Travis (22 page)

“You don’t mind?” She scooted even closer.

He began to sweat. If she scooted any closer, she’d be in his lap. She was so close he could feel her body warm against his, and her hand under his big one felt so soft, like satin. He began to imagine kissing her, holding her. His breath came quicker. He could have this woman, he knew by the things she had said, the way she pressed close to him. And she was beautiful, the most beautiful woman he had ever met.

Violet. Her big, blue eyes came to his mind suddenly. Well, Violet was pretty, but of course, she was just a kid. Someday, she would be a beautiful woman, too, but right now, Miss Charlotte was all woman and he knew that after a while, when they stopped the buggy, he would probably kiss her and she wouldn’t mind at all.

Charlotte Van Mayes eyed the handsome, tanned man sitting beside her in the buggy. She wanted to add him to her possessions like her fine house, her horses and her wealth. She knew she was pretty and she had used that to her advantage all her life to get what she wanted and now she wanted Travis Prescott.

“It’s a great day,” he said and smiled at her.

“Yes, isn’t it?” And put her hand on his knee. Of course he had that gaggle of assorted children that she had no intention of dealing with, especially that slant-eyed Oriental kid and that oldest girl, who seemed too possessive of Charlotte’s future bridegroom. Well, she had already decided how to handle all of them. Travis might not like it, but she would convince him it was best for them all to be sent away. For the two youngest ones, she would hire a nanny who would keep them out of Charlotte’s way until they, too, were old enough to send off to school. As for that damned flea-bitten mongrel, she had some rat poison she could slip into his food.

“Tell me about your ranch,” Travis said.

She could see the sweat on his dark face. Evidently, sitting next to her was making him desire her. Good. She wanted a stallion of a man. This one looked like he knew how to handle women expertly, and she hungered for that. “It takes most of the county,” she answered and moved her hand from his knee to his arm, feeling the hard muscle there. “We’ve been on it the past fifteen minutes. I really don’t know how many horses or cattle I own. Why don’t we stop in the shade of that tree?” She pointed to a tall elm. “So we can talk.”

“Sure.” He guided the buggy over to the tree and reined in under the shade. “A big spread like that is hard to manage.”

She moved even closer. “Especially for a poor widow,” she murmured, looking up into his brown eyes. “Men always seem to want to take advantage of me.” She fluttered her eyelashes and took a deep breath so that her bosom swelled out the green silk.

“That’s a dirty shame,” Travis declared. “I hate men who don’t act like gentlemen.”

She sighed and turned her face up to his. “I’m so alone in the world. I really need a husband to look after things, a real man who knows about ranching.”

He licked his lips, looking down at her, and she could see the desire in his eyes. “I used to ranch before I became a Texas Ranger.”

“I’ve heard you got hurt.”

He nodded. “You got that right. I’ve got a bullet shard in my right wrist and every once in a while, it hits a nerve and I’m in pain for a few seconds.”

“Can’t anything be done about it?” She opened her lips a bit, looking up at him.

He laughed. “Yep, but I don’t have the money. That’s why I’ve left the Rangers.”

“Travis,” she purred, “I have money, plenty of it.”

“I couldn’t take your cash. They got a name for men like that.”

“But if you were my husband . . .” She reached up suddenly and put her arms around his neck and kissed him.

He seemed startled at her advances, but he returned the kiss with hot passion, putting his arms around her and pulling her to him.

Now this was a real man. She put the tip of her tongue against his lips and he gasped and opened his mouth, letting her kiss him deeply. She put one hand on his thigh and felt the muscles tighten there and he breathed harder.

Then abruptly, he pulled away from her and scooted to his side of the buggy seat. “I apologize, Miss Charlotte, I know I was too forward with a lady—”

“I wanted to kiss you.” She smiled up at him. “Oh, Travis, you and I would make sure a good team and I would love you like no woman ever has.”

