“I found steaks in the freezer; they’re defrosting on the counter. And if I can bear to take my hands off of you for long enough I’ll cook them for us,” he said.
“I found a washing machine, every article of clothing we have is going in. We can wear towels for the next few hours.”
“I have a better idea,” he said grinning at her. “You are making me weak, Joss, I can’t concentrate, all I want to do is love you,” he kissed her deeply.
“All I want is for you to love me, Buck. If you feed me I’ll be strong enough to make it worth your while,” she said. He leaned past her and turned the water off. They toweled each other dry and started their own projects. Buck found a can of peaches and black beans in the cabinet and he grilled the steaks and later the peaches and warmed up the beans after putting some ancient and nearly flavorless cayenne in them. Joss came into the room and stood next to him looking at the food and him, standing in a towel, with equal desire.
“I’m guessing the cattle ranch girl wants it rare?” He smiled at her.
“I like it more pink than red, but it smells so good, I might just eat it raw,” she said. “My mouth is watering all over the place.”
“That’s what happens to me whenever I look at you. I guess you are like a steak to me,” he said.
“You’re a real poet, Buck.” He laughed.
“I found a deck of cards, Duchess, what do you say? One hand, winner takes all.” He grinned at her and she grinned back.
“You’re on, long shanks, but will you take out my stitches while there is still light?”
“Of course I will,” he kissed her. “There’s beer in the fridge if you want to self medicate.”
“Thanks, but I’m afraid I’d just fall asleep, and I don’t want to miss any time we have left,” she looked at him with a pained expression but looked away so he wouldn’t see it. Joss knew that tomorrow it would be over. Buck and she would live, or not, but either way he’d leave her. She tried to tell herself she wouldn’t let him go, but in truth she wouldn’t try to make him stay, he had to come to that conclusion on his own. Tonight was their last night together, and she didn’t want to fall asleep and miss any of it.
“Will you find some plates?” He asked. She found plates and steak knives and set the table. “This is domestic.” He liked the idea more than he wanted to. They ate in a comfortable quiet.
“This is the most delicious steak I’ve ever had,” she said. “Thanks for cooking dinner.”
“When you’re half starved, food tastes good.” There was a sound outside and he put his finger to his lips and pointed to the bedroom. He went to stand next to the window and he cautiously looked out. There was a dog, but he didn’t see any humans. The dog was Pablo from the ranch. “It’s a friend of yours, Duchess,” he motioned for her to come back out then opened the front door.
When Pablo came in he looked around until he found her and then wagged his entire body with his ears down. He should have been named Yoda now that she thought of it. “I missed you, too, baby.” She scratched his head and belly and his tongue lolled out in perfect ecstasy. Buck was still checking around outside the house, looking for anything out of place. There was nothing but it didn’t ease his worries.
“What is he doing this far from home?”
“He’s a ranger, and a food hound. I bet he smelled the steaks and followed his nose,” Joss said. “As the crow flies, we’re not that far from the ranch.”
“Maybe,” he said and put a bowl of water down for him which he lapped up happily. Buck sat back down and finished his steak, then finished her steak and the rest of the beans. The peaches were already gone.
“Find scissors, I’ll clean up,” he said and took the plates to the sink. She found small scissors and tweezers in the medicine cabinet with alcohol and Neosporin; she brought it all out and soaked the scissors and tweezers in the alcohol. Buck tossed steak scraps to Pablo and told him he was a good and faithful dog.
Once finished he wiped his hands and sat in the chair directly in the light of the setting sun. He put the bag of Snickers on the table and put his arms out to her and she went to him. Again, he guided her into his lap and reached around to unwrap the towel and let it fall and pool around her waist.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said and she chuckled.
“You’re crazier than I thought,” she said, “it can’t be pretty back there.” But he put his lips to her back and began the process of pulling out her stitches.
There were hundreds of tiny stitches; the plastic surgeon did a fine job. Some bled, but most came out easily, and when he was completely done he put the Neosporin on her, maybe for the last time.
