The Outcast tp-3

by Beverly Barton

  Sam swallowed, squeezed Elizabeth's shoulders and forced a smile. "He doesn't deserve you, kiddo."

  Elizabeth flung her arms around Sam, hugging him fiercely. "I love you, you know that, don't you?"

  "And I love you, too, little girl."

  Reece stood on the front porch, the afternoon sun dimmed by the clouds, small, damp snowflakes beginning to fall. He had meant to stay out here, to give Elizabeth time alone with Sam Dundee, but the more he'd thought about the possibility she might leave him, the more determined he'd become to ask her to stay. He'd opened the door just a fraction and had seen Elizabeth in Sam's arms. He'd heard her tell him she loved him.

  A knot of intense agony sprang to life in Reece's gut. Why the hell should he have trusted this woman any more than he'd ever trusted another?

  She'd leave with Dundee. She loved Dundee. He didn't care, dammit! It didn't matter! He had lived his whole life without Elizabeth Mallory. He'd be just fine without her. He didn't need her. Reece gripped the top rail of the porch banister, his knuckles turning white from the strength of his hold.

  The front door swung open. Sam Dundee came outside alone. Reece waited for the second set of footsteps, then, when he didn't hear any, decided Elizabeth was probably getting her bags.

  Sam walked over and stood by Reece. "It's snowing."

  "Y'all better leave soon, otherwise, you and Lizzie could get snowed in here with me."

  "Elizabeth says there won't be more than an inch of snow." Sam bent over, clasping the banister with both hands.

  "You believe in her psychic abilities?" Reece asked.

  "Yeah, I believe," Sam said. "I've known Elizabeth since she was six years old and my brother married her mother. They moved to Sequana Falls, into Elizabeth's grandparents' home, so that she could be near her great-aunt, who also has psychic talents."

  "Aunt Margaret?"

  "Margaret has been Elizabeth's guide, her teacher and her protector."

  "I thought being her protector was your job!"

  "Margaret's and mine." Sam turned to Reece.

  Reece faced Sam. "If you've got something to say to me, then say it."

  "Elizabeth has risked more than you know to follow you, to stay with you, to help you."

  "So, when she leaves with you, she won't be risking herself anymore, will she?"

  Sam grinned. "She's not leaving with me."

  "What?"

  "You chose the wrong time to walk in on us," Sam said. "And you misunderstood what you saw and heard. I noticed you standing in the door. Elizabeth didn't. Odd that she can't read you clearly."

  Reece held his breath, wanting to believe and yet afraid to believe what Sam was saying. "She's not leaving with you?"

  "Elizabeth and I are family." Sam grasped Reece's shoulder in his big hand. "Elizabeth and I are not lovers. We aren't in love."

  Reece nodded his head, acknowledging what Sam had said. "She shouldn't stay with me."

  "She won't leave you."

  "You couldn't persuade her to go with you?"

  "No. She's staying with you because she believes she's the only one who can save you," Sam said. "She'll risk being caught with you and charged with aiding and abetting a criminal, she'll risk the possibility of being killed if she gets caught in the cross fire if the law finds you, and she risks her sanity by going into town and facing people whose thoughts and emotions she can't control."

  "What do you mean, people's thoughts and emotions she can't control?" Reece stared at Sam, noting the concern in his expression.

  "Elizabeth reads minds, she picks up on the energy that comes from people's thoughts and from their emotions. Often she can predict their futures or see into their pasts just by touching them. Sometimes she can control these energies. Other times she can't. When she can't control them, can't shield herself, then she's bombarded with too much input."

  "That's the reason she lives secluded in the mountains, isn't it?" Reece asked. "So she won't be exposed to too much psychic energy coming from other people.''

  "She almost had a nervous breakdown when she went away to college. We learned then that she didn't dare risk living in a city or even a large town."

  "Will she be all right out here? Away from town?"

  "She probably would be if she stayed, since she only occasionally picks up anything telepathically at distances, the way she did with you. But she doesn't intend to stay out here," Sam said. "She's meeting me in town tomorrow at Gary Elkins's office."

  "Why?"

