Staking His Claim (3 page)

****

Elaina had walked about a mile from her car
toward the house when she heard the diesel motor idle up behind
her. She figured the farther she walked, the less time she would
have to spend
with
him
. Confused and irritated with
herself for the way he made her feel, she didn't want to be in his
radius any more than was strictly necessary. She hadn't felt
comfortable admitting that to Brian when he told her he was going
to call Raul.

She scooted to the side of the gravel road
and waited for the big, black 4 X 4 to roll up beside her. The
passenger door opened from the inside and she grabbed it with her
hand.

"Get in."

Anxiety and a sliver of tension coursed
through her. She didn't care for big men who thought they could
tell her what to do. She especially didn't care for big, tall,
Latino men telling her what to do. Latino men had that certain
machismo that Anglos didn't. It was the way they were brought up,
the way their fathers raised them. They thought they were the
dominant gender and acted and lived it. Her gentle, blonde mother
had warned her often enough. Maybe they weren't all like that, but
nothing so far had indicated to her that Raul Vega wasn't. But
Brian had called him to bail her out, and she had no choice but to
make nice.

She put her dusty tennis shoes on the running
board and climbed in his truck. Easing down into the leather seat,
she swiveled to face him. "Thanks for picking me up."

She settled in the seat and felt his eyes on
her.

"Got your phone?"

"Yes."

"Pull it out."

She did as he asked and raised her eyebrows
in question.

He rattled off his number and made her key it
in and then repeat it to him. "You don't take any chances, you need
someone, anytime, you can't get Brian, you call me. Anytime."

"Okay, thanks. Again, I'm sorry to be a
bother."

"No problem, Miss Ruiz. You can't help when
your vehicle breaks down. These things happen." He put the truck
into drive and eased his foot down until they were slowly rolling
down the deserted road.

Elaina was agitated by his presence and her
brain wasn't functioning like it should be. She said the first
thing out of her head. "Yeah, well, I didn't have to run out of
gas."

He immediately braked and turned to look at
her. "You what?"

Shit! Why the hell had she said that?
Her eyes flew to his and she mumbled, "Ran out of gas."

Fury took over his features as he slammed the
truck into park and turned fully to face her. "Tell me you didn't
just say that, Miss Ruiz."

"Look, it's not your problem, I appreciate
you giving me a ride--"

"Do you know what can happen to little girls
on a deserted road when they have a disabled vehicle?"

"It wasn't intentional--"

"You let yourself run too low on gas." His
eyes ran over her. "That's not very smart." His voice was
glacial.

"Yeah, well, I'm not a little girl--"

"You better be thankful you're a little girl
right now." He looked down at her bare legs. It might be December,
but it was almost eighty degrees in south Texas.

Anger penetrated the fog in her brain and her
spine stiffened. "What the hell do you mean by that? Are you
threatening me?"

"I'm stating a fact. You. Are. Lucky. You're.
A. Little. Girl." He punched the words out, pulsating anger coming
with them.

His tone and attitude pissed her off. He was
nothing to her; he had no right to speak to her like that. She
became belligerent. "What the fuck's it to you?"

His hand reached out and swiped her wrist in
a brutal move that reminded her of a snake striking. He pulled on
her arm and her butt lifted involuntarily from the seat as she was
forcibly moved until her face was only inches from his.

Elaina sucked in a single breath and then
began hyperventilating. Her eyes opened wide.
Damn her
mouth
.

"What word did you say to me?"

She licked her lips as fear slid through her
system. Her heartbeat pounded away in her chest as her bravado
disappeared in the face of his anger and the proximity of his large
body looming over hers. "N-nothing."

"Good answer. Little girls don't say
fuck
. You understand me? Little girls who throw the fuck
word around are askin' for it, baby. You askin' for it?" His hand
tightened on her wrist. "Because I gotta tell 'ya, I'm trying to be
nice here. But eighteen is a legal adult, Miss Ruiz. If you're
askin' for it, I got every right to give it to you."

Elaina shivered in his hold. Now was
absolutely
not
the time to tell him she was
twenty-one. He assumed she was eighteen because she was first year.
His mistake.
Her good fortune
. Not everyone had the money or
the opportunity to start college at eighteen. She hadn't. But no
way was she telling him that now.

"I'm not asking for it. Let me go."

He waited for the count of three very long
heartbeats as he seemed to conquer his anger. Finally, he dropped
her wrist.

She immediately scrambled back and scooted
away from him and then lifted her hand to rub her wrist. It was red
and almost sore where he had squeezed her. She bit her lip and
stared at him while she held her arm and waited for him to say
something, do something.

His eyes dropped to her reddened wrist. "Did
I hurt you?"

"I'm okay." She pushed the words through
gritted teeth.

His eyes ran over her and Elaina was
supremely conscious of the fact she should have put on more
clothing that morning. Yellow t-shirt, frayed shorts and Converse
weren't nearly enough protection against his dark, intense
inspection.

He raised his eyes from her body, to her
lips. His searing stare held her until he lifted a hand, ran it
through his dark hair, and put the truck back into drive.

Three minutes later, he was pulling around to
the front of her aunt's house.

She reached down for the handle, but before
she could get her hand there, the locks were activated and she was
shut inside with him until he decided to let her out. Shocked, her
breathing going haywire, she silently turned to face him, her back
against the door.

He broodingly watched her and took his time
about speaking. "I'm going to get one of my men to put gas in your
car and bring it around. There's no sense in having the garage pick
it up. But you can bet your ass I'm going to tell Brian what you
did. Maybe he can talk some sense into you."

"You're too kind, Mr. Vega." Her words were
sarcastic and she watched a quick, ferocious scowl cross his
face.

"You just
do not know
when to quit
pushing, do you?"

"Let me out."

He didn't move. His eyes were glued to
her.

