Taming the Alpha

by Mandy M. Roth

  She was already shaking her head.

  “Now, I thought we agreed we’d do this the easy way, not the hard way. If you keep denying me, we’ll have to do this the hard way, and I don’t think you’ll like that.” He leaned up and gripped her face again. “Do you like me hurting you?”

  She just stared at him.

  He fisted his hand, brought it up and back across her cheekbone. Bitches never learned. “I can do this all night,” he said quietly.

  “I—I don—don’t know.” She held her hand to her cheek.

  He sighed and pulled a zip tie from his pocket. Grabbing her hands, he quickly bound them in front of her. “Now, I have more ties, and you have a bed. Easy or hard, Daisy. Up to you.”

  Her eyes blazed at him. “I don’t—”

  He hit her again, and she cried out. Should have brought the duct tape. He’d forgotten she could get loud. He should have remembered since he’d slept with her before. And she was stubborn. The woman wasn’t giving him what he wanted.

  Finally, she raised trembling hands. “O-okay. Okay. Please…”

  The purple chair she sat on would need to be cleaned. There were flecks of blood on it. Women, they were all the same. They just had to be shown who was in charge. “I thought you’d eventually see my way of thinking.”

  “I don’t know where she is, exactly,” she muttered. Blood ran down her chin.

  He winced.

  “I just got an email this morning. She’s with Bear, in New Mexico. Near where she used to go as a kid skiing or something.”

  Red River. He remembered her talking about it. So quaint. He preferred Taos, or better yet, Lake Tahoe.

  “Bear?”

  “Lee or L-Leo she called him. I don’t know. I swear. Before my time,” she said softly. “Other guys all called him Bear. B-big guy.”

  He stood, wondering what he should do now. Kill her?

  Neighbors would probably hear a gunshot.

  “Please, please, just go. I have a kid…”

  He looked at her just as he heard a key in the lock.

  Fuck.

  “Daize, he’s still running a fever and it won’t go down,” a voice said.

  “Run! Go!” Daisy screamed.

  “Bitch,” he said, lashing out again, this time a full fist to her temple.

  She whimpered and crumpled in the chair.

  He ran, shoved past the woman in the doorway holding a toddler, and down the flight of stairs.

  Why couldn’t things just be easy?

  Chapter Ten

  Bear stood in the shower letting the warm water pour over him. The woman was going to be the death of him. How had his normal life been turned upside down so quickly?

  Rainbow.

  That’s how.

  Rainbow was just as her quirky name implied. Rainbow Bright. RB. He’d almost forgotten that stupid nickname she claimed she hated but let him use.

  Rai. Rainy.

  His.

  She hadn’t really dated anyone other than some asshole since him. So she hadn’t really dated at all since he’d left. That made him happy, though he knew it shouldn’t make a bit a difference. He could claim the same. He’d fucked others, screwed them, slept with some at their places, or a hotel. No one had ever been here, not in his bedroom, not in his shower or bath. He didn’t invite anyone here, and no woman had been here, which he was perfectly fine with.

  Well, Sally the vet came out to check on the horses every couple of months unless he needed her before that. The other women were simply travelers that came and went as they needed a safe place. Those he gave a safe haven to when a safe haven was needed and those women he didn’t mess with. They, and sometimes their kids, stayed in the rooms out in the barn. So when a friend called and said they needed a safe place for a traveler, he didn’t ask any questions, just said fine. Instructions sometimes followed, sometimes didn’t. He didn’t ask, no one ever told. They came, they went. Too many of them. And he didn’t want to think about those bruised souls.

  Instead he focused back on Rainy and the fact she was here. Here.

  A woman that was…well…his?

  Here.

  In his house? On his couch. He opened his eyes and saw a small pink bottle. He opened it and sniffed. A woman leaving her scent everywhere, including the bathroom and his shower?

  He breathed deep and imagined what it would be like if she were in the shower with him.

  Heaven.

