Ryland (24 page)

“Does that mean you want a baby with me?
I would love to see you huge with our child.” She smacked him on the shoulder. “You
would be a sight to behold.”

“Yeah, sure, all five hundred pounds of
me.” She touched his cheek. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. I want many children with you. As
many as you want. All of them little girls with braids and freckles.”

“And the people looking for me? What if
they find me again? What if Cunningham told them where I am?” He kissed her
mouth. “That does not settle anything.”

“It does for me.” He held her in his
arms as he continued. “If someone comes, we’ll try reasoning with them. If that
doesn’t work, we’ll sic Mom on them. She’s a hell of a lot scarier than you are
sometimes. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll let you deal with them. For good.”

Chapter 19

The lab was leveled the day after they
were married. Sandra wanted them to remain close to her, but knew she was being
selfish. She’d been terrified when those men had attacked and she was still
frightened at times in the middle of the night. She was seriously considering
Ryland and Bronwyn’s offer of her moving in with them.

Their house was much bigger than hers
and she wouldn’t have to do anything. Bronwyn had hired someone to cook and to
clean the house. Smiling, Sandra amended that thought. Ryland had hired
someone.

It wasn’t that Bronwyn couldn’t cook, she
just hated to do it. Cleaning up was something she hated to do when she’d been
left in the kitchen. Sandra swore that she’d used every pan, every bowl, and
she thought that every piece of silverware had been dirty as well. Ryland hired
Mrs. Hopper the next day.

She headed to the post office to get her
mail and stopped by the market. The kids would be home in a few days and she
was fixing their favorite meal. She looked up in time to see one of the other
tigers, in human form, move to the next isle. She turned to leave when she felt
someone touch her mind.

“Hi.”
She let out a breath she hadn’t
known she was holding when Bronwyn spoke.
“You really should just let me introduce
you to them and they wouldn’t have to sneak around so you know that they’re
there.”

“Who? That man? You know him?”
She looked to
see if he was still there and he waved at her.
“Did he contact you? On your
honeymoon?”

“No, you did when you became frightened.
Besides, we’re at the airport now. We decided that we wanted to come home a few
days early.”
Sandra started to ask her why, but Bronwyn spoke again.
“Now, go over to
that nice man, hold out your hand, and introduce yourself. His name is Carroll.
He’s there to protect you.”

“I don’t need anyone to protect me. I
have my gun and I’m perfectly fine so long as strange men don’t pop out of
grocery stores at me.”
The man came toward her.
“He’s coming. What do I
do?”

“Well, don’t shoot him.”

She might have laughed at Bronwyn if she
hadn’t been so afraid.

“He knows your name, but it would be
nice if you told him. Come on, Sandra. I won’t give you the gift I bought you
if you don’t.”

That stopped her
. “You bought me
something? What did you get? I hope you didn’t spend a great deal of money. You
have to finish putting that lovely house together and—”

“Sandra, the man is waiting.”

She eyed the older man in front of her.
He didn’t say anything and he didn’t touch her. She wanted to tell Bronwyn that
she didn’t want this, but she growled at her before she could.

“I’m Sandra Golden. Bronwyn said you’re
here to protect me. Well, I’m telling you right now that I don’t need you.” She
heard Bronwyn say, “oh, brother,” but ignored her. “And if you think I’m going
to have you hanging around me for the rest of my life, you’re sillier than she
is.”

“Hello, Sandy, how are you?”

Sandra closed her eyes to the voice
behind her and turned slowly, trying to plaster a smile on her face. Connie
Davenport, the woman she disliked more than she did root canals, was speaking
to her and Sandra didn’t have the patience needed to deal with her today. The
woman spoke before she could tell her to fuck off. “There you are. It’s been
ages since we’ve had lunch. We should get together sometime.”

Bronwyn told her to shoot this woman. Sandra
ignored her again. But did smile. She’d said it so gleefully that Sandra found
that she wanted to hear her laugh again. She glanced at Carroll and he grinned.

“It’s Sandra, not Sandy. I do detest that name. I believe I’ve said that to you before, Connie.” The woman laughed
that laugh that grated on her last nerve and had her reaching her hand into her
pocket just to make sure, if she needed to, she could shoot this woman. But
Carroll touched her arm.

“Mrs. Golden, the car is out front if
you’re ready to go now. Let me take these up front for you.” He moved the cart
away and she nearly told him not to leave her. “But I just remembered your
appointment at the realtor. If we leave now, we’ll have just enough time to get
there.”

She wanted to kiss him, but only nodded.
She turned to Connie and smiled. She was going to take a stand. And this woman
had the misfortune of being her first test of the waters.

“I don’t really have an appointment. My
bodyguard was just trying to help me get away from you. He knows that I don’t
care for you, as do most people, I would suppose. Not care for you, I mean.”
She started toward the cart when she turned back. “Also, Connie, if you call me
Sandy again, I’m going to shoot you in the foot.”

Sandra turned and walked to her cart as
Carroll just finished putting the things she’d gotten on the belt. She turned
back to look at Connie and nearly laughed out loud when she hadn’t moved. Not
one inch.

They were putting the last bag in the
car when Carroll shut the trunk and took the keys. She glared at him for
several seconds before she demanded he give them back.

“Mrs. Golden, as your bodyguard, I
should tell you that I don’t take orders from you. I will do things for you,
help you with your purchases, take out the trash, I’ll even massage your feet
if you want.” He pulled her out of the way of a fast moving cart when it came
at her. “But now that I’m someone you know I will be taking my job of keeping
you safe very seriously. My lady is going to murder me slowly and painfully if
I don’t.”

She was in the back seat and he was
pulling into traffic when she realized what he’d said. “Bronwyn threatened you?
With harm if something happened to me?”