“I love you, Buck,” she said with her back to him. He went perfectly still.
“No you don’t, Duchess,” he said after a minute. “You just think you do because we’re in this outrageous situation together and your belly is full of steak and Snickers. You know that song, Lovers in a Dangerous Time, that’s us, Joss, everything is amplified because we’re under fire. You’ll get over it. Over me.”
“No, I won’t. And you won’t admit it yet, but you love me, too.” He exhaled loudly through his nose.
“It’s the great sex, Duchess, you just…” she turned to face him and touched her finger to his lips.
“Please don’t. I don’t ‘think’ I love you because you give me powerful orgasms, give me a little credit. And don’t pretend to devalue it. You don’t have to respond to my statement, I just want you to know it. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but I suspect when it’s over, you’ll leave me,” she said. “You’ll do it for some imagined noble reason, but you’ll be wrong. I love you, and you love me.”
“Joss,” he whispered. It was a wounded sound.
“I’ll wait for you to figure this out. Just don’t take too long, because it will hurt to breathe without you.” She stood and let her towel drop to the floor and led him back to the bedroom. They made love slowly and languidly, savoring every second of their limited time together.
Buck hadn’t shed a tear since his mother died when he was thirteen and he was taken to live with his white grandfather in Boston. His life was drastically altered, from almost complete freedom in the great outdoors to boarding schools and east coast establishment and finally being recruited by the Feds. But he cried in Joss’s arms that night, knowing he would never hold her again.
When she was asleep he got up and splashed cold water on his face and went outside with the phone he took off the dead biker and made the call. She stirred when he got back into bed and he couldn’t help himself, he woke her up completely with kisses and they joined again and then they both slept.
Sometime before dawn she woke to hushed angry voices in the next room. Quietly she wrapped the sheet around herself and walked to the door to listen.
“I won’t take her, Davis, that’s final,” Buck said.
“You will, Duke, and that’s final. I’m not making this shit up, these are direct orders,” Davis said.
“What are they going to do, fire me? She stays. I can’t believe they’re willing to put a civilian in danger like that?” Buck said. “This is all him, isn’t it?”
“She’s not in danger, Duke, she’s got you. You’re a fucking hero. Anyway, you’ll be safer with her there, and maybe she does know where the gold is,” Davis said.
“I don’t give a fuck about the gold, and you can tell him that. She stays here,” Buck hissed pointing to the tile floor.
“I’ll go,” Joss said from the door. Buck jerked his head away from Davis and looked at her. When did she get so stealthy?
He was standing in the kitchen wearing only his jeans and boots looking gorgeous talking to a man sitting at the table who was dressed like a cowboy, but looked very uncomfortable in his garb. Buck looked gloriously furious and Joss had to lick her lips.
Davis’s eyes went wide when he saw Joss come into the room wrapped in the sheet and he stood up.
“Miss
Erickson,” he said.
“Mr. Davis,” she replied and he smiled at her.
“Your pictures don’t do you justice,” he said.
“You leave her alone,” Buck said to him and turned to Joss. “You go back to bed.” She walked past him and poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table.
“Nope.” She said and Davis raised an eyebrow at Buck and tried to hide a grin.
“Give me the gun and I’ll get out of your hair,” Davis said. Buck reached behind him and pulled his gun out and handed it to him. Davis handed him a gun and an extra clip. “It was nice to meet you, Miss Erickson,” he tipped his hat at her and stepped outside.
Buck looked at her. She was going to kill him; he only hoped he wasn’t going to get her killed first. He handed her the box of doughnuts that was on top of the fridge.
“Here, Duchess, eat up, we’ll probably die before the cholesterol becomes a problem, anyway,” she smiled at him.
“Thanks, Glum,” she said and pulled a glazed doughnut out of the box and sank her teeth into it. He knelt in front of her and she touched his face. The bruises were yellowing, but still there.
