Breaking the Bad Boy (40 page)

This was new for her, and she was astonished at how deep within her he was. It was exquisite, and she started to tremble with the anticipation of her orgasm.

“Let it happen, Joss,” he whispered to her and she did. Her head thumped the door behind her as her body arched meeting Buck’s thrusts and she cried out with pleasure and he followed her almost immediately making his own surprised sound. He held her, unwilling to disengage, wanting her around him forever. “I love you, Joss. God, I love you so much.” He said into her neck.

“I love you, Buck.”

“Did you hurt your head?” He smiled.

“Not that I noticed,” she smiled back. “Are you going to put me down?”

“No, I don’t ever want to let go. But gravity has its own plan,” he said and she unhooked her legs from around him and eased down, his hands gently cupping her butt. “Come to the bed, my Duchess, let’s do that again.” She smiled at him.

“Really?”

“Really. This time we’ll take our time,” he said.

***

“You didn’t hurt Eddie, did you?” She said later as she ran her fingers through his sweat dampened hair.

“Eddie?” He asked, and then remembered and he smiled at Joss. “No, I won’t, either, he’s a good kid. Clint was just nervous. I had a reputation at one point; it made an impression on Clint.”

“Because he fell in love with your little sister and by your own account you were over protective. You probably scared the poor man.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he laughed.

“You bad boy,” she said and he rolled to kiss her.

“Don’t you forget it,” he said into her mouth.

***

“What’s this?” Buck held up the license number Joss had written earlier. She leaned over him and looked.

“Oh, it’s stupid, but a car passed me three times on my run this morning. That’s the plate number,” she said drinking her coffee.

“I trust your instincts. Was it a little red sports car?” He was thinking of the college kids last night.

“No, it was a big American sedan, kind of old,” she said.

Buck pulled his phone out of his pocket and made a call. “It’s Duke, I need a favor. Yeah,” he walked into the other room and Joss picked up the newspaper without really reading it. It was nothing, just some loser, she told herself. Then why was she so eager to write the number down? Her instincts. She didn’t know anyone in
Flagstaff
but Buck’s family, but by his own admission Buck had enemies, and to get to him they might use her, or God forbid, the kids. Good instincts, Joss. “Thanks man,” Buck hung up and looked at her.

“Does the name Elgin Chee mean anything to you?”

“Chee was the biker leader, wasn’t he?”

“It’s a fairly common name on the Rez, Duchess, but yes, his name was Chee. Did you get a good look at him?” She shook her head.

“He turned away,” she said, and realized it had been deliberate, he was afraid she’d recognize him. She shivered suddenly cold. She didn’t like thinking about those men who followed them around
Montana
, and she hadn’t even considered that they would be here in
Arizona
, but this was where many of the Navajo were, and they were Navajo. She suddenly didn’t feel like a genius.

Buck knelt in front of her. “I can tell by your face that you’ve figured it out.” She nodded.

“Unless I’ve missed something,” she said.

“That’s doubtful.”

“So, if they can’t hurt me they’ll go after your family. They know where we are. How do they know where we are?”

“There are no secrets on the Reservation. ‘Tall Duke back from up north with his beautiful Amazon blonde bride,’ that’s all they’d need to hear to be curious. Hear the name Natani, scope out the few Natanis on and off the Rez, see the beautiful blonde Amazon bride out for her morning run; begin planning the revenge.” She shivered again. Buck pulled out his phone again.

“Hey, it’s Duke Buckingham, I need a gun.” He looked at his watch. “Twenty minutes, thanks, man,” he hung up. “It’s time to put together your trousseau, my beloved.” She laughed.

“I thought you had a gun,” she said.

“I do, this is for your trousseau, not mine. Don’t get all squeamish on me, I need you safe,” he put his hands on her thighs and he looked deeply into her eyes. “I can’t live without you, Duchess, I tried; I couldn’t.” She nodded and touched his cheek feeling the same. He stood and pulled her up, too.

“Grab your jacket, you seem to be chilly,” he said.

“Just freaked out. Don’t you dare take another bullet for me, John Buckingham, or I’ll really be pissed.”

“I love it when you’re pissed.” He kissed her and they went to get her a gun.

***

“Shoot that snake, Joss,” Winston said.

“I’m aiming for the Coke can, I’m not killing any animals,” she explained again. She pulled the trigger and the can jumped in the air and fell back.

“You’ve done this before,” Winston said. She smiled at him.

“Not with this gun,” she said. She looked up at Buck. “It’s true, I like it. Thank you,” she said and kissed him. “What is a snake doing out here? It’s too cold for snakes.”

“It’s a little joke Winston likes to play. It’s a toy snake. He put them all over after I got bit,” Buck said and Winston laughed.

“It kept you on your toes,” he said.

“May I,” he asked and she put the butt of the gun in his hand. He checked the clip and focused on the snake, then refocused on the Coke can. He made his shot and the can jumped and flew back again. He nodded. “Good. Happy wedding, my Duchess.” She smiled and his breath caught. Man, she made him weak at the most unexpected moments. Winston saw the whole thing, too. He was having a little too much fun watching his grandson show weakness.

