by Connie Mason
“Thank you, my son, your kindness will be rewarded,” Bert intoned as he drank from the dipper. “I feel much better. May we see the prisoners now?”
“Sure thing, Padre,” the deputy said as he ushered them to the corridor leading to the cell area.
Kitty held her breath, fearing he’d notice that there were only three keys hanging from hooks where there should have been four. She truly believed Padre Enrico’s blessing must have helped, for the deputy didn’t even glance at the row of keys.
“Fifteen minutes,” the deputy called after them as they entered the corridor.
Ryan studied the marks he’d scratched into the wall and realized he had two more days after tonight to live. He’d already eaten his supper and had nothing to look forward to except a long boring night haunted by dreams of Kitty. Once his supper tray had been removed he knew he’d see no one until morning, when either the marshal or a deputy delivered his first meal of the day. There was no light in the cell, only that provided by the sliver of moonlight that had arrived on the heels of dusk.
Stretching out on the shelf that served as his bunk, Ryan stared up at the window and wished he were ten feet tall so he could look out at the world he was about to leave. There was so much he wanted to accomplish before he died. He wanted to help Chad make the Delaney ranch the best spread in Montana. He wanted to bounce his nieces and nephews on his knee. And he wanted something he’d never even considered before. He wanted to look into the faces of his own children. His and Kitty’s.
It was strange how contemplating one’s death brought forth regrets for what might have been. Ryan thought of all those years he’d wasted earning the name Rogue Ryan and wondered if being a womanizer would be the only thing people would remember about him after he was gone. He chuckled despite his gloomy mood. At one time he would have been pleased to have such an epitaph engraved upon his tombstone.
Before Kitty.
Before he’d found love.
Lost in thought, Ryan didn’t immediately hear the footsteps shuffling down the corridor. When he did hear them he leaped to his feet and rushed to the bars. It was so unusual to have visitors after the supper hour that he knew something extraordinary must have happened. His face fell in disappointment when he saw two brown-robed priests stop before his cell.
“You’ve come to the wrong place, Padres,” he said, summoning a smile. “I’m afraid I’m beyond redemption. But I appreciate your effort.”
Suddenly one of the priests threw back his hood, and Ryan’s mouth fell open, shocked to the core. “Kitty!” he hissed. “What in the hell are you doing here dressed like that?” He peered closely at the second priest and nearly lost the ability to speak. When he finally found his voice he blurted out, “Bert! Are you both mad?”
“Shhh,” Kitty warned as she produced the key to his cell and fitted it into the lock.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re breaking you out,” Bert said. “You’re to go into hiding until your brothers and I can prove your innocence.”
“But… but I don’t understand. Where did you get the robes?”
“Right from the source,” Kitty said cryptically as she turned the key and pulled the door open. “There! Hurry, Ryan. Bert is going to create a diversion while you sneak out the rear door. It’s dark enough outside for you to slip into the shadows and make your way to the mission. Padre Enrico will be waiting for you in the chapel. If all goes well here, we’ll join you.”
“You’re both out of your minds,” Ryan whispered. “I can’t allow you to put yourselves in danger for me. Look at you, Bert. You can barely stand on your own two feet.”
“Worry about yourself, Ryan. This is your last chance to escape the hangman. You and Kitty have your whole lives ahead of you. I know my time is limited and wanted to do this for my daughter. It’s the least I can do to atone for all the grief I’ve caused her. Follow us,” he ordered in a tone that brooked no argument. “Stay in the corridor while I create a diversion, then sneak out the rear exit. Understand?”
“Yes, but what about Durango? He might see us and sound the alarm.”
“Durango was sleeping when we walked by,” Kitty said. “Let’s hope he’s still sleeping. Are you ready, Ryan?”
“I will be in a moment,” he said as he pulled Kitty against him and gave her a quick kiss. “Now I’m ready.”
Ryan huddled in Bert’s shadow as they crept down the corridor. Durango was still sleeping, facing away from the bars on his bunk. Relief shuddered through Ryan when they reached the end of the corridor, but they were far from safe. They still had to get past the deputy.
