Deadly (20 page)

*

Annabelle and Ruby rode into Dyersville determined to locate their sister. Fear spurred Annabelle on. She’d left the care of the farm with her cousin, Caroline, with the promise as soon as Annabelle located her eldest sibling and talked some sense into her, she’d be home. The talking sense part might be a tad bit ambitious, but she had to know Meg was all right. She’d never been this long on a hunt without checking in.

Dust drifted up from the hooves of their horses, coating her boots. The town was like any other sleepy western town with the essential businesses people needed to survive, and some that people thought they had to have to live.

“Where do you think she would have gone?” Annabelle asked as they rode side-by-side through the town.

“The sheriff, the saloon, and maybe the livery stable. You take the sheriff. I know a girl who works the saloon. I’ll speak to her, and then we can meet back up.”

“Let me help you off your horse. We need to spend the night here to let you rest. I don’t want you reinjuring that ankle.”

“It’s fine. You worry too much.”

“And you don’t worry enough.”Annabelle helped Ruby slide from her horse, her sprained ankle still swollen and tender. “Can you make it into the saloon?”

“I’m fine. You go talk to the sheriff.”

As Ruby hobbled into the saloon, Annabelle watched long enough to make certain she made it into the rowdy establishment, knowing with certainty she could hold her own. If not, then Annabelle would soon be along to give Ruby any support she might need.

Thirty minutes later, they both arrived in front of the livery stable at the same time.

“Any luck?” Annabelle asked.

“Yes, Meg was in the saloon two days ago. But they haven’t seen her since. How about you?”

“Nothing. That lawman’s lips were sewed tighter than a corset. I’m hoping we can learn something here.”

The two women walked into the livery stable. Annabelle watched a good-looking tall man approach them. “Nick Hargrove, how can I help you ladies?”

Her stomach clenched. The man was as phony as fool’s gold. Ever since she’d worked at Rusty’s café, she could spot a lady's man from a mile away. She should probably thank Rusty’s wife for giving her the opportunity to learn what kind of men to avoid.

“Have you seen a red-headed woman wearing men’s clothing in the last few days?” Annabelle asked.

“Why?”

“She’s our sister, Meg McKenzie, and we’re trying to track her down,” Ruby said, staring at the man, her blue eyes zeroing in on him like he was a target.

Annabelle was proud of the way Ruby had become a strong woman in the last year. Being a bounty hunter, she’d quickly learned how to hold her own and didn’t think twice about hauling some criminal in to the law. This wiseass would do well not to make her mad.

“She was in here day before yesterday. She took Zach Gillespie’s horse and was headed to his mother’s ranch, last I heard. Zach was pretty angry at her for leaving him without a horse.”

“Where does his mother live?” Annabelle asked, doubting Meg was still there, but hoping she’d know where Meg had headed. “We’ve got to find her.”

The man gave her directions. “You can track his horse prints because the right front leg only has five nails in that shoe. The other three have eight. Damn horse has a weird hoof.”

“Thanks, that’s good information. We’ll pay Mrs. Gillespie a visit.”

“Oh, it’s not Mrs. Gillespie. It’s Mrs. Trudeau.”

“What?” Ruby frowned at the man and shook her head. “Zach’s name is Gillespie.”

“Yeah, she remarried after Mr. Gillespie died.”

Ruby flipped her blonde hair back off her shoulder. “Dear God, then Simon Trudeau is Zach’s brother.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the man said, leaning against the barn door and staring at Ruby like she was steak and he was starving. “You girls passing through or will you be coming back?”

Suddenly, Ruby seemed to take notice of the way he was observing her, and her hand shifted closer to her gun. She stepped back away from the open door. “We’re just passing through. Come on, Annabelle. We’ve got to warn, Meg.”

“Y
ou okay, cowboy?” Meg asked gently, her heart aching at the sight of his drawn face, his eyes a torturous brown as they rode away from the cottage.

Zach had barely said five words to the woman. Before they’d left, he’d expressed his condolences for the death of her husband, but he’d never admitted Simon was his brother or whether or not he’d been convinced Simon had killed the man.

