Taken in Tahoe Read online

  I stared into the fire, unable to fathom the horrific childhood Rex, then Roger Renton, had endured at the hands of the system that was supposed to protect him.

  The wind picked up and the nearby pines swayed, their scent mixing with the smoke from the fire. “If we’re stuck here, we should cut one of those trees down. I’m sure your buddy wouldn’t miss one.”

  “We have plenty of wood,” Nate said as he looked over at the woodpile.

  “Not to burn, to decorate. A Christmas tree—I can make a popcorn garland, there are plenty of pinecones around, it’ll be pretty.”

  “No,” Rex said flatly.

  I sighed and took a long drink of the thick wine. “I picked out the perfect tree for our suite in Tahoe before we left,” I said as the snow began to float down again. “There’s a local florist that does them—I picked out every ornament online—it took me hours. I bet that tree is sitting there now, waiting for us.”

  Rex stood up and walked over to sit on the log next to me. “I’m sorry, Princess. I should have stayed home—I’m ruining your Christmas. I’ll try a little harder, okay?”

  “Okay, no tree, but I’m glad you’re here. I wouldn’t have come without you.”

  “Listen, the three of us together, that’s all I need,” Rex said with a glance over to Nate.

  “I love you,” I said as he leaned down to kiss me.

  “Love you more,” I answered, as I always did.

  “Is there any of this love left for good ol’ Nate being ignored over here?”

  Rex leaned over behind me until his nose touched Nate’s. “Always.”

  The two loves of my life kissed behind me—not a peck, not a brush of the lips like they used to do, but a full, sensual kiss.

  “Knock that off or we won’t last through Penny’s fireside chat,” Rex said as he pressed against me.

  “Do you really not have any good Christmas memories?” I asked that night in bed. My hand brushed across Rex’s strong chest as Nate slept behind me, the rhythm of his breathing soothing me.

  “Sure, yeah,” Rex said, pulling me closer into him. “I guess it’s just that the dark ones tend to block out the lighter ones.”

  “That’s sad.”

  “I know, I’m sorry. I do have one I can tell you about, but it was far from traditional.”

  “That’s okay. Tell me.”

  “A few years ago, we were in a remote part of Colombia, the whole unit was together. You remember Father Dan?”

  “Of course,” I said, tracing the tattoo of the word trust across his ribcage. “I’ll never forget him.” Father Dan had been my savior when Rex was shot by his ex-wife, now dead, when we first got together. He was a priest but also a part of Rex’s secret special ops squadron sent to fight drug cartels in the jungle.

  “Dan decided we’d adopt a village of locals for Christmas.”

  “That’s sweet.” I yawned against his neck.

  “It was crazy, not sweet. What were we supposed to give these villagers? A few cans of survival food? Fire starters? It’s not like we were equipped for Toys for Tots out there.”

  “But you did it, right?”

  “We did,” he nodded. “Another medic and I had the bright idea to have the unit play Peter Pan.”

  “Steal from the rich to give to the poor? There were rich villagers?”

  He laughed a little, my head rising and falling against his wide chest. “At that time, the only wealth around of the material sort was the cartels.”

  “That sounds dangerous.”

  “It was. We had a delicate balance with them—we were there to keep them in line, and of course the military’s goal was ultimately to take them down, but there were also long periods of truce. That December, we were ordered to stand down, leave them alone and lull them into a false sense of security, the general back in D.C. said.”

  “So stealing from them wasn’t exactly a sanctioned exercise,” I said.

  “No, and we would have gotten in a shit-ton of trouble if we got caught. But Penny, these people were starving that winter. Even for Colombia, it was a tough year. The connection to their main source of supplies had been cut off by the fighting, so we risked it.”

  “How did you do it?”

  “At night, the drug compounds were heavily guarded. Cameras, dogs, the whole nine yards. But, during the day, especially during this informal truce period, things were considerably looser. Maids had to come and go, cooks, suppliers, their kids to school—all of it. So we started sneaking in during the day, usually by paying the delivery vans to let us ride along. We’d give them a cut, and little by little, week after week, we managed to gather toys, food, shoes—everything the villagers needed.”

