Ignoring her aching wrist, Carrie Sue strapped on her gunbelt and checked her revolvers. She gathered her belongings from a pile in the front corner. She would have to steal a horse, any one she could find close by. She stiffened in alarm when someone knocked on the door and called out in a muffled voice, “It’s me, Sheriff, open up.”
Carrie Sue knew she had to let the man inside or he would know something was wrong and sound a warning. She stood behind the door as she unlocked it and opened it, her pistol in her hand. She closed it quickly and said, “Don’t move or you’ll catch my bullets in your gut.”
The masked man turned to face her, his twinkling eyes revealing his identity. He glanced toward the imprisoned sheriff, then back at her. He laughed and said, “I see you didn’t need my help after all, Sis.”
She smiled and said, “Darby! I knew you’d come, but this is reckless. Let’s get moving before somebody sees us.”
They gathered her things and sneaked out the door, locking it behind them. He had horses waiting around back. They mounted and left San Angelo quietly. Outside town, they changed to a swift gallop.
Chapter Twenty-two
They rode for over an hour before halting to speak briefly without dismounting. It was Saturday, June seventeenth, in the wee hours of the morning. They edged their mounts close together and caused their legs to make contact. Beneath the half-moon, they gazed at each other.
“You all right, love?” he asked, unable to pull his eyes from hers.
“Wonderful, partner. That was a good trick we pulled back there. I’m glad I told you Darby calls me Sis. That sheriff will be utterly confused and annoyed. At least I was quick-witted enough not to expose you. How did you find me, T.J., and why take such a big risk?”
He leaned forward and pulled her head toward him to kiss her before saying, “I should yank you off that horse, woman, and spank you good. Running out on me in El Paso was a dumb thing to do. See where it got you. From now on, you stick with me. Understand?”
Carrie Sue grinned as she caressed his stubbled jaw. “Yes sir, partner. Merciful Heavens, it’s good to see your handsome face.” She leaned toward him to kiss him again, savoring his lips and touch.
Both trembled and warmed. When they parted, he said, “We don’t have time to fool around, you hotblooded vixen, so we’d better stop tempting each other before we lose our heads and lives. We need to put plenty of miles between us and San Angelo. We’ll talk later, woman; you just behave for now.”
“You didn’t say how you found me,” she pressed.
“I was in the Commanche telegraph office when word came in about the bank job here and your capture. I was sending Hank a message to see if he’d heard from you. I’ve been half-crazy with worry. Lordy, I’m glad you’re safe and sound.” He looked her over as if making certain she was unharmed. “You sent me on quite a wild chase, you sly woman. I checked out that place you mentioned near Commanche, but clearly you weren’t heading there. I understand why you gave me the slip, Carrie Sue, but I don’t agree with you being so impulsive just to protect me and Darby. I actually panicked when you were captured. I rushed here pronto to get you out of trouble. When that story comes out, the law won’t know what to think or do.”
“What story?” she inquired, new suspicions flooding her.
His eyes glowed. “Haven’t you heard? That other band robbed a train in Stephenville and called themselves the Stover Gang. It happened on the same day Darby hit the bank here. The law has to realize somebody’s framing them, just like your note said. Why did you think I wouldn’t believe you? If anybody knows your brother, it’s you.”
“I was too scared and dull-witted. Quade Harding’s to blame; I’m certain of it. You’ll never guess what’s been going on here,” she hinted, then explained quickly what had taken place since they parted.
T.J. grinned as if her revelations were news to him. “That’s a clever trick, woman, using the papers to clear yourselves. After those two holdups at the same time, the law will have to listen to your brother’s side. I just wish all of his crimes were frame jobs.” His tender gaze locked with hers. “You want to warn him before I take you far away? ‘Cause that’s exactly what I’m going to do, pronto.”
She appeared surprised. “What about your revenge on Quade?”
“If the law doesn’t get him this time, one day I’ll come back for him. Right now, you’re my main concern. I love you, Carrie Sue Stover, and I want you to marry me when this mess is cleared up. I have to make certain you get out of this perilous existence.”
