by Linda Broday
“Morning, gentlemen,” Luke drawled. “Mind getting out of our way?”
“We’re looking for a woman.” The speaker was an old sheriff with a crooked nose that had been broken countless times.
“The only one I’ve seen is—”
“Me. His wife,” Rose interrupted. She gazed with what she hoped was adoration up at Luke. “Don’t be shy saying it, sweetheart. But it’s still sort of new, I reckon.” She cupped his jaw and turned to the riders. “You see, we were married two weeks ago and we’re on our honeymoon. My darling sugarplum promised to take me to Fort Worth.”
She pressed her lips to his in a long, searing kiss. He didn’t respond for a moment, then shock and thrilling tingles rippled over her as he kissed her back. And when she parted her mouth, he slipped his tongue inside as bold as you please. His hand curled just under her breast and sent waves of aching hunger through her.
“Ahem,” one of lawmen said. “We need a word if you don’t mind.”
“Oh, dear sir, but we do mind,” she murmured against Luke’s mouth. “Very strenuously.”
“Damn, woman,” Luke whispered. “Aren’t you overdoing it?”
“Me?” she argued low. “What was the tongue for?”
“Added effect.” His eyes held a devilish gleam.
“Sorry, ma’am,” another of the posse tried. “Please give us a quick word and we’ll be on our way.”
With his arm around her, Luke raised his head. “My wife Rose is very…passionate. Why are you looking for this other woman?”
“She murdered her husband last night, mister.”
Rose gasped, but they looked at her and she needed to recover from the jolt. “My heavens, how horrible. Did she shoot him?”
“Oh no, ma’am, nothing that tame,” said the lawman with the mole. “She gutted him.”
“Where did this take place?” Luke asked, nuzzling Rose’s neck.
“Doan’s Crossing.”
Rose stiffened in panic.
“Careful,” Luke whispered. “Just a little longer.”
“Do you know her name by chance?” Rose asked quietly.
“Josie. Josie Morgan,” the man answered. “From the description, she’s the spitting image of you, ma’am.”
She shivered even as Luke’s arm tightened around her. Could she have done something like that? Was she a murderess? Oh dear God, she’d rather be a muleskinner. Please let her have been that—or a lumberjack.
“If we happen to spot her, we’ll report it to the first lawman we run across,” Luke promised. “Now, if you don’t mind, we have somewhere to be and my wife, bless her sweet soul, is a very impatient woman.” He winked at the posse. “You fellows remember what it was like to be newly married, don’t you?”
A murmur of agreement came from the nearest rider.
Rose glanced down and her heart pounded to see the duster had slipped, exposing a big portion of her bloody skirt. Slowly, so as not to draw the lawmen’s gaze, she tried to tug the shield back into place.
“Say, don’t I know you, mister?” One of the lawmen in the back, a younger man, moved forward, staring at Luke. “What’s your name?”
Rose held her breath as Luke’s hand inched slowly down toward his Colt. Desperate to draw the riders’ attention, she loosened the top buttons of her dress and moved the fabric aside. “My goodness, I’m flat burning up!” She touched her cheek with a fingertip and drew it painstakingly down the long column of her throat, past her collarbone until it disappeared into her cleavage.
The young lawman’s Adam’s apple moved up and down as he swallowed hard.
“Not unless you’ve been to Tascosa in the panhandle,” Luke drawled. “I’ve lived there a while now. The town’s a wild, woolly place but it’s where I met my beautiful Rose and tied the knot.”
“I never thought I’d find such a handsome man to give me a second look. I’m truly happy,” Rose added hastily. “Ours is a match made in heaven.”
“I must be mistaken.” The young man turned aside, mumbling to himself.
The hawk-nosed marshal leaned over. “There’s a lot of blood on your dress, ma’am. What happened?”
Panic raced through Rose. She could feel color drain from her face. “Blood? Oh, good heavens no!” She forced a giggle. “This is nothing but red mud. My mama always complained about the North Texas red dirt and was never able to get it to wash out of anything.”
