Carol Finch

by The Ranger's Woman

  That said, he started off. When he entered the hotel he grabbed a quick breath then tackled the mountain of steps that stood between him and his maddening bride.

  Piper shot straight up in bed when she heard the clatter and thud in the distance. Like a shot, she bounded from bed to grab the chair as her impromptu weapon. Cautiously, she stepped into the hall. Another grunt and thud caught her attention so she went to investigate.

  To her stunned amazement she saw Quinn sprawled at the bottom of the stairs. “What the blazes happened?”

  “Missed a step,” he mumbled as he rolled onto his back then peered up at her.

  The slur in his voice indicated his condition. She frowned disapprovingly. “You are drunk.”

  “I know.” He stirred like an overturned beetle, then came to his knees to clutch at the banister. When he tried to stand up he swayed and nearly fell off his feet.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Ignoring the fact that she was clad in nothing but the chemise that barely covered her thighs, she bounded down the steps to offer support.

  With his arm draped over her shoulder and one hand secured to the railing she assisted him up the steps. Huffing for breath, Piper steered him into the room, then went back to retrieve the chair she had left in the hall.

  “Your garb’s a mite skimpy. Walk out like that in public and you’ll land flat on your back. Guaran-damn-teed.”

  “I hadn’t planned on leaving the privacy of my bed until someone tumbled down the steps.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. “Why are you here, Quinn?”

  He drew himself up, then sucked in a deep breath that made his chest swell like an inflated toad’s. Piper bit back a grin. The man looked adorably rumpled and not at all his usual well-disciplined, restrained self.

  “Wanted to ask you a question.”

  “Fine. Fire away.”

  “What’d I do to make you change your mind?” He shrugged off his coat and tossed it at the chair—and missed it by a mile. “Las’ night you wanted me. Today you don’t. Honest t’ God, Pipe’. I dunno know how to deal with you and it’s drivin’ me nuts.”

  He plopped down on the edge of the bed to battle his way out of his shirt. When he launched it across the room it landed in the basin on the commode. “And you know what else?”

  “I give up. What else?” she asked, muffling an amused snicker.

  “I was gonna trot down the street to find a willin’ female, just to show you.”

  She arched her brow and jealousy shot through her like venom. “To show me what? That this marriage isn’t worth the paper it’s written on and that I mean nothing to you?”

  “To show you that I didn’t care if you brushed me off. O’course, we both know it’s better this way. I didn’t deserve you in the first place. Sure as hell don’t deserve to be married to a blue-blooded heiress.”

  There he went again, selling himself short. Piper refused to listen to that nonsense. She stamped up in front of him to wag her finger in his bronzed face. “You listen to me, Callahan. You don’t get to criticize yourself. That’s what I’m here for. What you do deserve is the hangover you’ll likely wake up with tomorrow. And that is all. The fact is that you happen to be the nicest man I know. I will not tolerate these self-deprecating comments from you, so please hush up.”

  She yanked off his boots then tossed them aside. He braced himself on his arms and peered at her with those hypnotic golden eyes that were fanned with long, tangled lashes. The woebegone expression on his face made her chest cave in. If he didn’t stop burrowing into her heart she was going to fall head over heels for him. Completely overwhelmed by a myriad of tender feelings for him.

  And then where would she be? So deep in longing and misery that she would never find her way out.

  “I couldn’t bear the thought of touching another woman when you’re the only one I want,” he murmured.

  His admission hit Piper right where she lived. She would have thrown herself into his arms if he hadn’t looked so unstable and disoriented. Plus, she couldn’t be certain that it wasn’t whiskey-induced lust talking.

  Maybe she had unintentionally set herself up as a challenge to him after she had denied him his husbandly rights. That, after practically begging him to make love to her the previous night. And still nothing had happened between them.

  Just as nothing was going to happen tonight. Quinn was so soused that he probably wouldn’t even remember if she seduced him now.

