To Tempt a Rogue

by Connie Mason

  “You don’t talk much, do you?” Ryan said in an effort to draw her out.

  “I talk when I’ve got something to say,” Kit shot back. “If you’re so anxious to spill your guts, why don’t you tell me about yourself? How long have you been running from the law?”

  “Long enough,” Ryan returned, obviously no more anxious to reveal his past than she was. “I wonder how long before the others are done with the women?” he said, nodding toward the cantina.

  “I reckon they’ll be done soon. They’re never here more than a couple of hours. Towns ain’t healthy. Not even Mexican towns. The Bartons aren’t popular with the law south of the border, either. By the time I buy a horse they’ll be ready to ride.” She rose and walked to an enclosure where several horses were kept. A man came over, and they began dickering on a price for the horse Kit favored.

  Ryan walked over to join her. “Can you afford that animal?”

  “I’ve got money,” Kit replied. “I always pay my own way.”

  By the time Kit had settled on a price and paid for her horse, Billy, Clank, and Durango had finished with the women.

  “Let’s ride,” Billy growled when he saw Kit and Ryan standing beside the newly purchased horse.

  Kit was preparing to vault atop her mount when she felt Ryan’s hands on her waist. Before she could protest, he tossed her onto the horse’s back.

  Kit fumed in silent rage. She neither needed nor wanted Ryan’s help. The arrogant outlaw was becoming a problem. Who did he think he was, anyway? He was an outlaw, no better than Billy and the others when it came right down to it. He might be handsome and well-spoken, but he was as likely to end up swinging from a rope as any other outlaw.

  Kit didn’t want that for herself. As soon as she learned Lex’s fate, she would leave the gang, turn respectable, and find an honest man to love. If there was such a man in this world. She wasn’t very knowledgeable about men, at least not the respectable kind. Sending a hooded glance at Ryan, she imagined a man worthy of her love. He’d be handsome and strong, yet tender and giving. She wouldn’t mind at all if he looked like Ryan.

  Ryan watched Kitty with a sideways glance and stifled a groan. The foul-mouthed little scamp didn’t know he had seen through her disguise and probably had no idea what she was doing to him. He vividly recalled how tiny and supple her waist had felt when he’d lifted her onto her horse. His manhood stirred, and he tried unsuccessfully to think of anything but Kit and the treasures that lay hidden beneath her baggy clothes. Instinctively he knew her breasts would be soft and full, her legs long and shapely. He shifted uncomfortably, wondering how long it would take him to charm her out of her clothing.

  It was almost a relief when they reached the hideout a short time later. Ryan wasn’t sure he could take much more of watching Kit’s taut little rump bouncing against her saddle. Ryan couldn’t decide whether to let her know he’d seen through her disguise and offer his protection or continue the charade until he’d gained the information he sought. Whatever he decided, he knew for a certainty he wasn’t about to leave until he’d bedded Lex’s doxy.

  Instinct told Ryan that Kit wasn’t a whore in the broadest sense of the word. He even suspected that she’d known no other man than Lex and was completely out of her element without her protector. Ryan knew what would happen to her once the Bartons learned her secret, and he didn’t wish such a fate on any woman.

  The decision to protect Kit without her knowledge came easily to Ryan. All the Delaneys were compassionate to a fault, though they would be the first to deny it.

  Located in a tangle of mesquite and tall cactus, the outlaw camp was situated snugly against a butte. It wasn’t much, consisting of two thatched huts and a lean-to for the horses, but they did have access to a stream that provided fresh water. It was crude at best, but at least the huts gave them a roof over their heads in inclement weather and a place to stay while hiding from the law.

  “The smaller hut belongs to Lex and Kit,” Billy said to Ryan as they led their horses to the lean-to. “You and Kit can share it now. Clank and I bed down in the larger hut, and Durango usually sleeps outside. Injuns don’t much care for walls.”

  “I’ll sleep outside,” Kit said, slanting a panicky look at Ryan.

  “I don’t eat filthy brats,” Ryan said, stifling a smile. “What are you afraid of, Kit?”

