Knowing he was doing the worst thing he’d ever done, the most despicable, he lowered his head and his lips met hers in mindless desperation. Her response was equally as desperate, as needy, and yet there was a sweetness in it he’d never felt before, in the way her lips gentled and her hands, her fingers, touched him. Physical need was there, it had always been there between them, but this was something so new and miraculous, so compelling, that he felt as if she had somehow reached inside and embraced his soul, wrapping his heart in tenderness and understanding. She loved him for what he was, what she knew him to be, and she told him that by not asking him to be something else.
We’ll work it out. For the first time he felt her optimism, shaded only by the residue of caution he feared would always be with him. How could anything this fine not be right, not be meant?
And then her body was next to his, and even through their clothes, there was communion. He stopped thinking altogether. He was lost in those splendid eyes of hers, lost in the silkiness of her hair, the smoothness of her skin. He felt her fingers touch his face as if they were memorizing each plane, etching every part of him into her being. And then the two of them were sliding downward, to their knees, kneeling together as their lips met again, exchanging wonders.
He felt her hands against his skin as his shirt came off, then her dress, and his hands went under her chemise, touching the already erect, hard nipples. He went slowly this time, his hands loving, seducing until she cried out to him, and when he entered her, he knew a depth of feeling, of love, that he never knew existed.
It was exquisitely painful, so powerful were their reactions to each other, so tender as to make him weep inside. As they climbed to fulfillment, the physical sensations became so much more, a sharing of self and joy that magnified every tremor of pleasure until Morgan wondered how anyone could withstand such magnificence.
And then he understood exactly how much magnificence one could tolerate as the world he knew exploded and was replaced by a totally new shining one.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Thirty minutes after arriving at the El Paso headquarters of Morgan’s Ranger company, Lori knew she would never underestimate Morgan again. She should have known he never would have suggested he could help Nick if he had not been sure in his mind that he could.
Ira Langford, captain of Morgan’s company, was a laconic man whose eyes studied, weighed, and judged before he spoke, and even then his words were sparse. Like Morgan’s. Lori wondered whether all Rangers were like that, and it was a sobering thought if she was ever to live among them.
It had been a long, fast, wearying journey from Pueblo, but unmarked by the hostility of the one through Colorado. There was, instead, a cautious companionship between Morgan and Nick, a growing trust that still had a long way to go to be complete. But where there had been dread before, there was hope waiting at the end of this trip.
They had left Pueblo two days after Lori’s kidnapping and rescue. They had all needed rest, and Morgan had said Lori and Nick also needed time with their family, to accept and even heal from whatever wounds Fleur’s revelation had caused.
Lori was no longer surprised by Morgan’s sensitivity. He had always understood far more than either she or Nick had credited him; he’d just been very good at disguising it under that rough, protected exterior.
When Nick had told her about the harmonica, she’d wanted to cry. Morgan had not mentioned it to her, had just tried in his own singular way to give something to a man who might or might not accept him. It had been no peace offering, no bribe, just a simple act of caring.
She loved him so, and she ached for him. Since that night when he’d told her he loved her, he’d taken great pains to never be alone with her again. It wasn’t fair, he said, not until everything was settled.
Beth was still in Pueblo. She would wait there with the other Bradens until Nick returned. She couldn’t leave Maggie, and the Texas journey would be long, hot, and dangerous. Their new measure of faith in Morgan was reflected by the fact that both Nick and Beth said when he was free, they would marry. Not if.
There had been no question whether Lori would go. She had expected Nick to protest, and he had. She had expected Morgan to forbid it, and he hadn’t. She didn’t know whether it was because he knew she would follow anyway, or whether he had a reason of his own to take her. He still apparently found it difficult to explain his actions. But at night, after they ate the usual beans and bacon, he would hold her, and that was enough for the moment. Nick would play his new harmonica and watch them with apparent disinterest, still not entirely sure whether he should approve or not.
