The Gambler

by Lois Greiman

  It was hot. Cool water would feel wonderful. Not that she wanted to watch Raven bathe, of course. But it sure was hot. She stood and paced a circular path around the small fire. The evening's bumpy clouds, alight with tangerine and scarlet hues, had faded, only to be seen as tattered grey ghosts over the besieged moon.

  Maybe it would rain. Was Raven in the stream now? Completely naked? She paced again, chewing her lip. It sure was hot. A bath would do her good. Not that she wanted to watch Raven bathe but...

  "Oh hell!" she breathed suddenly and found she was already striding toward the stream. Off to her left, the geldings were grazing. Angel raised his head and bobbled his massive roman nose at her as if in greeting, but Charm barely noticed, for through the leafy, low branches of a cottonwood she caught a flash of movement.

  It was Raven. Without having to give it any thought, she knew she should turn around and march back toward camp. But she didn't. Her feet were silent on the sandy soil. The semidarkness and the muted colors of her gown hid her approach, and suddenly she was poised in the spring-green foliage of the trees. Standing at the top of a steep bank, she looked down.

  The moon, perhaps battling with the clouds for an unobscured view of the scene beneath its bald yellow head, shone full force now. It glistened on the silvered peaks of the magical waves and fell without modesty on the bared posterior of the man called Raven.

  His hair gleamed a deep sapphire color. His shoulders were wide and dark, and from there his body tapered in masculine lines to the taut expanse of his waist. Below that... Charm swallowed hard. She shouldn't be there, she knew, and had nearly convinced herself to leave when he knelt to splash water on his torso. The silvery waves lapped lovingly at his buttocks.

  Charm grasped a branch in each hand and drew a sharp breath through her teeth. Raven's head turned, like a fine, gallant stallion that had caught a scent of danger. Charm remained motionless, not daring to breathe. Yet, he stood, finally turning slowly to stare in her direction.

  Dear God. This was no time to faint, because he'd probably hear her fall, and besides, if she fainted she'd be unable to watch...

  What was wrong with her? He'd lied to her, taken her mother's Bible, abducted her! And yet... as he turned his attention back to the water, she could not forget the feel of his hands on her skin, the quick hard beat of his heart against hers. Charm's breath came in quick spurts now. She should leave immediately. This very instant. But... Well, didn't she need to learn about men in order to overcome her fear of them? And wasn't this the most practical way to do so—without his knowledge, from the safety of the trees?

  God, he was beautiful! She released her hold on the branches, easing forward a scant half inch to see better. Yes, he was constructed like a wild stallion, with every muscle tight as a knot, and every line sleek as a running steed's. And his... his...

  Suddenly, Charm's foot slipped on the exposed root of a cottonwood. She grappled wildly for a hold, scrambled for footing, and then gasped in dismay as she slid down the sharp bank to land with a slithering thud not four feet from where Raven bathed.

  Even by moonlight she could see the shock stamped on his face. His mouth moved soundlessly. Charm could do nothing but stare up from her soggy position in wide-eyed horror.

  "You were watching me!"

  "No!" she squeaked in denial. But there was no hope of being believed, for she lay like a beached trout, gaping up at him.

  "You were..."—he waved a hand indicating the immediate area—"you were sneaking around watching me."

  Her lips moved. Everything else remained immobile.

  He strode forward, his fists lightly clenched. Even now, she could not help but notice the fine, fluid movement of his glistening form.

  "What do you want?" His words were a mere whisper but seemed to reverberate down to her very soul.

  "You." She thought she had only said the word mentally, a shameful admission of her own weakness, but suddenly she realized she had verbalized her scandalous desire. "I want you," she whispered, no longer attempting to stop the words.

  His fists tightened, as did his jaw. "No," he said hoarsely. Turning with stiff resolution, he marched out of the water and away.

  Why was she doing this to him? Raven sat alone in the darkness. He had retrieved the remaining bottle of wine and was now determined to drink himself into oblivion. Lots of people did it. It couldn't be that hard, and yet he felt stone-cold sober.

