He wondered if she had looked at Jeb like this. If so, the poor man never had a chance. Not even alcohol could make him indifferent to such a woman.
“Not always. Love can do terrible things to a man’s judgment”
“I don’t imagine it could affect yours any longer.”
“Not as much as it once did”
“But it can still affect it a little?”
“When it’s combined with an aching physical need, yes, too much.”
“Are you aching?”
Trinity felt his temperature rise about ten degrees.
“Ma’am, that’s an unfair question. How can I be this close to you and not feel the need?”
“A man needs a woman, but he aches for a certain woman.”
“How do you know that?”
“A woman feels the same way.”
Trinity’s grip on the saddle tightened until his knuckles turned white. If he didn’t head this conversation in a different direction, she would pick his defenses apart. She was twisting him around her fingers, just like Queenie.
“One dung you don’t do is throw yourself at a man. He might get the wrong idea,” Trinity cautioned.
“Suppose he had the right idea.”
“Another dung, you don’t tease a man with what he can’t have.”
“How do you know you can’t have anything? You haven’t asked,” Victoria parried.
“Ma’am, you got things in the wrong order. A woman like you had better know exactly what she’s offering before she lets a man know she’s interested. Once he knows she’s available, he makes the decisions.”
“That doesn’t seem fair.”
“Maybe not, but it’s the way the game’s played. Now you pull in your horns and stop teasing me. I know you’re just trying to twist me around your finger so I’ll set up this investigation for you, but another man might not. Let me help you mount up. It’s time we were going.”
Relinquishing his death-like grip on his saddle, he walked around his horse and put his hands around Victoria’s waist to lift her into the saddle. She didn’t move. In fact, she planted herself more firmly in front of him.
“What makes you think that’s all I’m interested in?”
Trinity paused. “That’s all I got to offer.”
“You’re wrong, Trinity. I do want you to help me, and I was trying to coax you, but that’s not all you have to offer. It’s not even close to all I like about you.”
“The sooner I get you back to the house, the sooner I can go stick my head in a bucket of cold water.”
Once more he started to lift her into the saddle. Again she didn’t move. He became terribly conscious of his hands on her waist. The intimate contact gave rise to all sorts of visions that further challenged his self-control.
“What would you do that for?” Victoria asked, caught between a gurgle of amusement and surprise.
“There’s nothing like cold water to cool a man off so he can start thinking straight.”
“You mean you really are attracted to me, not just my face or my hair?”
Trinity didn’t know whether to move his hands or try once more to lift her into the saddle. He liked them where they were, so he left them.
“I never thought about you divided up into parts.”
“I’ll make you a deal,” Victoria offered. She stood so close he could see his warmth reflected in her eyes. “If you’ll stop playing the wandering cowboy and talking like you never saw the inside of a book, I’ll not try to cajole you into taking my case.”
“Are you going to try to cajole me into anything else?”
He wondered if she would interpret the quiver in his voice as fear or anticipation. He certainly wasn’t going to tell her it was naked lust. He doubted she would understand. But more important, with that terrible admission out of the way, he didn’t know if he could restrain himself any longer.
“Why would you ask such a question?”
“I learned long ago I had a weakness where pretty ladies were concerned. I make it a practice to stay away from them.”
“Like you’re staying away from me?”
“Can’t very well do that unless I quit the Mountain Valley Ranch.”
If you don’t let me help you into your saddle, my hands are going to grow to your sides. Then Buc and your uncle will have a good reason to shoot me, he observed.
“Are you going to quit and run away?”
Trinity gave up. He drew her to him until his lips brushed her hair. She didn’t smell of perfume like Queenie. He detected the faint aroma of scented soap, but nothing he could identify. Just a good, clean smell. Her hair felt softer, thicker, looked more lustrous. He longed to bury his fingers deep in its abundance.
His hands shifted position. Instead of being around her waist, they held her in a loose embrace. Not quite against him, but so close he could hardly control his muscles. His whole body wanted her.
Victoria tilted her head until she looked into his eyes. Then, as though flustered by the intensity of the feeling she saw there, she lowered her lids. Trinity lowered his head until his lips brushed her left eyelid. He felt her quiver beneath his touch and then go still.
“You want me to stay a while?”
“Yes.” The laugh wasn’t so easy this time. “I’d like that.”
“I’d like it, too,” Trinity said.
He had become so mesmerized by Victoria’s nearness, the feel of her in his arms, he didn’t hear anyone come up behind him until a massive hand clamped on his shoulder in a paralyzing grip.
Chapter Six
At the first intimation of danger, Trinity whirled to face his attacker and ran into a punch that sent him staggering.
“Stop it, Buc!” Victoria shouted. “He was just helping me mount up.”
“I saw what he was doing,” Buc snarled as he jumped on Trinity before he could regain his balance. He struck him a vicious blow to the jaw and followed with another to the stomach which sent Trinity to the ground, groaning in pain. “He was kissing you.”
“He was not,” Victoria said. She tried to grab Buc’s arm and hold him back, but he set her aside, hardly slowing down.
