She lay before him, totally naked, exposed to his searching eyes, more beautiful than his mind had portrayed. He trailed his hand down her neck, all the way to her hips, the satiny feel of her flesh intoxicating. Timidly, she gazed up at him from beneath her long lashes, her eyes fairly smoldering. «
That tempestuous gaze sent Tanner scrambling for the edge of the bed. Quickly, he sat up and shed his shirt, his pants and drawers. Everything went into a heap of clothes on the floor before he returned to the bed, naked and eager to experience Beth. His blood pounded with the primitive need to possess her, to feel her flesh sheathed around him.
She ran her hand down his side, where a long scar went from his rib cage around to his back—an old war wound that had long since healed, though the emotional pain still lingered.
Her fingers trailed down his chest over his ribs, down past his waist, and he grabbed her hand before she touched his manhood. He was on the edge, and he feared one touch from her would send him spiraling over without her.
He reached out and slid his hand down a smooth expanse of skin past her waist. Once again his fingers tantalized her until she was quivering beneath him. At the sight of her breasts, he leaned over and put his lips to her taut nipples. Her breathing became labored, and her flesh was once more wet and quivering. His blood pounded and roared with an urgency to bury himself within her soft folds.
She reached up and grasped the back of his head and pulled his lips close to hers. “I want you, Tanner,” she said. “Now.”
“I want you, too,” he whispered, rolling onto his back, taking her with him until she was on top. The feel of her covered him.
Her head tilted to the side as she adjusted herself to this new position, her eyes slightly closed in anticipation. He lay there for a few moments, enjoying the feel of her soft curves nestled against his own body.
Why did she have such an effect on him when so many before her had simply been used? This woman who had been dependent on him for her every need, who had trusted in him, who believed in him. Why had she been the one who had managed to get closer to him than any other human being in the last ten years?
Tanner lifted her hips and slid her over the top of his shaft.
She opened her eyes fully, her pupils full and dilated in the light of the lantern. She stared at him, her passion filling his empty soul.
With a rock of her hips, he plunged into her sweetness, pleasure gripping him. Sweet, sweet friction stroked him, surrounded him, as he gripped her hips with his hands. Beth lay straddling him, their hips moving in rhythm with a fierceness, an intensity, that surprised him.
In the glow of the lantern he watched as her eyes closed. She rhythmically rose over him, gripping his erection, consuming every pounding thrust of him. He reached up and pulled her face down to meet his. His lips covered hers in a drugging kiss that hungrily consumed him.
Deep, resonant pleasure emitted from each long, slow stroke and swirled him closer to the edge. He opened his eyes and stared into her desire-filled gaze. She whimpered a sound so touching, he cradled her closer.
“Am I hurting you?” he questioned. “Do you want me to stop?” he offered, unsure that he could but making the offer just the same.
“Don’t you dare stop,” she whispered against his shoulder, her voice rough with need.
He rolled them to their sides, where he could see her more clearly, watch the expressions on her face, and witness her pleasure.
In the shadow of the lamp, he lowered his head and flicked his tongue across her breast. She moaned a sound so deep that the vibrations seemed to reverberate through his body, touching him intimately.
He rolled her onto her back, mindful of her shoulder. Rising above her, he lengthened his strokes, driving into her over and over. Each long stroke swirled him closer and closer. He wanted to prolong the pleasure, to slow the rising tide of desire hurtling him toward the brink.
Passion filled him until he thought he would burst from the feelings only Beth seemed to evoke. The sensations were so stirring and felt so right, he was in awe of their joining.
With each stroke she raised her hips to meet him, and soon they were plunging headfirst over the cliff. At Beth’s first shudder, Tanner grasped her to him. His own release came quickly as he called out her name, imprinting her cry of pleasure on his soul.
He rolled them both to their sides and collapsed next to her, pulling her against him, needing to feel her softness surrounding him, careful not to hurt her.
