by Leah Brooke
“What do you want?”
The shopkeeper paled. “I couldn’t, uh, help but overhear. Uh, she called you Wyatt and Hayes. You, uh, wouldn’t happen to be the U.S. Marshals, Wyatt Matlock and Hayes Hawkins, would you?”
Every hard line of Hayes’s body tightened with threatening menace.
“Yeah. So?”
Shooting a smug look at Savannah, the shopkeeper came forward, pointing at her.
“I knew she was trouble. She’s a thief, isn’t she? And look how she dresses! What kind of woman, other than an outlaw, wears pants and a holster? I knew she was no good. I knew it. I told Emma that she looks like trouble. I been watchin’ her every time she comes in here, just to make sure she don’t steal nothin’. She must have really done something bad for you to be after her. Did she kill somebody?”
He eyed Eb nervously, but straightened to his full height as though proud that he’d done something that Eb would be thankful for.
Amused, Savannah lifted a brow, sharing a look with Maggie.
Wyatt, on the other hand, looked far from amused. His face turned to stone, devoid of all expression as he turned and faced the other man squarely, placing his body between the shopkeeper and Savannah.
A muscle worked in Hayes’s jaw, his eyes turning even colder.
“Miss Perry is no outlaw. She’s the daughter of a preacher and happens to be our woman.”
He took a step toward the shopkeeper, beating Wyatt by a split second.
“If I hear any talk about her, or if I hear about you treating her with anything but the utmost respect, I won’t be happy at all.”
Reaching out a fist, he grabbed the shopkeeper by the collar and lifted him several inches off the floor.
“You might want to pass that along.”
Even Savannah shivered at his icy tone.
She imagined the looks on their faces as the ones they wore when facing outlaws and, seeing them this way, understood just how they’d earned their reputations.
The shopkeeper looked as though he might pass out.
“Y–Yes, s–sir.”
Hayes spent no more time on him, releasing the stuttering shopkeeper to scramble away before turning back to Savannah.
“We’ve been staying in the room across from yours in the hotel.” At her look of surprise, he raised a brow, as though daring her to protest.
“You really didn’t think we were going to let you out of our sight, did you?”
Her face burned at the intimacy and possession in his hooded gaze, a look she saw in her dreams, night after night. Shifting restlessly at the moisture that dampened her thighs, she looked away, promising herself she wouldn’t be taken in by that look ever again.
Aware of Maggie’s rapt attention and the amusement and suspicion gleaming in Eb’s eyes, Savannah cleared her throat, careful to keep her voice at an angry whisper.
“Perhaps you didn’t understand when I told you that there could never be anything between us, especially…you know.”
Wyatt stepped closer, touching her arm.
“With both of us?”
With her face even hotter, Savannah nodded. “Yes, and I don’t appreciate you telling the shopkeeper otherwise.”
She eyed both of them and straightened to her full height in an instinctive effort to intimidate them, clenching her jaw at the amusement in their eyes at her ineffective ploy as they towered over her.
“You expect something from me that I just can’t give you.”
Wyatt’s slow, devious smile made her belly tighten with arousal and more than just a small amount of trepidation.
“We’re the sheriffs in Desire. Living there, you can give us exactly what we want.”
With his hands on his hips and the hard glint of challenge in his eyes, he looked every inch the dangerous lawman, the amusement curving his lips making him even more dangerous to her senses.
“Appreciate you getting here on your own and saving us the trouble of dragging you here.”
The knot in her stomach turned cold.
“I’m not staying.”
Hayes gave her one of his rare smiles.
“Oh, yes. You are. And you’re going to marry us. Both of us.”
Chapter Two
After the meal at the hotel the men had insisted on, Savannah had a full belly for the first time in weeks. Not long after that, she found herself and Maggie surrounded by not only Eb, Wyatt, and Hayes, but several of the Circle T ranch hands as they rode out of town.
She couldn’t blame the people who stopped to stare as the large group of them rode by. From what she’d seen so far, the men who worked at the Circle T were an intimidating bunch.
All tall, broad shouldered, and hard eyed they drew the attention of every person they came across. Even in a town filled with men, they stood apart.
Men eyed them with respect, while women eyed them with fear and scurried to get out of their way.
The first they appeared to take as their due, while the second seemed to irritate them more each time it happened.
Once they left the outskirts of town, the men seemed to become even more alert, scanning the area constantly with their razor-sharp eyes, but within minutes, broke their cold silence and began to talk.
Distant from the others in town, the men seemed very comfortable with each other, allowing her to see a side of them she wouldn’t have expected.
Because of Maggie’s condition, Eb had settled her as comfortably as possible on the buckboard he drove, and kept travel slow.
Staring straight ahead, Savannah let the men’s low conversation flow around her, a little surprised at their camaraderie with Wyatt and Hayes. Soothed by their low, sometimes teasing, conversation, she shot several glances at Maggie, curious about how she got along with such a group of men, but her friend leaned heavily against Eb and drowsed.
It gave Savannah time to think.
