To Tempt a Rogue

by Connie Mason

  Ryan entered the hut and struck a match to the lantern. “Do you feel like talking?” he asked as he stood over her cot.

  “No. I feel like sleeping.”

  He pulled the blanket off of her, grimacing in disgust when he saw she’d gone to bed in the same dirty clothes she’d worn all week. He’d meant to ask subtle questions, but her surly attitude sent his good intentions fleeing as he blurted out, “Your lover is dead. What are you going to do now?”

  She jerked upright, her face a study of fear and anger. “What in the hell are you suggesting? Lex wasn’t that kind of man. Neither am I.”

  “That’s right, Kit, or whatever the hell your name is. You’re not a man at all, are you? You’re Lex’s doxy.”

  Kit shot to her feet. Doubling her fists, she drew back her arm and aimed a blow at Ryan’s stomach. To Ryan’s surprise the blow connected, knocking him back on his heels. He doubled over and scowled up at her. “What in the hell was that for?”

  Kit faced him pugnaciously. “I don’t like what you just said.”

  “Why not, it’s true, isn’t it?”

  “You must be pretty hard up to think I’m a woman.”

  “You must be pretty stupid to think I wouldn’t know. Billy and the others are blind not to have noticed what’s so obvious to me. I doubt they ever took a good look at you.”

  “You’re wrong,” Kit bluffed. “Go away and leave me alone.” She turned back to the cot.

  Ryan straightened, grasped her by the collar, and hauled her against him. “Wrong, am I? Would I do this if I was wrong?”

  Holding both her wrists behind her with one hand and tilting her chin with the other, he crushed his mouth firmly against hers. Her lips were closed so tightly that he had to use his tongue to force them apart. His kiss was not gentle. It was meant to dominate, to prove that he recognized a woman when he saw one. And for the first few moments, it was precisely that kind of a kiss. But the moment Ryan felt her lips soften and part beneath his probing tongue and tasted the sweetness of her mouth, his own mouth gentled, becoming coaxing, almost teasing.

  He drew upon her lips with an expertise that had earned him the name of Rogue Ryan. Then he felt her legs start to crumble beneath her, and his powerful arms tightened around her. Her angry gasp finally brought him back to his senses, and he released her mouth while he continued to hold her.

  “Would I kiss you like that if you were a lad?” Ryan asked bluntly, watching the color slowly drain from her face.

  She backed away from him, wiping her mouth on her grubby sleeve. “Maybe you’re one of those men with perverted tastes,” she said sullenly.

  “Do you still insist you’re a man?”

  “It’s the truth.”

  Ryan had tolerated all he was going to. If he had to strip her naked in order to get her to admit the truth, then so be it. Grasping her lapels, he peeled the jacket from her shoulders, then tore off her vest. Kit protested wildly but hadn’t the strength to stop him. When he ripped away her shirt, sending buttons scattering, Kit seemed to deflate before his eyes.

  The perfect twin mounds of her breasts popped free, their coral peaks stiffening in the cool night air. Her skin was creamy white, without a blemish of any kind. Her bones appeared almost fragile without the protection of her baggy clothing. Her arms were well-toned and rounded, her waist slim and seductively indented. Liquid heat surged through him as he stared at her breasts.

  “Bastard!” Kit hissed.

  Ryan’s mouth felt like a desert. Never had he wanted to touch someone as badly as he wanted to touch Kit. Throwing caution to the wind, he reached out to caress a warm breast.

  Kit wanted to melt on the spot. She had no muscles at all. His kiss had been sweet bliss, all hard pressure and heat, and more devastating than anything she’d ever experienced before. It had been her first kiss ever, and her lips still burned from the torrid heat of his mouth. His hard, callused fingers upon her bare flesh felt nothing like she imagined a man’s touch would be. His caress was actually gentle, almost reverent, a far cry from what she knew of the way the Bartons treated women.

  Kit knew Ryan was taking unspeakable liberties with her body but couldn’t muster the energy to stop him. For the first time in her life she felt the surging power of raw desire, and it frightened her. When Ryan took both her breasts in his hands and flicked the nipples with his thumbs, Kit made a strangled sound deep in her throat and pushed his hands aside. This couldn’t be happening. How could Ryan Delaney have seen through her disguise so quickly when the Bartons hadn’t suspected after all these years? According to Ryan, he had known from the very beginning.