  “Certainly not you,” Kit said, storming toward the hut.

  “Where are you goin’?” Billy growled. “Fix us some grub. We didn’t have time to fill our bellies in town.”

  There was just enough daylight left for Ryan to see the disgusted look Kit sent Billy. “You should have spent more time eating and less time screwing.”

  “If you’d a done a little screwin’ yourself you wouldn’t be so disagreeable,” Billy tossed back.

  “Maybe I’ll just light out of here and go my own way,” Kit threatened.

  Billy gave her a menacing scowl. “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, kid. You ain’t smart enough to dodge the law and you’ll break under pressure if you’re caught. Sure as shootin’ you’ll bring the law down on us and we’ll all end up like Lex.”

  “Fine, I ain’t going nowhere,” Kit said as she slammed pots around. “Someone start a fire.”

  “I will,” Ryan volunteered, reaching for a pile of wood stacked next to the firepit.

  “Call me when the grub’s ready,” Billy said, heading for his hut.

  “A fat rabbit or two will taste good with the beans,” Durango said, taking up his bow and arrows.

  Clank followed Billy inside the hut, leaving Ryan to tend the fire while Kit put beans on to cook.

  “Did you mean what you said about leaving the gang?” Ryan asked once they were alone.

  “You heard what Billy said. I ain’t going nowhere. I was only joshing. Besides, I can’t make plans until I know what happened to Lex.”

  “You and Lex were pretty close, weren’t you?” Ryan asked with casual interest.

  “Yeah, we were as close as… brothers. He took care of me when I had no one else.”

  Ryan laid another log on the fire. “What about your family?”

  Kit went still. “They’re all dead.”

  “Did Lex have a family?”

  “I… why are you so interested in Lex?”

  Ryan shrugged. “Just making conversation.”

  “You talk too much,” Kit grumbled, turning away.

  Ryan fell silent. A short time later Durango returned with four skinned and gutted rabbits. He spitted them on sticks, set them before the fire, and went down to the creek to wash the blood from his hands.

  “Durango’s not much of a talker, is he?” Ryan said.

  “A man learns not to blab in this business,” Kit said with a wisdom born of experience. “One’s survival depends upon it. I’m surprised you haven’t learned that yet.”

  Ryan had nothing to add to that, so he concentrated on keeping the fire going. When the meal was done, Kit called the others, and Ryan had no further opportunity for private conversation. After the meal had been devoured, the outlaws sought their beds, leaving the mess for Kit to clean. Ryan watched as she gathered up the dirty plates and made her way by hazy moonlight to the stream that ran behind the huts at the base of the butte. Ryan offered to help but Kit objected, so he stretched and said he was going to bed.

  Ryan waited a few minutes before following Kit down to the stream. He told himself he only wanted to protect her against wild animals and such, but he knew he was only fooling himself. He didn’t know what he expected to learn, except that he wanted to discover the real Kit, or whatever her name happened to be.

  Ryan moved stealthily down the path, crouching low so as not to be seen should Kit happen to glance over her shoulder. He saw her kneeling at the edge of the narrow stream, a pile of clean plates and utensils sitting beside her. He sought refuge behind a mesquite tree when she stood and glanced nervously over her shoulder.

  Ryan watched with avid interest as Ki
t, apparently satisfied that she was alone, peeled off her coat. He nearly lost his breath when she shed her vest and shirt. For a brief but memorable moment he was given a breathtaking view of a pair of full breasts balanced above a slim waist. When she turned away from him and dropped her baggy trousers, his heart slammed against his chest.

  She wore cotton drawers, but it took little imagination for Ryan to visualize her sweetly curved thighs and the perfect mounds of her buttocks concealed beneath the thin material. What really fired his blood was the thought of that soft, hot place between her legs. After a brief glimpse of the womanly form beneath the baggy clothing, Ryan didn’t know how much longer he could wait to possess her.