Her mouth parted and her eyes enlarged with astonishment. “You what?” she asked, hoping she had heard him correctly.
He responded, “I love you and want to marry you. We’ll go to Wyoming, or Montana, or some place and start a new life together. You did say you love me in that note. It wasn’t a lie, was it?”
Happiness surged through her at his unexpected proposal, and at the engulfing look in his smokey gray eyes. “No, it wasn’t a lie. I love you, T.J. Rogue, and I want to marry you. If we can just get far enough away from my past, it’ll work.”
He lifted her from her saddle and placed her on his thighs. He kissed her deeply and longingly. “I love you, woman, and I would do just about anything for you. I’ll make certain you stay safe and happy from now on. I promise I won’t ever let you change your mind about us.”
“I could never stop loving you and wanting you,” she murmured.
“I hope not, Carrie Sue, because you’re mine forever.”
They kissed and embraced again, then parted.
T.J. helped her back into her saddle. “We have to make tracks, love. There’s only one question left: do we head for parts unknown this minute or do we locate your brother to warn him and say good-bye?”
Her heart bubbling with love and joy, she disclosed, “Darby’s in Big Spring, waiting to pull off a robbery on Sunday. If we head that way, we’ll meet him on the trail. I’d like to warn him and tell him good-bye, and I’d like him to meet my future husband. He heard you were in San Angelo before our arrival. He said he wished you’d hung around so he could question your intentions toward his little sister and entice you to take on my permanent protection.”
A broad smile lifted the corners of T.J.’s mouth because she had told him the truth. At last, she trusted him completely. Lordy, how he hated to tell her his truth tomorrow night, at least part of it. Hopefully she wouldn’t lose faith in him or change her feelings toward him before he could confide the rest of it. “That’s the best job offer I’ve ever received, woman. Consider me hired.”
Carrie Sue asked, “You think we should swing by the camp and make sure those warning markers are down in case we miss Darby and the boys on the road? Thoughts of a trap make me cringe.”
“I think it’s too dangerous. If that sheriff gets free before morning, he’ll have a posse on our tail. He’ll probably look in the last place he thinks we would think he wouldn’t look.” He chuckled.
Carrie Sue laughed too. “You’re right, my love. Let’s put some miles between us and talk later. Which way, partner?”
T.J. had taken off from town in an eastward direction to prevent suspicion. He took the lead and off they galloped northwesterly, to travel for many hours before taking a break, then journeying until dark.
William Ferguson left on the nine o’clock stage for Stephenville to question the bandit in jail there. He wanted to hurry this interview and return to San Angelo before the final story came to light…
Quade Harding and his boys were heading toward San Angelo, but would arrive long after the posse—led by three Texas Rangers—left town to trail undercover Ranger Thad Jamison and his unsuspecting sweetheart Carrie Sue Stover…
Near Big Spring, Darby Stover and his gang camped outside town to await their action the next morning. The settlement had grown up around a natural spring on Sulphur Draw, a past and present watering hole for buffalo, antelope, wild mustangs, Indians, stage passengers, soldiers, and d
rifters. At ten o’clock in the morning, when most folks were in church, they would sneak into town, use their stolen badges, take the gold, and ride back for camp. It was a simple and crafty plan, and the boys were eager to get money for Carrie Sue’s future.
As the last light of day was vanishing, T.J. and Carrie Sue halted to make camp. She asked, “You think it’s safe to stop for the night?”
He gave a sly response, “You told me that sheriff thinks the gang was heading for Brownwood, and we did set a trail in that direction.”
“But I called you Darby, so he’ll think my brother rescued me. There’s no telling which area he’ll search, maybe all of them.”
“You don’t imagine he’ll think Darby had a lookout posted who warned him about your capture so he could return and rescue you? Or maybe he’ll think the guard rescued you,” he hinted to mislead her.
