Princess of the Plains

by Katherine Rhodes

  It hadn't crossed her mind that Tate couldn't ride. “Isn't it good that I didn't think about it?”

  “Fatima! Cale a boca! Christ, that's rude.”

  “Caralho.”

  “Don't start.”

  RJ cleared his throat, and Tate just sat quietly for a moment until the sisters calmed down.

  “Tee, I appreciate that you wanted to do this, and that you wanted to include me. But as much as I don't seem disabled to you, I am. And that's just who I am.”

  Faria swallowed and took a deep breath. “I'm sorry, Tate. It was wrong of me to not ask if you could do this. We can cancel—find something else to do?”

  “See, now you're going the other way. Just because I can't do something doesn't mean you shouldn't. You and the others should totally get on those things and take off. You do need to release some energy. I can't imagine being kidnapped was fun for anyone.”

  Lucy shook her head. “You have no idea. I really thought I was dead.”

  Fatima leaned forward. “So, are you cool with your gift now?”

  “Not yet. It's gonna take me awhile to get used to not hiding it. Cady is cool though. She said she'll help me if she can.”

  “Still must be cool.” Fatima sat back in the seat. “I mean, that would be insanely helpful to me.”

  “You can always ask me.”

  “What about when I go back to New Jersey?”

  The car was quiet.

  Tate broke the silence. “Are you going back to New Jersey?”

  “Well, I have to. My vet program is there and I am going to finish it. Unless I can transfer here, I have to go back.”

  Fatima stared out the window. She didn't really want to go back if Lucy was going to be staying. She had always been closest to Lucia, out of all of her siblings. They were close in age and temperament, and just matched really well. Going back to the farm and having to deal with Marcia’s cool distance, Sofia's flightiness and disregard for the rules, and Joaquim messing with all royals wanting a piece of him—well, it didn't sound fun the way she had just laid it out.

  And with Grandma gone, it was just not the same.

  Still, she was determined to finish her degree. She loved animals and understood them in ways other people didn't seem to be able to. Even if she didn’t have her sister’s gifts, she still was better with them than most vets she’d ever worked with.

  Maybe she could go back, finish her degree, and come back.

  “Tee?” Lucy glanced back at her in the mirror.

  “Yes?”

  “You don’t have to decide right this instant, you know.”

  Fatima stuck her tongue out and went back to staring out the window. She didn't have to decide. But she also really couldn't keep waiting to make the decision.

  RJ pulled up to the building that housed the ATVs and shut the car off. He stared out the window and didn’t move. Lucy prodded him, and he looked over at her.

  “Not good.”

  “What?” Lucy peered around him.

  “Those are the Gibbonses’ trucks. Two of the four brothers.”

  Fatima slumped in the seat. “Just back up and leave. Forget this. Nothing with this idea has gone right.”

  “No.” Tate sat forward. “No. We’re not going to let these assholes ruin our fun. Let’s go. Get out of the car, and and let’s do this.”

  Lucy shrugged and popped her door open. Climbing out, Fatima nodded at Tate and then at Lucy and stood next to the car. The two vehicles, parked down a bit, were closed up. The brothers had probably been there much earlier than they were, and that was fine with Fatima. Maybe they wouldn’t see each other at all out there—this was reported to be the largest ATV track for hundred miles, with a hundred miles of trails. She doubted the second claim, but she could be hopeful.

  As they walked up to the counter, the attendant looked up and smiled. “Welcome to Travis ATV. How can I help you?”

  “I have reservations for seven?” Fatima pulled out her phone and showed the woman her confirmation receipt.

  “Ah, yes. Miss da Silva. Six ATVs for four hours.”

  Fatima nodded. “Well, we have to cut one back. One of our party can’t ride.”

  “Whyever not? You only have to be sixteen and—”

  “Bum leg,” Tate said, cutting in smoothly.

  The woman assessed him and then puttered away from the counter. “Are you sure you don’t want to give it a go?”

