It was a mistake. One glimpse of his rigid features and she longed to sink into the earth, never to be seen again. Her eyes widened when he approached, but he only tossed her clothes into her lap. They were still damp, but Abby no longer cared. Her hands weren't very steady, but through some miracle she managed to struggle into her clothing without assistance.
Not once did he release her from that accusatory glare.
"I think I deserve an explanation." His tone was dangerously low, like the distant rumble of thunder.
Abby stared down at the folds of her riding skirt.
"You were a virgin," he went on flatly.
Her lips compressed. Certainly she could hardly deny it.
The next thing she knew he was hauling her to her feet. A muscle jerked in his jaw. Abby inhaled sharply at the anger leaping in his eyes.
"How?" he demanded, giving her a little shake. "How the hell can that be?" He grabbed her hand, stared at the place where a ring should have circled.
"That night at the Silver Spur, you said you took off your ring because you were afraid I wouldn't go upstairs with you if I knew you were married. But you were never married, were you?"
She was stunned. He wasn't just angry, she realized. He was furious. She swallowed helplessly, shaking her head.
He released her, as if the touch of her was suddenly abhorrent. "Cripes," he swore. "I'm beginning to wonder if I can believe anything about you, Miss Abigail . . . Is that even your real name? And what about this whole damn story you concocted? Oh, you're a fine one to sit in judgment of me, considering you lied to me from the very beginning--"
"Oh, you stubborn fool!" Abby stomped her foot, as angry as he. "Everything I told you was true ... My father... Why we have to find Dillon before Stringer Sam gets to him ... the only thing I lied about was Dillon."
Kane's lip curled. "Oh, yes. Dillon. So he really exists, eh?"
"Of course he does!"
"And he's Laramie's marshal?"
"Yes!"
Kane was before her, his movement like quiet lightning. With his hand he prodded her chin up. "Then tell me this, Abby. Why are we chasing across the Territory after him if he's not your husband? What the hell is he to you that you're risking your damn fool neck in order to find him?"
Everything inside her seemed to go weak. She closed her eyes in order to shut out the ruthless demand in his features.
"He's my brother," she whispered.
Chapter 12
Her brother.
The revelation bounced off the chambers of Kane's mind, again and again. For the space of a heartbeat, it was as if the wind had been knocked from his lungs. A feeling akin to elation ricocheted through him, but in its wake trailed a ready anger.
His hands fell away from her shoulders. He didn't dare touch her right now. His temper was anything but tame. "Your brother," he repeated tensely. "Dammit, why couldn't you tell me?"
"What did you expect me to do? I had to protect myself somehow. I was about to head out alone with a man, a man I didn't know—and what little I did know was hardly reassuring. It was the only thing I could think to do!"
"It was your choice to go, Abby, not mine. I told you from the start you'd be better off staying home."
Her eyes darkened. "I couldn't do that, Kane. My God, he's my brother! And after what happened to Pa, I couldn't stay home and wait—I just couldn't! Besides, how did I know you'd really try to find Dillon? How did I know that you wouldn't just go your own way and to hell with my brother? You have to admit, your past is hardly lily-white!"
His lips twisted. That was just what he didn't need to hear from her right now.
"And what about later, when I found out he was Laramie's marshal? Why didn't you tell me the truth then? Why keep up the pretense? Last night you said you trusted me," he went on stonily. "Or was that just another lie?"
"No, no, of course not!" She clasped her hands together before her to still their trembling. "But you have to understand, Kane, you—you scared me!"
"You?" His laugh reflected his scorn. "Honey, nothing scares you. You were the one pulled a gun on me, remember? Seems to me a mighty gutsy move for a woman—and you claim you were afraid?"
"I wanted to tell you, I swear. But I was afraid you'd be angry, the way you are now. I was afraid you'd leave me and then I'd never find Dillon!"
Kane merely stared at her, the line of his mouth grim and unrelenting.
Abby bit her lip. Oh, how could she explain? "The way you looked at me scared me, too, only in a much different way... the way you kissed me that very first night scared me!" Unbidden, her gaze slid toward the bed.
