“We only got a few hundred miles to go. Asides, we cain’t pay you for your help, and a Ruskin always settles their debt.” She said something to the girls low enough for him to miss, and they scurried off toward the creek.
Gideon’s mouth dried up as he wondered if the wooden spoon was about to crack him over the head. What if Chloe had told her grandmother about their midnight sex? What if Granny pulled out a shotgun and pointed it at his head? Was he ready to make a lifetime commitment to a girl he barely knew?
“Cornpone is good.” He avoided looking at the older woman, hoping like hell she would simply start cleaning up or begin some other chore. Her stare was more powerful than the coffee, for pity’s sake.
“Chloe made it. I cain’t cook much no more with the pains in my fingers. She learned all her female skills along with the man ones like hunting.” Granny sat down with her own cup of coffee and continued to stare at him. “You like her?”
Gideon choked on the food, nearly sucking a big piece of it into his lungs. Granny pounded on his back while his eyes watered and his lungs ached for air. He finally got a breath in and swallowed the rest of the bite. He gulped some hot coffee, partially soothing his battered throat.
“Don’t go and die on me now. You’re too big to hoist into the wagon to get you to an undertaker, and we don’t have no shovel to bury you.” Granny sat back down and eyeballed him some more. “You like her?” she repeated.
This time Gideon was ready for the question. “Chloe?”
“Yes, Chloe. Don’t play stupid with me, Mr. Blackwood.”
He thought about how to answer her and again wondered if she knew about the shenanigans in the wagon. “She’s strong, smart and full of pride. Her mouth is sharper than an axe, and she’s ornery as the mules she tends.”
To his surprise, Granny smiled. “Good. You do like her.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to. I can read it in your eyes when you talk about her.” Granny cackled like a seasoned witch. “I’ll be damned.”
Apparently, so would Gideon.
Bossy, that’s what he was. Bossy and demanding. Chloe was trying to think of better words for Gideon as she greased up the axles, but she didn’t have much in the way of book learning to draw from. He drove her to cussing beneath the dang wagon while he sat there with Granny and ate the vittles Chloe had made.
He’d practically run the other direction from her when he finally emerged from the wagon. Heck, he hadn’t even looked at her as he headed toward the creek. Obviously, her skills under the sheets were not only forgettable, they were enough to send a man running. Chloe had made the choice to be with him and wouldn’t regret it, no matter what. Gideon was likely wishing she hadn’t, but that was too damn bad. There was no way to unring that bell. Chloe was no longer a virgin.
Granny had always been worried Chloe’s first time would be with some cowpoke or drifter raping her. It gave her a certain satisfaction to know she had chosen when and with whom to lose her untouched status. It was an experience she could easily get used to if he was her husband. The very thought of actually marrying Gideon made her snort so hard, she almost sucked in a lungful of tar.
“You need some help, little one?”
She rolled her eyes at his question. “Greasing up an axle is easy, remember?” She crawled from beneath the wagon with the bucket in one hand and a handful of grease in the other. “My fingers can manage to grease up a stick.”
As soon as she realized what she said, as well as the state of her hand, Chloe’s cheeks heated. She never, ever blushed, and now that she’d given herself to this stranger, her cheeks heated too easily. Thinking about greasing up a stick next to the very wagon in which she’d touched his stick embarrassed her.
Gideon looked at her hands, and for just a moment she felt the heat from it; then he turned away so fast he kicked up a cloud of dust with his boots. She didn’t know whether to throw the grease at him or make him kiss her.
What had being with him done to her?
“I’ll, uh, get started on the wheel now.” He tugged on the lug bolt she’d greased and kept his back to her.
Chloe wiped the leftover grease on her hand back into the bucket and used a rag to get her fingers mostly clean. The trip from Virginia had been rough and hard, but that was the physical side of it. The long hours, the constant danger from everyone and everything, the fear for the future, all of that came crashing down on Chloe, and she sat down in the dirt heavily.
