Texas Passion

by Sara Orwig

  He settled her on him, his shaft sliding into her. Passion heated her gaze, her eyes closing as he entered her. Locking her legs around him, Rachel moved on him, and they climaxed fast and hard. She fell forward on him, shoving him down.

  He came up sputtering, dumping her into the creek. She splashed him and surfaced, laughing.

  At the sound of her sparkling laughter, Dan’s heart lurched. He caught his breath and stood still, looking at her eyes dancing with joy, her white teeth showing. In that moment he felt as if his heart were being twisted beneath a crushing weight. She should always be happy like this, filled with joy. She was a woman capable of deep emotion and giving. She should have someone give to her in return.

  He caught her up, his hand winding in her hair. “This is the way you should be,” he said gruffly, a tightness in his chest that was anger at himself, because he was going to hurt her so badly when all he wanted to do was love her and make her joyful. “You should laugh and you need love.”

  “It’s the way I wish I could be,” she said softly. Silver drops of water sparkled on his black lashes, beads of water on his face, over his shoulders and chest. She couldn’t get enough looking at him or touching him. He seemed somber, and she felt a surge of longing for him, for what she knew she would never have, because she could hear the finality in his voice.

  He turned to walk out and she followed, dressing swiftly.

  Dan yanked on his clothes, pulling on his boots, all the problems coming back with his clothing. He had to stop procrastinating, had to face Eb Kearney and tell him he was from Pinkerton’s.

  Chapter 17

  He yanked on his trousers, buttoning them, watching her dress. While she sat on the ground to pull on her boots, he crossed to stand near her. Leaning his hand against the rough bark of a cottonwood trunk, he looked down at her. Damp strands of hair fell forward to hide her face from him.

  “Maybe we can talk more rationally now.”

  She tossed her hair behind her head, slanting him a look, her green eyes filled with sparks. “My family is not leaving here. We’re not running from Lyman McKissick or anyone else. We’ll fight for this place.” She pulled on a stocking and reached for another boot. “My pa’s not well. This is the best possible thing for him. For all of us.”

  “Dammit, there’s not enough men here to fight McKissick. Your Pa should have learned something from war!”

  Rachel’s fury increased. With fire dancing in his eyes, Dan was arguing with her after making love. He wasn’t offering vows of love or marriage, not even one time saying “I love you” to her. She hurt and anger was churning. She yanked on her boot and stood up, tucking her shirt into her trousers, aware that Dan’s gaze dropped down as she pulled the shirt tight over her breasts.

  “Get out of here if you don’t want to be involved in the fight!”

  “I’m not leaving you out here for McKissick to take,” he said tersely, his dark eyes stabbing into her like knives.

  As they stared at each other, her breathing was ragged. She felt on the verge of losing control of her emotions and she wanted to get away from Dan, yet she stood rooted to the spot.

  “Who is Lissa’s mother?” Dan asked, changing the conversation abruptly.

  “She’s my cousin’s child,” Rachel answered, looking away from him, seeing the hard look back in his eyes. Was he angry with her for her deception? How long had he known it was a falsehood? “Lissa’s father was killed in the war. When her mother died of pneumonia, we took Lissa. She’ll think I’m her mother until she’s old enough for me to tell her differently, because she was just a baby.” Rachel studied him, knowing to confide in Dan would put Pa at risk if Dan ever talked to others. She turned her head, looking away, torn between admitting why she had deceived him and doing what was safest for Pa.

  “It was safer to travel if men thought I was a married woman,” she said finally. She couldn’t look in Dan’s eyes when she explained, because she felt as if he could see she was still lying to him. “How long have you known I wasn’t her mother?”

  “Somewhere back on the trail,” he answered in a dismissive tone. “What about her grandparents?”

  “With the upheaval from war we couldn’t find our relatives. The others didn’t want her.” There was a tense moment of silence.

  His gaze seemed to bore into her, and he looked angry and hard, the way he had looked when she met him. There was a dark, savage side to him, a side she still didn’t know and couldn’t touch.

