9781618850676UnchainedMelodyHunter (24 page)

“Are
we ready to go?” He looked so excited that Annalise couldn’t help but smile.

“Waiting
on you.” Alex crawled in the captain’s chair behind the wheel and Ethan drew
Annalise down beside him on one of the matching white leather couches sitting
back about ten or fifteen feet from the front control area.

She
laid her head on his lap, determined to enjoy the day. “Do you know you are
pure eye candy in these tight jeans and cowboy boots? If Alex wasn’t…” she ran
her hand up over his thigh and higher.

“I
can hear you,” Alex teased them. “Remember, I have the good hearing, Bobby can
smell a donut a mile away and Ethan can see in the dark. We all have super
powers.” At Alex’s innocent remarks, Annalise tensed up like a wound spring. She
eased off Ethan’s lap and sat up.

“You
can’t really see in the dark can you?” She asked him with her heart in her
eyes.

“Not
perfectly, of course. I was born with a mild form of color blindness; I have
trouble with blues and greens. A side effect or benefit of this disorder is an
enhanced ability to see in low light situations.” He watched her closely.

She
commanded herself not to react. Instead, she edged closer to him. He held his
arm out and she slid under it, laying her head on his chest. What did he mean? How
well could he see in the dark? God, she needed to get rid of this burden
weighing her down. And she would tell him, she insisted to herself, but it
shouldn’t be in front of Alex. Cowardly, she chose to steer the subject into
safer waters. “Heroes have superpowers and I have always thought of you as a
hero. That’s why I had no other choice, but to write about you.” She had
special ordered something just for Ethan and now seemed to be the perfect time
to give it to him. It would always remind him of the fact every word she had
ever written celebrated the love she felt for him. Reaching into the pocket of
her ever-present sundress, she drew out a leather cord with a charm on the end
of it.

“Lise,
oh, baby.” Ethan lowered his head so she could slip it around his neck. He
caught it in his hand, examining it closely.” It said “HERO”. “I’ll never let
you down, I promise.” Kissing her gently, he pulled her close.

“Am
I going to have to spray you two down with a water hose?” Alex bellowed from
the front.

“Drive,
Alex. Just drive,” Ethan growled at his brother. Holding Annalise close, he
whispered in her ear. “I love it. I’ll never take it off.” Content, they
watched the miles go by.

“Tell
me what’s going to go on today?”

Ethan
was happy to explain. “Bobby has reserved us a place in the parking lot next to
the Texas History Museum. All the roads in and around campus are closed on game
day. The students even have to move their cars off campus, due to the multitudes
of ex-students and fans that flock to the games. I know you thought we were
leaving early, but some people spent last night in the lots, just getting ready
to tailgate today.” He kissed the top of her head. “We’ll cook lunch, drink
margaritas, visit with friends and then head over to the stadium about
four-thirty for the pre-game festivities. Like Big Mack says, “We’ll come
early, be loud, stay late and wear orange.” As excited as Annalise was about
watching Bobby play, she was ready to get back home, get Ethan alone and tell
him everything. If he wanted her to stay then they could begin the rest of
their lives. If he didn’t—well she couldn’t bear to think about that.

* * * *

Annalise
couldn’t believe the number of tailgaters there were. She looked around at the
sea of burnt orange. Student organizations were everywhere, selling t-shirts,
hats, memorabilia and everything else imaginable. Dozens of people stopped by
to reconnect with the Stewart brothers. Annalise even met Bonnie, Alex’s
ex-wife. Unbelievably, they were still friends. Their divorce hadn’t been an
ugly one, both had realized they weren’t in love with each other—they were just
friends.

