Cameron, Paige - Commando Cowboys Seduce Their Woman [Wyoming Warriors 3] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Polyromance) Page 5

  “Did your mother and father let her discipline you?

  “Nanna disciplines us all.”

  “I think I’d like her.”

  “You’ll meet her soon. Are you through with your breakfast?”

  “Yes. I finished while you talked.”

  Sahale dug into his large backpack. “Here’s a towel and soap.”

  Ellen took the items from him and went back to the other room. She put the towel on a ledge and turned to see Sahale standing just inside the area. “You have to stay out front.”

  “I want to shower with you.” His voice sounded husky and rippled across her skin like a caress.

  As she watched, he pulled his shirt over his head, baring a golden chest hard with firm muscles. Every nerve in her body urged her forward, but she held her ground.

  “Come here.” When she hesitated, he whispered, “Are you afraid?”

  “Of course not.”

  His sexy smile made her toes curl. She tried to dig them into the packed earth to keep herself from moving.

  “Show me.”

  As though he’d fastened a cord between them, he drew her forward. She stopped just in front of him. His masculine, musky scent encircled her. Come into my web, said the spider. The words popped into her head.

  “That wasn’t so hard, was it? Touch me. I won’t move. You can do with me as you want.” His compelling voice had her reaching out to place her hands on his chest.

  “You’re very warm.”

  “I’m getting hotter.”

  She glanced up, puzzled by his statement. She saw a flash of fire deep inside his eyes. She shivered in fear and anticipation.

  Unable to control herself, she moved her fingers along his forehead to his high cheekbones and ran her fingertip over the edge of his jaw. She reached behind and pulled the rawhide tie that held back his hair. It fell to his shoulders like black silk. Her fingers slid along the strands.

  As he’d promised, he didn’t move, except for the fire in his eyes and his scent, which swirled around them. Her hands were trembling when she moved them back down his neck, across his chest, and her thumbs rubbed across his flat nipples. She felt rather than heard his sharp intake of breath.

  For a moment she closed her eyes, breathed in his scent, and concentrated on the pounding of his heart under her right hand. She wasn’t aware until she felt the air on her chest that he had unbuttoned her shirt.

  He pushed her arms down and the shirt fell off. While he held her gaze, his arms went around her and unfastened her bra. He pulled it off and let it drop to the ground. “Beautiful.” He purred the word as he took her full breasts into his hands.

  “I need to touch you. We’ll go slow.” He unfastened her jeans and pushed them and her plain white panties down. Kneeling, he lifted each of her feet, removing her shoes and then her pants.

  Sahale stood and looked at her from her feet to the top of her head. Her body shook and leaned toward him.

  “You can undress me.” He kicked off his moccasins.

  Ellen undid his buckle. Her fingers brushed the hot skin of his abdomen as she unfastened the button on his jeans. Her breath caught, sweet desire curled inside her, and her pussy clenched with hunger. She stopped for a second.

  “Go ahead, Ellen. I won’t hurt you or do anything you don’t want.”

  Her body warred with her head and won. She pulled his zipper down and pushed his jeans along his well-formed, long legs. She barely noticed when he kicked his pants aside. She was staring at his large, hard cock, pointed at her. Before she could say or do anything, Sahale lifted her into his arms, took several long strides forward, and stepped under the waterfall.

  She looked up and he took the opportunity to kiss the spot on her neck where her pulse beat rapidly. He raised his head and let her body slide down along his.

  “We’re going to move slowly.” He reached for the soap and created a thick lather. Systematically, his hands washed her, caressing each spot, and massaging her muscles. Every nerve in her began to respond to him. In a minute, she’d be melted into a puddle of need and desire at his feet.

  “Turn toward the wall.” His words broke the spell, but she did as he said. His hands continued working their same magic on her backside. He cupped her buttocks, and then ran his hands down the back of her thighs to her feet.

