“Well?” She straightened her pink dress.
“What do you want from me?” he snapped, shrugging his shoulders. “I may be a killer, but I’m not a rapist. I just—” He didn’t want her to know how badly he had wanted her, how much he still wanted her. For her own sake, he ought to set her free, and yet he still needed her as bait to draw Kruger and Joe into his trap so he could kill the two of them. He owed them that.
“You know, I could have left any time the past few days. You were too hurt to stop me.” She walked toward the cave.
“I know, and I’m much obliged,” he whispered.
She sighed, suddenly bone tired.
“Why don’t you get some rest?” he said. “You’ve probably been up for days without any sleep taking care of me.”
“And look at the thanks I get.”
“Did you expect any?” he snapped.
“From you, I expect nothing.” She marched into the cave and lay down on a blanket.
He sat patting the dog and watching her. It was almost dusk. In another couple of days, he should be on his feet and fit enough to ride and shoot. Surely Kruger and his men were out searching for Sunny. Now Diablo just had to figure out how to lure them to a place where he could kill that Kruger and Joe.
After a long moment, he stood up and hobbled over to the cave, where he stood looking down at her. She looked so vulnerable lying there in her pink delicate dress. Her long hair spread over her shoulders, and he wanted to stroke it because he remembered the soft, silky feel of it.
Abruptly he remembered her photo. Had she discovered it when she was digging in his saddlebags for a book? He’d never be able to explain how he came by it. Diablo hobbled over to his saddlebags and checked them. Thank God she hadn’t stuck her hand in the far pocket. He reached in and pulled out the small, ornate gold frame and smiled. He liked looking at her picture. Even after they each went their own way, he would always keep the photo to remember her by. She was an unforgettable woman, and he had never felt so lonely as he did at this moment. He would feel lonelier when they finally parted forever.
Diablo ran his fingers over the photo’s face, wishing he could touch the real woman that way, but of course that was only a wistful dream. He wrapped the photo frame in an old rag and put it back in the saddlebag. All he could think of at this moment was Sunny. She had bewitched him, and if her kindness had been meant to distract his attention from killing Kruger, she had almost succeeded.
Then he touched his scarred cheek and ground his teeth. No, Kruger and Joe must die for what they had done to him and his three cowboy friends, and for the cold-blooded murder of Swen. He ought to tell Sunny everything he knew, but he didn’t think there was a ghost of a chance she would believe him. What was he supposed to do now?
Back at the K Bar, Joe brought the cowboys in. It was dusk, and the men were tired and dirty, the horses lathered, their heads hanging. He dismounted and went into the big ranch house. The place was in complete disarray since Maria had quit. Clothes and newspapers were strewn everywhere. Cobwebs hung from the wood ceiling beams, and the floor was coated in dust. Dirty dishes and pans were piled on tables, and empty whiskey bottles lay everywhere.
Hurd sat before the fireplace, sipping a drink and staring into the flames. He didn’t look up. He needed a shave badly, and he hadn’t changed shirts in days.
“Boss, this place looks like a dump.”
“I don’t give a damn about that.” Hurd turned and snarled. “You find anything?”
Joe shook his head. “Not a clue, and more hands quit today. They’re sayin’ you must be loco.”
Hurd stood up, turning over his chair as he grabbed Joe by the collar. “I’m not crazy, I just want to get her back and kill that half-breed bastard who’s got her. He might be using her for his pleasure every night. When I think of her helpless and in his arms—”
“Don’t think about it, boss,” Joe soothed and managed to pull out of Hurd’s grasp. The man was drunk, and his eyes were a little crazed. Maybe those cowboys were right. “We ought to be branding and rounding up all those cattle we’ve got spread out over the county. You’re a rich man now that so many of those nesters have fled.”
“I don’t give a damn about that now; I don’t give a damn about the ranch.” Hurd staggered over and poured himself another drink. “All I care about is getting Sunny back and marrying her. As for that half-breed, I’ll geld him if he’s touched her and shove his manhood down his throat, and then I’ll kill him by inches.”