When
it came time to head to the stadium, Alex, Ethan and Annalise walked together. The
crowd was huge. The Longhorn stadium could seat over ninety thousand people so
just getting to their places was an adventure. Ethan never turned loose of her
and she was glad. ‘The
Showband
of the Southwest’ was
warming up on the field in their unique, fringed western-style uniforms. Typical
Texas fare played on the speaker,
The Eyes of Texas, Amarillo by Morning,
The Yellow Rose of Texas and Deep in the Heart of Texas
. Big Bertha, the
world’s largest bass drum was on the field as well as Old Smokey, the cannon
fired at every touchdown. But the star of the show as far as Annalise was
concerned—except Bobby, of course—was
Bevo
.
Bevo
is The
 
University of Texas’ mascot, a Longhorn steer
with its appropriate burnt orange and white coloring and horns measuring an
amazing seventy-two inches from tip to tip.

The
Alpha Phi Omega brought out the largest Texas state flag and paraded it proudly
across the field. The flag measured an impressive seventy-five feet by one
hundred twenty-five feet. Everyone stood up and clapped; Ethan leaned in and
whispered, “Everything’s bigger in Texas, right? I look forward to reminding
you of that, later.”

Making
sure she heard him correctly, she glanced up and sure enough, his eyes were
burning with passion. “Later,” she assured him.

“Promise?’

“I’ll
hold you to it.”

“I
hope that’s not all you do.’

“Remember
the hearing!” Alex shushed them. They both laughed.

Texas
was playing the University of Colorado. Annalise oohed and
aahed
when
Ralphie
, the Colorado’s buffalo mascot, came
running out to signal Colorado’s entrance onto the field. They all stood and
screamed when Bobby came into view. It was obvious they loved their brother. The
game started out with a present for the Texas fans. On the first possession,
the UT quarterback made a touchdown, running seventy-four yards on the third
down. Colorado was a good team, but today they didn’t have a chance. It was a
home game, the weather was nice and the crowd was wild. Bobby made two really
great plays and Annalise cheered as loudly as his brothers. Like everyone else,
they stood up for most of the game, only sitting during time-outs and
half-time. When the game was over the score was 42-28. Another winning season
for Texas was on its way.

* * * *

Annalise
slept all the way home. They would have stayed, but duties at the B&B
didn’t stop just because of football games. When Alex parked the RV, Ethan
carried Annalise to their room and laid her on the bed. Not planning on waking
her up, he gently undressed her and was about to put on her favorite nightgown
when she woke up enough to realize where she was.

“Did
you carry me? Why didn’t you wake me up?” she asked him sleepily.

“Because
I enjoyed carrying you. Did you like the football game?”

“Oh,
yes.”

“Are
you tired, sweetheart?”

“Yes,”
then realizing what that would mean, “no! That is, I mean, I’m not too tired to
love you.” She rose from the bed, naked as the day she was born and walked to
him. She dropped to her knees in front of him, unzipped his pants and confirmed
the fact that, yes, indeed, everything is bigger in Texas.

“Look
at you. I never tire of looking at you,” Annalise purred. She took his penis in
both hands; he was longer than her hand from palm to the end of her fingertips.
If she had taken the time to look up, the love shining on his face would have
taken her breath away. Cradling him in her hands, she kissed him tenderly,
licking him from top to bottom. A groan broke the silence. Lise massaged his
length in her palms, rubbing her hands alternately around and over the head,
adding just a hint more pressure every time. Big and hard grew to massive and
stone. She felt Ethan’s thighs tremble with the effort it took to remain on his
feet. “I could just eat you up,” she teased.

“I
think I’ll die if you don’t,” Ethan gasped.

Needing
no more encouragement, she took him in her mouth. This time, there was no
hesitancy and no shyness. Lise went down on Ethan so completely the tip of his
cock went down the back of her throat. She swallowed and the motion nearly
brought him to his knees. With a touch to his hip, she indicated she wanted him
to move. “God, that feels good.” Holding her head with both hands, he began to
move in and out of the warmth of her mouth. She accommodated him and added to
his intense pleasure by moving her tongue and lips on his hungry cock. Humming
her own pleasure, she didn’t realize the vibrations in her mouth only
intensified his excitement.

“Oh,
baby. My God. I have never felt anything like this,” he groaned. “I’m going to
come. Let me pull out.” He tried to extricate himself, but Annalise refused. Instead,
she milked him—anxious to have it all.

