He passed a reward poster nailed to a tree, stopped, and ripped it down. He dismounted and took a stub of pencil from his shirt pocket. He turned the poster over and wrote:
Kruger, I will meet and return the girl. Meet me tomorrow night just before sundown at the clearing by the three cottonwood trees. You know the place. You and Joe come alone and unarmed.
He thought about signing it, but decided Kruger would know who sent it. Diablo didn’t know if the pair would ride into his trap, but he was certain they wouldn’t come unarmed. The clearing by the three cottonwoods was an ironic place to meet, but the horror began there and so it should end there. It was only just.
How to get it to Kruger? He thought about this a long time. Finally he rode into the town of Krugerville, rode down an alley, wrapped the note around a rock, and tossed it through the Longhorn Saloon window. Then he galloped out of town. Someone in the saloon would get it to Kruger, he was certain of that. Tomorrow night at sundown, he would finally get his revenge: torturing Joe and Kruger and then killing them both. After that, he would turn the girl loose and let her do as she would, having served as the irresistible bait in his trap.
In the meantime, Sunny had managed to untie herself and stood wondering what to do. Should she ride for town and the sheriff, or should she ride to the K Bar? She thought she could find her way out of the foothills now.
You little idiot, she thought, what difference does it make as long as you clear out of here before the gunfighter returns? There was something about him that drew her to him, but she knew he was dangerous. Was she just some silly moth hovering around a flame? She shook her head. Of course she had to leave this minute. She began to saddle the bay.
Diablo rode back to his hideout. It was near dark now, and the fire was down to a few glowing coals. Wolf came out to meet him, and he dismounted and patted the dog, unsaddled his black horse, and hobbled it so it could graze.
At that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the girl mount up, and he ran for her as she whipped up the horse. “You little bitch!” He grabbed her ankle and pulled her off. They went down in a whirl of skirts and rolled over and over.
The blood bay ran a few yards and stopped, while Wolf barked and ran around the pair as they tussled in the grass. Diablo came up on top, very aware of the soft curves of her body under him. “Princess, you surprise me. I thought you’d sit there like a good little girl until I came back.”
“You bastard, get off me!” She tried to get out from under him, feeling the sudden hardness of his maleness through the thin pink dress. She felt her nipples go turgid, and her secret place felt suddenly warm and wet. That both scared her and made her angry. “This is no way to treat a lady.”
“You’re right.” He sighed and very slowly, got up. She had aroused him in a way no woman ever had, and what his body wanted to do was take her, conquer her, make her his in every sense of the word. He reached out and pulled her to her feet.
She dusted herself off, and he got a good look at her breasts as she bent. He fought an urge to grab her, run his hand into her bodice, stroke, caress, and kiss those mounds of delight.
She straightened. “Where did you go?”
“To get a note to Kruger. I told him we’d meet tomorrow night just before sundown if he wanted to get you back.”
“What did you ask for?”
He got up and went to the fire, poked it into flames. “Nothing.”
“Do you really think he’ll come?” she asked.
He nodded. “For a woman like you, any man would walk across live coals.”
She flushed at the way he stared at her, his hunger evident in his dark eyes.
“Maybe not. Anyway, you know he won’t come alone.”
“No, but I want Joe too. Kruger will probably try to trick me and bring a big posse,” Diablo said. “But when he sees you tied and staked down naked in the trees, he’ll forget his caution and come rushin’ in to save you.”
“And then you’ll kill him.” She looked up at him.
“And then I’ll kill him,” Diablo promised.
“So after that, what happens to me?”
He shrugged. “After I use you as bait, you can go and do as you please.”
“You don’t have any desire to take me with you?”
He started to say something, then chewed his lip. “A gunfighter leads a tough, lonely life, Sunny. You couldn’t take it.”
“Hurd is a good shot; so is Joe. They might just kill you.”
“Maybe, but I don’t think so.” He stared into the fire.
She got up. “I reckon I could throw some supper together.”
“I shot a rabbit on the way back,” he said. “That would be good roasted on a spit.”
“You can really live off the land, can’t you?”
He nodded. “Texans are pretty self-reliant and independent.”
Too independent, she thought. He doesn’t need anyone. She watched him skin the rabbit and put it on a spit. “So I’ll be the bait so you can kill Kruger.”
“And Joe,” he said as he hung the meat over the fire.
There was no reasoning with this cold-blooded killer, she decided. Maybe later tonight, she could lure him with her body, although there was no guarantee he’d keep his word if she traded her body for Kruger’s life. She had to try.
After they ate and shared the scraps with the dog, they both sat by the fire drinking coffee.
She looked over at him. “How are you feeling?”
“A little weak, but I’ll make it. I’m tough.”
“You’re in no shape to get into a gunfight.”
“Let me be the judge of that,” he snapped.
“Look,” she whispered, “I don’t want to see you get killed. I don’t want to see anyone get killed. Why don’t you just ride on back to Texas?”
He shook his head. “Can’t. This will never be finished until Kruger is dead.”
“You might be the one dead.”
He shrugged. “Then you can say I got what I deserved.”
“You’re a stubborn fool.”
