by Connie Mason
“You could forget it and let me go.”
“Go where?”
“I… don’t know. Anywhere. I don’t want to go to prison.”
She looked so appealing, so vulnerable and so damn beautiful, prison was the last place Colt wished to see Samantha Howard. “Would you marry Logan if you were free to do so?”
A thoughtful pause ensued. “I…don’t think so.”
“If you weren’t such a damn innocent I’d—”
“You’d what?”
“Do this.” His head dipped to capture her lips.
Her mouth was incredibly soft and sweet. He kissed the full lower lip, tasting, savoring, while his hand shaped the supple curve of her bottom. Slow pleasure replaced anger as the source of Sam’s passion and she experienced true arousal for the first time in her life.
The tantalizing play of Colt’s mouth only heightened her desire. Now his lips were brushing wildfire over her eyelids, jawline, and throat, before returning to cling gently to her eager mouth. She was swallowing a moan when she felt his tongue touch her lower lip, then her teeth, until it grazed the tip of her tongue. Her mouth opened wider to allow him to plunder at will. Her heart beat furiously, and she wanted the kiss to go on forever. But it was not to be. Abruptly Colt broke contact.
“What you need is a firm hand on the reins to tame and master you, a real man in the saddle,” Colt growled, placing her on the bed and lowering himself atop her quivering form.
“You’re no different than any other woman in your position. Admit it, you’d do anythin’ to keep from goin’ to jail. Even beddin’ me. Are you really as innocent as you pretend? Have you bedded Vern Logan?”
“Why you rotten, ornery, braying jackass!” Sam cried. “If and when I want a man it won’t be someone as arrogant and lowdown mean as you. Why don’t you just take me to jail and get it over with? I can’t stand this waiting. My ranch is gone, my brother forced to run away, nothing matters anymore.”
“Darlin’, I could easily be persuaded to forget about the holdup,” Colt said, his voice a husky purr.
With the evidence of his desire pressing against her stomach, Sam knew exactly what he meant. The question was, did she want freedom badly enough to allow him use of her body? It was a question that, thankfully, she didn’t need to answer as Colt’s weight suddenly left her body.
“Christ, what in the hell is wrong with me?” he chided himself, tunneling long fingers through sun-bronzed hair. “Forget I said that. Forget everythin’ I just said. I never forced myself on an innocent woman before and I don’t aim to now. I’ve been around whores and cowpokes so long I’ve forgotten how to act with a decent woman. Go on, get some rest. I’ll wake you in time for supper.”
Too stunned to speak, Sam stared at Colt’s departing back. Never would she understand that man. He was ruggedly handsome yet dangerously wicked. Things he said and did shocked her, then he confused matters by turning around and contradicting everything. He was tough as nails, hardbitten, unscrupulous, and thoroughly disreputable. The perfect description of a Texas Ranger—a breed apart, feared by red man and white man alike. Yet…yet she sensed in him an odd gentleness, a crack in the thick shell surrounding his true self. What would it take to find the real person inside? Why did she even care? Eventually exhaustion claimed her and she slid uneasily into slumber.
While Sam slept, Colt paced, torn apart by conflicting emotions. He was a man not easily led from his chosen path. Life had dealt him many blows, but a will of steel and strength of character provided the means to survive situations that would have felled lesser men in his profession. Danger lurked around every corner, and the slightest deviation or distraction could cost him his life. Samantha Howard was definitely a distraction he could not afford.
Chapter Five
Sam missed the ranch dreadfully. She missed the freedom, the pride of ownership, the space to do and be what she pleased. Not that Ida Scheuer wasn’t the kindest soul alive. Ida regarded Colt as something of a hero and would have agreed to anything he asked, but she truly liked Sam and a warm friendship developed. Ida knew only what Colt had told her—that Sam needed a place to stay since foreclosure had forced her off her property. She also had been informed that Sam had recently sustained some kind of injury but not its nature.
In return for room and board Sam offered to work in the store. The one thing Ida insisted upon that Sam didn’t like was that she wear a dress while working in the store. Ida considered pants an unlikely outfit for a young woman as comely as Sam.
