ANNIE AND THE OUTLAW

by Sharon Sala

  "That's exactly what you are … a boy," Gabe said. "And not a very good one, at that." He shook Damon roughly to make his point, ignoring the fact that the other gang members were digging in their pockets for weapons. "Boys do stupid things. Threatening a woman like this is stupid … real stupid, boy!"

  He emphasized the taunt by glaring over Damon's shoulder at the others, who quickly slid their weapons back out of sight.

  "You've gained nothing by frightening her." He dropped Damon as suddenly as he'd picked him up. "And there's something else you should remember." His last statement encompassed the entire gang as he took off his sunglasses and stared them fall in the face, no longer hiding behind the mirrored lenses for effect. "Men don't run in packs … but dogs do."

  The big man's quiet sneer as he slid his sunglasses back on made all eight boys turn red in anger and embarrassment as they remembered the fear on Annie's face. It suddenly didn't seem as cool as it had minutes earlier.

  "Oh, hell, let's go, Damon," another boy said nervously.

  "No big deal, right, bro?"

  "Is it going to be a big deal, Damon? It can be one if you need it to be," Gabe said softly.

  Damon got the message. This biker could take them apart and reassemble them in new order, and they all knew it. He shook his head and dropped his gaze. He couldn't describe the relief he felt when he saw the biker relax and take a step back.

  Damon Tuttle was the first to move as, one by one, the teenagers shuffled away, tossing half-hearted threats and rude innuendos over their shoulders, unwilling to completely acknowledge the fact that they'd let themselves be bested by one man who hadn't even thrown a punch.

  And then Gabriel remembered the woman and turned.

  "Are you all right?" he asked gently.

  Annie nodded, then fainted in his arms.

  He sat in the shade of the building, using his bike for a chair as he cradled the woman called Annie who was lying loose and limp across his lap. Her head was lolling against his bare biceps, and he marveled at how thick and soft her hair felt against his skin. He couldn't remember the last time he'd held a woman so intimately or been able to look his fill.

  Her nose was small and straight and perfectly fit her heart-shaped face. Her cheeks looked soft, and as he held her, he absently traced the ball of his thumb across them to test out his theory. He'd been right; they were as tender and soft as a baby's lips.

  He sighed and inhaled slowly, wishing away the thousand thoughts that instantly intruded, as well as the accompanying ache in his loins. After what she'd been through, what he was thinking had no place in her life, and because of who he was, neither did he.

  Her mouth was wide, her lips full. They were the kind that drove a man wild and begged to be kissed without saying a word. Gabriel Donner had come too far and lived too long to turn down the unoffered invitation.

  Ignoring the busy traffic on the street just beyond the parking lot, as well as the ebb and flow of customers coming and going in the store behind him, he bent down, opened his mouth just enough to encompass hers, and then groaned when she sighed and unconsciously responded.

  She tasted of heat and cinnamon, and as his mouth tightened across her lips, he dug his hands into the coil of her hair, unwittingly sending the pins that had held it in place flying.

  She moaned, and he lifted his head and frowned, instantly aware that he'd trespassed. It was a silent acknowledgment that the good he'd done by helping her had been wiped out in a heartbeat by the marauding manner in which he'd taken her favors without permission.

  Her eyes were green. That much he remembered from before she passed out. He looked down at his fingers, buried deep in her thick, luxuriant fountain of hair, and tried not to think of where else on Annie he would like to put his hands.

  Her hair fell free as he withdrew his fingers and began trying to smooth the mess that he'd made of it. Guilt at his transgression made him feel too much like the toughs he'd just run off.

  She came to with a start

  "Oh, Lord," she muttered, as she realized where she was and began trying to unwind herself from the man and his bike.

  But the action, as well as her panic, was wasted when he calmly stood and then set her back on her feet without a word.

  "You fainted." he said.

  Annie's hands shot to her head. She felt the long, thick weight, of her hair falling through her fingers. Doubtfully, she looked back up at him.