  Just as she hadn’t remembered what happened between them while she had been under the influence of peyote.

  Exasperated, Piper grabbed his legs and swung him onto the bed. She wheeled around to douse the lantern she had forgotten to attend before she had fallen asleep. Padding barefoot to the bed, she noticed Quinn had already conked out. She shoved his shoulder, encouraging him to roll over so she could lie down beside him.

  “Honest to goodness, you and I simply have one devil of a time getting our timing right, don’t we?” she asked her oblivious husband. “Between unexpected interruptions and on-again-off-again fits and spurts of desire, we might never share one night together.” She sighed heavily as she stared down at him. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe this thing between us—whatever the devil it is—simply isn’t meant to be.”

  Now here was a wedding night that will go down in the annals of marital history as disaster, she thought in exasperation.

  When Quinn sighed heavily in his sleep, Piper instinctively cuddled up to him. She looped her arm around his waist and pressed her cheek to the muscled contours of his back. She knew she was missing out on her last chance at passion with him. It was that disgruntled thought that followed her to sleep.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Sometime during the night Quinn rolled sideways and felt a soft, fragrant presence beside him. Although his senses were still a bit groggy he knew instinctively that he was in bed with Piper. He couldn’t recall how he had gotten here and the distasteful prospect that he had forced himself on her while intoxicated made him feel like a jackass.

  Sweet mercy, had he hurt her?

  The thought made him grimace. He shifted again, and then realized he was still wearing his breeches. Surely that was a good sign. Hesitantly he reached over to brush his hand over Piper’s hip and made stimulating contact with her silky flesh. He swallowed hard as he skimmed his hand higher to find the soft fabric of her chemise gathered around her waist.

  Damn it to hell, if he had taken her innocence with no regard for her pleasure he was going to climb right out of this bed and shoot himself.

  “Piper?” he whispered as he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

  She moaned softly, then squirmed closer. Her breasts brushed against his chest and her knee insinuated itself between his thighs. Desire rocketed through him and intense need left him hard and aching. Drawn to her, he tilted her face to his kiss, striving for tender patience as he savored the delicious taste of her.

  “Mmm,” she murmured drowsily. Her arm glided over his shoulder to caress him. “Do that again.”

  And so he did. He lost himself in the seductive scent and feel of her. His hands drifted down her hip to trace her inner thigh, then ascended to encircle her breasts. She arched toward him, filling his hand with her satiny flesh. He angled his head to flick his tongue over her pebbled nipples and felt her tremble against him. Her soft sigh left him yearning to draw more of those satisfied sounds from her.

  Shifting beside her, he explored the length of her legs, the shapely curve of her hip and concave belly. He tossed aside the sheet to study her in the moonlight that sprayed through the window—and lost his breath when he stared at feminine perfection. Her pale skin glowed pearly white in the light and his admiring gaze swept over her again and again.

  Awed by the sight of her lush body, he bent his head to spread a trail of featherlight kisses from the crests of her full breasts to her belly button.

  Caught between dreams and wakefulness she arched toward him and his nam
e tumbled from her lips. Quinn knew beyond all doubt that he wouldn’t be satisfied until he had learned her luscious body by touch and taste, until he had given her pleasure to counter whatever pain and disappointment he might have caused her earlier.

  Nudging her thighs apart with his elbows, he eased between her legs. When he brushed his fingertips over her secret flesh he found her hot and wet and so tempting that he shuddered with a need so intense that it shocked him. As much as he wanted to sink into her sultry fire and surround himself in the sweet essence of her body, he refused to rush this moment. He stroked her gently, felt her burning his fingertips like sensual lightning and savored her uninhibited response to his touch.

  When he flicked at her with his tongue and offered her the most intimate of kisses she hissed out her breath and quivered around him. Her hand clamped on to his shoulder, as if anchoring herself against the rush of pleasure that crested upon her.

