Champagne Romance (Romance Novel) (17 page)

Slater rubbed the back of his neck. It
prickled. He couldn’t get over the unsettling feeling of being
watched. Abruptly he sat up and put Swan back in her shirt,
gathered up the remains of the picnic, and headed back to the
four-wheeler not saying a word the entire time. The countryside
looked normal enough, but the nagging feeling of being spied upon
continued to haunt him.

A miffed Swan drummed her fingertips on the
car window sill as they jostled back to Slater’s casa. She was more
than a little annoyed that Slater had suddenly thrown cold water on
their lovemaking and ended their romantic outing with not so much
as a word. He remained lost in his thoughts. She was seething and
becoming a little steamed with frustration until they reached the
ranch and Slater appeased her by finishing what he had started.

CHAPTER 38

Slater had just finished cooking a breakfast
of bacon and eggs the next morning when the phone rang. It was
Jake. He sounded much perkier than he had yesterday. He called
because he was concerned about some cattle that had gotten loose.
It appeared that some two-legged animals were up to no good and had
cut the east fence. They killed a calf according to his ranch
foreman.

Sometimes, local teens from Malibu would
wonder into the hills looking to create a little mischief. Other
times, harden criminals and drug pushers would find their way to
the ranch by sailing down the coast invading the tide caves that
were sprinkled along the shoreline. The drug dealers seemed to
think their cache was safe in these caves along the beach. Little
did they know that these tide caves had not been safe hiding places
since pirates had graced the shore three hundred years ago.

Whenever the banditos wondered inland they
often made the mistake of thinking that Jake’s place would be “easy
pickings”. More than one criminal had made that miscalculation and
ended up serving time in the California State Penitentiary. Slater
assured Jake that he and Swan would check it out as soon as they
could corral the horses and saddled-up.

After being assured of Swan’s riding skills,
she was perched on the palomino, Scotch, that was gentle and
well-adjusted. Slater mounted Origami whose hind withers had healed
mouths ago and the two headed for the east end of Jake’s ranch.
Scotch obediently followed behind Origami as Slater’s sharp eyes
darted across the countryside looking for any signs of disturbance.
They rode in silence each thinking their own thoughts.

Swan was enjoying the Malibu morning mist,
but most of all she was enjoying Slater’s backside. This morning
his top half looked a little more like an urban cowboy as he wore a
navy merino turtleneck pushed up to the elbows. The bottom half
looked a little more like a working cowboy with well-worn jeans and
dusty boots. Speaking of the bottom half, he certainly looked all
male in the stonewashed denim with a rather full front fly. Not
that there was any doubt after last night, but it was fun to look
and fill her head with naked images of their lovemaking. She was
particularly fascinated with the way he handled his pinto,
encouraging when needed as well as gentle and soothing with every
touch. Somehow, his actions seemed lovingly familiar.

Slater’s waist was trim with a smooth
muscular butt attached to it of which Swan had enjoyed immensely
the night before---thank you very much. Her eyes riveted back to
his waist and the lump that was at the back of his waistband. “Oh
my goodness, he appeared to be packing!” Suddenly, the whole
scenario took on less of a lark and more of a serious event as she
looked about Yucca Point imagining the dangers that might be
lurking about the countryside.

As they approached the cut fence and
butchered heifer, a sober Slater became much more alert and tense.
It was obvious from the footprints that a total of three scavengers
had been prowling about the area. They did not seem to be
particularly concerned that the remains of their intrusion would be
noticed as they had made no pretense at covering up their dastardly
deed. That meant that they were probably a pretty rough crew and
just cocky enough to think that they could delude or handle any law
enforcement that might be called in to investigate. It also meant
that they were probably a well-armed scummy low life.

