Cowboy to the Core

by Joanna Wayne

“That sites that sell daggers from that maker are plentiful. It would take weeks to check all the dealers’ records, especially if the sellers insisted on search warrants.”

  Dani wet a gauze pad with the peroxide and dabbed the liquid on the deeper scratch.

  Marcus winced. “What was that?”

  “Relax, tough guy. All you’ll feel is a sting, if that.” She squeezed a thin ribbon of the antibiotic cream onto her fingertips. Bracing herself with a hand on his strong right shoulder, she applied the cream with smooth, gentle strokes.

  A slow burn started at her fingertips and spread to her chest, working its way to her inner thighs. Passion vibrated through her until she could almost feel a curl of invisible steam rising between them.

  Marcus reached behind him and took her hand and moved it away. “That’s good enough.”

  She couldn’t let this go on any longer.

  “I thought you were as into the kiss we shared by the river as much as I was, Marcus, but now you avoid my touch as if I’m contagious with some rare, fatal disease.”

  “It’s not that bad.”

  “It’s close. Is it something I’ve done?”

  “No, of course not.” He stood and walked to the counter, leaning against it to face her from a distance.

  “Then what is it? Why can’t you stand my touch?”

  “It’s just the opposite, Dani. Everything you do makes me crazier for you. I’m like a sailor who hasn’t had leave in years.”

  “Then why pull away from me the way you did just now?”

  He ran his fingers through his damp hair. “Because if I don’t pull away, I’m going to take you into my arms and make love with you like there’s no tomorrow. That’s not fair to you in your vulnerable state, and it would be murder on my concentration when I need to think about nothing but keeping you safe.”

  She walked toward him, stopping so near they were almost touching. “What about what I want, Marcus? Don’t I have a say in any of this?”

  “No.”

  “That’s not fair.” She massaged the muscles in his broad shoulders, then let her hands slip to his chest to explore the carpet of coppery hairs. “I’m not asking for forever, Marcus. I’m asking for tonight. I don’t know if it’s the danger, the tumultuous visions or if it’s just you, but I’ve never felt this way with anyone else. I’ve never needed anyone the way I need you, not once in all my life.”

  She slid her fingers lower, trailing the area where the vee of hair tapered off and disappeared inside his jeans.

  He moaned softly and splayed his hands across her back. “You’re driving me completely mad with wanting you, Dani. If you’re not sure this is what you want, you need to back off now.”

  “I’m sure I want you, Marcus. In my arms. In my bed. Inside me.”

  He groaned and swept her into his arms. “You win, sweetheart, hands down. I can face an enemy eight nights a week, but I’m not nearly tough enough to say no to an offer like that from you.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Every moment since Marcus had first spotted Dani at the festival had been moving them toward this moment. The attraction had been immediate and dynamic, as if something inside him had short-circuited.

  He wasn’t the kind of guy to believe in Hollywood-type serendipity. Hell, he probably couldn’t even spell the word. Sure, he knew about fate from a frogman’s point of view. Knew how a man could escape a bullet or an explosion by a matter of seconds. Knew the thin line between landing in the ocean or on a land mine that wasn’t twenty feet away.

  But having a woman you barely knew rock your soul with passion—that was out there, miles beyond any frame of reference he had. Something had happened when he met Dani. He’d wanted her in every way, and the thought of making love with her was total intoxication.

  He carried her down the hall and kicked open the door to her room. He ached to kiss her sweet lips, but once he started, it would be eons before he’d come up for air. Better make it to the bed first. He yanked back the quilt and laid her on top of the crisp, white sheets.

  She smiled and opened her arms to him. He fell to the bed beside her and pulled her against him, finally touching his lips to hers. She melted into the kiss, and the thrill rocked through him. No holds barred now.

  He wanted it all. Planned to kiss every inch of her silky flesh, find the special spots that made her writhe in pleasure. Would delve into the hot triangle between her thighs until she was moist and so ready that she begged him to push inside her and rock her home.

