The Devil's Own Desperado

by Lynda J. Cox

  Jenny nodded.

  “We can all go outside and sit on the glider and watch it. Please, Amy?” Saul added, “Dr. Archer is going to let Nathan and Molly stay up to see it.”

  Amelia scanned the room. Even Baby had sided with Saul and Jenny. She sat between them, her soulful eyes fixed on Amelia’s face, tail thumping the floor. Amelia was outnumbered. Sighing in defeat, she threw her hands up. “Okay, you both can stay up to watch it, but I don’t want to hear one word of grumbling tomorrow about how tired you are.”

  “No, ma’am, not one word,” Saul promised. He grabbed Jenny’s hand. “Come on, let’s go out now and watch the moon rise.” They raced out the door, Baby bounding behind them.

  Colt’s deep laughter filled the cabin. “Amy McCollister, you made that too easy for them.”

  “And you were no help at all.” Amelia wagged her finger under his nose. “The least you could have done was point out that Dr. Archer said the eclipse won’t start until ten and won’t be total until almost midnight. Do you know how difficult it will be to make Saul get out of bed in the morning if he stays up that late?”

  Colt caught her hand. “Let them have this little victory,” he said. “They’ll be sound asleep before the thing even starts. They’re both dog-tired. I’ll bet they stayed up most of the night, giggling and whispering with the Archer kids.”

  “Not Jenny,” Amelia said. “I don’t know what I would do to help her get past what she saw, to hear her talk again.”

  “Jenny makes herself understood very well. If the sawbones thinks she’ll talk again, she will.” He brushed his hand over Amelia’s cheek, a soft smile warming his eyes. “I wish I was the cad that book said I was. I’d have no qualms on taking you up on that offer you made me yesterday.”

  Fire blazed in her veins with his slightest touch. “The offer still stands, Colt.”

  “I know,” he whispered. He released her hand and took a step back. “And for the same reasons I stated the other night, I’m not taking you up on that offer. God knows, I want to. But you deserve better than what you’re offering. You sell yourself way too short, lady. You deserve so much more than a few stolen hours.”

  ****

  Jenny was snuggled into Amelia’s side, a quilt draped over her, sound asleep. On a blanket spread out on the ground, Saul lay on his back, mouth open, arms flung out to his sides, sleeping deeply. Amelia traced out familiar constellations in the dark sky, and counted several shooting stars blazing across the velvety blackness.

  The rich aroma of brewed coffee announced Colt’s return. He eased onto the glider. “I told you they’d be asleep before it even started.”

  Amelia smiled. A full moon rode in glistening glory across the inky firmament, the earth’s shadow just beginning to nibble at its rounded face. The prairie was bathed in the soft silver light of the moon’s glow. She tilted her head again to the night sky.

  Stars glimmered and danced in the dark expanse. In the distance, a wolf howled and was answered by another. From her position safe between Amelia’s feet, Baby rumbled a low growl.

  Colt blew across his coffee. “Never bothered to see an eclipse until now.”

  “It’s almost a pity Jenny and Saul fell asleep.” Amelia ran a hand lightly over Jenny’s head. “They’re going to be disappointed in the morning when they realize they slept through it, after what they went through to talk me into letting them stay up this late.”

  Colt chuckled softly, his smile brilliant in the silver moonlight. “Hell, Amy, they didn’t work too hard.”

  It should be against the law for any man to do to her senses what Colt Evans did with a simple smile. She shifted uncomfortably on the glider, a now familiar ache settling deep in her. She clasped her hands on her lap to hide their tremble.

  Colt set his coffee cup down. He leaned closer, and caught a tendril of her hair. Letting it slide through his fingers, he murmured, “We shouldn’t be sitting out here in the moonlight on a warm summer night, Amy.”

  Her heart leaped. Moonlight lent a silver cast to his gray eyes, and shaded the hollows of his face with midnight. The pale light glistened on the silver strands of his hair and deepened the black to pitch.

