Staking His Claim (4 page)

She tried speaking again. "Thanks for saving
me. Again."

He did respond to that. "Not a problem.
Better me than the next guy."

She still wasn't so sure about that. "You
think?"

"Yeah."

He turned away and came back seconds later
with a tube of antiseptic ointment and a moistened cloth. He held
the cloth in front of her and gently offered, "You trust me to do
it?"

She puffed out a breath as something unknown
passed between them. "Yeah."

He placed the cloth on one knee and then the
next, loosening the dried blood, rubbing gently, carefully removing
the sand and flakes of rock from the dried sores. It took awhile
and she sat still, trying to distract herself from the pain by
watching his hands on her.

He had large strong hands, with thick, blunt
fingers. They were cool and capable as they touched her skin.
Elaina felt a trace of heat hit her high in the breasts and slide
down through her system, landing in a damp pool of need between her
thighs. Shocked, she trembled softly and raised her eyes back to
his face.

His movements stalled and she knew he felt
the tremors in her body as his eyes left his task and lifted to
hers. Incendiary heat passed between them. She licked her lips and
stared at his male beauty.

She opened her mouth and tried to speak.
"So--you're not
always
mean." The words were off the top of
her head but they conveyed her exact thought.

His ministrations stopped completely and she
felt his attention leave her abraded flesh and center wholly on
her.

She sucked in a breath at the naked look of
self-contempt in his eyes.

"I was hard on you yesterday." His hand
stroked absently down her leg to her calf, and he rubbed back and
forth, stopping to cup the feminine definition of her muscle. "I'm
sorry about that. I get pissed when I get scared. And it scared me
shitless to think about you putting yourself in danger." His eyes
continued to rove over her features as his hands stroked her skin.
"You're young and small and weak. There are bad people out there,
baby." The visible anxiety in his eyes told Elaina his worry was
sincere. "You have to be careful all the time, you know?"

His hand lifted to her face and cupped her
chin, his calloused finger tilting her face completely to his.
"Okay?"

"Y-yes." Elaina was mesmerized by his
masculine beauty so close to her. Her heart was beating in wild
gallops; her brain seemed absent from her body. Again, she spoke
without thinking, "You're so handsome."

Her face immediately flushed red when she
realized she had spoken the thought out loud.

His hand tightened on her chin and one side
of his mouth lifted in an attempt at a smile that failed
completely. "Yeah? Well, you're gonna be stupendous when you get
grown. You're beautiful already and there's no fucking way you can
stay here with me. This was a bad idea."

He let go of her face and pushed back from
her onto his haunches. I'm gonna get you cleaned up and get you
back home. I got a pair of crutches. You'll be fine until they get
back."

"Why do you get to say--the f-word and I
don't?" she whispered.

His hand lifted to her face one last time and
held her cheek, his thumb running over the tracks that the earlier
tears had left. He leaned into her, put his mouth to her ear and
whispered, "You get grown up some and I'll let you say it to me all
you want." His mouth lingered, and Elaina quivered as she felt him
breathe in her scent and place a slow kiss on her ear.

This was the third or fourth time he had made
a comment about her growing up. It sent shivers through her
system.

Her arms were just about to reach up and
enfold his neck when he abruptly stood to his feet and turned
away.

****

The next day Raul fought with himself off and
on about checking on Elaina. He knew Brian and Janie were home,
he'd seen their truck flying down the road leaving a cloud of dust
a couple of hours before.

At three o'clock, he couldn't fight the beast
inside anymore and flipped his cell open.

Brian answered it on the first ring. "Hey
man. Thanks for bailing us out.
Again
."

"No problem. She was pretty shaken up
yesterday. Vicious twist to the ankle. She okay?"

"Yeah. Janie drove her to the clinic this
morning just to make sure there's no fracture. Just a sprain.
Thanks, man."

"Sure. How'd the trip go? Janie buy out the
stores?"

"Hell, yeah. Now we're throwing a goddamn New
Year's Eve party."

"Shit. Do I have to be there?"

"Better believe it, pard. I gotta be there,
you gotta be there."

