Finally, Evan stirred. He pushed her hair aside and trailed kisses along her neck. He cupped her breasts, stroking them, rubbing his palms over the sensitive tips. Taking a taut peak in his mouth, he suckled on it. “Oh, my sweet Angel, I want you again.”
She didn’t think she had one ounce of desire left in her but quickly discovered she did. His words teased her skin, kindling the fire, making it as red hot as it had been only minutes ago. His swollen member pressed against her belly. Wanting to please him as he had pleased her, she reached for him. When her hand closed around him, he moaned and called her name. “Angel, you don’t know what you do to me.”
Suddenly bold, she leaned over on his chest, rubbing her breasts against the hard planes of his chest. “Tell me, Evan. Tell me.” With her tongue, she laved his lips, then down his cheeks to his neck, then nibbled on his ear lobe. “Tell me.”
“I’d rather show you.” He pulled her atop him.
She positioned herself over him and impaled herself on his shaft. Delicious waves of pleasure shot through her. Feeling drugged by her senses, she moved on him. New sensations spiraled in her. He gripped her hips with sweet torture. He levered himself up to take the throbbing bud of her breast into his mouth. Her lungs burned, her throat felt as dry as dust. Ecstasy filled her—as he did—branding her forever as his.
She rose up over him. She lowered herself to him, took him in, arched back, took him deeper. Her head fell back, her body going arrow-taut. Her muscles clamped down hard around him as she rode with him once again into passion’s realm.
Later, when they were both sated, he brushed a kiss across her forehead. “Angel, that was wonderful. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“Forgive you? For what?”
“Had I known, I would have taken more time, been gentler.”
She raised herself up on her elbow and stared at him. “What in tarnation are you talking about? Had you known what?”
“That you had never, you know, that this was your first time.”
Realization hit her right between the eyes. He thought she’d done this before. With an angry hiss, she pulled away from him. A cold chill curled around her heart. “You thought I’ve been with someone else?”
“I just thought, you know, a gambler on a riverboat—”
She rose to her knees. His words ripped her heart to shreds. “So you think I’m a whore? You as much said so on the Delta Princess and this just proves it.” With tears spilling down her face, she slapped him. As hard as she could. “I hate you, Evan Montgomery.”
She raised her hand to slap him again, but he grabbed her arm. “All right, I was wrong, and I deserved that, but once is enough, and I didn’t think you were a prostitute, just that...” His voice trailed off.
“Let me go.” For a long moment, he held her arm, then finally released it. She grabbed her shirt and shrugged into it. She shoved herself to her feet and limped over to the fire. She found her now dry pants, stepped into them and then walked toward the cave entrance.
“Angel, come back. We need to talk—”
“We have nothing to talk about,” she yelled over her shoulder. “I’m leaving, and you can’t stop me.”
“And just where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“Anywhere—away from you.”
“You can’t go out there alone.”
She whirled and faced him. “Wanna bet? Remember, I’m a gambler—and a soiled dove. You should be glad to get rid of me.” She stomped off, as much as her sore ankle would let her stomp, into the now lightening sky. She didn’t need Evan Montgomery. For anything.
She hadn’t got a hundred yards when she heard a noise behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw him following behind her. His long strides ate up the distance between them. And he wasn’t smiling. He’d put his pants on, but his chest was still bare. She tried to run, but her foot throbbed too painfully. She heard his footsteps closing on her. A hand grabbed her arm and jerked her to a stop. She turned toward him and raked his cheek with her fingernails.
“Dammit, Angel, stop it.” He caught her hands and forced them behind her back. “Listen to me.”
“Let me go. You said we’d go our separate ways. So I’m going my way. I’m going to find my father. So let me go.”
His face seemed to fill with pain. His eyes darkened, and he shook his head. “Before you go anywhere, Angel, I have to tell you something. Something I should’ve told you a long time ago.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“You have to listen. It’s about your father. Jake Plummer.”
