Pistols and Petticoats (A Historical Western Romance Anthology)

by Barbara Ankrum

  "Oh, please, go ahead. I'm already feeling a lot better." She shifted her hips then, backside lightly brushing against his groin, and then she said, "Speaking of brothers, do you have any?"

  "Seven," he said, grateful for the distraction. "And five sisters."

  Shannon gasped. "There are thirteen of you?"

  "As far as I know," he said with a laugh. "Anything could have happened since I left home."

  "Where is home?"

  "A farm in South Dakota, up near the North Dakota border."

  Shannon rolled her shoulders as he continued working on her neck, and then said, "Whatever made you leave the family farm and come to work for Bill?"

  Even though she couldn't see him, Seth shrugged. "Same thing as you, I guess. I've never been interested in farming, but I've always loved working with the farm animals, horses in particular. I've met a lot of horses I like better than most people."

  Shannon laughed, that musical, lyrical sound she made when something delighted her. "I haven't met too many people in my life, but I understand what you mean. So did going to one of Mister Cody's shows give you the idea to join?"

  "No, I read about the show on a poster and decided to see if I could get a job with him. I've never regretted it for a day."

  "Hmm," she murmured softly. "You must miss your family. That's the only thing I worry about if I stay here for a long time."

  Seth didn't think staying with the show for a long time would be a problem for her, but he kept the thought to himself. "We are free to take off for a couple of weeks at a time to go visit family and such. I spent Christmas with my family last year."

  "That's good to know." Shannon bunched her shoulders and then relaxed them. "You have really made a difference to my neck and shoulders. I'm feeling great now."

  Seth leaned forward, pressed his lips against her skin, and whispered, "Want me to stop?"

  Moaning softly, she murmured, "I—I don't know what I want."

  Ignoring the warnings in his gut, Seth took hold of Shannon's shoulders, turned her until she was lying sideways in his lap, and then brought his mouth within an inch of hers.

  "Do you want to practice our act a little, Shannon? Is that what you want?"

  "Maybe." She brought her fingers to her own lips and absently brushed them as she asked, "Why did you kiss me the way you did during the last show? You were very, um, intense."

  "I don't know," he hedged. "I thought you were really hurt for one thing."

  "But I wasn't."

  "I know, but it scared me a little. When I figured out that you were just teasing me, I guess that made me sorta mad. Why do you ask? Did I hurt you?"

  "No." She looked him straight in the eye, licked her lips and whispered, "I was hoping you'd do it again."

  Chapter 9

  Shannon had no idea how it had happened, but she suddenly went from being in Seth's arms to lying on her back in the straw. Seth had changed position too. Now he was sprawled across her body, his shoulders and chest pressed firmly against her upper torso, with the lower half of his body kind of half-on, half-off of her hips.

  His mouth hovered above hers as he whispered, "You sure this is what you want?"

  Eager to taste him again, to feel the thrill of that same passion, Shannon parted her lips and gave him a short nod. Seth didn't waste any time after that. He brought his mouth down on hers with even more intensity than he had in the arena. The kiss went beyond anything they'd experienced together, and not only did Shannon allow this, she did her best to follow his lead. Heat flared in her as one of his hands roamed along her ribs and down to her hip where he gathered the hem of her shirt and tugged it upwards. As he worked with her clothing, his lips never left hers, his kiss never failed to keep the fire growing within her, stoked.

  Shannon could feel her shirt bunching up towards her waist, wondered exactly what he was trying to do, but was powerless, unable to speak. All she wanted was for him to keep kissing her, to touch her, to use his magic hands on her from head to toe the way he'd used them on her neck. As that provocative thought went through her mind, she realized that she was stroking Seth's naked back, feeling the ridges of muscle and the surprising softness of his skin. Did he want her nude as well, at least from the waist up? Wondering how that would feel, his naked chest against her breasts, wondering too if they were heading down a path from which there was no escape, Shannon impulsively helped Seth with the shirt and pulled it off over her head.

