Her Scoundrel

by Geralyn Dawson

  Jenny suggested that Kat pay him a visit.

  She traveled halfway there before she changed her mind, changed direction and soon knocked on her sister’s back door. “I’m too worried about Jake to visit him,” she told Mari.

  Her sister shook her head. “That makes absolutely no sense.”

  “Sure it does. If I see him looking weak and vulnerable, I’ll be weak and vulnerable. I won’t be able to tell him no.”

  “Tell him no about what?”

  “Whatever he asks.”

  Mari blinked once, then twice. “All right. You’ve lost me. What are you talking about Kat?”

  “I’m beginning to think you may be right, Mari.”

  “I’m right? Did you say I’m right? Hold on, let me find a pencil. I need to mark this special day on the calendar.”

  “Very funny.”

  “What am I right about?”

  Kat touched the necklace that Jake had returned to her upon his arrest. “I might be making another mistake…It’s truly against my better judgment…I honestly can’t believe I’m setting myself up for disappointment again but…”

  “Katrina, spit it out. What are you talking about?”

  She drew a deep breath, then exhaled a heavy sigh. “Mari, I think I’m beginning to believe again. In Roslin. In the curse. I’m beginning to think it might be possible for me and Jake to fulfill the necklace’s promise.”

  A smile burst like sunshine across Mari’s face and she snapped her fingers. “I get to say it again. I told you—”

  “However,” Kat interrupted. “Before I commit myself, I want to be sure. I must know without a shadow of a doubt. I need proof of Jake Kimball’s love.”

  “You need faith.”

  Kat shook her head. “I’ve had faith in the past. This time I need more, only, I don’t know what ‘more’ is. I just have to believe that I’ll recognize it once I see it.”

  Her sister studied her for a long moment with narrowed eyes. Then, abruptly, she snorted. “You want your love to be tested, don’t you? Of all the foolish, ridiculous, short-sighted ideas. Let me tell you something about being tested, Katrina. Two words—Finn Murphy.”

  Finn Murphy was the villain who’d murdered Rory and almost killed Mari, who would have killed her if Luke’s love hadn’t driven him to continue to search for her long after most everyone else believed her dead. “Mari,” Kat chastised. “I’m not looking to be kidnapped or held hostage or have my life threatened in some other way by some outlaw so that Jake can ride to my rescue. I’m not stupid. I just want…something…and I know if I don’t stand my ground now, I’ll never know for sure. I’ll never be certain.”

  Mari’s long, loud sigh filled the kitchen. “You always did want drama in your life.”

  No, Kat thought, as she made her way back home. What she’d always wanted, what she’d always dreamed of, was love.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  A WEEK AFTER HIS arrival in Fort Worth, Jake stood outside his wife’s house in the wee hours of the morning, ready to storm the fortress. Despite extensive efforts on his part to talk with her, she’d avoided him. He hadn’t seen hide nor hair of her since she’d left the jail, and damned if he hadn’t come close to dying three different times since then. He’d been gassed, nearly bitten by a rattler that had slithered into his boot, and yesterday, damned if a stray bullet hadn’t come within inches of making the woman a widow. The coldhearted wench hadn’t bothered to so much as send a note.

  How the hell was he supposed to prove his love if he couldn’t get within ten feet of the woman?

  The time had come to settle this nonsense once and for all. Unbeknownst to Kat, Jake had made arrangements for the children with Mari and with the children themselves. Now all that remained to do was the doing.

  He checked his pocket watch, then let himself into the house with the key Miranda had given him. Not five minutes later, Maribeth Garrett hurried up the walk, infants in arms. Jake opened the door, and Mari took her babies directly into the parlor, placing the sleeping children in the cradles Kat kept available for her. She switched on a light, got her first good look at Jake, and her eyes went wide. “Well, that’s a strange traveling costume.”

  He wore knee-high boots, tight black pants, and a billowy white silk shirt. Jake winked at her and grinned, then started up the stairs. He heard Mari murmur, “My sister is so going to owe me for this.”

