The Gunslinger’s Untamed Bride

by Stacey Kayne

  It wasn’t as though he’d caught her half-undressed, but his presence was nonetheless unsettling.

  He pulled a pair of brown boots from the slender cabinet. It dawned on Lily why he’d walked into the room with such casual familiarity.

  “This is your room.”

  “Used to be.” He sat on the edge of the bed and tugged off one of his boots. “Now I’m just a guest from time to time.”

  Lily turned back to the mirror. Working quickly, she shoved in the last few hairpins Rachell had given her, but couldn’t quite keep her gaze off Juniper. He’d taken the time to clean up. His hair rippled across his scalp in damp blond waves and he wore a blue-and-green plaid shirt she’d not seen before. His second boot dropped to the wood floor, and she noticed his left foot had been wrapped in a thin ivory bandage.

  “How’s your foot?” she asked, turning to face him.

  “Better,” he said, though his jaw clenched as he shoved his heel into the boot. “Jed makes a salve that helps fight off infection. I’m sure it’ll heal up just fine.”

  Had he told them how he’d really gotten shot or, worse yet, her intentions to kill him? He stood and her gaze automatically went to his waist. She found only the thin brown belt threaded through his dark trousers and a knife scabbard at his side. He wasn’t wearing his holster. Lily’s gaze slid up the length of him. She was stunned by how very different he appeared without his gun belt.

  “You look real nice,” he said.

  “I, uh, thank you.”

  He stood there, the faintest hint of a smile on his lips. He looked quite handsome, though she wasn’t about to say so. Something about his relaxed posture, the way he looked at her, stirred a wave of emotions both familiar and frightening. Suddenly the room felt smaller. Too small.

  “Shall we go down?” she said, and darted for the door.

  “Yeah.” He grabbed up his damaged boots and quickly put them away before catching up with her in the hallway.

  “Miss Carrington,” said a low, gruff voice from behind her.

  Lily turned and instantly knew where May had gotten her gray eyes and ebony hair. An older man every bit the size of Juniper strode down the dimly lit hall. His long straight hair hung past the broad span of his shoulders.

  “Hello,” she said.

  “Lily, this is Jed Doulan.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” he said. “And sorry to hear about your guard and the trouble you’ve had up at Pine Ridge.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Can’t say I’m surprised. I never did care for McFarland. June’s had to work real hard to keep that place from going up like a shooting match.”

  “The man did put in an effort, late as it was,” said Juniper.

  “The man’s an ass,” Jed said flatly. “He couldn’t find any common sense if he kept it in a paper sack.”

  Lily suppressed a smile. “I’d have to agree.”

  “No sense in us standing here in the hall. I’ll follow you two downstairs.”

  Lily turned and led the way.

  “June tells me you have a real mind for business,” Jed said as they entered the front room. “Your firm has made quite a name for itself in the past few years.”

  She glanced back at her host. “You frequent San Francisco?”

  “I’m in ’Frisco and Sacramento far more often than I’d like. Someone’s got to ride herd over those politicians. If it was left up to them they’d starve every last Indian Nation out of existence.”

  “To the table,” Rachell called out as she placed the roast on the table. The girls came in behind her, each holding a steaming dish. Isaac was making his way around the table with a pitcher, filling glasses with what appeared to be tea.

  “There’s my little lady,” Jed said as he reached Rachell’s side. His long arms wrapped around her, all but absorbing her into his much larger body. His lips brushed her cheek before he released her.

  The sight pierced Lily’s heart with a shaft of pain.

  “Behave,” Rachell scolded, tapping a finger on Jed’s chest. A smile broke through her scowl before she turned away from him.

  “I always behave,” Jed said, and followed her into the kitchen.

  Lily’s mind filled with similar images, a set dinner table, her father’s playful antics, her mother’s radiant smiles, enough warmth in the atmosphere to melt winter snow.

  “Lily, you can sit here.” April pulled out the chair beside her.

