Dangerous (7 page)

B
eau didn’t come back to the cave until late last night. He’d been unable to locate the source of the gunshots, and yet, it wasn’t the danger outside that had kept him searching. More the danger inside the cavern. Kissing Annabelle had been one of the stupidest moves he’d made this trip. That woman’s lips were sweeter than anything he’d ever experienced. And being a lonely man on the trail with a sweet, seductive woman was not conducive to staying alive.

His focus had to remain on reaching Fort Worth. Sometime today, he had to locate a farmhouse and rid himself of this luscious, appealing, provocative woman. Annabelle’s full breasts and curvaceous hips were enough to tempt even a sin-buster to stray. Enough to tempt Beau into acting on urges that had his imagination envisioning how beautiful her naked skin would look in the moonlight. Wondering if her skin was as silky to the touch as he imagined.

Once again, he’d slept on the ground, not trusting himself to come near her in his bedroll. She’d been alone, though all he’d wanted to do was crawl inside those blankets and finish what he’d started. Now, this morning, she slept on, while he packed the saddlebags.

She stirred and sleepily said, “We need to leave before the bats return.”

“They came back almost an hour ago.”

She sat straight up in the bedroll, her hair tousled, and rubbed her eyes.

God, she was an alluring woman who had his
attention
rising to full mast.

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“And listen to you screaming and running out of the cavern again? No, thank you. Not the way I wanted to start my morning.” Oh no, if she’d become upset, he’d have been tempted to calm her, and that would have involved touching her, holding her, kissing her, and then they would never have come out of this cave all day.

She scrunched up her face at him in a frown. “Ha-ha!”

“Keep making that face and the bats may think you’re one of them.” He had to get them back on the lighthearted side and give his tortured manhood a rest.

“You are certainly full of vinegar this morning. What were those shots you went chasing after?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Whatever gunshots he’d heard echoing in the dark had not been close enough for him to find.

Rising, she wrapped the blanket around her waist and walked to the opening. She gazed out at the valley below them, the sun just now peeking over the eastern horizon. “It looks so beautiful and peaceful.”

“And yet, it’s on the edge of some of the most ruthless territories in Texas.”

“I tried to stay awake and wait on you, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open.”

“That’s okay. It was late when I got back.” This woman was trouble, and he needed to put as much distance between the two of them as possible.

He walked to where she was standing. “We need to find a farmhouse today, where I can leave you.”

She turned toward him, her blue eyes shadowed with surprise. “You’re going to leave me behind after we shared that kiss last night.”

“Because of that kiss last night,” he said. “I’m running for my life, and I don’t need to endanger you.”

She stared at him, her eyes swimming with tears. “Have you considered not being an outlaw? If you work at it, you can be a good guy. I bet if you talked to the sheriff, there could be some way you could repay your crimes and obey the law.”

A laugh escaped before he could hold back his response. “Sugar, my crimes are bad enough the only thing waiting for me when the law catches me is a short rope on a tall tree.”

Annabelle McKenzie was still a woman, and he’d seen the glitter in her eyes this morning. That kiss had affected her just as much as him, and he needed to dispel any notions she was cooking up in that female brain of hers of the two of them together, sharing forever. The next sodbuster he came across, he was leaving her behind.

“Now quit stalling. We need to get going.”

A frown flitted across her face, and her sapphire eyes darkened, her lips tightening.

“I guess then we better go if we’re going to find that farmhouse,” she said, her voice cold. “I’m sure my sisters won’t be far behind. Then we’ll catch you and collect our five hundred dollar reward.”

Her sisters…sometimes he wondered if they were a figment of her imagination. Women bounty hunters? Really?

“Oh sugar, I should be worth more than that. You need to ask for a thousand,” he said, glad to see they were back to baiting each other. At least this way, he wasn’t thinking about how he wanted to slant his lips over her smart, sassy mouth until she clung to him.

Yet, there was still a part of him that was sad to see the way she’d tensed at the realization he would hang if the law caught him.

