He was Australian!
Was all Kanda could think while he talked.
He was quiet while he drove.
She began to feel real pain from her tailbone while it coursed up her spine. She let out a misery-filled moan.
His concerned gaze swung over to her. “You hurtin’?”
Kanda swallowed heavily and nodded.
Reaching over, he flicked a button on the dash panel. A small platform rose up in the middle, between the seats and two shot glasses sat on either side of a bottle. He raised his knee up and held the steering wheel in place. “Too bad it doesn’t have a button to pour the damn stuff.” He chuckled.
Her gaze shot up at the sound of his laugh; she’d never heard anything quite like it. It made her feel a strange tingling all over. She shook her head.
No it’s the fall. I’m just not feeling right, is all.
With his knee up against the steering wheel, he adeptly drove while he poured her a shot. Silent but smiling, he handed her the glass.
Normally, she would have turned down a strange man offering liquor, but her body hurt something fierce and she gulped the shot down. Her hand shot out with the glass toward him, before she knew what she was doing.
He let out a low chortle and promptly refilled it, handing it back to her.
Kanda repeated the downing and the burn in her throat almost blotted out the pain in her tailbone.
Grabbing the glass, he tucked it back into the holder, then took ahold of the wheel again.
Her fuzzy gaze took in the fact that he was navigating down toward the river area. It was a nice cool spot with grass and many trees, where she herself used to visit when she was younger and had less responsibilities. Her eyes widened as she saw a log cabin.
What in the hell? How could that be here on her property and she never even knew it!
Who was this man?
He slowed the Hummer down and parked it. “Now, just wait here, till I come back.” He hopped out and disappeared.
Kanda’s thoughts whirled. Here was this good-looking foreigner, running loose on her lands and doing what he pleased? When she felt better, there would be hell to pay!
He opened the side door and scooped her up from the seat, making his way to the cabin.
Kanda still hadn’t said a word, but her mind was screaming at him. She was going to stay quiet, but the closer they got to the structure illegally built on her acreage, the madder she got.
Carefully, he set her down on a big brass bed and rushed around the room, seeming to look for something.
Watching him through hazy eyes, she tried to form in her mind the cussing she was going to give to him.
“Ah-ha!” he yelled.
Kanda jumped with a start.
Rushing over like he had to put out a fire, he placed a first aid kit on the bed, flipping it open and without pausing, he began rifling through it. He took up some gauze and looked at her with a sudden puzzled expression. “Wait a minute, you aren’t bleedin’ and you don’t seem to have a bump…” He dropped the gauze and took her face with a grasping of his large hands. He gazed deeply into her eyes while running his fingers over her head and through her hair.
Kanda was a frozen doll in his hands. They felt warm and rough at the same time as he caressed her skin and scalp. Her body went limp and her mind wandered.
What was it I was gonna ask him?
She mused. Her vision focused on those hot, blue eyes.
He smiled.
Her skin flushed at the grin.
Oh, my lord, what is happening to me?
“Well, where does it hurt?” he asked.
Her gaze was still locked onto his face. “Huh?”
“Let me see,” he paused as if he were thinking. “You landed on your…” His voice faded as he looked more closely at her eyes. He then lay her down on the bed.
Her body suddenly felt hot all over at his actions.
With a smooth transition, he rolled her over onto her stomach.
Meanwhile, Kanda felt as if she were now a Raggedy Ann doll and she allowed him to position her at will.
Reaching under her with his hands, he felt around at her belly.
“Oh!” A stunned response came from her mouth at the feel of his hot hands on her skin.
Next, he unsnapped her jeans and the pop from it sounded like a gunshot ringing in her ears. Still, she seemed helpless and made no move to stop him from whatever it was he had in mind.
Without a pause, he tugged her jeans down and pulled them all the way off. “Oh, Dammit!” he swore aloud.
Kanda was at a loss for any movement and she barely registered what he said.
“This is gonna hurt ya bad in the morning, Miss,” he stated with sympathy in his voice as he moved away from the bed. “That is gonna bruise your lovely skin for sure.”
Kanda was almost bereft at the loss of his touch and she wondered if she were drunk after all. It wasn’t like her to just lie still and not speak or try to get to the heart of a situation.
Lovely skin?
Maybe she was hurt worse than she thought by the fall?
His hands returned and they were smoothing up and down over her plump ass cheeks.
Letting out a heavy sigh, she gloried in the feel of his massaging.
“This salve should help some, although it’ll still hurt like a bully when you wake up tomorrow.”
