It was Anatolios who gave Brent a pointed glance this time and my question wasn’t answered.
At the house, there was another man in slacks and a button-down at the doors, whom I presumed was another guard because of the gun on his hip. Though maybe that was a Wyoming thing. Our driver brought our luggage in, and though there was much to look at, it was too late and we were too tired to do anything but settle in and go to bed. Reeve showed me my private bedroom, which was down the hall from his master suite. I dropped my belongings there and unpacked a robe and some toiletries to bring with me to his room.
Once the door was shut in his quarters, I learned the true source of Reeve’s moodiness. Turned out it wasn’t about chickens or Vilanakis at all.
“You and Brent got along well,” he said, loosening his belt. “He’s known around here for being a player. Is that going to be a problem?”
“For me? No. He’s fun, but he’s married and I don’t enable cheating.” Anymore. I realized too late my mistake. Blushing, I spun toward Reeve. “But none of that matters anyway. He won’t be a problem for me because I’m with you.”
“Yeah, that should have been your first answer.” His jaw was tight, but there was a conflicting gleam in his eye, as though he was debating whether he should be mad or not.
I decided to make the choice easier for him. With an exaggerated pout, I said, “That was very naughty of me. Maybe I need to be punished.”
His jaw loosened, the gleam turned wicked, the belt came off, and I was thoroughly whipped, and fucked, before falling into a restless sleep.
Bad dreams and anxiousness woke me several times that night. I’d only just found deep sleep when I was woken again, this time with Reeve’s cock rubbing at my pussy from behind. It was a blissful quickie that allowed me to stay half-asleep through it and still earned me a nice orgasm.
“That’s got to last you a few days,” Reeve said when we were done. “I’m leaving this morning for some business upstate.”
“Yeah, that was for me,” I said, referring to our fast fuck. “Right.” My grin faded. “How long will you be gone?”
“Three days. I’ll be back the day after tomorrow.” He leaned over and brushed the hair out of my face. He didn’t smile or kiss me or touch my cheek, just looked into my eyes for a few precious seconds. It was sweet in a way I couldn’t put into words. A much more tender goodbye than I’d expected from him.
When he stood back up, he beamed down at me. “And that was totally for you. Your Kaya Ranch wake-up call. It’s a quarter to six and I didn’t want you to miss breakfast.”
“Very kind of you. I’ll get right on that.” But I rolled over onto the pillow he’d used, burying my face in the traces of his scent. Then I fell back to sleep, partly because I was exhausted, but also because, without Reeve there, I didn’t feel much like being awake.
When I woke up again, it was nearly ten. The sun streamed through the crack in the curtains, drawing me with its beams the way a spotlight in the city drew people to premiere events. I peeked out and was met with acres of rolling green grass flanked with wooded hills. Beyond, snowcapped mountains stretched up to a cloud-spotted sky. The scene was beautiful and dramatic, calling me to throw on some clothes and get outside so I could explore every inch of the landscape.
Except, I had other exploring that took priority.
Reeve would be gone for three days and I knew I needed to use that time wisely. The house was at the top of my research list. I planned to get into every nook and cranny of its ten thousand square feet. I also hoped to get some of the staff talking. Amber couldn’t have been there as long as she had without making some sort of impact on someone. Hopefully I’d find that someone, and they’d be willing to talk.
I’d missed breakfast, but was able to dig up some cheese and apples from the fridge to tide me over until lunch. Then I went up to my room to shower and get decent. I unpacked my suitcase as well, then did a quick self-tour of the common areas in the house. I found a full-size gym in the basement as well as a theater room. The library was on the main floor along with the large dining hall that looked like it accommodated a hundred people. There was also a solarium, den, and sitting room. The rest of the space was divided among bedrooms, none of which seemed to be currently in use except for the one Tabor was staying in. Reeve’s office was the only room that was locked, as he’d said.
I was glad to realize through my exploration that though Tabor was here for me, he wasn’t here to watch my every move. He checked in on me a couple of times during the day and told me just to let him know if I wanted to leave the house. It was a huge relief to have space so I could do what I wanted.
It was also nice to know Reeve really had brought him for my protection and not to spy.
At noon, I went to the dining hall for lunch. It was served buffet style, an arrangement of cold sandwiches, soups, and salads. There was no triangle rung to announce the meal, but cowboys came rushing in on the hour exactly as if there were some sort of alarm that only they could hear. There were fifty or so all together. Parker and Charlie came in at the tail end and sat in the corner away from everyone else. I imagined as managers they got tired of their employees and wanted the break to be away from them.
I got my food and carefully surveyed the room, deciding to sit at a table with only a handful of ranchers. Here I made my move, talking up the lot of them, which mostly meant a lot of innocent flirting where I attempted to coax information about previous visits by Reeve and the women who’d accompanied him. All of the men I spoke with had been willing to talk, but none had worked there long enough to know anything that happened the previous summer. As Reeve had said, most were temporary employees who had just been hired recently for the busy season.