Deadly (2 page)

She downed her drink, the rough whiskey burning her throat. When he’d sat his drink down, she slid off her stool and kind of fell into his arms.

“Whoa there, sugar. I think the whiskey’s done gone to your brain,” he said, smiling at her like she was the prey, and he was a hunter, which was exactly what she wanted him to believe.

God, men were simple creatures, who a pretty woman could lead around with just a smile and the hint of a promise. A sexual promise and they would follow you blindly until they were suddenly trapped.

“Oh, no,” she slurred happily. “It’s gone straight to my legs.”

He laughed, placed his finger beneath her chin and tilted her face up to his. She watched as he lowered his mouth to hers. He tasted of whiskey and sin and things she didn’t want to experience with him. Revulsion swirled through her stomach, and she had to step back. “My, oh my, you certainly know how to get a girl all excited. I think I need some fresh air.”

“Maybe you need me to help you outside,” he said his smile wide, his eyes dark with passion.

“Oh, honey, I’d love for you to help me out the door. I might even let you show me what a big strong man you are.”

He grinned, and she knew he’d just taken the bait. She had him, and she stepped back out of his arms. No, she wasn’t drunk. Hell, she wasn’t even tipsy. The bartender here was known for watering the drinks down, but Simon didn’t need to know that. She wanted him to believe she was a poor, inebriated, foolish woman who he would soon be fornicating.

Only instead, he’d be tied up, trussed like a turkey, and turned over to the sheriff’s office, and they would be five hundred dollars richer.

As she walked toward the door, she noticed a man sitting in the corner, his hat pulled low over his forehead, his head down as she hurried through the saloon with Simon. Something about this cowboy seemed familiar, like she knew him, but she couldn’t stop and stare.

She pretended to sway on her feet, and Simon grabbed her by the arm. When they stepped outside, she leaned against him.

“Where to now, buttercup?” he asked.

Buttercup? Really?
Inside she cringed and couldn’t wait to hogtie this bastard.

“Around the corner and down the alley,” she said, steering him in the direction that led to his capture.

When they reached the darkened alley, she pulled him into the shadows. He covered her lips with his own, kissing her, shoving his unwelcome tongue into her mouth. She moaned, not from passion, but from trying to halt the vomit she could feel rising in her throat.

Finally, he pulled back from the kiss. “Gosh, darn it, woman, I gotta have you.”

“And so you shall,” she said, glancing around the shadows looking for Meg. Where the hell was she? Ruby had their prey ready to abduct, and her sister was nowhere to be seen.

Simon pressed her against the building, and it was all she could do not to scream. This felt so familiar, and she had to resist the urge to fight. His hand grabbed her breast, and she swallowed the nausea she could feel rising inside her. Her fingers twitched with the need to grab her gun. Where the hell was Meg?

He fumbled with his pants, quickly releasing them. They fell to the ground, and he reached beneath her dress. Her scream rose inside her throat, choking her with the need to be released.

The sound of a gun clicking made Simon freeze.

“Remove your hands from my sister, hornswoggle, and slowly step back.”

*

Meg’s heart pounded in her chest like a runaway stallion. She hadn’t been able to find Ruby. Somehow the girl was in the second alley from the saloon and not the first one. She’d known she was running out of time, and she’d been unable to find her baby sister.

God, Ruby took chances and scared Meg at the way she seemed to enjoy chasing criminals. It was almost like she had to prove she was stronger.

“Damn it, Meg, you took your sweet time,” Ruby fussed.

“You weren’t at the agreed spot,” Meg replied, her hand gripping Simon’s shirt, the gun pressed against his forehead, her heart pounding, her breathing harsh. She’d run until she’d found Ruby. “One move, buster, and your brains will be splattered on that wall. You’re worth the same amount of money, dead or alive.”

His mouth had turned into a mean grimace. “I’ll kill you for this.”

“Get in line with all the others I’ve turned in,” Meg told him. “Get the rope, Ruby. It’s laying on the ground.”

Ruby picked it up. “Hold your hands out.”

He complied. “I will hunt you down. I will make you scream for mercy.”

“Hobble your lip. Your pride is just smartin because you got caught with your pants down,” Meg said.

Wrapping the rope around his arms, Ruby glanced down. “You know for such a big, strong man, your manly parts are shrinking.”

