Dancing With Danger: Book 8: Dancing Moon Ranch Series (16 page)

At that moment the pigeon returned and landed on Sebastian's wrist.
Sebastian stroked the pigeon's breast with the back of his index finger, and when he opened his gloved hand, a gold bracelet appeared, which he held up for the viewers to see, eliciting a rush of disbelief.

Taking Annie's hand,
he placed the bracelet against her palm and closed her fingers around it, while saying, "The king gave it to his daughter and hoped she would be pleased."

Annie
stood looking at her closed palm. It was another long moment when neither spoke, until Annie opened her hand and moved it toward him, as if to return the bracelet.

Sebastian
blocked her hand with his. "There were other princesses in the kingdom, and a prince," he continued, "but the king had ignored this one princess and was trying to make amends. The bracelet was a small token." He closed Annie's hand around the bracelet again and nudged her hand back from him.

"
The pigeons continued returning with jewels," Sebastian said, "but the jewels closest to the king's heart had not been recovered because the pigeons would not venture far enough to find them because they were too eager to return home. But the king's daughter, again in her wisdom, knew what must be done. The palace must be destroyed so when the pigeons returned they'd find nothing but scattered stones and smoldering wood and would fly to distant lands. And so it was that the palace was razed to the ground." Sebastian raised his arm and the pigeon took flight.

"The pigeons traveled
to distant palaces, where they found the king’s two most precious jewels, and gathering them under their wings, kept them safe for the long journey home." He'd barely said the words when the pigeon returned and sat on his shoulder. He reached up and stroked its head, and when he opened his hand there was a string of pearls in it, which he lowered over Annie's head. While Annie fingered the pearls, another pigeon appeared and landed on Sebastian's wrist, drawing everyone's attention to what he held.

"The king rejoiced because the last pigeon returned with what was most important to him, a locket with a picture of the princess in it, something he'd held close to his heart from the time she was a small girl." He
handed a gold locket on a chain to Annie, who opened it and stared at the tiny photo, unblinking, because clearly it held a photo of her. She looked at her father with bewilderment, to which he responded by smiling at her and giving her shoulder a little nudge to turn her around and send her back to where Ryan was waiting.

A
ddressing the viewers once again, he said, "So now, my friends, you have seen the impossible right before your eyes, which is the art of the illusionist. I hope you enjoyed the wonderment of it. And I believe there is a birthday cake in the lodge."

With that,
the onlookers clapped wildly and began walking toward the lodge, with Abby and the other children running on ahead. And Josh returned to the bunkhouse where he shed the clown suit, showered and scrubbed off the makeup, then dressed in clean clothes. Instead of heading for the lodge, however, he decided to check on the pony. But as he was crossing from the bunkhouse to the stable, he was surprised to see Sebastian break away from a group of people chatting just outside the lodge and start toward him, like he had something to say. He also noted that the man didn't look very friendly.

Deciding to err on the side of congeniality, in case he'd read the man wrong, he said, as Sebastian approached, "
Your performance was amazing. I'm sure it left an impression on everyone here, including your daughters."

"
That's what I want to talk to you about," Sebastian replied.

"A
bout Abby?"

"
Abby and Genie."

Josh eyed
the man with suspicion. "What about them?"

"
I understand you're involved with Genie."

"That's correct," Josh replied, deciding not to play games with the man.

"What are your intentions?" Sebastian asked.

"Honorable
," Josh replied.

"And my youngest daughter?"

"Your daughters would be a package deal," Josh replied. "I would not take on one without the other."

"
Then I'll be as straight forward with you as you're being with me," Sebastian said. "I went along with my wife to make Genie Abby's legal guardian, but only with the understanding that Genie would settle in one place so Abby could attend a regular school, but if Genie chooses to marry a man who tracks around the country after rodeos, I'll petition the court to annul the guardianship and get Abby back. Is that understood?"

