Breaking the Bad Boy (17 page)

“No you’re not, Duchess,” he paused. “Okay, yes, you are, but a shower will take care of that. You’re still terrifying.”

“I can’t make any rash decisions based on your gut, or any other part of your anatomy after spending the night in your arms last night,” she said very quietly. Buck’s body responded to the pleasurable memory of holding her. Christ it felt so good.

“I didn’t take advantage,” he said.

“I know, and I know you’re waiting for me to make the first move, I just…”

“Go get yourself cleaned up, you look like a singed kitten,” he said bending to brush his lips very lightly against hers. He looked into those deep eyes again and walked past her to the living room. She stood there stunned, until she heard the car doors slamming and snapped out of the trance he just put her in. Her dad didn’t need to see her exiting this side of the house.

Grabbing a mug she filled it with coffee and almost sat down on the couch, but remembered the mess they’d left on Buck’s sheets and stood up again. Brent and Belle walked in with Buck right behind them. They looked at her and stopped in their tracks.

“That’s the outfit you chose to fight fire in?” Brent asked and she almost laughed, but was overcome with wracking, painful coughs.

“I also had boots, but I don’t know where they are,” she said when the coughs stopped. Where were her boots? They were probably in Buck’s room, she thought. “They made the outfit,” she said smiling. “I was sleeping in this, I didn’t think to change.” Her dad came across the room to hug her and she saw Buck stiffen, knowing the hug was going to hurt her. She held up a hand. “Wait Brent, I’m filthy and everything hurts, I’m just going to go shower and clean up a little,” she touched his hand leaving a smudge.

“Your hair,” he said crunching the singed ends between his fingers.

“My hair will grow back; I was tiring of it any way,” she suddenly remembered Fernando. “God, Dad, I couldn’t save Fernando.” Her eyes filled with tears, and Brent took her hands in his and pulled her gently to his chest. He held her for a moment while they both recovered themselves.

“I know, honey, Buck told us. The sheriff’s been and gone,” Brent said and stepped back to look at her. “He also said you ran into that barn like an idiot, and that I would have saved him a lot of trouble if I had beaten you regularly when you were a kid.” She looked at Buck and he grinned at her.

“Buck saved my life again; you might want to give him a raise.” Brent looked at Buck, the grin was gone. Clearly he hadn’t mentioned his own heroics.

“She needs a full time minder, Brent, she’s a danger to herself,” he said shrugging his shoulders and she saw the pain in his eyes from the movement. The burning rafters must have hurt him.

She looked a little more closely at Buck’s mouth, there was a smudge of soot from her lips there, and she smiled. Poor Brent.

“Maybe hazard pay, too,” she said thinking of Brent shooting at Buck’s feet, and walked back to her wrecked room, as they watched.

Brent walked over to Buck and extended his hand. “Thank you again, for keeping her safe. She means the world to me, Buck.” Buck nodded.

“You are most welcome,” he said. Brent tightened his grip and Buck focused all his attention on him.

“For God’s sake, be discreet,” Brent said between clenched teeth. “I don’t want to see anything; I don’t want to hear about anything. And don’t break her heart; I don’t want to have to slit your throat. You follow?” Brent asked.

“Yes, you’ve made yourself quite clear,” Buck said.

“Good. Then wipe your mouth.”

Buck put a hand to his mouth and his fingers came away sooty. He looked at Brent and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“I’ll admit, this looks bad, but you should give her more credit than that, Brent. She’s had several propositions in the past few days, Christ; everyone who sees her wants her, and can you blame them? She’s had men coming all the way out from town with giant bouquets, and, I’ll admit it, my own attentions as well, but the woman is chaste,” he said.

“Men have been after her like that since she was fourteen years old. I carried a sidearm until she went off to college. I don’t need you telling me about my own daughter, Buck.”

“I think maybe you do,” Buck said calmly. Brent glared at him.

“Maybe. Now tell me what the fuck is going on here,” Brent said slumping into the nearest chair, and Buck told him.

Half an hour later Joss was showered and ready to have her wound dressed. Her room could wait; she didn’t have the energy to tackle it just yet. Who would ransack her room? Did it have anything to do with the “cable” guys at her apartment? What were they looking for? Did they start the fire to get her out of it? And finally, did they kill Fernando to start the fire? It was more likely that they killed Fernando and they started the fire to get rid of any evidence. Once everyone was tending the fire, Joss’s room was primed for searching.

Buck must have moved her mattress back on the bed frame, and she wondered where he found time to do any work around the place after taking care of her all the time. It was nice to be taken care of, she thought, especially by a handsome long legged hero.

She left the shambles of her room and ran upstairs and knocked on the master bedroom’s door, but there was no sound from within. The last thing she wanted to do was bump in to one of the horny ranch hands with her shirt off and no bra, so she tentatively walked back down and into the kitchen to look for her dad or Belle, but they weren’t there. She turned to go back to her room and there stood Buck, watching her. He seemed to always be there when she needed him.

He took one look at her and knew exactly what she needed. “Come here,” he said sitting in one of the hard backed chairs around the table, then taking her by the hips and gently guiding her to his lap. He put a hand around for the ointment and she handed it to him. “Christ, this is nasty, Duchess,” he said and there went all her hopes that people would lie to her to spare her feelings. She huffed out a laugh. “Can you reach it with a scrub brush in the shower? I would like to volunteer, I fully understand the risks, your father having been fairly clear earlier when he saw my sooty lips,” he said and she chuckled.