“Shut up,” he said. “You wanted it a moment ago.”

“No, you thought I wanted that pecker a minute ago. I wanted you all right, but not for a banging up against the wall. Like that’s where a woman wants to experience sexual pleasure.”

Ruby stood back and admired her rope work. “Not bad.”

The sound of a gun hammer clicking had Meg whirling around, dragging Simon by his shirt, putting his body in front of her own. Unease spiraled through her, gripping her heart in its hand and twisting the hardened organ. There stood none other than Sheriff Zach Gillepsie.

“Let him go, Meg,” Zach said, his gun pointed at them.

“Why, Sheriff Gillespie,” she drawled, “I haven’t seen you since that cold, dark night when I left you unshucked, and all tied up,” she said, faking cockiness she didn’t feel, but refusing to release her prisoner.

“I see you’re still tying people up.” He glanced down and laughed. “At least he’s only missing his pants.”

“Meg, what’s he talking about?” Ruby asked.

She ignored Ruby, not wanting to answer her sister at this moment.

Zach smiled like it was Christmas and Santa had just delivered him a present. “Drop your gun, Meg, and let him go.”

If she let go of her gun, she’d be vulnerable to Zach, and she’d already let him hurt her once. Why make herself vulnerable again?

“Why should I?” she asked, not wanting to let this bounty go. This last criminal would pay off the loan; she would be free to follow her dreams, rather than chase dangerous men.

“Because I’m the sheriff, and I told you to. Now do it.”

“But you’re not the sheriff in this town.”

“Doesn’t matter. Drop your gun.”

Meg hesitated, but he was the law, and she could get into all kinds of trouble for resisting a lawman. Not to mention he clearly still had a vendetta with her.

“Don’t do it, Meg. I have a bad feeling about this,” Ruby warned, glancing between her and Zach. “He’s our prisoner.”

“Shut up, whore,” Simon said.

Ruby slapped him in the face. “I’m not a whore. You’re just upset because your pants are hanging around your ankles. And your pecker is now the size of a fishing worm.”

Simon tried to get to Ruby, and Meg held him tight, pressing her gun against his temple. “Stop.”

“Meg, I’m only going to tell you this once more. Drop your gun,” Zach warned.

Meg sighed. She couldn’t go against the law, even if she wanted to. “You better not double-cross me.”

“Or what?”

She stared at him as she laid her gun on the ground. Her tightly strung fingers were slow to release the weapon as her heart pounded inside her chest.

“Now, that’s my prisoner you have, and I’m taking him back with me.”

“I don’t think so,” she said. “We caught him, and we should get the bounty money.”

Zach ignored her. He still held his gun on her as he reached down and picked up her weapon. “Ruby, toss me your gun.”

“I don’t have a gun,” she said, her voice all sweet and innocent.

“Don’t make me reach up under your skirts and find it. I know you have one. All of you McKenzie girls carry guns, and I want yours right here with Meg’s.”

She growled and turned her back, while she pulled out her gun and tossed it to him.

“Thank you. Now, ladies, you’re just damn lucky you helped me today and I’m in such a good mood, or I’d be hauling both of you back to jail with Simon here. Stand back to back.”

“Why?” Meg asked, smiling at him because she knew it would get to him. Smiling because she wanted him to think that none of this bothered her, yet she was seething inside. “You’re not still mad about me tying you up, are you?”

He grinned. “How could I be mad and wanting revenge when you left me tied up and naked in the middle of Main Street?”

Ruby turned to look at Meg. “You left him naked in the middle of Main Street? You didn’t tell us that part.”

Meg ignored her. “You know the reasons for me leaving you naked.”

All the pain of Zach’s betrayal filled her, causing her to hold her head high, her back rigid, as she glared at the man who she’d almost married.

“Back to back, ladies, now! I don’t have all night,” he said brusquely.

Ruby stood behind Meg. “Tied up and naked. Wow, sister, you do like to extract your revenge.”

Zach picked up the rest of the rope left lying on the ground. He slowly untied it from their outlaw, keeping his gun trained on them.

“I don’t think I’d do that if I were you.”

“Why not?”

“He’s wanted for murder.”

Zach left the rope around the man’s hands.

“Would you please pull my pants up?”

