Chase Wheeler's Woman (2 page)

She smiled at that as his lips came down on hers. It was a pleasing kiss, she thought, as he lowered her down to the blanket. She kissed him back softly, experimenting with his mouth. He groaned aloud and probed her with his tongue until she gasped. Somehow
his body seemed to be surrounding hers, lying half on top of her. She tried to shift away, but his legs held her firm.

His hands moved frantically over her stomach now, rising higher, up over her ribs. She slapped them down.

“No, Albert.”

“C’mon, Letty Sue. I won’t tell a soul, I promise.”

“I said no.” She tried to pry herself up, shoving at him, to no avail.

“With your mama gone, we can spend more time together,” he said, kissing her lips again. “And get to know each other much better.” He rubbed his body against hers, frightening her with his boldness. “We both know that was what you were hinting at before. I’ll help with the ranch, I swear.”

She twisted in his arms, a swell of panic rising. “No, Albert. Let me up. Now.”

He didn’t budge, and though she wiggled, she couldn’t get out of his grasp.

“You’ve made me crazy with want, Letty Sue. Letting me touch you, just enough to stir my blood. Brushing your sweet body against mine every chance you get. You’ve teased me unmercifully for weeks. This is what you want.” He spoke low in her ear. “What we both want. Relax now, you’re gonna like it.”

She shook her head briskly. Foodstuffs scattered across the ground as she struggled. “I won’t like it. Don’t touch me!”

Her attempts to pull away were futile. His hot
breath and the dangerous gleam in his eyes alarmed her like nothing else ever had. “Please, Albert! Let me up.”

“Do as the lady says.”

The husky command came from just beyond the edge of the blanket.

A man, tall and broad of shoulder, stood above them, pointing his gun. Albert immediately froze while eyeing the stranger. And when he finally lifted his weight from her, Letty Sue breathed a quick sigh of relief.

“Good. Now get yourself on out of here.”

Albert stood, lifting his arms in the air. The gun was trained on him. “B-But I have t-to see her home.”

The stranger laughed—a derisive, cold sound. “Don’t think so.”

“B-But I can’t leave her h-here with a stranger.”

Albert was being noble
now?
What had happened to his gentlemanly nature just a few minutes ago? Letty Sue wondered.

She stood and straightened, shaking out the creases in her dress and mustering as much pride as she could under the circumstances. When she looked up, the stranger’s silver eyes were on her, perusing her with intense interest from the top of her mussed sable hair down to her delicately encased toes.

“I’m no stranger,” the man with the gun stated.

Realization dawned quickly. Those eyes… She’d never forget them. Flashes of faded memory came bursting forth. She’d been just a child, but the sight
of those gray eyes, the color of cold hard steel, had been stowed away permanently in her mind.

Silver Wolf.

“Remember me?” he asked, lowering his gun but directing his razor sharp gaze toward her.

Speechless, she nodded. She remembered the boy, barely, and his Cheyenne name. But he was a man now, tall in frame, with strong features—dangerous eyes, aquiline nose, a rigid jaw. And she sensed he was a powerfully competitive opponent to any who crossed him.

He’d saved her life, and Mama’s, too, when Letty Sue was just a child, coming to their rescue when Dog Soldiers had both females pinned down. The young Cheyenne brave of twelve had surprised the renegade Indians and fought them off, saving both Witherses’ lives.

The gloomy images had faded in a little girl’s mind, but they resurfaced today—clouded and perhaps distorted, but they were there just the same. A bleak reminder of the terror they’d all been through.

The half-breed was dressed in white man’s clothes, a plaid work shirt, chaps over his trousers and a black Stetson that seemed to cover up rather long ink-black hair.

He was known as Chase Wheeler, but to Letty Sue, he would always be Silver Wolf.

He turned his attention back to Albert. “Get going,
Albert.
No harm will come to her. I’m the new foreman on the Double J. Now hop into your buggy.”

Letty Sue watched Albert until he was well on his
way down the road. Humiliation set in then. How much had this man seen? Heard? He’d certainly heard enough to call Albert by his name.

Oh Lordy, Letty Sue.

“I suppose I should thank you,” she said lamely.

Silver Wolf began gathering up the food and putting it back into the basket. He rolled up the quilt and stood again, facing her.