Staring pensively out the window of the cheerful room she now called home, Sam recalled vividly the ride into town that day over two weeks ago. After what had nearly happened in her bedroom, Colt had been subdued to the point of surliness. The next morning, after a silent breakfast, Sam had packed her saddlebags with some of her belongings and wandered around outside waiting for Colt to close up the house. It was the only home she had ever known, and tears flowed down her cheeks at the thought of it being occupied by anyone but a Howard.
Colt either did not notice or did not care as he saddled their horses and helped her mount. He felt somewhat guilty not telling Sam that he was the new owner of the Circle H, but things between them were too tense right now for confidences. Besides, he knew she would insist on staying on even if she would be alone and unprotected.
They rode in silence for a time until Colt said, “I know the ride into town can’t be too comfortable for you so we’ll take it slow and easy.”
“Don’t worry over me. I can keep up. Are you sure Ida Scheuer won’t mind a boarder?”
“I told you yesterday I already talked to her. She’s lookin’ forward to havin’ you.”
“Will you stay mere too?”
“No. I spoke to the bartender at the Palace Saloon and he said the owner often lets rooms. The owner was out of town but will be back today. I’ll inquire if he has any rooms available.”
“You mean she.”
“What?”
“The owner of the Palace Saloon is a woman. Her name is Dolly Douglas. She bought it from the previous owner over a year ago. I’m sure she’d be happy to accommodate you,” Sam said suggestively.
“Dolly Douglas? Blond, blue eyes, late twenties?”
“You … you know her?”
“Damn right I do.” Colt grinned with devilish delight. “Me and Dolly go back a long ways. Well, I’ll be hanged,” he said, shoving his hat back on his tawny mane. “Last I heard she went to California to strike it rich. If she owns the saloon she must have hit pay dirt. Wonder what brought her to Karlsburg?”
“I’m sure I don’t know,” Sam returned with a hint of sarcasm. “You’ll have to ask Miss Douglas. You two will have a lot of … catching up to do.”
After that the conversation had lagged until they reached town. Just as Colt had predicted, Ida welcomed her warmly, got her settled in the room she now occupied, and allowed her a few days rest before acquainting her with the store. Before long Sam settled down to a daily routine. Though she tried to deny it, some devil inside her made her wish she could have witnessed Colt’s reunion with the infamous Dolly.
After leaving Sam with Ida, Colt continued on to the Palace Saloon, his thoughts taking him back several years to the small Texas border town of Nocogdoches. He had met Dolly Douglas in the Outpost Saloon where she worked as hostess, and their mutual attraction soon evolved into a comfortable relationship that provided not only sexual gratification but good companionship as well. But their association died of natural causes when Colt’s restlessness took him off in another direction. When he returned months later he learned Dolly had gone to California to make her fortune.
Their reunion was all Sam had imagined, and more. Colt found Dolly in the nearly deserted saloon giving instructions to the bartender about the night’s festivities. She had changed little during the years, Colt thought warmly. Still blond, all the curves in the right places, still lovely, looking not a day older than when he had seen her five years a
go. As if sensing his presence, Dolly slowly turned in Colt’s direction. She searched his face for the space of a heartbeat, then squealed in delight.
“Colt! By God, you’re a sight for sore eyes! I reckoned if I sat in one place long enough you’d show up.” Slowly, provocatively, she walked to within inches of him, then hurled herself into his open arms.
“You’re lookin’ mighty spruce, Dolly.” Colt grinned cheekily as he hugged her tight.
“And you’re still a handsome devil,” Dolly twinkled in return. “As well as somewhat of a rogue, if memory serves. How many hearts have you broken since I saw you last?”
“Who’s countin’?” Colt shrugged with exaggerated casualness. “‘Sides, none were as pleasin’ as you.”
“Sit down, honey,” Dolly said, leading him to a table at the back of the room. “Let me buy you a drink while we catch up on old times.” She motioned to the bartender. “What brings you to a dump like Karlsburg?”
“I might ask the same of you. The last I heard you were in California makin’ your fortune. What happened, did you run out of men?”
