Page 14

An Unexpected Visitor

“So let me get this straight,” Celine said. “You decided to let him into the house to tell you this crazy story of his about where he’s been the past four years, and not only did you believe him, but you also slept with him?”

Allison was silent for a moment. “Yes.”

“Tell me I’m hearing things.”

It was a day after the incident on the ranch—and in the kitchen with Stanley.

Allison sat alone in the bedroom, curled up on the bed, her phone pressed to her ear, trying not to feel too silly as her friend spoke to her.

She’d just finished telling Celine everything that had happened yesterday, from Stanley’s unexpected appearance in the kitchen to their eventual bout of lovemaking on the kitchen table.

Allison was starting to wonder if she’d said too much.

“Look, I know it all sounds absurd—”

“ Sounds ?”

“—but I believe him. In a way, his story makes sense.”

Not to mention, talking to Penny was convincing as well.

Her best friend heaved a sigh. “It’s already happened, so there’s no point trying to dissuade you now.

Besides, he is your husband. But you need to be careful anyway.

You don’t want to get hurt again like the last time.

” Celine said nothing for the next few seconds.

“And then there’s that man you mentioned, Jonah or something. ”

Johan .

Allison swallowed as the troubled expression on Stanley’s face flashed through her mind.

Last night, after their lovemaking, Stanley had told her even more about Johan.

The man was plain evil. There had been no attacks since the slaughtered cows yesterday, and as the hours went by, she’d found herself wondering just what Johan might be up to, what he was planning.

She’d considered reporting the matter to the police.

The slaughtered cows should be interesting enough for law enforcement.

But what could she tell them? That a man from a magical dimension found his way onto Reyes Ranch and threatened their lives?

What were the odds she wouldn’t find herself in a padded room wearing a straitjacket?

“I’ll be careful, Celine,” she assured her friend.

“You’d better be,” Celine said. “If it were up to me, you wouldn’t even be in that town right now. You’ve had more than your fair share of pain. I’d ask you to come to the city, but you already turned that offer down, and my guess is you’re not taking me up on it anytime soon.”

“You guessed correctly.” Allison sighed.

Her friend was right. Things might’ve been resolved with Stanley now, but there was still another problem on their hands.

Johan was after Stanley. By association, she was in danger as well.

What was it Stanley had called him? A Collector.

A marauder. He didn’t strike Allison as the kind of man who cared how many people were hurt as long as he got what he wanted.

And what he wanted now was Stanley’s life.

The women continued talking for the next few minutes, and then Celine hung up, saying she had some other business to attend to.

Allison got up, walked over to the bedroom window, and stared out at the grassy field.

The setting sun cast an orange hue on the ground.

There wasn’t much movement in sight besides a few animals being slowly herded back to the barns by the cowhands.

It was then that she laid eyes on a horse and rider racing across the plains.

The rider was bare-chested and blond-haired, muscles rippling as the horse galloped west of the barns.

She watched the contours of his back with fascination.

How long had Stanley been riding Betsy? An hour?

Two? He never seemed to tire of it. It was no surprise he’d been riding a horse when he disappeared four years ago.

It was great to have him back. No, great didn’t quite describe the warm, fluttery feeling in her chest as she watched him.

Her mind flashed back to yesterday’s lovemaking.

They’d made love a couple more times in this bedroom before falling asleep and once again this morning before he left the house.

The memories flooded her mind like images on a projector screen: Stanley’s full arousal throbbing against her crotch .

.. Stanley’s head buried between her legs.

Four years of being stranded on Frost Mountain hadn’t dimmed his skills one bit.

The man was still a lover to the core. And when he’d filled her core, sending her over the edge of ecstasy with his powerful thrusts, she couldn’t have been more grateful to have him back.

A smile tugged at her lips. Things seemed to be returning to normal.

But how long would this normalcy last? Anxiety flickered in her chest as she gazed at him. What were the odds that he wouldn’t disappear again?

She brushed the thought aside. It was a valid fear, she knew. Still, it was better to enjoy what she had now. She loved him. That hadn’t changed, not at all. She doubted it ever would.

She realized she hadn’t had anything to eat in hours.

Between her excitement about having Stanley back in the house and her tiredness from all their lovemaking, she’d skipped lunch.

Stanley had been outside since early morning, working in the barn and riding Betsy.

He hadn’t come back to the house, so Allison guessed he wasn’t yet hungry.

That was probably another side effect of being stuck on Frost Mountain.

Maybe he’d had to go days without eating.

The thought made her shudder. She’d struggled to keep the horror from her face as he narrated his ordeal on the mountain.

From crashing onto the mountain on his horse to being shoved into what he thought was a bottomless pit, he’d clearly been through hell.

And Allison knew words hadn’t done justice to the extent he’d suffered.

To think he’d been trapped in such a terrible place for so long . ..

At least he’s back , she thought. And alive.

With a sigh, she left the bedroom and headed downstairs into the kitchen, pulling out a jar of cold water from the fridge. She poured herself a glass, and only after she’d taken a couple of sips did she hear the footsteps behind her.

“Finally taking a break from that horse, are you, Stanley?” she asked without looking at him. “I was starting to wonder whether you’d come back in at all today.”

No doubt, he’d come in here for a drink, like her. The last time he’d done that, just yesterday, the sexual tension had been impossible to ignore. She drew a breath, her nipples hardening as the delicious memory of Stanley gazing at her with those sexy blue eyes crossed her mind.

There was no response. She could still hear him moving behind her, drawing closer.

“I’m sure you’re probably tired,” she said, turning around to face him, “but maybe you and I could—”

She froze with a gasp, and the glass slipped from her fingers and shattered to the floor.

