The Outlaws: Sam

by Ten Talents Press

  "No, I'm staying."

  "Dammit, have it your way. At least keep out of sight."

  Lacey didn't know why she had insisted on staying. Andy was safe, that's all that mattered, wasn't it? Who was she trying to fool? She knew Taylor hated Sam, and she wouldn't hesitate to use this attack as an excuse to kill Sam. She didn't stop to wonder why she should care, she just knew she did. Sam had hurt her so many times in so many ways, why couldn't she just forget him?

  Because you haven't been able to forget him in six years, a voice inside her said. When she believed Sam was dead she'd been able to go on with her life, but when he turned up on her doorstep alive, all those suppressed feelings came rushing back to swamp her.

  Lacey had so many reasons to hate Sam. He had abandoned her. Taken Andy. Turned to another woman. The list went on and on. Why couldn't she make her heart believe she hated Sam? Why did her body thrum with awareness in his presence?

  Lacey's thoughts skidded to a halt when she noticed that the Indians were now all armed and appeared to be moving about the camp according to some plan. The women and children had quietly disappeared, and the campfires had already been extinguished. It was so dark she could see nothing but shadows moving into position. In the distance she heard the haunting call of an owl.

  She started violently when Sam came up behind her and whispered in her ear. "They're coming. That owl was Painted Horse. It was the signal telling us that Cramer and his men were on the move. Stay inside the tipi." Then he was gone.

  Lacey didn't argue. She returned to the tipi but remained where she could peer out the tent flap. Suddenly there was dead silence, not even a dog barked. Then she saw them, limned in misty moonlight. They crept into camp, guns drawn. It suddenly occurred to Lacey that Taylor's henchmen had probably been given orders to shoot indiscriminately at whatever moved, with little concern for Andy's life.

  Hatred for the man whom she'd thought of as a friend and future husband welled up inside of her. Sam had taken Andy but he would not have hurt him, but she knew Taylor would prefer not having Andy around to complicate his life. She was so angry she left the tent against Sam's wishes and might have given the ambush away had Sam not snagged her around the waist and dragged her back inside.

  "What in hell do you think you're doing?"

  "Look at them," she whispered. "They're mercenaries. They don't care who they shoot. They would have killed Andy along with Indians had I not arrived in time to warn you. I wanted to march out there and tell Taylor exactly what I think of him."

  Sam sent her a sharp look. "Save it. Taylor's men aren't going to kill anyone. They're walking into a trap."

  Even as Sam spoke savage war cries cut through the stillness. Biting off a curse, he exited the tipi and melted into the darkness. Peering out the tent flap, Lacey saw a scene straight out of hell. Gunfire erupted, bodies clashed. Lacey couldn't tell who was who as men engaged in hand to hand combat. The din of battle and cries of the wounded pierced through her heart. Had Yellow Bird gotten the women and children to safety in time?

  It was over a suddenly as it had began. Taylor's men retreating, dragging their wounded with them. The Indians didn't give chase. They let their attackers go, attesting to their desire for peace. Lacey felt certain that if the Indians hadn't been attacked they never would have taken up arms against white men. Lacey stepped out of the tipi as campfires were rekindled and the women and children began drifting back to camp.

  Suddenly a man in full retreat halted at the edge of the camp, staring at Lacey in disbelief. "Lacey, is that you?"

  Lacey swung around to confront Cramer.

  "My God, it is you!" Cramer exclaimed. "What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay home."

  "I followed you, Taylor. I didn't trust your men not to hurt Andy and I was right. If I hadn't arrived in time innocent people would have been cut down without being given a chance to defend themselves. And Andy with them. You care nothing for my son."

  "Those are harsh words, Lacey. I continued looking for your son when everyone else had given up. I wanted to restore Andy to you."

  Sam appeared at her side, his body tense. "You'd be a fool to believe him," he hissed.

  "I'm not stupid, Sam."

  "Get Andy and leave now," Taylor ordered. "Gentry can't hold you against your will."

  Lacey glanced at Sam, saw his fierce expression and wasn't so sure about that. "I'm getting Andy and leaving," she said. "He doesn't belong here. Please, Sam, I want to go home."