Caught by surprise, she ceased struggling. Something in the tone of his voice brought a wave of trepidation. “My father? How do you know my father? What about him?”
“When I came to the riverboat, I was looking for you. To tell you about your father. I never expected this other...thing...to get in my way.”
Thing? Was what had happened between them—a thing? And it had gotten in his way? She hardened her heart and glared at him. “For God’s sake, get on with it.”
“Your father’s dead, Angel.”
She shook her head. “No, he’s not. You’re mistaken. I thought so too because Grandpapa told me he was because of my mother, but he’s really alive and lives in Deadwood. That’s where I’m going.”
“He’s dead.”
Tears misted in her eyes. “No, no. I don’t believe you. You just want to hurt me—”
“Honey, I’m telling you the truth.”
“No, no. I never had time—”
“Time to what?”
“To know him. He can’t be...gone. How do you know?”
“Because I killed him.”
Stars swirled before her eyes, then blackness closed around her.
Chapter 8
Angel scrunched her eyelids tighter. She couldn’t face him—the man she loved had killed her father. Twice now, in a matter of minutes, he’d broken her heart and sent her world spinning topsy-turvy. First, he’d believed the worst of her, that she was a loose woman who had given herself to a man before him, and now this. Even though she hadn’t known her father, the fact that Evan had taken his life shook her to the very core of her being.
“Angel, wake up.” He shook her. “Wake up. I know you’re conscious. We have to talk.”
She shrugged his hand away. “I don’t want to talk to you. Ever again. Go away and leave me alone.”
“No.” Strong hands grasped her shoulders and pulled her upright, then shook her roughly. “Now, dammit, open your eyes and look at me. I’m not leaving until you do.”
“Stop shaking me.” She opened her eyes and stared at the stranger before her. “Now you let go of me.”
He hesitated a moment, then released her. “Angel, you’ve got to listen to me—”
“I did listen. I heard what you said. Every word. Every horrible word. You killed my father. I never had a chance to know him, and now I never will. You took that away from me.”
He hitched his thumbs in his belt. “I’m sorry. Your father shot at me from a dark alley, and I returned fire. It was instinctive. I didn’t have a choice. I swear it.”
“He shot at you? Why? What did you do to him?’
Evan threw up his hands. “Nothing. I didn’t even know Jake Plummer. I’d seen him around Deadwood a few times, but I didn’t really know him. I don’t know why he shot at me. That’s the truth.”
“I find that hard to believe. People just don’t go around shooting at other people for no reason.” With the back of her hand, she wiped at her tear-filled eyes.
“Normally, I’d agree with you, but that’s exactly what happened. Then, when we got to him, he was still alive, and he begged me to find you—”
“Find me? I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I. Why would he shoot at me and then with his last breath ask me to find you?” He shrugged his shoulders. “It didn’t make sense then, and it doesn’t make sense now.”
“Why did he want you to find me?”
“Well, you’re his daughter, aren’t you? I know you have a different name, but he said you were his daughter. You’re the spitting image of him. You are his daughter, aren’t you?”
I look like my father? The revelation surprised her. No one had ever told her that. “Yes, of course.”
“He wanted me to give you the deed to his claim and his land. They’re in my saddlebag. I’ll get them. You stay put.” He rose and returned in a few minutes with an oilskin-wrapped packet. He dropped to his knees and handed it to her.
As she took the packet, her hands trembled as she slowly unwrapped it. Two papers fell into her lap. She picked them up and stared at them. Tears blurred her vision. They must have meant an awful lot to her father, but enough to die for?
“I went down to Deadwood Gulch and talked to the miners whose claims were adjacent to his. I asked them if Jake had made a big strike, one big enough that someone would kill him for it. They said that, as far as they knew, he’d only found surface gold. If he found a lode, he never talked about it. They told me he had a cabin, most miners don’t, they live on their claims, so I went out to his cabin a few miles outside of town to try to find answers to all the questions. I didn’t find anything. A few head of scraggly cattle. A ramshackle cabin. There was some mining equipment in the cabin, but I didn’t find anything to indicate he’d made a strike.”
