The Guardian (The Wolfe Series) (9 page)

The
main house contained fourteen luxury bedrooms, one double suite and a master bedroom with Jacuzzi, fireplace and steam room.  The spacious and inviting palapa living room opened out onto four huge terraces, one with a large palapa bar.  The enclave also featured a large infinity swimming pool as well as a heart-shaped Jacuzzi that could accommodate sixteen, a private squash court, as well as a BBQ and bonfire area.  Magnificent boulder formations at the front stood as sentinels to its privacy and solitude. 

Luzaro’s enclave was
magnificent but Laurie failed to appreciate any of that beauty as she listened with half an ear to Luzaro describing his fortified retreat.  She could see a pen that appeared to hold several large coyotes as well as two guest cottages that sat at the far end of the property and obviously housed additional bodyguards.  She sighed dismally, feeling suddenly closed in by the high walls that surrounded the entire estate. 
How am I ever going to get out of here? Damn it!

Luzaro leaned over and nuzzled Laurie’s neck, startling her.  Unable to hid
e her revulsion she stepped away from him and concentrated on looking out toward the distant mountains.

             
“You don’t have to worry about Enrique.  I will keep you safe,” Luzaro promised as he reached out and drew Laurie back against his hard body.  She shuddered in revulsion again when she felt his erection pressing into her buttocks.  “Are you cold,” he asked solicitously as he removed his jacket and placed it around her shoulders. 

             
“No,” Laurie whispered, loathe to stay in the man’s arms that were tightening around her like a vise.  “Just not feeling very well.  Flying doesn’t really agree with me.  I think I’d like to lie down for awhile if you don’t mind.”  She could play the subservient role well, at least until she was able to escape.  She’d had enough practice during her years in foster homes.

             
Tears filled Laurie’s eyes when she remember the family she’d lost in a grizzly car accident.  She hadn’t been with them that night when her parents and brothers had left to attend parent teacher conferences at the elementary school.  Having had a bout of stomach flu, Laurie had reluctantly been left with a babysitter, which was something her parents rarely did.  If she had been with her family that fateful night she would have been crushed right along with them when the semi hit them head-on, demolishing their car and killing them instantly.  As the years passed it was getting harder and harder to recall the faces of her family.  Laurie had been five-years-old when they had been killed and had immediately been shipped off to the first of many foster homes as there had been no other living relatives to take her in.

             
“You’re doing it again,” Luzaro said peevishly as he led her into the house and toward one of the bedrooms closest to the master bedroom.  “I won’t have that, you know.”

             
“Doing what?” Laurie asked and felt her spine stiffen at his arrogant tone of voice.

             
“I want your complete attention when you’re with me,” he sighed as though teaching her what was expected of her was going to be a great burden.  “I’ll try to be patient at first, until you learn.”  He waved toward a closet at the far side of the room.  “I think you’ll find everything you need in there.  Just let me know if there’s anything else you require.”

Luzaro turned her toward him and looked into her eyes.  “I love you, after all.  You’re
going to be my wife and the mother of my children, the only woman I’ll ever love.”

Laurie felt her stomach clench and thought she would be sick on the spot.  “Please, Luc, I need to lie down.  I’m really not feeling well.”

Luzaro was disappointed when Laurie didn’t respond positively to his declaration.  “The name is Luzaro, not Luc.  See that you call me by my correct name in the future.”

Laurie breathed a sigh of relief when Luzaro turned on his heel and stalked off down the long hallway, his shoes beating a steady tattoo against the
highly-polished marble floor.

             
Laurie walked into the sumptuous bedroom and drew in her breath.  Luxurious silk bed linens covered the ornate wrought iron bed that graced the center of the room.  There was more of the same luxurious fabric on each side of the wall to wall glass doors that led out onto a balcony.  A lovely dressing table stood against one wall while a wood-burning fireplace stood on the other.  Flanked by richly upholstered wing-back chairs it would have been a heavenly place to sit and read or just relax and day-dream.  Under the circumstances, though, Laurie found the bedroom anything but relaxing as she walked toward one of the balcony doors and pushed the silk draperies aside.

             
Laurie gasped and stepped further back into the bedroom feeling more like a prisoner than ever when a guard posted outside her door leered at her, showing off half rotted teeth.

             
I will get out of here.  I will get out of here.
  Those words would become Laurie’s mantra in the days to come.

             
Laurie sensed a change coming but couldn’t tell if was for better or worse.  She thought she’d heard a wolf howling again last night during the flight to Nogales but it had probably been a dream.  She knew there were wolves in Mexico and the Southwestern United States but the howling had seemed to reach her on an elemental level.  She loved the fact that she was able to commune with many types of different animals. 
But a wolf?
  She’d always had a fascination with the beautiful creatures.  She had numerous prints of wolves in her apartment and a statue of a pair of wolves that was entitled, “Soul Mates” on her bookshelf. 

Tears filled Laurie’s eyes when she thought of that beautiful statue and the way the male wolf seemed so protective of
its mate.  Deep inside Laurie longed for the family she’d lost, longed to be a part of a family again.  She knew that wolves mated for life and that’s what she wanted for herself.  She wanted a man who would love her and protect her, a man who wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and only her.

You’ve got to
get the hell out of here first!

Laurie cringed at the thought of the impossible challenge that lay ahead of her.

             
“She’s here, I know she’s here,” Jake said as he drew his horse to a halt at the top of the arroyo where he and Taggert had been searching for strays that had wandered off the ranch and out into the desert.  The men normally used ATVs to get around the ranch but Jake preferred to use horses when searching for strays like the ones they were after this morning. 

