Picking up her robe, he decided he’d rather she didn’t put it back on, so he threw it into the corner with his towel. The water turned off and a moment later the door cracked open. He sat on the edge of the bed, one foot braced on the floor as he watched her walk out. She was so beautiful, wearing nothing but a white towel. He hardened the instant her shy blue eyes found him and lingered on his naked chest. The memory of her small hand on him made his flesh tingle with the need to have her touch him again. This time he’d let her take her time to explore and he’d explore her. This time he wouldn’t lose control and bend her over the bed like a savage.
Surprising him yet again, she boldly walked over to him, stopping only a foot away from where he sat. Her shy gaze dropped to his lap, no doubt taking in the massive erection she caused with embarrassingly little effort. The thin sheet did little to hide the bulge. Then she gave him a slow smile as she looked up to meet his gaze. “I really am fine.”
He let out a huff of air—a laugh, he thought—but he didn’t know what to think anymore. Grabbing her shoulders, he pulled her against him, burying his nose in her hair and taking a deep breath, filling himself up with the intoxicating scent of her. “You should be angry, sweetheart. Yell at me and tell me what a savage I am.”
She shook her head against him and pulled back just enough so that her gaze could meet his. “I wanted what happened and I can admit that.”
“I’ve never met a woman like you,” he stated honestly as he stared down at her. She was such a contradiction of qualities he didn’t know what to make of her. The women he’d known would have played coy or wailed at him, looking for more attention, more money, more time. He had been so wrong about her when he’d awakened to find her gone. He’d been angry, in large part because he thought she had used her body to get something from him, proving herself to be exactly what he had hoped she wasn’t. He’d thought she had intended to seduce him all along so that she could escape, but now he realized what a fool he had been. Everything she had said to him that day had been the truth. Of the pair of them, he was the liar. He had taken while she had given. “You really didn’t plan to seduce me, did you?”
“It’s a rather moot point now, don’t you think?”
“Not to me.” The pad of his thumb drew tiny circles on her arm. “Why did you run, Emmy? Do you have any idea of the hundreds of terrible things that could have happened to you between there and here?” He did. The images had haunted him the entire time they’d been tracking her.
“Do we have to talk about that now?” She glanced to his arousal again, then looked away, but not before her face flamed pink, causing his heart to shudder to a stop in his chest. Finally gathering her courage, she met his gaze again. “We have the rest of the night, to, um, forget about everything for a while. Hours until we have to remember who we are. I thought we could enjoy the night we’ve been given... Is it possible to...you know...?” Her gaze strayed downward before jumping back up to his. “Again?”
“Hell, yes.” He had her on her back on the bed so fast that she giggled, though when he reached for her towel, eager to see her body again, she stopped him by grabbing his hands.
“No lights this time. Please.”
Shaking his head he looked down at the slight swell of her breast beneath the plush towel and then back up at her face. The need to see her, really see all of her, controlled him. “You don’t know what you’re asking. I need to see you.”
She chewed her lip as she reconsidered, her gaze straying to his chest. “I want to see you, too,” she whispered.
Smiling, he rose and turned off the electric wall sconces, leaving only a single oil lamp burning on a side table. Its gentle flame illuminated the bed like candlelight, casting a golden glow over her skin and making their small space seem more private, more intimate. He held her eyes as he stood by the side of the bed and tugged the sheet free, letting it drop to his feet. When she lowered her gaze to take him in, his chest swelled with joy when she approved of what she saw and smiled. “Now you.”
Her eyes widened in surprise, but her smile stayed in place as she rose to her knees and loosened the towel. He didn’t realize he was holding his breath until she dropped it and his breath came out in one low exhalation. She was beautiful, small and petite, but curvy and perfectly proportioned. Stepping forward to place his knee on the edge of the mattress, she grabbed his shoulders and they moved as one, him following her down, her legs effortlessly opening to make room for him and sliding around his waist as he settled into the cradle of her hips. It was as if they’d made love a thousand times, each knowing how the other would move. His lips brushed hers, parting them so his tongue could slip inside to taste her again. But it wasn’t enough and already the need to have more was thundering through his blood, roaring in his ears. He wanted to devour every inch of her to give her everything she deserved.