Suddenly she laughed and said, “I bet he thinks I called the lookout Darby just to fool him into believing my brother wasn’t heading for Brownwood. That sheriff was hateful. When he gets loose, after what that newspaper man told him, I’m sure he’ll head straight for the Harding Ranch to look for the Stover Gang. Besides, we’ve ridden hard and fast for hours, so we have to be way ahead of any posse. They’ll have to stop for rest, too, and they can’t track in the dark.”
T.J. noticed how she was flexing and rubbing her right wrist. “What’s wrong, love. That wrist giving you trouble? Let me take a look.”
He examined it and heard how she had injured it in the cell. “It’s swollen and discolored, probably sprained.” His fingers checked the area as gently as possible. “I don’t feel any break. I’ll wrap it tightly to take off the pressure. You should have told me sooner.”
“We didn’t have time to fiddle with a complaining wrist. It’ll be fine in a day or two. Just sore and tingly. Ouch,” she muttered when she flexed it too roughly to prove her point,
“You can’t fool me, woman; I know it hurts. I’ve had sprains before. Holding that heavy pistol had to annoy it. You even burst a vein or two and it’s bled under the skin.” T.J. wrapped one of his bandannas securely around her wrist to remove the strain on it. “Try not to use it more than necessary. I’ll do the chores. You rest.”
He chuckled and teased, “I know how you love cold biscuits, beans from the can, and no coffee, so that’s what I’ll serve tonight. We shouldn’t have a fire, just in case that sheriff is smarter than you think.”
Carrie Sue observed her lover at work while she leaned against a tree and sipped water. She jested, “Maybe we should ride south to the Mexican border and ask King Fisher to hide us a while. From what Mitch was saying, the law’s scared of him and can’t snare him. I’ve met the King, twice.”
“You have? When? How?”
“After that trouble in Laredo, we rode to Eagle Pass to cross the Rio Grande into Piedras Negras to lay low a while. He halted us and questioned us, then let us pass through his territory, after spending the night in his hidden camp, just like with Naiche. Then, he insisted we stop by again on our way back into Texas.”
“You know where King Fisher’s camp is located?”
“Sure, it’s easy to find if you know where to look.” She told the lawman how to reach the hideout of the bandit leader whom the Rangers were eager to apprehend, along with his band of around a hundred men.
T.J. sent her a pleased smile which she didn’t grasp the meaning of, which was one of relief. Surely this piece of valuable information would be worth something to the Texas authorities. If Carrie Sue could help him get the Stover Gang, Quade Harding, and King Fisher, surely that would earn her a pardon! What difference did it make to T.J. that she wasn’t helping him willingly or knowingly? After the fact, he would claim she had assisted him in all three cases and make her agree! But if the authorities and his friends in high positions still didn’t help him save his love, he would take that matter into his own hands!
Carrie Sue broke into his line of thought with, “We should link up with Darby by tomorrow afternoon, if nothing went wrong in Big Spring. He always travels one mile right of the road so me or the boys can catch up if any of us gets separated during a job. We’ll ride in that area and eventually meet up with him. I can’t wait to see his face when we turn up together. He’ll be glad you’re with me.”
“I hope so; Darby sounds mighty protective to me. Where’d you get those clothes?” he asked, eyeing the Mexican garments which she had donned to look more feminine to William Ferguson.
“I stole them from Mitch’s wife,” she admitted. Carrie Sue related how she had disguised herself to get out of El Paso. “Was your friend upset with me for stealing his sorrel? How did you get him back?”
T.J. chuckled. “Seems our tastes run the same in horseflesh, love. That’s the horse I traded for Charlie. Mitch was going to take your pinto across the border to sell so he wouldn’t get caught with it.”
“You mean I stole my own horse?” she ventured merrily.
“Yep. But those clothes were definitely a theft. I’ll send Mitch the money to pay for them. You do look good like that.” He licked his lips and let his gaze roam her silky flesh before answering her other query. “I figured the sheriff had stabled Charo at the livery. I sneaked him and your saddle out before I came to rescue you.”
“Charo, that’s a good name. I’m glad you got him back for me.”
