by Bobbi Smith
"You look funny in those clothes," Rafael said, seeing what she was wearing.
Cody giggled with them. "I had to wash my dress, so Maria loaned me these to wear until my dress is dry."
"You have pretty hair," Chica remarked in amazement as she stared at the cascade of burnished tresses that fell in long waves past Cody's shoulders.
"Thank you. I don't get the opportunity to let it down much anymore."
Gunfire erupted again, followed by more loud shouts and curses.
"Will you sing to us?" Chica asked, her eyes wide and imploring.
"I'll sing, but only if you sing with me," Cody told them with a smile.
Both children beamed, and they went to sit on the bed with her. The two nestled close on either side of Cody as she began to sing a sweet hymn. The children joined in.
"You sing pretty," Chica said.
"Why, thank you. You sing pretty, too."
"I'm glad you're here," Rafael told her, gazing up at her as if she were an angel.
Cody gave them each a tender hug. "I'm glad I'm here, too. Otherwise I would never have gotten to meet you." In that moment, she meant it.
The two children giggled, relaxing now that they felt safe with her.
"Can you tell us a story? The one about the big boat and all the animals?"
Cody laughed and began telling the tale of Noah and the Ark.
Luke had matched Hadley and Sully drink for drink as they'd stood around the fire, speaking of El Diablo's new plan. Juana and the other women danced their pleasure before them, eager to keep their men happy now that they were back. Liquor was flowing freely, whiskey and tequila both, and drunkenness became the order of the night.
Juana went to Sully and clung to him, whispering all the lurid things she wanted to do to him in his ear. He openly fondled her for a minute, but then his mood suddenly turned foul. He shoved her away from him.
"I want something fresh ...I don't want no woman who's already been with every man in camp," he snarled.
"I was good enough for you a couple of hours ago," she snapped.
Sully slapped her across the face for talking back to him. "You ain't good enough for me now. Where is she?" He leered about the campfire. "Where's the preacher woman?" His gaze settled on Luke.
"That's none of your business," he answered tersely.
"It's my business. I found her first. Where're you hidin' her? You've had her to yourself long enough. Now it's my turn."
Luke had always known this moment would come. He only hoped that now that it was here, the others would back him up. He didn't want to kill Sully, but he had to keep him away from Sister Mary. "I wouldn't worry about her, if I were you. She's probably off somewhere praying for our souls."
"I don't want her praying for my soul. I don't give a damn about my soul. I want her to pray for this ache I got right here." He grabbed himself demonstratively. "Maybe if she prays over this..."
The other men laughed loudly at his crudeness.
"I'll ease your ache," Juana offered. She was still tasting blood from her cut lip, but she couldn't bear the thought that Sully wanted the preacher woman more than he wanted her.
"Shut up."
"I know I can make you feel good. I know exactly what you like and how you like it."
Sully reached out, snared her arm, and twisted it violently. "I said shut up." He shoved her away from him. "I got a taste for some fresher meat tonight, and I mean to be satisfied."
"I'd take Juana up on her offer, if I were you," Luke said slowly. His gaze was cold and deadly as he stared at Sully.
"I'm tired of Juana. I want the preacher woman."
"I told you that she was mine, and what's mine, I keep."
His quietly spoken words sent shock waves through the gang. Silence fell over the crowd. Hadley looked up and at the sight of Sully confronting Luke, he shook his head in disgust.
"You're one of us now. You should share what is yours," Sully argued, concentrating only on his need to put the high and mighty preacher woman in her place. He was just the man to do it, too. He could teach her some things she'd never find in the Bible.
"You didn't hear me, Sully," Luke repeated. "I don't share. Not my gun, not my horse, and not my woman."
"Why you..." Sully started to draw. By the time his hand reached leather, Luke already had his gun out and had it trained on the center of Sully's chest.
"I'm feeling generous tonight, or you'd already be dead."
