“What question?”
“About whether you were sorry for kissing me.”
“I didn’t mean that.”
Well, then, what exactly had he meant? He frowned as he tried to concentrate on the pictures pasted on the wall behind her. There was one of a rejuvenating tonic, guaranteed to put new life into a man. He sure didn’t need any of that. He looked at a picture of a cat looking up into a tree. He liked that one. Cats were safe subjects. Trees were safe.
“What are you sorry for?” she persisted.
Reluctantly, his gaze returned to her face. “About being a little reckless with my branding. And for the things I said at the cabin.”
“Oh. You mean about the fooling.”
“About that, yeah,” he breathed. Then after a pause, while he was still frowning, he said, “I thought you’d be tired by now.”
“I am, but I’m having trouble falling asleep.”
“Try,” he said. He closed his eyes. But after the space of several heartbeats, his eyes shot open again. The woman was touching him. She had laid her hand on his bare chest. It felt like a jolt of lightning had gone through his entire body.
“Hetty.” He said gruffly as he reached up to stop her hand.
“You risked your life rescuing me,” she said softly. “It was very noble of you.”
Noble? At the moment it didn’t seem like there was a noble bone in his body.
“The honest truth,” he told her in a low voice. “Is that I don’t always succeed at nobility.”
“I think I’ve seen you succeed a time or two.”
He was trying like hell to ignore her nearness. But he might as well have tried to stop the rain from falling on the roof. He forced himself to stare at the picture of the cat.
“So everything that I have heard about you is not true?” she went on.
“I don’t know all that you have heard.”
“That you were a wolf with women.” She searched the deeply-shadowed planes of his face.
“A wolf, huh? I suppose that particular rumor would come along as part of the role I was playing.”
“So when you- put your brand on me, it was all because of a role you were playing?”
Saying yes would be lying. Before he could think of an answer, she asked another question.
“And were you playing the same role with your saloon girl?”
“No, Hetty.” His gaze held hers steadily. “That particular rumor was a lie. There never was another woman.”
The back of her fingers feathered lightly along his heated flesh as she thought that over. He held his breath.
Cat. Focus on the damned cat.
But Hetty’s hand boldly continued its exploration. It moved slowly down the middle of his chest. When her hand reached his belly and the dark line of hair there, his own hand closed around hers again. “Honey, if you keep touching me that way, I’m going to run right out of noble.” His voice was low and husky, sending arrows of heat straight down her middle.
Even through two layers of heavy wool blanket, Hetty could feel the heat of his body. It drew her like a magnet.
He had let go of her hand. But in spite of his warning, it was his turn to do some exploring. His fingers trailed along the side of her face. His thumb skimmed lightly across her lips. Her eyes closed at the gentleness of his touch.
“So you’ve been warned,” he whispered.
“What makes you think I want noble at the moment?” she whispered back.
“I have been known to be a little reckless with my branding where you are concerned,” he reminded her. “And that could get me in some trouble. I’ve been slapped before.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about that.” She was playing with fire. She knew it. But at the moment she wasn’t afraid of getting burned.
“Then again . . . ” Drawn by the sultry softness of her voice, Jesse had leaned slightly forward. His mouth was hovering close to hers now. “Some things might be worth a slap or two.”
“I think- ”
She didn’t finish what it was that she was about to say. Jesse’s mouth had closed over hers. He was kissing her. Deeply. Thoroughly. When he drew back, his breath was as unsteady as hers.
“Know what I think?” he breathed as he pulled her hard against him, molding her body to his. “That all that fooling before didn’t come close to being enough.”
He kissed her again till her blood ran hot in response. Her body ached with need and longing. He pulled the blankets free and flesh melded to flesh.
Warmth. Heat. Fire. Jesse’s kisses made Hetty dizzy. She felt the heated trail of his kisses down the side of her neck. She felt the rasp of his beard on the softness of her breasts. His hunger fed her hunger. His need drew out her own need.
