by Connie Mason
Kitty gave him a wary look and perched as far away from him as possible in the limited space. “Say what you’ve come to say and get out.”
“It’s not that easy. I’m not sure where to start.”
“The beginning would be a good place. Make it quick. I’m exhausted. I’ve been on my feet since six last evening. It’s now past two in the morning.”
“Kit… Kitty, I think the best place to start is by telling you I’m not an outlaw. I’ve never been an outlaw. I’m a rancher from Montana. I have two brothers who will kill me when they learn what I’ve been up to.”
“You must think me a gullible nitwit, Ryan Delaney. Have you forgotten that bank robbery you participated in? In my books that makes you an outlaw.”
“Contrary to what you believe, I wasn’t in Tombstone that day to rob a bank,” Ryan explained. “The bank clerk mistook me for an outlaw whose picture hung on the bank wall. I’ll admit there was a vague resemblance, but I repeat, I’m not an outlaw. I was in the bank that day to withdraw money from my account.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Kitty charged. “Why did you ask to join the Bartons if you were an innocent bystander?”
“Because of Lex Johnson.”
“Lex? What has Lex got to do with anything? I never did understand why you were so damn interested in Lex and his family.”
“Your language, Kitty, is appalling. But we’ll talk about that later. Just tell me why you were so close-mouthed about your lover.”
Kitty leaped to her feet. “You don’t know a damn thing about me! I’m not a whore. Lex was my…”
“Your what?” Ryan prodded. One way or another he was going to get the truth from her.
“Why do you care?”
“I don’t give a damn about Lex Johnson, but I’ve spent months looking for his stepsister. I’d hoped Lex could tell me where to find Kathryn. She disappeared six years ago. I heard that Lex rode with the Bartons, and when they robbed the bank I happened to walk into, it seemed as if fate had given me the opportunity I was looking for. Unfortunately, I hadn’t counted on Lex getting killed. When I learned that Kit and Lex were as close as brothers, I hoped Kit could tell me what I wanted to know. I knew I was courting danger when I asked to join the gang, but I couldn’t let a dying man down.”
Kitty’s face was a mask of confusion. “A dying man? You’re talking in riddles. What do you want with Kathryn?”
“Are you Kathryn?” Ryan asked bluntly. “I’ve suspected it for some time now. There’s no use denying it. Either you’re Lex’s stepsister or his doxy. There are no other explanations for disguising yourself as a lad and traveling with Lex and the gang. I can understand his wanting to protect you if you’re his kin, but I can also accept his reason for wanting to keep you for himself if you were his doxy.”
“Why are you looking for Kathryn?” Kitty asked warily.
Ryan tried to concentrate on her question, but her full lips kept distracting him. They were pursed in thought, and he remembered how sweet they had tasted when he’d kissed them. He wondered what she would do if he pulled her into his arms and kissed her until her mouth softened and opened to him. He wanted to feel her breasts pressed against his chest, wanted to settle himself in the cradle of her soft white thighs. Wanted to thrust his aching sex into that hot moist place between her legs.
“Ryan, I asked you a question.”
Ryan forced his mind away from that thought and tried to concentrate on the conversation at hand. It took a moment to recall her question and another before he felt focused enough to answer.
“I’m simply doing a dying man a favor,” he explained. “Kathryn’s biological father is looking for her. Bert Lowry has been actively searching for Kathryn since receiving a letter from a woman named Rena. Rena’s written confession was the first he knew he’d had a daughter with Rena from a long ago relationship. Rena said she hadn’t long to live and asked Bert to come and get his daughter. She didn’t trust Deke Johnson to raise the girl after she was gone. When Bert sent someone to Tombstone to find Kathryn she was gone, and no one seemed to know where.”
Kitty’s mouth fell open, and her eyes widened with dismay. “You’re lying.”
“Why would I lie? Are you ready to admit that you’re Kathryn Lowry?”
Kitty’s chin rose stubbornly. “I’m Kitty O’Shay.”
“O’Shay,” Ryan repeated. “Rena’s maiden name was O’Shay. She was your mother, wasn’t she?”