On the sixth day they reached a scattering of buildings. Both Morgan and Nick had shaved that morning, and their clothes were dusty. Their tastes ran in the same vein: dark-blue shirts, dark trousers, though as usual Morgan wore a hat pulled down low, and Nick scorned his. They were both wearing gunbelts, Morgan suggesting they were wise to do so while traveling this part of Texas, with the bounty hanging over them both.
Lori’s heart couldn’t help but sink within her as she looked around. This was Morgan’s life, and it seemed terribly barren and lonely. The largest building was a barn. A corral outside held a number of horses, and a boy was pumping water into a trough. The boy turned, and he gave Morgan a wide smile; Morgan returned the smile, tipping his hat slightly in acknowledgment. Lori remembered Morgan telling her about taking care of horses as a boy, and she wondered why he wished to stay here, why this life was so ingrained in him.
She saw two men come out the door of a long building, stop and stare at Morgan and Nick, their eyes darting from one to another. “Morgan?” one said.
A gleam of devilment glowed in Morgan’s eyes. “Yep,” he said. “And this is my brother, Nick.”
“Hell you say,” one of the men said, and then noticed Lori. “Beggin’ your pardon, ma’am.” But then his gaze moved again between Nick and Morgan curiously. “Didn’t know you had one.”
“Long story, Tommy. I’ll tell you later. The captain in?”
“Yep, and he’s in a right foul mood.”
“I think it might be a little more foul before I finish,” Morgan said.
“Dammit, Morgan, you’re smiling.” The tone was pure astonishment.
“Am I?” Morgan asked. “I guess it’s that damn fool expression on your face.”
The man chuckled. “Can’t wait to see the captain’s face when he sees you … the two of you. He hasn’t stopped complaining since you left.”
“Trouble?”
“When ain’t there?”
“Well, I brought him a little bit more.”
“Think I’ll go for a nice long ride. Good seeing you, Morgan.” He tipped the edge of his hat to Lori. “Ma’am,” he acknowledged, and walked on.
Morgan chuckled as he turned to Nick. “I think we’re in for a lot more of that.” He reached out. “Better give me your gun.”
Nick raised an eyebrow in question.
“Captain Ira’s rather a stickler on some matters. You’re still wanted at the moment.”
Nick shrugged. “I’ve trusted you this long, I guess.” He took out his gun and handed it to Morgan, who stuck it into his saddlebags. The three dismounted, Lori not waiting for Morgan’s help. Anxiety was beginning to eat at her.
Morgan knocked once on the door of an adobe building.
“Come in, dammit,” a voice roared out, and Lori was beginning to understand where all Morgan’s cussing came from. Morgan gave her a reassuring wink and opened the door, allowing Nick to go in first, his hand holding Lori back with him.
“Davis, goddammit. Where in the thunderation have you been? Should have been back weeks ago.” There was a stream of curses. “Lose my damn lieutenant when all hell is breaking loose.” Then a quieter, “Morgan?”
Morgan opened the door wider and sauntered in, letting Lori follow. “Nope, Captain, that’s Nick. The man you know as Nicholas Braden.”
Lori saw the man lean over a des
k, glaring at Morgan, then at Nick. “The man you went after? Damn.” Then, “I never would have believed it. He’s the spitting image of you.”
“There’s a reason, Ira.” Morgan’s tone was soothing now, all the mischief gone. “He’s my brother. My twin brother.”
The Ranger captain slowly sat down as he studied one man, then the other. Then his eyes saw Lori. “And who, if I can be so bold as to ask, is this?”
Morgan grinned, and the Ranger looked as astonished as the other man had. “She’s his sister. Captain, Lorilee Braden. Lori, this is Captain Ira Langford.”
The captain ignored the introduction. “You want to explain this to me, Lieutenant? Slowly.”
Lori bit her lip. Morgan had never said he was a lieutenant in the Rangers. She realized again how little she knew about him, how much she still had to learn. Morgan motioned for Nick and her to sit, and they did as he prowled behind them like a restless jungle cat. “You know the story of how I was found.”
“Hell, everyone does. It’s a damn legend around here, how you survived.”
