Big Bad John (Bigger in Texas Series) (17 page)

She was staring at him.
Say something you idiot,
he told himself. Anything. “How soon after you get back does the tour start?”

Not that. Why was he talking about her leaving when all he wanted her to do was stay?

“I don’t know.” Trudy sounded thoughtful. “I haven’t agreed to do it yet. And now? Well, Jefferson made me look at my bank statement yesterday. Apparently I’m comfortable and I should appreciate barbecue sauce more. I was thinking I might take some time and see what feels right. See if the tour is even something I need to do, since so many of my listeners are online. I haven’t stopped working for an actual vacation in my life. I always worked a day job and on my music at night. It might be nice not to have so much on my plate.”

Did that mean she was thinking of staying?  “Oh.”

He read every damn night. Kept himself informed. He had a million words at his disposal and all he could say was
Oh
.

She turned in her seat, bending one leg, making no pretense of not staring. “Are you okay, John? You’re acting strange.”

“I’m fine.”

They rode in silence for long, tense minutes as he drove. When he passed his house, she stopped looking at him and started studying the land around them. He saw the fence line that signaled the end of the property and put the truck in park. “We have to walk from here.”

He’d lifted her over the fence before she spoke again. “Why are we sneaking on to the Giese’s property? You know Tommy, he’ll use the trespassing defense and hunt us down like deer.”

“Tommy ever comes near you again and trespassing’ll be the least of his worries. I think he knows it.”

She reached for his hand. “I love it when you get all macho and protective. So why are we here?”

He walked over to the dug-up earth peppered with orange flags and turned to face her. “The deal Norman was talking about? Jefferson wasn’t selling land because we needed money. We’re buying Norman’s property because he’s getting old, Tommy is good for nothing and we offered him his asking price. He can go live in Topeka with his sister and be happy. Tommy will either move with him or be run out of town on a rail. Either way, he won’t be our neighbor.”

Trudy’s eyes went so wide he almost smiled. God, she was so damn adorable. “You and Jefferson bought more land? The Giese land? It’s so… I mean it was always so…”

“Beautiful? I know. There’s a stream not too far from here, trees as far as the eye can see. And right here I was planning the first outbuilding.”

“Outbuilding?”

John nodded and his stomach clenched. “A little recording studio. The equipment’s been ordered for a while now—they were holding off on delivery until we had the space for building.”

“For you?” She was watching him closely now. “Planning some jazz piano sessions?”

She was trembling. He took both her hands in his, praying he would find the right words. That what he needed to say wouldn’t push her further away. “Troublemaker is doing well. The honey too. Well enough that, while we won’t allow it to be swallowed up by a monster company, we do realize we need to hire some new employees to keep up with the demand. They’ll need a place to stay. We can do that. We can do a lot of things, including regular flights to Los Angeles to see your brother. Caroline. Your friends at the club. Or regular flights for you to come back in between your tour stops, if that’s what you want. We’ll be able to afford to do whatever we want.”

He took a breath. “It’s for you, Trudy. It always has been. Isn’t it plain? The house by the pond with the music room. The damn logo on the sauce. It’s always been about you. I’ve always been waiting and I’ll keep doing it as long as you need me to. For you.”

She opened her mouth but before she could turn him down he kept talking. “And I know the town isn’t your idea of excitement. I know you’ll want to travel. Or maybe there will be more tours. I want that too, as long as I know you’ll be with me. I also know I sound insane. Obsessed. But that’s the truth. I
am
obsessed. I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy.”

Trudy’s smile was a beautiful thing to behold. It gave him hope. “So would I be wrong if I thought the reason you’re obsessed, the reason everything you’ve done has been for me, might be because you love me?”

He uttered a sound of frustration. “Hell, haven’t you been listening to me, woman? Yes, I love you. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone or anything in my life. I’ve never been as happy as I have these last few weeks, not since you left. I want to grow old with you, and travel or not, have babies or not…as long as you’re with me, as long as I know you’re coming back to me, I’ll be home.”

She stepped away from his touch and dropped her hands to the hem of her T-shirt, pulling it over her head, leaving her in nothing but her shorts and the sheer black bra he loved.

“What are you doing?”

“Christening the recording studio,” she laughed. “I love you too, John. When I said it the other night and you didn’t say it back I thought the worst.”

“I didn’t want to hold you to something you said in the heat of the moment,” he muttered, moving closer to her as she slipped off her pants and unhooked her bra. “You know this isn’t officially our property yet.”

She scoffed. “Would the Big Bad and his gal Trouble let something like trespassing stop them from having a good time?”

The smile warmed his chest, filled him with joy before it reached his lips. “Probably not.”

When she was naked, Trudy held out her arms and bounced. Just once. Just for him. “Are you going to take me? I belong to you, you know.”

He tore off his clothes faster than he’d thought possible, stopping only long enough to grab the condom in his wallet. “No one has ever belonged to me before.”

“I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

John took her down to the ground, lying on his back with his hands on her hips as she rode him, his heated gaze unable to choose between the love shining in her eyes…and the breasts bobbing with every rock of her hips.

“Hey buddy, my eyes are up here.” Her words were breathless with need and laughter.

He sat up and pressed her chest to his, groaning as he kissed her, their tongues tangling, lips nibbling. Hungry for each other. Always.

