Jenny (27 page)

Cole held himself in rigid control as Jenny kissed
him. He accepted her kiss, but did not allow himself
to react. When she slipped her arms around his neck
and shifted even closer to him, though, his composure
started to slip. A shudder of desire wracked him.

"Kiss me, Cole Please," Jenny whispered against
his mouth.

It was her plea that shattered the iron grip he had
on his desire. He reacted on pure instinct, crushing
her to him, his mouth slanting passionately over hers
in a fiery brand.

Jenny whimpered in ecstasy at his unbridled response.

Cole gave a low-throated growl as he pressed kiss
after hungry kiss on her lips. Jenny was his heaven
and his hell. He knew it was crazy to be holding her
and kissing her this way, but right now, nothing mattered but the glory of having her in his arms. He wanted her. He desired her more than any other
woman he'd ever known. There had never been anyone for him but Jenny.

The bed was so close, it was a simple matter for
Cole to pick Jenny up in his arms and lay her down
upon its softness without ending their kiss. Jenny did
not release him, but drew Cole down with her. It was
pure sensual delight to have his hard-muscled body
covering hers. She reveled in the pleasure of his nearness as she returned his kisses in full measure.

This was what she'd longed for.

This was what she'd always needed.

When he began to caress her, she was shocked by
the intensity of the excitement his touch aroused
within her. He slipped her gown from her shoulders,
baring that tender flesh, and she gasped at the sensation so new and so thrilling.

Cole was hungry for Jenny. All the time he'd spent
denying himself, controlling himself, protecting her- it didn't matter now. She was here in his arms, willing
and eager, and he wanted her.

Jenny hated that she couldn't caress Cole as he was
caressing her. She began to work feverishly at the
buttons on his shirt, wanting to bare his chest and
shoulders to her touch. She wanted to be as close to
him as she could. Cole shifted slightly away from her,
giving her easier access, and she made fast work of
freeing him from his shirt. His chest was hard and
hot to her touch, yet he shivered as she caressed him.

The knowledge that her touch had the power to affect Cole that way emboldened Jenny. She traced
fiery paths over his shoulders and down his back as
she held him close. Wild emotions filled Jenny as she
clung to him. She thrilled to his touch and returned
his kisses with abandon.

At long last, she was where she belonged.

She never wanted to let him go.

"I love you, Cole." Caught up in the ecstasy of the
moment, she whispered what was in her heart.

She had thought he would declare his love, too, and
they would live happily ever after.

She was wrong.

At her declaration of love, Cole went still. Reality
painfully returned and jarred him from the sensual
fever that held him in its grip. Cole was forced to
realize just where he was, what he'd been about to
do, and who he'd been about to do it with Jenny.

In an almost violent move, Cole tore himself away
from her and stood up beside the bed.

Jenny was shocked by his sudden desertion. She
lay upon the bed staring up at him, still on fire with
her need to be one with him. She didn't understand
why he had left her. She didn't understand why he
wasn't there on the bed, holding her.

"Cole-" she said softly and lifted one hand to him
in an invitation to return to her. She wanted him back
in her arms, kissing her and loving her.

The sight of Jenny, her clothing in disarray, her
cheeks flushed with passion's glow, seared Cole. She
looked beautiful desirable. He wanted to make love to her Lord, how he wanted to make love to her!
But that was all it was, he told himself - a physical
desire.

Cole took a step back to distance himself from
Jenny even more. He couldn't think straight standing
that close to her.

After Jenny had left him, he'd sworn never to fall
in love with another woman or to care about another
woman the way he'd cared about Jenny. Up until now
he'd managed to keep that vow. But now, Jenny was
back, and she was wreaking havoc in his life.

"I have to go," he muttered as he turned away from
her and headed for the door, buttoning his shirt as he
went.

"Cole! Wait "she called out.

But it was too late.

He had gone and shut the door silently behind him.
Jenny stared after him. She remembered another
time when he'd walked away from her and closed the
door in exactly the same way. A shiver ran through
her at the memory.

