The Badger City Gang [Bride Train 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (3 page)

It was so quiet she could hear the sounds of the men filling the train’s water reservoir and wood box. Finally, he let her slide down his leg. When her feet touched ground, he still didn’t release her. Instead, his fingers shifted. His hand ended up cupping her bottom. The heat she’d felt earlier was nothing compared to the burn where his hand touched.

“Is the snake gone?” she whispered.

“Yep.”

He returned his gun to his holster but still kept her tight. She cleared her throat.

“Aren’t you going to release me?”

“Nope.”

She struggled a bit, but he increased the pressure on her bottom. It brought the juncture of her thighs even tighter against his hot, hard, leg. The rubbing brought a touch of relief to her ache. It also made her want more.

“Let me go or I’ll scream,” she said with as much composure as she could manage.

“Nah, ya won’t do that.”

He shifted his hands, catching her around the waist and lifting her up and down as if weighing her. She suddenly realized she didn’t even know his name, yet he was touching her in a most familiar manner!

“What are you doing? Put me down!”

She placed her hands on his wrists and pushed, but it didn’t affect him in the least. She got up her nerve and looked him in the eyes. The crinkles around them suggested he was laughing at her.

“Yer jist a tidbit.” He frowned and lifted her once more. “Huh! Ya cain’t weigh mor’n a sack a flour. Y’ain’t strong enough fer a wife.” He shook his head and sighed. “Jist a bit of useless female fluff.”

He set her down, whirled around, and abandoned her. She stared at his back, gasping like a fish as he stomped back to the train. His big head rested on a strong neck above broad shoulders. Snug pants ended at the top of his boots. His wrists protruded past the coat sleeves. She blinked. His coat was so short that his posterior showed. In fact, the fabric pulled tight against his bottom with every step. Every time his long legs touched the ground the muscles of his bottom flexed. What would it feel like to touch—

She shook off the sight and gathered her wits. An unkempt, uneducated, arousing man had dismissed her as if she was no use. She liked the way his hands felt on her and wanted more. Yet he’d dismissed her as if her size was all that mattered!

Never before had she dared to talk back to a man, but she was going to tell him exactly what she thought of him. Before she lost her nerve she gripped her skirts in her fists, lifted them high so she wouldn’t trip, and hurried after him. She had to yank on his coat to slow him down.

“Don’t you call me useless,” she blurted, still yanking. “I may be small, but I’m stronger than I look. And there’s more to me than a body. I’ve got a brain as well. One that works!”

He stopped and looked down at her. His eyes stroked her body before he frowned.

“Y’ain’t got ’nuff sense ta see a rattler. And yer too small fer a big man.”

While her curves were wider than her too-slender mother, her bones were about the same size. Mama’s stomach was too nervous for her to eat much unless Father was away on a business trip. That was the only time she smiled. It didn’t happen often.

“’Spect you’d die birthing babies.” He shrugged. “No good fer a wife. I’d jest git ye trained and ye’d die on me.”

Caught gaping at his insults, she had to run to catch up with him again.

“I may be new to the West, but I can learn what’s necessary,” she informed him, rushing to keep up with his long strides. “I’m an excellent cook and housekeeper. And, though it’s none of your business, I’m the same size as my mother. She married a man your height and had five living children!”

He stopped suddenly, making her bump into him. He grasped her elbow to keep her upright. His expression suddenly shifted from one of disdain to challenge. He put both hands around her waist and lifted her once more. She tensed as he brought her close to his face. She avoided his hungry eyes, staring at the strong nose and full lips sandwiched between moustache and beard.

“Maybe ye aren’t useless,” he murmured, and brought her even closer.

She opened her mouth to demand he set her down. A tickle of moustache was the only warning she received before his lips brushed against hers. A tingle went through her body from the shock. She grabbed hold of his shoulders to keep her balance. Her fingers clenched his coat. He ran his tongue between her upper lip and teeth. The tingle turned into an explosion. She shuddered, her body rocked by feelings she didn’t understand, but wanted more of. Her lower belly tightened. He released her mouth, continuing to hold her mere inches from his face. She looked deep into his eyes, unable to catch her breath. She absently noted he was also breathing hard, yet he hadn’t hurried his step as she had.