  "She knows it's possible that if she can meet everyone involved with B. K. Stanton, she plight be able to read them and discover which one of them is the murderer."

  "No, I can't let her do that," Reece said. "I won't let her put herself at risk for me."

  Elizabeth opened the front door and stepped outside. "You two finished with your man-to-man talk?"

  "Just about." Sam released the banister, stood up straight and smiled at Elizabeth.

  "It's too cold out here for y'all to stay much longer. For goodness' sakes, it's snowing." Elizabeth walked over and stood between Sam and Reece.

  "I'll see you in town in the morning." Sam gave Elizabeth a quick peck on the cheek, then walked down the steps and out to his rental car. "You take good care of my T-Bird."

  "We could swap," Elizabeth suggested.

  "No need to do that, kiddo. You keep the Thunderbird." Sam opened his car door, glanced up at Elizabeth and then over at Reece. "She's worth a king's ransom, Landry. Remember that."

  Sam got in the Regal, started the engine and drove away without a backward glance. Elizabeth slipped her arm around Reece's waist. He pulled her close. She laid her head against him.

  "You should have gone with him, Lizzie."

  "I couldn't leave you."

  A sharp, breathtaking pain hit Reece straight in the gut. He couldn't let this happen-he couldn't let Elizabeth care for him, and he didn't dare feel anything more than sexual attraction for her. He wasn't a man accustomed to women like Elizabeth-honest, caring and loyal, with a purity of soul that frightened him.

  "You're putting yourself in danger by staying with me." Reece pulled away from Elizabeth, turning to look down into her crystal-clear blue eyes. Eyes that spoke so eloquently without words. Eyes that told him how much she cared, how deeply she longed to share his misery and lighten his burden.

  "You don't really want me to leave, do you?"

  "Besides the fact that you could get injured accidentally if the law finds me, you're sure to be in big trouble unless we can convince them that I kidnapped you." Reece walked the length of the porch, leaned back against the wall and gazed out at the forest, trees and brush blanketed with a light dusting of newly fallen snow.

  Elizabeth stood near the steps, looking across the porch to where Reece rested his back against the house. Why was it so difficult for him to accept the fact that she wanted to stay with him, to help him, to comfort him? Surely the good Lord wouldn't have sent Reece to her if he hadn't meant the two of them to be together.

  Reece kept his gaze focused on the scenery. "Sam told me what you're risking, emotionally and mentally, by leaving Sequana Falls, by exposing yourself to so many other people's thoughts and feelings."

  "Sam told you?"

  "He thought I had a right to know."

  "He shouldn't have told you."

  Reece turned around slowly, admitting to himself that he had to face Elizabeth and yet not wanting to look into those all-too-knowing blue eyes of hers. Why now, God, why now? he asked himself. Why send someone so special into my life when my whole world has crumbled around me? Why offer me something that I can never have, something I'm not worthy of, something I didn't dream could ever be mine?

  "You're going to wind up getting hurt, one way or another, because of me." When he saw her take a tentative step forward, he held up a hand to warn her off. "I can't give you what you want. I'm no good for you, Lizzie. What do I have to say or do to get through to you?"

  "I thought we
'd settled this argument." She wanted desperately to run to him, throw her arms around him. She couldn't; he wouldn't accept her. Not now.

  "When you go into Newell and meet with Gary Elkins, you're going to be exposed to hundreds of people, maybe thousands. How can you deal with that kind of attack on your mind?"

  "It's not as bad as Sam led you to believe." Elizabeth knew she was trying to convince herself as much as Reece. "When I went away to college I was only in my teens and I hadn't been able to train my mind to shield itself."

  "Can you shield your mind now?"

  "To some extent," Elizabeth said. "Every living thing gives off energy. I read the psychic energy people emit. Sometimes that energy is so strong I can't block it."

  "Can you read everybody? Do you pick up on everybody's psychic energy?''

  "Almost everyone. Some people shield their minds and their emotions without realizing they're doing it. But no one can shield themselves all the time."

  "You can't read me all the time, can you?"