Mira was shocked to see Cole come out of Jenny's
hotel room buttoning his shirt. She held her breath
and stepped back quickly to hide in the shadows at
the far end of the hallway. She was fearful that he
might catch sight of her and realize she'd been spying
on him. Cole seemed too distracted, though, to even
bother looking her way.

Mira waited, watching him walk off down the hall, and as she did, the fury that was burning within her
grew hotter. Cole had been in Jenny's room with the
door shut, and he'd come out fixing his clothing!

She wanted to rage and rant. She wanted to scream
at the injustice of it all. She wanted to kill.

But Mira waited, biding her time. Only when Cole
had gone down the steps did she emerge from hiding.
She was slow in leaving, not wanting to risk rushing
after him and being discovered.

"What did you find out?" Wayne asked in drunken
good humor when his sister emerged from the hotel
a short time after he'd seen Cole leave. He'd been
waiting for her outside, trying to blend in so no one
would notice him, and he'd done a good job. Even
Cole had walked right past him, unaware of his presence.

"Everything I suspected is true. That woman is a
slut!" Mira told him venomously.

"How do you know that?"

"What the hell do you think he was doing up there
in her room for so long?"

"You don't know that for sure."

"He was fixing his clothes when he came out of
her room."

"Damn, maybe I'd better go get me some of that."
Wayne glanced toward the hotel entrance. The
thought of Jenny Sullivan warm and willing beneath
him left him hot.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Mira had had enough. "If it wasn't for you, none of this would be happening right
now."

"What are you talking about, woman?"

"I'm talking about you! If you hadn't been so stupid and almost got yourself caught rustling up in their
high pasture, you wouldn't have had to kill her father
and Jenny would still be back East. Then Cole would
be mine-all mine." Her fury at her brother was unbounded.

"How was I supposed to know that stupid old man
was going to show up right then?"

"He wasn't the one who was stupid! It was his
property! When you're stealing from somebody,
you've got to be smart enough to make sure you don't
get caught!" Mira seethed. "Do I have to take charge
of everything out at the ranch?"

Wayne shrugged. He didn't care who did what, as
long as he had money enough for liquor and women.
He was very much like their father that way. He
couldn't remember the last time he'd seen their father
sober. That was why he and Mira had had to take
over the ranch and start running things. "So what do
you want to do now?"

"I want to get rid of Jenny, that's what I want to
do. I don't have a chance of getting Cole to marry
me with her around."

"What do you mean, `get rid of?"

"What do you think I mean?" She shot him a hatefilled look that spoke volumes.

"How are you going to do that? You aren't plan ping on doing anything here in town, are you?"
Wayne was worried. It had been difficult enough
making Paul's death look like an accident. He didn't
know how he would cover up murdering Jenny.

"No, but believe me, I'd like to-right here and
now," she told him coldly.

Glancing back toward the hotel, Mira envisioned
Cole making love to Jenny. Her jealousy and anger
grew. When she'd gone to Cole's house to see him
and ended up spending the night, he'd taken great
care not to be in a compromising situation with her.
Yet here tonight with Jenny, he'd been willingly and
eagerly alone with her in a hotel room.

Silently, Mira vowed that one day come hell or
high water-Cole was going to be hers. She didn't
care what it took-she was going to have him.

Cole didn't even consider returning to the dance. He
went straight to the High Time. He got a drink from
Sam, who was still tending bar, then settled in by
himself at a back table. He stared at the bar girls,
contemplating bedding one of them just to ease the
ache in his body, but as quickly as the thought came,
he put it from him.

Cole didn't want just any warm body.

He wanted only Jenny.

He remembered another night when he'd sat there
in the High Time, thinking about Jenny and generally
being miserable. Fernada had convinced him to fight
for Jenny that night. He had taken her advice and had tried, only to discover that she had already gone.

But that had been a long time ago.

He still loved Jenny that night.

He had wanted her back.