“There was another woman, helping, when the Comanches attacked. She was never found.”
The Ranger captain nodded as Morgan continued. “She wasn’t taken. There were twins, and she had taken one to a wagon when the attack started. The horses bolted, and she and the baby were thrown to the bottom of the wagon. The wagon broke up some distance away, and she was injured. But she saw flame and smoke rise from the cabin and thought everyone had died. She apparently walked and crawled, trying to keep away from the Comanches, and a medicine wagon picked her up two days later. She’d lost her own baby not long before, still had milk and believed the baby was, well, fated to be hers.”
The Ranger’s eyes moved over to Nick, studying every feature.
“We have the same birthmark, Ira. A half heart on the bottom of our feet. My right, his left.”
The Ranger captain nodded. “Even if you didn’t … I don’t think there would be much doubt. Yet you brought him back.” His eyes were questioning.
“He came back. Willingly.” Morgan stopped pacing and leaned over Ira’s desk, placing both hands there. “He saved my life, Ira. Not once, but several times, even before he knew … that I was his brother, even when he had every reason to want me dead. He’s not a killer, Ira, and I need your help to prove it.”
An odd smile wrinkled the captain’s stern face. “I’ve known you twenty years, Morgan, and this is the first time you’ve ever asked for help.” He looked back down at his desk through a pile of posters and papers and drew out one. He read it slowly, and Lori knew it must be the one with Nick’s face on it. Morgan’s face, too.
He turned to Nick. “What happened?”
Nick told him. The captain’s gaze never left Nick’s face as he haltingly told the events of that night.
“This has been a hell of a nuisance,” Ira Langford said. “You know Morgan was ambushed twice before he went after you.”
Nick smiled dryly. “He reminded me several times while he was dragging me across Colorado.”
The Ranger captain looked bemused. “Must have been an interesting trip. But what in the hell took you so long?”
“I was shot,” Morgan said.
Ira Langford looked quickly back at Nick. “I thought you said …”
Morgan hesitated, his eyes quickly warning Lori. “Bounty hunters. Whitey Stark and some friends. Made it real interesting for a while.”
“Dead?”
Morgan nodded.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Let me take some men to Harmony. Lori saw the whole thing. She knows who witnessed the shooting. I can get someone to talk.”
The Ranger captain leaned back in his chair. “If they don’t …?”
“Lori says everyone there is scared to death of Wardlaw. He has gunhands. An honest rancher doesn’t have hired guns,” Morgan said. “When I went sniffing down there after I saw the poster months ago, there was plenty of talk about rustled cattle, and the fact that some folks have been selling out real cheap. My mind was on something else then, but I sorta filed the information to tell you later. It wasn’t until Lori and Nick told me more about Harmony that I started putting it together. I think an invasion of Rangers is exactly what Harmony needs for some witnesses to get a little brave.”
Both Nick and Lori stared at him, questions in their eyes. Lori knew suddenly that she had been allowed to come for a reason, not because Morgan particularly wanted her with them. She wished she didn’t feel so intolerably disappointed … even betrayed in some way.
Morgan straightened, looking uncomfortable. “I didn’t … want to get your hopes up,” he said to the two of them.
Ira released a long-suffering sigh. “I’ve been putting up with this for years. Morgan’s the most closemouthed bast—Ranger in the company.” He stood. “When do you want to leave?”
Morgan relaxed. “Tomorrow morning. How many men?”
“Ten. And myself. With that face you’re going to need some backing. I don’t want to hear of your hanging by mistake. I won’t risk losing you.”
“You won’t get in trouble?”
“There’s been a mandate from the governor to stop rustling with whatever means we have,” Ira said complacently. “That’s why I’ve been so damned impatient for your return. You’re being named captain of a new special force.”
Morgan’s gaze moved to Lori, and it was suddenly dark and brooding. A muscle flexed in his cheek for a moment.
“Morgan?” Captain Langford’s voice was sharp.
Morgan looked back. “Leave at sunrise?”
The captain turned to Lori. “Ma’am?”
