Savage Thunder (17 page)

“Bitch,” he growled jealously, as she knew he would. “The day you even look at another man I’ll break your pretty neck.”

“Now, now, love, I was only teasing.” She grinned up at him. “You know very well I’ve been faithful to
you since the day we met. Besides, I could never do what you do so well. I have enough trouble just pretending to be your sister.”

“That was your idea, not mine. This whole lousy scheme has been your idea. ‘Marry a rich widow, sugar, and you can give up your gambling,’” he mimicked in a high falsetto.

Maura’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Your cheating, you mean, which got us run out of one town after another. And you jumped on the idea, if I recall.”

“That was before the first wife wasn’t rich enough to suit you and you decided she had to die so we could try again…and again…and again.”

“All right!” she snapped. “So all four of them turned out to be bad choices. But this time is going to be different, I just know it is.”

“It’s already different, Maura, or have you forgotten how young this widow is? I’ll likely have to work twice as hard to win her over, and even then my success isn’t a foregone conclusion. This could be a total waste of time and effort.”

“Not quite, love. We still have that other option to fall back on if the lady doesn’t succumb to your fatal charm. But my money is on you. After all, I know how irresistible you can be when you really try. You won
me
heart and soul, didn’t you?”

“G
ood morning, Your Grace.”

Jocelyn turned to smile at the young man who had caused her such embarrassment the night before when she was first introduced to him. It was laughable now, but at the time it had been quite mortifying to find that the brother and sister Vanessa had taken under her wing were the same pair Jocelyn had practically accosted right after the aborted gunfight yesterday. They had also been invited to dinner, so there was no easy escape from her discomfort.

But somehow, and she still wasn’t sure how he had done it, Miles Dryden managed to put her at ease with his profuse apologies, wouldn’t accept any she tried to offer in return, and even made her forget the incident for the remainder of the evening. He was, without a doubt, utterly charming. She had suspected he would be handsome too, and indeed he was, with his dark blond hair cropped just below the ears and his eyes the color of fine sherry. On the lean side and slightly above average in height, he had a pair of the most engaging dimples that appeared with every smile, and with a keen sense of humor, he smiled often, as did everyone around him.

Maura Dryden was just as interesting as her brother. There was little family resemblance between
them with her ash-blond hair and large, dark green eyes, her much shorter height and voluptuous figure, but there was no denying they had both been blessed with exceptional looks. And where Miles’ charm added to his attractiveness, Maura was possessed of a sultriness that enhanced hers, at least as far as men were concerned, if Sir Parker was any indication. He had also joined them for dinner, and to Jocelyn’s amusement, had barely taken his eyes off the girl throughout the meal.

Vanessa had certainly been delighted with the whole evening and had no doubt gone to bed with her worries put to rest. As a hoped-for distraction, Miles Dryden was proving eminently successful. Jocelyn had retired conceding that point, and even experienced a measure of relief that it was so—until it occurred to her that Vanessa’s scheme could work both ways, for Colt as well as for herself. And the thought of Colt finding Maura Dryden to his liking, just as Sir Parker had, effectively squelched whatever relief she had briefly felt, and even added a new dimension to her confused emotions. To her chagrin, she was afraid it might be jealousy. But since it could just as likely be a misguided sense of possessiveness, what she might feel for anything that had cost her such an exorbitant sum of money, she wasn’t going to worry about it.

So she had decided, but even now with Miles Dryden’s winsome smile turned on her, she was wondering where his sister was, and what Colt’s reaction would be when he first saw the girl. She also wondered if there was any way she might renege on her
agreement to allow them to join her entourage, but she supposed not. Their belongings were probably even now being loaded into the wagons in front of the hotel.

“Mr. Dryden.” She nodded in reply to his greeting. “I hope this early hour hasn’t proved inconvenient. We are more or less at the mercy of our guide, who doesn’t believe in wasting daylight, as he so quaintly puts it.”

“I know the sort. Our stage driver was a cantankerous old curmudgeon who rushed us in and out of every roadhouse with the threat of leaving us behind if we weren’t quick enough to suit him.”

She had to smile at that description, which was pretty accurate for their guide, too, except for the old part. Colt was more often than not quarrelsome, irritable, and quick of temper. How would he be today? Would he even be out front waiting, or had he already gone on ahead as usual, leaving it to Billy to point the way?

She realized suddenly how anxious she was to see him. She also recalled that she still didn’t know what he thought of the gift of her virginity. She didn’t try to delude herself that he might not have been aware of the gift. His gentle handling of her that night proved otherwise.