Gideon continued to ignore her, which suited her just fine. He didn’t need to see her struggling to find her bearings. She didn’t like emotions and all the confusion they caused. If only she hadn’t found what she wanted but couldn’t keep—Gideon. After a minute or two of pure self-pity and stupidity, she mentally pulled herself up by her drawers and got on her feet. Sooner the wheel got swapped, the sooner she could leave him behind.
Of course when she glanced at him, he was squatting, and she had to notice his behind was nicely muscled, quite perfect. Then she noticed his shoulders were nearly as wide as the damn wheel.
Hell and crackers. What was wrong with her?
She knelt by the other wheels and checked to make sure they were greased enough, anything to keep her mind from acting loco. Gideon was only a few feet away, and every movement he made, from his breath to his grunts, echoed across her skin. She was ready to give up and run like a coward, and since she was already a fool, running wasn’t going to make her look any less foolish.
He pushed the new wheel on and spread the grease on the axle, sliding his hands on the shaft as the wheel moved into place. Chloe watched his movement, mesmerized by his long, strong fingers. She knew their touch firsthand. It was a good thing all she had to do was wait for him to finish and wipe her hands clean.
He finished securing the lug bolt and turned to her. “Rag?”
Chloe threw it at him rather than get close enough to hand it to him. Unfortunately it hit him square in the face. She winced inwardly but didn’t apologize. He wasn’t being particularly nice either so it served him right to get a little dirty.
“Thanks, little one. That was mighty nice of you.” His sarcasm was sharper than the knife in her boot.
“Anytime. I’m always willing to help out a fellow human being.”
Gideon grunted and threw the rag back at her. She tried to snatch it from the air, but it ended up on her hat instead. He made a choking noise like he was holding in a laugh. She narrowed her eyes and took off her hat. A huge stain from the grease marked the top, which would be impossible to remove.
“You ruined it.”
This time he snorted out loud. “That hat was ruined long before I got here.”
“It was a perfectly good hat and cost me nothing. I found it on our way out of Virginia.”
“Then the previous owner had smarts enough to leave it behind.”
“You’re not being nice.”
“Neither are you.” He rose to his feet, and she did too, even if she only reached his chin.
“Let’s get this done, then, and you can be on your way, Mr. Blackwood. Obviously the company ain’t fitting for a man with such good taste.” She would never let him know how much his comments hurt, made her feel he was looking down his nose at her. After all, he was a highfalutin stranger, and she was the daughter of a dirt farmer with nothing but a broken-down wagon, an old woman and two little girls.
Gideon and Chloe worked in awkward silence from then on. He levered up the wagon, and she got the stumps out from underneath quickly. He let the wagon down slowly, his muscles straining with each inch. She found herself again entranced by the way his body moved—the strength of his arms and shoulders astounded her. While she wanted to be angry with him, her body betrayed her head completely.
When the wagon was finally on all four wheels again, it let loose a mighty wooden groan. Chloe whooped and threw her greasy hat in the air. After being stuck for nearly a week, they’d be on their way that day.
For the first time in a while, she experienced a rush of happiness, and it was all due to Gideon Blackwood.
Chloe threw her arms around him and whooped again. He twirled her around, and somehow his mouth landed on hers. The celebratory kiss made her toes curl.
Then Granny shouted her name with clear panic in her voice.
Gideon dropped her to her feet with a horrified look on his face. She turned and ran toward her grandmother. Granny never panicked, never. The older woman stood alone at the campfire, wringing her hands. Chloe ran faster—Granny also never wrung her hands.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s the girls. They weren’t back from washing their hands ten minutes ago. I went to find them, and they’re gone.”
Chloe’s mouth went dry. Those girls were young and innocent. They likely wandered off and got lost. “I’ll find them. Probably lost their way.” As she walked toward the woods, Granny grabbed her arm.
“They ain’t lost. There’s boot prints and horse tracks all around the bank. Somebody took them.”