She strode over to where her skirt had hung all night to dry. “Why don’t you step outside and I’ll get dressed.”

“You sure you don’t need my help,” he said, trying to goad her temper. If she hated him, then he wouldn’t need to worry about her wanting his kisses. Though, his body was hard with wanting her.

“Get out of here. I’m quite capable of dressing myself. I’ll hand you your shirt once I’m dressed.” She turned her back to him, clearly dismissing him.

Women had more thorns than prickly cactus. Hers was one damn fine kiss, but nothing had changed. She wanted to collect the bounty being offered on him, and he had to get to Fort Worth.

“Just say the word and I’ll be your lady's maid.”

“Not if you want to live.”

Walking out of the cave into the morning light, he chuckled to himself. Riling her up had chased away the stars he’d seen shining in her eyes.

Now, staring out across the valley, he breathed deeply and realized he smelled smoke, and it wasn’t from their campfire. Somewhere down in this valley, there must be a farm, and some farmer was burning wood. The perfect place to leave her behind. He needed to find that sodbuster and drop her off soon. Very soon. Before his traitorous lips tasted more of Annabelle’s luscious mouth. Before he ripped off her pantaloons and experienced her sweet womanly body.

*

Beau turned his horse down the lane. Smoke spiraled high above the trees, and an eerie silence had him glancing behind every scrub brush. Uneasiness twirled along his spine as he realized the birds no longer squawked. Stillness hung over the area, and the smoke seemed heavier with a pungent odor that didn’t smell like brush.

Something wasn’t right and he didn’t know what, yet.

Annabelle rode beside him. She’d been quieter than normal this morning. Almost as if she’d withdrawn from him and didn’t want to engage anymore. Like she was pushing him away from her, she’d been colder than a bartender at quitting time.

This was the very reason a man a like him shouldn’t be kissing a woman like Annabelle. Though she wasn’t a prim and proper, Bible thumping, miss, she wasn’t a saloon girl waiting on a client either. And if he had the time, he would have liked to have gotten to know her better, but now, he was going to leave her behind and trust she found her way back home.

“Oh, God,” she said and pulled her horse to a stop.

Two bodies lay on the ground, not far from each other. Smoke drifted from the burned out skeleton of the house. Only the smoking, scarred walls of the home still stood.

Beau held his breath, alert, searching the area for danger. His eyes scanned the bushes and trees around the house, his palm resting on his gun. “Stay here.”

“Like hell,” she said.

And together the two of them rode slowly into the yard of the house.

“Do you think it was Indians?”

“No,” he said, knowing there hadn’t been an Indian attack in this area for years. This looked more like the work of the Harris gang.

He threw his leg over his saddle and slide off his horse. He hoped she’d stay put, but she stepped down off her horse. Taking the reins of both animals, she led them into the yard of the burned out home, while he approached with his gun drawn.

“Stay with the horses,” he demanded

She didn’t respond. He went over to the first body and checked for a pulse. The young man’s body was cold. He had a bullet wound to his chest. He’d died quickly.

He walked over to the second body, an older gentleman, and rolled him over. The man gasped and his eyes opened, surprising Beau that he still lived. The old man’s pupils were large and dark, and Beau could see he was in pain.

“My son?” he asked.

“He’s dead.”

The man closed his eyes, squeezing them together to keep the tears from falling.

“Where are you hurt? Who else lived here?”

The old man shook his head. “No need. It was just me and my boy. They took our horses and scattered our livestock.”

“Who? Tell me what happened.”

The man licked his lips. “There were five riders. They called the leader, William.”

The Harris gang.

Annabelle stepped up beside Beau with a dipper of water for the man.

“Here,” she said as she lifted his blood soaked shirt, locating his bullet wound in his side. She shook her head, indicating the wound was fatal.

Beau lifted the man gingerly, so he could sip the water.

“When did they attack?” Beau asked.

Finishing the water, the man sighed. “The bastards had dinner with us and then attacked late last night. They wanted our horses. I refused to hand them over. They jumped up. Shot Charlie first and then me.”

