The Taming (The Black Thunder Series) (41 page)

He was amazed how many people of all ages were back in school to get their G
.E.D. There was even a woman in her seventies in his class. Their teacher, Hanna Bollinger, was the same age as Jack, and an English professor, who taught at the local college by day, and at night in Virginia City. She was patient and supportive of all her students, and Jack couldn’t help but think if he had a teacher like her when he was young he would have done better at learning.

He
was beginning to understand why Kate believed so strongly in education. He was changing. He could feel it inside, the metamorphosis gradual as he discovered new ideas. He was now reading the newspaper every day clipping articles and writing small essays on what he read. He even shared his opinions with Kate, and instead of getting angry, they actually carried on stimulating conversations on various topics. His thoughts were interrupted by their waitress approaching the table.

“Hello, Jack,” the waitress grinned.

“Hello, Mary Beth,” he frowned and looked up at Kate.

“Another one?”
She spat as she watched him nod and slide down in the seat.

“You want your usual?” Mary Beth said as she cracked her gum, making a loud snap.

“Umm, no, I mean, I guess,” he floundered.

Mary Beth paid him no mind as she slid next to him on the seat
. “What would you like, honey?” she asked Kate then without waiting for her to answer she directed her attention at Jack. “Heard the rodeo is back in town. There’s a five hundred dollar prize for best roping. You going?”

“No, I don’t think so unless Kate here wants to go?” said Jack, as he looked at
the stewing blonde. “You want to, baby?”

“We can discuss it later at
HOME
,” she said emphasizing home.

“Jack is awful good with a rope,” Mary Beth smiled prettily at Jack
.

“Yes, I know,” Kate gritted her teeth.

“Yeah, me too.” The little twit actually giggled and Kate raised her brow. “Isn’t that right, Jack?”

She slid her hand from the table and onto Jack’s leg working her way upward
. Jack’s eyes widened and he clenched her hand before she had a chance to go further. He firmly set her hand on her own lap then released her. Kate didn’t have to see in order to know what the waitress was doing.

“You going to take my order?” Kate got loud and downright pissed.

“Sure, what’ll you have?” Mary Beth nudged Jack, cracked her gum in her mouth, and gave Kate a territorial smile.

That was the last straw
. “I’ll have your head on a silver platter if you touch Jack again,” Kate finally snapped. She stood from the table and grabbed Mary Beth, tossing her off the seat and away from Jack. “Now I’m going to say this once so you better quit crackin’ that gum of yours and listen up!”  Kate was on a roll and she couldn’t stop. “There isn’t going to be any more flirting, flinging, or fingering Mister Jack McBride except from me,” she stated angrily. “You see this?” She held up her ring then grabbed Jack’s hand and showed Mary Beth’s his. “You so much as smile at him and I’ll rip your eyes out and that goes for your little hostess friend too. So spread the word, darling. Jack McBride is no longer on the market.”

Kate glared at Jack
. He tried desperately to hide his grin behind his hand.

“What are you smiling about?” she pointed her finger at him
. “I catch you near any one of these women, so help me God, Jack, I’ll castrate you and then you won’t be good for anyone.”

The smile fell from Jack’s face
. Kate flopped herself down in the seat next to Jack, wedging him against the wall.

“Now, I want the chef salad with blue cheese on the side and an iced tea
.” She looked up at the girl and saw two large orbs blinking like strobe lights. Mary Beth nodded, but her feet wouldn’t move. “That will be all,” she said, signaling the gum cracking twit to leave.

Mary Beth ran off practically in tears
. Jack looked at Kate and something inside him said he should be afraid too. He went to speak but she cut him off. “I swear to God Jack, is there no end to the women you’ve fucked?” She growled as she crossed her arms over her chest. “They’re everywhere.”

“I’m sorry, Kate.” He saw the hurt in her eyes.

“Maybe we should take an ad out in the paper,” she said with sarcasm. “Jack McBride- no longer available to slam your brains out.”

