Aces Wild (13 page)

Her words trailed off at the warning look he threw her.

He lifted her foot and probed and prodded her ankle from various angles through her boot. She winced. It was painful, but not like it felt when she fell.

“
That’s good, sweetheart. I think you are in luck. It’s not broken, but sometimes a sprain can be as bad as a break. I’m gonna take your boot off now. Let me know if I hurt you.”

He tugged gently at her boot, easing it inch by inch off her foot, then removed her stocking. When her foot was free, he began poking and probing again, looking up at her, testing to see where it hurt. A slight purplish bruise tinged the skin around her ankle and he was especially careful when he touched the discolored places. When he seemed satisfied, he stood. To her surprise, he reached down and scooped her up in his arms and headed to the waterfall.

She started, twisting around in his arms to see his face. “Now what are you doing?”

He gave her an ironic grin. “As opposed to what Jake and Marty were suggesting, which you apparently thought was ‘joshing,’ we are not going to strip and swim naked in the pool.” His grin widened when she gasped. “But we are going to soak your ankle in that cold water and see if we can keep it from swelling.”

He climbed up on a rocky ledge and positioned her close to the edge of the water. He took off her other boot and stocking and rolled her pant legs above her knees. When he eased her feet into the still pond, the cold water covered her legs almost to her knees. She jerked back against the startling cold, but once she got used to it, she had to agree, it made her ankle feel better.

Gabe crouched down beside her and settled in next to her.

She looked up at him, then looked away when she saw he was staring at her.

She tried to cover her confusion. His strong body, the muscles in his thighs straining against his trousers as he crouched beside her, frightened her. He was so big, so powerful. She felt small, vulnerable. From long habit, she raised her chin and narrowed her eyes.

“
Now, if it isn’t too much to ask, may I talk?”

He threw back his head and laughed. “I’m impressed, Princess. I think you went a whole two minutes without arguing with me. Yeah, you can talk. That is exactly what we are going to do now. Just so you know, we have a hell of a lot of things to talk about.”

