The Reaper 0f The Rio Sangre: Special Edition HBH Version (Half Breed Haven Book 10)

by A. M. Van Dorn

  Cassandra began to wiggle her butt on him, loving the feel of his throbbing dick within her and was not shocked when he grunted through gritted teeth at the edge of his climax. In move made of lightening she slid off him and thrust his pleasure maker into her mouth as he exploded, and she continued milking him to the final drop before she swallowed in satisfaction. She then collapsed on his chest, panting heavily before rolling next to him with their eyes locked.

  “That’s the most passionate thing I have ever done with anyone.” Juan said as he lunged forward kissed her as he cradled her in his arms. They both knew that the door to a night of sexual excitement had just been unlocked and that it was only the beginning of their pleasure. After a rest they knew they would be ready to go at it again, unaware that the specter of El Segador was about to threaten their newfound bliss.

  “And that's what Mercedes told your uncle Hector and your grandfather … and they believed it!" Victor said pounding the table. He and Catalina almost doubled over in their laughter. Victor reached for the bottle to pour more of the wonderful wine for her. Still laughing Catalina raised a hand to stop him.

  "Whoa there now. Ya’ll don't wanna be gettin' me drunk and all. I need my wits about me in the mornin' if we are goin' to find the hideout of El Segador," she told him, thinking she was already on her way to being drunk. The Mercedes blend indeed packed a punch. Victor chuckled some more.

  "If you are truly the daughter of Mercedes Corderro you can certainly … certainly, hold your liquor," he said.

  “You might have a point there. I’ve drunk every one of my sisters under the table before. Well, it don’t take much with Lijuan. With that little petite body of hers, the stuff knocks her out the minute it goes down her throat. Still, enough is enough!” she said with her own chuckle, remembering a few notable drinking games with her sisters.

  “But we must enjoy the wine. There are more stories to tell. Your mother was an amazing person. She should be with me, here, now. She was a headstrong one though and wouldn’t listen,” he said.

  “About what?” Catalina asked.

  "About marrying a gringo, a good twenty years older than all of us, and following him from Mexico to her death in America," he said. That struck a nerve in Catalina. She quickly bolted to her feet, leaning across the table.

  "You hold on a minute! You know that gringo is my papa!" she growled.

  “Sit, please, know that I meant no offense,” Victor said.

  “Then you shouldn’t have said it,” she fired back at him.

  “You are as brilliant as your mother, I can tell. So surely you must admit that it’s the truth. Had she not gone to Arizona, she never would have been in a position to have been brutally murdered as she was. I begged her not to go!” he cried.

  "Settin' aside the fact that I wouldn't be sittin' here right now if she didn't marry my papa. You, all of a sudden, sound like a lot more than my mother's friend from a neighborin' valley," she said, hearing the feelings he had for her mother.

  "I respect you too much, Catalina, to lie to you. Yes, my heart was filled with love for Mercedes. If you could only have known what a force of nature she was you would understand how a man could not help but to fall for her. You are so much like her," he said pleadingly. Catalina looked at the wine and had a sudden, worrying thought.

  “Yeah, you told me that. So, you weren’t tryin’ to get me drunk hopin’ to seduce me now were you? Because I’m not her. In many ways, I’m not her!” Catalina said with some force.

  “No of course not! You have my most sincere apologies. Please now, won’t you sit, and I can better explain myself?” he asked. Catalina decided to give him a shot and retook her seat.

  “This better be good,” she told him with a stern look.

  “I should not have spoken ill of your father. How can I blame him for loving her as I once loved her? The true blame lies with Miguel Corderro,” he began.

  “My grandfather, why do you say that?” she asked. Curious, despite herself.

  "He was the one who brought your father here in the first place. When he put the land he owned across the border up for sale, it had been in the Corderro family for generations. A hundred square miles of land you now call Cedar Ledge, I understand he continued to buy the surrounding lands over the years, so it is bigger now," he said.