  According to the children, Kat’s bedroom was on the second floor, first door to the right Jake silently turned the knob and cracked open the door. Moonlight spilled into the room, illuminating the bed where his wife lay sleeping. Despite the need for speed, he took a moment to enjoy the picture she made. My very own Sleeping Beauty.

  He decided to wake her with a kiss.

  His lips brushed hers once, twice, then settled down to savor. She awoke, he was gratified to discover, with his name on her lips.

  Then she immediately went stiff as a board. “Jake? What…how…why are you here in my bedroom!”

  He gave her a slow, sensual smile. “I can’t think of a better place to be.”

  She tried to roll off the bed, then, keeping her voice low so as not to wake the children, showed him the sharp side of her tongue. Jake subdued her struggles, though the effort got his blood humming. For the first time in forever, he had his hands where he wanted them—on her—and it felt damned good.

  Until she elbowed him in the breadbox, that is.

  “Hellcat” he muttered. He straddled her, holding her captive between the strength of his thighs as he pulled his knife from the sheath inside his boot.

  Kat’s eyes rounded. “What are you doing?”

  He sliced the cord tying back the bed curtain, then held the knife to his mouth and bit the blade as he dragged her arms above her head and bound her wrists.

  “Oh!” Kat flailed about beneath him. “I know what this is. You’re playing pirate. I’ll tell you what, Jake Kimball. You’re crazy if you think I’m going to participate in any of your honeymoon fantasies.”

  Once he had her arms secured, he grabbed her kicking legs and cut another cord to wrap around her ankles. Returning his knife to its sheath, he said, “This is no fantasy, love. I’m not acting a character or playing a part. This is completely real. I’m a thief, remember? Well, guess what?” He gave her another quick, hard kiss. “You’re my prize.”

  Then, using the silk scarf he’d tugged from his pocket, he gagged her. She writhed and wiggled and squealed into the scarf. Jake scooped her up and over his shoulder, then, giving her bottom a swat, headed downstairs.

  Mari waited by the front door. Kat went stiff as a fence post when she heard her sister say, “Y’all have a good time, now. Don’t fret about the children. Luke and I will take good care of them. Maddy and Drew are looking forward to spending more time with their cousins.”

  Jake felt Kat lift her head, and he knew she must be glaring at her sister. Her body vibrated with rage. Just for the fun of it, he started to give her rear another swat, but he ended up just holding her cheek instead. Damn, but he’d missed this woman.

  Outside, he laid her in the bed of a rented hay wagon and covered her with a blanket. “So far so good, sweetheart, and that’s saying something for me these days. Now just relax and keep still. It’s a short ride to the train station.”

  “Mfrwaf…mmwafhm…mfruwarh.”

  “Hush, now. We’ll have plenty of time to talk on our way to San Antonio.”

  Their trip through the dark streets of Fort Worth went quickly and without incident. Jake suspected it was too soon for his luck to have turned. Nevertheless, he grew hopeful. At the train station, he pulled the wagon past the passenger platform and along the rail toward the caboose and the private car preceding it, a car he’d purchased from a railroad baron the day before yesterday. He set the brake on the wagon, then hopped to the ground. “Be right back,” he told Kat.

  He unlocked the railcar, stepped inside and lit the lamps. He glanced around, checking t
he space for potential weapons. He saw nothing he’d term as being lethal in Kat’s hands. Loudness, he figured he could live with. She’d need to vent her frustration some way, and he doubted she’d be willing to do it the way he’d choose. Not at first, anyway.

  In the bedroom Jake turned back the bedding and indulged himself in a quick fantasy picturing Kat against the midnight-blue sheets, her hair spread out around her like a golden waterfall. “Soon, sweetpea. Soon.”

  Leaving the railcar door open, Jake climbed to the ground, took a good look around, waited for a railroad worker to disappear around the side of the station, then lifted Kat into his arms. He took only seconds to carry her inside the car.

  Her eyes widened at the luxurious interior. The previous owner had outfitted the two bedrooms, bath and parlor with only the finest Mahogany paneling, stained glass, crystal light fixtures. Kat wouldn’t have cause to complain about the accommodations. This time she’d travel in style.

