A Little Harmless Ride (8 page)

He had a feeling she was doing it on purpose. He didn’t know if it was to keep from answering because she wanted to keep it private, or if she was fucking with him. He figured it was the latter.

“
Ashton. Anything you need to tell me about?”

“
He’s not a security risk, believe me. He probably heard I rented my house out for another year.”

“
In DC?”

“
No, I was living down near Virginia Beach when I was teaching. But, when Dad got sick, I moved up to DC and rented the house out.”

“
I assume this Ashton didn’t like that?”

“
We’d already broken up at that point.”

When she didn’t continue, he didn’t ask again She apparently didn’t want to answer the questions. He didn’t blame her. What bothered him was that he wanted to know more. He wanted to know why they were broken up. Well, he knew why. Crysta might have a good heart, but he knew without a doubt she wouldn’t put up with cheating. How could a man cheat on a woman like Crysta?

“
I need to brush my teeth and get my hat and boots.”

He nodded and let her go. He didn’t know what to think of his reaction. He rarely cared about a woman’s past. Only thing he worried about was the here and now. Unless she had something that was going to come after them at some point, Eli didn’t care.

And when had he become a man who stood around a kitchen thinking about a woman. Especially one he wasn’t sleeping with.

He shook his head. Lack of sleep and the stress of the last couple of months were starting to get to him. He dumped the little bit of coffee he had left, and went out to get the horses ready.

* * * *

Crysta drew in a huge breath of sweet Hawaiian air and sighed. They’d ridden for about half an hour before stopping. She couldn’t believe the beauty of the land. Over the years, she’d read about Hawaii, seen it in movies and on television, but living there, being right on the land just blew her away. It was like she was in a whole other dimension. No picture could relate the feel of the air against the flesh or show the colors as vividly as they were in person.

“
Our land goes just over that last hill there,” Eli said pointing out over the horizon.

She looked out to where he pointed. When she thought of Hawaii, she thought of “Hawaii 5-0” or maybe “50 First Dates”. She didn’t expect to see the wide expanse of land before her now. Joe had told her about it, but it still took her breath away.

When she glanced over, she found Eli watching her. He did that a lot, but it didn’t really bother her. Not really. Okay maybe a little. It made her feel awkward. She knew he was a Dom, and knowing that made her hot inside. And that was how sad she had become. She was lusting after a man who was definitely off limits and, as Ashton proved, way out of her league. If she couldn’t handle Ashton, she definitely couldn’t handle Eli.

“
It’s weird to be looking out over the land like I’m on Bonanza or something.”

He chuckled. “It’s more than I ever expected.”

“
How did you end up here, Elias St. John?”

He didn’t say anything right away. It was as if he was trying to figure out what story to tell her. Or, maybe that was her being cynical after her episode with Ashton.

“
I grew up in Perth, foster kid.”

That much she knew.

“
Please, stop talking. I’m overwhelmed.”

His lips curved as he urged his horse forward. “Not much to tell. Went right into the military, then got out and met Joe.”

“
Yeah, he told me that much,” she said following him. “Hey, you don’t want to tell me more, that’s fine.”

“
Really?” His voice dripped with sarcasm.

She laughed as she came up even with him. “Yeah. Really. I’ve always been sort of a busy bee as Dad called me. I always had to know what was going on.”

“
And probably why you were a good teacher.”

She glanced over at him. “Yeah. But how would you know I was a good teacher?”

“
I doubt Crysta Louise Miller—”

“
Oh, I hate that middle name.”

“
Would do anything half way. You had to be good at it. But you left it.”

It was more a statement but she also understood he was looking for an explanation.

“
I was burnt out. At the time, leaving made sense. Dad was sick and needed me. There is always a chance I would go back. I just thought I wasn’t doing my best so I stepped back for awhile.”

“
And you just proved me right.”

She laughed. “Men always have to be right…even when they’re wrong.”

He chuckled but said nothing else as they rode along for a few moments together in companionable silence. She missed this. Leisure time especially, but Crysta truly had missed riding. It had been a love of hers in high school. She made a decision to look for a horse and place to lodge it when she returned to the mainland.

“
So, Joe said you competed?”

It was odd. Not the question but the way he asked it. She had been involved with a few Doms and many of them relished the silence. If they wanted to know something, they usually allowed the other person to become uncomfortable. But then, he wasn’t her Dom and she wasn’t his sub. Unfortunately.

No. Not that. Really.

“
Yeah, mainly barrel racing as I told you yesterday.”

“
Hmm, so you’re good at racing?”

She slanted him a look then noticed that the barn was a speck in the distance.

“
Sure am. Race ya to the barn,” she said, then kicked her horse into a gallop.

Crysta took off, her hair flying behind her and the feel of a good, strong horse beneath her. It had been so long since she had done this, just let loose. She heard him behind her, his horse’s gallop a thunder against the Hawaiian earth.

She reached the barnyard before him even though he was right behind her. She slowed her horse down and turned to greet him. He was laughing like she was and there was a hint of admiration in his eyes.