  She faced him squarely, her chin raised, feeling her heart pound, because she hurt deep inside. Dan didn’t love her; she had known that, but it still hurt. Before long he would ride away and leave them, so she had to plan her life without considering him part of it. But it hurt badly. She loved him and wanted him. She hadn’t known what love could be like, the physical part, the companionship, the excitement. She felt she could tell Dan anything. He didn’t return those feelings, yet he had to care some or he wouldn’t be so angry about them staying where they were in danger. She raised her chin and stared past him, seeing cottonwood leaves flutter faintly with a whisper of a breeze.

  “We’re staying, and it’s not your concern,” she said flatly, wanting to get away from him before she burst into tears.

  Angered, frustrated, feeling torn with a mixture of emotions, Dan stared at her. Now nothing stood between him and arresting Eb. He knew it was Peter Benton, knew he could take Eb back to Mississippi, collect ten thousand dollars, and set his father up in the banking business. He could get his parents out of the crisis they were in.

  Now that he had possessed Rachel, he should find some surcease for the hot desire that had driven him to take her. Instead, he wanted her more. He looked down into green eyes that held a fierceness that could burn through him, could give him rapture, could meet him and hold her own with him. This was not a sweet pliant woman, but a woman who could match his fire, a woman filled with lusty vigor that stormed his senses.

  “You deserve a hell of a lot more than you’re getting out here,” he ground out the words, reaching for her, placing his hand behind her head, wanting her again, wondering if he had her in his bed for the next week if it would cool the fires raging in him, knowing in her his hurt was banished.

  “You’re not a marrying man, are you?”

  The question hung in the air between them. He had to arrest Eb Kearney and the task loomed between them like a double-edged sword and it had from the first moment he desired her. Dan had put arrest off, battled with himself, and now he had to act. And when he arrested her pa, he would crush Rachel and lose all the closeness between them. She would come after him with her rifle.

  “No, I’m not marrying,” he answered finally, seeing the fleeting look of pain cross her features and hating himself for hurting her. He wanted to wrap her in his embrace and protect her. Instead, he was hurting her with every word. “Soon I’m returning to my people to ride with them. That’s not a life many women would choose. It’s not one a white woman would want.”

  To his amazement a bitter smile creased her face, her full lips parting. She reached up, sliding her hand around his neck, standing on tiptoe and pulling his head down. She placed her mouth on his, and he felt his heart slam against his ribcage.

  He wound his arms around her slender waist, crushing her against his chest, winding his fingers in her hair and holding her tightly. Her tongue played over his, making him hot, filling him with that dizzying need she could stir with a glance. His arousal was swift and hard. He wanted to shove her down and take her again. He felt he never could get enough of her.

  When she stopped kissing him, she stepped back from him. “I wonder how long it’ll take you to forget me.” She turned, striding away quickly, her hips switching as she ducked beneath branches.

  Stunned, his heart raced as he stood watching her go. Clenching his fists, he felt tied into knots inside. He had loved her long and hard. He should be exhausted and satisfied and calm. Instead he wanted her more than ever. He
wasn’t accustomed to being treated with the coolness she showed. He throbbed and ached and the hurt went deep, down to places he thought shut away from feeling.

  “Dammit!” Dan muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, thinking about her. She was in his thoughts constantly, night and day. Now was the time to go sit down with Eb Kearney, tell him he was a Pinkerton’s man, tell Eb to get rid of everything because he had to go back to Vicksburg. Take him in and collect the reward money. Take care of his parents, and return to ride with his people. Do all the things he had planned. Go arrest Peter Benton.

  Determined to have it over and done, Dan strode forward, an ache constricting him with each step. He passed the wagon, glancing at Rachel who had her back turned to him as she peeled apples. He strode across the clearing, going past men working. Beyond them he had his saddle and his belongings. He buckled on his gunbelt. He swept his hair back from his face and placed his hat on his head, turning to look for Eb.

  Men worked on the barn, and Dan’s gaze lingered on Will Murdock. How loyal would he be to Eb? Eb carried a board to nail in place, hammering and turning to get another one. Dan took a deep breath and walked toward him.

  “Eb, may I talk to you a few minutes?” he asked.

