Beauty and the Beasts [Bride Train 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (7 page)

Luke screwed up his face and growled. Gabe swung his foot. He took out his pocketknife and began cleaning under his nails. Luke had learned long ago he could never out-patient Gabe. Worse, the man was right. Again, dammit.

Luke let the anger drain away. While he couldn’t imagine life without Gabe at his side, he both enjoyed and resented his constant presence. The only son, Luke learned early how to smile and flirt to get whatever he wanted from his mother and sisters. Once he knew about sex, he used his charm to encourage women into his bed. The only one who saw through his charm was Gabe’s mother.

Thanks to the war his good looks and happy family disappeared. By the time they headed west he’d developed a thick skin to go along with the scar across his face. Now he pretended to be just as handsome as ever, flirting with women as if his life was still perfect. Even if he married Sarah and had many sons, his life would always be a lie. Because of him, something terrible had happened. Something only he, Gabe, and Oz knew about. The others, the innocent ones, were dead. He’d blame himself until his death set him free.

“Ah, my good friend,” said Luke, shaking his head. “Still trying to save me from myself.”

Gabe stood up and stretched his arms out. He bent his elbows and rested his palms against the ceiling, only a couple of inches above his head. He had an inch and sixty or more pounds of honed muscle on Luke. Both men were strong, but Luke usually ended up flat on the ground when they tussled. They hadn’t fought since Gabe got out of prison.

“Somebody has to tell you when you act like an ass,” said Gabe. “I’ve been doing it all my life, and it looks like my job’s not over yet.” He sighed and headed to the barn, leaving Luke to clean up.

“By the end of July, I will be married to that woman,” vowed Luke.

And then the Frost family would rise like a phoenix from the ashes of death. Perhaps he’d never have the respect and social standing his parents and generations before them enjoyed, but he’d have sons to carry on the proud Frost name.

All he needed was one stubborn woman to see herself in that dream.

It was half an hour before supper the next day when Gabe knocked on the hotel kitchen door and let himself in. A quick look showed that Sarah wasn’t in the room. That was both a blessing and a problem. After she implied she’d appreciate his efforts in the bedroom, and the way he ran from her like a child scared of a whipping, he wasn’t sure how to act around her.

Was she serious about wanting him in her bed, or not? He saw Sophie at the stove so pulled off his hat and held it over his belt buckle. Ever since seeing Sarah he’d been harder than a fence pole in January.

“Gabe! About time you showed up for a visit.” Sophie smiled at him over her shoulder but kept on stirring something that made his gut gurgle in anticipation. “What do you think about what happened yesterday?”

He cleared his throat, fighting to control where his brain kept heading. “Do you mean Sarah getting attacked, Oz kissing her, or the fight he got into?”

Sophie laughed. “All of it. Help yourself to coffee and sit.”

When she turned away, he filled a tin cup. He carefully sat, setting his hat on his lap. Sophie was a good woman, kind and helpful, but also well aware of men and their needs. He saw her look away now and then when she threw parties, and figured she had a few needs of her own that weren’t being met. She wasn’t much older, and acted like the sister he’d never had. He took a deep sip of her excellent coffee and let the warmth seep into him.

“Oz won’t be able to see out of his good eye for a few days, but he’s used to that,” he said. “Luke’s jealous as a green-eyed cat about Oz kissing Sarah, and I’m here to make sure no one tries to touch her tonight.”

“If Luke’s so jealous, why isn’t he here instead of you?”

“The last thing you need is Luke in your dining room, trying to prove he can kiss better than Oz.”

“It would be something to top that kiss.” She turned to him with a wicked grin. “Did you know Jack had to poke Oz in the neck with his knife to make him let go of Sarah?”

“No, Oz didn’t mention that part. Just that she enjoyed it just as much as he did.” He shook his head, still smiling. “I bet that made Jack’s day. He’s usually the one getting in trouble.”

“Did you come here to see if Sarah will enjoy
your
kiss?”

Gabe’s ear tips began to burn in a way he was becoming too familiar with lately. He checked out the pies waiting on the shelf nearby. “Ah, no. I thought I’d check out the dining room. Keep an eye out in case someone doesn’t believe Sarah’s taken.”

“You know the grapevine. Word will have spread that she’s under the Circle C’s protection. Who would try anything?”

