Kaylynn nodded, her cheeks heating beneath Ravenhawk’s knowing gaze. “Oh.”
Mazza muttered something foul under his breath, his expression feral.
Jesse emptied the dregs from the coffeepot into the fire pit. “Let’s pack up and get the hell out of here.” He looked at Ravenhawk. “I guess you’ll be riding on.”
“I was thinking there’s probably a good-sized reward out for old Victor and the rest, and that half of it rightly belongs to me.”
“Is that what you were thinking?”
Ravenhawk nodded. “You got a problem with that?”
“No, I guess you earned your share.”
“Damn right. You wanna help me saddle the horses?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll clean up here,” Kaylynn said.
Jesse looked at her and smiled. “Stay away from Mazza,” he warned, then followed Ravenhawk toward the picket line.
Kaylynn rolled the bedding and put out the fire while Jesse and Ravenhawk tied the bodies of the outlaws to the backs of the horses. Victor Mazza’s malevolent gaze followed her every move. An hour later, they were headed toward town.
They made quite a sight, Kaylynn mused. Jesse rode on one side of her, leading four corpse-laden horses. Ravenhawk rode on her other side, leading Mazza’s horse.
It was, she mused, a grisly parade.
* * * * *
Kaylynn sat in a chair beside the window, looking down at the street below. Jesse had left her and Ravenhawk at the hotel, then gone to the jail to drop off Victor Mazza and fill out whatever forms were necessary to claim the rewards on Victor Mazza and the four dead outlaws.
Jesse had warned Ravenhawk to stay in his room. He was, after all, supposed to be Jesse’s prisoner.
The trip back to town had been strained. She had been acutely aware of the tension between Jesse and Ravenhawk, and just as aware that she was the cause of it. Victor Mazza had cursed long and loud, vowing to kill them all for what they had done to his brother, until Ravenhawk threatened to geld him if he didn’t shut up. Apparently the outlaw took the threat to heart, because he didn’t say another word, though if looks could kill, they would all have been dead long since.
A knock at the door drew her attention from the window. Rising, she crossed the room and opened the door.
Ravenhawk shrugged at her look of disappointment. “I guess you were expecting Yellow Thunder.”
“Yes, I was. Did you want something?”
He shook his head, thinking he wanted quite a lot from her, but he couldn’t tell her that. “No. I was going crazy in my room, so I thought I’d come by and make sure you were all right.”
“I’m fine.”
“Mind if I come in?”
She bit down on the inside of her lower lip. She knew it was improper for a woman to entertain a man in her room, but after all she had been through in the last few weeks, such a strict moral code seemed foolish somehow.
She stepped back. “Come in.”
Ravenhawk crossed the threshold and she closed the door behind him.
“I wonder what’s keeping Jesse,” Kaylynn mused.
Ravenhawk shrugged. “Probably still doing paperwork and answering questions.”
“Do you think there was a problem?”
“I doubt it. Maybe he stopped to have a drink at the saloon.” He smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry about him. I’m sure he’ll be along soon.”
“I guess so.” She stood in the middle of the floor, ill at ease without knowing why.
“Kaylynn, where are you going from here?”
“Home, to my parents. You know that.”
“I just wondered if maybe you’d changed your mind.”
“Why would I do that?”
“I thought maybe you’d decided to stay here, with Yellow Thunder.”
“No.” He hadn’t asked, she thought, and didn’t know what her answer would be if he had. She wanted to go home. Had to go home.
“Is there any chance I could talk you into staying with me?”
“With you?” she exclaimed.
He shrugged. “I’d do my best to make you a good husband.”
“I’m already married.”
“What! To who?”
“A man in San Francisco.” Suddenly agitated, she began to pace the floor. “I thought you knew.”
“No.” He frowned at her. “So, your husband lives in Frisco,” he mused aloud, “and you’re on your way, alone, to New York. You wouldn’t be running away from him, would you?”
“I don’t see as how that’s any of your business.”