She spoke once more, louder this time. “I said thank you.”

He drew in a deep breath, his eyes once again raking her. A cold shiver ran down her spine. “If you play games with boys, you have to suffer the consequences.” He shoved the quilt into her arms.

Outraged, she tossed the quilt to the ground. “I wasn’t playing games!” It wasn’t entirely the truth. Although Albert had startled her with his boldness, she’d never thought for a moment that he would force his attentions on her that way.

And somehow Letty Sue knew if she let the half-breed get the upper hand today, she’d be in for the longest, most insufferable three months of her life.

He stared at the blanket she’d just tossed down. Expressionless, he bent and rolled it up again. Standing tall, inches away from her, he shoved it into her arms once more. “You try tempting a
real
man like that and you’d lose your highly prized virtue within a matter of seconds.”

“Ha! A lot you know.”

He grabbed her wrists, firmly, without causing her any pain. He came near, the quilt the only thing separating
their bodies. She backed up as he pressed forward. “I know what I saw. A beautiful woman enticing a man without an ounce of regard as to what she was about. You little fool. You’re a handful of woman
any
man would want to bed—without all that teasing. But don’t go thinking that bedding relates to wedding. You’re more trouble than you’re worth. You’d be left out in the cold, darlin’.”

A thick tree trunk stopped her from backing away any farther. She was pinned between two thick bodies, one just as immovable as the other.

“Do I make myself clear?” he asked, as if she were a child being given a stern talking to.

Letty Sue’s blood boiled. Her heart pounded in her chest. How dare he treat her this way? There was a sudden chill in the air—or was it Silver Wolf’s eyes penetrating her with calculated coldness?

She smiled sweetly, glancing at the firm set of his mouth. She licked her lips slowly, making sure she had his attention. “Yes, perfectly clear. You think I’m beautiful, and you want to bed me. Did I get that right,
Silver Wolf?
”

His eyes went coal-black and wide with astonishment. He cursed profusely and released his grip on her. “Start walking. It’s a long way back to the ranch.”

“You’re not leaving me out here!” She clutched the quilt tightly and raced after him.

“Watch me.” With a movement she could describe only as fluid grace, he mounted his horse, then tipped
his hat to her. “See you back at the ranch.” His bay mare trotted off, pretty as you please.

Letty Sue slammed her eyes shut. She let out a few vile curses, which though unladylike, sure sounded good to her ears.

The air became increasingly cooler, causing her to glance up. Clouds crowded the sky, bringing a vast, gloomy gray covering to the once blue heavens. A loud boom made her jump, then the sky twitched with brightness. Within seconds, rain pelted down, soaking her to the bone.

She covered herself with the quilt and, with head bent, began her long trek home. She’d walked only a short distance when she came upon horse’s hooves. Uncovering her head, she peered up.

Silver Wolf sat on his horse, his expression grim. He leaned over and put out his hand. “Get on, before lightning strikes us both down.”

The rain poured down in buckets, a Texas thunderstorm so powerful it could knock branches off the most sturdy of trees. Chase Wheeler grimaced, realizing he’d have to find a place to hole up until the storm eased some. Besides, the bay mare he’d ridden today wasn’t going to last much longer with the added weight of the woman and the chore of stomping through the heavily pitted, muddy road.

He remembered seeing a supply shack not far from here. He reined his horse in that direction, hoping his recollection would serve him well. He’d been on his way to Joellen’s ranch earlier, stopping by the creek
to water his horse. That’s when he’d come upon this bundle of trouble he’d seated in front of him on the saddle.

Letty Sue.

Damnation, she was a beauty. ’Course, right about now, she wasn’t at her best, with her long dark hair matted like a drowned cat and her clothes drenched.

Her fancy dress molded to her petite body, clinging to all her curves. She had many, he noted, then tightened the quilt around her more snugly when he saw her trembling.

He hadn’t bargained on her when he’d made the agreement with Joellen. Hell, he hadn’t given Joellen’s daughter a single thought. In his mind, the little girl he’d saved all those years ago hadn’t grown up. He’d thought of her only as a child.