But now?

He wasn't sure what his feelings were for her.

Cole took a deep drink. He waited, wanting the
tension to ease within him. Somehow, though, he
knew there would be no relaxing tonight.

Tonight he could have made love to Jenny.

And yet he had walked away.

It made no sense that he'd left her. She'd certainly
been willing. Hell, she'd called him back to her, almost begging him to come to her.

But he had walked away.

Cole tried to understand his own actions. Jenny had
had only to kiss him, and he'd forgotten himself. He
had wanted her badly, desired her deeply. But he
knew there was more to a relationship than desire. He
had to trust the woman he loved, and from experience
he'd learned that he couldn't trust Jenny. Not after
what she'd done to him.

Or could he?

In disgust and frustration, Cole took another drink.

Dan knew the time had come to leave. He had hoped
the night would last forever, but Sam was waiting at
the bar for him. He'd promised Sam he'd be back,
and he had to go.

"It's that time, isn't it?" Rose sensed the change in Dan's mood as they stood together in a quiet spot
near the refreshment table.

"I have to get back. Sam could only cover for me
for a couple of hours," he told her regretfully.

"Will I get to see you again?" she asked. She didn't
care if she was being brazen or not. She wanted to
spend as much time with him as she could while she
was in Durango.

"When are you heading back to the ranch in the
morning?" Dan hadn't even left her yet, and he was
already trying to figure out a way to see her again.

"Around ten. Why?"

"How about we meet for breakfast?"

"I'd love to," she said, her eyes aglow.

Rose wanted desperately to kiss Dan again, but she
couldn't, surrounded as they were by others.

"Shall I take you back to your aunt?" Dan offered.

"Please."

She took his arm, and he accompanied her to where
Tillie, Evelyn, and Melanie were talking to a group
of ladies.

"I'll see you first thing in the morning," Dan told
her, regretting that he had to leave her, regretting that
they would be apart for even a few hours.

"I'll be ready and waiting for you," she answered.

"Good night, ladies," he said to the others and then
took his leave of Rose.

"Good night, Dan." Rose watched him go, thinking
him the most handsome man in the world.

"Aren't you being a little too eager, dear?" Tillie
asked.

Rose smiled at her. "Not with Dan no."

"Is he as nice as he seems?" Tillie had watched her
niece and Dan for most of the evening and wondered
at Rose's reaction to him. She'd never known her to
be so excited about or interested in anyone before.

"He's nicer," Rose sighed.

"But he's a bartender, isn't he?"

"Yes. So?"

"I'm sure your father would have a few things to
say about his daughter spending time with someone
of that caliber," she cautioned her.

"If my father got to know Dan, he'd like him,"
Rose said, coming quickly to Dan's defense.

"That could be, but since nothing's going to come
of this flirtation of yours, I guess we don't have to
worry too much about your father approving or disapproving." Tillie deliberately tried to provoke Rose,
wanting to see how she would react.

Rose went quiet at her words.

Nothing's going to come of it-

Was nothing going to come of the feelings she had
for Dan? Rose was so drawn to him, so enthralled by
him Was it because they were so different? From
such different backgrounds?

Rose found it hard to believe that in just a few days
she would leave Durango and never see him again.

"Maybe and maybe not," she finally responded.

"Are you planning to continue a relationship of some sort with that young man?" Tillie asked astutely.

"I don't know," Rose said slowly. "I only know
that I've never met anyone quite like him before. I
like him, Aunt Tillie. I really like him, and I enjoy
spending time with him."

"Well, enjoy what time you have with him, but
remember we will be going home soon.

"I know. The time has passed far too quickly." And
especially tonight, Rose added in her thoughts.

"It does seem to have gone by fast for us, yes, but
I'm not so sure about Richard and Aubrey," Tillie
said.

"Didn't you hear about what happened tonight between Richard and Cole?"

"No, what?" Rose had been so wrapped up in Dan
that she hadn't paid any attention to what was going
on around them.