“No, I reckon not. Does Yellow Thunder know?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
She felt a rush of heat suffuse her, knew he was remembering the night she had spent with Jesse, knew he was thinking she was no better than a harlot.
Stiffening her spine, she met his gaze. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing.” Reaching out, he grabbed her arm and turned her to face him.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing. Calm down, Kaylynn.”
“I am calm.”
He grinned at her. It was a devilishly handsome grin.
“Let me go.”
“Shh.” Slowly, deliberately, he drew her up against him.
She stared up at him, her heart pounding, as he lowered his head and claimed her lips with his. In all her life, she had only been kissed by two men, Alan and Jesse. Well, three men if she counted her second cousin who had kissed her in the gazebo at her thirteenth birthday party.
She struggled against Ravenhawk for a minute and then, overcome with curiosity, she closed her eyes and surrendered to his kiss. It was warm and pleasant, yet she felt none of the excitement that had coursed through her when Jesse kissed her.
“What the hell is going on?”
Guilt heated Kaylynn’s cheeks as she tried to twist out of Ravenhawk’s arm. “Jesse!”
He looked at her, his expression unreadable. “I knocked. Guess you didn’t hear me.”
She shook her head. “No.”
Jesse’s gaze rested on Ravenhawk. “What are you doing here?”
Ravenhawk shrugged. “I just came by to make sure she was all right.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
“You jealous, bounty hunter?”
Jesse took a step forward, his hands curled into tight fists. “Get your filthy hands off her.”
“Calm down,” Ravenhawk said. Releasing Kaylynn, he put her away from him. “It was just a kiss. No need to…”
“Like hell!” Face flushed with anger, Jesse lunged forward.
Kaylynn screamed, “No!” as Jesse plowed into Ravenhawk.
Ravenhawk reeled backward, crashing into the window behind him, shattering the glass. In an effort to catch himself, Ravenhawk clutched Jesse’s shirt, but to no avail. Driven by the bounty hunter’s momentum, they fell over the sill, tumbled down the sloping roof, and plummeted to the street below.
Kaylynn hurried to the window and leaned out over the sill in time to see Ravenhawk gain his feet. Thank God the fall wasn’t as far as she’d feared.
She shook her head in disbelief as Ravenhawk staggered over to where Jesse lay facedown in the street. He looked down at the bounty hunter a moment and then drew back his foot and kicked Jesse in the ribs.
It was a vicious blow. With a grunt of pain, Jesse rolled onto his back.
Kaylynn gasped as Ravenhawk drew back his foot to kick Jesse again, but Jesse was ready for him. With a grimace, Jesse grabbed Ravenhawk by the ankle, then rolled to the side, bringing Ravenhawk crashing to the ground once more.
Both men were breathing hard when they gained their feet. Jesse clutched his side, his eyes narrowed as Ravenhawk lunged at him. In spite of the pain of his bruised ribs, Jesse was ready. Driven by a cold fury, he lashed out at the other man, his fist catching Ravenhawk with a hard right cross. With a grunt, Ravenhawk stumbled backward and Jesse rushed him.
Blood spurted from Ravenhawk’s nose as he tumbled backward, landing with a loud splash in the trough.
Ravenhawk came up cussing mightily. As soon as he broke the surface, Jesse grabbed him by the shirt collar and dunked him again and yet again before he hauled him to the surface.
Gasping for breath, Ravenhawk glared at him.
“I’m not gonna say this again,” Jesse growled. “Keep your hands off what’s mine.”
“I reckon her husband would tell you the same thing, bounty hunter,” Ravenhawk said with a sneer. “Maybe you should take your own advice.”
“Damn you,” Jesse hissed. “I ought to drown your sorry hide here and now.”
Suddenly aware that a crowd had gathered, Jesse shoved Ravenhawk underwater one last time before pulling him from the trough.
Jesse took a step back and drew his gun. “Just stand easy,” he warned. He glanced over his shoulder at the sound of footsteps and saw Hank Frey striding toward him.