Her belly twisted into knots. “And would you tell me if you had? Are you sure you didn’t kill him to get his gold?
“For God’s sake, Angel, if that was the case, would I have tracked you down and handed the deeds over to you?”
As the logic behind his words sank into her pain-numbed mind, she shook her head. “No. I guess not.”
“Thanks for at least giving me the benefit of the doubt. Do you know if your father had any enemies?”
She shook her head. “No. Not that I know of.”
Evan stood and brushed the dirt from his pants. “Well, I don’t need his money or his gold. I have my own ranch. A large, thriving ranch which I should be getting back to. I’ve already been gone too long.”
Her heart jerked in her breast. How words could hurt. “Yes, you’d better go. Goodbye.” She turned her back to him.
“Not without you.”
She didn’t turn around. She didn’t want him to see her misery. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I hate you.”
“I’m not leaving you out here on foot and all alone.”
“I prefer to be alone.”
“It’s out of the question.” He walked around and stood in front of her. “Besides, I think we need to talk about what just happened—between us.”
She stared at his dust-covered boots. “You don’t have to worry about that. That didn’t put you under any obligation to me whatsoever. So you can leave with a clear conscience. In fact, I wish you would leave.”
“I wish I could.”
She heard the regret in his voice. So it had meant nothing. She bit down on her bottom lip.
“Look, I never meant for this to happen, to go this far.”
She glared up at him. “No? Then why did you wait until afterward to tell me about my father? You conveniently forgot you killed him until after you...we...were intimate? You’re a liar.”
He stiffened. “You go too far. If you were a man—”
“Don’t let that stop you.”
“Angel, for God’s sake, listen to me. It just never seemed to be the right time. I’m sorry. I should’ve told you sooner.”
“Yes, you should have.” She pushed herself to her feet. She folded the deeds and tucked them inside her shirt. “Goodbye.”
She pivoted on her heel and marched away. To her surprise—and dismay, she didn’t hear him following her. She sneaked a peek over her shoulder and saw him stalking back toward the cave. He’s letting me go. He doesn’t care at all. Her heart plummeted to her toes.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she made no effort to wipe them away. She’d learned a hard lesson. One that she’d remember for a long time. She’d never again give her heart to a man. Especially not a bull-headed, gotta-be-in-charge man like Evan Montgomery.
Suddenly, from behind her, she heard thundering hoof beats. Oh, no, not another herd of buffalo. But it wasn’t buffalo—it was Evan astride Buck and bearing down hard on her. He was now fully clothed, even down to the frown on his face. He didn’t slow down. What the—? Why, he meant to run her down. But why? Did he want the deeds after all? She sprinted forward, running as hard as she could on her sore ankle.
He caught her quickly. How silly she was to think she even stood a chance of getting away. The animal was on her before she got fifty feet. Dust whirled around her, choking her. As Buck came alongside, she darted sideways. Evan grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off her feet. She screamed. Was she to be trampled to death as her beloved Royal Flush had been? He pulled her across his lap, face down, his hand across her backside. She screamed again and kicked out, but Evan didn’t slow his mount. The jolting she received took her breath and made her ill. Finally, he pulled Buck to a halt. “Listen to me, Angel Devereaux, because I’m only going to say this once. I can’t leave you out here alone. So you’re going with me, and you will do as I say.”
“Oh, no, I won’t. You can’t make me.” She clenched her hands into fists and struck at him. Her blows landed uselessly on his leg. It was like a mouse attacking an elephant. And it infuriated her.
“Wanna bet, Lady Gambler?” He kicked Buck in the flanks, and the big horse bounded forward.
With every move the horse made, she felt like she was being punched in the gut. Evan Montgomery would pay for this. Somehow, someday, she’d get her revenge—for herself and her father.
