Passions Wild And Free

by Janelle Taylor

  “Woman, you’re driving me crazy,” he murmured in hert ear as she spread fiery kisses over his neck and chest, aware of how easy things were between them, including total intimacy. Being together. like this seemed as natural as breathing.

  Randee rolled him to his back and straddled him, sensuously gathering his erect manhood within her receptive body. Randee felt that same closeness, that same powerful, but gentle, bond. It was as if they had always been a part of each other and always would be. As she made unrestrained love to him, she whispered almost breathlessly, “You affect me the same way, Marsh Logan. If we have to die together, what better way than this?”

  Thoughts of nothing, including perils or doubts or hopes, intruded on “their blissful world in that small hotel room. No inhibitions, modesty, or worries came between them as they, captured a pleasure and closeness that few couples found even after years of lovemaking and marriage. Their hearts were united as tightly and rapturously as their bodies were, and their passions ran wild and free, never to be leashed again … .

  Saturday afternoon, Randee remained hidden in a thick grove of trees while Marsh rode into Wadesville to see Sheriff Brody Wade. Marsh wouldn’t allow her to visit the ranch, speculating that someone might see her there. He told her he was afraid those raiders might check it out to see if she, or anyone else, had returned there.

  Randee knew Marsh was right, because the house had been spared for some unknown reason. If that boss wanted it, surely he would have it guarded to make certain it remained abandoned. As she sat there alone, she tried to come up with uses for the targeted area of attacks. It was a large territory, so whoever wanted it so badly had to have plenty of money and a special teason. Who was rich enough to purchase so much land? she wondered. Who was powerful enough to control it after his gang was dismissed? What purpose could it serve? As Marsh had said, endless questions without answers, yet.

  Marsh leaned against the door jamb in Brody Wade’s office as he waited for the sheriff to get his money and the release paper to sign. He watched Brody intently, as the man kept glancing at him oddly, and he recalled how Brody had had him and Randee followed.

  Brody noticed that the man wasn’t wearing all black today. Instead, he was dressed in a medium-blue shirt, dark-brown leather vest, and faded .jeans. Still, he looked intimidating and self-assured. “I was beginning to think you weren’t coming back for this reward money; it’s been over two weeks. I suppose a man like you who earns blood money with his gun doesn’t need a measly two hundred dollars. Sign this,” Brody ordered, shoving the paper at Marsh.

  Marsh picked up the money and stuffed it in his pocket without even glancing at it. “A man can always use money, Sheriff, for good whiskey and a pleasing woman here and there.”

  “Speaking of women, that fair-haired girl you met here last time was kidnapped by Indians at the Red River. crossing. You interested in “earning a reward from me to go looking for her?” Brody asked, eyeing the other man closely for his reaction.

  “That’s a shame, Sheriff Wade, she was a real looker. By now, she’s probably the personal slave of one of those red bucks. You sure you want her back? Most white men wouldn’t.”

  “I ain’t most white men,” Brody snapped coldly. “You interested or not? I’ll pay you a thousand dollars plus expenses.”

  “That’s a healthy bundle for a small town sheriff. You sure she’s still worth it?” Marsh asked, propping his boot, on the chair before Brody’s desk and laying his arm across his raised thigh.

  “Randee Hollis is worth far more, but it’s all I have in savings. I was going to use it for a down payment on a ranch. But what good is a ranch without a wife? Not that it’s any of your business, but we’re supposed to be married when she returns. You’re a drifter, a gunslinger. Why not spend your time doing something good for a change? She’s a special woman, and I don’t want her living as no squaw.”

  Marsh suspected that Brody was feeling him out for information, baiting him for answers. He didn’t bite rashly. “Trouble is, Sheriff, I already have a higher paying job awaiting me in Austin.. A rich rancher is having problems with some rustlers and I’ve agreed to get rid of them for him. He’s offering five thousand. Can you better that offer?”

  Brody glared at the cocky man and sneered, “You know I can’t. Dammit,” man, you met her! She’s sweet, and innocent, and gentle. She doesn’t deserve a fate like that. She has money; I know she’ll up the reward if you locate her and rescue her.”

