The Outlaw

by Lily Graison

  One of the ranch-hands had informed them of the stagecoach schedule. She had one day before she had to leave. Two days before saying goodbye to Colt. The thought left an odd pain in her chest. A constriction that made it hard to breathe.

  She closed her eyes, seeing Colt’s face in her mind’s eye and smiled at the image. Such an arrogant, cocky man. All that swagger and male posturing. Those smiles and soulful eyes, the sinful words and wicked tongue. Her heart was racing by the time the last image faded.

  Rolling onto her back, she stared at the ceiling. He’d told her the night before he’d take her into town today if she’d rather stay at the hotel until the stagecoach arrived. She hadn’t given him an answer. Truth was, she was happily content right where she was and the thought of getting on the stagecoach and leaving Colt behind left a hole inside her heart big enough to drive the stagecoach through.

  She should have let him have his way the night he’d tried to seduce her. She’d fended him off thinking if she didn’t indulge, her heart would be safe. That she’d never miss what she didn’t have. But now, in the bright glow of the morning sun, she realized what a fool she’d been. Her one chance to love him was gone, thrown away like so much trash that she was bereft from the missed opportunity. When she stepped on that stagecoach and waved goodbye to Willow Creek, she’d leave her heart behind, in the care of a man who wouldn’t even know he had it.

  Throwing the blankets back, she sat up and looked out the window. She could see the barn from her room. Colt, or maybe it was Holden, walked inside the darkened building, coming back out a moment later guiding a horse. It wasn’t the one Colt had been riding.

  Looking harder at the man checking the cinches on the saddle, Sarah decided it was Holden. She grinned. How in the world was a person supposed to tell them apart from a distance? Twins. The lord must have been having a good day when he made them.

  Standing and crossing the room, she washed her face, combed her hair and dressed. She only had one more full day in Willow Creek and she wasn’t about to spend it in bed. There was an outlaw somewhere on this ranch and she aimed to find him. What she’d do with him when she did was still a mystery but if she followed her heart, she’d make sure he knew exactly how she felt about him once she was gone.

  * * * *

  It took a moment for her eyes to adjust once stepping inside the barn but Sarah saw Colt in the upper loft as soon as her vision cleared. He had his back to her and was bent over something. She looked around the barn until she saw the ladder and climbed up, tripping on her skirt twice before reaching the top.

  The loft was large with a walkway that ran the entire length of the barn on all four sides. Hay was stacked along the walls to the ceiling and in the back where Colt was, the bails had been cut and loose hay lay in massive piles waist high.

  She took a step, the floorboard creaking under her weight. Colt turned, his face showing surprise at seeing her before he smiled. “I was beginning to think you’d sleep til noon.”

  “It’s only half past nine.”

  “Maybe so but life on a farm starts before the sun is up.”

  She crossed the space, noticing the tools hanging from the back wall. “Well, I’m not a rancher, so I think I’m exempt.”

  “You keep bankers hours, then?”

  Sarah laughed. “Yes. What else?”

  He pulled his leather gloves off, tossing them to a spot near the edge of the loft. “What are you doing up here?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing.” She looked around again for lack of anything else to do. “Just curious as to how a working ranch is operated. Living in town my whole life, I’ve not seen the inner workings before.” She avoided looking at him. She was sure he’d see her lie for what it was.

  Since waking she’d thought of nothing but him and if watching him work, or whatever it was he was doing, was all she could have, then she wanted to be right beside him. With only one more day she didn’t have a choice. After tomorrow he’d be out of her life forever. “So,” she said, walking further into the loft. “What exactly are you doing up here?”

  He cocked his head to one side and Sarah kept her gaze averted. “Getting ready to haul the hay down.”

  “Oh.” She moved a bit of it with the toe of her boot and felt her face heat. Purposely seeking him out, just to be in his presence, was a bit humiliating now that she thought about it. She wondered if he knew she had or if he was puzzled by her presence. Knowing Colt, he knew exactly what she was doing.

  “Want to help me with something?”

  She turned to look at him. Nothing showed on his face to alert her that he’d figured her out so she shrugged her shoulders. “Might as well. I’ve nothing else to do.”

  A smile crossed his face and caused her pulse to leap in reaction. He walked toward her, stalked would be a better way to describe his gait, and stopped once he reached her. In a move she didn’t foresee, he grabbed her around the waist, lifted her, and tossed her to the pile of hay. She landed with a squeal, sinking into the brittle, dry hay and clawed it away from her face.

  He followed her down, his body trapping her underneath him. “I don’t think you thought your answer through, sweetheart. You didn’t even ask what I wanted your help with.”

