“I guess that settles it. I have some arrangements to make.”
Her father nodded.
“I’m real sorry about this, Eli.”
He gave her a small smile. “I knew Joe was up to something, but when was he not up to something?”
She nodded and walked into the house then up the stairs, avoiding the family. She wasn’t in the mood. Crysta knew now that she would never be in the mood for them. As she walked to her room, she looked at the pictures on the wall again. Downstairs there were lots of pictures of the ranch. Here, it was family. Old pictures of her mother when she was a girl, of her on her mother’s lap, then of Joe’s time in the service. At the end of the hall there was Eli. Joe had as many pictures of Eli as he did of everyone else in the family.
She smiled as she straightened one.
“I’ll do right by him, Joe. Don’t you worry.”
Then, she decided to get things in order. She had a lot to figure out before she could come back to the island.
* * * *
The next morning, Eli knew who was behind him without turning. It was an ability that had served him well in the military.
“You want to make sure nothing happens to her,” he said to Ham.
“Yes. You know that family.”
He turned to face Ham as he sipped his first coffee of the day. He should have known Ham would be up. The time difference aside, he was a Navy man. Some habits were hard to break.
“I’ll do everything in my power to keep her safe.”
Ham glanced behind him. “She’s getting ready because we have something to do before we head back. She’d have my head if she knew I said something to you. I’m assuming that Joe wouldn’t have set this up if he thought you couldn’t do it, but I wanted to make sure. She’s all I have in this life, all I have of her mother.”
Eli nodded as he heard footsteps approaching. He was surprised to see Crysta wearing a red Hawaiian print dress and apparently ready to tackle the day. She was wearing her hair down, the way he liked it. The soft curls draped over her shoulders and half way down her back. She wore very little makeup, but she had the most amazing skin, so she really didn’t need makeup to begin with. Her blue eyes sparkled with determination. He had no idea what she was about, but Eli definitely liked the benefit of seeing her happy.
“Did you want to eat here or on the way?” she asked her father.
“Let’s eat something here. My stomach is still on DC time.”
She nodded. “Have you eaten, Eli?”
He hadn’t, but he couldn’t answer her right away. He took a swallow of coffee and shook his head.
“I’m going to scramble up some eggs if you’re interested.”
He nodded. Her father grabbed a cup and poured his coffee. “I’m going to go out for my walk.”
She gave him an absent minded kiss on the cheek then grabbed one of the skillets from the rack and started to gather ingredients. When they were alone she said, “So, I hear my father thinks I can’t take care of myself.”
He chuckled. “He thinks you have no idea.”
She shot him one of her 1,000-watt smiles. “Of course he does. I let him think he’s doing all this behind my back. I know how to handle my daddy.”
She started to crack eggs.
“Tell me just how bad that family is.”
“Probably not as bad as your father thinks, but Joe’s brother and his son can be a pain in the ass.”
She nodded as she opened the fridge again and started searching for something. “I just know that Dad always was afraid to have me back here. Something happened all those years ago. Something bad enough to keep me away.
“Away from Joe.”
She shook her head. “You know, when that went on he was still serving. He had little to do with the family at that point and dad didn’t meet him until Mom’s funeral. It took him a few years to trust Joe, so I know that it must have been super bad.”
“What is it that you and your dad are doing today?” he asked. He knew it was rude, but he couldn’t help wondering what they had planned.
She hesitated enough to irritate him. “We brought my mother’s ashes. She wanted them returned to Hawai’i.”
She pronounced the name of the island properly so he knew that she had at least been raised to do that.
“Oh.” He knew from Joe that her mother had died when Crysta was very young. “So you waited all this time?”
She sighed. “Our trip last year was postponed because of Dad’s illness.”
“Did you have a place in mind?”
She shrugged. “Mom didn’t give a place, just said here. In the ocean.”
He watched her for a second, trying to decide how far to intrude in her privacy. Her mother had been Hawaiian and there were certain things they did for a burial at sea.
“You should change and we need to hit up a lei stand.”
She glanced at him with confusion lighting her eyes. “Lei stand?”
“Your father and you need to get something on that will work in the water. Something you don’t mind getting a little wet. It’s customary to put leis in the water with the ashes.”
Her face softened. “Thank you. I think Mom would have liked that.”
The scent of breakfast cooking and a woman looking at him like he had hung the moon wasn’t making him feel very comfortable. His fingers itched to touch. It was odd and intoxicating at the same time. Thankfully, he was saved from embarrassment when her father slammed back into the kitchen.
“Dad, Eli says we need to have some clothes we can get wet when we take the ashes out on the water. And we need leis.”
Hamm studied Eli enough to make him nervous. “Of course. I didn’t think about it. Do you know where we can get a canoe?”
“I’ve got one, and I have a good bay you can paddle out on for this.”
Ham nodded. “Let’s get some food in us and we can head on out.”
* * * *
Crysta couldn’t seem to come to terms with spreading her mother’s ashes. For years, they had moved her from house to house, from state to state and country to country. She had been a constant reminder of what was missing in their lives but it had been a comfort that she was there with them, like she was watching over them.