  “Five hundred square miles of the most pristine beauty you’ll ever find. As big as an entire county in Ohio I’ve been told. A man from there once stopped at Half Breed Haven and said so. Anyway, you aren’t tellin’ me anything new. The Corderro vineyards had several brutal years and were on the verge of collapse. My grandfather needed the money to save them, so he sold the Arizona parcel,” she reminded him.

  “Yes, his plan worked, but there were consequences. He would lose his daughter to the land buyer because William Wilde would journey to his hacienda and meet Mercedes. It set in motion the path to her death and more. All for the short-term gain of saving his vineyards he betrayed all of his forefathers,” he said accusatorily. That made Catalina angry again.

  "What are you'll takin' about? Start making sense, or I am turnin' in for the night. We got a murderer to catch, you know," she said in disgust.

  “You have never heard of Señor Corderro’s betrayal to his lineage, all those before who protected that land? Not even from your uncle Hector?” he asked, and her face flushed. She got to her feet once again her eyes ablaze.

  “Talk, now!” she exclaimed.

  “Very well then. I see you have no knowledge of these things. Indeed, I shall tell you the secret of Cedar Ledge,” he said. Catalina felt a sudden coldness in her gut when a woman’s scream pierced the air.

  Lijuan wandered around the grand living room at Cedar Ledge killing time as she waited to be able to put her plan into effect. At the same time she was also using her wandering to keep herself on the ground floor but she knew her delaying tactics were coming to an end.

  She moved in front of the fireplace, glancing up at the bottle of Mercedes Blend wine resting there. Lijuan continued around to a bookcase and plucked a novel from it. She took a seat on the couch, tucking her legs under her and glanced around to make sure no one was watching before she took her glasses out of her pocket and started to read. Shortly, Mrs. Chow arrived in the room, and Lijuan hastily removed her glasses and put them away.

  “Miss Lijuan, the ranch blacksmith came to the back door. He say, what you want is ready. Pick up when you want,” she told her.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Chow,” Lijuan said.

  “Most welcome,” she said and turned to leave. “Glasses no shame, no shame at all,” the woman told Lijuan as she left the room.

  Lijuan smiled with the love she had for the old woman who would always be the closest thing to a grandmother she would ever know. Now she didn’t feel like reading anymore and stood. Lijuan put the book back and resumed wandering around the giant room. She passed by the desk located between two of the floor to ceiling windows and looked down. It was filled with pictures of the family. The recent ones were superbly taken; the older ones not so much given how less advanced the photography had been when they were taken. Her eyes found one of Dutch and Bright Feather. Lijuan reached out and pressed her finger on Bright Feather’s face, pushing the picture over so the frame clanked on the desk as it fell. She pulled her hand back, shaking her head.

  “That was very Loco Lettie Bell of you, Lijuan,” she told herself wryly. Lettie Bell had been a woman she had met on a cattle trip with her father. The woman’s jealousy had been explosive, and Lettie Bell had almost killed Lijuan and others in her rage. Lijuan had vowed to herself she would never become that way no matter how much a similar burning rage often ignited within her. Not ever... if she could help it.

  She reached out and put the picture back the way it had been. Nearby one of the windows was open. She had opened it earlier knowing she would be listening for a specific sound. Now the clip-clop of horses' hooves drifted into the room, and she crossed over to the windo
w and watched Whip ride off into the darkness. It had been her father's habit for years to ride through the pastures at night to make sure everything was secure. Sure, they had men who also made such patrols, but it was personal for Whip. Together when the ranch was new, her father and Mercedes would make such nightly rides through it. After she had died, he still went and Lijuan knew it was his way of keeping a connection to her.

  What it meant for her this night, however, was that the sisters had an absolute rule. Never would they engage in one of their dalliances while Whip was in the house out of respect for him. Now she knew he would be gone for an hour … leaving her plenty of opportunity.

  She returned to the desk and let her gaze fall on another picture. This one was of Dutch back when he was about eighteen or nineteen. She picked it up. To her, he would always be David. The picture reminded her of someone else, and she looked to the stairs leading to the second floor. Taking a deep breath, Lijuan put the picture of David back down and headed for the stairs. The moment she had tried to prolong had at last arrived now that Whip was absent, but she was sure their guest wouldn't mind. She approached Jeffery's room … David's old room … and tapped politely.