“Boss, that’s the reason we’re in the mess we’re in now because of what you did to him all those years ago.”
“And I’ll do it again,” Hurd promised, drained his glass, and slammed it into the fireplace, where it shattered into a crash of glass. “Damn him, I’ll brand him all over and laugh while he screams, you hear me?”
“I hear you, boss.” Joe wondered if he ought to be looking for a new job himself. This man was going mad. He had everything a man could want: money, a big ranch, respect. There were a lot of pretty girls who would be glad to marry Hurd Kruger, although, Joe had to admit, none as beautiful as Sunny Sorrenson.
Hurd stared out the window. “Tomorrow, we go out again, and I’ll lead the search. They’re somewhere in this state, and I’m going to find them, I swear it.”
Joe managed to stifle a groan. The whole thing had become a fool’s errand. Sunny might be dead or not even in Wyoming. The gunfighter may have taken her with him and left for Texas. A couple more of these wild goose chases, and they would lose the rest of the crew when there was work around the ranch that needed doing. “What about the branding and taking cattle to market, boss?”
Hurd whirled on him, swaying on his feet. “I told you I don’t give a damn about that. Nothing matters but finding my bride before that bastard . . .” He didn’t finish. He walked over and sat down in front of the fire, staring into the flames.
Joe lit a smoke and went outside. He’d been with this man over fifteen years, and Hurd had always been business smart and cunning. Now he seemed to be going loco. He dreaded going back to the bunkhouse and telling the men. A lot of them would quit, but he was under orders. If that half-breed meant to destroy Hurd and the K Bar, he was doing a pretty good job of it.
Diablo sat by the fire a long time, watching Sunny sleep. God, how he wanted her. He patted the dog and imagined what it would be like. No, she would never give herself willingly to an ugly monster like him. Besides, he had nothing to offer her. He had a few dollars, a fine horse, a guard dog, and a fancy rifle, all of them stolen, and the woman was stolen, too. Everything belonged to that rich rancher.
He couldn’t let himself care about the girl; he had never cared about anyone but himself. Yet he found himself wondering what would happen to the girl after he killed Kruger? He didn’t think she could run the K Bar alone. Swen had talked about sending her away to her aunt in Boston so she could go to college, but Diablo didn’t have that much cash and he wasn’t sure if Swen had been lying when he’d told Hurd he had enough money to send her. Certainly Diablo hadn’t found a penny in that ranch house. Kruger had plenty of wealth, but the rancher wanted to marry her, so he wouldn’t give her the money to go back east.
Well, none of this was Diablo’s concern. After he ambushed Kruger and Joe, made them pay for what they had done to him and Swen and the cowboys they had lynched, Sunny would be on her own, and what happened to her wasn’t really Diablo’s concern.
The fire had dwindled down to coals, and the spring night was chilly. He got up and went in to lie down next to her, pulling a blanket over them both. He wanted to cuddle her up against him and bury his face in that mane of soft yellow hair, but that might awaken and alarm her, so he did not touch her. He could hear her soft breathing, and he wished she cared about him instead of being terrified, but of course, the princess wasn’t going to fall in love with him, kiss him, and turn him into a handsome prince. After a while, he dropped off to sleep, dreaming of riding back to Texas with
Sunny riding with him, her long yellow hair blowing out behind her like a filly’s mane as she looked over at him, and smiling, her face saying everything. Diablo knew how a man could throw away riches or a kingdom for a woman’s love, and he had neither.
Chapter 17
Sunny awakened with him asleep beside her in the darkness, his arm thrown protectively across her body. She watched him in the shadows of the fire. His face was relaxed, and he looked gentle as he slept. She should have gotten away when he was helpless; now he might never let her go.