"Gentlemen..." Hadley stepped between them. He was smiling, but it was only to cover his fury at the drunken Sully. "Tonight is a night for revelry, not gunfights. Is there a problem?" He glanced from man to man.
"Ask Sully," Luke ground out, gun still in hand.
"Sully?"
Sully blanched as he slowly moved his hand away from his sidearm. He wanted to gut-shoot Majors. He wanted to see him down and screaming in pain. He wanted him dead. The preacher woman had humiliated him, and now Majors had, too. One day they were both going to pay. He'd make them sorry they'd ever crossed him.
"No, no problem here." He was sullen, glaring at Majors.
"Good," Hadley said.
"I don't want to see you anywhere near Sister Mary," Luke told Sully. "Remember what happened tonight anytime you start thinking about taking her."
The others were impressed by Luke's nerve.
Sully was cussing vilely as he stormed off. Juana was tempted to follow him, but knew better. He had already hurt her twice tonight, and in the mood he was in, there was no telling how vicious he would be. She would bide her time before she approached him again. She valued her life too much to ask for trouble.
Luke shared a few more drinks with Hadley.
"You know you made a deadly enemy in Sully tonight, don't you?" Hadley remarked as he handed Luke a bottle of whiskey.
Luke turned an inscrutable look on him. "The important question is, does Sully know that he made a deadly enemy in me?"
Hadley saw the coldness in Luke's expression. "Just watch your back. Sully has a lot of friends in camp."
"You one of them?"
"I am."
Luke nodded silently. After taking a deep drink from the bottle Hadley had handed him, he gave it back and turned and walked away.
As Luke approached the cabin, he could see a dim light glowing from the cabin window. He was glad to know that Sister Mary was inside, safely out of harm's way.
Moving past the window, he glanced inside. He expected to see Sister Mary clad in her highnecked, long-sleeved gown sitting quietly reading or doing whatever it was that she did when he wasn't around. Instead, he stopped short at the sight that greeted him. Sister Mary, or at least he thought it was Sister Mary, was sitting on the bed, talking softly with two small children, one on either side of her.
Luke frowned. He knew it was she. Who else could it be? Yet she looked so completely different that he could only stare in amazement. Her hair was down, tumbling around her shoulders in a silken, burnished mass. He had never realized the beauty of the color before. She was wearing loosefitting men's garb, but there was absolutely nothing masculine about the way she looked in the clothing. The soft cotton shirt hung fully around her, yet hinted at the sweet curves beneath. The pants were short, baring a good length of her slender calves to his gaze. The soft light emphasized the creaminess of her complexion, and, though she still wore the glasses, she looked young and desirable. The memory of her kiss and how she'd felt when he'd held her returned, and he knew a driving urge to take her in his arms again.
He wanted her. Damn, but he wanted her.
Luke started for the door. One thing was on his mind. And then they started singing.
The lighthearted song gave him pause. It was one that he remembered distantly from his childhood. The voices of the children were high, clear, and sweet, and when Sister Mary joined them in singing the refrain, he was mesmerized. The words of the song swelled around him, stirring old memories. He opened the cabin door and stood there, staring at the three of
them.
Cody had allowed herself to relax and forget everything, to enjoy this time with the children. When the door opened so abruptly, she looked up fearfully, for she realized too late that she'd let her guard down. At the sight of Luke, she was relieved, but then she saw the look in his eyes. She suddenly realized that her hair was still unbound and she was wearing men's clothes. She struggled to main tain her equilibrium as she smiled at him.
"Children, say hello to Mr. Majors."
They did so in chorus.
"Go on home," Luke directed almost tersely.
Cody sensed that there was something very different about him as he stood there. She could smell the whiskey on him; she knew all about the dangers of drunken men. "We were just singing some songs I remembered from when I was a child," she said, hoping to distract him from whatever was on his mind.
"The singing's over for tonight," he said. He wanted to be alone with her. He wanted to hold her, to touch her, to kiss her, to free the flesh-andblood woman within her that she kept so tightly under control.