“
You definitely know how to ride, Crysta.”

She didn’t miss the double entendre, but she didn’t react to it. Ranch hands had gathered in the yard and she didn’t want them to think something was going on between them.

“
Of course I do. I’m a Kaheaku,” she shouted back at him laughing.

A cheer went up in the yard as Eli moved his horse closer. Then, just loud enough for her to hear, he said, “Be careful who you challenge, Crysta. It might come back to bite you in the ass.”

Then he tipped his hat and rode off with that cocky smile of his curving his lips.

Chapter Seven

Eli ran the flat of his tongue across her nipple and sighed with pleasure. Delight danced through his blood as he licked his way down her body. Cocoa colored skin that tasted of heaven and sin all rolled into one—he never expected this. When he reached her pussy, he glanced up at her. Her arms were tied to his headboard, her eyes covered with a blindfold.

“
Spread your legs, Crysta. I want to see that dripping pussy I own.”

She didn’t hesitate. Eli sighed again. She was glistening with arousal. He leaned down to gain a lick, but a loud buzz stopped him.

Eli woke with a start, then fell off his bed onto the wooden floor. Sharp pain exploded in his head as it smacked against the hard surface. Even before he opened his eyes, he was seeing stars.

“
Fuck.”

Reaching up, he grabbed his alarm clock and yanked it out of the wall. After tossing it on the bed, he opened his eyes. He was just lucky he landed on his ass and not on his stomach. He could have done some serious damage seeing that he was painfully aroused. Slowly, he sat up. Eli winced. Damn. He was going to have bruises on his bum.

Two weeks and he was in a state about his partner. Each night the dreams got more detailed. He could still taste her on his tongue. Not that he knew what she tasted like, but he had a good imagination.

He rose to his feet and scrubbed a hand over his face. The last couple of days, he had slept until his alarm sounded. That wasn’t normal for him. Of course, a man in his late thirties having wet dreams about his partner wasn’t normal for anyone either. Better to jump in the shower and rinse away the memories of the dream. Before he could make it, there was a knock at his door.

“
What?”

“
Are you alright?” Crysta asked.

“
Of course I am.”

She paused before saying anything else. He didn’t blame her. He had barked out the order and he knew he sounded downright mean.

“
Okay. It’s just I heard a loud crash.”

“
I didn’t crash.”

“
If you say so. See ya downstairs.”

He listened to her retreating footsteps. Sighing, he headed into the bathroom. A cold shower should do him up good, then he could deal with work. And at some point, he needed to get over to Oahu and Rough ‘n Ready. Dreaming about Crysta proved to him he needed a release. Once he got a fix, he would stop dreaming about her.

Even as he thought it, he knew it was a lie, but clinging to that thought was the only thing keeping him sane.

* * * *

Crysta tried not to be irritated. It was getting harder every day with Eli being such a bear to her. When she first learned the information about the will, she expected him to be an ass. Seriously, she would have understood. But he had been welcoming, showing her stuff about the ranch, sharing information.

Now, his niceness seemed to have worn off. He was being an ass on a regular basis. She knew he fell out of bed. He had lied to her, then got pissed that she checked on him. Men. As much as she understood about them and their egos, she could never understand why they reacted as they did. Most of them lashed out at you if you tried to help. She could remember her usually laid back father being a total pain in the ass when he was in the hospital.

She shook those memories away and thought about Eli. Crysta knew part of it was her fault. Well, not that he fell out of bed. She’d been so preoccupied with Eli she hadn’t been sleeping well. She couldn’t seem to get the idea of submitting to him out of her mind. After watching him on the ranch the last few weeks, she knew Eli would be a stellar Dom. Submitting to him would probably be the stuff dreams were made of.

Those thoughts were whirling through her head as she lay awake. Then, she heard the crash.

“
That smells good,” Jerry said as he walked through the door and headed toward the coffee pot.

She shook her head trying to ignore her last thoughts about Eli. She smiled at Jerry.

“
You haven’t had a cup yet?”

He nodded but didn’t explain further. She’d enjoyed the talks they’d been having every morning. He reminded her a lot of Joe and her father. His dry humor and no nonsense way of looking at life always delighted her.

“
Where’s Eli?”

“
He’s walking into the kitchen wondering just why you seem to have taken up time with Crysta again.”

She tried to hide her reaction but knew he’d seen it. Whenever he was around these days she tensed. She was worried he would sense her attraction.

When she glanced at Eli, she tried not to sigh, but it was close. He wore just ordinary clothes, his every day work gear, but damned if they didn’t make him drop dead gorgeous. His jeans were soft and worn and molded to every bit of that perfectly rounded ass.

Jerry chuckled breaking into her thoughts. “She makes the best coffee around. Plus, it’s oatmeal day.”

“
Oatmeal is good for you,” Crysta said as she opened up the fridge. She had planned on eating some cereal but she knew what Jerry wanted.