The Angel's Devil (Savage Series)

by Lisa Rae

  As good of a player as she was, and for just a friendly game of poker, Angel knew she had no reason to need to stack the deck, so she smiled and said, “Anything you want.”

  Anything? Now Diablo only hoped she would cheat, and that he’d catch her at it. He could think of a lot of ‘anythings’ he’d like to do with her.

  Smiling even bigger now he said, “Well let me pay Aunt Lou for dinner, and we’ll go have us a mug and play a hand or two.”

  As they were leaving the café, a couple riders from Utter’s wagon train rode in at fast gallop and shouted, “Someone robbed an armored stage, and killed the driver and all the guards.”

  Diablo saw Angel tense up at the news the riders brought. Could she somehow be involved? He did see her brother, Roark, ride out of town with a rough looking bunch. Was he involved?

  Mr. Brook had hired him to not only transport his gold safely to town, but to try and find out who was behind the Treasure Coach robberies. That way they could stop the senseless killing and bring the men to justice. Diablo sensed that if he stayed close to Angel he would find out who was behind it.

  From previous attempts, the town knew a posse was no use. The outlaws were long gone already. Even if they could find them, there wasn’t enough men in Deadwood that were brave enough to face that murderous bunch. A telegraph was sent off to the U.S. Marshal’s office in Cheyenne. The wagon train riders said that one of the horses had apparently been shot dead during the hold up, and that once the people in the wagon train got it cut loose from the harness, they’d substitute it with one of theirs, and bring the stage back to Deadwood with the wagon train.

  Knowing it would be many hours before the wagon train arrived, Diablo said, "There’s nothing we can do right now. How about we continue on to the saloon?”

  Angel wanted to go after the Treasure Coach Gang, but knew she needed to let Roark handle it for now. She knew he would come to town and fill her in on what he knew as soon as he could. Nodding her head, she continued on to the saloon with Diablo.

  Three hours later, Diablo had Angel sweating under the stress of having lost most of the money she had on her. She was quickly finding out that she wasn’t the only one who knew how to stack the deck.

  Finally she actually accused him. “You’ve got to be stacking the deck!” And then she said, “We made a deal of no cheating.”

  Grinning he replied, “No, we made a deal that you couldn’t cheat. Nothing was ever said that I couldn’t.”

  Angel was trying to decide whether to just take her medicine gracefully, or whether to be mad at Diablo for tricking her when the commotions of the wagon train arriving drew everyone’s attention, including theirs. She picked up what little money she had left, and they walked outside to watch.

  It was a sight to watch thirty wagons roll into Deadwood. As tired as the people were from the long trip, they were most eager to set up shop and get to work. Until they could build actual buildings, they put up large tents and hung their shingle out front. Selling everything from dry goods, frying pans, beer and whiskey, mining equipment, to prostitutes selling their body.

  With the gold rush happening, there were many men flocking to the area. Up till now, there had only been a few soiled doves in town, so demand allowed them to charge more than the normal rate. Now, the men were lined up outside the tents, money in hand, waiting for their turn at a poke.

  Angel and Diablo had been sitting in front of the saloon when Wild Bill and Calamity Jane rode up to the hitching rail in front of them.

  “Look Bill, there’s Angel.” Calamity Jane said with a big smile as they approached.

  Smiling back, Angel greeted them, “Good afternoon Bill, Jane. I hope the remainder of your all’s trip was uneventful after we left you?”

  “Other than things like an occasional busted wagon wheel, it went smoothly until we came upon the armored coach sitting still. It was horrible seeing all those men killed. They even shot one of the horses,” Jane replied sadly.

  “Looks like they put up a hell of a fight though,” Will Bill commented. “I think they wounded a couple of the outlaws. There was blood found on the ground that didn’t belong to the dead guards.”