  Perhaps she would run away. Perhaps she'd go back to Jude. He'd let her go. He would! In fact, he'd have himself a little celebration. He must have been crazy to drag her halfway across the Dakota Territory. The reward wasn't worth it, because he was losing his mind.

  He could think of nothing but Charm. She troubled his days, haunted his nights. He'd lost track of his main goal in life. Hell! What had his mission been? To find his father? Why? To make him pay for leaving his mother? But he knew none of the circumstances. He didn't know why his old man had not returned, and now things seemed so much more complicated. Love for a woman changed everything.

  Love!

  Raven stood abruptly. Love! With a wild toss, he smashed the empty bottle against a tree and swore. The girl was driving him insane, but who was to say his own mother hadn't done the same to his father? Perhaps Raven's old man had left to gain a fortune just as he had told his young bride. Perhaps he had had every intention of returning, but when his mission failed, he lacked the nerve to return empty-handed to admit defeat to the woman he loved. Love changed a man.

  There was that word again! Love! Raven gritted his teeth and paced. The last thing he needed was to be tied to a woman, and especially to the killer woman. He snorted wildly, but his gaze had turned unconsciously toward camp. She would be lying down with the moonlight painting soft shadows across her perfect features. Her eyes would be closed and her lashes would be like dark chestnut down against her cheeks. He could go to her now. He could take her in his arms and kiss her and tell her of his love.

  God damn it! He didn't love her! He lusted for her! He was just goddamn randy. Raven paced again. He was just randy and he could prove it! He could go and take her up on her offer. He'd make her sorry she'd ever tempted him, sorry... for everything.

  To his own inebriated mind, Raven's passage through the woods sounded quiet, even stealthy. When he reached camp, however, she was already on her feet, staring wide-eyed in the direction of his approach.

  His chest was heaving as he breathed, and his shirt was open, but that didn't mean he wasn't thinking clearly. Hewould give her what she wanted, would take her to the pinnacle of pleasure and drive her from his mind. To hell with tenderness! To hell with her fear! She'd said yes and yes it would be!

  "Raven?" Her voice was very soft.

  Something tripped in his chest. To hell with love! he reminded himself sternly.

  "Are you all right?"

  "I'm..." He took two staggering steps to the left, realizing suddenly that his stance was not quite what it might be. "I'm drunk as a st-stunk. But I'm still ready."

  Her eyes widened, he noticed, and he was certain she was impressed with his ability to perform.

  "Ready for what?" she whispered.

  He grinned. So she had decided to be coy after all. "Ready for..."

  The tree limb was as wide as his upper arm and hit Raven dead square across his chest. He was slapped backward like a bug on a stick, and he hit the ground gasping for breath and explanations. "What the—"

  "I'm gonna kill you now, boy!" roared a voice.

  "No! Jude! No!"

  Good God! Jude again, Raven thought foggily. But there was no more time for thinking, for now the end of the tree limb was planted against his chest and the business end of a .45 pointed at his left eyeball.

  "Are you breeding?"

  "What?" Raven croaked, but realized now that his question had synchronized with Charm's.

  "I said, are you breedin', gal?"

  "No!" she gasped. "Of course not."

  "Good!" J
ude said through his teeth. "Then I can kill 'im!" He cocked the .45.

  "No, Jude! Don't!"

  "Don't! Don't!" the old man yelled. "I been goin' crazy tryin't' find y'. This bastard took the only good thing in my life when he took you, gal! He deserves t' die, and by God he will!" he said, raising the gun.

  "No!" Charm grasped his arm in desperate appeal. "I think I love—"

  "I'll kill him, by God," Jude growled again.

  "I think I... I'm... in the family way!" she gasped wildly.

  The old man went deadly still. "What's that you say, gal?" His tone was tense, his gaze steady on Raven, who remained unmoving.

  "I said..." She swallowed then nodded with jerky resolution. "I am. I'm carrying his child. You can't kill him!"

  Chapter 22

  "Did he force you, gal?" Jude's voice was guttural and strained.

  Charm stared at Raven. He was flat on his back, his shirt open and his broad chest marred by the wound she herself had inflicted. "No." She shook her head, feeling short of breath and strangely numb.