The shots Beau had heard were the Harris gang attacking this settler and his son.

The old man’s hand clutched at Beau’s shirt. “Please, bury us next to my wife.” He coughed and blood poured from his mouth. His eyes drifted closed, and with one last gasp, his head dropped onto his chest.

“Damn it!” Beau said as he laid the man’s head down.

He stood and strode away, running his hands through his hair. This man and his son were only trying to make a living, working their farm. Because the Harris gang came across them, they were now both dead.

He kicked a rock with his boot, sending it flying.
Damn
. He should have been here. Maybe he could have stopped them from killing this innocent man and his son.

“He’s at peace,” she said quietly. Then she stood and walked a short distance away.

She stared out at the wilderness, and he could tell she was watching the area. He was grateful, as it gave him time to control his anger at this man’s senseless death.

She strolled around the yard and stopped at a door that was angled out of the ground. She lifted the entrance and descended the steps.

Damn it
. He didn’t need her to get hurt. He rushed over to where she’d disappeared into a root cellar. Hurriedly, he followed her into the underground storage that was filled with homemade canned goods. “Come on. We need to get going.”

“No. Look. The man has tools. We can bury him and his son.”

Beau could fulfill the old man’s wish if they could find his wife’s grave.

There were also canned goods and potatoes. “Collect what food items you think we can carry, and I’ll get started looking for the family plot. We need to get out of here as quickly as possible.”

“We?”

He turned and stared at her and released a heavy sigh. If the Harris gang were attacking small farms, she wouldn’t be any safer with a farmer than she would be with him. At least together, they had a better chance of survival than leaving her with a man who wasn’t quite as quick on the draw and wouldn’t recognize trouble when he saw it coming through his gate.

A man just like this farmer.

“I’m not leaving you behind at an empty farmhouse,” he said, staring into her gaze, wanting to get lost there—to let her ease the sorrow he felt at this man’s useless death.

“Good. I would have followed you. I’m collecting that bounty.”

He shook his head. “You’re going to be disappointed, woman.”

“No, I’m not.” She dumped an armful of canned goods into his hands. “You can carry these up the stairs.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, sarcastically. “I’m certainly glad the Harris gang didn’t find these. We won’t be going hungry for a while.” He climbed the wooden steps to the outside world and unloaded the glass jars on the where Annabelle could find them, then turned and went back down.

At least with him, he could protect her until he could get her to Fort Worth. But right now, she was looking at him like he was a cold, hostile beast. If she had a weapon, she’d have used it on him. And maybe, just maybe, with the thoughts that had run through his head about the things he’d like to do to her, she was justified in feeling that way.

He watched her as she collected some bacon, potatoes, and beans from the root cellar.

“I don’t think we have room for anything else,” she said. “Shame they didn’t leave a bedroll down here.”

“Yeah,” he said, thinking of how hard that ground was every night and how tempting it had been to curl up beside her last night and share her body heat. Only problem was his body wanted to share other parts of her womanly flesh.

He crawled up the stairs with a shovel in hand and helped her up with his other hand. “Now, let’s find his wife’s grave. I’d like to bury them before we leave.”

*

An hour later, Annabelle helped Beau drag the bodies of the dead man and his son over to the newly dug hole. She shuddered as they rolled the bodies into the empty grave. A gruesome task, but they’d fulfilled their promise to the dying man. And while she was glad, she never wanted to have to do something so horrible again.

Beau stood and wiped the sweat from his brow. Even though it was springtime, the sun had beat down mercilessly on them, while he’d dug out a shallow grave for both bodies.

When he’d announced he would be leaving her at the first farm they came to, she’d been mad enough to eat the Devil with his horns on. Hadn’t that kiss affected him the way it had her? She’d been ready to yank off his clothes and surrender like a willow in the wind.

And then this morning, he’d fried the dew off her first kiss when he’d acted like nothing had changed.
Nothing
. That kiss meant nothing to him. Like she meant nothing and when he’d told her the law had a rope with his name on it, she’d known there was no sense in getting all excited by Beau Samuel’s kisses.