  In the back of her mind, she knew she had to stop him. She was afraid. She didn’t realize she’d said the words out loud until he asked, “What are you afraid of, Ellen? This is not a seduction where I drop you afterwards. Jack and I want to make you our woman, our wife.”

  He turned her to face him. The water ran across them both as they stared at each other.

  “I’ve been married and divorced. The divorce left me wounded, but I recovered. I vowed I’d never give a man that much control of me again.” She looked away from him. “I’m really afraid if you made love to me, and Jack and you and I married, I’d never recover when you grew tired of me and wanted to end it.”

  Sahale put his finger under her chin and raised her head. “We marry for life. Our people do not divorce. If a couple has problems, there are counselors to help.” He leaned his head to the side. “But I can’t remember any couples ever suggesting they end their marriage. Once the couple is bonded by love it is right.”

  She ran around him, grabbed a towel, and started drying. She pulled on her clothes and hurried to the other room. Sahale had rinsed and stepped out to dry off as she left the inner room. Trembling, she sank in front of the opening and put her head on her knees.

  He sat behind her and pulled her between his legs. “You will learn you can trust us.” He spoke in a soft, comforting tone. His fingers ran through her long hair. He twisted the strands and put them over her shoulder. His lips brushed across her neck and up to her earlobe, where his teeth scraped across the tender skin.

  A sizzle went down her spine. Inside, a turmoil of desire and hunger fought with her more sensible side. I hardly know him. She chanted the words inside her head.

  “Relax. Perhaps in my desire to touch you and sink inside your sweet pussy, which I’m sure will be hot and wet, I moved too fast. Your walls are much stronger than I expected. Tell me about your marriage.” He pulled her back until she rested against him.

  Ellen watched the horses below. They were beautiful, free, and wild.

  In her mind’s eye, she looked back at herself when she was eighteen. “My ex-husband had been ahead of me in school,” she said. “He graduated from high school when I was going into the sixth grade. He’d been a neighbor. I’d idolized him from afar since I was ten.”

  Sahale handed her a cold soda. She glanced back at him.

  “I freeze them and then by the time I want one it’s still cold.”

  “Smart idea.” She twisted the top off the bottle and went back to staring out into space. “He came home right after my high school graduation. It was the first time he’d really looked at me. We couldn’t get enough of each other, and six months later we married against the wishes of both our parents. He had just gotten his law degree, and his father had plans for him. I was not the type of wife he wanted for his son.

  “My parents had preferred I finish college first, but mainly they wanted me to be happy. They accepted the marriage once it was done.”

  “You eloped?”

  “Yes. His father was a big man in Washington. He moved us there and got his son a job at one of the old, well-known law firms. There he met all the right people.”

  “What was his name? Were you happy living in the hub of all that activity?”

  “For a short time. His name is Brian Garraloga. I wanted to go to school. With the advance courses I’d had in high school, and going to the community college during the summer and fall before we married, I’d completed one year of college.”

  “He didn’t want you to continue your education?”

  “His father insisted I get involved with the other wives. Go to teas and be on committees. The wives looked down
on me. I was the youngest and the dumbest when it came to what they thought was important.” She pushed him back and sat where she faced him with her legs crossed.

  “Marriage can drain the life out of you. I wasn’t allowed to have a thought of my own, and I had to always be careful about what I said. I feared saying the wrong thing.”

  “Were you happy for a time?”

  “The first ten months or so, and then our marriage began to come apart. He was moving up fast in the firm. They were grooming him to become a politician. By the end of the first year he had begun to find fault with what I did, how I looked, with the fact that I wasn’t pregnant.” She stopped and took a long swallow of her soda.

  “Let’s stop and eat.”

  “You mean you have more food in that backpack? It must have weighed a ton.”

  Sahale got up and moved across the room to his bag. She loved to watch him walk or stand. All his movements were quick, decisive, and graceful.

  “I can feel you looking at me.” He turned his head and smiled, sending her heart rate speeding. He slowly walked toward her. His eyes looked into hers, then his gaze went to her breasts, and finally to the juncture of her thighs. She felt like he touched her. Her breathing quickened and moisture seeped between her pussy lips.

