Texas Manhunt

by Linda Conrad

  He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep his hands still. The need to reach out for her grew nearly impossible to ignore.

  “Summer,” he moaned through gritted teeth. “You’re killing me here.”

  With laughing eyes, she planted her palms against his shoulders, leaned down and nipped at each of his nipples. Holy mercy. The pleasure zinged along his spine. He didn’t know she had a mean streak. Torture had apparently made her list of things to do to him today.

  Gasping and drawing in a harsh breath, he buried his hands in her glorious hair. He fought to indulge her, but he was ready to explode.

  Then she raised her head and placed openmouthed kisses along his neck and up to his jaw. Constantly moving, she covered his mouth next, with tongue seeking tongue. The sensation of wet fire, hungry, wet fire, threatened to send him over the edge.

  He feasted on her mouth, took as good as he gave. Until she broke the kiss, moved up and offered her nipple as a replacement. Oh, yeah. Latching on, he bit and sucked and lathed, lost in the sensation of honey. Flicking his tongue back and forth over the hardened tip, he wanted to drag every bit of pleasure out of it for both of them.

  Her panting gasps and heavy breathing told him he must be doing something right. But it wasn’t nearly enough. He wanted more, and now.

  Running his hands down her curves, he gripped her hips with both hands and lifted her up. His mouth refused to relinquish its prize as he flipped her over on her back. But the needy little sounds she made set him back on his heels to stare down at her.

  With her eyes half closed in passion and his sun-darkened hands silhouetted against her perfect white skin, she was everything he’d ever wanted. Every secret wish. Every boyhood fantasy.

  He intended to own this night. Make it something neither of them would ever forget.

  Mindful of her injured ankle, he carefully dragged her to the edge of the bed, dropped back on his knees and parted her thighs. She moaned and grabbed handfuls of bedding the same way he had done before.

  Yeah, the sounds she was making as he kissed his way across the inner thigh sent him to ecstasy. He headed straight to his goal: the nest of baby-soft curls at the apex of her legs. Flicking his tongue across the nub at her core, he gorged himself on her taste. Bucking against his mouth, she showed him her approval and demanded more by grabbing his hair and firmly holding him in place.

  Ah. Power. Power to take her wherever she needed to go. He licked and sucked and…possessed her.

  “Travis.” Screaming his name, her voice hit a peak.

  As her spasms rolled across his tongue, he regretted not being able to see the expression on her face. But that was only a fleeting thought as the need to please her shot through him like the bullet from a .45. He loved how she went wild with her passion. It was exhilarating and exquisite.

  Reluctantly, he left her sweet nectar and lifted his head. She was struggling to breathe as he pulled them both backward onto the bed. He couldn’t take his eyes off her angelic face. And decided he’d been wrong before. This was the picture he would always remember.

  Opening her eyes, she reached out to him with limp arms. “Travis,” she murmured sexily. “Come here.”

  “Not enough?” he asked with a grin.

  “Not nearly enough.” She touched his chest and the electricity rocketed straight to his gut.

  “Hang on.” He leaned over the edge of the bed and ripped open the drawer on the bedside table.

  Hoping to hell these things didn’t have an expiration date, he rummaged around blindly looking for the box of condoms that had been there since before his wife left. He’d never opened the damn box, as he recalled. But those times weren’t anything he wanted to think about now. Now was all about unfinished business and the woman who’d been the cause of him losing his mind.

  Getting lucky, he located the box without looking and tore it open. Finally, packet in hand, he turned his full attention back to Summer.

  Mercy, just look at her. With all that luxurious hair spread out under her head like the wash of a spotlight, she was a sight to behold. He splayed a hand over her creamy-white stomach and sighed.

  Looking up at him through half-lidded eyes, she licked her lips and smiled, and he was done. He covered himself quickly and situated himself between her legs.

  “I’ve wanted this since the day I met you,” she whispered, digging her fingers into his shoulders. “Hurry, please.”

