“Don’t know. That’s your area, not mine.”
“True. But you’d think he’d talk about the war, what he saw, what he did. You’d think he’d slip up just once if he was wanted.”
“I know. He hasn’t said a word,” Travis replied, then leaned toward his younger brother. “It just seems odd to me. He’s a lot quieter than when he was a kid. Maybe he doesn’t trust us enough to tell us whatever it is that he’s hiding.”
“Maybe he’s not hiding his past; maybe he can’t talk about it,” Tucker said. “I mean, maybe the war was so bad, he doesn’t talk about the things he saw. You know, that kid he ran off with died.”
“I’d forgotten about that. What was his name? Carter?”
“Yeah. I remember him. Real fun-loving kid. They used to be inseparable. Has he even mentioned him?”
“Not at all.” Travis took a sip of his coffee. “He shocked me this morning when he said he was going to stay. I was really dreading telling Mother he was leaving.”
Tucker cocked his head, a sudden thought entering his mind. “Could this be about Beth somehow? After all, they were together for several weeks while she healed in that hotel room. Do you think in taking care of her he formed some kind of attachment? She is a damn good looking woman. Could that possibly be the reason he’s acting so different?”
“Nah, I don’t think so,” Travis replied. “I don’t think they knew one another until Beth’s accident.”
“You’re right. I remember Tanner saying they were on the same stagecoach.”
“Besides, you know how women talk. I’m sure Beth told Tanner all about you, so he would never become interested in his brother’s girl.”
Tucker tilted his head and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The scrap of whiskers sounded loud in the room. “But you said he didn’t intend to see us while he was in Fort Worth.”
“Do you think that Tanner knew Beth was on her way to become your wife?” Travis asked questioning.
“I’m not marrying her. But it does seem odd. Why would he think he could keep from seeing us if he’d known that Beth was coming here at my supposed invitation?”
“Hmm, makes me think maybe he didn’t know,” Travis said.
Rose appeared in the doorway, interrupting the conversation. “Why wasn’t I invited to this meeting? Is it just for the men of the family?”
Travis held out his hand and she walked from the doorway and joined him at the table. She stood behind him, and he took her hand and held it against his chest. “You’re always welcome, sweetheart. Did you rest?” She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. “Yes, I did and I’m feeling better.”
Tucker frowned. “Are you sick, Rose?”
“I’ve just been a little tired but I think it’s the heat.” She stared across the table at Tucker. “I heard what you said about your brother. It would be hard when you’re dependent on someone to take care of you not to grow close to one another. I think Beth and Tanner became really good friends.”
“So they’re friends. Why would he think that he could bring her to town and just leave her without seeing us?” Travis asked, glancing back at his wife.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. But I’ve been watching them, and whenever they’re in the same room, they try not to look at one another unless they know the other one is not watching.”
Travis shrugged. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“Me, neither,” Tucker said.
“And last night, when I went up with the corsage, she asked if Tanner had sent it,” Rose said.
“Well, he might have,” Travis insisted.
“Why would she expect it from him when she’s Tucker’s intended?” Rose insisted.
“She’s not my intended,” he fairly hissed. “I’m not going to marry her.”
“Then you need to tell her.”
“I’m waiting for the right moment. She’s nice, and I feel bad that she’s traveled all this way and I’m the one who supposedly sent for her.”
Rose shook her head at Tucker, then came around and sat down in a chair beside her husband. “I think Beth and Tanner are both trying very hard not to notice one another because they don’t want to hurt you, Tucker.”
“God, please hurt me!” he cried. “I like Beth, but I don’t want to marry her or any other woman.”
Rose smiled. “Marriage isn’t bad is it, Travis?” Travis returned his wife’s smile with a wicked grin. “Don’t ruin it for him, honey. Let him believe the worst right up until the moment he gets snatched away by love.”
She laughed and patted her husband on the knee. “Were you snatched, dear?”
