He let the image take over. Her creamy legs spread wide as he slid his tongue and lips up the inner muscles. Every inch more delectable than the one before. Until he reached the dark brown curls covering the swollen pink lips of her pussy.
Dark brown curls?
What the hell? Dakota’s eyes popped open. His hand left the hard bulge pushing into his britches. Lacy didn’t have creamy skin. Hers was more the color of light honey. The curls covering her sex were the same soft russet as her hair.
Who the hell was the woman he swore he’d just been making love to in that vision? Why had it seemed so real?
Outside he heard hooves signaling the approach of a horse.
He pulled his rifle butt into his chest and aimed at the entrance. Then gave the whippoorwill call and waited.
A moment later the answering hawk call came.
Quinn had returned. All thoughts of the sexy vision and mysterious woman were pushed aside.
“’Bout time you got back,” he said, lowering the weapon as Lacy stepped into the shelter wearing only her boots and Quinn’s shirt, followed by Quinn carrying a bundle of Lacy’s wet clothes. “What happened?”
“There’s one less outlaw for us to drug at the valley.” Quinn laid the clothes out by the fire, then snared one of the three stakes from the fire and handed it to him. “He planned to rape and kill Lacy, but only after she told him where she’d hidden the stolen payroll. How’s your head?”
“Head hurts.” He stared at Lacy. “You hid the stolen payroll from them? That’s why Devil wants you back so badly?”
Lacy nodded, pulling her blanket around her body and huddling near the fire. Dakota took in her damp hair, her soaked clothes, her forlorn look.
“How did he plan to kill her? By drowning her?”
“I did that,” she said, pulling a piece of meat off the other stake Quinn had handed her. “I refuse to wear that piece of cow dung’s blood on my clothes or body.”
Dakota lifted one brow at Quinn.
“Yeah. Seems our pet doesn’t mind me killing the sidewinder, but didn’t appreciate getting covered with his blood.” He pulled off a leg from the remaining quail and ate. “Can’t say as I blame her. He was an ugly son-of-a-bitch.”
That brought a snort of laughter from Lacy, who grimaced and wrinkled her nose. “You were lucky all you had to do was look at him. He smelled like something a buzzard wouldn’t even eat.”
Both men laughed.
They ate silently until the quail had been consumed. Quinn poured them all coffee from the pot warming in the fire’s embers, then sat near Dakota.
“Lacy, come here,” he commanded with a pat to his lap.
Wondering what had gotten into Quinn’s craw, Dakota lifted a brow, but sipped his coffee and kept his silence. Lacy was Quinn’s woman and he knew best how to handle her, but he knew Quinn. When he got that quiet authority in his voice, he wasn’t pleased.
Still clutching the blanket around her body, Lacy settled on Quinn’s lap, relaxing against him.
He held her for a few moments, rubbing his hand up and down her arm and back. “When exactly were you going to tell us you’d taken the payroll from Devil?” he finally asked.
Ah! That was what had him pissed. She’d kept the secret about the money from him. Quinn didn’t like secrets.
“After you took Devil prisoner. I buried the gold in the valley. It was too heavy for me to carry out alone.” Eyes focused on her metal cup, she sipped her coffee.
Silence hung in the air. Dakota and Quinn exchanged glances. They knew there wasn’t just gold in the payroll.
“What did you do with the paper money? Is that how you bought your frilly underwear?” Tension edged Quinn’s voice.
Dakota fought his own rising anger. They’d assumed her purely innocent in the robbery, but could they forgive her using stolen money tainted with their father’s blood to buy frivolities?
Lacy lifted tear-rimmed eyes to look at them. “You really think I would take blood money for my own use? That’s why I stole it from Devil and his men. That’s why I hid it. No one, not even me, should profit from murder. Stealing is wrong, but that…that…it’s just evil.”
