Egan Cassidy's Kid

by Beverly Barton

  She stared pointedly at his unzipped jeans. “Are you sure you feel like taking a nap? From where I’m standing, it looks like you might have something else in mind besides sleeping.”

  “Nah,” he teased her. “That’s just wishful thinking on your part. Remember, honey, I’m an old man, and you just wore me out.”

  “Did I indeed?”

  Maggie inched backward, far enough so that he couldn’t touch her without getting up out of the chair. Then she removed her open shirt and unhooked bra and tossed them onto the table. Naked, humming with sexual energy and hungry for dessert to follow the banquet she had shared with Egan only minutes earlier, Maggie stretched her arms over her head and lifted her hair atop her head. Closing her eyes, she let her hair tumble slowly, seductively, through her fingers, parting it in the back and tossing it forward so that the strands rested on the rise of her breasts.

  Egan licked his lips, then swallowed hard. Maggie was as much in the grips of this madness as he, as completely controlled by the sexual urges of her body as he was dominated by his. Only once before had he allowed passion to overrule every rational thought—a never-to-be-forgotten week with Maggie. Fifteen years ago.

  He had used protection then, every time, except the first time, when they’d both been wild with need. But now, he had made love to Maggie for the second time—without a condom. What if she became pregnant again?

  Some selfish demon inside him hoped for that impossible dream. If Maggie were pregnant with his child…

  “It’s getting hot in here,” Maggie said, as she rubbed the sweat from her neck with the palm of her hand, her fingers coming to rest inches above the indention between her full breasts.

  She was tempting him, playing the seductress. Years ago, she had been like this—a spirited, hungry wanton, insatiable in her desire for him. She evoked every protective, possessive, primevally male instinct within him. All that was feminine about her summoned all that was masculine about him.

  “We could go outside and cool off in the rain,” he suggested and laughed when he noted the surprised look on her face.

  “Cool water might douse that fire I see beginning to burn in you.” She glanced meaningfully at his semierect sex.

  Egan rose to his feet, shucked off his jacket and shirt, stripped out of his jeans and nodded his head toward the back door. “Why don’t we find out?”

  He grabbed her hand as he walked past her. She followed him across the room, knowing at that precise moment she would follow this man anywhere. The door creaked and groaned as he forced it open. A cool mist blew into the interior, spraying their naked bodies. Without a word of warning, Egan tugged Maggie up against him and then pulled her through the door and out onto the back porch. Rain splattered down over them, washing through the partially dilapidated tin roof.

  “Oh!” Maggie gulped as rainwater cooled her heated body.

  “Are you still hot?” he asked, rubbing his chest against her breasts, teasing her.

  “My skin is just warm now, but inside, I’m still hot.”

  “How hot are you, Maggie, my love?”

  With his arm around her waist, he led her off the porch and out into the yard. A four-foot stone fence, crumbled to the ground in several sections, encircled what had once been a private spot. Tiny, pink wild roses wove up and around the wall nearest the house. Ankle-high weeds dotted the rocky earth. Like two children, carefree and happy, they danced in the rain, their bodies drenched, their desires escalating.

  Maggie watched Egan, a man like no other. Entranced by the essence of his masculinity, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. Tall and lean, every ounce of muscle superbly toned. Coated with moisture, his graying chest hair curled into tight rings, as did the darker hair that dusted his arms and legs. His sex, still aroused, beckoned her touch. Unable to resist the temptation, she reached out and ran a fingertip over the smooth, bulbous head, which reacted with a hefty jerk. When she circled him with her hand, he groaned. When she set her hand into motion, every muscle in his big body tensed.

  “You’re killing me, honey.” He grabbed her hand to stop its movement.

  “That wasn’t my intention.” She released him, but inched her hand up and over his belly, around his waist and back down to palm one tight buttock.

  Manacling the wrist of her other hand, he hauled her up against him. She gasped when their wet bodies collided. “What was your intention?” he asked.

  She rubbed herself against him, pressing the intimate parts of their bodies together. “Being out here is like stepping under a giant shower, isn’t it?”