“But I’ve got the kids to think of—”

“And just think how nice it would be for them to have money and live in my big house. Why, I could be the mother they need.”

“I don’t know.” He pulled out a bandanna and wiped the sweat from his face. “Violet has been doing a pretty good job of running the house.”

“But is it fair to her? To have to be the mother and do all the housework and all that responsibility?”

He picked up the reins. “I reckon you’re right about that. She says she don’t mind.”

“She’s just being nice. I’m sure the poor dear child resents all that hard work.”

“Let me think about this, Charlotte.” He clucked to the horse and they took off at a fast clip.

Damn. She’d offered him wealth and passion. What else could this man want? The fact that he was hesitating only whetted her desire. She had always gotten everything she wanted until now. She wasn’t sure how she would do it, but she was determined to add this big half-breed to her possessions.

They didn’t talk much as they drove back, but she could see his mind was busy because his brow furrowed in thought. They pulled up before the little house and he reined in. There was no one on the street on this lazy late June day. She leaned over and kissed his tanned cheek. “I love you, Travis. There, I’ve said it. It might seem bold for a lady, but I think we were meant for each other.”

“Charlotte—” He hesitated. “You’re a beautiful woman, and I’m honored that you’d even consider marrying a poor cowboy like me.”

She looked at him, wanting him. She smiled. “Then I’ll consider that we are courting and we’ll see where it goes from here.”

He stared at her and she could see the desire in his eyes. This was a virile stallion who needed a woman and she could already imagine him naked on her silk sheets. “Miss Charlotte.” He shook his head. “I don’t think this will work out.”

She was taken aback. “What? I thought—”

“I have responsibilities and besides, I wouldn’t want anyone to think I was after your money.”

“I never thought that, Travis. That’s what I like about you. You’re your own man.”
But you’ll soon be mine
, she thought.

Travis hesitated and shook his head. “What bothers me is that you keep talking about sending the kids away.”

“It would be for their own good—”

“I love my kids and I want them with me, not stuck off in some distant school.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” she snapped as he handed her the reins and stepped down from the buggy. “They aren’t even your children. They’re a pack of ragamuffins you’ve picked up along the way like stray puppies.”

“Charlotte, they are my kids as far as I’m concerned, and besides, I don’t think I can return your love.”

“What? How dare you humiliate me in this manner!” She took a swing at him with the little whip and he stepped back.

“Good-bye, Charlotte.”

“It’s Mrs. Van Mayes to you, you ignorant cowboy.” She whipped the horse and drove away in a cloud of dust.

Travis stared after her as she left. God, he had wanted to take her right there in the open under that tree and she had seemed to be willing. He must be a damned fool to pass up a chance like that. What had stopped him? Immediately he saw a face in his mind: a small face with large almost violet-blue eyes. The thought shocked him. Violet was just a kid, but her face had come to his mind just as he was about to pick up Miss Charlotte and carry her to the grass under that tree and take her with all the need and passion he felt at that moment. Now he was angry with himself for wanting a mere girl who was too young to even know what passion was. Maybe Charlotte was right; maybe he needed to send the innocent Violet away to school before his twisted mind forced him to take advantage of her. Did Harold know what he was saying about Violet being older? But how much older?

Quietly and lost in thought, he opened the door and stepped in, walking to the kitchen just in time to see Violet getting out of the washtub, her long brown hair hanging loose and partially covering her body.

She turned at his gasp of surprise and grabbed for a towel, but he’d already seen all he needed to know. “Holy mother of God!” he gasped. This was no kid, this was a full-grown woman.

Violet froze only a split second, standing there naked as Travis stared at her, and then she grabbed for a towel. “You should have made some noise coming in.”

He didn’t answer. He stood there, staring at her as she shook her hair back, wrapped the towel around her and stepped from the tub.

“I’ll be goddamned,” he breathed.

