The Wrangler (The Yacht Club #2)

Chapter 6

Six

SJ

It’s been almost two weeks and I’ve barely seen Alex. He’s out in the morning before anyone else wakes up for breakfast. From what I understand, he’s working his ass off to get the club ready. Everyone else is busy with the club as well. I’ve done a ton of research on BDSM, specifically bondage. I keep coming back to the beautiful images of Shibari. The intricate wraps and perfectly aligned knots. There is such symmetry and artistry in the pictures. Some of the more typical BDSM bondage is a little rough for me, but the Shibari is intriguing. No matter how much I’ve searched, the couple at Pandora are unmatched in any videos I’ve found. Each day I add to the notes in my notebook, filling it with as many questions as facts. I even started toying with the idea of using it in my book.

Finally, I find Amy in the dining room after everyone has left for the day.

“You’re still here?” I ask.

She sets her coffee cup on the coaster. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been such a bad host. The guys have me busy picking paint colors and fabric and artwork for the guest suites and all the public spaces for the resort.”

I sit down across from her. “Please don’t apologize. I’ve been making some progress on my book at least some notes for some scenes.” At least I’m not lying. “And I started work on the copy for the website. But the best stories are personal. What’s the origin story of the club or resort? How did all of you get invested in this project? How’d you even meet? You’re all so different.”

“We met through the club we belonged to back in Missouri.”

“Is that where you met Tyler? He said something about you being in witness protection?”

“The two are related. I had a really bad work situation—literally the boss from hell.”

Boss from hell. That’s what my uncle is becoming. Convinced me he had only my interests, my future in mind when he gifted me this writing retreat. Now I’m helping him track a fugitive. I haven’t called him to tell him I confirmed Alex is Alex Craig. Every time I consider making the call, my guts clench.

Amy twists her tea cup on the coaster. “I was looking for an emotional release for my anxiety. No strings attached.” She lifts her chin and her gaze assessing. “Something about impact play allows me to let go of all the details, the future worries, the churning of possibilities in my head. I was desperate when I went to the club.” Her face softens, her eyes are dreamy and soft. Even her shoulders dropped to a more relaxed position. “And I met Tyler.”

It’s clear how much she loves him from that change in expression alone.

“Even though I write books with these kinds of relationships,” I say, “they’ve always been easy in my head.” I laugh through my nervousness. I’m not completely lying. The books I’ve read leave me with a lot of unanswered questions. “Happily ever after—the end. When I write it, I don’t think about what actually comes next. Do you scene at home?”

Her cheeks pinken and she drops her gaze to her cup.

“Why go to a club if you can express yourself at home?” I’m getting too personal. This is supposed to be about my assignment. “What makes a resort like The Yacht Club appealing to people?”

Amy’s brown eyes are twinkling the she faces me again. “Are you asking me if Tyler spanks me outside the club?”

“Not if you don’t want me to.” I twist a lock of my hair around my finger. As soon as I realize I’m doing it I stop and unwind my finger. This conversation is making me nervous too.

“Everyone’s reasons and ways to express their sexuality is different. For me and Tyler, we occasionally like to express ourselves in a more public place like the club. At first, the club was safety. There were dungeon monitors and other members I could rely on to make sure my boundaries were respected. In a private setting, the possibility for abuse, especially from someone you don’t know well, is higher. At least that was my reasoning. Luckily, I met Tyler on my first visit. Like it was mean to be.”

“You said ‘at first’. Why do you go now?”

Amy smiles and a titter of a laugh escapes her. “Tyler likes to show me off, and I like the possessiveness it triggers in him. There’s also something incredibly erotic for me to have witnesses to my submission. I guess I’m a closet exhibitionist. Or maybe a club one.”

“I can see that.” The couple who were dancing with the ropes were definitely putting on a performance, but also very much in an intimate headspace. It made sense they would be in the club because of the support needed to do suspension. But it must be possible to create a structure at home. Maybe they rent. I’m running down alleys of possibility instead of talking to the person who could give me the real answers. But as usual he’s working.

“There’s also the sense of community. It’s nice to not be the only one in a room full of people with a kink. At the club, everyone in the room has one.” Amy shrugs and sips her tea.

If I didn’t know about her and Tyler, I would never have guessed. She’s such a girl next door, blend in with the crowd type with her soft brown hair and matching eyes. She dresses like every other person I’ve seen in Colorado. Jeans. Comfortable shoes. Standard outdoorsy lifestyle they sell in clothing catalogs. What the outside world sees doesn’t always tell the real story. Maybe it never does.

Maybe whatever my uncle saw isn’t the whole story of what happened to my cousin.

If Alex did “ruin” Alyss, he’s a horrible person. I wish I could see it. But all I’ve seen of Alex so far is a hard-working man who treats me with respect when he deals with me at all. Even when he was at the hotel room door naked, he was concerned for me, a stranger. As nice as it was to have him check on me, I’d rather that incident never happened. I can’t get the image out of my head. The man is cut like a warrior, solid like a statue, and two hands didn’t cover him completely at all. Even now my body is twitchy with the need to ride that man like a trick pony at the rodeo. Take him through all his paces and see what he can do. I’m pretty sure he’d ruin me. And my uncle would kill me.