  He barked out a half laugh, half sob and loomed over her. “Yes, ma’am.”

  When he’d lowered himself into position, she hooked her legs around his thighs. He reached between them, testing her readiness and found her still slick and swollen. That was all the sign he’d needed.

  As he pressed his erection against her opening, she lifted her hips and met him. “Now, Travis.”

  Thrusting deep, he got lost in a thrill of sensations. The feeling of being home inside her warm and pulsating body. She was tight yet welcoming in a way he’d never known. Her moans and pleadings were like throwing gasoline on a fire. He could lose himself forever in the feel of her.

  He slid his hands under her bottom and lifted her hips, going deeper yet. A sudden primal urge overtook his resolve to make this the best for her. Every pleasure was magnified in his mind as he pumped in and out, craving release.

  He’d thought he was long past noticing anything, but he felt her stiffen underneath him. She keened out his name and clung to his neck as she went over the edge.

  Seconds later he followed her on a roller coaster of release, heading straight into oblivion. He experienced the wildest ride of his life.

  Chapter 11

  Outside in the darkness, the same angry man stood watching as the lights went out upstairs at the big Chance house. The ranch was settling down for the night. But he was wide awake and itching to get started, just now thinking up his new plans for tomorrow.

  Man, that was fun today. Especially the look on Travis’s face when his slut of a girlfriend, the crazy one, had come limping back to the ranch on crutches. It was worth the chances he’d taken to make sure her saddle would slip.

  Too bad she hadn’t broken her neck.

  But that panicked look from Travis had told him what he needed to know. He was definitely on the right track. That bitch really meant something to the powerful and mighty owner of the Bar-C. From now on, she’d be the target.

  Turning to slink out to the moonless range, the man felt slightly dizzy. But he tossed the feeling off as giddiness coming from his success so far. All his problems, every one of them, proved that he had a right to get even.

  His life was in shambles. His lover gone. His job hanging by a thread.

  Screw Travis Chance and anyone he cared about. So far the pranks were working and annoying the bastard. But the Bar-C hadn’t seen anything yet.

  * * *

  “Where’s Travis this time?” Summer gingerly walked into the kitchen with barely a twinge of pain and found Rosie finishing up washing the dishes.

  It had been several days since the debacle with the horse and she no longer needed the crutches. Today she could return to work full time, according to the doctor.

  “Travis flew to Dallas this morning to interview a woman for the full-time housekeeper’s job,” Rosie told her as she put away the last of the plates. “He’ll be back later tonight. How’re you doing?”

  “Almost well. See?” Concentrating, she walked across the kitchen floor without the limp. “It doesn’t hurt at all anymore when I walk on it.”

  She wished she could say her mind was as well as her ankle. Travis had insisted she stay in bed or on the couch since her fall. That might’ve been okay if he’d volunteered to stay with her, but he’d needed to work and had left for a two-day business meeting out of town. For the first twenty-four hours, her mind had stayed occupied with thoughts of him and the spectacular night they’d had.

  Thinking about it now, she flinched with the memories. Multiple times. She’d come for him so m
any times she had lost count.

  Their night had been so intense that she’d started to wonder if she could live through another like it. But she wanted an opportunity to try.

  However, the longer Travis stayed away, the more she became convinced that the whole thing had been a mistake. Her gut told her that he’d needed some distance and that was why she’d seen so little of him. Well, he was probably right.

  He was her boss. And in a league far out of her reach. She knew that. Still, she’d hoped they could have a few more nights before it was over.

  Sighing inwardly, she resigned herself to accepting what was for the best. Any more nights like that one and her guilt about lying to him would no doubt kill her. She could just imagine spitting out the whole truth while in the throes of passion—only to have him kick her off the ranch for good.

  So, for the last few days she’d read a little and watched some daytime TV, and her mind had been free to wander elsewhere during the day. A new set of nightmares had kept her from getting much sleep.