“Huh. Ya might do.”

He set her down, waited a second while she found her balance, whirled around, and strode off toward the train. She stood there, dizzy and panting, watching him. A whistle pierced the air, making her jump.

The train! She had to get back or they would leave without her.

She trotted, trying to tie her bonnet strings with fumbling fingers. She tipped it forward to better hide her heated cheeks. She looked for the man to tell him she’d never marry anyone like him, but he’d disappeared into one of the men’s carriages.

The cad!

Perhaps he considered the stolen kiss a payment for saving her from the rattlesnake. The next time she saw him she’d give him a piece of her mind.
As long as he gives you another kiss
. She gulped. She should thank him for showing her what a man’s touch, and a kiss, felt like. She now had a base of knowledge on which to judge in the future.

But, if that little kiss made her feel so wonderful, what would more do? Was he the man to awaken her body? No, he was far too arrogant. She wanted a tender man who would gently show her how a man pleased a woman.

At least, she thought she did. Something about the way he took charge of her body made her want to attack him the same way. What if he lay on his back and she was the one touching him wherever she wanted?

She shoved away the arousal to concentrate on anger. How dare he touch her without her permission? Other than with the snake, of course. She didn’t object to his protection. Her breasts throbbed along with the place between her legs. Now that she knew what it felt like to kiss a man, she wanted more.

She heard the giggle of approaching brides when she arrived beside the locomotive. With luck, they’d think her high color was from the exercise.

“Miss Mason, your collar is undone, again. How wicked!”

The strident voice, always ready to accuse her of not being a proper lady, grated even more than normal. Luckily, they hadn’t seen her with the handsome, arrogant, heat-provoking stranger.

“Clarabelle, I’ve been on one of my brisk walks,” she replied in a bored tone. “I’m hot. God will not strike me down for being a bit more comfortable while I’m enjoying His gift of nature.”

As always, she waited for the others to precede her. It was easier that way as she didn’t get poked with parasols or have her hem stepped on. She took one last breath of relative freedom and climbed the steps to the bridal carriage.

She spoke of God’s gifts, freely given to those who chose to accept them. Was the arousing man also a gift? Mama insisted God worked in mysterious ways, but it was up to those receiving His gifts to realize what they were.

She sighed as she settled onto her bench and the train’s wheels started moving. If everything went as usual, she’d spend a couple of hours being forced by proximity to listen to the others titter about the men they’d seen, and flirted with, before she tried to sleep. Not on a real bed, of course. The train had hard benches which, now that their numbers had thinned, they no longer had to share. She treasured those small mercies.

Once the others were asleep, she’d unbar the door and step outside for some cool air. She loved to stand between the carriages and hold on to the railing, thrilling at the wind rushing past her face. The rumble of the wheels under her feet would transfer a vibration up her legs. If she really felt wicked she would lean her belly against the railing. It made something quiver deep inside her, a feeling like nothing she’d known before stepping on the train.

But now she knew there was something even greater. Something her mother had found in her father, and then put aside to marry the man chosen by her parents. Mama had become Mrs. Edmond Mason, but never gave up her love for the man Katherine knew only as Wilbur. Her mother had died before she could whisper his last name. All she knew was that her father wanted to travel far to the west. She prayed someone knew if he’d made it Virginia City.

I’ll find him, she vowed. Someone must know of her mother’s loving Wilbur. And then she’d find the same love for herself. There had to be one man who’d accept her just as she was.

Zach McInnes waited outside the bridal carriage for the rising sun to give him enough light to see. He rubbed his eyes and blinked to clear them. He’d spent too many hours last night thinking of his woman instead of sleeping. How long would it take before she would let him do more than think about her at night?

He liked the way her hips swayed when she walked away from the train, swinging her bonnet. When he’d heard her say she wanted a lover to teach her everything, he’d almost tripped over his boots. His cock rose in memory of her squirming over his hip, legs spread, as he held her away from the snake.