Bert motioned to Ryan to flatten himself against the wall. Ryan sucked in his breath and blessed his dark clothing that helped him to blend into the deep shadows of the corridor.
“We’re finished here, Deputy,” Bert said as he and Kitty stepped out from the corridor and into the main office.
“That didn’t take long,” the deputy said.
“The condemned men were unrepentant,” Bert replied. “Thank…” Suddenly Bert lurched forward, right into the deputy’s arms.
“Padre! Are you all right?”
“Just weak, my son,” Bert whispered shakily. Still hidden in the corridor, Ryan feared Bert’s weakness was more reality than pretence. “Would you be so kind as to help me outside? I fear I cannot mount my mule without your aid. Brother Ambrose is a good soul but he is lacking in strength. Lend me your arm, my son.”
With both arms supporting Bert, the deputy all but carried him outside. Ryan remained watchful as Kitty replaced the key to his cell and scooted out after Bert and the deputy. Once they were out the door, Ryan darted out from the corridor. He already knew where his guns were kept, and he grabbed them from a rack seconds before he made his escape through the rear door.
Chapter 18
Ryan reached the chapel without mishap. Padre Enrico was waiting for him inside. The padre’s cherubic face crinkled into a wide grin when he turned from his prayers and saw Ryan striding down the aisle toward him.
“Senor Delaney! Thank God you have arrived. Did all go well? I have been praying for you.”
“Thank you, Padre,” Ryan returned. “I’m grateful for your help, though I must admit I thought Bert and Kitty were mad to suggest, much less attempt, such a daring move. I shudder to think what will happen to them if the jailbreak is discovered before they make good their escape. Bert is weaker than he’s letting on.”
“Senor Lowry is seriously ill,” the priest said gravely, “but this is something he felt he had to do. He feared for his daughter’s safety. She would have attempted your escape alone even though he forbade it.”
Ryan glanced anxiously toward the door. “They should be here by now. I’ll never forgive myself if anything happens to them. God, I should never have let them talk me into this.”
“We will pray together for their safe arrival,” Padre Enrico said.
Suddenly Ryan heard a commotion at the door and whirled on his heel, his hand reaching for his gun. His hand fell away and he visibly relaxed when he saw Kitty standing in the doorway, her gaze frantically searching for him in the candlelit chapel. Her face lit up when she saw him.
“Ryan. Thank God.”
Ryan opened his arms, and she ran into them, sobbing his name. He held her close, savoring the feel, the scent of her. She felt so right, as if she were made for him. He groaned her name, silently vowing never to let her out of his sight if he emerged from this mess with his life intact. Then his mouth came down on hers, conveying through his kiss how utterly dear she was to him.
“Where is Senor Lowry?” Padre Enrico asked, abruptly pulling Ryan back to reality. Ryan broke off the kiss and looked at Kitty.
“Bert is too weak to dismount by himself,” Kitty said. “He needs your help, Ryan. I knew he shouldn’t have attempted this, but he insisted.”
“There is a small infirmary behind my house where I treat impoverished Indians and Mexicans,” Padre E
nrico explained. “Take him there.”
Ryan reached Bert first and lifted him off the mule. Bert refused to be carried, so Ryan and the priest supported him while he walked. Kitty fussed around him as he shed the robe and sank onto the narrow bunk in the infirmary.
“Shall I get the doctor?” Kitty asked anxiously.
“No, honey, I’ll be fine. I just need to rest. Take Ryan to the cave. I don’t think his absence will be discovered until morning, but we’ve come too far to take chances.”
Kitty seemed reluctant to leave, but Padre Enrico promised to take good care of Bert.
“Leave the robes,” the priest said. “I will return them to my chest before the law arrives.”
“What about Bert?” Ryan wanted to know. “What will they do if he’s found here?”
“Padre Enrico and I are old friends,” Bert said. “I will say that I came here so he could administer to me in my final hours. No one will suspect me of illegal activities. Go to the cave,” he urged. “I can take care of myself.”