  Fully expecting nightmares about falling off horses, she’d been surprised when her dreams were of a man named Hoss instead. The man she’d been trying to find had suddenly become the star of her nighttime terrors. The old nightmares she’d had, the ones of that night, had been replaced. Now her nights were filled with images of her target turning things around and coming after her. She’d become his target.

  She’d always figured that because this Hoss guy had run away from the scene and disappeared right before the house burned to the ground, he must’ve ducked out so he wouldn’t get caught by the police like his buddy. That was one of the big reasons why she’d had the nerve to come after him alone. She considered him a coward, not a fighter. But what if he decided to stop running for good and take a stand?

  The P.I. she’d hired back home had hinted that he’d found the man in Chance because the guy had grown up near here. She remembered being completely stunned that the P.I. had found him at all when the cops couldn’t. But then, in truth, the local cops had given up on him fairly quickly. Instead they’d worked to compile a foolproof case against the other man and mop up their mob investigations with the FBI at the same time.

  The more she’d tried to work with her hometown police to identify and capture Hoss, the more they’d become convinced that her nemesis was not the leader of the two. The harder she pushed, the more they became convinced she was losing her mind.

  All of that confusion made the second guy seem less important to the police’s investigation. Apparently, the first man, the one now sitting in prison for life, had hired his comrade as muscle for the home invasion. It seemed her target hadn’t even been a real member of the mob the night they’d broken into her house.

  But he was the one who’d tied her up and blindfolded her in the basement. She would never forget his face. It had haunted her long enough.

  “If you really feel okay, can you do me a favor?” Rosie folded away the dish towels and drew Summer back to the present.

  Summer needed to stop rehashing that night and find a way to banish these dreams of the culprit coming after her. The nightmares seemed more crazy than usual. Was it because of the night she’d spent with Travis? It had certainly been a wild and crazy night. One she would never, ever forget. But she had to find some way of getting sleep real soon.

  “Sure,” she told Rosie. “What can I do for you?”

  “My fiancé has asked me to go with him to San Angelo for a few days so we can locate a house or apartment for rent.” Her face turned a shade of blush-pink. “There are only a couple of weeks left till the wedding. Would you be willing to take charge of Jenna while I’m gone? Make sure she goes to school, eats right and gets enough sleep?”

  “I’d be happy to take care of Jenna.” Happy might have been a small exaggeration, but the little girl was needy and Summer still wanted Rosie as a friend. “Anything you need, just let me know.” Summer beamed at the other woman, who seemed so in love. “How’d you two meet, anyway?”

  Rosie placed her palm against her heart, and her eyes took on a dreamy look. “We dated in high school, but his parents didn’t want us to be together and forced us to break up. He left town a few years later, joined the army and was kicked out, got married and divorced a couple of times. He managed to find him himself some real trouble and spent a year or two in prison. But a while after he was released he came back to Texas. That was a few years ago, and eventually he contacted me.”

  “And you don’t care about his past?”

  “He’s a good man at heart, Summer. He had a rough childhood and it drove him to do bad things. But he’s changed. Both his parents are gone now, and he’s trying to make up for the two of us losing so much time.”

  Summer could see how much in love Rosie was. The warmth of that love spilled out all over and covered everyone nearby. Summer found herself wishing for someone who loved her enough to come for her after so many years and miles. The idea was more than sweet. It was compelling. A sudden streak of jealousy wriggled into her mind before she could banish it.

  She had to clear her throat to speak. “Go along. I’ll handle everything around here.”

  “Thanks,” Rosie said with a warm smile. “I’ll take the old Jeep into town and meet him at Travis’s aunt’s place. Can you ask Travis if it’s okay to leave the Jeep there until I get back?”

  “I’m sure Travis won’t mind. I’ll talk to him when he gets in.”

  Rosie surprised her and leaned forward for a bear hug. “You’ve sure become a friend to all of us. I’m real glad your car broke down so we could get to know you.”

