by Carol Finch
“You okay with this?” Cale asked. When she nodded determinedly, he gestured toward the bucket. “Rinse off the wound so I can see what I’m doing.”
Hanna dipped up the water, telling herself not to flinch or grimace or faint at the sight of more blood.
When she swayed slightly, Cale cast her a somber glance. “Are you sure you’re okay, Magnolia?”
She swallowed and nodded again. She could do this. She would do this, she promised herself fiercely.
“Well, I’m not okay, if anybody around here cares,” Julius muttered grouchily. “That hurts like hell blazing! You about done poking around down there, Chief?”
“Got it,” Cale said a moment later. “Mags, hand me that tin of poultice.” He glanced over his shoulder at the other deputy. “Pierce, take Choctaw Tom and Skeet with you to bring in the renegades I left tied up in the trees. We’ll finish up here and bandage the wound.”
Hanna noticed everyone wheeled like soldiers on parade to obey Cale’s request. It was that simple. When Cale said do something, they did it without question. She, however, had a problem with obeying his commands without question. She smiled, wondering if that fact was lost on Cale.
Apparently not, because he flashed her a pointed glance and said, “See how that’s done? Try it sometime, Magnolia.”
There was a hint of a smile on his lips when he said it, and Hanna grinned playfully in response. “Being your wife, I’m excluded,” she declared saucily.
“Really? I could’ve sworn the judge said something about honoring and obeying. Must’ve misunderstood.”
“Must’ve,” she replied, eyes twinkling. “He was talking about you.”
“You two lovebirds can cut the chitchat,” Julius said irritably. “Just patch me up. We’ve got prisoners to haul off, and I can’t do it while I’m bleeding all over the place—ouch! What’s in that poultice? It burns like fire!”
Hanna snatched up the strips of fabric Choctaw Tom had retrieved for bandages, then wrapped them around the deputy’s leg. To her dismay she wondered how it would feel to have her hands on Cale’s bare leg, touching his naked body all over.
“Something wrong, Magnolia?” Cale asked as he studied her intently. “Your face is flushed.”
Hanna forced a smile. “I’m fine.” But when her gaze strayed to Cale’s gaping shirt, which was missing its lacings, her eyes lingered on the broad expanse of his exposed chest. Her gaze shot back to his face and she had the sinking feeling that he knew what she was thinking and was amused by her inability to keep her eyes off him.
They stared at one another for a long moment before Julius broke the spell. “You two go make sheep eyes at each other someplace else. And hurry up with those bandages!”
Hanna snapped to attention to complete her task, but she couldn’t get her mind off the way those dark, penetrating eyes had bored into her. She could feel the sparks—the inner heat of suppressed desire radiating through her body. Yes, she definitely had feelings for Cale.
She wondered if she had the nerve to actually do something about it.
Cale rose to his feet and stepped away while Hanna secured the bandage. Damnation! His gnawing hunger for her was getting progressively worse. The self-control he’d always taken for granted was starting to fail him. He’d stared into those mystifying amethyst eyes, watching them sparkle with sensual speculation, and he’d wanted to kiss her so badly he could almost taste her. He was very much afraid that if she offered him the slightest hint of invitation he’d be ready to take more than she probably planned to offer. Being with her, wanting her the way he did, was frustrating the hell out of him.
He sighed in relief when Pierce emerged from the trees with the four bandits jackknifed over their saddle horses. Two spare mounts—ones that Cale suspected had been stolen from the men that he and Hanna had come upon earlier—trailed behind the deputy. For once Cale appreciated the companionship of other lawmen. Right now he needed a buffer to prevent him from filling his hands with Hanna. Every time he glanced in her direction his fantasies became more erotic, and he couldn’t seem to control them.
“If you don’t mind the company, Julius and I will ride along with you to Bennigan’s Trading Post,” Pierce said as he dismounted. He cut a quick glance at his injured partner. “It would be best if Julius rode in your wagon bed. He thinks he’s a tough old bird, but if gangrene sets in he’ll be one leg short of a pair.”