“Damn you! Who gave you permission to pry into my life?”
“So you are Kathryn Lowry.”
“I don’t know if I am or not,” Kitty responded. “Mama never told me my father’s name. I just knew it wasn’t Deke Johnson. She tried to tell me a few days before she died but by then she was too far gone.”
“Weren’t you even curious before that?” Ryan questioned.
“No!” she said vehemently, surprising Ryan. “I wanted nothing to do with the man who got my mother pregnant and then left her to fend for herself. She married Deke because she had no one to turn to after her aunt turned her out. It was the worst mistake of her life. She would have had a better life scrubbing floors for a living.
“Deke drank and gambled away every cent he earned at the livery where he worked whenever he was sober. Mama took in laundry to keep food on the table. Deke beat my mother during his drunken rages, then he turned his heavy hand on me.” She flushed and looked away. “After Mama died he wanted more from me than I was willing to give. He said I was full grown enough to take my mother’s place in his bed. I was glad when Deke was killed!” she cried. “Even if it meant having to survive on my own. I’ll never forgive my real father for putting Mama and me through years of hell.”
Ryan’s heart went out to Kitty when she began to sob into her hands, as if the memories were more than she could bear.
“Don’t cry,” Ryan urged. He lifted her chin and brushed away her tears with his thumbs. The innocent gesture led to something more intimate as he caressed her smooth cheek with his knuckles.
“Tell me about Lex,” Ryan probed. “What was he to you? You weren’t blood kin, your relationship could have been… of an intimate nature.”
Kitty bristled angrily. “I wasn’t his doxy, if that’s what you’re getting at. Lex always treated me like his little sister. I didn’t know him all that well because he left home when I was a small child. He took me away when he found me alone after Deke died. He wasn’t the best of brothers but he protected me like he was blood kin.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call bringing you to live with outlaws protecting you. I shudder to think what could have happened had any of the Bartons discovered you were a woman. Do you think Lex would have been able to protect you against so many?”
Kitty shrugged. “I tried not to think about it. Besides, Lex and I were going to leave just as soon as he saved enough money. He was going to take me back home, fix up Deke’s house, and settle me in Tombstone until I found a husband. Unfortunately Lex wasn’t very good at saving money. I hoarded what little I had, that’s how I was able to leave when I did. Were the Bartons angry at my sudden disappearance?”
“You might say that. They’re probably livid now. I left much in the same way you did. I waited several days for you to return, and when you didn’t I decided to follow.”
“How did you know to look for me in Tombstone?”
“Just a hunch. Where else would you go? I’m offering you the opportunity to put this life and all the hardships behind you, Kitty. I’m taking you to Tucson to meet your father. Bert is anxious to see his only daughter before he dies.”
Kitty stared at him in consternation. He looked dark, dangerous, and more outlaw than rancher.
“I ain’t going any place with you, Ryan Delaney. Bert Lowry can go to hell for all I care,” she said irreverently. “I’ve never cared to know who my father was, and I’ll always hate him for what he did to my mother. I don’t want to know him. Besides, I don’t believe half of what you’ve
told me. Especially that part about being mistaken for an outlaw at the bank the Bartons robbed. It’s just too much of a coincidence.”
Kitty saw a glint in his eye as he gave her a bemused grin … a slash of white against his dark skin. “I don’t believe you’re strong enough to defy me,” Ryan challenged. “I’m not returning to Tucson without you, even if I have to use force to get you there.”
“Don’t threaten me, Ryan. I don’t frighten easily,” Kitty said with asperity. “I think you’d better leave now. I’ve got another hard day ahead of me tomorrow. Some of us have to work for a living.”
“Kitty, listen to reason,” Ryan cajoled. “What is it going to hurt to see your father? The man is dying. Grant him his last wish. He had no children with his wife, only a stepdaughter he’s fond of. How can you be so heartless?”
“I learned life’s lesson well,” Kitty said bluntly.
“So did I,” Ryan admitted. “But I can still feel compassion for a dying old man.”
