Ride the High Lonesome

by Rosanne Bittner

  Luke nodded, keeping hold of his rifle. “I just bought these horses in Lander a few days ago,” he answered, “and the wife and I are headed back there now.”

  “That so?” The big man turned to Kate and tipped his hat. “Mornin’, ma’am.”

  Kate nodded in reply, while inside she felt faint at the thought that these men could kill Luke and ride off with her. She didn’t even want to think about what that could mean.

  The leader turned his attention back to Luke. “Name’s Nate Bartley.” He turned to the man beside him. “This here is Billy.” He then indicated each man beside the one introduced. “Cal, Red Horse, and Tully.”

  Each man nodded at Luke and Kate both.

  “We hunt buffalo and other wild game—sell it in the different towns out here,” Nate explained. He turned and pointed. “Our camp is back there a ways, wagons for hauling our meat and skins. We’re headed south.” He turned back to Luke. “Heard your gunshot and figured we’d come and make sure you weren’t in some kind of trouble. Lord knows trouble is easy to come by in this country.”

  Luke studied him closely, gauging the man’s honesty. “That’s friendly of you. We appreciate it.”

  “She’s awful perty, Nate,” Billy spoke up, ogling Kate more.

  Without warning, Nate swung his rifle around and knocked Billy off his horse. Kate gasped at the sudden movement and backed up her horse, and Luke started to raise his rifle, until realizing Nate’s move was to defend Kate. The man turned his horse and looked down at Billy.

  “Don’t you know a lady when you see one?” he barked. “Get back on your horse and ride back to camp!”

  The side of his face already starting to show a bruise, Billy scowled as he got to his feet and remounted his horse. “I didn’t mean nothin’ bad,” he grumbled before riding away.

  Kate glanced at Luke, who kept watching Nate and the rest of them without a flinch. “You’ll understand me when I tell all of you to ride on,” Luke told Nate. “Like you said, this is dangerous country. A man doesn’t know who to trust. When we saw you riding this way, it scared my wife. I appreciate you defending her like you just did, and I’m thankful for your concern that we might be in trouble, but we’re fine. I killed a prairie hen for our supper. That’s the gunshot you heard.”

  Nate nodded. “I know we’re a sorry-lookin’ bunch. It’s hard not to be with what we do, but we clean up good.” He looked around the vast landscape surrounding them. “I heard there’s another bunch of outlaws been sneakin’ around these parts stealin’ horses and cattle. They’ve got no respect for women, if you know what I mean, so if I was you, I’d keep a good lookout till you get to Lander.”

  Luke tipped his hat. “We’ll do that.”

  Nate glanced at Luke’s rifle. “You good at handlin’ that thing?”

  “Good enough to kill the first man who threatens me or my wife. I can generally get off two or three good shots before the average man can pull a handgun and fire it.”

  Luke’s answer was straightforward and firm. Kate waited with baited breath while Luke and Nate glared at each other for a moment.

  “My wife is not incapable of killing a man either,” Luke added. “In fact, she did kill one who had the wrong idea just a few days ago, and right now she’s holding a six-gun on you. It’s like I said, I appreciate your offer of help, and I don’t mean to offend, but I’m also a man who understands other men out here. The wife and I would rest easier if all of you went on your way south.”

  Nate grinned, showing brown teeth from too much chewing tobacco. “Maybe you could spare some tobacco?” he asked. “You’ve got my word we’ll be on our way after that. I won’t ask anything more of you.” He shifted in his saddle and sobered, but the other three men grinned eagerly.

  “Hell, you wouldn’t kill a man over some lousy tobacco, would you?” Nate added.

  Kate felt a heavy thickness in the air. She swallowed nervously, her ready gun hand starting to ache. Luke slowly pulled back the hammer on his rifle.

  “Not over tobacco,” Luke answered. “But I’d kill a man over a horse and supplies, and I’d kill every man in sight over my wife. Over any woman, for that matter.”

  Nate finally broke into another grin and chuckled. “I expect you would.” He turned to the others. “Go on back to camp. We need to be on our way.”