“I won’t have any man putting his hands all over my woman,” Buc said. “I’ll break his neck first.”
Victoria’s interference had given Trinity time to regain his feet. Somehow he avoided Buc’s first rush, but the rapid turn made him too dizzy to escape a second. Before his vision cleared, the two men were down on the ground pummeling each other with all their strength.
Buc outweighed Trinity by at least fifty pounds and stood three inches taller. His biceps were the size of Trinity’s thighs, yet Trinity’s experience, his methodical manner of fighting, and his excellent physical condition gradually turned the fight from a rout into an even match.
Victoria didn’t wait to see which man would wear the other down. The moment they hit the ground, she unstrapped her tripod and removed one of the legs. Waiting until she got a good shot, she cracked Buc over the head.
She didn’t knock him out, but he slumped to the ground.
“What do you mean, your woman?” she demanded, ignoring Trinity and her uncle, who had just ridden up. “How dare you say something like that. You never said a word about marriage to me.”
“I talked to your uncle,” Buc muttered, holding his head.
“I told you,” Trinity said to her as he gingerly fingered a laceration on his face. His fingers came away bloody.
“You’re not ever going to tell her anything again,” Buc threatened, struggling to his feet. Not even a blow from an oak tripod leg could make him forget what he had started to do. “I take care of my own.”
“I’m not anybody’s woman to be taken care of. Listen to me” Victoria demanded, when Buc ignored her, “or I’ll hit you again.”
But Buc was too enraged to heed Victoria. He had gone beyond the reach of rational thought. He charged Trinity the minute he got to his feet.
“Stop acting l
ike a fool,” Grant Davidge ordered. “You know I can’t have my foreman getting into fights with the men.”
Buc backed away, but his gaze never left Trinity. “He was being familiar with Victoria,” he said between gasps for breath. “I found him with his hands all over her. He was practically kissing her.”
“He was just helping me into the saddle,” Victoria said, raising her pole threateningly.
“You never wanted help before,” Buc said.
“You never offered,” Victoria shot back. “And what did you mean by telling Buc I’d marry him?” Victoria demanded, rounding on her uncle.
“Victoria, honey, you’ve got to marry somebody. And nobody loves you more than Buc.”
“I don’t love him.”
“But you like him.”
“I like Trinity, but you didn’t promise I’d marry him.”
“I’ll kill him,” Buc raged.
“You hit him once more, and I’ll never speak to you again,” Victoria said.
“You don’t have much choice, honey. Stuck here in this valley, you’re not likely to meet too many other men,” Grant said.
“What you mean is a murderess ought to be grateful for any husband she can get.”
“I don’t mean any such thing. I don’t say this trouble about Jeb hasn’t messed things up a bit, but you won’t find a better man than Buc no matter where you look. And he’s a good cowman. I’d be content to leave the ranch in his hands.”
“Then let him marry me ranch,” Victoria stormed, “but I won’t marry a man somebody else picks out for me. I did that once. I’m not fool enough to do it again.”
“Your uncle didn’t pick me out,” Buc said, pleading with Victoria, completely forgetting Trinity. “I fell in love with you all by myself.”
“If you love me so much, why don’t you have some faith in me? If you think I’d stand around letting myself be kissed by a man I’ve known less than a week, you don’t know me as well as you think.”
With that, Victoria spun on her heel and started toward her horse.
“I ought to kill you,” Buc said, turning on Trinity.
“Don’t try it. You won’t catch me from behind a second time.”
“Knock it off, Buc,” Grant ordered. “If you can’t stay here without fighting, go for a ride until you cool down.”
“But Victoria …”
Without waiting for anyone to help her, Victoria swung into the saddle and headed for the ranch at a gallop.
“I think you’d better leave her alone for the time being” Grant said. “It looks like we went about things the wrong way.”
“It’s all his fault,” Buc said, advancing on Trinity once more.
Trinity braced himself for an attack, but Grant’s next words halted Buc’s advance.
“It’s not his fault,” Grant said. “It’s ours, yours and mine. We got so used to thinking for Victoria when it came to her safety, we started doing it all the time.”
“I want you out of here,” Buc thundered at Trinity. “I want you off the place come sunup.”
“No need to get mad at me just because you made a mistake,” Trinity said.
He didn’t want to get fired just now. It would ruin his plans.
“You heard me, sunup tomorrow or I won’t be responsible for myself.” He swung into the saddle and rode after Victoria.
“This is unfortunate,” Grant said. “I didn’t realize Buc’s jealousy had gone so deep. I’m sorry to lose you. You’re a good man, and we could use the help right now, but I think you’d better go. I can’t have Buc rampaging about. It’ll upset the rest of the men too much.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Trinity said. “It just means I’ll have to move out a little sooner than I expected.”
“I’ll bring your wages over to the bunkhouse. I’d rather you didn’t come up to the house this evening.”
“Don’t you trust your niece?”
“It’s not Victoria I’m worried about.”
“It should be.”
“What do you mean?”
“When a man has to fire a good hand because of his foreman, he’s lost control of his ranch. If you’re not careful, Buc’s going to cause you to lose your niece as well.”