An hour later, she was ready to beg for mercy. Anything to get off this blasted horse. Sweat soaked her clothes, and the dust kicked up by Buck’s hooves coated her face, blinding her and gagging her. But before she could plead for him to stop, he reined in the horse. He grabbed her by the back waistband of her pants, lifted her off his lap and dumped her to the ground. She collapsed, thankful to be alive and in one piece.
He dismounted and grabbed the canteen from his saddle horn. He opened it and took a long drink. He peered at her over the canteen and took another gulp. “You do as I say, you get water. If not—” He shrugged his shoulders and held the canteen out to her. “Your call.”
Angel opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come. Her throat was dry, her tongue like cotton. She cleared her throat, then glared up at him. “You can go to hell.”
“If that’s what you want.” He put the top back on the canteen and hung it back on the saddle horn.
Only her anger kept her from crying out for water. The bastard was enjoying this way too much. She turned her back to him. Planning her revenge would keep her mind off her thirst. First, she’d tie him up, then she’d—
“We’ll rest here for about an hour to let Buck catch a breather. He’s not used to carrying double.”
Angel knew that was a lie. Evan’s horse was a big, powerful animal, and one hour of riding double would be easy for him. Was he giving her a breather? She desperately needed one. For several long moments she sat there straining to hear anything that would alert her to what he was doing. Nothing. Slowly, she turned her head and looked over her shoulder. He sat in front of a scrawny tree and leaned against it. He closed his eyes, his dark eyelashes making a black line under his eyes.
Was he asleep or playing possum?
Her gaze darted to the horse grazing in a clump of grass. The canteen hung there on the saddle, dangling before her like a carrot in front of a rabbit. She licked her lips. Her gaze returned to Evan. His eyes were still closed. His chest rose and fell rhythmically.
Should she try it? Could she get to Buck and get in the saddle before Evan got to her? She hesitated. Long moments ticked by. Deciding that she had nothing to lose, and everything to gain, she rose to her knees. All the while, she watched Evan for any sign of m
ovement. She crawled a few feet toward the horse. Still, Evan did not stir. She scooted a few more inches. Buck raised his head and watched her. She got to her feet and tiptoed the last few feet to the horse. She grabbed the bridle and crooned softly to him. With a final glance at the sleeping man, she led the animal a few feet away, then climbed into the saddle.
****
From beneath half-closed eyelids, Evan watched her go. He’d given her free rein to see what she’ do—and she’d done just as he expected. He shook his head. She was like a mustang that couldn’t be broke.
But wasn’t that part of her appeal?
And what was he to do with her?
What had happened between them had been wonderful. He’d never experienced such passion as they had shared. But his life was the way he wanted it—a prosperous ranch, a calm life with no complications, and a wonderful woman who waited on him. One he had a history with, and one to whom he owed his loyalty. He’d take Angel to Deadwood, and then he’d forget her.
If he could.
She slowly approached Buck, then rubbed his nose to keep him quiet. With a glance toward Evan, she swung up into the saddle. Safely atop the huge steed, she grabbed the canteen and took a long drink. She put the lid back on and hung the canteen on the pommel, then nudged Buck into a walk. Evan grinned. She was even more stubborn than he was. They were like oil and water; they didn’t mix.
He stood, put his fingers to his lips and whistled. Buck’s ears went up, and he stopped. Despite Angel’s efforts, she couldn’t prod him forward. A frown of frustration crossed her lips. He whistled again, and Buck trotted docilely back to him.
“You bastard. You enjoy tormenting me, don’t you? You said you didn’t want revenge, yet you continue to embarrass and humiliate me.”
He grabbed the reins. “Don’t worry. You’ll be rid of me soon enough.”
“The sooner the better,” she spat out.
With a smile, Evan grabbed the saddle horn and vaulted onto Buck’s back behind her. Immediately, she leaned forward to get away from him. “Sit still, or I’ll put you back over my lap, and you know I’ll do it.”
Gambling on Love Page 11