Benjamin (11 page)

For a moment, one breathless moment, she wished things were different, that she had met Ben in a different place at a different time. That they weren’t riding into hell side by side. That their lives might be forfeit in less than a week.

“Let’s be on our way then.” Grace forced herself to move away, to shift her focus to readying the gelding. She only needed to think of her mission, to rescue Henry, and her feet picked up speed.

Nothing was more important. Even her own life.

*

There were advantages
to being a Cunningham, not the least of which was delicious food, quality clothes, gallons of liquor, a massive house, and money to burn. A man could happily spend days with whores, drunk and content.

Unless of course, his mother was a screeching wraith who would not leave him be.

Dominic covered his eyes with his arm and pretended he didn’t hear her. It wouldn’t work, but he did it anyway. The whores slid out of the bed and ran from the room, his mother’s rant falling on them like a downpour. Damn, they were good, too. Real good.

“Dominic, you will die in this bed. You must take your place in the business.” Her voice was scratchy from all the yelling. While her brown eyes widened, her red hair stood up like flames in a fire. “You’ve done nothing since your brother died. You let all his interests lie fallow like time stopped. You listen to me, boy, you must do something. I will not be here for long.”

“Are you leaving?” He expected the smack, but damn it stung. His arm throbbed from the contact.

“I will die and you need to be ready to take the business and finish the revenge your brothers started. I cannot pass over until the Grahams pay.” She bared her teeth and spittle flew.

Dominic had heard it all before. Again and again. She had done nothing but hammer the revenge mission into he and his brother Manfred for ten years. Since the Grahams had killed his oldest brother, Ephraim. He’d been the one to start most of their businesses while his mother took care of the finances.

Now both of his brothers were gone and Mama looked to Dominic to carry on the family business. He wasn’t like his brothers in some ways. He didn’t like little boys or little girls. He liked women with big tits who knew how to suck a cock. Hell, he’d forgotten there were even boys on the ranch. They were somewhere but damned if he cared where.

In other ways, he was like his brothers. He liked money and earning it through fair or foul means. They didn’t look anything alike since they all had different fathers, but they’d inherited their mother’s thirst for more and her incessant greed.

“You’re not going to die, Mama.” He sat up and stretched. “What do you want me to do?”

“Hire enough men to destroy them. Kill every man, woman, and child. Salt the earth until the Grahams are destroyed.” Her voice dropped until it was a growl.

Dominic got to his feet and smiled. “It’s a good day to be a Cunningham, Mama.”

This was a task he would be happy to perform. It was time those fucking Grahams paid for what they did.

‡

T
he remains of
their foods, clothing, and supplies were scattered in a trail leading deep into the woods beside them. Ben stared at the mess with a scowl so deep his eyebrows touched.

“Goddamn raccoons.” He fisted his hands. “We don’t have time for this shit.”

Grace picked at whatever was left of their belongings, setting salvageable pieces into a pile. “We should have expected it and put the saddlebags near us instead of by the saddles.”

They’d spent another night curled in each other’s arms. Ben had never slept so deeply than he did with Grace. She grounded him, strange as that was. He’d known her for less than a week but he already felt as though he needed her. Not that he would say that out loud.

“We’ve got to find another town and get more supplies.” He grimaced, knowing what was coming next.

“I’ve got money to get what we need.” She frowned at the remnants of her shirt before rolling it and putting it into her saddlebag.

It galled him to use her money again to buy supplies. He didn’t have any other choice. “I don’t like it.”

“I don’t like most of this trip.” She got to her feet and brushed off her hands. “Two things keep me going. One is knowing that I will find Henry.”

He stared at her, willing her to keep talking. “What’s the second?”

“Being with you.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

He resisted the urge to kiss her senseless. And more. Much more. He wasn’t prepared for Grace Beckett. But he wanted to be. More than he wanted just about anything in his life.

“It’s not like I had much of a choice. You dragged me here.” The acidic words hit her hard enough to make her wince while her face blanched. To his shame, she nodded and returned to cleaning up.

Ben wanted to kick his own ass. What the hell was wrong with him that he would hurt her? She’d been through hell and back. He had no right to heap more on her because he was scared of how he felt.

Instead of apologizing, he saddled the horses and filled the canteens from the nearby creek. With his stomach yowling for food, they mounted and rode in awkward silence. After a couple hours of nothing but gut churning moments, Ben was almost surprised when they rode into another town. He’d spent the entire time chastising himself for behaving like an idiot.

Ben had told himself over and over that he needed to talk to her, but he didn’t. She was the first woman that threatened the walls he’d built around himself. Hell, she’d already cracked his silence and gotten him to talk more than he had in years. Yet he remained silent now.

He was a jackass.