  Egan laughed. “If you want me primed and ready for action again, then we’d better get out of this rain.”

  She pulled away from him and raced toward the porch. When Egan caught her, he whirled her around and instantly shoved her gently up against the exterior wall of the house. She reached out, intending to put her arms around his neck and draw him into her embrace. But he escaped her clutches by dropping to his knees. The moment he buried his face against her belly and wrapped his arms around her hips, Maggie quivered like a willow in the wind.

  His lips dotted kisses from waist to thigh, then nuzzled her damp, red curls. As his hand slid between her legs, she braced herself by planting one hand on his shoulder. She threaded the fingers of her other hand through his hair and gripped his head. His fingers probed, delved and stroked. Maggie’s body tightened around those caressing fingers. After he had urged her thighs farther apart and had prepared her with his fingertips, he held her legs separated enough to allow his mouth to take charge.

  Smoldering hot sensations blazed up from her depths, spreading quickly through her body, setting her afire. Maggie’s knees liquefied and began to give way, spreading her legs even farther apart. While Egan slid one big hand behind her to cup her bottom and support her, his other hand reached up to encompass her left breast.

  Pleasure almost too intense to bear claimed her, shattering her composure and tossing her headlong into fulfillment. Before the last convulsion racked Maggie’s body, Egan lifted her just enough to accommodate a quick, hard thrust, embedding himself to the hilt. Her legs curled around his hips. Her buttocks pressed against the smooth, wet surface of the stone wall.

  They mated there on the porch, their hunger for each other without bounds. Giving and taking in equal amounts, they shared a mutual gratification. And when Egan roared as fulfillment drained every ounce of strength from his body, Maggie toppled over the edge, spiraling out of control.

  She slid her legs down his hips, placed her feet on the floor and slumped against him. Keeping her wedged between his body and the wall, Egan dipped his head and found her lips.

  “If I lived a thousand years, I could never get enough of you,” he murmured, then kissed her with the conviction of his words.

  Chapter 11

  Tinkling raindrops dripped off the edge of the tin roof. Afternoon sunshine glutted the interior with abundant illumination, washing over the dingy walls and floor, reflecting off the metal bedstead and revealing the shabbiness of their rock house refuge. Maggie pulled on her socks, their cool dampness soothing to her blisters. After lifting one of her boots from the floor, she glanced sideways toward the open front door. Egan waited in the doorway, his back to her, his wide shoulders almost touching either side of the rotting wooden frame.

  Maggie supposed she could lie to herself about what had happened between them. She could blame Egan. She could pretend that he had seduced her. But what good would lying to herself do? None! The truth of the matter was that she had wanted Egan. She always had and probably always would. Before meeting him fifteen years ago, she had laughed at the thought that loving someone could become a fever in your blood. But that’s exactly what her feelings for Egan were. A fever in her blood. An incurable fever.

  What had happened between them—what always happened between them—was by mutual consent. But accepting that fact didn’t help Maggie much right now. She found it easy enough to lose her head, t
o throw caution to the wind and become a wild woman in Egan’s arms. But the difficult part came afterward. Once their insatiable hunger had been temporarily fed and she was thinking straight. That’s when doubt and fear and a hint of regret came into play.

  Why was it that with Gil, a man who had loved her, made a commitment to her and even adopted her child, she had never been able to feel such mindless passion? Somehow with Egan, a temporary lover who had never made her any promises beyond the moment, she had found an incomparable ecstasy.

  “Are you about ready?” Egan asked, glancing back over his shoulder.

  She looked away, down at her feet, deliberately avoiding prolonged eye contact. “Yes. Just a couple of minutes more.” Hurriedly she slipped into her boots. After tying the laces, she stood, brushed her hands down the sides of her damp jeans and headed for the front door.

  Suddenly in her peripheral vision, Maggie noticed something moving across the floor only a few inches from her feet. Silently gliding. Slithering. Then she heard the deadly rattle. A snake! A rattlesnake! The minute her mind registered the danger, Maggie let out a bloodcurdling scream. Instinctive fear. A totally emotional reaction.

