Twelfth Moon

by Lori Villarreal

  He took on the task of drying her off as efficiently as possible, trying not to notice her curves, her satiny skin…her breasts. Even so, her soft bottom resting on his groin made him stiff as the barrel of his revolver.

  When he finished, he laid her on the bed, rolling her to the side so he could pull back the sheets, and then tucked her under the covers. He stood looking down at her. Inky-black lashes fanned out against skin lightly bronzed from the sun. Below her neck, her skin was the color of pure cream.

  Her black hair, no longer stringy and tamed by filth, had begun to curl as it dried, framing her oval face. His gaze moved to her small, slender nose, and then down to her mouth. Her lips were full and pink and soft. He recalled how they felt when she’d pressed them to his. If she had kissed him like that, the way she looked now, he would have fallen on her like a gold-crazed prospector who’d just discovered the mother-load.

  Jonah shook his head in an effort to clear it. What was he thinking? She’d killed his brother. She was a murderess and here he was, imagining what it would be like to sleep with her! With a sound of disgust, he turned from the bed and headed toward the door. If there was one thing he couldn’t allow himself to do, under any circumstances, was to be swayed by her beautiful body, her luscious mouth, and those green eyes.

  Grim with resolve, he slammed out of the room, down the stairs and through the saloon, leaving the doors swinging in his wake. He stalked over to Athos, retrieving his saddlebags, which held a change of clothes, including an extra shirt. She could use the shirt as a makeshift nightgown. The mere idea that she was naked under those sheets was enough to whittle away his resolve.

  Catching a movement out of the corner of his eye, Jonah snapped his steely gaze in that direction. “You, there,” he said to the empty space near the watering trough. “Show yourself.”

  A young boy in too-large hand-me-downs moved slowly from behind the trough. “I was just admirin’ yer horse, mister,” he said shyly. “I didn’t touch nuffin’.”

  “What’s your name, boy?” Jonah narrowed his eyes. “You are a boy aren’t you?”

  The boy straightened his spine, lifting his chin a notch. “’Course I’m a boy,” he stated with true male effrontery. “You don’t see me wearin’ no dress, do ya?”

  Jonah chuckled. “Just making sure. Your name?”

  “Jimmy.”

  Jonah held up a silver coin. “Can I trust you to take my horses to the livery stable, Jimmy?”

  Jimmy never took his eyes off the coin. “Sure can, mister. Just ask anyone ’round these parts.”

  “Okay, then,” Jonah said, flipping the coin through the air. Jimmy caught it with expert reflexes. “There’ll be another one of those for you, if you brush them both down and feed them. Tell the stable master I’ll settle with him later.”

  Jimmy grinned. “You got it, mister.”

  Smiling wryly, Jonah turned and went back into the saloon, returning to the room. Cade was right where he’d left her. A little concerned that she’d been unconscious for so long, he set his saddle bags near the door, and walked over to the bed. He didn’t think she’d hit her head that hard, but then she’d also been four sheets to the wind – and exhausted from a long day’s ride. He checked her forehead for signs of fever. Finding it cool and dry, he bent to listen to her breathing. It was strong and steady, indicative of a deep sleep.

  His fingers itched to drag back the sheet for another glimpse of her breasts. He wanted to mold them in his hands, feel their weight…taste them. Temptation arose in him – sudden, inexplicable, and uncontrollable – like an agitated beast, dark and hungry. He was instantly hard, his cock throbbing with an intensity that tightened his gut.

  The image of her beneath him insinuated itself into Jonah’s thoughts. He was above her, looking into eyes glazed with passion, and as he thrust into her, her slender legs grasped his hips. He was breathing heavily, sweat beading on his forehead, the fantasy in his mind capturing him…trapping him. It seemed so real, he could feel every sensation as if it were actually happening. Then, just as suddenly, he was released from whatever spell he’d been under and staggered backward with a strangled gasp.

  What the hell just happened to him?

