“’S fine, Charlotte. Thank you.”
Glory didn’t turn from the window, even after Charlotte shut the door behind her. Zane slowly walked over to her, giving her time to move away or to turn around and confront him. Finally, when he was close enough to reach out and touch her, he asked, “Why are you really so upset with me?”
Her shoulders lifted as she took a deep breath, but she let it out on a ragged sigh that was suspiciously like a sob. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
He was helpless against the warmth that seeped into his chest. It tugged him forward, and he was resistant to stop himself until he could feel the heat from her body against his front. He brought his hands up but stopped himself just short of pulling her back against him. Instead, he rested a cautious hand on her shoulder. She didn’t pull away, so he left it there, letting his fingers gently squeeze her arm, absorbing her warmth through the silk of her dress.
“I’ll be fine, Glory. I know what I’m doing.”
She shook her head and her shoulders straightened as if she’d passed through the momentary weakness. “You men. You all think you know everything.” The moment of tenderness was over when she swung around, dislodging his hand as she marched to the other side of the sofa. “But you don’t know anything.”
Apparently belligerent could be added to adorable to describe Glory drunk. He’d never seen this side of her. She was always so controlled and reserved. He liked it. He liked it a lot.
“Are you...are you smiling?”
“Definitely not.” Zane wiped away whatever smirk had been lurking around the vicinity of his mouth.
She glared at him suspiciously before uncrossing her arms to wave a hand at him. “You men with your knives, and your guns, and your...” Her gaze traveled down his body to narrow in on the general vicinity of his crotch. “Your male appendages.” The word appendages was exaggerated and said very slowly so that she wouldn’t stumble over it in her inebriated state.
He wisely brought his hand up to cover any smirk that was stupid enough to show on his face. He rather appreciated his male appendage and hoped to keep it intact.
“You all think you always know everything. This time you don’t.”
“I know that I want to keep you safe.”
This only made her shake her head again. “But you don’t know him. You don’t know what he is, what he can do. What do you think? You can just walk up to him and it’ll be over.”
Ah! He hadn’t included her. That’s what had her hackles up. He’d been so anxious to have Justin Dubose investigated that he’d hurried over to Hunter’s without talking to her about it first. “You’re right,” he said. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I don’t know him like you do. I should’ve had you come with me. We could’ve talked to Hunter together and come up with a plan.”
Her brow furrowed and her lips pursed as she thought over what he’d said. She seemed suspicious of his intentions, so he took a cautious step forward, wary of making her feel cornered. “I’ve asked Able to meet us in the morning and we can talk more about a plan then. Forgive me?”
She hesitated, but eventually gave him a jerky nod. When she did it was as if the air went out of her. Her shoulders slumped forward and she let out a ragged breath. She’d been using her anger as a buffer so that she wouldn’t feel the fear and pain that was shining out from her eyes.
“You don’t know him.” She said it again but this time she stated it quietly.
He wasn’t one to brag, but he’d been in plenty of tough situations before. There was the time they’d had a two-day shoot-out in that abandoned canyon outside Denver with men intent on turning Castillo in for the reward money. There was the man who Bennett Derringer had paid to kill him. That son of a bitch had been ruthless, tracking the gang for weeks and nearly getting the better of Zane outside a saloon in Texas. Then just last week he, Castillo, and Hunter had had the pleasure of facing Bennett down again. Zane’s scar throbbed from the memory of staring him down for the last time. There’d been satisfaction in seeing the man who’d given the scar to him get his comeuppance. Just as there’d been satisfaction in killing Buck Derringer, the man responsible for the murder of Castillo’s grandfather. A little bit of justice had been restored to his world.
He closed the distance between them, coming to a stop directly in front of her. Maybe he was too close, but he couldn’t stop this need to feel her, to reassure them both that she was safe. He wanted to help restore justice to her world too. “I’ve faced down my own ghosts. I can damn well destroy yours too.”
“He’s not like other men... He’s a monster.” She didn’t seem to mind the proximity. Her hazel eyes were wide and fearful as she stared up at him, but she didn’t move away.
Zane frowned. Her expression was so vulnerable, he knew that she meant what she said. She was terrified, but he loved how she tilted her chin up and her eyes were fierce. There was strength and determination beneath all that fear. The backs of his fingers touched her jaw, and his thumb settled on her soft cheek to gently stroke over it. Her skin felt like satin. She didn’t pull away. In fact, she subtly turned into his touch. Desire tightened in his belly, urging him to kiss her, needing to feel her against him, to reassure them both that they were safe. That they were together.
“He’s flesh and blood. He can be stopped just like any other man.” His voice held a rough edge.
The sudden weight of the conversation seemed to have sobered her a bit. Her eyes were clear, and though it was soft, her voice came out strong and distinct. “He’s capable of so much worse than any other man. You can’t even imagine. I saw it with my own eyes.”
What had she seen? He wanted to ask, to try to see it for himself, but he couldn’t ask her to dredge up those memories for him. It would be unfair.
“I’m sorry you saw that. I’m sorry you knew him.”