  “Best I recall, you warned me to stay away from her. You sure you would trust me on the trail with her? I wouldn’t if I were you. Why don’t you go after her? She’s your …friend, wasn’t it?”

  Rage colored Brody’s cheeks a bright red. His brown eyes blazed with fiery hatred and contempt. His muscles were taut and his fists were balled tightly on the desk. His request for help had been to probe for information, but it was actually a good idea to hire this rogue to do a job he couldn’t do himself. He tried to compose himself as he scoffed, “I don’t know anything about Indians or Indian Territory. It would take a skilled gunman like you to find her and rescue her”

  “Thanks for the compliment, Sheriff, but I can’t afford to lose that job in Austin. It’ll keep me in pocket money for a long time. Besides, that little gal appeared mighty feisty to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if she tricks those redskins into bringing her home before dark.”

  “You’re a cold and cocky son of a bitch! You don’t care about anybody except yourself. One day somebody’s going to kill you.”

  Marsh retorted flippantly, “Plenty have tried, and plenty more will, but I don’t die easily. I can’t risk a sure five thousand on the hope I can find her alive and she’ll honor your offer with her money. Once she’s free, you two might decide to double-cross me and keep the money; that would be a fatal mistake for all of us.”

  Infuriated, Brody nearly shouted, “Sign that release and get out of my office! In fact, get out of my town!”

  As Marsh lifted the writing quill, Brody warned icily, “And sign your real name, which ain’t the Durango Kid. I’ve seen him.”

  Marsh chuckled, further irritating the man. “Durango is my cousin. We look alike, so people are always confusing us. He doesn’t mind if I use his name once in a while to make people either take notice or steer clear of me. If you don’t believe me, ask him the next time you see him, which shouldn’t be too long from now. I hear he’s riding up this way soon.” Marsh signed the paper and tossed it to Brody.

  The scowling man lifted it, read it, and frowned again.

  “Be seeing you around, Sheriff Wade,” Marsh said. He left to buy supplies, aware of the frigid gaze boring into his retreating back. Yep, he decided, that sheriff could be trouble if he wasn’t careful.

  Brody eyed the paper skeptically, then looked puzzled. Where had he heard or read that name before? he wondered. Storm Hayden, is it? We’ll just see why that name sounds vaguely familiar ….

  Brody called his deputy into the office and ordered, “Matt, follow that snake and see what hole he slithers into. And don’t lose him this time. I don’t trust him, and I’m gonna find out why.”

  Marsh knew Deputy Matthew Johnson was observing him as he visited the mercantile store and gun shop. He chatted genially with both shopkeepers, learning of two raids near the center of that oblong area which was marked on the map in his saddlebag. He must have guessed right; those bastards were fanned out to avoid grabbing anyone’s attention while they awaited orders for their next raid. He wished he could ask if a Marshal Foley Timms was, or had been, in this area, this town, but Brody Wade might check with these townfolk to see what questions he asked. And such questions would appear too suspicious.

  Marsh grinned as the incompetent deputy tried to dog him when he left town. He took the road southward to indicate a ride to Austin as he had claimed. He was amused at Brody’s challenge of his identity and hadn’t minded signing a name which he had used long ago during one of his missions. There was no
way Sheriff Brody Wade could investigate “Storm Hayden,” because the man didn’t exist, and all information about that false identity had been ordered destroyed years ago. For certain, he didn’t want Brody discovering he was Marsh Logan, at least no time soon. After a few miles, Marsh tricked the careless deputy and doubled back to join up with Randee.

  When he reached the place he had left her, she wasn’t there. Her saddle and possessions were piled beneath the tree, but Randee and Rojo were nowhere in sight. A fear such as he had never experienced before charged through his body like a bolt of lightning. Nervous sweat beaded on his forehead and above his upper lip. His heart thundered erratically, altering his respiration to a rapid pace. He searched the area and noticed a line scratched on the ground, an arrow pointing westward. Obviously she had left of her own free will, and left him a message of some sort. He dropped their supplies and his saddlebags near hers, mounted Midnight, and followed her trail.