  The fact that she was wearing a chemise beneath the buckskin did not seem to deter Seth. He went right back to her lips, his mouth more naughty than before, and sent his hands on another exploration, this time moving up her ribs toward her breasts. The fire within her flared as she thought of what he might do should his hands move even higher.

  To her dismay, Shannon didn't find out right then because the door to the car opened and a man stepped inside. He turned to where they were lying in the straw and let out a strangled cry.

  "What in hell do you think you're doing?" Caleb demanded as he drew his gun and leveled it at the back of Seth's head.

  * * *

  Seth tore his mouth away from Shannon's and froze at the sound of a cocked pistol. Who in the hell had the temerity to come in here and draw down on him?

  "Caleb," Shannon begged. "Stop this right now."

  Seth looked down at her in horror. "Caleb? Your brother, Caleb?"

  She bit her bottom lip and nodded.

  "That's right," came the voice behind Seth. "I'm Shannon's brother, the man who's going to put a hole in you. Now stand up so I don't get any blood on my sister."

  His ardor not only cooled, but iced, Seth got to his feet, covering Shannon with her shirt as he stood. Then he took a deep breath and turned to face her brother.

  "Look, Caleb," he said, arms outstretched. "I know this doesn't look too good, and I—"

  "Doesn't look too good?" Caleb mimed. "What it looks like goes way beyond not looking too good. It looks to me like you were planning to have your way with my sister."

  "No, no," Seth said, showing Caleb his palms. "That wasn't it at all. We were just practicing our act and well, things got a little out of hand."

  "Got out of hand, huh?"

  "He's right," Shannon said from behind Seth. "We were just practicing a little."

  Caleb pointed a finger toward her. "Not another word out of you. And put your damn clothes on."

  "Caleb," Seth implored, taking a step in his direction. "You don't want this to go any further. I'll admit that I made a big mistake here, and that I owe both you and Shannon an apology, but there's no need for gunplay."

  Caleb laughed, but he wasn't smiling. "You think I'm playing, or that I don't know how to use this?" He waved the gun in Seth's face.

  "I'm quite sure you know how to use it." Done with acting the contrite suitor, Seth tried another tactic. "Since as you can see, I am unarmed and apparently a condemned man, I wonder if you'd mind telling me what the hell you're doing on this train?"

  "Same as most folks on this train—all but you and my sister, anyway. I was trying to sleep until I saw you climb down off your bunk and head into this car."

  "So why didn't you follow me then?"

  Caleb paused a minute, but then answered. "I didn't think too much of it. I figured you were just checking on the horses, and I sure didn't know that Shannon was already in here."

  Seth sighed. "I knew she was in here because she was looking after an injured horse. I went to check on both her and the horses."

  With a smirk, Caleb said, "Did you ever get around to the horses?"

  Another change of subject was in order. "I want to know how you managed to sneak aboard this train. You are a stow away and as such, subject to arrest once we reach Evanston."

  Caleb laughed as he said, "I hate to ruin your last day here on earth, but I have as much right to be on this train as you do."

  Shannon walked past Seth then, fully dressed, and went to her brother's side.

  "He's o
n this train," she explained to Seth, "because the photographers took him on as an apprentice. They're planning on leaving the show before it goes to England, and if Caleb works out, he'll take over for them."

  Seth's eyeballs felt as if they'd popped out of his head. He stared at Caleb as he asked the unthinkable. "You're planning to stay on with the troupe?"

  Caleb's grin was smug. "I am."

  Shannon reached for the gun, but her taller brother got it easily out of reach.

  The weapon was no longer pointed his way, a good thing, but Seth knew he risked an accidental shooting if he interfered with the two. For the time being, he decided to stay right where he was, but at the ready.

  "Give me the gun, Caleb," Shannon demanded. "This isn't going to solve a thing."

  "Go sit down and stay out of this. It's between me and this cretin here."

  "I have everything to do with this," Shannon insisted. "Seth and I work together every day. And besides all that, you have to do what I say because I'm older than you."

