Duke closed the door. “You remember Kate?”
The ugly gunfighter scratched his head. “I don’t know, Boss, there’s been so many of them—”
“Never mind,” Duke snapped. “Kate here says Violet is in Pleasant Valley. She ran off with a Texas Ranger.”
“Now, Boss, I told you to forget about that one,” the gunfighter soothed. “Ain’t you got your choice of young gals all coming west for adventure and money?”
“But damn it, nobody takes something that belongs to me. I want her back.”
Slade sighed. “Pleasant Valley? Ain’t that in Texas?”
Duke cursed under his breath. “What do I care? I want her back, I tell you.”
“But there’s a big price on our heads in Texas,” Slade reminded him, “and a Texas Ranger—”
“He ain’t a Texas Ranger anymore,” Kate said. “He got hurt somehow. He works in a gun shop as a clerk. The old sheriff is in bed suffering from a gunshot wound and the deputy ain’t but nineteen years old.”
Duke threw back his head and laughed. “It’ll be like stealing milk from a baby calf. We take the train down to Pleasant Valley, grab her, and who’s gonna stop us?”
“I dunno, Boss, with the Fourth coming up—”
“Aw, Frenchie can keep things running ’til we get back.”
“What about me?” Kate asked.
“Aw, you drunken slut.” Duke reached out and jerked her to her feet roughly. “Slade, have Frenchie give this old whore a drink for her trouble and toss her in the street.”
“But I deserve more than that,” Kate protested.
“Look, Kate, you’re old, and—”
“I’m thirty,” she protested.
“More like thirty-five and you look forty-five. My customers expect young, fresh gals.” He pushed her ahead of him out of the office. “Come on, Slade, we got plans to make.”
She was still protesting and wiping her bloody lip as the trio elbowed through the rowdy crowds up to the bar.
“Hey, Frenchie,” Duke yelled, “give this slut a drink and then throw her out.”
“You owe me more than that,” Kate protested.
“Honey.” He lowered his voice. “You’re no use to me—”
“But I loved you.”
“More the fool.” He laughed and leaned against the bar. “Now take your drink like a good little girl and get out.”
“But where can I go? I was just fired from the Cattle Drive Saloon in Pleasant Valley—”
“Drinking too much, huh? Go back to that Maine farm, you drunken whore, where you should have stayed.”
She didn’t argue, eagerly accepting the drink with a trembling hand.
Now there was a disturbance at a card table. Kate turned to watch a cowboy with too much liquor under his belt stumble to his feet and yell profanity at the dealer. “Damn you, I saw you slip that extra card outa your sleeve!”
Everyone turned to watch and the noise level dropped to a hush as the drama played out. Kate knew what was coming next; she’d seen it too many times in the past.
Duke, followed by Slade, walked slowly across the saloon to the card table, the crowds making way for them. Even the piano had stopped playing.
The cowboy wore a gun and he swayed on his feet as he looked around.
Duke walked up to him as the circle widened, and Slade stepped to one side. “Friend, I’m the owner of this place. You saying my card dealers are crooked?”
“You’re damned right I am!” the cowboy shouted. “He just took my month’s wages from me.”
Duke smiled at him. “Maybe I can buy you a drink, friend, and then you can leave with better luck next time.”
“Why, you cheap card sharp, you know your tables are crooked—” The cowboy tried to draw as women screamed and men backed away. Slade stood next to the cowboy and he reached out and knocked the barrel of the pistol up as the man drew. In a flash, Duke pulled the pearl-handled derringer from under his coat and shot the cowboy in the belly twice.
The cowboy grabbed for his belly, the scarlet blood running out between his fingers as he dropped his Colt and staggered.
“You all saw it!” Duke shouted. “He drew on me first!”
All the customers nodded assent as the cowboy stumbled toward the door, still holding his belly with the blood oozing between his fingers.
“Slade, get him out of here,” Duke ordered. “I don’t want him bloodying up my floor.”
