by Linda Howard
“He came in for lunch,” said Lorna placidly. “But he could be anywhere now. Someone in the stables should be able to tell you where he’s gone.”
“Thanks,” said Cathryn, and retraced her steps, moving with her free-swinging stride to the stables, her feet kicking up tiny clouds of dust with every step.
The cool dimness of the stable was a welcome change from the bright sun, the smell of horses and ammonia as familiar as ever. She squinted, trying to adjust her eyes to the dimness, and made out two figures several stalls down. In a few seconds she recognized Rule, though the other man was a stranger.
Before she could speak Rule held out his hand. “Here’s the boss lady,” he said, still with his hand held out to her, and she was so surprised by his words that she stepped into reach of that hand and it curved around her waist, drawing her close to his heat and strength. “Cat, meet Lewis Stovall, the foreman. I don’t think you’ve been here since he was hired. Lewis, this is Cathryn Donahue.”
Lewis Stovall merely nodded and touched his hat, but his silence wasn’t prompted by shyness. His face was as hard and watchful as Rule’s, his eyes narrowed and waiting. Cathryn felt uneasily that Lewis Stovall was a man with secrets locked inside, just as Rule was, a man who had lived hard and dangerously and who bore the scars of that life. But...he was the foreman? Just what did that make Rule? King of the mountain?
She wasn’t in the mood for small talk, so she returned the greeting that she had received, a brief nod of the head. It was enough. His attention wasn’t on her; he was listening to Rule’s instructions, his head slightly dipped as if he were considering every word he heard. Rule was brief to the point of terseness, a characteristic of his conversations with everyone. Except with herself, Cathryn realized suddenly. Not that Rule could ever be termed talkative, but he did talk more to her than he did to anyone else. From the day he had told her of her father’s death, he had talked to her. At first it had been as if he had to force himself to communicate, but soon he had been teasing her in his rusty, growling voice, aggravating her out of her grief.
Lewis nodded to her again and left them, his tall body graceful as he moved away. Rule turned her back toward the entrance, his hand still on the small of her back. “I came up to the house at lunchtime to take you with me for the rest of the day, but you had already gone. Where did you go?”
It was typical of him that he hadn’t asked Lorna. “To Wallace’s drugstore,” she answered automatically. The warm pressure of his hand was draining away her resolve, making her forget why she was so angry. Taking a deep breath, she stepped away from his touch and faced him. “Did you say that Lewis is the foreman?” she asked.
“That’s right,” he said, pushing his hat back a little and watching her with his dark, unreadable eyes. She sensed the waiting in him, the tension.
She said sweetly, “Well, if he’s the foreman, then I don’t need you any longer, do I? You gave away your own job.”
His hand shot out and caught her arm, pulling her back into the circle of his special heat and smell. His mouth was a grim line as he shook her slightly. “I needed help, and Lewis is a good man. If you care so much, then maybe you’d better stay around and do a share of the work too. Ward had a foreman to help him, and that was without the added work of the horses, so don’t turn bitchy on me. While you were tucked up in bed, I was up at two o’clock this morning with a mare in foal, so I’m not in the mood to put up with any of your tantrums right now. Is that clear?”
“All right, so you needed help,” she admitted grudgingly. She hated to acknowledge the logic of his words, but he was right. However, that didn’t have anything to do with what she had heard in town. “I’ll concede that. But can you tell me why the Bar D is known as Rule Jackson’s spread?” Her voice rose sharply on the last words and temper made color flare hotly in her cheeks.
His jaw was set like granite. “Maybe because you haven’t cared enough to stay around and remind people that this is Donahue land,” he snapped. “I’ve never forgotten who this ranch belongs to, but sometimes I think I’m the only one who does remember. I know very well that this is all yours, little boss lady. Is that what you wanted to hear from me? Damn it, I’ve got work to do, so why don’t you get out of my way?”
“I’m not stopping you!”
He swore under his breath and stalked away, his temper evident in the set of his broad shoulders. Cathryn stood there with her fists clenched, fighting the urge to launch herself at him and pound on him with her fists as she had done once before. At last she stormed into the house and was on the way to her room when she met Ricky.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going into town?” demanded Ricky petulantly.