“We aren’t nearly so rushed, Mr. Dryden, just roused at an ungodly hour every morning.” She hoped she didn’t sound as impatient as she felt, but she wanted to find Colt and perhaps have a few words with him before they departed. “You will quickly be
come accustomed to it, I’m sure. Now, if you will collect your sister—”

“Maura is already outside, Your Grace. If you will allow me?”

She was hesitant in accepting his offered arm. With her guard surrounding her, it was so unnecessary. Besides, she didn’t want Colt to see Miles escorting her from the hotel, though she wasn’t sure why. But short of outright rudeness, there was no help for it.

Outside, everything was in readiness, Jocelyn being the last to arrive. Miss Dryden stood waiting with Vanessa and the two maids in the shade of the hotel porch, but she wasn’t attending their conversation; was, in fact, staring off toward the front of the cavalcade—at Colt.

He was mounted already, as was Billy, who had his attention at the moment. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t aware of Miss Dryden’s perusal. Likely he was, since he was usually aware of everything going on around him, the reason that his eyes turned toward the porch only seconds after Jocelyn stepped out of the hotel. The moment he saw her, he yanked his horse around to take off.

“A moment, Colt, if you please!”

Jocelyn immediately flushed, having thoughtlessly drawn every eye toward her. She had had to raise her voice for Colt to hear her, and even to her own ears she had sounded imperious. She wouldn’t have blamed him if he embarrassed her further by ignoring her, but he didn’t. He whipped his horse back around and waited, with obvious impatience. That he didn’t dismount and come to her as would be expected of
one’s employee was noted, particularly by her guard, even by Miles, whose arm she could feel tense beneath her hand. But Jocelyn wasn’t pressing her luck any further. Excusing herself from Miles, she quickly stepped off the porch.

For an imprudent impulse, however, it went from bad to worse, as she found out when she reached Colt. Billy had moved off to accord them a measure of privacy, but it didn’t matter. Looking up at Colt, she knew without a doubt she had made a serious mistake. Although he usually kept his emotions so well hidden you never knew what he was thinking, those emotions were crystal clear right now, and they were anything but placid. She even took a step back, his look was so hostile.

Jocelyn stiffened her resolve, or tried to. So she shouldn’t have approached him this soon. It was done. She was there. And although she hadn’t the faintest notion of what she had intended to say, perhaps something would come to her that might at least take the edge off his obvious anger.

“Would you get down…please?” she asked. “I want to talk to you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I—”

“No…you don’t, Duchess.”

She wasn’t sure of his meaning, whether he simply refused to hear what she had to say or whether he was warning her that she wouldn’t care to hear what
he
had to say in return. Likely the latter, which was why she didn’t try to detain him again when he turned about and rode off.

She turned away herself to find all of her people suddenly busy in some unnecessary activity or conversation, which told her plainly that until that moment they had been avidly watching her and Colt. It didn’t embarrass her this time, though. Instead her temper flared up, especially when she noticed Miss Dryden’s rather smug expression. The woman couldn’t have heard Colt’s refusal to speak with her, but his disrespect and animosity were unmistakable. Jocelyn could almost read Maura’s thoughts: that no man would ever treat
her
so shabbily.

“I—ah, didn’t realize he was one of your guards.”

That Miles Dryden was there to assist her into her coach did not pacify Jocelyn’s now simmering emotions in the least. Nor did she need a reminder of yesterday’s foolishness.

But not for the world would she let anyone know how easily Colt could upset her, so she managed a smile, no matter that her lips felt like they would crack, they were so stiff. “He’s not. He’s our guide.”

“A gunfighter for a guide?”

Miles seemed determined to provide an outlet for her temper, but she didn’t want a substitute. Colt deserved every bit of it himself.

“His versatility makes him an excellent guide, Mr. Dryden, despite his lack of manners and wretched disposition. But if it bothers you to have such a man leading you through the wilderness—”

“Not at all,” he quickly assured her.

“Then I will see you later in the day, sir.”

She stepped into her coach to wait impatiently for Vanessa to join her. If Miles had thought he would
be sharing her coach, she had just disabused him of that notion. Even if she had intended to give up her privacy, which she hadn’t, she would have just changed her mind. Under no circumstances could she spend this day in idle conversation with virtual strangers. She would go mad if she tried.