  “You’re lucky you didn’t get caught!” Nate stirred at my back and wrapped an arm around both of us. I wiggled my backside against him as he fell back to sleep.

  Rex continued in a whisper. “I did get caught.”

  “By the commanders?”

  “No, by one of the biggest drug barons in Colombia at the time. This dude was brutal, and it was stupid to even attempt to steal from him. But, as you know, I tend to take some pretty idiotic risks.”

  “So he caught you? What happened?”

  “Not him, his wife. This dude was married to a gorgeous woman—she was American, too. I was in her room, they had separate rooms, and I was looking for clothes—things she wouldn’t miss from her enormous closet. I was rifling through her dresses when I noticed her standing behind me in the doorway. One scream and her army of guards would have been up there, and I’d have been dead.”

  “Holy shit,” Nate said, his eyelids fluttering open. “What did you do?”

  Rex reached over to run a fingertip across Nate’s cheek. “I hustled.”

  I loved lying there between my men, the three of us talking, and especially Rex opening up. He didn’t often tell us stories of his military days.

  “I told her I was looking for her underwear, that I’d been watching her for days, that I couldn’t stop thinking about her since I’d seen her picture during an intel briefing.”

  “Did she buy it?” I asked.

  “Yeah, she was vain enough to believe that I was there for the sole purpose of raiding her panties. But I still had to get out, of course.”

  “You were nuts,” Nate said, a fresh erection poking into my ass. He was ready for round two—Nate could be insatiable.

  “This chick reached under her dress and dropped a G-string—when she handed it to me, I did what a guy had to do.”

  “What?” I asked, I had no idea what “a guy would have to do” with worn panties.

  “I smelled them of course. I’m kinky like that, and I’m guessing her hubby the drug lord wasn’t. She took my hand and pulled me to her bed.”

  “I don’t want to hear anymore,” I said. Jealousy has always been one of my weaknesses.

  Rex’s hand reached down my ass, to where Nate’s cock was pressed. “I didn’t,” he said. “I told her I was into bondage—talked her into letting me tie her to the bedpost. Then I ran out of there---just in time, too. The delivery van that snuck me in was leaving.”

  “So nothing for the villagers that day, I guess,” I said as they both pressed into me, Rex’s fingers wrapped around the tip of Nate’s exploring penis.

  “Well, I mean a few weeks later one of them got an expensive pair of used panties.”

  “Ew,” I said.

  “Hey, that old lady loved that black lace G-string.” He laughed and rolled over toward me, finally ready for round two himself.

  “Finish the story first,” I protested, pushing the eager men away from me.

  “Well, there’s not a ton to tell. Christmas Day we were Santa Claus to that village—it was one the best Christmases I’ve ever had. That felt good.”

  I let him roll into me again as I reached down for his own swollen erection. “Maybe that’s the answer for you, Rex. Christmas might be about doing good for others for you.”

 
; “Maybe,” he said, his breathing ragged, as his thick cock plunged into my sore-from-earlier pussy. “I’m trying to, this time. I-I’ll explain soon.”

  Chapter Four

  The next morning, the snow was piled so high that I worried our roof might collapse from the weight of it.

  “I spent several winters up here at the Lake Tahoe lodges teaching kids to ski, and I’ve never seen it like this.”

  Nate looked out the window. “It’s stopped now, but they said on the radio this morning that the highway was closed.”

  “We’re stuck here for at least another day,” Rex said as he sipped his coffee.

  “I can tell you’re heartbroken,” I answered with an eye roll.

  “What? It’s nice here. A great change from the sticky jungle.”

  “Well it’s not snowing right now, and I need some pinecones and stuff. If I’m stuck in the snow, I’m at least going to decorate.”

  I pulled on my boots and parka and opened the door. “Anyone want to help?”

  No one answered. “Fine,” I said.

  “Uh, no decorating, and watch out for bears, okay?” Rex said absently as I left.