  Distracted by the laughter coming from the kitchen, she forced a smile. “Thank you,” she said, moving around the table to sit beside Juniper’s youngest sister.

  Juniper and May sat down directly across from them, and Lily figured she’d give just about anything for a few hundred miles of distance. To hell with the mouthwatering meal spread across the table—all she needed was the solitary safety of her office and a soothing pot of hot chocolate.

  Jed and Rachell came in from the kitchen. He pulled out the chair beside May as Rachell set a basket of bread near the platter of sliced beef roast. His wide, callused hand closed over his wife’s shoulder, which she covered with her own hand and squeezed before he took his seat at the head of the table, neither looking away from the other.

  Realizing she was staring, Lily glanced around at the others. No one else seemed to notice the affectionate couple. All of them were collecting their napkins and talking to one another as they began filling their plates. The cold, hard weight in her chest expanded, sending a chill to every part of her body despite the warmth in the room. It wasn’t just the sweetness between Jed and Rachell that pained her, but everything. Everyone’s ease with one another, the blatant interest and affection shared between them—why did their warmth make her ache inside?

  “It appears I’m just in time,” Regi said, stepping up to the chair at the other end of the table, drawing everyone’s gaze.

  Lily sighed with relief, happy to have a familiar source of strength to focus on. His hair was slicked back in the usual style. The rest of him, however, was unrecognizable. He’d clearly borrowed some clothes of Juniper’s. The plaid shirt positively swallowed him, ballooned out above the cinched waistband, and the cuffs of the dark trousers had been rolled up several times. Borrowing clothes from the boy would likely have been a closer fit.

  “You made it,” said Isaac, sitting up on his knees in a chair beside his father. “I figured you’d have pruned up to nothin’ by now.”

  Regi laughed and took his seat.

  “Isaac,” Rachell said, giving her son a stern glance from across the table. “Mind your manners and put your feet down.”

  “Yes, Mama.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been so in need of a thorough scrubbing.” Regi collected his napkin from the table and snapped it out before draping the yellow linen over his lap. “I feel like a new man.”

  “Your own clothes should be dry by morning,” said Rachell.

  “I do appreciate your kindness.” He smiled at Lily and passed her a bowl of steamed green beans. “You look like your normal self again,” he said.

  She didn’t feel anywhere near normal, but said, “Yes.” She glanced at the other end of the table and smiled appreciatively at Jed and Rachell. “Thank you so much for having us in your home.”

  “You’re welcome to stay as along as you need,” said Jed.

  “We will likely be leaving once Günter arrives,” Lily said, fighting to keep her tone from revealing the desperation tearing at her insides. She looked across the table to Juniper. “Isn’t that right?”

  “Günter?” May’s posture stiffened. “Günter is coming here?”

  “She’s sweet on him,” April announced, flashing a wide grin.

  “I am not!”

  “You are, too.”

  “She is not,” Juniper protested. “May’s too young to be interested in boys.”

  “She’s nearly thirteen,” April said matter-of-factly.

  “James Thompson tried to kiss her at the Spring Festival,” said
Isaac.

  May slumped down in the chair beside him, red flagging her cheeks. Juniper’s thunderous gaze shot toward Jed.

  “Not to worry, son. My baby girl knew just how to handle herself, didn’t you, sweetheart?”

  “Can we please talk about something else?” May said through gritted teeth.

  “She blackened his eye,” April helpfully supplied. “Called him a sneaky, white-bellied jackass, too.”

  “That’s quite enough, April,” her mother warned.

  April dropped her gaze and forked a bite of chicken. “Well, she did.”

  “And she was right,” Jed said in a low tone.

  Rachell shifted her narrowed gaze to her husband.

  He laughed, ignoring his wife’s disapproving glare. “We brought home a pile of blue ribbons from that festival. May and April made a patchwork quilt with Ben and Corin’s daughters. Looked like vines of colorful ivy creeping up the blanket. Fanciest needlework most folks had ever seen.”