  Jonah inhaled deeply, his chest expanding, and blew out the breath slowly.

  He was just tired, that was all. Plus, it had been an awful long time since he’d been with a woman. He’d have to remedy that and soon. There were always willing women to be found in every town.

  He glanced warily at Cade, not sure whether to trust himself after what had just happened. Thankfully, there were no erotic images, no insane urge to fall on her like a rutting bull. He breathed a sigh of relief. Satisfied she was going to be fine, Jonah looked at the tub. He’d hoped to make use of the bath water while it was still warm – now it would serve him better cold.

  Jonah washed quickly, dressing in the clean clothes from his bags. He shook out the spare shirt, thinking how something that belonged to him would be laying so intimately against her skin. It was one of his best, the pristine, white cloth whisper soft, like her…Jesus! “Stop it!” he hissed.

  It made him angry that he didn’t seem to have control over his impulses. The girl was unconscious, for Christ sake. He used his anger as a shield while he lifted Cade with an arm behind her shoulders. He dropped the shirt over her head, slipping her arms into the sleeves. The cuffs fell far below her hands, so he rolled them up and pulled the hem down, tucking it around her knees. He lowered her back gently until her head rested on the pillow.

  She moaned.

  Oh, God.

  Jonah hastily tugged the quilt up to her chin, glaring at her as though she were a rattlesnake poised to strike. He blew a long breath. Damn, he needed to find himself a woman – and quickly.

  Cadence moaned. “Ohhh…my head.” That statement was all-inclusive, referring to the sharp pain in her temples, as well as the incessant ache at the back of her head. She cracked open her eyes, wincing at the brightness in the room. “What happened?” Her voice was low and scratchy.

  “You hit your head.”

  “On what, a horseshoe – still attached to the horse?” She reached up and felt the back of her head, noting a good sized bump.

  “The edge of the tub.”

  “Why do I feel so…miserable?”

  “The whiskey, I reckon.”

  Jonah’s voice sounded strange, strained, as though he were forcing the words out. He sat in a small, spindle-back chair near the bed. Or maybe it just seemed small because he was so big. Turning her head to the side, she noticed the glow of a lamp on the bedside table, the source of light she’d first seen when opening her eyes.

  With a start, Cadence realized she was lying in the bed. She propped herself up on her elbows, looking at him with confusion. “Why am I in bed?”

  Jonah cleared his throat. “I know you’re—” He paused, and then started again. “I know you’re not a boy, Cade,” he said softly.

  For the first time since waking, Cadence noticed she was wearing only a shirt – nothing else – and it didn’t belong to her. She looked down and gasped, pulling the gaping pieces together. Her gaze shot to his face and she caught him staring at her breasts before he quickly looked up. When their gazes locked, those eyes were like molten silver. She stuttered, “What – how—”

  “You’d fallen into the tub, hitting your head,” Jonah explained, his voice rough. “When I pulled you up, I saw the chain. I was curious. I found Robert’s ring, and there was the binding—”

  “You took off my clothes – while I was unconscious!” Cadence shrieked in outrage. “You bathed me? You pig! You disgusting, perverted, depraved—”

  “Now, hold on a minute!” Jonah shouted, raising a hand. “You were unconscious, filthy, and I’d just had quite a shock.”

  Cadence narrowed her eyes. “You said I fell into the tub, but I remember. You pushed me!”

  “I pushed you because you kissed me!”

  “So what
?”

  “Well, I-I…I thought you were a boy!”

  “That didn’t give you the right to ogle me like some lecherous swine!”

  “I’ve seen naked women before,” he said with a smirk.

  “Oh? How many?” Cadence couldn’t help asking. She also couldn’t help the annoying pang of jealousy she felt over his pronouncement.

  “That’s neither here nor there,” Jonah snapped. “None of this changes the fact that you killed my brother.” He knew it was the hurt and anger talking, and he felt remorse the minute the words left his mouth.

