Protecting Piper

Protecting Piper

by

Stacy Lee

Rowdy R Ranch Adventures

Book Five

Protecting Piper

Copyright© 2014 by Stacy Lee

License Notes

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events: to real people, living or dead: or to real locales are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and their resemblance, if any, to real-life counterparts is entirely coincidental.

Acknowledgments

To B.J., C.J., T.J., and D.J. with all my love!

Also to S.M. who reads slow but has a big heart! Read faster Nana!!!

Glossary of Brahnian Words

In this adventure Princess Piper is from a small country called Brahnini. There are some words in her language that do not translate to English easily, for example their clothing. This will give you the pronunciation and definition/translation to the words for easier understanding. I do try to explain them as I use them in the story but some are repeated several times and only explained once. I hope this makes Princess Piper’s world easier to understand. And don’t let this scare you off from reading the story, out of 105,000 words only about 20 are in Brahnian!

Happy reading y’all!

Awmu Pi - (Aw-moo Pie) - Bonding ceremony or wedding. A required ceremony preformed on a Brahnian woman’s twenty-first birthday, during which the bride is branded on the wrist with the husbands family crest to let all know she is his property. Complete ownership is given from father, or eldest man in the family, to the new husband. This is an arranged marriage that according to tradition was arranged on or close to her tenth birthday. In a normal chain of events the women would not know who her intended was until her twentieth year when it is announced to all. The announcement works as a binding contract and once done cannot be undone. Some meet on this date for a brief moment, others do not. Most likely the man she will marry on her twenty-first year will be a stranger.

Brahnian - (Bruh-nee-an) - The name for their official language and their people. (Ex: Residents of the US are Americans and speak English. Residents of Brahnini are Brahnians and speak Brahnian.)

Brahnini - (Bruh-nee-nee) - The small country Princess Piper is from. They hold true to their traditions even to this day. A country ran by men to benefit men. Women have no rights or opinions.

Craday - (Cr-uh-day) - Branding iron. A small branding iron used in the Awmu Pi to etch the woman’s wrist with a brand marking her the man's property with his family crest or symbol.

Donea Plu - (Dough-nay Ploo) - Royal Playmate. A child of the same sex as the Prince/Princess born closest to their birthday. This child is kept inside the palace with the Prince/Princess. If the child was born outside the palace walls to a villager (no matter their class) the parents are only allowed to see it on its birthday each year till she turns twenty-one and is bonded or he turns eighteen and takes his first wife. If the child is born to a servant living in the palace they may spend nights with child.

Fi - (Fee) - Sash. A sash to tie the swavea/swavra closed. Usually the color of the accents on the swavea/swavra.

Manu Wey - (Man-oo Weigh) - Representative of the King. Similar to an Ordained Minister, only they are sanctioned by the King not God. Preforms Awmu Pi's and other ceremonies for those not high enough in class for the Kings personal attention.

Manaso - (Ma-nah-so) - The period of time that spans the first two years of ones bonding. It is stated by law that if a child is not produced in this time frame a male has the right to unbind the woman from his life. It is the greatest humiliation a woman can bear.

Naywa - (Nay-way) - Nanny. Provides care for the Prince/Princesses and the Donea Plu. Not exclusive to royalty but usually too expensive for villagers. If a male loses his only wife he may hire a Naywa till he can remarry.

Plazay - (Plaw-zay) - Shops or stalls. Tents that cover the Wasaw Maday, or market square, containing anything a shopper might need. Only a few necessary ones are erected during the week, Saturday’s hundreds cover the square.

Prona - (Prone-ah) - Princess

Prina - (Prine-ah) - Prince

Swavea - (Swaw-vay) - Dress. A females required clothing after the age of ten. A floor length, long sleeved dress that is open down the front like an American bath robe. It wraps closed, is slightly pleated around the waist giving it a fullness, the fi then covers the seam of the pleats to tie it secure at the hip. No zippers or buttons. Usually made of silk or thin light weight cotton depending on your social class. Once the tilo is added skin isn’t visible except around the eyes and hands. Embroidery of a different color highlights the solid materials. (Ex: Royal blue Swavea with gold embroidery, the fi would then be gold also.)