“That’s really very selfless of you, I’m touched.”

“It’s just that this is pretty horrible,” he said quietly.

“Don’t sugar-coat it, how does it really look?”

“It looks like you and Freddy Kruger got into a tussle in the fireplace. It’s red and swollen and looks like it hurts, Duchess, and I don’t like the idea of you hurting.”

“Me neither.”

His strong fingers felt good through the pain on her back, and she closed her eyes and let it wash over her.

“How is your back?” She asked in a rough voice.

“
My
back?”

“The roof fell on us, you must be hurt,” she said.

“Oh that. It’s a little sore, I’ll maybe get a blister or two, I’ll be fine, Duchess.”

“What about your chest?”

“It itches a little when I think about it,” he said.

“You’re a tough son of a bitch, aren’t you?” She sounded like she was going to fall asleep.

“Uh-huh. If you were a man I’d classify you in the ‘tough son of a bitch’ category, but with you, Duchess, classifications fail me,” he said. She was relaxing under his ministrations, and he could now see the delicate curve of her breast where her clutched shirt had fallen partially away. Maybe he could make her relax even more and the whole shirt would fall away. Dammit, he was getting hard again. This woman unsettled him.

He moved to the center claw mark, the deepest one and the longest one, and she hissed minutely so he went more gently there.

“You are no man, you’re all woman. You are delectably soft in all the right places and with a healthy dollop of she-bear.” He came to the top claw mark, the shallowest one. “You are brave, maybe to the point of stupidity, strong, beautiful, pig headed, and irritating,” he was warming to his subject, but she stopped listening after beautiful. “You’re a pampered and spoiled rotten beauty queen, and sexy as hell.” He put his lips to an un-marred section of her back and she trembled with wanting him and began to turn in his lap. “And I want you so much I ache.” Her eyes were half closed and she had the fresh out of bed look to her that he found so tempting, so alluring.

He was holding her by the hips and helping her turn to face him on his lap. Their eyes remained locked as one of his long fingers slowly hooked the shirt she loosely held against herself and he unhurriedly pulled it from her unresisting hand. He moved his hands to her waist, the feel of her skin was irresistible and he pulled her closer as he sat forward to meet her, to kiss her. Joss watched his mouth come to hers as she felt his hands glide over her skin to her breasts. His long fingers deftly arousing her nipples.

“Buck…” She touched his face and closed her eyes and her lips parted very slightly.

Some noise from outside got her attention and she struggled out of her lust filled fugue state. Her eyes flew open and she saw the disappointment and guilt in his darkened eyes. She stood up and went to the window in time to see seven men armed to the teeth ride fast in the direction of the pool. “No!” She said and looked at Buck in a pained way and snatched up her shirt from the floor next to him. “No,” she said and ran out the door again clutching her shirt in front of her. “No,” she said again to her father who stood stock still in the yard watching the riders grow smaller. “Stop them,” she said and he turned to her. Taking in her half dressed appearance and getting angry about it. He turned to look at the house and there stood Buck just as flushed as she was.

“Joss, that bear is a danger to all of us,” he said. “You’re a goddamn fool if you don’t think he’ll follow the trail of your blood right back to you and finish what he started. Don’t test me on this.” She pulled her shirt away from her chest and her father looked quickly away while she pulled it over her head as she ran to her horse. She swung up on to her mare’s back and galloped out of the yard.

“Joss! Goddammit!” She heard her father yell behind her. Without a saddle, and with only her legs to steer by and she went as fast as she could to the pool, holding one arm across her breasts, and riding low on the mare’s back, holding on to her mane, she flew.

Ten minutes later she caught up to the crowd. They were roughly a half mile in front of her, and she was so intent on them she didn’t notice Buck coming alongside her until he had a hand on her mare’s halter.

“Don’t try to stop me,” she shouted at him, but she was already thwarted. At least he had the grace to look pained about it.

“Those bounty hunters are a bloodthirsty crowd, and something will bleed this day, Duchess,” he was breathing hard. “I don’t want it to be you. Come back with me, please,” she was ready to lash out until his voice cracked at the word please, and she lost all her steam. Until then she wanted to pull him off his horse and hit him in the chest. She felt terribly used and hurt and angry. “They won’t get him. Listen,” he paused. “I can hear them from here. Your bear is much wilier than they are.”

“Why aren’t you out there with them?” She asked realizing too late she sounded very like the spoiled Duchess he thought she was.

“I think you know why.”

“You were inside to distract me,” she said. It wasn’t a question and he didn’t comment. She was so close to inviting him into her bed, and he was only there distracting her so she wouldn’t try to stop them shooting her bear. She wasn’t usually so foolish, Buck was making her stupid.

“You wouldn’t have been able to stop them, Duchess, and I didn’t want you hurt. I hadn’t planned what just happened between us as a diversion, but I can say I’ve been thinking about little else for a long time.” He was caught in her spell, and he knew it was going to be the death of him. He had told Brent he wouldn’t participate in the hunt because he knew she’d hate it. Now she was gloriously furious; at her father, the bounty hunters, and most definitely at him. He thought for a moment that she would fling herself at him, but right now she couldn’t even look at him. It was better if she hated him, she was merely a distraction, and he needed to focus on his job, but he couldn’t help feeling terribly sad.