“Very well,” Kitty said with a reluctant sigh. She clasped Ryan’s hand as if to lead him away, but Ryan balked.
“Wait. There’s something I wish to do before I go into hiding.”
“Don’t worry about your brothers,” Bert said. “I’ll explain everything to them. We’ll keep you informed as to what is happening in town.”
“It’s not that,” Ryan said, drawing Kitty against him and placing an arm around her shoulders. “I want Padre Enrico to marry Kitty and me first. I don’t want to go another minute without making Kitty my wife.”
The glowing candles could not match Bert’s radiant features. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted this,” he crowed. “You and Kitty were made for one another. I sensed the attraction from the beginning. Knowing that you and Kitty are man and wife will ease my mind considerably.”
Ryan turned a stunned Kitty to face him, his green eyes filled with yearning and hope. “What do you say, Kitten, will you have me?”
“Forever,” Kitty whispered. He felt her tremble and knew her emotions were stretched as taut as his.
“We must hurry, children,” the priest said. “I will marry you here so Senor Lowry can attend the ceremony and act as your witness. Give me a moment to get the Holy Book.” He hurried from the room, leaving Kitty and Ryan staring raptly at one another.
“I love you, Kitten,” Ryan whispered into her ear. “I don’t know what will happen to me, or how I will get out of this mess, but I want you to be my wife for however long we have together.”
“We’re going to share a lifetime together,” Kitty promised. But Ryan wasn’t so certain. His lifetime was likely to be shortened by a rope.
Padre Enrico bustled back into the room, interrupting the tender moment. “I am ready. Join hands, children, while I read the words over you.”
Ryan listened carefully as the priest read the marriage ceremony from his book. Ryan repeated the words that bound him to Kitty. He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face when Kitty spoke her vows. Moments later Padre Enrico pronounced them man and wife. Both the priest and Bert were grinning from ear to ear as Ryan pulled Kitty into his arms and kissed her soundly.
“I will give the marriage paper to Senor Lowry for safekeeping after it is signed. Then I will enter your names and the date into the church records so no one will question the legality of your marriage,” the padre said. “It will only take a few minutes to prepare the document for your signatures, then you must leave. Can you find the cave in the dark, Senorita Kitty?”
“I’m sure I can,” Kitty responded.
After all the legalities were completed, Ryan and Kitty bid Bert farewell.
“I have a plan,” Bert said in parting. “If it succeeds you will be cleared of all charges.”
Ryan wasn’t as confident as Bert seemed to be. He entertained no hopes of having his name cleared any time soon, if ever. His best chance for survival was to lay low for awhile and head up to Montana when the furor died down. He could survive anything as long as Kitty was with him.
Kitty picked her way along the uneven trail, guided by moonlight and the lantern she carried. They reached the end of the path, and Kitty paused at the base of the mountain to get her bearings.
“Where to now?” Ryan asked. His glittering gaze settled on her face, making Kitty shudder with anticipation.
She returned his gaze, thinking it magical the way the moonlight transformed his green eyes into gemlike pools of desire. Kitty shivered. She sensed his hunger and knew it matched hers in intensity. She felt the fluid heat of his scalding gaze surge through her body and settle disconcertingly between her legs.
“Kitten, where to now?” Ryan repeated. “Are you lost?”
“No,” she said, jarred back to reality by his question. “We turn left here and look for a thick growth of sagebrush growing on a ledge a short distance up from the foot of the mountain.”
“Come on,” Ryan said, grasping her hand and pulling her along with him.
“There it is!” Kitty cried, pointing upward. “See that tangle of sagebrush? The mouth of the cave lies behind it.”
Hand in hand they climbed the incline and found the dark, yawning mouth of the cave. Kitty held the lantern high and led the way inside.
“Just like home,” Ryan quipped. “Bedrolls, firewood, cooking pots, lamps, food, everything we need. I reckon I have you to thank for this.”
