The Claiming Read online

  The Claiming

  Jordan Silver

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright © 2013 Alison Jordan

  All Rights Reserved

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Why did I wait until the last possible minute to leave school for the holiday? I knew something like this would happen but I just had to put myself in this predicament.

  I had a last minute paper to turn in, something that I had finished days earlier but thought I could do better on and so instead of leaving like the other ninety nine point nine percent of the student body and faculty, I stayed behind to tweak the paper, putting me two hours behind schedule.

  Now I'm caught in a snowstorm, my car is about to die and I'm caught half way between home and the Cade ranch. Yeah me.

  It wouldn't be so bad if Denise was home but my best friend was in Europe for a semester and her parents were off visiting with her, which left only her crabby older brother, who for some unknown reason couldn't stand me.

  I felt a slight pang in my heart at the thought.

  I have no idea what it was about me that he found so revolting, but every time I was around he would get this sour look on his face and leave the room.

  If I laughed too loud with one of the others he would sneer at me, once I think he even growled before storming off.

  I'd only met him the year before when he'd come back home to help out on the ranch, he'd moved away a long time ago after school to make his way in the business world.

  According to Denise and Maryann he was some hotshot tycoon who had taken his maternal grandfathers shipping company and turned it from a dying dinosaur into one of the premier companies in the country.

  Could've fooled me, all I saw was a grouchy opinionated tyrant, though with everyone else he seemed to be human, he saved all his acerbic remarks for me, that's when he deigned to acknowledge my presence that is.

  I was so lost in thought I didn't see the snow drift until I was on top of it.

  "Shit, no no no, not now, don't do this to me please." I pounded the steering wheel in frustration before screaming out loud.

  All around me was a blanket of snow as far as the eye could see, there was a sliver of light a ways up across the field, if I got out now and started walking I just might make it about halfway before hypothermia kicked in, then the high and mighty Braxton Cade could find my carcass when the snow thawed. Wouldn't that be a feather in his cap?

  I would only be proving him right since I'd once overheard him telling his sister what a clutz I was.

  Who cares?

  I checked my cell for the off chance that my life wasn't doomed from birth and there was a signal, no luck, my reign as the unluckiest person in the universe was yet unchallenged.

  The knock at my driver's side window almost gave me a heart attack. I looked out the window, heart racing in fear and could barely make out who or what was out there.

  I did recognize the big bay that the rider was on though and my heart sunk even lower.

  I looked up to the roof of my car facetiously.

  "Really, him, you couldn't let me freeze to death in peace?"

  He knocked again until I rolled down the window.

  "You can talk to the Almighty another time, it's freezing out here let's get a move on."

  "Wha....."

  "You're stuck aren't you? And there's no way you're getting to your father's place tonight so you might as well come on home with me."

  I grumbled under my breath because I knew the pain in the ass was right, what I didn't understand was why these things always happened to me, it's like I had a dark cloud hanging over my head or something.

  I grabbed my bag and made to get out.

  "Leave it."

  "But..."

  "Duke can barely make it through the snow with the two of us on his back and you want him to carry your luggage as well?"

  "Oh alright."

  I threw the bag back in the back seat and got out of the car.

  He was kind enough to give me a hand up in front of him.

  My body was frozen in two minutes flat; my teeth started chattering, my limbs trembling.

  "Geez what the hell are you wearing, you idiot, don't you have any sense?"

  I ground my teeth and bit my tongue, he was doing me a service after all, it wouldn't be polite to tell him to go fuck himself, and besides, I only thought those things but never said them out loud, if I did I would've given him a piece of my mind a long time ago...like the first time we met, when we'd been introduced and he'd acted like he smelt something rotten.

  He opened his huge parka and wrapped it around me, pulling me back closer to his body heat. His body was like a furnace. Don't think I didn't suck up all that nice warm goodness.

  He guided old Duke at a nice steady gait back towards the ranch house; neither of us said another word until we reached the porch.

  "Go on inside and get warm, you might as well put on a pot of coffee I don't think either one of us is going to get any sleep tonight."

  "Speak for yourself I could sleep for the next twelve hours easy." I grumbled under my breath but he somehow heard me.

  "What was that?"

  "Uh nothing, nothing at all, just talking to myself."

  I rushed into the house after shaking off the excess snow from my boots and light jacket; I'd only been wearing it because it was more comfortable to drive in than my bulky winter coat, which was in the trunk of my car, but if course Mr. Know-it-all had to call me stupid. Sometimes I wished I had the nerve to call him on his bullshit.

  Heading straight for the kitchen I got the water ready and measured out the coffee so his majesty could have something hot to drink after he had seen to his horse.

