“Do you believe I can shoot a gun?”
He laughed. “Sugar, yes, you definitely have a way with a pistol. Remind me not to get in a shooting match with you.”
She smiled. “That’s better. You wait here. I’ll be back.”
She walked away from the campfire and hurried toward her horse. No, she wouldn’t leave him tied up, but it would do him good to be left alone, unable to do anything until she returned and cut him loose.
Let him stew for a little while and think about how she’d just saved his ornery hide.
Chapter 12
Beau sat back down on the hard, cold ground waiting for Annabelle to return, hoping that she would. Okay, he’d handled that like a jackass, but he’d been so frightened for her safety that he’d been unable to breathe. Even now his heart was racing inside his chest like a jack rabbit being chased by a wolf. And that’s what he’d been, the jack rabbit about to be served up to those cold-blooded thugs, until Annabelle had picked them off one by one.
She hadn’t missed a shot and when she’d come out of the darkness, her hands by her side without a gun, he’d thought for sure they were both goners. He’d thought they were both going to be pushing up bluebonnets. But once again this woman who astounded him, who intrigued him, had shown him her tough side.
He couldn’t remember if he’d ever seen a faster shooter. She could draw quicker than a man could spit and say howdy, shooting William right between the eyes. Better than any gunfighter he’d ever seen.
A woman. His Annabelle.
Well, she wasn’t his, though gosh darn it, she’d be a great woman to have by his side. She was soft as a cloud on the outside and tough as nails on the inside she smelled like pure heaven.
And her kisses could send him to the moon and back. They packed a kick better than alcohol and tastier.
She walked back into the glow of the campfire, pulling her horse behind her. After she’d tied the horse, she strolled over to Beau and gazed at him, her sapphire eyes flashing with anger.
God, he’d screwed up badly. And now he had to eat crow unless he wanted to remain tied up.
“Look, I’m sorry. Thank you for what you did. I appreciate it and I’m sorry I didn’t say it any better. But I was so afraid for you. The thought of one of them killing or hurting you scared me worse than a green bronco in a thunderstorm. You’re a damn fine shot.”
She smiled. “That’s fancy talk for a man with a rope around his feet and ankles.”
“I was only trying to protect you.”
Couldn’t she understand that he couldn’t live with himself if he caused her death? And he’d been so frightened. He’d accepted that he was going to die, but not Annabelle.
“I can take care of myself,” she said, standing defiantly before him. “Turn around, I’ll untie you.”
“Thanks.”
“Where did you learn to shoot like that?”
“My father gave us lessons, but mainly it was just practice. I’d come home from the restaurant and practice aiming at tin cans that I drew characters on that looked like my customers. Let’s just say that the worst customers were always on the fence, being gunned down.”
Her knife cut through the knots. He shook out his hands letting the blood rush back in. He’d thought he was going to die with those ropes around his wrist. He’d thought his life was over.
“Like I said, I’m accurate up to about fifty yards.”
With a yank, he pulled out his own knife and cut through the ropes binding his legs. He hated being tied up. He hated the feeling of helplessness that there was nothing he could do.
“Why didn’t you leave me?” he asked. “That’s what I told you to do.”
“And I told you, I couldn’t. Could you have gone off and left me?” she asked.
“You know I wouldn’t.”
Standing the blood flowed back into his legs and feet. He started to walk and for just a second had no feeling in his left foot. Annabelle caught him with her hands and steadied him.
God, this woman had saved his butt once again.
He grabbed her and planted his lips over hers. His mouth plundered hers, greedily consuming her, drinking from her, needing her like his next breath. He sampled her mouth, sweeping his tongue across her full bottom lip.
His hands grabbed her face, slanting her mouth for a deeper exploration. One hand tangled in her hair, bringing her closer, needing her even more. All he could think about while she’d stood there in front of William was what if something happened to her. What if she died because of him?
How could he live with himself if she were gone?
He kissed her hard, his mouth pummeling hers. His lips moving over hers, like he was starving. He pulled her body firm against his own needing her close, needing to feel her heart beating beneath his.
Why this woman? Why this woman had crawled beneath his skin and tangled with his heart was something he couldn’t answer. He wasn’t good for her. He wasn’t good enough for her and she deserved so much more than a cowboy with a lawless well-known family.
Her arms wrapped around his neck, urging him closer, holding on while his lips drank from her mouth. He drank from her greedily, consuming her with a pleasure he had long denied himself. Her hands urged him on, pulling him tighter as she moaned deep in her throat.
Suddenly, she went stiff beneath him and shoved him with all her might.
“No,” she gasped stepping out of his arms. “No.”
He took a deep steadying breath and released it slowly while his hand ran through his hair as he watched her. She was touching her lips, staring at him, her sapphire eyes flashing with heat and need.
“No,” she repeated. “We can’t.”
He nodded. “It’s just…if you…had gone off like I told you, I’d be dead. Thank you for not listening to me.”
Taking a step back, her chest rose and fell, her breathing harsh as she stared at him, her sapphire eyes filled with heat and need “You’re welcome.”
