The Tribute

by Beth Williamson

Burning, sizzling heat scored him from head to foot. He heard Ford walk up behind him.

  “Time to get serious with Malloy. Make sure he knows living next to me can be dangerous.”

  “I’ll be sure the message is loud and clear.” Ford’s raspy voice almost sounded pleasured.

  As King struggled to maintain his temper, Ford rode away on his gray gelding. Alexandra would regret her visit to the Dawson ranch by nightfall.

  ———

  Mason had the makings of an excellent ranch hand. As he practiced lassoing a docile cow, the loop landed straight and true. Mason jumped off the back of the paint Brett had borrowed from his father and hurriedly took the rope off.

  “How was that, boss?”

  “Not bad. Another four hundred practice throws and you might be ready.” Brett couldn’t believe he was teasing the boy.

  He could tell Mason wanted to complain or gripe, but didn’t. Instead he just said, “Yessir,” and climbed back up on the sturdy horse. Noah watched from across the creek, a crooked grin on his face.

  “It’s not like you.” Kincaid rode up beside him. “You’ve been visiting Alex pretty regularly. I guess frequent doses of sex with a gorgeous blonde makes you nicer.”

  “Shut up, Kincaid.” Brett didn’t need to be teased himself. “I—”

  A rifle shot echoed through the morning, startling everyone including the cattle. Three of the steers took off running and started a stampede. Loud bellows and the power of eight hundred bovine hooves thundered around them. Dust clouds soon choked the air and Brett lost sight of Mason.

  “Circle around behind with Noah!” he shouted to Kincaid. “Run them toward the canyon at the edge of the Northwest corner.”

  Kincaid saluted and took off running after the herd on the east side. Noah was on the west and Brett the south. The panic wouldn’t subside however until he found Mason. Soon the sound of a horse screaming reached Brett’s ears. He saw the paint floundering in the middle of the herd as they passed him. The horse ran into the stampeding cattle, confused and scared. He’d only been broken a year earlier and hadn’t been used much with the herd. Brett regretted his choice of mounts for the boy. It might have cost him his life.

  Brett lay low on the horse and raced for the exact spot he’d seen the young paint. The cattle ran all around him with sharp hooves and rolling eyes. He spotted Mason hanging on the side of the saddle, his feet nearly touching the ground with his head dangerously close to the horns speeding past him. Brett leaned to the right to swoop in and grab Mason by the collar and yank him onto his saddle.

  A quick flip and the boy sat behind him on the saddle. “Hang on!”

  Brett moved through the herd like a fish in a current, slowly but surely heading for the grove of trees to the left. Just as he broke free from the herd, one of the damn steers turned his head and gored Brett’s leg. He saw it coming and twisted, avoiding the worse of it. His chaps protected him some, but the horn penetrated deep enough to cause excruciating agony. A shout ripped from his throat as his gorge threatened. Finally he made it to the edge of the grass.

  Warm blood bathed his leg. Brett brought the horse to a stop and Mason jumped off, still shaking like a leaf. He gulped air and rubbed his hands on his thighs, then he caught sight of Brett’s leg.

  “Holy shit.”

  “Give me your neckerchief.” Brett took his and used it as a tourniquet, then took Mason’s and wrapped it around the wound. He grunted when he pulled the makeshift bandage taut. “God that hurts.”

  “Th-thank you, boss. You saved my life.”

  “No thanks necessary, Mason. A ranch is only as good as the people who work it. You’re a good man, kid. I’d hate to lose you.”

  Mason blinked rapidly. “Ain’t nobody ever called me good afore, or a man.”

  “About time someone did then.”

  Brett scanned the horizon and saw the cloud of dust the herd kicked up. He couldn’t see them anymore, and he needed to get going to help Noah and Kincaid. Particularly since Kincaid had no idea what to do.

  “Head back to the house, Mason. I’ll meet you there.”

  “What about your l—”

  “I’ll take care of it later. It’ll do for now. Keep an eye out for the paint, he might head back this way after he breaks free of the herd.” With a grimace of pain, Brett kneed his horse into motion and after his cattle.

