“I do. No matter what it is.”
She laughed but it was a hard, self-deprecating sound that made him wince, even though she rose up and began taking him into her body. “Let me keep you safe from that as long as possible.”
He wanted to tell her he already saw it. He already loved that beast she was so afraid of. That he’d been dying to embrace her—and all her darkness—for years. Ever since that night Tyrell Connagher had come to his door, showed him the marks on his back, and then beaten the crap out of him for the right to keep all her furious pain to himself. But his brain couldn’t make his mouth respond, not when her tongue was in his mouth and her body engulfed him hungrily.
Fully seated against him, she pulled back enough to see his eyes. “Look at me.”
He forced his eyes open and put all his emotion into the look he gave her. Joy, that he’d finally found her. Need, crushing and overwhelming. And yes, desperation, fear, the agonizing worry that he wasn’t enough for her. That she’d never let him in fully.
“Your eyes, Jeb. God, it’s like looking into the midnight sky out in the middle of nowhere, night as bright as day because there are so many stars burning in the sky. Don’t ask me to hurt you again.”
She couldn’t bear the light shining in his eyes. So open, vulnerable, good and sweet and gentle. How could she risk hurting him and making that light die? If he ever looked at her with fear…
I should have buried that fucking crop with Ty so I wouldn’t have to bear the temptation.
It wouldn’t have done any good though. Rocking against him, she had to fight herself not to suck his bottom lip into her mouth and dig her teeth in that tender flesh until he whimpered. The Scotch had taken the edge off her violence, but the beast still rumbled a dull roar inside her. Her good hand gripped his shoulder, her nails pressing into his skin, but that was better than fisting in his hair and jerking his head back flat against the couch. God help him when she had both hands back to full use.
She ground herself against him, forcing the head of his cock up against her cervix as hard as she could. Most women couldn’t stand such pain, and yeah, it hurt. It hurt like a bitch. Exactly what she needed the most.
He was too big and thick for her to last long under that kind of delicious torment.
“Don’t hold back,” she panted against his lips. “I want you to come with me.”
She made sure to always tell him, because he had the disturbing habit of trying to hold back as long as possible, still not quite trusting in his older body’s ability to keep her sated. She gritted her teeth, fighting to remain in control. No flailing. No maiming. No biting, hitting, squeezing, tearing… She collapsed against his chest, relieved to feel him jerking inside her. Though that tearing sound had been his shirt, because his big palms cupped her buttocks, lifting her up as if he was afraid he was going to damage something inside her.
“Doesn’t it hurt when you take me that deep?”
“That’s the point.” She pressed her face up into his neck, breathing in his scent. Smoky woods and oranges, yes, but underneath a sweetness that made her stomach twist with yearning. It was almost like picking up a baby blanket and smelling its sweet soap and lotion, only there wasn’t anything baby-like with Jeb. It was just her urge to protect and hold him, to return some of his care after all the many times he’d raced to her aid or put up with her stupid antics, or worse, suffered because of her selfish choices. “You feel damned good, Jebadiah Garrett.”
“Not that I’m complaining…” She pulled back and quirked a brow at him. He flushed but continued. “But I am good for more than sex, you know, even fantastic sex.”
“Are my ears lying, or do I hear a man complaining that he’s being used too much for sex?”
He flushed darker, his hands gripping her harder, like he was afraid she might decide to leave before he was done. “I said I wasn’t complaining. I never knew it could be so good, or that I’d still be able to do even half the things you’re coaxing out of me.”
“But…?”
“I love you, Ginny.”
Killer shot straight to the heart. In fact, her heart stuttered a moment, as if it’d forgotten how to beat.
“I want to be a part of your life. Not someone you occasionally spend the night with.”
“I know,” she whispered, clearing her throat so she didn’t sound so wounded. “That’s what you think? That I don’t care about you at all except for what you’ve got in your pants?”