The sudden lifting of the marshal’s white brow in apparent skepticism must’ve been what prompted Luke to quietly add, “My wife likes to make love in the…uh, creek. It’s really embarrassing to talk about.”
Of all the stories he could’ve made up, that was the best he could do? Rose was mortified.
She patted his vest. “Sweetheart, these men don’t have time to be gossiping like that! They simply have to find that Morgan woman before she kills again.”
Several of the men shook their heads, chuckling, but one had leaned forward to get a better view.
“Sorry to have held you up.” The old sheriff touched the brim of his hat and the group galloped off, kicking up a cloud of dust around the wagon.
Luke jiggled the reins and the team began to move. “What the hell was that back there?”
Her spine stiffened. “What do you mean?”
“Attacking me like that.”
“Wait one minute. If I recall, you didn’t appear to object.” The nerve of him to play the innocent!
“You enjoyed every second of that,” Luke accused.
Maybe a little too much, but she wasn’t going to let him know. His body’s definite response said he had too.
“And you didn’t?”
Luke glanced back to check on the lawmen. “How did you even think to do that? Where did that performance come from?”
“I don’t know. I noticed a spark of recognition in that young one’s eyes and I knew I had to save you. He was a step away from arresting you.” Rose scooted back to her original position. She thought he’d at least be grateful for her efforts.
“Don’t ever try to save me again.” Luke’s voice held a sharp edge. “I’ll only get you hurt—or dig you a grave.”
His words slapped her. “Well, pardon me. Next time you can save your own damn hide, mister.” Yet she’d seen his hand move for his gun; she knew how close he’d come to killing those lawmen. How could she have stood watching him hang, seeing the life drain from his body?
The brittle silence stretched her nerves. Too late, she hated her angry words and wished she could take them back.
“I deserved that,” Luke finally said in a quiet tone. “I’m an ungrateful bastard.”
“No, it was me, Luke.” At last, Rose unknotted her twisted stomach. “I really did kill my husband. I wasn’t that serious before when I wondered if I had.” She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a sob. “But I really did. They said so. And nothing pretty like a gunshot—I gutted him. Oh God!”
“We don’t know you did any such thing,” Luke said firmly. “You could’ve gotten that blood on you any number of ways.”
Except those two gun runners had said that she’d gotten it from the dead man who may or may not have been her husband. But she wasn’t going to remind him of that.
“Yes, maybe I slaughtered a deer.” She brightened. “I’m not Josie Morgan. I can’t be. I’m Rose. Thank you for marrying me—for making me your wife.”
Luke jerked around. “Hey, you know that was only pretense, right?”
“Oh, sure.” She raised innocent eyes to his. “It meant nothing.” Nothing at all. Only she wanted it to with all her heart.
With one fingertip, Luke pushed back his hat to study her. “Scratch my previous suggestions about what you did before. With the way you handled those lawmen, you’re a born actress.”
“You think so?”
“Several times you had me almost believing we were newlyweds. You can sure kiss, lady. And when you unbuttoned the top of your dress and teased those men…the
y forgot all about who we were. A lady of the evening couldn’t have done any better.”
“Yeah. I wonder if that means I really am one?”
“Nope. You didn’t charge.”
Rose giggled and watched his mouth curve in a slow grin, revealing rows of white teeth. She sighed and imagined being married to him for real. Kissing him whenever she felt like it. Sleeping in his arms. Making love until dawn.
But for now, they were both outlaws and on the run.
Both killers?
Her fate appeared tied to his.
When her memory returned, if ever, what else would she discover about herself?
Four
Five miles down the road, Luke pulled up next to a little spring. Underground water sprang from the rocks, providing cold, sweet refreshment.
“We’ll leave the wagon and go on horseback from here, make faster time.” He placed his hands around Rose’s waist and lowered her to the ground. “In case that posse backtracks.”
