Devil's Kiss

What do you get when you put a lustful, silver-tongued devil in the path of a hard-hearted woman fighting love? Sparks and something even hotter…

Devil’s Kiss

© 2006 Brenda Williamson U.S. Marshal Jack McCay tracks outlaws for a profession and sweet-talks women out of their clothes for pleasure. When he begins to hunt a vicious killer, he meets one beautiful woman resistant to his charm. Tessa Jane Creager searches for her family’s murderer. The wanted poster says dead or alive--she'd prefer dead. While on the trail, she gains the unwanted help of a marshal-turned-bounty hunter intent on catching the killer and bedding her. In pursuit of the renegade, Jack and Tessa Jane have to deal with the harshness of the Wild West and with their shared desires. However, can a handsome man with secrets and a beautiful woman with a violent past overcome their stubborn ways to share everlasting love? Or will an outlaw destroy them by revealing all their secrets?

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex and graphic language.

eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work. This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. Samhain Publishing, Ltd. 2932 Ross Clark Circle, #384 Dothan, AL 36301 Devil’s Kiss Copyright © 2006 by Brenda Williamson Cover by Scott Carpenter ISBN: 1-59998-161-0 www.samhainpublishing.com All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: November 2006

Devil’s Kiss Brenda Williamson

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Prologue The outlaw moved too slow drawing his gun. TJ took good aim, swung one tired arm, and hit Everett Johnson in the jaw with a closed fist. He flew back and landed with a thud on his ass. When he scrambled to get up, TJ stopped him by stepping on the back of his hand. “Do you give up now?” TJ labored a tired breath while reading the man’s next action. It was there, like the tell of a man playing poker, except more defined than a mere twitch. Normally, the deadly sign was in a man’s stare, but if he didn’t look you in the eye, there was no telling what could happen. TJ watched for other indicators—the tic of a finger, a jolt of the leg, or something as small as a tiny smirk. TJ hadn’t encountered any outlaw who didn’t offered a sign before they tried to draw their weapon. “You’re making this real hard on yourself, Johnson.” TJ stepped back. “Yeah, well, just doin’ my part in making you work hard for that bounty.” He snorted his amusement. Not easily fooled, TJ always leaned on the side of caution. “While I’d like nothing better than to shoot you, I won’t get paid for your mangy carcass if it’s rotting.” Johnson stared at the gun TJ aimed his way. “We both know I’m wanted alive, therefore what makes you think I should give up?” “Granted, you didn’t kill anyone while bungling that bank robbery, but it doesn’t mean I intend on letting you loose. Anyways, what made you think you could rob a bank without a gun? You got what, a little more than twenty dollars?”

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“I didn’t have a gun at the time.” He shrugged, with a grin showing crooked yellow teeth. “I figured I could buffalo them folks and I was right. They was plumb surprised into believing me when I said I’d come back and shoot every last one of them if they didn’t turn over the money. Besides, I did get away with it. I’m not there now, am I?” TJ smiled, finding a bit of amusement in his facts, too. Johnson was right. He did get away with it. The tellers had to have been as dumb as a calf trying to get milk from a bull to let him bamboozle them with such a lame story. “I’ve outsmarted two marshals and half a dozen townsfolk,” Johnson boasted. “I don’t even mind being caught by a bounty hunter, so much.” “A little stretch of the truth, wouldn’t you say?” He raised his hands in final surrender. “I reckon I’d have liked it much better if you weren’t a woman. TJ laughed and pushed the brim of her hat up, mopping the sweat from her forehead. “Johnson, just think of me as one of them lawmen without a badge.” She spit the taste of blood out of her mouth and wiped the back of her hand across the painful split in her swollen lip. “Though if you were all fired upset I was a woman, you might have held back on that last punch.” “Girlie, I don’t care if you was my mother trying to give me a bath. I’d hit her too, to keep from goin’ to jail.” “Okay, Johnson, here’s what I want you to do. Take your guns one at a time and toss them over this way.” She pointed her revolver toward the ground by her feet. “I suggest you not get any ideas of using them. I’m not in a happy mood and while I don’t collect on a dead man, I’ve got plenty more wanted posters in my saddlebag. I can always look for another bounty and leave you to the vultures.” Johnson moved carefully. She showed him her serious side from the start. If he hadn’t understood that in the beginning, he did now as he sat in the dust like a whipped puppy. She loved the look on a man’s face after she got the better of him. There hadn’t been a single time she wasn’t able to outsmart a man. It helped she was very choosy in the

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wanted posters she took from the sheriff. She selected men not too bright and not too dangerous. It made her life easier. Of course, she always ran the risk of running into one wanted man who aspired to take outlawing to a new level. “Now put your hands behind your back.” She motioned him to hurry. “Is you going to tie a pretty little bow around them, purdy girl?” “I might.” She moved slowly, taking her rope with her. His hands crossed and his thick wrists overlapped. She paused for a moment in apprehension, and then swiftly slid her gun in its holster. Taking several hitches in the rope, she bound his arms in an unmovable position. “You don’t have to knot it so tight like that,” he whined. “I ain’t goin’ nowhere.” “I’ve heard that story before and it never fails to surprise me how many times I get a fella that tries to escape. I don’t like surprises on the trail to town.” To make things extra safe, she looped the rope around Johnson’s neck. “Hey, what are ya doin’ that for?” “Precaution. Makes it doubly hard for you to struggle if you’re choking.” She shoved him to his horse. “All right, Johnson, let’s get you up on your saddle and get going.” “Where we headed?” “Bedloe. It has a nice jail, all decked out with fluffy pillows and toasty warm quilts donated by a group of kindly old women from the church.” “Do they serve a hot meal there too?” He labored to get up on the horse. TJ gave him a push from the bottom side. “I reckon they do. Those church ladies have what is called compassion.” She tied the rope to the saddle horn. “They love to pamper a man before the noose goes around his neck.” “Hey, I didn’t do nothin’ to be hanged for.” “You don’t take a joke too well, do you, Johnson?” She slipped her foot, sheathed in a worn leather boot, into the stirrup. “Not unless I’m making it.”

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“Just rest easy and before you know it, you’ll be living in luxury at the expense of the town for awhile. You’ll get more from what the townsfolk give you than you got from the bank till.” Johnson nodded his head with a dumb and happy expression on his face. She felt sorry for him. While he thought he was smart, he couldn’t be more wrong. His stint in jail looked to be his best future. There he wouldn’t get himself killed trying out any more hare-brained ideas. ZY It took an hour to get to Bedloe. TJ promptly deposited Johnson in the town’s jail. “Here you go, sheriff.” She handed him all the filled out paperwork, making sure her reward money would be wired directly to her bank account. “Miss Creager, I don’t reckon I’ve seen a more conscientious bounty hunter than you. Are you hoping to get rich?” “If I am, it’s a legal way.” She smiled, thinking about the money she had saved up over the years. Between the rewards and the gambling profits, she had built a sizable nest egg. Bandits, thieves and outlaws would be envious to learn how she’d amassed a generous amount of money by their wrongdoings. TJ’s smile withered as she considered what she might do with her nest egg. She never considered marriage. From what she saw and knew of men, she hadn’t found many to like. “Here’s the new batch of wanted posters,” the sheriff said, drawing her attention away from her faraway thoughts. “You’ll be getting first look-see since I haven’t had a chance to hang them up.” “Guerrero.” She read the name on the first flyer. “Mexican name, but he’s illustrated as an Indian.” “He’s a half-breed and a cussed one too.” “I’ve heard of him, but I always pictured him as Mexican. Are you sure they have this right?” She read the list of his crimes. “Oh, it’s right. Not too many people would forget the description of a fellow that killed their family.”

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“He’s wanted dead or alive.” She put the paper aside. “I don’t go after those kinds. At least a dozen bounty hunters will be after him.” “With a reward of five thousand dollars, I suspect you’re right.” “And some of those hunters won’t care how they bring him in either. That means too many trigger-happy men traipsing around ready to shoot anybody in their way.” “Well, Guerrero has been running loose a long time. He’s murdered a lot of homesteaders and since he’ll hang anyways, they’d be doing him a favor by shooting him right on the spot.” He sat behind the desk and watched her. She felt a slight discomfort when she suspected his gaze tried to strip away her clothes. While she didn’t like it, she used her womanhood to her advantage often enough. “I know you can handle yourself as well as any man, TJ, but I’m glad to hear you’re not going after this particular desperado. He brutalizes women before he kills them, and it would be a shame if you misjudged him and got caught.” “I don’t think TJ could handle the half-breed either, Sheriff,” a man said from the open doorway. TJ turned to the familiar voice. “Marshal Martin Pullman!” She held her hand out to him. He was one of the people on her list of men she liked enough to call a friend. “Howdy, TJ, how’s life been treating you these days?” “It’s been a while, Martin. And since I have a few more coins coming my way, I suppose I can say life’s not been bad recently.” “Yes, it has been a while.” He shook her hand, but didn’t let go as quickly as she would have liked. “A handsome woman such as yourself is always missed.” Men touching her made TJ nervous. Her belly went jittery inside, like a trapped bird was let loose. “Now don’t tell me you’re considering going after that half-breed Guerrero?” Martin’s thick brows rose. “I’d sure miss seeing that cute smile of yours if he should get the better of you.” She didn’t comment on his attempt at sweet talking her. “I don’t intend on going after him, but if I did, I’d bring him in alive.”

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“I’m positive everyone wants him dead.” “Exactly, and I have no wish to get into the killing business.” “Like I said before, this ain’t the kind of man you’ve been up against before. Guerrero’s fate is better left up to men.” The sheriff nodded in agreement with the marshal. TJ took a discreet, deep breath, and released it slowly. She’d known both men for six years and brought in prisoners to them for justice. They apparently didn’t view her as the capable woman she thought she had already proven to them she was. As the Marshal and the Sheriff went over business, TJ picked up the flyer on Guerrero. She turned her back to them, folded the wanted poster up, and tucked it inside her vest. “Marshal, what do say to a drink?” She smiled at Martin. “Sorry, TJ, I’ve got to be somewhere and was just heading out after saying so long to the sheriff.” “Maybe another time then.” “We’ll see each other again soon.” He tipped his hat. “I look forward to it.” TJ didn’t bother to ask the sheriff if he had an interest in getting a drink with her at the saloon. He had a prisoner to guard for the night. As usual, she was on her own.

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Chapter One TJ went to the hotel with her saddlebags, got a room and stood staring at herself in the small oval mirror hanging on the wall. Loneliness had a way of catching up with her at the end of most days. Wiping the few tears from her face, she pinched her cheeks for a rosy glow and practiced smiling. She felt like talking to someone decent—anyone not wanted by the law. But she’d settle for a profitable game of cards. She turned to the dog-eared saddlebag. Inside, she retrieved the only change of clothing she ever carried—a dress. She undressed, took a quick moment to wash, and then donned the outfit meant for saloon gals. It was appropriate since she’d be going to a saloon. There she’d find a card game and conversation. Not always the kind she liked, but then men would be men and there was no getting around the fact she filled a dress out nicely. On the walk across the dusty street, TJ thought of home. She loved her family’s ranch. Each day, she worked at getting up the courage to go back, face the past and explain to her brother why she had felt a need to stay away as long as she had. However, the question she dreaded answering was why she had felt the need to kill the man who murdered their sister. TJ paused outside the saloon to hitch up the bodice of her dress. The expensive, French import fit snug. The infrequency she wore such clothes did not help in making her comfortable in the ruffles of femininity. If her men’s britches and shirts had the same effect on card players, she wouldn’t have changed. She glanced down at the low scoop to the cloth edged in tiny white lace. The revealing neckline adequately gave a view of assets she hadn’t

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ever shared with a man, unless she counted his stares. It took intelligence and shrewdness to con men into letting her play poker. She believed in using everything she had, and if that meant exposing a little flesh, then let it be. TJ pushed through the faded blue saloon doors, and sighed. She entered with an air of confidence every successful gambler thrived on for success. It was a self-assuredness acquired by time and gumption. Only the cockiest of cardsharps were smart enough never to let others see them flinch. She sashayed into the main room, enjoying the silk undergarments caressing her as she walked. If she could have foregone the corset and gown, she would have been in heaven. Behind her, the old doors swung crookedly on rusted hinges. They creaked, like a song to her entrance. Closed, they corralled her in the mist of smoke, and stale, whiskeyscented air. The saloon represented a man’s paradise—a reprieve from work, wives, and the world in general. Women had no business in the place for the most part. In her case, she fit the establishment and she’d flatter the devil out of any male who questioned her presence. With a scarlet dress that bespoke of good times to be had, she moved cautiously forward. The low-cut front gave men the distracting something to salivate over in their fantasies. If it weren’t enough, then the skirting, high on her leg, would do the trick. Trussed up like a holiday turkey, TJ walked forward. She flaunted her squished-up shape, forming an unnatural hourglass figure. The trouble she took in creating a striking image, met with an appreciative round of low whistles, clucks of approval, and numerous stares looking her over. Easy on the eyes, her looks got her far in her line of work. She knew how to use every curve to her benefit. A man didn’t have a chance when she wanted something. Whether a poker player or an outlaw, men were doomed. The table in the center of the room became her target. The men who sat around it were the kind of locals she liked to play poker with. Wellmannered farmers generally meant no guns—no trouble. The only

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possible problem she saw had on a white ruffled shirt, a crisp clean linen jacket, and a shifty, shiny grin. “Howdy, boys, might I sit in on a few hands?” She sashayed up to their table. She spied the deck shuffler grinning from ear to ear as if he’d already seen her knees. “We don’t play with women, honey, this is for serious money,” the well-dressed dandy answered. “But if you’ve a mind to take a room for a private party, I’d be happy to oblige.” His gaze rudely outlined her figure. When he met her stare head on, she kept her glare steady, making him the first to look away. “Pardon me, gentlemen, you didn’t look the skittish sort. Afraid to lose to a woman?” she taunted. Where had she been that at least one gambler didn’t want the risk of a woman beating him? No where. “Hey, he might not play with women, but the rest of us do,” a slightly foul smelling, paunchy man replied. “The city slicker can like it or leave.” His toothy grin showed signs of tobacco stains. Two of the man’s friends bobbed their heads. She wanted to laugh since it looked like “the dandy” was the one with all the money in front of him—their money, nonetheless. However, she wasn’t about to argue with the unthinking dirt diggers. She raised a brow and looked at the cleancut gentleman. “Clearly, I’ve been outvoted, so sit,” he grumbled, shoving a wood chair out with his foot. “You’re much too kind.” She took the chair and positioned it just right before sitting. “So, gentlemen, what is our game?” “We was playin’ poker, ma’am, but if you reckon there is another game you want to play?” The stinky man, enamored by her appearance, was in her favor. “The dandy”, on the other hand, was right good at getting to the point of things. “We’re playing five card stud. Nothing fancy, and…” He glared at the stinky man. “We ain’t switchin’ over to no gin rummy.”

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“Good, I’m not real keen on playing that card game anyways.” TJ plucked money from her cleavage, making sure they all watched. The gaunt, thin faced fellow next to Stinky reminded her of a scarecrow. He wiped his mouth with his long fingers several times while looking at her. It was as if he tried staring a hole through the cloth of her dress to see her breasts. “Ante up then,” “the dandy” ordered, clearly in a snit. He dealt the cards and she studied the moves. Once everyone had their cards, TJ took a glimpse at hers. She then began studying the faces of her opponents. What she held didn’t always matter in the winning of a hand. If she bluffed the others into thinking she held good cards, she’d win as easily with nothing as she could with a Royal Flush. Stinky and Slim appeared more interested in her ample bosom. She gave them extra eyefuls as she reached across the table for her cards and pressed her breasts up on the table. Naturally, it maximized exposure as her flesh crested the tight bodice. The fourth man playing, she dubbed Dumpling. Short and round, he did little to involve himself in the conversation. She also couldn’t read him and it made her extra wary of how he played. Her greatest adversary remained, The Dandy. He needed to be watched the most. The betting went around and TJ played conservatively, testing the air. “I call,” she announced, as she was the last to end raising the pot. “Pair of deuces.” “The dandy” dropped his hand for them to see. “I can’t beat that.” Slim tossed his cards on the table while making a disgusted sound expressing his bad luck. “I got me a pair of sixes.” Stinky chuckled. “Beats you now, don’t it?” He grinned at “the dandy” who only gave him a grim look of annoyance. “Two pair, jacks over nines.” Dumpling neatly placed his cards on the worn and gouged wood table. “Well, it must be my lucky day, gentlemen.” TJ revealed her hand. “I have three little ol’ fours and they just don’t look like they should beat those jacks and nines, but they do.”

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She smiled with an inward satisfaction she’d have a good night, if not winning, then irritating men. Leaning back in the chair, TJ relaxed a bit more. The card playing went on for several hours in the peace and quiet of the saloon. While somewhat unusual, it wasn’t unheard of for a small town. When a sudden ruckus of cheers and chattering people burst through the saloon doors, the whooping and hollering took her attention away from the game. “Seems to be a hero’s welcome.” “The dandy” jerked his head toward the rowdy group gathering at the bar. “Hey, Butch,” Stinky called to a man on the fringe of the crowd, “what’s up?” “That U.S. Marshal from Silver City, New Mexico caught that halfbreed, Guerrero, north of here. He just turned him over to the army where they’ll take him to Tucson for his hangin’.” TJ thought of the wanted poster she had in her hotel room. One less thieving, murderous bastard on the loose satisfied her. She really hadn’t planned on looking for that one even though the sheriff and marshal gave her the incentive by their lack of faith in a woman doing the job. TJ looked sideways again to see the hero who saved her the trouble of proving herself. The mob parted slightly. She saw the back of the man at the bar. Everyone wanted a turn in patting him on the back. With all the whoopla, she guessed he was some aged fellow who stumbled onto the right trail at the right time. He turned, surveying the room over a glass of beer he lifted toward his mouth. His gaze met hers from across the room. She didn’t recognize him, but the feeling of knowing him, sunk deep. An odd sensation she likened to a bellyache, knotted her insides. His stare trapped her in a mesmerizing moment of breathless immobility. She lived by a constant alertness of everything around her and it didn’t serve her well to have the strange abandonment of her senses.

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His dark lashes lowered over his eyes, breaking the spell between them. It let her freely watch him with a decisively different eye. She studied him for what he presented—a deliciously handsome man. His elbow elevated the thick glass mug. He drank the amber liquid almost in one gulp, making it disappear. The din remained a muted backdrop, the people a blur. TJ hovered on the fringes of awareness and the total seduction of her senses. She would have liked an explanation as to why he captivated her beyond the attractive features of his face. Only who would she ask? Who could tell her why her heart beat faster when she wasn’t in danger? Or was she? The marshal sat his mug down. It thudded with a careless release. He slowly wiped the back of his gloved hand across his mouth, letting the black leather smooth over the coal colored moustache. The hairs and his lips continued glistening with the dampness left by his beer. Mindlessly, she licked her tongue in a slow circle around her mouth. TJ found herself only inhaling. Her chest rose until she couldn’t accept the heavy air surrounding her. It caught in her lungs, and when it finally came out, the exhale shot swiftly from her lips with the slightest sound of longing. He turned the rest of his lean body toward her. Extremely well worked, his muscles strained in his shirtsleeves. All of his clothes fit him snugly, outlining parts of him a genteel lady would blush to examine. She batted her lashes involuntarily, and the one corner of his exquisite mouth curved up higher. TJ groaned with utter humiliation for having any uncontrolled feminine qualities. If she hadn’t been in a fancy dress, she knew her denims would keep him away. Men didn’t like women in britches. She heard in some areas of the west, they made laws against a woman wearing men’s clothes. The marshal strutted majestically en route to her. His lecherous eye contact heated her cheeks. Tremors in her body made her legs shake. If it weren’t for the skirting of the dress, everyone would see how hard she trembled.

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His gaze finally released her stare, and she couldn’t deny she liked the way his inspection brushed her warmly with approval. The adept way he undressed her with his look, installed new sensations beneath her dampening skin. His fascinating blue eyes returned from their perusal and he fastened the hypnotic hold on her again. The thoughts she imagined behind that slight smile weaved through her longing dreams about love. The twinkle in his roaming eyes made her happy for his apparent appreciation of her appearance. The rowels of his steel spurs on the nicked wooden floor, jingled louder, closer, and without taking her gaze from his, she lost the peripheral vision of the length of his finely crafted frame. Each step he took, she tried to secure a reason for the enchantment. Her thoughts raced to free herself from the danger of meeting him.