Evaluating the situation and alerting the
local Malibu law enforcement by cell phone, Slater was concerned
about getting Swan back to the house--pronto! He didn’t want to be
out in wide-open spaces trying to protect her against a group of
rough horny bastards. One look at her beauty and the scenario that
would unfold would not be pleasant. Unfortunately, at the present
time unbeknown to either Slater or Swan, Swan was being followed
with field glasses. The motley group of three had already begun to
salivate at the thought of a party tonight in her honor.

Steaks were thrown on the outside grill late
afternoon along with baked potatoes. Together, Swan and Slater made
a salad on the outside patio in an atmosphere of relaxed
camaraderie where they sipped wine and began to know more about
each other. It wasn’t long before a cherry tomato was thrown and a
food fight began. It was a real shame that they needed to wash off
and they ended up naked in the hot tub, which was followed by
kissing and touching of course it was. Before they had the joy of
consummating the spa, they were reminded that steaks were cooking
when the fire flared up from the outdoor cooker. With his usual
flamboyant language, Slater jumped out of the tub with little
regard for his total arousal and began to flip their supper.

Swan was more delighted with the male meal in
front of her than what was on the grill. It was the first time she
had seen Slater in such a blatant state in the light of the golden
sunset. There was more than one sculpture that would have paid big
bucks to have him for a model. Somehow, she didn’t think that he
would ever have the patience to sit long enough to even get a
snapshot of that hard muscled butt and he certainly wouldn’t have
any patience with cranky creative photographers. One five minute
setting and they would probably be dangling from the nearest
balcony.

Having put the steaks and potatoes on the
plates set at the nearby table, Slater turned to help Swan from the
tub with the finesse of a perfect gentleman who could have been
dressed in formal attire instead of his birthday suit.

“
Enjoying the view?”

Giving him a big smile she replied,
“Immensely!”

Slater’s eyebrows wiggled up and down letting
her know that he was enjoying his view as well.

Having seated the naked Swan with the
flourish of a true gentleman, he reached for his napkin that only
tented over his male attributes. With a lopsided grin and a shrug
of his shoulders, he enthusiastically attacked his steak.

The evening ended as would have been expected
back in the hot tub making love. After a little wine, there was a
Round Two before Slater carried a wary Swan to bed and crawled in
beside her for the night.

Slater awakened very early the next morning
with a mop of red hair draped across his chest tickling his chin.
He lay there for a while enjoying Swan’s body wrapped around him
before he very carefully untangled himself and moved from her
luscious body with some regret. After quietly dressing, he went
into the kitchen to make some coffee. Having had his first cup with
the chirping birds, he looked at his watch. Peeking in on Swan he
assured himself that Sleeping Beauty would not be up for some time.
Not wanting to wake her, he decided to make a ten-minute run into
Malibu to pick up the morning paper. Writing a quick note to Swan,
he turned off the main alarm, but kept on the silent alarm around
the outside perimeter that would feed into the Malibu authorities
in case of a break-in. He then steered the Durango for the quiet
community down below.

Slater headed for the local coffee shop,
which was already bustling with early morning activity. The morning
paper had not arrived, but it was expected at any moment. Slater
walked over to the resident police officer, Jeb, who was having a
morning wake-up cup of coffee in the shop. Slater had long ago
gotten acquainted with the local authorities. They were friendly
and easy going as most small town folks are, but savvy and tough
when they needed to be. Just as he reached out to shake hands in
greeting, Jeb received a code 350 on his walkie-talkie. He looked
directly at Slater who had a dreaded premonition.

Clicking off the radio Jeb said, “It seems as
though your home alarm just went off. Maybe, you would like to go
with me to check it out.”

Slater was through the door of the coffee
shop and in the Durango before Jeb finished his last sentence.
Accelerating to over 90 mph, he arrived at his adobe in less than
five minutes. He reached for the magnum in the glove compartment of
the jeep and made a flying leap to the entrance.

Sirens blaring and four squad cars soon
followed in his dust. If there were a break-in, Slater no longer
envisioned any hope of a surprise. He tried the double front door
entrance. It easily swung open. It looked as though a crow bar had
hacked the latch. The second entrance looked much the same. Slater
had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He instinctively knew
in his gut that Swan was in trouble.