The two children looked at Cody, but she gave them a small, tight smile. "I guess you'd better go. I'll see you first thing in the morning."
"Are you still gonna be dressed like that?" Chica and Rafael giggled.
"No, I'll be wearing my own dress again." She laughed with them. "Good night, now."
They gave her quick hugs and ran from the cabin, leaving her alone to face Luke.
"You should have joined in with us. You might have enjoyed it," she said, feeling suddenly more nervous than she ever had in all the time she'd been with him. As Sister Mary, wearing her highnecked dress and carrying the Bible, she could handle him. As a woman, she had never dealt with a man like Luke before.
"Singing isn't what I do best."
"What do you do best?" she asked, trying to redirect the conversation.
"It depends on who you ask," he said with a wry smile as he crossed the room to her.
Cody had to tilt her head back to look up at him. She saw the strange light in his eyes and knew she was in a very tricky situation. "If you'd like, I could wash your shirt for you," she offered.
Luke began to unbutton it, revealing the furred width of his powerful chest to her gaze. She tried to look away, but he seemed to fill her entire range of vision. "Thanks. It needs it."
"And there's some clean water in the bowl there, if you'd like to wash."
He shrugged out of the shirt and tossed it on the small table as he went to wash.
"I'll take care of this right now," she told him, intending to run down to the stream and stay there until he fell asleep.
"No, stay right where you are. You can wash it in the morning."
"But what will you wear?"
"It doesn't matter. I don't want you leaving here." His reasoning was sound. Sully was out there.
Cody, however, didn't know why he was forbidding her to leave, and it angered her.
"There's no reason why I can't do it now. That way it will be dry for you by morning."
Luke turned and grabbed her by the wrist as she reached for the shirt. The contact was electric.
"I told you to stay right here." His tone was threatening as his gaze met hers.
Cody instinctively recognized the raw, hungry desire revealed there and knew she was way out of her depth. Luke wanted her. Yet with that realization, something stirred within the feminine heart of her, something that took pride in seeing that look in his eyes, something that responded to him in the same way. Cody knew she should draw away, but she couldn't. The touch of his hand upon her arm was searing. She could only gaze up at him, mesmerized by the strength and sheer male beauty of him.
"I..." She tried to speak, to say something that would jerk them both back to reality, but no words would come as Luke slowly drew her to him.
Luke didn't stop until they were but a breath apart. Without another word, he kissed her. He could feel her trembling. He could feel her heart racing as he clasped her to him. It was a soft kiss at first, but then he heard her whimper, softly, sweetly, and he could not control himself. He crushed her in his arms, his mouth plundering hers, seeking the sweetness of her, tasting her, letting her know just how much he wanted her.
Cody was lost in the ferocity of his embrace. She'd known her attraction to him was strong, but she'd never dreamed it could be like this. Without the protection of her long-sleeved, high-necked gown, not to mention the Bible, she was defenseless against the overwhelming male power of him. And she liked it.
Looping her arms around his neck, she clung to him. Her knees threatened to buckle before his sensual assault.
His lips left hers to explore her throat, and his hand slipped beneath the loose shirt to cup her bare breast. Cody stiffened, frightened by the force of the feelings that surged through her at that contact. It was electrifying. It was exciting, and it frightened her, for no man had ever touched her so intimately before.
"No!" She tried to escape, but his arms were like bands of steel around her.
"Easy, sweet," he murmured. He sought her lips again in a coaxing kiss as his hand remained on her breast, caressing the soft fullness, exploring the taut peak.
Cody had never known the sensations that were vibrating through her. She felt vulnerable. She wanted to flee, to run from him. Yet at the same time, a part of her wanted to stay... to know more.
His touch was heaven; then a flash of sanity assailed her. This was an outlaw! God only knew what terrible things he'd done in his life. She should be taking him at gunpoint, not kissing him like a wanton!