Frenchie and Slade stepped up and caught the cowboy under the arms, half leading, half dragging him outside. He left a trail of blood on the scarred pine floor.
“Now, folks,” Duke shouted, “sorry for that disturbance. Free drinks on the house!”
There was a roar of approval as the men all bellied up to the bar, pushing Kate aside. She looked toward Duke, but she could tell by his expression that she no longer existed as far as he was concerned. Maybe she never really had. She walked outside, knowing she was a little drunk. It was hot out on the wooden sidewalk with the coming July heat. The cowboy sat against the saloon wall, unnoticed by the crowds as his life slowly drained away.
She felt sorry for him, but she couldn’t help him. She couldn’t even help herself. She was sorry now that she had told where Violet was. The girl didn’t deserve that. What was Kate to do now? She had used up her money getting to Red Rock in the vain hope that Duke might be grateful enough to take her back. She might have known he had no heart. He would do Violet the same way he had done her: use her until she was too old or bored him, then toss her aside.
She had had more to drink than she realized, she thought as she wobbled and started across the street. Maybe she could figure out a way to get back to Maine. There had been a farm boy there once who loved her. Maybe he loved her still. She kept that thought as she wandered out into the dusty street, smiling at the thought and ignoring the sudden screams of warning.
Too late, she looked up to see the galloping wagon loaded with liquor kegs coming toward her. She tried to get out of the way, threw up her hand to protect her face as the team struck her. How ironic, she thought as she went down. How ironic, a liquor wagon.
Then she was just a dusty, bloody bundle of dark fabric, red hair and broken flesh in the middle of the street in front of the saloon.
Duke looked up from the card table in annoyance. “Slade, see what the noise is outside.”
The gunfighter walked through the swinging doors, returned, shrugging. “Nothing much, Boss. That slut that was in your office a few minutes ago wandered out and got run down by a wagon.”
Duke yawned. “Is that all? I always knew she’d come to no good end. Oh, Slade, go see about getting us tickets. We’ll go to Pleasant Valley for the Fourth of July.”
“Boss, you know there’s a reward for us in Texas—”
“We’ll be in and out of that town before the law knows we’re there. Someone has taken something that belongs to me and I want her back. You understand?”
“Sure, Boss. I’ll take care of it.”
“Then tell Frenchie we’ll be taking that train south. We should be back that night.”
“Sure, Boss.”
“In the meantime, that new girl from Iowa, she’s pretty good. I’ll be up there in her room if you need me.”
It was a sultry night as Violet stood on the front porch, leaning against a pillar. She was taking one last look before she left. Her little valise was at her feet. Things couldn’t go on as they were, and maybe it was better for everyone if she left. By the time everyone woke in the morning and realized she was gone, she’d be miles down the road, or maybe even farther if she was lucky enough to catch a ride on a wagon.
She heard the screen door behind her open, but she didn’t look back. She mustn’t let this interruption interfere with her plans.
Travis said, “The kids all in bed?”
She nodded. “Took a real battle to get them there.”
“Don’t blame ’em.” He came up behind her so close, she could
smell the scent of him and feel the warmth of his big body. “After all, tomorrow’s the Fourth and that’s exciting—f irecrackers, the picnic, the parade and all.”
She hesitated. “Is Conchita asleep, too?”
“Yes.” He chuckled. “I waited until I saw her light go out after I heard your footsteps.” A pause. “What is this? A carpetbag?”
“I—I didn’t mean for you to know until tomorrow. I left a note on the mantel.”
“To tell me what?” He put his hands on her shoulders.
“After all my lies, and the mess I’ve made, I thought I’d move on.”
“Move on?” He sounded genuinely alarmed.
“Well, after I’ve lied to you about my age and you can’t seem to forgive me—”
“I can’t help it, Violet. I don’t trust you now.”
She swallowed hard. If he only knew the rest . . .