  Diablo noticed Angel was fine till Bill mentioned that some of the outlaws may be injured. Then he noticed she tensed up again for a moment, before regaining her composure. He now felt almost certain that her brother must be involved, maybe even her too. That thought tore at his heart. He himself was a gunslinger, but at least he could go to sleep at night knowing he was an honest one. He never robbed or killed anyone in cold blood. The next thought scared him even more . . . Was he falling for her?

  “Bill, why don’t you join me for a drink in the saloon here and wet your whistle,” Diablo said encouragingly, now anxious to get away from Angel for a while to clear his mind.

  “Well you men go on, I’m going to have Angel show me around town,” Calamity said.

  Happy to see her friend again, Angel gladly walked with Jane as she took her around and introduced her to people in town. It kept her mind busy to where she wasn’t constantly worrying about her brother. Was he with the outlaws when they held up that stage? Did he get shot? She prayed that he would come back to town soon, that way she would know he was okay.

  A couple hours had passed by the time Angel and Jane had made the rounds through town. Their last stop was the Grand Central Hotel and café.

  “The cook here is the sweetest negro lady and a great cook. Everyone calls her Aunt Lou,” Angel told Jane.

  “Well I haven’t ate since breakfast this mornin’. Let’s go in and have Aunt Lou fix us up a couple plates of vittles,” Calamity Jane replied.

  After Aunt Lou brought them their supper Jane asked, “I didn’t get a chance to ask you before when you was traveling with us in the wagon train, what kind of case are you working on now?”

  “I’m kind of working on a couple at the moment,” Angel began. “For a while now I have been trying to track where some counterfeit gold double eagles are coming from. I shot a man, who drew on me back in Cheyenne, that was using some in a poker game. Right before he died he gave me the name ‘El Lobo’. Ever heard of ‘em?”

  Thinking about it for a moment Jane answered, “Can’t say that I have.”

  “Me either, so I haven’t gotten any further on that case yet. The Treasure Coach robberies are what brought both me and Roark to Deadwood. That gang has killed so many men already, that no one is willing to join a posse now to go after them,” Angel explained.

  “Have you any clue to where and who this gang is?” Jane asked.

  “Yes, I ran into the gang in here one day and overheard them talking about it. Then Roark managed to get in with them, and left town with ‘em. I haven’t heard from him since to know if he was with them when they held up that coach.”

  Jane knew what Angel was getting at. There had been blood at the scene, meaning some of the gang was wounded. And Angel was worried her brother could have been one of them. “Don’t worry Angel. Your brother will be okay. I haven’t seen a Savage yet that isn’t tough as nails.”

  Patting Jane’s hand Angel said, “Thanks Jane.”

  “Our men have been left alone long enough, let’s go back to the saloon and join them before they find some trouble to get into,” Jane said changing the subject as they stood to leave the café.

  But before Angel could correct Jane, and tell her that Diablo was not ‘her man’, or that Wild Bill wasn’t Jane’s for that matter; Jane had already ushered them outside, through the crowd, and over to the saloon.

  Diablo spotted Angel as soon as she walked through the batwings. Her long brown hair hanging loose down her back. He had noticed that she only wore it in a braid when she was all business. Like when she entered the shooting contest on the 4th of July. He guessed she purposely wore it loose when playing poker, so that she could distract the men while she was stacking the deck. It worked on him that day she took him for almost all the money he had on him. Between her
long hair, beautiful deep brown eyes, and that tight curvy body that her choice in clothes did not hide, a man couldn’t help but aw at her beauty . . . All these thoughts made Diablo have to turn away and readjust himself. Damn her! He didn’t want to have feelings for her.

  Upon entering the saloon, Angel saw Diablo standing at the mahogany bar with Wild Bill. Their eyes met for a brief moment before Diablo turned his back to her and continued his conversation with Wild Bill.

  “Come on,” Jane said as she pulled Angel through the crowd, “let’s get ourselves a drink.”