  "No, I can't. You won't admit your true feelings even to yourself. You won't allow anyone to get close to you. You've closed your mind and your heart to others because you're afraid."

  Reece walked toward her, his gaze locked with hers, his amber eyes hypnotizing her the way an animal often does his prey as he moves in for the kill. Elizabeth stood perfectly still-waiting-her heart racing wildly, her breathing shallow and quick. He reached out, circling the back of her neck with his big hand, drawing her forward until her lips were at his throat. She tilted her head, staring up at him, excitement and uncertainty shining in her eyes.

  "Why is it that you can read other people so clearly, that you can see into other people's futures, but not mine?"

  Tears formed in Elizabeth's eyes. Her bottom lip trembled as she forced herself not to cry. "I told you that I can't read your future because our futures are entwined, and I have always refused to look into my own future. You see, Reece, I have my own fears."

  He brought her face closer to his, their lips almost touching. "You can get inside my head, Lizzie. You've done it before. I heard you calling my name when I was at the mo­tel and you were trying to find me. I told you where I was and how to get there, didn't I? And I realize now that all those months I stayed in jail, before and during the trial, I kept getting these odd feelings that someone was trying to talk to me, to comfort me, to let me know I wasn't alone. I thought I'd been caged for so long I was going crazy."

  Tears escaped from Elizabeth's eyes, falling like life-giving raindrops. Reece kissed her eyes, kissed her tears, tasting her heart's blood. Dear God in heaven, forgive me, he thought, but I can't be strong any longer. I can't walk away from this precious gift. I'm only human.

  "What am I thinking, Elizabeth?"

  Sweet, tingling warmth spread through her, quickly turning to hot excitement. Desire poured from Reece's, mind, desire so intense she felt it in every cell of her body. She shivered from the power of his thoughts.

  "You... you want to make love to me." Elizabeth trembled, her body softening, her legs weakening. She swayed into Reece. He covered her mouth with his, taking her with tender fury. Wanting as he had never wanted in his life. Hungry for love. Desperate to claim this woman as his own.

  Reece lifted her into his arms, his lips caressing her throat. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Elizabeth gave herself up to the moment, to the destiny neither of them could deny.

  Chapter 9

  Carrying her into the cottage, Reece held her close, secure in his arms, as he marched straight through the living room. He kicked open the partially closed bedroom door. Elizabeth tightened her hold around his neck, a sudden sense of fear mingling with the anticipation she felt.

  Reece was going to make love to her. Now!

  He lowered her slowly onto the old iron bed, laying her on top of the crocheted lace bedspread. With her arms still around his neck, she beckoned him downward. He spread his legs, placing his knees on each side of her hips, towering above her, gazing down into her flushed face.

  Elizabeth had never known true desire before, had never wanted a man with desperate, mindless passion. Removing his coat, Reece threw it on the floor. Her feelings frightened her, making her wonder if she was prepared to give herself to Reece, to not only abandon her body, but to place her heart and soul into his safekeeping. By his own admission, he was not a man who knew much about love. Would he use her and then discard her after she'd served her purpose?

  Elizabeth looked into his eyes, focusing, trying to connect with his mind. She perceived a need and a longing so incredibly intense that her own mind reeled from the power. Whatever else Reece felt was overshadowed by his masculine need to possess, to take, to dominate.

  Elizabeth's hand trembled when she reached up to touch his face. "I'm afraid, Reece. I'm so afraid."

  No! his mind screamed. Don't be afraid of me. Don't deny me. Not now. I'll die if you don't let me love you.

  Shuddering from head to toe, Elizabeth blinked back tears. Dear God, she'd heard his thoughts!

  "I'm not going to deny you anything," she told him. "Not now or ever. I want you to make love to me. I want to become yours. But... I haven't... this is my first..."

  Circling her wrists, Reece lifted her hands from around his neck and lowered them to the pillow resting above her head. She trembled, her body arching up against his.

  "I want to take you right now. Hard and fast." Reece rubbed his arousal into her aching femininity. "I hurt with wanting you, Elizabeth."

  Desire, fear, love and uncertainty swirled around inside her. She nodded her head in understanding, giving him permission to do with her as he would.