  “I did a sack race with Uncle Jake,” said Isaac. “But he wudn’t so good. Bet we coulda won it if you’d come with us, June.”

  “Wish I could have. Maybe next year.”

  His gaze met hers and held. Those pale eyes seemed to reach deep inside her, touching a place in her heart she’d never exposed to anyone.

  Lily broke the contact, lowering her lashes.

  No. He wouldn’t win. She was in control of her life, her emotions. She had survived the loss of her parents, her home, had overcome the torment and ridicule of the Carringtons.

  I can handle supper with the Doulans.

  Staring at her plate, she methodically took bite after bite. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t block out the hum of easy conversation. A blend of cheerful voices and delighted giggles ricocheted around the table. Even May perked up once Regi commented on her impressive collection of his favorite authors.

  “June got me started,” she said. “He was always sending books home to us.”

  Of course he had, Lily thought, stabbing a green bean with extra force. Juniper Barns, gunfighter turned savior of the whole wide world.

  It was all she could do to stay in her chair as pain swirled around her. Finished with her meal, she risked a glance at the man sitting across from her. He grinned at whatever May was saying to her mother. He fit in with the rest of them, all smiles and cheer—his family’s affection for him as tangible as the food on their plates, all of it reminding her of a time when she’d sat at a supper table and felt the same affection and delight at being part of a family that loved her.

  He stole my life.

  Suddenly it all made sense, her attraction to Juniper, the chaos of emotions that had plagued her the moment she had entered the Sierra foothills. Every memory of home was like a chink in her armor, letting in slices of old despair, the feeling of helplessness she remembered from her youth as her world had fallen apart around her. By the time she’d awakened to Juniper’s sky-blue eyes and tender smiles, her guard had been down, her security breeched.

  “Lily, may I take your plate?” April asked as she pushed back from the table.

  Startled to realize Juniper was staring back at her, his brow creased with a frown, she turned to April. “Yes. Thank you.”

  Everyone began collecting dishes and carrying them into the kitchen. Watching Juniper disappear through the doorway with Regi and the others, Lily didn’t waste a moment—she bolted for the front door and quietly slipped outside, needing to get away from all their cheerful chatter.

  The cool evening air washed over her like a soothing balm as she walked into the growing darkness just beyond the lights from the house. The shadow of mountains against a black sky was still visible in the last bit of twilight. Lily stepped up onto the white fence rail, folding her arms over the top rung as she gazed out at the quiet serenity, miles of peaceful beauty stretching out beneath an open sky—all of it seeming to scream of her injustice.

  He’d come here, to a tranquil home, a wonderful family that loved him—gaining everything he’d taken from her. It just wasn’t fair!

  A small voice inside her told her she was being childish. Crying over what she couldn’t change wouldn’t help anything. Her anger over something so trivial was juvenile. But the pain was real—a sense of loss swelling inside her as though she’d lost her parents all over again. She pressed her forehead against her arms as a surge of grief took hold.

  This wasn’t the time to resurrect old emotions. A few days ago, she’d been strong, independent, afraid of nothing. Until she’d met Juniper, she hadn’t cried a single tear over anything since she’d been dragged out of Missouri. She wondered now if that was because nothing else in her life had ever hurt so deeply.

  She had to find the Lily who could face hardship, insolence and ridicule and feel nothing. She shut her eyes and pulled in a deep, calming breath.

  “Lily?”

  Juniper’s masculine voice shattered her concentration.

  Not now.

  His boots scuffed the ground behind her as he approached.

  She stepped down from the fence. One look at his questioning blue eyes and she felt her control begin to unravel.

  The concern in his gaze made her yearn to be near him. She turned back to the mountains, telling herself she was some kind of crazy to allow her father’s killer to affect her in such a way. No matter how frequently she reminded herself of who he was, what he’d taken from her, still there was a tenderness in Juniper she’d sensed from the first moment she’d laid eyes on him, a sincerity that appealed to her clear down to her soul.

  She didn’t like it.