Loathing filled Cody at the thought that she'd forgotten the reason she was there. She was Cody Jameson, bounty hunter. She was there to do a job. She might give her all to bring a man in, but she wasn't giving this much all! Bedding Luke was not part of the deal. Anger at her own weakness surged through her, and with a herculean effort she tore herself from his arms.
"I know you can force me to your will, but know this: I will not come to you freely." She backed toward the bed.
Luke's breathing was harsh as he stared at her. She looked the wild-eyed, passionate temptress. Her hair was a glory about her, and her breasts were heaving beneath the shirt. His body ached to be one with hers. He took a step toward her, wanting to be close to her. It was then that he saw why she had backed to the bed and what her hand was resting on...the Bible.
He stopped.
The Bible. Her Bible. She was Sister Mary. She preached moral living, not sin and lust. She sang hymns and prayed with the women and children. She was honest, and forthright, and a total innocent in the ways of men.
In that instant, all the passion drained from him. The heat that had been driving him cooled, and he was filled with self-loathing. Had he gone on with what he'd intended, he would have done just what she'd accused him of. He would have seduced her. He would have forced her to go against her every moral standard. He would have bent her to his will, and made love to her.
And when he'd been through despoiling her, he would have hated himself.
The thought was sobering. He wondered if all the time he was spending with these outlaws was affecting him.
Luke told himself he wasn't degenerating. He told himself it was just because she'd looked beautiful tonight. He also told himself that she'd damned well better put her ugly dress back on and tie up her hair real quick.
But he said nothing. He only stared at her, seeing the determination in her eyes not to succumb to him.
"Go to bed. I won't bother you," he said harshly, then turned and strode from the cabin.
Cody couldn't move for a moment. She'd been terrified that he wouldn't stop. She'd been terrified, too, that if he didn't stop, she wouldn't have the willpower to resist him. Her emotions confused her. She had never felt this way about a man before.
She sat down heavily on the bed, and realized then that she'd had her hand resting on her Bible. She opened it now and touched her father's gun. That weapon was her last line of defense,
and, right now, she needed a defense of some kind against this attraction she had for Luke. That thought alone was a powerful motivator. It was her job to bring him in, not seduce him. He was a wanted man, and she didn't mean desired.
Cody got up and blew out the lamp. She sat back down in the darkness to think. A long time passed before she made her decision. She knew what she had to do. She could not stay. She had to get away from Luke, far and fast. She would make her escape, and she would do it tonight. Cody twisted her hair up into a tight bun again and started to get ready.
Luke stalked away from the cabin and did not look back. Guilt riddled him. Was he no better than Sully? Had he become such a lowlife that he was reduced to seducing innocents? He had never imagined that Sister Mary was so lovely. He marveled at how good a defense her preacher woman's clothes were. No man would ever have guessed how beautiful she really was, even wearing the glasses.
Again Luke found himself regretting the direction his life had taken. Sister Mary was a good woman, a gentle woman, a God-fearing woman. He was a fast gun, whom most in polite society thought was a cold-blooded killer. Their kind didn't mix. She might be trying to redeem him, but he doubted he could be saved. The situation in Del Fuego was the perfect example. He'd been trying to start a new life, to wipe the slate clean and begin again, and what had it gotten him? He'd been accused of bank robbery and murder and thrown in jail. Luke gave a disbelieving shake of his head as he rejoined the others near the fire.
"You came back," Juana said with a smile as she sat down beside him.
"I felt like doing some more drinking," he answered.
Juana silently handed him a bottle of tequila. The night passed slowly for Luke. He sat there before the flames of the fire, staring into their searing depths. He wondered if his soul was going to end up burning in hell. He took another deep drink.
Cody waited over an hour before she plumped up the cover to make it look like she was in bed, and then crept from the cabin. She donned the sombrero and carried the Bible. She'd thought about carrying the gun openly, but decided against it. The Bible had proven so far to be a far better defense than any bullet could ever have been.