Jake, Devils on Horseback, Book 2 (9 page)

Then Gabby did something that would probably make her mother faint. She reached out her hand to shake theirs. Gideon’s face registered surprise, but he readily grasped hers in a grip that was firm but not painful. When Lee figured out she was waiting for him, he grudgingly shook her hand too. Jake stared at her until the moment stretched uncomfortably between them.

Gabby didn’t know what it was about Jake Sheridan that fascinated her, but she was damned determined to find out. Her future had been a hazy mix of keeping the mill going and perhaps one day finding a husband, although that was an unlikely scenario since Tanger had no eligible men. And now, everything had changed within a few days.

“May I speak to you outside for a moment?” She forced a smile at Gideon and Lee. “I need to talk to Jake about the woman he helped earlier. You two can go in and see Zeke.”

After his friends left, Jake stared at her until she took his arms and led him outside. Although he was a tall man, it was like moving a small boy—there was no resistance at all. When they stepped out into the shadows of the night, she let him go and walked a few paces away.

“I don’t know what happened tonight after we brought Margaret here. I know men who have come back from war who can’t sleep at night or even live a proper life.” She hugged herself. “I can’t even imagine what you went through before you came here, and I wanted you to know none of it matters to me.”

Gabby whirled to face him, his light complexion visible in the moonlight. This was the moment of truth for her, the moment she either turned her back or jumped forward into a future full of uncertainty and unknown challenges. Life was too short not to take a chance.

“I can’t seem to think when I’m around you,” she confessed. “You are always in my head.”

Jake’s mouth dropped open. “I didn’t do anything to you. You stepped into my life, Gabby. All I can do is hang on and hope I survive being obsessed with you.”

Gabby’s heart stuttered. “Obsessed with me?” She’d made the right choice, she was certain of that.

“Well, um, not obsessed. What I meant to say was that you were on my mind a bit, all right more than that. Oh hell, I don’t know what I’m saying.” Jake grabbed hold of her arms and pulled her to him. The hard wall of his chest was warm, almost hot, against her already heated body. Her nipples stood at attention, throbbing for more, to feel skin on skin. She looked up into his blue eyes and saw the same confusion and frustration she felt, as well as desire.

Gabby knew she and Jake would be together as a man and woman should be, naked and full of the sweet passion that drove them. She could almost picture them on her bed—on the white sheets his red hair would stand out like a beacon in the night or day. He was a beautiful man, muscular, tall and with a smile that could melt paint off a wall.

All her thoughts whirled around in her head while his mouth descended on hers.

Ah, God, help me.

Gabby hung on for dear life as he kissed her. At first it was a demanding kiss, full of thunder, almost bruising, but she returned it full force. Like two animals mating in the wild, they grappled and pulled at each other, moans of pure lust bursting from their throats. Then as he began to gentle his lips, Gabby rode along with him, savoring the journey from fierce passion to sensual heat. He opened his mouth, drawing her tongue into the deep caverns of all that was Jake. It was like a sweet dance between them without moving their feet.

Gabby nearly drowned in the sensation, so poignant and perfect. His arms encircled her while her arms wound around his neck until Jake couldn’t be much closer without his body entering hers. The very thought of Jake being inside her made her knees turn to jelly from the sheer lightning that snapped through her.

He kissed her as if she was a river and he a man dying of thirst, sipping at her mouth, licking and nipping her lips until she was mindless with need for more.
More
. Gabby yanked at his shirt, trying to force him to go faster, to calm the fires within her, but he didn’t move an inch. She growled in frustration and tugged at his hair.

Jake pulled back and tsked at her, his lips swollen and wet from pillaging her mouth. “Feisty, aren’t you
mo chroi
?” he whispered against her cheek as he kissed his way to her ear. “I want to savor you.”

Gabby wanted much more than that, but she held back, just barely, from telling him exactly what she did want. She needed so much more than kisses. He couldn’t possibly imagine how much she hungered.