“Me and Padre Enrico. Some things, like the pots, firewood, and lamps were already here. I provided the rest.”
Ryan advanced into the cave and lit a second lantern. When he held out his hand to Kitty, her heart beat louder than a hundred drums.
“Shall we find that pool you told me about?” Ryan said. “The stench of jail clings to me, and I don’t want to offend you on our wedding night. We can bathe together.”
Ryan found a bar of soap and towels Kitty had included with her supplies, then took the lantern from Kitty and led the way down a narrow passageway leading off to the left of the main cavern. They found the pool at the end of the tunnel.
“I hope the water isn’t too cold,” Ryan said as he set the lantern down on the smooth dirt floor close to the edge of the pool.
“Or too deep,” Kitty added.
“Do you need help undressing?” The low timbre of his voice sent shivers of awareness dancing over her skin. He wanted her. Nothing had ever been more apparent to her. And God help her, she wanted him, only this time when he released his seed inside her they would be man and wife.
“I can undress myself,” Kitty replied. But her hands shook so badly that she couldn’t seem to manage the fastenings on the front of her dress.
“Here, let me,” Ryan said, pushing her hands aside. He gave her a cocky grin. “I’m better at this than you are.”
“You’d better not play the rogue for anyone but me,” Kitty warned him. “I’m a jealous woman, Ryan Delaney.”
“And I’m a jealous man,” he replied as he shoved her dress over her shoulders and down her arms. Then Kitty took over, pushing her dress past her hips and stepping out of it.
She watched his eyes kindle with desire as she lowered the straps to her chemise and sent it to the ground with her dress. She wore no corset, just drawers and stockings. She hesitated a moment, then quickly stripped them off.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered with a reverence that touched Kitty’s heart. “It’s been so long. I feared I’d never be able to touch you again, to feel the softness of your skin, to taste your passion or hear you cry out your pleasure. Sometimes I’d close my eyes and recall the splendor of the moment when we first made love.”
His passionate words sent Kitty’s senses reeling. Heat suffused her body. At first she feared the water would be too cold, but her skin was so hot that she would welcome the coolness.
“I don’t want to touch you, love. Not yet, not until I’m clean.”
Kitty watched him undress with avid anticipation, caressing him wit
h her eyes as he bared his flesh. He might have lost some weight but not the rippling muscles lying beneath the taut layer of skin, Kitty thought. His body was still magnificent, if somewhat pale from his enforced imprisonment. Splendidly male and so damn handsome he took her breath away. Her eyes moved over him with slow perusal, starting with his face and moving down to his… she gasped aloud when she reached his groin. His staff was already hard and swollen, rising boldly against his stomach.
“Keep on looking at me like that and I’ll forget my filth and take you right here,” he said in a strangled voice.
Kitty’s gaze shot upward to his face. His eyes were narrowed into glittering green slits as his hungry gaze devoured her. At that precise moment she didn’t give a hoot about dirt. She reached for him, but Ryan must have read her mind, for he turned abruptly and dove into the pool. He came up in the middle, sputtering and pushing his hair out of his eyes.
“It’s not deep at all,” he said. “I can touch bottom here. It is cool, but refreshing. Bring the soap when you come in.”
Kitty picked up the soap, dipped her toe into the water, and shivered. “It’s chilly,” she moaned. “Maybe I should get wet a little at a time.”
She started into the pool, advancing slowly, until the water lapped at her knees. She paused and looked for Ryan, alarmed when she failed to locate him in the dimly lit cavern. She squealed in surprise when he shot up in front of her, dripping water all over her. Then he dragged her beneath the water. She came up gasping and sputtering.
“Damn you! I’ve a good mind to whip your sorry ass!”
“Still the foulmouthed little wildcat, I see,” Ryan laughed.
“Did you expect me to change overnight?” she retorted.
He handed her the soap. “I don’t ever want you to change. I love you just the way you are. Wash my back, love. After I’m clean I’ll build a fire to warm you while you have your bath.”