The Outlaws: Jess (15 page)

A red haze formed behind Meg's eyes. "Raping
me will only add another nail in your coffin."

He gave her an oily smile. "Women usually
give me what I want. Why should you be any different? If you're
good, I might let you live."

"What about that poor girl in Denver? She
didn't live."

"She should have cooperated and given me what
I wanted."

He dropped to his knees beside her and
fondled her breasts. "That's the best pair of tits I've seen in a
long time. Don't fight me and I'll make this good for you. Most
women like what I do to them. Please me and you'll live to brag
about what a good lover I am."

He unbuckled her gunbelt and fumbled with the
fastenings on her trousers. Meg bucked wildly. This couldn't be
happening. Everything she'd suffered as Arlo's victim came back to
haunt her. If he raped her he might as well kill her for she'd
never be the same.

Fremont caught her thrashing legs and sat on
them as he worked her trousers over her hips and down her legs.
When they were down around her ankles, he yanked off her boots and
pulled the trousers all the way off, tossing them aside. With a
flick of his wrist he pulled her shirt apart and ripped her
camisole down the center. Then he sat back on his haunches, his
eyes glittering as he stared at her.

"You really are something, lady."

He unbuttoned his fly and climbed on top of
her. Meg drew back her legs and kicked him in the chest. He landed
on his rump, his expression murderous.

He reared up and slapped her. "Try that again
and you'll regret it."

Though aware that no one within miles could
hear her, Meg opened her mouth and screamed.

"Stop that, bitch!" Fremont roared. "No one
is killing you...yet."

Meg didn't stop screaming until he placed a
hand over her mouth. She looked up into his twisted features and
saw death, her death, in the colorless depths of his eyes. With
renewed effort she fought him, kicking and spitting like a wild
woman. If she was going to be raped, she wasn't going to make it
easy for him.

Darkness slowed Jess's progress as he
followed Zach's directions to the old Floyd place. He knew he was
near when he heard an earsplitting scream cut through the thick
stillness of the night.

Meg! He spurred his horse, until horse and
man were literally flying over dangerous terrain. The house
suddenly came into view. A decrepit hulk, forlorn and sinister,
squatting beneath a full moon. A light shining from a broken window
guided him like a beacon. He rode up to the house and sawed on the
reins. He was off his horse before it stopped prancing. He leaped
over the broken steps, drew and cocked his pistol, and pushed
through the door. He heard Meg scream again and took the stairs two
at a time.

He followed the light to the open doorway and
barged inside. What he saw froze the blood in his veins. Fremont,
or the man he supposed was Fremont, was kneeling over Meg. One hand
was fondling her breast and the other was clamped over her mouth.
His wet, glistening sex protruded obscenely from his open fly as
Meg bucked wildly beneath him. Cursing him every way to Sunday,
Jess roared in outrage when he saw that Meg's hands were tied
behind her and her body was naked from the waist down.

Fremont whipped around but he didn't have a
chance. Jess brought the butt on his gun down hard on Fremont's
skull. Fremont moaned once and collapsed. Jess grasped his collar
and tossed him aside like a bundle of rags.

Had he hurt Meg? Had he arrived too late? He
dropped to his knees and gathered Meg in his arms, crooning softly
in her ear. She remained limp and unresponsive.

"Meg. Speak to me. Are you all right? Did the
bastard hurt you?"

No response was forthcoming.

"Meg, answer me."

He breathed a sigh of relief when recognition
registered in her eyes.

"Jess?"

"Yes, love."

"Fremont...he..."

"He's out like a light. Let me get that rope
off your wrists so I can use it to tie him up."

He turned her around and untied the knots,
cursing fluently when he saw how tightly Fremont had bound her.
"Your hands are going to hurt when blood starts flowing to them
again."

Meg moaned as Jess massaged the numbness in
her hands. "Fremont...he... Oh, God, it was just like Arlo all over
again. I couldn't bear it."

Jess's features hardened. "You don't have to
talk about it now if you don't want to. I'll help you dress after
I've taken care of Fremont," he said. "Afterward, we can talk about
this. I'm a doctor, I know how to treat torn flesh and..." He
looked away, unable to continue. Who in the hell was Arlo?