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Chapter Two “What have I found here in this little dustbowl of a town?” Jack grinned, tipping his hat back to cool the dampness on his forehead. “Aren’t you about the prettiest little filly in these parts?” “Just these parts?” The lady in red’s voice came fringed with insult. Her gorgeous turquoise eyes darkened. He had her scent and her body exuded a sensual heat that wrapped his veins in a very desirous way. “These parts are all I’ve traveled, sugar. But I reckon you’d beat them ladies in all parts when it comes to how you’re packaged up.” He cocked his head to take another gander at the length of her. “Yep, everything’s arranged right nice.” He’d seen a lot of women in his time. This one had exquisite features, too enchanting to be in a saloon, even though she seemed at ease amidst dirt farmers. Everything in her gaze and her body language told him things he need not ask. The blush on her cheeks conveyed to him, she appreciated his perusal, but the slight frown on her delicate lips warned him not to get too close or touch. He imagined she neither liked to be pampered, nor pawed by any man. However, she apparently didn’t care if one looked. “What do you say, I buy you another drink and we get better acquainted?” The turn of her slender neck, the averting of her eyes, all suggested she attempted to ignore him. While he could have been content for a long time, looking at her from a distance, his erection throbbed against the tightness of his denims and pressed him into action.

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“What’s wrong, buttercup, not talking to me already?” He chuckled and squatted down eye level with her. “Or maybe what you want to say should be done behind closed doors?” It brought laughter from the men she played cards with, and he saw how easily he ruffled her feathers. Her lips pursed and that pucker made his mouth water to taste them. He had nothing to lose and leaned closer to her. “Don’t you dare try what you’re thinking,” she hissed between her pinched lips. You don’t know half of what I have on my mind, sweetness, and I know there’s more I could tell you,” he whispered. “If we were alone.” “Why don’t you just tell us all right now what you’d like to do with me?” Her lips spewed out the command and then pinched back together. “I’m afraid what I might suggest would put a red tint to even my cheeks, darlin’.” “Well then, I suggest you not think so hard on making lewd advances, if your nature is so delicate.” “I’m Marshal Jack McCay, honey, and the least of my worries is having a weak nature.” He crooked his leather clad finger and rubbed a small spot on the ball of her bare shoulder. “What name do you go by, besides gorgeous?” He watched for a sign she’d waver in her fight to be uninterested. If she truly didn’t want him there, then the flutter of her long pale lashes over the turquoise gems wouldn’t have been so damn inviting. “I’ve had a long, hard six months of lonely nights with only the comfort of a horse blanket and you sure would be right nice to snuggle up with tonight.” In her stare, he saw unhappiness and while he had some selfish intentions, he had every intention of making her glow with a sated smile. “Sorry, Marshal, I’m afraid I’ve already made plans this evening with these four gentlemen.” She turned a cool eye on him. “After which I will return to my room in the hotel and go to sleep—alone.” “Now that’s a right darn shame, beautiful.” He slowly rose up. “We could have had a real good time.”

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“I’m already having an excellent time, or was that not obvious?” Her fingers glided over the pile of money in front of her. It wasn’t often he saw a woman playing poker with the skill that net a substantial amount of cash. He slanted over, close to her ear, inhaling her scent. “I should like to caress every inch of your velvet body, honey. Maybe real soon, we’ll see each other again,” he murmured. “I wouldn’t get too hopeful if I were you.” Jack cupped her chin and turned her face slightly and looked at the cut on her mouth. “I can tell you one thing. I wouldn’t hurt you, sweetness, not like the last man you were with.” With his thumb, he rubbed beneath her sore lip, studying it and wondering how any man could mar her lovely face. “The man you’re referring to isn’t too pleased with what I did to him afterward.” She twisted her head and it came free of his hand. “Therefore, I suggest you seriously consider I might be dangerous before you touch me again.” Jack ran his finger along the top of her bare shoulder, testing her limits. The shiver to her soft skin made his cock jolt. “If it was not clear,” she growled, “I meant your fingers as well.” “You’re a persnickety little hellcat wasting all your time on minor details,” he laughed. “However, I ain’t hankerin’ for no trouble, so I’ll let you finish up your card game.” This was a night for many things, but tangling with a catamount didn’t hit high on his agenda. There would be other women, more willing. He glanced back to see her head turn away from looking him over. Her turquoise stare was lit brighter than a firefly on a summer night and had a hunger he rightly knew. He’d never deem himself vain; still, there had to be something said for a beautiful woman’s approving gaze floating over him with appreciation. TJ turned her sights back to the gaming table. The marshal’s laughter floated away, as he strolled back to the bar. She took a quick

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glimpse to see his entourage of impressed cowboys and farmers, enclose him into their folds with another round of back slappin’, and free drinks. Thinking of the way his voice had gone low and seductive when he whispered in her ear made her shiver. The way his warm liquored breath teased the fine hairs on her neck, rattled her nerves. “Deal,” she told Slim. The fragrance of leather and horse never had more appeal than it did with the mixed scent of Jack McCay. She wanted to look at him simply because his kind didn’t come around often. Thinking on it for a half second, she was certain she had never seen another man as striking. TJ had difficulty in stealing brief looks at the egotistical clod. If he caught her, it would encourage his advances. The very thought prickled her skin. She curled her toes in the fancy, but worn shoes to stop the tingling. Nothing worked in her favor as the magical resonance of Marshal McCay’s voice drifted from the bar. An ache formed between her legs and left her decisively uncomfortable while sitting still. ”Bring me another bottle of whiskey,” she called over to the bartender. She set up the men with drinks and each time she put the bottle down, she reached for the handkerchief in her reticule to wipe her hands. It gave her a way to turn her head slightly and watch the marshal from the corner of her eye. He shoved his hat further back up on his head to gulp down the last drops in his glass. The band of black felt trapping his inky hair let loose a few damp locks. Exceedingly handsome, the fact he caught one of the more infamous outlaws made him sexier. If it weren’t for his arrogance, she thought how nice it would be to have a conversation with the charmer. “Gentlemen,” TJ stood, “if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to retire for the evening. I thank you for a splendid evening.” Flirting with danger, she looked over at the marshal and he looked at her. His grin came quick. She lowered her gaze and headed out the same way she entered.

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The doors swung noisily behind her as she began the quiet midnight stroll toward the hotel. The cold evening air felt good. Her cheeks were hot and she wondered if the marshal had noticed the blush. Her mind drifted from thoughts about the marshal to the anticipation of a comfortable bed. Trail weary, and a bit intoxicated by the shots of whiskey she drank, she looked forward to a long night’s sleep. “I told you I don’t play with ladies.” “The dandy’s” voice startled her more than the poke of a gun in her ribs. TJ hated confrontations that she didn’t instigate. The marshal had upset her thoughts to the point she didn’t pay attention to her surroundings. From the moment he entered the saloon, he became a distraction to her instincts. She lifted her reticule to grip it with two hands. “No point in hanging on to it. I want my money as well as all the rest you won tonight. I took you for a hustler the second you came in the saloon. Good girls don’t glance over them doors, and proper women scorn such diversions. You, my dear, gussied up like some fancy strumpet cannot hide the fact you’re a low class whore with a little skill. And I do mean skill. I couldn’t tell how you cheated or how you won, but you are good.” The gun pressed harder into her ribcage. “Now give me the money.” “My skill, as you call it, is knowing when a man bluffs, nothing more.” “Then you’ll know I’m not bluffing when I say I’ll kill you if you don't hurry up.” “Sir, you are going to regret this.” She carefully opened her reticule. “Not really.” He grinned. “All right, hold it right there.” Marshal McCay’s voice boomed from behind her. “The dandy” grabbed her and spun her around to hold as a shield. She grumbled in protest, struggled against the barrel of steel poking at her ribs and glared at the marshal for putting her in the more precarious position.

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“Stay right where you are, Marshal, or the little lady will find herself in a whole heap of pain,” “the dandy” declared, jabbing the hard steel barrel of his gun in her side to make a point. TJ kept her hand in her reticule, fingers locked on the handle of a derringer. Only “the dandy” insisted on forcing his hand in with hers. He managed to snatch the money from the bag without noticing the gun beneath. Two things stopped her from pulling out the small gun—the unpredictability of the marshal and his bravado. He surprised her with his valiance even though he had followed her for personal pleasure. Her mind focused on “the dandy”, but her gaze stayed with Marshal McCay. “You best be letting the little lady go,” he ordered. “I’ve already staked a claim on her, and you’ll not be ruining my night.” Her awe dissipated. “Claim!” TJ shrieked louder than she intended. With her quiet, stay-out-of-it attitude shot to hell, she lifted her foot and jammed it down vigorously onto the top of “the dandy’s” toes. Even his stiff leather boot couldn’t stop the forceful piercing she gave him with the heel of her shoe. She swung around, raised her arm, and let the silk satchel with the derringer in it slam into his head. His hat flipped up and off and she clobbered him again with a good blow to the back of the skull. He dropped like a dead weight to the dusty ground in the alley. “Move out of the way, sweetheart,” the Marshal instructed. “I’ll take care of this.” “If he’s wanted by the law, and there’s a reward, just remember I get it.” The marshal’s dark brow jerked up in surprise. Then he stooped down and put a hand to the man’s neck. “Well, he’s definitely out cold. What do you got in that little bag, angel, rocks?” He rubbed the back of his head as he rose up. In the saloon she hadn’t realized how much he’d tower over her. She felt petite, feminine, and somewhat disadvantaged.

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“No, I don’t have a bag of rocks,” she huffed with the disturbance he created on her breathing. She busied herself with retrieving her money from “the dandy’s” hand. “This is mine.” She informed him feeling the intensity of his stare on her as she squatted down. “Uh-huh,” he made a whistling sound of air. TJ rose. She looked up at the marshal. Her mind and body fought to stabilize the inhale of her lungs. The closer in he moved the lighter her head felt. Her stare fixated on his parted lips beneath the black moustache. The texture of his mouth became a temptation for her fingers to touch as well as her very own lips. When her gaze wandered up to his eyes, he looked at her as if he knew what she’d been thinking and she gulped. Suddenly, magically self-assured, he grabbed her upper arms and jerked her forward with wonderful control. Call her stunned, but the protest she wanted to make didn’t come out and she sagged against his hard body. The marshal’s head lowered and his delicious mouth caught hers. In that instant, she woke from her dazed stupor and pushed at his wellrounded shoulders. She pressed her hands to the muscled arms and strained for release. The more she fought his embrace, the tighter it became, and strangely her need to be free, lessened. “Tell me now, how we might not have fun together,” he murmured with the moist heated breath scorching hers as their lips separated. TJ sighed and accepted his full lips when they covered hers again. His hands moved gently over her back, pulling her into firm contours down the length of him. His soft groan woke her senses. She mistakenly turned her head away and gave him free rein to kiss her neck. Wisps of hair on her nape fluttered. His ragged pants circulated and hugged the outer rim of her ear. She whimpered at her decreasing resistance to his lustful hold on her wits. “That’s a nice purr you have, kitten.” His kisses became aggressive under her jaw, over her cheek, and back to her mouth.

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His hand pressed to the center of her back. The other hand grasped the back of her head, and he held her face inches in front of his. “God, you’re beautiful.” His voice barely spoke the words, before his lips melded with hers again. Sweet words generally had no effect on her temperament. The marshal hadn’t been the first to call her beautiful. However, he did have a magical allure that made her breathe heavier. TJ shivered with goose bumps. Her heart beat faster while her skin sang to the strumming fingers on her spine. He gazed down at her with eyes the color of cool sapphires, and she felt too hot. When he gave her room to breathe, she looked to his smile and the sparkling straight white slash of teeth. He appeared giddy, as if he had too much to drink. She knew this because it matched the tickled way she felt. Youthful frivolities hardly fit her character. TJ stood rooted in an awestruck stupor and continued to let him kiss her. The reticule dangled heavily from her wrist with the reminder she had an equalizer to his strength. Nevertheless, in that suspended time, she became lost to his vigor. His warm, moist kisses passed over her face. Her fingers no longer strained to dislodge him as they dug into the blue flannel sleeves covering his hard, thick arms. Thus began her learning how to kiss a man. He made her want more as she discovered the gnawing hunger far within her. Inexperience left her hanging in his embrace as a slave to his actions. She mimicked his moves, indulging herself with the freedom he silently allowed. Where his tongue went, hers followed—curling, caressing, and jabbing playfully. He made an art out of slurping and sucking on her lips. The nibbles and tugs triggered sounds she usually never made. Kissing him fascinated her with arousing sensations of affection. “The dandy”, still on the ground, groaned. The marshal eased his hold on her and she snapped back from his roving hands caressing her shoulders. The marshal looked at “the dandy”, and she watched the marshal smooth down his moustache in thought.

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“How about I get rid of him, and then me and you can do the twostep up in your room?” The marshal nodded toward the hotel. “I don’t think so,” she mumbled, stepping off the walk into the street. Distancing herself from the perils of life seemed a good plan. Embarrassed by her own actions, she recognized immediately the marshal spelled danger in a big way.

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Chapter Three Jack watched the lovely lady scamper away. He gave a thought to her without the clothes. Prettier than a pocketful of money, her hum sweeter than a pot filled with honey, he needed more time to delve into her secret places. While some might argue about his insight at her lovability, he had felt like a well-pleasured stud by the gentleness of her kiss. The intriguing lady turned her head before going in the hotel. He knew he wasn’t wrong about how much fun he’d have entertaining her in a quiet room. He smiled at the thought and tipped the brim of his hat to her. His head swam in a million directions. The rounds of whiskey he threw back were catching up, and the woman confused many issues. She should have wailed about the attack, and yet, she snapped at him like a rabid dog for helping. When he meant to steal only a kiss, her soft, splendid curves attached to him quicker than a fly sticks to sap. For a loose sort of woman, he imagined the captivating pleasure of her would be long remembered. Those soft, moist lips with a firm resolve, enticed him to force everything he wanted. As gentlemanly as his upbringing allowed, he didn’t mind pushing limits. For this gal, he’d do much more just to make her happy. Something told him she hadn’t really smiled in a very long time. “All right there, fella, let’s get you over to the jail.” Jack grabbed the gambler’s arm and dragged him up from the dusty alley. “Where is she?” the gambler asked, rubbing the back of his head. “That’s nothing you need concern yourself about. I told you, I had a claim on the lady, and I don’t like my women roughed up.” He towed the man down the walk and into the jail.

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“What’s this?” The sheriff sat up from his nap behind the desk. Jack pushed the gambler ahead as the sheriff’s legs swung off their propped up position and dropped to the floor. “Sheriff, I’m U.S. Marshal Jack McCay.” He extended his hand to shake the sheriff’s. “This fella accosted a woman on the street, and I think he needs a good night’s rest to remember how to respect a lady.” Jack shoved the man toward the sheriff. “Does she want to press charges?” The sheriff took charge of the man. “No, she’s going to be too busy to bother with this guy.” Jack grinned and headed out the door. He picked up the pace going to the hotel. There was an explicit itch he needed scratched, and he already knew the slender fingers he wanted handling the problem. The empty lobby was small, barely enough room for a few people. He waited a minute and then tapped impatiently on the smooth wood counter. “Hey, is anyone here?” he called out. He looked at the pigeonhole boxes and tried guessing which slot held a spare key for the kitten’s room. His mind wandered as the cubicles made him consider the dark recesses of the lady’s sex. Her trim figure alluded to a tightness he reckoned would be nothing short of heaven. “Good evening, sir, checking in?” An old gent emerged, wiping away crumbs of a late night snack from his mouth. “Sort of, there’s a woman that’s already got a room. She just came in a short while ago. Blonde, turquoise eyes, petite and—” “Wearing a red dress,” the man finished Jack’s sentence and turned to take a key from one of the dozen slots. “Here you go, sir.” Jack took the key, grinning with the luck he had. Halfway up, he paused with the notion to ask the clerk for her name. Then decided it might not be a good idea. Obviously, the fella thought he was with her. What other reason would the man have in giving him the key without question? Jack tromped up the stairs even faster when he considered the woman may have left word to let him up.

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The key had room three marked on a wood tag. Once he unlocked the door, he let it slowly drift open on its own to give the woman a chance to accept his presence. He quietly stood in the doorway, mesmerized by the angel. Sprawled on the bed in her unmentionables, asleep and adorably positioned, she was ready for him. The door groaned as he shut and locked it. No surprises were his caution. He walked toward the sleeping beauty. Jack removed his gun belt and looped it over the post of the footboard. He dropped his hat over the smooth wood ball capping the post. “Hey, sugar.” He crawled on the bed next to her. She didn’t stir. He touched a finger lightly to her lips, recalling the heated passion of her kiss. His decision had been made rapidly that evening. An unexplainable connection brought them together. Many lonely nights without companionship caused him to think of what he missed, and what he wanted. From the moment he saw the stunning creature in the saloon, he knew what he needed from her. He swept his hand in slow circles over her chemise covered stomach. The warmth of her skin flowed through the thin cotton as he skated over the soft shapely curves. Jack stared down at her. Too much whiskey had him seeing twin visions of loveliness. His brain urged him to back off. His head pounded and the blood rushing through his veins made it hard to reason why his heart beat so fast. ZY TJ savored the juncture between sleep and cognizance of reality. Dreams of the marshal took over where her thoughts left off. The schism between do’s and don’ts muddled everything. Sensations she didn’t know how to deal with reeled inside her with excitement. She woke from her dream with a titter of pleasure. The visions in slumber were shortchanged by her lack of experience. Jack’s hands had tantalized. His breath tickled. The sweet nothings he whispered in her ear were alluring.

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At the saloon, it did something wonderfully special to her innards. It aroused more than curiosity, except she didn’t understand why. The whiskey danced rings around her speculations about Jack McCay. She’d never met a man she liked. She also hadn’t met a man who stirred her insides like a waterfall churns the rapids. She tried to sit up, but the weight of something heavy held her down and she opened her eyes. “Marshal,” she gasped. The heat of his hand rubbing over her, appealed to the ache between her legs. Instincts, however, made her thrash. Jack’s laugh only fueled her fortitude to get free. “You’re going to be fun.” He laughed. “Now calm down, precious, this was your invite. Besides, we can’t be loud. This is a hotel and not one of the rooms over the saloon.” “I didn’t invite you here!” “Sure you did, kitten, so retract those claws.” His hand caught the side of her face. “You wanted me here, remember. And darlin’, I definitely want to be here.” “Get off me and stop calling me all those names.” TJ wrinkled her nose at the breeze of whiskey wafting from his open mouth. “What names?” His handsome expression turned to one of puzzlement. “Kitten, precious, sweetheart, and any other sentiments you think might get you somewhere.” “Why? You afraid it might convince you how seriously I adore you?” “You don’t even know me.” She pushed against him, finding the stroke of his thumb over her cheek annoyingly pleasant. “That’s why I’m here, to get to know every intimate detail of your delightful body, and you’re making it real exhausting.” “Good.” “God, you’ve got a cute nose.” His finger glided down and dropped off the tip to touch her lips. “Whoever hurt you, sweetness, should be strung up.”

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TJ’s throat went dry and her chest tightened. His gentle concern, just for her, distracted her again. If he kept talking, and did nothing else, she might have been willing to lie there and soak up the affectionate tidbits all night long. Unfortunately, the marshal’s hand left its examination of her facial features and boldly moved to her breast. She tried twisting away from the caress of his finger circling her nipple. The maddening stimulation stole her reasons for pushing at him. The rotation spiraled outward and back toward the aching center. He pressed his thumb beneath and wiggled the hardened knot of flesh. A finger joined his thumb and squeezed her plump nipple with tender pulls. After her blended moan of enjoyment and outrage, his pinching stopped. His hand glided to her stomach and traveled to her hip. Her concerns deepened when a lightning shock hit a nerve that drew her thighs together. Panic crept in, and she commanded herself to relax. She had to in order to get herself out of the precarious position. She’d been attacked before and in each case, she resolved her struggles by clear thinking. TJ quickly dredged up images of whores. She went through her memory of how they treated men in public. Her balled up fists stretched open. Where she had hit his shoulder, she massaged soothingly and persistently. He responded to that sensual inducement like a satisfied cougar after a meal. She had his attention. “That’s more like it, honey.” His finger traced the edges of her mouth. “Show me how grateful you are I saved you tonight, beautiful.” “Grateful!” She couldn’t hold her tongue, and he didn’t miss the opening. His mouth covered hers. Firm, commanding, and forceful, he ravaged her mouth with a greedy tongue. TJ squirmed. Caught beneath his weight, her rubbing against his solid frame drew a groan from him. It propelled his hips into a shockingly harder grind.

