Read Two Wanted Men [Badlands 2] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour) Online
Authors: Elle Saint James
Reese helped her lift his torso forward, so she could see if the bullet had exited. It hadn’t left his body. Likely the bullet had missed anything vital, but regardless she needed to remove it or infection might set in.
Voicing her diagnosis was harder because no one ever allowed her to express an opinion. She straightened her spine. “I’ll have to remove the bullet and put a few stitches in to close the wound.”
“What do you need for me to do?” Reese asked. He seemed poised to help aid his friend with her intentions.
“Let me gather a few more supplies. You’ll have to help me hold him down. I’m afraid it will hurt.” She slipped an apron over her head to shield her nightgown, and for the added layer of dignity, then stepped back to her patient.
Luke lifted his head and his piercing blue-eyed gaze caught her attention. “I can stomach whatever you’re about to do without being held down. Unfortunately, this isn’t my first time being shot.”
“I see.” Miranda sent a glance to his wound again before turning back and encountered his vivid blue eyes watching her carefully. “I’m sorry you have to go through this again. I’ll do my best to be gentle.”
His earnest gaze roamed her face and chest. “I trust you.”
Those were the nicest words she’d ever heard with regard to helping someone with a medical need. Most of the townspeople would rather let her father operate drunk than to have Miranda perform the same procedure sober.
Carbolic acid, linen squares and over-sized tweezers to extract the bullet were assembled on the edge of the table where Luke waited. She also pulled a bottle of whiskey from the corner pantry.
Luke narrowed his gaze on the bottle before searching her eyes. “What’s that for?”
“I thought you might want to take a swig or two before I get started. It’ll ease your discomfort.”
“While I’d like a drink because it looks like a good brand, I don’t want you to think that I
need
it for what you’re about to do. I can take it like a man.”
“Drinking something to dull the pain doesn’t make you less manly, it just distracts you from my poking and digging around inside of you.” His grin had a physical impact on all her soft liquid feminine parts. But she needed to concentrate, not be distracted by lust.
“All right, you talked me into it.” Reese helped him sit up and he took a deep swallow from the bottle. “Damn, that’s great stuff.”
“Good. Take another drink and we’ll begin.”
He downed another long swig and handed the bottle to Reese. “I’m ready.”
Working as quickly as she could, Miranda wiped away the blood seeping from the wound with several linen squares, inserted the extraction tool, grasped the bullet and pulled it out with a minimum of effort. Luke never made a sound of protest.
She dropped the bullet into the small tin basin at the ready with a clink, staunched the light bleeding and prepared to stitch him up.
“You have a very light touch, darlin’. I hardly felt a thing.”
“Thank you. But I’m not quite done yet.” Their gazes met and a smile tugged the corner of her mouth from his praise. “I still need to stitch the wound.”
He nodded and took a deep breath as if bearing up to the inferred pain. Miranda worked quickly and had five stitches completed in no time. Luke never made a sound as she worked. Not even when she doused a linen square with carbolic acid and dabbed it over the wound to prevent infection.
“There. I’m finished.”
Luke exhaled a long, deep breath and smiled. “From now on if I ever need any doctorin’ done, I’m coming to you.”
The compliment, while likely the result of the two generous swigs of whiskey running through his veins, was still the nicest thing anyone had ever told her. “You should rest.” She carefully placed a small hand-stitched pillow beneath his head. “I’ll keep an eye on you while you sleep.”
“Thanks, darlin’.” Luke closed his eyes and fell asleep seconds later.
A clattering noise near the front door startled all three of them. Miranda put her hands on Luke’s shoulders and pressed him back to the surface with a quiet murmur. His eyes slipped shut again as she whirled around to answer the knock.
Reese quickly rounded the table and stuck an arm out when she tried to pass him to head to her home’s entrance.
“Don’t. There might be folks looking for us.” His sharp whisper made her pause.
“Who would be looking for you?”
His wide shoulders lifted slightly in a casual shrug. “Possibly the town’s sheriff.”
Miranda twisted to gaze into his eyes. “Why would the sheriff be looking for you?”
He returned the look with equal intensity. “There was a ruckus at the saloon during a poker game. That’s where Luke got shot. As I helped him out of the place, the drunken, rowdy cowboys promptly broke into a fistfight. We managed to leave during the commotion, but if they’re looking for us, it’s not out of line to believe they’d check with the doctor in town first. It’s what I’d do in the same situation. And if we aren’t found, maybe they’ll think we rode out of town.”
The person on the front porch pounded on the door hard enough to rattle the glass in the adjacent window.
Miranda exhaled a long sigh. “It’s probably just my father returning from his evening.”
Reese shrugged. “Either way, I’ll accompany you to the door.”
“No. Wait here out of sight. If it isn’t my father, I don’t want a ‘ruckus’ here in my house. I’ll get rid of whomever it is.”
He didn’t look happy about it, but glanced over his shoulder to check on Luke. He’d dozed off and his quiet countenance seemed to make Reese’s decision. “Fine. But be very careful. We didn’t start the fight, but a local patron’s word often out guns a stranger’s when it comes to bar room fights.”
She nodded. He was likely correct in his thinking. “Of course.”