He slid his arms up her back, gathering her close, gently, as if she were made of fine china that might explode if he touched her too hard. “Not at all. I just want to be sure we’re clear how much you mean to me. I’m yours, as long as you’ll have me.”
“I don’t want you to go anywhere.” In fact, she was almost done clearing out her house of all of Ty’s old things. The Salvation Army was coming by this weekend to haul off the last of the donation items. In many ways, her accident had been a blessing in disguise. Since all the kids were in town, it was the perfect opportunity for them to all go through their daddy’s things and pick out the special items they wanted to keep. All she kept was his hat with that precious hand-rolled cigarette and his favorite roping saddle. He’d once joked that he was at home in that saddle more than any place on earth. Until they’d settled on their ranch together.
Her heart suddenly dropped like a stone into a bottomless pit. Was Jeb homesick for California? Maybe he was thinking about going back for good. He’d never been back to Texas except for Ty’s funeral. “You’re not thinking about moving back to California, are you?”
“My home’s where you are, as long as you’ll have me. But I do need to go back to L.A. for a few days.”
Well, that was certainly a relief, though she’d give California a try if that’s what he really wanted. She’d spent a few summers in Ireland with Miss Belle’s family and traveled with her all over the world for various movies, but she’d never lived anywhere but Texas. “When?”
He made sure her sling was secure, keeping her injured arm against her body, and then he surged up, giving her a little jolt as he shifted her in his grasp. “Tomorrow. I know it’s late notice, but you’re welcome to go with me. I didn’t want to presume too much and ask you to go away with me so soon. Especially with your family in town.”
Honestly, for such a grown man, he could be incredibly silly. “I’m presuming you pretty openly as far as my family’s concerned. When will you get back?”
“I’ll fly back in on Sunday.”
That’d give her through the weekend to have everything ready, the house spruced and cleaned, and hopefully Miss Belle gone back to Missouri. “Maybe next time. Conn’ll be taking Miss Belle home in a day or two and I think a few days of peace and quiet after all the excitement is in order.”
Without a word of protest or disappointment, Jeb set her on the edge of his bed for what had become a nightly ritual, slowly undressing her with a kiss on every inch of skin he revealed. Burying her fingers in his hair, she smiled.
It’ll be the perfect time to ask him to move in with me.
18
The Lady Always Gets Her Man by Chris Waters
In a cold camp just thirty minutes’ fast trot out of Halltown, Ransom pulled a blanket tighter around his shoulders, but he didn’t lie down. He wouldn’t be able to sleep. Not until he knew if she’d come or not.
If a man of questionable character said he was going north, most self-respecting lawmen would assume the outlaw was headed south instead, especially given the close proximity of Mexico. The system he and Victorious had set up long ago was much more complicated. He’d deliberately named two locations. San Antonio was due south. On the clock, that was thirty minutes. New Orleans was just to complicate matters, possibly throw off the sheriff if he tried to over think things. Jambalaya, though, was the most crucial keyword. Food, any food, meant north. Any drink meant south. Clothes meant head east. Anything metal, go west.
As hour after hour rolled by
and no one came, his heart started to go as cold as the stony ground on which he sat.
I’ve lost her for good.
After not being able to track her down for so long, he’d already figured she was long gone. Cruel fate had decided to taunt him one last time with the one thing he could never have by letting him see her again.
She’d looked good. She was clean, fed, warm and relatively well off. She had a respected lawman to protect her. Hopefully he loved her. Really loved her. Even if someone started asking if Miss Victorious Raynes might have ever played the role of Mistress in a flophouse in Omaha. As far as they both knew, there were still warrants out for their arrest in Missouri. Not to mention the bank heist in Denver for which they were both wanted for questioning. She’d been innocent of that one, though her sweet little general store had reaped that crime’s benefits.
The sun was just threatening to break free and start its climb into the sky when he finally heard a horse carefully picking its way down the trail. He’d deliberately picked a hidden niche off the main road, preferring to be out of sight rather than up high at a vantage point. He could hear most anything coming down either side of the trail, even four-legged critters looking for a meal. The loose stone would betray the most surefooted coyote. Let alone a horse and rider.