“You weren’t here, for one thing, and for another you’ve never been that crazy about Wallace’s Drugstore,” replied Cathryn wryly. She looked at her stepsister and saw the brittleness of her control, the shaking of her hands. Impulsively she asked, “Ricky, why are you doing this to yourself?”
For a moment Ricky looked outraged; then her shoulders slumped and she gave a defeated little shrug. “What would you know about it? You’ve always been the darling of the house, the one who belonged. I could call myself a Donahue, but I’ve never really been one, have I? You noticed who the ranch was left to, didn’t you? What did I get? Nothing!”
Ricky’s particular brand of illogic defeated Cathryn; evidently it made no difference to her that Ward Donahue hadn’t been her father, while he had been Cathryn’s. She shook her head and tried again. “I couldn’t have made you feel unwelcome, because I haven’t even been here!”
“You didn’t have to be here!” Ricky lashed out, her small face twisting with fury. “You own this ranch, so you have a weapon to hold over Rule!”
Rule. It always came back to Rule. He was the dominant male in his territory and everything revolved around him. She hadn’t meant to say it, but the words left her mouth involuntarily. “You’re paranoid about Rule! He told me that he’s never been involved with Monica.”
“Oh, did he?” Ricky’s slanted hazel eyes brightened suspiciously; then she turned away before Cathryn could decide whether the brightness had been caused by tears. “Are you really gullible enough to believe him? Haven’t you learned yet that he won’t let anything stand between him and this ranch? God! I can’t tell you how often I’ve prayed that this damned place would burn to the ground!” She brushed roughly past Cathryn and bolted down the stairs, leaving Cathryn standing there mired in a combination of pity and anger.
She would be a fool to believe anything Ricky said; it was obvious that the other woman was emotionally unstable. On the other hand, Cathryn remembered clearly the way Rule had doggedly followed her father’s instructions when he had first come to the ranch, working when his body was weak and wracked with pain, his eyes reflecting the wary but devoted look of a battered animal that had finally met with kindness rather than kicks. He too had been emotionally unstable at that time; it was possible that the ranch had assumed an irrational importance to him.
Cathryn shook her head. She was thinking like an amateur psychiatrist, and she had enough trouble sorting out her own thoughts and emotions without taking on someone like Rule. He certainly wasn’t uncertain about anything now. If there was anyone on this earth who knew what he wanted, it was Rule Jackson. She was simply letting Ricky’s paranoia cloud her own thinking.
All afternoon Cathryn thought of what she had said to Rule earlier, and reluctantly she came to the conclusion that she would have to apologize. No one could ever accuse him of not working, of not putting the ranch first. Whatever his reason, he had driven himself past the point where lesser men would have broken, not for his personal gain but for the good of the ranch. Facing it squarely, she admitted that she had been wrong and had flared into rage out of sheer, petty jealousy, striking out at him for cherishing the same land that she loved so deeply. She was wrong, and she felt small.
When he finally came in to wash before dinner her hea
rt tightened painfully at the sight of him. His face was taut with weariness, his clothing soaked in sweat and overlaid with a thick coat of dust that was turning to mud on his body, evidence that he was no shirker when it came to work. She stopped him before he went up the stairs, placing her slim hand on his dirty sleeve.
“I’m sorry for the way I acted this afternoon,” she said directly, meeting his flinty gaze without flinching. “I was wrong, and I apologize. This ranch would never have made it without you, and I...I suppose I envy you.”
He looked down at her, his face blank and hard. Then he took off his sweat-stained hat, wiping his sleeve across his moist face and leaving a brown smear of mud behind. “At least you’re not totally blind,” he snapped, pulling his arm from her touch and taking the stairs two at a time, his lithe body moving easily, as though weariness were a stranger to him.
Cathryn sighed, torn between wry laughter and the anger that he so easily provoked. Had she really thought that he would be gracious? As long as he was angry no apology she could make would pacify him.