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As if he had placed a rock between them, the firm maleness of him made a sore spot on her hipbone. She groaned in protest, and yet, she couldn’t stop the sexual desire he aroused from his moves. She slid her fingers under the rim of his vest, following his collar. Stretching her other arm over her head, she pawed the covers in search of the reticule containing her derringer. She considered the possibility that he removed it when she couldn’t locate it, and then she began wondering how he got in her room when she knew she had locked the door. Figuring she’d just have to talk her way out of the marshal’s molesting, she tried to think of something to say. In the meantime, she pushed her agitated fingers up his neck, over his face, and stroked his cheek. “That’s it, my treasure,” he hummed. She worked her hands to his temple and wove her fingers into his inky black hair. With more greed than he instigated, she kissed him back. The obvious shock to his dominance had him pull his mouth free and stare down at her. She felt wonderfully in charge and oddly stimulated by his hungry gaze. Her reflection in his amazingly gorgeous blue eyes became hypnotic. She saw her desperate need of passion swimming in the darkness of his glassy pupils. “Geez, honey, you’re beautiful,” his voice held an awed kind of surprise as if he hadn’t seen her or said it before. His weight eased, and one large hand firmly, masterfully kept her from thinking. He rotated his palm up, over, down and under her breast. Her nipples were hard aching pebbles he persistently pleased by his touch. TJ lifted her head and kissed him again. Her twenty-two-year-old body throbbed with the needs she’d denied in the past. The marshal’s fingers found their way to her stockings. He rolled one down over her knee and stroked the sensitive skin of her inner thigh. It produced a dark, erotic sound from deep in her throat. This was not her,

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she reasoned, but she didn’t let reason keep her from experiencing more of his touch. She bent her leg up and let him finish removing the stocking. Without thought to the other silk legging, his hand traveled up to cup between her legs. His swirling palm rubbed over the silk underdrawers. He hit the responsive juncture, and she lifted into his hand. She arched and found herself helping him get closer to touching the wet, hot recess of her cunt. TJ gave into her wanton’s lust. Another whimper from her brought his kisses circling her face. She wiggled closer and he accommodated her neediness by shifting to allow her. He advanced on her long buried urges and kneaded them to surface. Heat radiated along her nerves. He all but devoured her lips with his urgency. “Marshal,” she moaned. His moist, sensuous kisses were skilled. “Call me Jack.” Wet with writhing desires, the apex of her femininity twitched. He slid down, kissing her body through the cotton covering. His saliva drenched her clothing. She lifted to his tug on her underdrawers. Her agitation, her fears, and her surprise came when his breath caught her damp center. “Oh, God.” “Just, Jack, will do, my lovely seductress.” “Jack,” she panted. Suckling kisses, arousing licks, and the attentive whips of his tongue around her clit, drove her mad. She bucked to the thrusts and squirmed to the caresses his lips made. The tugs of his teeth, the warmth of his panting breath, everything stimulated her into a sedated enchantment. “You’re sweeter than a ripe peach, sugar.” He pushed her legs open more. “I want to just suck on your juices all night long.” “Oh, God, please Marshal,” she whimpered. His mouth slurped in all areas of her lower body. Sucking, teasing, and torturing her with exquisite sensations. At one point, he sucked on her aching center until she felt dizzy from holding her breath. Sweat

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beaded on her skin and every stir of the air gave her a chill. His roaming fingers tickled her flesh and rendered her defenseless against her sanity. “Marshal,” she cried out. His tongue shot into her and pumped through the sloshing juices oozing between the cheeks of her ass. He gripped her hips and restrained her from the jerking spasms she couldn’t control. He hummed and teased her until the welling screams of excitement rose into her throat. TJ’s muscles froze. She strained to catch her breath. The marshal’s unmerciful ravishment left her drenched in the lethargic pleasure of an orgasm. He lifted his head and she collapsed into a puddle of euphoric bliss. He slithered up and kissed her on the mouth. The flavor of her sex on his breath tantalized her taste buds with a uniqueness she savored. When she had the strength to move, she nudged the marshal to roll over on his side. She wanted to explore him with the same audaciously free reign he’d been having over her. The mystery beneath his pants invited her curiosity, except she decided to start at the top and work down, building courage for the ultimate encounter. She kissed under his jaw, down his bristly neck and along the thick muscled cord stretching beneath his collar to his shoulders. He made low, pleased sounds. “Mmmm, that feels nice,” he moaned. She put her fingers to the buttons inside his vest and unfastened his shirt. A mat of black hair spread like a stain over his chest and funneled down the ridges of his stomach. His hot, damp skin ensnared her awareness and lassoed her with some primitive scent she craved. “That’s it, sweetness,” he murmured, stretching out. “I’ve never met a whore that enjoyed her business as much as you do. You’ll be worth every penny.” TJ sat up abruptly. She looked at him with a renewal of loathing a man. He had no right to label her a prostitute, and yet, she found her thoughts leaning more toward his comment as a compliment. The shock wore away under her

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further consideration. She had literally no experience with men, and for him to think she did, actually tickled her with genuine amusement. She shrugged off his poor choice of words and let her finger travel down his stomach. Her inspection jumped over his belt and bumped over the wrinkles in his denims. She rested her hand on the largest bulge of material. With a firm decision that she wanted more from him, she sat up on the edge of the bed and rolled the other stocking off her leg. Where else would she find a man fairly decent, clean, and attractive? What harm could there be in satisfying both her need and curiosity? “I’m not a…whore,” she told him nervously, her voice catching on the last word. “Actually, I’ve never even done this before. Therefore, I hope you know what you’re doing.” She unlaced the chemise, giving him easier access to a part of her that wanted more attention. She’d never had a man’s fingers touch her breasts without the interference of cloth. She actually never let a man touch her, but it didn’t prevent a few outlaws from groping her by surprise. TJ looked forward to the marshal’s kisses. The places he had already touched with his lips still burned with a sensual fire she wasn’t ready to extinguish. “Jack,” she whispered his name finding their intimacy dictated she call him something less formal than marshal. “Jack?” She twisted around and leaned over him. He lay asleep, quite soundly. Putting a finger to his mouth, she curled his bottom lip down. “Some stud you are.” Curiously fingering his moustache, she smoothed the stiff inky hairs. “Exhausted to the bone from a long day on the trail, aren’t you?” She returned her examination to his slightly parted lips. “And then too much to drink, didn’t help either, did it?” She caressed his unshaven jaw. “It’s unfortunate for you that you couldn’t stay awake. This is the first time I’ve been willing to be intimate with a man and it very well may be the last time. I don’t trust men and you didn’t give me much reason to trust you, but—”

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He made a small snorted sound and she sat back in surprise. TJ smiled, finding him and the situation amusing. Biting her bottom lip, she looked at his erection still throbbing beneath the denims. “Oh well.” She sighed, and scooted off the bed. As much as she’d like to kill him for thinking he could force her, or for falling asleep when she had given in, she saw it as a good sign. He made her feel something deep in her soul. With a past rooted in the evils men do, prior events had made her frigid. Marshal Jack McCay created a small flame from that spark of loneliness. If he weren’t a horse’s ass, she would have gone all routes to let him fan the embers. Swiftly, TJ dressed in her riding gear. The denims were snug on her hips and layered to her legs like new skin. The vest compressed her breasts for support in fast riding. She packed up her other things in the large worn saddlebags and then placed her hat on her head. Jack had not stirred a smidgen. She carefully went to the side of the bed where his head lay near the edge. She bowed over him and memorized his features. “You’re a handsome man, Jack McCay, but you scare me. I’ve never been afraid of anything and yet, with you, I feel I should be terrified. You’ve made me feel things I’m not sure I’m ready to handle.” She kissed him lightly on the lips, and smiling, walked to the door. Turning around, she faced a mild twinge of regret knotting her belly and putting a tightening hurt in her chest. “You’ve been the best time I’ve never had.” She touched the doorknob. The ache in her heart pushed her back across the room to him. She pressed her lips to Jack’s and kissed him passionately until his lips moved in a slow, awakening response. She stood up and touched his cheek. “Cute as a bug, you are and clearly not meant for me.” He stirred and shifted on the bed. A low sound groaned from him as he settled in his sleep. “So long, Marshal McCay. It’s been…interesting.”

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She left the room before temptation enticed her back to the bed. It would only take her a minute to be there alongside him, waiting for him to wake. He had evoked emotions inside her she chose to ignore. TJ decided on a different route to work through her frustrations. There was a past waiting for her to make right. After six years, she decided to go home and face the fear she had that her brother would look at her in disgrace.

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Chapter Four Jack lifted his throbbing head and squinted at the bright light streaming through the window. He rubbed his crotch and turned to find the bed empty. Still fully dressed, it wasn’t hard to reckon he didn’t get as far as he had planned with the pretty gal. His hand went quickly to the billfold inside his vest. He fanned through the couple dollars he had with relief she didn’t rob him. And then, he recalled the wad of money she had from gambling. She had no need of the little he carried. He tried to sit up. His heavy head outweighed his motivation, and he lay back down. With eyes closed, he tried to imagine the lady. The bright, brassy, and extremely beautiful creature had slipped through his fingers. He’d not let her get away the next time. “Damn, I don’t even know her name!” He pounded a fist against the mattress. He got off the bed and washed up in the basin of water—the same water the lady used, he imagined. Sniffing at it, he tried to pick up on her scent. Shaking his head to fend off the tantalizing dreams of her, he staggered back with a headache from the reminder of the whiskey he drank the night before. The celebratory drinks everyone kept buying him were no more needed than his month’s pay for a job he had to do. Only the shots of liquor had been his route to avoidance. Guerrero would hang because of him, and it didn’t set well with him to be the man responsible for the death of another. Jack left the hotel and checked the store that acted as the stagecoach stop. There was no stage, and there wouldn’t be for five more days. He began wondering how she had arrived. Had she come in on the stage two

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days earlier? Maybe she was still in town. He checked the saloon for the men she played poker with, but they weren’t there. The barkeep didn’t have a clue as to who she was, explaining it was the first woman gambler he’d had in his establishment. Then Jack thought of the man he carted over to the jail. He went there hoping that fellow knew her name. “Sorry, Marshal McCay,” the deputy said. “The sheriff told me to let him go this morning since the lady didn’t come in to file a complaint.” “The gambler was playing poker with the woman. I reckon you have no idea who she was, do you?” “No, sir. A decent women wouldn’t step foot in the place.” He fiddled with the pencil on the desk until it bounced to the floor. “But the sheriff might know her. He likes to keep an eye on the gamblers that come to town. However, he went home this morning to get some sleep and won’t be back until this afternoon if you want to ask him then.” “Not until this afternoon, huh?” Jack looked down at the floor and then back at the man. “Nah, I guess I won’t wait. I have work to do, and she was just a curiosity.” “Been seeing a lot of them curiosities lately,” the deputy confirmed. “That fellow, there.” He pointed to a man asleep in the cell. “The sheriff said a lady brought him in. He didn’t say why, but I suspect she must have caught him pilfering a pie from her window sill and she didn’t cotton to feeding the thief.” “Seems there’s a whole new breed of women showing up in the west, Deputy. I reckon we best be watching our step or one day we’ll be the ones on the short end of reins.” Jack left town disappointed. The lady had special qualities he couldn’t pinpoint, but had a notion to discover. Not finding out her name had been a big mistake. He tried to believe maybe she was some vivid dream, brought on by his loneliness, yet the single stocking he found in bed proved, he really did spend some time with an earthbound angel. ZY

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On his way home to Silver City, Jack hadn’t gotten far when he saw the very same cavalry soldiers he’d turned Guerrero over to the day before. “Lieutenant Avery.” Jack nodded. “You traveled mighty fast getting your prisoner to the fort to have you back so soon.” The lieutenant looked at him uneasily and Jack felt his insides cringe. With the idea they straight-out murdered Guerrero, he waited, ill at ease himself for the response. “We had a bit of a problem,” the lieutenant started. “One of my scouts, part Indian himself, let his guard down giving Guerrero a drink. You know these summer days can get hot. Guerrero managed to get a knife and he… I’m sorry to say after all your hard work, he got away.” Jack let out the breath he held. “Guerrero escaped.” Jack took off his hat and pulled his handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the sweat from his face and neck. “And your scout?” “Dead.” “It won’t end there.” Jack tucked the wet piece of cloth back in his pocket and dropped his hat back down on his damp hair. “It was the one reason I spent so much time getting him in the first place.” “I feel awful about this. When word spreads, we’ll look like a bunch of buffoons. The surrounding towns will want to scalp us.” He looked back at his men. “They’re all willing to track the killer down, but we’ve no clue as to where he’ll go or which direction to head. He left by stealing a horse and was headed west.” “It’ll be south he goes eventually. However if you want a direction, stay headed west and before he turns, you’ll hear of his whereabouts.” “How’s that?” Jack took another deep inhale. “He’ll kill another family.” “You’ve learned a great deal about him, haven’t you?” The lieutenant looked at him curiously. “His patterns won’t change, and he likes to talk. I heard an earful while bringing him to you.” “Will you go after him again?” The lieutenant looked too hopeful.

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“Probably. I have some things to take care of, but afterwards I guess I have no choice. He’s the most wanted man out there, and I feel a responsibility for him in an odd way I won’t try to explain.” “The last flyer I saw on him was five thousand dollars. It’s a shame we have to risk our necks for what the government pays us. Otherwise you could have collected that hefty reward.” “Yeah, it’s a shame,” Jack agreed, thinking about what that kind of money could do for his old age. “We should push on so we don’t get too far back in our search for Guerrero. It’s a cursory mission since we can’t stay away from the fort forever. As it is, we’ve been out three weeks and while I’ve sent word to Captain Prichard, it’s only a matter of time before he orders us to come back.” “Then don’t let me hold you up.” Jack moved his horse out of the way and sat steady while the company of men rode by. He nodded his acknowledgement to those men of which he had a passing acquaintance. Too many things fought for his attention as he turned his horse east. In the very forefront of his wandering thoughts was an interesting lady he wanted to know. She already haunted his day. What would she do to his nights? ZY TJ rode practically nonstop for home. After six years, her blood pumped at the prospect of quitting the occupation she had in favor of settling down on the ranch. The reverie died as she came upon the old homestead sitting quietly deserted in appearance. She slowed her horse, urging him cautiously toward the abandoned house. She inventoried everything as her eyes scanned the perimeters. The fresh gravesites turned her head back to the family cemetery and she aimed the horse toward them. The crosses marking her mother, her father, and her sister were expected. Who were the other two? Fear swelled as she spun the horse to the cabin. She spurred him to go faster down the hill. “Thaddeus!”

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Riding like the wind was a hot fire on her back, her horse’s back legs buckled at her jerk on the reins. TJ hopped down and threw the worn reins over a fence rail in front of the house. The door stood open. She took the porch in one leap, bypassing three steps, and stumbled inside. “Thad—de—us?” Once, long ago when she was an age of innocence, she had made the same clumsy entrance and called out to her brother. At the time, it was a game of hide and seek. Today she didn’t want anything hidden. Everything in the place lay overturned and ransacked. Furniture flipped, curtains and bedding scattered, and even the kitchen cutlery lay strewn across the plank floor. She imagined her sister, Libby Sue complaining about the mess. Libby Sue hated chores and balked at doing them. TJ remembered one time Thaddeus threw everything on the floor showing her what a real mess looked like. In the end, the argument turned to laughter, and they all cleaned up the cabin. “Hey, who are you?” A man’s voice spun her around. Quicker than most, her gun slid from its holster in one fluid motion with her turn. She assessed the man instantly as non-threatening and returned the six-shooter to its leather holder. “TJ Creager. This is…was…my home.” “TJ?” “Tessa Jane.” “I’m Benjamin Lafferty, Miss Creager. Your brother talked about you some.” “Thaddeus?” She didn’t need to question what she saw in Mr. Lafferty’s eyes. “Buried him and his wife about a month ago. I’ve been stopping by regular-like, keeping an eye on what’s left.” TJ looked out the window at the graves. “They had a daughter, Emily.” “She’s staying with the school teacher, Miss Simpson. She lives just outside town to the south.” “How did they die?” She turned when he didn’t answer. She saw the bad news in his hesitant stare.

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“Indians, Mexicans, half-breeds I figure, since the renegade bunch was led by a half Mexican-Apache scourge called Guerrero. A U.S. Marshal came through here on his trail.” TJ’s fingers gripped the white painted window sash. “The marshal caught Guerrero about a week ago.” “That’s good news.” “Was Emily harmed in any way?” The marshal’s face came to mind instantly. How small the world seemed when lives touched upon others in unusual ways. “She wasn’t here when it happened. It was during school hours and she was in town.” He righted a chair as he followed her around the room. “She’s a brave girl, held up real good to the news.” TJ barely listened to the other details as if they were about someone else’s family—someone she didn’t have an emotional connection to. She lifted odd sorts of items, things she remembered and, in a way, was surprised to see still existed. She picked up a Teddy bear that sat on a shelf where it looked very sad, frayed and beyond use. Through that toy that Thaddeus kept of hers, she knew then he never stopped loving her. “…so what do you think, Miss Creager?” TJ put the bear back on the shelf. “What was that, Mr. Lafferty?” “I asked if you’d like me to take you to Emily.” “Yes.” She brushed past him and went out to her horse. She had to see Thaddeus’ child. It would be all she had left of him. They rode back toward town, skirting it a little to the east. She had trouble concentrating on Benjamin Lafferty’s words. Her hands trembled, and her mind reeled with plans for the conversation she’d have with a girl she didn’t know. What would she say to a niece that couldn’t possibly remember her teaching her how to walk? There were many things TJ dredged up from those days when she was a child herself. TJ was ten when Emily was born. She treated her like a little porcelain doll and no one seemed to mind that she always wanted to take care of the baby. To TJ the girl was like a real toy. Something she kissed and got a reaction from, and when Emily began talking, TJ was the one Emily called mama. Everyone thought it was cute. Little did they know

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TJ would have to become somewhat of a mother figure to the grown child. It wasn’t anything she was ready for and anxiety frayed her nerves. TJ never feared much of anything and now, this was the second time she was overly distraught by what the future held. Jack McCay weakened her like some curse to her steel backbone. Between him and Emily, long buried emotions rose from a feminine frailty she tried to hide. She didn’t like it and if she could stop the events from overwhelming her, she would. “This is the place, Miss Creager, and that there pretty thing, absorbed in her book is little Miss Emily Creager.” Mr. Lafferty pointed. Flowers bordered the wide porch of a very nice house. TJ stopped her horse and sat staring at the girl on the swing in the tree. Emily had a book in her lap and appeared to be reading until her face lifted. TJ didn’t need anyone telling her this was her brother’s child. Emily had grown considerably, yet everything in the girl’s looks resembled Thaddeus. “Good day, Mr. Lafferty!” A woman emerged from the house. “Miss Mary Simpson, this is Miss Tessa Jane Creager, Thaddeus’s sister,” he introduced. TJ’s gaze never moved from the girl on the swing. She dismounted her horse and stared at the girl’s wide sparkling eyes. Emily clutched the book to her body and looked truly happy by TJ’s arrival. “You’re my Aunt Tessa Jane?” Emily set the book aside and hurried over until she stood within a few feet of TJ’s touch. “Yes, but I go by TJ now.” She stepped forward and touched Emily’s rosy cheek then lifted a lock of her hair. “You’ve grown.” “I was only six when you went away, but I remember you. Pa always told me stories about when you were small so I’d know lots about you.” Emily’s excitement rang in her voice. “Miss Creager, would you like to sit?” Mary Simpson asked. “Thank you.” TJ looked at Emily’s arm snaking around hers. “Mr. Lafferty?” Mary gazed up at the man who brought TJ to her niece. “I’ll get some tea, won’t you join us?” “No, I best be going. Those crops don’t pick themselves.” “It was nice to meet you, Mr. Lafferty.” TJ held her hand out to him.

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Emily stayed fastened to her like a tick on a dog. It felt good to be warmly greeted and adoringly looked at by a girl she always loved. “Same here, ma’am.” Mr. Lafferty shook TJ’s hand. “You ladies have a nice day.” He gave a wave and rode off. “Why do you wear guns?” Emily glanced down between them at the gun nearest her. “Only outlaws and lawmen wear guns around here.” “Well, in other places, it’s safer to be with a gun than without.” If TJ had thought about it, she might have gotten a proper new dress to put on before coming. “Will you be staying on the ranch with Emily or do you make somewhere else your home?” Mary asked. The innocent question wasn’t something TJ knew how to answer. She didn’t live a life that could include a child. Her home was on a saddle and any hotel she stayed in, if not in a bedroll on the trail. “I’ll be staying for the time being I suppose. I didn’t expect to come home to… Obviously, things are different than I had hoped.” After getting Emily to release her hold, she followed Mary up to the porch and sat on a cane-seated chair. “Let me go get us some tea…or would you prefer coffee?” Mary appeared a little hesitant as to how to treat a woman who wore britches. “Tea will be fine.” TJ couldn’t remember the last time she had tea. Her beverage of necessity was coffee, thick and black. Her preference was a shot of whiskey. However she had always liked tea. “Have you ever shot anyone?” Emily asked TJ when they were alone. “I’ll tell you about me later. What I want to hear is about you.” “Me? There’s nothing to say about me. I don’t go nowhere. Don’t do nothing special and… Oh, you want to know about Pa.” Her aqua blue eyes watered. “No, I want to know about you.” TJ smiled reassuringly. “Can we go home? Miss Simpson is nice and all, but I see her at school everyday and I miss my dog.” Emily dropped her gaze to look at the floorboards when Mary returned carrying a tray with a pitcher of chilled tea.