He smiled and gazed into his wife’s eyes. “Not snatched, sweetheart. I was yanked kicking and screaming all the way. And God, am I grateful.”
She leaned toward him and whispered just loud enough for his ears, “Come upstairs and I’ll let you show me just how grateful you really are.”
“Gotta go, Tucker,” Travis said, jumping up, and grabbing his wife’s hand, he pulled her from the chair. His feet moved faster than Rose could keep up with as he pulled her toward the stairs.
Tucker shook his head and groaned. “Oh, God. I think I’m going to be ill. My brother is besotted.”
***
Later that night, Beth couldn’t sleep. She’d lain there tossing and turning, hoping she would eventually relax and tiredness would overcome her. Instead, her mind had replayed the scene in the little chapel over and over until she’d wanted to scream.
She’d jumped up and almost ran out of that small church, embarrassing herself and probably the family. Somehow she’d managed to lie and say that it was the heat. In actuality, it wasn’t the high temperature that had sent her fleeing; rather, it was sitting between the two brothers, the preacher’s sermon, and her past.
Neither man had any suspicions about what had sent her running from Jonesboro, Georgia, and she wasn’t about to tell them.
Both men she felt gratified to know for different reasons. Tanner for his caring, protective ways and Tucker for the fact that he was willing to marry her and give her a home. Yet she felt so torn sitting between them, thinking of sharing a bed with the man who had nursed her while she planned to marry the man who had promised to take care of her.
She shouldn’t be having these feelings for Tanner. After all, she was engaged to his brother. But the emotions were there, and no matter how much she tried to push them away, they refused to retreat.
A noise interrupted her speculation. It sounded like a moan. The groan came again, and she scrambled to a sitting position in the bed listening. It was then she heard another cry, a deep, mournful sound that tugged at her heart.
Was that Tanner? The sound came again, sending a shiver down her back, and she realized it was louder.
It had to be Tanner.
He was having a nightmare, and she had to get to him, comfort him, before he woke the whole household up with his cries.
However, it was none of her business, and she didn’t belong in Tanner’s room in the middle of the night. His family would help him, they would wake him from his nightmare.
The sound came again, along with the image of Tanner thrashing in the midst of his dreams, trembling in fear. The thought of his enduring another torturous nightmare had her scrambling out of bed. She had to help him.
Beth threw back the covers and jumped from the bed. She grabbed her wrapper from the top of her trunk and yanked it on, covering herself. She opened the door to her room and peeked down the hall. No one was awake. The sound came again, and this time she could hear Tanner flailing about in his bed.
She hurried down the hall, opening and closing the door to his room quietly, before rushing to his side.
Beth gazed at the sleeping man and was overcome by a rush of protectiveness. She watched as he pitched about in the throes of the dream that seemed to plague him. Leaning over the bed, she laid her hand on his shoulder and shook him hard.
“Tanner, wake up.” She bent over closer, h
er whisper louder. “You’re safe, Tanner. Wake up.”
The shaking only seemed to agitate him more, and she leaned still closer, hoping he’d hear her tense whispers.
“It’s a dream, Tanner. Wake up,” she pleaded.
Suddenly, he reached up and pulled her into bed with him. She almost let out a scream as he turned her, splaying her beneath him on the bed.
If they were found, there would be hell to pay, and Travis and Rose were just across the hall. She was surprised they hadn’t already been awakened by his moans.
How would she ever explain being in his room? In his bed?
“Wake up, Tanner,” she said, doubling up her fist and pounding his shoulder and back. She had to stop him before he did something they both would regret. “Wake up!”
She took a deep breath, the musky scent of Tanner causing her pulse to accelerate. How could just the smell of him cause her body to react with such desire? How could the feel of him, all of him, make her forget his brother?
Beth realized he was awake when she felt his erection stiffen and grow. He raised his head and gazed at her, their eyes met in the darkness, and a shiver passed through her at the desire that radiated from his gaze.