"Goddamn, Canton. You better learn how to
rein her in--"

He was interrupted by Brian's laugh. "Right.
Not in this lifetime. This is the last one. Holidays will be over
for a year. We'll let you rest after this one. Hey. You got
somewhere you gotta be on Christmas Eve? Janie wants to have
twilight
drinks."

"Twilight fuckin' what?"

"Twilight drinks," Brian said on a laugh. "No
worries. Nobody gonna be here but us. We're gonna light a fire and
grill steaks. Dude, come on. Don't leave me alone with both these
women. They've been ganging the shit up on me and I can't keep up.
Six o'clock. Beer and steaks. Dude. Please."

"Yeah, all right. What can I bring?"

"Just yourself. Janie's already stocked your
brand."

****

Raul pulled his truck in front of the
Canton's house three nights later. He didn't care to acknowledge to
himself how much he'd looked forward to this night. Already, four
days without seeing her was too damn long.

The weather was mild. If Janie had her heart
set on a fire, they were going to have to turn the air conditioner
on. He rang the bell, twelve- pack under his arm.

Janie answered the door, a smile on her face,
a cold beer for him in her hand.

Raul grinned at her and took the offering.
"My kind of woman. Too bad Canton found 'ya first." He threw a nod
at Brian who was standing behind his wife.

Janie grabbed his arm and pulled him inside.
"Right. That would have been like me robbing the cradle, don't you
think?"

Raul continued to tease Janie, feeling free
to do so with her husband leaning against the wall, drinking a
beer, listening in. "What are you Janie, thirty-three, thirty-four?
No much of a cradle robber there, sweetheart."

"Well aren't you sweet, darlin'." She turned
to her husband. "I knew there was a reason I liked your
friend."

She never gave up her age, and Raul got a
kick out of it. Maybe she was closer to forty. Who the hell knew?
She looked good was all he knew. Brian had done well. Except for
her annoying inclination to throw parties for every damn reason,
Janie seemed the perfect woman. Brian deserved her. Ten or so years
older than himself, Brian Canton was a good man, a good friend, and
he deserved happiness just like the next guy.

Raul tossed the twelve- pack at Brian's chest
as Janie pulled his arm and brought him into the room, coming to a
stop next to the couch where Elaina relaxed, propped up with
pillows. "Come say hi to my baby."

Raul looked down and felt a vicious kick to
his solar plexus. Completely annihilated by the transformation in
front of him, he stood zombie-like, having to force out his voice,
and all he could do was mimic Janie's words. "Hi, baby."

Elaina heard the surprised heat in his voice
and her stomach clenched with excitement. His eyes were running
over her and his body was held immobile, as if in shock.

Four days without seeing him had left her
anxious, unsatisfied.

She had known he was coming and prepared well
in advance. She let Janie assume it was for Christmas Eve, but
Elaina knew in her heart she was dressing up
for him
. She
had conflicted emotions--she didn't particularly want him to find
out her age, but at the same time, she wanted him to see her as an
adult. It made no sense.

She was still on crutches, and her knees were
seriously scabbed over. She couldn't wear jeans, so she had put on
a little black dress that was the epitome of the phrase, and she
had done her hair and make-up. He stood staring down at her, and on
the inside she was laughing and shouting at the gobsmacked look on
his face.
So there!

Raul knew he was staring, but he really
didn't give a shit. He was seriously debating whether eighteen was
too young for him. What the hell? She was an adult. She was old
enough to vote. She was legal. Not jailbait. As he watched her, his
brain analyzed the ramifications of making such a move.

Janie interrupted his thoughts when she
swirled back into the room and handed Elaina a can of Diet
Coke.

Janie was drinking a glass of wine, he and
Brain were drinking beer. It was a vicious kick to his stomach to
see her take a delicate sip of the soft drink. It was the kick he
needed to get his head out of his ass.
She's too fucking young,
Vega. Understand it, man.

How long would he have to wait? He'd have to
let her go back to school, grow up some. Twenty-one.
No
.
Fuck that shit.
Twenty
. Just not a teenager. He didn't want
seducing a teenager on his conscience.