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“The branch water was fetched earlier so it won’t be as cold as it was fresh, but it’s still wet.” “I know you’ve been seeing after Emily and I hate to ask you to keep her here, except the cabin needs some cleaning and—” “Oh no, it’s not a problem.” Mary put a hand on Emily’s shoulder. “No!” Emily twisted free. “I want to go home. You have to take me. I belong with you now.”

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Chapter Five TJ took her hat off and placed it on her lap. “The place isn’t fit for you to go home.” “Then I’ll clean it up.” Emily turned to Mary. “Make her take me. You said if she came I could go home.” “I’m sorry, Miss Creager, Emily and I thought…” The brightness TJ first saw in Emily’s eyes diminished under the watery haze. Emily wanted to go home and TJ couldn’t deny her that one sliver of happiness. “I’ll take her with me.” TJ sighed. She rose from the chair and jerked her head toward the house with a gaze fixed on Emily. “Go get your stuff.” “I’m sorry about that, but it’s a good thing you do this for her,” Mary whispered. “How has she been handling her parents’ deaths?” “She seems okay with it, really. I think her biggest upset has been if we’d ever see you. Thaddeus said he hadn’t seen nor heard from you in years. I sent telegrams to some of the neighboring towns and I’m quite surprised any got to you after this long.” “None did. I came for a visit.” TJ looked at the house, wondering what she was going to do next. “Oh? Some would say that it was intuition that brought you home.” Mary poured the tea and handed TJ a glass. “It was purely happenstance that I came when I did, Miss Simpson.” “Oh please, call me Mary. I hope we’ll get to be good friends. There aren’t many women around here near my age. It will be nice to visit you

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and Emily at your place. And of course, you’re always welcome to stop here on your way to town.” TJ carried on the idle chitchat for another ten minutes before Emily emerged with three canvas bags and a doll under her arm. “The wagon in the shed was your brother’s,” Mary informed TJ. “Emily and I used it to bring her belongings here.” TJ watched Emily hurrying to the shed. She would have gone to help, but Mary continued to talk and before she knew it, Emily drove the wagon out of the shed strapped to a big horse TJ thought she recognized. “It’s Pa’s horse,” Emily said as TJ stroked his nose. “Hodge.” TJ smiled. “I remember him.” “Does your horse have a name?” Emily asked while TJ tied her reins to the back of the wagon. “No, I never got around to naming her.” She smiled and stroked her horse’s mane. TJ found names were like jinxes to the animals she rode. This was her seventh horse in six years. All the others had mishaps of death or lameness that made her give them up. She decided for a change she just wouldn’t bother to get too attached to the beast of burden and maybe the nag would last longer. “Mary, it was nice to meet you.” TJ offered her hand. “Thank you for looking after Emily.” “It was my pleasure, Tessa Jane.” “Call me TJ.” “It was my greatest pleasure, TJ. Emily, I’ll see you in school on Monday.” “Yes, ma’am.” TJ climbed up on the wagon and took the reins from Emily. “Ready?” Emily’s head bobbed up and down. Her blonde hair swung freely and TJ smiled, thinking how it didn’t seem so long ago that she was playing with the toddler Emily used to be. “Then I guess we’re bound for home.”

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They rode a ways in silence. With Emily too excited to speak, it gave TJ time to contemplate what her next step would be. It was no longer only her future she had to worry over but that of her niece’s. “This might not be permanent,” she finally said, hoping to get the fact out of the way that she would have to or want to leave. “Where will we go?” Emily looked at her with such wonder. TJ hated disillusioning the unknowing innocence. She let the matter drop and turned the subject to the ranch. Emily chattered on with many details, including how Mary sold the cattle to pay the bills. It was obvious Emily loved the ranch as much as TJ did, with one added bonus—Emily had a dog. While growing up, TJ had wanted a dog. But her father, and then later, her brother kept putting it off until the idea just went away and then she left too. “I’m going to be thirteen soon,” Emily exclaimed as if it might be forgotten she had a birthday coming up. TJ hadn’t. But did Emily know they shared the same day? It was probably what always made her feel close to Emily at birth. She was the most special thing to arrive on her birthday. “Yes, I do recall something like that.” TJ smiled as Emily’s little grunt indicated she hoped for more enthusiasm. “How old are you?” “A very old twenty-two,” TJ replied, thinking how Mary had said they were about the same age. She saw herself looking weathered, but how did others see her? Marshal McCay called her too many sweet names to believe any one of them. “That’s not so old. Miss Simpson is twenty-five. She’s more an old maid than you are.” “Neither I nor Miss Simpson are old maids,” TJ declared. “Well, she won’t be after she marries that Mr. Bass next month.” “I am not an old maid!” TJ’s voice rattled. “I’m not even old!” “You’re the one that said you is,” Emily reminded her. “Are,” TJ corrected her grammar. “And I’m not really.”

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“Well, I think I’ll get me a husband when I’m fifteen like Molly Weathers. She moved in with her husband and now she gets to be boss in her own house. No one tells her what chores to do.” “You’ll not get married until you’re at least eighteen and mature enough to handle responsibility.” “I’m responsible. Pa said when I was thirteen that would make me a woman.” Emily’s pert little nose stuck up in the air. “Officially next week, I’ll be all growed up and you can’t tell me what to do!” “Grown!” TJ shouted. “Speak properly or don’t…” TJ let the words dangle with an expelling breath of hot aggravated air. “Damn.” Emily slapped at a bug on her arm. “That little shit bit me hard.” “Listen here, missy. You better watch that mouth of yours if you expect to make it to your birthday or even to the house.” TJ snapped the reins to make Hodge go faster. Five minutes with the girl and they were already at odds. She just knew she’d not get along with the child. How could she? She dealt with men all the time. “Did you give Miss Simpson this much trouble?” TJ looked over at Emily quietly sitting next to her. “No,” she answered meekly, hinting at the fears she obviously hid. Worried or not, Emily continued to stare at her with defiance. “Are you always so mean?” Emily asked. “Actually, yes, the sooner you get use to it, the better we’ll both be.” There, it was settled. She told Emily the straight out truth and now the girl would do better at behaving herself. “Pa said you was hot-tempered. I reckon me and you won’t see eyeto-eye on lots of things, but I’ll still love you.” TJ’s breath caught in her throat. If ever there were sweet words from someone that cut through the grizzle around TJ’s heart, then Emily said them. “That goes the same for me as well.” TJ couldn’t bring herself to say the three little words that so easily came from a child. Yet, Emily’s grin was enough to know they both understood each other. Thaddeus would

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have said they were cut from the same cloth and at that moment, TJ would have whole-heartedly agreed. ZY It took two days of hard cleaning to get the house in order. Mary stopped by with a few supplies and helped. On the third day, TJ decided to go into town and clear any debt Mary had at the store. It was the least she could do for the woman taking care of Emily for over a month. She’d buy other items as well to replace what Mary had lent her. “It’s a nice day, we should walk.” TJ told Emily. “If you carry the basket.” TJ put the basket on Emily’s arm. “I’ll carry it home when it’s full.” “Mama’s clothes fit you good.” Emily twirled around her holding the basket to bring home their goodies. “Your mother’s clothes fit me well. The word to use is well.” “Can I get something special?” Emily cocked her head and looked at TJ from beneath the bonnet. “Like what?” She looked suspiciously at Emily’s mischievous eyes. “I heard Billy Myers dog had puppies and—” “No! Absolutely not. I know your dog is missing, but if he should show up, I’ll not have two dogs to contend with.” TJ put an arm around her. “Maybe we’ll see something at the store that won’t cause problems.” Emily sighed with that defeat. TJ felt bad, but too much had been going on to bring another animal into the picture until they were more settled. Besides, if Emily’s dog did show up, then it would be two mutts to feed and TJ had to watch her spending to some degree. The store was crowded. But that was expected on a Saturday morning. Everyone came into town as if it were a social. TJ gathered they didn’t get enough of seeing each other on Sunday. “Look at this hat, Aunt TJ!” Emily plucked the flower and feather adorned monstrosity off the display. She topped her blonde hair with the thing and spun around. “Can I get it?” “No. It’s too mature, it’s too costly and it’s…” TJ’s voice lowered not wanting anyone to hear her, “it’s absolutely hideous.”

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“Oh come on, it’s not a dog. It doesn’t eat and I think it’s beautiful.” She walked around looking at other things. “No, now put it back so you don’t ruin it.” “There you go being mean again. You said you’d get me somethin’ special and I think this is the most special thing in the store,” she whined. “Emily, I’m warning you.” “If you buy me this hat, I’ll give you two hours peace.” Her nose wrinkled with a quick grin. “I’m not buying you that hat. It’s not for a little girl.” “I’m not a little girl. Look at me, a couple more years and I’ll be as tall as you are. Then I’m going to find the Indians that killed my parents and scalp them. “Emily!” TJ gasped. The jingle of the little bell over the shop door made everyone look. Curiosity in a small town was what they lived by. TJ used it to survive, and therefore her gaze went with the crowd to see who they knew, what they wore, and if they should greet them. This man kept many a young lady’s gaze cast in his direction. Not to be overlooked for detailed assessment, Marshal Jack McCay was a handsome stranger who could make men nervous and women swoon. “Emily, pretend I’m your mother.” TJ picked up a larger silver teapot and looked at her reflection in the shiny metal. The bulging mirrored picture was disturbing. She neither looked horrible nor good depending on where she positioned her face. One way had her gaunt and the other had her all puffy cheeked like a squirrel. “I will not.” Emily took a look around TJ. “Are you sweet on him?” “No.” TJ slipped behind a mannequin wearing the latest style for a lady. “That’s good,” Emily declared. “He’s a bit too full of himself.” “How can you tell that?” TJ couldn’t pull her gaze from watching the ruggedly attractive marshal strut across the room. Her body remembered his touch and her insides tightened in blatant anticipation.

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“He walks like he has a corncob up the seat of his pants and grins as if he’s impressed with himself,” she answered. “Emily, where did you learn to talk like that?” “Billy Myers.” “I don’t believe I like this Billy Meyers one bit. He’s a bad influence.” TJ decided she looked foolish trying to hide and moved into the aisle of merchandise. “He’s coming this way.” Emily warned. “And there he goes with that goofy smile again. You may not like him, but I think he’s sweet on you.” TJ pushed Emily back behind her. “Never mind, just pretend—” “Only if I get the hat,” Emily demanded. “No. Now behave or I’ll tan your hide, young lady.”

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Chapter Six Jack’s very soul leapt in excitement. Standing in the middle of the store, looking as pretty as a new day, the woman of his dreams talked to a young girl. He used every ounce of self-control not to snatch the woman off her feet and hug her with all his eager anticipation. “Hello again.” Jack tipped his hat. “You know, when I woke up—” “Marshal McCay,” she interrupted. “This is my daughter Emily.” “I am…” The girl started to speak and stopped with some delight to a hat shoved on her head. “Oh Mama, it’s so pretty. I’ll just go up to the counter and tell Mr. Bass you’ll be paying for it in a few minutes.” “You know, I never did get your name.” Jack lowered his voice. “I woke up dressed and something tells me we didn’t get to…” he looked up at the girl bouncing back toward them, “…dance?” “You didn’t ask, and you are lucky you woke up at all.” She pushed past him and went to the counter. “As for the…the dance, you fell asleep.” He grinned, liking her offended tone. “I was a little drunk and extremely tired.” “And don’t forget insulting.” He took her elbow as they neared the counter. “I’d like to make it up to you.” “I’m no longer interested.” His fingers tightened to still her gait. “Maybe we can pick up where we left off. You’re a mighty fine lookin’ woman and I do apologize. I like to leave women completely satisfied.”

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“What part of my having a daughter did you not understand? Don’t you think my husband would have a problem with you wanting to get under my skirts again?” She tugged her arm and he released his grip. “You and I both know she ain’t your daughter. Makes me also doubt there’s a husband.” He sensed her nervous excitement as much as he felt his own. “What makes you think I would lie?” She tensed and clutched her reticule tighter. “You wouldn’t have been any older than the girl to have had her.” He lifted a lid on a glass jar and pulled out two peppermint sticks. One he held to her lips. “No, thank you, Marshal.” She swatted his hand away. “Howdy do, Miss Creager.” The storeowner, Mr. Henry, shuffled up to stand along side her. “What else can I get you aside from that right purdy hat you’re buying your niece?” Jack chuckled at the passel of information the store owner gave him in one statement. Niece, not daughter, and her last name was Creager. “Nothing,” she replied. “No, there is something else. I’d like a cake of that lavender soap and everything else on this list. I’ll also be paying off Miss Simpson’s account.” “It was a right good thing she done takin’ in Miss Emily after them Injuns killed your brother and his wife,” Mr. Henry commented. “I’ll just be a minute getting this other stuff for you.” He hurried off. Jack touched the lovely lady’s arm, knowing who the storekeeper spoke about. “Guerrero killed my brother and sister-in-law a month ago,” she informed him. “It’s a good thing he’s in the hands of the army otherwise I would have to kill the murderer myself.” “Sugar, I’m sorry to hear about your family, but it wasn’t by accident I came this way. Guerrero escaped from the army before they got him to Tucson. He killed an army scout and three soldiers, and then stole a horse. I’ve come this way with every intention of catching him again and personally escorting him to the stockade at the fort.” He lifted a hand to her cheek, but she swatted it away.

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“Not if I find him first.” “I still don’t know your first name, Miss Creager.” Jack sidestepped another patron as he followed her. “I asked around that town we were in, but seems no one had seen you before.” “You know more than you need to know about me already.” She looked up at him. “And if you were all fired interested, my name was on the hotel register.” Jack pushed back his hat and folded his arms over his chest. “You know, that never occurred to me.” “If that little fact slipped by, then I can’t imagine how you think you’ll find Guerrero if you couldn’t even learn my name. Doesn’t speak well of you being a marshal.” “Let’s just say you didn’t leave me thinking too clearly.” Her head swiveled away and he looked at her perfect profile. A nose just right, a chin tipped up, and a delicious curve to her jaw, were all invitations to him. “Mr. Henry, I’ll be back later to pick up those items,” she called to the storekeeper. “I guess I could just keep calling you honey, sweetheart, sugar, or a dozen other different terms of endearment that you’d have to explain to these good town folks. Of course, they’d question how we know each other and then I’d have to mention the saloon, the hotel room then there’s this.” He pulled the stocking of hers from inside his pocket. “TJ Creager.” She hissed and tried snatching the red stocking from his hand. “I’ll be keeping this little memento, dearest.” He tucked the thin knitted stocking back in his pocket. “Then keep it. The thing doesn’t mean anything to me. I can’t imagine why you’d want it.” “Has your scent.” He patted the pocket. “Reminds me of your soft thighs and your succulent—” “If you’ll excuse me, I have a niece to round up and feed.” “Sounds like you’re talking about a horse rather than a little girl. Not quite the motherly type, are you?”

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She gave a vexing snort and spun around to face him. Pursing her lips, she placed her hand on her hip. She had fire in her eyes, and darned if she still didn’t have the prettiest face he’d ever seen. “You know nothing about me and I sure as hell don’t want to know anything about you.” She poked her finger in the center of his chest. “Don’t poke a snake unless you want to get bit,” he warned, circling an arm around her waist and crushing her to him. “I recall a night you were quite eager to know the inside of my mouth with that tongue of yours.” She opened her mouth ready to spit out more venomous words and it presented him with a challenge to conquer. He’d done it in the hotel room and if he hadn’t been so doggone tired, he would have insinuated himself into all kinds of pleasures with her that night. “TJ!” the little girl, Emily called. “I’m hungry so stop courtin’ that pretty man and let’s go.” Jack released TJ at the sound of the child. TJ’s heavy breathing raised her breasts up, near bursting from the dress. It wasn’t nearly as revealing as the one she’d worn in the saloon the week before, but it gave him a view of her ivory skin along the rim of eyelet. “She thinks I’m pretty. How about you, Miss TJ Creager?” “You put your hands on me again and it will be the last day you breathe.” Her nostrils flared, her eyes went black and held steady for one long minute. He stared at her moistened lips deciding if he should rile her with a kiss. She swallowed down her half-restrained squeal when she apparently figured out his thoughts. Then as she turned to walk away, her skirts tripped her up. The cloth wrapped tightly on her legs and she stumbled, but recovered and continued to march away. He’d never seen a woman look more serious or more deadly. She reeked of a woman’s musky scent and was shaped like a goddess. Lord, he thought, he had to have her just for the excitement and the pleasure it would be to hold her with that untamed wild passion.

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“I’ll remember the warning, TJ Creager,” he called after her. “Just take note I consider you a challenge and I don’t back down from fights or women I want.” Of course, he’d never met a woman he had wanted before in any of the ways he wanted her. ZY TJ banged her hand on her leg. She rode more often with a gun strapped to her leg than she did a dress. “Told ya, he’s sweet on you.” Emily chirped. “He’s an arrogant ass and if I had my gun I’d shoot him.” “You would?” TJ looked at Emily’s shocked stare. “I definitely wouldn’t kill him, but I’d put lead into that ego of his.” “Where?” “Nowhere that ruins his good looks. Maybe a pinky toe. I could notch his boots and take out a toe just to put him in his place.” TJ started the tally in her head of what needed doing before going after Guerrero. There was her horse to have shod. Clean her revolvers as well as her rifle. Pack for the journey. Emily! She promised Mary Simpson that she would be responsible for the girl. What would she do with Emily now? “Don’t know why since you’re about as ornery as a dog with his tail caught under old Beecham’s rocker.” “Mrs. Beecham. Didn’t my brother teach you any manners? It’s like he didn’t like you enough to make you keep up with your schooling.” “Pa taught me plenty!” Her eyes watered. “And he liked me just fine.” “Emily!” TJ shouted as the girl ran down the road. The new hat flew off her head and Emily didn’t look back. “Oh Emily, I don’t know anything about raising a little girl,” she muttered and picked up the hideously ostentatious hat. “I don’t know anything about being a woman, let alone a mother.” The day, the week, her whole life seemed hard. Jack had done something to her to make it harder and she found herself running as fast

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as her feet would carry her. Not toward Mrs. Simpson’s where she and Emily were headed, but to the path that would take her home. If time could be reversed, she’d wish for the days of her happy childhood. Tears streaked TJ’s face. Her neatly pinned up hair, freed itself and tumbled down her back. Her feet did the job of swiftly carrying her to the ranch. The nightmares of her brother’s death were tangled each night with those of her sister’s. She was the only one left and guilt seemed to strip her of emotions, letting nothing but revenge claim her soul. The house hadn’t been her home in a long time and the barn seemed a neutral place to sit and calm the tremors building in her limbs. She’d reached the large door when the distinctive clop-clop of a rider turned her around. “What’s happened?” Jack jumped down from his saddle before his horse had time to stop. “I saw you running as if you were being chased by the devil himself.” That was a close description and his immediate concern sparked that feeling of loneliness in her again. She took his hand and pulled him into the barn. How did she start something she didn’t want to finish? She wanted to be held, comforted, loved and not used for his needs alone. But how did she ask? ZY TJ’s eyes welled with tears that spilled to her cheeks. Jack pulled her gently to him. “I’m sorry I didn’t kill the bastard before he came here.” He stroked a hand over her head and down her back. “I’ll find him and he’ll be hanged by the army.” “No he won’t because I’m going to kill him.” “You don’t know the first thing about finding him and you’re about as petite as a flower to think about lifting a gun to kill a man.” “You don’t think I could do it?” She pushed him away. Jack stared at her turquoise eyes set in a frame of glistening honeyed lashes, spiked and shiny from her tears.

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“God, you’re beautiful.” For some strange reason he couldn’t stop himself from saying that to her every chance he got. “And no, I don’t think anyone as delicate boned as you are should have to think about such things.” “You’re a horse’s ass.” She tried to free herself from his hold. “How have you managed to stay alive this long with that backward thinking?” “You sure do run like hot and cold water, TJ.” He tightened his grip. “Are you going to go back to threatening to kill me as well?” “If you don’t unhand me at once.” She wiggled in the restraint. “Tell me your name first.” “TJ.” “Not good enough. Tell me your name so I can say it over and over again when I make love to you.” His fingers wrapped the tail of gold hair around his hand until it was taut. “Tell me.” “You’re making me mad and you’ll force me to hurt you.” She squirmed. “Sweet Jesus, do you know how you already hurt me?” His large hand splayed over her left buttock as he pressed his hardness to her hipbone. “I can make you want me.” “I already do,” she whispered. He froze. “I want you to let me go!” she shrieked loud enough that it nearly broke his eardrum. Jack threw his arms up and covered his ears. “Damn woman, you want a man to go deaf?” “I don’t want a man period!” She made tight fists and held her hands up in front of her. “Come near me and I’ll give you a nosebleed.” “Buttercup, that just makes me want you more.” He charged her. Ducking the fists, he took her at waist level and hoisted her to his shoulder. “Marshal, this is assault! You’ll not get away with this.” “Oh, I think I will. I don’t plan on doing anything you haven’t been begging for since you looked me over in that saloon.”