She wanted him as much, if not more, than the passion she saw reflected in his eyes.
Trembling with anticipation, she watched as his mouth descended, covering her lips in a kiss that was more savage than gentle. He stretched his body full length against her, letting her feel every hard muscle. His hands molded her soft curves against his muscular frame until they were meshed together, muscled thigh to hardened chest. His mouth caressed hers, coaxed her until she relaxed, her arms slowly winding about him, all thoughts of discovery momentarily forgotten.
It was a kiss of torture, filled with secret desires and dreams that haunted him in the night, and she reveled under the assault of his lips. This was what she had thought of constantly since that night in San Antonio. It was what she wanted. She pulled him to her tighter, as if to protect him, shield him, from the dreams that disturbed him.
His tongue entered her mouth, sweeping the inside of her lips, leaving her gasping and needy. She pressed her body against his, seeking the hardened flesh of him between her thighs, yearning only to satiate the desire Tanner created within her.
God, how she wanted him—hard and filling the empty holes in her soul, the places only Tanner could fill.
The sound of a coyote howling at the moon sent an eerie chill up Beth’s spine. As she lay beneath Tanner in his bed, only her wrapper and nightgown separated her and disaster. She shouldn’t be kissing him, she shouldn’t be here in his bed, but a sense of rightness overwhelmed her.
This was where she belonged, where she was meant to be.
His hungry lips coaxed her, pervading her body with delight until she no longer heard the voice of reason inside her head. She only wanted this mind-numbing satisfaction to possess her, fill her, until her soul was brimming with Tanner. For only he seemed to incite this storm of sensation in her body and leave her disintegrated and shattered with pleasure.
His hands shoved her burdensome wrapper and night-gown off her shoulder, out of the way, seeking access to her skin. His mouth trailed a string of kisses down her cheek, under her chin, along her neck to her shoulder. Her breathing sounded raspy and harsh in her ears, and she gasped at each new sensation. Whereas her hands once were pounding against his back, they now caressed stroking him like a cherished lover.
“Oh, Beth, sweet temptation,” he whispered against her neck.
She shuddered his words thrilling her. He continued his path down her neck, to the top of her shoulder, his tongue lingering in the sensitive curve of her nape. His lips and warm breath sent shudders rippling through her.
He raised his head and gazed into her eyes, his look scorching her with its intensity. She watched as he lowered his mouth toward her. Eagerly, she rose up to meet him.
Slanting his lips across her mouth, he kissed her deeply and thoroughly, as if to mark her as his own. Beth wanted to cry out, to push him away, but she needed him so desperately that she clung to him.
As his hands reached the neckline of her nightgown, he grasped the material in his fist and yanked. Rending the material, he pulled it down out of his way, exposing her flesh to his hungry gaze.
She gasped at the feel of the cool night air on her naked flesh; her nipples hardened with excited pleasure. He pulled the offending garment off her shoulders and from around her hips. He tossed the ruined gown onto the floor. Next he tackled her drawers until they, too, lay in a heap on the floor. Soon she lay beneath him, naked and vulnerable, quivering with desire for him, only him.
There was no turning back. No second thoughts, nothing but a sweet sensation that this was right. This moment in time belonged to the two of them.
He shed his own drawers, his only piece of clothing, and tossed them aside. Greedily, he placed his lips on her breast, his tongue laving attention on her nipple. She arched her back, giving him more access to her breast, her hands clutching the hair on the top of his head. She was insistent and caressing all at the same time, and she yearned for more of Tanner.
His body molded to the contours of her skin, and she reveled in the feel of his muscular thighs and hard chest, firm and solid against her. For every place their skin touched, she rejoiced in the way his flesh seemed to warm her with a heat that burned from within.
His hand skimmed down her rib cage, over her stomach, lower, until he felt her wiry curls against his fingertips. He went still lower, seeking the silky folds between her legs. Searching and finding her very center, he delved his fingers into her hot, moist core.