Spent, Tanner simply lay there while his breathing slowly returned to normal, as worry began to encroach upon his feelings of completeness. Soon his weariness overcame even his anxiety, and he simply fell asleep.
***
Tanner’s gentle snores came softly to Beth as she lay in his arms. She felt his body curled around hers, and the realization of what she’d just done hit her. Once again she’d placed herself in a position for the worst kind of social rejection. She’d been intimate with a man who wasn’t her husband, and this time she’d been more than a willing participant. This time she’d relished the feel of his body joined with hers.
While she was promised to another man, she’d put aside her morals and done with Tanner the very thing that had sent her fleeing from Georgia. Though this time she hadn’t been sleeping with the enemy; rather, a real flesh-and-blood man who seemed to touch her every sense and made her feel more than anything she’d felt since before the war.
Yet he was quite possibly an outlaw, a man who lurked on the fringes of society.
She closed her eyes, the comprehension of what she had done becoming more and more acute. What had she been thinking?
Obviously nothing; only feeling. Somehow tonight in his arms had felt so right as if this were where she belonged. And Tucker Burnett of Fort Worth seemed a shadow filled with words and promises, not a living, breathing man.
Her joining with Tanner had been different from anything she had ever experienced. With the general, sex had always been quick and unresponsive. Never had she experienced the fulfillment she had tonight with Tanner. Though she hadn’t wanted to compare the two men, they were her only experience.
Tanner was a quiet man who slayed demons and fought dragons and sheltered damsels in distress. Or at least he had healed and protected her, making her feel sheltered and special. No one had ever taken care of her as he had. Not only was she grateful; she also feared she could fall in love with Tanner so very easily.
Though she would welcome giving him her heart, she wasn’t sure if he was capable of loving anyone in return. And she couldn’t heal his hurts, only he could rid himself of his demons. But surely after tonight he’d reconsider their being together.
She shifted in his arms and stared into the darkness. Had she thrown away her only chance at a new start in life by giving herself to a man she could never marry?
***
Darkness filled the room, but Beth awoke to the feeling that something was terribly wrong. A hand was shaking her, a voice calling her name.
“Beth, wake up.”
“Why,” she moaned. “The sun hasn’t even come up yet.”
“I know,” Tanner replied. “Wake up.”
“Why? It’s so early,” she said sleepily.
“You’ve got to get up now,” he said.
“Is the building on fire?” she questioned.
“No.”
“Then there’s no reason to wake me.”
“Wake up, we’re leaving,” he said shaking her a second time.
“Huh?” she said suddenly focusing more clearly on his words.
“We’re leaving,” he repeated.
She sat up, bewildered, the tone of his voice jerking her out of dreamland. She rubbed her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve got to leave, and I’m taking you with me. I’ve been out and bought a horse for you.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, not sure that this was what she wanted.
“I’m going to take you to Fort
Worth and deliver you to the man you’re going to marry,” he said. His voice held no warmth, no passion, like earlier tonight.
For a moment she was stunned, feeling as if someone had doused her with cold water during a sound sleep. Then rage at his high-handedness flowed through her veins.
“I thought the doctor said wait another week?”
“We’ve got to leave now. We’ll take it slow so as not to push you and take a chance on hurting your shoulder,” he said, unaware of her growing anger.
She shook her head, trying to clear her jumbled thoughts. “You’re taking me to the man I’m supposed to marry?”
He glanced away and then back, his face expressionless. “Yes, as soon as you get dressed.”
It was then she noticed that he was completely dressed, down to his gun belt.
“Last night meant so little to you that you would take me to the man I’m going to marry?” she asked, her pain reflected in her rapidly rising voice.
“I told you nothing would change, and I meant it,” he said, his voice cold and stern.
Yes, she’d heard him, but she didn’t think even Tanner was capable of such heartlessness. Obviously, she’d been wrong.