He swore softly when he saw Kaylynn standing on the porch of the hotel. She started toward him, and he shook his head. She threw him a puzzled look, but stayed where she was.
“Say now, what the hell’s going on here?” Frey demanded. “I don’t allow no gunplay in my town. Say, isn’t this one of the men from the robbery? The one you were taking to Colorado?”
“Yeah,” Jesse said. “He got away from me. We’ll be leaving as soon as I collect the money due me.”
Frey nodded. “Maybe I should keep him over to the jail until you’re ready to leave?”
“Good idea,” Jesse said, suppressing a grin as Frey pulled a set of handcuffs out of his back pocket. “Thanks.”
A look of dismay settled over Ravenhawk’s face as Frey snapped the cuffs in place.
“No problem,” Frey said. “I finished up the paperwork on those bounties you turned in. Should be ready by noon tomorrow.”
Jesse grunted softly as he shoved Ravenhawk’s gun into the waistband of his trousers. “Obliged.”
Ravenhawk glared at Jesse, his dark eyes filled with anger and condemnation.
Frey drew his gun, then gave Ravenhawk a little shove. “Let’s go.”
Jesse wrapped one arm around his bruised ribs, a faint smile playing over his face as he watched Frey hustle the Lakota off to jail. Ravenhawk wouldn’t be kissing Kaylynn again anytime soon.
He turned as Kaylynn came up behind him.
“What are you doing?” she demanded. “Why did you let the sheriff take Ravenhawk?”
Jesse shrugged, grimacing as a twinge of pain lanced through his side. “He’s wanted for robbery.”
“You hate him, don’t you?”
Jesse shook his head. “No, I don’t hate him. But when I saw his hands on you, I wanted to kill him.”
“Jesse…”
“Ironic, don’t you think?”
“What do you mean?”
He took her by the arm and started walking back to the hotel. “He told me to practice what I preach.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I hit him because he kissed you.” Jesse laughed softly, bitterly. He had no more right to touch Kaylynn, to kiss her, to want her, than did Ravenhawk. She belonged to another man, and it was time he remembered that.
“I still don’t understand.”
“Forget it.”
He opened the door to the hotel and ushered her inside.
“Go to your room and stay there.”
“Where are you going?”
“I need a drink.”
“Jesse, what is it? What’s wrong?” Her gaze ran over his face. “Are you all right?”
“Right as rain, darlin’. Go along now.”
She frowned at him. It was in her mind to protest, to tell him he had no right to send her off to her room like a naughty child, but something in his eyes warned her not to argue, not now.
Turning on her heels, she headed for the stairs. Men! She was fed up with all of them.
Jesse watched her out of sight, then, with a sigh, he left the hotel.
* * * * *
Ravenhawk paced the confines of his cell, four strides up, four strides back, the air turning blue as he cursed Yellow Thunder with every foul epithet he knew. Damn the man!
He paused in front of the cell’s single window, his hands fisted around the iron bars as he stared out into the alley behind the jail. He had to get out of here.
Tension coiled in his gut and he began to pace again. He’d kill Yellow Thunder for this if it was the last thing he ever did. They’d had a deal, dammit, and he’d kept his part. He should have known he couldn’t depend on Yellow Thunder to keep his word, should have known the bounty hunter would double-cross him.
Damn!
* * * * *
Jesse spent the rest of the day holed up in a saloon, quietly working his way to the bottom of a bottle of whiskey.
He was about halfway through the bottle when it began to rain. Tilted back in his chair, a full glass of whiskey in his hand, he stared out the window. It was just a light summer shower, just enough to tamp down the dust in the street. A low rumble of thunder echoed in the distance. The gray day suited his mood perfectly. He’d been a fool to fall in love with Kaylynn, to think they could have a life together. He never should have touched her, kissed her. Damn! Even now, she was all he could think about.