Cale nodded agreeably. The inn and trading post, which had been established on the site of a previous military compound, included a sturdy stockade where marshals regularly jailed their prisoners before transporting them to the base camp, loaded them in the jail wagon and returned to Fort Smith. Considering how vicious and bloodthirsty the Markham gang were, Cale knew the more guards watching over the prisoners the better. He preferred not to expose Hanna to the ruthless desperadoes, but Julius needed assistance and required time to recuperate from his injury.
Once Cale and Pierce had their captives secured to their horses, they loaded Julius gently into the wagon. Choctaw Tom donated another jug of whiskey to the patient to ease his pain. Before the entourage set off, Julius was singing drunkenly and sipping the potent liquor as if it was going out of style.
Another jolt of protectiveness zapped through Cale as he watched the beady-eyed captives leer at Hanna. He’d warned her to keep her distance from the prisoners, but that didn’t prevent the men from undressing her with their eyes.
Not for the first time Cale scolded himself for dragging Hanna across dangerous country, facing evils a sophisticated heiress shouldn’t have to encounter. But he had to admit that his wife was made of sturdier stuff than he’d predicted. Thus far she’d done what needed to be done, distasteful as it sometimes was. If nothing else, she was building character, gaining confidence in her abilities and meeting all sorts of challenges.
Grimly, Cale reminded himself that she still needed scads of experience if she was to follow her dream of adventure in the West. Unfortunately, the better he got to know her the better he liked her. When she struck off on her own he figured he’d spend his spare time wondering where she was and how she was faring while she chased her rainbows.
Damn, for a loner he was quickly growing accustomed to her presence, her smile, her occasional bursts of temper. To her. When she went her own way to find herself, to explore her hidden talents, Cale was very much afraid he’d miss her like crazy.
Chapter Nine
Hanna sighed in relief when she saw the crude stone-and-timber structure nestled in a fertile valley between two towering mountain peaks. Although the rough ride had left her body humming like a tuning fork, she’d adjusted after several days of traveling over the rugged terrain. She could only imagine how uncomfortable the trip must have been for Julius Tanner. But, considering how much whiskey he’d imbibed before he finally passed out, she presumed he wouldn’t remember the pain and discomfort caused by bouncing over the trail.
When the wagon rolled to a halt, Hanna climbed down to absently massage her rump. Pensively, she surveyed the two-story building that served as a trading post, telegraph office, stage station and inn. Corrals encircled a gigantic wooden barn. Mules and horses grazed on the weeds and grass in the corrals, and chickens and turkeys pecked in the yard surrounding the lodge.
“Why don’t you go inside while Pierce and I lock up the prisoners?” Cale suggested. “We’ll bring Julius in a few minutes, then send a telegram that can be delivered to the base camp, giving notification of the Markhams’ capture.”
“Cale! You’re back!”
Hanna glanced sideways to see an attractive brunette, wearing a scoop-necked calico gown that showcased her full bosom, bound off the porch and fly at Cale. She flung her arms around his neck and practically kissed his lips off. Hanna had the unshakable feeling that the buxom female was more intimately acquainted with Cale than she was.
When Cale cast her an uncomfortable glance and tried to set the woman a respectable distance away from him,
Hanna’s presumption was confirmed. She was pretty sure this top-heavy brunette was in the habit of providing sexual gratification during Cale’s forays into Indian Territory.
Hanna couldn’t hear what the woman whispered in Cale’s ear, but she suspected it was an invitation he didn’t ordinarily refuse. Jealousy took a vicious bite before Hanna had time to remind herself that she hadn’t asked or expected intimacy and fidelity from Cale. True, they were legally wed, but she was the one who had insisted on a marriage in name only.
Even more baffling to Hanna was the woman’s apparent eagerness to entertain Cale in the most intimate manner imaginable. Could it be that some women didn’t find the sexual act distasteful? Did they actually enjoy what Hanna had heard whispered in drawing rooms and at soirees to be painful and unpleasant?