  “Do you like peanut butter and jelly?” The simple words slid across her sensitive skin. How did he do that, get her so aroused with a look, a certain tone in his voice?

  “Do you?”

  “Oh, yes.” She took the sandwich wrapped in wax paper from his hand. Her fingers brushed his and she jerked her hand back. It was as though a current of electricity snapped between them.

  He went back and got two bottles of water. They ate in silence, watching the panoramic view out of the opening.

  After they finished, he took the bottles and paper and put them in his pack. “You’re tired. We’ll go to the cabin. Later you can finish telling me your story.”

  She was drained. He fastened their wrists and led the way back down the ladder. Following him, she walked along the dirt trail and got back to the house.

  “I want you to rest.” He opened the door and led her down a short hall opposite the kitchen. On one side was a study, on the other a large bedroom and bath. French doors opened to a veranda overlooking the canyon. He pulled the drapes closed and began to undress her.

  Ellen started to pull back.

  “I’m just getting you comfortable so you’ll sleep.” When she was nude, he pulled back the spread and told her to lie down. He disappeared into the bathroom.

  He returned with a bottle of lotion. “Lie on your stomach.” He filled his hands with the lotion and began to rub her back, massaging her muscles. His hands went across and down her back to her buttocks, to her thighs, and lastly to her feet. She melted into the feather-soft bed.

  * * * *

  He recognized the signs when she finally gave up and slept. Sahale took the lotion back into the bathroom, and then he went into his study and closed the door. He flipped his phone open and punched in the numbers.

  “Mitch here.”

  “I’ve been talking with Ellen. Check this name out for me, Garraloga. He and his father either live in Washington or spend a great deal of time there.”

  “How secret do we need the search to be?”

  “The highest level. I have a bad feeling about these people. We haven’t finished talking. We will later. When I get back tomorrow we should meet.”

  “No problem. What time will you be here?”

  “Say by noon.”

  “Then the meeting will be at one. Do you think she’s telling the truth?”

  “Undoubtedly.”

  “Good. See you tomorrow.” Mitch clicked off.

  Sahale shut his phone and stared out the window at blue skies filled with cumulus clouds. His body ached with wanting her. He’d wanted to wrap his arms around her as she spoke. Her hurt and fear had shown in her golden-brown eyes.

  But he held himself back. She was prickly as a cactus and was fighting to keep behind the walls she put between herself and almost everyone else. He saw her desire and hunger to let him love her. The rigid control she’d learned to protect herself with had come back each time to stop her from letting him in.

  He didn’t plan to give up. She was his and Jack’s woman. There was no doubt in his mind. Every molecule in his body recognized her and yearned to touch her. She feared they might tire of her and want a divorce. He shook his head. His fear was they’d have trouble not being too possessive, too protective.

  She’d need her space more than some women did. There were jobs in the labs and other areas where she might work. His only concern was whether she was able to bear children. He and Jack had always wanted a family. That would be a big dream for them to give up.

  Later today, he’d question her more about that part of her marriage. Could he give her up if she was barren?

  Restless, he went outside. He strode across the dirt lane and climbed the side of the mountain to a narrow ledge. He sat cross-legged and concentrated on the hawk circling on the drafts of wind created above the canyon. He opened his hands and let his mind go free into meditation.

  The slamming of the front screen door brought his attention back. He glanced at his watch. An hour had passed in what seemed a few minutes. Ellen stood below looking around and calling his name.

  “I’m here.” He waved at her and started down.

  She rushed to him and threw herself against his body. “I woke and couldn’t find you.” Her arms held him tight.

  No, I won’t let her go, even if we never have children. She’s part of me, and she’ll be part of Jack. We’ll be her family even if we aren’t blessed with a child. His mind was clear and certain. He kissed her head.

  “I’ll never be far away if you need me. At least not unless I’m on a job, and then Jack will be here to protect you.”