Emptying his glass, he left the saloon. He spent twenty minutes walking in the drizzle, hoping a cold shower would cool the aching need he felt for another man’s wife even though he knew it was a futile hope at best.
He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.
He needed her more than his next breath.
He loved her…
He paused in front of the hotel. Soft yellow lamplight spilled from the window of her room. Warm. Beckoning…
And he, poor fool that he was, went toward it.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Kaylynn turned onto her side and punched the hard pillow. It had been a long day, and a longer night. She had been tempted to go visit Ravenhawk in jail, but after all that had happened, she was reluctant to leave her room. It seemed every time she took off on her own, she got into trouble.
She wondered where Jesse was, couldn’t believe he had let Ravenhawk go to jail.
She rolled onto her back again and stared at the reflection of the lamplight on the ceiling. Where was Jesse? She had expected him to look in on her, maybe take her to dinner, but she hadn’t seen him for hours. Finally, she had gone to the hotel dining room to get something to eat, then hurried back to her room to wait for Jesse.
Doubts plagued her. She hated them, hated herself for entertaining them, but she couldn’t help wondering if it had been a mistake to let him make love to her. She knew it had been a sin, a betrayal of her wedding vows, but, in her heart, it had felt so right. She was hopelessly, helplessly, in love with him. Had she been wrong to think he felt the same? Had his kisses, his sweet words, all been a lie?
A long sigh shuddered through her. Blinking back tears, she was about to extinguish the lamp when there was a knock at the door.
Hope flared in her heart as she jumped out of bed, wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and went to the door. “Who is it?”
“Me. Jesse.”
At last. Clutching the blanket with one hand, she unlocked the door. “Jesse!” Her gaze ran over him. His shirt and pants were damp. “What have you been doing?”
“Walking.”
“In the rain?”
He nodded.
With a shake of her head, she stepped away from the door. “Come in.”
He stepped inside and she closed the door.
“You’ll catch a chill,” she said, though it really wasn’t cold. Without
thinking, she wrapped the blanket she had been using around his shoulders. Too late, she remembered she was wearing nothing but her chemise.
Jesse grinned as a becoming blush pinked her cheeks.
Kaylynn stared at him, wondering why she was so embarrassed. They had made love not long ago.
“Want the blanket back?” Jesse asked.
Kaylynn shook her head. “No. Keep it.” She sat down on the bed and drew the covers over her. “Where have you been?”
“Nowhere.”
Pulling Ravenhawk’s gun from his waistband, he placed it on the top of the dresser, then crossed the floor.
Kaylynn wrinkled her nose when he sat down on the edge of the mattress. “You’ve been drinking.”
“Yeah. A little.”
“A little?”
“All right. A lot.”
“You smell like a saloon.”
“How would you know?”
“I guess I don’t. Is everything all right?”
He shook his head, his gaze moving over her. What could be right when she belonged to someone else?
“You should get out of those clothes,” Kaylynn said. “You’ll catch your death.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said with a shrug.
“It matters to me.”
“Does it?”
“You know it does.”
“Kay…” He clenched his fists to keep from reaching for her. She was beautiful, so beautiful. Her hair fell over her shoulders, her skin glowed luminescent in the light of the lamp. Damn. He stood abruptly. “I’d better go.”
“No.” She reached out and grabbed his hand. “Don’t leave.”
“It’s for the best.”
“Please, Jesse, stay with me.” She didn’t want to be alone anymore. Sometimes she felt like she’d been alone her whole life, until she met Jesse.
“Kay, I can’t stay here and not touch you. Want you.” He swore softly. “I’d better go.”
“Stay,” she whispered. “Stay with me.”
He nodded, and she looked up at him, her smile more radiant than the sun, and he knew he couldn’t leave her, knew he would do anything she asked, anything at all, just to see her smile. Unbuckling his gunbelt, he tossed it on the chair, then sat down on the bed and removed his boots. He took off his shirt, too. His pants were cold and damp, but he left them on.
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