“Don’t swear,” she said. “You shouldn’t have walked in on me.” Her heart was beating hard as she tried to brush past him and go down the hall into her bedroom, but he reached out and grabbed her arm.

“We need to talk, missy.”

“Let me get some clothes on. Besides, I don’t know what you want to talk about.” She didn’t return his gaze.

“You know about what. I reckon I’ve been a damned, blind fool all this time, thinking you were a kid.” He pulled her to him and looked down into her face and she was afraid of the fury in his eyes and flinched.

“Don’t hit me.”

“Hit you? Why, you little wench, I ought to turn you over my knee and—”

“Please let me get some clothes on,” she begged and the towel slipped and fell to the floor.

He yanked her up against his big body and she could feel the heat and the muscle of him. “You owe me an explanation. Just how old are you anyway?”

She hesitated, afraid of his anger. “I—I’ll be twenty next week.”

“Twenty?” He let go of her as if stunned and she took the chance to run into the bedroom and slam the door, lock it and lean against it.

“Violet!” She heard his big boots stomp up to her door and he banged hard. “Damn it, open this door!”

“Let me get dressed and we’ll talk,” she pleaded, “and you cool down.”

“Cool down?” He banged on the door even harder. “You think I’ll cool down! Let me in, damn it!” He banged on the door so hard it quivered and she thought it might give way. She grabbed up her blue dress, backing toward the window. “Just let me explain!” she pleaded.

He was kicking the door now, so hard she thought he would kick it down. “Let me in! You’ve been lying to me all this time and laughing because I was such a gullible fool.”

She was terrified. Men had hurt her before and this one was bigger and madder than any man she’d ever known. “No, I didn’t, Travis. Honestly I never laughed at you.”

“The hell you didn’t!” He kicked the door so hard the lock tore out and he stomped into the room, his brown eyes dark with rage. “You’ve humiliated me and the whole town will laugh when they find out—”

“Maybe they don’t need to find out.” She held the dress in front of her naked body and backed away. “Please, Travis, let me get dressed and we’ll talk.”

“We’ll talk right now, missy, you lying little bitch!” He grabbed her arm and she dropped the dress as he pulled her naked body hard against him.

Violet trembled and shied away. “Please, please don’t hurt me.”

“Hurt you?” He sounded surprised. “What I feel like doing is spanking your drawers, you conniving little liar.”

She was pressed up against him and she couldn’t stop trembling. She tried to pull away, but he held her tightly. She had never seen such rage in a man’s face and she was truly afraid of him for the very first time. Tears ran down her face and she tried to blink them away.

“Oh, that won’t work, missy,” he roared at her. “You think you can shed a few tears and I’ll fold like a bad hand of poker?”

She burst into tears. “At least let me get dressed.”

At that he stepped back and took a deep breath. “All right, damn it, get dressed. I can’t think with you naked as a jaybird.”

She sobbed as she slipped into her dress and when she looked up, he was still glaring at her.

“Where are the kids?” he asked.

“Out in the barn, playing,” she sobbed. She didn’t try to put up her hair, still loose around her shoulders.

“Do they know about this?”

She took a deep breath. “About what?”

“Hell, you know what. Do they know your real age?”

She didn’t want to get them in trouble. “Sort of. They know I’m a little older, but they never asked much.”

“And what about this feathers thing with Bonnie?”

He was already furious. If he knew about the scarlet plumes in her hair with the dance hall costume, he might be so mad, he’d be dangerous. “I—I told her I used to work on a chicken farm where feathers flew all over the place.”

Silence.

“Travis? For God’s sake, say something. You scare me when you just stand there glaring at me like that.”

He didn’t answer. She had hated lying to him, but she loved him so and he would surely throw her out if he knew her background.

He turned suddenly and walked away without answering. She waited to hear the front door slam behind him, certainly heading for the saloon, but instead, she heard him sit down in that creaky rocker by the fireplace. He might beat her like other men had done, but she loved him enough to take the chance.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly walked into the living room. “Please don’t be mad at me, Travis.”