He was deep in an internal conflict when
Janie and Brian went outside to check the grill. The back door
slammed, leaving him alone with Elaina.

Silence pulsed between them as they stared at
each other.

She cleared her throat and asked him, "What
are you thinking about?"

He stood over her, and took his time
answering. "I'm thinking you're dangerous, baby."

"How so, Mr. Vega?"

"You're dangerous to my peace, my state of
mind, my equilibrium." His eyes roved down her legs, the only
imperfection the scrapes on her knees. He took in everything, her
tiny ankles, the pink polish on her toenails, her feminine little
feet. His eyes slowly moved back up, stalling at the vee between
her thighs and the curve of her chest. "You think this is a smart
move, Miss Ruiz? Pulling out all the stops when you know I'm trying
my damn best to stay away from you?"

She sucked in a breath as both pleasure and a
tendril of shock trailed fingers across her spine. He was suffering
the same as she was. He was temptation beyond temptation. Her heart
was screaming at her to reach out for him, her brain was telling
her that he was off limits. Too old. Too intense.
Too macho
.
No doubt he did crazy things to her insides. But he just wasn't
safe.

She took the easy way out. "It's Christmas
Eve. So I dressed up. Big deal."

He reached out and took her chin in his hand
and did that thing with his thumb across her face that made her
body tremble. Her breathing splintered and arousal pierced her, hot
and hard. His eyes were deep, dark brown. Mesmerizing. His voice
was whiskey smooth. "It
is
a big deal, sweetheart. If you
think you're grown-up, you need to prove it and stop trying to
entice me
. Because it's working."

He took the can from her hand and put both of
their drinks on the coffee table. He reached back for her and his
hand continued to slide over her cheek.

She nodded slightly in an attempt to agree to
his demand.

"Good girl." He slid down until he was
sitting on the edge of the couch in front of where she was
reclining, overwhelming her. Crowding her personal space. "How you
feeling, baby? Still hurting?"

She shook her head and answered him in a
whisper. "No. I'm better."

"Ready to go dancing?" he teased.

"Not yet."

"Poor baby. Can't go out, can't go running,
can't even get up to entertain company." His words slid through her
and she thought about last night and looked away from his eyes.

He noticed.

His fingers tightened on her chin and he
demanded her attention. "Look at me."

Her eyes slid carefully back to his. His
features hardened, like his hand on her skin. "What'd you do?"

"Nothing."

"You went out, or have company? You damn sure
didn't go running."

She tried to play down something
insignificant that somehow she knew he wouldn't like. "Yeah, I had
company. Trevor came by last night."

"Trevor."
His voice radiated
anger.

"Yeah."

"He touch you?"

"What?" Stunned, she could only manage the
one word. When had she become his property?
She wasn't
.

"Did. He. Touch. You." He bit the words out,
one by one.

"That's n-not really any of your business,"
she stammered.

"You don't think?" His mouth flattened in a
line of suppressed temper.

"No."

"That boy's used to playing fast and loose,
little girl. I've known him a long time. He's screwed everything in
a four county area. You wanna be his next?"

"No," she answered softly as her cheeks
turned pink.

"I'm going to ask you again. Did you let him
touch you?"

"Not like that."

"Elaina." It was a warning.

She took exception to his tone and her
volatile temper exploded. "I'm not planning on sleeping with him,
Raul. Not that it's any of your
fucking
business."

His eyes blazed down at her. Rage colored his
expression. "I've told you before. You better watch your mouth."
His words were sharp.

She felt his dark, compelling eyes on her.
"Oh, I think
you're watching it
closely enough for the both
of us." Suppressed lust and territorial aggression glimmered in his
dark gaze, easily identifiable even to someone with her limited
sexual experience.

He sucked in oxygen and forced his eyes from
her wet, luscious lips. His hands reached down and grabbed her
wrists and pushed them over her head, pushing them into the sofa.
He loomed over her, going for intimidation to get her to conform.
"I'm trying to be a gentleman here." His words were a low snarl.
"I'm telling you to stay away from that boy."