Dangerous (6 page)

She watched him, noticing that even he shivered.

“Do you have any other clothes with you,” he asked, not looking at her as he struck the flint to the sticks.

Oh, she didn’t like his train of thought. She knew without thinking what he was going to suggest and it would be a definite, no.

“I’m fine.”

“God, woman, I took you for being smarter than that. You are not fine. You are shivering so hard you’re shaking water all over the cavern. Start shucking those wet clothes.”

That was not going to happen. Being naked in front of a man, any man, but especially one she’d only known less than forty-eight hours was impossible. Sure, she was shivering like a lizard looking for a hot rock, but she’d manage.

She glowered at him. “I’m not removing my clothes in the presence of a man I’ve known for only forty-eight hours. A criminal, a bank—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I know I’m the spawn of Satan, who is not going to let you catch your death of pneumonia. You can put on my extra set of clothes, and I’ll go around naked.”

“You most certainly will not.” The idea of him walking around without any clothes, his man parts exposed, was intriguing, but not enough to keep her inside the cave.

“Well, I’m not stupid enough to get deathly sick from wet clothes. I’d rather sit here bare naked in all my glory in front of a fire than be wet and cold.”

“But…”

“Honey, I’m a man. Clothes are not all that important.”

Yes, but his strong shoulders and well-defined thighs, his flat abdomen and his well built chest were not what she wanted to stare at all night long.

“Maybe to you they’re not.”

“You’re so right.” He stood from the blazing fire. “Dang, I hate to leave this fire, but I need to unsaddle our horses.”

“I’ll help you.”

Staying alone in this cave was not really something she felt comfortable with. Even being out in the elements with an outlaw was better than staying by herself in a rock cavern where animals lived.
Bats
.

“No, you can have the privacy of the cave to disrobe. Now get to it.”

“And if I don’t?”

He turned and stared at her, his emerald eyes dancing with shiny delight. A grin turned up the corners of his mouth. “I’ve never had the pleasure of forcing a woman to undress for me. It might be kind of fun. I’m game if you are?”

She wrinkled her nose and mouth at him. The man was a huge pain, and while she didn’t want to shed her clothes, the thought of him undressing her was even worse.

“You better get started, unless you want me to help you along.”

He walked out of the cavern and she took a moment to glance around. If she stepped out of the glow of the fire, it would very quickly become dark. Very dark.

A squeaking noise came from the back of the cavern.

Peering into the darkness, she tried to locate the noise. Something buzzed her head, and she realized bats were flying straight toward her. Screaming, she turned and ran out of the cavern, shooing the creepy mammals away from her hair.

She ran smack dab into Beau. He wrapped his big, strong arms around her and held her, tremors rumbling through him though he never chuckled out loud. “You’re okay. I’m sorry. It’s about the time of day when the bats leave the cave to go hunting. I should have warned you.”

Doubling up her fists, she hit him smack in the chest. “You knew I didn’t like bats. You knew I was afraid.”

His hands rubbed her back in a soothing way that calmed her. “Sugar, you’re the fiercest woman I’ve ever met, and I never thought a few bats would send you running for cover.”

“If I’d had my pistol, they’d all be dead.”

Her petticoat pistol was still attached beneath her skirt, but she would have had to stop running to reach the weapon. There was no way she was staying in that cavern, while they swarmed out of the opening.

“If you’d shot at the damn bats, there would have been bullets ricocheting off the walls of the cave.”

“Oh.” She was quiet for a moment and still in his arms. Heat from his body began to seep into her, and she stopped shaking from the cold. “I don’t like bats.”

“I know,” he said, his voice soft and low, close to her ear. Warmth trickled through her like honey, seeping into her bones and crevices. Into places, she’d never considered getting hot. A sense of safety and security filled her. She liked being in his arms.

Oh no. No, no, no.

She pushed out of his embrace. “Thanks for the warning.”

“What warning?” he asked, smiling at her.

“My point exactly.”

With a lot of trepidation, she walked back into the cave. She didn’t see any more of the flying mammals and hoped they had now vacated the area for the night. But they would return just as the sun crept over the edge of the earth. Maybe she and Beau would be gone by then.