She swiped at the tears running unchecked down her cheeks. Her back ramrod straight now, lips pressed into a thin line, she looked over to Dakota and finally back at Quinn. “How could you think I would do that? How could both of you think that?”
“You told me at the river today you’d bought the camisole yourself. What money did you use?”
She tried to rise out of his lap but Quinn held her still.
She shot him another glare. “If you must know, I sold my horse once I got to Denver. I had enough money for a few nice things and a few days in the city. I knew I couldn’t stay long as that’s the first place Devil would look for me, then I saw the ad for a teacher for Beaver Run. The rest you know.”
Quinn studied her face a few moments, then nodded as if he believed her.
“If you didn’t use the cash from the robbery and you didn’t bury it with the gold, what exactly did you do with it?” Dakota asked, intrigued by her actions.
“I don’t know why I didn’t bury it with the gold. Maybe I thought I could return it when I reached the city.”
“But you didn’t,” he finished for her.
She shook her head. “No. I did use it for my own gain.”
“I’m confused, Lacy,” Quinn asked, stroking semi-damp curls from her face. “If you didn’t buy anything with the money, what did you do with it?”
Tears flowed again. “Please don’t hate me. I left the valley just a day ahead of a blizzard. It was so cold. My horse Cesar and I nearly froze to death.”
A sinking feeling settled in Dakota’s gut. He looked at Quinn, who had the same expression on his face.
“What did you do, Lacy?”
“I burned it.”
Chapter Fourteen
“You burned nearly ten thousand dollars?” Quinn couldn’t keep the astonishment out of his voice.
“I didn’t count it when I took it. And Cesar was nearly frozen to death. I had to keep him warm.”
The passion for her animal’s well-being eased some of his shock. She would put her horse’s needs above her own safety.
“I know you need to return the money, and I’ll show you where I hid the gold as soon as we capture Devil. I really don’t want any of it.” She finished her coffee and hugged the blanket closer. “I only took it to keep Devil and his men from gloating over their blood money.”
Dakota leaned in and took her hand in his. “Is that how you got the whip marks on your back?”
She nodded and Quinn pulled her up against his chest once more, cradling her head into his shoulder.
“Devil was angry that I’d taken it. He wanted to hurt me and humiliate me.” The words rushed out of her like the mountain runoff from the spring thaw. “When he found out I’d taken the payroll and wouldn’t tell him where I’d hidden it, he dragged me to the post in the center of camp by my hair. He tied me to the post then ripped my clothes off me, so every one of his men and any other outlaws in camp could see me.
“I knew he meant to punish me. I’d hoped he wouldn’t use the whip, but then I heard the whistle in the air and I knew there was no hope. I screamed when it hit me. I screamed and screamed. And I could hear the men laughing and saying what they wanted to do to me.” She gulped and swallowed, tears pouring down her face.
Quinn’s anger grew with every word. He wanted to stop her pain, but he had a feeling there was more.
“I don’t know how long he kept striking me with the horsewhip, but finally it stopped. I remember him pulling my head back and asking me where the money was. When I refused to answer, I thought he’d start the whipping again.”
“What did he do, pet?”
Quinn wanted to hit Dakota for making her continue the tale, but figured she’d best tell it all now. Still, he was pretty damn sure he wasn’t going to like what she said nex
t.
“Santos stepped in. He convinced Devil to cut me loose. I must’ve fainted because the next thing I knew I was in my little shack and Santos was pouring whiskey over my back to clean the cuts.”
She shuddered at the memory and Quinn pulled her a little tighter to his chest. The sadistic bastard! God, how that must’ve hurt! Even though it was old pain for her, he planned to string both those bastards up and horsewhip them.
“He told me to think about what had just happened and tell him where the payroll was hidden. He even tried using that sweet-talking voice he’d used on me before. But I wasn’t stupid enough to fall for it a second time. I knew he’d betray me in a heartbeat.”