Hetty had no intention of stopping him. In fact, she could not get enough of Jesse. It felt right with him. It had always felt right with him. The storm raging outside reminded her of another storm long ago. But it was very tame compared to the one inside. Jesse was storming her heart. Her very soul.
Emboldened by desire, instinct led her on. She learned the power she had over him. She trembled at the power he had over her. She took and she surrendered. Need coiled deep within her, building with an urgency that demanded fulfillment. She gasped when at last he thrust deep inside her. She shuddered at the utter want and was soon moving with him in an ancient dance, matching the sensuous rhythm of his body with her own desperate hunger.
His name was on her lips when she got lost somewhere among the stars. while Jesse, easing back from his own release, continued to hold her in a loving embrace.
Hetty sighed. A deep contentment like none she had ever known settled slowly over her as she curled up like the cat on the wall behind her and fell asleep in Jesse’s arms.
Chapter 24
Hetty didn’t remember falling asleep. It was still dark when she awoke. The wind had died down outside. It wasn’t howling through the cracks any more. She massaged her sore shoulder and realized that she had barely been aware of the pain last night. In fact, she had almost forgotten it entirely. She had been too preoccupied with Jesse. She didn’t regret anything that had happened last night. In fact, she wanted nothing more than to have Jesse make love to her again.
But there was an urgency in Jesse as he helped her dress. And while there was no trace of last night’s passion, he did kiss her once briefly before they set off once again into the cold, starless darkness.
Jesse would have spent long hours making love to Hetty if their circumstances had been different. But to keep her alive and safe, they had to continue their flight. Thrall would have just one thing on his mind. To find Hetty.
“We’ll make for Sara’s cabin,” he told Hetty as they rode. “From there it won’t be far to the Circle I. There are enough armed men there to fight off an attack.”
“Do you think it will come to that?” she asked, alarmed.
“I’m hoping not,” he said to allay her fears. “But it will be the safest place for you.”
It was slow going. The wind might have died, but the temperature stayed close to freezing. And the sky was a dull, saturated grey with no sunlight to chase away the cold.
The weary horses were struggling over the frozen slippery ground. And just as Sara’s cabin came in sight, a freezing mist began to fall from the sky.
“We’ll stay here for a little while,” Jesse said. “And rest the horses.”
They would not stop long enough for a fire, but would continue on to the Circle I as soon as the horses looked like they were up to it.
“Stay inside,” Jesse said before he went outside again to see to the horses.
Hetty wrapped a blanket around her in the cabin and waited. It wasn’t long before she heard heavy boot steps on the porch outside. The door was suddenly flung open. She caught her breath sharply.
“You seem surprised to see me,” she heard.
Standing on the threshold was the man she had known as Brent Marsten. The outlaw she now knew as Th
rall.
Her eyes darted past him to the door he had just closed. She got to her feet. Where was Jesse? Did he know Thrall was here or was Jesse walking into a trap? Or did the fact that Thrall was standing here mean something had already happened to Jesse?
“Where’s Jesse?” she couldn’t keep herself from asking,
Thrall’s mouth thinned into a humorless smile. “Is that all you have to say to me? I’ve come a long way to find you.”
He turned his face aside for a long moment as something dark seethed through him. He looked back at her. “He made a mistake thinking he could take you away from me,” Thrall said. “He can’t have you. No other man will ever have you.”
He was watching her face carefully to see what reaction his words might have on her.
“Why would you want me if I know what you are and I despise you for it?”
“Because I want you, Hetty. It’s that simple.”
“Even if it’s against my will?” she asked incredulously. “And you don’t think there will be consequences?”
He let his breath out in a low, humorless laugh. “If it’s against your will, Hetty, then that’s your choice. I have learned to take what I want in this life. It’s the difference between success and failure. Weakness will get you nowhere.”