Instead of taking offense, Dolly laughed raucously.
“Still the same old Colt. Would you believe I got married?” The news seemed to stun Colt and he choked on his drink, bringing on another round of laughter.
“The poor bastard up and died after he struck it rich in the gold mines. I hightailed it back to Texas with more money than I thought existed. I heard about the Palace from a friend, liked what I saw, and bought it. Now it’s your turn. What’s occupied your time since we parted five years ago? We had some good times, didn’t we, honey?” she sighed wistfully.
“The best,” Colt agreed. “But nothin’ so excitin’ happened to me. I bummed around Texas for a while, tried my hand at bounty huntin’, fought Indians, and finally turned lawman. Cap’n Ford recruited me for the Texas Rangers.”
“Lawman! You?” guffawed Dolly, her eyes sliding to the badge adorning Colt’s broad chest. “You’ve come in answer to Mayor Mohler’s plea? You’re here because of the Crowder gang?”
“I’m here to preserve the peace and keep the gang from killin’ off the ranchers and stealin’ their cattle.”
“They’re mean, Colt, real mean,” Dolly emphasized. “They shot up my saloon twice. Gunned down innocent men, too. A few right here in my saloon—ranchers and townspeople who did nothing to provoke them except be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I hope you got plenty of backup if or when they return.”
“There’s just me.”
“Are you loco? You don’t stand a chance alone.”
“What about the sheriff and his deputy? Or the townspeople, for that matter. Won’t they help defend the town? Cap’n Ford was countin’ on their cooperation.”
“The sheriff and his deputy are cowardly bastards and the townspeople are afraid of their own shadows. They’re good people, Colt, who don’t believe in violence. Their peaceful ways earned them respect from the Indians and a tenuous treaty. I’d say you’re pretty much on your own where the Crowders are concerned.”
“The mayor hinted as much,” Colt mused thoughtfully. “I won’t know what I’m up against till the Crowders come visitin’. In the meantime I need a place to stay. The bartender said you had rooms for rent.”
“There’s only one vacant right now, Colt, and it’s yours for as long as you need it.”
“Much obliged, Dolly. Just point me in the right direction. Would a bath be an outrageous request at this time of day?”
“I’ll see to it,” Dolly nodded, her voice ripe with promise. “And I’ll be up later to scrub your back.” Smoky blue meshed with tawny gold, provoking a wealth of fond memories.
“Suit yourself, Dolly,” Colt responded, his tone telling her it was entirely her choice. “But you’ll find I haven’t changed. Nothin’ is forever with me. If you can live with that, then I’d be obliged to have you scrub my back.”
Dolly’s keen disappointment didn’t show in her carefully composed features. “We’re two of a kind, honey. I was married for a year and hated it. I’m rich enough now to pick and choose my lovers. I’m discriminating and only take men to my bed who attract me. I hire girls to satisfy customers who come here for female companionship. Till you showed up there’s few in Karlsburg who’ve captured my fancy. We were damn good together once, and I’d like to recapture what we had for as long as you’re around.”
“How can I refuse on those terms?” Colt grinned wolfishly.
Sam had been in town over two weeks when two things happened almost simultaneously. Vern Logan came to call on her, and the Crowder gang rode into town.
It was just past noon when Vern showed up at Ida’s house. Cagily he timed his visit to coincide with the exact time Sam left the store to eat lunch and relax a few minutes before relieving Ida. Sam’s first thought was that he had been spying on her.
As Sam’s friendship with the older woman grew, Ida told her the details of her husband’s death and her arrest for his murder. Sam wasn’t too surprised to learn that Colt had been direcdy responsible for saving Ida from rape and getting her released. Just another inconsistency in his some what flawed character. What was he—devil or angel? Why couldn’t she forget the exasperating man? She hadn’t seen him except from afar since they’d arrived in Karlsburg. For some reason he seemed to be ignoring her as if she were as insignificant as a wart on a toad. But Sam was willing to bet her soul that Colt hadn’t forgotten she had robbed the stage.