  Mesmerized, he watched her wade into the shallow stream, sit down, and spash herself with water. She didn’t wash her hair, and Ryan wondered what it would look like once those shorn locks grew out and received regular washing. She finished quickly, but Ryan’s body had already turned to stone. He couldn’t ever recall getting so hard so quickly with so little stimulation. Yet all it took was one look at Kit’s breasts to turn mild desire to gnawing hunger. Perhaps he should have taken advantage of Carmen or Lolita in town.

  He remained hidden as Kit dressed, and he was more than a little surprised when he saw her smear fresh dirt on her face before gathering up the clean plates and starting back toward the camp. He waited until she’d had sufficient time to reach the hut and settle down in her bedroll before following.

  Nebulous moonlight filtered through the grimy window as Ryan let himself into the hut with his bedroll. He saw her lying on a cot in the corner, rolled up in her blanket, nothing but her tousled curls and elfin face visible, but he could tell by her breathing that she wasn’t asleep. He spread his bedroll atop the second cot and sat down to take off his boots.

  Kit stared at Ryan with suspicion and couldn’t help asking, “Where have you been? I thought you had gone to bed but you weren’t in the hut when I returned.” She wanted to ask if he had followed her but feared his answer.

  “I took care of my horse and smoked a cigar.”

  Kit let out a sigh of relief. No one must know she was anything other than what she claimed to be. Trusting a man was new to her, and she didn’t know enough about Ryan to tell him the truth. It didn’t take experience to know the handsome outlaw was different from the men she knew.

  Ryan stood abruptly, his powerful form bathed in moonlight as he shrugged out of his shirt, removed his gunbelt, and unbuttoned the flap on his pants. The breath caught in Kit’s throat. She wanted to look away but couldn’t as he peeled his denims down his legs and stepped out of them. She was almost disappointed when she saw that he wore long johns, but at the same time, she was enormously relieved. As he turned to settle down on the cot, Kit saw a telltale protrusion tenting out the front of his long johns. She shut her eyes and turned her head. Then she heard him chuckle and wondered what he found so amusing.

  “Good night, brat,” Ryan said with amazing good humor.

  Did he know she’d been watching him?

  “Go to hell,” Kit shot back, turning toward the wall.

  The following days were a test of endurance for Kit. Ryan made her life a living hell. She had only to turn around and he was behind her. He dogged her steps, constantly plaguing her to wash, to comb her hair, and strangely, to stay away from the Bartons. Ryan had gone hunting with Durango early this morning, and she couldn’t believe that she actually missed him. When she looked up from the campfire now and saw him riding into camp, her heart stirred with excitement.

  The feeling made her nervous. She was powerfully attracted to Ryan and had to constantly fight the feeling for fear she’d say or do something to alert him to her charade. Her problem as she saw it was that she could easily picture him in a respectable setting, becoming the kind of man with whom she could spend the rest of her life. She started violently when Ryan strolled up beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder. The heat of his touch seemed to sear her clear through.

  “I hope you and Durango brought back something besides rabbit,” she said tartly. “I’m getting bored with the same fare.”

  “How about venison tonight?” Ryan said. “Durango is cleaning and skinning a buck right now.” He opened his fist and showed her a sliver of soap resting in his palm. “I’m going down to the stream to wash. Want to join me?”

  “I ain’t dirty.”

  “You could have fooled me, brat. Come on, don’t be shy.”

  Without giving her a chance to protest, he grabbed her about the waist, threw her over his shoulder, and started toward the stream.

  “Put me down, you musclebound jackass!” Kit wailed. “Damn your stinking hide. I said I ain’t dirty.”

  Ryan grinned, making her even madder. “I don’t know what your aversion is to water. Maybe Lex liked his wo … er… friends dirty, but I don’t.”

  He had reached the stream, and Kit clung to him as he paused briefly at the edge before wading out to the middle. The water barely came to his knees. She squawked in surprise when he tossed her into the water. She came up sputtering and cursing, using words normally heard only in saloons, and she heard Ryan chuckling in response.

  Arms and legs flailing wildly, Kit lit into him, enraged when his laughter turned into loud guffaws. “Damn you! What’s so funny?”

  “You, if you think you can hurt me,” Ryan said, choking on his own laughter. “Do you want the soap?”