  “Come in,” he called softly, and, smiling, Lijuan went into the young man’s room. Jeffery was reclined on the bed looking through a stereoscope to see the images inside. He sat up and made to stand for her. She waved him down, but he still sat up with his back against the headboard.

  “I see you found the stereoscope. So this is where it wound up. My sister begged my father to buy it for her because he can’t seem to say no to her, but Honor being Honor became bored with it,” Lijuan said to him softly. She ran her eyes over his strong young frame.

  “I don’t see how, ma’am. This is a wonderful contraption,” he said and held up the device. “So many pictures. There is Niagara Falls, New York City, and Liberty Hall. I’ve just seen things I ain’t never seen before. Nothin’ like that in all the world!” he said excitedly. She liked how he got excited so easily. She smiled and sat on the bed next to him leaving him to look at her warily.

  "I see your look, and that is why I'm here. I wish to apologize to you for earlier today. I'm sorry if I scared you. I wouldn't really have smashed your fingers. I was hoping to get you to talk is all. Do you understand?" she asked. Jeffery looked down and nodded. She slid over closer to him, and as she did, she could feel excitement running through her body and was going to let him know exactly how it felt.

  "What's the matter? I am not making you nervous, am I?" She lifted his chin up and ran her fingers through his hair, and he squirmed where he sat.

  “Ma’am, please,” he said softly.

  "You’re a handsome young man; you know that, don't you? I'm sure the girls where you come from have told you that," she told him with a hint of attraction to her voice as he blushed blood red.

  "No, not really," he answered and reached for the stereoscope. He picked it up and awkwardly set it down on his lap. She grinned amused by his clumsy attempt to hide the desire beginning to grow between his legs.

  “You … you’ve never laid with a woman before, have you?” she asked leaning into him. One of her large breasts was pressing against his arm. He looked startled and then blushed again.

  “Of course, I have, well, sort of, I mean, I might have kissed one or two,” he stammered nervously.

  "That's not what I'm talking about, and you know it. Before you said, you had seen things with that stereoscope that you had never seen before. Now you're going to do so again, only it's not going to be some pictures of fancy waterfalls," she told him seductively.

  “You sure smell good,” Jeffery said quietly, still unable to meet her gaze.

  "It's perfume from the Orient; Cassandra got it for me for my birthday, but enough of that. You ready? Because I certainly am!"

  The scream had the effect of jolting Victor to his feet, but Catalina was already on hers and running.

  “It came from out front,” she called back to him over her shoulder. Her sense of direction had always been acute.

  The two raced to the great front room of the hacienda just as a bare-chested Juan, wearing only pants and Cassandra in a robe with her guns drawn, came rushing down the stairs. They met at the bottom of the stairs. Catalina gave only the briefest of looks to her sister’s attire as they ran into the front room to be confronted by a shocking sight.

  Senora Sucre's sleeve was on fire and the woman was wind milling around in a panic. Catalina grabbed a blanket and began to beat the flames out. Juan raced to one of the windows that was broken just at the moment a second Molotov cocktail crashed through the next window, lighting a chair afire. Victor snatched up another blanket to use to put out the new fire while Cassandra threw open the door and began firing. Cassandra could hear return shots as Juan joined her at the door.

  “Two riders! They’re getting away in the dark! I can’t get a good shot at them!” Cassandra shouted.

  “Was it El Segador?” Juan asked, anxiously peering over her shoulder into the darkness that lay beyond the front of his estate.

  “Who else could it be to launch such an attack?” Victor answered.

  “No way to be sure, but I agree with Señor Hernandez-Kelly,” Cassandra said as Juan crossed the room to where Catalina was administering to Señora Sucre.

  “How is she?” his face was a mask of worry.

  “I’m okay; Señorita Wilde put the fire out before I could get too burnt,” She touched her forearm. “This took the worst of it, Señor Canizarra,” she said through the pain. “It does hurt, but I’ll live. I was just about to close the drapes for the night before turning in when that thing came flying through the window and landed at my feet,” she finished her description of events.

