Sheriff Grande shook his head as he shot narrowed glances back and forth between William and Kate. “Well, Tyler? What do you say to this?”
He swallowed and put an arm around Kate’s warm, soft shoulder. “It’s like she said, Sheriff. I wasn’t part of no raidin’ party last night.”
Jimmy Smith grunted. “Yeh don’t believe him, do yeh Angus?”
“You heard the lady,” Jack said in a gruff, almost barking tone.
The sheriff heaved a sigh. “Well, if the doc here is willing to speak for him, I suppose it’s possible there’s been a mistake.” He shot a glance at Jack. “What do yeh have to say about this, Stone?”
Jack shrugged. “It ain’t my place to talk about a lady.” His eyes shifted to William, then Kate. “But I can vouch on a Bible that she’s been spendin’ a lot of time with him here at the ranch. And I saw them together last night the way y’all just seen fer yourself.”
Angus grunted and flicked a glance at Windstorm’s stall enclosure. “Still leaves the question of how your horse was seen at the crime, Tyler.”
Kate stepped forward. “A spotted horse was seen at the crime, and in the dark, no less. Doesn’t prove it was Windstorm.”
“The witness was very clear it were the horse he saw Tyler ride in on at the barn dance,” the deputy said.
“There are a rather vast number of Appaloosas in the West,” she said. “Unless the witness shook hands with the horse and got its name, I don’t see how that proves anything.”
“Yeh treat any other paints like him in the area, Doc?” the sheriff asked.
“No,” she admitted. “But honestly, if you lived in town with a horse that was so easily recognizable, would you use it to stage a raid?”
The men exchanged glances. A couple muttered under their breath.
“All right, Tyler,” Sheriff Grande said. “Since yer vouched for, we’ll let this rest for the time bein’. But I’ll be keepin’ an eye out. Make sure yeh don’t leave town until the matter gets sorted.”
Relief surged through his veins, and he gave a curt nod. “Yes, sir.”
The Sheriff adjusted his ten-gallon hat and threw a final look at Kate. “I’ll try to keep this quiet for now. I’ve known yeh since yeh were barely knee-high to a pup. Yer pa’s health won’t be served none by hearin’ his only daughter’s carryin’ on shameful. Be smart to give a thought to that yourself.”
William saw a glimmer of guilt in Kate’s expression as the men strode off. Jimmy Smith was the last to go, throwing a sharp glare over his shoulder as he went. William made certain the three of them were alone again before he whirled Kate toward him and gripped her shoulders hard. “What the devil was all that for?”
She yanked away. “Why, you’re welcome. Think nothing of my saving you.”
“Oh, I’ll think plenty of it. I’m serious, Kate. You shouldn’t have lied like that to protect me. Why did you go and get mixed up in all this?”
“Lighten up, Will,” Jack said. “The lady just saved yeh a necktie social.”
“Right, the lady did. And a lady wouldn’t lie and say such things to do it.” He turned back to her. “Why?”
“I told you. I know you’re innocent.”
“How do you know?” He folded his arms. “We weren’t together all night.”
“Unless yeh count yer loud dreams,” Jack barely muttered.
William tossed him a quick scowl. “For all she knows, I could have ridden straight from her place to the raid.” He waved a hand at the man. “Both of us could have.”
Jack folded his arms. “Hey, now. Leave me out of this.”
William turned back to Kate. “And what about Windstorm? My horse is lame, and you accused me of givin’ her a hard ride.”
She glared at him. “Is that a confession?”
“Of course not. But that’s not the point. You don’t know I’m innocent.”
“Yes, I do.”
“How?”
“I just do.” She strode off and sat on a hay bale next to Jack. “You aren’t the type, for one thing. You’re a decent man. Both of you,” she said, flicking a glance at the other man. “You’re not gonna go around stealing what isn’t yours. Why, you’d have rather risked your scalp getting help from the Indians rather than take the outlaw’s way out of your ranch troubles. More important, the Hupa trusted you enough to teach you their secrets.” She smoothed a hand over the hair she wore parted and pulled back into a bun. “They don’t take to white folks easy, and many of them don’t at all. They saw something good in your soul, William Tyler, or they never would have let you in. It’s only right that I help you.”