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There was no more playing around. No more fighting. It was time for serious, unbridled passion. The stall filled with fresh summer hay was perfect. The barn was a cozy old structure that had big cracks in the wall planks, letting in just the right amount of daylight. “You can’t do this,” she protested weakly. “Please, Marshal.” He picked the thickest spot and flipped her over on her back. At the same time, he dropped to his knees and caught her arms in one hand over her head. “Now spill, what’s your name?” “TJ Creager,” she fumed. “Stupid, aren’t you?” “Smart enough to be on top. Come on, sweetness, what’s your name?” He nuzzled her cheek and when he brushed a kiss to her lips, she twisted her head. “Tell me your name, beautiful.” He listened to her moan with her persistent objection. A whimper escaped and he liked how she tried to quickly distract him with another barrage of protests. Jack pushed his knee between her legs as far as it would go. Her squirming quieted. He released her wrists and used a hand to smooth over her hair while studying the shape of her nose and her mouth. “Tell me to get off again and I just may do it.” He rubbed his knee harder. She slid her hands down to the front of his vest. Gripping the leather she jerked him down to her mouth and the hellcat bit his lip. If she were a man, he’d slap the shit out of her, but then a man wouldn’t get within a hundred yard of kissing him without a whole lot of lead in his belly. TJ lay panting beneath him and he saw the surprise in her eyes. Her fingers reached and touched the blood he tasted on his lip. She licked it from her hand and lifted her head. He thought to attack his mouth. Only this time, a feral desire glazed her eyes and he lowered down. Her breath panted in hot puffs on his face. The scent of her flew up his nostrils. “Do I get off you now?” “Why didn’t you hit me?” “For what, sugar?” He rubbed the back of his knuckles on her smooth cheek.

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Her eyes turned to pools of liquid turquoise. He stroked her soft skin continuously, waiting for her to say something, but she remained quiet and docile. “I told you when we met I’d not treat you like the last fellow.” He put his finger on her lip where a small trace of the cut still showed. Her hands pushed up over his chest to his shoulders. “Does this mean we’ve come to terms?” He bowed his head and kissed her lightly on the nose. She pinched her lips in her determined continuation of a protest. Except, her hands inched further over his shoulders. Pressure to his back lowered him more. She closed her eyes and he blew a puff of air in her face making her lashes flap up. “Keep them open,” he instructed. “If you’re not going to talk to me, I need to see your reactions to know if I’ve overstepped some boundary.” “Overstepped!” she hissed through clenched teeth. He dropped down next to her and put a hand to the juncture of her legs. He saw the formation of violence in her eyes. She wanted to turn him away, but his unrelenting gentle caress kept her submissive. He pulled the skirt up with a slow glide of his fingers trailing the inside of her leg. TJ’s breath paused each time his touch hesitated. He slid his hand up over the fabric and to her stomach. “Darlin’, you’re about as tense as a hen with her head on a stump. I ain’t going to hurt you.” He leaned over her. “I’d never hurt you, sweetness.” Her gorgeous eyes moved rapidly, looking over his face. She appeared afraid, worried, maybe just upset. The red rim of her eyelids filled with new tears. “I wish you’d just get off me,” she said without appearing to mean it. He stretched up and kissed over her wet eyelids. The saltiness of her tears stung the cut she put in his lip. He cringed, but the pain ceased the moment her lips brushed the corner of his mouth. Her body relaxed in obvious defeat.

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Jack didn’t say anything about the hand she mindlessly swirled over the pulse in his neck. He made slow adjustments to his position and fingered the buttons on her blouse, letting them pop open with care. “I have to go see to Emily,” she commented. “She’s upset with me.” He had wondered if there wasn’t a person TJ didn’t upset. To say anything would put him back on her bad side. “She’ll get over it,” he replied. “Oh, do you know a lot about children, Marshal?” “It’s Jack, and not much unless you count I was a child once.” He saw the smile start at the corner of her mouth. He took that as a good sign and slipped his hand beneath her blouse. Her breasts heaved up to the graze of his touch. “Jack, I’ve—” He kissed her hard. She responded with a firm grip on his arm and her lips moved with his. He curled his tongue around hers, and she followed his moves. They took turns exploring each other’s mouths until Jack pulled back, panting fast and aching bad. He took her mouth again while his fingers found a way to open her chemise and touch the softness of her breast. The warmth drew him from her breath to the sweetness of her nipple. “Jack, please.” He sucked her pliable skin into his mouth. He teased her with his tongue bathing the rising nub. Every whine from her encouraged his lips to play, tugging, nipping and nudging the bead in different directions. When her hand thrust between them and hit the front of his denims, he nearly shot his load. “Hang on, sweetness.” He sat and reached for the buckle on his gun belt. “No!” She sat and put a hand over his. “I can’t do this. I have to go.” “Not until I have a dance.” He pushed her back into the hay, pinning her down beneath him. The beauty of her surprised stare held him entranced.

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“Darlin’, I need you,” he confessed, not believing he actually voiced the thought or understanding why she made him desperate to have her compliance. A feminine voice from outside the barn called, “TJ?” Jack lifted his head. TJ turned her gaze from him. “TJ?” a woman’s voice called again. “It’s Mary Simpson, the school teacher.” TJ’s voice sputtered. “Oh please, Marshal, let me up.” “Nothing like the neighbors stopping by to see you frolicking in the hay now is there, TJ?” She wiggled beneath his weight. “Let me up before she comes in here looking for me.” “I could give her something to gossip about.” He stroked the side of her face. “Please.” “Tell me your name first, sweetheart?” “TJ?” The woman’s voice sounded closer. TJ’s eyes looked from him to the barn doors and back to him. “She’s coming out here.” “I suppose she is. What’s your name?” “Tessa Jane Creager. Now you know everything. Please, let me up.” “Tessa Jane. I like that for lovemaking. Has a right nice ring to it. However, TJ does suit your personality.” Jack hopped up and towed her with him. “You look like you’ve been rolling in the hay.” He stared at her open clothing. The inside curves of her creamy white breasts tempted him to chase Miss Mary Simpson away. He sorely needed to fuck something, and Tessa Jane, all willing, didn’t make him think too clear. “You’re trying my patience very thin, Marshal.” She fixed her clothes, brushed over her skirt and swatted away his hand when he reached to help clean her off. “Puddin’, you are on a thin line with me as well. You put me in great pain, leading me to the trough and not letting me drink.”

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Her gaze lowered to the front of his denims. It was cute the way she bit her lip and acted all innocent-eyed. “Oh, turn around.” He twirled a finger, motioning her to move. “I’ll have your hair fixed in a snap.” She spun and he raked his fingers through her bright blonde curls several times and then gathered it back into one hand. He picked pieces of straw from her head. “TJ, are you out here?” The barn door began to creak open. Jack pulled TJ’s face around and kissed her. Two things were for certain. He wanted Tessa Jane and he would return to her. First he’d take care of Guerrero. Where he had a slight reluctance before, that feeling disappeared when he heard Guerrero killed TJ’s family. He wanted the man to hang, if not for the other murders, then for the ones that affected Tessa Jane. “Marshal, please. Don’t let her see you in here with me.” He gave her a mischievous smile. Her eyes shimmered with a special sort of fear, and pushing her to the limit of all emotions, Jack kissed her again. Her eager hum almost made him forget to let her go.

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Chapter Seven TJ fought his hold. She wanted to linger there in his embrace and allow him to kiss away all her troubles. The light streaming into the barn aisle stopped her from wanting it more than her decency. “Jack.” She didn’t need to say more than his name. Her fingers dipped into the pocket she saw him put her stocking. “That’s mine.” He stared down at her. She didn’t know why, but she nodded, liking that he wanted it. “I’ll be seeing you again, Tessa Jane. I still plan on having a full dance with you.” Before she could respond, telling him whether she’d like that or not, he shoved her out of the stall and moved back into the shadows. “TJ, are you in here?” Mary asked. “I’m here,” TJ answered. She glanced into the stall where the Marshal practically disappeared into the dark corner. Hurrying away with a tight ache in her chest, she appreciated Jack’s valiant endeavor to protect her reputation. It left her flustered and made it very hard to dislike him. A small part of her really did hope they would run into each other again. “Emily showed up upset,” Mary started. “And when you didn’t come, I thought maybe you… Well honestly I thought you left for good. She’s a handful, but it’s only because she’s scared.” TJ left the barn without looking back. She assured herself, after hiding the way he did, Jack wouldn’t come out of the barn and embarrass her. The farther she got away, the more she believed he did have a better character than many men she knew.

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“I wouldn’t leave that brat with you.” TJ snatched up the frilly hat Emily wanted and took Mary’s arm, leading her as far from the barn as possible just in case Jack changed his mind and made a startling appearance. “Oh, TJ, Emily is testing you. Give a firm hand and she’ll come around.” “Oh she’ll get a firm hand all right, squarely on her bottom.” “I know you don’t mean that.” Mary continued talking the whole ride back to her house. Once they arrived, Mary quickly disappeared and left TJ to trudge up the porch stairs and face Emily. “Here’s your hat.” “My pa liked me.” Emily took the hat and played with the dried flowers. “I’m sure my brother more than liked you. I have no doubt he loved you very much.” She took a deep breath. “I still think your manners could use some working on, but I never meant to suggest your pa didn’t like you just fine. Now how about we forget our little upset, okay?” Emily sat quiet and TJ bit her tongue waiting for the friction between them to end. “Pa loved you too.” TJ smiled at her. “I know.” “I’m sorry, Aunt TJ.” She jumped up from the rocker. “Me too.” TJ hugged Emily and for the first time, she didn’t feel the need to keep some of her emotions at a distance. “Can we go home now?” Emily backed away with a hopeful expression. “Miss Simpson’s going to ask us to stay for dinner like she always does and you always say yes.” “Twice.” “Yeah, but you’ve only been home for less than a week, so twice is a lot.” TJ understood how much Emily wanted to settle into some routine with her and she felt bad not being able to give her that. She felt really bad not having it for herself.

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“We’re not going home. I have business to take care of therefore you are going to stay with some relatives of ours.” The second TJ said it, Emily’s face withered into a frown, and she knew she had to cut ties the best she could for the girl’s sake. “I’ll try and come to visit every so often, but I can’t promise I will. My life is precarious at best.” “I want to go home,” Emily cried. “I thought we were going to raise cattle. We were going to plant a garden. We made plans and you were going to stay here.” “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stay. I know that now. We don’t get along and I’m used to being alone.” The words were harsh and Emily’s eyes widened in disbelief. “But my parents and you are supposed to take care of me. I don’t want to leave the ranch or my friends,” she wailed. “I have an uncle in Flagstaff who will take you in,” TJ explained. “He’s nice, has a very lovely wife and they have three children. All of whom I’m sure are married and have their own children by now, but still, you’ll not lack for family that cares about you.” “I don’t want to go live with strangers. Why can’t you stay here or you could leave me with Miss Simpson until you come back?” “Emily, how do I explain this without hurting your feelings? Miss Simpson would like to have her own life back. I can’t ask her to keep you indefinitely. I’m your next of kin and you’ve become my responsibility. Everything will work out fine this way.” Fear mixed with anger in Emily’s eyes. “I won’t go and you can’t make me. I’ll… I’ll live on my own.” TJ’s untimely burst of laughter did not help to calm Emily. “I won’t go!” she said again. “You’re just a child. You can’t live on your own.” “I’m a woman sure enough next week. Pa said I would be when I was thirteen.” Emily’s bitter determination stiffened her back and she folded her arms. “Pa said I would,” she repeated. TJ saw herself at that same age—headstrong, impulsive, and argumentative. She also saw how wrong it would be for her to raise a child that she had no control over.

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“Clearly, you’re not thirteen yet and that makes you a kid. I’m an adult and you’ll do as I say.” TJ slammed her hand against the porch post. “How are you going to make me?” Emily challenged. “I’ll find a fat willow branch and tan your hide so you’ll not sit for a week.” If TJ knew character at all, she suspected that wouldn’t work. Her own pa had taken a willow whip to her fanny when she was about ten, all for sassing her ma at a church social. It hurt, but worse, it was embarrassing since he’d done it behind the Reverend’s woodshed and Johnnie Knowles watched by peering around the corner. She felt humiliated to the point of tears, but not to the point of an apology. She was a childish brat and that whipping only made her tougher. A short time after that, the cholera swept through town and plucked people up to heaven. She thought for sure God punished her for her disobedience by taking her parents. “You do and I’ll hate you!” “I was certain you already did,” TJ countered smugly. “You’ve done nothing but rub me the wrong way trying to test my mettle. For your information, I’ve been punched, kicked, and stomped on. I’ve had a great number of people hate me and I’m impervious to your little tirades. Men, a considerable size bigger and meaner, have called me names, spit on me and threatened my life. I’m here, so you see who has won those battles.” “Why did they do that?” Emily sat down with a sincere look of bewilderment. “I guess because I was being a real bitch.” TJ knew then, she’d said too much. She had no real reason for her niece to hear the uglier side of bounty hunting. “TJ!” Mary came outside and the screen door slammed shut. “I don’t think Emily should be subjected to that sort of language, do you?” TJ bit her bottom lip. “I apologize, Mary. Emily and I were having a very open discussion as to why it is in her best interest to go live with my uncle up in Flagstaff.”

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“Whatever do you mean? Surely you’ll be taking care of Emily now.” Mary sat her basket of laundry on the porch. “I can’t do it. You’ve heard it yourself. I use foul language from time to time, but it doesn’t even compare to the swearing I do when I’m angry.” “Yeah and I bet she can get real angry when one of them men she’s been around punches her.” Emily threw in the unneeded information. “She says she’s been kicked and spit on too.” “TJ?” Mary’s voice wavered with a dreadful alarm. “Mary, let’s you and I have a little talk.” TJ took her arm and guided her to the door. “Emily dearest, please just sit there and behave yourself.” She gritted her teeth behind her smile and pulled the door shut as she and Mary went inside. “Is what Emily said true?” Mary gripped TJ’s shoulder. “Have men hurt you?” “Mary, this may be hard for you to believe, but I feel completely uncomfortable in skirts. You saw how I arrived. That’s me…all the time. I spend most my days on horseback. I don’t know how much you know about my leaving here, but I did so when I was sixteen.” “When your sister died, yes. I’m sorry.” Mary’s face softened to express her sincerity. “That must have been awful for you and your family.” “I spent a year learning to use a gun to kill the man that murdered my sister. Afterwards, I fell into a niche of sorts and became a bounty hunter. When I told Emily those things, they were to prove a point that I’m a bit resilient when it comes to a battle. I’ve been in scrapes with outlaws and from time to time, one does get an opportunity to get a lick or two in, but I haven’t been shot.” “Oh my, how dreadful. I mean the life you must lead having to deal with killers and thieves.” “It’s not so terrible, Mary. It’s a job and I supplement it by… Anyhow, I get by quite adequately.” She saw no reason to tell the devout church going woman she gambled. “I suppose you don’t plan on quitting your profession then?”

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“I’ve considered it from time to time. Especially when I get bruised ribs or I’m tired enough to pass out in a dung heap. Raising Emily wouldn’t fit in with my lifestyle.” She glanced at the house and wondered how different her life would be running a household, caring for her niece and having nothing more dangerous to do than fighting off a cold. A few days had already proved she didn’t have the skill or the patience to raise a child. “Yes, I do see what you mean, but things take time.” “I haven’t time to spend. She said she won’t go stay with my uncle, but maybe if you tell her.” “It’s only been a little over a month since her folks were killed. Why don’t you let her stay with me for a while longer? You can get to know her some and she you. Then we can broach the subject again. She would respect your opinion if she knew you.” “I can’t stay. Guerrero escaped from the army and I’m going after him.” “TJ, you can’t be serious. That savage killed Emily’s family and a good number of other families.” “It’s why I have to go after him.” “I see your mind is made up on that point, but why not let Emily stay until you return.” “Mary, there’s always the possibility I won’t be able to come back.” “If that should happen, and I’ll pray for your safe return everyday, then I’ll see Emily gets to your uncle. Leave me with the information and I’ll be sure to do everything I can for her.” Mary grasped TJ’s hands. “It really is no trouble.” “You’ve already done more than you needed, but thank you. I think Emily will appreciate your hospitality.” TJ liked Mary. The instant friendship brought her memories of how she and her sister had gotten along. She missed having a woman as a friend. Shoddy hotels, bedrolls on the open plains, and saloons, weren’t places she found respectable women. “I’ll leave before dawn.”

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Mary hugged her. “Do take care of yourself, TJ. Emily might not admit it, but she’d have a hard time having another family member get killed so soon.” “I don’t think she’ll care too much. The girl absolutely hates me.” “She’s very much like you and you know it. She keeps all those real feelings bottled up inside. Everything she wants to come out can’t right now, but in time she’ll open up. She’ll admit she loves you as much as you love her.” “What makes you think I love the brat?” TJ had to ask, even though she and Emily had exchanged the words between each other. She felt they were just something to say. “I’ve seen you with her and while you’ve tried to keep a distance, you’ve shown too much interest for someone that doesn’t care.” “She’s my responsibility, nothing more.” ZY When Jack left TJ, he headed for Tucson. He had more incentive to retire than he required. The reward on Guerrero had doubled. With the little bit of money he had saved, he’d buy himself a small ranch, prop his feet up on a porch railing and live a lazy life into old age. He stopped at the telegraph office and wired the U.S. Marshal’s office, giving them his resignation. Then, leaving his badge with the local sheriff, he rode out of town as a bounty hunter. Jack swung his horse to the north. He didn’t feel a need to rush after Guerrero. No one would catch the man. No one knew the things Jack did about him. Jack’s aim couldn’t be for anywhere else except back to the small town with the heart-stopping Tessa Jane Creager. TJ stuck in his mind like a burr in his boot. She was something he should free himself of and at the same time, the prickly sensation had a way of making him feel alive. Hours he rode, hours he dissected TJ’s disposition. She would be a nice place to visit once in a while. Stop by, have some fun, and then ride off into the sunset without another thought. He tried to believe the theory, but he didn’t know just how easy

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he could ride off from her again. He already found it difficult once when a notion struck him she might up and get married while he was gone. Jack slowed his horse when he saw the girl walking along the dusty trail. He rode up alongside her and tipped his hat back to look at the pretty face gazing up. “I know you,” he exclaimed. “Emily, right?” “Yes,” she grumbled. “Do you remember me?” “No, I’m stupid,” she shot back. “Of course I remember you. It was only yesterday you was sparkin’ with my Aunt TJ.” “Yeah, well, we’re old friends and I was happy to see her, that’s all. Where you headed?” “I don’t know. My aunt didn’t say and I don’t care.” Jack got down and walked next to her. “You ran away, didn’t you? You know, I can’t leave you to wander the countryside alone. There are bad sorts of people in this country. You can ride with me and I’ll take you back.” “I’m not going back. TJ wants to send me away to an uncle I don’t know. I think I should go where I want. I’m old enough to take care of myself. In a few days, I’ll be thirteen and she’ll be twenty-three. She didn’t think I’d remember we had the same birthday, but I did.” “I’ve got places to go, sprite. Come on and let me take you home.” “I’m not going with you, I don’t know you.” A second later, the girl took off running. “Hey!” Jack dropped his reins and gave chase. Emily tripped over a log and went head long into the ground. He snatched her up by the waist. “Gotcha, missy, you’re going to get in a mess of trouble with that aunt of yours when she gets her hands on you.” “She don’t care no more about me than she does about you.” She wiggled in his clutches. “Put me down.” “What do you know of whether TJ likes me or not?” “Got me a new hat just pretending to be her daughter, though she didn’t think it through so good, did she?”