  She leaned closer and traced the slant of his cheek, and then slipped her trembling fingers through his hair. His breath caught. Emboldened, she trailed her fingertips down the side of his neck and pressed her palm against his chest. She explored the planes of his shoulder, the heat of his body branding her palm through the chambray of his shirt.

  He pulled her to him. His mouth slanted over hers as he wound his fingers through her loose hair, cradling her head. She parted her lips to the demanding pressure of his mouth. Amelia stiffened for a moment when his tongue plunged into her mouth, but then his heat consumed her and the ache in her became a ravenous need.

  Timidly, she met the bold, possessive thrusts of his tongue with her own. Colt groaned, and crushed her to his chest.

  Jenny stirred in her sleep, and Amelia and Colt pulled apart. Amelia was gasping as if she had been running for miles. Colt whispered, his voice ragged, “I think we should get Jenny and Saul into the house and into bed.”

  Amelia nodded, unable to meet his eyes. Colt brushed the back of his hand along her cheek, setting her heart racing faster.

  “Don’t make the same offer you did, Amy, because I don’t have the strength anymore to turn it down, and then I would have to live with that, and so would you.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Amelia stared out into the dark night, not seeing anything. Her hands had still trembled when she pulled on her night rail. He said not to make the same offer, because he wouldn’t be able to turn it down anymore. She pressed her fingertips to her lips. Did she dare go to him? Could she not dare? What if he turned her down again, despite his words earlier? She didn’t know if she was interpreting this right, and what if she was? Would she truly regret spending the night with him?

  If she let this opportunity pass, if he left, she would never know. The thought of spending the rest of her life married to someone like Donnie Morris, someone who didn’t reach deep inside of her and stir her to life was terrifying. She knew, deep in her heart, she would wonder all her life.

  And if she did go to him, would she then spend the rest of her life regretting it? Would she forever compare every other man to Colt? She retreated from the window with a sigh. She would compare every man to Colt, regardless of what happened between them. Whether or not Colt stayed, there would never be any other man for her.

  He wasn’t a gunfighter. He was a thief, because he had stolen her heart. She turned and walked quietly from Jenny’s small room.

  Her steps carried her to the closed door of his bedroom. She knocked lightly and without waiting for a response, pushed the door open.

  A single lamp danced with the breeze stealing in the window, bathing Colt in the dim, flickering yellow light. He stilled, his fingers on a button of his black shirt. The shirttail had been pulled from the waist of his trousers. Amelia closed the distance between them. “I don’t want anything more than right now, Colt,” she said.

  “Amy, don’t do this to yourself. Don’t do this to me. I can’t turn you down because I’m not that noble or that strong.” His voice sounded pained. “My God, Amy, do you know…”

  She pressed her fingers over his lips. “I don’t want anything more than this. I’m not asking you to stay, I’m not asking for anything from you but this moment.” She lowered her hand to his shirt and opened the front, button by button.

  His quickening breathing with each parted button stoked the fire burning in her, until it blazed as an inferno. When she had opened the shirtfront, she stood on tiptoe and pressed herself to his chest and reached behind his neck to untie the sling. Colt groaned and he trembled. “God, Amy…”

  The ragged timbre in his voice told her the effect her actions were having. It was like throwing lamp oil onto a raging forest fire. She slipped her palms under the soft-spun cotton, and ran her h
ands over the muscled contours of his chest and up to his shoulders. She forced herself to slow when her fingers brushed the heavy bandage on his left shoulder.

  The shirt slipped from his shoulders, and fell to the floor with a nearly silent rustle of cotton. “Now your boots,” she murmured, pushing him back to the bed.

  He collapsed onto the thick feather mattress, falling onto his back. Amelia turned, and straddled one leg and then the other to pull his boots off. She dropped the last one to the floor and straightened.

  Colt sat up and held his hand up to her. Amelia took it, and gasped when he pulled her onto the mattress with him. He fell back onto the mattress, rolling onto his uninjured shoulder, his face inches from hers. He lifted his left arm and winced.

  “Colt?”