Sam was more than a little surprised to see Vern Logan at the door. She had expected never to see him again after Colt had deliberately misled him to believe the worst about her.
“Do you have a few minutes, Samantha?” Vern asked. He was still not ready to give up on her, especially since Molly had told him Colt and Miss Dolly were thicker than fleas on a hound dog. “It’s important I talk to you.”
“I…suppose,” Sam allowed grudgingly. “But I’m due back at the store soon. Let’s sit on the porch,” she suggested, unwilling to be alone in the house with him. “What did you want to see me about?”
“First let me say how nice you look in that dress, Samantha. You look like a real lady.” Sam flushed but said nothing. “I came to apologize. I should have realized nothin’ happened between you and that Ranger. I was too angry to think straight. I don’t know why he said what he did. You’re not like that. I still want you for my wife.”
“What made you change your mind?” Sam asked.
“I know you haven’t seen Andrews since you left the ranch,” Vern replied. “And I have it on good authority that him and Miss Dolly have become quite close. You understand what I mean, don’t you?” Silence. “They’re lovers, Samantha. I can’t put it any plainer than that. One thing does bother me, though. What was he doin’ at your place?”
“I … I was out riding and my horse threw me. Colt happened along and helped me back home,” Sam fabricated. “I don’t know why he said what he did. The man must have a perverse sense of humor. What him and Miss Douglas do is no concern of mine.” If that were true, why did it hurt so much? Sam wondered glumly. It was no more than she expected from him.
Vern searched Sam’s face. He still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going on between Andrews and Samantha. Her explanation of their meeting sounded pretty far-fetched. But Sam had appeared so unmoved by the fact that Andrews and Miss Dolly were lovers that he was inclined now to believe her. Besides, the man did save the bank’s gold the day of the robbery and couldn’t have been at Sam’s house for any length of time. Of greater concern to Vern was the fact that his father had kept his word and disowned him. Vern saw the new will and was told that until he proved himself responsible, it would stand. Hopefully, marrying Samantha would be his first step toward earning his father’s trust.
“What’s your answer, Samantha?” Vern asked impatiently. “Will you marry me?”
“I told you before, Vern, that I don’t love you. I… can’t marry you.”
“I won’t give up, Samantha. I’ll ask over and over until I wear you down. I…I love you,” he lied. Though he didn’t actually love her he wanted her in his bed. She excited him more than any woman he had ever known.
“I have to go, Vern.” Sam stood up. “Ida is expecting me.”
“Wait, Samantha, there’s something else.”
Somewhat vexed by his persistent badgering, Sam frowned. “What is it?”
“Earlier today I was goin’ over the papers transferrin’ your ranch to Mr. Colter and came across this note. I’d forgotten about it till now.”
“What does it say?”
“Here, read it yourself.” Vern handed the note to Sam, who quickly scanned the brief contents, then stared at Vern, hope flickering in her breast.
“Mr. Colter says I can remain on the ranch until he claims it!” she exclaimed. “Did he indicate when that might be?”
“No one has seen the elusive Mr. Colter. He waltzed in and out of town without anyone knowin’ what he looks like. The only one who can identify him is Klaus Spindler, the clerk who completed the deal, and he’s in New Orleans.”
“Mr. Colter might not show up for a long time.”
“That’s entirely possible. Who can say what he has in mind? It’s downright peculiar how all this came about.”
“I appreciate you telling me this, Vern. Now I really do have to go.”
Sam took her time walking back to the store. Vern had given her much to think about. As much as she liked Ida, she hated living in town and wearing dresses every day. If Mr. Colter wanted her to continue living on the ranch in his absence, then why shouldn’t she? Surely Colt wouldn’t object as long as she promised not to run away. Where would she go anyway? Perhaps he had changed his mind about taking her to jail in San Antonio. He hadn’t mentioned it in some time, and the feeling persisted that he really didn’t want to see her behind bars. Evidently Dolly Douglas was taking up all his spare time—that’s why he hadn’t been around to see her. Well, Vern’s surprising disclosure put a different picture on things and she needed to see Colt without delay. By the time Sam reached the store she had made up her mind to beard the lion in his den.