  “Bears, he’s funny,” I said out loud as I walked through the snow toward the pines on the edge of the property. True, I hadn’t had much contact with bears. I grew up in Las Vegas, and most of Rex’s survival training was in the jungles of Colombia, which lacked bears. There was a rare species that lived in the mountains of Colombia, but other than in a zoo, I’d never seen a bear. I did, however, know that it was the middle of winter, and that bears hibernated.

  Despite the insane amount of trees everywhere, pinecones were harder to gather than I thought. With the fresh layer of snow, all the ones I’d seen the day prior were buried. Instead of mindlessly digging in the snow, I decided to do something I’d gotten quite good at—climb a tree.

  At the top of a thick pine there were more pinecones than I’d ever need. Like a stripper going up a pole, I used my legs to shimmy up the tree.

  Thank God for all those leg workouts Nate gave me, I thought.

  I shook the tree, and the pinecones fell. Unfortunately, so did I. The bark was more slippery than I’d expected, and the motion from my hands shaking was enough for me to lose the grip I had on the trunk with my thighs. I didn’t fall, exactly, as much as I slid roughly down, the scratchy bark tearing my thin jeans to shreds as I descended.

  At the bottom, in several feet of snow, I came to a soft landing

  “Whew,” I said out loud. And that’s when I saw him—and he saw me.

  Not more than twenty feet from me sat a bear. The thing didn’t seem alarmed by my presence, but definitely curious.

  I fought the urge to scream, but I did decide to run. This creature was huge and sluggish-looking, and there was no way I was going to sit there long enough to be further torn to shreds that day.

  Just as I was about to sprint, I heard Rex speak behind me.

  “Be still, Princess, just be still.”

  “Let’s run,” I said, the quiver in my voice terrifying me even more.

  “This guy can run at about thirty-five miles an hour, Penny. If you run, he’s going to catch you, and that’s bad news.” Rex’s voice was low, calm.

  The bear turned his head from me to Rex. “That’s it, boy, focus on me.”

  “Shoot him, please, Rex, now.” I fought the urge to run—it’s all I wanted to do. I couldn’t imagine this giant beast moving that quickly. He seemed slow, lethargic—but I trusted Rex.

  “Not yet. We’ll try to get him to move on, and if we can’t, I have bear spray.”

  “Do you have a gun?” Rex was always armed.

  “Yes, but we’re not there yet, okay? He’s not that intent on attacking us. Stay still.” Rex took a few slow steps to the side, toward the bear.

  “What if her babies are around?” I’d seen in movies where mother bears killed for their cubs.

  “This is a male, baby girl.” Rex took a few more steps forward; he was slowly positioning himself between the bear and me.

  “Can you tell by its fur?”

  “I can tell by the giant set of ‘nads on him.”

  “Oh.” I’d been too scared to really look at the thing.

  I glanced over my shoulder. Rex had the bear spray in one hand, and his other hand was empty.

  “Why don’t you have that gun aimed at him?” The panic was rising again. I knew Rex was putting himself in between this wild animal and me, and I now feared for his safety versus my own.

  “He’s not attacking, Princess. I’m not about to shoot this majestic creature unless I absolutely have no other choice. I did tell you to watch out for bears.”

  “I thought you were kidding!”

  “Yeah, this is all very funny,” he said, taking a few more steps into danger.

  “I mean, shouldn’t he sleeping? It’s winter. Yogi always hibernated.”

  “I’m guessing he gets fed all winter off of the garbage from the cabins. This guy doesn’t look like he needs to hibernate—he’s being fed. Let’s just hope he’s fed enough to not stand his ground here. You are going to start backing away, don’t turn around, just step backward, away from us. But, Penny, go slowly. No matter what happens, don’t run.”

  I made it about ten feet behind Rex when the bear rose up again. I froze—terrified he was going to attack Rex. Before I could think, Rex imitated the bear, he screamed at it, waved his hands, and acted insane. And the bear, to my relief, ran—not toward me, but away from us.

  “Holy shit,” I said, fighting the urge to collapse on the ground.