Vanessa sensed her mood and wisely kept quiet once they were on their way. But the silence merely allowed Jocelyn’s awakened ire to feed upon itself. Where she had previously been understanding of Colt’s feelings, she now resented his resentment. She wasn’t sorry for what had happened between them. She wasn’t about to apologize for having wanted him. True, he had resisted her at every turn, but had she held a gun on him and forced him into her bed? No, she certainly had not. So he had no business being angry with her, and she intended to tell him so at the very next opportunity.

E
very instinct had warned Colt to stay away from camp that night. Already acquainted with the duchess’s stubborn streak, he had little doubt that, having decided on a confrontation, she wouldn’t be satisfied until she had it. But he wasn’t ready, not by a long shot. The conclusions he had drawn about her might have enraged him enough to send him out looking for trouble, but to have those conclusions confirmed was going to be ten times worse. And if mere suspicions could ride him this hard, what would the truth do to him?

Of course, if he was wrong about her, that would be an entirely different problem, in some ways an even bigger one. It was what had made him take what she offered, despite the fact that he’d sworn never to touch a white woman again. And it would happen again—if he was wrong about her. If it did, he was afraid that he could very easily end up wanting to make her his permanently, when he knew damn well that wasn’t possible.

Either way, it was better not to know the truth just yet, at least not until he was certain he could control his reaction to it. Yet knowing that, and also that the redhead would push it as she always did, he still rode into camp that night.

And that was her fault too, for allowing a stranger into their midst at this particular time, when Colt happened to be so pissed off he hadn’t been paying attention to any newcomers arriving in town after they had. Even with the precautions he had taken, it wasn’t inconceivable that her enemy could have caught up to them in the two days they had wasted in Silver City. With the way danger followed that woman around like a homeless pup, the stranger could, in fact, be one of the Englishman’s men. Even if it wasn’t at all likely, the merest chance was enough to cause Colt worry. For all his protestations that he wasn’t going to protect her, he couldn’t bear it if something happened and he wasn’t there to prevent it because he was afraid to have a confrontation with the woman.

But when the confrontation came, it came from an unexpected quarter.

As late as it was when Colt rode in, more than half the camp was still up, and it was just his luck that the duchess was one of them. He could feel her eyes follow him as he made his way to Billy’s campfire after bedding his horse down with the others. She sat before another fire with a group of her men, her maid—and the stranger.

Billy, who had left that group when he noticed Colt by the horses, handed him the tin plate of food he regularly kept warmed near the fire. Colt had stopped complaining that it was always the fare served up by the duchess’s cook. Half the time he was too tired to know what he was eating.

“Didn’t think you were going to bed down with us tonight.”

With a glance at all the other fires still occupied, Colt replied. “Doesn’t look like anyone’s got a hankering for sleep.”

Billy shrugged. “The new fellow was spinning some pretty gruesome tales. He probably spooked some of them.” Remembering those stories, and that Colt wouldn’t find them entertaining, Billy quickly added, “Did you see the blonde this morning? She’s his sister.”

Colt ignored the question, his eyes stopping on the stranger. The duchess sat next to him, too close to him.

“Who is that guy anyway?”

“Name’s Dryden, Miles Dryden.”

Colt’s brow knitted in thought. “He remind you of anyone, kid?”

“Can’t say that he does. Why?”

“Seems like I’ve seen him before somewhere.”

“Maybe when you went east with Jessie and Chase? He claims to be from there.”

Colt shook his head slowly. “No, I’ve seen him more recent than that. You sure you don’t recognize him?”

“Are you sure you do?”

Colt stared hard at the man once more before glancing away. “Yes. It’ll come to me in a while.” And then, looking pointedly at Billy, “What tales was he telling?”

Billy flushed with the question, having thought he’d neatly avoided it. “Just stories.”

“Give,” was all Colt said.

“He’s an Easterner, Colt,” Billy said defensively.
“You know how a little Indian attack wouldn’t faze a Westerner, but a greenhorn will make it into a big deal every time.”

“He was attacked?”

“Him and his sister.”

“It took all night to tell it?”

Billy grinned, now that it looked like Colt hadn’t taken offense at the subject as he thought he would. “You know how it is. A fellow comes into town and mentions he nearly got scalped, and every other person who’s had a similar experience or even heard of one has got to tell him all about it. Dryden heard enough tales to fill a book while he was in Silver City.”

“Then he was there before we arrived?”

“Several months. Why?”

“Just wondered.”