  Caleb chuckled and turned to his sister. "You showing up two minutes before I did don't count for a hill of beans now that we're off the ranch."

  Taking advantage of the fact that Caleb was no longer holding the gun on him or even looking his way, Seth leapt across the small space separating them, and wrestled the gun out of his hand.

  Putting some space between himself and the siblings, Seth said, "I think we've come to an understanding here."

  Caleb raised his fist and made a move toward Seth.

  Leveling the pistol on him, Seth said, "Don't come any closer, or I will shoot you. Knees or feet. Your choice."

  This brought Caleb's advance to a halt. "Fine then, for now. But this isn't over."

  With a shake of his head, Seth said, "I expect not. In the meantime, I'm going to keep your gun in a safe place. Bill doesn't cotton to accidental shootings around here, and you've got accident written all over you."

  Again he began to advance, but Shannon held her brother back. "Sorry for the way things turned out," she said to Seth, her smile tight.

  "You've got nothing to be sorry for, and I do apologize profusely for having taken advantage of you the way I did." Seth tipped an imaginary hat. "I'll bid you both a good evening now." Then he backed on out the door.

  The minute Seth was out of earshot, Shannon turned on her brother and gave him a piece of her mind. "How dare you pull a gun on Seth and threaten to kill him."

  "I was protecting what's left of your virtue." He looked down his nose at her. "If there's anything left to protect."

  Incensed, Shannon curled her fingers into a fist and slugged him on the shoulder. "My virtue is just fine, thank you, and if anyone needs to protect it, it's me, not you."

  "Protecting you—all of you—is the reason father sent me here. If you're going to fight me on that, I'm just going to have to sit down and write him another letter—one he's not going to like."

  Shannon gasped in horror. "You'd do that to me, to our father?"

  Caleb shrugged. "I'll do whatever I have to in order to keep that tomcat away from you."

  Shannon had been thinking about how wonderful it felt to be in Seth's arms, to have all of her senses firing at once, but now she thought of the show. She knew without a doubt that she would have to behave herself around Seth in the future, but she would not, could not, allow Caleb to ruin the perfect and very well-received performance she and Seth had perfected. She could think of only one way to achieve that goal.

  "All right," she said quietly. "I do see your point. How about this? I promise..." she almost choked on the words, "...that I will stay away from Seth except for when we are working and others are around."

  He casually stroked his chin. "I don't know."

  Shannon got right up in his face. "You'll agree to those terms, or I'll write father a letter of my own telling him about little Miss Mirabella and the fact that you plan to stay on with the show."

  "You would never do that to our father."

  "I would." Calling on all of her bravado, she added, "So I take back my promise. I will see Seth whenever I want to with no interference from you."

  "That's not going to work."

  "It will," she said with a wink. "Unless you want me interfering with whatever you have in mind for the future."

  Chapter 10

  The show went well in Evanston, even though Shannon and Seth had a very strained relationship, and before they knew it, they'd arrived in Utah. After a quick one-day show in Ogden, the troupe arrived in Salt Lake City where they would be performing for two days. This gave the ensemble time to relax a little and work on honing the acts they had as well as come up with some new ones.

  New acts were what Seth had in mind as he approached the outside of the corral where Shannon was tending to Lucy's injured leg.

  "How's she doing?" he asked, looking the mare over.

  "I think she's healing. She's certainly doing better than she was."

  "Good job." He briefly thought of giving her a gentle squeeze, but then thought better of it. Instead, he roughed up his voice and said, "If you're finished with her for a spell, I need to talk to you about something."

  Her eyes lit up, and everything about Shannon seemed to brighten, but Seth didn't dare take in the sight for too long. He inclined his head and said, "Let's go sit over there on the hay bales."

  After making sure that Lucy was tied up good and tight, Shannon practically skipped over to where the hay was stored. Seth purposefully sat right in the middle of one bale, which left her to find a bale of her own.

  After she'd settled herself, he said, "I just had a long talk with Bill and he thinks you're ready to try some new acts. What do you think?"