“I’m a proud man, Violet, I can’t help that. If the whole town finds out they’ll laugh at me again as they did the time . . .” His voice trailed off. “It’s bad enough to be a half-breed, but when the sweet girl I was gonna marry, Emily, ran off with a gambler the night before the wedding, it was more than I could take.”
She blinked back tears. “That’s the reason I’m leaving. I don’t want you to be ridiculed.”
His big hands pulled her closer. “What about the kids? What will I tell them?”
She closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth and the strength of him standing so close. “Well, you can keep Conchita or marry Charlotte—”
“It won’t be the same.” His voice was gruff and his fingers tightened on her shoulders.
She waited a long moment, waiting for him to say he loved her, that he wanted her to stay. Nothing.
“We can’t go on like this,” she said and tried to step away from him, but the porch balusters were in her way. “If I stay, sooner or later someone will find out my real age and then there’ll be trouble.”
“I reckon I’ve let my pride get in my way too many times, but I don’t have much else. I can’t even be a Ranger anymore.”
She turned in his arms, looking up at him, and saw the tears shining in his dark eyes. “What is it?”
“I’ve never told anyone, but a year or so after she ran away with that gambler, Emily returned one night and begged me to take her back.”
“And you were too proud?”
He nodded. “That bastard had turned her into a whore and that was all I could think of—other men kissing her, taking her. I told her to get the hell out of my life and go back to the gambler.”
“Oh, Travis, I’m so sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” He laughed without mirth. “Never a day goes by that I don’t think of her and my pigheaded pride.”
“What happened to her?”
“One of the local cowboys said he saw her working in the lowest crib on the Galveston waterfront. Later we heard she had drank herself to death.”
He seemed to be in such pain that she reached up and kissed his mouth gently and he clung to her.
Now he stared down at her, his dark eyes intense. “We could go away. Maybe we could go back to my hometown. You could look after the kids and I could find some kind of job, I don’t know what.”
She looked up at him, loving him so much, but his pride stood between them. “You wouldn’t be happy doing that, Travis. You’d only be happy as a Ranger or working your own spread. And I’m only adding to your problems. No.” She shook her head. “It’ll be better if I go.”
“Damn it, can’t you at least wait until after the Fourth? The kids are looking forward to it; don’t ruin it for them. They’re all so happy.”
“I know.” She felt herself wavering. “Kessie has stopped chewing her nails and Bonnie has stopped wetting her drawers, but I—I don’t know—”
“You’re stubborn.” His face was set, angry. “Where will you go? What will you do?”
“I’ll manage somehow.” She tried to hold the tears back, but one escaped and ran down her cheek.
He pulled her to him, enveloped her in the embrace of his big arms. “If you do that, I’ll worry all the time about you. I’d never get a night’s sleep.”
And she dared say it. “Because of Emily?”
“Damn it, maybe, but you’re different; I care more about you than I did her. I can’t bear to have you leave us.” And his mouth came down on hers, eager, warm, possessive.
She knew she shouldn’t succumb. It wouldn’t help anything, but she couldn’t help herself. She returned his kiss with all the fire and ardor she had given no other man. They clung together, kissing furiously until his lips went down her cheek, kissing away the tears and pausing gently on her throat. “I can’t help it, Violet. I can’t do without you. I’ll give my notice at the gun shop and we’ll leave town, get married, make a fresh start where nobody knows us.”
She clung to him, wanting him, wanting to think this could possibly happen as his hand tangled in her hair and pulled her face to him where he kissed her deeply, hotly.
She returned his kisses, knowing this night was all there was for her. She must not take the risk that this proud man would ever find out she’d once been a saloon whore. She could only imagine his fury and his hatred if that happened, and sooner or later, it would. Someone from her past would recognize her and Travis’s heart would close to her.
