Marriage Deal With the Outlaw & the Warrior's Damsel in Distress & the Knight's Scarred Maiden : Harlequin Historical August 2017 (9781488021640)

by St. Harper George; Fuller, Meriel; Locke, Nicole

  * * *

  Caroline had to wait nearly twenty minutes before she could make her escape. The evening had been winding down until Castillo and Hunter walked in, and then it seemed as though everyone got a second wind. As soon as he disappeared, she’d been pulled into a discussion that she couldn’t even remember now as she hurried up the stairs to her room.

  Thankfully Grant Miller had realized he should keep his hotel room in Helena for the length of his stay and had left before supper, so he wasn’t a complication she had to deal with tonight. Part of her wanted to tell Castillo, but his wound was more important right now. She’d tell him tomorrow. As if the maid had been waiting for her, Mary poked her head out of the sitting room that had been turned into her bedroom, ready to help with Caroline’s gown.

  Caroline wanted to wave her off, but acknowledged that she couldn’t get out of the gown on her own, and it’d look suspicious if she said no. Instead, she plastered on a smile and allowed Mary a few minutes to help her out of her gown, but as soon as she’d put on her night rail and wrapper she said good-night and locked the door behind the maid. Rushing to the armoire, she grabbed the bag containing her medical supplies and ran to the balcony door. When she pulled it open, Castillo was right there, staring down at her. She would’ve yelped in surprise had she not remembered Mary just next door and caught herself. His expression was unreadable.

  “What are you doing here?” she whispered.

  “Waiting for you.” He glanced down to her bag. “I knew you wouldn’t leave it alone. I came so you wouldn’t risk getting caught in my room. Let me in.”

  She moved back, and when he’d stepped inside she locked the door and pulled the drapes closed. “Do you really think it matters if I’m in your room or you’re in my room? If we’re caught, then we’re caught.” She didn’t know why she was arguing the point with him. Her hands shook a little as she fully comprehended the fact that he was in her room and they were alone and there was nothing at all stopping them from kissing as they had last night. A pleasant rush of heat moved over her skin as she remembered it.

  Castillo had already taken his coat off and changed his shirt in his room, though this fresh one already had a bloodstain growing over his upper arm. Oh. Right. Nothing was stopping them from kissing again but for the fact that he had a potentially serious injury and was bleeding. She berated herself for forgetting even for a moment that he was in her room for a very good reason. “Come sit down by the lamp.” She rushed over to set her bag down on the bed, and hurried into the washroom to wash her hands and fill up a pitcher with water. Grabbing a towel, she rushed back to his side.

  He fumbled with the buttons on his shirt as he eased down to sit on the edge of the bed and shrug it off his shoulders. When he grimaced, she helped him pull it off, draping it over the footboard.

  “What happened?” she asked and started to gently wash the wound. Some of the blood had dried so it was difficult to see the extent of the damage.

  “I was shot.”

  “Shot?” She couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice, and what could only be described as absolute terror squeezed her chest. Someone had tried to kill him. Biting her lip, she forced herself not to think about it and concentrate on the wound. There was only flesh and blood in front of her right now. Not Castillo.

  She’d never had to treat a gunshot wound before, had never even seen one, and searched her memory for some mention of that type of a wound from her father. Should she go get him?

  “It’s not bad. It was only a graze,” he said, staring at the lamp.

  Now that some of the blood was coming away she could see that he was right, there was no bullet lodged in his arm. It looked as if the bullet had grazed his upper arm, tearing out a chunk of flesh with it, but overall it was a clean wound. She tried to keep herself from imagining what sort of activity could’ve resulted in such a bullet wound and how close he’d come to being killed. There’d be time for those thoughts later. “You’re very lucky. A few more inches and it would’ve splintered bone, which would’ve required surgery.”

  He nodded. “It’s not the first time.”

  She had to swallow to keep her voice steady. “You’ve been shot before?” She kept her gaze on his wound as she cleaned it. The wound wasn’t horrific. There were no bits of cloth to dig out and the flow of blood had likely kept any infection from festering.

  “I’ve been shot at before,” he clarified.

  “Derringer?” she asked, moving the bowl of blood-tinged water to the table and patting his arm dry with the towel.

  He took a deep breath and hesitated before he answered. “This—” he indicated his shoulder “—is the closest I’ve come to Derringer in years.”

  Was he involved in something far worse than simply trying to find his grandfather’s murderer? “Then, who shot at you before?” She tried not to sound too interested as she opened her bag and rifled through it for the bottle of iodine and the package of surgical gauze, but she suspected that she failed miserably at keeping the interest from her voice.

  “You don’t want to know, Carolina. It’s better if you don’t know.” His voice was tired, and his eyes were troubled and wary.

  “But I want to know.” Lord help her, she did. Instinct was telling her there was more to him than met the eye, but her heart was telling her that whatever was going on, she wanted to help.

  “I don’t want you involved.”

  She hesitated, knowing that she should heed his warning. “You might feel a little discomfort from this.” She applied the iodine and covered the wound with the fresh gauze. He sucked in a breath but it was the only indication of pain that she saw. “Will you hold this so I can get your bandage?”