Eli had taken them to the bay, but allowed them their privacy. She and her father now sat on the canoe and looked out over the water.
“She always loved it here. We’d always talked of returning to the islands,” her father said holding the urn. “She said it was in her blood.”
Crysta nodded, having heard it all before. Her father had never tried to hide his feelings about his wife. Not from Crysta. They had shared their grief. Since she’d become an adult she realized how rare and beautiful that was.
“I think part of this situation was my fault. When I was in the hospital, the one thing I told Joe I regretted, other than losing your mother when she was so young, was that you never got to know your roots.”
“And so Joe took action.” She smiled thinking about the big man with the loud voice. He had pushed his way into their world and refused to leave. “I guess I could complain about it, but well, I get to live in Hawaii for six months and work with horses. That’s worth it.”
Her father smiled. “So much your mother’s daughter. It’s hard to believe there is so much of her in you since you knew her such a short time.”
She smiled. “Joe would have said it was because she was Hawaiian and her blood runs through me.”
He nodded and opened the urn. Gently, he lowered it to the water and let the ashes fall out. When he was done, he set the box in between them, then he lifted his lei from around his neck and Crysta followed suit. They laid them in the water and watched them drift.
For a few moments, they sat in silence, water lapping against the canoe. The scent of the plumeria leis faded as the scent of salt water filled her senses.
“I guess we should get back,” her father said to her.
She blin
ked away tears and looked up at her father. His attention was fully fixed on the shoreline where she knew Eli waited. Crysta looked behind her and sighed. He was leaning against the hood of his truck. Her heart quickened as her blood heated. It was just a normal reaction, she told herself. He was gorgeous and any woman would get that jolt. He was wearing a pair of blue board shorts with white flowers and a plain white t-shirt. The cowboy hat should have looked out of place, but it didn’t for some reason.
“Crysta?”
She turned back to her father. He looked so healthy, if still a little underweight. The fear that had held her at his side for months was now dissolving…although not completely.
“Yeah, we better get back. We have a plane to catch.”
“And you have a move to prepare.”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
As they headed back to shore, she realized she had just closed the door on one part of her life and she was ready for the change. They neared the shore and she concentrated on her companion for the next few months. It was hard not to. Just by existing, he demanded attention.
Crysta needed to remind herself it was temporary and he wasn’t her Dom. But she knew it would be easier said than done.
Chapter Four
Eli snorted when he saw Micah Ross’ number on his cell phone. He thought about ignoring it because he had a lot of work today, but he had learned that Micah would just keep calling. He picked it up.
“If you keep calling me like this, people will begin to talk.”
Micah chuckled. “I call at the behest of my woman.”
There was someone talking in the background. He knew Dee was probably griping at him for the term “his woman.”
“Yeah. So sad to see someone who used to be a revered Dom at the command of a little woman.”
“She takes orders about the important stuff. Ow, dammit, Dee. Don’t punch me.”
Eli laughed. It had been ten days since the memorial service and either Evan or Micah had called him every few days. It was a little disturbing how Eli was starting to look forward to the calls, so he had ignored a few of them. That had been a mistake.
“Whatcha want now, Ross?”
“Dee wanted to know when Crysta was returning. She’s wondering if she’d want to come over and meet everyone.”
“Why the hell would she want that?” he asked, realizing he had raised his voice when one of the horse trainers glanced over at him. Why the idea had him pissed off he had no idea.
“Dee thought she might want to get to know about the islands. And, you know, you don’t have a lot of women on the ranch. She might want some female company. Plus, you know the ladies. They’ll want to take her to Rough ‘n Ready.”
Eli said nothing as he looked out over the barn.
“Eli?”
He didn’t know why he had such a visceral reaction to her being at the club, or even just talking to the women. May Chambers and Dee Ross were sweet women and would never do anything to Crysta, but Eli realized there was a sense of wrongness about taking her to the club.
That is until she’d submitted.
Dammit.
“Eli? Seriously, man, you have to answer me, or Dee’s going to have her brother route a call to 911 there.”
Eli shook himself out of his funk. “Control your woman, Ross. Besides, what makes you think Crysta would want a trip to Rough ‘n Ready?”
There was a beat of silence. “I talked to Damon, the Dom we talked about. She’ll want to at least stop by, according to him.”
That wasn’t acceptable. Not that he had a choice in the matter, but Eli didn’t like it. He wanted her here. With him.
Shit.
He needed to get his mind off that. There was no way he was going to be able to bed Crysta. He didn’t have time to deal with a new sub, and he didn’t want to deal with implications of getting tied up with her. They had a hard six months ahead of them.
“Listen, I’ll let her know when she comes here. We will probably make a trip to Oahu, but we are kind of stuck here for six months. We can only leave the island for a couple days.”
Ross chuckled. “I have a feeling old Joe had this planned all along.”
“Of course he did, the old bastard.”
“You don’t sound too upset over it.”
He shrugged knowing Micah couldn’t see it. “I can’t disagree because I’ll be left with the ranch at the end.”