  He knew. He remembered what it felt like to slide deep and hard into her welcoming heat. How she could arch against him. The feel of her legs wrapped tight around his hips as he pumped into her.

  He groaned and leaned his head against the tiles, letting the water beat on his scalp. Going fucking crazy. Woman drove him nuts. He wanted her. Wanted to feel that hot bite of lust as he appeased it. Wanted to hear her moans echo off the tiles.

  He wrapped his hand around his hard cock.

  Damned thing had been a hard as a pike since she’d landed in his arms two—three?—days ago. They all ran together. He wasn’t sleeping well, worried someone would try to take her away from him.

  He imagined her in the shower with him. Her hand on his dick, her other hand tight on the back of his neck and—

  “Well, there’s a sight a woman likes to see,” she said.

  He opened his eyes, turned his head to see her standing on the other side of the glass door.

  Gripping his cock, he slid his hand up and down slowly.

  “Now you’re just teasing,” she said.

  “You should remember, I don’t tease, darlin’.”

  She snorted and opened the door, already undressing.

  Damn.

  “You sure about this?” he asked.

  She cocked a brow at him. “I’m not a prude.”

  He grunted.

  She stepped inside with him and shivered. “Cold showers? That’s just sad, Lee.”

  Reaching over, she turned the hot water up and sighed.

  He loved the lines of her. The way her back dipped along her backbone and near her ass. He trailed one finger down her spine, grinning as goose bumps pricked her skin.

  Leaning closer, he kissed the side of her neck, inhaling her pink scent. She always smelled the same. Some pink flower, and he knew it was from the soap stuff she used.

  Pink.

  And female.

  “Mmmm.” He licked the side of her neck.

  She shivered and turned in his arms.

  “Is this for me?” she asked, looking at his dick.

  He grunted again. “If you want it to be.”

  There went that brow again. She shook her hair, the long tresses caught up in a bun at the back of her head. He started to pull on the hair tie to let the long curls fall where they would, but he stopped. No. He wanted to see and feel her neck, be able to kiss her nape, or where her shoulder started…

  Down her back, maybe.

  She looked at him from under her lashes as she slowly ran her hands up over his abs to his chest.

  He let out a breath. “Shower sex?”

  She leaned up and grazed her fingers over his bald head. “I know, it probably goes against your prudish sensibilities.”

  “I’m not a prude.”

  There went that damned brow again.

  “Oh no. You’re real daring.”

  He leaned into her, pressing her against the wall, his hand cupping the back of her head. Against her lips, he whispered, “I don’t remember you ever complaining before.”

  Her grin was slow and sexy. “Maybe you should refresh my memory.”

  “Oh, I’ll be refreshing that and a few other things, darlin’.” He leaned in and kissed her chin, her neck, trailing his lips along the tendon in her neck.

  She shivered. He grinned. She always shivered. Always. She was like liquid sunshine in his hands. Or liquid prisms. Lee worked her slowly, taking his time, trailing fingertips across her skin, over her dips and curves, the hollows and peaks.

  S
he stood on her tiptoes, her head against the tiles as he caressed her breasts, played with her nipples until she was panting. Begging.

  “Still sensitive, are you?” he asked as he kissed her.

  She’d been one of the few women he’d ever been with who could come just from him playing with her nipples.

  He caressed, teased, pinched, and before lowering his mouth to her breast. She moaned. He ran his tongue around and around, then flicked it back and forth around the nipple, finally pulling it hard and tight into his mouth.

  Her whispered pleas grew louder.

  “Oh God, I’d forgotten how amazing that feels,” she muttered. “Please. Please. Leo. Please.”

  “Please what, Rainey?”

  “Don’t stop.”

  He moved to the other breast and whispered against her soft skin, “I’m not gonna stop, baby.”

  He straightened, lifted her up, and pressed her tight against the wall. His hips nestled perfectly between her thighs as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

  “Now that’s what I’m talking about,” she said on a grin.

  “And I thought you were just moaning.”

  “My moans have meaning,” she whispered, cupping the back of his head and kissing the hell out of him.

