Damned and Defiant (7 page)

“Soon.” He moved down her body, nibbling and kissing her breasts, tugging on the nipples until she cried out, then moved lower, trailing his hot tongue over her skin. He probed her navel with the tip, making her shiver. Then again moved another torturous inch lower. His hands cupped her buttocks and raised her pussy to greet his mouth. Flicking his tongue over her moist folds. He found her clit and teased it. The hard and distended bud peeked through. He didn’t hesitate to caress and stroke her throbbing flesh. Her thighs strained and her hips rocked in slow movements searching for that perfect pressure.

“Yes, Dante. Like that.”

“Hmmm.” The vibration from his mouth brought her even closer, then he eased up on the pressure and her tension backed off.

No. So close.
“Harder.”

Immediately, he complied. His tongue flicked vigorously.

“God, yes.” Closing her eyes, she let her body flow with the pleasure. Her nipples were so hard and raw now, the slightest breeze was like a lover’s caress and heightened her desire. “More,” she rasped.

He grasped her tender bud with his lips, clamped down and rubbed the tip with his tongue. The orgasm slammed into her with such force, she thought she would fall. She screamed while Dante gripped her ass and lapped at her clit, drawing all the spasms of pleasure from her. When her cries subsides, he moved up her body and held her close, gently pressing her head to his chest. “You taste amazing. I love making you come like that.”

Her breathing was still heavy and she could barely stand. When she lifted her head to gaze into his eyes, she saw an ethereal glow there. Lust? Desire? Or something else? “I liked it too.”

“You okay?” he cupped her breasts and slid the flat of his thumb across both nipples. So raw, his touch felt like sandpaper, but the sensation made her cunt clench.

“Yes.” She handed him the condom. “Hurry.” As he slipped the sheath on, her hearth raced, admiring his thickness. If it wasn’t for the fence, she didn’t know if she’d be able to stand.

“I won’t hurt you.” Wrapping his hands under her buttocks, he lifted her enough so she could hook her legs around his body.

She chuckled. “I’m not worried.” But he did look worried, just before he plunged his cock deep into her pussy. Her body went limp with sublime lust. “God, yes. Nothing has ever been this good.” Her ass hit the wooden fence. She’d probably end up with bruises and splinters but she didn’t care.

She watched his face strain as his pleasure heightened. He withdrew his cock almost to the end, then slammed hard into her again and again. The intense sensations made her head spin. “Yes, it’s so good. I’m dizzy.” She giggled. “Don’t stop.”

But he slowed a bit, that worried look in his eyes again. She moaned in protest. “No, don’t slow down. I’m so close.” Tightening her legs, she drew him inside her deeper, urging him on. He slammed into her again. “That’s it.” Deep in her lower belly, she felt the orgasm building. If only he’d keep this up. But by his heavy breathing she could tell he was close too.

Then he lifted her ass higher and reached his hand between their bodies and pressed a thumb at her clit. The bundle of nerves was so sensitive, she thought she’d jump out of her skin. He brushed over the swollen bud, bringing her closer and closer to release, while he continued to pump his cock into her. When he increased the pressure with his thumb, she exploded in convulsions of pleasure. Eyes closed, she groaned and her body continued to shake for a long time.

Before her pulses from the orgasm faded, he let out a groan and abruptly pulled out of her, then stepped several paces away. “Haley?” he asked as he stared at her.

“Yes, fine,” she answered, a little frustrated. “Why did you pull out early?”

He yanked up his jeans. “Being cautious, I guess.”

“Oh. Do you have any illnesses you haven’t told me about?”

“No.” Taking her in his arms, he kissed her and looked down at her through half-lidded eyes. “I enjoy seeing you naked.”

“Good.” She smiled a little. “Want to tell me about it?”

“About what?

She huffed. “Why can’t you tell me what’s wrong?”

“Long story,” he prompted, his rough voice taking an edge to it. “I don’t want to go into it now.”

“Okay,” she said softly. “I expect we can talk about this another time.”

He nodded.