  “Ain’t you gonna’ at least get some of his other supplies, Nate?” The question came from Tully.

  Nate kept his eyes on Luke. “This man ain’t one to mess with, even when he’s outnumbered,” Nate answered. “Anybody in this bunch left alive if we try to take this man can have what they want, but I don’t aim to die today. I expect I’m the first one he aims to shoot, so we’ll be on our way. We’re set for supplies anyway, except for tobacco. Go on, now. You don’t want to die today either, do ya?”

  “Shit,” Tully grumbled. “That’s one good-lookin’ woman.”

  “And she belongs to this man here, so get goin’,” Nate ordered.

  The other three men turned their horses and rode off to catch up with Billy, who’d stopped in the distance.

  “How about that tobacco?” Nate asked Luke.

  Luke backed Red a little. “I just smoke it. I don’t chew it,” he answered. “But out here, a man is crazy if he doesn’t have chewing tobacco along for trading.”

  Nate laughed and nodded. “You’re a smart man, mister. What’s your name anyway?.”

  “Luke Bowden, and I’m not so smart as I am just careful.” Luke never once took his eyes off Nate. “Get a couple cans of tobacco out of that third pack horse, Kate,” he ordered. “They’re in that smaller saddlebag hanging over the big one.”

  Kate backed Jenny, afraid to turn the horse and have her back to Nate Bartley. She found the saddlebag Luke mentioned and fished around inside, pulling out two cans of Beech Nut chewing tobacco. She rode up beside Luke.

  “Take them on up and hand them to Nate,” he told her, not wanting to take his hand away from his rifle.

  Kate hesitated.

  “Go ahead,” Luke told her. “It’s okay.”

  Kate nudged Jenny forward and handed out the tobacco to Nate, feeling sick at the thought of the slovenly man touching her. Even having to touch his fingers when he took the tobacco made her shiver.

  “Thank you, ma’am,” he told her, grinning. He turned his gaze back to Luke as Kate backed her horse up again. “I thank you, Luke,” he said. “And I expect you know the code out here. I promised this is all I’d take, and I live by the code for women, too, so you two can go on about your business and not worry about us. We’ll be on our way. We’ve got meat and furs to deliver.”

  Luke nodded in reply. “I’ll expect you to keep your promise.”

  “Yes, sir. Out here, a man knows when he can take what he wants, and when he can’t. When I go up against a man, it’s for a proud reason, not to pick on one who’s weakened on account of he’s outnumbered, and not to disrespect a good woman. In your case, though, I have a feelin’ bein’ outnumbered don’t make you any weaker.”

  Luke actually smiled. “It’s best you don’t test me out.”

  Nate laughed hardily, his belly shaking. He held up the cans of tobacco and rode off, joining the other four, who then kept riding back with him to their camp. It was so far away that they actually disappeared into the horizon as they kept riding.

  Kate let out a sign of relief and shoved her pistol back into the gun belt that hung around her saddle horn. Luke gently released the hammer of his rifle and shoved the long gun back into its boot. “You okay?” he asked Kate.

  Unable to stop tears of relief, Kate took a moment to answer. She took a deep breath and pulled a handkerchief from a pocket on the skirt of her dress. “I think so.” She blew her nose and wiped at her eyes. “I was so scared for you. I thought I was going to watch you die all over again. All I could think o
f was how I saved you from that hanging, only to watch you be killed some other way.” She wiped at her eyes again. “I care enough about you that I would truly mourn you, Luke. And the thought of being out here alone again, and at the hands of men like that—”

  Luke smiled and reached out his arm. “Come here.”

  Kate met his gaze. “What?” she asked.

  “Come on over here,” he repeated. He moved Red closer and put an arm around her waist. He pulled her off her horse and onto Red, plopping her in front of him. “You are one hell of a woman, Kate Winters. You did a good job of bravely facing those bastards.”

  Kate withered against his shoulder. “I don’t feel brave at all. I just wanted to back you up.” She moved her arms around Luke. “Do you think we can trust that man to ride off like he said?”