Josh's first reaction was to tell the man that
tracking around the country as a cowboy protector was a damn sight more noble than fooling people into believing oranges could grow on trees before their eyes, but Sebastian Matthias was also looking after his youngest daughter's best interest, and in his mind, having Abby traveling with him on a luxury bus and staying in five-star hotels was far better than following the rodeo circuit with her big sister and a rodeo bullfighter and staying in a trailer on the rodeo grounds, though he could make a solid argument in favor of the kinship and camaraderie of the rodeo crowd over the artificiality of the Las Vegas bunch. Instead, he said, "I don't think you could be any clearer."

"As long as we understand each other," Sebastian
replied, then turned and walked away.

As Josh watched the man
walk off, he realized he'd just been issued an ultimatum, and ultimatums were all about power. Sebastian Matthias had all the game pieces in his hand while the guy who was involved with his daughter was about to lose his shirt, along with his self-respect, unless he could come up with his own game plan, a strategy that would now include convincing an illusionist, as well as his daughter, that bullfighting wasn't a badass profession.

On the other hand,
maybe he should suck up his self-respect, forget the lot of them, and keep life simple. Just him, the rodeo circuit, and a long string of bulls to play around with.

CHAPTER 14

Genie's father was gone almost as suddenly as he'd arrived
. Several hours after he left, the guests were still talking about seeing oranges growing before their eyes, and a Monarch butterfly emerge from inside an orange and fly off, and pigeons appearing as if from out of thin air with jewels beneath their wings, and speculating about how it could be. Some of the guests wandered over to where the bus had been parked earlier, but the field was vacant, almost as if Sebastian the Illusionist had been an illusion.

Genie
found herself also wandering back, and when she did, she spotted Annie standing off by herself, staring at the empty field. When Annie looked down at her hand, Genie knew, from the way Annie was studying what was in her palm, that she was holding the locket.

Concerned that Annie might not have taken what their father did in the right spirit, she walked over to Annie, and said, "Are you doing okay?"

Annie looked up from the locket, and replied, "Actually, I am. I'm just a little surprised. He talked to my dad."

"About what?" Genie asked.

"Why he stayed out of my life. He told Dad he knew I was happy and that I was being well taken care of so he didn't want to interfere. He also thanked Dad for being the better man. Dad was actually kind of impressed with him. I still don't think of him as my father though, and I guess that's the way it will be, so we'll have your father and my father, and keep them separate."

"
That works for me too," Genie said. "What about your Mom? Did my dad talk to her too?"

Annie shook her head. "He just thanked her for letting him see Abby, and she told him she hoped she could continue to be Abby's grand
parent. It's odd, but in a way, I think your dad kind of wants that role too."

"It's possible," Genie said. "Everyone always assumes
he's Abby's grandfather and I think he gets a little tired of explaining. Mom was in her forties when she had Abby, so everyone thought she was her grandmother. With me, it's assumed I'm Abby's mother."

"So, if you marry Josh, who would be Abby's father?" Annie asked.

Genie looked toward the bunkhouse, where she knew Josh was waiting for her, and said, "I'm not sure what Josh's state of mind is after today. He was pretty upset when Dad showed up and eclipsed what he had planned for Abby, so he might not be thinking along those lines at all anymore, which would be for the best since my mind seems to be in a decision-making vacuum right now. After this coming weekend I will have been here three weeks and I'm not any closer to a decision about my job than the day I arrived."

"Maybe you just need more time," Annie said. "You're trying to mesh your life with Josh's, and that won't happen overnight.
"

Genie looked at the bunkhouse again
. "It actually could happen overnight," she said. "All I need to do is accept what Josh does. It's as simple as that."

"
Meanwhile," Annie said, "you keep looking at the bunkhouse. Mom already bathed Abby and put her in her pajamas because she was covered in dirt from playing with the kids, and chocolate icing from the cake, so before long she'll be sleeping from all the excitement, so you will have the rest of the evening to spend with Josh and figure it out."

"
I wish it was that easy," Genie said, "but I do want some time with Josh."

"Then I'll tell
Dad to tuck Abby in bed, since he likes doing that, and that you'll be in later." Annie gave Genie a little hug and turned and walked away, and Genie headed for the bunkhouse.