Swavra - (Swaw-v-ruh) - Male shirt and pants. Male attire of silk long sleeved shirt and silk drawstring style pants, can be thin cotton depending on your social class. A fi is still tied around the waist as the shirt is a version of the swavea in it wraps together with no zippers or buttons. Embroidery of a different color will highlight the shirt. The pants will be solid. (Ex: Royal blue shirt with gold embroidery and fi combined with royal blue pants.)

Swilea - (S-why-lay) - Slippers. Shoes worn by the woman that match the swavea or sworvea. Similar to ballet slippers minus the ties and/or elastic.

Sworvea - (Swore-vay) - Child’s Dress. A younger version of the swavea worn till age ten. Looks just like the swavea except the front is solid with a two inch opening and small clasp at the neckline in back for closure. Still requires a fi but it is decoration and size adjustment (cinch the waist tighter) only. The tilo is still required for Royal or celebratory functions but not necessary in casual public.

Tata - ( Tah-tah) - Father.

Tila - (Tea-lay) - Male headdress. The male version of a tilo. Similar to a scarf, not as wide as the female version, covers the hair then wraps around the neck leaving the face uncovered.

Tilo - (Tea-low) - Female headdress. Similar to a scarf only much wider to cover long hair up to waist length. The tilo is wrapped to cover the hair, neck, and face of a female while in public, only leaving the eyes visible. If the hair is longer than the tilo it must be put up in a way it cannot be seen. After age ten all women must wear the tilo in public or in the presence of males not immediately related to her (grandfather, father, brother, husband, or son).

Towta - (T-ow-tah) - Your welcome.

Umi thia wu - (Oo-me Thy Woo) - I love you.

Vowta - (V-ow-tah) - Thank you.

Wasaw Maday - (Wuh-saw May-day) - Market square. An area in the large courtyard in front of the Palace where tents are set up for shopping. A few necessary ones are there all week, on Saturday’s hundreds cover the area.

Wu vra muva te noda bli, Prona - (Woo Vr-uh Moo-vah Tee No-duh Bly Prone-ah) - You are going to die now, Princess.

Zy - (Zie) - My

Protecting Piper

Prologue

Christmas at the Rowdy R Ranch is always a joyous celebration. This year is no exception. I watch all the boys chattering and laughing, their families that could come smiling at their stories, the children ripping into presents gleefully, the new couples in the room smooch while sharing secretive smiles and promises of what’s to come, everyone is having a grand time.

Why aren’t I?

Why the hell was I even still on the ranch to begin with? I should be back in California helping Kai and Keaton with our security company, not in Texas doing nothing but wallowing.

You doing alright tonight, Beckett? Sarge asks when I sit on the arm of the couch beside him. Ryker, --a few of us Army guys still call him Sarge, a throwback to our time under his leadership in the service-- owned this beautiful ranch. Him and his wife, Arabella, and their twin daughters, Hope and Faith, lived in this house, the big house it’s called around here. While his manager, Tony, his wife Brenna, and their daughter, Delaney, lived in a house across the dirt road.

The rest of the men who lived on the ranch resided in a row of houses they shared in pairs or in a new twist on the ranch they were offered one of the three new ‘love’ houses Sarge had just built for if his boys found wives. Phoenix, an Army buddy and FBI agent, has come here recently to permanently stay with his pregnant fiancé and his nine year old daughter, Alyssa. They occupied the first ‘love house’ in the row. Trystin, an identical twin to Kendrick, who has been employed by Sarge for five years has recently found his ‘one that got away’ filling up the second ‘love house’ with them and their four year old son, Noel. So, technically, only one of those houses were left open now.

When I’m visiting I stay in one of the six rooms in the bunkhouse out back. It is quiet, relaxing and has a state of the art gym right out my bedroom door. So why was I just as miserable here as at home?

