Her Tender Tyrant
Authors: Elizabeth Lennox
Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Contemporary, #General
Her Tender Tyrant
By Elizabeth Lennox
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Copyright 2014
ISBN13: 9781940134475
All rights reserved
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Any duplication of this material, either electronic or any other format, either currently in use or a future invention, is strictly prohibited unless you have the direct consent of the author.
If you download this material in any format, either electronic or other, on a non-sanctioned site, please be warned that you and the website are in violation of copyright infringement. Financial and punitive damages may be pursued in whichever legal venue is appropriate.
Table of Contents
Excerpt from His Expectant Lover, Final Book in The Alfieri Saga
Marcus heard the noise and dropped the papers he’d been reading. His eyes sharpened as he waited for the sound to come again. When there wasn’t any other sound, he decided that he’d just been hearing things. Lowering the papers to his lap, he rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to ease the tension that was starting to accumulate behind his forehead. His mother had been right. He’d been working too hard and needed a break. Of course, staying in their house while they went down and visited their newest grandchild wasn’t exactly his idea of a vacation, but it hid him away from the prying, invasive eyes of the press. And that was what he needed more than anything else in order to finish this particular acquisition. There was a great deal of controversy and protest this time around because he was buying up what the locals considered a family business. A family business that was about to die out, he thought. If he hadn’t stepped up and offered to buy this particular firm, there would be more than a thousand people out of work next month.
With a sigh, he lifted the report once more, efficiently writing notes in the margins.
When he heard the sudden noise again, he stood up, tossed the papers onto the table beside him and walked out of his father’s home office where he’d been working. It was well past midnight and he’d thought he was the only one in the house. All of his brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews were down in Texas. Even Butch and Dennis, his mother’s stable helpers were long gone, having headed home right after the evening feeding of the horses.
When he stepped into the kitchen, he immediately saw the light coming from the fridge. Someone had broken into the house to get food? Really? A hungry burglar? That was new.
On silent feet, Marcus moved around the breakfast bar. He saw the boots underneath the door but knew that the feet were still too small to be either Butch’s feet or Dennis’. Besides, they would have announced themselves. And more importantly, they rarely came up to the house, preferring the company of the horses. No matter how many times his mother invited them to dinners or family gatherings, they refused, coming up with excuses so they didn’t have to be around other people. Horses they understood. People were a mystery to those two men.
So who was standing in the open door of the fridge?
He crept around, wishing he had a weapon but at least he knew how to fight. During high school his dad had recognized the excess energy that made his sons a bunch of accidents waiting to happen and dumped them all into martial arts training. And football, swimming, soccer…any sport that would use up the extra energy four growing boys had to spare. Which, at the time, seemed endless.
Ready for anything, he moved silently around the counter, watching and waiting. When he was in position, he jerked the door open wider, his arm snapping out and capturing the intruder. He had the surprisingly small and supple body in a lock when he felt something cold and squishy hit his face. At the exact same time, his hands came into contact with something warm and soft. The two textures, hitting him at the same time, threw him off balance but his training kicked in and he spun the intruder around…only to be confronted by the prettiest brown eyes he’d ever seen, surrounded by pale white skin and a head full of auburn hair, lit on fire by the fluorescent lights of the fridge interior.
Her high pitched yelp identified her as a female, but his hand still holding her very soft, very full breast helped his mind wrap around that fact more quickly.
“What are you doing? Who are you? I don’t have any money!” she said as those brown eyes looked back at him with confusion and a large dose of fear.
Marcus twisted slightly, getting a better look at the woman. His hand still hadn’t moved, nor did he feel the need to move it. That hand was perfectly happy right where it was. “Who are you and how did you get into this house?” he demanded, wondering if he’d forgotten to turn on the security system. No, he’d done that. He remembered pressing the code into the system right before he’d settled down to read the reports his assistant had sent to him.
“I’m Juliette. And I’m armed!” she warned, her big, brown eyes revealing her terror.
Marcus registered her fear quickly enough and told him that she wasn’t a threat. At least not a threat in the traditional manner. “Okay, Juliette, how did you get through the alarm system?”