Or if she let him make love to her, maybe he would release her and ride out of Wyoming without killing anyone else. Aside from that, he looked so vulnerable and lonely. She leaned over and kissed his ravaged cheek, and he stirred and smiled slightly. She surprised herself by wanting to kiss him. He had such full, sensual lips. She leaned over and brushed her lips across his, a mere whisper of a touch, and his lips opened slightly. Emboldened, she kissed him full on the mouth, and he stirred and his arm went around her, pulling her down to him without ever opening his eyes.
She kissed him again. His mouth opened, and she touched the tip of her tongue to his. His arms went around her, holding her close as he kissed her deeply, thoroughly. His hand went to her breasts, and she let him caress her there, feeling her own pulse quicken. His fingers circled her nipple, and she felt it swell at the touch. She leaned into him, wanting him to stroke her there more and more. She jerked open her dress and pressed her breast to his mouth. She gasped at what his tongue did to her nipples and the greedy way his lips sucked at her breast.
Her breath came in gasps, and she reached to uncover her other breast, offering it to him. He never opened his eyes as he kissed there and fondled her until she was trembling with excitement. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do next, nor was she even sure whether he was really awake, but she didn’t want this to end. Reaching down, she touched between his thighs. His manhood was turgid and throbbing. Her fingers trembled as she undid the buttons on his pants and freed his big maleness. It was rigid as hot stone, and the tip was soft and wet. She took a deep breath and encircled it with her hand. “Dearest,” she whispered, “oh, dearest . . .”
In answer, he rolled her over on her side and faced her, rising up on one elbow to kiss her face, her eyelids. His big hand slipped down to touch her mound, and she quivered with excitement. She wanted him in the most primitive way a female can want a male. She had never felt real passion before, and now she was breathing hard, but not as hard as he was as he touched and stroked between her thighs until she was wet and hot. “Please,” she moaned, “Oh, please . . .”
He looked deep into her eyes, breathing hard. “Damn you. I never knew a man could want a woman like I want you! I’d give my front seat in hell for ten minutes in your arms.”
“If I—if I let you,” she gasped as he stroked her breast,
“if I let you, will you ride out of Wyoming and never look back?”
He swore a terrible oath and sat up. The glare in his dark eyes told her the spell was broken. “You’re no whore! Why are you acting like one?”
She was afraid of his anger and shrank back. “I—I just thought I could tempt you into making a deal—”
“Does it even occur to you I could take you by force right here and now?” He sat up and began to button his pants.
“But you wouldn’t.” She knew him well, she thought.
“Princess, don’t tempt me. You were within a few seconds of losing your virginity, and Kruger wouldn’t want you then.”
“He wouldn’t care. He loves me.”
“He loves his pride more.” Diablo swore and leaned back against a rock. “I think I know him well enough to know he wouldn’t want my leavings.”
“Is that what you call it, ‘leavings?’” she snorted and got up from the blanket, flounced over to the fire, and poked it from coals into flames. She reached for the coffeepot.
Diablo watched her making coffee. He had never wanted to possess a woman as much as he wanted Sunny. He studied her pale hair reflecting the dawn glow and the fairness of her skin. She was light to his darkness, innocence to his world-weary cynicism. He realized he was succumbing to her dainty charm, his need to protect her, to take her as his woman. Or was it only that she was Kruger’s woman and he wanted to take her as he had the man’s horse and dog and rifle? He was not sure, and that unnerved him.
She looked up as she fried bacon, and her eyes were the palest blue like a Texas sky on a summer day. There couldn’t be many women as beautiful as this one, and she could command a high price: the riches of a cattle baron and a bed with silk sheets. She was beyond his reach, and Diablo knew it.
She turned the bacon over and looked at him. “What are you thinking?”
He could not tell her—he was still furious with her for leading him on and then attaching a price to it like a common whore. He must use her to draw Kruger close enough to kill him before she caused him to weaken and drop his resolve.
They ate in silence as the sun rose.
She watched him, noting every ripple of muscle and sinew under his dark skin. His maleness had seemed huge, and she had wanted him with every ounce of passion within her, which surprised and scared her. He was not going to be deterred from more killing by a promise of her ripe body. And she had wanted him to take her, possess her completely, and at that time, she hadn’t cared about anything else.
