Wilde Bunch
Page 20
“Have a serious talk with both Lily and Webb,” Kara cut in, nodding toward the wide-eyed Autumn.
Mac took the hint automatically. It wasn’t wise to speak of killing, even metaphorically, around the crime-obsessed child. “Yeah, that’s right.” He caught Kara’s hand and squeezed it, and their eyes met in perfect understanding.
“Hey there, Mac! Jill and I were just talking about you.” A tall, thin man in a dark suit approached them, his arm draped loosely around Jill Finlay’s waist.
Mac looked pained and didn’t bother to disguise it. “We’re on our way home, Tom,” he said brusquely.
Jill frowned, but Tom Egan didn’t take offense. “So are we. I’m looking for my daughter, Courtney. I have to drop her off at her mother’s. Have you seen her? Her friends said she came out for some air because it was getting too hot inside.”
Kara exchanged glances with Autumn and Clay. They shared another one of those moments of wordless, yet unequivocally clear, communication.
“We’ll find her for you, Mr. Egan,” Autumn volunteered at once. “C’mon, Clay.” The two of them ran off bellowing. “Courtney! Your dad is looking for you,” at the top of their lungs.
Mac paced back and forth like a restless, caged cougar, unresponsive to Tom Egan’s attempt at small talk. Kara picked up the slack, discussing Montana weather with Tom and Jill until Courtney appeared with Clay and Autumn.
“Hi, Daddy,” Courtney smiled at her father, then shot Jill a cold look of dislike. She carefully stood between the couple and took her father’s hand. The three walked away.
“Courtney hates Jill,” Autumn whispered to Kara. “She wants her mom and dad to get back together.”
“She said Brick told her he’d help her get rid of Jill,” added Clay importantly.
Who better than Brick to advise a teen on how to conduct a reign of terror? Kara thought wryly. It seemed that Courtney was going all out to sabotage her father’s romance with Jill. One could almost feel sorry for the finicky redhead. Almost.
Brick joined them, seemingly materializing out of nowhere. But Mac didn’t question him on his whereabouts; he was too preoccupied with the specter of Webb and Lily. Grabbing Kara’s hand, he strode toward the Jeep Cherokee, the three kids trailing behind.
“If we go any faster, we’ll qualify for the finals of the Indy 500,” Kara murmured, clutching the armrests of her seat. She glanced at the children who were quiet, apparently listening to the country song wailing on the radio. But Kara saw the apprehension in their eyes.
A muscle twitched in Mac’s cheek but he didn’t say anything. Kara found his silence more unnerving than his usually vociferous anger. She remembered what he’d said about her retreating into herself and decided he was right. Even angry communication was preferable to silent withdrawal.
Traveling as they were at the speed of light, the drive back to the Double R took less than half as long as her trip into town earlier that evening. Kara’s trepidation grew as they rounded the bend, and the house came into view.
Mac braked to a stop in front of the house and flung open his door. Kara reached over and clutched the sleeve of his shirt. He paused, turning to look at her. “What?” he snapped.
“I want to talk to you for a few minutes,” she said, keeping her voice firm. It wasn’t easy to sound confident and in control when he was staring impatiently beyond her, at the lighted house a few yards away.
“Kids, why don’t you go inside?” she suggested. “Uncle Mac will put the car in the garage, and he and I will be in shortly.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Brick gave her the thumbs-up sign, signalling that he was in cahoots with whatever her plan was. Autumn and Clay followed his lead, tumbling out of the vehicle and racing to the house.
“With Brick working on the case, I give the Tom Egan-Jill Finlay romance about another week,” Kara remarked wryly.
“Look, I know you sent the kids in to warn Lily and that snake Asher that I’m on to them and now you’re going to try to reason with me.” Mac scowled fiercely. “Save your breath, Kara. Asher deserves to be shot for messing with an innocent little schoolgirl and as her guardian, I’m the one to—to...” His voice trailed off. His face, his body, were taut with fury.
