Struck by Thunder

by Taylor Lee

  He knocked on the door and opened it to see Ri, Zhi, Lei, and Joey sitting at the table. They were playing GO, an ancient Chinese game of strategy and skill. From the pile of money next to her, it looked like Lei was putting the three men to shame.

  Wyatt smiled. “Do we have a patient here or someone faking an injury to put her opponents off guard? Or are you guys letting her win because you feel sorry for her?”

  Joey scowled. “Obviously, you have never played GO against Lei. I don’t know how anyone could beat her. She is too damn smart.”

  Lei flushed with pleasure and threw Wyatt a look that said she was glad to see him.

  He walked over and put his hand on her shoulder.

  “How are you feeling? I have been thinking about you all day, hoping that you are not hurting the way you were last night.”

  Although she was still pale, she smiled. “No, I’m feeling much better, but then I’m still under the influence of those pills of Chief’s.”

  Wyatt saw Ri watching him with suspicion. He turned back to Lei and motioned to Joey’s back room.

  “How about if we go in there for a minute? I wanna check that bandage.”

  Ri flushed. He looked down as patches of heat flamed his cheeks. Lei wrapped her arm around his shoulder.

  “It’s okay, Ri. Wyatt and Joey are like chinogos to me. Wyatt put the bandages on me last night. He needs to make sure I’m okay.”

  She stood up, following Wyatt into the back room.

  “My brother is upset over what happened. He’s even more protective than usual.”

  Wyatt grinned in appreciation. “I can understand that. I’m feeling more protective myself. Let’s take a look. I wanna see your black and yellow ugly tummy – at least according to Elena that’s what it looks like.”

  Wyatt was struck again at the severity of the bruising, but was glad that he could touch her bandaged ribs with only a mild reaction from Lei.

  “The good thing about broken ribs is if you set them right, they heal amazingly fast. I don’t know a single kung fu master who hasn’t had his ribs broken at least once—often more than once.”

  “Have you?”

  “Damn right. Chinbau Li broke my ribs.” He hesitated, a smile crossing his face for a brief moment. “And, then I killed him.”

  Lei glanced at him in surprise.

  Wyatt gave her a rueful grin. “Amazing how that long ago event is affecting our lives even today.”

  Lei nodded thoughtfully.

  Wyatt decided to change the subject. He admitted to himself, he was eager to get her alone. He’d been thinking about her most of the day and wanted to get away from Ri’s suspicious eyes. And, hell, Joey’s searching glances were almost as bad.

  “Did you get outside at all today, Lei?” When she shook her head no, he added, “How about we go for a walk? Let you get some air? I want to check on Master. He was running a little off today. I want to be sure he is okay. How about it? Are you up for a walk?”

  Lei’s eyes sparkled in response. She said with an enthusiastic grin, “I would love that. I don’t want to hurt Joey’s feelings, but I don’t think I can take much more of his hovering. He is almost as bad as Ri.”

  Wyatt grinned. He put an arm around her shoulder. “I will take that as a warning. No hovering, I promise.”

  Joey looked surprised and Ri looked panicked when Wyatt said that he and Lei were going for a walk.

  “Hey, come on you guys, you know how tough she is. Plus, she needs to get some air; she’s been inside all day. We’ll be back within the hour.”