Kanda didn’t reply or move as she sighed again. The warmth seeping into her skin made her sore derriere feel better instantly. Then, his touch went away. “No. More, please?” she muttered before she could even think.
The movement on the bed stilled and she heard that chuckling again. “Okay, you’re the boss.” He then applied his hands again, and they roamed all up and down her cheeks through her underwear and down to the backs of her chubby thighs. “I love a real woman whose skin feels like yours does,” he commented in a low voice.
Kanda’s entire body gave a shiver at his voice and her eyes popped wide open.
“Well, we’ll move you up and you’ll have to stay on yer belly for a while.” Hands came at her waist and sure enough, her body was tugged up to the head of the bed. It was all done in a matter of seconds.
He had to be some kind of strong man to just mover her around with ease like this. She wasn’t small or light, but in his hands she felt like she was.
“I’d love to give you a pain killer, but you already had too much whiskey, and we don’t want you lit like a Molotov cocktail, so try to get some rest, okay?”
Kanda just sighed again as a response, and she knew she was smiling from ear to ear, but for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why that was. Her eyes drooped close and the room seemed to go dark on her.
*~*~*~*
Twelve miles out of Victoria, Texas
B
ren stood for a minute more in the road. “Studs? One of her studs?” Her mom had studs who worked for her? Shaking her head, she followed her leather wearing Mama up the paved road. It was lined with white and yellow daisies all the way up to the house.
The house itself was huge, built like a Victorian, but with fresh paint and it had the largest front veranda Bren had ever seen. Three swinging benches, about 10 rocking chairs and a few wicker high-backs were all positioned for comfort.
She made her way up the wide front row of steps and stopped to look around. Hanging flowerpots were everywhere and little tables with flower arrangements sat by some of the chairs.
All of this must have cost a bundle!
A sign hung over the entrance:
We only serve up two kinds of men here: Domestic and Imported.
Bren thought she may have to sit in one the comfy chairs just to let the shock sink in. Her mom was a Madame? Not only that, she had a stable full of male—
“Are ya coming, doll?” Daisy shouted from the open doorway.
“I don’t know, Ma.”
Daisy shook her head and walked over to where she stood. “You don’t know about what?”
Bren scoffed.” You—You’re—?”
Daisy laughed. “Yes?”
“You’re running a brothel!”
Her mother’s smile faded. “Now, baby girl, there ain’t no reason to be nasty about this.”
“Me—being nasty?” Bren was shaking all over. “I just can’t believe this!”
Her mother tilted her head. “Look, daughter. In this life we all gotta do what calls to us. We all should answer to our best skills.”
Bren’s eyes rounded. “And this…?” She motioned all around. “This is your calling?”
Her mother slowly nodded her head “Look, sugar. I know sex. I know what women and men want. They all just don’t know where to get it, or how to get it.”
Puzzled, Bren took a step back.
“Like, for instance…” her mother continued. “Why are you here?”
Bren was flustered by the question “Um—I—?”
“You probably found a man and you don’t know how to proceed, right?”
Bren found herself nodding her head.
“And who did ya come to?”
Bren glanced away. “That’s different.”
“Why? Why is it different?”
“Cuz, you’re my Mama!” Bren almost shouted. “You’re supposed to give me help and advice. I’m not a stranger—someone who just needs…” She gazed nervously around. “A paid for fuck.”
Daisy looked stunned for about a second. “Well, now. Seems to me, love and fucking come hand in hand…sometimes.” She broke out into a grin.
Bren sucked her breath in as if her mother had thrown a horrible insult at her.
“Look here, I don’t mean to hurt your feelings. But what I mean is… We all pay for the fucks. Sooner or later.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” Her mother looked stern. “Now, even though I’m in the business of someone or another disrobing? I don’t air my dirty laundry in public.” She took a hold of Bren’s arm. “I got a proceeding going on and I got to be there to settle all the wild chaos down. Then, we’ll settle you in and have a sit down talk. So, come on in.”
Bren allowed herself to be tugged inside.
THREE
Belly Up to the Bar…
Cowgirls are like barbed wire…handle with care.
Trespassers cabin along the Flat River
A
n odd sound awoke her and she realized she was face down on a strange bed. Kanda raised her head up. The sound was some kind of humming. A man’s voice humming a tune? Her memory became clear; she fell from her horse and was in the camp of some strange foreign guy. He’d even built the log cabin this bed sat in—on her land!
Her whole body grew rigid with pain as she tried to lift herself up.