Tearing his mouth away, he moved down her body, the silk of her skin under his tongue like an exotic aphrodisiac. Making his way down her body, he held her thighs open for him as he slipped down between them.
“Hunter, what are you doing?” She pushed up on her elbows.
He didn’t bother to answer as he lowered his mouth to taste her. Her moan of pleasure filled his ears and her fingers gripped his hair as she fell back and arched into him. He sucked until she cried out, bucking against him, then let his tongue lap at her again. She whispered “please” over and over as she moved against him and he couldn’t wait any longer.
Moving up her body, he pressed kisses along the way before settling himself between her thighs. He held her darkened gaze as he slowly pressed inside her. She was so tight still that he was sure he was hurting her, but her hands only grasped at him to pull him closer. It took three small thrusts forward before her body allowed him to sink in completely. When he finally did, he groaned through his gritted teeth and fell over her, one hand wrapped tight in her hair.
“Are you hurt?” she whispered.
He almost laughed. “No, God, no. You feel amazing.” He tried to kiss her, but only managed to drag his lips clumsily across her neck. How she managed to reduce him to this raging marauder, he didn’t know. He only knew that it would take surprisingly little to send him over the edge. He wanted to go slowly, but already his hips were rocking against her, eager to take her as hard as he had before. “Tell me you’re ready.” His voice came from somewhere so deep in his chest that he didn’t even recognize it.
“Yes, yes,” she breathed the words out and her arms tightened around him.
He moved inside of her then, awed with how easily she moved with him. It was like she had been made for him, as if they had been made for this. Tiny gasps tore from her lips and he was mesmerized watching her face flush with her pleasure. The complete abandon with which she gave herself to him made her even more beautiful somehow and was his undoing. Just moments after she cried out for him, he followed her over the edge of bliss.
This time he managed to fall to her side, tucking her slight body into his as he struggled to catch his breath. It had been a very long time since sex with a woman had left him feeling this way: weak and barely coherent as he struggled to sort out his thoughts. What was it about this woman that brought him to his knees?
After a few minutes, she stirred next to him, snuggling closer. He rolled and brought her against his chest, not even bothering to try to make himself not touch her. There was no hope of him keeping his distance from her. Absently, his lips brushed across her brow and his palm moved up and down the satin skin of her back just wanting to touch her. She brought out a strange protectiveness in him that he didn’t quite know what to do with. He imagined McNally’s pudgy fingers touching her, hurting her, and the very idea of it made him angry. She wasn’t his to protect, but that thought didn’t sit well at all.
“Why did you run?” The question came out before he could call it back.
S
he inhaled deeply, still trying to catch her breath, and nuzzled her cheek against his chest. “I had your gun when I left. I was safe enough.”
He wanted to laugh outright at that, but figured it would be a very bad tactical move, so he settled for reminding her of the night they’d met. “You had your gun when we found you that night. Why run? You must have known I wouldn’t have hurt you. Do you still think I would hurt you?” His fingertips brushed back wisps of dark hair from her face.
She shook her head. Raising up to look at him, he was almost leveled by the direct innocence of those blue eyes. “The men in my life haven’t been overly concerned with my best interest. I needed to get away because I couldn’t be a part of what was happening between you and Ship anymore. You have to understand.” She paused and took a deep breath, as if debating what she would say. The uncertainty in her face tugged at something deep within him. “It’s not just me. I have sisters and I need to get them away from Ship and his men.”
A horrible thought crossed his mind, making his heart pound as if it was trying to break through his chest. “Is it that bad with him? Has he hurt you?”