  He remembered this. Remembered how she would let him do, let him play, let him tease, but when she was ready, she was ready and let him know it. His Rainy enjoyed sex. Thank God. Together…

  He skimmed a hand down her spine, smiling when she arched her back. His other hand fisted in her hair and pulled her head up. “I want your mouth.”

  “Yeah, well, I want—”

  He silenced her with his kiss. Their tongues dueled, teased, tempted. The bite of her nails was the last straw. Her legs tightened on him as his hands cupped her ass, his fingers edging ever closer to what he wanted.

  He grazed her core, felt her slick heat, and moaned. “Someone is ready.”

  She broke her mouth from his and whispered, “Someone is waiting.”

  “Always so demanding.”

  “One of us needs to be.”

  He pulled back, stared into her bright, passion-filled gaze. Smiling, he leaned in, and whispered hotly, “Oh darlin’, you’re gonna pay for that one.”

  “I can—” She gasped as he shifted her, lifted her, and began to tease her.

  Her heat danced on the edge of his fingertips. Her slickness coated his fingers.

  She tried to arch away from him, but he tightened his arm on her waist. “I want to play.”

  She jerked against him, trying to move down, her arms around his neck. Fast as lightning, she leaned close, bit his ear lobe, and said, “I promise to let you play with me later.” She shifted again and moaned as he slid one finger into her hot wetness.

  “You promise?” he asked, moving his finger deeper, then withdrawing it. God, he wanted in her.

  “Cross my heart and—”

  He silenced the rest of the age-old saying, not wanting to hear it when she was here for the reason of keeping her safe.

  Safe.

  Here.

  In his arms. Seconds away from him sinking deep inside her.

  Right…right… She mewled and arched.

  He grinned. There.

  Steam made the shower slick. He braced his feet, shifted her slightly, and settled his cock against her. She wiggled, and he watched her as she watched him. Watched as she took over and slid down on his shaft.

  God, there was no better feeling.

  Ever.

  Sliding into her was like nothing else.

  “Ohhhh,” she moaned.

  “Yeah,” he agreed, moving her on him.

  Up. Down. Up. Down.

  She tightened on him, her inner muscles squeezing him.

  Lee closed his eyes and breathed deep. “I’ve missed you, Rainy.”

  “I’ve missed you, Lee.” Her fingers trailed over his face. “Missed this. God, I missed this with you.”

  He moved her again, hissing when she tightened again on him. “You keep that up, and I won’t last long.”

  Her grin was sly, her chuckle husky. “I know how long you can go. I promised we’d play later. Right now, I just want you to fuck me.”

  Well then.

  He crushed his mouth to hers, moving her faster and faster on him. Her thighs tightened on his sides. He moaned. Mouths battled, fingers tightened, raked, then fisted.

  He slid into her. Then pulled her up so that just the tip of him remained inside her. He pulled her back down, not giving her any leverage to really work him.

  She shook her head, her legs tightening even more, her inner muscles squeezing him. He lifted her torso, bent his head, and laved one of her breasts. Her nipples were dark pink and puckered. He bit down gently and then sucked hard on the tip of her breast. She arched, her moan echoing off the shower.

  “That’s it, baby.”

  “More.”

  “Greedy woman.”

  “You know it.”

  And loved it.

  He moved deeper, faster, harder. Listened as her moans grew louder. Her nails and frantic kisses, her tightening muscles pulling him closer and closer.

  He wanted this to last.

  “Oh God, Lee, please.” The bite of her nails made him slam into her.

  “Come for me, Rainey. I’m almost there. Almost there, babe.”

  He thrust deeper.

  Felt her tighten, felt her pause.

  And then shatter.

  Her moan echoed, her muscles froze, and he moved faster, feeling her vise down on his cock.

  Oh God.

  He drove into her, his balls tightening right before the orgasm lightninged through him.

  He came and came and came.

  Lee panted against her. At least, she thought he did.