“By tellin’ lies that could hurt you instead?”
She rose from the hay bale and stood next to Jack. “Oh, bosh. Trading a noose for a few wagging tongues? I hardly think I should have sat back and let them throw a rope around your neck so people wouldn’t think I’ve done something everyone else in town has done.”
“Well, I for one am grateful as all go get that yeh done it,” Jack said. He laid his hat on the hay bale and took one of her hands in his. “If somethin’ were to happen to that stubborn mule over there, I’d be right lost. So let me say what he should be on his knees to tell yeh right now. Thank you, Kate. Thanks somethin’ fierce.”
He lifted her hand for a moment as if to kiss it, then he wavered. Instead, he leaned in and pressed a tender kiss to her cheek. William’s heart skipped a beat as he watched, and Kate let out a tiny gasp. She stared with wide eyes and a pink flush when Jack pulled away, keeping their hands lightly clasped. “You’re welcome,” she breathed.
William walked toward them. “I am thankful. But about those things you say everyone else has done…” He trailed off with a sigh when he stopped in front of her. “We haven’t done them. Why let ’em talk about it?”
She looked away. “No, we haven’t. Not yet.”
His heart hammered against his sternum. From the corner of his eye, he saw Jack flinch.
When he started to answer, she held up a hand. “Please, William, just listen a moment. Both of you.” Her eyes held a note of sorrow, almost pleading when her gaze lifted to his. She pulled away from Jack’s hand. “I’m not trying to see my name ruined. I know I put my wagon before the horse with you last night when I kissed you, and let me say it’s a right embarrassing moment that I’d just as soon forget. So I hope neither of you has the wrong idea about why I did this. I’m not trying to drum up something between us. I just don’t want to see you hung for an act I know you didn’t commit.”
He growled. “Kate,” he whispered, taking her by the shoulders more gently this time. “Thank you for what you did. But would you really just as soon forget last night?”
He saw her swallow, and she wouldn’t meet his gaze. “I was shameful, like the sheriff said. Only last night wasn’t an act. I really did it, didn’t I? I forced a kiss on you—right in front of Jack, no less—when all you wanted was to maybe come visit me sometime.” She shut her eyes and shook her head.
“Don’t worry about me bein’ there,” Jack said. “I don’t think no less of yeh, Kate. Yer a fine woman, and any man would be lucky to have yeh.”
A tangle of emotions snarled in William’s chest. “Payin’ a visit isn’t near all I want from you.” Her eyes reopened, and with a shy glance, found his. He heaved a breath to try and still the racing heartbeat her gaze unleashed. “Lord, woman, if you knew what I really wanted, I figure you’d run like you did from that drunken fool the day you almost got trampled by my horse.”
Jack stepped closer. “I might as well say it, too. That feelin’ goes for us both.” He met William’s eyes in challenge, but William just nodded. Jack lifted a hand to stroke a stray wisp of soft brown hair back from her forehead. “Yer a good, decent woman, and deserve to be treated like one.”
“And I wasn’t about to spook you by rushin’ things,” William added. “It’s obvious Jack and I both have a fancy for you. Aside from makin’ up tall tales to spare my ne
ck, I’m not sure how you feel about that.”
A skeptical smile curved one delicious corner of her mouth. “Jack says I’m a decent woman. I wear men’s trousers, just declared myself a trollop to the sheriff and his entire band, and am apparently about to make it true by confessing that I’ve had thoughts about both of you, too. How decent is that?”
“What you wear or say or feel isn’t as important as what’s in your spirit,” William said. “Your nature.”
Jack nodded. “Yeh risked yer reputation to save Will a ton of trouble and spend yer life helpin’ people and animals. Ain’t nothin’ indecent about that.” He grinned at her.