Her moans grew louder and John used his strength to guide her body up and down his cock. Faster and harder until they were both moaning, both dying for release.

“Tell me again, baby,” he murmured against her mouth. “Tell me and I’ll let you come.”

“Oh God, John.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her neck arching as he pumped her against his hips. “God yes. I’m yours. I love you. I belong to you.”

“Love you. Trudy I love you so—
fuck
.” Those words, her tight sex, threw him over the edge. She came with him, no doubt realizing he was too far gone to give his permission for anything.

They held each other for a long time afterward, caressing and kissing everywhere they could reach. Whispering plans.

A small part of John still doubted this could be happening. That it was real. “You won’t miss living in California?”

Trudy rested her forehead on his. “I’ll miss Caroline. I think you might have to suffer through a visit or two to California so I can visit my best friend. But there is no place I could miss more than I’d miss being like this with you. It took coming back to realize how much I’d changed. This town might be small, but it can’t be all bad if Big Bad John calls it home.”

“You’ll never regret it,” he swore. “So we’re agreed? Our two-week arrangement has been extended?”

Trudy chuckled, and his cock stirred at the sound. He would never get enough of her. “That depends, sir. How long—exactly—did you want the extension to be?”

“Fifty years might do the trick. Sixty if we eat our vegetables and get enough exercise.”

“Ha. I don’t think exercise is going to be a problem.” She untangled herself from his embrace and stood, bending over to grab her clothes.

Then she started to run.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To the pond,” she called back. “I want to be wild and go skinny-dipping. Try to keep up. If you’re fast enough you can pin me down again.”

Feeling like the kid who’d finally gotten everything he wanted for Christmas, John gathered his clothes and started running after her. And once he caught her he wouldn’t let her go until they’d finalized their new negotiations. He wanted to start the next fifty years off right. Wanted to make sure she was bound up in this promise tighter than any knot he could tie.

One that came with a ring.

Trudy was his. She always had been. And she was finally home to stay.

Keep reading for a Bonus Excerpt from
Burn With Me
,

R.G.’s newest Series from Samhain Publishing, coming out August 27th!

Available Now for Pre-order!

Plus Excerpts from
Truly Scrumptious
,
Three for Me?
,
Four for Christmas
, and
Marley in Chains.
Available Now!

By R. G. Alexander

From Samhain Publishing

She walks a tightrope between light and dark. Danger and passion. Obsession and love…

Fireborne, Book 1

Aziza Jane Stewart is living on borrowed time, and making a few mistakes in London seems like a good way to go out with a bang. But when two compelling strangers draw her into an ancient conflict, she realizes her curse isn’t about death at all…it’s about the power within her.

The sexy giant following her says he can smell trouble on her skin, the smokeless fire and magic of the demons he was born and bred to hunt. Brandon may be an enforcer, but his reaction to her is anything but adversarial. Ram, her new Jinn shadow, will do whatever it takes to come between them, and he’s just as hard for Aziza to resist.

When her dark family legacy burns to the surface, whom can Aziza trust? The alpha male who pushes all her hot buttons, the Jinn who seduces her in dreams, or the emerging Fireborne within? As danger circles closer, she must learn to embrace her newfound powers—and trust someone with her heart—before she becomes the final casualty.

Warning: Explicit content, magic, danger, voyeurism, chains, a secret ménage and carnal deeds of devilish debauchery at every other turn. Basically…fasten your seatbelts and get ready to burn.

Burn with me in smokeless fire

Born again in shifting sands

Learn all I know of desire

Infinitely in my hands

In battle or in passion blazing

All your senses will seem new

What before you only pondered

Will be knowledge ere I’m through

Ride the wind and howl like thunder,

Unseen warrior, travel free

Each form you choose so full of wonder

All this is yours

Now burn with me

—The Temptation of the Jinn

Chapter One

There’s a special kind of clarity that comes from knowing you’re going to die. It sweeps in like a storm—a forceful blast of fresh air that clears away petty concerns and meaningless fears, leaving behind only truth.

Cold, hard, beautiful truth
. With it, the concepts of good and bad begin to seem trivial, nothing more than outmoded and unnecessary words people use to rate each action and judge every thought in their world. To protect themselves from some unforeseen punishment, from judgment and death.

When the end is assured, it’s experience that matters. Life in all its forms. The feast before potential famine. Before the end. No more right or wrong, and no more grief. Just
now
.

Aziza watched London fall away below her with an odd sense of detachment.

In a certain light, even her curse could be looked at as a blessing. At least
she
was prepared for it, which was more than she could say for the rest of them. Her family. She’d known for nearly two years now that the clock was ticking. She’d had time to ensure she wouldn’t be caught by surprise with a heart full of should-haves. And without regrets or fear of consequences, she’d finally been free.

For a while.

Everything was so clear now. As clear as the lights of the city below her, the buildings shrinking and the milling crowd becoming specks of swirling color on the ground as she was lifted higher and higher into the night sky.

Almost flying. Almost time.

“Aziza Jane?” A light-hearted male voice interrupted her maudlin inner monologue. “Would you throw me out of this Ferris wheel-slash-box-of-doom if I told you we couldn’t continue our world tour because we’re moving to London until your aunt agrees to be mine?”