After they ate and T.J. cleared the dishes, he asked, “Want to take a cool swim before we turn in? That was a hot and dusty ride.”
Carrie Sue glanced at the inviting North Concho River nearby with moonlight dancing on its surface. “Yep, partner, sounds wonderful.”
They walked to the bank and removed their clothes, after T.J. asked huskily if she needed any assistance with hers. He swam for a time, and the happy redhead was content to bathe and to watch her lover’s sleek body.
T.J. knew they wouldn’t be disturbed tonight because he had dropped a marker where he wanted the Rangers and posse to camp for the night, miles behind them. He had also warned them to hang back at night so as not to spook her. He needed to tell her part of the truth tonight, but he dreaded it because he couldn’t decide how she would react.
The ebon-haired man joined her in the shallow water, resting on his knees before her. His smokey gray eyes studied her compelling beauty in the moonlight. “Lordy, you get me hotter than a horseshoe in the flames. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like to have you as my wife forever, to be with you day and night, but I’ve surely dreamed about it countless times. How will I ever get any work done on our new ranch knowing you’re in the house and I can go see you any time?”
Her wet hand drifted through his mussed hair. “The best way to solve that problem is to have me work at your side during the day and sleep there at night. I’ve worked a ranch twice, so I’ll be helpful. We’ll be good together, T.J., perfect.”
T.J. captured her hand and pressed kisses to it. “I’m sure there’s plenty I don’t know about ranching, but you can teach me or we can learn together. Just like I’ll help you in the house after we finish our chores outside. I’ve taken care of myself for years, so I know how to cook, sew on buttons and stitch up tears, wash dishes, and do other stuff. I’ve been in homes where an exhausted wife had to share the husband’s chores during the day, then get no help with hers at night. I don’t think that’s fair, Carrie Sue, and it won’t happen with us.”
“You’re one special man, T.J. Rogue. I love you.” She pulled his mouth to hers and kissed him with a rising fever of desire.
Their lips fused into passionate kiss after tender kiss. Their hands caressed bare, wet flesh and caused each other to tingle and glow. Their bodies blazed with love’s consuming flames. T.J. lifted her and placed her on the soft grass, and they embraced with eagerness,
T.J.’s lips seared over her face and his hands roved her body. He murmured hoarsely, “I love you, Carrie Sue. I’ve never told another woman that, and didn’t know what love was until I met you. This has
to be love because I feel all kinds of things for you. Not just physically,” he confessed, “but everything. I want to be with you all the time. Just to talk or have fun. You make me feel good all over, taut as a bow and loose as a broken string at the same time. I get pleasure just from looking at you or hearing your voice. Sometimes I can’t even control myself around you, and Lord knows that’s never happened with a female before. I want to protect you and make you happy. Lordy, I’d die if I lost you.”
“You won’t ever lose me, my love. We’re a perfect match in spirit, body, and lives. We’ll be so happy together; I’m certain of it.” Her fingers wandered over his firm shoulders and into the crevice of his spine. She loved the feel of his cool skin beneath her warm hands. She loved the possessive—but gentle—way he held her, touched her, responded to her, made love to her. Their relationship was nothing like the unions she had heard about at Sally’s; her man didn’t just take satisfaction from her. T.J. gave to her, shared with her, made sure she enjoyed their union as much as he did.
Carrie Sue sighed with contentment, knowing that soon she could have him any time she desired him and as many times as her body burned for his. Soon, they would have a home, a family, freedom. It was going to be sheer ecstasy to be his wife.
“The first time I saw you, T.J. Rogue, you scattered my wits and sent my mind to day-dreaming about you. That night at the burned station, I knew something was going to happen between us. I’d never been pulled toward a man like that before, and I didn’t want to resist you. I was just too scared to chase you because of my past. After you visited my room that night, I was afraid not to tell you who and what I am, but I was more afraid you’d discover the truth one day and hate me. Merciful Heavens, I wanted and needed you so badly, but it was such a terrible risk to take. I love you so much.”
Kiss Of The Night Wind Page 42