But she would have tonight. She would not think past this sultry darkness and the holiday tomorrow. She would have the memories to last her the rest of her life. She looked up into his dark, intense face. “Make love to me, Travis. Make love to me as I have dreamed you would do.”
He hesitated. “Are you sure? A girl can only give away her virginity once and I don’t want you to have any regrets.”
Regrets? She had a thousand of them. She couldn’t even remember the first time she had traded her body for food on the wharves at Memphis so she and her little brother, Tommy, could survive.
“I’m sure,” she whispered. “I want to experience love in your arms, my darling.”
He picked her up, turned toward the door. “We might wake up the kids, or even worse, Charlotte’s housekeeper.”
She kissed the side of his neck. It tasted salty and suntanned. “Then take me out to the barn.”
“God, I want you like I’ve never wanted a woman,” he murmured as he turned and carried her off the porch, around the house and into the barn.
The barn smelled of hay. The cow mooed and Mouse snorted a welcome. The moonlight filtered through the open barn door as Travis lay her on a pile of soft straw and stood over her. “Are you still sure, Violet?”
“I am very, very sure.” She held out her arms.
He came down on her, still wearing his jeans, and she could feel the heat of his big, throbbing manhood.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he gasped. “Sometimes the first time—”
“I’ll be all right,” she assured him and pulled her skirt up so that his big hand could stroke her thighs.
She unbuttoned her bodice and he hesitated, then bent his head to kiss her breasts. “God, I want you,” he gasped.
“I love you, Travis,” she answered and returned his kiss. She wished he had said he loved her, but he only wanted her as a hundred other men had. Tomorrow would be a different story, but she still had tonight. She reached to unbutton his jeans and put her hand on his hot manhood.
He groaned aloud and kissed her breasts again. “I never needed a woman like I need you now, Violet.”
“And I need you, too,” she whispered and fought back the tears because she loved him so.
His big hands stroked her thighs until they trembled and she kissed the hollow of his throat. “Make love to me, Travis,” she said.
“I can do that,” he gasped, “but first I want to kiss you and caress you as I have at night in my dreams.” And he kissed her breasts feverishly as she spread her legs and he came between them.
His manhood was hot and throbbing, she could feel
it against her thigh and she reached to guide him into position. “Take me, darling,” she whispered. “Make me yours.”
He came up on his elbows, hesitated and then came into her very slowly while her body reacted, wanting him so much. He had one hand around her, embracing her, and the other under her small hips as he began to ride her.
He was a strong stallion of a man, there was no doubt about that. She’d had none bigger, but she loved this one with her whole heart and that made all the difference.
He began to ride her rhythmically while she wrapped her legs around his muscular body, holding him to her. She had never had sex like this and she expected she never would again. It was so different when you loved the man, really loved him.
His motion excited her and she felt her own need rise as they moved together.
“I want you, Violet,” he gasped.
“And I love you, Travis,” she answered as her excitement built.
Then he reached that pinnacle of desire and at the same time he clung to her, giving up his seed, something happened that had never happened before. Her own need built until it exploded, and she grabbed on to his body, convulsing as she clung to him. For a long moment, she knew nothing.
When she finally opened her eyes, Travis looked down at her anxiously. “Are you all right? I told you the first time would be—”
“I’m all right,” she assured him and pulled his dear face down to kiss his cheek.
He brushed the hair away from her face tenderly. “That was the best I’ve ever had.”
She almost said, “Me, too,” then remembered she was supposed to be innocent. “Should we go back into the house in case the kids wake up?”
“I’d like to lay here all night and hold you, but I reckon we have to go in. I’ll go in first and then you follow,” he said and stood up, buttoning his jeans. “I’ll bring in your valise and tear up the note. Nothing that happens tomorrow can beat this. I’m looking forward to loving you for a long, long time.”
She smiled up at him and he turned and strode toward the house. She lay there weeping softly because he didn’t know there would be no more passionate love scenes. Violet dried her tears, pulled herself together and went into the house.
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