“I can’t believe you fired him just because Buc fell into a jealous rage,” Victoria said to her uncle.
“What else could I do?”
“You could have told Buc to start acting like a grown man or find himself another job.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Victoria. I wouldn’t risk losing Buc over a fight with a cowhand who probably won’t stay the summer.”
“I was thinking more about you than Buc.”
“I don’t understand.”
“This is your ranch, Uncle Grant. You claimed the land, fought off the Indians, and brought in blooded cattle despite enormous difficulties. Yet Buc goes around giving orders, throwing fits, and acting like it’s his.”
“Trinity just said pretty much the same thing.”
“You ought to listen. He’s not the dumb cowboy he pretends to be.”
“He also told me I was in danger of losing you.”
Victoria went up to her uncle and put her arms around him. “He’s wrong about that. There’s nobody in the world I love more than you.”
“I don’t think he meant I’d lost your love. He meant I’d lose your respect.”
An awkward silence fell.
“I was angry with you and Buc for talking about my marriage like it didn’t concern me,” Victoria said, making sure she looked her uncle full in the eyes, “but I know you were doing what you thought was best. It’s just that you were wrong on that. And some other things, too.”
“Such as?”
“They don’t really matter. The important thing is for the first time in five years I’m thinking about what I want to do rather than worrying about what somebody else will do and what I’ll have to do as a consequence.”
“Maybe Buc was right to be worried about Trinity”
“Don’t men ever give a woman credit for some sense?” Victoria asked, annoyed. “I can listen to Trinity, I can even believe what he says, without falling in love with him. He’s traveled all over the world. He’s seen things I’ll never see. Felt things I’ll never feel. Done things I’ve only dreamed about. He’s made me realize I don’t want a life dominated by fear.”
“What are you meaning to do?”
“I don’t know,” Victoria confessed. “My feelings are all turned upside down. I need time to sort them all out again.”
I’m glad that’s all. Now if you’d just let Buc explain why he—”
“I am sure of one thing,” Victoria said, interrupting her uncle. “I’ll never marry Buc Stringer.”
“But he’s a wonderful young man. Nobody could love you more than he does.”
“Marrying Buc would be the same as admitting I can only have what someone else is willing to give me. I can’t accept that. Not any more.”
“Buc was right. I never should have hired Trinity.”
Later that evening, after a couple hours of fruitless reflection, Victoria came close to agreeing with her uncle. Trinity had had nothing but trouble since he arrived, and she felt responsible for it.
He would never have gotten into the fight if she hadn’t been so determined to explore the nature of his feelings for her. She should have gotten on her horse by herself and ridden home.
Instead she let him stand there with his hands on her waist, his body nearly touching hers, his eyes drilling holes into her soul, and his lips brushing her hair and eyelids. But she liked it. She’d never felt that way before, in a kind of heedless wonder, like she was on the verge of discovering something marvelous.
Trinity had been right. There was something sexual in her attraction to him. She’d tried to tell herself it was purely intellectual, but his touch had destroyed that illusion. She could still feel his fingertips on her cheek. She could still remember her delight in their brief embrace
.
Victoria’s body grew uncomfortably warm. She had tingling feelings in her breasts, in her belly, in her groin. Feelings she had never had before, bone-melting feelings which continued to grow stronger the longer she thought about Trinity’s touch. It was a strange but not uncomfortable feeling, one that made her long to increase its intensity tenfold.
But her worry wasn’t all for Trinity. She didn’t know what to do about herself. Trinity had stirred her up, made her unsatisfied with her life, but he refused to help her change it. Now, after a couple of hours of intense concentration, she still hadn’t come up with any answers. Not any she liked.
She could try to lose herself in someplace like New York or London, but she would need to get control of her inheritance. She couldn’t go on expecting her uncle to support her. Only thing was, she didn’t want to leave the ranch. She loved the feeling of limitless space. Crowds of strangers would smother her.
She couldn’t go back to her mother’s home. Nobody there wanted anything except her money. And of course she couldn’t go back to Bandera. Not until she was proved innocent.
She had to convince Trinity to go to Texas. Buc wouldn’t like it, but that was too bad. He had gotten what he wanted: Trinity was leaving. She deserved a chance to see if she could have what she wanted: freedom.
Trinity crouched in the shadows of the pines, which covered the hill behind the ranch house, and waited for everyone to leave. During the night he’d considered and tossed aside several plans for getting inside the house without anyone knowing. The one he’d chosen depended upon Victoria’s being so angry and upset she wouldn’t stay home.
He didn’t have to wait long to see he had made the right choice. Fifteen minutes after Buc and Grant left the house, Victoria came out through the kitchen door. She nearly ran to the bunkhouse. She emerged a few seconds later, her mouth compressed in anger. Shortly after that she saddled her horse and took to the hills. Trinity had an idea she meant to follow Buc and have some rather sharp words with him.
He smiled at the thought.
Being careful to stay under cover, Trinity scrambled down the ridge. Ramon and Anita were still in the house. He didn’t want anybody but Victoria to know he hadn’t left Mountain Valley.
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