  “Very.” Tate used his cane to walk himself over to the benches there. “I’m fine with it too. I’ll take a Coke and head out where I can watch the ducks in the pond out there.”

  She nodded and set out to draw up the paperwork, explaining the rules as she went along. They were out and on the ATVs in less than ten minutes. With her stupid helmet on, Fatima smiled at Tate standing there, next to her.

  “You’re sure you’re okay with this?”

  “Ducks. Right there.” He held up a bag of birdseed. “I’m fine. Sometimes even the techies need to disconnect from life for a while. But just in case…” He held up his phone and a spare charger. “I’ll be well entertained.”

  “Thank you, Tate. I’m sorry I didn’t even think to ask you about this. I feel—”

  “Stop right there. It’s all fine. Your intentions were good, and lessons learned. Now. I want you go out there and have fun. I’ll be waiting right here for my girlfriend.”

  Fatima’s heart leapt. “You mean that?”

  “That I’ll be waiting or that you’re my girlfriend?”

  “I’ll take door number two.”

  “Good, that’s the one I was I hoping for.” He pulled her in close and kissed her hard. “And you can make this all up to me tonight.”

  “You so sure about that?”

  Cocking his head to the side, he grinned. “Well, I’m going to have disappoint all the other ladies. No more sexy parties.”

  “Oh, plenty of sexy parties,” Fatima said. “You and me and the bedsheets and nothing else.”

  He coughed, and clearly had a problem growing. Not even trying to curb the grin that took over her face, she dropped the face shield and revved the engine. Which, she decided, was kind of lame on a tiny little engine like the one she was driving.

  The five of them took off into the trails, and Fatima looked back in time to see Tate take a seat near the duck pond as promised, and starting to feed them. No one else saw her smile, but she knew what she was going to have to do. It was time to head back to New Jersey as soon as she could to finish up this college and get her ass back to Texas. For good.

  * * *

  Sighing, Tate hooked the phone up to the battery backup. It was hard to do some of the things he needed to on such a small screen, but it wasn’t the end of the world. There were lots of things he could accomplish sitting still for four hours.

  He frowned. There was no doubt that he was going to have explain to Fatima why else he didn’t want to go on the ATVs. It was partly his leg; there was no lie in that. But there was more to it than just that.

  He didn’t like them. He hadn’t ever liked them. Ever since he’d been witness to his uncle’s terrible death on the back of one of those things, Tate had no interest in riding them. Caldwell had been away the weekend of the accident, but Tate had seen the whole thing happen. Watching the accident, watching him die, Tate swore he would never ride the vehicles at all ever.

  So instead he sat on the bench with the ducks, far away from the insidious machines and fervently hoping that no one got hurt, and if they did that it wasn’t life threatening. Or even more than just a cut or a bruise.

  Most of the time, he traveled with his work and battery brick, just for occasions like this. He was used to being the one left behind to have to entertain himself. Most of the time he didn’t let it bother him. At least, not obviously. But today it was, and it was getting under his skin. He tried to just stay on his task; it was a big project for work and the time was really helpful. He didn’t have to worry about his boss watching ove
r his shoulder while he tinkered.

  Eventually he was able to lose himself in the coding, and several hours later he looked up at the sound of approaching ATVs.

  There had been several groups in and out, and most of them had pulled up and hopped off and returned everything. It was how he had managed to keep his head in his work. This group didn’t quietly move on. This group wasn’t quiet at all. This group, he realized, was made up of the Gibbons brothers and their dates.

  That was the second thing that caught his attention. Two of the women were hanging on their respective dates, laughing and giggling and joining the shenanigans. Two of them were decidedly not participating. In fact, the one woman had grabbed the other as soon as they were off the vehicles and pulled her away protectively.

  The two middle brothers walked closer to them, and it was clear that whatever was going on wasn’t going to be good. Tate waited to see what was going on, painfully aware of his physical shortcoming. He also kept one eye on the store, hoping someone was going to come out and sort this out.

  “Just let me call a taxi!” the protector cried. “Just let us leave. Please.”