“Have you ever stabbed a man?” Winston asked Joss.

“No, and I don’t plan to.”

“Did you ever think you’d have to shoot a man before you had to shoot a man?” Winston asked.

“No,” she said. They told Winston about the bikers chasing them across
Montana
earlier over tea.

“It doesn’t hurt to know how to do it,” he said. He pulled a knife out of his boot. Buck watched; his body completely, unnaturally still. “The neck is a good place,” he swept the knife across an imaginary foe’s neck. “And you’re tall enough it will be easy to reach. And the belly’s good, too,” he stabbed at the foe’s belly. “Don’t waste your time with the chest, too many bones to navigate, and if you hit one you’ll get a zinger,” he said.

“A stinger, Granddad,” Buck said.

“What do you know about it?” Winston said and Buck laughed.

“What’s a zinger/stinger?” Joss asked.

“It’s when your hand goes numb because you came to an abrupt halt,” Winston said and Buck nodded. “And, anything below the belt will get a man’s attention, and is sometimes easier to access.” Buck looked contemplative.

“But it’ll really piss him off if it’s not completely debilitating,” Buck said and Winston nodded.

“Yes. Don’t be coy, Granddaughter, if the man is trying to hurt you; kill him, don’t tease him, it will only anger him. Keep yourself safe. Once you commit, follow through,” Winston looked into her eyes and nodded. He turned to Buck and said something in Navajo.

Buck and Joss both said “Pocket,” at the same time. Buck’s eyes went wide and Winston chuckled.

“You are learning very quickly, Joss. I have a pocket in my boot for my knife; you might want to go to a cobbler, too. Of course, my hand is a lot closer to my boot than your hand is to yours,” he grinned at her. “I will make tea,” he said and went inside.

“How did Miri’s father die, Buck,” she asked watching Winston walk to the house.

“His throat was slit,” Buck said and they looked at each other quietly.

“I see,” she said.

“How have you picked up Navajo so fast, no one speaks it around you?” He asked her opening his arms. She stepped into his embrace.

“Everyone talks about me in Navajo in the stores, Buck, and you know it. The kids have taught me some, and I have Rosetta Stone podcasts.”

“Good God, what have the people in the stores said?” She looked at him. He would know as well as she, she hadn’t been anywhere without him except for the dress fitting.

“Let’s see, the young women hate me because you are so beautiful, but mostly they comment upon my appearance, and mostly it’s flattering because of the glares you give them when it gets catty.” He smiled at her.

“You see a great deal; maybe you
should
join the Bureau,” she looked at his teasing face and relaxed again. “The men want you to wrap those long legs around them, and the women love your hair but are appalled at your height.” He said.

“Yes, I think they speak more freely when they think I don’t understand them, but I’ve heard the same things said in English and German.”

“You know that you are perfect to me, don’t you?” He said into her hair drawing her close. “I like not craning my neck when I speak to you. Or kiss you,” he illustrated. “Perfect.”

“I know, and that’s all I want, to be perfect for you, as you are perfect for me,” she whispered.

“The day after tomorrow we will be joined by tradition and the old gods. But I believe in my heart that it was their plan all along. We were each created for the other, Joss, the yin and yang if you will? There is something reeking of the divine in our joining, do you feel it?” He kissed her and she felt a surge of power flow through him and into her and they both pulled away to look at each other. “I know you felt that, Duchess.”

“I felt it, Buck,” she said softly. “When Cassidy shot you I knew that you would die without some sort of divine intervention. That’s when I heard the helicopter.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, on the second day of your incarceration you wept. No one could figure out why. It was only for a few minutes and then you were self contained again, but it was driving Sir Gerard crazy,” he said. She smiled at him.

“I think a better question would be why I didn’t cry the rest of the time.”

“Yes, but by that point he thought you were invincible, and then you showed him weakness,” he said.

“Are tears a sign of weakness?”

“That’s a difficult question. I don’t know the answer to it. Maybe if you let them overtake you and you stop fighting. The first day I was conscious after being shot, the first thing I did was write your name on a piece of paper, the nurse told me she’d have to find out and Sir Gerard came to me later and told me you went back to Denver. He lied, I know, but that was the day you wept. Why, Duchess?” She bit her lip.

“I got my period. With it, I knew any possible link with you had shattered, I wasn’t carrying your long legged child, and if you were gone you were really gone. It hurt.”

“I have had the dream again, the one where you hold our black haired baby to your breast and look at me like we did the most remarkable thing in the world,” he pushed her hair from her face. “That image of you and the little one got me through two months of torturous physical therapy, and the constant company of Sir Gerard. A lesser man wouldn’t have survived.” She giggled.

“You two are very funny,” she said.

“Joss, let’s start making the baby right now,” he said and kissed her. She laughed.

“Let’s have tea with Winston, and then I promised Emma we’d shoot some arrows.”