“Yep. But there’s not much I want out of life except Kruger’s death.”
“And what about your life after that?”
He shook his head. “I’ve never given a thought to past Kruger’s death. My whole life has been centered on that. I reckon I’ll just go back to Texas until someone needs a hired gun.”
“Don’t you want a home, a family, a woman who loves you?”
His face was sad, and he waited a long time before answering. “Trace Durango offered me some land out in the Big Bend country where I could catch wild horses and break them. I could build a cabin, but no woman would want to live that poor and out in that desolate, lonely country.”
“She would if she loved you.”
He laughed. “With a face like mine? Besides, I have no money. It would take at least a thousand dollars to make a start, buy supplies.”
“Well, maybe you could get it.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. I haven’t seen that much money in one hunk in my whole life.”
“Maybe Kruger will bring ransom money—”
“He won’t bring money—he’ll bring cowboys with rifles and plenty of ammunition.”
“If you’re sure it will be a trap—”
“It’ll be a trap; I know the man. But I’ve got tricks, too.”
“So everybody gets killed.” She sighed in exasperation.
“Not you,” he said. “I’ll make sure nothing happens to you. Maybe you can find a way to go back east to your aunt.”
“With no money?” She snorted, then got up. “I’m going to bed.” She went into the cave, lay down on the blanket. From here, she watched Diablo staring into the fire. She had mixed feelings about the man. She didn’t really want to see him get killed, but that seemed inevitable. Well, it served him right.
After a while, he came in and lay down beside her. She heard the dog whine as it settled down nea
r them.
“Diablo, I hate to see any more killing. There’s been enough bloodshed already.”
“That’s not up to me; it’s up to Kruger.”
“If—if I make love to you, would you stop all this and ride out?”
He snorted in disgust. “Do you care that much about Kruger?”
She didn’t answer. She realized suddenly that she cared that much about Diablo, not Kruger. There was something vulnerable and tender about this scarred, tough gunfighter. She reached over and took his hand, squeezed it.
He raised it to his lips and kissed her hand. “If things were different . . .” he began, and then stopped.
“Yes?”
“Nothing.” His tone was brusque. “I’m a damned fool, I reckon.”
Sunny thought maybe she would be returned to Kruger and marry him and spend many years in his silk-sheeted bed while he huffed and pawed over her. But just once, she’d like to know what it was to be possessed by a real man, a wild stallion of a man. Even if tonight was the only time. Kruger would never have to know.
She rose up on one elbow and looked down at him.
“What the hell do you want?” he snapped. “Go to sleep.”
“Not yet,” she whispered.
“You’re a funny girl,” he said. “Don’t you realize that if you keep messin’ with me, I might not be able to control myself ?”
“I know, but I’ve wondered what it would be like.”
“You’d be wastin’ your virginity on an ugly killer who has nothing to offer. Save it for some rich, future husband.”
“But then I would always wonder if I missed something.”
“Look, Princess,” his voice was gentle, “I don’t know nothin’ about making love to a real lady. All I’ve ever had were a few drunken whores I had to bribe. Each time it was over in a couple of minutes, and then I paid her for it, got up, buckled my belt, and left. You deserve better than that.”
She had never felt so sorry and so tender toward anyone as she did at this moment. “Make love to me, Jim Durango.”
“I’m not Jim!” he raged. “Jim is some law-abiding rancher with a decent life who’ll grow old among grandkids. I’ll die before I’m forty on the floor of a dirty saloon or the dust of some Western street, and—”
She leaned over and cut off his words with her kiss. She didn’t know what would happen tomorrow, but tonight, she wanted to find out what passion was all about and she wanted this scarred, bitter gunfighter to teach her.
And maybe, just maybe, there was something she could teach him about trust and tenderness. It was worth a try.
He hesitated, then put his arms around her, pulling her close. “Sunny,” he whispered, “Oh, Sunny . . .”
She snuggled into the safety of his powerful embrace, laying her head on his broad shoulder. The kiss deepened, and his grip tightened as if he never wanted to let her go.
She pulled back and looked up into his smoldering dark eyes. He looked confused and troubled. “You could be Jim,” she whispered, “just a regular rancher with an ordinary life.”
He shook his head. “I’ve gone too far to return. Everyone knows who I am. There’s always some young buck waiting to draw down on me, wanting to be the man who beat Diablo to the draw.”
She ran her hand across his scarred face. He started to pull away, but she stopped him.
“Don’t. I don’t care about your looks, what’s on the outside. I’ve had a glimpse of the inside, and I think there’s something there worth saving—something protective and loving.”
“Nobody else has ever seen anything like that,” he murmured.
“It’s there. Believe me, it’s there.” And she reached up and pulled his face down to hers, kissed his face over and over again. “I think I could love you.”
“Don’t,” he warned her. “You know it will only lead to heartbreak for us both. You’re eighteen, Princess, and I’m twenty-nine, and it’s been a long, hard road. There’s been too much killing, drinking, gambling—too much everything for me to make a go of it with a naive innocent like you. You’d end up leavin’ me and I couldn’t bear it, to have you a little while and then lose you.”