“You really are a coldhearted bastard,” she said, blinking rapidly to keep the tears at bay that suddenly sprang to her eyes.
He shrugged. “So I’ve been told.”
“Just leave me here and I’ll catch the next stage,” she said, her voice quivering.
“Can’t do that. Pack your things, we’re leaving in fifteen minutes.”
He stood and began walking to the door.
“I don’t have to go,” she yelled at his retreating back.
“Yes, you do,” he said calmly but with certainty.
He said it with such conviction that she knew he meant every word. Beth watched him as he strode from the room and resisted the urge to throw something at him. He was taking her to Fort Worth, to Tucker, after they’d made love. She sat down on the bed and cried, great gulping sobs filling her.
Last night had just been a one-night disaster instead of the start of something new.
Chapter Nine
It took them ten gut-wrenching days to arrive in Fort Worth. There were moments when Beth wanted to tell Tanner to leave her and let her find her own way to the city without his handsome face and quiet presence.
She could almost count the number of words they had spoken since that awful morning they had departed from the hotel. Nothing more had been said regarding his insistence to take her to the man she intended to marry. In fact, they only spoke about meals, rest, and occasionally the hot Texas weather. There had been no acknowledgment of the night they had spent together, of the passion they had shared.
Nothing personal had been discussed and each night Tanner slept well on the other side of the fire, away from Beth. Obviously she’d made a huge mistake in judgment concerning Tanner.
They spent ten grueling days riding horses during the day and sleeping on the ground at night. The man she had willingly given herself to now said very little to her. It was awkward heartbreaking, and all she wanted to do was cry each time she glanced at him.
In addition to Tanner’s silence, her shoulder had ached and throbbed but so far no infection seemed to have set in. Tonight she was spending the night in a hotel with or without Tanner. He had fulfilled his duty of getting her to Fort Worth, and now she was going to cut him loose. Let him go, for her own sanity. For each time she glanced at him, each time his brown eyes met hers, she ached with the knowledge of the night she had spent in his arms.
Yet somehow, no matter what he had done, the thought of never seeing him again made her feel bereft. She had almost ruined her entire life because of this harsh, quiet- spoken man. She’d let her heart overrule her head, and it had certainly taken her down a wrong path. Still, the sight of him riding ahead of her, his hat tilted on his stubborn head, his back straight, his hips swaying with the rhythm of the horse’s gait, moved her, and her breath caught in her throat.
Regardless of what he’d done, she still wanted him, and that’s what irked her the most.
Why did this man stir her passion? What about him drew her to him regardless of the consequences? She had a nice man waiting for her here in town, and all she could think about was the one who didn’t want her, the man who, for all she knew, was wanted by the law.
But the sweetest night of her life had been spent in his arms, and she knew from personal experience that it wasn’t always that way between a man and a woman. She knew it could be worse, much worse.
Beth had no choice. She had to forget about Tanner and return to her original plan of meeting her husband- to-be. For no matter what she felt regarding Tanner, Tucker was the man who wanted to marry and support her.
Tanner turned sideways in his saddle and looked back at Beth, his gaze brief and impersonal. “We’ll be spending the night at the El Paso Hotel. I’ll get us two rooms, and then tomorrow afternoon, when the stage is due to arrive, you’ll be there to meet him.”
Two rooms, not one they could share but two, to complete the separation.
She nodded her head in agreement. “I would like a chance to rest and clean up before I meet him.”
“Good, the hotel is down the street a ways.”
He turned back around in his saddle, and Beth stared daggers at his back.
No, he hadn’t made her any promises; in fact, quite the reverse, but she hated Tanner for what he was doing. She hated him because he’d made her feel more than any other person.
She cared about him, and that scared her even more. They had experienced one incredible night of pleasure in each other’s arms, and now he was giving her up. For that reason, she could barely stand the sight of him.
Yet she couldn’t endure the thought of never seeing him again. And then there was the man she had traveled to meet and marry. The man she had already betrayed.