  Tightening his hold around her wrists, he lowered his head to her breasts, nuzzling her through her sweater. When her nipples beaded, he bit them through the heavy cotton material.

  "I could do anything I wanted to do to you and you couldn't stop me." Reece stared down at her, his face void of emotion. "I'm bigger than you. Stronger than you. And folks around here will tell you that I can be a mean son of a bitch. You have every reason to be afraid of me."

  Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, only a gasping breath.

  He released her hands. "But I don't want you to be afraid of me. I want you to believe me when I tell you that I'd never hurt you. I'd never do anything you didn't want me to do."

  She did believe him. She knew in her heart of hearts that Reece Landry would never harm her, that despite all the pain and bitterness inside him, he wanted and needed the love only she could give him.

  "I trust you," she said.

  He groaned, covering her body with his, burying his face in her neck. "Ah, Lizzie, I want to wait, to take my time, to make it good for you, but I don't know if I can. I'm close to losing it right now."

  "It's all right, Reece. We have all night, don't we? The first time won't be the best for me, anyway, will it? So let me do the giving this time and you do the taking. Then next time, you give to me. You can-"

  He covered her lips with a hot, hungry kiss, his body moving urgently against hers. She felt his hands at her breasts, kneading her through her sweater, then lifting the garment with great haste. Trying to help him, she rose up enough to accommodate the removal of her sweater. His mouth descended, taking one nipple, sucking, savoring, tormenting, while he pinched at the other nipple with his fingertips. Elizabeth moaned into his mouth, writhing as a savage warmth unfolded deep within her.

  While Reece fought with the zipper on her jeans, Elizabeth unbuttoned his shirt, spreading it away from his body. She ran her hands over his chest, loving the feel of his springy chest hair, his tight male nipples, his hard muscles, his hot flesh.

  Reece brought her zipper down, then tugged on her jeans until he pulled them over her hips and down her legs. He tossed them on the floor. He removed her panties with such haste that he ripped the thin cotton lace.

  All the while he removed her clothes, he kept kissing her, tasting her mou
th, running his tongue over her naked body, suckling her breasts, delving into her navel. Elizabeth explored Reece from neck to waist, glorying in the joy she found in his very masculine body, covering him with hot, excited little kisses.

  Reece unbuckled his belt, unzipped his jeans and jerked them off, throwing them atop Elizabeth's on the floor. She slipped her hands beneath his shirt, scoring his back with her fingernails, delving beneath the waistband of his briefs to cup his buttocks. Reece groaned, his swollen manhood pulsating against the triangle of dark curls guarding her femininity. He jerked his briefs off and kicked them onto the floor.

  "I can't wait, baby. I can't wait!" Reece clenched his teeth, grabbed her hips and lifted her up, seeking and finding the heaven between her thighs.

  Elizabeth clung to his shoulders, her body arching to accept his invasion, welcoming him. Reece plunged into her, hesitating when he felt her tightness; then when she clasped his buttocks and pushed him into her, he completed his possession, taking her completely. She cried out, the sound an indrawn gasp. Reece stopped, waiting for her to accept him. Nothing had ever felt this good. Nothing!

  Elizabeth was his now. She belonged to him. No other man had ever known the ecstasy of her sweet body.

  "I hurt you, didn't I?" Despite the winter chill that filled the house, sweat beaded across Reece's forehead and on his upper lip.

  Elizabeth rose enough to kiss his chest, his neck and then his chin. "I'm fine. You're the one who's hurting. Please let me take away that hurt, Reece."

  On the brink of orgasm, Reece needed no further inducement. Her words prompted him to action, his big body tense as he thrust deeper and deeper into her satiny, gripping heat. Within seconds he cried out, spilling himself into her, shuddering with release.

  Elizabeth ached with need, with wanting something she had never known with a man, wanting Reece to be the first and the only one to give her pleasure. When he fell to her side, holding her against him, Elizabeth stroked him, petting his chest, his hips and his thighs.

  "Thank you, Lizzie."

  She snuggled against him, unable to speak, unable to do anything more than cling to Reece.