  The problem was his own body was so on fire he didn’t know how long he could last.

  When Dani pulled out of the kiss, his lungs were burning. He leaned away so that he could see the full length of her stretched out beside him. He kissed the curve in her neck. “You have on way too many clothes for a lady begging to be seduced.”

  “I figured a highly trained man like yourself would know how to remedy that.”

  He pushed the silky robe from her shoulders, and she wiggled her arms out of the sleeves. With that done, he tugged it away and dropped it to the floor.

  Now he could see her perky breasts pushed against the fabric of her pajamas, the nipples peaked and pointing right at him. Enticing. Inviting.

  He loosened the buttons slowly, trailing kisses along the way as her top fell open.

  Finally, he added it to the growing pile of discarded silk. He cupped her right breast in his hand and took the nipple in his mouth, circling the pebbled hardness with his tongue. He did the same with the other, exploring and tasting, while the need engorged him until his jeans became tight, painful bands.

  He reached down to unzip them. Dani fit her hand over his, their fingers tangling until the zipper gave way and his erection burst free. She fit her hand around it, tugging it from his shorts, and he had to hold his breath to keep from erupting long before he was ready.

  He slid a hand between her legs, caressing her through the silk with his fingertips while he slipped the other hand inside the elastic at her waist. “These have to go.”

  “Yes. Yes.” She rose to her elbows and kissed him again as he slid the bottoms down her legs and over her feet. Once they were added to the pile, she opened her legs and he got his first look at the treasure—the hot, wet, pulsing center of her passion. Passion that was all for him.

  He buried his face in the sweetness, tasting and teasing with his tongue until she moaned and called his name. He was hit with a need so powerful it tore his breath away.

  “Take off your jeans, Marcus. I want all of your gorgeous, muscular masculinity lying naked beside me.”

  She didn’t have to ask twice. He slid off the bed, wiggled out of them and crawled back into bed beside her.

  Most men had vivid memories of the first time they’d had sex. Marcus didn’t. He remembered where—under the bleachers of the high school gym his freshman year. But he didn’t remember the rush of release or the name of the girl he’d been with. He hated to admit it, but the girl hadn’t mattered. It was all about the hormones.

  Tonight was different in every way. Tonight was about Dani and an attraction so intense it etched its way into the very core of his being.

  No matter what happened between them after this, he’d remember and hold on to every detail for the rest of his life.

  DANI WATCHED AS MARCUS shed his jeans and boxers. His body was sheer magnificence. But he was a lot more than muscle, sinew and masculinity. He was her cowboy warrior. Gentle but tough with the soul of a protector and the fiery touch of a lover.

  He crawled back into bed and straddled her. His hands found her breasts and cradled them as his thumbs massaged the nipples’ pebbly ridges. They were tender from the sensations he’d created in them, yet she arched toward him, craving more.

  She reached for his erection and wrapped both hands around the full length of him. She rolled her fingers over his tip and he writhed in her hand.

  “Guide me inside you, Dani,” he whispered. “I can’t hold off any longer.”r />
  She understood completely. She’d never been more ready to feel a man inside her. She spread her legs and tugged him toward her waiting depths. He thrust once and buried himself deep. She moaned at the impact and the thrill of the emotions coursing through her. He thrust again, and again, building a rhythm that was carrying her higher and higher.

  His breathing became heavy. Her heart pounded. And then he rocked her over the top in an explosion of passion that left her trembling and gasping for breath.

  They lay together for long minutes, basking in the afterglow of spent passion.

  Marcus finally stirred. “Was it enough?”

  “It was everything, Marcus. Everything and more.”

  He was her cowboy hero in every sense of the word. She still didn’t understand why she’d fallen so hard or so fast, fallen even before she’d seen how marvelous he really was. And she couldn’t let it matter that this could never last.