  Silence hung in the room.

  He watched as her eyes filled with tears, turning them into liquid jewels. She brought her hands up, covering her face. “I-I’m so sorry,” she whispered raggedly. “You’re right. I deserve nothing…no mercy.”

  Jonah reached over and gently pried her hands away from her face. “No. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I did, or at least not like that.”

  She looked at him, shaking her head. “But it’s true.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked quietly.

  “I was afraid. I didn’t know you, and…you’re his brother.”

  “He raped you…didn’t he?” Jonah said flatly.

  “Yes. But it’s still no excuse – he didn’t deserve to die that way.”

  “He did more than that,” Jonah said. “I saw the mark of his ring on you. Tell me what happened.”

  She stared at him for a long moment, as though trying to decide what to tell him, or if she should. And then she spoke. “I was walking home from the market,” she began. “A man appeared and walked along with me. He was bold…and handsome. I was afraid. I asked him to leave me alone, but he wouldn’t listen.”

  Jonah sat quietly while she talked.

  “I kept on walking. He became more aggressive. H-he grabbed my arm and pulled me into an alley, then forced me up the stairs to his room.”

  Her voice, which had started out in a flat, emotionless tone, became more intense. As she continued, her words came faster, her breathing heavier.

  “I dropped my basket. He pushed me through the doorway and I fell to my knees. When I looked at him, his eyes were…they were….” She looked up at Jonah. “There was madness mirrored in them,” she whispered hoarsely.

  “He – he told me to take off my clothes.”

  Jonah groaned, cradling his face in his hands. Would there be no end to the insults he’s committed against her? It was quiet for a moment, and then he felt a soft touch on the back of one of his hands.

  “It’s not the same, Jonah,” she said, her voice stronger. “You thought I was a boy – you didn’t know.”

  Jonah dropped his hands from his face and glanced up at her. “What happened next?”

  “I struggled and he beat me. While I was half-conscious he – I wasn’t aware of what he was doing until it was too late. There was a burning on the inside of my thigh, and then he—”

  A strangled, tortured sound came from deep in Jonah’s throat.

  “What do you know about what goes on between men and women?” How arrogant he’d been when he’d asked her that. “I know enough,” she’d said.

  “Please,” he said hoarsely, holding up a hand, “you don’t need to go any further.” He jerked to his feet and paced the floor in front of the bed. He couldn’t look at her. The knowledge that his brother had been mad, had committed such a horrible act was bad enough. But to hear the tale from his victim was almost more than he could bear.

  He stopped suddenly, focusing his steely gaze on her. “How did you do it – how did you kill him?”

  Seven

  WHAT SHOULD SHE tell him? Cadence wasn’t ready to describe the gruesome details. Not yet. She didn’t know if she’d be able to tell another soul. Ever. How could she explain the manner in which Robert had died without telling Jonah about the Pantera…that she wasn’t completely human?

  He would fear her.

  He would hate her.

  Somehow, it was important to her that he did neither.

  “I can’t,” she finally said.

  Jonah stared at her, anger darkening his features. He strode toward her and leaning over, firmly grasped her by the arms. “You can’t?”

  He grabbed one of her hands, turning it palm side up. “Tell me how these small hands tore his flesh like some wild animal! Tell me how you were able to overpower a man much larger than you.”

  He knelt on the bed, pinning her legs, which were caught beneath the blanket, between his knees and shook her. “Tell me what weapon you used to wreak such carnage.”

  Cadence’s heart was pounding, while tears ran unchecked down her cheeks. She recoiled from the force of his passionate fury, almost as if it were a solid thing. His eyes darkened, reminding her of the ominous swirling sky of an approaching storm. It frightened her…and it thrilled her. But she couldn’t tell him the truth.

  “I can’t!” she cried raggedly. “I won’t!

