Taylor snickered. “I am?”
Madeline fixed her gaze to the taxi window. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’m not interested.”
“I figured you would see it someday.”
“I see very clearly, and I know when there is a very big shark in the tank,” she replied with an ugly tone.
After a start at her insult, he laughed heartily.
Revolted, she looked out the window at the passing streets.
“Well, for now, I can get you a room at the hotel where I’m staying.” He took her hand and patted it. “You can sort out whatever it is that’s upsetting you.”
“And, why would you be so generous?”
He sighed heavily. “I figure we might at least be friends.”
Madeline gave him her coldest smile. “People like us?”
“Yeah, I know.” He chuckled. “The only friends we have are the best that money can buy.”
A strange feeling settled over her, but she couldn’t place it. How were these two magnetic men from different worlds connected? By the obvious and intense dislike they held for each other, Madeline knew that the involvement ran deeper than just their coincidental connection to her.
“Do you know Devon well?” she asked, keeping her tone casual, trying to appear disinterested by turning her gaze to the window again.
Taylor peered at her. “Let’s just say, we’re not best friends.”
Before she could investigate her suspicions further, the taxi arrived at his hotel.
Taylor carefully looked all around, handed the driver the other hundred and held his hand out to her.
Adjusting her expression to emotionless again, Madeline took it.
After a brief ride, they went up in the elevator.
They made their way down a long carpeted hallway.
After he opened the door, Madeline turned and slammed the hotel room door in Taylor’s flabbergasted face. She wanted him to go away and locking him out might do the trick for a while.
With disdain, she surveyed the over-sized bed and realized the room appeared even more elaborate than Devon’s. What am I doing here? Why did I run? She walked over to the mirror. “I’ve never run from anything or anyone.” She raised her head as the aroma of pine drifted into the room.
“You’re afraid,” he spoke from behind her.
She spun around. “Dev! How did you find me?” His sudden appearance baffled her.
“Really, Miss...” His voice faded away.
“It’s Mrs. Ananza now.”
“Oh, so now you know that?”
“I just felt overwhelmed, so many things have happened at the same time.”
“So, you run?”
“I have never been in…”
“Been in what, Maddy?” A smile tugged at his lips. “In Vegas, in a hotel room? In trouble?”
She refused to play and remained mute.
He grasped her arms. “Are you going to tell me?” He spun her around and unzipped the flashy red dress.
“Dev?” Goose bumps rose on her arms while he lowered the dress straps, his fingers smoothing over her skin.
Madeline willed herself to remain impassive. This man cannot be allowed to see that I need him, that I love him beyond all reason.
He let the glittery red dress drop to the floor and gathered her lace underwear in his fingers, towing her closer while lowering his face to her neck.
Her throat closed when she felt his hot mouth on her skin. Oh, ignoring this will be tough. Madeline raised her eyes to the ceiling.
He turned her to face the mirror, reached around her and stroked her nipples with his warm fingers.
Despite her resolution to remain unaffected, she trembled at the image of his hands in the mirror, passing over her rosy, erect nipples.
Devon’s expression remained intense as he continued to play with them, squeezing and circling the hardening tips of her breasts with his fingers.
Madeline watched and grew wet at the intense expression his reflection wore. The nipple play halted, and she stood frozen, attempting to shove the disappointment away.
After a long moment, his sleek, bare body rubbed against her back. “You are my chosen wife, and so beautiful.”
“Chosen?” She shivered from his hot breath grazing her ear. Madeline held her breath as his hands smoothed over her stomach and trailed down her skin in a slow, sensuous journey, which ended with his fingers rubbing her clit. With unavoidable fascination, she continued to watch his physical seduction in the mirror.
“You’re so wet.” Devon slipped a finger into her, and she could feel her own moisture sliding around his finger while she gazed at their reflections in the mirror. “Tell me why you’re so wet,” he urged, his other hand passing teasingly over her sensitive nipple.
“Tell you?” She knew what he meant, but she was too scared to declare her love for this powerful man.
“Talk to me.”
“I can’t.”
Caressing her nipple, he increased his finger thrusts. “Just tell me.” He lowered his hot mouth to her neck again.
Oh, God! Madeline’s body shook helplessly. “I want...” She became breathless as he kept up the rhythmic actions and moisture trickled to her inner thighs while she panted.
“Tell me.” He continued his seductive prompting.
“I do want you, Dev!”
Abruptly, he spun her around. She shut her eyes and drew in a surprised breath. “Tell me, why you want me, Maddy. Why did you marry me?” His eyes glinted angrily at her.
Madeline had never bared her soul to a man, or to anyone. Pride prevented her; her way of life prevented her.
Devon glared at her while propelling her back to the wall. He tugged her closer to his hips. Smothering her breathless pants, he kissed her hard.
Madeline gloried in the bruising of her lips. Glimpsing a glow sparking in his eyes, she froze. The look in his eyes was like before, when the brave had wanted to tame her.
He tilted her hips and shoved into her.
“Ahh...” she whimpered.
He pumped her hard and fast, her body slammed to the wall by his deep, powerful thrusts. “Oh, oh...” she panted while he grasped her hips harder and tilted her higher.