Chloe’s heart dropped to her feet. “What do you mean somebody took them?”
“I ain’t a tracker, but I know what the bank looked like this morning, and there wasn’t any tracks like that.” Granny looked to Gideon. “You have any tracking skills?”
“Not as good as my cousin, but I’ve a fair amount. I’ll find them.” He took off running toward the woods.
Chloe was right on his heels. There was no way she was going to let him find those girls without her.
The Ruskin quagmire kept getting deeper. Just as soon as he’d fixed the damn wagon, the little moppets disappeared. Gideon wanted to get to Nate’s, but he was pulled in again to help the little family. The girls were innocent, of course, unless they engineered their own disappearance, which was ridiculous. Even the most devious five-year-old could not create horseshoe tracks or man-sized shoeprints in the mud in ten minutes.
More than likely, if they’d seen strangers, the girls would have hidden somewhere. Maybe got lost on their way back to the campfire. Hopefully he’d find them in a short time and then get the wagon loaded so the Ruskins could be on their way and he could continue on his journey.
Life, however, never seemed to follow the most logical path, even if he wished for it hard enough his head ached. He heard Chloe running behind him, which he expected, of course. The strong-willed woman would not allow anything to happen that she didn’t have control over. She was like a short version of himself. He let loose a snort at the thought—she was nothing like him beneath the potato-sack dress, that was for sure.
He needed to focus on the task at hand and not the confusing, enticing Chloe Ruskin and the memory of her lips on his five minutes ago. Hell, he could still taste her, and fool that he was, he licked his lips, making his dick twitch.
Focus, Captain, focus.
Gideon hit the woods with a good head of steam. The smell of the loamy earth surrounded him. The leaves on the sun-dappled forest floor muffled the sound of his boots. He heard the water burbling ahead and took the path the girls had likely followed. It was the most direct route. When he was twenty feet away, he slowed down, and Chloe plowed into his back, nearly knocking him over.
“Why are you stopping?” she whispered harshly, then poked him in the back.
“Ouch. I’m stopping because we need to be sure there’s no one up there waiting for us. Now either shut up and stay behind me, or go back to your grandmother.” His tone was hard as stone. She needed to understand there was possible danger ahead.
She grunted in response, but she remained quiet and kept behind him. He would have stopped to think about the fact she obeyed his order, but there were other problems he needed to focus on.
Gideon closed his eyes and listened carefully. He heard only the sounds of the forest, from birds to squirrels to the creek. There was nothing larger than a rodent moving or breathing.
The silence lasted sixty seconds before she leaned forward and whispered, “What are you doing?”
“Listening, now shush.” Gideon’s tone hopefully told her to shut up as politely as he could.
He studied the ground in front of him, noting the broken branches, the small impressions in leaves on the soft soil beneath. These were signs of the girls, not an adult. He crept forward, very conscious of the woman nearly in his back pocket. Her body heat permeated his clothes all down his back. For such a small woman, she sure did generate a lot of warmth. He gritted his teeth and ignored the sensation.
As they crept closer to the creek, he slowed even further, looking at every sign left behind by the humans and animals that had come through. Five feet from the bank, there was a deep shoe impression on top of one of the girls’ shoe prints. Gideon’s heart did a flip at the sight—Granny had been right. Someone had been there besides them.
It was a single man, and his foot was just a little smaller than Gideon’s, definitely an adult. He favored the left side of his foot, as the impression was deeper on the right. Not many men walked in such a way, which should make it easier to find him. Probably was a bit pigeon-toed, if Gideon wasn’t mistaken.
He went around the footprint, noting another three before he reached the creek. That’s where the mud got thicker, and everything mixed together. Near as he could tell, the girls were on their haunches washing their hands when the man walked up behind them. There had been a struggle, and then he had jumped across the creek, making a much deeper impression.
The stranger had been carrying the girls.
He waded through the creek to the other side and saw clear evidence of two horses just beyond the edge of the prints.
The stranger had also not been alone.