Still, he waited, letting the cottonwoods hide both him and his horse. The signal. Only if the signal…
Finally he heard the low, husky vibrato of her voice singing “Amazing Grace”. The song her mama had taught her to sing anytime her drunk father staggered through the door. Not that it had ever helped protect her.
He stood up slowly, making sure his legs would hold him after sitting so long. That trembling had nothing to do with sheer relief. “Here.”
The hoof beats drew nearer, quickening to a trot, a canter, and then the horse broke through the trees and Victorious threw herself off her mare directly into his arms.
“Ranse.” She kissed him hard and frantic, her hands fisted in the long fall of his hair.
“You’re late.” He carried her to the warm nest of blankets and sat down with her on his lap facing him. “I nearly gave up hope.”
“I couldn’t get away.” She kissed him again, cupping her palms around each side of his face. “I missed you.”
“Did you? Seems like you’ve got a pretty good setup, now.”
Her face fell, her glorious eyes clouding with doubt and worry. “Yeah.”
“You’re not coming with me.”
He didn’t mean it as a question, but she shook her head anyway as she slid down and tucked her head up beneath his chin. He just held her, waiting for her to find the words in her own time.
“I came to Halltown for the same reason you did,” she finally said.
“Follow the gold,” he whispered against her hair. She smelled like fresh strawberries. He could remember so many times when he’d held her like this, shivering through the rain, the snow, hungry, tired, bloody and on the run. At least she was safe this time.
She nodded. “There’s only one way a town without its own mine and no industry to speak of could have so much gold flowing through it.”
“So you’re after the Specter too?”
Nobody knew exactly who was running drugs, guns and worse out of Mexico. New illegal technology kept pouring across the border. Like that blaster that had struck Ransom. Only the Federal Marshals were issued that kind of gun and it sure wasn’t a Marshal that had chased him out of the mayor’s mansion that night. The smaller towns down south even whispered of massive mechanical monsters rumbling across the border in the middle of the night. Where those machines were headed, no one seemed to know, but it couldn’t be good if someone was amassing some kind of man-made army.
Every time the Marshals or Rangers got close, the kingpin just vanished, easily moving to a new secure location as if he knew the law was coming before they did. Hence the name Specter. Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, it didn’t matter, the Specter controlled the flow back and forth across the border and there was gold aplenty. It was bad enough that the Marshals had even recruited the more nefarious sources to help them track down the ghostly criminal.
Hence Ransom Savage’s involvement. The Federal Marshals had promised he’d keep whatever spoils he managed to acquire as compensation for his assistance in bringing down the Specter and his record would be completely cleared. Evidently someone had promised the same to her.
“Yeah. I was. But things changed.”
“The sheriff.”
She nodded, even though she buried deeper into Ransom’s embrace. “I like it here. I mean, I really like it. I’ve built a good life. It was all supposed to be just a cover until I could figure out who was dealing with the Specter and follow the trail, but one thing led to another and here I am.” She swallowed hard, her hands clutching him closer. “Sheriff Brazen asked me to marry him a few weeks ago.”
His heart weighed like a ton of gold, but he tried to keep his voice even. “And you agreed.”
She jerked away from him, practically throwing herself up to her feet so she could pace in the small clearing among the trees. “Yes, I did. I like him too. He’s a good man.”
There was something in her voice that made his ears perk up. A tiny hint of doubt, the barest kernel of hope he wasn’t too late after all. “Is he?”
She didn’t answer but merely paced harder.
He wanted to ask if the sheriff minded the more dominant side of her disposition. She might be able to keep her darker needs hidden for a while, but after what they’d shared in Denver, he couldn’t imagine her settling down with a man for the rest of her life if he didn’t like to be tied up and abused any damn way the lady cared to hurt him.
“You took the gold out of the mayor’s safe, right?”