  Eb straightened and put down a saw. “Let’s sit in the shade and get a drink of water. It feels two hundred degrees out here. Texas is as hot as Mississippi.”

  They started toward the wagon and Dan glanced at him. “Sir, let’s go down by the creek where we can be alone.”

  Eb frowned, curiosity in his gaze. He nodded and changed direction. “We’re coming along faster than I’d hoped with the barn. I hired me some good men.”

  “Yes, sir,” Dan answered, barely hearing Eb. With every step he came closer to ending any kind of relationship with Rachel forever. She would hate him always when he took Eb in. And if Eb was found guilty and sentenced to hang—

  Dan clenched his fists and tried to close his thoughts about a trial. He had to get through the arrest and getting Eb back to Vicksburg.

  “If we can get some buildings, have some kind of protection before McKissick turns on us, we’ll have a better chance.”

  “You feel certain he’ll give you trouble?”

  “There’s no mistaking what he did to Horace White. I have more men who are veteran fighters and good shots, but I don’t have the power that McKissick does. I asked in town and he’s got almost two dozen men working for him.

  They reached the trees and Dan glanced over his shoulder. Rachel stood in the shade of the wagon. She faced their direction and when he glanced at her, she turned away. As he stepped into the shade, he glanced back once more to find her watching them.

  They walked beneath the trees to the creek. Eb took off his hat and knelt to dip his face into the water and to drink. As he stood, he wiped his arm across his face. “Lord, that feels good. Makes you want to strip down and wade in.” He propped his hand against a tree trunk. “What can I do for you, son?”

  Dan stared at him. Eb’s blue eyes were wide, his stance friendly. Dan slid his hand to his gunbelt, knowing that if he had taken Eb on the trail, he wouldn’t have worried about a fight, but since arriving in Texas, Eb had changed day by day. Dan could see the changes in him, could remember Eb’s helplessness in Fort Worth. He looked at a scar on Eb’s temple and another on his throat.

  Get it done. He had to arrest Eb now. He took a deep breath, his hand resting on his revolver.

  “I felt I needed to talk to you,” Dan said quietly, hurting, each word like a knife plunging into his heart. “I fought in the War for the Union.”

  “I know. Rachel told me you were with Sherman.”

  “Yes, sir,” he said, lost with the mention of her name, seeing her as she had been in his arms earlier, remembering her cries of passion. “I love you.” Her words tore at him and he moved restlessly, turning to face Eb, his hand on the grip of his revolver.

  Eb’s gaze dropped and then raised to meet Dan’s. Otherwise he didn’t change, but continued to lean against the tree and Dan realized Eb would not fight him because he felt Dan was a friend. And if he arrested him, he suspected Eb would feel he deserved it and should go back and stand trial, because Dan knew Eb Kearney was as good a man as anyone could be.

  “Eb,” he paused, thinking about Rachel, remembering her in his arms.

  For once and forever Dan knew he couldn’t arrest Eb. He ran his hand over the rough bark of a cottonwood trunk. He was tied to this family as surely as the tree was rooted in the ground. He couldn’t arrest Eb. And when he didn’t, it would wreck so many things. His own principles. His duty. His integrity about his job. The future of his parents. Feeling a knot inside, he exhaled slowly while Eb stared at him, his brows arching.

  “Sir—”

  He was at a loss, and Eb was waiting. He met curious blue eyes. “Sir, I’ve tangled with McKissick before. He’s going to give you a hell of a time.”

  Eb’s eyes narrowed and he stared at Dan a moment. “I’ll go to town tomorrow and hire some more men. Rachel put him off by saying she was waiting for Elias, but I know he’ll be back and he’s not going to wait long. We’ll get ready for him.”

  “I don’t think you can protect the women and Lissa and Josh all the time.”

  “I’m going to try.”

  Dan nodded. “I just felt I needed to talk to you about it.”

  Eb gave him another long look and nodded. “That’s fine, Dan. Anytime. I’ll get back to the barn. You come back when you’ve cooled off.”