  That was his only redeeming quality, his love for that old horse, a horse he'd had since his early teens and refused to trade up, he cared for that horse like it was his child, it's the only thing that told me he was human, that and the way he treated his little sister.

  I was sitting next to the fire he had going in the hearth when he finally came in, his golden russet, who knows what color hair, was all mussed, his jaw was a little shadowed and his face was red from the cold, still he was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen.

  See, I was cursed from birth, it was just my luck that my one and only crush made Ebenezer T Scrooge look like the tooth fairy.

  "Let me see your hands."

  He walked over and took my hands in his before I could protest. The shock of his touch went through me like a hot knife through butter and I almost jumped out of my skin.

  "Would you be still, why the hell are you always so skittish?"

  "I don't know, sorry, I don't mean to be..."

  Talk about ice water on a hot libido, I wish I could get over this foolish high school dream, you would think after a year and more of this type of treatment those feelings would've died, but nope, no such luck.

  "Where are your gloves Jade?"

  "I lost them." I finally found my voice after enjoying the sound of my name on his lips, I don't think I'd ever heard him call me by name before, and he need not say it again either, unless he wanted me in a puddle at his feet. Sweet merciful heavens, wet panty alert.

  He rubbed my hands between his to bring back the warmth, I guess he figured if I got too close to the fire to warm them I might burn them or something, seeing that I was such a ditz.

  He g
ot up and took down two mugs when the coffee was ready.

  "I prefer hot chocolate...."

  He huffed before turning away and getting the chocolate out of the cupboard.

  I'm no fool, I've heard stories about his hot chocolate though I had yet to taste it, and I wasn't going to let this opportunity pass me by.

  He chopped chunks of chocolate, heated the milk and added a stick of what smelt like cinnamon and some other things he seemed to add randomly. He was too quick for me to see what they were but it smelled heavenly.

  I sat like a mute feeling very self-conscious all of a sudden, what the hell were we supposed to do for the next few hours?

  From experience I knew this storm wasn't letting up anytime soon, poor dad would be worried sick as there was no way to contact him, phone service both landline and cell were a joke in these parts in weather like this.

  "My dad's going to be so worried."

  "Your dad's not home, he was called out on a missing person's report, seems some hikers have been missing off the trails for a couple days and they called him in since he's the best tracker in these parts. He called me before him and his team headed out and asked me to keep an eye out for you."

  "Oh..." Well that sucks, I guess I would be spending another thanksgiving alone then.

  I felt very tired and very alone all of a sudden, something must've shown on my face because the ogre gave me a gruff, "Don't pout, your father has a job to do, you should be proud of him."

  "I'm not pouting."

  "Yes you are, now here, drink your hot chocolate like a good girl and get warmed up."

  I did as I was told.

  "Damn...."

  "Good?"

  I nodded my head like a bobble head doll, good wasn't the word, it was ambrosia. Sweet and creamy and hot.

  I blushed when I thought of what else might fit that description. Dammit why was it that he could do that to me, make me think and feel this way, when he obviously saw me as nothing but a nuisance, it was so unfair.

  "What are you thinking so hard about over there?"

  I started guiltily.

  "Who me, nothing." I felt the heat in my face as the lie left my tongue.

  He studied me like a bug under a microscope until I started to squirm in my seat.

  "So...how is school."

  What? He was actually talking to me? Well hell, it only took a snowstorm and about four feet of snow give or take.

  "Schools good, um, yeah, it's good." Real smooth Jade, tongue-tied much?

  "What is it you're studying again?"

  "Um, the sciences, I want to be a vet."

  "Tall order for such a little girl."

  "That's so sexist."

  "You think so, I just don't see you doing that that's all."

  "Oh yeah, what do you see me doing?"

  "I don't know, kindergarten teacher maybe?"

  "Huh, never thought of that, I guess ever since I moved here with my dad I fell in love with animals, now I want to take care of them."

  "So you plan on staying around here after schooling and working on the ranches in this area?"

  "Something like that, your dad promised to help me out with that when the time comes."

  "So you're as good as got it made then I guess."

  "If I do well in my classes, but I have along way to go yet."

  "Why not the local college? They have a good program there."

  "I know but dad wanted me to spread my wings a little so we made a deal, if I stick it out for one year I can choose to change schools next fall if I still want to."

  "And how's that going?"

  "I can't wait to get back."

  "City life too much for you little girl?"

  I knew the peace wouldn't last for too long.

  "Why do you always do that?"

  "Do what little Jade?" He smirked at me.

  "Put me down in some way."

  "I wasn't aware that I did."

  "Well you do...a lot, it's not nice, especially since I've never done anything to you."

  "But you do."

  "What, what the hell have I ever done to you?" I was at a lost for words, had I inadvertently done or said something to cause this? If I had I had no recollection of it whatsoever.

