Protected by the HERO (29 page)

“Renae,”
(Why can’t anyone get my name right!)
“these are for you.”

She plopped them down on the desk and walked away without another word.  Brenae reached into the arrangement to pull out the card.  She received a lot of “fan mail” from the crazies and had since her first night on-air.  She was a little worried, but opened the card anyway.

Hi Darlin’,

Your car is in the parking garage.  Meet me for dinner after work at Reunion Tower?  I’ll be the cowboy with the goofy grin on his face. 

Brenae melted.  Flowers
and
an invitation to dinner?  Roy was something else.  She glanced at the clock.  Thirty minutes until quitting time, she was cutting out early.  She grabbed her things and headed for the door.  Her car was right by the elevator door, situated between a Mercedes and a BMW.  Brenae hoped no one had noticed her car, sitting among the pristine luxury vehicles.  She really had to get something better. 

Saying a prayer before she put the key in the ignition, she was surprised when it purred to life on the first try.  It still ran a little rough, but for once, she might take the highway home. 
Better not, just in case.
  She strapped the flowers into the front seat and headed for home, hoping her favorite outfit was clean. 

One short hour later, she exited the elevator and arrived at the top floor restaurant in Reunion Tower.  The city stretched before her out the panoramic window.  This was one of the most famous restaurants in Dallas, and likely the most expensive.  She was way underdressed in her yellow sundress and matching strappy heels, but the color complemented her brown skin and she felt like a goddess.  Across the room, Roy stood up and walked towards her.  He turned and offered his arm, walking beside her with a grin on his face. 

He pulled out her chair for her and she sat down, placing her purse on the chair beside her.  Roy sat across from her and reached out to hold her hand.

“You look radiant,” he said.  She blushed and ducked her head.  He made her giddy, her stomach filled with rowdy butterflies that couldn’t hold still.  Roy started talking to her, asking about her life and her job, the things that made her happy, and what made her sad.  As the sun set and their empty plates were cleared from the table, Brenae realized that she could talk to this man forever. 

*****

Brenae opened the door to her home, careful not to turn on the foyer light so her nosy neighbors couldn’t spy on her.  Roy followed closely on her heels and he shut the door behind them.  She’d never invited another man back to her place before, and she was nervous.  But Roy was like no other man she’d ever known, and she didn’t intend to let him spend the night anywhere but in her arms.

Roy smiled at her, noting the slight trembling in her hands as she poured him a drink.  She sat beside him on the sofa and he put his free arm around her, planting a kiss on her cheek.  His sweet kisses were going to be her undoing. He was such a gentleman. 

She leaned into him and turned to kiss him, drawing deeply and drinking in the heat of his mouth.  Roy set his drink down and pulled her to him to straddle his lap. 
So much for gentleman
, she thought with a laugh.  She moved her hips as she kissed him, her body begging for him to touch her.  He slowly ran his hands on her chocolate thighs, pushing her soft dress higher and higher until her soft lace panties were exposed.  Her skin rose in goose bumps as her excitement grew.  His touch set her on fire, igniting a passion deep within her that she didn’t know was there.  She wanted him now. Enough with this patient foreplay! 

She reached down to pull her dress over her head and Roy stayed her hand, preventing her from undressing.  He never stopped kissing her as his hand ran up and down her body, caressing her through the thin fabric, brushing her nipples until they were hard little nubs pushing against the fabric to be released.  

Her breath quickened, and her hips continued to move.  She could feel him against her, rigid against the inside of his Wrangler’s.  He touched her like he’d known her all his life.  Every caress, every tug, made her feel like she was going to lose control any minute.  She was desperate with need, and there he was, taking his sweet time. 

She stood and grabbed his hand, leading him towards her bedroom.  He followed her, still moving as if he had all the time in the world.  Brenae wanted to toss him on the bed and ravish him, but she knew if she rushed him, he would only take longer. 

He removed his boots and his jeans then pulled her onto the bed.  His hands found the hem of her dress and threw it over her head in one swift movement.  He unhooked her bra and sucked the air in with a thin whistle as he released her breasts.  He leaned down and took one soft orb into his mouth, his other hand wrapping around her back and pulling her closer. 

Brenae threw her head back and tried to steady her breathing.  Half-dressed and she felt like she was already moments from orgasm.  His mouth tugged on her nipple, pulling a moan from her lips.  He rolled her over to lie beneath him and took his shirt off, throwing it over his head in the darkness.  He trailed gentle kisses down her body, starting at her neck.  Each kiss led him closer and closer to the junction of her thighs, and she held her breath in anticipation. 

When he got to her panties, he grabbed the thin fabric with his teeth and pulled them down, putting his hands under her to lift her up.  He exposed her sweet heat and dipped his tongue to taste her.  Brenae gasped, her eyes rolling back as she lost herself to the motion of his mouth on her body.  She rocked against him, on the brink of climax as he played.  She was about to climax when he pulled away suddenly.  Her eyes flew open, desperate to get back to the place they’d just been.  He winked at her, and blew cool breath across her taut nipples. 

He began trailing kisses over her body again, working his way back up to her delicate neck.  His mouth was on her collarbone when she felt him slip inside her heat, filling her as he rocked gently against her. 

Brenae felt her body begin to thrum, moments away from climax once again.  Roy kissed her neck and slowed his movements, bringing her back from the edge.  He was driving her mad, and the look on his face said he knew
exactly
what he was doing.
 
She reached up to grab his shoulders, to pull him to her so she could ride him off the cliff, but he grabbed her wrists and held her down, chuckling into her neck as he kissed her.

“Not so fast, darlin’.  That’s not how cowboys love a lady.”