  “Well that was entertaining,” Rex said calmly. “Next time, perhaps you’ll listen?”

  “It’s not like you’ve taught me much about bears, Mr. Survival Instructor.”

  “Ah, yeah, Princess, it’s my fault. Let’s get out of here.”

  “Can we go now?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, let’s go back, this whole thing made me all horny.

  “Oh my God!” I knew he was serious. “Honestly I just wanted to get some pinecones, and then I fell, and then—”

  He squeezed my hand and said, “See, sweet Penny? Christmas almost just got us both killed.”

  Not more than an hour after my bear encounter, Rex was leaving again.

  “But the bear is out there!” I argued.

  “I’ll be fine, I’m just headed out to hike.”

  I crossed my arms and shook my head. “There’s another wave of snow coming—stay here with us.”

  He kissed me and left anyway.

  “This doesn’t bug you?” I said to Nate who was making coffee in the kitchen.

  “Sit.” He pointed to the small table. I sat down and he put a mug in front of me.

  “But, Nate, he’s lying.”

  “I know,” Nate admitted. “But we have to give him some space on this.”

  “Rope to hang himself?”

  Nate took a long sip of his coffee. “Penny, I trust him. Trust—you forget that word, despite the fact that it’s inked across his ribs.”

  “For you,” I added, ashamed at my own jealousy.

  “For me, yes. Trust is still a challenge for you. If Rex isn’t telling us something, I believe it’s for a reason.”

  I stirred my coffee, resisting the urge to lash out at Nate. I didn’t want to be at odds with both of my men.

  “You’d feel differently if he was going behind your back with a man.”

  “Of course I would, that’s human nature. But Penny, let me ask you this—do you really think that Rex, our Rex, is having an affair of some sort? Does that makes sense to you?”

  I stopped mid-stir. “No.”

  Nate nodded. “He’s not telling us something, I agree with that. This chick in the furs hanging around, she’s a problem, though. I sense it, too. We’re in far more trouble than Rex putting his dick somewhere he shouldn’t. He wouldn’t lie to us if he didn’t feel like he had to. That’s what really worries me.”

/>   “You think he’s in trouble?”

  “I’m not sure,” Nate said. “I doubt he would have brought us here if he thought so originally. But…” He looked up at me.

  “But?”

  “I didn’t tell him this yet, but someone was out by our woodpile last night. Someone with a sweet tooth.”

  “It’s that furry bitch,” I said with the shake of my head.

  “I don’t think so. The boot prints were way too large—larger than Rex’s, even.”

  “You said a sweet tooth?”

  “There were candy wrappers on the ground, and the person used a pole or a cane of some sort.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “It sounds like we’re being stalked by Santa Claus.”

  Nate chuckled before his face turned serious again.

  “So what do we do?” I asked. Doing nothing wasn’t really my thing, neither was patience.

  “We wait, we watch, but most of all, we trust him.”

  Rex was back late that afternoon.

  I wanted to take Nate’s advice, but as Nate leaned in and kissed Rex, I felt it surge up again.

  “Where were you?” I glared at Rex and ignored Nate’s arm wrapping around my shoulders.

  “I went to get you something.” Rex cut his eyes at me, his lips curling into a sneer.

  “Another surprise? Another secret?” I was at a near-hiss. I wanted him to reassure me, to hold me, but he didn’t.

  He turned toward the door, and over his shoulder said, “No, I-I wanted…forget it.”

  “Wait,” I said softly, but it was too late. He was leaving…again.

  “It was for Christmas,” I heard him say as he left the cabin.

  “Go after him!” Nate pointed to his own bare feet. “Penny, for fuck’s sake, work this out with him.”

  I grabbed my down parka and trudged out through the heavy snow toward Rex—I could see him in the distance, following the curve of the pond. Lying in the snow by the front door was a cut tree—a Christmas tree. Rex, the man who hated Christmas, had gone out to chop down a Christmas tree—for me. And now I’d driven him away, consumed by my own suspicions and jealousy. What had I done?

  “Rex, wait,” I screamed, but the howl of the wind was louder than I was.