Dinner was a silent meal. Monica was quiet, Ricky sullen. Rule wasn’t a conversationalist at any time, but at least he did justice to the hot meal Lorna had provided for him. As soon as he was finished he excused himself and disappeared into the study, closing the door with a thud. Ricky looked up and shrugged. “Well, that’s a normal evening. Exciting, isn’t it? You’re used to a big city, to entertainment. You’ll go crazy here.”
“I’ve always liked a quiet life,” replied Cathryn, not looking up from the peach cobbler she was destroying with delicate greed. “David and I weren’t the life of the town.” They really hadn’t had much time together, she reminded herself painfully. She was glad they had spent it learning to know each other, rather than wasting the precious time they’d had in socializing.
It was still early, but she felt tired. Lorna cleared away the dishes and stacked them in the dishwasher; Monica went upstairs to her bedroom to watch television in privacy. After sulking for a few minutes Ricky flounced upstairs to her own room.
Left on her own, Cathryn didn’t linger. On an impulse she opened the door of the study to tell Rule good-night, but paused with the words unsaid when she saw him sprawled back in the oversized chair, sound asleep, his booted feet propped up on the desk. Papers scattered on the desk indicated his intention to work, but he hadn’t been able to fight off sleep any longer. Again that funny wrenching of her heart caught at her as she watched him.
Vaguely annoyed with herself, she started to back out of the room when his eyes snapped open and he stared at her. “Cat,” he said huskily, his voice rough with sleep. “Come here.”
Even as her feet carried her into the room, she wondered at her own obedience to that drowsy voice. He swung his feet to the floor and stood up, his hand going out to close around her wrist and pull her close to him. Before she could guess his intent, his mouth was warm on hers, moving hungrily, demanding her submission. A ripple of unwilling pleasure moved up her spine and her lips parted, allowed him to deepen the kiss.
“Let’s go to bed,” he muttered against her mouth.
For a moment Cathryn sagged against him, her body more than willing; then awareness snapped her eyes open and she pushed belatedly at his heavy shoulders.
“Now, wait a minute! I’m not going to—”
“I’ve waited long enough,” he interrupted, brushing his lips against hers again.
“That’s tough! You can just keep on waiting!”
He laughed wryly, sliding his hands down to her hips and pulling her solidly against the power of his loins, letting her feel his arousal. “That’s my girl. Fight me to the bitter end. Go on up to bed, Cat. I’ve got a lot of work to do before I can turn in.”
Confused by his dismissal, Cathryn found herself out of the room before she knew what was happening. What was happening? Rule wasn’t a man to deny himself...unless it concerned the ranch. Of course, she told herself in amusement. He had work to do. Everything else could wait. And that was just fine with her!
She went into the kitchen to tell Lorna good-night, just catching the cook before she went to her own two-rooms-and-a-bath quarters at the rear of the house, converted specifically for her use when Rule had hired her. Then Cathryn climbed the stairs, wincing at the pain in her legs with each step. Another leisurely bath loosened her muscles a bit and she didn’t bother with the liniment, though she knew that she would regret it in the morning.
After opening the curtains to let in the moonlight, she tossed her robe over the back of the rocking chair that sat placidly in the corner, then turned out the light and crawled into the familiar bed with a sense of homecoming, of belonging. There was no other place on earth where she felt so peaceful and complete, no other place where she was so relaxed.
But, relaxed or not, she couldn’t sleep. She moved restlessly onto her side, her mind turning inexorably to Rule. So he’d waited long enough, had he? Was there no limit to that natural arrogance of his? If he thought she was going to trot obediently to bed and wait for him...
Was that what he had meant? Her eyes popped open. Surely not. Not with both Monica and Ricky just down the hall. She tried to remember exactly what he had said. Something about her going on to bed because it would be a while before he could turn in. What did that have to do with her? Nothing. Nothing at all. Unless...unless he meant to come to her later.
Of course not, she reassured herself. He knew that she wouldn’t let him do that, and he wouldn’t risk raising a ruckus. She closed her eyes again, trying to ignore the nagging thought that Rule would risk anything to get what he wanted.