“Gabby?” Dr. Barham’s voice cut through the haze of sensuality that surrounded them like a cloud.

They each breathed heavily, sharing their air as they had shared their bodies. It took several beats before Gabby could even speak.

“We’ll finish this soon.” She kissed Jake before he could stop her, then stepped back into the light thrown by the porch. “Right here, Harry. We haven’t gone very far.”

Gabby felt Jake behind her, a heat that penetrated her even without touching. Even though their town was dying, people were missing, her father crippled, and life was as hard as it had ever been, she finally felt hope.

Captain Elliot Nessman stopped his men for the night in a small valley in eastern Texas. Fortunately this part of the state wasn’t as flat as the western half so there was protection to be found in the natural formations. He dismounted and flipped the reins to a private who shook when Elliot barked at him. It was a pleasure to have a troop at his command, to be able to give orders and have them obeyed without question.

The one time he’d had those damn Georgia Devils in his prison had been the sweetest satisfaction. He hadn’t had enough time to break their spirits and form them into the type of human beings who would cower as the private did. Instead those rebs had escaped, leaving Elliot without his pleasure. It had taken every favor, every inch of credibility he had to get the general in Washington to allow him the Texas command. Now it was up to Elliot to find that redheaded bastard and string him up as quickly as possible. The other four would no doubt try and stop him, allowing the army to formally charge them too.

Elliot smiled at the fireflies dancing in the field. He and his men were getting closer, he could feel it. Some rancher had even remembered the one-armed freak and his big mouth. Soon, Elliot would have his quarry and perhaps a promotion too. He’d already wired the mayors of all the towns within a hundred miles.

He’d thought life was over after the war, but it was only just beginning.

Zeke’s head felt as if someone was swinging a hammer at him, again and again. His arm throbbed in tune with the pain. He wanted to scratch but the damn doctor had put too many bandages on. Trying to distract himself, Zeke thought about good things. However, the only good thing that kept coming to mind was Allison. That road led to trouble with a capital T, yet the young sweet thing stayed firmly entrenched in his mind.

No matter what he did, he couldn’t seem to shake the image of the angel bringing him lemonade, or smiling shyly at him across the dinner table. She was too young for him, maybe not in age, but in her soul. Zeke felt as if he was a hundred years old and Allison just a babe.

He must have dozed off when a cool hand on his cheek startled him awake. His eyes popped open to find a woman above him, a hazy profile in the nearly lightless room. He couldn’t focus well but he could swear it was Allison, or perhaps he was imagining things. The object of his dreams and longings right there next to him, even as he lay in bed with nothing on but the sheets from the doc and the skin God gave him.

“Allison, is that you?” His voice was hoarse and needy to his own ears. Foolish man.

“I feel bad about what happened to you, Zeke.” Allison spoke in a husky whisper, unlike he’d ever heard her speak before. She ran her fingernails up and down his arm, leaving a wake of goose bumps.

“You shouldn’t be here alone, little girl.” He pulled his arm away.

Her face was mysterious in the shadows of the room. “I’m not alone. I’m with you.”

After her hand landed on his dick, Zeke hissed in pain when he tried to move away from her. “What the hell are you doing?” Her scent washed over him, but it was wrong somehow.

“Relax, Zeke. I just want to make you feel better.” She started to pull the sheet down, and Zeke wasn’t strong enough to stop her, or perhaps he didn’t want to.

She kissed his chest even as her hand squeezed and pleasured him. He closed his eyes and told himself he’d tell her to stop in just a moment…or two.

Chapter Five

Jake didn’t sleep more than twenty minutes before it was his turn for patrol. Over the past two days, Gideon, Lee and he had taken turns patrolling the town just in case the raiders came back. They didn’t expect trouble, but they’d been unprepared the first time. Gideon drove them to be the best they could and the ugly fact was they had allowed an attack to occur without catching a bit of information. They needed to track the raiders and find their hidey-hole.

