Bad Boy Romance: Nick (Romantic Suspense Alpha Male Romance) (New Adult Rock Star Contemporary Short Stories) (Hard Rock Star Series Book 2) (12 page)

****

Gabe laced their fingers
together, and led her into his kitchen. Sitting her down at the pine table, he
grabbed the brewing pot and fixed her a thick, delicious coffee. He set the mug
down in front of her and made her wrap her hands around it, “Drink this; it’ll
make you feel better.”

Vanessa looked around the house;
his walls were filled with images of horses and ribbons. “Wow,” she mumbled
into her mug, “you’ve achieved a lot.”

Gabe followed her gaze and
smiled. “Yup. This makes it all worthwhile.”

There were stacks of images of
horses and riders and families in various states of happiness. Mostly, there
were pictures of kids wrapping their arms around their newest friends and
holding up bright rosettes. Gathering strength, Vanessa stood up and walked
around the room, her eyes following a mini history trail.

“This,” Gabe steered her toward
a thick, awkward frame, “was my first successful attempt at retraining a
racehorse.” The image was washed out. Focusing on the picture, she picked out a
now familiar smile. “Is that
you?
”

Gabe laughed, “Yeah, between 12
and 19 I was learning to re-educate ex racehorses. Didn’t matter what happened
in my life with school or work; I always came back to horses.” He then led her
across the room, steering her with gentle touches, to his favorite successes.
He seemed to have dealt with it all; it was obvious he was a good trainer.
Vanessa’s shock from before was slowly ebbing as she saw dozens of healthy horses
immortalized in the photographs. Feeling Gabe’s heat on her back, she gently
leaned into him.

Gabe grabbed a thick album and
sat at the table, “Come look at these.”

Vanessa paused. She could either
take a seat at the table, or she could tell him what she
really
wanted.
She took advantage of Gabe’s huge frame and sat in his lap, pulling the book
onto her lap. For the next half hour, they laughed and chuckled through an
album of fortunes and funny disasters. Feeling Vanessa’s pert bottom on his
thighs fanned Gabe’s desire for her. She was so easy to talk to and laugh with;
it was impossible to hide the erection pressing agonizingly against his seam.

Just then, Vanessa turned in his
lap, pressing her breasts against his chest. She looked at his face and smiled,
gently lowering her head to softly kiss his lips. Taking the album from her
hands, he rested the book on the table and scooped his arms underneath her.
Cradling her to his chest, he carried Vanessa across the living room toward his
bedroom. He’d never been this anxious to get a woman in his bed.

He walked into the bedroom,
kicking the door closed before gently lowering Vanessa onto the bed. He quickly
turned back to the door and flicked the lock. No one, not even Jimmy, was going
to mess this up.

“Locking us in?”

“I don’t want to be
interrupted—not this time.”

Reclining against the bed,
Vanessa kicked up her legs and arched her eyebrow at Gabe; he reached down,
swiftly pulling her shoes off.

She slid her hands to her waist,
unfastening the button on her jeans and unzipping the fly slowly, sliding the
worn fabric down her curvaceous thighs and calves. Gabe watched the pants
progress to the floor, drinking in Vanessa’s softness. Gabe dropped to the bed
and propped up on his side next to her. Vanessa grabbed his hand and slid it
beneath the edge of her panties, making him groan involuntarily as his fingers
dipped into her slick warmth.

“Strip,” she ordered as she
leaned up on her elbows to watch him.

His cock jumped with hardness.
Being ordered around wasn’t something he’d ever thought he’d like, but he liked
this change of power. He lifted his shirt over his head, revealing a torso of
carved muscles; her reaction was worth the wait. She gasped and covered her
greedy mouth with her hand.

“My God, you’re beautiful,” she
said in awe.

“Hey, that’s my line.”

She shook her head. “No really.”

He flicked the button on his
pants, sliding them down his legs along with his boxers. He kicked them off so
they landed in a random corner of the room. His cock stood impatiently erect,
the head throbbing as Gabe tried to control his passion.

This time she didn’t say a word.
She ran the tips of her fingers along his torso, tracing each of his muscles.
She made a trail down his abdomen and wrapped her small hand around his girth;
he jerked beneath her touch as she squeezed him. He gasped and then groaned
when she rubbed her thumb over his tip. She looked at him, batting her lashes.
“I’m giving you
three days
,” she said, rubbing the tip again.

His eyes crossed as she worked
her hand up and down his cock. “Three days for what?”

“Three days of incredible
sex—with no strings attached.” She scooted down the bed and looked up at him,
slipping his tip into her luscious mouth; all coherent thoughts immediately
left him. She used her hand to pump his cock into her mouth and bring him to
the edge. Afraid to shoot his load into her mouth, Gabe arched his back and
eased his length out of her. “Not so fast. Are you saying that you only want
three days with me?
Just three
?”

“For the time being. Why, do you
want to change my mind?” she smiled wickedly.

