The Rancher Takes A Bride (8 page)

Rose held up her palm and glanced at it in the fading light. "Years ago a friend of mine read my palm and predicted I'd find fame and fortune," she said, unsure of why she was telling him this story.

"Yeah, fame on a wanted poster with a fortune going to the person who finds you."

"You do have a vicious tongue, Mr. Burnett. Not a wanted poster, but a billboard as an actress. Some day I'm going to be a famous actress." Her dreams were just as important as everyone else's. Why did she always receive the same reaction when she mentioned wanting to be an actress?

"And you've already started practicing your art," he said with a laugh. "Playing a medium."

Frustration overwhelmed her. The man just didn't understand. "Of course not! Being a medium is a vocation I was born with. Acting is what I dream of doing. Don't you have dreams, Mr. Burnett?"

"Yes, of a quiet night under the stars without a yapping woman."

"Dogs yap. I speak."

He glanced down at her and grinned. "Lady, you never shut up. Maybe there is some truth in your speaking to the dead. Maybe people have died from over-exposure to your tongue."

"Hardly!" She glared at him in the semi-darkness and said with frustration, "Are we going to eat anytime soon?"

"Mother packed some hardtack biscuits. When we stop, we'll have them."

"How convenient."

She squirmed, trying to relieve certain portions of her body that had no feeling left in them, and in the process elbowed Mr. Burnett.

"Stop moving around or you're going to knock both of us off the back end of this horse."

"Well it's a good thing I don't know how to ride a horse, because otherwise your backside would be in the dirt, and I'd be riding back to Waco."

"You might escape me, Miss Severin. But I'd find you. You wouldn't get away from me for long. And when I found you, I'd make your life hell!"

She faked a yawn. "Another nasty threat, Mr. Burnett? Truly this one makes me quiver in anticipation. Do tell me how you plan on torturing me when I escape. You've already made my life hell. That threat holds little meaning anymore."

***

Travis finally stopped for the night when his mount began to tire. Though Miss Severin weighed little more than a feed sack, he didn't know if the Appaloosa was tiring from physical labor, or if the poor horse's ears were exhausted from the woman's constant chatter.

Somehow he didn't know quite how to take this woman. He'd threatened her, and all she'd done was ask him with disinterest how he planned on punishing her. Was she crazy or what?

A fire crackled within the circled rocks, the popping wood shooting a shower of sparks heavenward. Travis leaned back on his elbows and stretched his legs out in front of him. He was bone-weary, and he knew they still had at least six hours of riding tomorrow before they'd be in Fort Worth. Six hours of the woman's ceaseless prattle and soft curved body rubbing against his.

What in the hell had possessed him to bring her back with him?

At first he'd thought just the threat would be enough for her to give back the ring, but nothing seemed to penetrate this woman's defenses. And when she hadn't given him the band, he'd been forced to carry through with his threat. After all, Travis Burnett was a man of his word.

Him and his big mouth shooting off. Now look where it had gotten him. He was stuck in the dark with a woman who could talk the ears off a mule and tempt a saint, with a body he had fantasized all day about exploring. A body that had rubbed against him all the way from Waco. Every step of the way, he'd been penetrated by her smell, her touch, and her voice. God help him, what had he gotten himself into?

And he was taking her home.

She yawned and stretched, pulling her dress tight across her breasts. He tried not to look; he tried not to notice the way the material clung to her curves.

"So, cowboy, what do we do until bedtime?"

Her words sent heat rushing into his body. He had an idea what they could do until bedtime and beyond. Somehow, he didn't think she'd like the direction of his thoughts.

"We rest and then we go to sleep. Or you can turn in now, if you want."

"I always thought that cowboys sang songs around the fire or told stories."

"Some do."

"Well, show me what it's really like out on the range."

He contemplated her, studying how the firelight flickered across her face, chasing away the shadows of night. He'd like to show her something all right, but it wasn't what she had in mind.

"I'm not the singing-cowboy type."

"Why not?"

He took a deep breath and slowly released it. "Miss Severin, it's time to turn in for the night."

"But we just finished eating. It's still early."

Travis stood and went to his saddlebags. He pulled out two small pieces of rope and carried them over to the fire.

He knelt down at her ankles.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to tie you up, so you won't be foolish enough to take off in the middle of the night." He didn't have time to be chasing a silly woman roaming the hills without food or water. Yet he knew she'd be gone at the first chance.

"What?" Her hands grabbed his. "You are not going to tie me up like I'm some—some criminal!"

He glanced up at her touch, and his gaze met the liquid velvet of her green eyes. "In my mind, someone who steals is a criminal."

She looked at him as if she would have liked to carve him into small pieces and feed him to the buzzards.

"Okay, cowboy, what's it gonna take for you to believe me?"

"The truth."

"I've tried that and you didn't listen, you're so convinced of my guilt."

"There's no one else who could have taken the ring."

Rose stared hard at the handsome man, her frustration building. "You're right, cowboy. I took that wedding band." She leaned forward, close to him, and lowered her voice. "And I'm wearing it too. You want to know where?"

Travis tried to swallow the lump that appeared in his throat. Where would a woman hide a ring? Somehow he knew he was in trouble. "Where?"

She whispered seductively, "On my big toe."

She was lying. She was lying as sure as the day she was born, but still he had to disprove her. He had to show her not to tempt him.