  “They’re serving up pie.”

  “I don’t want any.”

  He moved in beside her, crowding her space, her thoughts, her sanity.

  “You sure?”

  “I’m sure I don’t want to be here,” she said. “I don’t want to be in that house. I don’t want to see you with your family!”

  Her sharp voice echoed back at her on the light breeze. When moments passed and Juniper didn’t respond, she glanced beside her. He stood with his back slumped against the fence, his thumbs through his belt loops, his somber gaze trained on her. She couldn’t tell if he looked hurt or confused or a little of both. The fact that he was making her care about him at all infuriated her.

  “Do you do it on purpose?” she asked.

  “Do what?”

  “All of it! The dashing smiles, easy charm, the honey-and-hickory voice that makes me want to…to believe in you. To forget what you took from me.”

  “I’m not trying to upset you and I’m certainly not asking you to like me.”

  “Yet you make it very difficult for me to do otherwise!”

  His lips quirked with a smile. “Sorry.”

  Tears pricked at her eyes, which annoyed her all the more. “It’s not funny, you know?”

  “I know,” he said, his eyes darkening with clear emotion, and suddenly her cheeks were hot with tears.

  She turned away from him, but it was too late. Her breath came in short gasps. The moment he was near her, she couldn’t find herself, not the Lily she needed to be to keep the chaos at bay—Lily Carrington. She’d take being cold and bitter over the storm of emotions surging for release.

  “Honest to God, Lily, I’m not trying to hurt you.”

  He moved toward her, standing so close she could feel the warmth of his body against her back. His presence was like a hair-trigger on the lid to Pandora’s box, releasing all the little demons of suppressed sorrow and despair she’d kept locked away in the deepest regions of her heart. To her sheer horror, she couldn’t stop the flood of tears, the sobs wrenching from deep inside her.

  “Lily.”

  His warmth closed around her.

  “I’d do anything to take back the pain I’ve caused.”

  “That only makes it hurt…all the more.”

  She tried to turn away, but he surrounded her, offering a comfort she’d been denied for so many ye
ars. Blinded by tears and frustration, she buried her face against him as grief rose up like a dark cloud. Wave after wave of anguish surged through her, releasing a deluge of tears, until all she felt was raw and open. Juniper’s shirt muffled her sobs. Each sharp breath drew in his distinctive, masculine scent.

  Regaining some clarity, she realized Juniper’s arms were all that were keeping her standing. He held her close, one hand gently stroking her hair. Sniffing loudly, she found her balance and released her tight grip on his shirt.

  Juniper eased his hold but didn’t release her entirely. Her cheeks warmed as she stared at the fisted wrinkles that moments ago had been smooth pockets on his shirtfront and the dark tearstains at the center of his chest.

  Dear Lord, she’d used him as a giant hankie.

  “Sorry,” she said, refusing to look higher than the damp spot on his shirt.

  His hand slid beneath her chin and tilted her face up. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”

  His light tone was a clear contradiction to the turbulent gaze intent on hers. His thumb lightly traced her flushed cheek, sending tingles to the tips of her toes. She shut her eyes and turned her face into his touch, brushing her lips over the pad of his thumb. Ribbons of heat spiraled up from low in her belly.

  Why did he make her feel so…strange?

  “Lily?”

  The deep whisper of her name caressed her skin. She smiled against his palm. A good kind of strange.

  She opened her eyes, her gaze instantly focusing on his mouth. Would his lips feel as pleasing as his touch, a soothing burst of shimmering warmth?

  He leaned in, and her breath caught. She rose on tiptoe to meet his kiss. The light, fleeting caress of his lips against hers sent a shudder of desire rippling through her. Her breath broke and he tilted his head, fitting his mouth more fully to hers. The first glide of his tongue reminded her why this was all so new to her, every velvety caress teaching her that she knew nothing of true intimacy. She returned the light, fleeting touches, meeting each rhythmic caress until she clung to him, trembling as she kissed him in a way she’d never kissed another man.