  "And the pins came out of your hair," he added.

  She frowned. She already knew that. It was the how of the incident that was worrying her.

  "I can't see your face," she said, unaware of the nervous tremor in her voice.

  His movements were as slow as honey on a cold winter morning. Annie held her breath as he leaned forward until their faces were only inches apart, then slid his glasses down the bridge of his nose and let them drop into his hand.

  Oh … I had a feeling this would only get better—and worse, Annie thought

  To go with the starkly handsome features she'd seen only in profile, she now had a pair of eyes so blue that she caught her breath at the color's purity.

  "That better, Annie?"

  She took a step backward, then swayed. His hand shot out so quickly that she didn't even see it coming. She felt only the firm yet gentle grip as he steadied her on her feet.

  "How do you know my name?" she asked.

  "Damon the Terrible called you by it several times. I assumed he knew you. Was I right?"

  She sighed and buried her face in her hands. Gabe frowned. There was obviously more to this incident than casual harassment.

  "Well, Annie-Annie, was I right?"

  "Don't call me that," she said sharply, shuddering at the fear that came back with the rude twinning of her name.

  "Then what do I call you?"

  Annie stared at him. There was no reason on earth why she should be telling this bike-riding, leather-clad knight on shining metal a darned thing about her personal life. In fact, everything she'd been told and taught over the past twenty-nine years reinforced that fact.

  "My name is Annie Laurie O'Brien."

  He held out his hand, then waited to see how much woman she turned out to be. By all rights she should be scared out of her wits by his appearance.

  Annie looked down at the long, strong fingers, the wide, callused palm and the tracing of scars across the backs of his knuckles. Surprising herself, as well as him, she reached out and took what he offered.

  Gabriel was shocked. His eyes narrowed, and his mouth firmed. He looked down at the way her fingers had curled around his and then back up into her face. He swallowed hard. Oh damn! Not trust!

  She was more woman than he'd even imagined. The thought made him angry. Not now! he thought. Don't you do this to me! Not when you know my time is nearly up. He glared up into the sky.

  Gabriel, Gabriel. When will you learn? Everything that happens, you bring upon yourself, said His voice.

  The quiet answer slid through his mind, and with it came the truth slapping him full in the face. He dropped her hand and sighed wearily. How many years had he been on earth, riding the roads and highways, trying to get it right?

  "And your name is…?" Annie asked.

  At the same time that she was waiting for him to answer, she was thinking that if he'd been accompanied by three other "horsemen" on similar metal, she would have guessed by their motorized mounts that they were the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. She squinted her eyes, fancying that he was about to answer by saying "Death," when his deep voice rumbled past her ear.

  "My name is Gabriel—Gabriel Donner."

  Her eyes widened, and her lips curved into a smile. In spite of the fact that she knew laughing in someone's face was extremely rude, it happened anyway, loud and clear.

  Gabe knew there must be a joke somewhere. He waited for her to explain.

  "I'm sorry," Annie said, squinting and trying desperately to wipe the accompanying smile off her face. "That was
rude of me." She shrugged, still grinning. "I have this vivid imagination." She waved her hand up and down his frame as lights danced in her eyes. "An angel in devil's clothing … that's what you are. My avenging angel."

  His heart skipped a beat. Angel? She thinks I'm an angel? This time it was Gabriel who grinned. Oh lady, if you only knew.

  Annie thought back to the past half hour and knew that her troubles were only momentarily solved. When tomorrow came, it would be more of the same from Damon and his gang. And then she had a sudden and shocking thought. She focused on his heart-stopping smile and ignored the warning her brain was sending.

  Pooh! she told herself, as she realized that what she was thinking could get her killed. So what! Everyone had to die sometime.

  "So, Gabriel, where were you going when you so kindly came to my rescue?"

  He shrugged. "Nowhere … anywhere."

  Her pulse accelerated. Everything kept falling into place. It had to be a sign.

  "How would you like a job?" she asked.

  Her question caught him off guard.

