Lois Greiman

by My Desperado

  Travis moaned against her lips, giving her courage to slide her hand lower onto the steep rise of his powerful buttocks, pulling him against her with surprising strength.

  “Travis…” She found her voice at the edge of her painful desire. “I need…”

  He kissed her cheek, her ear. “Yes, lady? What do you need?”

  She wasn’t certain. But she hoped to get it soon, for her entire being ached with desire. “Don’t you know?” she asked, her voice hoarse and desperate.

  He chuckled in her ear, thrilled by her half-admitted innocence, her fiery response.

  “There ain’t much more I can do for you with my pants on, lady,” he said, and pulled away.

  His boots were wet and stubborn, but he jerked them from his feet. On his knees now, his hands actually trembled on the metal buttons of his jeans.

  Finally he, too, was naked, and pressed her back, able to wait no longer, needing to feel her softness beneath him. Her breasts crushed against his chest. Her legs slipped easily against his, and the hard, buoyant length of his desire was caught between them, throbbing with impatience.

  “Lady…” The feelings were so intense now that he could barely speak, and yet… He could not hurt her. Could not bear to shame her.

  “Shhh.” She touched a gentle finger to his lips. “You’ve opened a new world for me. Don’t stop now.”

  Travis stared into Katherine’s lovely face, feeling breathless.

  The tip of his manhood moved against the bottom of her midnight curls, teasing her. “I want you,” she whispered, and opened easily for him to enter. Moist heat enveloped him. Taut muscles surrounded him.

  Katherine pressed upward, trying to pull him in, rocking against the granite-hard shield of his body.

  He groaned in tortured pleasure. “Lady, please. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Hurt me?” She all but laughed. “Hurt me? Ryland… I already ache. And I expect you to fix it.” She bit her lip and urged him toward her again.

  “You’re a…” he began, but she rocked against him again, so that he ground his teeth and waited for the delicious agony to stop. “A virgin.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut. “That’s the problem?”

  He moaned. “Yes.”

  “I’m not,” she rasped. “I’m not a virgin,” she vowed, pressing toward ecstasy again. “Remember? Patterson?”

  “Lady,” he gritted, but the battle was lost, and he pushed inward with one swift stroke. “You lie.”

  She gasped at the full length of him. Perhaps there was some pain, but it was lost in the pleasure. They moved together now, hips rising and falling.

  He found her lips with his own. The tempo increased. Small beads of sweat lubricated and joined.

  Travis felt her fingernails scrape against his back, felt the sharp intake of her breath, and knew that she was near. He pushed in again and again.

  She was panting now and rocking hard against him until finally, with one sharp breath, she went limp and soft in his arms. Her climax forced his. He shuddered against her, drained and sated.

  It took several minutes before Katherine could speak, for he still lay atop her, though he was propped on his elbows.

  “Well,” she whispered, feeling so weak and content that the word was little more than a rush of breath from her throat. “Are we done?”

  He eased gently off her. “Did you expect more?”

  “No,” she murmured, feeling her face grow warm with embarrassment for her own brazenness. Never in all her life, had she felt such undeniable ecstasy. “I think that was quite sufficient,” she sighed.

  “Sufficient.” His chest rose and fell like a bellows, and he was certain that an entire army could not force him to stand upright. “Sufficient? You have the damnedest way of putting words together, lady.” He turned his head slightly to gaze at her. “Who are you anyway?”

  “Schoolteacher.” She said the words without thinking, for in all truth, she was beyond clearheaded thought, even if she had wanted to hide the truth from him at that moment. “I was a schoolteacher.”

  “Teacher?” Travis said slowly. “You were a schoolmarm?”

  She nodded weakly, wondering where she’d left her clothes.

  “A schoolmarm?” He sat up weakly. “And you never told me?”

  Katherine licked her lips and reached for his shirt, which she quickly draped over her nakedness. “Well, that was before… You know…” She shrugged, noticing the glorious curves of his bare chest again. “Before I became a—”

  “Goddamn it!” he interrupted, pushing angrily to his feet. “Goddamn it, woman! Don’t you say it,” he warned, shaking a finger at her. “You hear me? I don’t ever want to hear you say it again.”