Gabe reached into his side table
and pulled out a condom, “Maybe. Let’s see how we do with a test drive, huh?”

She sat up and lifted her shirt
off before unhooking her bra and wriggling out of her panties. Running her
fingers down her body, she reached her throbbing center and touched herself,
bending her knees so Gabe could see. He tracked the movement and his mouth
watered. Vanessa was not ashamed of her body or afraid to show him exactly what
she wanted. She teased her clit and moaned before spreading her legs wider,
slipping a finger inside.

He’d never had a woman touch
herself for him; he found it utterly
hypnotic
. He couldn’t look away.

“I need you—
now
!” she
gasped.

Gabe slid the condom on before
guiding Vanessa onto all fours on the bed. Immediately, she spread her legs out
wider and dipped her chest, presenting her cheeks like soft, ripe peaches.
Glancing over her shoulder she smirked, “Take me. Now.”

“God damn,” he grunted and
angled his body behind her. With one wide palm, he held onto her hip, while the
other rubbed the tip of his cock over her opening to leave the head slick. He
paused, letting the pulse in his throbbing length scream for release one final
time before he thrust his cock into her tightness. Vanessa squirmed and pressed
against Gabe’s pelvis, her pussy tightening around his magnificent length as it
drove deeper toward her cervix.

“Oh my God, Gabe, it’s
coming...it’s coming!” Her voice was strangled; the passion was real.

Tipped over the edge by
Vanessa’s cries of passion, Gabe slammed the rest of his length inside,
observing how her pussy clamped shut on his cock as wave after wave of ecstasy
coursed through her body. The rhythmic squeezing was too much; Gabe felt his
balls tighten as a loaded shot of cum surged from his body. He cried out,
squeezing Vanessa’s ass and slumping over her back, letting their heart beats
quieten before he slid himself out and pulled the condom off.

Gabe collapsed onto the bed next
to Vanessa completely in shock. He reached over and pulled the smiling and
gasping Vanessa into the crook of his arm, letting her head rest on his chest.
It was over too soon--and to make matters worse, he only had two more nights
with her.

****

Vanessa opened her eyes and sat
up in a panic; she didn’t mean to nod off. She looked over at Gabe sleeping
next to her and groaned.
This
was what she wanted to avoid.

She slid out of his bed and
tiptoed toward her pile of clothes, gingerly picking them up. As quietly as
possible, she got dressed and headed outside; she needed to package the blood
samples before they got knocked off the table.

It was getting dark as she made
her way to the barn. Strangely, the barn’s side door was open. She was sure
they had closed it; the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

Just as she decided to head back
into the safety of Gabe’s house, a sinewy hand wrapped around her mouth from
behind, covering her scream. A strong arm wrapped around her torso and she was
lifted off the ground. She tried to kick, but he was strong and she had no
leverage at that angle.

“Shut up, you stupid bitch,” the
man hissed. Vanessa couldn’t believe it:
it sounded just like Jimmy
.

Thrown into the barn, Vanessa
caught her fall and spun around on the floor to see that her assailant was, in
fact, Jimmy. He lurched toward her, “What do you know?”

It was then and there that
Vanessa realized something was wrong with Jimmy; his eyes were wide and
completely bloodshot, and his body shook. He was high as a kite and had a knife
in his hand.

“I don’t know anything. The
tests haven’t been finished.”

He laughed. “Oh, and fucking
your client was for
what?
”

She glared but kept her mouth
shut.

He came toward her and pointed
the knife at her. “I want to know what you’ve found out about the horses. I
have to know if Benny needs to leave.”

“What’s this got to do with
Benny?”

Jimmy shook his head and
switched the knife to his other hand as he laughed. “I have a financial
arrangement with Benny, and I’m afraid your presence up here is just poor
fucking timing and bad fucking luck…
for you
.”

Jimmy lunged at her. Vanessa
moved, but she wasn’t fast enough; he grabbed her by the arm and yanked her to
her feet. Now she was getting scared. “I don’t know anything. Honest.”

“Don’t lie to me, bitch! I saw
the way you looked at me.”

“No, really! I don’t!”

Jimmy released her and walked
back and forth like a caged predator, slapping the flat side of the blade
against his palm. “I find it hard to believe that you don’t know
anything
.
I know you went rummaging through the cabinets, and I know you noticed that
some things were missing.”

They were?
Vanessa
thought.

“Stop looking at me like that!
I
had to do it!
” he screamed, sending spittle across Vanessa’s face. “You
have no idea what shit I’m in. All I had to do was medicate them with Etorphine
until they drifted off, pretty much painlessly. Then Benny could collect some
serious cash from his insurance company since these things are worth a shit-ton
of money. Fucking crock—the horses didn’t die now,
did they?
The batch
was off, so I was forced to get more and that took a little longer than
anticipated.” Jimmy was squeezing the blade so hard that a line of blood
dripped down his forearm. Suddenly, Jimmy yanked Vanessa by the hair, pulling
her head to side, laying the knife against her exposed neck.