  "Doing what?" he asked, eyeing her carefully, suddenly realizing that he might have rescued a kook. It wouldn't have been the first time, although, to be honest, this time it would be a major disappointment.

  "I've ignored the signs for weeks, but after today … I think I need a bodyguard." She ignored the shock on his face and continued before she lost both her breath and her nerve. "I'm a teacher. And the gang you rescued me from happens to be part of my homeroom class. I'll be damned if I'll let them beat me. I will not be frightened into quitting at this late date."

  Gabe was speechless.

  "It would only be for a few weeks," Annie said quickly. "Then school is out for the summer. After that, you could be on your way to nowhere … or even anywhere."

  The nervous look she gave him sent his heart right to his feet. He couldn't have told her no if his life depended on it.

  "Let me get this straight," he said. "You want to hire me to accompany yon to school and sit in on all your classes until summer vacation begins?"

  She nodded. "Why are you so shocked? Surely it won't be all that bad. Just look at it as a refresher course in basic high school."

  "That's just it," Gabe muttered to himself. "I never went to school."

  It was hard to say who was the more shocked. Annie for what she'd heard, or Gabe for admitting it.

  "You can't read?" Annie asked, trying hard not to sound as shocked as she felt.

  "I can read fine," Gabriel said shortly, pushing his sunglasses back, on for protection. "I've had a long, long time to read just about any and everything ever written. And believe me, I mean everything."

  "Then you're self-educated," she said, somehow greatly relieved that her angel's wings had not been clipped.

  "I'm self-everything," he said in disgust.

  "Why am I not surprised?" Annie muttered under her breath, then glanced up. "So … is it a deal? Will you be my guardian angel for the next few weeks?" A shadow crossed her face as she lifted her chin, trying desperately not to plead. "When I start something, I like to finish it."

  Her voice softened, and Gabriel would have sworn he saw her chin tremble.

  "It's real important to me that I finish this school year," she added.

  "I'll need a place to sleep," he warned.

  The light came back on in her clear green eyes. In for a penny, in for a pound, she thought Besides, I've never taken a single risk in my entire life. I think it's about time I started … before it's too late. Her hesitation was only slight

  "Follow me," she said as she headed for her car, her slender body swaying gently beneath the loose, gauzy-white skirt and blouse she was wearing.

  At that moment he would have followed her to the ends of the earth.

  * * *

  Chapter 2

  «^»

  Her apartment was everything he'd expected it to be. Ultrafeminine. It was a tasteful display of floral upholstery small figurines placed in random fashion around the rooms and plants everywhere. There were flowering things, leafy things, spiky stems and flowing vines. He had an urge to duck as he walked through the door, half expecting something to come flying past from her semitropical jungle.

  "Make yourself at home," Annie said, and tossed her purse on top of the kitchen table.

  All the way home she'd debated with herself about the utter stupidity and careless abandon with which she'd hired him. Off and on, as traffic permitted, she'd caught glimpses of him riding at a safe distance behind her on that devil-black machine, dressed in biker leather, having traded his mirrored sunglasses for a black helmet with a smoke-tinted visor. One seemed no different than the other. She sensed he was using both to hide behind.

  But what Annie O'Brien had endured over the past few months had taken some of the caution out of her life. She would finish this school year and her teaching contract, no matter what.

  The front door slammed behind him as he shut and locked it Annie turned at the sound and couldn't hide a shudder. He looked so out of place. A nervous thought occurred to her as she watched him fold his arms across his chest and stare thoughtfully around the room. Had she let the Devil into her Garden of Eden? She bit her lower lip and turned away, hurrying into the kitchen and opening the refrigerator door, then bending down to peer inside.

  Gabe heard the tremor in her voice as she invited him in. A wry grimace crossed his face as he dropped his duffel bag beside the couch, then stretched. But he was unaware of her observation and wouldn't have cared if he had known. He was used to his appearance making people nervous.