  Calamity Jane pushed their way through the crowd and in between Bill and Diablo at the bar, interrupting their conversation, to order beers for her and Angel. When Jane let go of her, Angel was standing right beside Diablo. Nervously, she wanted to move away from him, but she didn’t want him to notice. Standing that close to him was distracting to say the least. She licked her lips and her heart beat faster as she thought about kissing him again and the feel of his strong muscular body against hers. She wanted more . . . and that thought scared her.

  “Saloonkeeper, pour me a shot of whiskey!” Angel hollered, needing something to calm her nerves.

  “Make that a shot for all four of us,” Diablo ordered to the saloonkeeper. He hadn’t missed her licking her lips, and it drove him wild.

  Many beers and shots of whiskey later, both Angel and Diablo were not nervous anymore. They were busy laughing and enjoying each other’s company, and the company of Jane and Wild Bill.

  When it was time to turn in, Diablo walked Angel to her room at the hotel. As they walked, he had his arm around the small of her back and held her close, enjoying the lavender scent from her long hair. Angel stayed relaxed in the warmth of his strong arm. She enjoyed the smell from the cigar he had smoked earlier that still lingered on his clothes.

  When they reached the door to her hotel room, Angel turned to face Diablo. Neither of them wanted the fun night to end. He ran his fingers through her hair behind her head and pulled her forward for a passionate kiss that left them both breathless. Without either saying a word, Angel unlooked the door to her room, and stood to the side, inviting him to come in.

  Diablo stepped through the doorway and as Angel shut the door he spun her around and pinned her against the door in such a passionate fevered kiss, she thought her knees where going to buckle under her. Instantly her arms went around his neck wanting more. The thought of locking the door, long forgotten.

  As one of his hands cupped her breast, she let out a soft moan. Only one man had ever touched her in such a way, and it had been so long ago that it seemed like a different lifetime. As they worked their way over towards the bed in the middle of the room, Angel fumbled with unbuckling her gunbelt, dropping it to the floor. Then she unbuckled his, dropping it beside her own. She then worked at unbuttoning his pants, while he unbuttoned her silk shirt to get a better look at her breast and then worked his way down.

  When they were both naked as a jaybird, Diablo picked Angel up gently and laid her on her bed. Standing back, he just stood there and stared at her for a moment. He thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and said so with a big smile, “My Angel, you are so sweet and beautiful!”

  “Why don’t you come here and I’ll show you how sweet I can be,” Angel purred. Her voice soft and velvety.

  Diablo didn’t need any more invitation than that. He started at the foot of the bed, kissing his way up her bare slender legs till he reached the soft curls of hair. Parting her legs even further, he explored with his tongue. Licking and suckling till she was about to go over the edge. When she didn’t think she could take it any longer she said hoarsely, “I want you now!”

  Knowing he was about to explode himself, Diablo didn’t argue as he climbed on top of Angel and drove into her with a passion he didn’t even know he was capable of. Angel arched her back and welcomed him with a fierce passion of her own as she cried out his name, “Diablo”.

  After . . . they laid spent in each other’s arms.

  Eventually Angel asked, “Diablo, why did you become a hired gun?”

  Relaxed and enjoying their new-found closeness, Diablo told her about what happened to change his life. “When I was thirteen, I was traveling West with my parents when we were attacked by a band of Apaches. Both my parents were killed and I was kidnapped. I spent the next three years living with the Indians learning how to fight and hunt as they do.

  “Even though the Indians had adopted me into their tribe, I still felt like an outsider. So when I was sixteen, I decided to go live among the white people again. I guess I hadn’t realized how much those three years had changed me. My father was born in Spain, so I had darker skin than most white people do, and people treated me as if I was an actual half-breed Indian.

  “I was in a saloon drinking and contemplating going back to live with the Apaches, when a drunk man picked a fight with me. It came to blows and when he realized he was on the losing end, he pulled his iron. Seeing it, I had no choice but to draw and shoot him. From that moment on, the town called me ‘El Diablo’,” he explained.

  “But many people have had to kill someone in self-defense. Why did killing that man make you into a gunslinger?” Angel asked confused.

  “Because that man I killed was Matt Kane,” Diablo replied.