The sweetness of the warm night caressed his face as he walked alone up and down the street. Jake breathed deeply, keeping his calm through iron will. He’d never been so upside down in his life over anyone or anything. He’d thought the job in Tanger would be tough, but nothing like this. With a hunger that nearly consumed him, he wanted something and someone so bad it made his heart ache. He’d been looking for the place he belonged, and he’d found it in the wilds of Texas.

He’d found it in the arms of a tall black-haired woman who knew how to process wheat into flour.

That thought made him bark a laugh to split the silence around him. What Gabby and her family did wasn’t exciting by any means, but hell, he’d had enough excitement to last him three lifetimes. The ache for her had settled somewhere near his gut and would likely remain there for the rest of his life, unless he did something about it.

The biggest thing standing between him and his future was the past, which haunted him both emotionally and physically. He was so twisted inside, he didn’t know if he could ever be normal again. Stomach churning, he stopped and sucked in a few breaths. He cursed his shaking hands as he clenched them into fists. Dammit.

It took several minutes until he felt in control enough to continue patrolling. Gideon and the town were depending on him—Jake needed to be as strong as he could. A noise from the right stopped him in his tracks.

Instinct made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Someone was watching him. He stopped as if to adjust his gun belt, but his gaze scanned the darkness for something, anything. The light from the saloon down the street did little to illuminate where he stood. Jake wasn’t about to let whoever it was get away from him.

He let the sounds of the dark settle around him while he memorized what and where everything was. A hoot owl to his right, crickets all around, something scuttling in the alley beside the mercantile, a few bats on the far left, and the river off in the distance. Something else was out of place with the night creature’s symphony. There it was, the scrape of a shoe up ahead and to the right. If Jake was right, someone was standing between the hotel and the restaurant watching him.

That someone was about to be sorry.

Jake started walking again, just as slowly as he had been. He stopped to check on the door at the post office to be sure it was locked, then peered in the window of the mercantile as well. For the casual observer, he was making rounds and keeping an eye on Tanger. However, Jake was really gathering his strength to do battle with the man stalking him. As the anger built inside him, his emotions took over once more. The topsy-turvy week had only served to worsen the cracks within him. This time it wasn’t panic or fear, it was full-on fury.

He knew if he didn’t control it, there would be more than blood shed that night. He’d been trained to kill without warning or sound; it wouldn’t be a fair fight to be certain. The stranger had no idea what Jake could do with just his hands.

His breath came in small puffs, designed to keep him quiet and ready. By the time he made it to the front door of the hotel, Jake’s entire body was rock hard with anticipation, his muscles screaming from the effort of holding back. He felt, rather than saw, his target slink back deeper into the alley. It was now or never.

He ran like a bullet toward the stranger, surprising whoever it was. The figure lost its balance but quickly regained footing and started running. Jake must have had longer legs because he caught him in seconds. They landed on the hard ground and the stranger grunted in pain. Within moments, Jake had a knee in the stranger’s back and his arms trapped. For the first time in a long while, Jake was glad he’d been a soldier.

“Why are you watching me?” Jake pressed his knee down a bit more.

“Let me go,” came the pained response. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Surprise nearly made Jake let the stranger up. It was a
woman
, not a man. It wasn’t Gabby, judging by the size and shape of her, but she was most definitely female.

“Yes you do. You’ve been watching me for days and I want to know why. Who are you?” Jake eased his knee back and loosened his grip on her arms.

“I don’t need to tell you nothing. You’re not the law.”

“We’re the closest Tanger has to a lawman, and you definitely have a lot to tell me.” He leaned down and smelled the scent of fear and woman’s sweat.

Her only response was to wiggle even harder. Jake knew he wasn’t the right person to question her—Gideon would get much more information out of her. She struggled against his hold, trying to kick him when she could. Whoever the woman was, she had a lot of gumption. Jake wasn’t as big as the rest of the Devils, but he wasn’t tiny either. He could easily subdue her with one punch if he wanted to.