  There was a deep growl, but it hadn’t come from her…and then his mouth was on hers. Hard. Hot. Punishing. She didn’t feel punished, however – she felt heat roaring through her veins, under her skin. He still held her arms in a steel grip, his breaths heavy as his mouth covered hers, his tongue forcing her to open to him. It slipped in and out in a familiar, yet erotic motion that sent liquid fire to her core.

  His hands slid under the edges of the shirt where it opened, moving over her bare shoulders, dragging the fabric down her arms. It exposed her breasts to the cool air, causing her nipples to harden into rigid peaks. He kissed a trail from the curve of her jaw to just below her ear and she could hear his ragged breaths against the side of her neck. With a low moan, Cadence tipped her head back in surrender.

  His mouth moved down her throat to her collarbone, and then he was there, licking, tasting…devouring, one breast and then the other. His calloused hands cradled them, caressed, and gently kneaded their fullness while his lips teased a nipple. He flicked it with his tongue, circling, warm and wet, and then finally he guided it to his mouth and suckled. She gave a faint scream of pleasure, arching her back, giving him better access. He answered her reaction with a deep, guttural sound of triumph, sending shooting sparks directly to her loins, where moisture pooled.

  He paused only long enough to turn his attention to her other breast, his thumb rubbing back and forth over the nipple he’d left behind. She writhed in sweet agony, moaning and whimpering her pleasure.

  Cadence struggled to be free of the constricting sheets. Jonah moved back so that he could tear them away from her. Their gazes locked in a fiery blaze of green and silver as she clawed at his shirt, her fingers clumsily working the buttons free. She guided the fabric down his shoulders, relishing the feel of smooth, hot flesh over hard muscle. Sliding her hands across his chest, she ran her fingers through the dark, springy hair there, and then continued her exploration down the flat, hard plane of his belly.

  There was no coherent thought, no logical sense of right or wrong, just the primal instinct to mate. Her body was in total control now, had taken over in a mindless need to assuage itself, to complete its one and only purpose. And Jonah was just as bound to the moment as she. Once mating begins, her body emits a special scent most males cannot resist. Only a man with a strong will could withstand her allure.

  Eager to fulfill her primary goal, she shamelessly pulled her legs up and spread them, resting them against the outsides of his thighs. The roughness of his trousers teased and tantalized her sensitive skin.

  Jonah sucked in a breath at her bold invitation. He looked down at her, open and glistening…beckoning to him…waiting for him. He could smell her desire…her arousal, and he wanted nothing more than to drive into her with a ferocity that was overwhelming.

  His heart hammering in his chest, he ripped at the fastenings on his trousers and shoved them down his hips. He fell on her, his mouth claiming hers in a mad frenzy to have her…to claim her. He reached down and grasped his c
ock, placing it at her hot, slick entrance. The impulse to plunge deep and hard was so strong…so intense, it made his temples pound. It was like a fever…in his brain…in his body…in his cock. All craved one thing and one thing only – to possess her, to take her, to thrust into her like an animal.

  Nothing else mattered.

  Nothing else existed but her.

  He looked into her eyes, pausing for a breathless moment. In the golden light of the lamp, he caught a flash – a strange glimmer. Her eyes seemed to glow with an iridescent sheen, like an animal’s – like a cat’s eyes. It suddenly reminded him of that night when she’d been handcuffed to the tree. Her eyes had glowed like that. He’d thought he’d imagined it, but the proof was now literally staring him right in the face.

  With a curse, Jonah flung himself away from her and off the bed. He quickly drew his trousers up, panting, his chest heaving as he labored to draw air into his lungs. His body was covered in a fine sheen of perspiration, his limbs trembling from the effects of unfulfilled lust.

  He glared accusingly at the woman on the bed. She was beautiful…unearthly. Her shirt – his shirt – was bunched at her waist, leaving the rest of her deliciously naked.

  Jesus!

  This woman killed Robert.

  And if it had been in self defense as she’d claimed, how could it be that she’d welcome Jonah into her body after what his brother had done to her?