Closing the distance between them, her palms came to rest on his chest. Could she feel how hard his heart pounded? She turned into his palm and placed a soft kiss there. The contact sent heat lancing up his arm to settle low in his belly, where it burned bright and hot.
Her lips trembled when she took a breath. “The Dubose estate was a horrible place. We used to hear stories as children.”
He barely breathed as he waited for her to continue, hungry for any scraps of her past that he could get.
“The people who worked for him...sometimes they’d disappear. He owned them as if they were slaves. The war had been over for years but that didn’t mean anything there.” Her eyes seemed unfocused, as if she was remembering.
Gently taking her by the arm, he led her to the sofa. She slowly dropped down onto it and he sank down beside her. As soon as he put his arm around her shoulders, she turned into him. He closed his eyes as he held her close, tucking her against him. Her rose scent mixed with the decadent aroma of brandy teased his nostrils, warning him of dark days to come if he gave in to her, but he was weak when it came to her. She turned her face into his chest as he ran a soothing hand up and down her back.
“Did Able work there?” He had trouble imagining the strong and proud man he knew working for anyone like that. At this very minute, Able was downstairs making certain things ran smoothly to give her time to calm down.
She nodded against his chest without lifting her head up. Something about that tore right through him. He held her tighter, his palm sliding up her back to rest on the back of her head. His fingers delved into her hair, touching that glorious silk for the first time. It was smooth and thick beneath his fingertips and, despite his best intentions, he couldn’t help but wonder what it’d feel like wrapped around him. He wanted to make her feel better, to take away her fear for a little while and give her a reason to forget everything.
But that’s not what she needed from him right now. He sensed that she wanted to talk more so he listened.
“Able went to wor
k there a few years before I arrived. He hated it.” Her voice was bitter. “But the only way to leave was in a pine box.”
“How...” He squeezed his eyes shut, hating the thought of her being at that horrible place. The need to know was so strong that he couldn’t stop himself from asking the question, though he dreaded the answer. “How did you come to be at that place?”
She sniffed and he dipped his head, burying his nose in her hair. “My family didn’t have much. We had a big house, and it had been nice once, but it was falling down around us. Even before the war my family had been down on our luck. My parents sold off the land until we barely had enough left to farm.”
A sick premonition churned in his stomach. He had a feeling he knew where this was headed, but he didn’t say anything. She needed to talk, so he’d listen and she’d continue at her own pace. Finally, she said, “I don’t know how it happened, but one day he was there at our home. The next week my parents took me to the Dubose estate and that’s where I stayed.”
The sound of Sally’s voice belting out an indistinct song from down in the ballroom wafted through the silence of the suite. It was the only sound aside from the beating of his heart. In that moment, he hated her parents almost as much as he hated Dubose. How could they leave her with him knowing the horrible things he had done and what would happen to her?
“I was fourteen and I learned what it meant to belong to someone. The word no meant nothing. We all belonged to him, everyone on the estate did.”
Goddamn. She’d only confirmed what he’d suspected, but somehow it was so much worse knowing rather than simply imagining that it might be true. Rage burned him alive from the inside out. Dubose was a coward and a monster, but he was also a man. Zane wanted to make him bleed for every pain he’d ever caused her.
She pulled back enough to look up at him. Her expression was wary, as if she didn’t know what to expect. Did she think he’d think less of her? Her bottom lip trembled a little, but her eyes were still clear. There were no tears and he wondered if she’d cried herself out years ago. Tenderness swelled within him, momentarily tamping down the rage. He wanted to tell her he was sorry, but it seemed inadequate and useless in the face of what she’d been through. How did an apology convey the depth of his sorrow for her anyway?
Tipping her chin up, he slowly leaned down, giving her time to pull away. When she didn’t, he gently closed his lips over hers. She sighed into his mouth and relaxed into him, moving her lips against his. After a minute he pulled back to take a breath and pressed his forehead against hers.
“How long before you escaped?” He had to know how long she’d been forced to endure that madman.
“Almost two years.”
He squeezed his eyes closed so tight that he saw spots. To live in terror for so long was unthinkable to him. He couldn’t even fathom the courage it had taken to face it.
“Able lost his wife and child in childbirth, and I think it pushed him over the edge. He decided to risk escape rather than stay there any longer. I found him and begged him to take me with him. Thank God he agreed.”
He tightened the arm around her waist, pulling her as close as he could until there wasn’t a breath of space between them. If he could have, he would’ve taken all her fear into himself. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what horrors she’d both seen and experienced. He didn’t even want to. Yet, he couldn’t seem to stop. The images flashed through his mind anyway.
Tomorrow he’d thank Able himself for taking her away from that place. Somewhere at the edge of his consciousness were all the reasons he couldn’t stay with her, but they didn’t matter tonight. Tonight they were together and he wouldn’t think of the future. Nothing mattered but Glory.
Her small hand moved up his chest to curl around the nape of his neck and draw him back down to her. This time her lips took his. It was a slow and tender kiss meant for comfort. He took his time with her, letting his lips learn the shape of hers. The tip of his tongue lightly traced along her bottom lip. She opened wider for him and he delved inside, tasting her sweetness. Much to his surprise, she deepened the kiss. Her tongue chased his and she was nearly in his lap.