“Yes,” he said, his voice gruff. “I really believed he was innocent.”

Meg turned her horse toward town, her body swaying in the saddle. “I don’t know what I would do if one of my sisters had killed someone. Ruby said she almost shot that Mullins boy when he tried to rape her. I was tempted to kill him myself.” She glanced over at Zach. “You know this means we have to bring him in.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Sadness filled Meg’s soul like an overflowing well, her heart breaking at the sight of Zach slumped in the saddle, clearly upset about what the Lowell widow had told them.

“What if she’s wrongly accusing him? What if she just wants to get him in trouble?” Zach asked, his voice filled with desperation.

“Do you believe she’s lying?”

He sighed, the sound loud in the lengthening Texas shadows. Their horses plodded along the road, kicking up dust as they rode into town. “No, I think she’s telling the truth. I just don’t want to believe it.”

Meg nodded. She understood, and for once, Zach had her complete sympathy. Mrs. Lowell had been his last chance to clear his brother’s name. And now he was faced with the situation he’d dreaded. Now he would have to turn his younger brother over to the authorities, where he’d face trial and possibly hang. But he’d also have to tell his mother, whose heart would be broken that her youngest son had murdered a man and would pay for his crimes.

“Sometimes a man has to face the fact he’s been wrong. You’ve helped me see that in the last few days. First, with the realization how much you really want to be treated like a woman, which then helped me realize how badly I’ve treated you. And now Simon. I feel like I’ve not been thinking very clearly with either one of you.”

Meg turned in her saddle and stared at him. His brown earthy eyes were dark, and she wanted to wrap her arms around him and comfort him. “That, cowboy, is quite a confession.”

“Well, it’s true.”

“So what are you going to do about it?”

He pulled his horse close to hers and yanked up on her reins, stopping her. “I’m going to work hard not to be stupid when it comes to you. I don’t have any other dark hidden secrets. Just a longing to be with you.” He reached over, his hand coming behind her head as he brought her mouth to his. He kissed her like a man who’d lost everything and needed to be reassured that he was still alive. He kissed her like a man whose well was empty, drained of all feelings. He kissed her like a man who longed for only her.

She pulled back when their horses snickered and did a side-step. Her hand reached out to caress his face. “It’s getting late. Let’s find a hotel and bunk in for the night.”

She knew exactly what she was telling him. He needed her tonight, and she could no more deny him than the sun could keep from rising in the morning. Maybe she desired him as much as he needed her.

*

Darkness cloaked the small Texas town as Meg and Zach walked up the stairs, their boots making a hollow noise. Zach turned the key, flinging open the door to the room they’d rented for the night. Maybe she was crazy for agreeing to share a room with him, but the news of Simon’s guilt had been like a poison spreading through his body. She’d seen the way his expression had closed off, his eyes vacant and distant, his shoulders sagging and his speech becoming one-syllable answers. It was like Zach had disappeared into the cavern of his mind.

Yet, how would she have felt if the accusations were against one of her sisters? How would she have reacted to the knowledge that Annabelle or Ruby had killed an innocent man in cold blood? How would she feel if she were the person who would have to turn her sister over to hang?

She couldn’t do it. She could never deliberately harm her sisters. Sometimes she’d like to, but there was no way she could take them to the law, knowing they would hang for their crimes and be out of her life forever.

They closed the door behind them, and she glanced at the big bed in the middle of the room. She turned her gaze to Zach’s large brown eyes. She let her saddlebags drop to the floor, her eyes never leaving his, her heart beating inside her chest like a drummer in a military band.

Hot sultry silence filled the room. The kind of tension and heat that crackled the atmosphere before a summertime thunderstorm. And then he moved swiftly and deliberately toward her. His hands gripped her face, cradling her head like she was the most cherished person in the world as his mouth descended to hers. And, oh God, how she wanted this kiss. Needed him like she was a flower and he was the rain.

His lips moved over hers, making her body seemed to bust out singing the “Hallelujah Chorus”. A tingle of desire shot straight from her lips to her groin. He pulled her tight against his body, letting her feel the solidness of his chest, the rock hardness of his manhood snug against her belly. She opened her mouth, seeking his tongue, needing him, wanting to comfort this big strong man who tantalized her, made her crazy with anger, and left her laughing with pleasure. Only Zach had the power to make her feel so many different emotions all at the same time.