  He caught up to them in twenty minutes, the herd already showing signs of slowing down. Thank God it wasn’t a bigger herd, a stampede could last for hours with too many spooked cattle. His leg throbbed in tune with his heart. Fortunately, the blood hadn’t leaked through the neckerchief yet. He’d be okay for at least another two or three hours.

  He circled around to Noah who looked dirty and weary. “They’re getting tired,” he shouted.

  Brett signaled to start to turn the herd back toward the grazing pasture. He caught Kincaid’s eye and waved his hand in the air. Together the three men started pushing the herd around. Good thing the half-Hereford cattle had shorter horns or Brett would be dead from being gored.

  By the time they made it back to the pasture, Brett shook from exhaustion and blood loss. No doubt he had to go see Alex, but first he had to find out what happened. Mason sat atop the paint by the creek with relief written on his young face.

  “What happened?” Brett asked Kincaid when the herd finally settled in.

  “I heard the report from the rifle. It came from the northwest on that ridge. Damn good shot too, had to be three hundred yards away.” The dark-haired man pointed to a rocky outcropping. “I’m guessing it was Ford doing his master’s bidding.”

  “That’s my guess too. Lousy son of a bitch.”

  Kincaid’s eyebrows went up when he spotted Brett’s bloody bandage. “What the hell happened?”

  “Mason’s mount got caught up in the stampede. I pulled the boy free, but one of the damn steers caught me.”

  Kincaid took off his neckerchief and handed it to Brett. “You ought to go see your lady doctor considering you look like shit.”

  “I’d say shut up, Kincaid, but I don’t have the energy. You and Noah keep an eye on the herd for a while. Mason can spot you.”

  Brett secured the extra neckerchief on his leg while his horse drank his fill from the stream. Fortunately his canteen was full so he didn’t need to get off the horse. He had a feeling if he dismounted, he wouldn’t get back up again. Pretty soon his wife-to-be would think he was an accident-prone idiot.

  ———

  Alex made it back home without incident. She’d half-expected King to stop her from leaving. The wild look in his eye scared her a bit. She’d never been afraid of King before and it bothered her that something had changed. Usually harmless, King had crossed the line into dangerous.

  After walking home from the livery, Alex sat for a glass of milk and slice of bread with honey. Her favorite snack always refreshed her. It had been a long, dusty ride, not to mention the tension that had riddled her visit.

  She had just sat at the table when she heard the front door open.

  “Alex?”

  “In the kitchen, Brett.” She hoped he was hungry too because she had no desire to skip eating.

  “Meet me in the examining room.” His gruff command answered that question.

  She took a huge bite of the bread with honey and carried her glass with her. She’d have to talk to Brett about ordering her around. That was a condition of marriage. Alex wasn’t used to being ordered and found it unpalatable, even from the man she loved.

  Chewing quickly, Alex made her way to the examining room. She stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the trail of blood in the hallway. That blood hadn’t been there ten minutes ago, which meant it belonged to Brett.

  Alex broke into a run and didn’t even remember her feet touching the floor. She found him on the examining table, his right leg covered in blood. He was unbuckling his chaps when she came in.

  “Hey, Doc, I need a little stitching.” />
  “From the look of it, I’d say a lot of stitching. What happened?” Her heart in her throat, she bit back the impulse to throw herself at him.

  “Some bastard stampeded the herd. Got clipped by a steer getting Mason free.” He winced as the chaps finally slid free from his right leg.

  Alex unbuckled the left side and pulled them off none-too-gently. “How long ago did this happen?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I wasn’t tracking the time, Alex.” He sounded suspiciously like he was fibbing, a very un-Brett-like behavior.

  “Uh-huh. I think you’re shoveling it faster than I can digest it, Malloy.”

  Worry for him and his own male stupidity annoyed her to no end. How dare he stay out, putting the well-being of bovine in front of his own health? She went back to the kitchen to retrieve some hot water and hopefully calm herself down.