  “Yes. That’s the code out here. I can generally read a man pretty good. That bunch is capable of God knows what, but their word is their word, and he knew I meant business. He also knew he’d be the first to be shot if he tried anything. Most men like that can sniff out weakness like a wolf prowling after a wounded deer.”

  Still shaken, Kate relished the feel of his arms around her, reveling in his strength and sureness. “I thought they were going to fill you with bullet holes and do awful things to me!”

  Luke’s arms tightened around her. “Hell, I would have gotten at least three of them first,” he told her, trying to reassure her. “And you would have got the other two.”

  Kate couldn’t help smiling. “I’m not so sure about that. I just know I need you a while longer, until we get to civilization,” she said, her head still on his shoulder. “Sometimes I feel like a little mouse surrounded by foxes and coyotes.”

  Luke kissed her hair.

  What is happening? Kate wondered. Something had changed, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Luke was so damn close. Too close. She was afraid to look directly into his eyes.

  “Which one am I?” he asked her. “A fox, or a coyote?”

  They sat very still, Kate still in his arms. “I’m not sure,” she answered. “I am thinking neither one. You’re just a man I’ve grown to trust and care about.”

  “Yeah, well, sometimes just being a man is a problem in itself,” he told her. She felt him move, looked down to see him take a spyglass from a loop on his gear. “Just sit still,” he said. He raised the telescope and looked through it toward where the buffalo hunters had ridden.

  “They kept their promise,” he said after a few seconds. “The wagon is moving, and they are headed south. We should be safe.” While she was still sitting in front of him, he turned Red slightly in all directions and scanned the entire horizon before closing the spyglass and putting it back in place. “We’re alone.”

  An unexpected wave of desire suddenly swept through Kate at those two words…we’re alone. Why had he checked to be sure? Why did this closeness disturb her in all the right places? She told herself to be careful, wondered what Luke had meant by telling her that sometimes just being a man can be a problem.

  “Look at me, Kate,” he told her, leaning back a little and putting a gentle hand under her chin.

  Kate finally met his eyes. A soft breeze ruffled strands of his thick, brown hair that stuck out from under his hat, and she was again struck by his good looks.

  “I don’t know how to explain this,” he said, nothing short of adoration in his dark eyes. “It just feels like we need to seal this friendship before we reach Lander. Once we get there, I won’t see you often, because I don’t want to soil your reputation. I know you to be an honorable woman, Kate Winters, and that’s how I want folks there to see you. Am I making any sense?”

  It took all of Kate’s courage to admit the truth. “Yes, because I feel the same way—that is, if you’re saying what I think you’re saying.” She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his lips. “Last night, when you kissed me, you said you’d miss me. I’m sure you meant that things will all be different when we reach Lander.” She met his gaze again. “I’ll miss you, too. I mean, we won’t be together like this after we get there. People wouldn’t understand.”

  “And out here, men need to be damn straight about a woman’s honor. You’re a pretty woman and a widow alone. Some will see that as an opportunity, so I want your honor and reputation to be unquestioned.”

  “What about you? What will you think of me?”

  “I’ll think you’re the finest woman I’ve ever known, but I’m guessing you’re needing a man right now as bad as I need a woman, and whatever happens, it will never change my opinion of you.”

  “I need your promise on that. We’ve been through so much together in these few short days, and—”

  Luke cut off her words with a deep, hungry kiss, and Kate decided that Luke Bowden damn well knew how to kiss. It was the best kiss she’d ever enjoyed, even from her own husband. He left her mouth and continued kissing her across the cheek, down to her neck, sending shivers through her.

  “It just seems like this is necessary,” Luke told her. “I can’t explain it any more than that.”

  “I know.”

  Luke moved his lips to her mouth again, tasting, searching. He put his hands to either side of her face and kissed her eyes. “Damn it, woman, say no now if you aren’t sure, because I’ve had all I can take. You’re the one who said a woman is vulnerable out here, and I’m about to take advantage of that.”