Taking a breath, she changed the subject. “I think it’d be a good idea if I spend some time with the horses alone to see what I can pick up. So make yourself scarce around the corral for a day or so.”

He gave her a tough-guy look. “I can do that. I have errands to run. Be back in a few hours.” He kissed her on the cheek.

It was all too easy to imagine them living on that ranch together as a happy, loving couple, riding in the wilds, sitting on the porch or curled up naked in front of the fireplace making love for hours. How her mind could jump ahead and fantasize. Would they ever have that? Her throat tightened and she swallowed hard. “I’ll be here. I’ll see what I can do with them.”

* * * * *

Hours later, Haley heard a truck coming down the drive. She’d taken D.A. out for a hard ride and was several hundred yards away from the ranch. “Come on, D.A. let’s move it. Dante’s home.”

The horse kicked up red dirt and headed full gallop across the desert. She let him find his own path around scrub brush, rocks and cacti. Now that Dante was back, she was anxious to tell him about the progress she’d made in only a few hours. Whatever was bothering Dante had to be the reason why the horses wouldn’t let him near. If she helped him, the horse problem would resolve.

Using her horse whispering skills, she’d connected with D.A., took several psychic photos of him and Siren, and had meditated. Siren was still wary of her, but she’d come around. It could take days, weeks or longer depending on the problem.

She’d been around horses all her life and could sense mean ones, mistreated ones, dumb ones and ornery ones. They weren’t that hard to figure out, probably easier than people. When she worked on the ranch as a teenager, she taught kids to ride, she was convinced she could help him with the horses, and at the same time maybe he’d get over whatever was holding him back from her.

When she got to the back of the house, she saw a Jeep, not Dante’s truck. A man stood on the porch of the house, leaning on the railing, smiling at her.

He was linebacker material with long blond hair. She knew she’d seen him before. A friend of Dante’s? Then she remembered she had seen him while doing a group meditation in a park with Ambros, but Dante hadn’t been thrilled to see him at the time.

Pulling back on the reins, she slowed D.A. and approached slowly. She waved but kept her distance. “Hey. Can I help you?” she asked, realizing she’d left her cell phone charging in the house.

“Haley, isn’t it?” he asked as he strode confidently off the porch toward her.

“Yeah, who are you?” She wasn’t about to get off D.A. The horse backed up, snorting, his ears pinned back.

Animals had a sense about people. “Valdon. I never met you formally.” He put his hand up to shake hers.

“Don’t mind me if I keep my distance. Apparently, the horse is acting ornery today. Best I stay on him to keep him under control.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Right. I understand. I came to see Dante. I heard he bought a ranch and I wanted to check it out.” He glanced around. “Nice place.”

D.A. reared up and almost tossed Haley off. “Whoa, D.A. Easy, boy.”

“Maybe you should let him loose in the corral before he throws you.”

“I’ve never been thrown from a horse.” Something about this guy gave her the creeps. She imagined a sphere of protective white light surrounding her, as Ambros had taught her. A metaphysical technique.

He smiled and eyed her up and down. His long look held lust and something deeper, something dark. Her body tensed and she eased D.A. back a few steps more.

“You handle yourself well with the beast. Dante around?”

“Not at the moment. I’ll tell him you stopped by.”

“I could wait in the house. When is he coming back?”

“No, you can’t wait in the house.” This jerk didn’t impress her. A dizzy sensation went through her, every muscle in her body felt limp, deliciously relaxed. Why won’t he go? She suddenly wanted to lie down. “Look, I’ll tell—”

Without warning, Valdon stepped closer and tried to grab the reins. D.A. bolted and kicked. Valdon jumped out of the way in time. Haley grabbed the saddle to keep from being tossed. “What the hell is your problem? Stay back. Can’t you see the horse is nervous around you?”

Valdon backed off, hands on hips. “Sorry, I thought if I showed that I meant no harm, he’d calm down.”

“Well, he’s not calming down. And Dante isn’t here. You better go. I’ll give him your message.”