He came to his feet and grabbed her shoulders. “Missy, you owe me one hellova explanation and I hate liars.”

She looked up at him and couldn’t hold the tears back.

“I was on the run, just like I told you, and every man I met tried to take advantage of me, so I decided that the easiest thing to do would be pass myself off as a kid.”

“Who are you running from?” His dark eyes were black with distrust and anger.

How she wished he would pull her to him, wipe the tears from her cheeks, and hold her close. His fingers were biting into her shoulders.

She couldn’t tell him she was a whore—he would throw her out of the house—so she lied again. “A—A mean stepfather who tried to take advantage of me so I ran away and joined up with the other orphans. I didn’t mean to fool you, Travis. I was just so scared and then I was afraid to tell you, afraid you’d be mad—”

“Mad! Missy, you don’t know what mad looks like until you’ve seen me really mad.” He snorted and turned to walk to the front window, his big boots stomping.

She stood there a minute, unsure whether to follow him or go back into her room. She had hoped that he would pull her into his embrace and stroke her hair. She had hoped he would whisper, “You know I’ll always take care of you, Violet. I love you.”

And she would lean her face against his brawny chest, her shoulders shaking with sobs. She would feel so safe and secure in his arms. No one or nothing could hurt her as long as she was held in Travis’s embrace. She would turn her face up to his and say, “I love you, Travis.”

“Hush, you don’t know what you’re saying. You’re scared and upset,” he would whisper as he put one finger under her small chin and lifted her face up to look down at her. “I reckon you had your reasons for fooling me and we’ll just start fresh, okay?”

“Sure.” She would look up at him, loving him as she had never loved anyone. Maybe they could go on from here without him ever finding out her past. Maybe he need never find that out. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for the longest time,” she would whisper.

“And damn it, me you.” He would bend his head and kiss her gently, a chaste, warm kiss that said: I love you and I will protect you and look out for you always.

She imagined she slipped her arms around his neck and molded herself against him as the kiss deepened. She could feel every inch of his hard body, including his aroused manhood throbbing against her, and she wanted him. She opened her lips and he plunged his tongue deep inside for a long moment as she breathed deeper. His hand slipped into the bodice of her dress and caressed her breast until her nipples grew taut with need and she moaned, urging him to go even further. “I want you,” he gasped, “and I need you.”

“Then take me,” she urged.

He would pick her up, looking down at her. “I’ve been hungering for you almost since I met you and beating myself up because you’re so young.”

“But now you know my real age.” She smiled up at him, her arms still around his neck.

“And I’d like to be your first man,” he whispered and turned toward her room.

Her first man. She couldn’t even remember her first man, but Travis need never know that. He was proud and if he knew her real past, she would lose him forever.

“Damn it!” Travis snapped. “Say something!”

That brought her out of her daydream abruptly. “I—I don’t know what else to say. I’ve told you what you asked.”

He scowled. “I got nothing to say to you, missy.” His face was stone cold. “You’re a lying little bitch.”

She stood on one foot and then the other. “Do you want me to leave?”

“And go where?” He snorted. “You haven’t got any money for a train ticket and I sure as hell don’t.”

“Maybe I could get a job and earn enough for a ticket.”

“Doing what?” He snorted.

She was certain she could get a job at the Cattle Drive Saloon, but she didn’t say that. “I just reckoned you wanted me to leave right away.”

“And have all this come out and have everyone laughing at me and teasing the kids?”

“You want things to go on just as they were?” She couldn’t believe it.

He shook his head and abruptly looked very tired. “I don’t have a better idea right now. Maybe later we’ll think of something.”

She swallowed hard. “All right, if that’s the way you want it.”

“It is and we don’t tell the kids.”

“All right.”

She heard noise from the back and the kids yelling and laughing as they came up on the back porch.