She dozed, but came suddenly awake to the knowledge that she wasn’t alone. Quickly she turned her head to see the man standing beside her bed, removing his shirt. Her breath strangled in her throat and her heartbeat accelerated, making her body feel warm and flushed, making the thin nightgown she wore seem suddenly restrictive. She gasped for breath, struggling for words as he shrugged out of his shirt and tossed it aside. The colorless moonlight fell across him, starkly illuminating his lean, muscled torso, but leaving his face concealed in darkness. But she knew him, knew the look and smell and heat of him. Vivid images of a hot summer day and his black outline against the brazen sky as he covered her washed over her, swamping her senses with oddly mingled panic and longing. He had dared, after all.
“What are you doing?” she was finally able to choke as he removed his boots and socks, then stood to unfasten his belt.
“Undressing,” he explained in a low rasp, his voice flat and inexorable. In further, unneeded explanation he said, “I’m sleeping here tonight.”
That wasn’t what she had meant. She had been asking if he had lost his senses, but Cathryn felt as if all the breath had left her body. She was unable to make a protest, unable to order him to leave. After a long pause while he seemed to wait for her objection, one that didn’t come, he chuckled. “Or rather, I’m staying with you tonight, but I doubt we’ll be doing much sleeping.”
An automatic refusal rose to her lips but remained unsaid; somehow the words wouldn’t come, halted by the hot life that flooded into her stunned body, by the wild slamming of her heart against her ribs. She sat up, her eyes locked on his moon-silvered body. She heard the sibilant whisper of a zipper sliding down; then he slid out of his jeans. His hard body was muscled, powerful, his masculinity a potent, visible threat...or was it a promise?
The heat in Cathryn began to throb maddeningly and she held out a hand that beckoned even as she warned in a whisper. “Don’t come near me! I’ll scream!” But the lack of conviction in her words was evident even to herself. Oh, Lord, she wanted him so badly! As he had pointed out to her so often, she was a woman now and she no longer feared his sexual power, but rather wanted to cling to him and warm herself with his fire.
He knew. He sat down on the bed beside her and cupped her cheek in his hard, callused palm. Even in the colorless moonlight she could feel the heat of his gaze as it
wandered over her body. “Are you, Cat?” he asked, his voice so low that it was almost without sound. “Are you going to scream?”
Her mouth was too dry to allow speech; she swallowed, yet still she was able to manage only a faint admission. “No.”
He drew a deep, shuddering breath into his lungs and the hand on her face trembled. “God, sweetheart, if you’ve ever wanted to slap a man for what he was thinking of doing, now’s your chance,” he said roughly, his voice shaking with the force of his desire.
The unsteadiness of his words told her how affected he was by her nearness and the quiet intimacy of her bedroom. That reassured her, gave her the courage to reach out and put her hand on his chest, feeling the rough curl of dark hair against her palm and the sleek warmth of his skin where the hair ended, the taut, tiny buds of his nipples. The sound that rumbled in his throat could have been a growl, but her heightened senses recognized it for what it was—a rough purr of pleasure.
She leaned closer, seeking the delicious male scent of him. “Are you going to do everything you’re thinking about?” she asked, her voice shaking.
He was sliding closer too, moving in to nuzzle his mouth against the base of her throat where the skin was throbbing with the pounding of her pulse, his lips feeling the frantic rhythm and increasing it with his touch. “I couldn’t,” he murmured, his mouth moving against that delicate spot. “I’d kill myself if I tried to live up to those particular fantasies.”
Cathryn shuddered with the liquid desire that flooded her and she twined her arms around his shoulders, trembling with a need that she couldn’t deny even though she couldn’t understand it. This was a mistake, and she knew it, but for now the primitive joy she was drowning in was more than worth the price she would have to pay when sanity returned. She allowed him to stretch her out on the bed and take her in his arms, his nakedness scorching her flesh through the flimsy fabric of her gown. Her head tilted back in invitation and Rule laughed quietly, then gave her what she wanted, his mouth coming down and taking control of hers, parting her lips for the invasion of his tongue.