  “It doesn’t hurt very much anymore.” He stroked her cheek, pushing the loose hair from her face. “My God, Amy, you are beautiful.” He caught the ribbon lacing her night rail and pulled the bow. He slowly unlaced the garment, his eyes molten silver. He paused, the ribbon only halfway pulled loose.

  His gaze dipped to the partially opened neckline. Amelia’s breath caught and quickened when he trailed his fingertips over the swell of her breasts. His breath escaped him on a long, slow sigh. He bent his head to her throat.

  Amelia gasped. She shifted on the mattress as he trailed a burning path along her collarbone, and nuzzled her nightgown off her shoulder. He pulled the ribbon loose, opening the night rail to her waist. She slid her hand across his back and muscles rippled and flowed under her palm.

  Colt lifted his head and took possession of her mouth. He pushed the nightgown further off her shoulders and then dragged his palm over her until he cupped a breast in his hand. The pad of his thumb brushed over her nipple and Amelia arched her back, pushing into his palm.

  She was fire and yet everywhere he touched her, he branded her.

  He ceased his tender torment of her breast and slipped his arm around her back. The feel of his hard chest crushed against her breasts sent another jolt through her. The tight curls on his chest grated deliciously against her skin. She pushed her hand through his hair, and clutched a fistful of that thick, silver-shot black.

  Colt rolled onto his back, never breaking the contact of his mouth on hers, his arm holding her to his chest. Amelia shivered with the cool breeze through the window when he dragged her night rail down her back and she slipped her arms from the sleeves.

  His hand roved down her back, cupping her bottom and pressing her to him. Amelia whimpered, the ache in her core growing. She dragged her palms up his sides. He was all hard muscle and sinew.

  Colt tugged and pulled her night rail down further, moving only slightly away to tug the material past her hips. He pulled his head back, breathing heavily. His gaze slowly slid down her.

  His expression blanketed Amelia in warmth. Awed reverence. They were the only words she could find to describe the way he looked at her.

  He slipped her night rail the rest of the way from her. “My God,” he breathed. “Tell me this isn’t a dream.”

  “It’s not.”

  Colt slid his palm along her arm, rounded her shoulder and cupped her chin. He brushed the pad of his thumb over her lower lip. “Oh, God, Amy…”

  Further emboldened, Amelia ducked her head, pressing her mouth to the base of his throat, and trailed her fingertips down his chest. He flinched when her light, roving touch crept down his flat stomach and his breathing grew ragged.

  Amelia pushed herself back. She tugged at the top button of his denims. Colt sucked in his breath in a hissing sound. His hands closed around her waist, and then dragged up to her breasts. He cupped her, thumbs encircling her nipples. She parted another button with trembling fingers.

  He pushed her into the mattress, and his tongue flicked against her throat, his teeth grazed and nipped her collarbone. Amelia struggled to keep her mind on the simple task of opening a button.

  Another button opened.

  She gasped as his hot mouth slid down her breast. The jolt searing through her when his mouth fastened on her nipple made her arch up to his mouth. His tongue lashed at her, teasing until she nearly sobbed.

  Another button separated. Colt caught her hand in his and guided her to the waistband of the trousers. He slid her hand under the waist and pushed the material from his hips.

  His hands seemed to be everywhere, caressing her breasts, cupping her bottom, skimming over her stomach. Instinctively, she writhed and arched up to him, but his hand dipped no lower.

  He returned to her mouth, his tongue again invading and retreating. His hand skimmed down her stomach, and his fingertips brushed through the thick curls hiding her womanhood. Her sobbing, wordless plea was lost under his mouth. Helpless, she arched to his hand.

  His fingers slipped lower, and found her opening. She pushed up into his palm, desperate to find release from the pounding ache coiling into her.

  “Easy, Amy. We’ve got the whole night.”

  He parted her, stroked her, his fingertips flirting with her, tormenting. Amelia couldn’t think anymore. All she could do was feel. Sensations washed over. His mouth hot against her throat, his teeth nipping her chin, his hand sliding over her breast, his fingers caressing and stroking the sensitive flesh at the entrance to her. She tossed her head from side to side, his name a litany. His thumb encircled the small nub, and his fingers stroked her, never entering her, until she was quaking and crying with need.