             
Jake sighed and tipped his Stetson back on his head as he took a handkerchief out of his back pocket and wiped the sweat from his face.  He scanned the surrounding area using his wolf vision as he dismounted and walked to the edge of the arroyo.  A coyote hurried along the bottom of the arroyo, a rabbit dangling from its mouth as it nervously glanced back over its shoulder at the men and horses that had stopped at the lip of the arroyo.

            
 
“Yea, probably behind that big Saguaro over there,” Taggert teased as he pointed toward the majestic, tree-sized cactus that was native to Arizona’s Sonoran Desert.  He knew a Saguaro with so many arms, or spears as they were called, had to be over a hundred years old.

             
“Don’t believe me then,” Jake groused.  His brothers had been giving him a hard time for months on this subject and he was more than a little tired of it.  “Just be ready to help when I call.  I won’t even tell you I told you so.” 

             
“You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”  Taggert had dropped his teasing tone, his eyes narrowed in concern as he watched his older brother stretch his arms over his head and then begin pacing back and forth along the arroyo’s edge.

             
“She’s close, Tag, real close.”  Jake lifted his head and sniffed the air, then failing to catch the scent he was searching for shook his head in frustration.  “She’s in so much trouble!” Jake blew out a huge breath.  “Damn, what if it’s already too late to help her?”  He wasn’t surprised when he found himself wanting to kill whoever was causing her such pain.

             
“Don’t go borrowing trouble, brother.  You know Rand and I will be there when you need us.” Taggert watched Jake remount his horse, not his usual horse either, but one of the ranches stock Quarter Horses.  “What’s wrong with Golden Cloud,” Taggert asked, trying to turn the subject toward a subject less volatile.

             
Jake knew his brothers would stand with him when the time came and he appreciated Taggert’s less than subtle attempt to change the subject.  Jake smiled and said, “New shoes, brother, something that old nag you’re riding could use by the looks of it.”

             
Taggert refused to take the bait.  He much preferred his stockier paint, Cochise, to Jake’s much more temperamental horse, an animal only Jake was able to ride. 

“I’ll put ole Cochise up against that nag of your
s any old time, you just say the word.”  There was no way Cochise would hold up for the long haul, Golden Cloud’s thoroughbred-like build would win in the long distance.  It was the quarter mile where Cochise would shine.  “Quarter mile, any old time.” 

Taggert smiled
at the look on Jake’s face and knew he’d won that argument.

C
hapte
r
T
welve

            
 
L
aurie was emotionally exhausted by her conversation with Luzaro and everything that had happened earlier that day.  She could hear a lone wolf howl in the distance just as she was drifting off to sleep, the wolf’s howl a lonely lament that somehow touched her heart.  The sound of the wolf’s voice was the last thing Laurie heard before she closed her eyes and began to dream . . .

She kissed his mouth lightly, needing his touch and the feel of his lips against her own.  Her hands stroked his bare chest, his shoulders, the bulging muscles in his arms, wanting him, needing him inside her, her movements becoming more and more desperate.

             
Their tongues dueled, thrusting and retreating.  Her nipples became ridged and her clit swelled at his touch.  She took in his magnificent body and his rigid erection, his hard nipples.

             
Her dream lover kissed her again and again letting her know just how much he wanted her.  He craved her touch and wanted to mark her as his so no other man could claim her. 

             
“I want you,” Laurie whispered.  “Love me.”  Her eyes filled with tears when he crushed her against his hard body, his heart in his throat as he said, “I always will.”

             
He slid his hand between her legs and felt the wetness there as she arched against his probing fingers. Unable to control his need any longer, he parted her legs and pushed into her wet folds, filling her completely. 

Laurie clenched against him, her body caressing him, holding him tight within.  As he thrust again and again her hips rose to meet those thrusts, welcoming his penetration, his invasion, and crying out for more.

              Her pleasure rising and growing strong with each thrust, he filled her with his seed just at the moment of her climax and covered her mouth with his own when she cried out, his tongue delving deep while their bodies were still joined.

              Laurie bolted out of bed when she heard a horse screaming.  Her body still flushed from her erotic dream, she felt disoriented and didn’t remember where she was for a moment as she stumbled toward the glass patio doors and yanked the silk draperies aside.  What she saw made her blood boil and she trembled in rage as she watched three men attempting to pull a terrified horse out of a silver and black horse trailer.

             
I’m coming, boy, hold on!
  Hastily, Laurie pulled on a pair of jeans she’d found in the closet and slipped a cotton shirt over her head as she raced for the door.  She was outside in record time, running past guards who shouted at her to stop, her bare feet slapping against the Saltillo tile patio as she ran toward the three men who were still trying to pull Aragon out of the horse trailer.

             
“Damn it!  What do you think you’re doing?”  Laurie screeched as the three men turned in her direction, surprised to see a blonde-haired vixen bearing down on them with such murderous intent in her beautiful green eyes. 

             
“It’s okay, boy.  Everything is going to be all right now,” Laurie crooned, glaring at the three men as she slipped past them and into the horse trailer alongside Aragon.  She ran her hands lovingly over the animal’s shoulder and along his back trying to quiet the trembling she could feel beneath her hand.  Carefully, Laurie unhooked two of the lead ropes from Aragon’s halter and then taking the remaining lead rope in her left hand, backed her horse out of the trailer without anymore fuss.

             
“What’s going on here?” Luzaro asked harshly as he walked toward Laurie and the three men who were still in shock over Laurie’s unexpected tirade.  Luzaro yanked the lead rope out of Laurie’s hands which caused Aragon to rear, his front hooves pawing the air.  “I hire people to do this kind of work.”