them on their way there and hurried to turn down the bed. While Rosa helped Dona Valerianna into bed, Dolores hurried off to fetch a small glass of brandy, insisting it would help her to sleep.

  Rosa wouldn’t leave her mother-in-law, though Dona Valerianna insisted she would be fine, until she was certain she was well settled and her eyes heavy with sleep. She closed the door softly behind her and took a step, then stopped. She wasn’t sure where to go or what to do now. It seemed that nobody was around and she thought it odd. Determined to find out where everyone had gone off to, Rosa hurried off to search and explore the hacienda.

  The day wore into evening without any luck of locating anyone. The hacienda seemed eerily silent as if there was no life at all to it. Something wasn’t right, and Dolores confirmed it when Rosa stopped by the kitchen.

  “Something has happened, though no one knows what yet and many grow fearful. Heavy smoke has been seen in the distance and a group of vaqueros left here riding hard and fast while another group took up guard around the hacienda.” Dolores shook her head. “Not good, not good at all.”

  “What could it be?” Rosa asked anxiously, having her own thought and praying she was wrong.

  “No one wants to say it, but with the smoke,” —Dolores quickly blessed herself— “one of the hacienda’s could have been attacked.”

  Rosa didn’t ask who it could have been. She knew it would be renegades. What frightened her most is that all would believe that Esteban rode with them. She could not believe that of her husband, but the renegades had been with him when he came to Los Angeles to get her. And while she refused to believe that he had rejoined with them, she wondered why they had been with him.

  She wasn’t hungry, but went to the dining room for supper anyway, expecting to find
it empty. Dona Valerianna probably had decided to have supper brought to her. So she was surprised when she entered to see the woman sitting there alone.

  “Alejandro has always sent word if he was to be late for supper,” she said, her eyes darting about the room, as if expecting her husband to enter at any moment. “I don’t know where he could be.”

  Rosa had no comforting words for the woman, her own concern having grown after speaking with Dolores.

  “I am glad to see that you are feeling better,” Rosa said taking a seat opposite Dona Valerianna.

  “Yes, rest was just what I needed.”

  Conversation continued between the two women throughout the meal, though at times it was forced. It appeared as if they were both biding time, hoping their husbands would appear and bring an end to their worries. Their heads shot up and turned toward the door when they heard heavy footsteps approach.

  Don Alejandro entered the room, smudges on his face and white shirt and a worried look on his face that alarmed both women. Never had either of them seen him so disheveled or upset.

  He walked over to his wife with an outstretched hand and Dona Valerianna reached for it, her hand trembling.

  Rosa braced herself for the news while silently praying that Esteban was safe and unarmed.

  Don Alejandro squeezed his wife’s hand. “The Garavito hacienda has been attacked by renegades. Don Manuel was shot, though the wound is minor. Unfortunately two of his vaqueros were killed and there is extensive damage to some buildings, including the hacienda. ”

  Dona Valerianna gasped and Rosa paled, her heart going out to the families.

  “I will go tomorrow and see what help Dona Elena needs,” Dona Valerianna said.

  “No,” Don Alejandro snapped. “You must stay away... for now.”

  His wife turned a puzzling glance on him.

  Don Alejandro took his wife’s hand. “There are those who believe they saw Esteban riding with the renegades.”

  All color drained from Dona Valerianna’s face and she looked about to faint.

  Don Alejandro leaned down and wrapped his arm around his wife. “Vicious rumors. There is not one who could say they actually saw Esteban.”

  “He would not do that,” Rosa found herself saying and believing it or perhaps she needed to believe it, needed to know that he would never do such a horrid thing. But he had done such evil things and she didn’t want to think of the terrible things he had done.

  “Where is he?” Dona Valerianna pleaded.

  “I wish I knew,” Don Alejandro said. “I haven’t seen him all day, nor has anyone I’ve asked. He’s vanished and it worries me.”

  Could Don Alejandro truly believe that his son had been part of this raid? Her stomach roiled, she didn’t want to hear anymore. She stood quickly and excused herself, hurrying from the room before Don Alejandro or Dona Valerianna could object. She wanted to be alone to think, though her thoughts were jumbled. One thing that she knew for certain though was that Esteban had not been part of the raid on the Garavito hacienda. He had escaped that horrid life and would not return to it.

  But he had ridden with renegades. You saw it with your own eyes. She wanted to yell at the warning voice in her head. Instead she shook away the thoughts or at least tried to. Her husband would return and she would have her answer. Right now he needed a friend who believed in him and that’s what she would do... believe in him.

  A rumble of thunder interrupted the silence, though it was in the distance. A storm was brewing and would bring a good drenching to the land.

  Rosa entered the garden just outside her bedchamber and jumped when a strike of lightning pierced the night sky illuminating the darkness for a moment. She rubbed her arms, a nervous chill racing through her. She cast a silent prayer to the heavens for her husband’s safe return, and then hurried into the room, shutting the doors behind her.