  By the time she walked back to the examining room with a pan of water, she’d convinced herself to focus on treating him, then yell at him later. Brett had managed to shuck his pants and sat only in a pair of drawers and a shirt, a bloody towel pressed to his thigh. Alex’s body heated at the sight of her half-naked lover.

  “Just trying to save you some time. Don’t look at me like I’ve got two heads.”

  “I-I’m not. I was just surprised that’s all. You’re a beautiful man, Brett. I can’t help my reaction even if you are bleeding all over.” She enjoyed the startled expression that crossed his face.

  She washed her hands then gathered the supplies to treat him. After cleaning the wound, she was pleased to note it was only four inches deep at an angle, so the bone wasn’t damaged. He hissed instead of breathed while she examined him.

  After threading the needle, she looked at him and said, “This is going to hurt. Do you want me to give you laudanum?”

  “No, the last time you did I acted like a fool, didn’t I?”

  “That was the loss of blood, not the laudanum, Brett.” With a quick kiss, she went to work suturing him up. Small, neat, even sutures were her specialty. During medical training, she’d practiced constantly on pigs’ feet. It paid off in spades.

  “Damn, you’re good.” He’d been watching her, probably to keep his mind off the pain.

  “Thanks.” She snipped off the remaining catgut. “Let’s get a bandage on there.”

  As Alex wound a clean bandage around his thigh, her hand brushed his testicles. He nearly jumped a country mile.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled, trying to focus on her task.

  “You did that on purpose.”

  “No, I didn’t.” Alex cupped him and squeezed. “You’ll know when I do.”

  His gaze locked on hers. “Woman, you spin me in circles.”

  Alex smiled. “Good. Then I’m doing my job.”

  He shook his head. “I can tell being married to you won’t be boring.”

  “Never that.” With a wink, Alex finished off the bandage then gathered up the bloody clothes. “I’ll get you a pair of Papa’s trousers to wear. They’ll get you home anyway.”

  Brett grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. When his lips descended on hers, she held her breath and savored the moment. Soft, yet firm, he demanded entry and she complied. His hot, wet kisses made her toes curl and her pussy throb with arousal.

  When he let her mouth loose, she wobbled on her feet a bit.

  “Hurry back.”

  With a nod, she ran from the room, throwing the filthy clothes in the basket in the kitchen, then upstairs to get the trousers. Her father was snoring on his bed when she came in and took a pair of his oldest pants. The smell of whiskey pervaded the air. Sadness for her father started to intrude, but she squelched it. Brett waited downstairs and Alex had to start living her life for herself.

  She raced back downstairs in record time, locking the front door before heading back in to Brett. He stood, testing his leg by walking around the room.

  “How does it feel?” Alex set the trousers on the examining table and crossed her arms under her breasts. His gaze locked on her chest and the nipples hardened under the scrutiny.

  “What?”

  “The leg. How does it feel?”

  “Sore as hell, but I’ll be fine.” He limped over to her. “You look pretty today in that blue dress.”

  “Thank you. I didn’t want anyone to see the bruises when I went out.”

  His entire body stilled. “Went out where?”

  Oops. She hadn’t meant to let that slip. In for a penny, in for a pound.

  “I went to see King to tell him to stop the legal action and leave you alone.”

  Brett’s jaw tightened. “Did you go alone?”

  “Will you be angry if I said yes?”

  “Dammit, Alex! Someone beat the shit out of you less than two weeks ago and you go gallivanting around the countryside alone? Not only that but to see that pompous ass King who’s trying to take my ranch?” He shouted because he loved her, she knew that, but it still hurt.

  “I’m a big girl, Brett. I can take care of myself. I had a pistol in my reticule and besides, King would never hurt me.” She was absolutely certain of that.

  “Oh yeah? So why didn’t he look surprised when I told him about your beating?”

  Brett’s words echoed in her ears. King knew about the beating? He knew? Her mouth opened but nothing came out.

  “You have to be more careful, Alex. For my sake. I’ll be swinging from the nearest tree for murder if anyone ever touches you again.”

  Alex knew he meant it too. Although Brett hadn’t said “I love you” yet, he had told her so in actions.