“Millie,” Cale said, steering the fawning female toward her, “I’d like to introduce you to my wife. Mag…er, Hanna Elliot. This is Millie Roberts.”
“Your wife?” Millie hooted in disbelief. Her goggle-eyed gaze swept over Hanna’s less than flattering attire, then leaped to Cale. “You must be joking!”
“No,” he replied, then glanced uneasily at Hanna. “Millie works at the post as a maid and waitress.”
Hanna didn’t believe for one minute that Cale had mentioned all the duties this woman performed, but she nodded politely to Millie, just the same. “I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, Millie.”
Millie, apparently, wasn’t all that pleased to make Hanna’s acquaintance. She glared mutinously at the hand of friendship Hanna extended to her, flung up her pert nose, then stalked off with her blue calico skirts swishing around her.
Cale shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other. “Um…Millie is a little high-strung. Sorry about that.”
Although jealousy and possessiveness gnawed at Hanna, it soothed her feminine pride that Cale hadn’t tried to flaunt his friend in her face. Her previous suitors had tried that tactic on occasion, hoping to draw a commitment from her, but Hanna had never cared enough to be jealous before. The fact that Cale seemed concerned that he might have made her uncomfortable made her want to hug him—except that he’d already been thoroughly hugged by Millie.
“Tell Elmer Linden, the proprietor, to prepare a room for us….” Cale’s voice trailed off as he glanced inquiringly at her. “Unless you prefer a room of your own.”
“No,” Hanna said hastily. “One room will be fine.”
After all, they were married. Renting two rooms would likely raise questions and encourage Millie. Hanna doubted Millie would need much encouragement, especially if Cale had a room of his own.
Cale stared at Hanna with those dark, piercing eyes. “You sure, Magnolia? I can bunk in the barn with the excuse that I’m keeping a sharp eye on the prisoners.”
She met his unblinking gaze head-on. “No, the arrangements of one room will be fine. I can always take a long walk this evening while you and Millie—”
His hand shot out like a striking snake to grasp her arm. “I don’t want Millie.”
Hanna smiled faintly. “It’s all right, Cale. I’m not so naive that I don’t know what is going on. Plus I’ve made no demands on you, so I have no right to be offended by Millie’s behavior.” She couldn’t quite meet his gaze as she added, “What you do with your spare time is your own business, and I have no say in the matter.”
“We have a bargain and I intend to keep it. Embarrassing you wasn’t part of our arrangement. I’ll deal with Millie,” he told her. “I’d planned to bypass the trading post, but Julius’s injury and apprehending criminals made that impossible. I’m sorry if I’ve made you uncomfortable.”
His comment soothed her smarting pride and touched her heart. He hadn’t planned to stop here at all? He’d intended to spare her the awkward situation? For that, she could kiss him. And so she did, if for no other reason than to assure Millie—who was spying on them through the window—that she did harbor a certain affection for her husband.
Cale’s dark brows shot up to his hairline when Hanna planted an impulsive kiss on his lips and pressed familiarly against him. Desire shot through him like an arrow, putting his overly sensitive male body in an immediate state of arousal. Images of Hanna naked beside the river instantly leaped to mind—proof positive that he would never forget how she’d looked, short of being stricken with amnesia. When the erotic image tangled with the remembered pleasure of being thoroughly kissed by her, Cale had to bite back a tormented groan.
If he wasn’t mistaken—judging by this impromptu display of affection—his new bride was a mite possessive herself, despite her noble claim that she had no right to be. Well, wasn’t that something? Cale was glad to know he wasn’t the only one around here who was suffering occasional bouts of possessiveness. Of course, just because Hanna felt the need to stake her claim—for Millie’s benefit—didn’t mean that she wanted to do more than kiss him or sleep by his side as she’d done during their journey.
Hanna stepped back, looking as dazed as he felt. When she strode off to locate Elmer, Cale pivoted to see Pierce Hayden staring at him in amusement.
“Interesting situation, Chief,” Pierce said, his green eyes twinkling mischievously. “Knowing Millie’s feisty temperament, she won’t take the news of your recent marriage sitting down. She’s had her eye on you since her husband took off a few years back.”
