Aces Wild

by Taylor Lee

  Within minutes, the group of eight men were mounted waiting for orders from their leader. One of the men held Sprit’s reins in his hand, keeping the heaving mare next to him. Gabe strode past Spirit and threw Ana up on Master. In one strong move he seated himself behind her.

  She whispered, “What are you doing, Gabe? I can...ride my own horse.” She looked to Gunnar and Eagle silently appealing for help but both men looked away, their expressions dark with concern. When Gabe signaled, all eight men headed to the ranch, the pounding of their horses galloping hoofs testifying to their frightening speed.

  Gabe held her so tightly she had trouble catching a full breath. It was like being wrapped in a thunder cloud. Never knowing when the lightning would strike.

  ~~~

  When they reached the ranch, Gabe tossed her to the ground and jumped down beside her. One of the men came up behind them and led Master away. Gunnar and Eagle dismounted and moved up next to Gabe. Davy and Emil stood at a short distance.

  Ana jerked back several steps and glared at Gabe ignoring the men behind him.

  She was shaking, determined. She had to make him understand. She swallowed hard barely making it past the lump in her throat.

  “You don’t understand, Gabe. I can explain.” Getting the first words out gave her courage to continue.

  “I know I should have waited for you or told Davy or someone but… I”

  Gabe’s cold order cut her off. “Be quiet, Ana.”

  She struggled between fear and anger, mostly not wanting to cry. She was furious that he was treating her like this in front of his men. She hated him, despised him. But the entrance to the villa seemed far away.

  Gabe lit a cigarette and regarded her with a curious expression.

  “I’ve never hit a woman in anger, Ana. Or for that matter killed one. But this may call for an exception.”

  She jumped back willing her legs to stop shaking. Eagle put his hand on Gabe’s shoulder and said softly, “You can’t resolve this tonight, Gabe. Let her go. Morning will come soon enough.”

  Gabe took a deep drag off his cigarette and nodded at Eagle through the smoke.

  Jerking his head at the men behind him, his words were curt. He locked on her eyes while he spoke.

  “Davy, Emil. Please accompany Ana to her chambers. Since I already broke the lock on her door you will need to position yourselves inside her chambers. Emil, you take the balcony door that Ana seems to have a number of uses for. Davy, post yourself at the door. If she so much as turns over in her bed, you have my permission to tie her to the bedpost and come and get me. I will take it from there.”

  Ana couldn’t believe what he said.

  She tried to speak firmly but her words came out in a disbelieving gasp.

  “They…they will be inside my chambers?”

  Gabe nodded.

  “That’s correct. Better them than me.”

  Anger flooded her at his taunting arrogance. Ana was infuriated at the way he was humiliating her. Treating her like a naughty child. She tried but couldn’t stop the angry tears that streamed down her cheeks. When Davy stepped cautiously toward her, she snapped, “Stay away from me. Don’t you dare touch me.”

  Davy’s baby face flushed and she saw the distress in his eyes.

  “I…we…will give you privacy, Mamn. We…”

  She shoved at his arm and included them all in her furious glare.

  “Go to hell. All of you!”

  She whirled away and ran through the doorway into the silent still sleeping house.

  Eyeing her retreating backside, Gunnar clapped a hand on Gabe’s shoulder and said with a dry chuckle, “As beautiful as it is I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be that little ass for the next couple of days.”

  ~~

  Chapter 29

  The next morning Ana waited for Master Han in the Kung Fu practice center. She had a regular lesson with her sensei every Wednesday and there was never an acceptable excuse to miss it. She forced herself through the disciplined moves of her warm up practice refusing to acknowledge the curious stairs of the other fighters. She knew word of her escapade had traveled throughout the Villa. To her shame, she would be the talk of the kitchen as well as the barn for days to come. She kept her composure on a tight leash knowing that it wouldn’t take much to snap. More than anything she wanted to bury her head under her covers and not leave her bed for a week.