  Tate looked up a local taxi number and dialed, ordering a cab to the place. He’d pay even if they didn’t use it.

  The next youngest brother—Chuck, Tate thought—put his arm around the other girl, and she shrunk back. “Come on, darlin’. You didn’t come all the way out here with us for nothing, right? You wanted a little piece of that action.”

  “Just please let us go home. Please.”

  “We got you here, we’ll take you home. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it. We’re out to have a good time, right?” It was the second oldest Gibbons this time—Martin. “We’ve got the whole evening planned.”

  And that was when his hand landed on the woman’s breast. It was also the end of Tate being a passive witness. He shoved the power brick into his pocket and quickly dialed the emergency line.

  “Travis county nine-one-one, what is your emergency?”

  “Hi. My name is Tate Verhoven. I’m over at Travis ATV and I’m watching a sexual assault happen across the parking lot from me.”

  “Do you know who’s involved, sir?”

  “Martin Gibbons. I don’t know the woman.”

  The person on the other end of the line groaned, and then realized what he had done. “Sir, we have an officer en route, but due to the distance it may be a while before they are able to get there.”

  “Understood. I’ll do what I can.”

  “Don’t get involved, sir.” His voice dropped. “We all know that the Gibbonses are trouble personified. Just keep your distance. Thank you for calling.”

  Tate nodded as he ended the call, even though he knew the person on the other end couldn’t see him. He grabbed the cane and moved to a closer table as carefully and unnoticeably as possible. Martin didn’t move his hand and the girl’s tears were clear from where he was. Her friend was red and angry, but the next moment Tate saw Chuck wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her away.

  This wasn’t going to end well. At all. Tate walked over to the office and looked in. There was no one to be seen at the moment, never mind a burly ranch hand or old crochety farmer.

  Martin was now rubbing the woman’s breast. Tate wasn’t waiting anymore. He might be crippled, but those two were women were terrified. He could deal with beating—he didn’t want either of those two to be raped or assaulted.

  He made a decision and started across the lot. “Martin, what are you doing?”

  All eight of them looked up, and Martin’s hand fell away. The woman didn’t dare move away from him yet.

  “Hey, it’s gimpy the nerd!” Keith called to the others. “Check it out. He’s coming over here to get his ass beat.”

  “Wasn’t talking to you, Keith,” Tate said. “ I wanted to know what Martin was doing.”

  “Just showing the ladies a good time, gimpy. Isn’t that right, ladies?”

  “No.” The other woman with Chuck stepped away from him and went to stand with Tate. “No. There was nothing fun about today. I was groped and shoved and he forced me to kiss him. I don’t want to be anywhere near these evil men anymore. My friends told me to avoid you, and I should have listened.”

  Chuck’s expression fell from the devious smile he’d had to one of pure hate. “You liked every last minute of it, you bitch.”

  “No, I didn’t!” She snapped the words off. “You are a disgusting bunch of perverts and sexual predators.” She leapt forward and grabbed the other girl from Martin’s hands and ducked behind Tate. “We’re getting a taxi and you’re not going to stop us.”

  “I told you, I brought you here, I’ll bring you home.” Chuck was red with anger.

  “When? After you rape us?”

  “Don’t think that hiding behind the cripple is going to stop me from beating him up and taking you back.” Martin was staring at the three of them hard.

  “What all’s going on here?”

  Tate turned and found the requisite burly farmhand there, hands on his hips, massive pecs, and a very large, very angry disposition. He let out his breath a bit, but didn’t move.

  “These ladies were with us,” Chuck said. “We’re just trying to be chivalrous and take them home, like they want.”

  Big burly-man sniffed. “I don’t believe that for an instant.” He turned to Tate. “How about you, sir. What are you doing?”

  “Trying to get these ladies away from the groping and roaming hands of Chuck and Martin Gibbons, because it’s obvious they don’t want to be anywhere near them.” Tate stared back at the two brothers, and out of the corner of his eye he saw that Keith, and the youngest, Devlin, were also pissed at him.