  Jake gently placed her on the bed. Her emerald eyes shot arrows of fire. Jake idly thought that Kat Kimball, in a temper, rivaled a South Sea sunset in beauty. Stepping away from the bed, he pulled the chair away from the dressing table, set it beside the bed and straddled it.

  “Mmurmphf. Frmphrumph. Mmf. Mmf!”

  “Hold your horses. I’ll do a little explaining to you, then I’ll let you loose. Probably. If you promise to behave.”

  “Mmurmphf.”

  He interpreted that as a curse. “Shall I start with the big stuff and work my way down or begin with the details and work my way up?”

  “Mfph. Mfph.”

  “All right I’ll begin with the little stuff. As I mentioned earlier, this train will take us to San Antonio. I’ve done a lot of thinking about the Sacred Heart Cross, honey, and I’ve decided there’s something to this bad-luck business you warned me about the day we first met. It may be the last gift I gave my father, but enough is enough. I’m tired of being sick, stuck, bitten, beaten and shot at. I brought the cross with me, and you and I are going to finish that task that you’ve been planning for so long.”

  As he’d hoped, the fire in her eyes banked a bit at that. Jake continued, “I would have talked it over with you ahead of time, but we haven’t exactly had an opportunity to visit since I came to town. I want to apologize for that night, by the way. I was out of line.”

  Now her eyes narrowed as if she doubted his sincerity. Jake didn’t like her reaction, but guessed he couldn’t blame her. He wasn’t in the habit of apologizing.

  He plowed on. “I was jealous. I didn’t like seeing you having supper and laughing with another man. I didn’t like the way he was looking at you. Makes me see red every time I think about it. The man is a deputy sheriff. He shouldn’t be poaching on another man’s woman.”

  “Mmrufph.”

  “Yes, I know. He wouldn’t have had the opportunity had I been where I belonged. With you. That’s something else I need to explain. I told you a little bit about Daniel, but there’s more to the story. I’m hoping you’ll listen and understand a little better once I’m done.”

  It wasn’t just Daniel’s story, of course. In this, as in most other aspects of Jake’s early life, his father had been the driving force. Jake told her about Bernard Kimball, about always trying to please a man impossible to please. About how Daniel was the light of Bernard Kimball’s world.

  Jake spoke about his family for a long time, baring his heart, baring his soul. He talked so much that his mouth went dry, and he stood up to pour himself a glass of water. “Oh,” he said, frowning. “You’re probably thirsty, too.”

  Kat nodded hard.

  “Hmm. There are people milling around outside now. Promise you won’t scream or yell for help if I take off the gag?”

  She considered it for a moment, then she nodded again.

  “I’ll shut you up if you try it,” he warned. “I’ve been looking for an excuse to kiss you again.”

  Jake filled two glasses with water, then nimbly untied the knot and removed the gag. “I can’t believe you kidnapped me and tied me up!” she said the moment she could speak.

  “It was my turn.” Jake helped his wife sit up, then he held the drink to her mouth. He experienced a twinge of guilt when she drained half the glass, but then he got distracted by the moisture clinging to her lips.

  Jake couldn’t help but kiss her then. He touched his lips to hers, a whisper of a touch, drawing the pleasure out. He’d been without this much too long. He missed her.

  He sank into the kiss, tracing her soft, wet mouth with his tongue, encouraging her lips to react, to open to him. The familiarity of Kat’s response both soothed him and stirred his blood. He wanted to lie beside her, to feel her full breasts pressed against him, to tangle his legs with hers. But the time wasn’t right. Not yet. Jake summoned every ounce of his control and ended the kiss and stepped away.

  He picked up his water glass and drained it. He considered pouring a second glass and dumping it in his lap.

  Kat cleared her throat. “I didn’t scream, but you kissed me, anyway.”

  “I was thirsty,” he said, showing her his pirate’s smile. “There was water on your lips.”

  “So you took it”

  “Yeah.”

  “Not a ‘may I’ or a ‘please’ or a ‘would you mind.’”

  “I’m not a gentleman thief. Just a plain old everyday thief.”

  Kat wrinkled her nose. “You’re a pirate. A knife in your mouth. An earring in your ear.”