  Katherine blinked at him. Had he lost his mind, or did men always become unusually irrational afterward. “Hear what again?”

  “That you’re a dove. I never want to hear that you’re a dove! Jesus!” He turned away suddenly, hands on his hips. “I knew,” he raved at the trees. “I knew better. I knew. But… a schoolmarm! Jesus!”

  “What difference does my vocation make?” she asked, rising slowly to rest her weight on one palm while still holding his shirt up to her neck.

  “What difference?” He shook his head as if stunned by her nai’vete. “You said you was a saloon girl. A man don’t have to worry about ruining no—” He turned suddenly, hand flailing.

  She remained absolutely silent, staring at him.

  “Jesus, woman!” he rasped, entirely forgetting his train of thought as his gaze fell to the bottom hem of his shirt, where her dark curls were exposed above her moist core. “Cover yourself before I…” He shook his head, backing away a step. “Before I do something… quite sufficient again,” he growled, and stormed off into the woods.

  Chapter 18

  It was nearly dark when Travis returned to their campsite. Katherine sat on a log, her slim hands clasped together, her lengthy legs encased in durable denims, and the remainder of her body dressed in equally boyish garments. She stood when he approached.

  For a moment they stared at each other like errant children, neither finding the nerve to speak, then, “I shot us a couple geese.” He lifted the pair by the legs but refused to look at her.

  “You bought a gun?” she asked, knowing the question was silly and that he wouldn’t answer. He didn’t, but dropped the fowl and turned.

  “Travis?”

  “Yeah?” His tone sounded grumpy.

  “Thanks for the clothes.”

  “Yeah,” he said with a notable lack of courtesy. “Sure.”

  She took a step forward, brushing back an imaginary strand of wayward hair. “I think they fit quite well, don’t you?”

  She was intentionally trying to torment him. He knew it. She was a demon, sent from the bowels of hell to make him pay for all his sins. No one but a demon could look like she looked, could attract him like she attracted him. Only a demon would be a schoolmarm and proclaim herself to be a soiled dove!

  “The boots…” she said, twisting slightly in an attempt to see his face.“The boots are a little large. But the rest—”

  “Listen, lady!” he spouted suddenly, feeling his nerves at their breaking point, and spun abruptly toward her. “This ain’t no goddamn—”

  His jaw dropped, his hands flexed.

  “What’d you do to them clothes?”

  “Nothing.” Her face flushed a darker shade of red. “I just…” She shrugged self-consciously. “Nothing.”

  Nothing! He stared at her. They were simple garments that he had purchased. Serviceable cotton shirt, secondhand knee-high boots, riveted denims. But old Levi Straus had never intended his jeans to look like this.

  Every curve seemed visible and molded. Her waist was strapped to nothingness by the leather belt, her breasts caressed by the soft, deep-blue cotton of the humble shirt.

  She squirmed slightly under his stunned perusal, shifting a strand of dark hair beneath the felt hat and licki
ng her lips. “No one will realize I’m a woman now.” She shuffled her booted feet.

  “No.” Travis thought he said the singular word with amazing clarity. “No.” He shook his head, knowing that anyone who failed to see she was a woman, failed to be a man. “No. It’ll sure enough be our secret,” he said with a glare.

  She bit her lip, looking nervous. “I have a confession to make.”

  His glare deepened, but he said nothing.

  “I lied to you.” Katherine pulled her shoulders back slightly, looking him straight in the eye. “I never really worked in the saloon. My aunt owned it. Left it to me. Daisy was with Patterson when he died. So you’re the only man I’ve ever…been with.”

  Silence fell dark and heavy between them.

  “Are you angry with me?” she asked softly.

  He shook his head then drew a deep breath. “Lady, get ready to ride.”