“Do they lynch women?” Rose’s changeable eyes filled with unshed tears. “I can’t get hung before I know who I am—and what I did.”
Luke gathered her trembling body close. “I’m not going to let that happen. When I have you somewhere safe, I’ll get to the truth. Trust me?”
Rose stared deep into his eyes. “With my life.”
That she stated the words with such strong conviction dropped a heaviness over him. He didn’t want to feel responsible for her. Damn it! The lady needed someone better than him to look up to. Didn’t she know that? He dragged in slow, steady breaths before thrusting the canteen at her. “Can you fill this while I move the wagon into some thick brush?”
“You won’t be gone long?”
Panic lining her face tightened his chest. He was all she had and to lose him would probably be more than Rose could take. He ran a finger across her cheek. “I’ll be back before you even miss me.”
At her nod, he climbed into the wagon and drove it a short distance into a tangled mass of mesquite and scrub oak. It took no time to unhitch the team and ride the rustled horses back. Rose’s eyes lit up when she saw him. Could she be Josie Morgan? While he liked the solid ring to the name, he preferred his simple Rose—for now anyway. Especially since Josie seemed to be a wanted woman. Not that there was anything a bit simple about her. He let out a troubled sigh. Answers to the riddles were out there somewhere—for both of them. He just had to try harder.
“See? I’m already done,” he said. “One of us will have to ride bareback. That’ll be me. You can ride my gelding.”
“What’s his name?” She moved to the horse’s side and murmured soothingly as she stroked his long neck.
“Major John.”
“I like that. He’ll let me ride him?”
“Long as you don’t let him smell beer, he’ll be docile.”
She giggled. “Beer?”
“Loves the stuff. If I don’t tie him good outside a saloon, he clops in just like he owns the joint and I can’t get him out until he gets good and ready.”
“That’s the funniest thing I ever heard.”
“Glad you think so. You’re pretty when you laugh.” He watched a blush stain her cheeks and his heart fluttered strangely. The lonely part of him wished he could have a woman like her. She had spirit and grit. He had a feeling the safe, easy path would bore her. Rose seemed the sort to dare anyone or anything to try to put a bridle on her or a bit in her mouth.
“Ready to ride?” he asked. “We’re burning daylight.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “I know I’ve heard that saying before. Just like spouting off to the lawmen about my mama and difficulty with this red dirt. I don’t know where that came from.” She stared into the distance as though trying to conjure up ghosts to fill in the holes.
“Maybe your memory is fighting its way back.” He put his hands around her slender waist and helped her onto Major John.
“I hope you’re right. I hate being lost inside. You don’t know what it’s like to be a stranger to yourself.”
Luke swung onto the back of one of the roans. He couldn’t imagine having his head scrubbed of all memory. His safety depended on knowing who were his enemies, and who were friends.
Where could he take Rose? Now that he knew she was wanted by the law, the Lone Star Ranch was out. He’d promised himself never to bring trouble to the Legend family’s door.
The perfect answer sprang to mind.
As they trotted away from the watering hole, Luke made sure Rose stayed beside him. His eyes constantly scanned the rugged terrain for signs of a dust cloud made by the posse. “I’m taking you to Deliverance Canyon,” he told her. “No one will find you there.”
The women there would protect Rose while he sought answers. Tally Shannon and her small, ragtag army of survivors had sought safety there after escaping a mental institution. Their families had stuck them in the Creedmore Lunatic Asylum to get rid of them for one reason or another, despite being as sane as anyone. From them, Luke had learned the ease with which people could put someone into a place darker than prison—death without blood on their own hands. Tally and her ladies would care for Rose until Luke could get back. She was in need of safety. They’d not turn her away.
In fact, she’d fit right in with the gun-toting women. They could help each other. They’d furnish her a gun and she could teach them to cuss—a perfect match.
“I thought we were going to the Lone Star Ranch.”
“Changed my mind. Deliverance Canyon is safest. It’ll delay getting you to a doctor, but with the posse looking for you, it can’t be helped.”