  Quinn smiled against her flesh when her nails dug deeply into his skin, testifying that she was teetering on the edge of wild abandon. That’s exactly how he wanted this maddening female who turned him wrong side out, upside down and backward. He wanted her wild and abandoned and so hungry for him that nothing else mattered. He wanted the memory of his touch to be burned forever on her body, claiming her as his own.

  And that, he realized suddenly, was the reason he had been so troubled and tormented on the way to the wedding ceremony. Marrying her was his excuse, but the real reason was that deep down, he did want her all to himself, despite what was best for both of them.

  He felt the ripples of pleasure assail her body as he dipped his fingertip inside her and stroked her gently. He heard her breath catch when he glided two fingers deep inside her, stretching her tight passage to accept him.

  He reached down to free himself from his breeches, then kicked them away. When he stared down at Piper her eyes were wide open and she was peering up at him with an expression of urgent need. He bent his head, letting her taste the flavor of her passion on his lips as he moved carefully against her.

  Ardent desire hammered at him, but he forced himself to slow down, allowing her time to adjust to his masculine invasion. He felt her body stiffen momentarily, felt her hands lock behind his neck as her breath came out on a wobbly sigh.

  When he sank into her satiny warmth and felt the fragile barrier give way he squeezed his eyes shut, relieved that this was their first encounter and that he hadn’t come to her in a drunken daze.

  At least he had done something right. For once.

  “I thought I would never have you,” she whispered against the side of his neck. “You were well worth the wait…is there more?”

  Quinn grinned at her naivete. “Wait and see.”

  He withdrew slightly, drawing her mumbled protest. Then he drove into her and she purred her pleasure. He hooked his elbows under her knees and pressed closer still before he pulled away once again.

  Her eyes widened as he buried himself to the hilt and then eased away. “Tormentor of women,” she accused, then smiled impishly and said, “More.”

  He chuckled, amazed that he felt like laughing and screaming simultaneously. He should have known that bedding his spirited wife would be as unique and unforgettable as she was. Whatever Quinn had felt after other liaisons didn’t compare to the feelings and emotions that bombarded him when he was with Piper.

  It would have been easier if this was purely physical, he knew. But there was nothing simple or uncomplicated between them. Sparks always flew between them, especially now.

  When she urged him deeper Quinn braced his hands beside her shoulders and moved above her, inside her. Need expanded and devoured as he drove against her, faster and faster when she demanded even more from him. He felt like a blazing meteor hurtling toward its own fiery destruction, felt his pulse pounding in his ears as overwhelming desire avalanched upon him.

  When Piper’s body contracted around him and her breath hissed from between her clamped teeth he felt immeasurable pleasure burgeoning, exploding, and catapulting him into oblivion. He shuddered helplessly and collapsed against her.

  When he realized that he was squashing her he braced himself up on his elbows, preparing to move away.

  “Not yet,” she insisted as she clamped her arms around his waist. “I swear I’ll feel empty without you.”

  The fact that he was thinking the same thing unsettled him. Quinn was very much afraid he would never experience this much intense emotion and pleasure again in his life. He had discovered it only when he and Piper were one living, breathing entity.

  That was such a dangerous thought that Quinn quickly discarded it and tried to pull away.

  “You’re doing it again,” she said quietly.

  “Doing what?”

  “Shutting me out. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

  He wasn’t sure he wanted her to know that she had gotten to him as no one ever had, didn’t want her to know that he was dreaming of impossibilities in a future they would never share together. This had to be just about passion, no matter what else he thought he was feeling at the moment. He had to remember that. For her sake as well as his.

  “I’m thinking that I need to ask you a favor, considering that you owe me a few times over for saving your life.”

  She smiled, her eyes sparkling in the dim moonlight. “Since you put me in such an agreeable mood, ask away.”

  He traced the curve of her Cupid’s bow lips with his forefinger. “Passion could be the illusion that makes you agreeable at the moment. But whatever you do, Piper, don’t fancy yourself in love with me. That’s the last thing either of us need.”