  “What are we doing here?” Katherine whispered the question in Ryland’s left ear. Now that the gown and slippers were replaced by more practical clothing, riding behind Travis was far more comfortable. He, however, felt stiff as a board before her.

  “You’re staying here.” He held out one hand, nodding toward the ground.

  “What?” Below them was a homestead, barely visible in the moonlit dimness.

  “Get off,” he ordered gruffly.

  “Why?” She held the back of his saddle and scowled. All right, it was true, she shouldn’t have lied to him, and she certainly should have stopped him before things had gotten out of hand. But he didn’t have to detest her so for what they had done. He didn’t have to refuse to speak to her.

  “Just get down,” he gritted grumpily.

  Katherine’s first reaction was to do just that, take his orders, obey his commands. But she stopped her movement in mid-shift. “Why?”

  He twisted toward her slightly. “Cuz I ain’t having you ride with me no more, that’s why.”

  In the darkness Katherine could feel her face go pale. Did he hate her so for her weakness where he was concerned? Did he think her immoral? Perhaps, in a way, he was not so very different from how her father had been; for it was obvious he detested her for what they’d done in the woods, while she still felt the magic of it in her soul. Her heart beat a hurried pace. “You’re leaving me here?”

  Travis stared at her, his face only inches from hers, and again he groaned inwardly at her innocence. Katherine was a gentlewoman, and of course he’d known it all along. But it was her seductive voice that made him hope she was the soiled dove she claimed to be. He’d known better, but he’d bedded her anyway.

  They ought to just shoot him.

  “No!” he snapped. “I’m not leaving you here. I’m just going down to get you a horse,” he admitted irritably. “Now get the hell off mine.”

  “My own horse?”

  Her eyes were bright now, and she leaned slightly forward, seeming painfully relieved to know he did not plan to leave her to fend for herself, even though she looked stronger after a good meal and the one chocolate she had allowed herself. “But how can you buy a horse at night? Surely someone will be suspicious. Even if I didn’t come down with you. And even though your appearance has changed a great deal without the beard, and… ah, but you don’t intend to buy it.”

  “You know…” He stared at her then grinned slightly. “For an easterner, you’re pretty bright.”

  “I can’t let you do it.” Her decision was firm; her voice, the same. “I can’t let you steal for my sake.”

  Travis shifted slightly in his saddle, narrowing his eyes and trying to remember what it was like to be calm, to take care of his business without harassment or constant objections. It sounded heavenly. “You can’t let me?” he questioned dubiously.

  “No.” She shook her head. “It’d be wrong.”

  He laughed outright, but the tone sounded grim. He leaned forward, trying to ease the pain in his right thigh. “I killed my first man was I was thirteen.” He stared straight ahead, seeing behind. “By the time I was fifteen, I could kill without blinking.” He twisted in his saddle to look directly into her face. “I don’t think a little theft’s going to tarnish my sterling reputation.”

  Katherine remained silent, watching him, feeling her heart ache in her chest as she searched for the words she needed.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  For a moment he was silent, then, “Didn’t you hear a word I said? I said, I kill! That’s what I do. Like you’re a teacher. I’m a killer!”

  “No, you’re not.” She couldn’t manage more than a whisper when she said it. Her hands felt cold and stiff; her face, taut and pale. “I won’t let you steal for me.”

  “Goddamn it!” He swore with reverent disgust and grabbed her left arm with his free hand. “My sins are so deep, lady, I’ll be lucky to spend no more than an eternity in hell. But I’ll tell you this and I’ll tell you now—I ain’t gonna be responsible for the death of no woman. You hear me? You ain’t gonna die because of me. So I’m going down there, and I’m gonna find you a horse that can get you back to your mama in one piece.”

  The intensity in his expression stole her senses for a moment. “But…” She found her breath and her thoughts. “I can’t ride.”

  “You’ll learn to ride!”

  She felt small and helpless and frightened by his mood. “Why can’t I ride with you?”

  “You think I’m made of steel?”

  The question rang in the darkness, open for interpretation, but Katherine was beyond guessing his meaning.