  That thought frightened her. What had given her away? If what Ryan said was true, then obviously the Bartons had never really looked at her. Or did Ryan’s intimate knowledge of women let him see what the Bartons so obviously missed?

  Finally finding the willpower to put distance between herself and Ryan, Kit moved away, grabbed her shirt, and held it protectively in front of her. “Don’t touch me!”

  “Why? I know you like it. Lex has been gone a long time, you’re probably aching for it about now. I want you, Kit. I’ll keep your secret, if that’s what’s worrying you.”

  “You think I’m Lex’s … Lex’s…” She couldn’t even say the word.

  Ryan’s dark brows angled upward. “Aren’t you? You’ve been with Lex a long time, what am I to think? Give me another explanation if there is one.”

  Leery of Ryan’s interest in Lex and Kathryn, Kit feared telling him the truth. Until she knew why he was asking personal questions, she didn’t dare give him her real name.

  “Assume what you want,” Kit said, shrugging. “You will, anyway. But no matter what you think about me, that still doesn’t excuse your despicable behavior. I can’t count the times you have undressed in front of me, or embarrassed me in front of the Bartons. If you knew I was a woman you could have spared my feelings.” Her voice rose to a shrill hiss. “You dragged me along to the cantina and insisted I be with a woman. Have you no shame, no compassion?”

  Ryan had the decency to look embarrassed. “The Delaney brothers aren’t known for their virtues. If I have compassion I keep it well hidden. I thought your charade damn amusing. It seemed improbable that the Bartons could remain ignorant of your sex when I saw through your disguise that first day.”

  “You thought I was Lex’s doxy!” Kit charged.

  “Prove that you’re not,” Ryan countered. “Tell me who you really are.”

  “I don’t have to prove anything to you.” She turned her back on him and slipped her arms into the shirt. “What are you going to do now?” she challenged, spinning around. “Are you going to tell the Bartons?”

  Ryan gave her a slow grin. “Now why would I do that? I have no intention of sharing you with the others. I want you all to myself. Was Lex your only lover? Did you love him?”

  The rage that had been building inside Kit exploded. “Go to hell!” she cried, flying at him with flailing arms. It really hurt to know that Ryan thought so little of her. How dare he imply that she would… would allow him liberties. It had been so easy to imagine Ryan as a respectable citizen, making her forget what and who he really was. She must have been crazy, or under some kind of spell to imagine herself half in love with an outlaw.

  “Leave off, Kit,” Ryan said, holding Kit at bay. “You can’t hurt me.”

  “I sure as hell can try. You’re a heartless bastard, Ryan Delaney! I might not know much about being a lady, but I do know you’re no gentleman.”

  Not one to accept an insult gracefully, Ryan said, “Ha! You wouldn’t know a gentleman if one came up and tipped his hat to you.”

  Kit had heard more than enough. Grabbing her jacket, she fled out the door and into the night. She ran toward the stream, losing herself amid the mesquite and tall cactus. She feared Ryan might try to follow, but a quick glance over her shoulder convinced her that he’d given up on her.

  Tears were flowing freely down he
r cheeks when she finally ran out of breath and stopped to rest beside a boulder. She slid to the ground and rested her head against the rock, staring at the star-studded sky as she contemplated all the unhappiness she’d encountered in her short life. If Kit had ever been truly happy, she had no memory of it. Images of days spent with her mother came close, but living with Deke Johnson had taken all the pleasure from her life.

  Her mother had married Deke shortly after Kitty’s birth, and Kitty had known no other father. But Deke had never acted like a father to her, or a loving husband to Rena. He’d been strict, demanding, and brutal, thinking nothing of beating both Rena and Kitty during his drunken rages. If Deke hadn’t been killed so soon after Rena’s death, Kitty knew she would have had to flee. Deke had made it clear that he expected Kitty to take her mother’s place in his bed.