She
arrived there to find the TV on, which surprised her. Josh also looked disturbed when he opened the door and saw her standing there. When he backed off for her to enter, yet made no move to kiss her, she looked at the TV, which was on pause, and said, "What are you watching?"

"Bulls," Josh replied.

When he still made no attempt to kiss her, Genie said, "Is this a bad time for me to be here?"

Josh combed his finger
s through his hair, leaving it mussed up in an appealing way, and said, "Yeah, maybe… well, I guess not."

"Is that a yes or a no?" Genie asked, wondering what had changed
between the time when she left Josh in the barn with Ferdinand earlier that afternoon and now.

"I guess
whether you're here or not is up to you," Josh replied. "I need to study some videos of bulls that I'll be facing at the rodeo, so you might not want to watch."

"I
already told you I'd set aside my preconceived ideas about what you do until after the rodeo, so maybe it should start with me watching the videos with you," Genie replied.

"
Fine, have a seat." Instead of pulling her into his arms and kissing her, or maybe tugging her down to sit on his lap, Josh punched the remote, and when the video started up he sat on the couch with his elbows on his knees and his eyes fixed on the TV screen.

Genie sat beside him
but left some space between them because, from every indication since she'd arrived, that's how he wanted it. Something had definitely happened.

His eyes fixed on the screen
, Josh said, "This bull's the one Jeremy wants to draw. All bulls have bucking and turning patterns so that's what I'm watching for."

He
turned the volume upward, bringing Genie's attention to the announcer on the video… "
Curt Boyd's about to ride an 1800 pound stick of dynamite called Trouble Ahead
," the announcer said. "
Trouble Ahead's a bull that's trained to come out of the chute like a Texas twister, and here they come
…"

Genie
focused on the screen where a huge tan bull bucked and twisted and kicked so high to get rid of the rider it looked like he'd flip over, all the while two rodeo bullfighters constantly moved around the bull, seeming in more danger than the rider as the bull thrashed out with his hooves in all directions.

A different voice cut in
… "
This ride started miraculously. Curt was making a whale of a ride, doing very well and would have won the bull riding hands down, then a half second before victory he was thrown, and after that, absolute horror…

Josh angled his head toward
Genie, and said, "That's one of the bullfighters narrating the video."

There was momentary silence on the video
as the bullfighters raced around the bull, trying to get the animal's attention away from the downed rider, but instead, the bull lowered his head and went after the rider, hitting him squarely and rolling him over.

T
he bullfighter's voice-over continued:
"Trouble Ahead slammed his horns into Curt's head, knocking him out cold. Curt's motionless body lay totally unprotected in the middle of the arena, and as the bull moved in for the kill, all I wanted was to get him off Curt because Curt was defenseless."

Genie watched
the video as the bull jabbed his horns beneath the man and tossed him into the air like a rag doll, and when the man hit the ground, the bull went after him...

Again, the bullfighter's voice
-over cut in: "
I saw the bull again moving in for the kill so I threw myself between the bull and Curt and covered Curt with my body. The bull tried to push me off but I hung on, knowing I had to keep Curt covered until my team could distract the bull, but Trouble Ahead kept coming, and even after we were both clear and I thought the bull was done, he unleashed his fury on Curt one more time. The pick-up men finally lassoed Trouble Ahead and got him out of the arena so the paramedics could go in and take care of Curt
…"

Genie looked askance at Josh, who was staring intently at the screen while the
bullfighter continued with,
"Trouble Ahead beat the living hell out of me that day..."

Josh clicked off the video, and for a few moments Genie stared at the blank screen, saying nothing. But when Josh also sat staring at the screen, she finally said what was foremost on her mind," I don't understand how you can
want to do that."

"It gets
in your blood," Josh replied. "It's the biggest rush a guy can take. Adrenaline courses through your veins, your heart races, and you feel like your whole body's charged with energy. Then your main focus is gaining control of the situation. If you mess up, some cowboy's going to pay the price, but when everything works the way it should and the cowboy walks away with just some dirt on his jeans, there's no better feeling in the world."