Colt’s mind was put to rest on one score. Dryden wasn’t working for Longnose. It still didn’t mean he liked the idea of the duchess inviting strangers to join her party. She ought to know better.

Several bites of food later, Colt asked, “What the hell is this stuff I’m eating?”

Billy chuckled. “One of Philippe’s specialties. Good, ain’t it?”

“You can’t taste the meat for the sauce.” Colt tossed the plate aside in disgust. “And what’s
his
problem?”

Billy turned to see who had drawn Colt’s attention now. Parker Grahame was staring right back, and none too amiably.

“He—ah—you could say he’s been a mite put out
since that night you took care of those two would-be thieves who tried to rob the duchess.”

“Was I supposed to let them rob her?”

Billy grinned. “I think he objects to you being the one to rescue her, when that’s his job. You
have
been making a habit of it, after all, which doesn’t reflect too well on him.”

“And that’s enough to get him killed?”

Billy tensed. “What are you talking about?”

“The man’s making up his mind to come over here, and not to pass the time.”

“Christ! Well, don’t kill him, for God’s sake! He’s more or less spokesman for all of them, being their captain, and they’re kind of fed up with the disrespect you keep showing their lady.
I
know you do it on purpose, but she doesn’t, and they don’t either. I think this morning was just one time too many for nothing to be said about it.”

“Exactly right, Mr. Ewing,” Parker said from behind him.

Billy didn’t turn to look at the Englishman again. He stared at Colt, dreading his reaction. Considering that he’d been in a foul disposition ever since they’d joined up with the duchess, he couldn’t hope for now to be any different. And you just didn’t push Colt when he was in such a mood.

Colt leaned back against his saddle in a negligent manner, not at all concerned that the man was standing there bristling. “You got something to say, Grahame, spit it out.”

“Your brother has already said it. If you can’t behave with a modicum of civility—”

“You’ll do what?” Colt cut in with a near sneer. “Call me out?”

“Dammit, Colt!” Billy put in, but too late.

Parker was already stepping around him to get to Colt, so enraged he didn’t stop to think, simply hauled Colt to his feet by the front of his shirt. That Colt let him do it, and did nothing to block the fist that was drawn back to clobber him, didn’t seem peculiar to Parker because he still wasn’t thinking, merely reacting. But years of breeding broke through at the last moment to make him hesitate, if only for a second.

Unfortunately for Parker, in that second their gazes locked and his confidence was nearly shattered. He had the horrible feeling he was looking death in the eye. He’d never backed down from a fight in his life, never had to, never lost one. But he had somehow forgotten just whom he was dealing with here, that the man was in a class all by himself, a man damned close to the savages whom Dryden had been telling them tales of all evening, a man who would know ways of killing that Grahame had never even dreamed of. And he had challenged him?

“Sir Parker, release him at once!”

The voice of authority, reason, and his salvation. Parker obeyed with great relief.

Colt’s reaction was just the opposite. “Shit!” He glared at the duchess, standing not far from them. “The man has a genuine grievance to pick with me. Who in the hell asked you to interfere, woman?”

Even if she wasn’t rendered momentarily speechless by his verbal attack, Jocelyn had no chance to
answer. The scales were tipped for Parker, who saw red again with this latest insolence and let his fist fly.

The blow caught Colt on the side of his face but only slightly turned his head. That it had come when he wasn’t looking, however, had everyone who was watching holding his breath, waiting for Colt’s reaction. Parker in particular felt rather sick, never having taken a man unawares before. So he was most surprised when Colt turned back to him, slowly, and grinning.

“It took you long enough, English,” he said just before his backhanded blow knocked Parker to the ground.

Billy caught Colt’s gun and knife, both tossed to him, then simply got out of the way. Jocelyn had to step back also when one charge took both men crashing through the fire, scattering sparks everywhere.

“Come away, my dear,” Vanessa said quietly at her side. “You can’t stop it now, and shouldn’t want to.”

“Shouldn’t want to? But they’re—”

“Behaving atrociously, I know, but your Thunder obviously needs to inflict violence on someone. Better Sir Parker than you. Now come away.”

Jocelyn bit her lip, remembering Colt’s hostility that morning, watching his savagery now. Despite what Vanessa said, she didn’t think he would hurt her, no matter how angry he got. And she was still angry herself. She was not some vaporous ninny to hide from a man’s displeasure.

“I’m staying, Vana,” she said determinedly. “I won’t try to stop them, but when they’re finished I’ll have my say.”