  "You mean he wants me to stop doing our act?"

  Seth shook his head. "No, he wants you to add a couple more acts, one in particular that would use your trick riding talents."

  "Sure," she said, excitement blooming on her cheeks. "What does he want me to do?"

  Seth thought about the circumstances, and chuckled under his breath. "It's probably a stupid question given the showdown I had with your brother the other night, but do you know how to shoot?"

  She hung her head. "I'm so sorry about that. Caleb had no right to—"

  "I don't want to talk about that, Shannon. Just tell me if you can shoot a rifle or not."

  Her nose tilted indignantly, she said, "I can handle a rifle, a shotgun, and even a pistol."

  "That's encouraging. How good are you with them?"

  She pondered this a moment and then shrugged. "I'm pretty good with the rifle, better with the shotgun, and not so good with the pistol. What exactly am I supposed to do?"

  "You've seen the part of the show where Bill rides across the arena with an Indian riding next to him throwing glass balls in the air?"

  She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, and Mister Cody shoots the balls. Is that what he wants me to do?"

  "Not quite." Seth laughed to himself as he tried to visualize the way this performance would go. "He does want you to shoot glass balls, but he wants you to do it while lying down on Stormy's back. Is that even possible?"

  She didn't consider the idea for very long before Shannon said, "Only one way to find out. Let's give it a try."

  Seth had to admire her spunk. It seemed that Shannon was always ready to try almost anything. His mind drifted back to their passionate encounter in the railroad car, and as usual, he had to mentally slug himself to get back to reality.

  Seth got off of the hay bale and said, "All right, let's do it. You go get stormy—you'll be riding her bareback—and I'll get one of the show rifles and some glass balls."

  * * *

  Since Shannon's shooting skills while lying on the back of a horse were unknown, they moved a fair distance from the encampment. At first, and mostly to ensure his safety, Seth walked alongside Stormy and just back of the rifle Shannon was pointing toward the sky. Then he began to toss the balls, surprised to see that each one expl
oded every time she fired the rifle. After a few minutes of this, they tried the trick with Stormy at a trot, and got almost the same results.

  "You ready to try the hard part?" he asked.

  "Galloping?"

  "That's right. I'll be riding Charlie pretty much where I was walking just now." Seth mounted up and pulled up next to Stormy, adding, "Any time you want to stop, just give a holler."

  And with that, Shannon nudged the mare and off they went. As he pulled up in position, Seth was amazed to see how relaxed Shannon appeared to be even though she didn't have a good view of the road ahead. She had put all of her trust in Stormy.

  That was pretty much where his admiration ended. After going through a dozen balls, Seth called a halt to the experiment. He rode up next to Stormy, took hold of her reins, and said, "Whoa, now."

  "What's wrong?" Shannon sat up, facing him. "Aren't we going to practice some more?"

  He held up two fingers. "That's how many balls you shot."

  "I know I need to practice more, but you couldn't have thrown very many balls."

  "I tossed up a dozen. With odds like that the show will go broke keeping you in glass balls."

  Shannon slid down off Stormy's back. "I hate to disappoint Mister Cody. Do you think he'd mind if we change the act a little?"

  Seth dismounted and joined her. "Change it how?"

  "What if he lets me use a shotgun instead? I could shoot bird shot at the balls and I'd never miss."

  Seth considered this. "I think he has more of a sharp-shooting act in mind, but I can ask him."

  She sighed heavily. "I hope he's not trying to turn me into the next Annie Oakley. I'm simply not that good a shot."

  Seth laughed. "He's been trying to find the next Annie Oakley since she left the troupe a year ago."

  "Why did she leave?"

  "It wasn't by choice, that's for sure." Seth's chest tightened at the memory. "I don't want to scare you because rail travel is usually very safe, but we had a big accident a little better than a year ago. Lots of rail cars were lost not to mention one hundred horses and assorted animals. Annie was hurt very badly, paralyzed for a while, and unable to return to the show."