Revulsion swept through her as she imaged them, their eyes glowing in the darkness. A shiver ran down her spine.

Beau walked back into the hideout, carrying his saddle. “See, they’re gone for the night.”

She glared at him but didn’t respond. She watched as he opened his saddlebags and pulled out an extra shirt.

“Here, you can wear this, and I’ll take the pants.”

“What if I want the shirt
and
the pants?”

He grinned at her. “Fine by me. I don’t mind sitting around a campfire naked. I might even be warmer that way.”

“You’d do so just to annoy me, too.”

Reaching out, he clucked her beneath the chin. “Get changed. You’re back to shivering. I’ll see if I can string a rope close to the fire where the clothes can dry.”

How could she argue with him when she knew what he was telling her was the truth, and she was miserable in her heavy wet skirt that was collecting mud on the hem. Soon she’d have her own farm right on the bottom of her skirt.

“Stay outside, while I change.”

A big clap of thunder made the ground shudder beneath her.

“Sure, I’d love to stand outside in the pouring rain, so you can maintain your privacy.”

Her pistol was still strapped beneath her skirt, and she needed to remove it without him seeing her little Baby Dragoon. She wanted to keep that gun close. So far, she hadn’t felt the need to use it on him, but when the time came, she wanted her trusty gun within reach. Near enough to surprise him.

Hopefully, her sisters were already looking for her, and when they found her, she’d help bring him to justice.

Quickly, she pulled the water laden skirt off her body along with her petticoat. When she rode her horse, she only wore one of the lacey undergarments because they were too bulksome and puffed up way too much on the saddle. She always had Meg make her skirts with enough width so she could spread them over her horse’s back. And now she was paying the price for that extra material.

“Are you dressed?”

“Stay out,” she replied and hurriedly undid the buttons on her blouse. With a yank, she removed the sodden outer shirt. Even her chemise was soaked clear to her skin, and she could see the puckered outline of her nipples through the material.

Nothing was hidden from view through the clingy, wet material. While he was still outside, she slipped on his shirt and buttoned it all the way up to the top. The shirt tails hung down past her hips, but still she left her pantaloons on. They were wet, but they’d dry, especially with her standing next to the fire.

When he came back into the cave, she had pulled his bedroll out and laid it on the ground next to the fire. Her clothes were draped over a rock since she didn’t want them to lie in the dirt.

His emerald eyes glided over her, turning a dark green that smoldered. “You look pretty darn cute in that outfit, but I’d lose the pantaloons. They’re getting the shirt wet.”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion.” Like hell, she was going to shed the pantaloons. That would leave her naked from the waist down. And while his shirt hung down below her buttocks, she didn’t like the vulnerability of being exposed.

His brows rose and he shook his head. “You’ll be naked if that shirt gets too wet.”

“Do you just like to say that word? Does it give you a thrill?”

He tilted his head and thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, I think it does.”

Darn it!
He was a bigger pain than her sister Meg had been while growing up. “I’m not going unclothed.”

“Suit yourself.”

He strung a rope across the cave, close enough to the fire so that the clothes would dry, but not burn. Then he put another log on the blaze and began to unbutton his shirt.

“Excuse me,” she said when he started to unbutton his pants.

Glancing at her, he shrugged his shoulders. “What?”

“Can’t you change somewhere else?”

“Sure, I’ll step into the bedroom and close the door.”

“Smartass.”

“Yes, I am,” he admitted. “Close your eyes, if you don’t want to look.”

But that was the problem. She did want to see. She wanted to see the hard planes she had felt beneath his shirt. She wanted a glance at the firm buttocks and thighs she’d seen riding a horse, she wanted to see…

A rush of heat thrummed through her blood, causing her breath to quicken at the thought of him naked before her.

No, no, no, no.
He was not the kind of man, she wanted in her life. He was not an appropriate suitor.

But he was still mighty fine looking.