  “Yes, sir,” Dan said, wondering what was going through Eb’s mind because the conversation had been a strange one. He watched Eb put his hat on his head and walk away, his shoulders squared.

  When Eb was gone, Dan swore softly. Had he just ruined his own future? He would send every penny he had saved to his father and do what he could to raise money as quickly as possible, but he couldn’t betray what he’d found with Rachel.

  He inhaled deeply as if he had run miles. It meant going against duty, against his family. And Eb had killed a man. He had broken the law.

  “Dammit!” Dan swung his fist, striking an invisible foe, anger welling. He thought about the Kearneys, Eb who had held out at Missionary Ridge until he was wounded. Josh who trusted him. Rachel who made him burn with passion, who was fiercely independent and protective of her family. Rachel who had fought as bravely as Eb to get her family to safety.

  Eb Kearney was building a new life and he was a good man. He wasn’t a threat to society.

  Dan looked over his shoulder, remembering the grassy place where he had loved Rachel, seeing her there, eager and reaching for him, matching his passion with complete abandon.

  What would his family do without the money? Would Pinkerton’s send another agent to Texas? They would want a full report. If he reported he had been after the wrong man, Allan Pinkerton would expect him to go after Peter Benton and find him.

  Dan raked his fingers through his hair, sweeping it back from his face. He planned to return to his people and ride with them. If he just left and never reported back to Pinkerton’s, they would send an agent to pick up his trail. It wouldn’t take long for another Pinkerton man to follow Dan’s trail and find the Kearneys.

  Dan’s gaze slid to the creek. There could have been a good reason why Eb Kearney killed Eubanks. It could have been in self-defense. Or to defend his family. Dan stared at the rushing water, knowing whatever the circumstances, he would never arrest Eb Kearney and take him back to Mississippi.

  Thinking of his own past, he walked to the water’s edge and stripped off his clothes, wading in to cool down. It didn’t solve Eb Kearney’s problems for Dan to refuse to take him in. Eubanks and Pinkerton’s wouldn’t give up. And they would have Dan’s trail to follow straight to the Kearneys.

  Dan splashed out, taking his shirt to dry his body and hanging the shirt on a branch. Trying to think what he could do to protect Eb, he pulled his clothes. The Kearneys could move again. Would they take the
herd and head elsewhere? Go north or farther west? They had fled their home in Vicksburg, walking out and leaving it behind. With Eb’s life at risk again—and it would be eventually because Pinkerton’s would not stop hunting him—would Eb move again?

  Mulling the dilemma, Dan pulled on his boots. If he told Eb and Eb took his family and moved on, maybe the Kearneys could find a safe place. The trail would be cold by the time a Pinkerton’s agent reached San Antonio. But they would continue to hunt him.

  Dan rubbed the back of his neck. Should he sit down and talk to Eb, warn him? Mulling thoughts in his mind, he was sure of one thing—he would not arrest Eb.

  The first chance he could get back to town, he would take all his savings and send them to his father and write him a letter. He thought his father would understand and in his place, do the same thing. Eb Kearney’s life was more important than money. His father would get along. He worked in a bank now and with Dan’s savings he might have enough to open another bank with partners.

  Troubled and frustrated, Dan strode back, stepping into hot sunshine, going to work on the barn. As he hammered boards into place, he watched for Rachel. Images danced in his mind that took his breath and made him forget what he was doing.

  And he found he was watching the sun, wanting time to pass so it would be quitting time and supper and he would be with Rachel again. Once he glimpsed her crossing the clearing in her saucy long stride, and he stopped to stare at her. Just to watch her made his pulse jump. She didn’t glance around or look his way, and he wondered if she was thinking about the morning and their lovemaking.

  It was late, hours after dark when he heard the bell signaling supper. He tossed down the hammer and strode to the water bucket to splash off and wash. He put on a fresh chambray shirt. Eagerness pulsed in him. William Murdock was smoothing back his hair and straightening his shirt. Probably for Abigail’s benefit. Dan wondered if he was acting as lovesick as Will Murdock?

  The notion annoyed him. He was too old to be tied in knots like a sixteen-year-old-lovesick boy.