“No, I don’t mean in that way. Life with him is unstable. They drink all the money they steal and I can’t see anything changing. Once the girls are older he means for them to marry men in his gang and I can’t let that happen. I don’t want that life for them. He wants me to marry one of his men. I’ve put him off that plan for a while now, because I can’t bear the thought, but...”
But one day she might not be able to put him off any longer. She didn’t say those words, but she didn’t need to say them. Clenching his teeth, he forced himself not to react and especially not to wince from the lie of omission he was about to commit.
She didn’t know that he hadn’t really needed to track her down. Zane had gone back into Whiskey Hollow that night after leaving them at the shack and had encountered Jake on his way to her farm. He’d followed the saloon owner and found the girls and brought them to Helena just in case Cas and Hunter never found Emmy. If they had the other two girls to exchange for Miguel, it wouldn’t matter if she had gotten away. She wouldn’t know that, not until tomorrow when he had to tell her. He hated the lie, but it was necessary. He wanted one night with her before tomorrow came and they were back to being outlaw and hostage. It would happen. There was no doubt in his mind that the momentary truce couldn’t last. Even if by some miracle it did persist, he couldn’t offer her anything. He was an outlaw and he couldn’t turn his back on the vow he’d made to his brother.
“With fifty thousand dollars you’ll be able to buy a new life for your sisters.”
“Hunter...” She squeezed her eyes shut before lowering her head back down to rest on his chest. “I can’t take that money.”
“You can.” He squeezed her to him, choosing not to think of the day she would leave him and put that money to use.
Sucking in a deep breath, she held it and then let it out slowly, almost as if she was in pain. “Do you think that’s what this was about? The money? I didn’t do this for the money.”
“I know, Emmy. I know. I want you to have the money. Consider it an apology for having to take you.”
She laughed then, a sound he hadn’t heard enough, but was coming to crave. It was strange how things between them could be so easy, as if they really could be friends. “Fifty thousand dollars for kidnapping me? That seems excessive.”
He rolled her onto her back so quickly that she let out a yelp. “What can I say, I’m a man with excessive tastes,” he murmured as he nipped her chin and slid into the space between her thighs.
Chapter Thirteen
Emmy awoke the next morning smothered in man. As she lay on her stomach, Hunter’s arm was tucked firmly around her waist while his face was buried in her hair, which had come loose from its braid at some point during their night together. His scent was all around her, accompanied by something more, a soft musk that had to be the scent of their lovemaking. She blushed just thinking it and knowing that everyone would know how they had spent the night, but she had no regrets. Since she planned to disappear, it didn’t matter that they knew.
Soon she would be someone else living somewhere far away and she’d have the memory of this magnificent man keeping her warm all night. Shifting beneath his weight, she turned to look at him, wanting to savor the moment before the melancholy of leaving him set in. Even in his sleep he took her breath away. His dark blond hair had dried awkwardly as they slept and stuck out in tufts. Sleep barely softened his features, though, he still looked dangerous, like he’d awaken with the slightest provocation and give her that smile of his that meant she was in for a long morning in bed. For a brief moment she imagined what it might be like to wake up with him every day, to spend hours in bed with him before sharing breakfast, but she didn’t allow herself to dwell on the thoughts for too long. She knew men like Hunter Jameson. Even if she stayed with him, their mornings together were numbered.
Despite what he had said she couldn’t quite believe that he wouldn’t tire of her like Ship had tired of her mother. In the early days when Ship had courted her mother at Victoria House, there wasn’t a thing he hadn’t promised them. A fine house with fine things to fill it, a pony for Emmaline and fine dresses. He was charming enough and dressed the part so that her mother had believed him. She’d believed every lie he’d ever told, even after they arrived to find the farm dilapidated and complete with a surly son he’d neglected to mention at all. Her mother had believed him until the day years later he’d arrived home after having disappeared for months. He’d never mentioned what had happened, but her mother had found a barely legible letter written from some sweetheart in another town, hidden in his saddlebag. It had crushed her to learn that Ship had moved on. Hunter would move on, too, once the novelty wore off. Maybe he’d wake up and the novelty would already be gone.