Yep. I reply tersely while I watch Emma, Trystin’s new wife, sign to their deaf son, Noel, from across the room before turning to give her husband a sweet chaste kiss.

That’s why I’m miserable.

Beckett, you still staying till New Years? Sarge eyes me and I nod still watching the newlyweds flirt. At least at home I could stay away from crap like this. I didn’t have to watch couples mingle together if I never did anything but work. I used to be able to get away from the crowds of couples in San Francisco by coming here where it was all men. However, in the last year something had bitten the ranch in the ass and everyone seemed to be falling in love. With the four couples now living on the ranch it was hard to escape all the goo-goo eyes and kisses going around.

My phone vibrates on my hip and I excuse myself to take Kai’s call.

One minute. I say as I leave the noise behind me and walk into the cool Texas night air. Once I’m away from the noise of the party I address Kai, my business partner and friend. Talk to me.

This woman is a pain in the ass, Beckett! I just had to fire another good man because of her. Aw, Princess Pouty has struck again.

What happened this time? I ask on a sigh. Leaning against the porch railing I get comfortable knowing Kai was about to go on a long spiel about her Royal Highness.

"She says he kept coming in her rooms without permission. That he would stand there and stare at her, when she asked him to leave he refused. She told him she needed to get dressed, he refused. She told him she needed to take a shower, he refused and followed her to the bathroom. I can’t prove otherwise so I had no choice but to let him go." He huffs. While watching the person in our care is required it isn’t necessary to stare at them all the time. However it is hard to get that across to some of the diehard guys when a beautiful woman is concerned and from what I have heard the twenty year old Princess is a knock-out.

Did you warn him first? I asked carefully. I didn’t want to sound like I am telling Kai what to do, but Princess Pouty has caused major conflict with our men.

I couldn’t. It was Alaster and he has been on probation since he busted in on that actress and her boy toy a couple months ago. I had to let him go. At the reminder of that fiasco I’m kind of glad he is gone. We had taken a hard hit for that one. Alaster heard noises from the room of the actress he was supposed to be guarding and didn’t realize she was back in the suite. The guard that had accompanied her to the party downstairs was nowhere to be seen either. When he heard a scream he busted the door down. Her and her lover, who was not her husband, were screwing against a wall like jackrabbits. We lost that contract the next morning and her husband filed for divorce that afternoon.

Not too hard a hit losing him. Who are you putting on her now? Two and a half months we have been protecting Princess Pouty, in that time we have reassigned three men, retired one, now fired another. Five war toughened men have been taken down by one little snip of a girl.

I don’t know! No one wants the assignment. Shane Mackey is actually on her right now and I’m going over there soon to relieve him. Keaton will take over in the morning, he needed to go see his mother for Christmas tonight beings he watched her today after I fired Alaster. He has another job starting on the first that he accepted months ago, a personal request for him. Some Senator’s daughter or something. I only have three men left that haven’t been assigned to her already. A loud thump comes from his end and I wonder what he’s hitting. Hopefully not his desk again, I have already ordered him three this year because he kept cracking the surface by slamming that damn fist into it repeatedly.

Don’t fuck up the new desk, Kai. I growl into the receiver. Pushing away from the railing I begin to pace, working this out in my head.

To damn late! I have been slugging this thing for an hour. I’ll pay for the new one personally. Damn, that temper is going to get him in trouble someday.

I’ll be back on the second. Can you or one of the guys watch her for the two days between when Keaton leaves and I get there? If so I’ll take her watch. Might as well put my lonely ass to work, I wasn’t helping matters sulking around here. I haven’t done much watch duty in the last year, I am more behind the scenes than anything else but what the hell. It couldn’t hurt and if it saved me from having to hire another man then I would gladly do it. I hated interviewing.

Yeah, I could do that. My next job starts the third, so I can cover the two days, I wouldn’t want to lose another man in that short amount of time and if we three take the handoffs she can’t fire us. We own the damn company and her daddy holds our contract. Satisfaction soars in his voice and I have to shake my head. He is all about the contracts and the bottom line, I am about the protection and hiring the right men to do it and Keaton… Well, Keaton just liked to shoot people legally. He also liked the selection of women. I am celibate, Kai is careful and Keaton is a man whore.