“I doubt most of the women I’ve been with read the newspaper,” he said trying to lighten the situation.

Kate looked over at him like she was going to choke him.

Mary Beth returned with the iced tea and a beer
. She set them on the table then left without uttering a single syllable. Kate reached over for Jack’s beer and chugged it.

“That’s mine,” he objected.

“It was yours,” she said. “Now it’s mine.” She finished the beer and slammed the glass on the table.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked with caution.

“Not really,” she was still fuming.

“You going to keep me shoved in the corner all afternoon?” he asked feeling cramped.

“Yep,” she said now picking up her iced tea. “It’s safer for you if I’m between you and that little twit. That way she won’t be tempted to grope you again.”

“Kate, I’m a grown man, I can take care of myself,” he tried not to laugh.

“Oh, I can see the way you take care,” steamed Kate. “Care all the way to your crotch as she’s rubbing on you.”

“Dammit Kate,” he no longer thought it was funny
. “I grabbed her hand and pushed her away the minute I knew what she was doing.”

“So she did grope you?” Kate fumed a
nd glared at him.

Jack laid his head against the booth and groaned
. “We’ve been through this before,” he tried to reason with her again. “They are history.”

“But her touching you was present,”
she snapped. “How would you feel if I told you Kyle made a pass at me after class and tried to slip his hand up my dress?”

“I’ll kill him!” Jack sat upright in his seat
. “When I get my hands on that weasel, I’m gonna, I’m gonna-” Jack was so mad he couldn’t finish his sentence.

“Relax,” said Kate as she made her point
. “Kyle’s never made a pass at me.”

“But you just said
-” Jack was really confused.

“I made it up so you’d know how I feel,” said Kate settling down
. “And what’s worse is they do it in front of me, like I don’t know what they’re doing.”

“I’m sorry, Kate
.” He meant it.

“I can just imagine what they do when I’m not around,”
her eyes seemed to tear up.

“Kate if you’re worried about me straying, I promise, I won’t.”

“I’ve heard that before,” she laughed at the irony of it.

“Oh baby, I’m not him,” said Jack as he lifted her chin to look at him.

“I hope not,” said Kate as a tear ran down her cheek. “It would kill me if you betrayed me like that.”

“I don’t want any other woman but you,” he said as he wiped her tears away.

“I want to trust you, I really do,” said Kate, as her mind got all jumbled with the past and the present. “I trusted before and I got burned. Now, seeing all these women coming on to you drives that part of me crazy.”

They paused for a moment, while another waitress brought their food
. She set their plates before them.

“Can I get you anything else?” she asked politely
. “No, we’re good, thanks,” said Jack.

He waited until she was gone to resume their discussion
. “Kate, I’ve never pressured you to open up and tell me exactly what happened with your last marriage, but now I’m asking.”

“There isn’t much to tell,” sighed Kate
. “I walked in on him and my friend having sex in our bedroom.”

“Oh, baby,” he took her hand.

“I had no clue,” Kate shook her head thinking back. “But there were signs. I can see that now, but back then I didn’t want to see.”

“I’m glad you left that fool.” Jack’s temper flared just thinking about it.

“No, I was the fool,” Kate laughed as her eyes filled with more tears. “I didn’t leave him- he left me-” Her eyes diverted to the plate of salad. “He told me he made a mistake marrying me. Six months later they got married. That’s when I left Santa Cruz.”

“Your ex was a real piece of work,” said Jack beginning to get the picture
. “And I can almost bet that jerk will do the same thing to his new wife. Guys like that always have their eyes roaming.”

“So you’re saying a leopard never changes his spots,” said Kate.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Kate gave a sad smile and suddenly Jack heard the old cow’s comment in Kate’s voice.

“Now hold on there, baby,” Jack needed to explain
. “There’s a big difference between me and him. You’re ex made false promises that he had no intention of keeping. We both may have had our share of women, but I made no promises or commitments to them. I made my intentions clear from the start. But then I found you. I’m not the kind of man who cheats on his wife. I’m committed to you to the end of our days.”