CHAPTER 39

Swan was snuggled under a mound of covers as
Slater had left her. She was not used to the cool Malibu nights.
So, before they had gone to sleep, Slater had found a cozy plaid
flannel shirt, which substituted as a nightgown along with a pair
of gray leggings from her overnight bag. She woke to the feel of
covers being slowly pulled down her back. She frowned in a drowsy
half sleep as she realized that there was something sort of creepy
about the way the covers were descending down her body. She sat up
quite startled to find three grinning derelicts from south of the
border ogling her with obvious malice. The one with a missing front
tooth had the corner of the blanket, which he now tossed back with
glee to the foot of the bed.

Swan leaped from her prone position and made
a mad dash for the open courtyard but her move was anticipated. She
was immediately surrounded as they began to play the cat and mouse
game. There was nowhere to run, she knew it and they knew it, but
her desperation was what made the game fun and exciting to the
creeps confronting her. This continued for a short while longer
before the leader lost patience and grabbed her from behind. He had
rotten breath and a smelly body which galvanized Swan into fighting
with every ounce of strength that she could muster. Kicking,
screaming, and scratching, she fought with the will of a tigress.
Because she had been in this situation of desperation before in the
halls of her alma mater, she had taken a few self-defense courses
that she prayed would help her in this dreadful moment.

Swan’s defense action was all the distraction
that was needed for Slater to locate her and to evaluate the
situation. Assuring himself of burglar’s numbers and their
positions, Slater stepped out from behind the three-second position
that he had held from around the corner of the bedroom wall.

In a non-emotional voice, he trained his
magnum on the group before saying, “Move and you’re dead.”

Two banditos froze in place, but the one
holding Swan thought that he had the upper hand. He stared straight
at Slater and their eyes locked. He gave Slater a toothless grin as
he tauntingly raised one hand to pinch Swan’s breast causing tears
to swell in her eyes and hoping to distract Slater. With his other
hand, he reached for the gun in his back pocket. As he did so, he
realized his mistake.

This was not some preppy white boy who had
only shot a few jackrabbits and rattlers; this was an experienced
macho that was no novice to killing. The creep was savvy enough to
understand that one minute after he issued a challenge for Slater’s
woman. Suddenly, he knew he had unlashed a fury so intense that he
saw death and understood that he would soon be a citizen of Hell.
That was his final thought that flashed in front of him before a
bullet pierced him between the eyes. Swan screamed and fainted as
they both fell to the ground simultaneously. A swarm of officers
immediately appeared around the corner and surrounded the motley
group of drug traders before Slater had a chance to execute the
other two.

Slater was kneeling beside Swan before the
piece of trash hit the ground. He was horrified that he might have
hurt or killed Swan as too much male hormone had clouded his
judgment the moment the slimy hand of this pathetic excuse of a man
had reached to touch what belonged to him and only him. He was
relieved as he realized that the blood that covered Swan belonged
to the killer/rapist and was not hers.

As Swan lay limp in his arms, Slater gathered
her up as he snapped orders to the Malibu police officers while he
carried Swan into the bedroom and shut the door. There, he stripped
off her bloody clothing, threw them in the fireplace, and washed
all traces of the tainted blood away before she regained
consciousness. He held her, soothed her, and loved her until her
hysterical tears turned into soft sobs and then stopped all
together.

Disaster had threatened to separate them, but
was kind enough to snap them back together again. They celebrated
by giving their bodies to each other with all the passion of young
lovers after a long separation and a much extended journey. The
solace of sharing their love with each other consoled and comforted
each other after the traumatic and harrowing day.

That afternoon, Slater informed Jake that the
cattle thieves had been caught and were in jail waiting to be
expedited to the L.A. county jail. Jake knew there was more to the
story, but he also knew that Slater would only tell him about it
when he was ready.