“Mac, in case you haven’t noticed, Lily is nobody’s idea of an innocent little schoolgirl, not even yours,” Kara said softly. “Furthermore, I am going to stop you from charging in there and smashing Webb Asher to smithereens. What good will it do? Haven’t the kids been through enough without watching you attack a man in their own home?”
“What would you like me to do, Kara? Give my blessings to the happy couple? Lend Asher my car so he can take Lily to the Bear Creek High football game on Friday night?”
“For now, I’d just like you to put the car in the garage,” Kara murmured. Her eyes darted to the front door of the house. The kids had had time to warn Webb and she fully expected him to come dashing out the front door.
Mac followed her gaze and her thoughts. “The weasel wouldn’t risk running into us. He’s undoubtedly gone slinking out the back.”
His voice was colder and harder than she’d ever heard, and for a heart-stopping moment, Kara feared he was going to storm inside and dismember both Webb and Lily on the spot.
But Mac pulled his door closed and drove the Cherokee to the garage, opening the door with remote control. The heavy door closed behind them. It was dark in the big garage, the only illumination being the shaft of moonlight filtering through the building’s upper window.
Kara didn’t realize that she was still clutching his arm until Mac tried to remove her restraining hand from his shirt.
Instead of lifting her hand, she linked her fingers with his. “Mac, this probably isn’t the best time to tell you this but—but I have to say it.”
Mac whirled in his seat, scowling. “No!” His voice boomed. “Don’t say it. I will not listen to another word about you leaving tomorrow or any other time. I don’t know what the Rev said to you to convince you to leave tonight, but whatever it was, he’s wrong. You’re mine, damn it! You belong here with me and with the kids. I’ll do almost anything to ease your adjustment to living here with us. I’ll do almost anything to make you happy. But the one thing I won’t do is to let you go, Kara.”
“Because you need me as a keeper for the kids.” She quoted Reverend Will, whose words were ringing miserably in her ears.
“Because I want you, Kara. You can’t pretend not to know that.” Mac’s voice was low but explosive in its intensity. “Whenever I’m near you, I can’t take my eyes off you. I watch you move, the way you smile, everything you do and say, and it makes me want you even more. I think about how it is between us in bed and I get so hungry for you I think I’ll come unglued unless I have you again.”
“You don’t mind using me sexually. I’m available and convenient and you’ve been deprived of sex since the kids arrived. But it won’t last. It can’t because none of it is based on caring and love and respect.” Tears glittered in her eyes and she tried desperately to blink them back.
Mac’s jaw dropped. “You don’t really believe that?” His eyes narrowed, his face hardening. “Is that the kind of garbage you had to listen to tonight at the Franklins? Damn, I knew I should never have let you go there tonight. I broke one of my most important rules—to follow my own instincts—and every one of them told me that sending you off with your ex-stepfather was a bad idea.”
“I wanted to go,” Kara countered. “And I make my own decisions, I don’t follow your rules.” She remembered little Clay’s pronouncement, “Uncle Mac is the boss around here.” Well, he was not her boss!
Mac merely shook his head, lost in thought. Which he voiced aloud. “The Rev is on some guilt trip because he wimped out all those years ago when his wife insisted that he remove himself as your dad. So he’s decided he has to protect you from being abandoned by me. Which is insane because I am not going to leave you, Kara. I’m not going to let you leave me, either.”
“I’m surprised that the Rev has such a low opinion of me and I’m damn well furious that he has the nerve to even think that you’re fungible with any other woman. That I could be with you and not value you as unique and sweet and loving and smart and funny...”
He cleared his throat. “I know we haven’t known each other very long, but now I can’t imagine not knowing you, Kara. It feels as if you’ve always been in my life because you fit in so naturally, so perfectly. And I admit that the way we met was ridiculous. Mail-order brides? Give me a break! But how we got together doesn’t matter anymore, only that we are together.”
Joy flooded her, pulsing through her with every heartbeat. The wonderful things Mac was saying negated Uncle Will’s hurtful words of caution. And the way he was saying them, his voice deep and huskily earnest, touched her deeply. Her limpid and moist eyes met his.