  Jude's gnarled hands tightened on the branch as he pressed harder against Raven's chest. "Did he hurt you?"

  "Listen. Jude, I—"

  "Did he hurt you?" Jude demanded, his voice rising with his wrath.

  "No. No," she breathed. "He never did."

  The branch was slowly removed from Raven's chest, though the .45 didn't waver. "Tie him up, Clancy then get him on a horse."

  Until this moment, Charm hadn't noticed the other man's presence.

  He cleared his throat now. "What are you plannin'?"

  “Tie his hands," insisted Jude, keeping his .45 aimed at Raven's head. "Or get the hell outta my way."

  *

  "You got a preacher in this here town?" Jude asked, his voice harsh, but not raspy, as if his mind and body had become clear of the liquor that had poisoned him for so long.

  They'd been riding for hours. Raven's head felt as if it were a strong man's overused anvil.

  "A preacher?" asked the skinny man who descended the steps of the general store. "Yeah, Father McMurt. He's a preacher. Sort of." Skinny scowled, not bothering to hide his curiosity. "What you want him for?"

  "Bring 'im here," Jude ordered, and Skinny scurried off down the hard-packed street, his curiosity making him hurry.

  "You're plannin' to marry them up," deduced Clancy with sudden exuberance.

  Raven lifted his head. The clanging got louder, threatening to drown reality.

  "You are," said Clancy happily. "Ain't you?"

  There was a momentary pause; then, "Goddamn right I am."

  "Hell," said Clancy joyously, removing his hat to wipe his brow. "Wouldn't it be kinder to shoot him? Not that I got nothin' against yer gal."

  "I hear you're in need of a clergy?" All gazes turned to the two men who had approached on foot and now stood not far away.

  "That's right," said Jude.

  Beside the skinny man stood a rumpled-looking fellow with a squashed hat and an unsteady stance. "I am such a man."

  Jude straightened slightly, tightening his hands on his own reins as well as on the reins of Raven's mount. "You're drunk."

  "'Tis the sad truth," the Scotsman agreed without a trace of regret.

  Jude scowled. "Can you perform a wedding?"

  The preacher lifted his chin. "Can you purchase a bottle?"

  Raven tried to quiet his cerebral clattering. "I won't be forced into marriage, old man," he warned.

  Jude turned his head. "It's your choice, boy. You can marry her. Or you can marry her with a leg wound. Truth is, I prefer the latter."

  "I didn't sleep with her."

  "You callin' my gal a liar?" Jude's hand was on his gun again.

  Raven winced at the pain in his head, wondering if his cranium was about to explode. "Maybe she's mistaken," he suggested, but quietly now, lest his eyeballs desert the rest of his body.

  "Goddamn you!" Jude's gun was all the way out. "The child won't be raised without no pa. You hear me? Not after the hell I been through fer the past twenty-six years."

  Raven scowled, vaguely aware that Jude was making no sense. A small, silent crowd had gathered about them.

  The priest cleared his throat. "Are we ready then, or would you be plannin' to untie the groom?"

  "We're ready," growled Jude, gun held level.

  McMurt patted a pocket, then another, but finally lifted his face to scowl. "Might there be someone with a Bible?"

  "I'm gonna shoot them both," Jude warned. "Where's yer mama's Bible, gal?"

  Charm's face was pale. "It's... Raven's got it."

  Clancy fished it from Raven's vest pocket to hand it to the priest who cleared his throat and lifted his gaze to the prospective groom. "Do you have a ring, young man?"

  "What do you think this is, a goddamn garden party?" snapped Jude. "Get on with the—"

  "There's his mother's ring," said Clancy, his tone becoming merrier by the moment.

  Raven swung his head about—a bit too quickly, for it seemed to continue pivoting far past its normal range. "Back off, Bodine," he managed to order.

  "Come now, Joseph," said the other, pushing his mount closer and reaching for the chain about Raven's neck. "If you're gonna get yourself wed you might as well do it right. Besides, she's damn pretty. If I was gonna get hitched... which I ain't..."—his grin widened as he lifted the ring from the other's chest—"I'd want it to be to someone just like her."

  "Remind me to kill you when I can see straight," Raven requested.