She stuttered for a moment before finally spitting out, “Damien Alfieri showed me how to disarm the security system, but it’s still on. And the security company has probably already sent the police here.”
Marcus almost laughed at her threat. “I don’t hear the alarm ringing.”
“It’s a silent alarm,” she lied, praying that he would just go away. It suddenly occurred to her that she wasn’t necessarily afraid of this man. Not that he would hurt her so much as…well, she wasn’t really sure why she was so nervous. There was just an instinctive knowledge that she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. So why was she shivering so violently?
Marcus leaned in closer, trying to ignore her soft body pressing against his. She was in his house illegally; he shouldn’t be turned on by her. “It isn’t a silent alarm. If the alarm were going off, the people in town would be able to hear it,” he countered. “Why are you here?”
Juliette wasn’t sure who he was, but their position was becoming a bit awkward. “Um…do you think you could take your hand off of my breast?” she asked, looking all pretty and blushing now. “Please?” she whispered.
Marcus looked down. It wasn’t that he hadn’t known his hand was on a breast. And this one was extraordinary. But since this was a stranger, albeit a gorgeous one, he really should release the luscious flesh.
Slowly, his hand opened up and he moved back, but not far enough that she could escape. All of a sudden, a cold blob fell onto his shoulder. He looked down, remembering the cold splash to his face several moments ago. He realized that there was a blob of ice cream melting on his shirt, soaking through to his skin.
“You’re stealing ice cream?” he asked, looking disgusted as he pulled the chunk of ice cream off of him with his fingers, flinging it into the sink behind her.
“I’m not stealing anything!” she countered, offended that he would even suggest something like that. “And who are you? What are you doing in Damien Alfieri’s house?”
“Damien Alfieri is my father. I’m Marcus Alfieri, little Ms. Juliette. So I believe I have a right to be here since I grew up in this house. Which still doesn’t explain what your adorable butt is doing in my parents’ fridge, eating ice cream.”
Juliette suddenly realized the crazy situation and started to laugh. It was just a chuckle at first, but as the hilarity of the scene started to dawn on her, the laughter grew until she was doubled over, laughing and almost crying, holding her stomach as the adrenaline slowly left her body.
When she could finally stop laughing, she stood up, taking a deep breath and pushing her hair back off of her face. “Oh, goodness. I needed that laugh. It’s been a really tough week so far.”
“It’s Wednesday,” he said, enjoying her laughter but still not sure what she was doing in his parents’ house. She was cute, in a sexy kitten kind of way. Not too skinny but definitely not fat. Curvy, he thought. And tiny. Hell, she barely reached his shoulder in her bare feet. She was small enough to be a kid, but her figure told him she was all woman. A woman he wouldn’t mind exploring a bit more. If he could just figure out what she was doing in this house.
“Yes, well, so it is,” she said, and reached around, putting the top on the tub of ice cream. “Well, your mother read a paper of mine that was published recently. She and I have been talking, getting to know one another. She heard about my thesis and invited me here to study her horses, to prove or disprove my thesis.”
One black eyebrow curved upwards. “My Mom and dad went to Texas.”
She smiled slightly, her eyes taking in his extremely muscular arms and those sexy hands with long fingers that…Juliette shook her head, trying to focus on the suspicious look on this scary man’s handsome face. “Yes. I know. When she called me to tell me she was going out of town suddenly, I tried to back out of the study, but she told me it was now or never. Several of the colts that were born this past spring are about to be sold.”
“And you need the colts for your study?” he asked, not sure if he believed her. It sounded ridiculous, except it was also something only his mother would do. She seemed to befriend everyone and anyone. If there was a hurt or lost soul out there, they eventually made their way to this horse farm.
“So you decided to just stop on by and help yourself to…” he glanced behind her, “ice cream?”
Juliette was starting to become irritated by his distrustful tone of voice. “First of all, I bought the ice cream as well as other food supplies, not wanting to mooch off of your very kind parents. But furthermore, I’m not lying,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Your mother is a very sweet woman and I’m very grateful for her offer to help me.”