  The door opened and there was a flurry of activity and then silence. She turned to see Gabe enter. Her stomach plunged dangerously. She gasped for air looking for somewhere to run. He held her gaze from across the room. If anything he looked angrier, colder than he had the night before.

  He glanced around the room and jerked his head toward the door. Including all the fighters in his command, he said, “Please excuse us. Ana and I have a private lesson scheduled. We will need the center for the next several hours. Please leave.”

  Ana watched stunned as the more than twenty fighters gathered up their equipment and paraded through the door. Gabe waited until the last one left, then reached over and locked the door.

  She closed her eyes grasping for every calming exercise she’d ever practiced. But they deserted her, as though she hadn’t spent a quarter of her life in the spiritual and physical practice of Kung Fu. No matter what animal she tried to conjure up they eluded her as though a flood had drowned them all.

  Giving up the pretense of calm, she bit her lip so hard she was sure it would bleed. She met Gabe’s gaze. “I…I have a lesson today, Gabe. Master Han will be here any minute. I…”

  She stopped; knowing nothing she said would make a difference.

  His voice was calm. Almost pleasant. Except for the tight lines around his mouth and eyes, she wouldn’t have known how angry he was.

  “You are correct, Ana. You do have a lesson scheduled. However, Master Han will not be teaching it. I will.”

  Gathering her courage and what pride she had left she raised her chin and faced him. “What do you want, Gabe? To beat me? To kick me, strike me, make me say I’m sorry for what I did?’

  A glimmer of a smile crossed his face.

  “All of those options seem about right, Ana. A good place to start. But you forgot the one I would most like to do is turn you over my knee and spank your bare ass so hard that you won’t be able to sit down for a week.

  She started and bit her lip harder. The pain cut through her fear. Looking over his shoulder she judged the distance to the door but knew it was hopeless. He was too big, too fast.

  When she looked back at him resigned, any semblance of his humor was now gone.

  Even though she knew it was futile, she wanted to explain, tell him why she went to the poker game, and what she learned.

  “Gabe, I wanted to tell someone, to get one of your men to go with me but they all seemed so…so…busy…I didn’t want to bother them.”

  His eyes widened in mock surprise. “Busy, Ana? My men were busy? Doing what? What were they doing, Ana? Oh yes, now I remember. They were protecting you and your father. From men who are intent on killing you both.”

  Ana’s gut clenched. He was right but she needed to explain.

  “I wanted to tell you, I would have if you were here.”

  “No, Ana, you would not. Any more than you told any of my men that you were going to ride miles away from the Villa in the middle of the night -- alone.”

  He stopped and glared at her letting the words sink in.

  “No, instead, you snuck out of your room and threatened an already terrified servant. A man who would give his life for you and your father. You told Quitin you would send him and Jing, the woman who has cared for you since birth, back to China if he told anyone where you were going.”

  He stepped closer to her forcing her back against the wall. “I’m glad you have the decency to blush, Ana. I should spank your ass for that alone. It is unworthy of you. Just as it is unworthy of you to lie to me now.”

  She squeezed her eyes closed as much
to shut off her tears as to hide from his piercing glare.

  “Tell me, Ana.” His voice was calm, deceptively pleasant. Only when she opened her eyes did she see how angry he was.

  “Tell me. What did you plan to do if you were stopped by the men who tried to kill you father? Hmm? Or, if one of your poker buddies turns out to be the man who is planting pictures of you being gang raped.”

  She gasped, horrified. “I...I…didn’t see…”

  “No, you didn’t see those pictures, because I didn’t want to frighten you. I wanted to protect you. That was before I knew that you don’t need my protection, do you Ana? You can take care of yourself. Correct?”

  Ana knew he was deliberately taunting her, trying to frighten her. She took a deep breath and met his gaze.

  “Yes, I can. I know how to protect myself.”

  He stepped back and nodded.

  “Good. That’s good to know, Ana.” He paused then said, “Show me.”

  “Show you…show you what?”

  “How you protect yourself.”