“And,” he said releasing a deep breath. “I won’t ever doubt your skills with a gun again.”
She smiled. “Thanks.”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. After all that excitement, I think we should eat,” he said knowing that they needed something to occupy themselves with or else he would find his lips on hers once again.
She glanced around at the dead men lying on the edge of the campfire where she’d shot them. “If you don’t mind. Could we get rid of these bodies? They’re kind of making me feel a little nauseous.”
He chuckled. “Sure.”
While he dragged the bodies into the darkness, she took out their meager supplies and rummaged through what the outlaws no longer needed. Soon she had a nice meal going over the warm fire.
When Beau came back, he washed his hands in the river and then came back into the glow of the firelight. “That smells delicious.”
“It’s beef jerky stew.”
“You’re spoiling me. When we reach Fort Worth, I’m not going to have you to cook for me any longer.”
There was nothing to stop them from reaching Fort Worth. Nothing to keep her from turning him in and putting him in jail. Nothing.
She took a deep breath and released it slowly. Why did she feel like he was the only man who had ever really understood her? Why with Beau did she feel at ease sitting around the campfire? And after today, he appreciated the fact that she could handle a gun just as well as a man.
She’d never felt so comfortable with another human being, not even her sisters, like she did with Beau and that tore her up inside. He walked on the wrong side of the law. There was no way that they could be together and he’d shown no signs of wanting her other than sexually.
Taking a deep breath, she steeled her heart against the feelings she could feel flowing through her. The memory of William standing over Beau with that blazing hot stick in his hand and her fearing that he would poke out his eyes or something drastic squeezed her heart.
Fear gripped her insides and twisted them. She couldn’t fall in love with this man. She just couldn’t. She’d never been in love, never had a boyfriend, never been kissed until Beau. And now she was frightened of her feelings.
This man understood her, respected her and was even starting to believe that she was a capable woman who could take care of herself. But she could also be soft and vulnerable with Beau and she’d never been able to be that way before.
He made her feel like a cherished woman and that’s what scared her more than anything. All her childhood dreams of a husband and children he evoked and rekindled. Dreams she had since given up. At twenty, she was considered an old maid.
Beau stood and walked down to the river where he rinsed his dinner plate. “That was a great dinner.”
“Thanks,” she said.
“You’re spoiling me. Once we reach Fort Worth, I’ll have a hard time adjusting back to the trail food I'm used to eating.”
She smiled. “But you’ll be eating jail food.”
He frowned for a moment and stared at her. “What if you didn’t turn me in and collect that bounty.”
“Then all of this would have been for naught. My sisters will still have to be out on the trail chasing bounties. I don’t want that,” she said quietly.
If it wasn’t for Meg and Ruby, she would leave Beau here on the trail and return home. But she had to think about them. She didn’t want the burden of the farm keeping them out searching for outlaws. She’d seen how dangerous the job of bounty hunter could be and knew that eventually, they could get hurt. They’d been lucky so far, but their father had died chasing a bad man and they could too.
“Your family seems close,” he said.
“We are,” she responded.
He stared into the fire, like he wanted to throw daggers at the flames. “We were at one time, but not anymore. Frank and Jesse changed all that.”
“I can’t help but think about your mother. All of her sons have gotten in trouble with the law. Don’t you think she wonders what she did wrong?”
“No. My mother thought that Frank and Jesse were heroes. And that Archie gave his life to support their cause. Me, she’s never been very proud of me.”
“Why? You’re doing what your brothers have done? Isn’t that what she’s proud of them for?”
He laughed and poked the fire with a stick he’d picked up, sending sparks flying heavenward. “No, I’m not robbing banks that are owned by northern industrialists and I’m not helping continue the fight for the Southern cause. I’m just the kid that stood up to his brother for shooting a blackie. I’m the son who didn’t join in with his brothers to fight for the South. I’m the black sheep of the family. I’m my mother’s biggest disappointment.”
How could Beau be considered the black sheep of the family? If his mother wanted her sons to rob banks and commit crimes, he was fulfilling her every wish. He had a price on his head just like his brother Jesse and Frank. What more did she want?
She shook her head. “None of this makes sense to me. If you were a lawman, then I could see why you would be on the outside of the family, but you’re still robbing banks and doing wrong. If I were your mother, I’d be mad at the whole lot of you for going against the law and risking your lives for a cause that is not going to succeed. We’ve already seen that.”
Beau reached over and touched her hand. “You have such a fiery spirit. It’s one of the things I like about you.”
“Yeah, well, it gets me in trouble with my family. My sisters get frustrated with me because I tell them what I think. Especially when it doesn’t agree with them. I wouldn’t be here if they had agreed. But no, Meg wanted to stop bounty hunting and Ruby wanted to continue. I wanted to go with Ruby and Meg said no. It’s a dangerous job for a woman and I want my sisters to stop.”
Beau nodded. “Bounty hunting is a perilous profession. Especially for a woman.”
“But if Ruby is going to continue hunting, I don’t want her to go alone. And I don’t want to go with her.”