Meg merely stared at him. Jess couldn't
recall when he'd ever seen her so confused, so utterly lost.

"How did you know to come after me?"

"Zach rode to town after you left and told me
what you'd done. He gave me directions to the Floyd place."

Meg closed her eyes as Jess tied up Fremont.
Hurtful memories assailed her. She may have been Arlo's wife, but
what he had done to her was closer to rape than normal relations
between husband and wife.

Jess returned with the lantern and Meg opened
her eyes. "I dragged the bastard into the corridor," Jess said. He
tried to nudge her legs apart but Meg resisted. "Relax, love, I
need to see how badly he hurt you."

Meg shook her head. "He didn't. You arrived
in time. He clipped me on the jaw and slapped me, but that's
all."

Jess turned her jaw to the light. Meg saw his
own jaw tauten and knew the bruise marring her chin couldn't be
pretty.

"I ought to kill the bastard," he hissed.

"I'm fine, really. Hand me my clothes."

Jess fetched her trousers and boots. Meg let
him help her pull them on.

"We should wait till morning to take Fremont
back to town," Jess said.

Meg shook her head in furious denial. "No! If
we leave now we can reach town by morning."

"Are you capable of riding? That bruise looks
pretty nasty, and you've been badly shaken."

"I'm fine. I want Fremont behind bars, where
he won't hurt another woman."

"Very well. I'll drag him downstairs and find
his horse. By the way, I didn't see your horse."

"I tethered my mare out of sight in a
gully."

Jess started to leave, then he spun around
and grasped Meg's shoulders.

"Damn you! I ought to turn your over my knee.
I was so damn scared when Zach said you'd gone after Fremont. When
I walked in here and saw that bastard on of top you, I nearly had a
heart attack."

Then, his anger vented, he pulled her against
him, tilted her chin, and kissed her. Hard. With a passion she felt
clear down to her toes. Then he was gone, leaving her reeling
unsteadily.

Her hands were shaking as she strapped on her
guns and pushed her hair under her hat. She waited a moment to pull
herself together, then started down the stairs after Jess.

Meg felt a keen jolt of satisfaction when she
saw Fremont lying across his saddle, belly down, his hands and feet
secured with a rope running beneath the horse's belly.

"I found Fremont's horse out back," Jess
said. "I hope he enjoys riding back to town on his belly."

Meg made a wide berth of Fremont's horse.
"He's awfully quiet."

Jess sent her a smug smile. "I gagged him. I
took exception to what came spewing out of his foul mouth."

Jess mounted and reached out a hand. "Put
your foot in the stirrup and I'll give you a lift up."

Meg gave him her hand and he pulled her up.
She settled behind him, resting her cheek against his back as her
arms circled his waist. Meg stifled a moan. The heat emanating from
his hard body scorched her. The bold masculine scent of him, the
feel of his hard muscular body against hers, produced emotions that
left her raw inside. With difficulty she pushed those feelings
aside. Until she learned more about Jess and his past, she couldn't
allow her heart to become involved.

They retrieved Meg's horse from where she had
left it, and Jess helped her to mount. Then they started back to
town.

Meg was drooping in the saddle hours later
when they reined in at the sheriff's office. Deputy Taylor was just
opening the office for the day and appeared more than a little
surprised by his unexpected visitors.

He tipped his hat. "Mornin', Miz Lincoln. Doc
Gentry." He stared at the bound and gagged man lying face down
across the saddle of his horse and thumbed his hat to the back of
his head. "I see you brought in a prisoner. Is that who I think it
is?"

"It's Fremont," Meg said, dismounting. "He's
all yours, deputy."

"Well I'll be. You did it again, Miz Lincoln.
He's a bad one, all right. Did he give you any trouble?"

She and Jess exchanged glances. "A little,
but I don't want to get into that right now."

Taylor stared pointedly at Meg's bruised face
and merely nodded. "I'm expecting Sheriff Bufford on the evening
train. He'll be mighty glad to see Fremont behind bars. Come back
in a week, I'm sure the reward money will be here by then."

Taylor untied the ropes binding Fremont,
dragged him off his horse and prodded him into the jailhouse.
Fremont sent a murderous glare at Meg and Jess before he stumbled
through the door.