“But I’m not your wife.”

“We can fix that.”

“That’s not the kind of proposal I wanted to hear,” said Kate
. “I’m not going to marry you just so you won’t stray.”

“Why not
? We could go to the courthouse right now and get hitched and it wouldn’t be to keep me from straying.”

“That’s not what I want
,” she said with a sigh. “I’m not jumping back into marriage until I am sure.”

“Sure of what?” asked Jack
. “You love me, don’t you?”

“Of course I do.”

“And I love you, too. So what’s stopping us?”

“I swear Jack, you have the worst timing in the world
. Why do you always try to take us to the next level right after a crisis?”

“Because that’s when you hear me, baby,” he smiled at her.

“It’s not the right time.” Kate shook her head.

“So when is going to be the right time?”

“You’ll figure it out.”

Jack ran his fingers through his hair
. She was the most confusing woman he ever met. How was he going to figure it out when she was talking in circles and not making sense? “Fine, I’ll wait-” he paused. “But not long. I’m going to ask you again.”

“I’ll hold you to it.
” She picked up her fork and started eating her salad.

Jack took a bite of his
burger and glanced up at Kate. He would wait for the right time to ask her. All he needed to do was figure out when.

Thirty-One

Flashbacks From the Past

I
t was almost time for Jack’s Thursday night class and Kate was still home
. Why hasn’t she left for her poetry class?
He grumbled as he paced back and forth along the tan Berber carpet in the upstairs hall.
She should have left fifteen minutes ago.
His patience was waning and he decided to hurry her along.

Jack poked his head into the bedroom expecting to see Kate scurrying in her usual fashion when she was behind schedule
. Instead he found her sitting Indian style on their bed, wearing sweats and a t-shirt with a stack of papers scattered across the bed.

“What are you doing
? You’re late for class.”

“Oh, did I forget to tell you it was canceled this week?” She didn’t look up as she continued to grade the mounds of children’s homework assignments.

“Yes, you did,” said Jack as he ran his fingers through his hair as he glanced at the clock wall. If he didn’t leave now, he was going to be late.

“It’s going to take me hours to go through all this work,” Kate sighed
. “You want to help me?”

“I can’t,” said Jack too quickly.

Kate looked up from her paperwork. He seemed edgy and his eyes were dancing in all different directions. “What’s wrong Jack?”

“Nothing,”
he said as he looked at the clock again. “Kate, I have an errand to run. I’ll be back in an hour or two.”

“What kind of errand
?” She studied him watching him fidget anxiously. “It’s after six. Can’t it wait ‘til morning?”

“No, it can’t
.” He looked like he wanted to tell her something but stopped. “I should be back about eight or so.”

Before
she had a chance to question him further, Jack fled the room. Kate didn’t know what to make of his odd behavior. He didn’t even kiss her goodbye. It wasn’t like Jack to not give her a kiss. A sick feeling clutched her belly as she wondered where he was running off to. A little voice inside her head issued its warning.
Pay attention girl, the rug is slipping again.
Why was he in such a hurry to leave? Was he meeting someone, and more importantly was he meeting someone every Thursday night right after she left for her poetry class? His evasiveness was fueling her mind to run wild.

Kate tried to bring her scattered thoughts under control
. He told her to trust him and all would be revealed. Did this have something to do with his late night slipping from bed on Tuesday too? Kate had her suspicions it was all connected.

She wanted to trust him
. She told herself she was being silly. Jack would never do anything to jeopardize their relationship. But what would it hurt if she did a little investigating to put her suspicions at rest? He couldn’t blame her considering what she’d been through in the past.

Kate set the papers on the bed and stood
. She headed for Jack’s office worrying if what she was about to do was a violation of privacy. She wasn’t the type to go snooping, but she couldn’t shake the unsettling feeling in her gut. She had not listened to it the last time and it had ended her marriage. This time Kate was not about to repeat her past. She needed to know one way or another in order to put her fears to rest.