  He didn’t care. Let them beat him up. He’d been through worse. The two girls didn’t deserve it.

  The cop car pulled up right behind him, and the officer climbed out. Tate recognized him right away—Geo’s sometimes partner, Scott. He closed the door, hooked his thumbs on his belt, and strolled over nice and calm.

  “What’s going on here? Someone called nine-one-one about a sexual assault?”

  “That would be me, Officer Salis.”

  Scott nodded. “Thank you for calling. Mind telling me what the situation is here?”

  The more outspoken of the two women stepped around him. “Officer, these two men were groping us the whole time we were out on the ATVs. They wouldn’t bring us back, they were just refusing us a cab, and there was a threat to keep us until they were done with us. Whatever that means. He forced more than one kiss on me, after I had said that I wasn’t interested.”

  The rest of the group’s ATVs roared into the lot, and Geo was off his and over to Scott in a moment. Caldwell, RJ, and the girls pulled their ATVs around so that the Gibbonses couldn’t get to their cars.

  As Scott ran down the issue with Geo, Tate felt a giant sense of relief that they had finally shown up. The other girl finally moved to stand near Scott and Geo as Caldwell walked over to him, leaving Fatima, Lucy, and Addie idling the ATVs.

  “What is going on?” Caldwell eyeballed the Gibbonses suspiciously.

  “Martin was standing there grabbing the one girl’s breast and she was so not interested. So I did something.”

  Caldwell stared at him. “They could have beat the crap out of you.”

  “They are bullies and assholes and those girls didn’t want to be there. I wasn’t standing by to let them assault them.”

  Giving him a clap on the back, Caldwell smiled. “Good job, bro! Seriously. Nicely done.”

  “Martin, Chuck, let’s take a ride down to the station,” Scott called.

  “You can’t do that!” Keith yelled at him.

  “Oh, this badge says I can, and an eyewitness will back that up.” He nodded at Tate. “If you’d come down to the station later, we can chat, Verhoven. Martin, Chuck. Let’s go. You don’t get away with touching women the way you were.”

  The look that Keith and Chuc
k gave him from opposite sides of the parking lot was meant to make Tate scared. But he had done the right thing, and there was no backing down from it.

  The blinding smile on his girlfriend also helped shore up his confidence. He’d want someone else to stand up for her if he wasn’t there. He was just showing the Gibbonses how a woman should never be treated: the way they had.

  Chapter Six

  “Yes, yes...Tate…”

  She moved over him, his lips firmly attached to her nipple, sucking and biting softly. Sex with him was always soft, sensual. He’d tied her up once or twice—with silk scarves—and teased her with giant plume feathers or scraped his nails over her skin, raising goose bumps all over and pebbling her nipples so he could suck them.

  Soft. Gentle. Sensual. Sexy. Never anything but with him.

  Is that why you let Caldwell fuck the shit out of you in the barn?

  Fatima quickly turned off that part of her mind and moved over him again, and again. His finger dusted her clit, teasing and flicking, spreading her silk over her to heighten the sensations of his probing finger.

  The climax was a slow burn, but it was worth the burn. He took her higher and higher, withholding but not letting her fall back very far on her ride up. This time she could see that he was ready to come, and the look on his face was amazing.

  “Come, Tate. I’m right there, come and I’ll come.”

  His hips popped up, thrust him deep inside her, and his head rolled back as he let out a groan of pleasure and she felt him release his cum inside her. Its heat rolled through her and she tripped into another amazing climax courtesy of Tate. She rode him, and her orgasm, out a little longer, enjoying the feel of him as he slowly lost his erection. Once he was almost completely spent, she rolled to his side and exhaled slowly, relishing what he did to her.

  He turned his head to look at her, and smiled. “Well, we’re officially going to be late for the party.”

  “Like anyone ever shows up on time.” Fatima pulled the sheet up and nestled against him. “I don’t even know if I want to go. I’d rather just stay here and make love all night.”