“Let’s stay together, Kara,” he said softly.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I love you, Mac. I don’t care if it’s too soon to say it or that we haven’t known each other long enough. I know that I love you and I want you to know it, too. That’s what I was trying to tell you, not that I was going to leave. It took me a little while to come to terms with the inevitable, but I can’t leave you or the kids, Mac.”
“You’re not going to,” he assured her.
Instead of raising her ire, his characteristic blend of confidence and arrogance made her smile.
“I want to make love to you, Kara.” Mac drew her to him for a deep, slow kiss that had Kara clinging to him.
“Here? Now?” Her voice was thick with desire, her eyes dilated with passion.
“Yes, here and now.” A faint smile curved his lips as he lifted her and jumped onto the bench-style seat behind them, and then his mouth came fiercely down on hers.
Her body surged against his, and a small soft moan escaped her lips. She was exactly where she wanted to be, in Mac’s arms, holding him, kissing him. His big warm hands stroked her back, sliding around her rib cage and moving up to cup her breasts.
Raw pleasure filled her. Kara responded with all the love and desire brimming within her, her hands and her lips as ardent as his.
She felt his long, hard fingers slide under her skirt, smoothing along her stockings until he reached the soft bare skin of her thighs above the lacy bands. He caressed her there until she was twisting beneath his hands, her lips desperately seeking his, while her fingers fumbled with the buttons of his shirt, the buckle of his belt.
“You want me,” Mac laughed softly, triumphantly. “You love me.”
“Yes, yes,” she gasped, overwhelmed by her own raging need for him. And his for her.
They kissed again, their movements eager as they pulled at each other’s clothes. But they were too impatient to wait and made do with removing the minimal essentials. Frantic for him, aching for him, Kara tried to recline on the seat, pulling him down on top of her.
His dark eyes gleamed. “We’re going to try something new tonight.” His fingers caressed her intimately, making her shudder with pleasure and urgency. “You’re definitely ready, but are you willing?”
She nodded, but her eyes widened with surprise as he positioned her on his lap, facing him, straddling him.
“I’ve taught you everything you know about making love,” Mac said, his voice possessive. “Now it’s time for another lesson.” His hands held her hips and he eased into her, his eyes locked with hers.
With a sense of awe, Kara felt him enter her, felt her body sheath his. She clutched at his shoulders as her breath came in unsteady gasps.
“Relax.” Mac’s voice was soothing and commanding and thoroughly arousing. He nipped at her lips, coaching her between kisses. “We’ll take it slowly. Move with me.” His body rocked hers, erotically, masterfully, and she moaned as her own body matched his rhythm, accommodating his full deep thrusts.
Kara was consumed with a wild recklessness, a fierce need to possess and be possessed. She moved with him and for him, desire knotting tighter, building and burning until she teetered on the edge of ecstasy, finally crying aloud when she went tumbling into a mindless realm of sensuous rapture. Mac joined her there seconds later.
She collapsed against him, burying her face in the hollow of his shoulder. He cradled her in his arms. His chest rose and fell unevenly as his breath rasped in and out. They stayed like that, their eyes closed, holding each other in a state of languid bliss.
Finally, they began to stir. His fingers tangled in her hair and he nuzzled his cheek against hers. “You amaze me,” he said huskily.
“Because I’m such a fast learner?” Kara kissed him playfully. Here in his arms, their bodies still linked, she felt exquisitely feminine and confident and loved. Even if Mac hadn’t said the words, she felt loved. “It’s because you’re such a fantastic teacher.”
“Mmm, I believe in a hands-on approach to learning.”
They laughed softly together.
“I can’t believe this...in a car!” Mac smiled into her eyes. “You lured me into the garage and seduced me!”
“Are you objecting?”
“Not at all, baby. I think I’d like to make a habit of it.”
Slowly, reluctantly, they drew apart, retrieving certain discarded garments and straightening their clothes. Mac turned on the interior light and Kara combed her hair and pulled out her compact and lipstick trying to make herself presentable. She was surprised at the face of the woman staring back at her in the mirror. It was the face of a lovely woman, sensuous and well-sated, light years away from the shy, inhibited Commerce Department statistician who’d arrived in Montana such a short time ago.