“I will fuck the truth from you then,” he growled in a furious tone.
She became so wet, she could even hear the smacking sound of him pulling his cock in and out of her. Grinding his cock into her, Devon held her tightly to him, as though he held her pinned to the wall to prevent her escape from him, her escape from the truth.
The power that this man possessed overwhelmed her senses while, the sensation of his hard, unrelenting shoves, made her feel plundered with a delicious satisfied capitulation. She wanted to open herself even more to him as she breathlessly held onto his shoulders.
Halting his grinds, he set her away from him, pulling out of her. “Do you see what we have?”
She throbbed all over from the powerful pounding, and her ability to respond was lost to her. She gulped with a weak nod of her head.
At her inadequate response to his question, he looked even more enraged as he carried her on his hips to the bed, tossing her down on it. Her breath rushed out, and before she could draw another, he hovered above her, tugging her body to the edge and bending her knees.
Adrenaline coursed through her, and her heart pounded in her chest like a jackhammer. She never knew that this Devon could be so forceful and had never seen him actually angry before. He tilted her knees further back and braced his feet to the floor. At his silent pause, Madeline gazed into his eyes and a strong wave of emotion jolted through her. This irate Dev appeared even sexier with his aggressive determination.
I want this man so badly. He just turns me on and turns me inside out.
Devon slowly spread her thighs and pressed them back. Her body arched with the motion, making her wide open with his precise positioning. He held her there, suspended in a vulnerable, sensuous position. His unwavering, determined expres
sion matched the glow from his eyes. He gazed at her flushed face and plunged himself into her, his hard, throbbing cock penetrating to a depth she’d never received before as he kept her hips tilted, opening her to his uncompromising thrusts.
“Unh,” Madeline breathed out with a stunned moan as the penetration reached inside of her with its merciless, sensuous intensity and she quivered with an unexpected wave of delicious bliss. “Ahh!” Tremors rippled in her legs. The orgasm feverishly stretched its consuming fervor across her trembling torso and took her breath from her.
“Is this what you want?” he purred at her and continued the pounding.
Madeline couldn’t even answer—the rapturous spell of her body’s capitulation stunned her to complete breathlessness as his hot cum flooded her with an intense warmth. Finally, she took a gulp of air and answered him, “Yes, Dev!” Magnificent, frenzied spasms ran through the length of her impassioned body. “Yes!”
An exhilaration coursed through her and her capitulation to her innermost feelings for this warrior overwhelmed her previously cautious nature. “Dev?”
“Yes, Madeline?”
“I do love you.”
Devon clenched her bare ass cheeks and squeezed them forcefully to pull her close to his body while the two of them experienced a rapturous combined orgasm. “Finally!” He chuckled breathlessly into her ear. “And did you know I love you, as well?”
Madeline couldn’t even swallow while gasping for air, her body throbbing with a superb fulfillment. “Yes, Mr. Ananza. I want you and I love you.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I need you!”
He appeared amazed by her declaration and set her away from him to look at her tear-streaked face. “Madeline?”
She swallowed a sob and smiled through her tears. “Yes, Dev?”
“Now, don’t get scared, okay?” he warned.
“What?”
Devon staggered with her weight, and carried her back to the bed. “Just remember…” His voice sounded so low, she could barely hear him. “I will find you.” His arms fell away and he dropped her on the bed with a thump.
A swoosh of cold air hit her bare body, and the scent of pine wafted into the room.
Her vision blurred with tears. She swiped at them with unsteady hands and studied the droplets wetting her fingers as though they were a foreign, alien liquid. Madeline never cried—at least, not at any time in her memory. At the stillness in the room, she let out a fearful gasp and bolted upright.
Devon had disappeared into thin air.
“Dev!” Madeline stood and the room spun, her heart beating wildly in her chest. “Devon?” she screamed at the top of her lungs, staggering back to the bed. His vanishing had opened the floodgates to yet another new world, one overflowing with sorrow and anguish.
Stricken with desolate emptiness, she dropped to the bed and wept like a lost child.
“How could you do that to me?” She curled her body into a tight ball of an endless grieving. “God dammit!” She hugged herself in torturous agony, helpless to prevent the insurmountable misery, as it swallowed up all that Madeline Sayers once was.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The next day…
Highway 93, Somewhere near Nowhere, Arizona
Hot rage boiled inside Madeline at Devon’s sudden disappearance. One snap decision was all it took for her to phone her office, and have them wire her some funds then reserve a car rental so she could drive back to Nowhere.
A miserable feeling of dread swept over her, as she came to a bitter conclusion about Devon’s seduction scheme. Break her will, then dump her. Leave her, as if she were nothing. She resented herself for allowing something like this to happen. Hated and despised him for the humiliation. The painful constriction in her chest indicated more than physical pain—the emotional pain of being used.
In fury, she’d left the hotel without even seeing Taylor. No big deal there. He was just a man, and all men deserved to be left in the fucking dust!