  She raised her head and stood on her tiptoes. Her mouth covered his. She pulled back for a second, and then kissed him hard again.

  Chapter Six

  He picked her up and carried her inside. Ellen’s heart was thumping out of her chest. She’d been trembling when she woke. Something in her dreams, but she didn’t remember what, had frightened her. She’d dressed quickly, and when she couldn’t find Sahale, her fear increased.

  “It’s all right, baby.” Sahale kissed her head and put her down on the couch facing the windows. “I’ll make you a cup of hot tea. Sunset will be soon. I’ll be right back.”

  She watched as he went into the kitchen. The sun was beginning to set. The horses had settled into one shadowed corner of the canyon. Gradually the fear receded and calm came over her.

  “Here’s your tea.” Sahale put the cup and saucer in her hand and sat close beside her.

  “What is this? It smells wonderful.”

  “One of my grandmother’s mixtures. This one is supposed to have a relaxing quality to it.”

  “It tastes as good as it smells.” She sipped the hot, sweet liquid.

  “See how the shadows begin to climb the sides of the canyon and the sunlight creates a collage of colors, red and gold and purple?”

  Sahale stepped away for a moment and came back with a flute. He began to play a haunting tune. Ellen watched, enthralled, as the colors surrounding the setting sun and the shadows created a live mosaic. One that constantly changed until darkness fell and the music stopped.

  “That was the most sensual vision and sound. I’m filled with awe at all of it, and you.” She turned to face him.

  “Are you rested enough now to finish your story?”

  She nodded yes, and he spread his legs and lay back on the long sofa. He pulled her back to lie against him and wrapped his arms around her. “You’re safe now. Tell me what you fear.”

  “His father wanted two things. A grandson to follow in his footsteps, and his son to be a member of Congress. He didn’t see that happening with me as his son’s wife.

  “Brian and I drew
further apart. I wrestled with the idea of talking with him about us going to a counselor. But before I did, his father paid me a visit one afternoon. I’d just gotten back from a boring committee meeting and had a pounding headache. To this day, I can hear his voice drumming in my ear.

  “‘The two of you were foolish to have married, and it has to end. You are holding my boy back, and’—he sneered—‘look at you, you can’t even get pregnant.’ ”

  Her voice faltered. She twisted her fingers together. Sahale’s hands covered hers.

  “I’m right here. You’re safe.” His soft voice calmed the fear clawing at her insides. She took a deep breath and continued.

  “I was stunned. Hate filled his dark blue eyes, disgust shone on his narrow face. His words spewed out at me like a knife cutting into my skin. I sank into the closest chair and held my head.

  “He came and hovered over me.

  “‘My boy has found him a woman he loves, and she’s pregnant. You will give him a divorce and leave this area.’ He yanked my head up and glared at me. ‘If you ever say anything against him or me, you will have an accident. We will all say what a wonderful woman you were. It was such a tragedy you had to die at an early age.’

  “His fingers tightened around my throat. I thought for a second he’d kill me right then and there, but he let me go. He stormed out of the house, hollering back that I was to be gone before his son returned the next day.”

  Her whole body trembled remembering the hate that had radiated from her father-in-law. Ellen turned her head to look at Sahale. He kissed her and tightened his arms around her.

  She turned back and leaned into Sahale’s body. His firm chest supported her. “After I signed the divorce papers he’d brought with him, I threw some clothes into a suitcase and fled. I never used his name after that. My parents encouraged me to finish school. Meeting Sara at enrollment and getting her for my roommate was the best thing that happened. She didn’t ask a lot of questions. She was just my friend. In the second year we got to know Morgan and we became a threesome, although I was always closer to Sara.” She smiled, remembering.

  “I had the one year of college. So while Sara and Morgan finished getting their degrees, I took another year of postgraduate classes in chemistry and microbiology. I’m thirty, two years older than them. You must see I’m not a good candidate for your and Jack’s wife. If I couldn’t get pregnant at nineteen, I doubt it will happen now. You must want a family?” She sat up and turned to see his expression.