“What happened when you refused?” Dakota asked, still holding her hand, his gaze fixed on hers as if drawing the memories from her like rattlesnake poison from a bite.
“He told me what Devil had planned for me the next day.”
“What was that, pet?”
“He’d tie me to the bed and rape me. Then he’d line up every man in the camp to rape me until I couldn’t walk.”
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Quinn shoved his brother hard enough to hit the rock wall behind him. “Enough, Dakota. She’s had enough.”
She wrapped her arms around his body and held on, long sobs shaking her body. All he wanted to do was take her away from this, from here. Make her forget.
“It’s okay, darlin’. You don’t have to tell us any more. It’s over now,” he whispered into her hair as he rocked her back and forth.
After a moment or two, she slowly pulled back. Wetness from her tears shining on her cheeks, she searched his face. “You think all that happened? That I stayed and let him use me like that?”
Her question surprised him because he’d thought just that. “You didn’t?”
“No. I knew they’d do exactly that, and after I gave them the location of the payroll, they’d just continue to use and abuse me. I’d be lower than a whore. I wasn’t about to let that happen.”
She sat up and brushed her hands over her eyes to wipe away the remaining tears. “I waited until dark, then I crawled out of my bed and put on my shirt and trousers, the same outfit I wore the day of the bank robbery and murders. Then I gathered my things, what few there were, and sneaked out of my shack to the corral. After I saddled Cesar, I dug up the paper money and headed out of the valley. The snow started falling before dawn. Before I knew it, I was riding through a near whiteout.”
“So you burned the paper money, but the gold’s still buried in the valley?” Dakota asked.
She nodded.
“That’s why Devil sent his men after you instead of coming for you himself, isn’t it?” Quinn asked, a tightness forming in his chest once more.
Again she nodded. “I told him I buried it where he’d never find it. I know him. He’s been looking all winter, still is. That’s why he’s sent his men after me. But since Devil hasn’t been able to find the money, pretty soon he’ll be planning another bank raid. We have to stop him now, before more people die.”
And the longer it took Devil to find it, the angrier he’d become. He’d want to take that anger out on Lacy once he had his hands on her again.
Quinn looked at Dakota and read the same conclusion he’d just come to. “We can’t do this.”
Lacy sat straighter, looking at him, then over at Dakota and back at him again, her brows furrowed. The hairs on his neck bristled and his blood heated in response.
“What do you mean you can’t do this? Can’t do what? Can’t take me back to the valley? Can’t capture Devil? Can’t make him pay for destroying my mother? For killing those people? For murdering your father?”
He smoothed the loose curls from her face and stared into her jade green eyes. “You were right that first day, darlin’. If we take you back to that valley, he’ll kill you.”
“Things have changed now.” Her eyes softened and she tilted her head as if she wanted him to understand something.
“Damn right they have. He’s had the whole of winter to hunt for that gold and hasn’t found it. That’s going to make him one mean bastard. He’ll torture you worse, then kill you.”
He lifted her off his lap and settled her on the ground next to Dakota. Without another word he rose and walked outside the cave.
Damn, he should’ve left Maddocks alive. At least he’d have something to slam his fist into right now.
Lacy stared open-mouthed at Quinn’s retreating back. Where was he going? This discussion wasn’t over.
She turned to Dakota for support. Instead she found his eyes closed, his lips compressed into a thin line, jaw firm. He agreed with his arrogant brother.
“You two are this close and you’re just going to give up?”
He opened his eyes and squinted at her. “We’ll think of something else. We’re not going to risk taking you back into that valley full of vultures.”
“A week ago you were both willing to do just that.”
“A week ago you were just an outlaw.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’ll have to ask Quinn. Now let me rest. My head hurts.” He closed his eyes.
She stared at Dakota a moment. Growling, she shot to her feet. She was not going to settle for this. For once she was going to get some justice. She thrust her feet into her boots and stalked out in search of Quinn.