“It’s not wise for you to come, Joss,” he pleaded with his eyes. “I have half a mind to truss you up to the bed to keep you here.” He took her hand in his and looked down at it. “But with your luck the next lunatic would drive by and find you, and I’d have to chase you down again.” He kissed her hand. “You have to agree to do everything I say. They just want the gold; it’s not worth your life.”
“If they think they need me to find it, don’t you think they’d want to keep me alive?”
“They will try to use you to make Brent talk, Duchess, and the idea of it makes me physically ill. Brent’s been buying the land to find it, who knows, maybe he has already. You have to admit, he’s doing pretty well for a rancher.” She shook her head.
“I don’t care about the gold. Buck, I need you to tell me something, anything about you. Who are you, John Buckingham?” He grimaced and looked at her for a long while then dropped his head in her lap. She ran her fingers through his hair and he closed his eyes. “I know so little about you.”
“You know me better than anyone else. Promise me you will do as I say, Joss,” he said.
“I will, I promise.” He took a deep breath.
“I was raised by my two grandfathers after my mother died, one in Boston, and one in Arizona. I got kicked out of the finest prep schools in the country until I found a teacher who changed my life, and I started to focus on what mattered. In Arizona I learned who I was, but in Boston I was taught who I wasn’t. I went along merrily thinking I had a pretty good idea who I was until I found you miles from anywhere looking like you owned the place.”
“I do own the place,” she said and he raised his head and smiled at her.
“I guess you do,” he said.
“It’s time to tell me what the lady in the restaurant said to you.” He exhaled through his hawk nose and looked up at her, his hazel eyes shadowed with pain.
“Suddenly it’s not so amusing. The woman in the restaurant said that with your shapely hips you would bear me fine, long legged sons. She was out of fortune cookies or something.”
“I would like very much to bear you fine, long legged sons, Buck.”
“I have seen…” he stopped.
“What? What have you seen?” She asked.
“I’ve seen our baby in my dreams, Joss,” he touched her cheek when a solitary tear rolled down it. “I was hoping for a girl.” Joss laughed.
“Girls are a lot of trouble, just ask Brent,” she said and he laughed, too.
He stood up and brought her with him. “Get showered and ready, Duchess, it’s nearly time.” She bit her lip and nodded at him. It wasn’t enough; they hadn’t had enough time together. “Be brave,” he whispered to her. Joss turned and walked to the shower, and Buck collapsed in the chair she just vacated.
Twenty minutes later she came out and Buck was tucking in his shirt. Looking up he smiled at her. “Ready to go catch some bad guys?”
“Yes, whither thou goest I will go… aught but death part thee and me,” she said, and thought it should be strange to be quoting the Bible to her lover. He smiled at her sadly.
“You are not going to die today. Remember, Joss, do as I say and follow my lead,” he pulled her to him and kissed her properly. They went out to the bike and climbed on.
“Tell me two things, Buck,” she said.
He nodded. “Okay.”
“Tell me you have back up,” she said.
“I have back up, Duchess,” he smiled.
“And please God, tell me it’s not me,” she said and he laughed.
“I’m wired, baby, they’ll know when we need them,” he smiled at her.
“Oh God, since when?” He laughed.
“Since you got out of the shower, don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me,” he said.
“You’re the one with the secret,” she said and he kicked the starter with a roar.
“Hold me, Duchess; one more time.” She did.
The ride to the ranch was shockingly brief. The dogs, including Pablo greeted them and Brent came as far as the porch and went back inside for his gun.
Buck pulled right up to the porch as Brent came back out leveling his gun at Buck. “Leave my daughter and go and I’ll let you live, you son of a bitch,” he said.
“Put the gun down, Brent, and I’ll tell you how he saved my life again and brought me home. But if you hurt him I will never see you again,” Joss said. “Is Cassidy here?” Brent put the gun down looking confused. A few days ago Buck left and Joss disappeared, he assumed the two things were connected.
“Cassidy? No, she went back to Jackson a few days ago, why?”
“She didn’t go to Jackson, she’ll be here soon; we saw one of Lanier’s men near the gate.” Buck said as he helped Joss off the bike with his hand on her low back.