It was that sobering thought that gave her the nerve to wrench her gaze from his handsome face and take the first step in walking away from him. Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, she slowly slid out from under him. He tightened his grip and she whispered that she needed to use the bathing chamber, when he relented, grumbling as he rolled away. Gaining her feet, she threw a quick glance at the curtained window, which showed a gray sliver of light peeking in. It was still very early, but soon the town would stir. It was best that she get herself out of the brothel before then.
She’d stop by Glory’s room and borrow enough money to get them to San Francisco. Before Ship, her mother had talked about San Francisco quite a lot. It had always seemed like a magical far-off place where anything was possible. Now, it was the only place Emmy could think to go. Especially since she’d learned that some of the women from Victoria House had relocated there at various times over the years. Glory kept in contact with them because she genuinely cared about the women she employed and Emmy knew that their unbending loyalty would allow her to impose on them while she gained her bearings. Or she hoped it would, at least for a little while. Surely in a growing place like San Francisco she’d be able to find work as a governess or even a shopgirl very quickly.
A panic started to rise in her belly, but she beat it down. A million things could go wrong. She could not find work and be worse off than now, because the children would be in danger. The plan was less than ideal and was exactly what she had been trying to avoid, but it was her only choice now. She couldn’t come this far only to go back.
First she’d take a train to whichever town had a station nearest the farm, then find a horse she could ride home to collect the girls. Perhaps she could arrange a temporary lease instead of buying one outright. She didn’t even know if such an arrangement was possible and couldn’t allow herself to think of all the things that could go wrong with such a poorly planned escape. The important thing was to get home to Rose and Ginny, to collect them and disappear.
Retrieving her
robe from the corner, she draped it over her and belted it loosely at the waist before casting one last look across the room. One arm was thrown over his head, his entire torso bared as the blanket draped seductively low, revealing the light brown path of curls to his manhood. As if her body was instinctively responding to his, a twinge of pleasure chased with aching pain shot through her middle, reminding her of just how well he had used her. She smiled and blushed again as she tiptoed to the door, relieved to find it had been unlocked at some point during the night. She poked her head out first, half expecting to find the giant there, but the hallway was vacant except for a leather satchel set next to the door.
On bare feet, she made it all the way back to her room without being seen. A strange sort of euphoria settled in her as she cast off the robe and grabbed a borrowed dress from the bureau, standing before the small dressing mirror to pull it on. She didn’t look changed at all, but somehow lying with Hunter had changed her. She felt alive in a way she hadn’t before. Always before it had seemed like she’d been waiting for her life to start, like she was just a shell waiting for her spirit to find her, but that had changed. To be fair, it had started changing before she’d even left him that day in the small cavern. He had looked at her and she felt as if she was seeing herself for the first time. Her plan to escape Hunter and his brothers hadn’t worked, not exactly. Her plan to escape Ship hadn’t worked either. Not yet. But now she knew that she could do something. She would go home and get her sisters.
It was better than waiting around for something to happen, which was exactly what she’d been doing.
The room she had been given was an older room, plainer than those reserved for customers and the women who made their living at Victoria House, so it didn’t have running water. She dumped the water left over in the pitcher from the previous day into the bowl and grabbed a cloth to scrub herself clean. Then she dressed and ran a brush through her tangled mess of hair. With nothing at hand to style it with and no time to waste, she braided it again and tied the end with a bit of cloth. The only thing she’d brought with her was the brown dress she’d been wearing, so she retrieved it from the bureau and rolled it up under her arm. She took one quick glance at the woman staring back at her in the mirror, gave herself a smile and set off to take control of the rest of her life. Though she did reach back to grab the bank draft that bore Hunter’s name, just in case. Folding it, she tucked it into the bodice of her dress.
The Innocent and the Outlaw (Outlaws of the Wild West) Page 14