  Though Lex was an outlaw, he’d always treated her like he would a sister, and for that she’d be forever grateful. Kitty didn’t know what would have become of her had Lex not shown up after Deke’s death. Not that she’d led such a great life with Lex, but at least he had protected her in his own clumsy fashion.

  Kit gasped and looked up when a shadow fell over her. She hadn’t heard Ryan approach and wondered how such a big man could move so stealthily. But there was a great deal she didn’t know about Ryan Delaney.

  “I’m sorry,” Ryan said, easing down beside her. “I had no business accusing you of anything. I don’t care what you and Lex were to one another, and furthermore it’s none of my business. I have no right to criticize. My own reputation is far from pristine.”

  Kit stiffened when his arm came around her, but she made no protest when he pulled her against him. It had been a long time since anyone offered comfort. “I wanted to be alone.”

  “And I wanted to make sure you were ail right. Have you thought about your future? How long do you intend to remain with the Bartons now that Lex isn’t here to protect you?”

  “I haven’t decided yet. Perhaps I’ll stay indefinitely,” she hedged. “The boys don’t expect too much from me, and I can be useful here.”

  “How?” Ryan scoffed. “Have you no regard for your own safety? One day the law will catch up to the gang and you’ll be right in the middle. But the greater danger lies in having your disguise blown. Do you have any idea what will happen to you when the Bartons discover you’re a woman? It will happen, you know.”

  Kit nodded. Indeed she did know, and had given it considerable thought. “I’m careful. Billy and the others are just too dumb to suspect anything. I’ve been a boy to them so long they can’t see me as anything else. I’ve got some money saved, but not enough. A couple more bank robberies, and I should be in a better position to leave.”

  “I’ve got some money. Let me help you.”

  Kit bristled with indignation. Accepting money from Ryan would put her in his debt. “No. I don’t want your money.”

  She felt Ryan’s arm tighten around her and wanted desperately to give in to the urgent need to seek the comfort of his big body, but she deliberately held herself aloof. Once she left the gang, and she knew she would, she wanted nothing more to do with outlaws. When she shed the trappings of Kit, she intended to leave her old life behind and never look back. And that meant forgetting Ryan Delaney.

  “Look at me, Kit,” Ryan said, tilting her chin upward. “I don’t want to see you hurt by the Bartons.”

  She stared at him, mesmerized by the way his green eyes sparkled in the moonlight. Almost like jewels, so clear and bright, yet mysterious and seductive. There was more to Ryan Delaney than met the eye. More than he wanted her to know. When his mouth hovered close to hers, she was surprised to find herself leaning toward him, craving his kisses. At the last moment, before their lips touched, she tried to pull away, but Ryan wouldn’t allow it.

  She closed her eyes as he dragged her against him, holding her steady as he plundered her mouth. She couldn’t withhold the sigh of pleasure that escaped her throat, nor the tiny shudder that slid down her spine. The kiss he’d given her inside the hut had only whetted her appetite for more. She knew instinctively that Ryan Delaney was very good at this, even though she had no guidelines to use for comparison. She started violently when she felt his hands on her body, beneath her shirt, caressing her breasts with his rough palms, and all thought of right or wrong deserted her.

  She raised her arms to the hard curve of his shoulders as the heat of desire throbbed through her, settling low in her belly. She moaned in protest when his mouth left hers, then she felt his mouth on her breasts, laving her nipples with the rough pad of his tongue. He held her so close that she could feel the hard ridge of his sex pressing against the soft place between her thighs. She tensed, suddenly aware of what was going to happen next. If she let Ryan have her, she’d become the doxy he’d accused her of being, making her no better than Lolita or Carmen.

  She pushed him away. “No, I can’t do this.”

  She felt Ryan sag in disappointment. She was more than a little surprised when she realized he wasn’t going to force her. The kind of men she knew wouldn’t hesitate to take her against her will.

  “It’s your decision, Kit,” Ryan said in a voice made hoarse with frustration. “I’ve never had to force a woman, and I don’t intend to start now.” He rose and held out his hand. “Come on. It’s late. We both need to get some sleep.”