“Wh-who ... who are you?” she demanded.

The man stepped closer. He was tall and had a bushy red beard that reminded her somewhat of Stanley’s when he’d first returned from Frost Mountain.

The man had on a dark hoodie over sweatpants and sneakers, like he’d just come in from an evening jog.

A pair of grey eyes gazed back at her, studying her with what looked like surprise and then curiosity.

Her pulse pounded in her ears. She’d never seen this man before, and Stanley hadn’t told her what he looked like either, but she instantly knew beyond a shadow of a doubt who he was.

She opened her mouth to scream. He moved then, quick as lightning and a rough hand clamped down over her mouth. The other hand rose slowly. As she watched, gleaming claws extended from his fingertips.

She gazed wide-eyed at him, shuddering all over.

Johan grinned at her, revealing a mouthful of yellowed teeth.

“So he has a wife,” the Collector said. “Things just got more interesting.”

***

Betsy was growing tired of the ride.

Stanley was not.

He held onto the reins, loving the familiar feeling of the wind in his hair as he raced across the field on the horse. The view of the sunset out here was stunning. If it were up to him, he would ride on and on, basking in the twilight glow.

But that wasn’t why he’d decided to ride Betsy in the first place.

He leaned forward on the horse, stroking her mane as she galloped. The grass below was almost a complete blur in his vision. He gazed ahead. The ranch house and barn were still in the distance, their outlines growing larger as he drew nearer. It reminded him somewhat of the day he’d left Earth.

He could almost see the portal shimmering into view again, the air shifting before his very eyes.

Could something like that happen to him again?

Four years ago, he’d ridden straight through the portal and had found himself in hell.

If that happened to him again, if another portal opened suddenly before him as it had four years ago, he wasn’t sure he could bear it, especially if it meant getting pinned under Betsy and having to kill her to ensure his survival.

It's all in the past now, he told himself. It’s not going to happen again.

Still, his grip on the horse reins tightened a bit.

Next to finding Allison again, being back in his world was the best thing ever to happen to him.

He was free now. Free from the prison called Frost Mountain.

Free from the need to struggle for his survival.

Free from the Collectors ... and he wasn’t about to lose his freedom again.

But then there was Johan.

Johan was still here. Johan was after him. Johan wanted him dead and wouldn’t stop until he’d made it happen.

An attack from him was imminent, but Stanley had no idea when the man would finally strike.

He knew he couldn’t afford to be caught off guard.

That was part of the reason he’d taken Betsy out of her stable.

For most of his day, he’d been patrolling the property in case the Collector decided to send another message—or worse.

It could always be worse. Johan’s last victim had been a couple of cows.

Whose life would he take next? A horse? One of the cowhands?

Or Allison? The thought made his blood boil.

Johan could’ve walked away, moved to a different town, and started a new life there or something.

Anything , really. Instead, he’d chosen to remain here.

And for what? To get revenge on Stanley for dragging him away from the hellscape he’d lived in all his life.

It made no sense.

Not that it mattered now. Whatever Johan had in store for him, Stanley wasn’t going to let it happen. He would fight Johan until his final breath if he needed to.

It occurred to him that his jaw was clenched.

He relaxed it, steering the horse toward the barn.

For a moment, he cut his gaze to the house.

Allison must be in the kitchen now, making dinner.

A smile tugged at his lips. He should go back there now and help out in the kitchen, maybe chop some onions for her or give her a long, warm hug from behind.

If he did that, things might get pretty steamy, and they’d end up going to bed on empty stomachs, he realized with a chuckle.

They’d made love so many times since yesterday that he couldn’t help but feel that they were making up for lost time.

Not that he minded one bit. Even now, he couldn’t wait until the next time he was buried inside her, filling her to the brim, kissing her as they drove each other into ecstasy.

His mind stirred with the memory of her gazing up at him from between his legs as she pleasured him with her sweet, hot mouth.

Maybe later, he told himself, feeling his body slowly come alive as the image grew more vivid in his mind.

It felt good to be back with Allison, to share a bed with her again. He’d been living in that barn, hoping she would look past the fact that he’d been gone for so long and welcome him into her arms for two long weeks.

Stanley frowned. His inner snow leopard growled softly. He looked around. Something felt off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it, so he brushed the feeling aside.

Betsy nickered softly. He’d given her quite a workout lately.

She could use a good night’s sleep. In the morning, he’d take her or one of the other horses for a spin.

As he and Betsy drew closer to the barn, he could see some of the cowhands in the distance.

They were done with work for the day, as was he.

He reached the barn and returned Betsy to her stable, stroking the horse’s flank for a moment before exiting the barn and heading straight for the house. He’d only gotten halfway there when he realized someone was standing on the front porch.

Allison?

He drew closer, frowning.

Wait a minute .

It wasn’t just one person. There were two of them, a man and a woman.

Allison stood right in front of the man, gazing at Stanley as he approached.

He was too far away to see either of their faces clearly, but he could already tell that something wasn’t quite right. Who could that be? One of the cowhands?

It was only after a few more steps that he saw the look of terror on Allison’s face. His gaze shifted. The man behind her stared back at him, grey eyes gleaming with murderous intent. He had a hand at Allison’s throat, gleaming claws digging into her skin.

Stanley froze in his tracks, his eyes widening with realization. His inner snow leopard bared its teeth.

“ You ,” he snarled, balling his fists.

“Good to see you again,” Johan said. “I was wondering when you’d join us.”

Allison’s eyes were wide with terror. Her chest heaved with each breath. Stanley’s pulse roared in his ears. He glowered at the Collector, who merely grinned back at him.

“Finally,” he said. “It’s been a while since I sank my claws into someone’s throat.”