"Oh, I get it. You were afraid of doing exactly what we just did. Well, sugar, you sure had me fooled." His eyes raked over her, stopping on the juncture of her thighs. "All that moaning you did had me convinced you wanted it as much as I did. But it seems that was just a treat to keep me panting at your heels, wasn't it—a way to keep me in line— payment in advance, you might say."
Abby caught her breath. His urgent desire had been thrilling. It had merely heightened her own. But now he made it sound almost dirty!
She was suddenly shaking. She pressed cool fingers to her burning cheeks. "Stop it," she said unsteadily. "It wasn't like that at all, Kane. It wasn't like that and you know it!"
"Do I?" His lip curled. "Did it make you laugh, knowing how gullible I was? God, I should have known you weren't married. The signs were all there. You didn't know how to kiss. You nearly jumped out of your skin when you saw me naked! But no, I was a fool. Not once did it cross my mind you might be lying!"
Abby's chin went up. "I'm the one who's a fool, a fool for caring about you. Sometimes I think you want me to think the worst of you. But I suppose that's to be expected. You're certainly always ready to believe the worst of me!"
Kane's jaw clenched hard. If he was bitter, he couldn't help it. It made no sense why he should feel so betrayed. So used. But that was exactly how he felt right now.
You idiot! bellowed an unwanted voice in his ear. So what if she lied? She only did it to protect herself. Can you blame her? Besides, didn't you hear what she said? She cares for you, dirty scoundrel that you are. Doesn't that mean anything to you? Or are you going to sit back and ruin the first good thing that's come along in longer than you can remember?
The emotion that tore through him was painfully sweet... just plain painful.
Only now did Kane realize--in spite of her temper, in spite of her tongue, Abby was a lady, wellborn and gently bred. No doubt he'd ruined her for any other man, ruined her chances of making a good marriage. Guilt seeped through him like acid.
And yet he couldn't regret it. A swell of primitive male pride welled within him. Damn him for the cad he was, but he liked knowing he was the first—the first man to lay with her, to claim her sweet innocence for his own, the one to take her from girlhood to womanhood.
That was something no one could ever take away from him.
He stared at her, becoming slowly aware of the way that her lovely mouth quivered. Her eyes were once again glistening and overbright. His gut twisted.
Though it cost him no little amount of pride, he extended his hand. "Come here," he said roughly.
"No! You're mean and cruel!"
His face tightened. "Come here," he repeated. This time his eyes were no more than a flicker of light. There was no mistaking the threat implicit in his tone if she failed to heed him.
"You expect me to crawl back in your arms after what you just said? You make me sound like a cold, calculating shrew!" The strain of all that had happened today was suddenly too much. She was half-crying now. "I'm a fool, all right, but not that big a fool!"
Kane reached her with a muffled oath. His hands curled around her upper arms as he tried to draw her close. But something snapped inside her. She went a little crazy then, tearing into him with a strength borne of near-hysteria, arms flailing, scratching, kicking wildly, shouting at him to leave her be.
"Abb
y!" He blocked a well-placed knee aimed squarely at his groin. With a cry of rage she renewed her attack. They were both laboring for breath when at last he succeeded in pinning her arms to her sides. She tried to twist away but Kane was too quick for her. His arm snaked around her waist. He dragged her back against his chest. "For heaven's sake," he began, "will you just listen to me—"
He got no further.
The door burst open. A cold gust of wind and rain preceded a gritty male voice. "Well, well, here I thought I'd have this place all to myself. Guess I was wrong, eh?"
Kane's head shot up. He blinked, convinced his eyes deceived him. Because the man who filled the doorway was a man he'd thought never to see again--
Stringer Sam.
Kane's first instinct was to thrust Abby behind him. With an effort he restrained himself. The alarm that kindled along his nerve endings was the one thing he didn't dare let Sam glimpse.
Because Sam liked to prey on weakness. He liked to prey on fear.
