Authors: Sarah McCarty
He eased his fingers in. She took two easily. She was still open and primed. And he was still hard and ready. He glanced at the sky beyond the window. And then back at Desi. There wasn’t time. Desi sighed and shifted, arching her hips back into his probe, thighs falling apart in wanton invitation.
Fuck it. He’d make time. He drew the sheet down to her knees. She moaned when he rolled her over. “Shh, don’t wake up. Just lie there.”
A shift of his hips and his cock fell into place. He bore down. Her muscles parted. “Just lie still, baby. This will be nice and easy. You’re all soft and wet and ready. And I need you just one more time.”
She caught his hand and brought it under her cheek, eyes closed, still half-asleep, welcoming him. He slid his cock in to the hilt with a slow and steady glide, holding himself high within her pussy as she stirred, not wanting to wake her. She sighed and relaxed. He took it as his cue. He pumped leisurely between her thighs, savoring the hot pleasure, the knowledge that she was his wife, the knowledge that when he left this time, he was leaving something behind. Something to come back to. A wife and maybe a child. A family to carry on. Someone to remember him.
Caine lowered his lips to her ear as his climax washed over him, cupping her breast in his hand and rolling the plump nipple between his fingers, his orgasm devastating for all its easy prelude. “Come for me, Desi. Give me a memory to come back to.”
Her small cry shattered his soul as she came, sucking the seed from his body, pulling it deeply into hers. He collapsed on top of her, taking his weight on his forearms and knees.
God, he wanted to give her everything she was used to—diamonds, chocolate, peace and safety—but those were out of his reach. The only thing he could give her was the security that came from knowing the men who’d hurt her could never touch her again.
He eased his cock from her body, cupping his hand over the flood of moisture that immediately escaped. By the end of the week, she’d have that and then…
He sighed and got to his feet. It wouldn’t be long after that before she realized what a poor deal she had, and when that happened, she’d be looking for outs. He tugged on his socks, deciding then and there when she asked to go, he’d let her. He picked up her hand and kissed the back, the long elegant fingers marred now with new callus. He touched a blister. She wasn’t made for this life.
Caine pulled on his pants, ignoring the weariness in his muscles. Desi moaned and reached across the bed. He pulled the blankets up over her shoulders and pressed a kiss on her cheek. “Sleep, Gypsy girl. I promise when I come back, all will be right in your world.”
T
racker and Sam were waiting for him in the barn. “For a man about to deliver an ass-kicking, you’re not looking too happy,” Sam observed, tightening the cinch on his saddle.
Caine shrugged and opened Chaser’s stall, grabbing the bridle off the hook. Down the way, the stallion screamed. To the left, Lily whickered. The place was growing fast. Next year, if he got that mare and the stallion settled, they were going to need a bigger barn. He wasn’t going to take any chances with his mares getting pregnant by accident or being brought down by predators. Chaser greeted him with a snort.
“Morning, fella. Ready to ride?” The big horse ducked his head for the bridle, nuzzling his pocket for sugar cubes. Caine slipped the bridle over his ears and shoved his head away. “Desi sure has you spoiled.”
Desi was trying to bribe her way out of fear with the horses by bringing them precious cubes of Tia’s sugar when she thought he wasn’t around. He didn’t know why she tried to hide what she was doing, but since it wasn’t hurting anything and she stayed away from the stallion, he didn’t put an end to it. Much to Tia’s disgust. At the top of the shopping list Tia had shoved into his hand when he left the house that morning—just in case there was time when he finished business—was sugar, in three times the amount they usually bought. Her glare had dared him to complain about the expense.
He led Chaser out of the stall. He wasn’t going to complain. His wife was used to better. No doubt she hadn’t even considered how dear sugar was when she’d chosen it as a treat for the horses. He swung the saddle off the sawhorse and up onto Chaser’s back. Two sharp tugs and he had it in place.
“Who’re you leaving in charge of Desi?” Tracker asked, tucking a food pack into his saddlebag.
“Shadow.”
“Shadow’s babysitting?” Sam grinned and turned as he lowered his stirrup.
“He’s the best when it comes to up-close-and-personal discussions.”
“You think someone’s going to get close enough to Hell’s Eight to need that kind of defense?”
Caine cinched the saddle. “Judging by the number of hopeful collectors we’ve had to take care of this last week, I think one thousand dollars is a hell of an incentive to forget common sense.”
“Son of a bitch.”
Caine couldn’t agree with the sentiment more. “Eventually, someone with some real skill is going to give it a shot, and I don’t want anyone getting too close for comfort.”
“Which is why we’re heading east to have a talk with the folk who set the bounty,” Tracker added.
“Exactly.” Caine tucked the excess strap into the knot and dropped the stirrup. “There’s one man in particular we’re looking for, though.”
“Besides James and the bankers?”
“Yup.” He checked his pistol and rifle. He double-checked the pack to make sure there was ample ammunition. “He’s a smooth-talking bastard with an eastern accent.”
“That’s not much to go on,” Sam said.
“Desi never saw his face, but from what she said, I get the impression he’s the head honcho creating the threat.”
Sam and Tracker cut him a glance, paying more attention to what he didn’t say than what he did. Tracker’s mouth settled to a thin line, Sam’s brow went up. “And when we find this easterner, is he dying fast or slow?”
Caine swung up into the saddle, settling his weight as leather creaked, and kneed Chaser toward the door. “Slow. Very, very slow.”
He’d left her. Without a word, without a goodbye, without even an explanation. He’d left her. Desi stood in the kitchen, frying bacon and potatoes for the men, and stared at Tia.
“When did he leave?”
“This morning.” Tia motioned to the pan. “If you do not turn the bacon, it will burn.”