But Chase hadn’t been in her company longer than three minutes before realizing that Letty Sue Withers, with her sky-blue eyes and buxom body, was a barrelful of trouble. Hell, he’d just left one tempting woman behind…a woman who’d caused him nothing but grief and a haystack of hurt. She’d deceived and betrayed him, playing him for the biggest kind of fool.

Never again.

And to think he’d have to play nursemaid to this troublesome woman for the next three months. For Joellen, he’d oblige. But for no other reason.

“Th-this isn’t the w-way b-back to the r-ranch,” Letty Sue said, her teeth chattering.

“Lightning’s getting too close. It’s dangerous to head back now.”

“Th-then w-where are we g-going?” She shifted in the saddle to look at him, her almond-shaped eyes blinking away the rain.

“There’s a supply shack not far from here. We’ll hole up there for a spell.”

Within minutes Chase reined his horse in. Fortunately for his mare, the shack had an overhang. He tied her up where the majority of rain wouldn’t pelt down on her. He reached for the woman, noting her state of saturation as he pulled her down into his arms. She was quiet, cold to the core and exhausted. Chase carried her into the small shack, hoping he’d made the right decision. The shack had no fireplace, no place to sit, and was almost as cold inside as the stormy day had become outside. Fencing supplies lined the walls, as well as several sacks of oats for the horses.

“Well, here we are,” he said, carefully setting the woman down on her feet. She clung to him, not as a ploy, he believed, but from sheer fatigue.

Her body trembled uncontrollably. “I h-hate the c-cold.”

“You’re gonna hate this even more,” he said evenly. “Take off your dress.”

Her head shot up, her blue eyes sparking with indignation. “No.”

“Fine then. Sit down on that sack of oats and freeze. Ever see a body die from pneumonia? They cough so fiercely, blood spurts out, their chest feels
like it’s being crushed by a half-ton longhorn and then, after days of suffering, they feel nothing at all.”

Chase turned his back on her and removed his rain-soaked shirt. He twisted it into one long length and wrung out about a pint of water, then hung it up on a peg on the wall.

“How w-will taking my d-dress off keep me w-warm?” she asked. He noticed her lips had changed color, going from rosy pink to pale, icy blue.

“It won’t. I will. Body heat.”

She sucked in a breath, then bit down on her blue lip. “You mean, me and you?”

He wasn’t going to think about her naked in his arms. Thankfully for both of them the shack was in short supply of daylight. There were no windows and only a dim light worked its way in through the slats of the rough plank walls.

The cold wasn’t so bad for him; he’d endured much worse. But she was a delicate woman who’d probably freeze to death without his help. “That’s what I mean. Unless you can think of another way to get warm?”

She looked helplessly around the small supply shack. Already, puddles were developing under their feet from their dripping clothes. “D-do I h-have your word…” She lifted wary eyes his way.

He nodded. “Nothing’s gonna happen, except you’ll get warm.”

An idea struck him, and he quickly turned around, noting the size of the large grain sacks. Taking a knife out of his boot, he sliced through one sack and poured the oats into the only bucket he found until it overflowed
onto the floor. “Don’t suppose Joellen is gonna mind the waste, being as I’m saving your modesty.”

He was left with a rough, but dry rectangle of cloth. He worked his knife through it, cutting a few holes, then, once satisfied with his creation, handed the garment to her. “Here. It’s dry. Now, you’d best get out of those wet clothes and into this.”

She grabbed the empty sack, realizing his obvious intent, and nodded. “Turn around.”

He turned his back on her to arrange the rest of the sacks of grain as a makeshift bed. Then he lay down, waiting. She came to stand before him.

He groaned inwardly, cursing his bad luck. At any other time, with any other woman, he’d relish the situation he was in. A woman wearing nothing but a flimsy piece of material cinched in at the waist by a length of rope and barely covering her female essentials—a woman needing his body warmth for survival—wasn’t a bad place to be.

But this woman was too beautiful, too much trouble, and worst of all, she was Joellen’s daughter. He’d never do a thing to dishonor Joellen Withers Brody.

“Lie down here.” He patted a spot in front of him.

“Which way?” Letty Sue asked timidly.

Either way would cause him havoc. If he faced her, their bodies would press intimately from the front, and the other alternative didn’t make for a better selection. He’d be rubbing against her backside.

Hell.

“Your choice. Just get down here. Your skin’s turning to gooseflesh.”