  Instantly Egan reached for the pistol, whirled around and saw the stricken look on Maggie’s face. His gaze followed her line of vision down to where the rattler curled, preparing to attack. He aimed the 9-mm and with one precisely aimed shot blew the reptile in two.

  As the gunshot echoed in Maggie’s ears, she rushed toward Egan. He hauled her up to his side and walked her out of the cabin and into the sunlight. Slightly breathless, her heart hammering madly, Maggie gazed into Egan’s eyes. And there it was—that protective, possessive, caring look that told her she was his woman. He had always stared at her that way, since the first moment he saw her.

  “I’m sorry I screamed,” she said. “I know I overreacted again. I could have just told you the snake was there, without getting hysterical.”

  “It’s okay.” He stroked her back, letting his hand linger between her shoulder blades. “After what you’ve been through the past couple of days, you deserved at least one good scream.”

  “I suppose I did.” A nervous giggle caught in her throat.

  His fingertips inched their way upward and wound around the back of her neck. “Do we need to talk about what happened?”

  “With the snake?” Don’t be a ninny, an inner voice scolded. You know he’s not referring to the incident with the snake.

  “Maggie… I don’t want to hurt you. Not ever again. I never meant for my actions to cause you harm in the past.”

  “You didn’t make me any promises back then and you haven’t made me any now.” But I want you to, she silently pleaded. I want you to promise to love me and be with me the rest of our lives.

  “You might not believe this, but I’m usually very much in control of myself and my actions. Except with you. I can’t seem to keep my hands off you.”

  The giggle trapped inside her escaped, tittering from her throat. “You’re taking the blame for something that is equally my fault. If what happened between us today ends up causing me any pain or creating any problems in my life, then I’ll deal with it.”

  “Alone? The way you dealt with Bent?” He caressed her neck.

  “Bent wasn’t a problem. He was a blessing.” Maggie pulled away from Egan. “I’ve regretted many things in my life, but having Bent isn’t one of them.”

  “I should have been there for you…and for my son.” Egan stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans in an effort not to grab Maggie and kiss the breath out of her. “Do you think it’s too late for me to form some sort of relationship with Bent?”

  Maggie sighed deeply. “I honestly don’t know. Ten years ago, you definitely could have formed a bond with him. Even five years ago. But he isn’t a child anymore. He’s very much his own man. I’d like nothing better than for him to accept you as his father and for the two of you… All I know is that I’ll encourage him to give you a chance.”

  “That’s more than I deserve from you, after—”

  She pressed an index finger over his lips, silencing him. “How about you get me back to civilization so we can see our son? I’m going to hug him so hard he’ll turn beet red with embarrassment. But I don’t care.”

  Egan cupped his hand over hers, kissed her finger and clasped her hand in his. “Let’s head out.” He led her away from the hut that had protected them from the rainstorm and toward the overgrown, winding pathway down the mountain. “As soon as we get to a phone, I’ll contact Joe and Hunter and have them bring Bent to you as quickly as possible.”

  “And then we’ll all go home to Alabama,” she said.

  Egan squeezed her hand, then halted abruptly. “Eventually.”

  “What do you mean—eventually?”

  He released her hand and looked her square in the eye. “Until I find Cullen and eliminate him, you and Bent won’t be safe back in Alabama. I plan to send you somewhere safe, someplace that Cullen knows nothing about. Joe and Hunter will stay with y’all until—”

  “Until you either kill Cullen or he kills you!” Maggie whirled around and walked several feet away from Egan. With her arms crossed over her chest, she sucked in air, trying desperately not to cry.

  “Maggie.”

  When he came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, she shrugged off his embrace and refused to face him. “Don’t tell me that there isn’t a possibility that he’ll kill you and not the other way around. And don’t try to explain that this is something you have to do, that you can’t leave it to the FBI to track him down and arrest him.”