  It was one of the longest rides Marsh had ever taken. When he finally sighted her, joy and relief flooded him. He forcibly mastered his visible panic, a new emotion for him. Now he understood that same reaction in the beauty before him, and he would never fault her with it again. He sneaked up to where she was hiding in a gully, which was densely edged with trees and bushes.

  The green-eyed blonde smiled and motioned him close enough to whisper into his ear, “Three more raiders, Marsh, camped over there. Two of them rode past the place I was waiting for you, so I followed them here. They joined that third man. I was very careful. I used the skills you taught me about removing anything that could make noise. I didn’t take any risks, and I was about to come fetch you for help.”

  Marsh peered between the heavily leaved limbs and saw three men lying around a campfire, drinking and talking. It didn’t appear as if they were expecting any other gang members to join them. He whispered, “I’m riding into their camp to see if they’ll drop any clues. I’ll pretend I’m looking for a job.” As Randee started to protest, he told her, “Take your rifle and train it on that man in the tan shirt. If there’s trouble, you get him and I’ll take out the other two. Watch him close, woman. Don’t let him finger that pistol too long before shooting him. I don’t want any bullet holes marring this handsome body, and you don’t either,” he teased as she composed herself. “Ready?”

  She looked him in the eye and said, “Ready. Be careful.”

  Marsh smiled, kissed her lightly, then sneaked back to his black stallion. The surge of energy from an imminent challenge filled him. He was proud of Randee; she had done everything right this time. Between the two of them, she wasn’t in any peril, so he relaxed. He called out, “You there in camp, rider coming in.”

  Having used the standard announcement before approaching another man’s camp, Marsh slowly guided his horse in that direction. The men roused themselves instantly, all three coming to their feet and staring at Marsh. Randee aimed her new rifle at the center of one man’s back, the one in the tan shirt, the bearded one whom she recalled vividly from the Carson Ranch attack. She did not allow her attention to stray for a single moment, as her love’s life depended on it.

  Marsh casually reined in a few feet from the three men. “Got any coffee to spare, or a sip of. good whiskey? I’ve been riding since dawn and I’ve got a thirst which would shame a desert. I can pay fifty cents for a share of your supper, but that’s about all I got until I find some work around here.” Making sure to move unthreateningly slow, he dropped Midnight’s reins to the ground and jested amiably, “Hell, these ranchers want to work the hide off of you for a few dollars a month. Got to be an easier way to make your pockets jingle.”

  “Rest your butt on that log, stranger, and help yourself,” said the man in faded Army clothes. “Where you from?”

  Marsh dished up some beans and poured himself some coffee, then took a seat on the suggested log. “Down San Antonio way most recently. Had to leave real quick for shooting a deputy in the leg. ’Course, he, deserved it. Got real mad when I spent my last two dollars on his favorite saloon gal. But a man’s gotta have his releases. Shame though, ‘cause she weren’t worth dying for. Some new gal in Digger’s Saloon, who didn’t know much about pleasing a man.” Marsh chuckled wickedly, then sipped the hot coffee and shoved beans into his mouth to stall for time to study the men. He noticed that they remained standing, a bad sign because they were displaying ready-to-attack stances. He set his coffee cup on the ground and held the metal plate between his hands, as it would be easy to toss it aside to draw his guns. Knowing Randee had the tan-shirted man in her sights, he concentrated on assessing the other two villains. “Damn, that’s good. My belly’s been chewing on my backbone for hours. You fellas know anything about work in these parts? I need money real fast to keep from starving.”

  “Ain’t much work in this area, stranger. Too many ranchers been run out by that Epson Gang,” another man informed him.

  Marsh knew the three men were openly studying him as hard as he was furtively studying them. “Seems like the only paying job around here is with them,” he teased, filling his mouth again.

  “If you don’t mind the law running up your backside, I guess it is.”

  “Can’t say I do, but it’s happened a few times,” Marsh hinted.