  He held it in place with his other hand and she moved to pull out a small skein of linen. Pulling out a length, she cut it free and wrapped it around his arm, tying it tight enough to keep the gauze in place but loose enough it wouldn’t restrict circulation. “You need to keep it clean for the next few days.” She repacked her supplies and pulled out a small bottle of laudanum. “Drink a little of this. It’ll help with the pain.”

  He wrinkled his nose as he looked at the brown glass bottle she held. “I don’t need anything.”

  Rolling her eyes, she said, “You were shot chasing an outlaw. You don’t have to prove anything to me. Believe me, I’m aware of your status as a man.” Immediately the air between them became charged as visions of last night came to mind. She’d felt him hard against her thigh. Another reason she was aware that he was a man.

  He grinned at her and managed to look a little arrogant.

  “Open.” She held the bottle to his lips. He obeyed and she poured in the approximate amount he’d require, before closing the bottle and returning it to the bag, which she stowed in the armoire. When she turned back to him, he was watching her. “I can make you a sling to keep pressure off,” she offered. “You don’t want to reopen the wound.”

  “I think a sling would cause too many questions.”

  He was probably right, but she couldn’t resist teasing him. “You could say you were kicked by a horse.”

  She could tell he was fighting it, but his lips tipped up in a smile at the reminder of how he’d lied about the abrasion on his cheekbone. “Castillo.” She sat down beside him on the bed, unsure of what she wanted to say, but knowing that she wanted to reach him. After last night, things had changed between them. Something special was happening.

  “Don’t, Carolina.” He reached out and covered her hand with his right one. A flicker of awareness came to life in her belly at exactly the same time her mind was telling her to leave him alone, that he was a dangerous man. There was naked longing on his face, despite his words.

  “But—”

  “You’re good at what you do.” He indicated the wound on his shoulder. “You’ve got a nice touch. I can u
nderstand why you’d want to be a physician.”

  She noted the fact that he was trying to change the subject, but allowed it to happen. “My mother thinks I should take up nursing. Actually, she thinks I should have nothing to do with patients and marry a physician if I absolutely must support the profession.” She gave him a self-deprecating smile. “But at least in nursing she can imagine me as a sort of Florence Nightingale bringing hope to the sick.”

  “And you can’t do that as a physician?”

  She shrugged. “Yes. I admit to not understanding her reasoning, either.”

  He smiled again, and his gaze flicked to where their hands met. She didn’t know if he realized that he was absently rubbing his thumb over hers. Taking a breath, she decided to just confront him. “Castillo, last night—”

  “I killed someone today.” He blurted out the words before she could finish. “Today four men are dead because of me. Two by my own gun.”

  “Oh.” She sucked in a breath because it felt like the air in the room had become too heavy to breathe. “But they were connected with Derringer. Right?” She only realized that she’d been holding her breath when he nodded and she let it out slowly.

  “There was a shoot-out,” he explained, but he didn’t elaborate. She realized how tired he looked. There were shadows under his eyes and his skin was pale.

  “You had to defend yourself, Castillo.”

  “Did I?” He let go of her and raked his hand through his hair, keeping his left arm immobile across his stomach. “That’s what I thought at one time. But look what’s happened. My brother Miguel was almost killed. Kidnapped by enemies I’ve made in my quest for vengeance. That’s why I insisted he go back East to school. I wanted him away from all of this.”

  “That’s understandable. You’re looking out for him.”

  “You’re missing my point, Carolina.” He took her hand again and shifted so that he faced her. “Last night I let things go too far, because the truth is that I really like you, too. But I’m not good for you. I put everyone I love in danger. Whatever is between us can’t go further.”

  Her heart pounded and she couldn’t help but turn her hand over in his so that they were palm to palm. She nodded because she understood that, even while something inside her fought against it. “I’m going to school in September. Won’t you return home to your hacienda in Texas…once everything is over with Derringer?”

  “I’ll need to rebuild. Somehow.” He nodded and squeezed her hand. “You understand? This can’t last.”

  She did understand. She saw it so clearly that it made her heart ache. “I know.”

  He groaned and pulled her closer, catching her under the chin to lift her mouth to his. It was as if finally accepting the inevitability of their parting had finally given them permission for this small indulgence. His mouth covered hers and before she knew it her hands were in his hair, holding him closer. They kissed until they ran out of air and then he buried his face in her neck. “Carolina,” he whispered, his day’s growth of beard tickling her sensitive skin. “I’ll never get enough of your smell.” His mouth sucked at her flesh. “Can I stay for a little while?”

  “Yes, please stay.” She should make him go, but she couldn’t. If this was all the time they had, she wanted so much more than she knew he’d be willing to give her.

  He drew back to look at her face while she tried to memorize the exact shade of gold and green of his eyes. Leaning forward, as if giving her time to pull away, he kissed her again, his good arm going around her to draw her even closer, and then he pushed her back on the bed. He rose up on his right arm over her and gently pulled off her spectacles, setting them on the bedside table. She couldn’t help but touch his beloved face, her fingers tracing the strong contours of his cheekbones and jaw before running over his full bottom lip. She didn’t want to think that she could love him already, but the ache in her chest certainly felt like something close to it.