“Besides,” William went on, “the Indians saw good in your soul. They wouldn’t have trusted a shameful trollop with their secrets.”
The sight of her pink lips curving into a smile possessed him, and he couldn’t help himself. He bent his head forward to taste them. Jack gasped when she responded immediately, leaning into William with a soft sigh. God, she smelled sweet, like honeysuckle mated with citrus blossoms.
The kiss deepened when he swept the tip of his tongue over her upper lip, and her hand snaked up into his hair to pull him closer. His cock throbbed with yearning, and he resisted the urge to grind his hips against hers. “I’m sorry,” he whispered against her mouth. “I’m not tryin’ to take advantage because of what you said to the sheriff. I know it were just an act.”
She pulled back a moment to meet his gaze. “Who says it was just an act?”
A cough interrupted just as he was about to claim her lips again. Jack stood there, hands on hips while staring at Kate with an almost amused expression. “That’s three kisses for Will. I believe it’s my turn—that is, if yer serious about that confession that my fancy for yeh goes both ways.”
William saw Kate swallow visibly and flick a nervous look his way. He knew that the jealousy that had been oddly slow in coming since he realized Jack was also interested in Kate would fire up any minute. Then the two men would have themselves a right big problem.
He folded his arms to steel himself. “I suppose that’s fair.”
William stared at his hired hand as the man flicked a nervous tongue over his lips. When he claimed Kate’s mouth, William felt something twist in his stomach that was vastly removed from the green fury of envy he was expecting. On the contrary, the erection that had flagged after Jack’s interruption was now pulsing with hot desire. God, watching the two of them was turning him on. Even Jack’s moan sent a shiver of need down William’s spine. He thought if he watched them kiss in front of him the way Jack had to do that all he’d want would be to shove the other man away. Maybe add a punch in the face for good measure. Instead, all he could think about was joining them both.
When Jack’s hands began to run over Kate’s shoulders, William couldn’t hold off any longer. He moved in and pressed feathery kisses along the delicate curve of her outer ear. She let out a sharp gasp and Jack pulled away, meeting William’s intrusion with wary eyes. William kept his eyes on the man, reaching around the back of Jack’s head to pull him back to her lips while he continued letting his roam the tender flesh of her ear and bare neck.
“Jesus,” Jack whispered, and then he went back to his thorough exploration of her mouth.
On an odd compulsion, William left his hand in place on Jack’s wire-straight hair while the other rested on Kate’s silken bun. One of her arms snaked around his waist, and the other one wound around Jack’s neck. Her moans of pleasure stiffened his cock until he wished his tight trousers would somehow fall off.
Her innocent little whimpers turned into an erotic cry when one of Jack’s hands slipped down the front of her tailored blouse to trace the outline of her breasts. When William pulled his hand away from Jack’s head to join in the discovery of her firm rounds, he received a shock. Jack’s other hand reached up to slide though William’s hair, knocking his hat off. The feel of his fingers raking over his scalp sent a tingle through him that went straight down to the cock that was already threatening to burst. He’d pulled away from Kate’s neck with a groan of appreciation before he’d realized it.
William wasn’t blind—he’d seen that Jack was a fit, right handsome cowboy. He’d just never realized that he could feel this kind of electric attraction for him, not even on the nights when the sounds of Jack stroking off alone in his room triggered William to masturbate, too. He’d always assumed it was the thought of sex that got him started. Now it dawned on him that it was the thought of Jack’s pleasure. One thing fired him even hotter now, and that was the thought of Kate’s pleasure. And from her increasingly loud groans and bold hands, it seemed the two cowboys were dishing out plenty.
William’s hand was the first to wander lower on her belly, which Jack was pressing his groin against. William hadn’t meant to brush against the other man’s erection, but he got a surprise when he did. Jack was quite large, and the response to his inadvertent touch was a gruff moan and a grind of his pelvis against William’s hand. What would Jack do if, the next time he was trying to relieve himself of a man’s needs alone in his room at night, William came into his room and offered to help?