  “I love you, too.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with all that was in her heart. Brett leaned back against the wall and pulled her flush against him. The feel of his firm chest against her hardened nipples was arousing as hell. She rubbed them back and forth, teasing both she and Brett.

  “Mm, you feel good.”

  He chuckled against her lips. “So do you.”

  His hands roamed down her body, lightly touching, caressing as he went. His staff lengthened and pressed against her belly. A shiver snaked down her spine at the thought of being intimate with Brett again.

  “You were injured today,” she whispered. “Are you sure you’re up to it?”

  “Oh, I’m definitely up to it.”

  Alex bit his bottom lip lightly. “There’s that sense of humor again.”

  “I wasn’t being funny. I’m up for anything.”

  He placed kisses all along her jaw until he reached her ear. His hot breath on her ear sent a throb through her. In all her sexual experiences, she hadn’t been as excited as she was now by simple kisses and body contact. Just touching him incited her like wildfire, heated her to the point of conflagration. Her heart beat with a joy it had never known, in perfect tune with her body. It assured her it was much, much more than merely sex.

  Brett inched her skirt up until his warm hands made contact with her drawers. She held her breath as fingers dipped into her pussy. A moan burst from her throat at the delicious rasp from his callused skin.

  “You like that?”

  “God, yes.”

  He pushed inside her, a slow, leisurely motion simulating the penetration she craved. She rode his hand as the pleasure grew stronger and tingles radiated through her.

  “You feel like sweet honey, Alex. I need to taste you.”

  Before she knew it, he picked her up and set her on the examining table. Her skirt, drawers and blouse were quickly shed and he knelt in front of her with barely a wince. Brett must be caught in the same sexual tornado that enveloped her. She’d never had a man touch her with his mouth and the anticipation made her arousal much stronger.

  “Have you ever done this before?” Alex gasped.

  “No, but I’m about to.”

  Brett kissed her thighs as his thumbs parted her nether lips. The first touch of his lips on her hot flesh made her quiver. The second made her groan. By the time his ton
gue joined in, she could hardly see straight, so she closed her eyes and swam in a sea of amazing pleasure.

  “Brett, I…”

  “Come for me, you taste so sweet. Come on.”

  He started finger fucking her and sucking her clit and the stars exploded in, around and through Alex. She cried out his name, gripping the examining table with enough force to pull the sheets out from under her weight.

  Alex could barely form a coherent thought. She’d never known such pleasure existed from a man’s mouth. He pushed his drawers down and entered her in one swift stroke. The wet slide of his hardness into her pulsing softness nearly drove her over the edge again.

  “So tight, God, so tight.” He latched onto her breast through the chemise and sucked it.

  Alex moaned and wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him closer. Again and again he thrust into her, almost touching her womb, touching her heart. As his mouth pleasured her breasts, his cock pleasured her pussy.

  “Soon, Brett, again,” she ground out.

  His teeth bit into her nipple and an orgasm ripped through Alex like a tornado. It left her whirling and spinning in a place she’d never been. A vortex of passion that made her gasp for air. Brett shouted her name and thrust into her deeply. As his warm seed joined her body, Alex wept with joy over what she’d rediscovered hiding on a ranch in Cheshire, Wyoming.

  Her perfect mate.

  Chapter Eleven

  Brett made it back home after dark that night. He and Alex spent several hours exploring various nooks and crannies in her house two people could fit in. His body was as wrung dry as his dick. In between the stampede, the thigh wound and the incredible sex, Brett could sleep for days.

  As he rode into the Square One, he found Kincaid waiting for him on the porch. Brett dismounted gingerly, then walked his horse over to the barn. Kincaid fell into step beside him.

  “That was a long visit to the doc. I was about to send Noah to see if you made it.”

  “Yeah, I made it. Alex had to stitch it up, but it’s not as bad as the shoulder wound. Went in at an angle so it wasn’t as deep.” Brett wasn’t about to tell Kincaid the other reason for taking so long. No doubt he’d tease him anyway.