Lacy found him by the horses, staring to the west where the sun dipped partially behind the mountain peaks miles away. His silhouette stood strong and solid in front of the setting sunlight, glints of gold sparkling off his hair. A knight of old, a warrior meant to defend and protect.
She resisted the urge to sigh.
This was the kind of man she’d always dreamed would rescue her from Devil Morgan and his men. He was willing to do that, to protect her, even if it meant letting Devil get away with murder. She couldn’t let that happen.
Mustering the anger and determination she’d felt earlier in the stone outcropping, she marched up to stand beside him, not touching him.
“You have to take me into the valley.”
“No.”
“It’s the only way to get close to Devil.”
“We’ll find another.”
Men! Why did they always think they had to make the rules?
She stepped in front of him, laying her hand on his chest. “When you pulled me out of Beaver Run, did you have any other idea on how to capture and punish Devil and his men?”
He clenched his jaw a few times. “No. You were our only option until they hit another bank. Which, given the winter in the mountains, meant we’d already waited months.”
“So nothing has changed. There is no other option.”
Quinn slid his hands along the side of her face and then back into her hair, tilting her head until she stared into his intense blue eyes. The sheer power in his gaze and the strength in his hands sent tremors of need throughout her body.
“Everything’s changed, darlin’. Everything.” He claimed her lips with his in a searing kiss. No mercy. No quarter. Just a man claiming his woman.
Lacy clenched the front of his shirt in her fists, meeting him with as much strength and passion. A woman claiming her man. This. This was what she wanted. This passion. This man. Her whole life she’d dreamed of him.
He released his hold on her head, sliding one hand down to cup her ass cheeks, bare beneath the tails of his shirt. Gripping her tight, he pulled her against the hard ridge inside his pants.
She lifted one leg and wrapped it around the back of his thigh, opening her pussy for more of the delicious pressure. Her tongue mated with his, thrust for thrust.
When one hand parted her ass cheeks so he could work his fingers up the swollen wet slit of her sex from behind and the other hand teased the small rosebud of her nether hole, she fought the urge to give in yet again to his ministrations.
A groan escaped her.
As much as she wanted him inside her, hard and deep, this time she needed somethin
g more from him.
Sliding her leg down his until her foot landed on firm ground, she pushed against his chest and pulled her lips from his.
“What?” he asked, trying to pull her back for more.
She straightened her arms to hold him off. “You’re right, Quinn, things have changed. I’ve changed.”
With a tilt of his head and his brows drawn together, he studied her. “What do you mean?”
“When you and Dakota rode into Beaver Run, I was scared of Devil or the law finding me, content to hide the rest of my life. But then you forced me to face my past. To also face my passions. To see the person I am, the woman my mother wanted me to be.”
“Yes, and when we found you I wanted nothing more than to make you pay for helping with the bank robbery and Cap’s death. Pay in any way, even with your life. But now I know you were innocent, and I refuse to put you at risk.” He smoothed his hands up her back as if comforting her.
The gesture tore at her soul as much as his words. She would tell him all of the story, but first she had to get him into the valley. Once he heard she’d been the one who lured Cap to the ambush, Quinn would turn from the caring man she’d come to love into that cold lawman who’d hunted her down in Beaver Run. If he was going to take out his anger and vengeance on her, she wanted to be sure Devil and Santos got what they deserved too.
“Believe me, Quinn, I know exactly what I’m risking, but Cap and the other two victims deserve justice. My mother deserves justice too. If we don’t stop Devil, more people are going to die. You, Dakota and I will be responsible for that. I can’t live with any more deaths on my head.”
Quinn shook his head. “I can’t risk you going in there. Not now. Devil’s anger at the stolen money changes everything. If he gets his hands on you and something happens, he will kill you this time.”
She smiled and ran her fingertips over the rough beard on his face. “Then you’ll just have to be sure not to let him really get me alone, won’t you?”
The Surrender of Lacy Morgan Page 22