Kate’s head fell back away from the men when his hand found the crease between her legs. He was thinking about lying her down in the hay to tug off her split skits when the sounds of Raven’s stomping, snorting, and whinnying from the stall behind them drew his attention.
“The stallion’s gettin’ worked up,” Jack said.
“Several stallions,” William said.
That seemed to bring Kate back to levity. “That’s a bit more audience than I’m comfortable with,” she said, breathless. “We shouldn’t have let things get so out of hand.”
“I’m sorry,” William said. “Couldn’t help myself.”
She stepped away, breathing hard and smoothing her blouse and hair. Her pupils were wide and her face flushed with desire, but they held a rather dazed expression. “I should be getting home to Pa.” Her voice held a nervous quiver. “If you’ll walk me to my horse, I’ll give you the recipe to make the milk supplement.”
“Kate,” Jack said. “If I was out of turn, I’m sorry.”
“No,” she said. “It’s fine. I’m just a bit overwhelmed by everything.”
He nodded and the men did as she asked, and not another word was spoken between them about what they’d just done, what William had been accused of, or her actions in front of the sheriff to spare him from a very different turn of events than nearly making love to her and his cowhand together in the barn.
Much as he tried, he could barely listen as she recited the process of mixing cow’s milk with water and sugar. His thoughts were racing between wondering what was in store for their relationship and what Kate’s claim to Sheriff Grande would ultimately cost her. And most important, whether in the end her brave gesture would truly prevent him from being hanged as a thief.
Chapter Five
The moon was full and bright when Kate all but raced out of her house to meet William and Jack under the stars. The evening was crisp, but held enough hint of late summer warmth that she didn’t bother with more than a light riding jacket. Nevertheless, she shivered while she slipped out to the barn. If her pa found out what she was up to, grown woman or not he’d likely take a strap to her. Calling on ranches and farms unescorted to visit a man’s “animals” skirted a close enough line, one her pa had exhausted himself arguing about when she’d first returned. This was something else entirely. Had her ma still been alive, Kate had little doubt that hoss calls would have been impossible under the woman’s watchful eye, let alone what she was about to do.
William was waiting alone around by the barn. The cowboy wore a soft green chambray shirt and snug jeans that did interesting things for his muscular form when he walked. He greeted her with a tipped hat and a smile that brought a heated rush to her cheeks. “Didn’t think your pa would let his daughter out at this time of night.”
She smoothed her split skirt and sh
rugged. “He wasn’t happy about it, but as I’m trying to make a name for myself as the town hoss doc, late calls are part of the deal. Told him I had to go take care of a horse issue.”
He gave her a lazy smile while they headed into the barn to saddle up Peaches. “That’s one way of puttin’ it.”
“Where’s Jack?”
“Waitin’ out by the outer fence line.”
She nodded and smoothed a blanket over the brown mare’s back while Will carried over her hand-tooled saddle. “I’ll admit I’ve thought of little else since we first talked about this.”
He caught her by the arm when she went to bend down and do up Misty’s belly cinch. “So all you’ve been thinkin’ about are wild horses?”
His proximity stole her breath, yet she could still smell the intoxicating aroma of virile male and shaving lather. “Well,” she said, her voice quivering, “maybe not quite all.”
That was an understatement. He let go of her, and the self-satisfied grin he gave in return made her stomach do a little flip. Although they had all behaved more respectably after the shared kiss in the barn, the feel of two men’s lips and hands searing her flesh had been an experience that had invaded her being ever since.
“I brought a change of clothes, just in case,” she said.
He picked up the leather satchel she’d deposited on the ground while getting her horse saddled to peer inside. “There’s nothin’ here but medical equipment.”
“Didn’t want Pa to wonder why I had extra garments.”
His expression was guarded. “Why do you need ’em, anyhow?”
“In case I get wet, of course.” She spread her arms. “I’m wearing my spares underneath. I’ll just pull them off when we get there and set them aside for later.”
“You won’t be the one gettin’ wet, but good idea. Might have to try that myself next time.”
To Tame a Wild Mustang Page 6