  Ignoring the murmurs of disagreement from all three men at the table, Wyatt inched Lei out the door, closing it firmly behind him.

  ~~~

  It was a beautiful night. The sky was papered with stars. A crescent moon added to the poetry. Wyatt reached over and took Lei’s hand, smiling down at her. Her heart gave a little flip, but she pushed away the feeling. All she had to do was remember Jesse Kendrick to keep overtures from Wyatt in perspective.

  They walked toward the horse barn without speaking. When they turned a dark corner, Wyatt stopped. He pulled her into the circle of his arms. She was startled. She wanted to push him away, but her chest hurt when she tried.

  He ignored her pushing back, holding her tighter. He reached down and lifted her chin bringing her face closer to his. He held her gaze, his expression was serious

  “Lei, I’ve been thinking about you all day. I’ve been worrying about you, but I’ve also been thinking about the things you said last night. You’re right. I do owe you an apology. I have been thinking of you first as a woman – which by the way is hard not to do—and then as a potential kung fu master. That’s not worthy of you. I apologize for my narrow thinking. It has compromised your progress.”

  Lei listened in disbelief, tears springing up in her eyes.

  “Thank you, Wyatt. I accept your apology.”

  He quirked a brow and said with mock seriousness, “Before you think that I agree with everything you said last night, let me get one thing straight. As I told you before, you were damn lucky I just made you apologize when you spit at me. I should have turned you over my knee and spanked your bare ass. That’s what I will do if you ever do that again.”

  Lei gasped. “You wouldn’t dare!”

  “O

  .h yeah? I would. Try me,” he said with a wicked grin. “You need to understand that in the dojo – and outside of it for that matter, I am the grandmaster here.”

  He leaned down, carefully avoiding her ribs and bruised stomach, he eased her close to him. He began kissing her softly, then much more insistently.

  She trembled, whispering, “What are you doing, Wyatt?”

  “To tell you the truth, I don’t know,” he murmured. “Damn it, Lei, I find it hard to get this close to you without wanting to kiss you. Does this qualify as hovering?”

  She gave a shaky laugh. “No, it is quite different than what Joey and Ri were doing.”

  “Sure as hell hope so.”

  He smiled and held her closer. Without intending it, he kissed her again. He felt her respond, which was a good thing because his body was on fire. He felt anxious, driven, as though he couldn’t get enough of her.

  They heard a noise. Seeing Chief coming from the barn, they jerked apart. Chief looked startled. “My God, Lei, are you well enough to be up? Walking?”

  “We are going for a short walk to give her some air,” Wyatt said. “We were going in to check on Master. I told you I thought he was running strangely.”

  “I checked him, Wyatt. He had a small rock in his shoe. He needs to be reshod. I’ll put one of the men on it tomorrow.”

  “Thanks, Chief. I think I’ll go in anyway. Say good night to him.”

  Wyatt ignored the way the Chief was staring at him. “Can you join Joey and me and Lei when we get back? I want to talk to all of you about what happened to Mouchi. What we’re going to do about it.”

  “Of course, Wyatt. I’m heading over to Joey’s now.”

  Wyatt led Lei into the barn, up to Master’s stall. He sat her down on a nearby hay bale while he went to check on Master. She heard him clicking softly and heard his horse nicker in response.

  He came out a few minutes later.

  “Chief was right. He does need new shoes. Don’t know how I missed that. I’m definitely a hoverer with Master. You and he would have great stories to tell about these men who won’t stop fussing over you.”

  As they walked back to the entrance, Lei asked, “Where is the sorrel?”

  Wyatt was surprised at her question, but answered, “We took her back home today.”

  Lei stopped and drilled him with a hard stare, then turned away, walking out of the barn. She strode quickly toward Joey’s, her arms folded protectively across her chest.

  Wyatt caught up with her. He took hold of her arm, pulling her back. “Lei, listen to me. That has nothing to do with how I feel about you.”

  She tossed her head dismissively.
Pressing her lips together in a firm line she said with a disbelieving sniff, “Really? That’s interesting, Wyatt. It has everything to do with how I feel about you.”

  He met her hard gaze. “I see.”

  She twisted away from him and went inside Joey’s. Wyatt followed behind.

  ~~~

  Chief and Joey were already settled in their customary chairs with a cigar and glass of bourbon when Lei and Wyatt entered.

  Wyatt said, “Don’t mind if I do,” pouring himself a glass of bourbon. Turning to Lei, he asked, “Would you like a glass?”

  She nodded. “Can I use it to wash down another of your pills, Chief?”

  Chief smiled at her. “You can have anything you want if it makes you feel better, Lei. I worried about you all day. I am glad to see you up and about.”