"I should go home and let Zach know I'm all
right," Meg said, exhaustion slurring her words.

"Zach is waiting at my office," Jess said.
"You're not going anywhere in your condition. Tomorrow is Sunday.
Since I don't expect any patients, you can use the spare bedroom. I
need to keep an eye on your for a day or two."

"I don't need looking after," Meg argued.

"Maybe not," Jess said, unconvinced. "However
I intend to examine you before you leave."

"Really, Jess," Meg said as she raised her
foot into the stirrup. But she must have been weaker than she
thought for she couldn't quite pull herself into the saddle.

Jess was beside her instantly. He lifted her
into the saddle and walked her horse down the street to his office.
Zach rushed out the door to meet them.

"Thanks be, you're back!

"Open the door, Zach," Jess said as he lifted
Meg from her mare.

Zach hastened to do Jess's bidding. "What's
wrong with Meggie? Did you get Fremont?"

"Put me down, Jess. I don't know what got
into me," Meg said. "I'm not a weakling."

"You're the strongest woman I know. You've
just been through a harrowing ordeal, however, and are
understandably distraught. You've also gone the entire night
without sleep. No more arguments. You need a good night's rest
before I'll allow you to leave."

"Will someone tell me what in the hell
happened?" Zach all but shouted. "Is Meggie hurt?"

"I'm not hurt," Meg insisted.

Apparently Zach got a good look at her face
for he turned the air blue with his curses. "Did Fremont do that?
Where is he? I'll kill the bastard!"

"He's in jail where he belongs," Jess
said."Meg hasn't slept in twenty four hours, I'm taking her
upstairs and putting her to bed. Take care of the horses, will you,
Zach? Come back when you're finished and I'll tell you all about
it."

After a last glance at Meg, Zach hurried
off.

"Really, Jess, I can walk," Meg
persisted."

Jess ignored her as he carried her up the
stairs and into the spare bedroom. He sat her at the edge of the
bed and pulled off her boots.

"What you need right now is sleep. I'm going
to tuck you in, then go down and talk to Zach. If you're not
sleeping by the time I return I'll dose you with laudanum."

Jess unbuttoned the remaining buttons on her
shirt, the ones that Fremont hadn't torn off, and pulled her shirt
free. Her camisole was all but destroyed and he quickly removed it,
sucking in an angry breath when he saw the livid bruises marring
the creamy flesh of her breasts. He muttered something obscene and
turned his attention to her trousers.

"I can finish undressing myself," Meg
insisted. "I'm not helpless."

"Very well," Jess said gruffly. If he
discovered any more bruises on Meg's flesh while he was in a
killing mood, he feared he wouldn't be responsible for his actions.
Fremont deserved a good thrashing, and the way he felt now he'd
fight the deputy to get to Fremont if he had to.

"I'll be up later to check on you."

"Jess," Meg called after him. "Don't tell
Zach that Fremont tried to...tried to..."

Jess's mouth tautened. "Get some sleep."
Without another word, he strode out the door.

Zach was waiting for him in the parlor. "How
is she? How badly did Fremont hurt her?"

"She's bruised and exhausted, which is
understandable. I'll know more when I examine her tomorrow. Sleep
is what she needs right now."

"Do you know what happened?"

"Meg didn't say much, but I suspect Fremont
got the drop on her, knocked her out and tied her up. I got there
while he was..." His words fell off, recalling Meg's request.

"While he was what?" demanded Zach. "You
might as well tell me all of it, Doc. Did he rape her?"

"Meg said he didn't. I won't know for sure
until I examine her. It's entirely possible, given the scene I
interrupted when I arrived."

A string of obscenities spewed from Zach's
mouth and his fierce expression gave Jess a brief glimpse of the
hard man Zach had once been. "I'll kill him! I don't care if he is
behind bars. I'll kill him."

Jess nodded sagely. "I know exactly how you
feel."

"No, you don't, Doc. And neither of us know
what went through Meggie's mind when the bastard was attacking her.
You can't possibly understand because she hasn't told you what
happened to her when she was still a young girl."

Jess went still. "Why don't you tell me?"