  He walked into the center of the mat and motioned her toward him.

  “Tell you what. I will be one of the men who plans to rape you. You show me how you will protect yourself.”

  Her voice was small but it was the best she could do with the tight lump in her throat.

  “It doesn’t work like that, Gabe, and you know it.”

  He loomed up over her, the muscles on his chest and arms flexing, his strong thighs tightening as he closed in on her.

  “No, I don’t know, Ana. I’ve never attacked a woman or raped her or tried to kill a defenseless old man. But since you know, show me. Convince me that you don’t need my protection.”

  Ana shook her head and refused to look at him. Then gathering her courage she pulled on her years of Kung Fu and looked him in the eye.

  “I…can’t. You are ready for me. With someone your size I need the element of surprise, to equalize our strengths.”

  “That’s good, Ana. You’re right. That is about your only chance with someone as big as me. Fine, I’ll act surprised.”

  When she glared at him, he whipped a bandana out of his back pocket. “Tell you what, I’ll blind myself. I won’t know where you are or when you are coming at me.” He tied the bandana snugly over his eyes and moved back.

  Ana stepped aside, her own anger rising. He was trying to make a fool of her. But she did know how to protect herself. Master Chan raved about her skills. She had to stop letting Gabe intimidate her. Master Chan said you lose more with your mind than your body. She moved back several quiet steps feinting from one side to the other. When she felt the spirit rise she launched herself at him aiming one of her flying kicks at his knees. To her shock he caught her in mid-air before she touched him. He flipped her and threw her face first to the floor and landed his full weight on top of her.

  “Now, what, Ana? Was that your best, your surprise attack?”

  Gasping for air, she cried out, “How did you know? Know where I was coming from?”

  He growled in her ear. “I smelled you, Ana. Do you think I’m the only wolf in the county? The only man that sees you coming and wants to do this to you.”

  He pressed his body against hers. To her surprise a rush of sensation hit her. It was as though it was the other night on the balcony. She whimpered at the heat flooding through her. His breath was hot on her neck. He dragged her hips up in the air and shoved her legs apart with his strong thighs. She felt his bulging erection pressing against her and cried out. Not because she wanted him to stop, but because she didn’t.

  He whispered, “And what if I do this?”

  He lifted her ass higher angling her hips so that his erection was squarely against her sensitive folds. His hands were so large that he could massage her bottom with his thumbs and reach between her legs to stroke her mons with his fingers. She sobbed at the erotic touch panting for breath. She was shocked. She didn’t want him to stop. She wanted more. Those rising waves of pleasure that she rode the other night were crashing over her. She wanted to grab them and ride them higher, over the top. Gabe was whispering in her ear, a throaty growl, telling her how beautiful she was, how much he wanted her, how he didn’t want to stop.

  Without warning he flipped her to her back and bent her knees and spread her legs wide apart. He crawled up between them with a groan and buried his face against her throat.

  She cried out a strangled sound. “Do that. Please, do that again!”

  “What, baby, do what?” he growled a husky needy sound that vibrated against her heated flesh.

  “Touch me, Gabe. No, no! Suck on me!”

  He groaned a deep animal grunt and tore open the top of her gi and slid one hand under her chemise. With his fingers and thumb he massaged her nipple until it rose to a hard sensitive peak. Ana whimpered a surprised moan. The pleasure was so hot, so chaotic she could barely breathe. He moved from one breast to the other, teasing one tight peak then the other. When she didn’t think she could bear another sensation he slipped his hand inside her pants. Expertly pushing aside the damp tangle of soft curls, he separated her silky folds and found the throbbing nub hidden below. Ana shrieked a wild intense cry and shifted her hips to meet his fingers, begging for more.

  Then Gabe was all over her. He drove her, dragged her from one jagged peak of pleasure to another. Each one higher, more intense. Places, sensations, she never knew existed. He licked and sucked on her nipples, his tongue wringing sobbing pleas of “more” from her lips. But it was his fingers between her legs that drove her over the top. When she didn’t believe that she could climb another inch up that erotic mountain of pleasure he sucked her nipple deep in his mouth and bit down at the same time pinching her throbbing clit. A firestorm of sensation overtook her and it was only later that she knew the wild keening cries she heard were hers.