She
entered his office and sat behind his desk. She opened the drawers one at time looking for something, anything, to explain Jack’s odd behavior. In the top drawer tucked all the way in the back she found a piece of paper with a woman’s name
Hanna
scribbled on it, and the number was local. She was tempted to call the number and wait to see if she heard Jack’s voice in the background. She scolded herself, wondering if the name and number was just left over history before her.

Instead
she wrote the name and number on a separate piece of paper and placed it in her pocket. She returned the slip of paper to where she found it and closed the drawer.

Kate turned on Jack’s computer and waited for it to boot up
. Guilt swept through her when she saw her image appear on the screen.
Don’t look at me like that
! She took a deep breath and typed in his password and her image disappeared.

Kate went into the computer’s history to view all the sites Jack had visited this past month
. To her surprise, every Tuesday’s files had been deleted. She checked the cookies and they too were gone.

What are you hiding Jack
?
Kate had no answers only bad feelings. She was tempted to call Adam and ask for his expertise to find what Jack had deliberately erased from his computer, but she didn’t want to raise his suspicions, or Clara’s for that matter, when she had no concrete proof he was doing anything wrong.

She shut off his computer and left his office
. She returned to her bedroom and paced the floor. She needed to focus on something, anything to get her mind off her suspicions. She dove into her paperwork, grading her student’s homework, but the time moved slowly and her anxiety increased as she checked the clock every ten minutes.

By the time she heard the sound of tires rumbling outside
through her bedroom window, she had worked herself into a paranoid mess. She jumped from the bed and looked out the window and saw Jack’s truck parked out front. She raced back to bed, pretending to work on papers until she heard footfalls climbing the stairs and felt his presence enter the room. She looked up and plastered a forced smile on her lips.

“Did you miss me?” Jack said as he entered the room, sat on the bed and removed his boots and socks.

He rolled up his socks and dunk-shot them into the laundry basket across the room.

“I always miss you,” said Kate trying to sound normal
. “Did you have a good time tonight?”

“I guess you could look at it like that,” he was vague
. Jack stood from the bed and undressed, placing his wallet and cell phone on the night stand. “I need a shower,” he told her and walked in to the bathroom.

“Wait,” Kate called, jumping from the bed
. She rushed into the bathroom and fell into his arms. She smelled his chest, his neck and his hair checking for anything other than Jack’s familiar scent. She kissed him tasting his mouth for any indication of betrayal. There was none. She lowered her hand and ran it down his belly to the place where infidelity was evident. She rubbed him, stroking over his need.

“Wow, I like this greeting,” his voice grew low and husky
. “You want to take a shower with me, baby?”

“I do,” Kate smiled
up at him.

Jack turned on the shower and stepped in.

“I’ll be right there,” she said stepping back into the bedroom removing her clothes.

She smelled her hand but all she breathed in was the glorious aroma of her man
. She lifted his shirt from the laundry basket and took a whiff. There was no hint of female perfume. She breathed a sigh of relief as her guilt and shame washed over her for doubting him. Jack would never hurt her like that and she was being ridiculous. Kate joined him in the shower.

“Did you get all your paperwork done?” he asked her as he soaped her up rubbing his hands over her breasts.

“I did,” she said returning the favor, lathering his chest as well. “Did you get all your errands done?”

“I did,” Jack grinned
. “So did I pass the test, baby?”

“What test?” Kate’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“I know what you were doing,” he laughed.

“What was I doing?” she feigned innocently.

“You were checking to see if I had been with another woman.” There was a mischievous gleam in his eye.

“I was not!” she protested.

“You’re lying to me again,” he said wrapping his arms around her back as he pulled her close.

“I hate secrets, Jack,”
she spouted as she grabbed him by the hair and made him look at her.