I’ve got to figure out a way to get Alex to open up to me if I ever want to be free of the threat of exposure. Stone told Alex to help me with the marketing for the club. I’ll have to wait up for him tonight. Maybe wear something tempting. And get his attention.

I stand up ready to leave and realize I’ve been ignoring Amy. “I’m sorry. You gave me so much to think about, and I’m feeling the muse for my book.”

She waves me off. “Go write. That’s what you’re here to do. I’m glad I could help.”

I dart up the stairs and take a few minutes that turns into a few hours of writing. Ideas are flowing, for the book I came here to write and even some stuff for the club. I scour the internet for places real people are talking about their experience, but nothing beats seeing the club in person and talking to Amy in person. I have to get Alex’s attention.

I check the time. Late afternoon. Last thing I ate was breakfast and now that I focus on food, I’m starving. Eliot and Cade are still in Colorado Springs. And Stone hasn’t instigated a cook out in days. Instead of scrounging for something from Amy or waiting around until she invites me to join her and Tyler, I drive into the center of town. It’s crowded with tourists, the overflow from Aspen I assume. Alabaster is a cute little mountain town with brick walkways and historic building store fronts. A river flows through the middle of town that supposed to be great for fishing. A few yards up the road some picnic tables fill in the gap between the two lane road and the sidewalk. When I’m close enough I can see the sign, Stone Bear Pub. A waiter pops out the door in front of me, his arms loaded with waters. He plops them down in front of a family, even has a bowl of water for their dog. This place is the perfect spot for some people watching and a meal. I sit at the smaller round table with an umbrella. Maybe I should go inside, sit at the bar instead of taking an entire table to myself, but I want to be out and pretend for an hour or so that my life isn’t fucked up. That my uncle isn’t turning me into a spy and that I don’t have any doubts about what he accused Alex of doing. Because if my uncle is wrong?—

“Hi, I’m Vince. I’ll be taking care of you. Something to drink?” He sets a laminated two-sided menu in front of me.

I hesitate and let my heartbeat slow. The waiter scared the crap out of me. “Iced tea?”

“Great. I’ll be right back.”

With any luck the caffeine will help me stay awake long enough to see Alex come back to the inn. I haven’t been able to get up early enough to catch him, so staying up late better work. After a plate of delicious fish tacos that ease my hunger but not my longing for the wood fired pizza or according to the menu award-winning buffalo burgers, I drive back to the Sunflower. Alex can’t avoid me forever.

Amy and Tyler are on the back porch sharing a meal, with eyes only for each other. I envy their life—quiet, committed, uncomplicated. From what Amy said, it hasn’t always been like this for them, but it is now. And I want that too.

I try to write, but the words aren’t flowing. Still no Alex. An extended yoga session leaves me a bit sweaty so I take my time with a luxurious bath in the claw foot tub. It’s deep and the water seems to stay warm longer. After I shave everywhere I coat my skin in lotion. Colorado is so dry. Hard to believe with all the green trees, but I can’t keep myself or my skin hydrated. Finally fatigue settles into my bone and I slip on barely there pajamas. It’s 9:30 and Alex still isn’t back from work, the rest of the house is quiet. They get up so early that by ten the place is shut down completely. I write out a list of questions for Alex to help me with the marketing material. At least I’ll have done something. As I’m trying to think of more to force him to spend time with him and tempt him sexually so that he reveals himself, my phone rings.

“Hi, Uncle.” I try put some cheer in my voice despite our last phone call. Does he even remember it? I’m pretty sure he was drunk.

“Why haven’t you called? Did you find Alex Craig?”

I guess not since I already told him Alex is Alex Craig. I consider lying, but I can’t. “Yes. The Alex that lives here is named Alex Craig.”

“I knew it.”

“He’s not a bad guy.” I regret the words as soon as I say them.

He barks out a laugh filled with derision. “You wouldn’t know a good man if Jesus himself asked you out.”

Wow. One sentence he cuts me and blasphemes so hard I half expect to hear lightning strike.

“I paid for your plane ticket. I’m paying for that fancy hotel. You got one job to do.”

Write my book. “I’m working on it. I never said it would be easy or quick. It’s not like I can just snap my finger and be done.”

“All I’m asking is one small favor. Help me get Alex Craig.”

Crap. This isn’t about my book at all. It’s about Alex. And what the heck does he mean? “What am I supposed to do?”

“We’re family. You know what the word family means, girl. It means loyalty. It means protection. It means you doing whatever it takes to make things right. ”

He’s right. I’ve been so caught up in learning about this BDSM stuff that I forgot about the truth. My uncle saved me, paid for this writing retreat, I owe him. “What do you need?”

“Find out where he’s been and if you can get some dirt on him that’s current. People like him don’t stop. What he did to Alyss, he’s done to someone else. Get the information I need.” He hangs up with out a goodbye.

If Alex is the predator my uncle thinks he is, then maybe he’s not a good man. But everyone here will hate me and they’re so nice.

But are they? Or are they kinky the way the photographers who took advantage of me were. Sexually deviant. Maybe they’re no different than people on the streets seducing young girls. And these people are building a club for other deviants.

But the rules they discussed the first night I arrived.

And the way they’re so nice to me contradicts everything I believe.

It doesn’t make sense. I can’t figure it out. But I have to. I owe it to my family and to young women everywhere to help stop men like Alex.

But even as I think it, I don’t completely believe it.