  "With Cramer? After what he did?"

  "Taylor has nothing to do with how I feel. Andy belongs back on the ranch. He's happy there. What can you offer him?"

  "Unconditional love," Sam bit out.

  "At one time I thought that's what we had, but I learned differently. Andy is a child, he won't understand if you suddenly decide you don't want a son and leave us."

  An angry flush crept up Sam's neck. "I'll always want Andy."

  "Lacey, I can't stand here forever," Taylor called out. "Are you and Andy coming or aren't you?"

  "Lacey can leave but Andy stays with me," Sam asserted.

  A Cry of distress slipped past Lacey's lips. "You wouldn't!"

  "I would dare anything for my son. Tell me, Lacey, have you signed the annulment?"

  "I...yes, I had to. You see, I'm convinced Taylor wants my land for some devious reason and I'm determined to find out what it is. I thought that signing the annulment would make him trust me. I no longer trust him, Sam. You were right about him and I was wrong."

  "I see," Sam said evenly. "So we're no longer married..."

  "I'm not sure. The judge hasn't granted my petition yet."

  "Once the petition is granted we'll no longer be married," Sam contended, "which means you'll be free to remarry. If not Taylor, then some other man with enough money to save your ranch. No other man can be a real father to Andy. Andy doesn't want to be sent away to school. He needs at least one of his parents with him. I gave him a choice and he chose to come with me. I didn't take him against his will.

  "You know I can't return to Denison," Sam continued. "I'm a wanted man. I need to go far away, where no one cares that Sam Gentry is an outlaw."

  "Not with my son! Are you forgetting that I saved your skin tonight? I could have stayed home and let you and your Indian friends be slaughtered."

  "I'm grateful, and so is Running Buffalo. But if I'm not mistaken, you were the one who sent the law after me in the first place."

  "I did no such thing!" Lacey said, affronted.

  "I didn't imagine that posse. The bullet in my hide was very real. How do you explain the posse when you were the only one who knew about me?"

  "I assumed the wanted posters had caught up with you. I told no one about you, I would never do that. My threat was an empty one. The sheriff showed up at my door the day you left, demanding to know where you were. I told them nothing."

  "Am I supposed to believe that?"

  Lacey felt as if her heart were being ripped apart. She couldn't bear Sam's animosity. Was there nothing she could do to prove she hadn't betrayed him? The answer was obvious. Sam hadn't believed her six years ago and didn't believe her now.

  "Lacey, why are you standing there? Get Andy. I'm growing impatient."

  "Go with Cramer, Lacey," Sam said through clenched teeth. "Andy and I don't need you."

  "Mama! Papa! I was worried about you." Andy ran into Lacey's outstretched arms. "Did the bad men go away? I hid in a cave with Yellow Bird and the others, but I didn't want to. I wanted to help Papa fight the bad men."

  "Hurry!" Taylor called when he saw Andy.

  "Are you leaving, Mama?"

  "You and I are both leaving," Lacey said, casting a sidelong glance at Sam.

  Andy squinted through the darkness at the figure standing near the camp's perimeter. "Is that mean old Cramer?"

  "Sure is, son," Sam answered. "He led the attack on our friends."

  Andy sent his mother an aggrieved look. "Are you go
ing with him, Mama?"

  "Well...yes, but not..."

  "I'm staying with Papa," Andy said staunchly.

  "Andy, it's not as if I'm going to..."

  "I don't care. I'm staying. You can stay, too, Mama, if you want to." He gazed up at Sam. "Mama can stay, can't she, Papa?"

  "I think it would be better if she left."

  "I'm not going anywhere without Andy," Lacey declared.

  "Suit yourself, but Andy isn't leaving my protection."

  "Are you coming, Lacey?" Cramer's voice held a note of desperation. "It's not safe here for me."

  "You'd better answer," Sam advised.

  "Go ahead and leave, Taylor, I'm not going with you."

  "You're what! Are you mad?"

  "Perhaps I am. Tell Rusty to take care of things in my absence. And Taylor, don't come back with the intention of attacking these innocent people again. And leave the sheriff out of this."

  "You prefer that outlaw to me?" Taylor spat. "Unappreciative bitch. I tried to restore your son to you and now you tell me to leave and not come back? I can't believe it of you."