  “I don’t want anything you’ve got,” she said, stomping out of the water. Her clothes were dripping, and she suddenly realized she was in danger of being exposed. Hunching her shoulders so her coat wouldn’t cling to her breasts, she hastened back to camp and into the hut before the others noticed.

  Ryan watched her go, still chuckling to himself. This charade of hers was more fun than he had anticipated. Such a gullible little witch, he thought as he admired the sway of her shapely hips as she walked away. Didn’t she realize he was on to her? Dimly he wondered if Lex’s doxy would consider having sex with him. Kit gave him an itch that definitely needed scratching. He felt his loins stiffen as he recalled her naked body poised at the edge of the stream, shimmering like pale ivory in the moonlight. He’d wanted her then, and he wanted her now.

  He envisioned himself possessing the little wildcat as he quickly stripped and washed. Then he donned his denims and carried his soiled clothing back to the hut. Kit, who had already changed into dry clothing by the time he entered, was sitting on her cot, drying her boots. Ryan tossed his dirty shirt and long johns at her.

  “Wash these when you wash your own clothing, will you?”

  She tossed them back. “Wash them yourself, I got better things to do.”

  “Like what? Lex isn’t here. You’re at loose ends and have nothing better to do. Why are you so damn stubborn?”

  He sat down beside her, placing his arm around her in a gesture of camaraderie. He felt her stiffen and try to duck beneath his arm, but he held her fast.

  “Why did you let Lex talk you into leading a life of crime?” Ryan asked, hoping to gain her confidence. “You couldn’t have been more than a youngster at the time.”

  Her chin lifted fractionally. “Lex was the only one who cared about me. This life hasn’t been so bad,” she lied.

  “You and Lex must have grown close over the years,” Ryan probed.

  “What’s it to you?” she asked defensively. “Why are you so damn curious about Lex?”

  Ryan shrugged. “Just trying to make friendly conversation.”

  “I ain’t in the mood for talking.”

  “I kind of like talking, myself. Tell me about Lex. Did he tell you anything about his family? Did he have a sister?”

  Kit’s eyes narrowed, and Ryan thought he saw a hint of fear in those blue orbs. “I don’t know a thing about Lex’s family,” Kit claimed. “You know the code of the West. Ask no questions and you’ll hear no lies. You’re the one who seems out of place here. You don’t act like no outlaw to me. You don’
t even own a last name.”

  “Looks can be deceiving,” Ryan said. “And my last name is Delaney.” He rose abruptly, before Kit’s curiosity blew his cover. “Reckon I’ll go help Durango with that deer. You might want to start the fire and put some beans on to cook. How about some biscuits? You know how to make biscuits?”

  Kit gave him a sullen look. “Ain’t nobody complained about my cooking yet.”

  Ryan made a hasty exit. Being around Kit was becoming damn uncomfortable. Now that he knew what lay beneath her baggy clothing he couldn’t control his body’s reaction to her. How could anyone in possession of their right mind not know that Kit was a woman?

  Kit grew more and more obsessed with Ryan each passing day. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. She’d lived with men so long that she’d begun to act like one—until Ryan Delaney had come along, with his infectious grin, handsome face, and hard body, and changed everything. Suddenly, for the first time in her recent memory, she had begun to think like a female. Whenever Ryan came near her, her body reacted in puzzling ways. Her nerve endings tingled, a vibrating began in her lower regions, and she found it difficult to breathe. It was becoming increasingly difficult even to think coherently when Ryan questioned her about Lex.

  That was another mystifying aspect about Ryan. She could think of no earthly reason for Ryan’s interest in Lex’s family. Her mother and Deke were dead, and so might Lex be, for all she knew. That just left herself, and she couldn’t imagine why anyone would be interested in her. She didn’t even know who her real father was. Rena had started to tell Kit the day before she died, but time had run out for the poor woman before her father’s name had left her lips. Kit supposed it didn’t matter. No matter who her father was, she’d still hate him for abandoning her pregnant mother and leaving her to fend for herself. Because her mother carried an illegitimate child she had been forced to marry a drunken, wife-beating bastard like Deke Johnson.