“You just had to get nosy,
didn’t you? Well, Benny can’t have you snooping around his insurance claims. I
need to get rid of you—but first, I might have a little...
fun
.” He ran
his nose along her neck and she shuddered.

“I...I won’t tell,” Vanessa
trembled. He yanked her hair harder and she cried out.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you—a
little play in the hay? I wonder what Gabe thought of you.”

The grip on her hair and scalp
was unbearable; Vanessa let out a strangled sob and tears pooling in her eyes
cascaded down her cheeks. Suddenly, she felt Jimmy press his body into hers.
She cringed when she felt his erection jammed against her back; he was becoming
aroused by his sadism.

There’s no way in hell I’m
going to let this piece of trash prey on me
! Vanessa braced herself,
furiously spinning around under his strength, and rammed her knee forcefully
into his groin.

He gasped and cowered, almost
falling in the process, but he caught himself and looked up at Vanessa with
distilled hatred. “I’m going to enjoy finishing you off.”

Suddenly, there was an almighty
screech, followed by the sound of flesh slapping into concrete. Opening her
eyes, Vanessa could see the dark, animalistic figure of Gabe pummeling Jimmy
into the ground, the knife flung into a far corner of the barn. His fists
worked rhythmically into the torso, stomach and face of Vanessa’s assailant.

Vanessa scrambled up and threw
herself onto Gabe, pulling his arms back, “Please, Gabe—stop! You’ll kill him!”

Gabe’s face softened
immediately; Jimmy sputtered and groaned.

“You’d better go grab some
electrical tape and call the cops.” Gabe looked up at Vanessa, “What did he do
to you?” his lip quivered.

“I’ll be okay,” she said as she
stilled his reaching hand. “You stay and watch him. I’ll be back.”

****

Ten minutes later, a cavalcade
of cop cars stormed up Gabe’s driveway with two ambulances. After a paramedic
had given Vanessa the once over, cleaned her up and threw a thick, woolen
blanket over her shoulders, she was taken into the house to give a statement to
the police.

The police had been skeptical at
first, but as Vanessa explained the possible worth of Benny Diamond’s horses
insurance-wise, the cops were quick to radio back-up to round up Benny Diamond
and his team.

A forensic investigator had
collected the blood samples, promising to only take one tube for testing; it
would cement their case if the blood tested positive for Etorphine. They also
agreed to meet her the following day to collect the scrap of suspicious paper
that was sitting back at her office.

Gabe was allowed back into the
house once the statement was made. Without a word, Vanessa got up from her
chair and walked into his bear-like embrace.

“Oh God, Vanessa—I had no idea.”

“Neither did I. I thought the
horses might’ve been poisoned by accidental ingestion. The only red flag for me
was a scrap of paper that I found earlier today in the barn; it appears to be
the label from an intravenous drug vial.”

Gabe pulled her in for a hug.
“Can the others be saved?”

Vanessa nodded into his chest
and then stood back to look at him. “Yes. If it’s Etorphine like Jimmy said,
it’s a very strong tranquilizer used for large animals like elephants. An
injection of diprenorphine should immediately reverse the effects, but without
knowing for sure what they were given, it’s too risky to just give it to
them—there have been very bad side effects, and Jimmy thinks his batch of
Etorphine was defective. The horses will be able to metabolize the drug
naturally, but they will need intense monitoring.”

Gabe looked relieved and let out
a long breath. “You have no idea how glad I am to hear that. If it wasn’t for
you, well...I don’t know
what
I would’ve done. I would never have
known.” He gave her another crushing hug. “You saved them.”

“No, Gabe—you saved
me
.
How did you know what was going on?”

“I went looking for you, and
before I even pulled my jeans on, I heard screams and banging coming from the
barn. I thought I walked into a nightmare when I saw Jimmy holding that knife
over you. There was no way I could let him hurt you; I would never forgive
myself if anything happened to you.” Vanessa blushed and leaned into his
embrace.

“Do you need to go to hospital?”
Gabe held her at arm’s length.

“No,” Vanessa smiled, “I’ll be
alright.”

Gabe grinned, opening his mouth
to respond.

“—But, Gabe,” Vanessa tried to
look serious, “we have another two days intensive horse monitoring to get
through.”

Gabe looked wistful, “You want
to stay and monitor in the stables?”

“Yes, in the stables. You never know,
I might want a little roll in the hay to pass the time.” She winked.

“Wait, does this eat into your
three-night rule?”

Vanessa bit her lip and
pretended to reconsider, “Hmm, no, I don’t think so. Consider this ‘work;’ your
two and a half remaining nights are still to be redeemed. I might even
reconsider the terms and conditions if you play your cards right.”

“Well, I’ll have you know that I
prefer to play the King of Hearts in this game.”

“I’m sure you do,” Vanessa
smiled and they shared a soft, deep kiss.

THE
END