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“No she didn’t, but she did that I reckon to get rid of me.” “Yeah, that’s why she was fussing with her hair in the reflection on the teapot when she saw you. If she likes you good enough to do that, then she must really like you. She don’t take much care with her looks most times.” “Then she’ll be happy to see me bring you back.” “I’m not going back.” Emily bit him on the arm. Jack flinched and dropped her on the ground. She scrambled to her feet to run, but he seized her arm. Instantly, she hit him in the gut with her fist and added a kick to his shin. “Damn!” he grunted in pain. If he needed an image of what TJ looked like a few years younger, then it would be Emily. In one swift motion, he hauled her off her feet, crouched down, and brought her over his knee. “You’re a little young to be getting into scraps with men bigger than you.” He hiked up her skirt and paddled her bloomered bottom. “Ouch, stop that,” Emily wailed. “Ow! I’m going to tell my aunt.” “You’re lucky I’m too tired to take off my belt and give you a real walloping.” He lifted her up and held firm to her waist. “I’ve been riding all night and you are going to behave yourself. Too much like your aunt, you are.” Jack towed her to his horse. “What are you doing?” she squealed when he pulled his rope down and wrapped it around her wrists. “Tying you up just like you were a prisoner. Then we’re going to ride back to your aunt’s place, where I’m going to deposit you in her care.” He checked the knot, making sure it wasn’t tight, and then hoisted her up on the horse. “You best be a good tracker ‘cause she ain’t home.” She slid back off the saddle leaving room for him. “She left me with Miss Simpson and headed out before sun up.” “Where?” “I’m guessing she’s going after the man that killed my ma and pa.” “Jeez,” he groaned. “The woman is looking to get killed.”

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Chapter Eight TJ figured Guerrero would stay southwest of the army and look to regroup with other bands of Apache or Mexican bandits. The hours seemed to speed by while her mind wandered from Emily to Jack. They unbalanced her life. Each had touched places in her heart hard to ignore. When the pull of hunger on her belly came, she welcomed the distraction and dismounted in a nice shady spot off the trail. She hadn’t stopped for very long when she heard a horse approach. The afternoon sun blinded her to all but the outline of a lone rider. She rested her hand on her hip near the handle of her gun, and stayed hidden behind a tree until he passed. “Hold it right there, Marshal,” she ordered. “What are you doing with my niece?” “Ah look, Emily, we’ve found my sweet dove.” Jack held his arm out and Emily looped her tied arms over his hand to swing down from behind him. “More like Aunt TJ got the drop on you, Jack.” She giggled and jumped to the ground. “Don’t mind him. He only tied me up ‘cause I wouldn’t let him take me home.” “Seems you left this hellion behind.” Jack swung a leg over his saddle and dropped to his feet. TJ didn’t know this man, but she knew firsthand how he took what he wanted from a woman. Nightmares flashed in her mind, turning her memory to the day she found her sister raped and murdered. She didn’t think Jack a villain and yet, when he turned and faced her, she hit him square in the jaw.

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“You better not have hurt her or done any of those… those things you were planning with me,” she stammered. “She’s only twelve and I don’t care how old she looks, she’s a baby.” “Hey, I ain’t no baby. I told you I’m a woman. Jack even thinks so,” Emily declared. TJ drew her gun on Jack. He backed from her while rubbing his jaw. “Damn if you two ain’t a matched set. Are all Creager women this ornery?” “Emily, what did he do to you?” TJ kept her gaze and gun leveled on Jack. “Come on, Tessa Jane, I didn’t do anything to the kid.” He slid his jaw from side to side. “Geez honey, you hit hard. I think you cracked somethin’.” “You said I was a woman already.” Emily stomped her foot. “You is no better than her.” “God, hasn’t Mary been able to teach you any proper English?” TJ complained as she lowered her arm. “I’d think as a school teacher, she’d have been sure to pound it into your silly head.” “Jack’s a liar and should be shot.” “Look, sprite, don’t you go making up lies and get me killed.” Jack shook a finger at her. “TJ, it was awful. After he tied me up—” “TJ honey, you’re not going to believe this half-pint child over me, are you? Come on, me and you had a little fun and I liked it swell, but I’d never do that with a little girl.” “He lifted my dress.” Emily blurted out. “Emily, you aren’t lying to me, are you?” She didn’t want to believe it of Jack. He wouldn’t molest a child, but how would she be able to tell if Emily lied to her? “I swear on my Pa’s grave, he lifted my dress.” “TJ, wait.” Jack held his hands up. “She ain’t lying. The brat kicked me in the shins and punched me in the gut. I lifted the little whippersnapper’s dress and gave her the paddling she deserved.” “Emily?” TJ narrowed her eyes.

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“Oh all right, he walloped me, but I still think you should kill him for it.” “I will do no such thing and for lying I should let him whip you again.” She spun the revolver and slid it back in her holster. “What are you doing away from home?” Emily held her tied up hands to TJ. “I’m your responsibility remember. I don’t think you should go leaving me with Miss Simpson.” “You can’t go with me.” “I ain’t goin’ back. Jack already tried to take me and just as I told him, you take me back I’ll run away again. Maybe this time I’ll go somewhere different where you can’t find me.” TJ finished removing the rope from Emily’s wrists and glanced over at Jack still nursing his jaw. He made her crazy by being there. “Here, take this and go down that way where my horse is while I talk to the marshal,” she ordered Emily. “And stay there.” “Easy to see the spitfire is forged from the same steel as you.” Jack walked up to her. “Sorry about your jaw.” She pointed and found her hand in his. “Why the costume sweetness, are you on the run?” “If I were, do you think I’d be telling you, marshal?” “Can if you want. I’m officially retired. Just came from Tucson where I left my badge with the local sheriff.” He unfolded her clenched hand and stroked the heart of her palm with a coarse thumb. It created a shiver she staunchly resisted letting show. “I thought you were going after Guerrero.” She attempted to act normal while the flutter of her quickening heartbeat made her uneasy. “I am and there’s a right nice bounty on him too.” “How much?” He pulled her hand up and kissed the tips of her fingers. She saw the surprise in his blue eyes for her lack of fight. The unexpected always shocked people. No one could be as astonished as she was. She really didn’t want him around, only because he made it hard to think clearly.

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She had a personal reason for Guerrero’s re-capture. Bounty or not, she intended on taking care of the man herself. “Ten thousand dollars,” he replied with his lips parading along the lines in her hand. He stopped at her wrist where she felt the force of his kiss on the thumping pulse. The calm before the storm left her motionless. Her stomach knotted in anticipation of him asking her to surrender. If done just right, it may have happened. It couldn’t happen with Emily giggling from behind. The child’s laughter drew her focus back on track. “A fortune,” she breathed, feeling she had an advantage over Jack. “I suppose it’s for alive. For that kind of money I would think a lot of people want to watch him die.” “I reckon that’s true. He’s a mighty bad man.” He teased her skin with his tongue and her fingers curled involuntarily. They touched his face and he hummed a very arousing response. “And if he happened to turn up dead, the bounty is still good?” She managed words regardless of how her heart attempted to betray her. A little faster, a bit harder, it kept hammering. “He can be as dead as a hundred year old stump if that’s the way I choose to bring him in.” TJ gave a small tug to the hand he held. Her body’s changing rhythm confused her. What she tried to suppress wasn’t enough. Jack trailed a finger up her arm, over her shirtsleeve and she had a twinge of weakening to his temptation. “You’d take the chance of him getting loose again from the ineptitude of a dollar-a-day soldier?” she asked. “Hey, I caught him and I only got paid a dollar a day.” Jack’s arms surrounded her. He pulled her close. His hand swept up her back and rubbed the muscle above her shoulder blade. It felt good and she relaxed against him. “Aren’t you tired of chasing Guerrero?” She watched his lips move. “I might have been, if it weren’t for the money.”

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“You quit being a marshal for money?” She didn’t care, but the things to talk about were depleting. TJ turned her head to look at what Emily might be up to. “You’re a very smart woman.” He lifted her hand to his cheek. “So I won’t lie. The money was part of my reason for quitting. I ain’t getting younger and I figure I need some sort of stake to retire on.” “What if you can’t catch him?” “It may take me another six months, but I’ll get him.” He mindlessly rubbed the callous on her trigger finger. She had practiced until the skin hardened near the bend of the joint. Sometimes, when her hands were extremely dry, the callous cracked. It would get infected, sore, and remind her how she didn’t take care of herself as much as she should. “You might get him provided someone else doesn’t get to him before you.” His chuckle sent another shiver down TJ’s spine. She stared at his eyes twinkling with amusement. She hated to admit his actions fascinated her. Normally, ploys of seduction were lost on her. When he guided her finger around his face, she felt the chink in her resolve. The fan of wrinkles at the outside corner of his eye weren’t deep, but they were evidence his youth resided in the past. She enjoyed his attention too much. “Whatever are you doing?” She twisted from him. Jack’s arm circled her waist and towed back. She didn’t fight it. “I thought I was making it clear.” He breathed low, stirring the air around her ear. “What do you say to us finding a comfy spot for two people to get naked and hump like rabbits?” Jack shattered the enchantment of her senses. She should have known he’d turn out to be interested in just one thing. “How utterly appealing,” she sighed. “Really?” He spun her around, his hands taking her shoulders. Apparently, he didn’t hear the sarcasm in her tone. “No, not really.” TJ shoved him away. “That was in no way tempting.”

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She tried storming off, but Jack matched her strides and grabbed her arm. “Okay, I get the message, beautiful. Playtime is over, so why the getup and the guns? This isn’t the first time you’ve held a gun.” He picked up her hand and grated over the callous again. “I’m going after Guerrero for killing Emily’s parents.” “He’ll kill you.” “He’ll try and it wouldn’t be the first time some nasty shit of a man has attempted.” “With that attitude and that mouth, I guess not. Except I can’t let you do it.” “What do you mean you can’t let me?” Her voice rose. “You aren’t even a marshal anymore, Mister McCay. You haven’t any say over what I do.” “Facing Guerrero is worse than facing the whole Apache nation. Trust me, I know all there is about him. Besides, you’re a woman and it’s too dangerous.” “I’m capable of taking care of myself.” “Maybe in some ways, but I think a woman needs a man to remind her just how delicate she is.” He cupped the side of her face. She felt the splash of a fiery blush dust her cheek. Her breath inhaled like a cyclone’s wind and then she broke out into hysterical laughter. “What are you going to do, Mr. McCay, tie my hands and take me home? Maybe Emily and I are alike after all. You know you can’t make me stay anywhere.” “Damn, stubborn woman.” He dragged her up fast and tight. She gasped for air once before he blocked off her mouth with his. Nothing fit better than the ridge of his cock into the crotch of her denims and it left her immobile. Jack bathed the cavern of her mouth. He didn’t miss a trace of her teeth or tongue. She didn’t readily reciprocate, nor did she try to fight it. She had waited long enough for him to kiss her. The notion rolled around

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in the back of her head since he grabbed her. Now she likened the moment to warm melted butter on her tongue. TJ didn’t know what to do with her hands trapped between them. Every time she tried to push him a little, to get them out, he cinched her tighter. Understandably, he didn’t trust her. Cleverly, he came up with a solution she allowed. He removed her revolvers and released her arms. She flung her limbs over his shoulders and folded them up behind his head. Her fingers scratched lightly at the back of his neck, making every shiver of his, race through her. “I knew I’d make you want me, Tessa Jane,” he murmured against her lips. “However, I’m not sure I like you tasting of dried beef and tobacco. I suppose you spit too?” “Don’t talk or you’ll spoil the moment.” She pressed her open mouth to his and explored his peppermint-sweet breath and she thought of the candy he’d bought at the mercantile. She sucked his thick tongue, spearing it with hers. His moans stirred her insides like a boiling kettle of stew. As if hot grease spattered her bare flesh, she wiggled against him to dispel the tingling sensation. “God Almighty, girl,” he half grumbled and half praised, pecking and sipping at her lips as if he’d found the fountain of youth. “You feel so good.” She settled close against him. The idea of shedding all their clothes moved to the forefront of her plans as his fingers reached for the buttons to her shirt. TJ smiled inwardly. She pushed his hat back from his sweaty forehead and stroked a hand over his face, tracing the contours. “Marshal,” she sighed, no longer in control of her emotions. “Jack, remember.” His soft, moist lips hardly parted for more than a second from their perusal of her cheek. “Jack.” She repeated. He made the ache stronger than ever, in her. If he didn’t back off soon, she’d faint from the heat he created. She would flat-out drop to the dirt with the vapors as if she were a silly love-struck girl. Strong-willed and stubborn, TJ hardly recognized herself. The cough close by reminded her of Emily.

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Jack lifted his head and had a quirky smile she thought he used to divert her attention from his blush of embarrassment. “What?” TJ asked Emily. “I thought I told you to wait by the horse.” TJ moved out of the circling of Jack’s embrace. She folded her arms across her breasts, binding down her heaving chest. The heat of the day made the moment of passion breathlessly exhausting. “Are you two going to stand here all day sucking each other’s face?” Emily asked with a pinched up frown that held a trace of jealousy. TJ narrowed her eyes at the incorrigible twelve-year-old. The question held in her thoughts. Was she going to stand there all day? No, it was too hot. What she’d rather do was lie down, bask in the affections Jack lavished on her, and yes, maybe even entertain Jack’s notion to cozy up naked. “We were just saying goodbye,” TJ finally answered. “Mr. McCay will be moving on and I’m taking you back to Miss Simpson’s. She must be at her wit’s end with worry over you. I don’t know how we can possibly be related with you running off and scaring that woman with shenanigans such as this.” “You didn’t think it was so bad when you ran off at sixteen and killed that man?” Emily challenged. “You worried everyone and they got over it.” TJ’s nostrils flared at the impertinence and the severity of truth involved. She opened her mouth to chastise the girl, yet the precocious brat had bested her. She shut her mouth, not sure how to answer. TJ dared a glance back at the quizzical expression on Jack’s face and she hadn’t meant it to invite him to do battle for her, but she was a wee bit appreciative he didn’t have a comment on the subject. “Emily, TJ is right. You need to go back home and your aunt was older when she left home. She was, and is, capable of handling herself, you’re not.” “Can’t you come with us?” All the verve of Emily’s fight to be a grownup absorbed back into the child she was.

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TJ saw the hopeful expression of Emily’s attempt to fit Jack into her missing father’s place. A wave of sadness hit her for not being able to see Thaddeus one last time. “Oh you ain’t getting rid of me that quick.” Jack piped up. “I aim to see both of you back to your ranch. Tessa Jane’s just flustered because I kissed her. I don’t think she expected to like it.” “I didn’t say I liked it.” “Don’t lie, TJ. It doesn’t look good in front of the kid.” “I ain’t a kid,” Emily complained. “Fine,” TJ pinched her lips for a moment. “It was all right, but don’t go gettin’ a swollen-up head thinking you were the first man I’ve kissed.” He grinned as if he knew differently. “We’ll be sticking together for the time being, TJ.” He touched her shoulder as he lowered his head to whisper in her ear, “And I will be kissing you again, Tessa Jane.” He spoke her name as gentle as a caress and it galled her to let him have power over her. “Don’t call me that,” she demanded, feeling vulnerable. “I prefer TJ.” She took a step away from him and stumbled. Her guns lay at her feet and for a moment, she couldn’t remember how or when they had left her holsters. Retrieving them swiftly, she placed them in the worn leather sheaths. “Fine, it’ll be Tessa Jane only when I make love to you, my sweet.” “And stop,” she wheeled about poking her finger in his face, “stop calling me all those endearing words. They’ll not get you any quicker to your goal.” “I think they already have.” He smiled. TJ ground out a disgruntled sound and went for her horse. “We’ll find a better place to stay the night and then split up in the morning,” she said over her shoulder. “Might I suggest we turn north?” Jack queried. “There’s a watering hole about a mile from here, a quiet, peaceful spot where we shouldn’t have any problems. You might also get it through your thick skull we’re not splitting up anytime soon, honey.”

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TJ eyed him suspiciously. His constant happiness didn’t mesh with her often-depressed state of mind. She held her arm out to Emily. “Get up here.” “I want to ride with Jack.” Emily skipped over to him.

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Chapter Nine “Whatever, walk for all I care.” TJ swung her horse away and rode out in front of them. Jack put a hand out to Emily. “Come on, sprite. Walking ain’t no fun as you know.” He took her arm and pulled her up behind him. “Don’t let TJ fool you. She cares a great deal about you.” “No, she doesn’t.” “You think she’d kill me just for fun. She looked madder than a hornet with a stinger the size of a thousand bees. If she thought for a second I did anything improper with you, she’d have dropped me dead for the vultures. I think she’s that scared.” “Scared? Sounds more like pure meanness.” Emily grumbled. “She’s not afraid of anything.” “She’s scared of a lot of things. Know how I can tell?” He smiled and tipped his hat when TJ glanced back their way. “How?” Emily whispered. “She trembles when I kiss her. A woman that is mean would have bit my lip, crushed my foot under her heel and spit in my eye without a quiver to her pinky. And believe me I’ve encountered a few that was immune to my charm. Tessa Jane rattles in my arms from the moment I pull her to me. She’s not wholly sure if she should like me or trust me, but she lingers with the inquisitiveness of a kitten, and I like that. I also like it right nice she has the gumption to make decisions for herself in regards to how she wants a man to treat her. Though, I got the queer impression something in her past hurt her real bad.” He looked over his shoulder at Emily. “You wouldn’t know what it was that spooked her emotions into hiding would you?”

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“Her sister was attacked on her way to town one day six years ago.” Emily answered. “I overheard Pa telling a neighbor that she was raped and murdered, and then left on the side of the road. It was TJ that found her. I also read the letter Pa kept hidden in a trunk. TJ wrote she killed the man that did it.” Jack’s knuckles went white on the reins. How much did TJ hate him for forcing himself a little too much on her? TJ dismounted at the lake and took her horse to the bank of the water to get a drink. Jack followed her. “Emily, gather some wood for a fire.” TJ sent the girl off and he suspected TJ’s need was to speak to him alone. “You should go back and let me handle Guerrero.” He stooped to dip a handful of water to his mouth. “That’s not going to happen.” “Okay, then how about you tell me why you’re dressed like a man?” “I was wondering how long before you got around to that again.” She took a drink and walked her horse back to tie it to a tree limb. “Well?” He put his gelding next to her mare. “Is this outfit supposed to hide you’re a woman, because it don’t. No man has the shape you do, sweetpea.” “I wear these because they’re practical for my line of work.” She folded her arms across her chest. His lingering stare caused a crimson stain to beam up her neck and disperse over her cheeks. “Practical?” “For riding a horse, running a man down, or wrestling a fugitive to the ground.” She smiled. “Bounty hunters come in all shapes, sizes, and sexes. Or do you feel women can only have babies?” “Oh no, I’m a liberal thinking man. I’ve met a woman lawyer, a woman doctor, and even a woman barber. Never had a problem with a one of them doing their job, however bounty hunting isn’t for the meek or the weak.” “Weak! Give me your hand.” She held hers out to him. “What are you going to do?” His leeriness didn’t prevent him from putting his hand in hers.

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When she grabbed his pinky and bent it back hard, he knew then, he’d let her trick him with her sweet viperous charm. “Damn, TJ, let go!” he bellowed and dropped to his knees as surprised as a man finding a fifth ace in a poker game. She stared down at him with a satisfied grin. “Who’s weak, Mr. McCay?” “I gave you my hand in trust and you darn near busted my finger.” He shook his hand as he rose up from his kneeling position. “I actually think you broke somethin’.” He flexed his aching fingers. “Oh, let me look at it.” She reached for his hand and he jerked it away in distrust. “Get away from me, woman. I’d just as soon sit bare-assed on a cactus than let you touch me right now.” “I didn’t break your finger, you big baby.” She grabbed his shirt and pulled him toward her. “If I did, you’d know it for damn sure.” “Pretty enough to kiss and dangerous enough to kill, you make it hard for a man not to welcome hell on the tail end of your breath.” He put a hand on her back and one under her chin. “Back off, Jack, you have nine more fingers I can damage. I’m in no mood to play around with you while I’m hungry.” She pushed him back and he lifted his hands in surrender. “Do you always get your way?” he asked, looking at his finger and then folding his arms over his chest trying to pretend she didn’t hurt his ego, if nothing else. “You saw me in the dress, Jack, what do you think?” “I think that you should always be in a dress, but what do I know, I’m just a man that’s particular with my likes in a woman.” “You don’t like me?” her words blurted out with a tone of insecurity. He watched her expression go from a smile to a concern. Emily appeared with an armload of wood before he answered. “Now what would you like me to do, rub down your horse?” Emily grumbled. “Just get over there and sit still,” TJ snapped.

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She started the fire and looked back over her shoulder at him. He rubbed his mouth and jaw, contemplating her reaction to his comment and it seemed best to let her wonder. He needed a smidge of retaliation for his aching finger. “Watch this until I get back,” TJ ordered Emily. “Where are you going?” “Lunch isn’t going to walk in here and crawl on the fire without my help.” She pulled her guns out one at a time, checking them. “I’ll get the meat. You see to the beans,” Jack told her. “And if you’re going to argue that I don’t think you can get the meat, then don’t. I’d like a moment to be a man again before we sit down to a proper meal.” TJ snickered as Jack walked off into the woods. She found too much to like about the man and it meant working doubly hard at resisting the way she gravitated into his clutches. “Emily, do as Jack said and get the beans and a pot.” She shook her head, thinking how much more he toted in his saddlebag than she did. “Do you like him?” Emily asked, carrying everything over to her. “No.” TJ poured a little water from the canteen into the pot and sat it on the fire. “Here, go refill this.” “I like him. I think he’s nice and he sure is handsome.” “He tied you up, Emily. I’d think from that you would find him detestable.” “Oh he did that ‘cause he knew I’d get away. Men are like that. Nervous bunch when it comes to women. Ma said Pa was like that with me ‘cause he was afraid I’d run off someday like you did.” A burning pain swept up from TJ’s belly into her lungs. “He told you I ran away?” She closed her eyes and tried to recall the face of her brother Thaddeus, the kind and loving young man. “Ma did. Said you was a cussed creature that thought you could right a wrong. Said you were touched in the head from a trauma. Pa said you was just headstrong.” “Were headstrong,” she corrected. “You’re not no more?”