He continued his slow movements, pushing her to the edge and dragging her back over and over until she thought she’d go mad with need.  When she thought she couldn’t take it another time, Roy stopped kissing her and looked deep into her eyes.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, yes.  I’ve
been
ready. 
Please!
”

He laughed, “Are you sure?”

Was he crazy?
  “Yes Roy, please.”

“As you wish, darlin’” With that, he drove her to the edge and jumped off with her, holding her tight as she screamed in pleasure.  She sank into the mattress, but Roy continued, drawing against her and pushing her further than she’d ever been.  Her nerves were aflame as he stoked her passion.  She felt raw, and then all at once she felt like she was soaring.  Roy saw her face change and knew he’d sent her to paradise.  He finally let himself go, thrusting deeply and reveling in the way her body held him. 

Glistening and spent, he fell to the side and lay on her bed, trying to catch his breath.  Brenae wanted to tell him that he was wonderful, that no one had ever made love to her the way he just had, but the words wouldn’t come.  Instead, she rolled against him and laid her head on his shoulder.  Before she caught her breath she was asleep, sheltered in his strong embrace.

*****

Brenae rolled over in bed, awakened by the chirp on her phone letting her know she had email.  Always on the clock, she opened her inbox and began scrolling through the messages.  There were several that were all from similar accounts.  She frowned, completely caught off guard by the excessive fan mail.  The studio screened outside email before sending it on, but her inbox looked like she’d received every message ever sent.  And they all looked like hate mail.  Shaking, hoping that the onslaught of messages was something else, she opened the first message.  The title was simple,
A white man?!
  Brenae couldn’t imagine that it could possibly say that she wanted to read, but she opened the body of the email anyway.

Brenae,

It’s a sad, disgusting day when we see one of our own with a white devil.  And a cowboy no less.  This is not who you are.  It’s not what you are.  Don’t be foolish.  He’ll use you and leave you as soon as he gets to the top.  And you’ll be a distant memory of a darker time in his life.  Use your head.  You belong with a man who will treat you the way you deserve.

Brenae closed the email and opened a few of the others.  They ranged from tame to vulgar and downright threatening.  These were par for the course when you were in the public eye, but she was used to the studio blocking these types of letters.  She would have to speak with Preston when she went to the studio to figure out what to do about it. 

Roy ran his hand down her back, cupping her full backside with his hand, yanking her out of her thoughts.  His hand dipped between her thighs, dangerously close to her nether regions. 

“You’re playing for fire, Cowboy.”

“Yes ma’am, I am.”

His eyes twinkled mischievously.  Brenae didn’t know if she had another round in her, but she sure was willing to try.  She rolled over, pressing her naked body against his and he began to move against her, teasing her into a heated frenzy all over again.  Her body ached with the memory of last night, rising to meet his passion eagerly.  Roy awakened her body as no man ever had before.  He was a caring and generous lover, and he didn’t have a shy bone in his body.  If he thought she would enjoy it, he went for it.  He hadn’t missed the mark yet. 

Roy captured Brenae’s mouth with his, the heat igniting her flame and shutting down any lingering thoughts of work as her brain turned to mush.  She lost awareness of everything except the sounds; the feeling of his rough hands on her body.  She could deal with the emails tomorrow.  Right now, she had more important things to attend to.

Roy rocked her into a frenzy, bringing her quickly to the top of her mountain, rather than the sweet torture on the edge that she’d endured last night.  With a final thrust they reached the top together, spiraling downward, their passion out of control and crashing into the rocks below.

*****

The next day, Brenae knocked on Preston’s office door.  She held the stack of printed emails in her hand, hundreds of them.  The anger in the messages had escalated with each unanswered communication; though what she was supposed to say to the loon was anyone’s guess.  He hadn’t asked her a question, just spouted off about her place in this world being on the arm of a black man.  She couldn’t understand how, in this day and age, there was
anyone
that still believed any such nonsense. 
Who cares if Roy is white?  
Brenae certainly didn’t, and she knew he wouldn’t either. 

Preston motioned her in, hardly making eye contact as he continued his phone conversation.  She dumped the stack on his desk, the heavy paper making a dramatic thud as it hit the desk.

“I’ll have to call you back, Dave.”  Preston hung the phone up and gave Brenae his full attention. 

She decided to get right to the heart of the issue, “Why isn’t anyone weeding through the hate mail before it ends up in my box?  I thought everything was routed through security first.”

“It is, but I asked them to deactivate your firewall so you could see what was happening.”

“What?  Why?”  Brenae was shocked.  He looked like he’d just announced he’d done her a favor, rather than causing her unnecessary anxiety.  She couldn’t understand what his motivation was.

“Brenae, sit down.”  She sat in the chair, a feeling of dread coming over her as he continued.  “You want to be a success, you’ve said as much since you started here.  Success is about more than hard work; it’s about the brand.  Who is Brenae Riley?  You have to figure that out and then nurture that brand until you’re a household name.  This,” he dropped a local newspaper on the desk with a flourish, “this isn’t protecting your brand.”

On the cover was a picture of Roy and Brenae doing the two-step at
Chance’s
Dance Hall.
  They were in each other’s arms, clearly enjoying themselves.  The caption across the top of the front page read, “Local media darling and quick-witted reporter Brenae Riley channels her inner buckle bunny”.  Brenae couldn’t believe the nerve of the reporter.  Whatever happened to fact-checking and verifying sources?  Preston should have been as outraged as she was, which is why what he said next shocked her.

“You have to make a decision, Brenae.  Do you want to be a news anchor, or do you want to date a cowboy?  You can’t really have both, and your relationship isn’t good for either of your careers.  He travels ten months a year.  Do you really think you two will last long like that?  What are you going to do when the only way to stay together is for you to give up your career?”