“Yeah. Cleared it out completely, every document and scrap I could find, just in case there were any clues. I haven’t found anything yet.” He narrowed his eyes, searching her face, but in the darkness, she kept her secrets. “Why’d you wait so long? Why didn’t you hit the safe first if you knew it was there?”
“I’ve been watching the mayor’s mansion for months, tracking who goes to see him and when. No matter how insignificant or trivial, milkman, veterinarian, whore. Everybody. Then I started ranking them by frequency of visits. Surely Specter’s contacts would be the most common, right?”
“Seems logical. Let me guess. Brazen is one of the top visitors.”
Hugging herself, she paused, watching the sun break the horizon and begin climbing into the sky. “Number one visitor. Worse, someone keeps telling Specter when anyone’s close to him. Someone who’s cozy with at least the Federal Marshals and probably the Rangers too.”
“Which was he?” Ransom asked softly, his heart aching for her. He loved her. He hated that another man had taken his place. Yet she obviously cared for this man, and any hurt to her was a wound he felt just as deeply.
“Ranger,” she replied hoarsely, turning to face him. “And he has a brother in Washington, D.C. I know, it doesn’t look good. That’s why I haven’t acted. I have to be sure.”
“And if it’s Brazen…?”
She tipped her chin up, her back ramrod straight, her hands clenched into fists at her side. God, she was gorgeous. “It’s not. I know him. It can’t be him.”
“All right.”
She raised a fist and shook it at him, opening her mouth. “I… What? You believe me?”
“You know him better than I. If you say he’s innocent, then he is.”
“He is.” She said it too forcefully, as if trying to convince herself.
Ransom changed the subject. “Sorry that I messed up your careful surveillance, but that might actually give us an opportunity.”
A smile curved her lips. “Mr. Townsend needs to refill his coffers.”
“Exactly. So let’s set up tonight and see who stops by.”
Her smile slipped and she turned away, gathering up her horse. “You can’t be seen in Halltown and
I’ve got to run the store.”
“You know better than anyone that if I don’t want to be seen, no one will.”
“But…”
“Go,” he said more firmly, stepping up to hold her mare while she mounted. Not that she needed any help, but it gave him an excuse to come closer. “Keep up appearances. Do what you need to do.”
“And if you find out anything?”
“You’ll be the first to know,” he promised. I just hope Sheriff Brazen doesn’t break your heart.
19
While Conn hauled the mountain of Miss Belle’s bags out to her car for the long drive home, Virginia sat on the brand spanking new leather couch and tried to think of something to say to his timid fiancée that didn’t make her sound like a monster-in-law.
“I’m glad all this happened so close to spring break so Conn didn’t miss too many classes.”
“His friend, Dr. Wykes, is covering a few of his freshmen classes this week.” Rae’s voice was so damned soft Virginia almost cracked a joke about needing to crank up her nonexistent hearing aids. “I think the dean is covering his other class on poetry. He didn’t trust anyone else to sub for him without butchering ’Prometheus Unbound’.”
“He always was a sucker for poetry. I’ve never seen a kid carry so many books around with him at all times, especially a boy. I think the other kids probably would have teased him unmercifully if it hadn’t been for Victor. Between the two of them, I’m afraid they probably beat up just about every bully in Crystal Springs.”
Rae sucked in a breath and couldn’t hide the shiver at Conn’s older brother’s name. “Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me.”
Evidently Master V had made quite an impression on the girl. He usually did. He had one of those overwhelmingly intense personalities that most people either instinctively respected or feared…or hated.
Like me. Virginia studied her son’s girlfriend, more and more afraid the girl was just as terrified of her as she was of Victor. I don’t want her to hate or fear me. I want to be Grandma Ginny, or Granny, or Nana…whatever their young’uns are going to call me. If she hates me…or is too terrified to ever come to visit, I’ll never be able to know my grandbabies like I want. “I’m glad Conn found you, Rae, and I can’t thank you enough for helping him take care of Miss Belle. I know she can be quite the handful.”
The Connaghers Series Boxed Set Page 81