***
Eugenia sat across from her youngest son in the restaurant of the El Paso Hotel, her family in tow, waiting to greet the afternoon stage.
“Mother, we’ve met this damn stage every day this week, and she hasn’t shown up yet. When are you going to give up?” Tucker asked.
“Her telegram said two weeks. It’s only been eleven days since we received the telegram.
“She’ll be here soon,” Eugenia replied, wanting to whack her youngest son on the hand as she would a troublesome child.
“I don’t have time to sit here and wait every day for a woman that I have no intention of marrying,” Tucker informed her, his rebellion stronger than ever before.
“Would you just give this a chance? She may be the woman you’ve been waiting for all your life.”
“I doubt that.”
Before Eugenia could reply to her youngest son, Mr. Phillip Kincaid the owner of the El Paso Hotel, stopped by their table.
“How was everything?” he asked.
Eugenia glanced up at the man and smiled. “It was lovely as usual. Your restaurant is one of our favorite places.”
“It would have been even better if my mother and younger brother were getting along,” Travis informed him.
The gentleman smiled. “The joy of families. So what brings the group of you to town?”
“We’re awaiting the arrival of a soon-to-be new member of the family,” Eugenia said laughing. “Or at least I hope so.”
“Oh? Who is this person?” he questioned.
“Elizabeth Anderson, Tucker’s fiancée,” Eugenia said as she smiled at the man. She’d known him for years, though since their children were grown and their spouses had died they’d said very little to one another.
Tucker frowned. “Not my fiancée, Mother.”
Rose, Travis’s wife, lifted her brows and patted Tucker on the arm. “Your brother seems to have adjusted to being married quite nicely. He doesn’t have any regrets, and neither will you if she’s the right one.”
“No one is going to force me to marry anybody,�
� Tucker, a normally cheerful man, objected.
Eugenia sent him a look she hoped conveyed her irritation at his stubbornness and then returned her gaze to Mr. Kincaid. “Travis is finally married, and now I’m working on Tucker, but he’s not cooperating, as you can tell.”
The elderly gentleman laughed. “I keep trying to get my granddaughter to move back home from Arizona so that I can do the same thing, but so far she refuses me.” He turned to Tucker. “You remember Sarah.”
Eugenia watched as Tucker gazed up at the older man, a rapt expression on his face. “Yes, I remember Sarah. I ran into her at Tombstone several years ago, right before I came home.”
“That’s right,” the older man said. “I remember her mentioning it. The two of you were friends.”
“Yes.” Tucker glanced at Mr. Kincaid. “Is she doing all right? Is she still a doctor?”
“She’s doing fine. Wouldn’t give up being a doctor; she loves medicine. I only wish she would come home and practice here, where I could visit with my grandson.” “Grandson? She got married?”
“Yes,” the older man replied.
“Excuse me, Mother, Mr. Kincaid. I think I’ll return to the jail, since the stage is not due for another hour. I’ll meet you back here before it arrives.”
“If you must!” Eugenia said, watching her youngest son stand. “Don’t be late! She could arrive today.”
“Yes, Mother.” Tucker rolled his eyes and walked through the restaurant and out the door.
***
Tanner met Beth downstairs. They had checked in yesterday afternoon late, and he hadn’t seen her since then. Since that fateful morning, he’d carefully chosen when and what he said to Beth, avoiding her as much as possible.
He had to. It hurt too much to think of her being in another man’s arms. Yet he had nothing to offer Beth. Whatever feelings he had for her were better left unrealized.
He watched as she walked to his side, her auburn curls carefully coiffed and pulled up off of her neck. The dress, the same emerald green one she’d worn at dinner that night, displayed her curves to their finest. Though not the latest fashion, the material was made of fine brocade that he knew was quite expensive.
The Outlaw Takes A Bride (The Burnett Brides) Page 12