  Fearing his touch because of the way it made her feel, Kit rose without help and started back to the hut. Ryan fell into step beside her. She struggled to ignore him, wondering how in the hell she was going to be able to resist him. For the first time in her life she knew what it was to want a man. Ryan made her aware of her sexuality, of the inner urges of her body, of her need to be held and loved. But it wasn’t just any man she wanted.

  She wanted Ryan Delaney, a man she couldn’t have if she intended to make a new life for herself. Once she left the Bartons she could never look back. Ryan was part of the life she wanted to forget.

  A tiny voice inside her told her it wasn’t going to be easy to forget Ryan Delaney.

  Ryan could tell Kit was disturbed, but he didn’t know how to help her. If only Kit would confide in him. He was already half convinced that Kit was actually Kathryn, but he had no solid proof to carry back to Bert.

  Out of concern for Kit, Ryan was delaying his own departure. Something about the little wildcat captivated and seduced him in the most elemental way. He wanted her. He’d wanted her from the first moment he’d known the grubby lad was a full-grown woman. He hated to think what it would do to Bert should Kathryn turn out to be Kit, a woman who’d lived and ridden with outlaws.

  Ryan was sound asleep when Kit left the hut carrying the saddlebags she’d packed earlier. He thought nothing of her absence the following morning when he awakened and saw that her cot was empty. Kit often arose early and went down to the stream to wash before the others awakened. But when she didn’t return in a reasonable time, Ryan knew something was amiss. Even Billy remarked on her absence as the day waned. By late afternoon all four men spread out to find her. By nightfall the general consensus was that Kit had left for good.

  “Good riddance,” Clank said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. “The little bugger wasn’t worth much, anyway.”

  “He might lead the law to our hideout,” Durango contended.

  “Not if he values his life,” Billy growled menacingly.

  Ryan said nothing. He was worried about Kit, and his concern surprised him. It wasn’t his nature to become involved with a woman. Love them and leave them was his motto. He feared Kit couldn’t manage on her own, that she’d get into trouble. Without money to sustain her, there was only one place a woman could go for work. He’d heard the story from more than one woman. Left on their own they usually ended up in a bawdy house, selling themselves to randy customers.

  Kit’s failure to return after several days made the Bartons jumpy and anxious. They kept looking over their shoulders, as if expecting the law to swoop down on th
em.

  “I ain’t gonna sit around and wonder if Kit set the law on us,” Billy announced a few days after Kit had left. “We’ve sat on our butts worryin’ about it long enough. What say we ride to Nogales and hit the bank there?”

  Clank and Durango gave enthusiastic agreement.

  “Get your gear together, boys, we’re ridin’ out at dawn.”

  Billy’s announcement gave Ryan the impetus he needed to set his own plan into motion. He was worried about Kit and realized he wouldn’t rest easy until he found her. He hadn’t followed immediately because he wanted to be on hand should she decide to return. But too much time had passed since her departure. He knew now she wasn’t coming back, and it was time for him to move on. There was no way in hell he was going to help the Bartons rob a bank. If the law didn’t kill him, his brothers would.

  The night was hot and humid, and the tequila bottle was being passed freely around the campfire. The men drank until the bottle was empty, then one by one they staggered off to bed, filled with tequila and thoughts of their next job. Ryan waited in the hut until he was sure the outlaws were asleep, then he gathered his things and slipped out the door.

  Hugging the ground, he worked his way to the lean-to, where his horse was stabled. Working stealthily, he saddled his mount and tied on his bedroll. Then he threw the saddlebags over his horse’s withers and led the animal away from camp. When no outcry was raised, he mounted and rode hell for leather toward the border.

  Chapter 4

  Kit found a desolate spot outside Tombstone where she felt it safe to make the transformation from Kit to Kitty O’Shay. She’d been riding for two days and felt reasonably certain that she hadn’t been followed. Kitty couldn’t decide if she was disappointed that Ryan hadn’t cared enough to follow or relieved to be rid of him and his infernal questions. A little of both, she suspected.

  Kitty washed thoroughly in a stream of water splashing down from between two rocks, scrubbing her riot of short curls until the blond locks glistened like gold in the sunlight. Then she quickly donned the chemise, petticoat, and dress that Lex had given her months ago. The clothing felt strange, so unlike the trousers she’d worn for so many years.