The Officer and the Traveler (2 page)

Slowly, he turned around to face her and his breath caught. Her beautiful auburn hair was slightly askew, slipping from its pins and framing her gentle, young-looking face. Though she had a hint of a smile playing on her lips, it didn’t meet her eyes. He dropped his gaze lower to her crushed and wrinkled gown that fit snug against all of her feminine curves and swallowed. Its fabric was the most vibrant shade of yellow he’d seen in a long time, giving away how new to the profession she still was. His heart slammed in his chest.

 
Taking a deep breath he walked a few steps in her direction. “Just looking for you.”
 

She lifted her eyebrows in response. He grinned. Perhaps she was more experienced than he thought. No. Her skin looked too smooth and her dress too new. Unless she’d previously had a protector, she’d have never been able to afford such a fine garment.

“
And now that you’ve found me?” she asked, bringing him from his thoughts.
 

“
Would you like to go on a walk?”
 

Something, fear perhaps, flickered across her face. “No, thank you.”

“
All right,” he said slowly. Her response had confirmed his earlier suspicion. She wasn’t yet accustomed to her profession. “How about if we talk? Right here?”
 

She bit her lip and she cast a fleeting glance around them, hesitation stamped all over her face and shining in her green eyes.

“
Nothing is going to happen to you,” he said softly. “We’re here in the open.”
 

She didn’t look convinced; in fact, she looked more startled by his words than she had before.

He reached to steady her, hoping she’d see in his eyes that she could trust him.

She swallowed audibly when his hands touched her hips.

“
It’s all right,” he crooned. His eyes settled on her plump lips and his pulse started to race, spurring him to close the gap between them. What was he doing? He couldn’t kiss her. He’d never once
kissed a woman of her station and yet, her trusting eyes and timid beauty called to him.
 

She licked her lips and all of Gray’s restraint crumbled.

Abandoning everything he’d ever fought to protect, he brought his lips to hers.

Soft and supple, her lips were like heaven. Warm and sweet, her mouth tasted sweeter than any pastry he’d ever had melt in his mouth. This discovery was something he certainly wouldn’t have expected from a woman such as her.

A sigh escaped her lips, and he deepened their kiss.

Cupping her face with his hands, he idly rubbed her cheeks with the sides of his thumbs—something he’d once witnessed his friend Wes do while kissing his wife. Gray had scoffed at the very idea of such a display. But now... Now he wanted nothing more than to touch every inch of her soft face and hold that sweet mouth to his for as long as he could.

Which, heedless to who saw them, was exactly what he planned to do.

Or he would have, had the unmistakeable sound of General Davis clearing his throat with a gargle followed by an
ahem
not rent the air.
 

He pulled back and muttered a curse, not sure if he was cursing because he was about to face his nemesis or at the realization that kissing her had put him in such an uncomfortable state of arousal—something he’d vowed to never let happen with a woman such as this. A wave of shame came over him and he turned his head to cast a cold stare over his shoulder toward the man he’d once told if he ever saw him again he’d kill him with his bare hands.

General Davis, a retired general who was here at this abandoned fort for who-knew-what reason, penetrated Gray with his stare the same way he always had when Gray had been caught doing something wrong.

Gray held his gaze and instinctively moved to draw the woman closer to him, doing his best to shield her from General Davis’ view. He hadn’t meant to draw attention to her or embarrass her. He moved his hand to hold her just above her elbow, noting how tense her arm felt under his hand. He gave her a tight squeeze. Not enough to hurt her, but enough to assure her that he wasn’t going to let anyone, especially General Davis, harm her.

“
What the hell do you think you’re doing, boy?” General Davis demanded from where he stood at attention, not five feet away.
 

Gray bristled at being called a boy and a belligerent answer formed on the tip of his tongue. One that would no doubt send the general into a temper. The temptation was too much, but when he opened his mouth, the words, “Kissing my intended, sir,” rolled off his tongue.

“
Your intended?” the man challenged, his stony face giving nothing away.
 

Gray nodded. That’s all he could do, so shocked by the words that had come out of his own mouth.  It wasn’t until General Davis questioned him about it that he’d actually believed he’d said it aloud and hadn’t imagined it. “Yes, sir, my intended.”

“
I see,” he said slowly. “Don’t you think it’s best to ask her father’s permission first?”
 

“
Had she one, I’d have asked,” Gray said flippantly. What was it about this man that brought out the worst in Gray? Never mind. He knew the answer to that, and thinking of it only steeled his resolve.
 

General Davis moved his left leg out to put his stance shoulder-width apart and brought his hands behind his back, taking the ‘at ease’ position. “All right, ask.”

Michaela Davis’ entire body zinged with sensations she’d never known could exist. Especially not because of a kiss!

In her mind, she knew better than to kiss a stranger. She should slap him. Kick him. Or at the very least bite him!

But she couldn’t. His lips were too inviting and his touch too gentle for her to ever want this to stop, even if he was a stranger.

Then suddenly, it did. He pulled his mouth from hers and a strange look came over his face before he turned to look at something behind him.

Pa.

Mortification flooded her. Not only had she just been kissing a stranger. Her father had caught her!

“
What the hell do you think you’re doing, boy?” Pa boomed.
 

Good thing his question was directed at the stranger because if he’d asked that of Michaela, she’d likely be unable to give him an answer he’d accept.

A moment passed, and Michaela briefly felt a pang of sympathy for the man who seemed rather stunned by her father’s tone. She swallowed her unease and was about to speak when the imbecile said, “Kissing my intended, sir.”

A nervous giggle lodged in her throat. Good heavens, he was only making it worse.