Another loud pounding on the door came as she hastened across the living room area. She looked down and noticed Luke’s blood staining her apron. She paused long enough to pull the discolored garment over her head and wad it into a bundle hiding the blood. She stuffed it behind a pillow on the settee before hurrying the last few steps to the front door.
Whether or not this was her father at the door, she’d have to pretend two of the most attractive and intriguing men she’d ever met weren’t hiding inside the house.
Chapter Two
Miranda took a deep calming breath and lifted the catch lock on the front door. She opened the door inward a couple of inches and peeked out to see an irate Sheriff Ben Colby with a fisted hand raised about to beat on her door again, just as Reese had predicted. She blew out a short breath and widened the door a little more, but not enough for Ben to see her nightgown. She clutched the lapels of her robe closer to her neck one-handed.
The moment he saw her, Ben pulled his Stetson from his head and finger-combed a lock of unruly hair back before clearing his throat. “Sorry to bother you so late, Miss Miranda, but is your father at home?”
She attempted to put a surprised look on her face. “No. He hasn’t come in yet tonight. Is something wrong?”
Ben glanced over her head and through the limited width of the door. “Sort of.” He took a step closer crowding the door. The thought that he might enter her domain uninvited galvanized her enough to press her body against the door as a brace, but he didn’t attempt to come in.
“There was a brawl at Rose’s Saloon a while back. Some shots were fired which may or may not have hit anyone. I’m just investigating.”
Miranda had no intention of divulging the whereabouts of the two strangers in the house. She’d lie if she had to. Putting a concerned expression on her face, she asked, “Was someone hurt? Is that why you need my father?”
“Maybe. I figured anyone that got hurt might have stopped by looking to get patched up.” His gaze zeroed in on her face as if seeing her for the first time since the door opened.
Miranda had never been able to figure Ben Colby out. For all outward appearances, he seemed to like her and worry over her. At least while in her presence. However, she had once overheard Ben talking about her when he didn’t know she listened.
At first, she thought Ben might be sweet on her, but it became clear during the conversation with his best friend and fellow deputy Billy Atkins, that he’d only bother to occupy her bed if her father was no longer in the picture. And even then only if he could put a gag on her, so she couldn’t speak and wear a blindfold himself, so he wouldn’t have to look at her plain face when he
fucked
her, as he’d crudely put it. Billy had laughed and further unwelcome comments had spilled from the both of them ensuring Miranda wasn’t on anyone’s list of marriageable women.
She refused to admit that her feelings had been very hurt at the time. Why did she care? She wanted to be a doctor. Their attitude only made her choice easier. Since that enlightening conversation, Miranda had avoided speaking to the sheriff.
Ben exhaled a long breath and visibly softened. “Is anything troubling you tonight, Miss Miranda?”
“Beyond being awake at this late hour, I’m just fine.” Miranda felt confident Ben wouldn’t guess anyone was inside her house so late. Especially not two strangers.
In fact, no one in town would ever speculate that she currently harbored Luke and Reese within the relative safety of her home. She did have a reputation in Perrysburg. She wasn’t the kind of woman men sought out for any reason let alone to have doctoring done.
She was the kind of woman that men always overlooked. No romantic intent had ever been displayed from any local man or any passing strangers for that matter. Miranda understood her lack of appeal. Unlike the other single girls in town, she liked to talk about medicine too much. She read too much. She obviously wasn’t pretty enough to catch anyone’s attention in that regard given what Ben and his friend thought of her plain features.
“Sorry to bother you so late. Any idea where the doc might be?”
“If he wasn’t at Rose’s Saloon, then you might try The Dusty Swallow Saloon at the other end of town. He frequents both on a regular basis.”
As you well know,
she wanted to add but didn’t.
Ben’s gaze dropped to his feet. Everyone in town knew about her father’s proclivities when it came to the bottle. And Ben understood better than anyone since he’d steered her father to the empty jail cell to sleep off a long night of drinking more than once in the past decade. “Thank you kindly, Miss Miranda. Sorry to disturb your sleep.”
She nodded and closed the door on his forced smile. The sound of Ben’s boots clomping off the porch and into the night relaxed her. She put her forehead against the door and sighed with relief at the possible disaster that had been averted. She replaced the catch lock and paused a moment to gather her wits.
Miranda sensed Reese before she heard him. He’d padded noiselessly across the parlor and arrived directly behind her as she straightened. When she turned and put her back against the door, he placed his hands on either side of the frame next to her shoulders.
“Why didn’t you tell the sheriff we were here?” His face leaned dangerously close to hers. Almost close enough for a kiss.
The masculine scent of him overwhelmed her good judgment. She wanted to touch him. Only the shock of him being so close stopped her. If he tried to touch her, she’d let him. She wanted to kiss him, which was far too bold of an action to contemplate seriously. However, she also wouldn’t stop him if he tried to kiss her.
She inhaled deeply catching a lungful of his delicious scent. “I didn’t want him to disturb my patient.”
A slow grin spread across Reese’s beautiful mouth. “Is that so?”
Not trusting herself to speak, she merely nodded. Her heartbeat raced with possibilities at his nearness. The compliments were easy on her ears and his seductive presence resonated through her body like a crack of thunder during a spring storm.