All hard masculinity and obvious caring and respect for each other, the other men fascinated her, but nothing could distract her from Wyatt and Hayes.
They sat tall in their saddles, their gazes always shifting, mostly in her direction. The self-confidence and intelligence in their eyes spoke volumes, letting the world know that they would have no trouble handling whatever trouble came their way.
Their arrogance, a source of both pride and annoyance with her, couldn’t be contained, evident in every hard line of their bodies and steely glint of their eyes.
They flanked her, staying close enough to make it clear that she was with them, their eyes daring her to run.
The knowledge that she wanted to gleamed in Wyatt’s dark gaze and Hayes’s brilliant green one.
The anticipation of catching her glittered bright, a look they probably used on their prisoners, a look that would have stopped her from running if she’d considered it.
So, she rode along in silence, too aware of their intimate knowledge of her to attempt conversation.
Swallowing her impatience, she kept her mount at a steady, even pace. She could feel the others’ curious gazes and didn’t want to draw any more attention to herself than necessary.
She’d promised to stay until Maggie had her baby, and Savannah never broke a promise. She’d had too many promises made to her broken and had vowed that she would never do that to another.
She would, however, do this on her terms.
She’d keep her head down, spend as much time as she could with Maggie, and leave just as soon as possible.
Even after several hours of riding, her awareness of Wyatt and Hayes and their sharp attention never lessened.
If anything, it grew stronger, the affection they’d shown to her in Kansas City shining in their eyes more frequently now, but remained tempered with frustration and anger.
Her skin prickled, a sensation that intensified every time they looked at her.
Their attention kept her on edge, making her stiff in the saddle, and renewed a closeness with them she’d thought long forgotten.
It br
ought back too many memories of the night they’d taken her.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t forget the way their warm strength felt against her body. Instead of being scared and vulnerable, she’d felt protected and safe in their arms, something she hadn’t expected at all.
Hayes had taken her first that night, holding her and murmuring sweet words to her, raining kisses over her face as he apologized for hurting her.
It had been the most amazing night of her life. She’d felt closer to them than she’d ever felt to anyone in her entire life.
As he rode beside her, she couldn’t help glancing at his gloved hands, remembering the scars on them and how they’d felt moving over her body.
Finding it difficult to believe that the hard man watching her with such anger in his eyes could be the same man who’d taken her with such tenderness, she looked away, rubbing her arm against the chill that went though her.
She knew they both had a right to be angry with her, but she hadn’t thought she’d have to face it.
He moved closer, keeping his voice low and even as though trying not to spook her, but nothing could disguise the danger he exuded.
“Wyatt and I are the sheriffs in Desire now. Good group of men.”
Experienced at hiding her emotions, she kept her expression bland.
“Why would you give up your job as Marshals to be sheriffs of a small town in the middle of nowhere?”
Hayes moved closer.
“To be with you. Everyone will recognize you as wife to both of us there. Eb and Jeremiah’s men have already built the jailhouse. We just have to get a house built for you before winter sets in.”
She trembled as Wyatt moved in on her other side, shrugging and staring straight ahead.
She wouldn’t allow herself to want something that could never be with men she could never hold.
“I don’t have any need for a house. I’ll be staying with the Tylers just until Maggie delivers the babe. I’m hoping to be long gone before winter sets in.”
All conversation around them stopped, the rapt attention of the other men a tangible thing.
After several heart-pounding seconds, Hayes spoke, the muscle working in his jaw making his scar appear more prominent.
“No. You won’t.”
Savannah couldn’t help but smile at the arrogance in his tone. His arrogance didn’t stand a chance against her determination.
“I hear Texas is wide open and full of opportunity.”
“What kind of opportunity?”
Wyatt’s icy question had her turning to glare at him, struck again by his blatant masculinity.
Her mind went blank as a surge of longing hit her.
She didn’t know how a man so hard looking could be considered handsome, but somehow Wyatt managed to be both.
All hard lines and angles, and with the scar on his cheek, Hayes could be downright scary, intimidating all but the bravest men. Wyatt, on the other hand, had women chasing him all over Kansas City—women determined to tame the gorgeous and dangerous Marshal.
Wyatt’s charm drew people while Hayes’s icy demeanor and scarred face kept them at a distance.
Even wearing the cold expression Wyatt wore now, his masculine good looks made her tongue-tied.
Savannah turned away, her face burning and her heart beating nearly out of her chest.
“What I do is really none of your concern.”
Wyatt’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “You know better. Everything about you is my concern, Savannah.”
From the other side, Hayes touched her shoulder, leaning close enough for her to clearly make out the possessive gleam in his eyes.
“And mine.”
Savannah gulped, finding it difficult to breathe. When Wyatt’s easy charm turned to ice, it chilled her from within, while the warmth Hayes displayed now left her frazzled and confused. It was as if both allowed her to see a side of them they hadn’t before.
“If she accepts your claim. Until then she’s under our protection.” The underlying iron in Eb’s tone left no room for argument.
Wyatt kept his gaze steady on Savannah.
