Duty Bound: Bound and Tied, Book 2 (3 page)

KC sucked in air, aware for the first time in minutes that she’d been holding her breath. With the return of air to her lungs, the encroaching fog lifted from her vision. “Oh, my. You are very good at this.”

“I should be.” Rosalyn’s smile faded. “I taught many women the techniques necessary to keep their husbands.” She gripped KC’s shoulders, angling her backward.

KC waddled, tangled in the trousers wrapped around her ankles. “You did? What happened? Why aren’t you doing that anymore?” When the backs of her knees bumped into the ticking on the bed, KC sat.

Rosalyn kneeled and worked the boots off KC’s feet. “That is a long story.” She dropped the boots to the floor and tugged the trousers free of KC’s legs.

Now that she was completely naked, KC’s breath caught in her throat.

A gentle hand slid up the inside of KC’s leg from her calf to her thigh. “You have beautiful legs, slim and strong.” Rosalyn rose to her feet, nudging KC’s knees apart to stand between them.

KC had no idea what Rosalyn would do next, but her heart pounded in anticipation of the lesson. “I’d like to hear your story.”

“My story is not nearly as interesting as what I am about to show you.” Rosalyn touched the thatch of hair over KC’s mons, her fingers weaving through the curls. “I had a thriving business. I was respected in my own way. Then I made the mistake of falling in love. All it got me was crossways with the law.”

KC gasped as waves of heat radiated from her core, setting her body on fire. Despite the wickedness of what Rosalyn was doing to her, KC longed for more.

Chapter Two

Jake lay sprawled across his bed with nothing but a sheet draped over him, his eyes wide open, unable to sleep. He’d been thinking about Honor and Zach since he’d lain down, and it had done nothing but make him hot and bothered.

His hand slid down over his cock, stroking it, pretending it was Honor’s slender fingers. Or better yet, her mouth. His member twitched, rock hard in his hand, straining for something he couldn’t give himself. Ah, hell, what was the use? He needed a woman and Honor was taken. He should have paid for one of the whores down in the saloon. Every one of them had vied for his attention once they learned of his winning hand in poker. But he hadn’t wanted to take a single one of them to his bed.

Now with his dick hard as a poker, he couldn’t sleep. That and the nightlife in the mining community wasn’t helping.

Idaho Springs was too noisy for his liking. Men still went in and out of the saloon across the street, shouting at the tops of their voices, and occasionally a gun discharged, making Jake jump.

Jake suspected his lack of sleep had a lot to do with the guilt he felt for taking everything the cattleman owned. His imagination had gone wild with possible outcomes for the man’s family, none of them good.

He rolled over on the cotton ticking and buried his head in the pillow to muffle the racket outside his window. He’d be glad to be back in the mountains where the only noise was the steady hum of the crickets singing to him. “How can anyone sleep with all that hullabaloo?”

“I don’t know,” a muffled voice said.

Jake grabbed for his pistol, rolled out from beneath the pillow and sprang to his feet, all in one smooth, swift motion.

“Whoa, steady there.” The owner of the voice held up two slim hands in surrender. “I’m not here to shoot you or rob you. I just wanted to talk.”

“How the hell did you get in here?” Jake looked past her to the open door.

“The man at the front desk was good enough to unlock your room.”

“What the hell for? I didn’t pay for a whore.”

She stiffened. “I’m not a whore.”

“Then what are you doing in here in the middle of the night?”

“You’re Jake Thompson, are you not?” She held her head high, awaiting his answer.

His eyes narrowed. “Yeeaahhh.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “We need to talk.”

“And it couldn’t wait until morning?”

“I didn’t know whether or not you were leaving, and what I had to say couldn’t wait.”

“Then say your piece and let me get back to sleep.”

She nodded toward him and cleared her throat. “Think you could cover that?”

Jake glanced down at his dick, still hard and not likely to go down anytime soon. “It’s my room.”

She drew in a deep breath.

In the moonlight shining through the window, he could see the swell of her breasts above the low neckline of her dress. Now this was a woman he wouldn’t mind sinking into. Not a sullied whore every miner had ridden hard.

Suddenly the night was looking interesting.