  She had this moment in time, and the memories would warm her heart for a lifetime.

  DANI WOKE TO THE ODORS of sizzling bacon and brewing coffee and the delightful sounds of birds singing outside the open window. Shafts of sunlight danced across the bed. She stretched and turned to look at the clock, and the memories dancing through her mind made her warm and tingly.

  Ten minutes after eight. She never slept this late.

  But then she never had nights like this at home. She and Marcus made love three times. The second after only the briefest recovery time from the first. The third was when she woke in the wee hours of the morning to the heated ecstasy of Marcus’s hands exploring her naked body.

  Every intimacy they’d shared had been deliciously exciting and intensely fulfilling. If her pajamas were not still on the floor and her body not reveling in the sweet, tender aches of lovemaking, she might think it had all been a dream.

  She reached for Marcus’s pillow and hugged it to her before finally pushing the covers away and throwing her legs over the side of the bed. She padded to the bathroom in her bare feet and stared at her reflection in the mirror.

  Amazingly the only difference in how she looked was the disheveled state of her hair and the slightly kiss-swollen lips. You’d think making love the way they had last night would have made more noticeable changes. You’d think that kind of passion would glow and shimmer on her skin.

  She splashed her face with cold water, and then she thought of Ella Somerville and the fear that had shadowed her eyes in the ICU. Dani’s spirit fell into an immediate and drastic downward spiral. The woman was scared to death, so why had she so vehemently turned down Dani’s offer of paid protection?

  Ella wanted Dani out of her life. The visions wanted her in it.

  She didn’t understand the full meaning of the psychic communications, but she knew that she and Ella were bound in some inexplicable way. For the first time she admitted the truth to herself. She had to find Ella before the killer did. It might be the only way to save herself.

  She slipped on her pajamas, grabbed her robe and slippers and joined Marcus in the kitchen. He was fully dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt that accentuated his six-pack abs. The sight of him rocked her equilibrium.

  “Sorry I slept so late.”

  “I figured I’d worn you out.”

  Marcus speared the last piece of bacon from the skillet and leaned down to give her a kiss. Quick, but still she felt its heat from her lips to her toes.

  “I think it was you who went straight from orgasm to snoring that last time,” she said.

  “I don’t snore.”

  “Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that.”

  Actually, he didn’t. She wasn’t sure he ever slept that sound. She hated to move in the night, knowing he’d wake.

  She opened the refrigerator door and rummaged until she found a jar of homemade blackberry jam Cutter’s aunt had made. “What else do we need?”

  “Butter for the biscuits.”

  “You made biscuits?”

  “Sort of. I took them out of the freezer and put them in the oven. They’re almost ready. How do you like your eggs?”

  “I don’t. But I love biscuit and bacon sandwiches with oodles of jam.” She poured herself some coffee and added a warmer portion to Marcus’s mug. “I want to make a quick call to the hospital before we eat and find out if Ella checked herself in again.”

  “I can save you the trouble. I just talked to them. The answer is no.” Marcus broke a couple of eggs into a hot skillet. “But there is good news of sorts. The police located the car that was stolen from the hospital yesterday.”

  “When? Where?”

  “A patrolman noticed it parked on a side street in Old Town Spring during the middle of the night. He hadn’t seen a car parked there after the stores closed before, so he ran the license plates and found out it was stolen.”

  “They found the car, but not Ella?”

  “They’re not even sure that she’s the car thief.”

  “What about fingerprints? Can’t they just check the steering wheel and tell if she drove it?”

  “They dusted for prints, but unless hers are on file, they won’t be able to match them even if she did steal the car.” Marcus served up his eggs and carried them to the table while Dani retrieved the golden-topped biscuits from the oven.

  “A pair of jeans and a blue sweater were missing from the car. The rest of the purchases were lying on the backseat.”

  “Which is proof in my mind that Ella stole the car. She’d need that change of clothes. What about the robe Ella was wearing when she left the hospital?”