“That’s true. Call if you need anything. And you know, Dee’s gonna make me call in a couple days.”
“Of course she is, Ross. You’re whipped.”
“And gladly.”
He hung up, leaving Eli to his thoughts. He walked out of the barn with Charlie, his three-year-old mare. She was a good workhorse and since he’d been there she’d foaled, they had pretty much spent her entire life together. Best, she didn’t ask questions.
The one thing he wanted to make sure was not to let his attraction to Crysta cause problems. Business was business. With them both living in the same house, he needed to control his need to touch her. It wasn’t overwhelming him…not yet. But, when he had seen she and her father return from spreading her mother’s ashes, he’d wanted to pull her into his arms and comfort her. It wasn’t something he was accustomed to. He had subs, he had lovers, but he didn’t get involved in their personal lives.
He sighed mounted his horse. There was nothing a good ride out wouldn’t help with.
* * * *
It had been two weeks and Crysta was still not sure she was doing the right thing. In terms of the ranch, she was. But she was worried about her father. As people hurried past them at Dulles, she started to have regrets. Her father was stronger, but he needed her. Not all the time, but some of the time. Okay, not really at all, but being so far away made her worry.
“No.”
She looked up at her father. “What?”
“No, you are not going to use me to stay here.”
She frowned at her father. “I’m not trying to use you.”
“It’s six months, and maybe I can find time to get back out there to visit again. I can take care of myself.”
She knew he could. “But what happens if the cancer comes back.”
He took her hands. “First, you have to accept that the cancer will always be there. I’m just in remission. It is something I will probably have to live with. Secondly, you know provisions are in the will for this. And thirdly, you need to get through security so you can make it to your plane.”
He pulled her close, gave her one of those big hugs she loved so much, then gave her a loud smacking kiss on the lips.
“I love you. Now go away.”
She laughed. “Okay.”
She turned to head to security.
“Text me when you get there.”
“I don’t know. You told me to go away,” she yelled behind her. She smiled when she heard his laugh. Right before she turned the corner, she turned and looked back. He was still standing there, the man who she thought could conquer anything, smiling and waving. He was all that was good in her world and one thing she knew she needed was to let him have his freedom. And…she needed to get on with her life.
Tears burned the backs of her eyes as she turned and headed off to that life. At least for a little while, she was going to be a ranch owner.
Oh, God.
“I hope you know what you were doing, Joe.”
* * * *
“Shouldn’t she be here by now?” Danny Aiona asked Eli.
Eli tried to ignore his own personal anticipation about Crysta arriving, but with Danny asking about it every five minutes, he made it worse. May Chambers’ younger brother was working at the ranch for the summer to save up some money for school. He didn’t mind since they were busy at the ranch and Danny was a good worker. It was a shame that the kid wanted to be a doctor because he was excellent with horses.
“I heard she was hot.”
He had to fight a chuckle. The youngest of the Aiona’s had a probl
em with keeping his thoughts to himself.
“Yeah. She’s pretty.”
Danny hummed. “I do have a thing for black women.”
“So I’ve heard.”
By marriage, Danny was a member at Rough ‘n Ready, although he didn’t play much. Evan kept him on a short leash since he wasn’t completely trained as a Dom, so he wasn’t allowed full play at the club. It was one of the things he respected about both club owners. They took the safety of their patrons over earning bigger profits.
Suddenly, Danny whistled. Eli glanced up and saw what Danny was reacting to. When he spotted her, his heart almost stopped. She was walking with that long-legged easy stride of hers. She was wearing a worn cowboy hat. It wasn’t something she had just bought. She’d had it a long time from the look of it. His gaze drifted down as he took in the rest of her outfit. The bright blue sleeveless shirt matched her eyes. The jeans fit perfectly, molding to her legs and hips, and God help him, he was pretty sure her ass too.
She smiled when she saw him and dammit, his mouth dried up. How could this woman he barely knew pull this reaction from him?
“Hey, boss?” Danny asked.
He glanced at the younger man and hoped he wasn’t blushing. He wasn’t some little boy with his first crush, but he was embarrassed he’d been caught daydreaming about her.
She stepped up and without warning gave him a hug. It was too quick, but it was enough to get his heart racing. The scent of her surrounded him.
“It’s so great to finally be here. That’s such a long trip,” she said as she pulled back. He said nothing for a minute because she was smiling at him and every damned bloody thought in his head evaporated. It was as if he had been rendered stupid in that one second.
Danny cleared his throat, bringing Eli back to earth.
“Crysta, this is Danny Aiona, one of the hands.”
She turned and smiled at Danny. “It’s so nice to meet you. I only have one bag, so it shouldn’t take that long.”
“One bag for six months?” Eli asked.
She slanted him a look. “I shipped everything else. It should be here next week. Besides, I don’t need much.”
“I like that in a woman,” he said.
She laughed. “I’m sure every man does.” Something caught her eye and she hurried over to the carousel to get her bag. He strode after her, annoyed. She reached for it, but he got there first, pulling it off.
A Little Harmless Ride Page 3