Thankfully, it’s only a little over two weeks and she’s no longer our problem. He grits out.

Alright, I’ll be in mid-day on the second and will switch off with you at eight that night. That work for you?

Yep. Thanks man, I knew you could calm me down. And don’t worry, I’ll replace the desk before you get back. I hang up on a chuckle and I lean back against the handrail of the porch.

Princess Piper Degradeces. Pronounced Dee-graw-dee-sees, but the men have been calling her by every pronunciation but that one because it pissed her off. She is the seventh daughter and youngest of twelve children belonging to King Ronald Degradeces III. She’d been allowed eight months ago to leave home to study here in the states for a total of one year. In the small country of Brahnini where she is from she is used to having everything handed to her on a silver platter, now she has stepped away from King Daddy and the world is out to get her.

To be young and that naïve again.

Hell, at twenty I buried my entire family at the same time I was being honorably discharged from the Army after being held captive for four days and tortured for information I didn’t know. I was never that naïve and I really didn’t feel that young either. I felt like I was a hundred, not twenty. Still do, actually.

I hadn’t met the Princess yet but I have certainly heard about her, over and over again. It was actually Kai that dubbed the nickname Princess Pouty, because he says she turns red with anger then stalks off to pout about every decision made. You can’t go to the mall alone, she pouts, you can’t drive yourself, she pouts, you can’t go to parties, she pouts.

Aww well, an attempt hadn’t been made on her life the entire time she has been in the states. The only person I’ll truly have to protect her from is Kai. I’ll just keep them apart for the next two weeks while I keep her on a schedule to and from school only and then be done with it. She might hate me before her weeks are up but this is a different world from the one Daddy rules.

Chapter One

These men were the worst kind of men in the world! Insufferable idiots! First the one that thought grabbing my ass was cute, then it was the older guy who would stand outside my door and crack it to watch me undress, then it was the one that grabbed every man that came near me and threw them across the room, the next one thought I was to be inspected, or ‘frisked’ I think is what he called it, before I left the house everyday so he could get a cheap feel, then it was the one that followed me everywhere staring at me constantly and now these last two jerks just ignore me like I am limburger cheese stinking up the place. While being ignored is certainly better than the other morons, it is rather boring. At least the idiots talked to me every now and then, these two jerks hadn’t said a word to me since they took over on Americas Christmas. They just meet at the elevators to trade off places, nodding to each other before walking away.

I know they both can talk, they have phones they answer often. It’s just me they don’t talk to. By eavesdropping on their phone calls I know they both own the company with a third man and neither are thrilled about having to watch me, however if they hired decent men they wouldn’t have to. I know they didn’t believe my complaints about the other men. I have heard the nickname they use for me, Princess Pouty. Because they think I’m being difficult on purpose. I wish that were the case. This is always the problem when people know I am a Princess. They think I am a spoiled little rich girl and never take me seriously. I hate it with every fiber of my being.

If Lani were here things would be going so much more smoothly. Lani is my best friend and confidant. We managed to get into so much trouble back home it wasn’t even funny, that’s saying something when you’re confined to a palace. That is one of the reasons I found myself shipped off to The States. After the last ‘problem’ we had father decided it was better for his image if I was no longer in the palace messing with my sister’s image effectively making him look bad. I couldn’t help it if Chanise is a floozy, that wasn’t my doings, she did that all on her own. I only exposed her for one. Too bad she retaliated by spreading nasty rumors about me that are completely false. That didn’t stop them from being splashed across every newspaper and TV station in Brahnini.