Travis glared at her. “You’d better get your shoes on.”

“Sure.” She ran for the bedroom as the kids entered the house. Violet began to braid her hair as she walked back into the living room. “Did you boys remember to milk the cow?”

“We did,” Houston said as they all entered.

Violet managed a smile. “Boys, if you’ll help me empty the washtub, I’ll fix some supper.”

Travis stood up. “I’ll do it. It’s too heavy for the boys.” He strode to the kitchen.

“Gosh,” Harold whispered, “what’s wrong with Travis?”

“Yes,” said Kessie, “he sounds like he could bite a nail in half.”

“Hush,” Violet whispered. “He’s angry.”

“Why?” Kessie asked.

“Never mind.”

The boys had gone to help Travis with the washtub and Violet went to put her shoes on. She didn’t know what would happen next. Maybe she should just crawl out the window tonight and try to hitch a ride on a passing wagon. She could probably find a job in a big saloon in Fort Worth or Dallas. The thought made her wince. She never wanted another man to touch her except Travis, and he hated her.

Travis came back in the house. “Maybe I can build a fire outside and we’ll do a little barbecue.”

Bonnie hugged Growler’s neck. “Doggie likes meat.”

“Good.” He glanced at Violet and she looked away, continuing to braid her hair.

Houston looked at Travis. “How was the buggy ride?”

“Buggy ride?” Travis looked blank. Evidently, Violet thought, he had forgotten all about it.

“You know,” Kessie said, “Mrs. Van Mayes, who’s wanting to marry you.”

Bonnie shook her blond curls. “Marry Violet instead.”

“Oh, I can’t do that,” Travis snapped and glared at Violet. “She’s much too young, aren’t you, missy?”

She gulped. “Of course.”

Just then, Kessie went into the hall. “Hey, what happened? Violet’s door is torn up.”

Violet tried to come up with an explanation, but nothing came. She looked at Travis.

“I did it,” he snapped. “The rest is nobody’s business. Forget about it, I’ll fix it later.”

Violet hurried toward the kitchen. “I’ll fix some potato salad and beans to go with the barbecue.”

She ran into the kitchen and leaned against the cabinet, shaking as the kids and Travis went out back, followed by the dog. If the kids had been a few minutes earlier, they would have seen the big fuss. Well, now that Travis knew her real age, what were they going to do? It didn’t seem realistic that they could go on as before when she loved him so much and he was a virile man with a man’s needs. And what did he intend to do about the eager Mrs. Van Mayes? What a mess, and Violet didn’t see any good way out of it except maybe to leave. Yes, that way, Travis could marry the rich widow and the kids would be taken care of. She’d have to make plans.

 

 

They ate the barbecue outside on the back lawn, the kids so busy talking they didn’t seem to notice that Travis and Violet hardly said a word. She heard the southbound train go by without stopping and wished she had the money to be on it, but there wasn’t any spare money in the house.

It occurred to her that she could wire Duke and he would send her money for the northbound train if she’d come back to him. Violet shuddered at the thought. She’d rather be dead than return to the Diamond Horseshoe. Yet later, in the house about dusk when she heard the northbound train come through, she went to the parlor window and watched it pull into the station, pick up some freight and move on. Almost anything would be better than sharing a house with a man she loved who wouldn’t even speak to her and now would never trust her again.

“What are you looking at?” Travis came to her side.

“The northbound train.”

He was standing so close, she could almost feel the heat from his big body. Their arms brushed and the hairs on her arm seemed to stand up and she longed to have him put his arm around her, but of course, he did not.

“You thinking about taking it?” His chest brushed against her back.

“Maybe, but as you said, we don’t have the money.” She wanted to turn around and put her arms around his neck, but she knew he would push her away and rebuff her and she couldn’t bear to be hurt like that. Besides, the kids might see it.

“Checkers,” Harold said behind them. “Who’s up for checkers?”