“Stumpy said he saw Big Joe Sheldrake hanging around Baldy’s Saloon. I heard Sheldrake spent the winter whooping it up in Virginia City.”

“We wouldn’t want him to think he can do it here,” replied Sophie thoughtfully.

Gabe nodded, since his mouth was full of Sophie’s great coffee. He couldn’t wait for some of the venison stew bubbling on the stove. He’d never shared wild kisses with a woman, but kisses weren’t everything. He wanted the quiet moments of marriage, like those he remembered from childhood. The way his mother would rest her hand on his father’s shoulder when he finally sat at the end of a long day. How his father would turn up his weather-beaten face and pat her hand. They’d share a quiet smile full of promises.

Other men might want nothing more than hot meals, clean clothes, and a curved body under them at night. He wanted a strong, smart woman who could laugh and cry with him. One who’d listen while he talked over his thoughts and dreams, and feel free to share her own.

As far as he could tell, Luke wanted a wife to give him sons and Oz wanted hot sex and no commitments. Gabe wanted Sarah, just the way she was. At the same time, he couldn’t destroy Luke’s chance of the future he so desperately wanted. But if Sarah kissed him like she had Oz, all bets were off. He couldn’t deny the woman anything, including himself. He fought the sudden surge of arousal. Sarah wouldn’t want him, a virgin who’d rarely even kissed a girl. She’d want someone like Oz, who knew his way around a woman and could flatter her with quick words. He cleared his throat.

“Sheldrake would want Sarah because she’s beautiful.”

“Men like him get enjoyment from destroying what others want,” said Sophie. She nodded to herself. “It’s a good thing Billy’s staying with her at the bakery.”

“Bakery?” A bolt of dread hit Gabe square in the chest. “Isn’t she back living with Nora Dawes now that Mrs. Johnston bought Frederick Smythe’s house?”

“No, Billy’s father needs to make a bedroom for her on the ground floor before she moves in. She can’t climb stairs so, while she waits, she’s using the room at Nora’s. Sarah’s been sleeping in the loft above the bakery. Billy bunks down in the kitchen, guarding her.”

Gabe slammed down the empty cup. “Billy O’Keefe is guarding Sarah against men like Sheldrake? He’s what, ten years old?”

Sophie averted her eyes. “Twelve, and very responsible. But the kitchen used to be where they stored the gold when the building was an assay office. There’s only one window, high up, the walls are a foot thick, and the doors are very sturdy.”

“Sarah’s a very attractive single woman. She can’t stay there alone. I should—”

“No!” Sophie shook her wooden spoon at him just like his mother used to. “Sarah found the confidence to buy her own business, and to move from Nora’s. I’ll not have men taking over her life again. Unless there’s a particular reason why she needs more protection, let her be. Do you understand me?”

Gabe stared at the gravy dripping down the spoon’s handle. It made his mouth water in spite of his stomach being in a knot. When the drip reached Sophie’s hand she made a disgusted sound and turned back to her stove.

Sarah had been locked in that Bannack City whorehouse for two weeks. When he was sixteen he spent about the same amount of time in jail. They’d both been attacked at night, but Sarah couldn’t defend herself as he had. He shivered, remembering the feeling of despair and vulnerability. Yes, he understood her need to prove she had control over her life. Even if the control was an illusion, it would give her strength to stand up to Sheldrake, Jennet, Rivers, and anyone else.

“I’ll let things be for now,” he said quietly. “But if anything happens, I want to know. Sarah is under the Circle C’s protection. We won’t let her be hurt. By anyone.”

Sophie nodded, but the tight set of her shoulders suggested she wasn’t happy. Well, neither was he. He breathed out his anger, forcing a calm he didn’t feel. After he left jail, he learned how to make his body obey his commands. He could never, ever, let go of himself again. He almost killed a man while in a rage. Even though he was protecting innocents, murder was still murder. Another few minutes and he would have been condemned to years behind bars. That alone would have killed him.

Sophie coughed. The corner of her lip twitched. He frowned and looked closer. She bit her lip and looked away.

“Is something funny?”

“I know why you’re grumbling, Gabriel Downey.” She laughed.

“And that would be…?”

“You’re jealous of Billy.”

“Why would I be jealous of a boy?”

Sophie smirked. “Because he’s sleeping in the same room as Sarah. You want to be the one guarding her, and slaying her dragons.”