“I’m KC—Katherine Masterson.” She paused, waiting for his reaction.

“And I’m supposed to know that name?”

“My father is Seth Masterson.”

“Don’t recognize that name either.”

Her back stiffened. “The man you stole a ranch from at the poker table tonight.”

“You’re his daughter?” Jake tipped his head. “I didn’t know he had a daughter in town too. I had the pleasure of meeting his son earlier.” He rubbed a hand across his chin. “The boy packs a wallop, for a strapping youth.”

She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. “He has several daughters. Seven to be exact.”

Damned fool! He had no right to gamble away his family’s livelihood. “You’re not going to take a swing at me too, are you?” Jake kinda liked the idea as crazy as it seemed. Anything to get her closer.

She lifted her nose. “No, sir. I had hoped to talk you out of claiming the ranch.”

His lips twisted. “So he sent his daughter to make a deal with me?” He lowered his pistol, anger building at a man who’d send his beautiful daughter out to fix his mess. “I like the man less and less.”

Katherine Masterson raised her hands. “Oh, no. My father doesn’t even know that I’m here. He’d be furious.”

“So you came into a strange man’s room, unaccompanied, to
talk
me into releasing your father’s debt?” Guilt knotted like a wet rope in his belly. Times had to be desperate for a decent woman to come out this late at night to negotiate with a randy miner.

“I figured you might be of a reasonable nature.”

“And if I wasn’t?” He had every intention of giving back the cattleman’s ranch, but he wondered how this beautiful woman would convince him to do so. How far would she go?

The night was getting more interesting indeed. Jake almost rubbed his hands together in anticipation of the lengths this lovely lady might go to secure her family home. “What will you promise me in return for such a deed?” He was testing her, that was all, he told himself. His breath caught and held in wait of her response.

The woman’s eyes widened and she sputtered. “Well…I’d thought…I mean…I hadn’t thought of a trade.” Her gaze shot to the window as though she wished she could escape. “I have the horse I rode in on.”

“A horse is worth more than a ranch?” Jake shook his head.

“How about both of our horses? My father’s and mine.”

“Not interested.”

“Good Lord. We have little else to offer. You won it all in that damn—darned poker game.” She propped her hands on her hips. “What
would
interest you?”

“It might surprise you to know the answer to that question.”

“Please, do tell, as my patience has waned.”

He stepped closer, his naked body on fire with her nearness.

Katherine backed up a step, then another, until her bottom pressed against the door, her gaze dropping to that part of him almost close enough to get buried in the folds of her dress.

He liked that she was uncomfortable with his nakedness and that she stood up to him nonetheless. He touched a finger to the side of her cheek.

She jumped but she had nowhere to go.

Jake swooped in to seal her fate. His finger traced a slow, steady path down the side of her throat, across her collarbone to the swell of her breast. “I’d be interested in you.”

“Me?” KC gulped, the feel of his finger resting against the rise of her breast the most astonishing thing she’d felt since Rosalyn had plumped them earlier. The ache in her belly spread lower, the junction of her thighs feverish with moisture.

Jake leaned his other hand against the door panel behind her, his body—and most importantly, his dick—pressing into the lush fabric of the borrowed dress. Even through all the folds of material, KC could feel the steely stiffness of his cock nudging her belly.

Her heart pounded, her knees threatened to buckle and her vision blurred. So this was what women called palpitations. If she wasn’t careful, she’d be laid out on the floor in a full faint. And she’d be damned if she let this man get the better of her emotions yet again. She balled her fist and reminded herself that she’d punched him not once, but twice. And she had even more reason now to do it again.

She opened her mouth to deliver a scathing retort, but before a word emerged, his mouth covered hers, claiming her lips like a pirate stealing his plunder.

Shock robbed her of movement and she stood as though turned to a statue. But statues didn’t have muscles the consistency of butter, nor did they moan with utter abandon into the mouths of arrogant bastards. KC fell against him, a whimper rising up her throat as his lips slipped over hers, his tongue tracing the seam of her mouth, pressing against her clenched teeth until her mouth opened and he was in.