She thought about Hurd’s flabby, middle-aged body and sighed. The marriage, of course, would mean that she would have to let him use her body for his pleasure and get her big with his child. That didn’t seem a fair exchange. At the moment, she wanted the half-breed to take her virginity in wild spasms of passion, so that she would know at least once what it felt like to be loved by a real, virile man.
Diablo stood up. He still felt weak, but he had things to do and the longer he stayed up here hidden in this cave, the better chance Kruger had of finding him before Diablo found him first. “I’ve got someplace to go.”
“You shouldn’t ride. That wound might tear open.” She looked up at him, and he wished her concern for him was genuine.
“I’ve got to get a message to Kruger.”
“About me?”
He nodded. “You can quit thinkin’ about escaping while I’m gone.”
“I could have escaped a dozen times when you were first wounded.”
“Then why didn’t you?” He had been wondering this.
She didn’t look at him. “We’ve been through this before. Maybe I thought I should get you on your feet before Hurd found you.”
“He’d have shot me helpless in my blankets.”
She shook her head. “No, he’s not that kind of man.”
Diablo snorted in disgust. “You don’t know anything about men. Here, I’m going to tie you up.”
“No.” She shook her head and backed away.
“Don’t make me chase you down,” he snapped. “I’m not up to it.”
In answer, she turned to run, but his reflexes were faster. He grabbed her, and they went down, struggling and kicking. He ended up on top. “You keep temptin’ me, I may just take you, and you can make excuses to Kruger.”
Her face flushed red as he twisted her arms behind her and forced her into a sitting position against a tree. Then he tied her there. In the struggle, her dress had slipped off one shoulder, and one breast was almost completely exposed.
He tore a scrap from her skirt. “I don’t want you yelling for help, either.”
Before she realized what he was about, he leaned over and kissed her deeply, thoroughly. She bit his lip and tongue, and he jerked back, wiping blood from his mouth. “It was worth it,” he smiled.
Then he forced the scrap of cloth between her teeth. She tried to swear at him, but her sounds were muffled. Then he leaned over and kissed her breast, sucking her nipple while she writhed against her bounds, yet she couldn’t help but arch her back, offering more of her breast still.
“Damn
you,” he whispered, breathing hard. “You keep upping the ante, I may just have to take you up on your offer.”
She tried to tell him through her gag that she wasn’t making any offer and she’d die before she let him touch her again, but she knew he couldn’t understand what she said.
He grinned and reached down to raise her chin. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours, and maybe we’ll continue this.”
She watched him saddle Onyx and order Wolf to stay with her. Then he mounted up and rode out. She looked after him as long as she could see him. She tried her bonds and realized she couldn’t slip free, nor could she push the gag from her mouth. She was like a trussed goose, helpless and vulnerable, waiting for him to return and do with her what he willed. If he never came back, she could die here before anyone ever found this secret place.
No, she decided, that was what the old Sunny would have done: wait obediently for the gunfighter to return and untie her and if he never did, die here like a docile prairie lady. Hell, no, she wasn’t going to do that. She realized then that her days with Diablo had changed her. She had a mind of her own now. She began to work on loosening the ropes. He had tied her well, and it was a daunting task. She might not get loose before he returned, but she had to try.
Diablo could think of nothing but the girl as he rode away. She was Kruger’s future bride, and he should possess her as he had taken everything else the cattle baron valued. It would serve Kruger right. And yet, Diablo didn’t want her that way. He didn’t want her screaming and afraid as he forced himself within her, he wanted her to welcome him with open arms and spread thighs, her lips and her mound hot and wet, desiring him and only him.
He had to finish this business with Kruger before he succumbed to his need for the girl. Where could he post a note that might be found and taken to Kruger? It had to lure the rancher out into the open where Diablo could capture him and Joe and repay them for what they had done to him.
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