She bucked up, slamming her behind into his balls. He sucked in a painful breath, giving her the opportunity she needed. The woman rolled out from beneath him, punching Jake as she went. He wasn’t expecting the gun, but suddenly there it was, stuck into his gut. When the hammer pulled back, Jake knew a moment of all-out fear to accompany the agony rippling through his crotch.

“I should kill you for touching me.” Her voice sent goose bumps down his arms. “No man is allowed to touch me without my say-so.”

The hard press of the snub of the gun felt like the grim reaper in the shadows of the street. Jake peered at her, trying to find her eyes, but a big floppy hat hid her from view. He didn’t know what to do, then panic began to crawl up his back.

“Sorry, ma’am. I truly am. I thought you were a fella following me and uh, I didn’t, that is, no harm intended.” His voice shook along with the rest of him. Jesus, had he survived the war only to die in a dirty alley, killed by a crazy woman in the dark?

“You’ll be more than sorry if you ever come near me again.” She backed away slowly, slinking back into the blackness she’d been hiding in.

Jake rose to his feet, inhaling deep gusty breaths until he was sure he wouldn’t pass out. He wasn’t sure what the hell had just happened, and he was surprised how he’d reacted—as a man who wasn’t afraid. Instinct had overrun his scrambled mind long enough to do what he needed to. Perhaps it was Gabby’s influence, but dammit he felt almost normal.

The woman’s presence confirmed that someone was watching them but he still didn’t know why. Their job in town seemed to be more mixed-up each day they stayed. On trembling legs, he finished his patrol until it was time to switch shifts with Gideon.

When he got back to the house they were staying in, he hooted as he approached and waited for the response. Gideon stepped out fully dressed and ready. It had to be three o’clock in the morning, but the Devils would be regularly patrolling Tanger from that day forward, especially considering the armed woman who’d likely haunt him for quite a while.

“Something happen?” Gideon spoke softer than a whisper.

“You could say that.” Jake sidled up next to him. “I caught someone watching me.”

“I assume he got away,” Gideon said wryly.

“
She
did, by slamming my balls and pulling a gun on me. I’m damn lucky she didn’t shoot my pecker off.” Jake shuddered from the memory. “I thought for sure I was a goner.”

“Did you get a good look at her?”

Jake shook his head. “No, afraid not. It was pitch dark, she was kinda tall, strong, and mean as a badger.”

“You described half the women in town.” Gideon cursed quietly. “Are you sure she was watching you?”

Jake wrestled with impatience. “It’s three o’clock in the fucking morning and she was in a dark alley with a gun. Even if the alley was next to the hotel, I don’t think she was there to get a room. So if she wasn’t watching me, then what the hell was she doing?”

“Point taken. I’ll nose around and see if I can find anything. Odd that this happened a few days after the raiders came through.”

Jake had considered that already. “I don’t think it’s odd. From the day we arrived, I felt someone watching me. I also figured someone in Tanger was helping the raiders, feeding them information. I never thought it was a woman though.” Especially one dredged up from the depths of Hades.

“I don’t think we give women enough credit for being devious.” Gideon’s teeth flashed in the darkness. “If this one is betraying the town, we’ll find her.”

“Damn right we will.”

Gideon nodded toward the house. “Try to get some sleep.”

Jake snorted. “That’s not going to happen.” His body still buzzed with a million different emotions, pulling and poking at him. Jake didn’t know his ass from his elbow anymore.

“You need to talk?” His former captain was too perceptive by half.

“Yep, not yet though.” Although his former captain would likely be able to help Jake puzzle things out, he had some hard thinking to do first.

Gideon touched his shoulder. “I reckon it has something to do with the lady I saw in your arms at the doc’s. You let me know when you’re ready to do some talking and I’ll be there.” With one last squeeze to Jake’s shoulder, Gideon disappeared into the inky blackness of the night.

His friend was right, but wrong. It wasn’t just Gabby on his mind, it was everything. He could hardly explain it to himself. Jake wasn’t about to fall asleep and there was only one place he wanted to be. He headed for the mill.