When she was ready, Mac opened the door for her and helped her out of the car. He was being a chivalrous, protective lover and Kara felt cherished as she cuddled against him. They walked to the house, their arms around each other, talking softly, pausing to exchange quick light kisses.
It wasn’t until they were on the porch that Kara broached the subject they’d been avoiding. “Mac, about Lily and Webb,” she began hesitantly.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to go ballistic.” He gave her a sexy smile. “I don’t have the energy—you made sure of that.”
“Lily is probably in her room pretending to be asleep and Webb’s gone back to his trailer,” Kara speculated. “Could we leave it like that for tonight, Mac? I think it’ll be better for everybody if we discuss this in the morning.”
“Okay.” Mac nodded in agreement. “I’m going to have to fire Asher, Kara. Too bad, because he was a good manager. He worked hard and came highly recommended. He used to work in Texas for a very wealthy rancher who’s married to some senator’s daughter.”
Mac shook his head. “I never suspected a thing was going on between him and Lily. I thought she got on his nerves. She acted like such a brat around him, mouthing off to him, taunting him.”
The house was quiet. Not even the television was on. And then Autumn and Clay came running down the hall toward them. They were both in their pajamas and Autumn was carrying a rather disgruntled-looking Tai.
“Can Tai sleep in my room again tonight, Aunt Kara?” Autumn asked eagerly, and when Kara nodded, the little girl turned and ran back down the hall with the cat.
“‘Night, Aunt Kara, ‘night Uncle Mac.” Clay gave them each a smacking kiss and then disappeared after Autumn.
Kara and Mac exchanged glances.
“Something’s up,” Mac said ominously. “Those two have just taken themselves out of the line of fire.”
“What they think will be the line of fire,” corrected Kara. “There won’t be any fireworks tonight, we’re all going to bed.”
“Let’s amend that to, the only fireworks tonight will be in our bedroom.” Mac smiled and leaned down to kiss her.
&n
bsp; “I can’t wait,” Kara whispered. She took his hand and started to lead him down the hall.
She uttered a shocked gasp when Webb came out of the living room to stand before her and Mac in the hall. He was literally the last person she’d expected to find in the house. She felt Mac tense and then lunge at Asher like a mountain lion springing on its hapless prey.
“Mac, don’t!” she cried, clutching at him.
“Uncle Mac, stop!” Lily was on Mac’s other side, trying to pull him away, too. Brick was with her, making a half-hearted effort to hold his uncle back. Kara could tell by the hopeful look on the boy’s face that he wouldn’t mind a good old-fashioned brawl one bit.
Webb offered no resistance. “Go ahead and pulverize me, Mac,” he said, his voice a deep rumble. “I have it coming.”
His defeated self-condemnation effectively defused Mac’s rage. He shoved the other man away from him. “Get out of here, Asher. I want you out of the trailer and off the ranch by morning. Hell, I want you out of the state! I’m going to—”
“No, Uncle Mac!” Lily interrupted. She left her uncle’s side and went to stand by Webb, slipping her arms around the man’s waist.
Kara watched Mac’s face flush with sheer rage. Nervously, she slipped her hand into his. She happened to glance over at Brick, whose eyes were glittering with anticipation.
“Brick, go to bed,” she ordered. “This doesn’t concern you.”
“Uncle Mac might need me to help him pul-ver-ize Webb Asher,” Brick pronounced the new word carefully and with undisguised relish.
Mac heaved a sigh. “Nobody is going to get pulverized, Brick. Go on to bed.”
“Webb is going to tell Uncle Mac how much we love each other,” Lily said, smiling up at the ranch manager, her dark eyes glowing. “And we do,” she added softly, snuggling closer to her lover. “Don’t we, Webb?”
“Ugh!” Brick was disgusted. “I’m not hanging around to listen to that lovesick garbage. I’m going to bed.” He marched off in disgust.
The two couples faced each other.
“Why don’t we go into the kitchen and I’ll make some coffee or tea or something,” Kara suggested uneasily.