Kitty gave a snort of disgust. “If you’re a wealthy rancher like you said, you know nothing about hardship, or hunger, or disillusionment. You probably have a wife and several children waiting for you at home.”
Ryan’s face hardened, erasing all traces of the laughing, carefree man she’d thought him to be. She sensed something deep and disturbing in his past, something dark lurking beneath his roguish smile.
“I have no wife,” he said in a voice that left no room for doubt. “Marriage isn’t for me. Women have their uses. I like them excessively and enjoy their company. But I don’t trust them. Pierce and Chad found two good women and seem to be managing fine, but it wasn’t easy for them. They went through hell. I don’t intend to make that mistake.”
Kitty wondered what woman had soured Ryan on marriage. He couldn’t be thirty yet, too young to be so bitter.
“Were you disappointed in love?” Kitty ventured.
“No. It’s more of a family thing. Pierce almost lost his life because of a woman’s lies. Chad left home because he couldn’t live with the mistaken notion that he had caused the death of several people. A woman’s lies drove him from his home. It’s a wonder either of my brothers found love at all, considering their aversion to marriage. Our own mother left us for another man when we were still young enough to need a mother. I’m made of stronger stuff than my brothers. I don’t need a wife. The world is full of beautiful, available women.”
“And I won’t make the mistake of accepting a father I’ve learned to hate.”
“You don’t even know him,” Ryan argued.
“I don’t want to.”
“I’m not leaving here until you agree to accompany me to Tucson.”
She rose abruptly, glaring down at him. “I wish you a pleasant night, Ryan, or what’s left of it. I’m going to bed. You can let yourself out.”
Ryan grasped her arm, pulling her down onto his lap. She felt the determination in every sinew, muscle, and bone in his hard body. Frustrated with him and herself, and above all with her weakness where this man was concerned, Kitty opened her mouth to give him the sharp edge of her tongue.
Obviously it was all the invitation Ryan needed, for he seized her half-parted lips in a hard, demanding kiss, his tongue gliding inside, teasing the soft inner surfaces until dizziness claimed her and her breath came in short little gasps.
The kiss was everything Kitty remembered, had dreamed of, had longed for. She melted against him, overwhelmed by sensations, drowning in a maelstrom of desire. Before Ryan entered her life she’d known nothing of passion or wanting. She’d existed in a sexless limbo, fearing to think or look like a woman. She’d suppressed all female tendencies, forsaken all womanly trappings.
Until Ryan.
His mouth was driving her mad. She felt his lips against her jaw, felt the moistness of his rough tongue dart along the rim of her ear. She didn’t realize he had unbuttoned her nightgown until she felt his lips nipping a burning path down her neck to her bare shoulder. Then she felt his mouth settle over her breast and suckle her nipple. She gave a startled cry as a wave of unexpected pleasure shot through her.
“Ryan…no…”
“Kitty, don’t stop me.”
He lowered his head and sought her other breast, his tongue encircling her nipple, making it pucker and throb. A soft sigh escaped her lips as the erotic sensations he created seemed to settle low in her belly. She felt his hand beneath the hem of her nightgown, raising it upward along her calf, her knee, resting briefly on the high curve of her thigh. A burning beneath his hand created a fire within her that blazed out of control.
She shuddered and sighed. He caught her sigh in his mouth and gave it back to her. She moaned, assailed by disturbing feelings that dissolved the hard knot of anger she’d felt upon finding Ryan inside her house. She kissed him back with innocent enthusiasm, savoring his unique scent, blissfully unaware where this was leading.
“Oh, woman, what in hell am I going to do with you?” Ryan said on a sigh. “I want you so damn bad I ache.” He dragged her closer, one callused hand settling between her legs. He felt her stiffen but gentled her with another kiss as his fingers tangled in the moist curls protecting her womanhood. He found her slick entrance and eased a finger inside her.
She was hot and tight and wet. Too tight. He eased another finger beside the first, stretching gently. He felt her shift as if in discomfort and realized with dismaying certainty that Kitty couldn’t have been anyone’s doxy. She was too damn small and untried to have been sexually active. Ignoring her murmur of protest, he slid his fingers deeper, until they butted up against the barrier of her maidenhead. He removed his hand, broke off the kiss, and searched her face.