  How the hell… Had she… Forgotten this? And in a minute, she might be able to breathe.

  Might.

  Or she might not.

  “You’re. Gonna. Kill. Me.”

  The laugh caught her by surprise. “Great way to go, though.”

  “I’d die happy.”

  They both held each other up. He tightened his arms around her, turned, and sat on a built-in bench on one end of the shower. Her legs were still wrapped around his waist, his cock still buried inside her.

  She settled against him, felt his heartbeat thundering against hers. Sex with Lee was more than sex. It always had been. More intense. More fun. Just more. For some reason. She never understood it and frankly quit trying to.

  Her head fit perfectly in the crook of his neck. She licked the side of his neck, felt his pulse against her tongue. Tasted the saltiness of him.

  Neither of them spoke. Neither of them moved as the water ran and the shower filled with steam.

  “Yeah,” he muttered. “I missed this.” His arms tightened around her.

  She hugged him harder, settled more on him, and agreed, “Me too.”

  Chapter Eleven

  It wasn’t hard. Niall had friends in law enforcement who could run searches. One property search in two counties in New Mexico gave him the address of one Leonides Demarco.

  Almost too easy.

  Boris had warned him not to come here. Had told him that the boss wasn’t happy he’d gone after one of D.’s girls. Apparently, D. was in bed with bikers who were doing something for his boss.

  He’d still clean it up.

  Then the boss would see he could be trusted to take care of his messes. A mess he honestly hadn’t created. If she’d kept away, kept her nose out of things, it would be fine. But no, she’d always been into things that were none of her business.

  The mountain air was different here than it was in Seattle. There was no moisture in the air. Already he’d had two nosebleeds. He hated nosebleeds.

  She’d see then. See she shouldn’t play with fire.

  He drove on through the meandering highway that cut through the plains, heading into the mountain valleys.

  Who
in their right mind would want to live up here? It was so far removed from everything. It was three hours away from the nearest airport, for God’s sake. The plains were barren and dry, scrub brush, or whatever the hell it was, the only thing breaking the monotony of the landscape. The mountains were more imposing than inviting, unlike the mountains in the Pacific Northwest.

  He wanted to go home. He didn’t want to be here, and it had taken him a fucking week to find the bitch. He figured he’d be able to find her, kill her, and be back to catch his flight in the morning.

  Maybe he’d try some Mexican food while he was here. There were signs and ads everywhere in this little Pueblo town. What was it with the stupid assed buildings? Even the signs had a Southwest bent to them with all the bland adobe. Why?

  He shook his head, checked his navigation, and continued on. He pulled at his collar, glad he’d changed into a long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans. So far he hadn’t seen anyone in a suit or even a pressed button-down. Town looked part tourist, part hippy, part art mecca, but then some famous woman artist had been here back in the twenties, hadn’t she?

  He kept on the road as he slowly climbed outside of town, curving higher into the mountains.

  Rolling down the window, he enjoyed the fresh, cool air. Fall was crisp in the air, and even from here, the mountainside was a burst of colors from bright yellow to darker rust. It couldn’t be too much longer before he’d get the lay of the land and finish this.

  He was moving up. He wasn’t going to stay as someone’s flunky his whole life. Putting a bullet in her was going to put him on the road to success.

  The miles passed until navigation said he was just a few minutes away. He’d need to pull over and walk in. He could drive in and pretend to be lost if the guy noticed him first. But that probably wouldn’t be wise.

  Chapter Twelve

  Lee walked into the house, covered in dirt, sweat, and who knew what else. He’d fed the llamas, stupid things. He had lama spit on him, he knew it. Damn bastard. He’d win him over yet. Baxter trotted along beside him. He should probably bathe the dog at some point. He really should.

  Woman thought she knew something about anything. In her case, granted, she knew a lot. He’d forgotten she’d grown up on a ranch, and damned if she didn’t want to help him. Help him with anything. Reloading ammo. Cleaning the house. Mucking out the horse stalls. Hell, baby-talking to his Clydesdales.