She nodded, her eyes still locked with Morgan’s.
Nick was on his feet. “I’m going too.”
“No, you’re not,” Morgan said curtly. “I don’t want you in their jurisdiction.”
“It’s my neck, dammit.”
“Not yours alone. You’re staying here if I have to lock you up again.”
“You’ll have to do that, then.” They were toe to toe, their eyes furious, the old tension vibrating between them.
“Morgan.” Again the Ranger captain’s voice was sharp. Morgan reluctantly turned back to him.
“Can he handle a gun?”
Morgan nodded, again reluctantly.
“Does Wardlaw know about you?”
Morgan shook his head. “I don’t think so. When I was there, I had the mustache and wore the hat and eye patch.”
Ira Langford smiled slowly. “I think it would be mighty interesting for Mr. Wardlaw to meet up with two Nicholas Bradens. Might confuse him enough to make a mistake.”
Morgan started to say something, but Ira held up his hand. “No one will take him out of my custody, I promise you that.”
Lori saw the struggle on Morgan’s face. She thought she understood it. He’d just found Nick. He didn’t want to lose him, even if he destroyed something else trying to protect him. Morgan was far more like Nick than he’d ever admitted.
He finally nodded, and Nick smiled grimly, still angry at Morgan’s attempt to control him.
“Your … brother can sleep in the bunkhouse tonight. Miss Braden can stay with Mary Jo Williams,” Ira said. “She’ll be glad for the company. I’ll send someone over to tell Mary Jo.”
“How are she and the boy?” Morgan’s voice had softened. “I saw Jeffry in the corral.”
“She’s still fending off half the Rangers here. Swears she’ll never marry another one, but the money’s on Ty Smith.”
“How long has it been now? Two years since Jeff died?”
“Closer to three.”
Lori listened with fascination, especially after Morgan’s voice softened. It didn’t do that often. It had with Beth, with her. She felt a stab of jealousy as the Ranger captain went outside and said a few words to a man out there.
“Mary Jo?” Lori couldn’t keep herself from asking.
“Her husband was a Range
r. He was killed two years ago. Mary Jo didn’t have anyplace to go, so she became the cook here. She and her son have a small house. You’ll like her.” His voice was suddenly rough, almost harsh. They were alone; the Ranger captain had gone outside, and Nick had followed him.
Morgan’s arms went around her and held her tight for a moment. “I hate to drag you and Nick along tomorrow, but …”
“I think I’ll feel safe with a company of Rangers,” she said. “I feel safe with just you.”
He rested his head against her hair in a gesture she was growing to love. “I … I didn’t know you were a lieutenant,” she said hesitantly. “This … job he mentioned. It’s a promotion, isn’t it?”
He shrugged, and she knew there was something he wasn’t saying. He just held her a little tighter, and then someone cleared his throat behind Morgan. Morgan moved, but not quickly, and held on to her waist as he turned around and faced Ira.
“We need to talk later, Morgan,” he said. “After supper, here.” It wasn’t a request but an order, and Morgan nodded. Lori felt her face flame as Ira looked at her more intently than he had before.
“Ma’am,” he said in dismissal, and Lori was guided out the door by Morgan. Nick was standing by his horse, waiting.
By then news apparently had circulated, and a growing crowd of men gathered around, greeting Morgan. Most of them, Lori noted, were lean men with cold eyes and with about as much to say as Morgan usually did. Whatever curiosity they had about Nick was tamped, whether because he and Lori were around or because they respected Morgan’s privacy. They all nodded politely to her and to Nick, welcoming Morgan back with few words but a hearty handshake, and Lori again understood more about Morgan.
These were the kind of men who raised him. She felt lost and lonely around them, felt as if she were losing Morgan to something she didn’t know how to fight.
Just then a pretty woman stepped from a small adobe building and hurried over to her. “I’m Mary Jo. Ira said you needed a place to stay, and I’m mighty glad to see another woman.” She glared at the men, particularly at Morgan. “Making her stand out here in this heat. Thought you had better manners than that. On second thought …”
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