Michaela peeked around the broad expanse of the stranger in front of her to look at her pa. What was he thinking? This stranger didn’t know he was talking to her pa or he wouldn’t have been so glib. Of that, she was certain.

“
Your intended?” Pa repeated.
 

The stranger nodded. “Yes, sir, my intended.”

“
I see,” he said slowly. Had she not lived with him so long she’d have missed the amusement that flashed in his eyes. “Don’t you think it’s best to ask her father’s permission first?”
 

“
Had she one, I’d have asked,” the man replied, sounding a bit annoyed.
 

Michaela felt her eyes widen. She didn’t think this could get worse, but it just had. While she didn’t like the idea of who—or what—he might have thought she was, she couldn’t fault him for his honorable streak. He’d likely thought he was being noble and protecting her from someone who meant to harm her, by claiming a connection. She doubted he’d done so with the belief he was about to be made to propose.

Pa moved from ‘attention’ to ‘at ease’, looking every bit as steady as a mighty oak. “All right, ask.”

The man’s grip on her arm tightened a fraction, then released, but he didn’t remove it completely.

From where she stood, she could only see a partial profile view of his face, but it was enough to see the muscle now working in his jaw.

When she’d first spotted him climbing out his window, she hadn’t gotten a very good look at his face. Nor had she gotten a much better one when they’d been talking. The sun had been so bright behind him, it had made the details of his face nearly impossible to see.

She angled her head a little to see more of his face. He had a strong jaw covered with a day’s worth of whiskers. Long, straight nose. A yellowish mark under his eye—a healing bruise perhaps.

He pursed his lips and clenched his jaw, his eyes still fastened on her father.

The tension mounted as the seconds passed and she pulled away from him, noting the absence of his touch on her arm was just as disappointing as when he’d ended their kiss. She started, there had only been one other who’d been able to ignite such a feeling within her. She blinked to clear
that
thought immediately. No good could come of it. That was long ago—when she was young and still naïve to the ways of the world. Now she knew better.
 

“
General Davis, sir,” the man began in a tone that might suggest he had a pound of gravel in his throat. “I would like to request permission to marry your daughter.”
 

Michaela’s breath caught. He’d actually asked. Pa would say
no
, of course. They were strangers after all, and while Pa had recently become more irritating than before in his demands to know why she hadn’t settled on a suitor, he wouldn’t actually make her marry a stranger. Nonetheless, this man had certainly just earned her father’s respect. There was no question about that.
 

Pa kept his stance, not moving a muscle.

Michaela walked toward him, not daring to look back at the man she’d just been caught kissing. “All right, Pa. There’s no need to stare at the man as if you’re about to declare war against him. You got what you wanted, now let’s go.”

“
Yes,” Pa said.
 

“
Yes?” Michaela echoed, knitting her eyebrows.
 

“
Yes, you can marry her.”
 

Every ounce of blood in Michaela’s veins turned to ice. “Wh-what?”

“
He has my permission to marry you.”
 

“
But he’s a stranger,” she burst out.
 

“
Is he?” Pa questioned, arching a brow at her.
 

“
Of course he is. I saw him climbing out a window and—” She closed her mouth with a snap. Telling her father how they’d met wasn’t going to do her any favors.
 

“
And then you decided to play loose with your affections with him.”
 

Michaela’s face burned. “Could you keep your voice down before someone hears and thinks something else happened?”

Pa shrugged. “As far as I’m concerned, it did.”

“
No, it didn’t,” Michaela practically hissed.
 

“
Do not worry, Michaela, there won’t be a wedding,” the man said from behind her, stilling her. How did he know her name? She hadn’t told him, nor had her father mentioned it.
 

She spun around to face him. This time when she saw him, it wasn’t with the bright sun behind him. Her eyes connected with his bluish-green ones and with the impact of a bullet from her father’s pistol the past came back.
Gray.
She wasn’t sure if she actually said his name or not. Nor could she muster up enough will within her to care, not when her heart felt like it was being crushed all over again. How could this be?
 

He took a step toward her, his eyes full of the same softness that had once held her captive to him.

She took a retreating step backwards, even if that meant being closer to her father.

“
Act right, Michaela,” Pa barked. “It wouldn’t do for you to make a fool of your husband by acting this way.”
 

“
He’s not my husband,” Michaela countered.
 

“
No, but he will be, and it wouldn’t do for it to be known that Captain Montgomery’s wife doesn’t—”
 

“
That will not be a problem,” Gray cut in. “As I assured Michaela, there will not be a wedding.”
 

Pa looked unmoved. “No?”

“
No,” Gray said. “As Michaela pointed out, you got what you wanted from me. But that’s as far as it goes.”
 

“
And what is your plan after I announce your engagement tonight? To publicly embarrass her by standing her up at the altar? I think not.”
 

“
And what is your plan then, to force me to walk down the aisle by pressing the point of your bayonet into my back?” Gray retorted.
 

“
If I must.”
 

“
Pa, that’s eno—”
 

“
Need I remind you that I never asked her to marry me,” Gray asked as if he didn’t know—or just didn’t care—that she was speaking.
 

“
No, but you asked me, which is good enough.”
 

Michaela gasped. “No—”

“
Well, I didn’t expect you to say
yes
.”
 

Stung, Michaela didn’t even bother to speak again. He was right, of course. She hadn’t expected her father to give approval, either. But that was when she thought Gray was a stranger. Not that it mattered. Pa had once told her in no uncertain terms that she wasn’t to go near Gray, ever. Whether she had always heeded his command might be a discussion she didn’t wish to have. But there had to be
some
reason for her father’s warning.