“You just want to get married and have a few kids. Sounds nice and normal.”
She swallowed and blinked her eyes. What could she say? She wanted him but knew he was off limits. She couldn’t even think about it because it hurt way too much. “My dreams are simple.”
“That doesn’t make them bad. It’s okay to have simple dreams. Actually, they sound really nice.”
She stood and emptied the rest of her coffee into the fire. “Yeah, well they’re not going to happen anytime soon.”
“You don’t know that.”
Oh yes, she did. There wasn’t a man in Zenith that she considered husband material and now…God, now when she thought of a man, she would always compare him to Beau.
“I know that I’m out here with you, not at home. And I haven’t met a man in Zenith that I would even consider for a husband. Not one.”
“Understand.”
Silence stretched between them and for a moment, Annabelle thought she’d confessed too much. There was an attraction between them that she’d never experienced with any other man and yet it was impossible. Beau was from a lawless family that would never allow them to have the kind of life she wanted. He was wanted by the law and she had to turn him into the sheriff to get her sisters out of the bounty hunter way of life.
The two of them together was impossible.
“We better turn in. We still have two days of riding before we reach Fort Worth.”
“There should be an extra bedroll now for you to sleep in.”
She wanted him next to her. She didn’t want him next to her. What the hell had she gotten herself into? She wanted this man so desperately, but knew he was off limits. She had to turn him into the law. She had to, to protect her sisters. Her mind was whirling like that twister, churning with so many mixed feelings.
“I’m not sleeping with fleas. I don’t know anything about these men and their bedrolls could be filled with either bed bugs or fleas. If you want to sleep in it, then you can, but me, I’m crawling in with you.”
A spiral of warmth went through Annabelle at the thought of his strong, warm body next to hers. How could she tell him no, when it was his bedroll, and she didn’t blame him one bit for not sleeping in one of the outlaws blankets.
And she liked him sleeping beside her. But they were alone, with no one around to chaperone them and temptation curled inside her like a coiled snake, ready to strike.
Yet, she enjoyed the feel of Beau snug against her at night. He was warm and safe and the man made her feel things that no one had ever made her feel. She wanted him beside her.
She watched as Beau rolled out the bedroll. He arranged the blankets, glanced over at her, his eyes dark, with some hidden emotion that had her blood heating. She licked her lips and tried to think of any way she could keep the distance between them.
He walked over to the fire and kicked some logs over, then glanced at her. “Come to bed, Annabelle. I want to hold you in my arms.”
Oh God, how did she get away from being snug in his embrace and did she want to?
No, she wanted him.
She took two steps to the bedroll and dropped to her knees and lay down. Maybe it was wrong, but she didn’t care. She wanted Beau for the time they had left together.
Chapter 13
The next morning, Annabelle rode beside Beau. The night before, the moment her head hit the ground and Beau had wrapped his arms around her, she’d fallen into a deep, restful sleep. For the first time in days, she’d slept soundly not worrying about waking to a gun in her face or the two of them being shot while they slept.
She’d dreamed of home and the farm. Of her sisters playing together as little girls while, their Papa had plowed the field. Even her mother had been there and Annabelle had woken this morning feeling like her dreams were reminding her of the love waiting for her at home.
Even though her mother and father were gone, her sisters would welcome her back in their loving arms and sco
ld her for leaving without talking to them first. And she deserved their wrath. Yes, it was time to go home. She could feel her soul longing for where she belonged.
As they prepared to leave, she glanced at the peaceful moving river. “Shame the river won’t take us to Fort Worth.”
“Yeah, it is. We’d be there in a day instead of several days. I think we can make it in two days.
He walked over to some dead bushes and moved them aside. Shoving rocks out of the way, he reached down and pulled out a bank bag.
“Oh my God. I almost forgot about the money,” Annabelle said, staring at the bag, knowing there was no way she could ignore or hope or wish or dream that Beau was not a bank robber. He was holding proof of his crime in his hand. Her soul bled, despair and sadness causing her stomach to feel queasy.
“Yes, we need to take this with us,” he said, holding up the bag, examining the contents.
He stood and walked to his horse, where he put the bag in his saddle pouch.
Now she had to do the hardest thing she’d ever done in her twenty years living on this earth. Beau was an outlaw, a bank-robber, a thief and she had to turn him in and collect the bounty so that her sisters would no longer have to hunt for criminals.
They would be safe and together the three of them could work the farm and live a quiet life. No, it wasn’t what she’d dreamed of as a young woman, but sometimes dreams were just that, fanciful creations in your mind, not the reality of life.
“What are you going to do with that money?” she asked, needing to know that he hadn’t robbed that bank just for the money. Could there possibly be a good reason for him needing the cash?
“You’ve already asked me that question.”
“And you never told me.”
“Some things are better left unsaid,” he said, pulling his hat low then climbing onto his horse.
She sighed. He wasn’t going to tell her, but she knew it couldn’t be good. Whatever he had planned in Fort Worth, he wasn’t saying. She climbed onto her horse, ready to ride out for the last part of their journey together.
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