“You’re a damn virgin.” He made it sound like an insult.
“What made you think I wasn’t?” Kitty challenged.
“The kind of life you led, for one thing. As I said before, you and Lex weren’t blood relatives.”
“You have a dirty mind, Ryan Delaney.”
He gave her a sexually charged grin. “How determined are you to remain a virgin?”
His statement must have left her speechless, for her mouth opened and shut without uttering a word.
“I’ve made no secret about wanting to make love to you, Kitty. I’m damn near ready to explode. The only thing holding me back now is Bert Lowry. I don’t know what he’d say were he to learn I made love to his daughter.”
“The subject is moot, Bert Lowry and I will never meet.”
“You’re wrong. I’m taking you to Tucson, even if I have to hogtie you to get you there.”
She flew at him, her weight dragging them both downward to topple onto the bed. Her tiny fists battered his chest, his shoulders, probably hurting her more than it did him. One moment she was on top of him, and the next he had reversed their positions, straddling her.
Blood surged through Ryan like liquid fire. Hot. Dark. Hungry. Her nightgown offered little protection to her modesty. He felt the firmness of her unfettered breasts against his chest, felt her quiver, as if she were suddenly aware of her helplessness and his superior strength. Her hands suddenly stilled, and he heard the catch of her breath in her throat.
When she moaned, Ryan realized she was as aroused as he was. He gave an exultant shout when her arms wound around his neck and she pulled his head down to meet her lips.
“Ryan.”
He stayed her words with a kiss as he hastily removed his gunbelt and dropped it on the floor beside the bed. Then he dragged her thighs apart and settled between them, his throbbing sex nestled against her heat. It took all of his willpower to keep from tearing open his trousers, shoving himself into her and thrusting to completion. But Ryan was not a selfish man when it came to loving. He’d never to his knowledge left a woman wanting. He’d not had a virgin before, but he knew that a woman’s first experience was important to her future approach to sex.
“Do you want me, Kitty?” he whispered against his mouth.
“I don�
��t know,” Kitty said truthfully. “I’ve never felt like this before.”
“Tell me how you feel.”
She closed her eyes and dragged in a shuddering sigh. “I feel all shivery inside. Moments ago I was so angry at you I wanted to kill you. Now I can’t think beyond the way you make my body feel.”
He dragged down her nightgown and kissed her breast, his hand closing over the other sweet, tempting mound as his nimble fingers kneaded the taut nipple. Her gasping moan made something warm unfurl inside his chest.
“Purr for me, Kitten. Tell me what you want. What do you feel?”
Kitty blushed but didn’t hesitate to reveal her innermost feelings. “When you touch me like that, I feel swollen and wet in… certain places, not just where you’re touching me.”
Her innocent words made him feel as if he’d just been given a gift. His hand moved downward over her taut stomach to the juncture of her thighs. He cupped her there. “Do you feel swollen and wet here?”
“And hot. Oh, God. I knew men enjoyed rutting with whores but I never realized a woman could feel like this.”
“What you and I are going to do, if you agree, is to make love,” Ryan said. “Rutting is what unfeeling men do with women they care nothing about. Men like the Bartons rut, I don’t.”
He sensed Kitty’s indecision, combined with a certain degree of curiosity. “Will you let me love you, Kitten?”
“It’s not right.”
“It is if we say it is. But if you truly don’t want this I won’t force you. It’s your decision, love.”
While she was making up her mind he stripped the nightgown from her, baring her body to his rapt gaze. “What a damn shame to hide all this glorious womanhood beneath baggy trousers and coat. Well, love, what shall it be? Are you going to make me suffer? Or will you put me out of my misery and let me love you?”
“I ain’t a whore,” Kitty said, lapsing into rough language.
“No, you’re certainly not that,” Ryan agreed. With a pang of regret he started to rise. “You’re right. This is wrong. Bert would kill me if I despoiled his daughter.”