  Her smile vanished. “Why would that be so bad?”

  “Because as good as it is between us, we have no future,” he told her solemnly. “No matter which way we turn it, we both know I’m the last man you need and that I have nothing to offer you.”

  When he withdrew, making the distance between them seem like miles, Piper turned her back to him. He was still doing it, damn him. He was trying to dictate what was best for her.

  God save her from men who kept trying to save her from herself!

  “Someday you are going to wish I loved you if only so you could say that someone had,” she told him. She fought back the tears that sprang to her eyes—and hated the display of weakness. “Then it will be too late.”

  “Piper, the last thing I want to do is to hurt you,” he whispered as he stroked her arm, trying to soothe her.

  She silently cursed him, thinking he was hurting her now and wanting to clobber him for taking something so incredibly remarkable and satisfying and ruining it by telling her what she should or shouldn’t do.

  Piper squeezed her eyes shut and held on to the sweet, delicious memories of their passion. He couldn’t steal them from her, ever. For one marvelous, mind-boggling moment out of time in a place where outside influences couldn’t interfere Quinn Callahan had belonged to her completely.

  That would have been enough to satisfy her, if she had wanted passion only for passion’s sake. But she wanted his heart and soul, as well as his body.

  Dream on, silly fool, she chided herself before she drifted off to sleep. You will never have his heart. That is the one irrefutable fact that you can’t change.

  The next morning Piper eased off the bed and dressed in her riding breeches. A smile pursed her lips as she glanced back at Quinn who was sprawled facedown in bed. The night they had spent together had been everything she had anticipated and more.

  Except for the fact that he was never going to return these tender feelings she held for him.

  She could have loved him forever if he had let her.

  Her thoughts trailed off when he shifted and the sheet glided to his hips. Piper stared at the puckered red scars that crisscrossed his back. Again, fury at his unfair mistreatment hurtled through her and she silently cursed the bastard who had taken a whip to Quinn.

  She eased down on her knees to lightly trace the scar
s, wishing she could magically erase the hardships and pain he had suffered in his lifetime. When she thought of how many times he’d had to harden his heart to endure rejection, scorn and mistreatment she realized why it was difficult for Quinn to reach out to anyone. Even her. Life had taught him to be overly cautious and to harbor no dreams and expectations.

  Withdrawing, Piper crammed her clothes into her satchel then tiptoed toward the door. She planned to be ready and waiting to ride to the fort when Quinn ventured downstairs.

  She had just finished strapping her belongings behind the saddle of her horse when she heard the jangle of harnesses and clatter of a wagon approaching. Her eyes widened in disbelief when she saw the blond-haired woman perched on the seat beside a uniformed officer.

  “Penelope?” she shrieked excitedly. She dashed into the street, startling the guards that surrounded the army supply wagon.

  And found herself staring at the spitting end of several army-issued pistols.

  Penelope bolted to her feet and motioned for the guards to holster their weapons. “Piper, you’re finally here! Dear God, I was so worried when I heard that two passengers were believed dead after a coach crash on the stage route.”

  When Penelope alighted from the wagon Piper dashed around the team of horses to give her a fierce hug. Dozens of pleasurable childhood memories enveloped her while she clung to Penny for a long, gratifying moment.

  Penny reared back to look at Piper. “You look absolutely wonderful, except for that tan on your face.” Her blue eyes sparkled with familiar mischief. “Papa would pitch a fit. After all, proper ladies are supposed to have milky white complexions, you know.”

  Piper snickered as she studied her sister’s tanned cheeks, sun-bleached blond hair and trim, statuesque physique. “We are a discredit to our elevated status in society. ‘We are the Sullivans of Galveston and we have our reputations to maintain,’” she declared, quoting the comment she had heard their father make endless times. “Speaking of which, Papa is on his way here. I thought perhaps he had beaten me to the fort after the wreck waylaid me and I had to take a time-consuming detour with my guide. I expect Papa to show up any time.”