She tried again. "Let me out."

"Doesn't feel good, does it? Knowing you're
stuck. You better be glad it was me that found you, baby. Another
man might not have been such a gentleman."

Her eyes flared wide. "
A gentleman?
Are you f--"

Her voice stopped on that word he hated as he
interrupted her at the same time.

"You want your ass blistered?"

Great waves of intense fury mingled with fear
pulsed through her bloodstream. The fury won. "You think you're man
enough to do it?"

He reached out and swiped her wrist again,
but this time, his hold wasn't as tight. Just as strong, but not as
tight. "I'm plenty man enough, you grow up some and I'll show you."
His eyes glared into hers, then dropped to her lips. His nostrils
flared. "That's a promise, Miss Ruiz."

He released her from his hold and pressed a
button to unlock the doors.

She didn't wait even a second before jerking
the door open and jumping down. Just before she slammed it in his
face, his dark voice hit her with one last demand.

"Elaina,
do not
run out of gas again,
understand me?"

She gave him a go-to-hell look, slammed the
truck door, and ran up the steps to the house.

****

At ten the next morning, Elaina sat on the
side of the unpaved county road in almost the exact same spot where
she had run out of gas the day before. Today, her car was safely in
the driveway, but she was shaken and bruised. Her morning run had
started out fine, but the surface of the road was not what she was
used to. It was her own fault she'd tripped and fallen. She'd more
than fallen, she had a couple of strawberries on her knees like she
hadn't had since she was a kid. They dripped blood down both shins.
The palms of her hands were rough and abraded, and one of her
ankles was twisted so badly she couldn't even stand.
Shit
.
And that wasn't the worst of it.

She'd been carrying her phone, listening to
music and had landed on it, crushing the screen and pretty much
disabling it completely.

She was stuck until a vehicle came by. Her
aunt and uncle were still in San Antonio. Unease trickled through
her. The good news was it was only ten in the morning, she could
sit here all day before it got dark, and the weather was
unseasonably mild. Another reason she had strawberries on her bare
knees. She was wearing shorts again.

She hung her head between her legs and
waited.

At one o'clock, not a single car had come by
and she was getting more than a little worried. She was ferociously
hungry, her face was burning from the sun, and she had to pee.
Badly.

****

Raul was cutting down county road on his way
to the north pasture when he saw her and braked.
Jesus Christ,
what the hell was she up to now?

Letting the truck idle, he jumped down and
was squatting beside her in seconds.

Her head was hanging between her legs and he
gently lifted her chin until he could see her face. Her cheeks were
streaked with tears and dust, and he took in the skinned knees and
dried blood.

"
Christ
, little girl, what happened to
you?"

"I fell." The answer was short and all she
could manage.

"That's it? You fell? What the hell are you
doing this far from the house?"

"I was running."

"Running?"

"Yeah, you know,
running
. Jogging,
exercising. Whatever."

Raul was acquainted with the concept. He just
never had to do it. He got so much damn exercise around the ranch,
he needed extra calories and protein. He damn sure didn't want to
expend any of them uselessly.

She looked at him with dark eyes swimming in
tears. "I wanted somebody else," she whispered quietly.

"What?" he questioned.

"I didn't want you to find me. I don't want
your help again. I don't want to be yelled at right now and I was
praying you wouldn't find me like this."

Damn
. That cut him deep. He had been
rough on her yesterday.

"Sorry, baby. You're stuck with me."

He reached down and as gently as he could,
scooped her up with one arm under her back and the other under her
knees. "Put your arms around my neck."

Elaina did as he said and collapsed against
him. Her eyes shut and she let out a sigh of relief. It had been a
long few hours.

He walked around to the passenger side of his
truck and deposited her there, shutting the door. She was
immediately closed in again and felt much as she had the day before
when he had locked her in with him.

He started the truck, executed a reverse
maneuver and headed down the road, back the way he came.

"Brian and Janie home yet?" he asked.

"No. Probably tomorrow."

"Right. I'm taking you to my house." It was a
statement of intent.

"No. I d-don't want to go to--"

"Tough shit, Miss Ruiz."

Her eyes welled with tears again as she
swiveled her head in his direction and impaled him with a vicious
glare. "See?
That's
why I wanted someone else to find
me."

Guilt and irritation trickled down his spine.
Shit
. She was young, she was alone and she was hurt.
Couldn't he fucking rein it in with her and not act like a wad
of shit?
It wasn't her fault his body was screaming for her. He
needed to remember that.

He kept driving and the silence in the truck
was deafening.

Minutes later, he pulled into the circular
driveway that fronted his house. He climbed out of the truck and
walked around and opened the passenger door. He reached in to get
her and was amazed she didn't put up more of a verbal fight about
him carrying her.

He found out why seconds later as he climbed
the steps to the front door with her in his arms and pushed it
open.

"I have to pee."

He didn't answer her, just strode to the
nearest bathroom. He flipped the light on, and carried her to the
commode.

"Can you stand?"

"Yes."

He slid her down carefully and she put her
weight on her good foot and balanced on the vanity next to the
commode. "Thanks. I'll just be a minute."

"Call me. I'll hear you."

"Okay." She waited for him to turn and shut
the door and then she sat down with a massive sigh of relief.

Five minutes later, she was sitting on the
closed lid of the commode and he was kneeling in front of her,
carefully taking her shoes and socks off.

"
Damn
, little girl, those are some
badass skinned knees."

"Mr. Vega--"

He cut her off. "My name's Raul."

She lifted her eyes from her torn up knees
and her gaze tangled with his.

His eyes were deep, unfathomable. "Say
it."

"Raul."

"That's right, little girl."

She cleared her throat minutely. "You could
start calling me Elaina."

His eyes stayed hot on hers but he didn't
answer.