Only Zach…those words flitted across her mind like the aftermath of a bad storm, when you realized you had survived and the blessed rain had cleansed the earth. Could she be falling in love with this man? Absolutely not! They irritated one another; they made each other madder than a bear in springtime. Yet, she couldn’t keep her hands off him.

His hands slid down her face, her throat, lingering on her breasts as he gripped both of them. Their lips came apart, and she slowly opened her eyes.

He was gazing at her. “God, I need you so much tonight.”

She reached up and touched the side of his face, her fingertips feeling the bristles of his beard, the smoothness of his lips. He could make her so angry, yet this afternoon, she’d felt like her insides were being cannibalized at the devastating realization that Simon was guilty.

And Zach would suffer because of his crimes.

“What are you waiting for?” she whispered, the words escaping, acknowledging the desire that consumed her.

Zach walked her to the bed. He pulled the shirt from her pants and undid the buttons. He pushed the garment from her shoulders, his lips connecting with the side of her throat, trailing down her chest to the tops of her breasts. Lifting the bottom of her chemise, he pulled the garment over her head, leaving her breasts exposed to his gaze.

“Oh God, Meg. You’re so beautiful.” His words were like raindrops of desire filling her well with much-needed assurance that he wanted her.

Meg arched her back as he lifted her breasts to his mouth. His tongue laved her nipple, sending tingles racing through her. She grasped the back of his head, holding his mouth in place. A moan escaped her lips as he nipped her nipple with his teeth, sending sparks cascading through her.

She’d never known such arousal was possible until Zach. She’d never known it was possible for a man to need a woman and for her to ache with passion and pleasure.

He reached for her pants and quickly unbuttoned them. He kissed his way down her stomach as he slowly pushed her pants down. Kneeling on the floor, his mouth lingered above her womanly center, sending a spiraling cascade of desire straight between her legs.

She gasped for air, wondering what he would do next as his breath moved her auburn curls. With a gentle push from him, she fell onto the bed. He moved between her legs, spreading her open like a flower. Her heart felt as if it would burst out of her chest as he lowered his mouth to her center. The first touch of his tongue on her most intimate womanly parts had her shooting up off the bed onto her elbows. “Zach, what are you doing?”

“Lay back. Let me love you,” he commanded.

She lowered herself back to the bed, and he bent over her, placing his mouth on her center. Between her legs, a firestorm began to build, like a wildfire out of control. Reverently, his tongue licked her moist folds. Her hands gripped the bedspread, while he caressed her. Just when she didn’t think she could stand another second of his mouth upon her, his teeth nipped her, sending her bucking against his mouth as desire spiraled within her.

“Oh, God,” she cried as her hands found the top of his head. She no longer wanted him to stop, and she wasn’t certain she would ever let him come up. Pressure began to rise in her, and her breathing increased until she thought she would explode from the pleasure.

“What are you doing to me?” she gasped, her hands running through his hair, holding onto him to keep herself tied to the earth.

He didn’t respond but inserted two fingers into her as his tongue lapped at her center.

The pressure reached a peak she could no longer control. With a cry, she felt herself tumbling over the edge of a precipice, falling. His gentle hands grasped her as her body shook from the pleasure that had overtaken her. Like a river crashing over the falls, she tumbled headlong with exhilaration. She completely lost control in Zach’s hands.

The man had wrung her out and laid her low. As her heart rate slowly returned to normal, she felt her heart swell with emotion.

She released his head and he rose from the bed. With tantalizing slowness, he unbuttoned his shirt while he stared at her. She lay completely naked, spread eagle on the bed, her breasts rising and falling as she recovered from the passion they’d just created.

His eyes were dark with some hidden emotion that touched her soul and left her wanting more. She needed him in her arms. She wanted him. Now.

Desire filled her body and left her with an ache. An ache for this man.

She had no previous experiences to compare what they’d just done, but now she wanted Zach inside her.