  “Why do you hate me so?” She could feel the pain in her heart.

  Hate her? He should be so lucky! He should be so fortunate as to not think of her every moment, to ache for her every second. “Just stay put. I’ll be back.” He reached to take her hand, expecting her to slide from behind the saddle.

  But Katherine hadn’t become mired in such a mess by following practical suggestions. Indeed, Katherine wouldn’t be Katherine if she started now.

  “I won’t let you go alone.”

  “What the devil are you talking about now?”

  “I see your point.” She nodded, though it hurt to do so, for there was a lump the size of an October apple in her throat. “I see that we need another mount. But I won’t let you take the blame alone. I’ll help. And I’ll make recompense to the owner as soon as I can.”

  They sat in the darkness, staring at each other.

  “Why don’t I just tie you to a tree and leave you?” Ryland’s question was more for him than for her.

  She sat straight and still behind him. “You won’t.”

  “Damn!” He swore just once before turning Soldier toward the downhill slide.

  “You’ll do exactly what I say. You hear me?” Ryland told her. “Exactly.”

  Katherine nodded absently as she stared over his shoulder at the corral. There were at least fifteen horses confined there, most of them standing in hip-cocked contentment, watching as they approached them in the moonlight.

  “Get off,” he ordered quietly, and she did so, sliding quickly to her feet. “Hold Soldier. Don’t get in trouble.” He shook his finger at her as if she were a belligerent child. “Just stay put and… Here.” He dug quickly in his saddlebags, fishing out her box of candies. “Eat your chocolates.”

  She took the box and watched as he lifted a lariat from a nearby post.

  “Stay put,” he repeated, and strode away.

  Katherine scowled. He was treating her like a child, which was quite irritating. She was capable of making her own decisions. Hadn’t she decided on her own to come west? She grimaced. Look how that had turned out. Still, it had been her decision. Her mother had practically had apoplexy. And her father, rest his soul, was probably still turning in his grave. It had been his wish that she become a schoolteacher. But she’d done that. She’d done everything they’d wanted her to. And now she was ready to do what she wanted to do.

  She gave that a moment’s thou
ght before creeping, quiet as a breeze, up behind Travis. “Which one do you think?” Katherine whispered, practically in Ryland’s ear.

  “Jesus!”

  It was the first time she’d ever seen him jump, but it probably would not be wise to laugh.

  “Which one?”

  “I thought I told you to stay put. Where’s Soldier?”

  “Grazing. I like the dark one. With the white on its face.”

  “That one?” Ryland lifted a gloved hand toward the leggy beast that stood with its neck stretched high over the fence toward Soldier. It snorted once, shook its head then trotted the length of the corral, past its sedate companions to return again, legs lifting high. “Lady, you’re about one bean short.”

  “What’s wrong with him?” Katherine asked, mesmerized by the way the dark body seemed to float in the moonlight, how the head never dropped and the legs lifted in graceful cadence.

  “Out here, we call that a good, quick way to die,” he rumbled.

  “Why?” She shifted closer to the rail. From the pack of tired-looking mounts a pale gelding lunged forward to take a nip at the prancing black. “Ohhh. They’re mean to him,” Katherine complained. “I think we should take him.”

  Leaning against the rails again, Travis turned his head to scowl at her. “Lady, I been around horses all my life.”

  “So…” Katherine whispered, straightening, “what’s wrong with him?”

  “First of all, it ain’t no him.”

  “How can you tell?”

  His scowl deepened. “Short of giving you a detailed explanation regarding the differences between male and female, let’s just say it acts too daft to be a male.”

  Katherine raised her nose a haughty quarter of an inch. “I refuse to let you insult me. This is my theft, too.”

  “Shhh,” Travis hissed, glancing nervously toward the house. “You want to just go announce our intentions? That way there won’t be no misunderstandings.”

  “Listen!” She was holding her chocolates with one hand as she scowled into his face. “If I’m about to be hanged for horse theft, I’m going to be hanged for a horse I like. And I like…” She pointed, rather obtusely. “Her.”