Scorn was blazing in her eyes when she asked, “Are you going to drag me off into the hills like you did Sara and her child?”
“No,” he said, taking a step closer to her. “We’ll go on to the Circle I. You’ll tell your uncle that we want to get married.”
A few moments passed before she could ask, “And if I don’t?”
“I’ll kill your uncle on the spot. And anyone else that gets in my way.”
The color drained from her face. “You won’t get away with it. Too many people know who you are.”
“I’m not afraid of any man. You’ll tell how much you love me, how much you’ve always loved me and that you can’t wait for us to take our vows.”
“You mean I’ll lie.”
His eyes grew even harder as he stared back at her. “You’ll keep quiet about everything. Or your uncle is dead. And Pierce Champlin, too. Of course, if you want to play this a different way, I can arrange that, too. I have men planted at the Circle I that will do whatever I tell them to do. After I take over the Circle I, no one will dare challenge me.”
A gunshot rang out, startling her.
“He probably never knew what hit him.” A new light gleamed in Thrall’s eyes. “I see that thought distresses you.”
A chair stood between them. Without warning, he stepped forward and shoved the chair violently out of the way. He wasted no time in lunging for her. He pressed her up against the wall with his body and sneered down at her. “Did you fight him this way?”
Maddened by her reaction to the gunshot and her obvious concern for Jesse, Thrall grabbed her face and ruthlessly forced her to look up at him. Another shot rang out. And then another. And still another. His lips twisted in a chilling smile when he saw the worry in her eyes. “I told them,” he purred down at her.. “To make sure he was good and dead.”
She struggled against him but he only held her tighter. “You won’t get away from me. So there’s no use trying,” he hissed through clenched teeth. He jerked her face painfully to emphasize his words. “You can fight me, or you can make this easy on yourself. Either way, you’ll come.” He let go of her suddenly, taking one step away from her, as if to test her obedience.
She had only one thought. To get to Jesse. Thrall read what was in her eyes. “If you want to see him so badly, that can be arranged.” He grabbed hold of her arm. “Let’s go see your lover.” He shoved her towards the door.
Since the moment he had learned that Jesse McLaren had bragged about some claim to Hetty, jealously had been like a consuming venom within Thrall. He longed to punish her, to crush her, to drive her to her knees and make her beg for forgiveness.
He wanted her to see the bastard dead. And he wanted her to remember that he had been the one who had had him killed.
“You’ll say your goodbye,” he said viciously as he pushed her through the doorway. “Then we’ll go for a little ride, you and me.”
But Thrall had been wrong. Jesse had been aware of the other men. He had not been surprised. He hadn’t expected them to come here, however. They must have ridden half the night. Thrall must have intended to push on to the Circle I.
There had been two of them. One was lying motionless in the mud at his feet. He didn’t see the other man. But Jesse knew his aim had been true there, too. He had heard the other man cry out and saw him fall. His only thought now was to get to Hetty.
The mist was still falling when Thrall stepped out onto the porch. Hetty didn’t know what to expect, but relief washed over her when she saw Jesse standing in the mist-veiled gloom. Lightning flickered briefly over him as he stood motionless before her.
Stopping short, Thrall jerked Hetty in front of him. She felt his gun press hard into her side.
“One second and it’s over,” he warned.
Jesse didn’t move. “Is this how you’ll finish it? Hiding behind a woman?”
For the space of several heartbeats, Thrall was silent as he continued to hold Hetty tightly before him. And then he shoved her roughly away from him. She hit the railing hard and then backed away from him.
Thrall didn’t hesitate any longer. He stepped heavily off the porch. Neither man’s eyes left the other’s as they positioned themselves in the yard.
“Hetty,” she heard Jesse say. “Stay up there.”
“Yes, stay there, Hetty,” Thrall’s jeer was mocking. “Until I come and get you.”
