Authors: Marie Harte
“In
here,” Gregor said and stood back to allow Pilar entry. He winked at the girl
behind her, who skittered away with haste.
Pilar
brushed by Gregor and clutched her spear—a thin stalk of bamboo fixed with a
sharp edge of black death rock she’d personally honed to a fine point. On the
off chance her hosts decided to get creative, she also had Brian’s snub-nosed
pistol tucked behind her back. A Territory weapon to handle Territory men.
Gregor
closed the door behind them with a soft
snick
.
Butch
McKenzie sat waiting for her behind a large desk. He regarded her with dark
eyes full of curiosity and what looked like a strange wealth of hunger.
“I
was hoping to talk to the leader of the Flower Gang,” he said in a low voice. Smooth,
cultured, and unlike most of the men she knew.
Pilar
studied him, searching for weaknesses. She couldn’t tell his height since he
sat, but the breadth of his shoulders, the fit of his shirt and the size of his
hands told her he’d be the one to watch in a fight. Gregor had a meanness in
his eyes and a whipcord leanness. He would know how to handle himself, but
Pilar sensed the majority of the threat from the man behind the desk.
“You
are talking to the leader of the Flower Gang,” she replied, no arrogance in her
tone, simply truth.
Butch
smiled and pushed out from the desk. Damn, he stood a head taller than Pilar. He
walked with surprising grace for a large man. “I meant no insult, Pilar. Allow
me to introduce myself. I’m Butch McKenzie, owner of the McKenzie Ranch.”
Gregor’s
lips tightened. Good, friction between the brothers. She hadn’t imagined what
she’d seen before from Gregor. Hopefully, this tension was something she could
later exploit.
“You’ve
already met my brother Gregor. He sang your praises, you know. But then, I’ve
already heard about your successes. You and your gang are making quite an
impact on the railroad.”
“What
do you want, Butch McKenzie?”
“A
woman with direction. I like that. What do I want, Pilar?” He smiled again, and
the expression made her uneasy. There was something not quite right about the
man. She clutched her spear tighter.
Butch
motioned for her to sit. She did so reluctantly, and only to prove that he
didn’t intimidate her. “I’ve been interested in the railway for years. But it
occurred to me that I’ve never had a better chance to make a profit from it
than I do now.”
“Oh?”
If he tried horning in on her gold, he’d find himself looking at the wrong end
of her spear.
“You’ve
proven you have a feel for timing your strikes. You hit the treasure cars hard
and fast. In fact, you could probably take much more than you do if you had the
resources to carry it all. Resources I have at my disposal.”
Pilar
frowned. “What do you mean?”
“The
line you and your friends have been stealing from not only carries large
amounts of gold from Four Corners, it also connects a lucrative ore mine to a group
of investors that have been less than polite to me.”
“So
what do you want me to do for you?”
His
eyes gleamed. “What an interesting question. What would I like her to do for
me, Gregor?”
Gregor
blinked and glanced up from the desk, where he’d been reading something. “Join
us, Pilar. Organize the gangs terrorizing the rails and take charge. Thieve to
your heart’s content. Then the McKenzies will step in and help clean up a bad
situation, making us an invaluable asset to those investors he mentioned.”
“But
why me? Why not just do it yourselves? You have the manpower.”
“True,”
Butch answered. “But you have a reputation as a woman who can get things done. You
get to keep anything you steal, and I’ll pay you as well.”
She
didn’t trust him. It made no sense to bring her in when his men could have
easily managed. Butch wanted something else from her.
“Me,
Deke and Brian. All of us or none of us.”
“Loyal,
aren’t you?” Butch purred. “Gregor, go take care of what we talked about
earlier. I need to discuss a few details with Pilar.”
Gregor
pursed his lips in disgust before he turned on his heel and left them alone.
“Get
to the truth of it. I don’t have the time or patience to deal with lies.” She
stood and clenched her spear in both hands, ready to use it.
“You’re
a very passionate woman, I can see that. I was hoping you’d live up to my
expectations, and you do.” Butch moved closer until only the sharp end of her
spear in his throat stopped him. “Go on, push it in. I bet you’d love to see me
bleed.”
Memories
of another blond man threatening her, testing her, promising lies before he hurt
her, pushed her to violence. She dug her spear deeper and watched as a trickle
of red ran down his throat.
To
her bemusement, Butch approved. “I’m glad to see I was right about you, Pilar. Would
you mind me asking, where did you get that purple flower on your cheek? What
does it mean?”
As
if he wasn’t bleeding, she continued the polite conversation. “I do mind you
asking. But I will tell you that the flower is only given to the best and
hardest warriors of my people.”
“A
mark of honor.”
She
cringed inside. Had she been a person of honor, she never would have made a
bargain with that blond haired devil.
“You
remind me of a woman I recently met,” Butch was saying. “She didn’t have your
mark, but she moved the way you do. And the knife she used, it had the same
pale diamond on its handle as you have on your spear.”
Pilar
froze. A coincidence? “Tell me more. What did this woman look like?”
“Do
we have a deal, Pilar?” He moved closer, digging the spear deeper into his
throat.
The
excitement on his face made his brown eyes look black. She didn’t mean to, but
a glance over his frame showed him as aroused all over. She’d heard of men like
this but had never met one until now. Males aroused by pain or by the threat of
it.
She
drew the spear away and slapped his face, then slapped him again.
He
didn’t fight back.
“Tell
me what I want to know,” she demanded.
He
panted and licked his lips. “Yes, that’s it. Hit me. I need that as much as I
need you to organize activity against the railroads. But Pilar, you’re only to
strike me in the privacy of my room, and no marks where they show. No one else
can know what we do here. Do we have a deal?” He sounded hoarse.