  The look on his face let her know precisely what he wanted and her heart fluttered. The blood coursing through her veins heated in an instant and that throbbing pulse between her legs grew until she was dizzy from it. She licked her lips, met his gaze, and took the weight of him on top of her, the feel of his muscled chest against her own and locked it all away inside her mind so she’d never forget how it felt. “And what is it you want?” The words came out in a breathy whisper and the effect they had on him were instantaneous. She felt him grow against her hip, hard and thick. Knowing she could arouse him so quickly caused things low in her stomach to tighten. For her to feel languid, her limbs liquid underneath him.

  “You know what I want.” He lifted his hand, moved the hay away from her face and glanced at her lips. “I want the same thing I’ve wanted since laying eyes on you.”

  Sarah swallowed to moisten her throat. “And what’s that?”

  He smiled, a tiny lifting at the corner of his mouth enough to show his teeth. “I want to feel you naked against my skin. To taste every inch of your flesh and bury myself so far inside you you’ll never forget me.”

  “As if I could ever forget you.” The words were out before she could stop them. Heat flared in his eyes, hunger so profound it stole her breath.

  His smile grew and his hand slid to her ribcage. “Don’t tease me, Sarah. You’ll make me think you want to keep me.”

  She did but was too afraid to say so. Her heart was hammering inside her chest so hard she wondered if he could hear it. The intense look in his eyes warming her in places no man besides him had touched. She glanced at his mouth, the strong jaw he hadn’t shaved this morning, his rugged, handsome features, and knew his face would be etched into her mind until she took her last breath. “You’re too much trouble to keep, Colton Avery. What woman wants a man who kidnaps women and tries to seduce them at every turn?”

  “If it makes you feel any better, you’re the first I’ve kidnapped.”

  She grinned and raised an eyebrow. “Not the first you’ve seduced, though?”

  He laughed and lowered his head, his mouth mere inches from hers. “Seeing as you’ve yet to let me have you, I’d say my skills at seduction were lacking somehow.”

  “Maybe you aren’t doing it correctly, then.”

  His hand slid up her ribs, stopping underneath her left breast. “And how exactly should one go about seducing someone?”

  Sarah bit her lip. She had no clue how to seduce someone. She wasn’t worldly, or wanton by nature, but being with Colt made her want to be. She wanted to excite him, to make him desire her to the point of recklessness. To crave her in a way that made him crazy with need.

  She glanced at his mouth again, those sensuous lips, and that
craving she felt flooded her body. She wanted to taste him, to drive him to the point of insanity with a single touch and make him beg her to never leave him. “Slowly,” she said, answering his question. “Make them feel cherished and loved and they’ll give you anything you want.”

  He lowered his head without another word between them, molding his mouth to hers. Her lips opened in invitation, his tongue teasing her bottom lip before sliding inside to taste her. Sarah sank further into the hay, lifting her arms to pull him closer to her and angled her head.

  His lips were soft, his tongue searching, caressing the inside of her mouth with long languid strokes. His hand under her breast rose, cupping her through the fabric of her dress and squeezing gently. Her nipple ached with need to be touched, to feel his warm fingers against her skin. She arched her back, trying to get closer, and molded her mouth against his, taking what she wanted from him.

  A small groan worked its way up his throat, the sound husky and needy. His hand tightened on her breast, his hips pressing against her more tightly. The heat she felt was consuming and the fabric covering her skin, stifling. Her hands ran the length of his back, feeling the corded muscles shift underneath the fabric of his shirt. She wanted to feel him, needed to feel the heat of his flesh under her hands.

  Grabbing his shirt, she pulled, loosening the end from the waistband of his pants. He broke the kiss and lifted his head enough to look at her. “Don’t start something you have no intention on finishing, cause I promise you, you’ll be sorry you did.”

  Sarah licked her lips, looked to the buttons of his shirt and reached for the first one, unbuttoning it. His skin was exposed in slow increments, his chest expanding with every harsh breath. When the material parted, she pushed it away, her gaze devouring his flesh as if she’d been starved.

  She flicked her nails lightly against his stomach, and he inhaled a sharp breath, his muscles contracting. His breath washed across her head, his eyelids sweeping down. Sarah watched his face as she explored him, her fingers searching and caressing every inch of his skin and she could see the pleasure of her touch etched into the lines near his mouth.

  Raising her head, she kissed his chest, peppering small, playful bites against his skin. He exhaled, the sound following it almost pained. She raised her eyes to his, extended her tongue to flick one taunt nipple, and saw the moment he lost control. Something feral flashed in his eyes, a small sound coming from the back of his throat, and he was kissing her again before she could catch her breath.

  He tugged at the buttons of her dress, freed her breasts from the confines of material and cupped one in his palm, squeezing before lowering his head to suck her nipple into his mouth. He rolled the small bud with his tongue, closed his lips around it and suckled until she thought she’d die from the pleasure of it.