The man hesitated and for a moment she thought she’d have to take off on D.A. But Valdon glanced at the horse as if realizing she could outmaneuver him. Besides, what were his intensions?

“Didn’t mean to stir up your horse. Are you all right?”

“Yes.”

Valdon stuffed his hands in his pockets, trying to appear less threatening perhaps. “What do you know about Dante?” he asked.

She studied him for a while. “Did you come here to see Dante or talk dirt on him?”

“Just a question. People aren’t always what they seem. Just a warning.”

She stiffened in the saddle, tempted to hop down and get in his face, but she knew better. “We all have history, skeletons in the closet we’d prefer people not find out about.”

“Skeletons. Well Dante has some interesting skeletons.” Valdon turned and began walking toward his Jeep. “Don’t expect him to hang around here for long.”

The farther away Valdon got, she sensed the tension drain out of the horse. She sighed. Thank God, he’s leaving.

He stopped by his Jeep, opened the driver’s door, then closed it again.
What’s up with this guy?
Valdon turned and moved toward her, his boots kicking up dirt.
Now what?

Then she saw it. She never saw an aura so clearly in the daylight. Valdon had a wide haze radiating out all around him. The colors were clear red and black. Haley held her breath and tugged on D.A.’s reins, trying to move him, get him as far away from Valdon as possible. Red was an expression of anger, power, sexual energy. And black, black was bad, very bad. Black drew energy to it, consumed it. Black auras indicate long-term unforgiveness. These layers of black formed coils all around him. The sight of it made her cringe. She’d never seen anyone with that pattern before. That pattern was typical of an evil entity. Was this guy possessed?

“Move D.A., move.” She kicked his sides and yanked on the reins but the horse wouldn’t move, wouldn’t breathe. “Come on, what’s the matter with you.” She glanced up and Valdon was only a few feet away. He had his hand up, palm out. The horse stared at him, as if hypnotized.

Beneath her, the horse trembled, his legs wobbled. Fearing he would collapse, she climbed off. “Stop it! Whatever you’re doing, stop it.” The horse dropped to the ground.

She strode over to Valdon and punched him in the face. He hardly blinked. But he did put his hand down.

“I’ll be damned,” Valdon said, smiling. “Strong willed. Tarik’s experiment had lasting effects on the Sha Warrior.” He took a step toward her then stopped and shook his head.

“What do you think Dante is going to do once he finds out about this?” She increased the strength of white light. She didn’t know if this man meant her any harm, but she wanted to protect herself as best as she could. If he made a move toward her she’d run.

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean the horse any harm. Dante said he was having troubles with the horses. I thought I’d try to help.” He put his hands on his hips & D.A. got back to his feet, looking as if he got up from a nap. “It’s like hypnosis. I was trying to relax him.”

“Oh.” Her hand went to her mouth. “Sorry, I hit you.”

He laughed, rubbed the spot where she punched him. “I deserved it.”

Standing this close to him, she spotted the greenish-black pendant shaped like a spiral. Haley surrounded herself with white light again. “That pendant, what is it? Dante has one like it.”

He lifted the pendant in his hand as if it was sending him a telepathic message. “Another Drone is here,” he murmured, then looked out across the open desert.

She chuckled to herself. Was Valdon crazy? A shadow shot out from behind the house and slammed into him, knocking Valdon off his feet. Haley thought she saw a wolf, then she saw a woman.

“What the hell are you doing?” the woman asked in a brusque tone. Long, wavy brown hair cascaded over slim shoulders. Wide brown eyes narrowed in a disapproving glare at Valdon. Seductive lips pressed in a pout only improved her beauty and did nothing to enhance her firm authority.

“About to do a collection. What does it look like?” Valdon said getting up and brushing off dirt.

“Where did you come from?” Haley stepped back and considered locking herself in the house, but they knew Dante. What was going on? She watched the two argue. The woman looked pissed, her hands planted on her hips. She wore black jeans and a black T-shirt. Both fit tightly over her sleek body. Despite Valdon’s powerful size compared to her petite appearance, Valdon’s face lost a level of authority in her presence.