  “That son of a bitch! He must have been outside for who knows how long, watching for a chance to do some harm,” Cassandra decided.

  “And he was successful. We must get you to a doctor,” Juan said to Señora Sucre.

  “I am sorry, Señora Sucre, but that can’t happen tonight. Tomorrow at first light Juan can get you to a doctor,” Cassandra said, and Catalina nodded in agreement.

  “What are you saying, Cassandra? She is in pain right now,” Juan said, shocked at Cassandra’s apparent callousness. Catalina spoke up for her big sister.

  “Cass is right. It’s not safe out there right now, on that darkened road. This whole thing coulda been a trick to draw us out into an ambush,” Catalina said.

  “That is exactly what I was thinking. El Segador and his men could be lying in wait even as we speak. We’d never see them coming until it was too late,” Cassandra mused, and Juan looked pained.

  “I know, Juan, I am not happy about this either, but we can’t take the chance. If he had wanted to kill the señora outright, he could have just shot her through the window. This very well could be a plan to get us out in the open without any cover. Like Cattie said, an ambush,” she finished.

  “Then come help me get Guadalupe to her room where we can at least make her comfortable,” Juan asked Cassandra.

  Catalina always was amazed at how Cassie could take charge in any situation. The owner of the hacienda was deferring to her in his own house. She had a brief, amusing thought about what Cass had done to him in the bedroom also helped to get such obedience.

  “Absolutely,” Cassandra acknowledged and helped him with Señora. Sucre. Victor started walking towards the front door.

  “Where are you goin’, Victor?” she asked moving to stop him from going outside.

  “I dare not leave my hacienda unprotected any longer. There may not be anyone there, but now that El Segador had added fire to his arsenal of terror, I dare not risk it being burned to the ground were he to mount a similar attack there. I shall cut across country, avoiding the road. I shall be safe if I do that," he said and took her hands. "Again, I am sorry. I would never wish to be rude to the daughter of Mercedes Corderro," he said. Catalina was going to say something to him, but then he
released her hands and was gone, heading for the stables. She sighed and followed her sister and Juan as they helped Señora Sucre out of the room.

  Lijuan finished unbuttoning her blouse revealing her outsized breasts in a black bra. While Jeffery was reacting in equal parts shock and desire, she then slipped out of her denim skirt.

  “Ma’am please!” Jeffery said almost panicking while his eyes took in her shapely figure. She slapped him across his face, not hard enough to hurt him, but to get his full attention.

  "Stop calling me ma'am! You‘re making me feel old. I ‘m only twenty-nine, I've just barely got ten years on you. I'm guessing." Lijuan laughed. She lifted the stereoscope off his lap and dropped it on the floor, ignoring the sound of it possibly breaking. Then she went for his belt buckle feeling her urges soar and knew the young man was going to learn something new. She undid his belt and then the button underneath. He murmured half-hearted protests that she disregarded, and they ended shortly as his young body responded to her own body.

  Lijuan leaned in and kissed him as she put one hand behind his head, running her fingers through his blond hair. She tasted his lips, and soon her tongue entered his mouth. She expected him to pull away, but he didn't. She used her other had to undo his shirt and slid it off him. Then she kissed his neck, moving down his shoulder to his bare chest. He gasped when she licked him and reached between his legs.

  "Oh Lijuan! Oh lord…" he stammered amidst his new physical feelings. Lijuan's heartbeat had increased, and she enjoyed the rush of the tingling that went through her from the feel of his naked chest under her. She stood for a moment and slipped out of her panties. His eyes widened and flowed downward from her smooth, flat stomach to her knot of the blackish brown hair positioned over her sex. She returned to him then and quickly rolled on top of him. She preferred being in control, especially with such a young buck as Jeffery. He groaned and moved as she leaned into him. His hands clamped down on her breasts, and he gave them a hard squeeze, but despite that, she enjoyed his inexperienced movements. She noticed his eyes were still focused downward at the nest between her thighs, certainly the first time he’d ever seen what all women possessed, and all men wanted. It was time to give him something else to look at.