“Nope, you shouldn’t do that,” he warned from above her.
She froze at his words.
“Let me get you.” Hands came down around her waist and gently turned her over.
There above her was some kind of illusion. It had to be.
Breaking into a huge smile, his blue eyes twinkled at her. He was bare chested and his chest was just a muscled as the rest of him. “I was hoping you’d be able to join me!” He bent down and scooped her up.
Whoa! Yes, he did this yesterday, carrying me around like I was a feather on a breeze.
Next, her eyes were assaulted by the bright sunshine as he carried her away from the cabin. Trees shaded them and then, she realized they were at the edge of the river. He folded neatly and slowly to the ground with her in his arms.
I knew it, he couldn’t carry me anymore!
He set her gently against him. “You can’t sit on that beautiful ass at all today, so I am gonna help you,” he announced and divested her of her T-shirt.
Gasping, she could now feel that she only wore her bra and underwear. He had stripped her to her undies!
He stood up while holding her in his arms and waded out into the river. “Now, this time of year the water is warm and it will be good for your…” He gazed down at her face, “Injured areas.”
The water came up slowly past her thighs, then over her waist and the sensation was pleasant. She hurt all over, but the pain wasn’t what was foremost in her mind. This man was at the very front.
Who was he? Where did he come from? And why haven’t I cussed him out and kicked his tail down the road, already?
“You sure are a quiet female,” he noted.
Kanda batted her eyes. That was a first. Her brothers, along with many other men, had said she couldn’t shut up if her life depended on it.
“Well, I guess I will start then.” He lowered his body down further into the river water and held her floating in front of him. “I’m Wade—Wade Monroe.”
Kanda blinked up at him, as the sun danced like lighted effects on his blue-black hair.
And I’m—I’m speechless, because I’ve never seen a man like you before.
She gazed into his eyes, mesmerized once again by the burning shade of blue there.
“You did get a wallop on the head after all, you know. And I should be sorry as hell, but I’m not.”
She shook her head.
Not moving even one of his delectable muscles, Wade stared at her face for a long moment. “You sure aren’t like most of the American women I’ve met so far.” He was now staring at her lips. “I mean—well…”
Kanda heard his voice, but just didn’t register anything he said really. She must have hit her head pretty hard, because she was stunned and just couldn’t seem to gather her resolve or anything.
“You have the most luscious lips I have ever seen,” he whispered close to her face. “I just want to taste them.”
Kanda’s gaze was pinned to his lips and suddenly she wanted him to kiss her and keep kissing her.
His lips came closer to hers. “I just want to…” He jerked his head up and looked out over the water. “I’m sorry, that was out of line.”
NO! No, it was perfectly in line. All the way down the line with
—
Letting go of her a little, he held her easily with one arm. “Now, let’s see if we can make you feel better.” He winked at her. “That’s why I brought you out here and gave you a dunking.” He gently felt underneath her and massaged her tailbone area. “Tell me when it hurts and I’ll stop, okay?”
She didn’t even nod, because the feel of his warm hands was all-consuming.
Hurt?
Oh, how could he think this kind of massaging would ever hurt
? No one had ever touched her like this and she was lightheaded from it.
He caressed her from there on up over one of her butt cheeks and then he massaged the other.
Kanda felt no pain, but she did feel something altogether different. She’d only felt this way a few times in her life and she never knew if it was a fluke or what. Because it would pass as quickly as it came. Not this time though. The feeling grew and it seemed to start in her lower belly, then it spread along her thighs. Her head fell back while his large hands continued with the massage, and a sudden ache started between her legs. Her eyes widened as the feeling built and she was breathing heavily.
He gazed into her eyes. “Better?”
Kanda swallowed heavily and tried to concentrate on his features.
Better? You fucking bet, better than anything I’d ever received from a guy—any guy. Oh, man, anymore and I would be better to the point of jumping right up on you, right here in the river!
Pinning her lips shut to avoid sounding like a babbling fool, she nodded her head slightly as an answer.
“Good.” He swung her around and made his way out of the water. “I’m gonna set you up and then fix you something to eat.”
Still stunned by her body’s reaction to him, she remained silent. Her breathing was still rapid and her pulse was going through the roof.
Set me up? I just want you to never set me down!
Reeling with some strange newly found euphoria, Kanda was clinging to this strapping man with all her might.
Taking her into the cabin, he deftly wrapped her in a huge, fluffy towel, then lay her on her tummy at the end of the brass bed. “Here, you’ll be able to see me while I cook.”