Over the next half hour, he told her about Tally Shannon and the others and assured her that she’d be safe with them.
“How horrible that they have to hide like animals! I’d like to put a damn bullet into the people who made them suffer. Hell, why would someone do that?”
Luke still couldn’t get used to Rose cussing. She looked like a beautiful angel until she opened her mouth.
“Any number of reasons. Greed, hate, jealousy, fear—take your pick,” he said.
“The women sound real nice. I already like them.”
“They’ll have clean clothes for you. I’m sure wearing those bloody ones is none too pleasant.”
“Makes my skin crawl. I’m carrying around a dead person on me and I don’t even know who he is. How did you learn about Tally and her girls?”
“They saved my life once after I got injured bad in a shootout. Tally stumbled across me near death. She and the others treated my wounds. I would’ve died if not for them.”
“I’m glad they fixed you up,” she said softly. “How long will it take to get to the canyon?”
“Another day, barring trouble. How is your head?”
“The pounding is letting up some. Thank you for caring. And the mint settled my queasy stomach.”
“When my mother was so ill, mint was the only thing that made her feel better.” He handed her some more from his pocket.
As they traveled, Luke let Rose talk and he found out a lot about her from what little she didn’t know she was revealing. Her words indicated quite a bit of education and she was always mindful of trouble on their heels, glancing back and staring at the brush. From her ease with ciphering, he suspected she excelled in numbers. She had one of the quickest minds he’d ever seen.
And that was dangerous for him.
They’d played a game where he tossed out one word and she came up with a response.
“What do mountains say to you?”
“Lonely.”
“Darkness.”
“Death.”
He scowled at her odd answer. “Why would darkness mean death? Care to think on that?”
“I don’t know. Except that bad things happen in the night. Mean people come out to prey when we can’t see them.” She gave a frustrated groan. “What do I know? I’m a mess with a head full of nothing. Let’s go on.”
“Saloon.”
> “Home.” She wrinkled her brow. “Now why did I say that, Luke? Odd. Maybe I worked there? Did I entertain men upstairs? Why would I call such a place home?”
He didn’t know but he filed it away. They played on with nothing much new coming to light. Then she’d taken her turn with him. He was careful not to let her know too much.
By nightfall he felt a kinship with Rose. She wasn’t just a woman he’d rescued. She’d become a real person and he admired her quick wit. They took shelter in a small sandstone cave where no one could see their campfire. A stream was just outside. He tied the stolen horses in a large clump of mesquite and juniper where they could get to the water, before riding off on Major John a short distance to hunt for food. He soon returned with two plump rabbits.
To his surprise, Rose had used the time to wash the blood from her hair and her body as best she could.
Rose’s skill at skinning the rabbits said she’d performed the task many times. While she prepared the meat, he patted down Major John and left the beer-guzzling horse with the others, bringing the saddle inside the cave.
As the meat cooked over the flames, they talked.
“You’re a man of mystery, Luke Weston.” Rose’s blond strands, cleaner now, glistened like pure gold in the firelight.
“Why do you say that?” Luke recalled the silky way her hair had wrapped around his fingers. The way she’d kissed him earlier—all out with no holds barred. Whether she was Rose or Josie, the lady hid deep passion in her eyes. Right now, that green-gold had turned liquid brown in the flames. It had seemed perfectly normal to kiss her, to taste the sweetness of her mouth. To curl his hand beneath a full breast.
“All day you’ve let me rattle on and not revealed anything of your life story. I’d tell you mine if I knew it. I sense there’s more to you with the Legend family and the Lone Star Ranch. Something you’re not saying.” She rotated the skewer Luke had whittled from a small limb. “You have so much heaviness inside when you mention them. Makes me wonder who they are to you.”
Luke turned away. Rose wasn’t supposed to have seen that. He had to be more careful. But she was easy to talk to, and he’d already spoken of things he’d told few people.