She felt tears gathering in her eyes. “Don’t say that.”
“For God’s sake, don’t cry!” he snapped and wiped the tears off her cheeks with a finger. “I—I can’t stand to see you cry.”
“Then tell me you don’t care about me,” she wept, “convince me that you’re only holding me as revenge against Hurd.”
“All right. I don’t care about you. I’m only playing with you. As soon as I kill Kruger, I’ll go back to Texas and never give you another thought.”
“Liar!” She reached up and pulled his face down to hers, and he couldn’t stop himself. He kissed her with all the pent-up love and devotion that a lonely, half-breed had never given to anyone.
Sunny knew he might be making a fool of her, but at the moment, she didn’t care. Tonight she was going to learn about love, and she wanted this scarred, vulnerable gunfighter to teach her.
Chapter 18
She was ecstatic with the touch of his lips across hers, and she held on to him and whispered, “Please make love to me.”
“You’re a little fool,” his voice rasped with passion as he kissed her cheeks, her eyes, and then again, her mouth.
She opened her lips in complete surrender. His tongue caressed the velvet of her tongue, and she sucked gently on it, willing him to go deeper still.
His strong hand went to cover her breast, and she reached to unbutton her bodice, wanting the warmth of his hand to possess and stroke her nipple. Then his lips crept to her neck and the hollow of her throat. She felt the warmth of his breath and his tongue as he moved down to caress her nipple with his mouth. She had never known it could feel like this. She held his dark head against her breast and arched her back, offering her breasts to him.
“Sunny,” he gasped, “Sunny, I can’t get enough of you!” His hand pulled up her calico dress. She felt him stroking her thigh until goose bumps rose at his touch. Then she let her thighs fall apart.
“Touch me there,” she demanded. “Touch me there!”
He obliged, his fingers going to her inner thigh and then to her mound. She knew she was wet with desire, and he stroked her there, sending a thrill shuddering through her. She knew she was on the precipice of something she did not understand and had never known: that moment that a girl becomes a woman, when she becomes one with a special man. She wanted that—no, she demanded that.
As he kissed her lips and stroked her belly, she reached to unbutton his pants. His freed manhood was big and hot and throbbing. He moaned at her touch and tried to pull away. “Sunny, for God’s sake, you don’t know what you’re doing to me. You don’t want to waste this on a penniless gunfighter. It’s the most valuable thing a woman has to give, and I can’t let you—”
“Do it to me,” she commanded. “I want it as much as you do.”
At her words, he became frenzied and rolled between her thighs, supporting his weight on his elbows as he looked down at her, breathing hard. His dark eyes were intense with passion.
“I—I think I love you,” she whispered, pulling him to her.
“Don’t make more of this than it is,” he ordered as he positioned himself above her. “We have this moment and nothing more.”
“Then that will have to be enough,” she answered and put her hands on his narrow hips. “Take me!” she begged. “Please take me.”
He hesitated just a moment, his rough-hewn face contorted with his need, and then he came into her very slowly.
He was big. She could feel him hot and throbbing as he came down on her. She wanted more. Sunny reached to pull him, locking her thighs around him so that he could not escape until he had given her what it was she needed.
He gasped and plunged into her to the hilt. “Sunny, I—I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.”
“Hurt me,” she begged, “deeper and deeper still. Ride
me like a wild filly.”
He needed no further urging. He began to ride her, deep and hard. She could feel every hot inch of him invading her velvet depths, and she wanted more and more as she began the rhythm of love, bare flesh slamming hard against bare flesh.
For only a moment, they were locked together, each writhing and pounding, gasping as each time he went deep and hard. She felt emotion beginning deep in her belly. It was like silent music, and he was providing the rhythm. The music reached a deafening crescendo as he rode her harder and faster. Just as she thought she couldn’t take any more without crying out, he stiffened and plunged into her once more, sighing as if it were his last breath, and then her own body locked on to his. The silent music became the crashing of drums in her ears, and she took a deep breath and knew no more.
When she finally opened her eyes, he was still lying on her, gasping for air, and she wanted to hold him close and caress his tousled black hair. “Oh, sweet, I think I love you.”
He rose up on his elbows and looked down at her, his face pained. “It was only for pleasure, understand? I don’t give a damn about you; I can’t.”
“I know.” She didn’t believe him, and she reached up and traced his sensual mouth with one finger.
“I’ve ruined you.” He rolled off her and looked regretful. “I shouldn’t have taken your virginity. You shouldn’t have sold it so cheap.”
“I didn’t sell it. I gave it away, and I’m glad you were the one.” She reached up to kiss him.
He seemed to struggle with self control, and then he kissed her deeply and passionately, and held her very close. She felt tears from his eyes on her face. “Princess, I don’t like this feelin’ I get about you. It makes me feel weak and vulnerable.”
“I like you that way.” She kissed the side of his lips. “Can you do that again?”
“Sunny,” he smiled. “You’re too innocent to understand a man has to have a little rest before he can do it again.” He held her very close and kissed her hair. “This can’t work out. You’re hardly more than a girl, and I feel old and world-weary next to you.”
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