Everything changed in the instant between one heartbeat and the next. Every instinct Abby possessed warned her that something was terribly, terribly wrong.
Along with the stranger's intrusion came a tension that charged the air like the sizzling hiss of lightning that had struck Sonny. As if that weren't enough to send warning bells clanging all through her, Kane's arm around her waist was suddenly like an iron clamp. Behind her his entire body had gone rigid. But when his voice sounded above her head, his tone was as easy and smooth as velvet.
"It's been a long time, Sam."
Sam. Dear Lord, it couldn't be. A sick feeling of dread seized her in its grasp. Abby's legs would have buckled if Kane's arm hadn't tightened ever so slightly around her.
She couldn't tear her eyes from Stringer Sam. So this is the man who killed Pa. The thought rampaged through her mind. If she hadn't been so terrified, she'd have taken great pleasure in scratching his eyes out. But there was no doubt that he was terrifying to look at.
He was younger than she'd expected, somewhere around thirty, she guessed. He was even taller than Kane, stringy and lean. Nor was he ugly. Some, in fact, might even consider him handsome, with angled, hawk-like features. She watched as he flicked off his hat and tossed it aside. His hair was slicked back from his forehead, as sleek and dark as his rain-spattered slicker. His eyes were black and depthless, the slant of his lips cruel, even when he smiled, as he was doing now. But there was an air of menace about him, a stay-the-hell-out-of-my-way look about him that sent ice-cold shivers traveling the length of her spine.
He moved further into the shack. "You and your lady friend don't mind if I bed down for the night, do you? It's mighty wet outside." His voice was as oily-smooth as his smile, she decided with a shudder.
Kane's fingers splayed wide over her belly, the gesture blatantly possessive. Abby wasn't about to object to his high-handed arrogance. Behind her she felt his shoulders lift in a shrug. "Why not?" he murmured.
Abby bit back a gasp. Was he mad, allowing a man like Sam to stay the night with them? Likely as not, they'd wake up with their throats slit! Sam headed back outside. As soon as he was gone she tore herself free of Kane's hold.
"Are you insane?" she whispered as loudly as she dared. "We can't let him stay the night!"
"We can't say no either," he said grimly. "I may not ride with his gang anymore, but if I send him on his way, he'll be suspicious, and you don't want that." He didn't give her the chance to either agree or disagree.
His hands came down hard on her shoulders. His tone grew fierce. "Listen to me, Abby, and listen good. I want you to follow my lead. Don't question anything I say—anything!—and I mean it. And for God's sake, don't argue with me."
"But—"
He gave her a little shake. "Just do it, Abby. Do you hear me? Just do it!"
He was so tense and wired Abby could only nod, her eyes huge in her pale face. When he told her to get into bed, she scurried across the room without another word.
Sam slammed back into the shack a minute later. He shrugged off his slicker and shook his head like a wet mongrel. He spread his bedroll out before the fire and laid down with a mighty yawn.
The silence was stifling.
Abby lay huddled under the blanket, her back to the other occupants of the shack. She was afraid to move, to even close her eyes. It seemed forever before there was a touch on her shoulder. "Abby." Warm breath wafted across her cheek.
Kane. She rolled over with a gasp, her gaze darting across the room. "Kane! Is he—"
"Asleep." He stretched out beside her.
She tried to peer over his shoulder. "Are you sure? Maybe he's—"
"I'm sure. I can tell by his breathing. Now hush so we can get some rest."
His tone was stinging. She despised the stupid, foolish tears that threatened. She felt like a child whose hand had been slapped. With an indignant sniff, she rolled away and presented him with her back. Kane made no effort to recapture the distance she put between them. Abby couldn't decide if she was more angry or hurt. It took forever before she fell into an exhausted sleep.
Kane didn't allow himself the luxury of sleep that night. He knew the instant Sam awoke. Through the watery light that seeped in through the shack's only window, he watched the other man stumble to the door and open it. He hitched his arms high above his head, then strode outside.