Sleep with Sarah? If he was in the same room with her overnight, he wouldn’t want to be sleeping. His heart pounded, and his cock thickened again. Since those few minutes he held her in his arms, he’d spent too many nights dreaming of her. She would come to him for comfort and he would ease her mind the best way a man could. By proving his love, body and soul. The fact he’d never really kissed a woman might complicate things, but he was a fast learner.

“Ah, Gabe.” Her smile dimmed. “You love her, don’t you?”

He scratched at a spot on the table, his head down. “Whether I do or not doesn’t matter. Women want handsome, smooth-talking men like Luke used to be.”

He remembered the women flocking to Luke like colorful butterflies. And there he’d be, standing on the sidelines like a big, hairy bear, watching. It only took a couple of rejections by horrified women for him to learn those women weren’t for him. Even though Sarah came into his arms easily that night, it was because he was her only hope of rescue. He had to keep his burning need for her to himself. But if she asked, he couldn’t say no. To anything.

“Sarah’s a beautiful woman,” he said quietly. “She won’t want a beast like me.”

Sophie walked over. She took his hand and looked at him. At least he saw compassion rather than the pity he expected.

“Sarah cares for you, a lot.”

“She cares about her cat even more,” he grumbled.

Sophie chuckled. “Yes, and we’ve had discussions about that. Oliver means so much to her because she got him after she lost her family, was sold, attacked, rescued, and then had to learn to hold her head up in spite of it all. She thinks Oliver is the only male who will ever love her.” She gave a wry smile. “I told her that a cat can’t do things a woman needs from a man.”

Gabe’s cock instantly responded. “Sophie, uh, it’s better if you don’t talk about that.”

“Fine. But Sarah detests handsome men, and has said more than once that she would never trust one. You call yourself a beast, but I think that’s partly why you attract her so much.”

He blinked. His heart surged. “Me?”

“Sarah believes she’s been treated as an object because of being pretty. That’s why she chopped off her hair and refused to eat after she was rescued.”

“I don’t care what she looks like. Yes, she’s beautiful, but she’s so much more.”

“You’re a good man. You can look under the surface to find the person underneath. Sarah does the same.” She patted his hand. “She looks up at you and sees a man who can protect her. Even better, you’re quiet and shy, which allows her to be a bit wild.”

He couldn’t think of Sarah caring for him. Not here, not now. Especially the thought of her being wild in bed.

“Luke and Oz aren’t quiet, or shy.”

“Yes, but they can give her other things she needs. She’ll gain confidence by bucking against the structure Luke wants so much. Oz will push her past her limits, allowing her to grow even more.”

“You think she’ll ever marry Luke, and live with us?” He held his breath.

“I think she’ll fight it every step of the way.”

“Oh.” His heart plummeted. He looked away.

“Gabe?” She waited until he found the courage to face her again. “Sarah will fight it because she doesn’t believe she should want it so much, or that she deserves a good life. She’s so afraid of being hurt by someone she loves, that she’ll hurt herself even more by refusing to love, thinking it will make her safe.”

He blinked. “Is that women’s logic? Because I didn’t follow you.”

Sophie sighed and went back to stirring her pot. He let out a breath, finally able to relax without her staring at him. The woman saw far too much. She added two plus two and came up with seven.

“My husband died years ago and I’m lonely,” she said quietly. “I see what the valley wives have, and I want it. I want companionship, love, and everything else a husband or three can provide.”

She turned to look at him. All traces of laughter were gone.

“I know I’ll never have that life, but I’ll do everything I can to make sure Sarah gets the chance. Even if she thinks it’s the worst thing in the world.” She pressed her lips together in a sad smile. “Maybe you’ll bring your babies to visit me now and then, so I can rock them.”

Her chin trembled and her eyes glistened. She turned her back but not before he saw a tear slide down her cheek. He had to blink a few times to stop the same thing from happening to him. Sarah, having his baby? He had to get out of that kitchen.

“I’ll wait in the dining room.” She nodded in response to his rasped words, without turning around.

He sat, carefully, in a chair in the far corner. The things Sophie said buzzed in his head. He couldn’t think about them until he was alone. Talking it out with his horse might take hours. No, more like days. Blue was half draft horse and, like him, was big and ugly. And, also like him, he could work all day until the job was done.