“Hayes and I have already declared our intentions. We’ll keep Savannah safe and care for her.”
Several whoops from the other men made Savannah’s stomach tighten. If not for the fact that she’d promised Maggie she’d stay, she might have ridden away right then and there.
“I don’t need your protection, and I have no desire to be claimed.”
Hayes moved in closer, keeping his voice low enough not to be overheard.
“You’ve already given yourself to us. You’re ours now. There’s no turning back.” Straightening, he nodded once. “We’ll talk somewhere private.”
Eb eyed her for several seconds before inclining his head. “I’ll allow that.”
Bristling at the arrogance in Eb’s tone, Savannah whirled in the saddle.
“I don’t need your permission to talk to them or anyone else.”
Eb bent low to say something to Maggie, who appeared agitated. Once he settled her, he turned back to Savannah, still caressing Maggie’s shoulder.
“So you feel as though you could handle talking to Wyatt and Hayes alone? I don’t want you putting yourself in a situation where you might be in over your head. I trust them with you, though.”
His smug smile set her teeth on edge. He shrugged and adjusted the blanket on Maggie’s shoulders.
“Until I hear from your lips that you’re going to marry them, you’re my responsibility.”
Savannah’s strict upbringing kept her from cursing out loud, but her anger had them running through her head.
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a grown woman now, not the child you knew in Kansas City.”
To her surprise, instead of snapping back, Eb chuckled.
“Always did have a temper underneath all that politeness.” He shared a look with Wyatt and Hayes. “She’s always been polite, sometimes too polite—just apparently not with the two of you.”
Wyatt’s lips twitched, his twinkling eyes making him even more breathtaking. “We noticed. Fascinating, isn’t it?”
Eb sobered, his gaze holding hers and filled with determination and tenderness, bringing back memories of a night long ago, a night in which he’d rescued her from the most frightening experience of her life.
“Savannah, you’re under our protection, and you’ll obey the rules we laid out for you. You’ll do nothing to endanger yourself. My men have all sworn to keep every woman on the place safe. If they tell you to do something for your own safety, then you’d better do it.”
He smiled, taking some of the sting from his words. “Besides, I don’t want to have to be the one to answer to Maggie if something happens to you.”
Savannah blinked, slowing her horse and looking at each of the men in turn. Amazed that they all wore the same sober expressions, she turned back to Eb, carefully avoiding the searching looks both Wyatt and Hayes gave her.
Knowing she owed Eb Tyler a debt she could never repay, she bit back her anger.
“I have no intention of putting myself in danger and—”
Eb had already started shaking his head.
“No, I don’t believe you would, but you’ll abide by the rules we’ve established here, rules designed to—”
“Bully women around?”
The words slipped out before she could stop them, her anger bubbling at the amusement in Wyatt’s eyes.
“It’s not enough that men are physically stronger. They don’t want women to read, unless they get to pick the reading material. They don’t want them to have minds of their own. They’d rather tell them what to do every waking moment of their day. They want slaves and make whatever laws they have to make in order to keep women under their control.”
Thinking of her mother and some of the women she’d helped in Kansas City only made her angrier. Turning to face Wyatt fully, she clenched her fists on the reins.
�
�They suck the life out of a woman, making her old before her time and desperate enough to believe whatever a man says. Meanwhile, men go out and do whatever they want to do, sometimes staying out all night with one of their painted ladies, while the woman stays home and works like a dog.”
By the time she finished, she was breathing heavily, her heart pounding in her chest.
Shifting in embarrassment at the ensuing silence, Savannah turned away from Wyatt’s speculative look and Eb’s knowing one.
She didn’t have the courage to look at Hayes.
Gritting her teeth in frustration, she turned her horse and continued on at a much faster pace.
She knew better than to let anyone know what she was thinking or feeling.
Keeping her thoughts and feelings to herself had always been one of her rules, one self-imposed, and that had always worked well for her.
Letting her anger loosen her tongue only made her angrier.
Eb looked furious. “Those rules are for the sole intention of keeping our women safe!”
Savannah snorted inelegantly, saying nothing.
Hayes closed in on her other side, his tender smile surprising her.
“Savannah, Wyatt and I swore to uphold those laws. If we didn’t think they would keep you and all the other women safe, we wouldn’t have agreed to become the sheriffs.”
Remembering all the times Eb and Jeremiah had confronted her uncle on her behalf, and their patience in letting her tag along with Maggie, she sighed, her temper cooling.
Well known for his patience, Eb waited until she met his gaze again, nodding in satisfaction when she did.
“You know I would do anything to protect the women I care about. When have I ever stood by and let anyone hurt a woman?”
She glanced at Wyatt, breathing a sigh of relief when his speculative gaze slid from her to Eb and back again.
He didn’t know.
She hoped he never would.
Meeting Eb’s sharp eyes, she nodded and focused her attention straight ahead.
“Never. I trust you.”
Gesturing toward the men approaching from a distance, she put a hand over the butt of her gun, a little surprised that the men didn’t.