The other reason is because I refuse to be bonded to Lord Ramrod, that’s what Lani and I call him because we heard he is a rough man in the bedroom. Well, not just there, he is a rough man period. It is actually Lord Ramford, he is topping fifty with a pot belly, going bald, and already has four wives, one of which is my sister Balise, and eight children! Father thinks I am being difficult but what girl wanted to share her husband! Even if he would have been closer to my twenty and drop dead gorgeous, I want a man that’s all mine. How my older sisters can stand to live in houses with up to ten wives for each man, I have no idea! Bess’s husband just bonded with number eleven for heaven’s sake! Father says it’s my mother’s American heritage rubbing off on my thinking, maybe it is. I just know that when I am bonded I want it to be because I love him and he loves me and only me. Is that too much to ask? Obviously in Brahnini it is.

After a very heated argument and the full knowledge that being the seventh daughter and the last of twelve children I didn’t particularly matter in the royal bloodline, --especially because I was half American in the first place-- father agreed that he wouldn’t make the announcement of my being intended for the Lord on my twentieth birthday, which is more tradition not law. The laws stated the announcement had to be made on or before the twenty-first year and once made it is binding. Instead of making the announcement Father gave me one year to find love. If I didn’t, I have to bond with Lord Ramrod on my twenty-first birthday and I have to do it without a single complaint or tear.

The twenty-first year is not a good year for girls in Brahnini. If you are not bonded on that day to a man of your father, or eldest man in the family’s choosing you are sold into servitude to any man who can afford you. Unfortunately that is three months and two weeks away. I spent three months in New York, New York, three in Chicago, Illinois, and my three in San Francisco, California are almost up. Next will be Houston, Texas for my last three months. I will return home five days shy of my birthday. The only good thing about shifting states again is my security will change in a little over a week. It is a different company in each state, so that is something at least.

I need to find a way to get out more. These men won’t let me out of their sights for one second. It’s hard to find Mr. Right with Mr. Intimidator following you around everywhere you went. The classes I am attending, which are a fraud and cover for why I am really here, are so far below my level it is laughable. I had taken harder classes in grade school. Well, I had tutors actually and we didn’t call it grade school but I’d learned a lot about the American language in my nine months here and that’s what they would call it.

I’m arguing with myself, in my own head! I throw my hands in the air and flop back on the bed. I needed someone to talk to. If I wasn’t so shy around people things might have been better. I might have made some kind of friends but when you’re raised in a palace and forbidden to leave the gates you didn’t meet many people that weren’t paid or enslaved to serve you and you didn’t learn friend making skills with people who loath you.

Lani’s mother worked in the kitchen long before either of us were born and when we arrived within a day of each other it was deemed that she would be my ‘Royal Playmate’. She was kept with me while her mother worked, watched over by my mother till her death then my Naywa, or nanny. When tutoring started we shared the same study schedule, although our material changed by year two when it was noticed I bypassed her in my work thanks to me having a photographic memory, but we were still kept together.

Each of the Royal children had a ‘Royal Playmate’ or ‘Donea Plu’ in Brahnian, another child of the same sex that was born closest to our day. Not all of them were born in the palace like Lani was, she was lucky. Most are taken from their parents and raised inside the palace walls with the child they were selected for, only getting to see their real parents once a year. Because Lani’s parents were already in a room in the servants’ quarters she was allowed to spend nights with them, mainly because, before her death, my mother was fond of hers and being American she refused to take the child away from her mother.

Most of my sisters hated their playmates, my five brothers didn’t really care because they were allowed outside the gates for training and made other friends in the military ranks. I, on the other hand, sucked at talking to people. How I thought I would find love out here where I had to actually make friends was beyond me. The fact I am restricted to only my college classes and my apartment didn’t make it any easier, either.

If I wasn’t enjoying the small amount of freedom so much or the fact the announcement would be moved up, I would just go home and wait for my life to end with the Bonding to that horrid Lord. The Awmu Pi, wedding or Bonding Ceremony, wouldn’t happen till my birthday. Nevertheless, once the announcement of the name of my intended is made, it cannot be changed. There would be absolutely no way out, ever.

I couldn’t do that. Even if I didn’t find a loving man I would make the best of my time away from my controlled life. Being allowed to the campus and home didn’t seem like much but it is more than I ever had before. Having never been permitted to leave the inside of the palace gates till I flew to the states almost nine months ago these small allowances seemed huge to me. Besides, Lani and I raised too much hell to get me this opportunity to waste it now. Three months is still time. I just have to find a way around my mute guards to go to the dance the college is holding tonight for New Year’s.