Madeline had plenty of time for reflection during the long journey from civilization to the outlands of nothing. In the span of just two weeks, she had ridden on an emotion-tilting roller coaster. It started with unavoidable attraction, and swiftly shifted to heights of infatuation that dizzied her and drew her into an irresistible seduction. Then, there was the unbridled passion, which catapulted into love.
Finally, she experienced vulnerability with its scary pangs of bittersweet tenderness. In the end, Devon left her alone to endure painful heartbreak, and the burn from his desertion left a bitter taste in her mouth.
All that remained was a pure, blinding fury. There was no going back to the cold, unaffected Madeline. After repeated attempts, she’d failed to shove the newfound and unwanted feelings into the dark recesses of what once was a frozen heart.
She’d decided to find out more about Devon Ananza, and believed Rick would know the answers to her questions about the mysterious man who’d seduced her in so many ways. Afterward, she could close this unfortunate episode in her life and return to Malibu, leaving all evidence of her capitulation and the distressing memories behind her.
Arriving at the trading post about sundown, Madeline spotted Rick’s Jeep among the few cars in the parking lot.
Jasp shot her a smile from his rocking chair as she bounded up the steps and ignored him completely.
She marched to the back and pounded on the studio door.
“Hold up, will ya?” Rick called out.
Impatiently, she crossed her arms over her chest.
He opened it a bit and peeked through the gap. “Maddy?”
“Let me in, Dad!”
Stepping aside, he mutely watched her stride into the room.
“I want you to tell me everything you know about Devon Ananza!”
Confused amusement swept over his face. “Um, well, he’s your husband, of course.”
“No!” She paced across the studio floor with exasperation and flipped around to pace back to him. “I mean, who is he really? What does he do?” She stopped in front of him. “And why did you react the way you did, when you first met him?”
“Well, you sure hit me all at once.” Rick chuckled.
“All of it, Rick!”
“What happened?” he asked in apprehension.
She shook her head.
“I know it must be bad, if you have these doubts.” He tilted his head.
“He disappeared.” She folded her arms across her chest with finality.
“Maybe he just needs time to adjust, and felt conflicted about it all.”
“No, Rick!” she explained, “I mean that he literally disappeared in a poof of air, before my very eyes!”
Rick studied her for a long moment, and then released an uneasy breath. “Honestly, I was convinced he was just a descendant, and that’s why he looked so much like him.
“Like who?”
He walked to the back of the room and stopped in front of a large painting.
“I mean it, Rick. I’m so tired of all this mystery about Devon Ananza.”
Gently, he lifted the painting, carried it over to the wall next to her and set it down on the wide windowsill.
“It’s him.” She leaned closer, easily recognizing the figure’s rough sneer and his glowing eyes.
The warrior in the painting appeared earthy. Hunger glinted in his eyes as he sat on a fierce-looking black stallion. The blood-red stripes on the horse were identical to the ones on the warrior’s face. Madeline viewed his broad, bare chest, streaked with more red. “Yeah, that’s him.”
Rick stepped back. “First off, you must learn about the legend.”
Madeline swiveled her bewildered gaze toward him. “What legend?”
“I was afraid of this.” He shook his head. “I never wanted you to get hurt. That’s why I brought you here before, to show you this.” He went to his cluttered desk and fumbled through the messy stacks of paper and magazines. “Now where did I put it?”
She turned back to stare at the
painting and felt a flush run along her skin. “My woman now.” Madeline stepped back. “No one’s woman!”
“What was that?” Rick looked up in surprise.
“Nothing.” She released an angry breath. “Tell me about him.”
Rick nodded and continued his search until he found what he hunted for. “Here it is!” He passed her a large volume.
“A book?”
“Take it.”
She grasped it tightly in her hand. “Are you going to tell me?”
“No, I’m not.” He gazed into her eyes. “When you read that, you will see why.” Rick retrieved a carving tool from the worktable. “You can stay with me at the trailer for as long as you want, you know.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“He’ll come back to find you.”
Madeline remembered that Devon whispered those same words to her just before he vanished. “Well, I won’t be here to be found!” Clutching the book in a white-knuckled grip, she headed out the door.
Sky Cutter Road
Madeline tapped the car headlights off, and remained seated in front of Rick’s trailer for a long while. She glanced over at the book on the seat. The old Madeline would grab her things and leave. The old Madeline? A realization came to her. I’m changed, and I don’t know myself anymore.
The trailer was dark, so she flipped the light switch on. Removing her shoes, Madeline sat on the couch, holding the book in her limp hands. Dev, a legend? She looked down at the volume with a sigh.
The Hualapai Wars: Legends and Heroes.
In the summer of 1865, a white man, a settler, killed the brave leader of the People of the Pines. This book cannot speak the leader’s name as he is touched by the sun and forever.
The bloody war, which followed as revenge from the People to the whites brought many deaths and nearly wiped out the People’s ranks. The tribe fell in disfavor with the wind, the life circle and the earth mother. Disease ran among our people; it killed the babies, the young, and the old and our tribe could thrive no more.
Madeline felt baffled. What does this have to do with Dev? The book shook in her grip.
Tame Me: A Filthy Billionaire Romance Page 11