  With nothing left to do and the long day taking its toll, Rosa slipped into a sleeveless cotton shift and got into bed. She worried that she wouldn’t be able to sleep, her mind too cluttered. But her eyes grew heavy in no time and she drifted off.

  She didn’t know what woke her. Had it been a loud clap of thunder? Or had it been the wind that rattled and blew the patio doors open, sending the curtains billowing? She had yet to fully open her eyes, though she knew she had to. She didn’t hear it raining, but the scent of it was heavy in the air and once it started the room would get drenched if she didn’t close the doors.

  Not wanting to slip from the comfort of the bed, she had to force her eyes open once she turned over to face the door. When she did, her whole body froze and her eyes widened until she thought they would pop from her head.

  There silhouetted in the doorway stood her husband... or was it?

  The man who stood there was dressed far differently from Esteban, yet had his same handsome features, though they were more hardened. He wore all black, including black chaps and a black vest. A knife was sheathed in his belt. A black hat sat low on his forehead, though his chin was raised so that she could see without a doubt that it was her husband. Or was he? His clothes were not that of a nobleman, but rather a renegade. Esteban might have stood on the threshold to their bedchamber but it certainly wasn’t her husband who took a step forward into the room... it was a renegade.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Rosa scurried up in the bed to brace her back against the headboard, pulling the blanket up along with her and holding it against her breasts. He strode into the room as lightning struck and rain slashed down on the land. He closed the doors behind him and tossed his hat to the chair. Then as he approached her, he began to undress. Not slow but quickly, as if in hurry to be done.

  His intentions were clear in his smoldering eyes. He would take her tonight... but how? Like a savage renegade or a loving husband? The thought sent a shiver through her.

  He didn’t say a word as he shed each piece of clothing and when he finished he walked to the side of the bed, reached down, snatched the blanket out of her grasp, grabbed hold of her wrist and yanked her up to him.

  She thought for a moment that he would kiss her. Instead he released her wrist and grabbed hold of her nightgown and pulled it up over her head. His actions so stunned her that she froze. She was even more surprised when he pushed her to fall back on the bed and came down on top of her. He kissed her then, a fierce penetrating kiss that shocked her senseless and sent a rush of tingles through her entire body.

  He left her lips much too soon. They pulsated and wanted more, though she didn’t mind where his mouth went next. It descended to her nipple and he teased it with his tongue and lips unmercifully, then he did the same to the other one. He continued to switch back and forth, as if he couldn’t get enough of either of them. His hand grabbed hold of one and squeezed and not that gently as he suckled the nipple. But it didn’t matter to Rosa. She was lost in the pleasure that consumed her.

  Along with her lips that continued to ache for more, her rigid nipples now pulsed as his mouth rained kisses down along her midriff and over her stomach. He nipped now and again, and her body bowed as if offering herself to him for more. His mouth drifted lower, his nose settling just below her hairline, as if he was familiarizing himself with her scent, and then his finger drove into her and she let out a cry.

  His mouth moved to lick at her sensitive nub as his finger glided in and out of her and she thought she would go mad from the intense sensation. Never. Never had she thought love making could be this exquisite or that she could feel so alive with passion.

  She reached out feeling the need to touch him, to be part of their joining.

  He shoved her hand away roughly. “Don’t!”

  She yanked her hand up to her chest, the harsh reprimand startling her.

  He moved off her then and she thought he was angry and intended to leave her. She wanted to reach out and stop him, but she didn’t. She didn’t want him to go, but his rough command had her holding her tongue.

  She was p
leased when he moved to kneel between her legs and nudge them apart. He splayed his fingers through the hair between her legs, his palm settling against her nub to massage it with a friction that had her soft moans turning louder.

  He stopped a moment, took firm hold of her backside and raised it so that his thick hardness rubbed against her teasingly, before sliding down to rest between her legs.

  And then she saw something change in his eyes. She didn’t know what it was, but she didn’t think her husband was there any longer... the renegade had taken hold of her.

  He flipped her over on her stomach, yanked her to her knees and she braced for what was to come.

  It never did. She suddenly found herself alone on her hands and knees.

  She quickly jumped out of bed and saw that the doors to the patio stood open, the rain pouring down and thunder rolling in the distance. She cast a glance around and saw that his clothes were still where he had left them. And she grew angry.

  How could he do this to her? How could he return to her, not say a word, turn her senseless with passion and leave her aching? He had worked her to a point where she had been mindless with the want of him, and she hadn’t cared how he would have taken her as long as he had taken her, made love to her, satisfied this pounding ache between her legs.

  Good lord, she had never felt such an aching need in her life. She wanted her husband to finish what he had started. She wanted to explode with pleasure over and over and over.

  “Damn him,” she muttered and marched out of the room and into the rain.

  She saw him standing naked in the grass just passed the patio, rain pouring down on him. She was so angry that she didn’t stop to think. She marched straight for him.

  He turned just before she reached him. “Get back inside now!”