  “Maybe I’m the one taking advantage of you,” Kate answered softly.

  Luke found her lips again, and Kate didn’t pull away. She moved her arms around his neck, and he wrapped her in his arms and pulled her tight against him again. He kissed her deeper, harder, with more hunger. She answered the same way.

  “Hang on,” he finally told her when he was able to bring himself to leave her mouth again. He dismounted, pulling her off the horse with him and falling with her into the deep grass.

  Twenty-two

  All reasonable thinking left Kate as she allowed herself to relish the feel of a man’s arms around her, the taste of his full lips, the utter ecstasy of letting his hands feel her breasts, the deep satisfaction of a broad, powerful chest hovering over her. She was tired of being alone. Out here in this big, lonesome, untamed land, what did it matter if this was right or wrong?

  Luke ran a hand up her side, against her breast, then over her breast again, squeezing gently as his kiss deepened. She whimpered at his touch. He moved his lips from her mouth to her neck.

  “Jesus, this is wrong, Kate.”

  “I know.”

  He moved his hand to the side of her face and kissed her eyes. “I’m so goddamn lonely,” he told her.

  “So am I,” she said softly.

  Luke’s kisses grew wild and demanding, over her eyes, her hair, her cheeks, her neck, her throat. “I want to be inside of you,” he said gruffly.

  “I want to feel you inside of me. I need a man, Luke, and I can’t think of a better man to remind me I’m still a woman.”

  More kisses.

  “You’re beautiful,” Luke whispered.

  Beautiful. How long since she’d heard those words? “I’ve had no one for so long, Luke. Just myself, and I’m scared all the time. It feels so good to be held and protected.”

  She’d worn her hair loose, and Luke wrapped a hand into it, grasping tightly. He paused, looking into her eyes. “I can’t make any promises, Kate.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Kate hugged him around the neck and kissed the side of his face, not minding the stubble. “Out here nothing matters anymore…nothing but giving each other what’s needed.” She lay back again, and Luke traced a finger over her lips.

  “Last night when I came back into that cave and you were sleeping,” he told her, “I knelt beside you, and it took all my strength not to wake you up and ask to take you then and there.”

  “I
probably would have let you,” Kate told him.

  “I wasn’t sure. And I’d been drinking. I’m not as gentle when I drink. You might have ended up regretting it.”

  “I won’t now,” Kate answered.

  Their lips met again, desperate, lonely, needy, on fire. Were they in love or just good friends? Kate could hardly believe she was being so brazen. Luke’s hand was still tangled in her hair. “God, Kate, I don’t want to just use you.”

  “If I thought that, or if I didn’t want this, I’d tell you to stop.”

  Their bodies flattened out the grass underneath them as Luke pulled up her dress. Kate was instantly lost in him, not caring what he did with her. She felt a hand on her leg, felt his fingers move up over her belly and inside her bloomers and into the folds of her most private place. She cried out when he gently slid his fingers inside of her, drawing out the juices waiting to invite him inside.

  How long had it been since a man commanded her this way? How long since she’d cried out from want and need? How long since her insides exploded in erotic, shameful, wonderful, glorious, desperate need?

  Luke removed her bloomers, then he kissed her thighs and the hairs that hid that throbbing place that begged for more. He pushed her legs apart and licked at her folds, making her cry out. When he moved between her legs, he began kissing her neck, her eyes, her mouth. She could taste her own juices on his lips.

  When had he removed his gun belt? When had he managed to release what she felt against her thigh now…hard and hot? She didn’t even remember him pausing for any of that. She was only aware that he was on top of her. She cried out when he entered her almost roughly. After so long without a man, his shaft felt huge and hot, bringing a strangely enjoyable and erotic pain that made her arch against him in the deepest satisfaction she’d ever known.

  This was Luke…handsome, strong, brave, able Luke Bowden. She’d saved his life and he’d saved hers. How many days ago was that? She still didn’t know the whole man, yet it didn’t matter. They moved together in sweet rhythm as though they’d been doing this forever. It all seemed right and natural.