Gideon’s fists clenched as he glanced back at Chloe. She didn’t appear scared or lost. In fact, she looked furious.
“Which way did they go?” Her harsh question scratched at his ears.
Gideon gestured north, where the tracks led. “They went that way, and there were two of them, likely both men. I’m going to get my horse and follow them.”
“Not without me, you’re not.” Chloe pointed at him. “They’re my family, not yours.”
He didn’t answer her, because the idea of her accompanying him was absurd. She had no horse, and his gelding couldn’t carry both of them at the speed he intended to ride. Gideon jumped across the water and headed back to the campsite.
“Don’t believe for one minute that I don’t know what you’re thinking. I can ride one of the mules—they’re faster than you think.” Chloe was taking two steps for every one of his, and she kept up without breaking stride. She was a fast little thing, even if her mule wasn’t.
“You need to stay here with your granny and wait for them to come back.”
“And you honestly believe those girls are gonna appear out of nowhere? They got taken, and you and I both know it.” She ran ahead of him, her arms pumping, skirt flapping, her wild hair flying like a banner behind her.
Gideon tried to catch up, but she had too much of a lead on him. She was fast, darting through the trees like a wood nymph. Although she was short, Chloe was a creature of grace when she ran. It sure as hell wasn’t the right time, but he appreciated the sight. He dug deep and found a burst of speed to catch up to her. Soon they were running dangerously fast on slippery, leaf-covered ground. For some absurd reason, he felt like grinning.
What the hell was he doing? Two little girls were missing, and he was playing games with Chloe. He shook off his own foolish behavior and refocused on the problem—finding the girls. When he and Chloe came out of the woods and into the clearing, he stopped short and stared.
Holy God.
The wagon, his horse and Granny Ruskin were gone.
Chapter Three
Chloe’s heart squeezed so tightly she could hardly catch her breath. In a matter of minutes, her entire family had disappeared. Was someone playing a cruel trick on her? The remnants of their life, the contents of the wagon, lay where they’d been stack
ed the day before in the grass. The campfire still burned, the coffee pot sat nearby, yet Granny was gone, as was the newly repaired wagon and Gideon’s horse. They’d left everything exactly as it laid waiting to be loaded, like a house had emptied itself and flown away into the bright blue sky.
A wave of anger welled inside her. Their journey hadn’t been perfect, but nothing had gone too terribly wrong until now, until Gideon Blackwood rode up to “save” them. Maybe he orchestrated the entire thing and was now planning on getting rid of her to make it complete.
“Where the hell is she?” Chloe had never been more furious in her life.
Gideon frowned at her. “How would I know? I was with you in the woods. In case you haven’t noticed, my horse is gone too.”
“You took them. Got into my drawers, distracted me and took my family, you bastard.” Red fury coated her vision as she stared at the man who may have destroyed all she had. No way would she accept the loss though. If she was anything, Chloe was a fighter, and she would fight for her tiny family. With a roar, she launched herself at him, taking him by surprise. She knocked him to the ground, and they rolled in the tall grass.
Snarling and snapping at him, Chloe tried her best to reach the knife in her boot; that way she could make him talk. However, he was too fast and knocked her hands aside so she didn’t have the chance.
“What are you doing?” He successfully grabbed her right hand, but she squirmed free. “Chloe, stop! I didn’t do anything to your family.”
“Yes, you did. Nothing happened until you got here.”
“That’s enough.” Gideon had apparently been trying not to hurt her, because in a split second, she was facedown in the grass with her arm twisted behind her and his knee resting on her back.
She had never experienced such fear and anger as she did at that moment. Alone in the Texas prairie with a stranger, one she’d bedded but a stranger still, Chloe was helpless. Her heart thumped so hard it hurt, and her breath came in short bursts. After a second or two of panic, Chloe reached down deep and found her determination, then let it loose. She wouldn’t stand for his bullying, not for an instant.
Gideon: Devils on Horseback, Book 5 Page 4