Now
that she knew his weakness, she intended to take full advantage of it. “I’ll
work for you. I’ll even beat you black and blue if you like.” She ignored his
slow moan. “But first you’ll tell me what I wish to know.” She yanked him
forward by his hair and forced him to lower to his knees. Dominating him gave
her a strange sense of pleasure.
“Yes,
Lady.” He sucked in a breath and spoke.
The
woman he mentioned had dark hair, green eyes, and a beauty that had captivated
him from the first. Her cunning and strength, as well as the knife with its
ivory handle and gems from The Cave, sparked a flurry of emotions Pilar was
hard pressed to name.
“Thais,”
she whispered.
“Yes,
that was her name.”
“You
had her here but she escaped. How many days ago?” Had Thais been so close all
this time? Another Amazon wandering the Territories? And if she had survived,
who else might be out there? Aliane?
Fear
struck the very heart of her.
“She’s
been gone for two weeks, Lady.”
Terror
and anticipation mingled. The chance to battle to regain her honor tempted her
as nothing had in a long time. Then again, did the surviving Amazon know of her
guilt? Her compatriots in treason had gone their separate ways, but she had no
urge to see any of them again. Renata, Marcela, Bruna, all whores with no more
mind than to accept whatever male demanded their obedience. Hell, Renata had
willingly left with Bartel, without thought of the horrors he’d perpetrated on
their own kind after promising not to.
But
if it was in fact Thais out there, the Thais she knew…? A chance to battle
Aliane’s precious daughter. Yet she was Thalen’s child as well, a fact that
never failed to torment and sadden Pilar. Thais should have been her daughter. And
Thalen should have been her man. Instead, he’d fallen under Aliane’s spell,
just like everyone else ever had.
She
yanked Butch’s head back again. His eyes watered and he looked to be in serious
pain. It was then she noticed the movement of his hand between his legs,
beneath his trousers.
“You
and I are in agreement, Butch McKenzie. You provide me with what I need, and
I’ll give you the treatment you need.”
The treatment you deserve.
“Yes,
Lady.”
“Now
finish. We have plans to make.” She used her spear to strike blows to his back
and his belly while he pleasured himself.
He
groaned and trembled, finding his release. She let him go, wondering how best
to make use of her new situation. Her goal had always been to find Bartel and
make him pay, but along the way, she’d found something special with Deke and
Brian. Males she could tolerate and use to accomplish her mission. Men who
might one day give her a child.
Butch
McKenzie was another matter. She didn’t understand the arousal he experienced
from pain, but that small demonstration showed her she liked hurting him. It
did nothing for her sexually, but the power gave her a heady sense of strength.
The McKenzie ranch had gold, guns, and brawn. She could use that. She
would
use that.
She
wandered his study as he cleaned himself, patched up his neck and changed his
shirt, now stained with blood. Pilar noted the many valuable books, ornaments
and pieces of glass that lined the shelves of the room. Footsteps behind her drew
her attention. But she didn’t turn around fast enough.
Butch
wrenched the spear from her and gripped her by the throat in the blink of an
eye. For a man who’d just taken pleasure from being hurt, he had no problem doling
out pain. She wouldn’t underestimate him again.
“Just
so we’re clear. I like my sex violent and I like to bleed. But make no mistake.
I
run this ranch with an iron fist. If you so much as whisper what went
on here today, you’ll pay.” He squeezed harder, but she sensed no joy from his threat,
only cold purpose. When he released her, he helped steady her and handed her
spear back with a nod of respect. She found his control more perturbing than
his obvious strength.
“Your
friends are welcome to bunk with the men. You, however, will stay here in the
house. You will be afforded every courtesy. I regret the firmness with which I
had to hold you, Lady. But I won’t lose what I’ve fought for so many years to
gain.”
Nor
will I.
Pilar nodded, guarded. She could feel his
fingerprints throbbing around her throat. “I’ll go fetch my men. You have my
word I’ll not speak of what we did.” Her gaze held on the covered gouge at his
neck, where she’d bled him but good. Where she’d bleed him again, and soon.
He
crooked his elbow and nodded to it. “Shall we, then?”
Angry
and uncertain and trying not to show it, she placed her hand on his arm. She left
the room, no longer so sure who held the upper hand.
***
Thais
stared off through a window in the large room, content to gaze at the mountains
in the distance. Purple and black and capped with snow, they looked like
something out of a fantasy, so very different from the jungle where she’d grown
up. Though she’d spent years in the Territories, most of Temeco had been less than
majestic. Pretty in a barren way. What elevation the land did have was sparse
in vegetation and extremely dry, except along the coast. Four Corners more
closely resembled the Amazon, not in climate but in density. The territory had
mountains, forests, and lush grasses, and teemed with a multitude of animals,
birds and insects. But none of the territories she’d been through compared to the
grandeur of Big Sky.
I
could happily get lost here, it feels so close to the Goddess.
Thais wondered how far the eye could see from the top of those peaks so far in
the distance.
A
clatter brought her attention back to the table, where the family gathered for
the mid-day meal. Platters of wheat cakes flavored with honey, roasted beef,
and carrot stew filled the air and made her mouth water. Two pitchers, one of
water, the other of fresh goat milk, complemented the home cooked meal. Hinto
claimed his family still struggled to rebuild what they’d once had. What it
must have been like before they’d lost anything.
“What’s
with the limp?” Mahpee asked Hinto with a bluntness that fit her initial
impression of him.
“I
was shot.” Hinto tucked into his food with gusto. How nice not to be saddled
down with turbulent emotions and a niggling sense that his world spiraled out
of control.