  He looked at me for a long time without answering, then....

  "I changed my mind, I think we should turn in after all; Denise's room is made up so you can go on up, I'll be up later after I close things up down here."

  I guess I've been dismissed, whatever, good riddance, grouch.

  I tossed and turned for what felt like hours, the howling wind beating against the windows keeping me awake. There was a loud crash and then the lights went out.

  I was out of the bed and running before my brain knew what my body was doing.

  "Jade..."

  "Brax...I'm scared." Please don't let him rebuff me, not now, I hate storms ever since I was a kid they've always done something to me that I never outgrew.

  "Follow my voice baby, I'm right here."

  I made my way in the dark over to his bed; I didn't stop to think about the impropriety of my actions, all I knew was fear, heart wrenching gut-churning fear.

  It sounded as if he climbed down off the bed then I felt his hand come around me making me jump.

  "Ssh, it's only me, I've got you."

  He led us back to his bed and sat me on the side before going back around to his side.

  I heard the striking of a match and then there was light, the light of a single candle. My breathing headed back to the vicinity of normal and I looked around me.

  I'd never been in this room before, it was so him, all dark woods and minimalist. He had a wall full of CDs and DVDs, a huge entertainment system that my dad would probably sell his first born namely me, to get his hands on.

  His bed was one of those plush pillow things that felt like a cloud under me.

  Braxton

  I'm in deep trouble here, then again I've been in trouble ever since I met her a year and a half ago.

  Her special blend of sweet, sexy innocence was a cocktail for disaster where I was concerned.

  My little sister's best friend.

  She was a transplant; her father had taken the job as head of the search and rescue team in our little corner of the state and brought his only child with him.

  As providence would have it, my father had asked me to come home a year later to help out on the ranch.

  My business was such that I could run it from anywhere in the world thanks to technology and a team of executives that I paid extremely well to look after my interest with drop ins back east every once in a while.

  I'd done everything in my power to fight the attraction and it had been working, almost too well. There was a strain between us from day one.

  I hated her youth and her innocence; I hated them because they were an impediment to me having something I wanted.

  Whenever she was around I made my dislike known, especially when that Bryan kid or Justin or Ben or any of the other young bucks that were forever sniffing around her were present.

  I'd left her alone because the reality was that any one of them would be better for her than I, they were more her speed.

  That too pissed me off, though to be honest Jade was usually off to the side with a book while the others were being rowdy teens.

  I knew she thought I hated her, but nothing could be farther from the truth, what I felt for her was at the complete opposite end of the spectrum.

  I'd fallen in love with a girl almost half my age, when we met I was thirty one she was just eighteen, one year later thirty two and nineteen didn't sound much better.

  Now here we are, alone, I'd made sure that this had never happened before, that we'd never been alone together at anytime.

  Looks like fate had bit me in the ass once again.

  I lit the candle from my drawer and looked at her sheet white face, she was terrified, I was about to cross a line that I'd drawn in my head but there wa
s nothing else I could do.

  "Come here."

  Laying back I eased her into my arms, her small body ice cold with fear.

  I rubbed her back to get her warm again and she sighed and drew closer making me hold my breath.

  I pulled the covers over us and folded her body closer, she seemed to still be clutched in the arms of whatever fear had sent her running to me.

  Without thought I started humming a lullaby, one that I'd learned as a child when my mother kept the boogeyman away.

  Her body, soft and now warm, relaxed against me as she calmed down.

  I became aware of two things at once, my dick was hard as a pike and her leg was rubbing against it.

  "Jade..."

  She drew her leg back quickly and tried turning away.

  "Ssh, it's okay." I was back to running my hands up and down her back.

  "Why do you hate me?"

  Shit, she must be really scared to not be monitoring her thoughts; she'd never have asked me that question if her defenses weren't down. There'd been many times in the past that I saw the fire in her eyes when I'd made some off handed remark, seen the need to blast me for my callous words but she never did, she'd always just walked away. That only made me want her even more.

  "I don't hate you Jade."

  "Yes you do, you're always being mean to me, why?"

  I took a long time to put my words together, if I told her the truth she will be under me in ten seconds flat, if I continued in the same vein as before, I might lose her forever.

  I guess my tongue made the decision for me because it was moving before my defense mechanism kicked in.

  "I'm attracted to you."

  "You are?" She pulled back and looked at me in surprise.

  I nodded as I studied her chocolate brown eyes.

  She squinted in confusion.

  "But…I don't understand, why do you say such mean things to me then?"

  "Because you're too young for me, we can never be together..."

  "But why?"

  "Jade, I'm almost twice your age.

  "So, what does that have to do with anything?"