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“Anymore and yes, I suppose I am a bit stubborn. It’s also why you need to go back to Miss Simpson. You’re not done with schooling and it would seem necessary in order for you to speak properly, and maybe you wouldn’t be so obstinate.” “You think Jack will be very long?” Emily looked at the darkening sky. TJ recognized Emily’s need to have Jack around as a protector. Women were raised to believe they required a man for that job and TJ could teach her niece that a woman had all the capabilities of being just as strong. “No. I’m sure he’s going to be back right quick to prove he’s a good provider. I don’t know what it is about men and their self-worth. Nor do I understand why he thinks we need beans.” She tossed another stick on the fire as she hunched over the pot and stirred the beans. “Soft,” she grumbled. “What’s that, puddin’?” Jack dropped the rabbit next to her. “I never saw a man take on about having a proper meal on the trail.” “I was only thinking of the kid. You can’t feed her just meat.” “Next you’ll be asking me why I haven’t made any biscuits.” She shook her head and began skinning the rabbit. “Because I’d probably make them better.” He grinned. “Don’t worry, I’m not making biscuits tonight.” The meal they prepared and ate went quiet and quick. Before TJ knew it, she was laying on her bedroll drifting off to sleep. Emily, just like a child, had fallen asleep long before the meal was cleaned up. TJ thought about Jack. She didn’t know how to deal with the man. Outlaws wooed her to escape and she laughed it off as a big joke. Jack had no reason to tag along with her or like her. A bug flew around her face and she swatted at the tickle to her nose. Jack’s soft chuckle, barely audible, caught her attention, and she opened her eyes to look at him. “Why are you awake?” She rose up on an elbow. “Thinking on how you might ride off and have a head start at getting that reward on Guerrero yourself, are you?”

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“While the plan might appeal to most, no, I was figuring how I could convince you to crawl over here and sleep with me.” “Might sound good if I thought I would get any sleep.” She sat up fully up and fixed the blanket over Emily before shifting to fold her arms together to get warm. “What if I promised to behave?” He rolled to his side and propped his head in his hand. “We could keep each other warm.” TJ slowly got up and experienced a delight at her naughtiness in approaching him. Surprise, shock, what was it called when a man looked triumphant—prematurely? She stepped over him and picked up a few sticks. Then carefully stepping back over him, she tossed them on the fire. “There, now maybe with a bigger blaze neither of us will be cold.” She repositioned herself on her bedroll with her back to him and the fire. “Goodnight, Jack.” “Goodnight, Miss Creager,” he grumbled. TJ put a hand over her mouth, covering her laugh. Eventually she fell back asleep, not without wondering what it would be like to sleep within the confines of Jack’s strong arms. Warm and hard bodied, he might have the comfort of a worn saddle, she mused. It was dark when TJ opened her eyes to a sound. Something that didn’t fit and she pulled out her gun and sat up. Her head cocked to the side, she trained her ear to the night. The crickets, the rustle of brush critters and then there was Jack. Snoring with a definite pitch that she had already accustomed herself to, yet it wasn’t what woke her. The eerie awareness of her senses eased her up from the ground. She took quiet, slow steps out of the camp. She followed the disturbance to her sleep, and tracked it through the underbrush. When she at last picked up on why the fine hairs prickled the back of her neck, the warning came too late. “Ah, the marshal has taken himself a woman,” the man said in her ear while his hand clamped over her mouth. “Not the kind he usually likes, his taste has much improved.” TJ wrestled in the confines of a man’s arm to free herself.

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“Now you can be my woman,” he told her, slobbering a kiss along her jaw. TJ struggled in his grasp and found it extremely difficult to get any movement. This was not a lazy man who drank whiskey or sat about waiting to rob his next victim. He was more active and thus strong from the work. He plucked her guns from her—one from her holster and one from her hand and tossed them away. “I am Guerrero, little chica, and I think we should get acquainted.” His fingers grasped her vest and jerked it open. TJ stomped the heel of her boot into his toe and back kicked his shin, forcing him to release her mouth. He bound her tighter with two arms. “A little fighter, I like.” He kissed harshly at her cheek. TJ had too many struggling limbs to worry over his slobbering mouth trying to get to hers. She continued to kick in the short space between them. When one of her hits landed with a jarring impact to a sensitive spot below his knee, he threw her on the ground. She landed sprawled out on her belly and scrambled to get up and get to her guns. They lay several feet from her outstretched fingers and it seemed a short distance to cross. Only Guerrero grabbed her hair and yanked her back hard. She lost her balance, but swung her arm, hitting his legs. TJ managed several sound blows until she saw stars—pinpoints of blinding light in her vision. She toppled over and for a second she lay there trying to recover from the strike of his backhanded punch to her jaw. There wasn’t enough time to regain strength. A second later, Guerrero straddled her and tore open her shirt. His hands gripped her face and he kissed over her sputtering lips. Spittle shot out and he didn’t notice or care that she spit with disgust at him. His fingers were brutal as he scratched his way to her skin beneath the chemise. She didn’t give an ounce of cooperation and it fueled his aggressions. While he was lost in the moment of a victorious conquering, all that ran through her mind was what would happen to Emily.

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A gunshot resounded and Guerrero’s head snapped up. He spun away from her, and without need for thought, TJ dove for her guns in the dust. Men shouted as if that would stop her run. The whiz of bullets coming her way, kept her feet moving, and she scooped up the revolvers as she fled the camp.

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Chapter Ten Jack pushed TJ to keep moving. “You wouldn’t sleep with me, so you found our bounty and what, accept an offer you couldn’t refuse?” he said sarcastically while taking blind shots into the darkness behind him. “Why didn’t you just shoot him? You could have easily killed him.” “Or missed and hit you,” he replied with a ragged breath. Her disappearance scared the shit out of him. Finding her in the hands of Guerrero produced a sensation he didn’t understand as well as he thought he should. His attraction to TJ went deeper than he planned. His fleeting glance at the ivory curve of her breasts took the air out of his lungs. He wanted to ask what Guerrero did to her, was she hurt, had things gone further than he saw, but he couldn’t conjure up those kinds of words to flat out get information. A woman had sensitivities he didn’t like to delve too far into. He did what came naturally in response to her caustic tone. He laid on the sweet talk and hoped it took her mind away from Guerrero’s abuse of her. “You weren’t exactly keeping still. I was beginning to wonder how many legs and arms come with that beautiful body of yours.” TJ grunted her annoyance and kept running. “Where’s Emily?” “In camp. I woke, and when you didn’t come back within a reasonable amount of time from whatever necessities I thought you were doing, I had her pack up while I went looking for you.” “I’ve been gone for over an hour!” she hissed. “You’re no more good to me than any man I’ve ever met.”

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“Oh? And just who got you out of the fix you were in?” He tripped over a log and stopped to catch his breath. Running and talking didn’t mix well. “I would have gotten out of it myself in good time. So don’t think I’ll be rewarding or thanking you for being some hero.” “Next time I’ll leave you on your own then. You’re not so good at kissing anyway.” “Oh!” She spun from him, red faced from his lie. Jack slapped the nearest tree with his palm in aggravation. He hadn’t meant to be cruel to her and the only thing he didn’t like about kissing her was the fact it always ended. That she thought for the slightest second he didn’t favor her lips on his, taught him more about where her insecurities lay. Apologies, however, would have to wait. There was no telling how long Guerrero would take to follow and they had to get to Emily. “TJ!” Emily called, riding one horse while leading the other out of hiding in the darkness. “I had to come. You were gone a long time and I was afraid something might have happened to you and Jack.” Jack took his horse and swung up onto it as TJ did the same with Emily behind her. He watched TJ stand in the stirrups and tilt her head back. She impressed him with her apparent navigational skills. “If we can get to the river, we can ride along it to a town. From there, I can get Emily on a stagecoach back to Miss Simpson and then I can head back to find Guerrero.” She lowered back into the seat of the saddle and turned her horse to ride. “You lead.” He nodded to her obvious take charge command. They rode as far as the ridge would let them. TJ turned them south, away from the hills and they followed the gorge. “I think we’ve lost them.” She looked back at him. “I doubt it. Guerrero’s a better tracker than you or I.” A rifle shot pierced the air in punctuation of Jack’s comment. TJ squeaked the sort of sound a woman makes when surprised. He saw it as something far worse when she dropped off the saddle, dragging Emily down.

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“TJ?” Emily’s gaze darted from TJ’s arm to him as he dismounted. He crawled over behind the boulder that TJ pushed Emily to and pulled his bandana from his neck. The bullet had ripped TJ’s shirt and scraped the fleshy upper part of her arm near her shoulder. After a quick examination of the wound, he wrapped the russet cloth around her slender arm and tied it snug. “We’ll have to look at this later, honey.” He cupped TJ’s face. “I’ve never had a bullet come close to nicking me before.” Her voice shook slightly and her eyes watered. “This isn’t much more than a scratch.” “Aunt TJ?” Emily squeaked. “She’ll be okay.” Jack winked at Emily. “It’s nothing.” Emily’s head bobbed with understanding. There was another shot and it ricocheted off the saddle, spooking the horses away. Jack thought he might get his gelding back with a whistle, but if the next shot killed the animal, they’d have only one horse for the three of them. “We’ll go on foot and follow the horses. Hopefully, we can catch up to them further down the hill where we might be out of Guerrero’s range.” He took Emily’s hand and led her with him. “We’re out in the open. Guerrero and his men will kill us.” TJ stayed close behind him. “He’s playing with us.” “For how long?” He shrugged, not knowing the answer. TJ grabbed the back of his vest, stopping him. “They’re chasing us into a trap.” “Yup, that’s what I figure. But if we can get down there.” Jack pointed to a path over the side of the gorge. “Then they can’t follow.” “Oh and how do you expect us to get there? It’s in the wide open and we’ll be picked off like bottles on a fence rail.” “Do you have a better solution?” He raised his brow. “I didn’t think so. Now take Emily’s hand and you two go first. I’ll stay close behind and if anybody’s going to be ventilated, it’ll be me.”

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“Jack…” The concern in her voice touched him. “Now.” He pushed them to go. “Keep running, sugar.” Jack continued shooting while on the run. The gunfire echoed in the canyon. The further they went, the more it seemed they were going to succeed. Then Guerrero sprang up from the rocks close enough for Jack to see the hate in the man’s eyes. Jack shot at him and missed. The gunplay resumed—a haphazard shooting match with neither getting aim on the other. Yet, Guerrero and his men kept coming strong. “Jack, to the right!” TJ warned. The end of their journey came to a fast halt on a ledge. “Jack, we can’t get down!” TJ’s voice teetered on hysterical. He looked over the edge. He didn’t expect the path to stop short of connecting to the other one further along. He could only suspect hard rains had caused the earth to erode and collapse. Checking another way, he studied the river. In many places, the river was a wide, fast, and deep flow of water. They at least stood along one of the few areas where the water slowed. But, he saw no choice in what they would have to do. He knew the area and the dangers of rocks, but he saw no choice. They could die by Guerrero’s hand or their own. “Jump!” Jack yelled, taking another glance over the precipice at the river below. He didn’t see rocks and that gave him the illusion of it being a safe land. “You’ve got to be kidding,” TJ gasped. He gave her the only look she needed to see, to know he was dead serious. She nodded and took Emily’s hand. Moving back a few paces, she prepared to run for a long leap into the air. “Don’t I have any say in this?” Emily cried as TJ hauled her along to the edge and jumped. “Nooooo!” TJ’s voice echoed in return. Emily’s shrill squeal in the confines of the sheered off rock cliffs, faded.

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TJ hit with a large splash. She kept a tight grip on Emily’s arm. The river moved faster than it looked when they were up above. Emily had come to mean everything to her and to lose her before she expressed how much she loved the girl would have been a tragedy. The water currents moved them into a whirlpool not far from where they landed and the water calmed. “Swim for shore,” she ordered Emily, knowing if she left the water herself, she’d not be able to see Jack. Treading water, TJ grabbed her wet hat and looked up. She watched the cliff for signs of Jack jumping. The gunfire told her what he did, but it didn’t stop her worry. Guerrero’s men would get closer and that would make it difficult for him to turn his back without someone shooting him while he was in midair. She took a deep breath when she saw him back to the edge. The jerk of his body meant one thing—he took a bullet. “Jack!” Her chest tightened with fear. Seconds later, he hit the river on his back. TJ swam against the currents to reach him. “Jack?” She grabbed him by the vest. “Get Emily out of here,” he groaned. “I’ll be all right.” He sank and surfaced with her tug at his collar. He spit water from his mouth. He went under the surface again. “You’re coming with me.” She dragged him back up. “Now swim!” He kicked his legs and struggled to swim. Periodically, TJ grabbed him by the shirt and jerked him along, refusing to leave him. “Hurry up.” She looked above them. “We’ve got to get out of sight.” “I’m moving as fast as this body will work, sweetness.” They crawled out of the river onto the stony bank and Jack collapsed on his back, out of breath. “Jack?” TJ held his wet cheeks with both hands. “Jack?” He opened his beautiful blue eyes and smiled. “You really are too pretty for words, Tessa Jane.” “Emily!” TJ looked over at her niece. Emily coughed and gagged, but appeared all right.

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“When you’ve finished hawking up that river, keep watch. Go up that path a ways and let me know if you see so much as a squirrel move.” TJ helped Jack to sit. She didn’t waste a thought on whether she could take a bullet out of a man’s skin. Guerrero lurked above them or maybe already was making his way down to them. She pulled her knife from where she kept it sheathed inside her boot. “Whoa there!” Jack grabbed her wrist. “Do you know what you’re doing with that?” “We haven’t the time to discuss how I could cut your throat or remove a bullet. Let’s just skip to I can tolerate digging in your flesh. Therefore you’ll have to endure me doing it.” “Wait!” He put a hand over hers. “Jack, we haven’t time to shilly-shally.” She took her hat off and tossed it on the ground. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but before you go diggin’ in, I wanted to tell you I do like you.” TJ ignored his stare while her stomach flip-flopped with a giddy happiness. There was no time to think about something that had been spinning in her mind since she asked. By the way he always wanted to kiss her, it had been silly to think he didn’t like her. Putting her hand to his shoulder, she held the fabric of his shirt and worked at cutting it away from his wound. It was a small hole and there was no exit. She found the bullet lodged in his flesh and knew it couldn’t stay. “I’ll have to cut it out, Jack, and it’s deep.” She studied his eyes as she touched his cheek with concern. “It’ll hurt.” “It hurts already. Go ahead and do it.” He took her hand and held it. “If you think you can without killing me.” “Lay down.” She lifted her pant leg and took out a small flask. “Holding out on me, huh?” He snatched the flask from her hand and drank down several large gulps before giving it back. “I don’t share well.”

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She put her hand to his chest and poured whiskey on the wound. Then, as he tried to yell, she covered his mouth with her bloody hand. “Keep quiet or before I can get this out, you’ll have a dozen more bullets in worse spots.” She looked up to see if anyone possibly heard them from the cliff they just leapt off. She let go of Jack’s mouth when he nodded and then set about getting ready to perform something she had only ever seen done. Bandaging would be needed and she thought of her chemise beneath her shirt. She unbuttoned the wet chambray and turned her back to Jack when she noticed his intent watch of her. “Sorry, honey, but I don’t think I’m up to any of the fun stuff.” He groaned with his laugh. “You won’t be up to a whole lot if I don’t get the bleeding stopped.” She spoke over her shoulder. “You put all sorts of things into a man’s mind, dressed or not. It doesn’t stop my fantasies and one of these days you’ll oblige me with knowing every intimate detail about you.” TJ put her shirt back on and turned after she had the few remaining buttons fastened. They weren’t enough for common decency. Guerrero saw to that by ripping a few of the buttons free. She tore the already ripped chemise into strips and laid them aside for when she finished getting the bullet out of Jack. Rinsing her knife blade with a little of the whiskey, she took a swallow of the liquor for herself. Not exactly ready, she put a hand on Jack’s arm and brought the sharp steel blade up to the oozing wound. Her hand shook slightly. Not because of what she had to do, that wasn’t a problem. It’d be no different than cleaning a bullet from a rabbit she’d caught for dinner. This fear had her nervously wondering what she would do if Jack died. She wanted Jack around to keep her safe. She saw trust in his eyes and felt his pain in her heart. Even as a horse’s ass or having the personality of a slick talking snake oil salesman he touched upon buried emotions. TJ was forced to accept her growing fondness for him. “TJ, are you all right?” Jack covered her cold hand on his shoulder.

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“Yes,” she snapped. “Why wouldn’t I be?” She poured the whiskey in the wound again and cringed when he did. Quickly she averted her gaze to the hole in his shoulder and put her finger in guiding the tip of the knife to dig out the bullet. She moved swiftly, hoping to save him as much pain as possible. “This is your gun arm.” She made the comment out loud with concern for them all. “I can manage with the other just as efficiently, honey. Don’t worry; I’ll pull my own weight.” She tore the end of one strip of cloth to tie it. “Tessa Jane Creager, you’re too underdressed but the sight is glorious.” She looked down to where he stared inside her shirt. The gap allowed him a solid view of her breasts. She sat up instantly and tied the knot painfully tight on his shoulder to hold the bandage made up of her undergarment. White cotton, a bit of eyelet, the frilly sight alleviated much of her anxiety. Lowering, she kissed him. Light and lingering, she took the time to satisfy herself. “You do surprise me, Tessa Jane. You always know just when to show some sympathy for a man.” He smiled, pushing to sit up. “Thank you.” He rubbed her arm. “I didn’t do it for you.” “Good.” He grinned. She felt happy sitting next to him. Looking deep into his wonderful blue eyes, his unshed tears added a shine that made her smile inwardly. She liked him strong, but more, she liked his open vulnerability. Few men handled it as well as Jack. Even less men would admit to a woman they weren’t always one hundred percent up to acting unshakable. Jack put a hand to the side of her head and pulled her face near his. “I know you don’t like me to treat you like a frail woman, but it isn’t because I don’t think you capable of doing things a man does.” He kissed her. “It’s just my nature. Remember that when you get angry with me, okay?”

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TJ tried to pull back. His apparent assumption she wanted a relationship with him needed to be stopped. He kissed her more firmly and an uncharacteristic little voice in her subconscious shouted, why did any of it have to stop? She liked his kisses, his touches, and his sweet words. What she didn’t like was the vulnerable way he made her feel. She leaned against him, pretending surrender to get him to let go. Instead of easing out of his hold, she fell further into the tenderly hungry attack on her mouth. “I thought you didn’t like the way I kissed,” she hummed against his mouth. “I lied.” He ate up the indulgences she allowed and turned his head to bring her closer, deeper into his mouth. She went willingly, eager to let him prove he lied about liking the way she kissed. “Why?” she asked when his hot breath left hers free. “Because at the time, you were as sour as curdled milk sitting in the sun all day and I like it better when sweet cream is fresh. And right now, you’re about as delicious as new churned butter.” Jack’s mouth covered her breathless surprise. He sucked at her lips, snaked his tongue around hers, and did everything to make her forget where they were and why. He continued to whisper pretty words, choking up her emotions. Compelled to gather her wits, TJ attempted a retreat. She separated from him, only to have his groan of displeasure draw her back. It would have to be the last time, she concluded. Only she shifted, edged closer and put her hands on his sides. His arm circled like a lasso, cinching her tighter. TJ rested against him and gave into the desire and need to feel loved.

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Chapter Eleven Before Jack devoured TJ’s lapse into her feminine side, she snapped away from him at the sound of Emily’s voice. “TJ, someone’s coming.” Emily ran to them. “It’s an old man up there on what looks like a road.” “Stay with Jack.” TJ pulled her gun out as she stood up. “Wait a minute.” Jack started to rise to go with her but stopped with her hand on his shoulder. “I need you to protect Emily,” she whispered, picking up her hat from the ground and pushing it down on her head. It wasn’t a question or an order. It was her plea that backed him off from insisting. He saw the apprehension in her eyes and nodded his understanding. She’d apparently feel safer if she only had to think about herself while someone else looked after Emily. He watched TJ maneuver through the weeds and stop behind a tree to observe. When he lost sight of her, he got up. “Wait here.” He put Emily behind a boulder. “She’s very bossy.” Emily’s voice rattled low. “Yes, she is, and very brave. I’ve never met anyone, man nor woman, like her. You reckon she’s ever let a man protect her, instead of the other way around?” He turned his head and looked at Emily hunched next to him, her hands firmly locked on his arm. He was happy to have one Creager lady letting him be the man in the outfit. “How should I know, you’ve known her longer than me.” “Emily, I don’t think anyone really knows TJ. She’s put herself in a tough place for years. The job she does, the people she meets, and the places she has to go, they aren’t for the weak-kneed or delicate natured.”