  "You'd better leave, Taylor. Sam's friends are getting nervous."

  Cramer cast a nervous glance at Running Buffalo, who was looking at Sam for direction. Then he turned and disappeared into the forest.

  Lacey didn't know if her decision had been a wise one but she did know she couldn't, wouldn't, let Andy out of her sight again. The ranch could fall to ruin or be sold from under her before she'd give up her son.

  Sam wasn't sure how he felt about Lacey's decision to stay. In a way he'd expected it of her, and would have been disappointed had she abandoned her son. But he didn't delude himself into thinking she had stayed because she held any strong feelings for him.

  "If you're remaining here in hopes of taking Andy away, forget it. You won't succeed. You are free to leave any time you wish, but Andy remains with me. We'll be leaving for California soon."

  "How do you expect to support Andy? California is far away and you'll need money to get there."

  "Let me worry about that. It's late. You can share Yellow Bird's tipi."

  "I wouldn't think of keeping you from Yellow Bird's bed. I'll sleep with Andy."

  "Andy sleeps in the chief's tipi with Sitting Bear."

  "How convenient for you."

  Sam sighed. "Lacey, I'm in no mood to exchange barbs."

  Lacey seemed to collapse inward. "Neither am I. I'll share Yellow Bird's tent...for now."

  Running Buffalo chose that moment to join them. Sam introduced him to Lacey.

  "This is your woman?" Running Buffalo asked.

  Sam nodded before thinking. Lacey wasn't his woman. He wasn't sure she had ever been his.

  "On behalf of my people, I thank you, Lac-ey, for warning us about the unprovoked attack. I have spoken with Yellow Bird," the chief continued. "She will share my tipi so that you can be with your mate."

  "Yellow Bird agreed to that?" Lacey asked, apparently stunned by Yellow Bird's offer.

  "I am chief. Yellow Bird must do as I say." Without another word, he turned abruptly and strode away.

  "Where is Andy?" Lacey asked.

  "Probably sleeping. I saw Running Buffalo's wife herding him and Sitting Bear inside her tipi while we were talking. It's very late." He grasped her arm. "Come along. Running Buffalo will set out guards to make sure Cramer doesn't return, but for now there is nothing more for us to do."

  Lacey dug in her heels. "I want Andy with me."

  Firming his jaw, Sam swept Lacey into his arms and carried her into the tipi, ducking beneath the entrance before setting her on her feet. "I won't have you disrupting the entire camp after what they've been put through."

  "I'm not going to sleep with you, Sam Gentry. I don't want anything to do with you."

  Ignoring Lacey, Sam stared into the dying embers of the fire burning in the center of the tipi, watching pensively as a finger of smoke curled upward through the smoke hole. Her words bit deeply into his heart when he knew they shouldn't. Yet he couldn't deny the fact that he wanted her. Making love to Lacey had been one of the greatest pleasures he'd ever experienced. He remembered how she looked, her lovely face suffused with ecstasy, her lush body arched against him as she exploded around him. The image made him grow hard, and it was with great difficulty that he jerked his thoughts back to the present.

  "The sleeping mats are rolled up at the back of the tent," he growled. "Get undressed and go to bed." He turned to leave.

  "Where are you going?"

  Sam whirled around. "I thought you didn't care?"

  Her chin rose. "I don't. It's a warm night. I suppose you and Yellow Bird will find someplace to...to..."

  "Damn you!" Sam hissed. Teeth clenched, hands fisted, he ducked through the opening and disappeared into the shadows.

  Chapter Twelve

  Lacey undressed down to her shift and drawers and crawled into the sleeping mat she had unrolled and placed near the back of the tipi. It was surprisingly comfortable and she was exhausted. With a sigh on her lips, she closed her eyes and prayed for sleep. Disturbing thoughts spinning around in her mind chased away the respite she so desperately sought. She wondered if Sam and Yellow Bird had gotten together, and if they were enjoying themselves. She wished fiercely for rain, then silently chided herself for acting the jealous wife.