  Annie turned, a package of hamburger meat in one hand and a bowl of shredded lettuce in the other. She watched him close his eyes and reach first one arm and then the other toward the ceiling in a halfhearted attempt to work out what she suspected were muscle kinks from long hours on his bike.

  "Are you hungry?"

  Her question took him by surprise. His eyes opened, and he stared intently at the blank, almost innocent expression on her face. Yes … but not for food … for you.

  The thought made him angry both with himself and at the situation. He didn't have time for entanglements, especially those of the personal kind.

  "Why the hell aren't you afraid of me?" he asked quietly.

  "I suppose, if I'm honest, I can't say I'm not." She hastened to add, before he got angry and left, "But let's face it. The worst you could do to me is rob me, or rape me. Or … maybe torture or kill me."

  "Good Lord," Gabe whispered, uncertain how to take her blithe assessment of his presence in her life.

  "Those are givens," Annie continued. "And after what I've been through the past few months, I'm not much afraid of givens anymore. Besides…" She shrugged. "Everyone has to die … sometime."

  A bitter smile twisted Gabe's face. "You'd think so wouldn't you?" He'd watched more than one generation disappear from this earth, and he was still here to tell the tale.

  She looked up, startled by his strange answer, and then shrugged off the curiosity that might have let her pursue his comment.

  "I need you, Gabriel Donner. I need you to get me through the next few weeks of school. After what I've endured at the hands of those boys, I will not let them think intimidation wins wars. And believe me … this is war!"

  He grinned slightly at the ferocity in her voice.

  "Just stay until my job is over, and then you'll be free to go your own way," she added.

  He nodded. Of course he would stay. But she didn't understand why. She couldn't. Leaving someone in trouble wasn't part of the deal he'd made with God. He was honor bound to help her whether she liked it or riot

  "Where do I sleep?" he asked.

  A faint flush painted her cheeks a rosy hue as she led the way down the small hall.

  "This is my spare room." She opened the door and stepped aside as he moved through the doorway Annie watched as he dropped his duffel bag by the bed and silently assessed the pink comforter draped acro
ss it.

  "Sorry about all the stuffed animals. I've had them for years. Just toss them on the floor, out of your way. The room isn't much, but it has a separate bath. There are clean sheets on the bed, and—"

  "It's fine," he said.

  She nodded. "If you want to clean up or … or rest before you eat, feel free. I don't stand on ceremony."

  "It's a good thing," Gabe said. "I don't care much for ceremonies." Frowning, he rubbed a thoughtful hand across his throat, feeling the slight pucker of his scar, a memento of a rope that had done what it could to end his life. "The last one I was at didn't serve food."

  Her eyes narrowed as, for the first time, she noticed the thin ring of slightly discolored skin circling his neck. Just what and who had she invited into her home? Visions of ax-murderers and serial killers sifted through her mind, but she discarded them. Her decision was made, and Annie O'Brien didn't go back on her word. She spun away and headed back toward the kitchen.

  "We're having meat loaf," she called over her shoulder.

  Gabe shut the door, then leaned against it, a thoughtful expression on his face. Meat loaf!

  Two hours ago I was on my way to Texas, minding my own business, and now I'm in a pink bedroom full of stuffed teddy bears and about to be served meat loaf!

  He began stripping off his clothes as he headed for the shower.

  The evening meal had come and gone with surprising ease. Annie's matter-of-fact attitude helped. Also, Gabe had a suspicion that this was just another heaven-sent test. During the past century, he'd endured quite a few. Thrusting a teacher into his face was obviously a none-too-subtle way of telling him that he had more to learn.

  He got up from the table and began gathering their dirty dishes. Unintentionally, he and Annie reached for the same bowl at the same time. His fingers slid over the back of her hand, and for a second he felt the panic pulsing through her system. But as quickly as it had come, it passed, leaving him with nothing more than the beginnings of a sleepless night. His body hardened at the thought of spending that night with her, but sanity reminded him that that was out of the question. Getting involved in any way was out of the question.