His gaze held hers for a minute; then his hands slid down her ankle to her boot. Her feet were small enough to rest easily in the palm of his hand. He started untying her bootlaces.

Laughing, she threw her head back. "I'm lying. I thought maybe you were smart enough to see the difference." As he slid her boot off, he couldn't help but admire her dainty foot. "I knew you were lying."

He slid his hands up her dress, skimming her calves. She grabbed his hands beneath her dress.

"Whoa, cowboy, just what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm taking your stocking off so I can see your bare feet."

"Oh, no, you're not. Allow me." She reached under her dress to remove his hands. She slid her stocking down, but not before he got a quick glimpse of her trim leg from knee to ankle.

Travis moved, trying to hide his reaction to the smooth expanse of white limb he'd glimpsed beneath her skirt.

She held out her foot. "See? No ring."

Quickly she undid her other boot and rolled down that stocking. She gazed up at him defiantly. "See? No ring."

"I know." He shrugged his shoulder. "Thanks."

"For what?" she questioned.

"For helping me get your boots off without a fight Now I know you're not going anywhere tonight." He snapped the piece of rope in his hands and brought it around her ankles. "I'm tying you up, just to make sure you don't slip away from me."

"Oh! You big bully. How am I to move around?"

"You'll manage."

He took her boots and stuffed her stockings down inside them, then moved the shoes out of her reach.

"I'll keep these safe for you."

"I just bet you will," she said, her eyes snapping with fire.

He took the second piece of rope, and after moving his saddle closer to his bedroll, tied her wrist to his.

They were tied together. Tied together by rope, bound by this hopeless sense of attraction.

The memory of her standing in her underwear sent the blood rushing through his body. Though she was fully clothed now, the image of her up-thrust breasts, slender waist, and shapely hips would haunt him for quite some time.

He lay on the ground next to her, his head resting on his saddle.

All he had to do was roll over and crawl on top of her, and he could have his way with her. She was little better than a thieving saloon girl, after all. Nonetheless, he knew she wouldn't be willing and he'd never forced himself on a woman before. He wasn't about to start now.

She tugged on the rope, pulling him until they were face to face, eye to eye. A stray lock of hair graced her cheek. The jasmine scent he was beginning to recognize as hers teased him. However, the look in her eyes was anything but pleasant.

"Just in case you're still thinking of trying anything," he warned, "I'm a light sleeper."

"Mr. Burnett, someday I hope I have the opportunity to pay you back for this humiliating experience."

He rolled over onto his back and pulled his hat over his eyes. "Good night, Miss Severin. Sleep well."

"Go to hell!"

***

Travis awoke feeling something warm and soft against him. For just a moment longer he clung to the dream world, knowing he didn't want to awaken.

That he wanted to continue experiencing the soft, sweet smell he lay curled around.

He opened one eye and peered into eyes the color of soft green moss. She lay curled in his arms.

"About time you woke up," she said.

"Morning," he said, trying to control his body's reaction to the soft scent of the woman he held in his arms, knowing he was doing a lousy job.

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah."

"Too bad. I dreamed you let me go last night. That you knew I was innocent."

"It was just a dream."

"I was afraid you'd say that. Do you ever get tired of being right?"

"Not when I know I am."

She shook her head. "So if I think I'm always right, and you think you're always right, where does that leave us?"

"You're wrong."

She rose up on her elbow and looked him in the eye. "Okay—hypothetical question. What if I were innocent? What would you do if you were me and I proved my innocence? Don't you think, cowboy, that you'd deserve some kind of punishment for kidnapping and dragging me to Fort Worth? For putting an innocent woman in jail?"

"Lady, I'd bet the Bar None that you aren't innocent. As for punishing me, just having to spend the entire day with you on horseback is punishment enough. It's not even daylight yet and already you're running your mouth off."

Rose tried to jump up, but the rope tied around her ankle and wrist held her in place. He pulled on the rope, hauling her against his body once more. She turned her face away from him.

"I'm tired, cowboy. I didn't sleep real well last night. So I'm warning you, go easy this morning."

Some of her spunk seemed to have disappeared. Gently he pulled her face around until their eyes met.

A man could forget she was a thief when he glanced into eyes the same color as the green hills of springtime. A man could forget she made her living cheating people out of their money when he gazed at her full, rosy lips. A man could forget about the number of other men who had probably had her, when he was surrounded by her rounded curves.

All night she'd invaded his thoughts, his sleep, his dreams, and now she lay beneath him, her soft body pressing into his.

Her eyes widened and she licked her lips nervously. That simple movement was his undoing. With a groan, his mouth descended onto the velvety softness of her succulent lips. Though the sun barely tinged the eastern sky, her breath was as sweet as honey-suckle. In her surprise, she opened her mouth, giving him access, joining them together in the breath of life. He reached up and grasped her face, pulling her closer. He slanted his mouth over hers, wanting to consume her, as if he couldn't get close enough to her.

His fingers trailed down her face. The rope that joined them together rubbed against her delicate skin, breaking the sensual cocoon he had wrapped them in.

She pushed him with all her strength and brought her knee up at the same time. He jumped out of the way, breaking the kiss.

"
Salaud
! What do you think you're doing?"

Rose yanked on the ropes, pulling at the knots, tugging on him, causing him to bang into her.

"Slow down a minute," he commanded.

"For what? So you can finish what you've started? Is this the reason you tied me up?"

He grabbed both of her wrists in one hand. "Just what do you think I've started?"