When
he erupted within her mouth, she hungrily accepted every drop, lavishly sucking
him dry. Ethan stiffened every muscle, locking his knees; the ripples of
ecstasy exploding through his body were unbelievable. When he finished, she
cleaned him with her tongue, unashamedly gathering every drop of his essence,
treasuring every bit of the evidence of his passion.

“I
love you, Ethan.” He dropped to his knees and gathered her up close then
carried her to bed. He could tell she was exhausted. Still, he wanted to tell
her how he felt.

“I
don’t just love you, babe. I cherish you, I adore you, I thank God for you,” he
whispered all of this into the warmth of her neck, but she was fast asleep.

* * * *

Sunday
was a busy check out day at the B&B. Of the twelve cabins, ten had to be
cleaned and refreshed for the next round of guests. Annalise was committed to
doing her part. If she ever became a part of this family, she wanted to be a
useful part. She had chosen
Antoinette’s Leap
and the
Bandera Cabin
for her
share. She didn’t have to do the custodial work, the Stewart brothers had a
great couple who tended to those chores. What the family did were the special
touches, stocking the refrigerator, putting out fresh flowers, checking and
replenishing the supplies in the bathrooms and coffee bar and tending the
flowers in the window boxes.

Annalise
loved
Lost
Maples
, she enjoyed everything about it. She knew what her problem was—she
had stars in her eyes, a song in her heart and wedding bells on the brain. But
first she had a confession to make. She had intended to tell him last night,
but passion and exhaustion had gotten in the way. Today was it. In her mind,
she began to rehearse.
Ethan, I have
something important to tell you. Do you remember when I told you about the
attack? That’s right, the attack that kept me from returning to you. Well, it
was more than I made out. I have scars
. That sounded stupid.

She
knelt by the coffee bar and put a new box of gourmet flavors in the cabinet.

When
she rose up, she was not alone.

Jeff
Ramsey.

With
a gun.

“Well,
hello Annalise. You’re looking well.’

“Jeff,
what do you want?”

“You
owe me and I’ve come to collect.”

She
was on the wrong side of the coffee bar. He stood between her and the door leading
to the outside—to Ethan. There was absolutely no escape. “Why do you think I
owe you anything, Jeffrey? You didn’t want anything to do with me, remember?”

“You
owe me because you ruined my life and my reputation.” He walked slowly around
the end of the bar, the gun still pointing right at her heart. He was a big
man, but he wasn’t nearly as big as Ethan. Unfortunately, he didn’t have to be
very big to put her at a disadvantage.

“How
could I possibly have ruined your life? I haven’t seen you in four years.”

Now,
he was within reaching distance of her. She had backed up until she was against
the wall. “You kept my name. What you have chosen to do with your life directly
reflects on me and my reputation,” he snarled.

Annalise
darted to the right, she had to at least try and get away. She didn’t get very
far; he grabbed her by the arm and hauled her back over to him. His fingers dug
cruelly into her arm. Yet, she did not cry out. “You are the worst kind of
false advertising, Annalise. To look at you, one would think you are beautiful
and soft and perfect, instead you are ugly and disgusting.” He twisted her arm
behind her back until she winced with pain.

Funny,
his words had lost the power to hurt her. “I still don’t understand how you can
say I ruined your reputation?” She was not going to give in as easy as he would
have liked.

“Everybody
that knows me, they know who you are and what you do. You have no shame! You
haven’t even tried to keep it a secret. All of those write-ups in the paper,
don’t you know that everyone has seen them? How did you expect me to work in
the ministry with you writing that explicit pornography? Your Dad was right. He
said you had become the worst kind of sinner, a Jezebel.” He laid the gun down
and grabbed her by the hair, jerking her down to her knees. “Why do you write shit
like that, Annalise? Was it because you couldn’t get a man of your own? Did you
crave sex so much you had to write it for yourself?” With one steel tipped
boot, he viciously kicked her in the ribs. Annalise gulped with pain, but
again, she did not cry out.