  “I figured that, by the way you wear your guns,” the first man remarked, resting his right hand on his pistol butt.

  “You can relax, friend; I ain’t wanted in this area.”

  “You wanted someplace else?” the third man finally spoke up.

  “Maybe. Does it matter?” Marsh asked, staring the man down.

  “Not to us, but it might to the local law if you hang around these parts very long,” the first man told him.

  “Too dull around here. All I need is some money in these pockets and I’ll be riding out. You boys live around here or just passing through?”

  “Just passing through like you, mister.”

  “Need an extra hand at anything?” Marsh asked pointedly.

  “Nope,” the first man replied quickly. The leader of this resting party nodded to his two friends, then suggested, “Why don’t you pass those guns over before we talk any more? I got a strange feeling in my gut about you. If I like your answers, I’ll give ‘em back.”

  Marsh’s gaze shifted from one man to the next. “The Durango Kid don’t hand his guns over to nobody. If you want ‘em real bad, you’ll have to risk taking them. But don’t call me out unless you’re ready to die on this beautiful day. I ain’t looking for a fight, boys, but I’ll be obliged to give you one if you make any moves I don’t like.”

  The three men stared at Marsh, then exchanged rapid looks. “We’ve heard about you, Kid. Why didn’t you just give us your name up front? What you doing in this area?”

  When they didn’t relax their stances, Marsh knew he hadn’t won them over. He told himself to be ready for trouble to strike any minute. “Like I said, boys, looking to earn a dollar or two while I rest up a spell. Then, I’m heading down San Antonio way for some unfinished business. Got any objections?” Marsh’s ice-blue gaze was cold and confident, and he saw how tensed and excited the raiders had become.

  “You got a price on your head?” the third man asked oddly.

  “Not that I know of. But if I did, it’d take more than three cowpokes to take me down and collect it.”

  “You sure you’re that good?” the first man asked skeptically.

  “You wanna try me and find out?” Marsh challenged.

  It happene’d quickly. All three villains grabbed for their weapons. Marsh dropped two of them dead, and Randee shot the third man. He looked her way and signaled her over to the campfire. He checked the bodies to find none of the three breathing.

  When Randee reached his side, he grinned and hugged her. “See, woman, I told you that you wouldn’t panic. Thanks.”

  “You took a big risk, Marsh Logan; I could have reacted too slowly. I’m not used to showdowns like you are. What did they say?”
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br />   Marsh repeated the conversation, then added, “I knew they wouldn’t spill their guts either, so there was no reason to wing one to question, then have to finish him off later. We. need to get moving quickly in case somebody heard those shots and comes to investigate. I want to check their pockets and saddlebags and release those horses.”

  While Randee unsaddled the animals and freed them, Marsh went through the men’s clothing and possessions, finding nothing useful except money.

  Not having been given time to think about killing a man, Randee defensively ignored her necessary action. “We’ll have to bury them,” she remarked absently.

  “We don’t have time or a shovel to use. They’re coldblooded killers, woman, so they don’t deserve a decent burial. We’ll leave them to rot in the open, just like they left their victims.”

  Randee inquired softly, “Don’t you think that’s being cold and hard, Marsh? We’re not like them.” Marsh looked at her. “We’ll shove ‘em into that gully. We have to get moving pronto. I heard about two new raids nearby in the last few days. That means those bastards headed straight here from the Fort Richardson area. We’ve got eight of them, but there are plenty more around. There’s another problem; Sheriff Wade still doesn’t trust me. He had that deputy of his follow me again after I left town. I lost him before I doubled back to meet you. He could be searching for us right this minute, just to make certain you aren’t traveling with me.”

  “What did he say about me?” she asked.

  Without mentioning Storm Hayden, Marsh repeated the curious conversation and teased, “He still has a fever for you, woman. A real shame, since you belong to me now. If he finds us together, it’ll stick in his craw and he’ll become a pest. You know I can’t afford any trouble with the law, especially a lawman who’s sweet on my partner.”

  Randee didn’t want to discuss Brody Wade with her lover, so she asked, “Did you hear anything about that Marshal Timms?”