“Yes, ma’am. She said that she protects
what she loves. I’m guessing she loves you very much to have you guarded at all
times.” He swung the car into Ryland and Bronwyn’s driveway. Before she could
tell him she didn’t live here, he was out of the car.

“I’m not staying here. I have a house. Just
down the road a ways, but that’s where I want to go.” He shut the trunk and
went into the house. She had no choice but to follow. “I said that I want to—”

She stopped suddenly and looked at the
room full of people. They were all there, Ryland and Bronwyn and all her sons.
Sindy was there, along with a few people she considered close friends and a few
she didn’t know. She looked at them through her tears. “I thought you’d
forgotten.” She looked at the large sign over the fireplace and smiled. “I
never dreamed you’d do this for one little old lady’s birthday.”

Bronwyn kissed her cheek. “It was
Alistair’s ideal. Ryland and I got home last night and hid out in a hotel so
you wouldn’t know. I didn’t think you’d ever go to the grocery store.”

“I nearly didn’t. I was going to go in
the morning and thought the heck with it, just get it over with.” She hugged Bronwyn
again. “You’re the best gift a woman could have.”

“You were going to shoot that woman’s
foot, Mom,” Ryland said as he came up to her and kissed her. “I thought Bronwyn
was going to wet herself she was laughing so hard. It took her ten minutes to
let us know what you said.”

She flushed and looked at the girl. “You
shouldn’t have told them that. Now they’ll really have a bodyguard on me.”

“You do. Always and forever.” Bronwyn
kissed her cheek again. “So, do you want your gift now?”

She nearly said something about expense,
but it was her birthday and she nodded. Ryland handed her a small box. Nervous
and hating to be the center of attention, she tore the paper off. It was a
small tube with a sheet of paper under it. When she looked at them, Ryland
nodded to the paper. It took her reading it three times before she got it.

“You’re pregnant.”

Ryland pointed at Bronwyn.

“You’re going to have a baby? Really?”

“Yes. In a few more months, but we have
to make a deal.”

She hugged her before Bronwyn could say
anything else. She was going to be a grandmother. A grandmother. “I’ll do
whatever you want. Anything. Oh, a baby. I’m so excited.” Bronwyn looked at
Ryland and he grinned. “Well, not anything.”

“Too late.”

~~~

It was so nice to be home that she
walked around looking in each room just to know it was theirs. Bronwyn moved to
the second floor to look around, knowing that Ryland would be awhile yet. It
was another reason they’d come home earlier than expected. There was a deal
that he wanted to try to get completed and she knew that he wanted it. Besides,
she had wanted to come home too.

“We’ll have to buy more furniture now.
You up for some more shopping?”

Bronwyn leaned back against her husband
of three weeks and smiled.

“I know you love to shop.”

She didn’t and he knew it. But she had
some time yet and turned in his arms. Smiling, she reached down, grabbed his
cock, and twisted. He held very still. “I’ll make you a deal. You can keep this
if you do the shopping with your mom about buying the bed and other things in
the kid’s room.” She let him go with a long stroke. “Or you spend the day with
me at the gun range and I go with her.”

It wasn’t much of a tradeoff. She knew he
liked the range and she was getting excited about the baby. Scared, too, about
whether or not he’d be normal or not, but she was happy.

“How about if I do both? I would love to
go with you to pick out the baby’s room. Mom said she has a few things that were
ours that she’d like to give you.” He kissed her on the nose, something she was
beginning to love. “Slick move on your part, making her move in here and use
the guards.”

She wasn’t thrilled about blackmailing
the woman, but it was dangerous. They’d not had any more problems, but she
wasn’t taking any chances. Not with any of them. Moving out of the bedroom
she’d been exploring when Ryland came up, she went back downstairs with him. She
asked him about the deal.

“I’m going to be able to put it
together. Mostly because I have the reputation that he’s looking for. I want to
make love to you in front of the fireplace.” She stopped in mid-step on the
stairs and looked at him. “I started the fire before coming up to find you. There
are two glasses of wine and some cheese and fruit on a platter. Mrs. Hopper
left us a nice note telling us that she’s gone for the night and that we should
enjoy ourselves. I plan to do just that.” He picked her up in his arms and
carried her the rest of the way down the stairs. When he set her on her feet in
front of the fireplace, she looked around the room. He’d been busy.

Dozens of roses were in vases
everywhere. There were petals on the floor and the mantle. She saw that in
addition to the platter, there were chocolate-dipped strawberries, chocolates,
and even some cream. He’d put a soft blanket on the floor and there was music
playing in the background. She looked up at him. “I love you so very much.”

He pulled her into his arms and she
wrapped her arms around him.

“You might just get lucky because of all
this.”

“I already am. The day you said yes
you’d stay with me.” He started to unbutton her blouse as he continued. “Then
you said you’d stay. And let’s not forget the baby.”

She stilled his hands with her own. “I’m
afraid he’ll be like me.”

He pulled her blouse down and held it
behind her with her arms still tangled in the sleeves. “I don’t see why that
would bother you. You’re a loving, giving person who does more for others than
she does for herself. Sure, you have the worst mouth on a person that I’ve ever
heard, but I love you for that too. Any baby you have will have the same
personality as you.” He laughed. “Okay, now I’m scared.”

Ryland finished undressing her slowly. After
her blouse, he took off her jeans, moving them down her legs as he kissed a
path down them. Her socks he tossed over his shoulder and then he took one foot
at a time into his hands and massaged them until she was moaning. Her bra was
next, unclasping the front closure and letting it drift off her arms to the
floor. She stood before him in just her panties.

He touched her everywhere, softly,
reverently. Every time his hands would skim over her a path of goose bumps
followed. She was shivering in need by the time he curled his hands into her
panties.