“You’re right about one thing. She’s very sweet. But you shouldn’t be taking advantage of her kind nature.”
Juliette hissed in outrage. “I am not taking advantage of her! In fact, her farm will be noted in my findings. It will be great advertising for her!”
“She doesn’t need any help advertising. She’s internationally known for her horses.”
“Which is why she invited me here!” she exclaimed, throwing up her arms in exasperation.
His eyes narrowed as his mind worked through the issue. “Or did you invite yourself? Knowing neither of them would be here for the next few weeks?”
Juliette was really angry now. “That’s it! Call your mother! She’ll vouch for me!”
“I’m not going to…” He watched with alarm as she pulled her phone out of her back pocket.
“If you won’t do it, then I will.” She was dialing a number and, a moment later, she glared up at him with increasing anger. “I refuse to have my character maligned by a big, obnoxious…” she stammered, trying to think of the right word, “bully!”
At the same time, Marcus’ phone started ringing. He looked at it and saw his Dad’s number come up. Pressing the ‘answer’ button, he maintained eye contact with the little she-devil in front of him. “Hi Dad. What’s up?”
“Sorry Marcus. We forgot to tell you about the woman who is staying at the house while we’re out of town. I need you to take good care of her,” he was saying. “Your mother is calling Juliette to let her know that you’re going to be there as well. We completely forgot to mention each of you to the other. Very sorry about that. I hope it won’t cause any confusion, but when Juliette shows up, we need you to be very nice to her.” Marcus could barely hear his father since Juliette was whispering something into her phone.
“I think the lovely Juliette is talking to Mom right now.”
He heard his dad’s chuckle. “I have no idea what the two of them are saying, but there’s a lot of whispering going on,” Damien said and Marcus could hear the patient amusement in his voice. And the love. After decades of marriage, Damien Alfieri was still madly in love with his wife. “Whatever they’re saying, it can’t be good. So watch out. And do me a favor,” he said.
Marcus eyed the little lady in question, thinking his father was right to be dubious. “What’s that?” he asked absently, noting the woman’s tiny waist and her full breasts, pressing against the fabric of her top.
“Take care of her. Juliette is one of the good ones. We’ve known her for a while and she’s going to be a brilliant psychologist. She’s working on her master’s thesis now and whatever she comes up with will be amazing. I’ve read some of her papers and I’m impressed with how deep her understanding of human behavior goes.” He paused for a moment. “But she’s still a babe in the woods in many ways, in my opinion. So watch out for her. Don’t let anyone take advantage of her while she’s trying to finish up her study. Can you do that for me?”
Marcus must have said something assuring because his father continued. Marcus, on the other hand, was watching the woman in question, seeing her with new eyes. He still might not like her, but if his dad respected her, there must be something more to the woman that just a knockout figure. Damien Alfieri wasn’t an easy man to fool. In fact, Marcus’ father was one of the best judges of character that he knew.
“Yes. Fine. I’ll watch out for her,” he promised to his dad.
“Thanks, son. Oh, your mother wants to talk to you. Here she is.”
Juliette was hanging up her phone and tucking it back into her pocket, looking smug and too confident. “Hi Mom,” he said, leaning back against the counter.
“Hi, Marcus. Are you behaving?” she asked with a smile to her voice.
Marcus let his eyes move over Juliette’s figure, pausing at her breasts. “Of course I’m behaving Mom. Why would you ever question that?” he asked, letting his eyes move lower, knowing that it was angering his newest housemate, but enjoying the perusal regardless of her fury.
His mother’s voice broke through his examination. “Because I know you well enough that you’re probably trying to irritate her. What are you doing?”
Marcus laughed, bringing his eyes back to Juliette’s face which was adorably pink now. “I’m standing here in the kitchen watching out for little Ms. Juliette. Just like Dad asked.”
His mother responded with a snort of disbelief. He really should be insulted – if she weren’t right on target. “I’ve put her in Adriana’s room, next to yours. Behave!”