They located the general store a few minutes later. This time they both went into the store. Even though they were hungry and exhausted from days of riding, Grace managed to look beautiful in the feminine clothes she hadn’t wanted to wear. She’d wound her hair into a thick braid, which swung against her back when she walked.

Mesmerized by the movement of her body, he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going and bumped into a display of shovels. As they clattered to the floor just inside the store, everything stopped including all conversations. There were three women and two men and every one of them watched him.

Ben didn’t like being watched. Ever. Now he had a bunch of strangers staring at him. He picked up the shovels and set them back against the wall as neatly as he could. Grace headed for the dry goods and he hurried after her. The silence lasted for another excruciating minute before low murmurs of conversation began.

He hissed at her under his breath. “Let’s get what we need and get out of here.”

“I’m trying.” She scowled at him. “Try not to make such a spectacle.”

Ben took the cans from her hands. It wasn’t as though he wanted the townspeople to notice them. He was a wanted man and he just made a spectacle of himself in public.

Damn it.

“Find out if they have any dried meat.” She started piling things on the counter and he had no choice but to find the shopkeeper.

Before he could, a man stepped up to Grace with his hands on his hips. He wore an apron over his round belly. His beetled brows were in a V below his bald pate.

“You got an awful lot of food there, missy. Wearing some fancy clothes for someone with dirt on her face. You rob someone of their belongings?” His words cut through the quiet morning air.

“Excuse me?” Grace blinked at him, her expression shocked.

“You and your man look pretty shifty to me. I don’t cotton to folks who ain’t godly people.” The shopkeeper turned his gaze to Ben.

“My wife and I lost our supplies and most of our clothes to raccoons. We just want to purchase new things.” Ben spoke through gritted teeth. His temper burbled right below the surface. Just below. He couldn’t let it out or their journey to the compound, to Henry, would be in jeopardy.

“Raccoons? A likely story.” The shopkeeper snorted. “I don’t trust a woman wearing expensive clothes and a dirty face.”

Grace squared her shoulders. “I’ll thank you to stop judging us based on ten seconds of observation. We are godly people and we have money to pay for our purchases.” She gestured to her clothing “How could I wear such a garment if it wasn’t made for me? It fits perfectly.”

The man’s gaze moved to her body. To her breasts. Ben’s temper crawled up his throat. A noise echoed around them and he realized it was a growl. From his throat.

“You plan on causing trouble, stranger?” Another man’s voice came from the right.

Ben turned to find a man wearing a shiny silver star on his blue shirt. Son of a bitch.

“These two look shifty to me, Rusty.” The shopkeeper couldn’t appear to help himself from his continued distrust.

“We’re here to spend money on supplies. That’s it.” Ben couldn’t keep the burgeoning anger from his voice.

The lawman’s expression hardened. “This is a town of good folks. We don’t want no trouble from the likes of you.”

Ben was sorely tempted to punch someone. Anyone. His emotions were raw and this confrontation is the last thing he needed. His hands fisted, ready to let his anger loose.

“Pardon me,
gentlemen
.” Grace stepped between the three of them, her green eyes snapping and her face flushed. “I’m shocked by the behavior and the way I’ve been treated in this establishment. We are respectable folks on our way to visit my sister who just had her first child. We’ve not been fortunate enough to have a child. As to our appearance, my husband told you the truth. We lost our supplies to raccoons last night. I’m happy to show you the half-chewed shirt in my saddlebag, along with the claw marks on the leather. They’re just outside on our horses.”

The lawman cleared his throat. “Er, ma’am, I don’t think that’s necessary.”

The shopkeeper had turned to the counter and started tallying their purchases.

“We’d like some dried beef, if you have it.” Grace spoke briskly and her cheeks were still flushed.

Ben stood there, silently, while she retrieved the rest of the supplies, paid for them and requested assistance to bring everything to the horses. Both men took a few things while Ben grabbed the rest. The sun bathed her in a golden glow while she packed their saddlebags. She handed a tattered, raccoon-eaten shirt to the shopkeeper.

“Perhaps your wife can use this for a rag rug.” Grace kept her expression neutral while they completed packing away their purchases.

“Thank you for your assistance,” she said primly as she threw herself up onto the horse.

Both the shopkeeper and the lawman watched her with obvious appreciation. Ben’s anger scratched at him, howling to find a release. Just because she’d diffused the situation didn’t mean his fury had abated.

As they rode away, Ben nearly ground his teeth to powder. Helpless. Furious.

*

Grace watched Ben
as they continued on their journey. He held himself straight as an arrow in the saddle. She could see the tension in his shoulders and his hands clenched around the reins hard enough that his knuckles were white. Something had snapped in him during the scene in the store. While she had talked their way out of trouble, he had stewed in anger.