More than his obsession to possess Hetty, was Thrall’s hatred for the man facing him. Behind the hatred was jealousy and the driving need to prove who was stronger, who was faster, who would win. Thrall could not concede defeat. Ever. His inner demons would not allow it.
Thrall was in a slight crouch now, his hands curving a little at his sides. “So, two men weren’t enough to take you down,” he said. His chin thrust out belligerently towards Jesse. “But I see that at least one of their bullets was effective.”
Hetty realized then, with an inward stab of anxiety, that there was blood dripping from Jesse’s fingers.
“And my men?” Thrall asked.
“Not so effective right now,” Jesse replied evenly.
Thrall breathed a hard laugh. In his eyes, Hetty saw confidence. And certainty. He had no doubts that he would win this battle, this match of wills and speed. And more, she saw that he was looking forward to it. Blood lust was driving him now. He was eager to kill Jesse, to prove himself the better man.
There was that breathless moment before violence when neither man moved. Hetty saw another flash of lightning. She heard the low warning of thunder. And then, as if she were watching a dream play out before her, both men acted swiftly and without warning, like snakes striking at the same time. The reports of both weapons seemed to roar at the same time. Flames shot out into the darkness.
Hetty held her breath as the scene before her froze and seemed to come to a standstill. And then she saw that Jesse’s bullet had struck Thrall in the chest. Thrall stood rigid, one hand pressed tightly over the wound, a look of incredulity in his eyes. His legs doubled under him and he sank, the gun still held in his hand while a dark stain spread from beneath the hand clutching his chest. He wavered on his knees for a moment and then pitched forward into the mud, his gun dropping from his loosening fingers.
Jesse stood where he was, watching Thrall, making sure he was no longer a threat. From the porch, Hetty watched Jesse sway. The lightning revealed his pallor. Moments later she was at his side. Blood was still dripping from his hand. And the blood was welling from another wound in his shoulder.
Jesse had been shot. More than once. She refused to think she could lose him. She had to get him to the Circle I. She had to get him home.
Chapter 25
“Hav
e you spoken to her?” Pierce waited for a reply.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not sure how she feels.”
“That’s why you need to speak to her,” Pierce told a frowning Jesse.
The truth was that Jesse had been impatient to be with Hetty alone. But it had proven to be damned near impossible. She was surrounded at all times by an army of friends and relatives.
“I have been meaning to talk to her,” Jesse said, crossing his hands on his saddle horn.
“And you don’t think your silence has been speaking a great deal to her?”
Jesse pulled the brim of his hat down against the rays of the setting sun. “I’m not exactly sure what to say to her.”
Pierce looked up at the tree limbs above him as if seeking help there. “You have done something most men couldn’t do. You have single-handedly broken up an outlaw band. Yet you’re not sure what to say to Hetty? Decide what you want to say. And then just say it.”
It wasn’t that easy, Jesse thought as he squinted out at the deepening crimson of the sunset.
“That new sheriff sure isn’t having any trouble knowing what to say to her.”
Jesse looked around at Pierce who had removed his hat and was brushing his hair back. He replaced the hat.
“She’s never alone,” Jesse said, frustration finally finding expression in his voice.
Pierce shrugged. “Then you don’t have any choice. You’ll have to force your way through a crowd.”
Jesse lifted a dark brow as he thought it over. He finally sighed and shook his head slowly, one corner of his mouth quirking into a faint smile. He looked at the man beside him and said, “There are a few things I have to do first.”
When Hetty awoke that morning, it was to see the ground covered with white. But the snow that had come so suddenly late last night was quickly melting away under the bright morning sun. Streams of melting snow ran along the road ditches. The road itself was a mass of muddy hoof prints and deep wagon wheel tracks.
It was late in the year but it felt like Spring. It was warm enough to sit on Amaline’s front porch. Sunlight poured onto the porch, gleaming on the wood floor as Hetty sat on the swing, slowly rocking it back and forth.
A Restless Wind Page 18