Gulping again, she wanted to yell at him,
You sure are cook’n! I’m about to melt like butter on pancakes here.
He grinned at her and shook his head. “I hope you like eggs and bacon?”
Remaining in the position he put her in, she grunted as a response.
What the hell was that?
She asked herself.
Why in the hell don’t you speak?
Her gaze caught sight of him turning away and she took in a sweet male butt in those stone washed jeans and again, her thoughts flitted away. I wonder how his cheeks would feel in my hands. I would love to just get a good squeeze and—
“Over easy?” he called back at her as he took out a pan and turned to the Coleman stove.
Over easy, over hard, just anything over. Turn me over, flip me over, legs up in the air over—
Her mind wandered and she looked up to see him staring across the space at her.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked while looking concerned. “Maybe I shoulda’ taken you into town and had you looked over.”
The phrase
look you
over ran through her mind and Kanda almost smiled.
Yeah, look me over…now that’s a good kind of over.
She shook her head. “Um— no— I mean…yes! I’m okay.”
“Oh, so you can talk?” He flashed her that smile of his. “Good. Okay, so how do you like them?”
Kanda blinked her eyes at him.
Tall, Australian, built and…hard.
Her mind just kept going with all kinds of wild responses while her mouth remained watering and shut.
Thank the heavens!
“How do you like your eggs?” he repeated.
Kanda smiled and giggled a little. “Sunny side up.”
He looked surprised. “Why that’s almost raw.”
Visions of him in the raw and all the things she would like to do to him while he was bare, danced in her mind like a porn video.
I wonder if he cared if I just tied him up and stripped him bare—
Gasping at the bold and outrageous thought, she rose up.
What the hell is the matter with me?
The pain in her backside reared up while she kept jerking her body around and she groaned loudly.
Wade dropped the pan and rushed over. “Oh, no. No, unh-uh. You can’t be making sudden moves like that!” He sat down and pulled the towel away from her body. “Just let me get the salve again.” He got up, retrieved the little tube from the bedside table, and sat down to massage it in. His firm strong hands rubbed vigorously along her skin.
The tense pain did gradually go away. “Oh…thank you,” she breathed the words out and put her head down.
“Okay, now remember, no sudden moves. If you need to get up or do anything at all, call me.”
Kanda nodded mutely, feeling pretty stupid again.
I’m calling and calling, like a love struck fool here.
“Just call my name out and I’ll be here so fast, you won’t believe it.” He patted her ass cheeks gently and placed the towel back over her body.
Lying very still, she tried to keep her mind clean and keep the wild thoughts at bay as she watched him cook. His long legs moved with a fluid grace she never knew a man could possess.
He whistled some foreign tune the entire time and would give her a slight smile whenever she caught his eye.
Oh, wow. A man had never affected her like this before! Where did he come from? It was like I secretly wished for him and then? There he appeared.
Wade moved the table over close to the bed. Setting the plate of eggs and bacon down, he came over to the bedside. Raising her body gently up, he tucked two big pillows underneath her upper torso. “There now, you can eat without sitting.”
Kanda smiled and watched him set her fork and a large glass of juice with a straw sticking out, in front of her.
He sat at the side of the table as close as he could get to her and handed her a napkin.
Truly hungry now, she took it and grabbed her fork.
He pushed her plate closer to her face.
Feeling like a lost calf on the wide-open plain, Kanda stared over at him.
“It’s so you can drop any food onto the plate, okay?”
She kept smiling at him.
I mean, who wouldn’t smile? Just look at him!
A girl-like giggle slipped from her lips.
He raised a brow.
Kanda avoided his dazzling eyes.
Wade remained quiet while she ate and he leaned forward helping her to sip her juice. “Okay, so what am I to call you?”
Her eyes shot up.
He was grinning at her.
“Um—Kandy.” Kanda didn’t know why she told him that. She hadn’t allowed anyone to call her Kandy since her dad died, since he was the one who dubbed her that.
“Mmm, yes. That fits all right.”
Her startled gaze met with his.
“I mean, it really does!” He chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve met anyone sweeter.”
Kanda’s eyes rounded.
Sweet?
Another first. She’d been describe as hell on earth, a shrew, a bitch and many other expletives, but never sweet! Somehow, she didn’t want to know the reason he was here on her land for anymore. She didn’t even want him to know who she really was.
What the hell? Why?
She closed her eyes and thought of all the things she’d already felt in just the last several hours. She’d never experienced any of these feelings before in her whole life.