  “No sign of it,” Marcus said.

  “Where or what is Old Town Spring?”

  “Spring’s a small town just south of The Woodlands, about an hour’s drive from here. Old Town is the historic area that has been revived with boutiques, specialty shops and quaint dining spots—or so I’ve heard.”

  “What about hotels or motels?”

  “I checked. There are several within a three-mile radius of where they found the car. No registrations in her name, but I didn’t expect there would be.”

  Dani buttered a biscuit and slathered it with jam before tucking two slices of crispy bacon inside it. The night’s excitement had left her ravenous in spite of her anxiety for Ella.

  “Investigating and cooking. You’ve been busy this morning,” she said. “How long have you been up?”

  “A couple of hours. I don’t need much sleep.”

  Apparently. She took a bite of the biscuit and then licked her lips to get every crumb while the news about Ella played in her mind. “We need to go to Spring.”

  “Now how did I know you’d say that?”

  “Must be psychic.”

  “Can we finish breakfast first?”

  “Take your time, as long as you’re ready in about ten minutes.”

  She took another bite of her biscuit then wrapped the rest in her napkin and carried it and her coffee with her as she rushed back to the bedroom to get dressed. If they could track Ella to Spring, then Kevin Flanders probably could, too. She had to find a way to convince the deputies he should be arrested. Then Ella would feel safe enough to return to the hospital and all their problems would be solved.

  “YOU SAY SHE LOOKS like you. No. Haven’t seen her.”

  “Hon, I’ve been so busy today I wouldn’t have noticed the president coming in unless he skipped out on his check.”

  “A woman with long auburn hair bought a chocolate cake from me this morning, but she was at least fifty and wearing a warm-up suit.”

  “I haven’t seen anyone who fits that description, but I’ve been refilling stock all morning. Talk to one of the clerks.”

  “I wish I could help you, but I haven’t seen her. Did you try the tearoom?”

  “Well, my goodness, why didn’t you say she was injured in the first place? There was a woman who paid her check and left here not five minutes ago who’d lost her arm in a car wreck. But, no. She had blond hair, so that couldn’t be
her.”

  Same results, different speakers and stories. After almost five hours of checking every hotel or motel in the area, then hitting every eating establishment, bakery, coffee shop or grocery store, Dani was beginning to think Ella had either never been in the area or had only made a pit stop before stealing another car and moving on.

  Unless they were mistaken about the stolen car angle and she had been abducted from the hospital. But not by Kevin, unless he’d already killed her and dumped the body before they’d talked to him last night.

  Marcus tugged her to a stop before she could step in the path of an SUV pulling away from a gas pump.

  “Thanks,” she murmured.

  “Are you okay or was that a clairvoyant moment?”

  “Unfortunately, that was a macabre moment. There have been no clairvoyant moments this morning, not even a vibe that we’re getting close to finding Ella. I’m beginning to doubt she’s in the area.”

  “You could be right,” Marcus agreed, “but if she’s as medically fragile as the doctor indicated, I wouldn’t think she’d feel like doing a lot of traveling.”

  “Or walking,” Dani said. “But no clerks admitted to checking anyone meeting her description into a hotel in this area. Perhaps we should check with every taxi driver to see if they picked her up and dropped her off at a hotel in The Woodlands or maybe Conroe.”

  “Or maybe Houston.”

  Dani groaned. “And then it might take weeks to find her. I don’t even want to think about that.”

  “We have to consider that possibility,” Marcus said, “along with her options for catching a flight or hopping on a bus. I think we should have lunch and regroup.”

  “Didn’t we just have breakfast?”

  “About six hours ago.”

  “Okay, but since we’re here, we may as well talk to the clerk in this convenience store. It’s near enough to where we found the car that Ella could have walked here to pick up a few groceries. She has to eat.”

  Dani waited until the customers in line had been taken care of before moving to the counter.

  “Can I help you?”