“Well it isn’t exactly a secret,” he said seeing her get all riled up and it excited him
. “It’s more like a surprise.”

“Oh Jack, it better be a good surprise, or I swear I will spank that fine male ass of yours ‘til
it’s beet red,” said Kate using his own words on him as she grabbed his ass and squeezed.

“You’re getting our roles twisted again, baby,” he said as he reached behind her and grabbed her sweet ass and squeezed as well
. “Too much control makes you off balance and that’s when you get into trouble.”

“Really?” Kate’s brow arched.

“You know I’m right. And I can prove it to you.”

Jack turned off the water and stepped from the shower to the bath mat
. Before Kate could step out, he turned, leaned over and threw her over his shoulder. She squealed as he carried her into the bedroom.

Jack folded over the blanket housing all her paperwork and threw it on the floor
. He tossed her onto the plush mattress and climbed on top of her.

“How do you want to play it tonight, baby?” he growled in her ear
.

“I don’t want to play it at all,” lied Kate feeling his arousal between her thighs as a surge of molten heat swirled in her belly
.

“Oh, so that’s the game you want to play,” he grinned and he rolled over on his back releasing her
. “If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

Jack folded his hands behind his head and waited
. He was irritating as all hell with that smug arrogant look sprawled out across his face. Kate rolled on her side blocking him with her back. She wasn’t about to give in.

“Good night then
.” She planted a smug look on her own face.

“Sweet dreams, baby
.” He switched off the light and the room went dark.

Kate closed her eyes and waited, but Jack did not make his usual move
. It was disconcerting to say the least, and Kate felt her insides roll. The more she lay there the more annoyed she became. Why wasn’t he going to make love to her tonight? Maybe he had already gotten his fill? Kate’s eyes darted open.

“Damn you, Jack,” growled Kate as she rolled over and climbed on top of him
. She pinned his hands above his shoulders as her hair hung loose tickling his cheeks. “You’re going to make love to me and you’re going to do it now,” she hissed in his ear then took a bite of his lobe.

She didn’t wait for his response as she positioned his hardened arousal to the opening of her sex
. She slid him inside her and started moving.

“That’s it baby, get it out,” he released an earthly groan.

“Take me, Jack,” she cried as her movements became faster.

“A little bit longer,” he said staring into her darkened deep blues
. “Make yourself come.”

“No, I want you to make me come,” she said getting herself all worked up
.

“You wanted control, so you’re going to finish what you started,” he said huskily.

Kate released a guttural growl as she grinded on him, working herself up until finally she came, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted more and he knew it. “That’s it baby, take what you need,” he coaxed her.

“I need you,” she whimpered, as she kissed his chest, running her tongue along his firm muscles and over his nipples.

“You’ve got me,” he teased her with the sensual tone of his voice.

“I don’t,” cried Kate needing a different kind of release
.

“You want me to show you how it’s done?” his eyes flickered with dominance.

“Yes,” she begged.

“How bad do you want it, baby?” he whistled through his teeth.

“Real bad.” Kate felt a surge settle between her thighs as his words brought her to climax. She dug her fingers into his shoulders as she moved him in and out of her.

“All right, my turn,” he said rolling her over and planting her on her back.

Jack climbed on top, spreading his long body against her frame. Taking each of her hands, he raised them over her head pinning them into the soft pillow.

“Now I got you where I want you,” he groaned as he lifted his head above hers and watched her pant her breath
. He bit at her bottom lip and tugged at it then toyed with her a little more by taking his tongue and slowly moving it around her mouth. She lifted her head reaching up to claim his lips but he pulled back.

“Kiss me, Jack,” she practically growled.

“No baby, now head back on the pillow.”

He moved their entwined hands and reached for her hair with his fingers swirling it around his folds then he jerked down and pinned her head beneath their hands, making her chin lift up in the process
. His mouth moved to her neck giving wet kisses right under her chin and moving up to her ear.

“This is how it’s done, Kate,” he said pressing his wetness into her ear
.