She closed her eyes tightly and he laughed. Then she opened them just a peek to watch as he stripped off his pants. He turned his back to her and removed his long johns, giving her a brief glimpse of his strong muscled back, his firm butt cheeks and thighs that would garner any woman’s attention.

Her pulse raced at the sight of his firm butt and part of her wanted him to turn around. She bit her lip, trying to refrain from groaning at the sight. She just wanted a glimpse at what he looked like.

He slipped on his dry, clean pants and turned to face her, his chest naked.
Wow, wow, wow
was all she could think when she stared at him. A shiver passed through her, and it wasn’t the cold.

Quickly, she hung her clothes on the line to dry, making sure her gun and the money she’d hidden inside the folds of her petticoat were hidden where they couldn’t be seen. There were some things he didn’t need to know.

She walked over to the fire and got as close to the blaze as she could get, hoping the heat would dry her pantaloons.

Warmth caressed the back of her legs, and she didn’t look at Beau. She didn’t want to gaze at his half-naked body and think about how she’d just like to run her hand down his smooth muscled skin—trail her finger down his shoulder, his back, his buttocks.

She heard him walk over to the clothesline and hang his pants, long johns, and shirt to dry.

“Do we have any rations left?” she asked.

“Of course, we do. I come prepared, unlike some people I know.”

She sighed. He was right. She’d not been as prepared for this trip as she should have been. But she’d left on a whim, though she’d never admit that to him. And now that impulse was a problem.

“We were supposed to already be back in town by now.”

“And how did that work out for you?”

“Shut up, Beau.”

He chuckled.

Her pantaloons were starting to feel very warm. The scent of something burning reached her nose, and then suddenly, Beau was throwing her onto the bedroll, beating her legs.

“Gosh, damn it, woman, you are a pain in the ass.”

“Get off me.”

“Your underwear was on fire.”

With him still on top of her, she glanced down at the bottom of her pantaloons. The lace around the edge had burned off but hadn’t reached her skin.

Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of her clothes catching fire. Yet, he was lying on top of her, and she was beginning to feel a different kind of warmth. She could feel his bare chest and the thump of his heart against her. They landed on the bedroll, but now he was half-on and half-off of her. He was gazing at her, his eyes dark and burning with some emotion she didn’t recognize. A heat that had nothing to do with her pantaloons catching fire suddenly engulfed her.

His half-naked body was touching her, with only his shirt separating their chests. Her breathing sounded loud and rushed in the cave with only a crack and pop of the fire.

“How can one woman get into so much trouble and yet look so innocent and beautiful? How can you be so tempting and sweet and luscious one moment and the next I’m ready to kill you? And how can I go another minute, looking at those full lips without tasting them? Damn it, I don’t want to do this, but I’ve got to,” he said, his voice husky, sending shivers of anticipation through her.

He was going to kiss her. She watched as his mouth lowered to hers, and she realized she wanted his kiss.

His mouth moved over hers, tempting and teasing and tasting of her like she’d never been kissed before. And she never had.

This was her first kiss and whatever expectations she’d had were quickly dispelled. It was much better than she’d imagined. His hands gripped her face, holding her hostage to his lips, holding her immobile as he took her lips between his own. Savagely, he slanted his mouth over hers as his tongue persuaded her to open. He tasted her thoroughly, completely, and so convincingly her heart was ready to explode in her chest.

Hot, heavy, hunger filled her as his mouth took her like the storm that raged outside. Wild, consuming, and awakening feelings she’d never experienced before. She arched her back, needing more, wanting more of the passion this man had awakened inside her.

Her flesh was on fire with the need for this man. She wanted to remove the barriers between them. Running her fingers down his silken, muscled shoulders, she wanted to touch him everywhere, feel his skin, taste him.

God, she didn’t know what it was she wanted, but she wanted this to continue. She didn’t want this to stop. She wanted…

A shot rang out in the night, not far from their cave.

Beau bolted into a sitting position. He jumped up ran to the entrance, and peered into the darkness. Another shot sounded and he grabbed his wet shirt and ran outside in the rain, with his guns drawn, leaving Annabelle alone, panting in a bat cave.