She forced herself to care. Caine had left her. He’d made love to her as if there was no tomorrow, and then he’d left her. She flipped the bacon pieces one at a time as she absorbed the knowledge. He’d told Tia he was leaving but he hadn’t said a word to her.
“Did he go alone?”
“Tracker and Sam went with him.”
Tia’s brusque tones were colored with sympathy, which just served to rub salt into the wound. Everyone but her had known her husband was leaving. Everyone but her knew why. That could only mean one thing. She turned the other rasher of bacon. “He went after James, didn’t he?”
“You could not expect him to let them be.”
No, but she’d asked for it. “It’s dangerous.”
A snort came from the direction of the table. One of the new men, she didn’t know who because she’d been distracted when they were introduced, stared at her over his coffee. He tipped the cup in a small salute.
“Begging your pardon, ma’am, but if those three have set their sights on someone, the only one in danger would be this James fella.”
Desi slammed down the fork on the stove so hard, the metal grates rattled. They all acted as if they were immortal when in reality, they weren’t, and things went wrong all the time. “Do I know you?”
He tipped his hat. “Shadow, ma’am.”
Desi turned to Tia. “Tracker’s brother, right?”
“Yes.”
Desi could see the resemblance. Same big-boned build, same deadly darkness, same exotically handsome features, same just-give-me-a-reason attitude that belied the lazy way he slouched against the chair back. “I met you my first day.”
“Briefly.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you face-to-face.”
His lips twitched at the formality. “Same here.”
Tia’s smile was fond as she looked over at Shadow. “He and the rest of the boys came in a few days ago. It has been many months since all have been together.”
Ordinarily, in most households, that would call for a party, but no one was here to celebrate anything. Desi picked up the fork and flipped the bacon, thinking hard as it sputtered and spit. “Why are they all here?”
“Because Caine asked us to come.”
She shot the man a glare. Now that the formalities were over, she didn’t want to hear from him, the living proof that Caine didn’t regard her as an equal. She directed her question at Tia. “Where are the other three?”
“They are guarding the passes.”
She stirred the potatoes with a quick jab. “Why?”
Tia didn’t answer, just folded a dish towel, her face set in that impassive, stubborn way Desi had learned meant she disapproved of something. The man who called himself Shadow didn’t look up from his coffee.
“For heaven’s sake, if it involves me, I should know about it.”
“Caine does not wish you to worry.”
Desi grabbed at the back of her apron and untied the strings. Wadding it into a ball, she tossed it to the scarred work-table. “Too late.”
She grabbed a shawl off the hook by the door and stormed out onto the porch. Boone raised his head. As she stomped down the steps, he whined and followed. His nose pushed into her hand as she crossed the yard. She tried to find comfort in the gesture. There was none.
James was coming after her. Caine was going to try and stop him, but he couldn’t. She knew he couldn’t, because James was a snake in the grass. And if James was coming after her then so was
he.
The horror of it bled into her soul. She looked around the stronghold, sending her gaze higher than she normally did to include the cliffs above, spotting the silhouette of a man. She’d felt so safe here, but she wasn’t. She wasn’t ever going to be safe. Her heart raced. And now Caine was in danger because he saw it as his duty to protect her. Boone whined again. She patted his head. “It’ll be all right, Boone.”
Dear heavens, she was no better than anyone else, lying to the dog so he wouldn’t worry. As if he could understand her. As if he had anything to worry about.
“It really will be all right, ma’am.”
She spun around, her hand going to her throat as the man loomed above her. He was even more threatening up close. Taller than Caine with the broad-shouldered lean-hipped build that carried a lot of muscle. His long black hair, contained by a red bandanna tied around his head beneath his hat, whipped around his face with the wind, adding to the impression of wildness barely contained.
Boone snarled low in his throat. Desi’s fingers clenched in his ruff. She hadn’t heard Shadow follow her out of the kitchen, which should have been impossible even with those knee-high moccasins he wore. “No wonder they call you Shadow.”
He touched his finger to the edge of his black hat before cutting the dog a glare. “If you don’t shut up, I’ll be using you as target practice this afternoon.”
He adjusted his grip on his rifle. Desi couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. Boone didn’t care. He just kept on snarling. She placed herself between the dog and the man. She couldn’t control much, but she could control this. “You’ll do no such thing.”
Shadow stared at her. His eyes were brown, she realized. A deep, almost black-brown. And hard. Like all the Hell’s Eight men, they were a reflection of his life’s experience, and his life had made him deadly and cold. Very cold.
His “Who’s going to stop me?” was a flat inquiry.
She pulled her shawl around her. “I will.”
He pushed his hair back, revealing a handsome face to go with those too cold, too old eyes. “Uh-huh.”
He didn’t have to sound so amused. Just because he’d grown as big as a mountain didn’t mean he couldn’t be taken down a peg or two. She spun on her heel, hauling Boone with her by her grip on his scruff. When they were a safe distance from Shadow, she released him. The hound skulked in apology, which forced her to stop and pet him to let him know she wasn’t mad at him. “It’s okay, Boone. You were a good boy standing up for me.”
His head came up, and his face sagged in bliss that he’d pleased her.
The man behind her scoffed. “That dog’s still as useless as the day he was born.”
There was no point arguing with him. Everyone seemed to be very set in their opinions when it came to Boone, but she knew there was more to him than what they saw. She petted the big dog’s head and kissed his nose. “I like him.”
She didn’t leave any room in the statement for argument. She headed across the yard at a brisk pace, trying to work off her anger and frustration. The man followed. She glanced over at him.
“Don’t you have something better to do?”
“Nope.”
“I have a sister that’s missing.”
“Tracker’s handling that.”
“He needs to get on it.” Every day that passed her sister suffered.
“He will.”
She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “Not fast enough.”