  He shifted slightly on the mattress, pressing the length of his member against her hip. She turned, needing to touch him as he touched her. She cupped the weight of him in her hand. A part of her registered that she had found something of him not muscled.

  Colt stilled when she curled her fingers around the length of him. “God, don’t, Amy.”

  Startled, she pulled her hand back, and stared up into his face. The heat in his eyes and the raw need on his face seared her.

  “Don’t. If all we’ve got is right now, tonight, then by God, I want the whole night.” His voice was ragged. “I want the whole damn night.”

  She trailed her fingers up his length, and reveled in the full-bodied tremor that raced over him.

  His fingers slipped along her slick entrance again. “I want the whole night to touch you, to make you burn. I want the whole night to feel you, and to make you wet.” His tongue flicked her breast. “To hear you crying my name.” His finger slid fractionally into her. “To make you feel like this.”

  Amelia’s arms encircled him. She pressed her head back into the mattress and arched into his questing finger.

  He withdrew, and then, slowly, slid his finger further into her. He retreated again, and then with the same maddening deliberation returned. Amelia clung to him, capable only of experiencing the new, overwhelming sensations.

  His actions pushed her to the brink of some wide chasm and when she tumbled over the edge, she knew she had shattered into hundreds of glittering, shimmering pieces. Colt lay next to her. Slowly and with a touch no heavier than a down feather, he trailed his fingertips along her flinching stomach, and traced circles on her breasts.

  She entwined her fingers with his, and ran her other hand over his broad, firm chest. She brushed her thumb over the small nipples hidden within the thick, black curls. She smiled when he responded. Would he gasp for air, as she had, if she pressed her mouth to him, and encircled that small nipple with her tongue?

  Amelia pressed her mouth to him, flicking him with the tip of tongue. A hissing breath escaped him and another tremor rippled across him. She trailed her mouth to the hollow of his throat. His pulse raced frantically under her lips.

  She traced the curve of his ribs, marveling at the muscling of his flat stomach. The back of her hand brushed against the swollen, heated length of him. Colt caught his breath. With the same light touch, she trailed her fingers down his member. He bucked into her fingers, a choked groan breaking from him.

  Another smile curved her mouth. Colt caught her in his ar
ms, and pulled her level with his face.

  “Amy, look at me.”

  “I am,” she whispered, her gaze moving down the length of his body. “You’re…you’re beautiful.”

  His eyes shut for a moment, but his face was lined with awe. His eyes snapped open, and the heat in those gray depths seared her. “Amy, we don’t have to do anything but what we’re doing. I won’t leave you empty, but, you’re…” He shook his head. “Damn it, Amy, you’ve never been with a man. You’re still a virgin. We can do what we’re doing, and when morning comes, you’ll still be a virgin.”

  “If you want the whole night, I want more than just this.”

  “Oh, God…” He groaned. “Do you know what you’re offering me?”

  She nodded. “All of me, my heart and my soul.”

  He crushed her to his chest, her face pressed into his shoulder. His fingers pegged her bottom, dragging her against him. His length pressed against her stomach, hot and throbbing. He parted their bodies, and returned to his exploration of her.

  When Amelia was certain she was going to lose her mind with his torment, he rolled her onto her back and rose over her. The end of his manhood pressed at the opening to her innermost region. There was a bright flare of pain when her maidenhead gave way. Amelia sucked her breath in as she felt herself stretching to accommodate all of him.

  Colt’s expression twisted and he was perfectly still in her. “I’m sorry,” he grated out. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”

  The pain had already receded, replaced with a new aching need. Amelia lifted her hips to him. He groaned again and then began to move in her. His hands lifted her to meet him.

  Amelia clung to his back, her nails digging into him. Every thrust of his body into hers stoked the need building in her. When her release came, she tightened convulsively around him and a moment later, felt Colt spilling in her.

  Breathing heavily, he collapsed on her. The weight of his body was comfortable, secure. She pressed her lips to his neck, tasting him, and smoothed her hands down his sweat-slicked back.