  Without preamble, Wyatt turned to the three of them. His expression was grim, his voice serious. “I want to talk to you about what happened to Mouchi last night. It is appropriate that you are here too, Lei, because this concerns you. It will affect you.

  “I have made a decision. I hope you will agree with me, particularly, you, Joey. I am dismissing Mouchi from our program. I am also dismissing the seven Sing Leon members who beat him. If you agree, Joey, I will send a telegram tonight to Wan Chang to let him know that Mouchi and all the fighters who were involved are being dismissed. Effective immediately.

  “Moreover, they are not to be replaced. I don’t mind if you have a couple of body guards, Lei, but I won’t have my dojo become the stage for the next Tong wars. Your father shouldn’t want that either. If your father decides to pull you from our program because of my actions, that will be unfortunate. But he needs to understand that if he turns you over to Joey and me, you will abide by our rules, not his.”

  Joey and Chief both nodded. Joey responded, “Of course, I agree with you one hundred percent, Wyatt. I would be shocked if you came to another decision. The problem will be Wan Chang. As Lei and I can tell you, he is like you, Wyatt. He doesn’t take orders. He gives them. Unfortunately, I think he will insist that Lei leave, as well.”

  Wyatt shook his head.

  “If that is his decision, so be it. I hope to convince him otherwise. Joey, you and I are the only ones who can train Lei the way she needs to be trained—to prevent her from being killed. We failed you yesterday, Lei. We didn’t teach you the proper way to suck in an opponent. As I told you tonight, I take responsibility for that failure. I have not been taking your quest to be a kung fu master seriously. But I am now. For what it’s worth, I don’t think your father has either or he wouldn’t have sent eight guards plus your brother and Zhi to protect you. It is no wonder you haven’t felt that anyone is taking you seriously. We haven’t been. But I am now. So is Joey. I hope we can convince your father to, as well.”

  He was quiet, waiting for the others to respond.

  Joey simply nodded, as did Chief. They all watched Lei to see her response.

  Lei said in a small voice, “If he says I have to leave, do I?”

  Wyatt replied, “That will be your decision. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  He stood up. “I want to go to my office and send that telegram. Lei is staying here again tonight, correct?”

  Joey nodded.

  Wyatt said, “I think you better get back to your room, Lei. Don’t know if you realize, but your eyes have turned to glass. We might conclude that you aren’t used to drinking booze on top of the pain killers we give stallions.”

  He took hold of her arm. She didn’t resist his grip, but looked surprised when he followed her into the bedroom and closed the door behind him. She slid away from him, moving purposefully to stand against the far wall.

  Wyatt saw, but didn’t respond to her obvious move. Instead he said in a careful voice, “I wanted to tell you I have to go to Denver tomorrow. I’ll be gone at least two weeks. Maybe more.”

  She held her arms rigidly across her chest. Her voice was dismissive, contained.

  “Have a nice trip.”

  Wyatt studied her tense body for a long moment, debating his next move. With a quiet sigh, he walked over and put his arms around her, ignoring her attempt to pull away. He held her close to him, breathing in her exotic spicy smell. He leaned down and kissed her eyes gently. Nipping at the soft skin on her cheeks he traced circles with his tongue working his way down to her mouth. Tipping her head back, he held her face between his hands and kissed her full on her lips, softly then harder. She resisted at first then began kissing him back, her body trembling. He groaned and kissed her again, driving his tongue deeper and deeper in her mouth. Her soft moans made his balls ache. His cock throbbed, straining against his trousers.

  He held her tight. With an effort, he resisted the impulse to lay her down on the bed, to lie down beside her. God, he wanted – needed -- to feel the full length of her soft lush body against his. He ached to run his hands over her breasts, tug on her nipples, stroke her beautiful ass, hold her close, and taste her. Christ, he reminded himself, pulling back, she is injured. Moreover, this isn’t right, it won’t work. Reluctantly he forced himself to step back, surprised at the effort it took, how much he longed to stay.

  He leaned down and kissed her gently on her cheek.