His blood had thickened, like honey sliding through his veins to settle in the pit of his stomach and even lower. Every fiber of his being wanted her. He was as hard as a rock and nearly throbbing for her when they parted enough to gasp for breath.
She smiled up at him and kissed him again, a soft caress of her lips, as if she couldn’t stay away. Desire urged him to go further, but he wouldn’t. Not tonight. She was too vulnerable now and more than a little drunk.
“We should get some rest,” he said, using up every last ounce of restraint that he had.
She grinned again. He couldn’t understand how she could keep smiling after all that had happened. Rage and tenderness were at war inside him. She rose, still a little unsteady on her feet, and surprised him by holding out her hand. “Will you come with me?”
He stared at that hand, recognizing the moment for what it was. She was offering him a tiny opening into her life. This wasn’t about the past, this was about moving forward. He took her hand before he could even think of what it might mean for them. Closing his fingers around hers, he followed her to her bedchamber.
She offered him her back. “Can you help me?”
His fingers were suddenly clumsy as he worked the fastenings, parting the rich blue silk to reveal her undergarments. When she shrugged out of the gown, he thought he should turn away but he was frozen where he was, unable to look away from her. He felt like he’d felt the first time he’d ever lain with a woman, even though he knew this night wasn’t going to end up in sex. Yet, it seemed so much more intimate somehow. His palms were clammy.
The corset and some sort of underskirt followed the gown, tossed over the trunk at the foot of her bed. One by one the pins came out of her hair to be tossed onto the dresser. He swallowed hard as he watched the red waves cascade down to her waist. She looked shy and eager as she looked up at him. His hands moved with a mind of their own as he responded to her expectant gaze. He took off his coat and waistcoat and toed off his shoes before following her to the bed. She lay down on one side and he climbed into the bed beside her.
Her eyelids were heavy. He knew it’d be minutes before the brandy’s effects put her to sleep for the night. “There’s something else I want to tell you.”
Rising up on his elbow to see her better, he said, “Anything.” His curiosity about this woman was insatiable.
Taking in a shaky breath, she said, “I was there for over a year when I...I became pregnant with child.”
Rage coursed its way through him, and his instinct was action. He wanted to go out into the night and pull Dubose from whatever hole he was hiding in. His heart pounded, urging him to go, but he fought the impulse. It wasn’t what she needed from him and it wouldn’t be wise. Not until they knew more about Dubose’s plan. Instead of saying anything, he put his hand on hers. She immediately turned it over so they were palm to palm.
“One night...” There were no tears in her eyes, but there was deep sadness on her face and in her voice. “He already had adult children and hadn’t wanted any more. He pushed me down the stairs. I went into early labor and...I lost the baby.”
“I’m so sorry.” His eyelids sank closed as he tried to imagine her pain and confusion when that had happened. He couldn’t do it. The torture she’d faced at the hands of that madman was unfathomable.
When he opened his eyes she was staring up at him. Her face open and solemn. “I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that. I didn’t want to make you sad, I just wanted... I wanted to share it all with you.”
“Don’t be sorry. Please don’t ever be sorry with me.”
She smiled and touched his face before turning over on her side away from him. “You don’t have to stay all night if you don’t want to, but would yo
u mind staying until I go to sleep?”
He nodded, too awestruck by the woman before him to find his voice. Realizing she couldn’t see his nod, he moved slowly closer to her, wary of how small she felt next to him. He suddenly felt too large and clumsy, as if one wrong move could mar the perfect creature before him. She was a queen and he was a lowly subject that had somehow stumbled his way into being allowed to touch her.
He expected her to pull away, but the moment his arm went around her waist she snuggled back into him. He let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. Her small frame fit perfectly against him. She was small where he was big, soft where he was hard. God, was he hard. He gritted his teeth against the sudden arousal that pulsed through him. She must have felt him, throbbing there against the most perfect backside he’d ever felt, but she didn’t say anything or move away.
Finally, after a few minutes, the tension left his body and she relaxed into him even more. He’d never lain like this with another person. Not even Christine. Their meetings had always been quick and rushed. They’d never had the luxury of simply being together. The idea of it had never even occurred to him, but he liked it. Glory’s presence soothed something in him that he hadn’t even realized needed calming. Her hand found his resting on her stomach and she surprised him again by lacing her fingers with his. He gently tightened his hold and closed his eyes as he buried his face in her hair. He didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but for now he was with her and that was all that mattered.
He fell asleep almost immediately. The weight of all that he’d learned pulled him down into a dark sleep. The scent of roses filled his dreams. So decadent, yet so dangerous. Sights from his childhood flashed across his mind’s eye one after the other until his dreams finally settled on the one that had been haunting him for the past several days.
His mother’s sister stood before him, as she’d been after his mother’s death. Her young face was already creased from the wind and weather. Worry had put a sadness in her eyes that he’d recognized even at such a young age.
An Outlaw to Protect Her Page 15