Kane was waiting just outside the door when Sam returned from the bushes. Overhead the sky was blue and clear. Last night's storm was just a memory.
"You know, I was just thinkin', Kane, this is quite a change for you, isn't it?" He tipped his chin toward the shack. His laugh set Kane's teeth on edge. "Don't recall you ever traveling with a woman before."
Kane shrugged. 'Took a fancy to the lady down in Rawlins," he said lazily. He saw that Abby had appeared in the doorway. A hand at her brow, she shielded her eyes from the morning glare. There was an odd tightening in his stomach. Even from here he sensed her uncertainty.
"Rawlins. That where you've been keeping yourself lately?"
A half-formed idea began to buzz in Kane's mind. "Not staying in any one place too long. Can't afford to, if you know what I mean."
Sam clapped him on the shoulder. "On the run again?"
"Let's just say I have a pressing need to lay low for a while."
Sam's gaze settled on Abby. "Having the girl along might slow you down."
The barely disguised lust in his eyes made Kane see red. With an effort he tamped down the violent urge to wrap his fingers around Sam's scrawny throat. "I don't think so. No, I don't think so at all. In fact—" He let a hard smile drift across his lips. "—she might come in handy if some fool chances to recognize me."
Abby was sitting on the bed when he strode inside a few minutes later. "Where is he?" she asked without preamble.
"Outside getting his horse ready."
"He's leaving?"
"Yes."
She released a fervent sigh of relief. "Thank God," she murmured. Her eyes widened as Kane dropped down before their gear, heaped in the corner. In shock she saw him rummaging through her things.
He hefted her revolver in his palm before shoving it into his saddlebag.
"Kane, that's mine!"
"Not for the present, sweetheart. Hostages don't have weapons of their own."
Every vestige of color drained from her face. "Dear God," she said faintly. "You told him who I am."
Kane cursed himself when he saw. Quickly he crossed the room and caught her by the elbows. "I might be a low-down skunk," he said roughly, "but I'm not that low. I told him I picked you up in Rawlins—I let him believe you're my hostage. He thinks I'm running from the law." He took a deep breath. "We're going with him, Abby."
She couldn't hide her horror. "Go with him? My God, are you out of your mind? We can't!"
"It's the best way to find out if he's after your brother. Hell, it's the best way to keep him from your brother!"
Footsteps sounded outside. There was no ti
me to argue, no time for anything, Abby realized sickly.
Within minutes she was mounted before Kane on Midnight's back.
An awful thought crowded her brain. Kane claimed he hadn't told Sam she was Dillon's sister. But what if he changed his mind? He certainly owed no loyalty to her. What if Sam discovered the truth—that she was Dillon's sister?
Her life would be forfeit, she realized numbly. Sam would have no qualms about killing Dillon's sister.
Sam's appearance had changed everything, she thought with a sudden wash of reckoning. What little control she had had over her fate had been snatched from her.
Her very life rested solely in Kane's hands.
Her stomach knotted. She stared with single-minded fascination at the length of rope coiled around the horn of Sam's saddle. She'd told Kane last night she trusted him ...
Now it seemed she had no choice.
Chapter 13
They didn't stop until the sun was a fiery ball almost directly overhead. They had descended into a sun-baked plain. The land was dry and cracked. Here and there a scraggly tree jutted toward the sky. The cool, rain-washed morning air had turned hot and burning. Kane watched as Sam strode off toward a huge boulder.
He reached up to pull Abby from the saddle, unconsciously measuring the slightness of her waist. He resisted the compulsion to linger when her hands drew away from his chest as soon as her feet were on the ground. Wordlessly he watched as she walked away, her easy, long-legged stride rather stiff. That was unusual for Abby. The hours in the saddle never seemed to bother her. He frowned, wondering what was the reason for her discomfort.
It dawned with crystal clarity.
He was at her side before he knew it, pulling her around to face him.
"Are you all right?" His voice was gritty. He spoke through lips that barely moved.
Startled, she stared up at him. "Of course," she said faintly. "Why wouldn't I be?"
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