  He kissed her fingertips, before moving to lie beside her and drawing her against his chest. Caroline curled into him, more comforted by his strength and warmth than she’d anticipated. He kissed the top of her head as she settled her cheek against his chest, and his good arm curled around her. As his hand stroked up and down her back, she listened to the sound of his heartbeat beneath her ear. After a while, the laudanum took effect and his breathing shifted to long, deep breaths as he drifted off to sleep. She tried to savor the moment for as long as she could and then she followed him into sleep.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “Carolina.”

  The whisper called her from a dreamless sleep. It was Castillo’s voice, deep and raspy, and so close she would’ve sworn she felt it vibrate through her. It wasn’t him, though. It was the dream Castillo, the one who had come to her once or twice before and promised to make her feel good. She always woke up before they ever got to the good part. This time, she was determined to see the dream through.

  He said her name again. This time it was so close that his warm breath seemed to brush past her ear. Her skin prickled with gooseflesh. Teeth nibbled the lobe of her ear followed by a gentle bite to her neck, which he soothed with the hot, wet lap of his tongue. That sensation was so real that she couldn’t help but open her eyes.

  She was in her bedroom, but it wasn’t completely dark. The oil lamp still burned low on the bedside table. Castillo’s strong body was pressed against her from behind and he gently sucked at her neck. She closed her eyes against the tremor of pleasure that moved through her.

  “You’re awake.” His right hand, which was curled beneath her, pressed against her belly to pull her back against him. He was hard. That male part of him was like iron against her bottom. She opened her eyes wide at the realization, and her body responded instinctively. Her breasts tightened, and a pulse beat between her thighs. She knew she was wet there, too. It was exactly how she’d felt last night. Her blood seemed heavy, while at the same time her heart pounded out an excited rhythm.

  “Castillo.” Instinctively she pressed her hips back against him, relishing his hard length against her buttocks and the way it intensified the ache building inside her.

  “Carolina,” he whispered, dragging his mouth along her neck to the narrow strip of flesh bare above her collarbone before it disappeared into her night rail. Then he pressed forward, thrusting his hips into the softness of her body.

  She gasped at the answering surge of need that moved through her. Her body was throbbing, clenching, wanting to feel him inside her.

  “I want you.” His voice was ragged. “If this is the only time we have, then I want to bring you pleasure. I want to make you come apart.”

  “Yes. Yes, I want that.” She tried to turn in his arms, but he held her too tight, his forearm like a vise around her. Needing to touch him, she reached up and buried her fingers in his hair, pulling his mouth to hers for a searing kiss that left her breathless. He loosened his hold on her waist, just enough to move his hand to her breast. His fingers found her nipple through the cotton of her gown and pinched it just hard enough to make her lose her breath.

  “Will you open your gown for me, mi corazón? Let me see you.”

  He’d barely finished saying the words before her hands were at the row of buttons that held the gown closed between her breasts. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was aware of a tiny voice reminding her of her modesty, but she didn’t care to hear it. This was Castillo, and she wanted to share these things with him. There was no other man she could ever imagine wanting like this. Only Castillo.

  He allowed her to roll onto her back, and he rose above her, propped on his elbow. The look in his eyes was intense and heated. She’d seen a hint of that look the night before, but this was even more piercing, its weight almost tangible. She tugged the corners of her bodice, but stopped just short of revealing her nipples. It seemed she had some modesty,
after all. No one had seen this part of her. The corner of his mouth ticked upward, and he moved his left arm, the injured one, as if to assist her.

  “No,” she whispered. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

  “Then open it for me.” The tip of his tongue ran over his bottom lip, his eyes flicking to hers briefly before settling on the exposed mounds of her breasts.

  She took a breath as she pulled the edges of the bodice down far enough to show her nipples, and then even further until the entire globes of her breasts were revealed to him.

  “So beautiful, mi corazón.”

  It was strange how she felt beautiful, as though she could see herself through his eyes. “Will you kiss me…like you did last night?” Only this time there would be nothing between her flesh and his mouth. She trembled just thinking of it, and a pulse beat deep within her.

  He held her gaze as he bent down to her, and anticipation fluttered in her belly, but he paused inches above her. If she arched she could put herself just at his lips, but she forced herself to wait. And it was worth it. His tongue darted out to tease her, and she nearly came undone at the hot, wet friction. But it didn’t prepare her for the surge of longing that flooded her body when he closed his lips around her and sucked. She gasped, and bit her lip to keep herself from being too loud. Mary slept right next door. Finally, he pulled back, but when she would’ve protested, he gave the other nipple equal attention.

  Letting her go with a slight pop, he smiled down at her with a self-satisfied look on his face, and she didn’t even care. He deserved to look so satisfied. She wanted him to look even more satisfied. Careful of his arm, she ran her palms over the strong muscles of his shoulders and down his bare chest. She could hardly believe that she was able to touch him at will and snaked a hand around his neck to pull him down to her for a kiss, just to prove to herself that he was real. That he was here and solid and really touching her. He slipped into the cradle of her hips as he took control of the kiss, ravaging her mouth.