  Pulling at her skirts, he slid his hand up her thigh straight to the waistband of her bloomers. He let go of her breast and looked at her. “Tell me to stop, Sarah.” He bunched the waistband of her bloomers into his hand, his knuckles hot against her stomach. “Tell me to stop and I’ll never touch you again.”

  She could barely breathe the intensity in his eyes was so severe. She inhaled a shaky breath, raised her hands to his face and cupped his cheeks, giving him a kiss, and whispered, “Don’t stop,” against his lips.

  He pulled her bloomers down in jerky movements, the material ripping in places as seams popped loose. She reached for the waistband of his pants with clumsy fingers, the fear of the unknown fluttering across her mind only briefly. She freed his erection, heard his exhaled breath when she touched that hardened column of flesh and lost all semblance of composure when he spread her legs and settled between them.

  She could feel him against her skin, hot and hard. He moved his hips, fitting himself against her before kissing her again. His mouth was hungry, drinking from her lips as if parched, and that length of hardened flesh between her legs slid against her folds until she was slippery with need. “Please, Colt.”

  Reaching between them, his fingers teased her, playing her silken folds until she was ready to scream from the wanting. Pressure built until her legs were shaking as he inserted his finger into her, followed by another. When he stilled, she looked up.

  “You’re a virgin.”

  It wasn’t a question and Sarah almost feared he’d stop. “Does it matter?”

  “Yes, but not the way you’re thinking.” He smiled and moved his hand, the hardened length of him replacing his fingers. He leaned down to kiss her again, a soft teasing of lips. “Its going to hurt, sweetheart, but not for long.”

  She nodded her head and braced herself for the pain. When it came, she gasped, her eyelids slamming shut. He was there, kissing her again with long, searing strokes of his tongue. He didn’t move, just fitted himself against her and kissed her.

  The pain receded as his soft mouth moved against her and the pressure between her legs intensified the longer he did nothing. She moved her hips, his answering groan rumbling in her chest.

  He looked down at her, his hand lowering to her hip. “You’re all right?”

  She nodded, staring him in the eye as he began to move. She’d often imagined what it would feel like to be with a man and never in her wildest dreams had she imagined this. She was surrounded by Colt, his scent tickling her nostrils, the strength of him overwhelming her, and the desire to crawl into his skin and stay there, protected, was immense. She raised her arms, wrapping them around his waist while raising her knees, spreading her legs further to make more room for him against her.

  He was staring at her, his fingers in her hair and the look on his face wasn’t what she expected. His desire to bed her had been so intense, she thought he’d be mindless, that he’d pound into her as if she were nothing but a warm, willing body, but that wasn’t the case. He took his time, every inch of him felt to each nerve ending in her body, his scent enveloping her senses until she breathed him in. Until she’d never forget the maleness of him, the essence of who he was.

  The tingles started as a dull ache in her stomach, clenching with every movement until she moved her hips from the sheer need to be closer. The moment she did, he groaned, his head lowering to the curve of her neck. “Don’t stop doing that,” he whispered, “Love me back.”

  She had no clue if she was doing it right, but she moved her hips with him, ran her hands over his skin until beads of perspiration dotted his flesh. He set a rhythm she matched, their bodies moving as one and Sarah was shaking from the intensity as the tingles grew, as zaps pinged in her limbs and her legs started jerking. That uncontrollable feeling she’d had when he loved her by the creek returned and built until she thought her heart would stop, her hold on him tightening, her fingers digging into his skin.

  Intense moments later, the pleasure she felt shattered and burst, the euphoria so powerful she buried her face against his chest to keep from screaming. His hips moved faster, his hold on her tightening until he lost all sense of control. His movements turned jerky, small sounds hissed under his breath until he groaned, buried his face against her neck and stiffened.

  They lay silently for long minutes, neither doing anything but trying to breathe. The sights and sounds inside the barn came back to her slowly. The snuffling of horses, the scent of the hay and other things. She opened her eyes, saw streaks of light dancing between the boards on the roof and realized how much she wanted to stay. Here, in this moment, with Colt’s weight anchoring her to the ground. To feel him breathe against her skin, to taste the salty tang of his flesh against her tongue. To love him every day for the rest of her life.

  Someone walked into the barn, whistling a tune Sarah didn’t recognize. She opened her eyes and hoped whoever it was didn’t climbed the ladder. Colt shifted, lifted his head and looked down at her.

  “Just be quiet and they’ll never know we’re up here.”

  Sarah nodded and felt her face flame.

  “Colt,” the unknown person said, “Holden said when you’re finish
ed playing with your lady-friend, he could use your help out in the east pasture.”