She was ripe for loving and dammit, he was going to be that lover!

He winced and tried to make room for his parts in his pants. It’d be cold in the mountains tonight, but his woman would be nice and warm, snuggled between his body and Rusty’s. After that kiss he had a damn good idea she’d want them as lovers. His cock throbbed at the idea of getting her naked, but he’d wait as long as she needed.

First he had to get her off this train and all the way to the Running W. It helped that Lady Luck was on his side. Some fool woman had left the door to the brides’ carriage unbarred. It made the job of breaking in far easier. It wasn’t as if he was going to kidnap her. No, that tidbit of a woman would agree to leave with him. If she balked, he’d just give her another kiss and she’d agree to anything.

He liked that she wasn’t afraid of him even though her head barely reached his collar, and that she’d listened when he told her to keep still. A prissy woman would have kicked and screamed her fool head off. All it would have gotten her was snakebit. But the pint-size hellcat had listened, and then fretted because he said she wasn’t good enough. She had an uppity attitude the size of Texas, and that was fine with him. It meant she’d have more passion in bed, or whatever place they happened to be when the urge hit.

The sun was now high enough to see the color of the trees. He lifted his neckerchief to cover his nose like a bandit, pulled his gun, and went in. He quickly shut the door to close out the rattle of the wheels. As he expected, the women were asleep, one to a bench. They looked liked lumps, their mouths and collars open, hair and dresses a mess.

He looked around the dim carriage. One of those lumps was his hell-raising bit of female fire. A blonde sat up, stretched, and turned. They locked eyes. He winced as her scream broke the silence. His woman better not scream like a mountain cat unless it was his name, while his cock surged deep inside her.

“Hush, Clarabelle. It’s just a mouse.”

His woman, eyes still shut, groaned the words through gritted teeth as if she’d said them too many times with no effect. Zach smiled to himself. Trust her to be the one to speak up.

“I ain’t no mouse, ma’am.” Zach aimed his gun at the startled woman.

The whites around her eyes showed panic, but the moaning blonde pressed both hands against her mouth. Silence, other than the usual noise of the train, descended on the carriage.

“You!” His woman stood, all five foot nothing of her in stocking feet. She glared as if he was a sidewinder. “No, you’re not a mouse.” She looked him up and down, curling her lip. Was that a blush, or was she pink from waking? “You’re a rat. A big, ugly, hairy, dirty rat.”

“I ain’t dirty!” He patted his clothes to prove no clouds of dust erupted. “I warshed jest last month.”

“Well, then. I
am
impressed.”

“You know this man, Katherine?”

One of the prissy women pointed at him. So the tidbit was named Katherine? Not a bad name, but Kate suited her better. She wasn’t big enough to carry a long name. Her furious golden-brown eyes might stop a lesser man from trying anything, but it made him want to demand more. She gestured with her right hand, an elegant flow that took in the whole carriage.

“I’d offer you a seat, but they all seem to be taken.” She leaned forward to emphasize her point. It made her breasts shift behind all those open buttons. He choked back a groan. “By women who wish to find a decent, upstanding, law-abiding, honest husband.”

His father raised him to be all those things, but this furious bit of womanhood didn’t need to know that yet.

“Don’t need no seat. Jist here to git me a woman. Be gone afore breakfast.”

“You’ll be on your way sooner than that. Alone!”

Though he stared her down, he kept an eye on the whole carriage. He wasn’t worried about someone breaking down the door to rescue anyone. The men in the next carriage would ignore a scream since they’d heard so many of them. A woman who got scared that easily shouldn’t be here. Mice would be the least of their worries, with bears, rattlesnakes, mountain lions, fire, flood, and everything else that plagued life west of the Missouri. In spite of her size, Kate seemed ready to take it all on. Could she also take on three horny men?

“I got on this train to find me a woman and I’m a’gonna leave with one.”

His gun didn’t waver as he checked out the watching faces. Rusty and Gideon told him to choose a wife to suit the three of them. Kate was the best of the lot, hands down.

“Who would want a deadbeat like you? Crawl back into your cave.”