“Who the hell is Lanier? Talk me into not shooting Buck, Joss, he’s being awfully familiar with you,” Joss walked up the steps and took his gun out of his hand.
“Don’t be an ass, Brent. Look at him. He has been beaten and shot and hunted since I was hit on the head and forcibly taken from here in the dead of night by Cassidy’s men. They tied me up and came this close to raping me,” she held two fingers about a centimeter apart.
“Christ!” Brent squeaked.
“And that was just an hour into it; I haven’t got the energy to tell you the rest right now. Suffice it to say, I would be raped and dead in a ditch somewhere several times over if he hadn’t gotten to me in time. Give the man your hand, Brent, because I will never love another,” she said and Brent straightened his spine and shook Buck’s hand.
“Thank you, son,” he said. “So Belle was right.” Joss touched Brent’s chest.
“Thank you, Dad,” she said and went inside, leaving them on the porch. They looked at each other uncomfortably and then followed Joss inside. She stood in the kitchen drinking coffee.
“How can you drink this swill?” She said.
“Ah, there’s my Duchess, back in the lap of luxury, demanding her French Roast,” Buck said and she smiled at him.
“French Roast and a hairbrush,” she walked back to her room and Buck stood by the window watching the road for dust.
“Is Belle here?”
“She’s at the store in town, she just left half an hour ago,” Brent said.
“Good, call her and tell her you need a few extra things, and keep her away from the house for as long as you can,” Buck said and Brent went white, but called her. Joss came out of her bedroom looking like herself again in low jeans that were now loose on her backside, and a white t-shirt that was cut to be flattering on her. Buck could see the black bra underneath and felt a quick pang of desire that he tried to stifle.
“You look like you again, welcome back, Duchess,” she went to him and kissed him lightly on the mouth.
�
�If I never see another bustier it’ll be too soon,” she said and he laughed.
“Don’t be too hasty, I loved every second,” he said and then recalled he had a wire on him and he sighed. “Would you get me a cup of that swill?” She nodded and went to the kitchen while he continued to watch the drive. Brent hung up and watched Joss go. He was obviously wrestling with telling Buck something. “I’ll keep her safe, Brent,” Buck said and Brent relaxed visibly and nodded at him. Joss put the coffee on the table.
“You’ve done pretty well so far, I’ll have to trust you,” he said. Christ, Buck thought, that’s the last thing you should do.
“Take your shirt off, Buck, and put the wire on me instead,” Joss said. He almost said no, but she was right, they’d check him, but maybe not her. He unbuttoned his shirt and she pulled hers off.
“Hey, I’m recovering from a heart attack over here,” Brent said nervously.
“God, you’re so beautiful,” Buck whispered to her and pulled his wire off and taped it to her breast under her bra. “I suspect they’ll be side tracked by that fact and not even see the wire if they do look. Go get a darker shirt on.” She laughed and went back to her room as Buck buttoned up. She returned a few seconds later wearing a silk teal sleeveless blouse.
“Very nice. Here they come,” he said. “One late model BMW SUV, and a Ford F-350, both white.” He brought the binoculars to his eyes. “Looks like there are two people in each vehicle, and I have a positive ID on Lanier in the BMW.” He sipped the coffee. “This isn’t so bad, Duchess.” She smiled.
“Yes it is, you just haven’t been pampered all your life,” she said. He finished the coffee and handed the cup to her.
“Get behind me,” he said and she backed up. “Davis, keep her safe for me, man.” Buck hadn’t planned on letting them know how he felt about Joss, but he felt better thinking they’d try to keep her safe if he didn’t make it. He was a fool.
The cars stopped right next to his Harley and he saw Cassidy look at it and smile that smile that she made when she was thinking about doing something nasty. How could Joss be related to this woman? How could he be related to his mother, for that matter? Cassidy kicked at the bike to knock it over, but the big bike just rocked and Lanier looked at her and said something sharp and she went sulkily to the porch.
Breaking the Bad Boy Page 20