  Egan allowed his hands to hover over her shoulders for a second or two before balling them into tight fists. “You and Bent will never be safe as long as Cullen is alive. If I thought his vendetta against me would end if he were arrested and sent to prison, then, yes, maybe I’d leave him to the authorities. But that’s not the way this thing is going to play out. Not when your life and Bent’s are at risk.”

  Maggie eased around slowly and brought her gaze up from the pathway at her feet to make direct eye contact with Egan. “I really don’t have a choice, do I? I’ll have to do as you ask. Bent and I both will.” She took a tentative step toward Egan, but stopped herself before she reached him. “You don’t think you have a choice either, do you?”

  “No, honey, I don’t. Not when it’s either go after Cullen or allow him to come after us.”

  “And when Cullen has been…eliminated?” she asked.

  “Then you and Bent can go home.”

  “And you?”

  “Me? I’ll come for a visit and see if my son is willing to let me be a part of his life.” And you, Maggie, my love, will you let me be a part of your life, too? Could we ever move beyond the past? Could you ever forget the kind of life I’ve lived and forgive me of all my sins?

  Two and a half hours later, the afternoon sun low on the western horizon, Egan and Maggie entered the outskirts of Stonyford, Arizona. Population 1,895. A has-been little town that appeared to have been around since the late nineteenth century. Although a few vehicles meandered up and down Main Street and across Medicine Bow Avenue, the only other paved street, most of the downtown area seemed deserted.

  “Bet there’s no chance this place has a hotel,” Maggie said. “I doubt there’s even a pay telephone available.”

  “Wrong on both counts,” Egan corrected, his gaze focused up Main Street to the intersection with the town’s lone traffic light. “That sign reads Stonyford Hotel—” He nodded to the right. “And over there—” he nodded left “—at that service station, is a pay phone.”

  “Will wonders never cease.”

  Maggie’s legs ached and the blisters on her feet were now raw and burning. Despite sharing a rain bath with Egan earlier that afternoon, she felt grimy after two days in the wilderness.

  “The sign painted on the front window of the hotel says Café.” As if on cue, Egan’s stomach growled. �
��Hope that place is still in business.”

  “Call Joe and Hunter first,” Maggie said. “Then we can check out the hotel and café.”

  When they passed the barber shop, an elderly, white-haired cowboy, boots on his feet and a Stetson on his head, emerged. “Howdy, folks. You two look lost. Do you need some help?”

  “As a matter of fact, we do,” Egan said. “My wife and I—” he smiled at Maggie “—got lost up in the mountains and we need to contact some friends to come pick us up.”

  The grizzly old man pursed his thin lips. “Hmph! I don’t understand you young folks hiking off into the mountains without a guide. There’s bears and snakes and coyotes in the hills. And some of the roughest wilderness in this here United States.” He looked Maggie up and down. “If I had me a wife like her, I’d keep her home and not drag her all over God’s green earth.”

  “Believe me, Mr…. er…Mr….?” Maggie bestowed her most endearing smile on the old man.

  “Butram, ma’am. Ed Butram.” He quickly removed his Stetson, lifted his shoulders and stood a good inch taller.

  “Well, Mr. Butram, believe me when I tell you that this is my last trip into the mountains.” Maggie laid her hand on Ed’s arm. “Our son is staying with friends in Flagstaff and I know he’s terribly worried about us. We need to call him as soon as possible to let him know we’re all right.”

  “After we use that pay phone—” Egan inclined his head in the direction of the service station “—we were planning to check out the hotel and café.”

  “Can’t use the phone over at Hamm’s,” Ed told them.

  “Why not?” Maggie asked.

  “Been out of order for the past two years.” Ed chuckled. “Didn’t nobody ever use it anyway. But the hotel has a phone you can use.”

  “Then the hotel is open?” Egan asked.

  “What about the café?” Maggie’s stomach rumbled.

  “Why don’t you two come along with me,” Ed suggested as he stepped off the sidewalk and into the street. “Me and my sister, Corrie, own the hotel. Don’t get many customers, so we closed off most of the rooms. But we keep a few cleaned and aired-out.”