  “I’ll miss you, Lei. Get better.”

  He turned and left the room.

  ~~~

  On his way back from Denver nearly three weeks later, he stopped at the Shadow Falls Ranch. Alono had gone ahead and confirmed that Martin was not there. Chief chose to go on to Blue Canyon while Alono and Eagle stayed with Wyatt.

  Wyatt went out to the gazebo to wait for Jesse after Alono and Eagle went to the barn to check on the sorrel.

  Wyatt was smoking a cigarette. He turned to the doorway when he heard Jesse come in. She looked pale, nervous.

  “Hey, sweetheart. What’s causing that scared little rabbit look you’re wearing?”

  Jesse bounded up to him. “Oh Wyatt, I missed you so much! I am scared.”

  “Honey, I’ve missed you, too. Why are you scared, baby? That is one of the reasons I wanted to stop. I wanted to be sure that Martin wasn’t giving you a hard time after I cut off his balls. Figuratively speaking –at least for now.”

  “He hasn’t done anything to me, but he hasn’t spoken to me since that day. He is angry, angrier than I have ever seen him.”

  “Well, honey, in fairness to the asshole, that’s to be expected. Essentially, he walked in on his wife being fucked by a guy he despises. In front of his partner -- no less. I guess I didn’t make it any easier on him, did I? But, hell, I’ve never denied being an arrogant son of a bitch.” he said with a cocky grin.

  She smiled a faint smile, nodding, as if in agreement.

  Wyatt chucked her under her chin. “Sweetheart, I am sorry, but I can’t stay long. I have an important guest waiting for me at the ranch. But I couldn’t go home without stopping to make sure you were okay. And, of course, to fuck you.”

  She gazed at him, unbridled passion straining her face.

  “Wyatt, all I can think about is you, your body. What you do to me. I want … I want you to do everything to me. But I want it to be hard and fast. Why is that? Is there something wrong with me?”

  “Hell, honey, my philosophy is -- if it feels good and you want it, it is good. If hard and fast is what’s turning you on right now, I am pleased to oblige. Now, tell me, sweetheart, what do you want me to do to you right now?”

  She flushed and looked down, her fingers nervously twisting a lock of her hair.

  He lit a cigarette, took a drag, then pinned her with a devilish smile. “I asked you a question, honey. I’m damned sure you know by now when I ask a question, I expect an answer.”

  She stared at him, blushing. Then she straightened her shoulders resolutely and took a deep breath. “I…I want you to tear off my clothes and throw me down on the floor. I…I want you to hold me down and fuck me as hard as you can. Even…even if I haven’t come.”

/>   He leaned back and smiled. “I like the sound of that a whole hell of a lot -- except for the last part. It’s kinda against my principles. I’m not worried though, because by the time I get through, you will have come multiple times and be begging me for more.”

  Raking his eyes insolently over her body, his eyes narrowed. He tossed his cigarette, motioning her to come to him.

  “Come over here, honey. That’s right, here in front of me. You want to get fucked, do you?”

  He took her chin in his hand and tilted her face up to his, his lips curling in a salacious smile.

  “Think you can take it as hard as I’m going to give it to you?”

  When she nodded tentatively, her face flushed with excitement, he said softly, “You do, do you? Hmm, let’s see about that.”

  He pushed her down to the ground and lay on top of her. Holding her hands and arms above her head with one hand, with the other he ripped open her shirt, then shoved open her pants. She writhed, moaning under him, her body trembling.

  After he tore off all of her clothes and she lay naked on the floor, he said in a husky voice. “Spread your legs. Wider. Uh, uh, honey, that isn’t nearly wide enough. That’s better. I want them so wide you have to groan to keep them apart. That’s better. That’s the way to groan. I bet you can even grunt if I tell you to. That’s the way, baby, I thought I could get you to grunt like that. Now pull your knees up. Higher. Nope, even higher than that. Okay. Now that is what I call high and wide! Now I can see every bit of your pussy and that sweet asshole of yours.