  “Ravishment on my mind,” he added, waggling his brows.

  She sniffed. “You frightened me to death.”

  “No, I didn’t. I surprised you. I intrigued you. I aroused you.”

  She sighed dramatically. “I’m weak.”

  “No,” Jake fired back, all teasing gone from his demeanor. “You are one of the strongest women I’ve ever met, Kat Kimball. Honestly, that’s one of the reasons I was brave enough to follow you to Texas.”

  At that, she cast him a wary glance.

  “This is where we work up to the bigger stuff. I did a lot of thinking while I was adrift in my various occurrences of bad luck. I realized something important I tried to tell you this at the jail that night but—”

  “No!” She said it violently with a furious toss of her head. “No more. Don’t you dare say any more. Not this way.”

  Well, hell. What had he done? “Not what way?”

  “Untie me, Jake.”

  He scratched the back of his neck. “You gonna go to San Antonio with me?”

  “You really brought the cross with you from England?”

  Wordlessly, Jake rose and walked to one of the railcar’s built-in cabinets. He opened a drawer and removed the jewel-studded piece. Carrying it over to the bed, he asked, “Why didn’t you take it when you left Chatham Park? I couldn’t believe it when I saw that you’d left it behind. Especially since I absconded with your necklace.”

  “Again.”

  Jake nodded. “Again.”

  Her gaze locked on the treasure. “The cross is all tangled up in my mind with you. It’s because of the cross that I first met you, because of the cross that you saw my necklace and decided to steal it.”

  “Only after you refused to sell it to me,” he said.

  Her lips curved and she gave a soft laugh. Hearing it encouraged Jake, and he relaxed a little.

  “I thought about bringing the cross with me when I came home. I took it out of its box and stared at it for a long time the day we left Chatham Park.” She paused and as the moment drew out, Jake tensed all over again. “You’d rejected me. Leaving it behind was symbolic.”

  “You were rejecting me.” It was a knife straight to his heart.

  “You and the curse and the dream,” she said with a shrug. “It is a beautiful work of art, though, isn’t it?”

  Jake set the cross on the table. “A part of me thinks it’s damned ugly. Every time I look at it a shiver creeps up my spine and I hear your voice in my hea
d telling me it’s bad luck. Then I think of every bad thing that’s happened to me and my family since I purchased that piece from Rory Callahan. Makes me wish I’d been pocket-lint poor when ol’ Rory contacted me about the treasure.”

  Jake returned to his seat, reached out and curled a long golden lock of Kat’s hair around his finger. “And yet, another part of me thinks it’s the prettiest knick-knack I’ve ever seen. Without that altar cross, I never would have met you. What a conundrum, hmm? The bad-luck altar cross bringing me good luck. You, Katrina, are just about the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  “Jake, untie me. Now.”

  “But—”

  “If you’re fixing to say what I think you’re fixing to say, and you do it while my hands and feet are bound, I’ll never forgive you!”

  Jake waited a beat before asking, “Never?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Even when we’re old and gray?”

  “Even then.”

  Yes. Those two little words allowed a great big burden to roll right off his back. She was going to forgive him. He might have to work to get there, but in the end she was bound to be his.

  Actually, now that he knew he didn’t have to sweat the outcome, the getting there might just be fun.

  Jake rolled his tongue around his mouth and tried to choose whether to start with her ankles or her wrists. He’d always had a fondness for shapely legs on a woman, but look at where she was holding her hands— pillowed against the soft, thin cotton of her nightgown right on top of her breasts.

  He eyed the knot. He’d tied it good. The quickest way to set her free would be to use his knife, but quick didn’t exactly have a lot of appeal.

  He sat beside her on the narrow bed and began working the knot at her wrists, his fingers brushing her breasts both by accident and by design. “When I was trying to decide how best to approach you, I kept thinking about that first day we met on the beach in Galveston. You were so beautiful. Ripe and lush, I never forgot you.”

  “I felt fat and awkward and ugly. I moved with the grace of a cow.” After a moment’s hesitation, she added, “For a brief time that day, you made me feel feminine.”