  ~~

  Chapter 30

  Gabe looked in awe at the gorgeous woman in his arms. Ana’s head was flung back. her eyes closed. Lovely thick black lashes sparking with tears fanned her cheeks. Her skin was flushed an erotic pink. Gabe thought with a grim smile, if he was her lover he would know about all the special places on her body that were flushed. The places that were hot, like her chest, and her breasts. Places that were swollen and tender like her nipples that peaked to sensitive brown berries. If he could, if he was her lover, he would find them all. The places she might know and all those she didn’t. Like the soft skin on the inside of her thighs, the tickly but highly erotic divot of her navel. Those damp silky folds with the treasures buried inside. And, of course, her ass. He closed his eyes to block out the image. He had only felt her firm cheeks. The plump mounds that fit in his hands with that enticing crack separating them. Oh God, what he could do with that separation. She would never be the same.

  He reminded himself he was not her lover. But he couldn’t squelch a burst of male pride. He may not be her lover but he was the first man to bring her to orgasm. Hell, he was the first man who kissed her. With a start he realized he had not kissed her today. No, instead he tormented her, frightened her, and then he made the mistake that he always seemed to make with Ana. He touched her and smelled her, and then he was a goner.

  And, God, that orgasm. He groaned softly. If only he could continue. The pleasures he would give her. She was ready, open, still throbbing. Making soft little breathy moans that made his cock as hard as a post. Christ, he’d had a perpetual hard-on since he met her. With a shock he realized he had not had a woman since that day in the barn. No wonder his dick was stiff as an iron rod.

  Thank God, he wasn’t her lover. They would never leave their bed. They would spend days and night lapping at each other’s bodies. Reveling in their taste, their smell. But her orgasm. Holy Christ, if that what she was like with the simple things they had done… But he forced himself to remember, he was not her lover. He was Gabriel McKenna and McKenna men didn’t take lovers. God forbid they should take wives.

  He looked
down at her and saw that Ana was peeking up at him. She looked worried, embarrassed and fulfilled. He decided he would work with the fulfilled part and see if he could rid her of the worry and fear.

  He murmured in her ear, “Princess, you are an extraordinary woman. Do you know that?

  She shook her head and flushed an even brighter pink.

  Then she eyed him and her voice was serious.

  “Am I, Gabe?”

  “Yeah, honey, you are. I have never seen a more responsive woman--or a lovelier one.”

  She looked thoughtful then hesitant.

  “It’s okay what I did? I… I made a lot of noise.”

  He roared. “Yeah, Princess you are a noisy little princess.”

  “Gabe? “

  His breath hitched. He didn’t like the serious questions he knew were coming. He nuzzled her neck and whispered in her ear. “Don’t talk honey. Let me hold you.”

  He brushed the damp hair off her face and ran his fingers over her swollen lips. He leaned down and kissed each one of her eyelids. He nibbled on her earlobe then bit down gently. She quivered and sighed.

  Knowing he had to stop or he wouldn’t be able to, he moved to the issues that he’d been agonizing over.

  “I owe you an apology, Ana.”

  She looked genuinely puzzled.

  “Why?”

  “Because I brought you here to punish you, teach you a lesson. And then, damnit, you happened.”

  She rose up on one elbow and frowned.

  “What do you mean?”

  He breathed a long sigh. “I dunno how you do it, Princess. But I get within five feet of you and all I want to do is hold you and touch you and, hell, yes, smell you!”

  “Is,,,is that bad?”

  “Yeah, honey. I took advantage of you. You were scared and I’m bigger and stronger than you. I used my strength against you, to frighten you. And then, damnit, I turned it around and used it to love you.”

  She was quiet for a long moment. “Gabe, is it taking advantage of someone if they want to be taken advantage of?”