Jackson's head pounded like a drum and the light burned through his eyelids. He hurt in other places too, but he smiled even so. She had been insatiable, an outright vixen. That was how sex should be. Enjoyed by both, not merely tolerated.
He reached over to feel for her and for the first time, she was up before him. His eyes snapped open like window blinds. He had a bad feeling about the whole thing suddenly. She'd been just a little too friendly last night and a little too eager to see him drink.
He dropped to his knees, ignoring the cold floor, and felt under the mattress. He swore when he felt or rather didn't feel the money. He had no intention of letting her go even if she had taken nothing but herself, but the fact that she had stolen from him on top of leaving added insult to injury.
He saw his truck keys in their usual spot and stumbled to the window. Had she not gotten away yet? The truck was still there. He started to turn from the window but saw the junk car missing out of the corner of his eye. How in the world had she gotten that piece of crap running? It had only ran once for him and had set unused through 2 winters. He doubted she would ever tell him that great mystery.
Putting his pants and shirt on as he walked hurriedly through the house, it didn't take him long to notice she had taken off with his winter food supply too. "That little hussy," he muttered.
It wasn't the first time a woman had run out on him. His own mother had left him when he was 4 to be raised solely by his father. And while his father had been as good a dad as a boy could ask for, it didn't make up for not having a mother. He had been unable to do anything about his mother, he could do something about his wife.
He loaded his dogs into the back of the truck. She had been longing for a city, not a town but a real city. Monterey fit the bill and she had most likely drove through it when coming to meet him. She probably had an 8 or 9 hour head start if he was a guessing person, but her father had taken the Knoxville Highway coming down. He knew a shortcut that would get him to the city in less than 3 hours verses the 13 using the highway. He'd mentioned it on their wedding day to her father, so he could save some time and gas. She hadn't looked as if she'd been paying them any attention at the time, so she'd no doubt forgotten if she ever knew.
As he grabbed the steering wheel, such a wave of rage washed over him because of her deceit and thievery, his vision blurred. She didn't know him half as well as she probably thought she did and certainly not as well as he was beginning to know her. Few had ever been stupid enough to rob from him and for the two who did, well, they'd both lived to regret it and one walked with a limp still. No, she didn't know him at all, but she was about to get acquainted with him the hard way.
sss
Monterey had its fair share of hotels. He had no idea which one he would find her in, but that's why he'd brought the dogs.
He used the washrag she'd bathed with just yesterday and it didn't take long for the best hunting dogs in the county to sniff out her trail. They led him right up to the door. He should have known without their help. It was the ritziest place in town.
"You can't take those animals in there," said the doorman, a dark-skinned fellow in a glitzy red suit.
"Wasn't planning on it." He used a hand signal on the dogs. Showing what well-trained animals they were, they all sat down in nearly perfect time to wait for his return.
The doorman opened the door for him, albeit a little hesitantly.
He could tell he was getting a snooty reply before he ever opened his mouth or got to the desk. The desk clerk had that superior air about him.
"I'm looking for a woman, my wife, Alleghany Parker, but she probably didn't have the nerve to sign in under her own name. She's got striking blue eyes, brown hair, and she's about yea high," he said, using his hand to show him.
"I'm not allowed to give out information about our guests," he replied his chin thrust forward in a defiant way.
Jackson grabbed him by the lapels. "Listen, you weasel, she stole money from me. Unless your hotel wants to be known for harboring criminals, I suggest you tell me where she is."
"You want to try the second floor. Uh, in room 219, I believe." He handed him the key. He cleared his throat and straightened his jacket when Jackson let go of him. "She's got- well, she's got company."
He didn't need to elaborate. He knew exactly what he meant by that and that marked the stranger's doom. No one touched his wife but him, a lesson an unlucky man was going to learn.
sss
His hair was soft and curled at the nape of his neck. His cologne was a spicy scent intended to drive a woman wild, and his body was of a slim build, no muscle but no fat either. His speech was genteel and sophisticated as the rest of him. In other words, he was the exact opposite of Jackson Parker in every way and her ideal type.
It had been an almost instantaneous connection down at the bar. The champagne bubbles had made her giggle, a sound that almost sounded strange to her ears so long had it been since she laughed. She'd offered to share the bottle with him, the most expensive bottle available.
He'd been charmed by her carefree attitude in a time when most people only worried about their finances and the future. She was charmed by the wealth and sophistication he exuded to the point that it practically seemed to drip from his pores. An instant love connection or a lust connection at least.
She'd invited him up to the room that Jackson was ironically enough paying for and he'd accepted.
He'd been noble enough to tell her he had a fiancée. She'd immediately remarked that it was more than alright with her because she had a husband. And they'd laughed together like it was the funniest thing in the world, but it was a private joke shared only between them as neither one of their better halves would have seen the humor in it.
And that was how they had ended up in this moment of time with her on the verge of breaking her wedding vows though she'd never really meant them in the first place.
Why then wasn't she enjoying this dip back into the wild side more? Surely marriage hadn't zapped her enjoyment of the act. She took a deep breath and reminded herself it was going to take a little while to remember that sex could be fun and wasn't born of a husband's will.
She pressed her lips against his thin ones forcefully. He definitely must have liked that as it made him bold enough to unhook her brassiere. She still wasn't completely feeling it, but she was determined to do this for her sanity.
He gently pushed her down on the bed and carefully climbed on top of her, a real gentleman. The sheets were silken not rough like the sheets at the cabin. That alone helped her mood along considerably and William definitely knew what he was doing. It was hardly his first time.
Just as she was beginning to relax and enjoy herself, the door suddenly flung wide open. Jackson had found her and he didn't look real pleased.