She wasn’t sure she liked that answer, but when he drilled her with that intense stare, she knew she had no choice. They were going to talk about things she didn’t want to think about, much less discuss.

~~~

Gabe watched her for a moment, seeing the conflicting emotions warring across her face. Reaching for his cigarette case, he took his time choosing a cigarette, then lit it and took several deep drags. The fragrant smoke settled over them. For the first time since he left the ranch looking for her, he allowed himself to relax.

He leaned back, resting on his forearms. He wanted to reach over and massage the tight muscles that were straining against her neck, the ones on her shoulders he was sure were knotted, tense. But he resisted. He wanted her to make the first move. He needed to know if she trusted him, if she would turn to him.

After a long silence, she stopped swinging her legs and glanced at him over her shoulder. Her eyes were dark, troubled. Her lips trembled and she bit down to still them.

She turned back to the water and asked in a soft voice, “You know, don’t you? You know about the notes.”

He knew that he owed her the truth, no matter how painful.

“
Yeah, Princess. I do.”

“
My father told you?”

“
Yes, he did. He’s worried about you, Ana. About you and Kai.”

She snorted. “He should be worried about himself. He’s the one they’re after.”

He nodded. Damn, she was smart. A man who underestimated this small beautiful woman did so at his peril. He needed to know how much she knew. If there were other notes, clues, ones she hadn’t shared with her father.

He probed carefully. “Is that what they said in the other notes you got?”

“
Yes, they were all about him. They were ugly. Disgusting. They said terrible things about him. About my mother.”

“
Do you have the notes?

She nodded.

“
I need to see them.”

She shook her head violently.

“
No! Never. They are horrible. I am going to destroy them.”

He rested his hand on her shoulder, his grip firm. “Don’t do that, Ana. I need to see them if I am going to help you.”

She tried to pull away. She reached up to push his hand off of her, but he kept his hand in place.

Her voice was firm, but her strain cracked through.

“
I…I don’t want your help. Somehow, Kai and I will figure this out.”

“
I understand how you feel, Princess. But this is way beyond Kai, you, or your father.”

When she scooted away, putting more distance between them, he sat up and moved next to her. He reached over and circled his hand around her neck. She jumped at his touch. Slowly, then more firmly as her resistance lessened, he began to massage, rub the tight muscles in her back and shoulders.

He waited for several moments until he felt her tension lessening somewhat.

“
This is what I do, Princess. I protect people that need protecting. This is the kind of work I’ve done for your father in the past, what I do for other men who are threatened in some way. And it’s not just me, Ana. I work with a team of men. And, hell, every one of them, especially my partners, are as badasses as I am.

“
Can you protect my father?”

“
Yeah, honey, I can. And I also can protect Kai and you.”

She was quiet for a moment, then she turned on him with a frown.

“
They…Jake and Marty…they called you Angel.”

He covered his surprise at her unexpected question.

“
Yeah, they did.”

“
Are you that Angel?”

“
Who is that angel, Princess?”

“
The poker player. The one they call the Ace? The Ace Angel?”

She thought to herself, who hadn’t heard of Angel. Anyone who had so much as picked up a deck of cards had heard of the Ace Angel. He was a legend, admired and feared. Now that she had met him she understood the other part of the legendary skills. The part about his reputation with women from Wyoming to Texas and every state in between. It was as infamous as his poker playing.

She tried not to think about it. It hurt too much.

~~

Chapter 14

Gabe grinned at her. “I gotta ask, Princess. How does a sheltered little girl like you who hides out in canyons hear about “that” Angel?”

She tossed her head and glared at him.

“
I don’t hide out in canyons and I am not sheltered!”

He put up his hands and tried not to laugh.

“
Whoa, Princess. Settle down. It’s a natural question. I didn’t mean to insult you. I’m just curious, that’s all.”

She scooted as far as away from him as she could get without falling in the pool. She tossed her head with a dismissive jerk. “It’s not as though that is such a great thing, something to be proud of.”

“
I see. And you would know about that, how?”

Her voice was crisp, cool. “I play poker. It is quite a simple game, you know.”

Gabe struggled to keep from laughing. He was glad to see the color rising in her cheeks. And, damn, if the reemerging signs of her sauciness wasn’t having an effect on his libido. He had been so furious, so enraged by what had happened with Jake and Marty that his incipient erection felt good, damn good.

“
Hmm. Who taught you to play? Kai?”

“
No. I taught him. My father taught me when I was ten years old.”

She sniffed dismissively. “Poker is really no more than a computation of mathematical equations.”

Gabe’s eyebrows shot up. “You don’t say? Hmm, Princess, we’ll have to play sometime. I’ll bet a guy could get turned on just watching all those computations rattling around in that pretty little head of yours.”

“
You don’t have to be disparaging. I am quite good. I’m confident I can beat you,”

“
Now, Princess, if I really am “that’ Angel, you might want to think twice before throwing down a challenge like that.”

She scowled. “What? I should be afraid of you. Afraid of challenging the mighty Angel? That’s ridiculous. I can assure you, I will take your money any time, quite easily.”

Gabe studied her for a long moment. A wicked grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. Her cheeks flushed in response. They warmed to a warm rosy pink that had his dick sitting up and taking notice.

He leaned over and ran his finger over the pulse at her throat that was beating ferociously. He winked at her.

“
Ah, Princess, you can keep your money. If I decide to play with you, the stakes won’t be money.”

Ana gasped and jumped back. Dismay flooded her. Just like that, one seductive touch and she was right back where she had been last night. Wanting him. Wanting him to touch her. Touch her in ways she had never been touched. Now that she knew who he was, who he really was, she was infuriated with herself.

She whirled on him.

“
Don’t call me that! I am not a princess and I think it is inappropriate for you to call me anything but Ana or Miss Li.”

Gabe roared. “Oh, baby, we’re a little past Miss Li, doncha think?” Wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes, he leaned over and stroked her cheek. When she shoved his hand away and sat up, her back ramrod straight, he laughed even harder.

“
Look at you! You aren’t a princess? Oh, honey, you are the epitome of a princess. You are haughty, imperial. You love to give orders and expect to be obeyed. And God help anyone who crosses you. You pin them with that regal stare and they start checking their manhood to make sure it’s still there.”

At her gasp, he sat up as straight as she was and pulled her toward him.

His voice melted to a husky rumble. “Except for me, of course. I know that even princesses have secret layers that can be explored, examined. I’ve already uncovered some of the secrets the dirty little urchin in the barn thought no one knew.”

When she struggled to get a breath and tried to push him away, he shook his head and smiled. “Now I’m working on uncovering the woman that started to show herself last night.”

She held her hands against him, putting space between them,

She jerked her chin in the air, not understanding how the haughty gesture proved his point.

“
You…you are arrogant, despicable. And you are mistaken! It’s up to me what part of myself I reveal to you or anyone else. And I choose NOT to reveal myself to you!”

He released her and stood up. She scooted back, trying not to be intimidated by the huge man towering over her.

His voice was soft. “Ah, honey. You are so wrong about that. I’m damn good at peeling back the layers of even haughty princesses to find the woman buried beneath.”

Before she could respond, to her shock, he unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off. She swallowed her gasp at the sight of his broad shoulders. His chest and arms rippled with tight ridged muscles. She almost shielded her eyes at the sight of the curly black hairs on his chest that arrowed down over his flat stomach to a place below his belt. Seeing the swell of his erection, she choked. She tried to sound indignant, but her question came out as a shaky squeak.

“
What…what in God’s name are you doing now?’ She scuttled back, glaring up at him forcing her eyes from his groin to his face.

He smiled at her. “Relax, sweetheart. I’m being a gentleman. There are no towels here so I’m offering my shirt to dry off your feet.”

She grabbed her stockings and boots and jumped back. “I... I don’t need it. Please put your shirt back on!”

He laughed softly when she turned her back on him and moved a good ten feet away. She bent over, trying to pull on her stockings and boots without falling, hopping from one foot to the other. When she saw him grinning at her, she almost tumbled.

He winked at her. “Need help, Princess?”

“
No! And if I did, I wouldn’t ask for it from you.”

He finished buttoning his shirt, then walked over to her. Ignoring her resistance, he picked her up and sat her down on her butt.

He took one stocking and used it to dry off her leg and foot. When he finished he put on her boot and reached for the other stocking. Running his fingers over the bruised ankle, he nodded, as if pleased.

“
We were smart to keep that ankle in the cold water, Princess. There is almost no swelling, but you are going to have to keep it elevated as much as possible for a couple of days. Here, let me put this on you.” As he was drying off her leg, then putting on her stocking and her boot, he continued.

“
I need to go away for a while, Princess. Five or six days at the most. I’ll be back on Friday or Saturday at the latest.”

His calm assertion, his presumption that it mattered to her what he did, infuriated her. She leapt up, her face heating from the exertion and backed away from him. She hugged her arms across her chest, clenched her hands in tight fists. She bit her lips to stop them from trembling.