The sheriff looked over at him. “I don’t know. These girls like to tease a man and leave him hanging out naked.”

“Pull his pants up. We’ve seen enough of that pecker to last us a lifetime,” Ruby said.

Zach deliberately ignored Ruby as he began to wind the rope around the two girls, tying them together.

“What are you doing?” Meg cried, suddenly realizing how he intended to get his revenge. Fuming, she watched as the rope wrapped around their bodies.

“It’s called vengeance. You’re being served up. You should be glad I’m not leaving you naked and exposed. See, I’m a better person than you because I left your clothes on,” he said.

“You were in the bathhouse. What was I supposed to do?” she asked. Then in a meek falsetto she said, “Oh, sheriff, put your clothes on because I’m going to tie you up and leave you in the middle of Main Street after you didn’t defend me. After you and your boys trashed me.”

Zach stared at her in the darkness then yanked hard on the ropes. “Meg, you have a smart, sassy mouth.”

“Thank you, Sheriff,” she said, smiling once again at him, knowing there would come a day when she would once again get revenge.

He finished tying them together and stood back to admire his handiwork.

“And just how are we supposed to get out of this?” Meg asked.

He grinned. “The same way I got out of my knots. But then, you left me with a rag in my mouth, so I couldn’t call for help.”

Ruby turned her head, trying to see Zach and Meg. “Wow, Meg. Remind me not to make you mad ever again.”

“You were close enough to a saloon I knew sooner or later someone would find you,” Meg said, pulling on the ropes.

“And they did just about the time the saloon closed. There I was naked, wet, cold, and shivering in a wash tub.”

Meg shrugged and tried to keep all the hurt she’d buried deep inside at bay. Just the sound of his voice brought it all back. “All you had to do was defend my honor. All you had to do was tell those lowlife bastards that I wear pants because I have no choice. But no, I heard everything you said and you joined in their laughter. You ridiculed me just like they did.”

He walked up to Meg and grabbed her chin. Meg’s heart raced, and her breath quickened as she stared into his dark brown eyes. For a moment, she felt dizzy like her world was tilting. She licked her lips as her mouth suddenly turned dry. “I was going to marry you,” she said. “I wanted you to be my husband.”

His mouth descended on hers, and he kissed her, his lips covering her own. Her mouth opened accepting him, and he drank from her like a man starving and needy. They’d never shared such a kiss before, and it left her knees weak, her breathing harsh and her body warming in areas she’d never considered. It was the kiss of a man seducing a woman. It was the kiss of a man in the throes of passion. It was the kiss of a lover branding his woman, and damn him, she refused to feel anything for him anymore.

The outlaw cleared his throat. “I didn’t know you had it in you, Sheriff.”

Zach raised his mouth from hers. “Shut up, Simon.” He gazed into Meg’s eyes. “I wanted to marry you. There could have been so much more between us.”

“Yes,” she whispered, her heart reeling, her body yearning for this man. How could he still make her heart race and her lungs squeeze with want? Why him? “If only you would have defended me.”

Her words seemed to break the spell he was under. He stepped back. “Well, I didn’t and now look where we’re at. You’re all roped up like a calf at round-up time. So I’m going to take my outlaw and leave you two to get help somehow.”

“Zach, that bounty is mine,” she yelled at him.

“I want to thank you for catching my criminal.”

“Damn it, Zach,” she said, her voice rising as he led his prisoner to a waiting horse.

He reached down and handed the man his pants. “That’s all I’m doing for you. It’s up to you to get them buttoned up.”

“My hands are tied,” Simon said.

“Your problem, not mine,” Zach commanded. “You wouldn’t be in this mess, if you hadn’t been thinking with your tallywhacker.”

Zach helped the man up on the horse. “Don’t get any funny ideas. I’ll be right behind you. We’re headed to the jail.”

“Which jail are we headed to?” Simon asked.

“Mine,” Zach replied. “Good night, ladies. I hope someone comes along soon to help you with your tied up situation.” He climbed up on his horse, laughing.

“Damn it, Zach. You’re going to pay for this,” Meg promised.

T
he sound of hooves pounding against the earth told Meg that Zach had ridden off, leaving them alone. She wasn’t afraid, just madder than a buzzard in a sandstorm. Zach may have won today, but she’d get even. She’d find him and retribution would be hers.