  Angel sat up in bed and asked, “Matt Kane, the famous gunslinger?”

  Nodding his head he said, “Yes, after killing him, every young wannabe called me out. Since I was only sixteen years old, they thought it had to be a fluke me killing Kane. So I had no choice unless I wanted to be pushing up daisies.”

  “So you’re the one who killed Kane! I remember my father talking about it.” To have impressed her father, Angel knew Diablo must be really good.

  Affectionately Diablo kissed Angel and said, “Enough about me. How did you get into the business?”

  Angel had never really talked to anyone about it before, other than with her brothers. She knew she had to be careful what she said so that she didn’t blow hers and Roark’s cover. “My husband was a U.S. Marshal. He had been relentlessly hunting a bad outlaw for months. The outlaw got tired of constantly being on the run. So he found out my husband was married and what town we lived in, and came after me.”

  Diablo hugged Angel and waited for her to continue when she was ready. After a brief silence she said, “The outlaw kidnapped me and then waited for my husband to find us.” She took a deep breath before continuing, “When he heard my husband had rode into town, he took me out on the balcony of the hotel room he was keeping me in with his gun to my head.”

  Tears started rolling down Angel’s face and a sob escaped her as she continued, “The outlaw told my husband to drop his guns to the ground or he’d kill me.” Another sob escaped her. “As soon as my husband did what the outlaw said, the man sh-shot my husband dead. Then he pu-pushed me off the balcony and high tailed it out of town.”

  “I’m so sorry Angel,” Diablo told her as he held her close and tried to soothe her while she cried in his arms. A while after she had stopped crying, and her breathing was back to normal Diablo asked, “I still don’t quite understand why you chose the path you did after that?”

  “Revenge!” Angel answered. “Someday I will find that outlaw, and I will kill him! When he pushed me off that balcony it broke one of my legs and arms. I spent months healing. During that time I learned to play poker, drink, and practiced more on my shooting till I was healed and was ready to go after him,” she said with hatred in her voice.

  “But that would be killing in cold blood. You don’t want to do that,” Diablo replied.

  Jumping out of bed she said sternly, “I think it’s time for you to leave! This was a mistake.” Angel slipped on a robe she had laying across the back of a chair, and went to stand at the window that looked out onto the main street of Deadwood.

  He wanted to stay the rest of the night with her, but knew it wouldn’t be wise to push her. She obviously still
needed to grieve more for her husband. As he dressed he said, “All right, but if you change your mind and want some company, I’m in room #2.”

  “I told you, this was a mistake. I don’t need yours or anyone’s company. Now please leave . . .”

  Chapter 8

  When the sun streamed into her hotel room window the next morning, Angel moaned and rolled over to face the other direction. She had a hangover from hell. “Why did I drink so much last night?” she mumbled to herself. But she already knew that answer. Diablo. She didn’t like the effect he had on her. And inviting him into her room last night . . . well, had she not gotten drunk, it wouldn’t have happened. Or would it?

  She couldn’t help remembering the feel of his warm body against hers. And the way he made her feel when he kissed her all over. Her body ached to feel him again inside her. Angel moaned in frustration and tried willing herself back to sleep. But when sleep came, it was not peaceful. She again dreamed of Diablo being called out onto the street to test how fast of a draw he was, and of him being shot dead.

  Angel suddenly woke as she cried out a warning to him. Even though she realized it was only a dream, she couldn’t stop shaking as she sat in bed with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms hugging her legs . . .

  Since it was too late in the morning for breakfast after sleeping in so late, an hour later she walked into the café for an early dinner. Angel hoped a couple hot cups of coffee would ease her aching head.

  As she was eating her dinner, McKnight, the assayer, walked in and came over to her table. “May I join you?”

  “Yes, please,” Angel replied smiling, happy to have a distraction from her thoughts about Diablo.

  “I’ve talked to the rest of the men, and they are looking forward to you joining us in a poker game this evening,” McKnight said.