  "Certainly, Joseph," Clancy said and loosened the ring from its simple chain to hold it in his palm. "We're ready."

  "Would you care to dismount?" asked McMurt.

  "No, he wouldn't," growled Jude. "Just get on with it."

  In the end the cold hard muzzle of Jude's gun was held to Raven's temple, prompting the appropriate vows. When it came Charm's turn to speak, however, the ceremony came to an abrupt and breathtaking halt.

  "Say the words, gal," urged Jude. Her lips moved, but no sound came forth. "What is it? You scared of him?" he asked quietly.

  Her answer took a moment to come, but when it did it was surprisingly clear and honest. "No, I'm not scared."

  "Then say the words, Charm, cuz I won't have my grandbaby raised without no pa."

  The silence was as heavy as sin.

  "He won't mistreat y', gal," added Jude quietly. "I'll see t' that."

  "But—"

  "It's too late for second thoughts now. He'll marry y' or he'll die."

  "I do," she said faintly.

  Clancy slipped Raven's ring onto her finger, Jude led them toward a building that boasted baths, and Charm's head spun.

  "You stink like cheap liquor," Jude said. Although Raven was tempted to ask whether that was an insult or compliment coming from that front, he kept silent and dismounted with a lurch. "Charm, you go ahead to the boardinghouse.

  We'll meet you there in an hour's time for supper, if I can scrub the stench from this bast... from your husband here."

  There seemed little for Raven to do but follow Jude's orders. The bathhouse was quiet, the water warm and soothing, giving Raven time to plan. Of course he would have the marriage annulled once Jude and his ever present .45 disappeared. The bastard couldn't stay with them forever. Eventually he'd have to break down and get a drink. Except that he appeared healthier now somehow, and sober, and God knew a sober man was apt to cause more trouble than a drunk one. Raven shaved and lathered and soaked until finally Jude appeared from outside the door where he had been standing guard, lest the bridegroom decided to slip town.

  "Get out. I'm thinkin' you're clean as you're ever gonna get."

  "Where did you find her, Jude?" Raven asked, looking up into the man's brown eyes.

  "What's that?" Jude asked, tilting his head slightly to hear better.

  "Where did you find Chantilly Grady?"

  There was a slight pause as the man stared at him; then, "I don't know what the h
ell you're talkin' about."

  "I'm talking about Charm. She's not your daughter."

  "Damn you." The .45 was out again and surprisingly steady. "She's my own, so don't think I won't protect her like she ain't."

  Raven lifted his brows slightly, allowing no other expression. "I just want a few questions answered."

  The old man took two quick strides to stand tense and still beside the tub. "When I see the house you build her, when I see the home you make for her. When I see you makin' my Charm happy, then you got a right to ask me questions," he growled. "Now get out, cuz I'd sure hate for my granddaughter t'be an only child."

  There were several possible meanings to that statement, Raven thought. None of them was good. He got out.

  "Put on them clothes," Jude said, pointing to a pile of garments brought in earlier.

  So, the old man had given him a wedding gift, Raven mused wryly as he shook out the clothing. They fit surprisingly well. Raven couldn't help wondering if, perhaps, Charm had helped estimate the size.

  The walk to the boardinghouse was short, and yet it was almost dark by the time they passed the door. They were shown immediately to the dining table. Charm was there. Her gaze rose nervously when they entered. Raven drew in his perceptions quickly, wondering at her agitation and realizing it had been quite some time since he'd seen her look so edgy. But then, Clancy, damn his hide, sat quite close to her left side, and Clancy, with his easy, phony charm, made Raven nervous too. Bodine smiled. Raven clenched his teeth, and Jude nodded him to a seat.

  Charm was wearing a new gown. Though that fact was, in truth, irrelevant, Raven noticed anyway. It was ivory, with two ruffles of lace starting at her shoulders to form a vee that ended at her tiny waist. Somehow it irritated him that he hadn't bought it himself.

  The meal was ordered and eaten with barely a word spoken except by Clancy who could speak about nothing at great lengths.

  Charm sat unmoving. Raven's hair was still damp, she noticed. It was drying now and curled away from his white starched collar like blue-black feathers.