Cale scowled. Sure, he and Millie had shared some good times when he passed through the area. And certainly, he could use some relief, because being with Hanna, and doing nothing about it, was making him a little crazy. But he’d rather suffer sexual deprivation than humiliate Hanna. What she thought and how she felt mattered to him, whether it should or not.
“C’mon, lover boy,” Pierce said teasingly, “let’s get these prisoners in the stockade so we can settle Julius into a room. He needs something in his belly besides that rotgut Choctaw Tom gave him.”
Willfully, Cale tossed aside his problems with Hanna and Millie and strode off to ensure the prisoners were secured for the night.
Hanna smiled politely at the burly proprietor, who had hands the size of hams and fingers like link sausages. Although rugged and rawboned, Elmer Linden was quick with a smile—unlike Millie, who hovered by the window, glaring daggers at Hanna.
“You married Cale, didja?” Elmer asked as he grabbed a room key. “When did that happen?”
“About a week ago.” Give or take, Hanna silently tacked on. She gave Elmer her best smile. “Encountering outlaws interrupted our honeymoon.”
Behind her, Millie gave an unladylike snort. Making her irritation known, she whipped around and stalked toward the kitchen.
Elmer raised a bushy brow at Millie’s theatrical departure, then glanced down at Hanna. “Well, congratulations, Mrs. Elliot.”
“Thank you, Elmer,” she replied with a smile.
“Your room is at the far end of the hall. I’ll have a bath readied for you. Mama will be serving supper in about an hour, when the stage rolls in with its passengers.”
“I was hoping to send off a telegram,” Hanna commented as she glanced toward the small office behind the counter.
Elmer motioned for her to follow him. Within a few minutes Hanna had sent off instructions for Benjamin Caldwell, her mother’s lawyer, to forward her trust fund to the bank in Cromwell, Texas.
That accomplished, Hanna strode back outside to check on Julius, who was still dozing in the back of the wagon. She retrieved the luggage, then returned to the inn. By the time supper was served, Hanna planned to look more presentable than she did now. If she found herself in competition with Millie for Cale’s attention she would at least don a dress and try to look the part of a dignified and respectable wife.
Her arms laden with Cale’s saddlebags and her satchels, Hanna climbed the steps. She encountered the disgruntled Millie Roberts at the head of the stairs and reflexively braced a hand on the banister—in case Millie had it in mind to send her tumbling down to land in a broken heap.
Hanna wished she hadn’t been raised a lady, so she could smack Millie right between the eyes. Was she going to let this bloodsucking leech sink her teeth into Cale? Not a chance, she decided.
“The Southern drawl is for real,” Hanna insisted. “And Cale will be entirely too busy with me to spare time for you.” Head held high, she veered around the fuming brunette.
“We’ll just see about that, won’t we?” the woman said with a challenging smirk.
Millie, it seemed, was determined to humiliate her every chance she got, and Hanna vowed not to let that happen. It dawned on her halfway down the hall that, although she’d dealt with jealous rivals before, she’d been too disinterested in her suitors to put up a fight. Fighting for Cale, however, was another matter entirely. He was her tutor, her guide, her confidant and her husband. Even if she really didn’t have a rightful claim on his affection and his fidelity, she couldn’t tolerate the thought of Cale and Millie naked, in each other’s arms.
Hanna muttered under her breath when the distasteful image of her husband and his former lover rolling around on a bed, kissing each other as if there was no tomorrow, bombarded her. Angrily, she shoved open the door to the cramped quarters that contained no more than a narrow bed, small tub and crude nightstand. She was again reminded of all the luxuries that she’d sacrificed when she set off on her exodus to the West. As honeymoon suites went, this one provided basic necessities—and nothing else.
Well, she was going to make the best of her shabby accommodations. Furthermore, she was going to dress to assure Millie that, although Hanna might not be woman enough to satisfy a man like Cale Elliot, she could look and act the part of a lady when she felt like it.