His fingers threaded into the beautiful arrangement Rosalyn had labored over for the past two hours, slipping combs and pins loose until the tresses fell down over her shoulders.

Had Rosalyn’s handiwork been too potent? Had she turned KC from a sow’s ear to a silk purse in less than two hours, only for this man to tear her efforts asunder?

When Jake lifted his lips from hers, KC gulped several times before she could get words out of her suddenly dry throat. “You would trade my father’s ranch for me?”

The man stared down into her eyes, his fingers moving down her neck to her exposed shoulders. “I might be convinced.”

Hope sprang in KC’s chest. If he agreed to let her father have his ranch back, her family would not be homeless. “And the money you won? Would you give it back to him?”

The man called Jake frowned. “Now why should I do that?”

She twisted out from beneath his arm and backed away from him, hoping she wasn’t making a big mistake by pushing this man even further.

“What good would a ranch be if a man cannot feed his family through the winter? My father has a wife and six other daughters besides me. I will not allow them to starve if I can help it.”

The miner’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Your father should have thought of that before he gambled away his livelihood.”

KC pushed her tumbled hair back from her face and straightened her shoulders. “The ranch and the money my father made from the sale of his cattle…for me. That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.” She tucked her hands behind her back, hiding the fingers she crossed for luck.
Please let him agree to the preposterous deal
. She focused on what it would mean to her family and refused to think of what it meant for her.

Jake’s lips quirked on the corners, then a frown pushed his brows low over his eyes. He walked toward her. “I’m not certain I’m gettin’ the better end of this deal. Maybe I’d like to look that gift horse in the mouth.”

KC’s anger simmered. “Fine.” She opened her mouth wide. “I have all my teeth. I am a sturdy woman, despite the fancy clothing, and I work hard.”

His lips twisted. “I’m not interested in breedin’ stock. I’m more interested in your entertainment value.”

She frowned. “I can’t sing, if that’s what you’re talking about.”

“Not interested in singin’.” He shook his head and made a slow circle around her, his gaze raking from her borrowed button shoes to the low neckline of the gown.

KC squirmed under his appraisal. “I can’t dance, but I’m willing to learn, if that’s what it takes.”

He shook his head again, coming to a halt in front of her. “Not interested in dancin’.” He nodded toward the laces at the front of the dress. “Show me what I’d be gettin’ for my money and ranch.”

“I beg your pardon?” KC backed away, her hand going to the dip of cleavage between her breasts.

“I don’t make it a habit of buyin’ stock ’less I give it a thorough once-over.” His chin rose enough that he looked down his nose at her. “Take off the dress and show me what I’m gettin’ for the money.”

“I will not.” KC stomped her foot and would have stomped it on his if she thought it would make a bit of difference in his arrogant attitude.

“Then no deal.” He opened the door to his chamber and motioned for her to leave. “I want a woman who knows how to please a man.”

KC gulped hard. “I know how to please a man.”

Jake’s brows rose. “Really?”

“Really.”

“How many have you pleased?” he demanded.

“Dozens,” KC lied.

“I don’t believe you.”

KC threw her hands in the air. “Why am I arguing with you? Either you are interested or you’re not.”

“I am a business man. I want value for my money.”

“Oooooo.” KC gritted her teeth to keep from telling the man exactly what she thought of him. Instead, she gathered her skirts and marched for the door. As she neared the threshold, the faces of her mother and sisters swam before her eyes, and she couldn’t bear the idea of failing them. Instead of passing through the open door, she closed it and turned to face the odious beast of a man who dared to demand she strip for his amusement.

Well she’d show him.

“I will only show you some of what you will be getting. The rest you will see upon consummation of the deal.” Quickly, before she could change her mind, she unlaced the front of her dress, shoving it down to her waist. The corset around her middle pushed her breasts up high. Her rosy nipples puckered in the cool mountain air.

The miner sucked in a breath, his eyes widening. His hand reached out to touch one rounded orb.

Before he could lay a finger on her, KC slapped his hand away. “Not until you agree to the deal.”

Jake’s eyes narrowed as he rubbed the red mark on his hand where she’d popped him good. “I’ll speak to your father in the mornin’. Only then will I make any deals.”