  Weariness ended her mental musings as sleep finally claimed her. But it wasn't a deep sleep, for she awoke abruptly to the sure knowledge that she was being watched. Her heart pounded in erratic rhythm and her spine tingled with awareness as she slowly opened her eyes opened. She saw him standing in a patch of moonlight filtering down through the smoke hole.

  Her gaze started at his booted feet, then glided slowly upward over muscular legs, powerful thighs, to his... She gasped. He was fully aroused. The hardened ridge in his trousers provided ample proof that he hadn't bedded Yellow Bird. Elation speared through her, but she quickly subdued it. Why should she care who Sam did or did not bed?

  Raising her eyes above the blatant proof of his desire, Lacey was startled to see that his chest was bare. Moonlight turned his torso to molten gold, gilding each rippling muscle and corded tendon. His face was shadowed, but she knew if it were visible, his eyes would be mesmerizing pools of pure seduction. She averted her gaze. She couldn't succumb to Sam's sexual allure, not now, not after what he'd done to her. He had stolen her son and would have taken him far away forever.

  "Lacey."

  She squeezed her eyes tightly shut.

  "I know you're awake."

  A resigned sigh slipped past her lips. "What do you want? Didn't Yellow Bird satisfy you?"

  He dropped to his knees beside her. "Yellow Bird is not now nor has she ever been my lover."

  Another sigh. "Why should that matter to me?"

  He found her hand in the dark and placed it on his arousal. "After everything that's happened between us, I still want you."

  She tried to jerk her hand away but he held it in place. "Go away, Sam. I can't forgive you. You took my son away."

  "You gave me up to the Yankees."

  "You abandoned me for six long years."

  "You sent a posse after me."

  Anger suffused her words. "I didn't! I swear it."

  Sam's soft whisper pierced the charged darkness. "I wouldn't have taken Andy to California without giving you a chance to join us," he confessed. "I thought I could take him away but at the last minute I had a change of heart. I planned to return to the B&G and ask you to join us. It would have been your choice. You had but to choose me and your son over Cramer and the ranch."

  "You're lying."

  "No, it's true. I hadn't even told Andy yet. It was something I just recently decided."

  "You...you wanted me with you? I thought you didn't trust me."

  "I don't, but we could make the best of it for Andy's sake. I never thought much about children until I met Andy. Fatherhood was not an option for me. I already had a wife, alb
eit one I had no interest in seeing again, and there was no other woman I was close to."

  "How long would you have let me go on thinking you were dead?"

  "I honestly don't know. Forever is a long time. For all I knew you had remarried."

  "Go away, Sam. I don't want to listen to this. My emotions are too fragile where you're concerned."

  "I want you, Lacey. When I saw you again I realized that time had changed nothing. You're a fire in my blood. I can be angry with you one minute and want you fiercely the next. Let me love you."

  He stretched out on the sleeping mat, gently pulling her against his hard length. Lacey bit her tongue to stifle a moan of pleasure.

  "When I left the tipi tonight I had no intention of returning," Sam revealed, "but something compelled me to return."

  His hands slid down her back; they were so hot Lacey's skin caught fire and burst into flame. She moistened her lips, felt them trembling as his hands found the mounds of her buttocks. Then his mouth came down hard over hers. Not soft and gentle but hot and ravishing. It was a deep, almost brutal kiss, one of savage need. Lacey couldn't stop her response as she kissed him back, her hands clutching desperately at his shoulders. His breathing was erratic, coming hard and fast, when he broke away.

  He began pulling off his boots, his motions frantic.

  "What are you doing?"

  "Taking off my clothes."

  "Making love will solve none of our problems."

  "Maybe not, but it sure as hell will make us feel better."

  His boots hit the ground. He lifted his hips and skimmed his denims down he legs, kicking them away. Then he was beside her again, bringing her hard against him, holding her tightly, kissing her, thoroughly, slanting his mouth over hers, molding their lips together. When he nudged her lips apart, taking her deeply with his tongue, Lacey sighed into his mouth.

  A scalding moistness seeped from between her legs. She felt as if she'd just jumped into an inferno. His kisses grew more ardent. He cupped her breasts, plucked the tips into hard buds with his fingers through the material of her shift. Lacey felt her body softening, preparing for his entrance, and she moaned.