Genie tried to keep her mind open, but watching a video of a bull repeatedly attacking a man, and a bullfighter throwing himself on top of the man being attacked, then hearing Josh say
,
it's the biggest rush a guy can take,
didn't compute with her. "Don't you worry about getting injured, that if you mess up
you
might pay the price?" she asked.

Josh shook his head.
"I can't afford to take negative thoughts into the arena because a strong mental attitude is crucial to maintaining control. I train and condition for the worst then go into the arena knowing I can handle it."

Finding no immediate
argument, Genie said, "What happened to the bull rider in the video?"

Josh shrugged.
"He had a few scrapes and bruises but his protective vest absorbed most of the beating. The bullfighter took a heavier beating because he was wearing an old-style vest."

Reaffirming
again
that she would try to keep an open mind in spite of the voices in her head screaming to her that she was as foolishly reckless as Josh to even consider linking herself with him in any way, Genie said, "What kind of vest do
you
wear?"

"One like body armor
." Josh went into a back room and returned holding a padded leather vest, and said, "This thing has multiple layers that are pressed together in a cell pattern that spreads the impact, and the layers are shielded by an anti-ballistic material that's the strongest man-made fiber on earth. It's been shot at with bullets from a .38 special, a .357 magnum, and even 9mm Gecos from an Uzi."

"That's all well and good if the bull comes
at you with a semiautomatic," Genie said, "but I don't see how the vest can prevent thoracic compression injuries if a bull stomps directly on your chest. Put an egg between the front and back of that vest and step on it and the egg will break."

Josh didn't reply, but
Genie knew it wasn't as if he had no argument, but more like he had something else on his mind because the muscles were tightening in his jaws, like he was holding back saying whatever it was. And he still hadn't attempted to kiss her or touch her since she arrived. She was about to ask him outright what was going on when he tossed the vest aside, and said, "This isn't working," then took her by the arms and pulled her up to stand in front of him, and covered her mouth with his.

I
n an instant, Genie found her tongue entangling with his, and her body pressed against him, and moans of pleasure reverberating in her throat. But when the kiss came to an end, she said, in a breathless voice, "What isn't working?"

"Self-restraint."
Josh kissed the side of her neck and along her jaw and covered her mouth with his again, and when the kiss deepened, his hands began moving up and down Genie's sides and following the curves of her breasts and down her spine to press her against him.

Feeling aroused and excited
, but also confused, Genie said in a breathy voice, "When I got here something had happened. You didn't look glad to see me."

"I wasn't," Josh
replied, before planting a kiss on her neck beneath her ear. "You're complicating my life." He shoved his fingers into her hair and pulled it away from her ear and darted his tongue inside, bringing a short gasp from her followed by a long moan of pleasure. Then he kissed the side of her jaw, and her lips, and scooped her up in his arms and headed down the hallway, and Genie made no attempt to stop him. Tomorrow, she'd try to reason through her decision to do what she was about to do, but for tonight, she wanted Josh's love. All of it.

Once in the bedroom, Josh
combed his fingers through her hair, drawing her head back, and pressed his lips to hers, holding them there until Genie's nerves hummed like hundreds of taut wires. And when he started unbuttoning her shirt, she allowed him to slip it from her while kissing his way down her chest and across each breast before removing the rest of her clothes. Grabbing the lapels of his shirt, he yanked open the snaps and shrugged out of it, then pulled off his boots and stripped off the rest of his clothes
Wh
ile lying in bed, Josh tangled his hands in her hair, and she pressed her lips to his, and as she felt the urgency of his need moving against her, frissons of sensual awakening radiated from the juncture of her thighs and fanned out. With his palm, Josh followed the curves of her body, his fingers exploring, as Genie's lips moved in breathless pleas. When the ache inside was unbearably intense, and she was desperate to consummate what was building, Josh moved on top of her and joined his body with hers. Genie let out a long, low moan of satisfaction and began matching the rhythms of his movements. Digging her fingers into Josh's back she clung to him until she was aware of nothing but wave upon wave of erotic sensation spiraling through her.