  Summer’s jealousy was immediately replaced by a thread of pathetic guilt. Guilt caused by that half lie she’d been telling them. That lie stood between her and the wonderful people she’d been using to gain what she wanted.

  After bidding goodbye to Rosie, she sauntered out to the barn, hoping to find a way to repay her debt to everyone by learning more about the ranch. Travis would like that. Plus, she needed to find more in common with Jenna. But guilt continued to weigh heavily on her shoulders, and useless regret refused to leave her in peace.

  * * *

  Exhausted but still on her feet, Summer put a pan of mac-and-cheese in the oven and finished setting the table for herself and Jenna. Thinking of Jenna, she wondered why the child had been so quiet for so long.

  When she’d picked her up after school, Jenna had seemed sullen and withdrawn. Summer had tried talking to her, but Jenna would only whine about having too much homework and how she would rather spend her afternoon in the barn. Over a quick snack in the kitchen, Summer had volunteered to help with the homework, but Jenna had refused, saying her daddy wouldn’t approve of anyone helping with her lessons.

  But that had been well over an hour ago. Jenna was only seven. They couldn’t give a child that age more than an hour’s worth of homework, could they?

  A wayward thought occurred to her: maybe Jenna had sneaked out of the house to see her horse. Summer didn’t want to believe the little girl would resort to sneaking around. Jenna seemed much more outspoken than that. But all things were possible.

  Heading up the stairs, Summer crossed her fingers and hoped she would find that Jenna had fallen asleep over her books, instead of having gone out to the barn. She would certainly hate having to reprimand the poor kid for lying. That would be one of the most hypocritical things she could do. It gave her the shakes just to think of it.

  Summer wasn’t sure she’d been getting through to Jenna up until now. After searching for ways to help her through what was sure to be a difficult period of adjustment now that Rosie was leaving, Summer found herself empathizing with the child.

  She also thought she should be doing a better job of becoming a friend Jenna could count on. After all, a mother with no child should be able to relate to a child with no mother.

  Peeking into her room, she was dismayed to find the girl’s schoolbooks scattered over the bed, but no Jenna in sigh
t. Darn. No way could Summer face a confrontation in the barn now. She was too tired tonight.

  Then she heard what sounded like murmured voices coming from the walk-in closet. Was someone here with Jenna?

  Fortunately, the tone of those voices didn’t sound like distress. So if someone was here, Jenna had invited them in. But how could they have arrived without Summer knowing about it? There wasn’t any back door to the upstairs, and the only two balconies were off her and Travis’s rooms. With no easy way up.

  Curious and a little afraid of who or what she would find, Summer tiptoed to the closet and stood behind the door that was ajar. Peeking around the edge of the door into the half darkness of the closet, she let her eyes adjust. She had no trouble spotting Jenna, sitting on the floor all alone.

  So what about the voices? Just as the thought occurred to her, she watched as Jenna lifted a rag doll in her arms, cradled it and began crooning to the baby doll with singsong words. But hadn’t Rosie said Jenna didn’t like dolls?

  Confused, Summer stilled and tried to listen.

  “You’re okay, baby,” Jenna whispered to the doll. “We have a daddy who loves us. And even if everybody else leaves us behind, even if Daddy goes too, I’ll be here to take care of you. You won’t be alone. I promise.”

  A single tear slipped down Summer’s cheek as her heart went out to the little girl. She knew how terrible it was to feel alone in the world. How could she stand here another minute and let this innocent child’s heart keep breaking?

  Softly clearing her throat to announce her presence, she waited until Jenna turned around before saying anything. “Jenna? I missed you downstairs.”

  She’d been half-afraid the girl would be mad at her for eavesdropping, but Jenna just blinked up at her and said nothing. Kneeling beside her, Summer wrapped her arms around her and enclosed her in what she hoped felt like a safe embrace.

  “Are you unhappy because Rosie is getting married and leaving?”