Gently, he teased and stroked the tender petals as Beth gripped the tangled sheets, clutching them in her fists. Never had she experienced the frenzied passion that Tanner incited within her. Never had she enjoyed joining with a man until him.
Just the touch of his hand to her velvety folds left her hungry and shivering with need. She glanced up at him in the darkness and stared into his eyes as she cried out, disintegrating beneath his hand, quivering with her release.
She lay spent, her heart still racing, her breathing jagged as she clung to Tanner, his broad shoulders hovering above her.
He kissed her temple, her eyelids, and her nose. She could feel him rigid and hard against her leg, waiting patiently for her to catch her breath.
Only with this man had she experienced passion; only Tanner made her feel like a woman, sheltered and protected. He made her heart feel emotions she had long since given up on ever experiencing.
Tanner made her feel, made her hunger for desire, and that knowledge just increased her passion. She wanted to return the same feelings to him that he was giving to her. She wanted to know that he hungered for her, as she did for him.
“Beth,” he whispered huskily in the dark. “I need you. Love me.”
She whimpered at his words, the thought of his needing her astonishing. Did he mean physically or emotionally? Or both?
He bent his head and suckled her breast, her nipple hardening into a pointed kernel. With trepidation, she reached down until she located the proof of his desire between his legs. She touched him, wrapped her fingers around his shaft, and lovingly stroked him. She gazed into his passion-filled brown eyes, his face a grimace of pleasure and pain.
“Oh, God, Beth,” he moaned. “You’re turning me into liquid fire.”
The feel of him, hot and smooth, was intoxicating; she felt his blood pulsating through him. She drew the tip of his shaft between her fingers and skimmed her palm over the top.
He grabbed her hand, his breathing jagged. She glanced up into his eyes, staring at the desire shimmering within his gaze. With her free hand, she reached up and cupped his chin and pulled his mouth down to hers.
God, how she needed him. How she wanted only him. And the pure joy she felt at that thought thrilled her. Gentle, tough Tanner, who had cared for her, protected her, and battled for her. No one had
ever sheltered her as he had. No one had ever cared quite like him. This sweet, gentle man who hid his true nature, seldom letting anyone in past his guard had won her heart and her soul.
His lips caressed hers, teasing and sweeping her mouth with an urgency that gripped her, holding her captive with his kiss. Her moans of pleasure were muffled as he took her hand and guided him into her center. She shifted to accommodate him, lifting her hips to meet his. She arched her back, her hips rotating slightly to give him deeper access into her center.
He plunged deeper into her, and she welcomed him with a sense of homecoming. This was her destiny, her fate. They were meant to be together. And no two people could ever have shared such a sense of happiness that being with Tanner brought Beth.
He filled her with a sweetness she’d never experienced as he thrust into her over and over until she thought she would go mad with ecstasy. She gave herself to him, risking it all for a man she’d trusted with her life, the very man she was giving her heart to.
With every driving stroke, she matched him, she met him, she loved him.
Passion burst forth like a shower of sparks, scorching her with its intensity as he rhythmically pushed her toward the flame.
She felt as if she were burning, and she glanced up into his gaze for one final soul-scorching look and felt as if she’d been pushed over the edge into the fire.
Beth was falling, tumbling, end over end, over a cliff, until she landed fractured and shattered in Tanner’s arms.
With a shuddered cry, he reached his own release, and together they lay helpless, sweating and completely undone by what had just transpired.
Beth ran a hand across his forehead. He was her safety line, her love, and she could only lie in his arms recovering, trying to pull herself slowly back together.
He was her beginning, he was the start of something brand-new that was wonderful and exciting, yet she was promised to his brother. Surely there was some way that they could find a way to be together, that the two of them could heal each other’s wounded hearts with a love that could last a lifetime.
The Outlaw Takes A Bride (The Burnett Brides) Page 20