* * * * *

Gabby lay in bed staring at the ceiling, unable to even come close to sleeping. She knew the day would be long, incredibly long, if she didn’t at least get an hour or two of sleep, however she couldn’t convince her mind or heart to shut up for five minutes. With a sigh, she rolled over and punched her pillow. The night creatures sang a symphony around her, but it wasn’t soothing in the least. In fact, the normally welcome cacophony made her sleeplessness worse.

Damn Jake Sheridan.

She didn’t mean it, really, but if he hadn’t come to Tanger, if he hadn’t kissed her, if he hadn’t woken the woman hiding behind the face she showed everyone in town, her life would still be normal. Stupid to have regrets over what had already happened. What she should be doing is figuring out what to do next, not reliving every moment from the last few days.

A sound from outside had her sitting up in bed. Her heart thumped at the notion the raiders had returned. She slipped onto the floor and crawled to the window, her mouth as dry as the chaff in the mill. The boards felt cool under her knees even as the rest of her ran hot with the tang of fear.

For the first time in her life she was glad her hair was dark so it didn’t shine. Gabby didn’t want whoever was out there to be able to see her. Slowly she put her fingers on the sill and pulled herself up so she could peer into the night at the intruder. At first, all she saw was rushing water, then she spotted him.

Jake.

Before she could think about why he was out there, she was halfway down the stairs. Her brain started working the moment the dew-covered grass hit the bottom of her feet. By then he’d already seen her and she either had to run away like an idiot or keep walking toward him.

She chose the latter while her palms grew moist and her heart pumped like the waterwheel behind her. The sound of the water was familiar in an unknown situation. Gabby hugged her arms to her chest, realizing she wore only a thin gown and nothing else. She was naked beneath the white cotton, and her nipples hardened partly because of the cool night air, as well the natural attraction to the man who waited for her.

“Gabby.” His eyes were shadowed beneath his hat, but she felt their heat nonetheless.

“Why are you here?” No use being coy. It had to be three o’clock in the morning and he was skulking outside her house. Any self-respecting woman wouldn’t have even acknowledged he was there much less appear in nothing but a shimmy.

“I couldn’t think of another place I wanted to be than with you.”

His words sank in and snatched her breath. He sounded so sincere, she didn’t doubt him for a moment. What exactly did that mean though? Although she was ready to step off the path of flirtation and kisses to something more with Jake, her brain reminded her he was a man she hardly knew
.

“That’s nice of you to say, Jake, but it’s kind of an odd time to come calling.” Gabby stood fifteen feet away, throwing up an imaginary wall between them, protecting herself from his effect on her.

He held out his hand. “Sit with me.”

Although she knew she shouldn’t stay, Gabby found herself sitting on the same stone wall with him again, close enough to feel the warmth from his body and hear him breathing. Goose bumps danced up and down her spine and a throb of arousal settled low in her belly. She couldn’t deny she was attracted to Jake, more than that really, it was a deep connection between them on a physical level. The cool stones beneath her contrasted the heat of her skin.

Gabby wasn’t ready to admit it was more than physical. She’d learned that lesson the hard way and no stranger, no matter how romantic he might be, could dissuade her from changing her mind. Alvin Carmichael had taken more than just a month’s profits and her father’s milling secrets, he’d taken her trust and left her father to die. After the raiders attacked, he ran like a rat deserting a sinking ship. If she ever saw him again, Alvin would feel the bite of her vengeance.

Shaking off the maudlin thoughts, Gabby waited for Jake to touch her. In fact, she couldn’t wait to feel him pressed against her. The memory of his hard chest and calloused hands sent a shudder from her curls to her toes. Jake Sheridan was a man’s man and she intended on finding out just how much.

A longing raced through her for something more than what she had. Gabby wanted someone to love her, cherish her, keep her safe, but she also wanted a man who’d respect her, trust her, and hold her in high regard. As Jake’s large hands skimmed down her lightly clad back, she wondered if he was that man. His gentle touch almost didn’t make contact, but when it did, he left a path of pure arousal.