Dressed in my sexiest little black dress which hugged my God given curves perfectly --I’m not sure who purchased this dress but it definitely wasn’t my father--, my jet black hair piled on my head fashionably, my make-up carefully done to highlight my unusual grey eyes and my pouty lips, I read the flyer one last time then hide the bright pink paper in the bottom of the trash can in my room. I am going to this party, one way or another.

When the two men change places they will walk to the elevators at the end of the hall with their backs to the stairwell exit. I just have to time it perfectly to get between here and there without being seen or heard. Holding my heels in my hands I watch as they tilt their heads together and start walking.

Wait for it…..

Not yet….

A little longer…

In just a second…..

Now!

I sprint on tip-toes across the hall, hit the door and am through.

Yes!

Not stopping to celebrate I take the stairs as quickly as I can in my tight dress. Once downstairs I stand in the stairwell till I see the blonde guard, Mr. Keaton Kane, leave the building. I give him a few minutes to really be gone before I slip on my shoes and saunter through the lobby of the building like I own the place, I might be shy but I can act with the best of them.

I am a Princess after all.

Outside I raise my hand to hail a cab and watch as an impressive motorbike pulls up to the Valet. A man that should be named Goliath --he had to be six foot three or four with broad shoulders and thick limbs-- sits astride the biggest motorbike I’d ever seen. His muscles ripple and twitch under his dark long sleeved shirt and tight jeans as he swings his leg gracefully over the machine and tosses his helmet to the smiling attendant. The cool night breeze tosses his bright auburn hair, it flows past his shoulders in gentle curls that would make any woman envious. He confidently scans the area, critically taking in everyone around me till his brilliant green eyes land on mine.

A chill runs through my body before I can break the contact and scramble into the cab that has stopped before me. I try to shake Goliath’s haunting image from my mind. It’s harder than I thought it would be. After telling the man where I want to go, I lean back against the seat and celebrate my small victory.

I did it!

I escaped my guards and I am going to that party!

Now to find Mr. Right!

I stand chuckling as I watch the pretty little thing in the barely there black dress scramble into the waiting cab. Her wide eyed expression when our gazes locked is the usual reaction I received from young girls like her. Not that she is that much younger than my twenty-seven but the war aged me beyond my years a long time ago. Shaking off the uncontrollable urge to chase after and protect those delectable curves, jet black hair and beautiful piercing grey eyes, I saunter into the building and up to the top floor to meet with Kai.

I wasn’t thrilled about having to leave the ranch early to deal with this problem but since I am the only one who really understood the dynamics of computers, I had no choice. I hopped a flight this morning and had been researching the threatening email she’d received most of the day and come up with didley squat. It went through several IP address around the world circling back several times throughout the country. Whoever sent it knew how to hide his tracks. I even had Tommy, Phoenix’s IT guy at the FBI, look at it with no luck.

I exit the elevator to see Kai leaning against the wall, his arms and legs crossed, his jet black hair tied back in its standard pony tail which tells of his roots as an American Indian. His attire is better than usual in a dark t-shirt and jeans instead of his leather riding gear. He looks bored out of his mind, I chuckle. It’s his eyes though that tell me he knows exactly what’s going on and where, those exotic pale blue orbs miss nothing.

Beck. He nods to me. Have a safe flight? He asks conversationally but there is an edge to his voice as he watches the elevator slide shut behind me.

Sure. Just what I wanted to do on New Year’s Eve, fight the crowds at the airport and sit next to screaming four month old triplets all the way home. He harrumphs at my sarcasm then meets my eyes steadily.

Find anything?

Nope. They knew what they were doing. Did she see it? I ask uncomfortably. If she knew about the email she may be a bigger handful than she already was. Panicked women were not my thing.

"Nope. I cleared it out before she read it. She has a routine. Every