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He patted her arm. “But I figure there is a bit of woman in her that wishes things were different.” “Do you figure it’s because of the man that killed her sister that she’s so ornery like a fresh cut bull?” Emily raised her dress to scratch at her bare leg. “Probably, sprite, and you best ease up on that kind of language around your aunt. She’s a little rough around the edges, but strikes me as preferring polite talk.” He peeled Emily’s fingers from the grip she had on his arm and held them a second. He couldn’t blame her for being frightened. With as much as she had to handle, she had more than enough rights to worry about her future. “Wait right here.” He crawled out and pushed up on his feet. The sting in his shoulder attempted to drag him down, but he had to check on TJ. The man she approached didn’t appear a threat. “Hold it up right there,” TJ instructed the man as she eased out from behind the tree with her gun drawn. Jack saw his horse and TJ’s hitched to the back of the man’s wagon. “Well hello, little lady.” The old fellow grinned. “You gonna steal a man’s belongings?” “You’ve got my horses. I’ll need them back.” “I’ve no problem with that. I just found them wanderin’ loose about a half mile back.” He got down and walked to the back of the wagon. “Do you live around here?” She inched forward. “Yes, ma’am!” He pointed to the hill beyond her. “Got me a shack up yonder. It’s a nice place if you need a spot to sleep the night,” he answered almost intuitively. “I’m not alone.” “The more the merrier, an old man gets to be lonely once in a while. Some jawing with a purdy gal and her friends would be right nice. You could dry out and get somethin’ to eat.” He smiled, handing her the reins to her horses.

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She nodded to the man and Jack waited for her to lead the man to him. He watched her slide her gun into her holster. She reached him before the old man. Her hand went to Jack’s arm as if they’d always been closer than two peas in a pod. “He’s offered us a place to stay the night,” she whispered low. “I think it’ll be okay. What do you think?” He never expected her to ask his opinion. “I’m wet and tired. If your gut says we can trust he’s all right, then I’ll willing to trust your instincts, too.” “Howdy,” the man greeted with a warm wide smile. “Harvey Adams. I was just telling your missus that you is welcome to dry up and spend the night at my place.” He rubbed his chin. “You have a spill in the river, did ya?” “Yeah, something like that.” Jack extended his arm to offer his right hand as if the shoulder operating it had not just been dug into by TJ’s knife. “It’s nice to meet you. Jack McCay, and you’ve met Tessa Jane and this sprite is Emily.” He put his arm around TJ’s shoulders and a hand on Emily’s. “Let’s get a move on it so we can get you settled in afore dark.” Harvey trudged back the way he came. Jack glanced down at TJ. She hadn’t disputed them being married and he didn’t either. It opened a whole new scheme of things for their sleeping arrangements. He slid his hand down from her shoulder and TJ cringed, putting her closer to him. “Sorry,” he kissed her temple. “I reckon that graze will hurt for awhile.” She looked at her shoulder. “Stings a little when touched.” ZY Harvey’s shack was more impressive than TJ had imagined. It had three rooms and was neater than she could have kept a place. “You live here alone, Mr. Adams?” “Yes, ma’am, Mrs. McCay.”

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“You can call me TJ.” She raised a brow to Jack’s amused and over exaggerated frown. She didn’t mind him calling her Tessa Jane as much as she let on, but she wasn’t about to let him get a kick out of Harvey calling her Mrs. McCay. Emily fell right into the unplanned playacting and took Jack’s arm affectionately like he was her pa. TJ noted the adoration in Emily’s eyes. She imagined the girl had looked at her father in a similar way. TJ had forgotten over the past days, how Emily lost her father not more than a month back. The resilience Emily had shown at holding back her emotions reminded TJ of how she learned. Jack might have been arrogant and a positively vain man at times, but his genuine affection for Emily helped immensely. Harvey started a fire, but none of them had to undress. The hot day dried their clothes out sufficiently on their walk to Harvey’s cabin. Jack relaxed in a rocker by the small fire with his eyes shut, while Emily sat at his feet, reading a book by the light of the flames. TJ lingered at the table and watched them. “Is there anything I can do to help with supper?” she asked Harvey. “No, ma’am, I reckon I got it all under control.” She went back to studying Jack’s peaceful repose. The attraction to him grew beyond his looks. The handsome silver-tongued devil weaseled his way into a crack in her reserve. “Grub’s ready,” Harvey announced, and scooped out healthy portions in old bent tin bowls. Emily hopped up first to get hers. “Jack’s asleep,” she whispered. “He has to eat.” TJ walked over to him. She put her hand up to tap his shoulder and let it hover a minute while she studied his relaxed expression. It took a lot of trust in her, for him to sleep soundly. Instead of thumping his shoulder, she put the back of her hand to his cheek. “Time to eat, Jack.” He opened his eyes and she stopped her caress to his rough unshaven face, but she didn’t move her hand away.

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“Hey, beautiful, I guess I was more tired than I thought.” He snagged her fingers and kissed them. “You should be hungry, too.” She pulled free of the titillating affection. “That I am, darlin’.” She walked to the table and sat across from Emily, letting Jack have the end of the table opposite Harvey. “You reckon you can say grace, little lady?” Harvey asked Emily. “Yes, sir.” She took his open hand and reached for Jack’s. TJ looked at Jack when he thumped his hand on the table next to her. It seemed an eternity since she gave a prayer before the meal. She felt silly resisting his touch, for something that used to be commonplace in her life. Slowly she lifted her hand and gave it to Jack. He smiled, giving it a squeeze as if he knew how uncomfortable she felt. She tightened her hold on his strong fingers and absorbed the calmness in the moment. “We thank you, Lord, for the food of which we are about to receive. Thy bounty is generous and so is Mr. Adams ‘cause he gave me three biscuits. Amen,” Emily said quickly. Amen was repeated by all and hands were let go. Except for the one Jack held of TJ’s. She looked at him with his head still bowed. When he let go and picked up his spoon without looking at her, she wondered what else he had prayed for. She hadn’t thought to pray for anything. Her trust issue with God was on thin ground. She didn’t lose faith in Him when her sister was killed and she didn’t hate Him when she learned that Emily’s parents were killed. Yet, He sorely tested her patience. She hoped He understood how badly she suffered on His road for her, even if it was His divine plan. Not long after dinner, when they had the dishes all washed up and put away, Harvey pointed out rooms for everyone. “There’s a cot in the storage room for the little lady, and Mr. McCay, you and your missus can take my room. It’s got a double bed.” “Where will you sleep?” TJ asked, hoping to change the arrangement. “Loft.” He pointed above them.

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“I hate to put you out of your room.” “It’s no trouble. You even got lucky. This morning I put clean sheets on the bed.” Harvey didn’t waste much time at deciding to go to bed either. He mounted the ladder and disappeared overhead. “Come on, gorgeous.” Jack took her hand. “Any place I can lay down with you is a welcome idea.” “I…” What could she say? It was her idea to let Harvey believe they were married. “If you were a gentleman, you’d find someplace else to sleep.” “Yes, if only I were a gentleman.” He chuckled low and his breath lifted the fringe of loose hair on the nape of her neck. She shivered and glared at the curtain he drew aside. “Night, folks,” Henry called down. TJ didn’t respond. “Night.” Jack answered for them both, and then he waved TJ into the partitioned off area. “After you, precious.” She grunted her displeasure at the circumstances and brushed past him. “We can’t sleep on that bed.” She tried to back up but his presence held her steady. “It’s barely big enough to hold Emily.” “Cozy, huh?” Jack gently shoved her to the mattress. “Get in.” “I will not. You sleep next to the wall.” She had already taken great note of the gleam in Jack’s pale blue eyes. It made her heart speed up and her lungs expand. She wiped her sweaty palms on her shirt waiting for him to give into her demand. “Can’t, sweetness, my shoulder, remember? I can’t lay on it.” “Then face the wall.” She shook his hands off her shoulders. “That’s not safe if I have to get up quick.” He reached up behind her head and pulled the tie she had knotting her hair up. “This should come down and get brushed out.” “I haven’t a brush on me.” She unbuckled her gun belt and hitched it over the bedpost. “But Harvey does.” He picked up one from the bureau and wiggled it in front of her. “Sit on the bed and I’ll comb it out for you.”

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TJ sat, but it was to pull off her boots and scoot back by the wall. “I don’t want to comb it now. I’m tired.” “Have it your way, but in the morning it’ll be all tangled.” She laid down with her back to the wall, leaving her injured arm up. Once all settled, Jack followed. “You know you still have your back to the doorway,” she commented. “I’ll trust you to guard it.” He grinned. “Then there’s always the possibility that my back may face the ceiling since I like sleeping on my stomach.” “It may also face the floor if you don’t keep your hands to yourself.” “Whatever you want, Tessa Jane. I did want to point out that if we had slept with our heads at the opposite end I’d be against the wall.” There was no end to his little pokes at her. “You’re just asking to get hit, aren’t you?” “Aw, come on, sugar, you know you like me.” She looked at Jack’s chin all prickly with black hairs. She’d seen it shaven and it was a strong shaped jaw line. The stars outside the window offered a little light and it let her gaze follow the contour of his nose. Other than his arrogance, she liked everything else about him. His affection was constant, continual, and in ways she didn’t understand, it was very nice. They both squirmed to find a suitable position. TJ, never being bashful, made the first move toward something she wanted. Lifting up slightly, she sidled closer to him and audaciously laid her head on his good shoulder as if he were a pillow. Jack stiffened and she waited for him to gloat. Instead of saying anything, he put his arm around her. It was comfortable and as Jack had previously pointed out, it was cozy. She tipped her head back to look at him. With one finger, she took a curious inspection of the stiff whiskers on his upper lip. She couldn’t stop herself from engaging him in some confrontation. It was an addiction, a wonderful compulsion she used to communicate with him. “Fire, Tessa Jane. You’re really getting close to the flame.” He kissed the finger rubbing his bottom lip.

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“Do you think everyone is still asleep?” she whispered, hoping Jack would know why she tempted him. “I don’t know, precious. You want me to give a shout out to tell them not to go peeking in here?” “I’m trying to be serious.” “Then I’ll show you how seriously I want you tonight.” His fingers molded her flesh. Her nipple hardened against his palm swirling over it. The motion made her hot, fervid with desire, and her fingers dug into his inky hair to prevent him from separating their lips. In her head, she repeated his name over and over. She never voiced it aloud for the silliness of it. At the same time, she wished she could say something to him to explain how much she liked the way he touched her. “You make a man work for every ounce of a response from you, why is that, sweetness?” An inaudible moan voiced her lack of words. It encouraged him into a wordless silence while his arousing groans drew her to him. TJ would whole-heartedly debate the effects of romance on her. She’d never had a man speak with genuine sincerity. However, Jack’s words came with a natural ease and the endearing words stabbed at the unused parts of her heart. She couldn’t help think, later, she would kick herself for believing the lies he spun to seduce her.

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Chapter Twelve Jack moved a hand to TJ’s chin and petted the length of her neck. He felt each swallow she gulped while he stroked the smooth textured skin. Tame the beast, soothe the wild creature, and she will respond in kind. He made the daring move to the buttons of her shirt. “You won’t shoot me if I touch beyond the coverings, will you, darlin’?” He undid the first button and then the second. “I might,” she answered with a breathless sigh. Her eyes closed to the caress he skated beneath the fabric. She arched automatically at his reach to the tip of her breast. “You’re worth it, sweet lady.” He breathed into their kiss as his mouth caught hers. He felt her passion harnessed like a green broke filly. If he gave her a chase, she’d bolt from him before understanding he’d break her in gentle. He proceeded leisurely, rubbing her soft nipple, fondling it into a puckered knot. Her sensual moans vibrated through him. He tore his mouth from hers, kissed along her delicate jaw and slurped wet kisses down her velvety neck. “Tessa Jane, I want all of you.” He jerked her shirt down her arm and grabbed tight to lift her heaving breasts to his mouth. Never had a woman made him as eagerly impassioned as the angel in his arms. He pressed a kiss to the succulent soft skin and whipped his tongue over the spiked nipple with the verve she inspired. Her hands clawed at him. She squirmed, forcing her yielding breast to his ambitious mouth. He worked back up from the pleasing taste of her breast and reclaimed her panting breath. Delicious and generous with her tender

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kisses, anything tough about Tessa Jane did not show. She may have a hard shell of a character, but he found the refreshing core of her emotions filled with a loving nature. The intense passion almost seemed too much for her to handle as her trembling lips caressed his cheek. She cried out with a painful whimper. Where everything had moved smoothly, his accidental squeeze of her arm hit her wound. He said nothing about the grip she took of his sore shoulder burning from the pressure of her fingertips. “I’m sorry, precious.” He kissed over her teary eyes. “I don’t think either of us is in shape for too much exertion tonight and it’s a darn shame. I propose we work at getting some sleep instead.” TJ nuzzled her face in the palm of his hand. Tough, cold and calculating TJ Creager had a weakness. He found the center of her needs and in the days to come, he aimed to continue the pursuit for her affections. “You do need to preserve your strength.” She stroked his face. “We’ve got a hard ride tomorrow.” “Yes, to get you and Emily out of the reach of Guerrero.” “Jack, I’m going after him. You can’t stop me. I may take a couple days detour to take Emily back to Mary’s house, but I’ll be back on his trail in no time.” She put a hand on his chest and gave a slight push to move away from him. “Oh no, you don’t.” He bound her tighter with his arm. “You’re not going start a fight just to have an excuse to pull away from me. I may not be in a good position to make love to you, Tessa Jane, but I will get a great deal of pleasure in sleeping with you.” He brushed his knuckles over the bareness of her breast until she calmed. “We’ll fight in the morning, deal?” “Fine,” she grumbled, “but I won’t change my mind about tracking down Guerrero,” she repeated. Jack realigned her shirt and buttoned it closed. “There, all decent again, though you’re no less tempting. You’ve got the body of a goddess, Tessa Jane, whether you’re in a dress or britches.”

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“And you think too much with what’s below your belt.” She smacked him and it jarred his shoulder. She immediately put a hand to his neck and pulled his mouth down to hers. “Truce?” “Sounds good.” He kissed her affectionately and put her head under his chin. “Goodnight, sugar.” “Jack?” “Yes?” “At supper, you were… you held my hand a little longer and—” “I don’t pray nearly as often as I should and while I had the chance, I thought it couldn’t hurt to put in a word for our long health.” He kissed her forehead. “Now get some sleep, honey.” TJ’s hand moved across his chest and she held him. His heart picked up speed again and he ignored his cock hardening on renewed ideas. ZY “Are you decent?” Emily stuck her head behind the curtain without waiting for an answer. “Oops!” TJ snagged Emily by the collar and pulled her back from the enclosure that Jack was still behind. “Nosy, aren’t you?” “He doesn’t have a shirt on,” Emily exclaimed. “Did you should see all the hair he has on his chest?” “Yes, I have.” TJ looked back at the curtain. “I mean, I know…ah…most men have hair on their chest.” “Not like him. Pa had just a small patch in the middle.” She sat down at the table and took a biscuit from the plate. “Men are just like women. They come in all shapes and sizes.” She held the back of Emily’s chair as Jack came out from behind the curtain just as shirtless as Emily had seen him. TJ agreed. Jack did have a good amount of lovely short black hair fanned over his chest and funneling to a fine line down to his navel. She especially enjoyed the feel of it against her cheek. She woke many times and nuzzled her face to him. He slept soundly and she took every advantage for her comfort and peace of mind.

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The recollections of listening to his heartbeat mesmerized her and she continued to stare at him. The spell she fell victim to, broke when he stood before her and cupped her cheek. “Good morning, sweetness, sleep well?” He kissed her nose and then her forehead. She nodded against his cool lips. “Me too. Best sleep I’ve ever had.” He winked and turned his attention to Emily. “Hey, sprite, you sleep good?” He picked up a biscuit. “I never have any trouble. I like to sleep.” She grinned as Jack brushed crumbs off her chin. “She likes to be lazy,” TJ interjected. “Seems we’re a lot alike then.” He kissed Emily on top of the head. “I like to sleep and be lazy too.” Henry came in the door and they all looked to him. “So the lot of you is up.” Henry sat a bucket of water on the floor. “I need to get washed up. Is that well water or creek?” Jack took a bite of the biscuit. “Creek’s out back. Here’s the water for you, Mrs. McCay.” “Thank you.” She poured some in a pot on the woodstove. “If you gentlemen would step out, I’d like to get Emily washed.” Henry opened the door. “I’ll show you the way to the creek, Mr. McCay.” TJ didn’t say anything as she waited for the water to heat. She had regretfully gotten up from bed because she was hot and guessed she had a fever. “Emily, come over here.” She unbuttoned her shirt. “You don’t have to wash me like I’m a baby.” “I’m not going to wash you. I need you to wash me.” She turned her back to her. “Untie the bandana so I can get my arm out of the sleeve.” Emily jumped up from the chair. Her small fingers pulled the knot undone. “Does it still hurt?” “Not very much,” TJ lied and pulled her one arm out of the shirt. The other side stuck to dried blood.

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“The water should be warm enough. Get some out on a cloth and wet the shirt to free it from the cut,” TJ instructed. “Your skin is hot, Aunt TJ. You have a fever.” Emily carefully peeled the fabric away with the water soaking both the wound and TJ’s shirt. “Yes, but don’t tell Jack. He likes to baby women. He thinks we’re all weak in the head and no more useful than a fly is in butter.” “It’s bleeding again, what do I do?” Emily’s panicked voice worried her. “It’ll be okay. It’s just from loosening the scab. Once I get it cleaned up, I’ll put a fresh bandage over it to stop the bleeding.” The creak of the door turned her head and she pulled her gun out. “It’s just me.” Jack stepped in with his back to them. “Ever ready to shoot a man aren’t you, TJ? Emily, would you mind going outside for a bit?” “You ain’t gonna shoot him for real, are you?” Emily pushed TJ’s gun down. “No, I don’t suppose I am. Go on outside.” Emily went out the door and Jack shut it, closing them in the room alone. TJ put her gun away, seeing the surprise wasn’t anything to be alarmed about. “What do you want that couldn’t wait, Jack?” TJ resumed wiping the dripping cloth on her arm. “To check on you.” “Thank you for enlightening my niece to a man’s decency. One day the shock will sink in that we were in the same room with our shirts off.” She grumbled, trying to bear through the sting in her arm. “I heard her this morning. She’s not going to have any long term suffering over the idea the way she’s awed by my good looks.” He chuckled. “Just like her aunt is I should think, in a different way of course.” “You’re a cocky son of a bitch, Jack. Always thinking you’ve got me figured out.” She dipped the rag in the pot again. “Ouch.” The rag fell from her fingers when she touched the scalding water. “Seems we’ve got each other clearly defined, honey.”

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She looked over her shoulder at him with his hands on his hips. “Right pretty you are even with that squished up face that tells me you’re hurting.” He walked over and fished out the rag with a wooden spoon. “I can do it.” She snatched the hot cloth from his hand. Some modesty had her other arm holding up her shirt to cover her breasts. “Oh I know, but I was hoping to get to touch you in all the nice places you like.” He dipped his hands in the bucket of cold creek water. His touch glided along her shoulders, up her neck, behind her ears, and to her back. She accepted the pleasant sensation with a roll of her head. “Feels good on fevered skin, doesn’t it?” “How’d you know?” “Sunshine, the night was cool and you were a hot snuggler.” “I didn’t snuggle.” “You didn’t? Huh, must have been a dream I had of you wiggling all night as if you wanted under me.” “I told you the bed was too small.” He dipped his hands in the water again. On the new round of cooling caresses, she dropped her shirt from her heated breasts. He didn’t say anything when he pulled her to his cool shirtless body. The creek had left him damp and refreshing. Not a flicker of shame crossed her mind as she nuzzled her cheek in his cooling embrace. Something about Jack had made her uninhibited. Life had stripped her of a lot of things that would embarrass most women. “I found the bed just right.” He held her snug. “Jack, we can’t just stand here all day.” “I know and it’s a darn shame, ain’t it?” He held her away. “Let me look at that arm.” He reached down without looking and pulled the shirt up to cover her. TJ turned and Jack washed over the jagged skin. “Nasty business gunplay—we’ll have to keep this clean and see about getting you to a doctor. I should have thought about this last night. A bit of your hoarded whiskey should have been used here.”

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She shivered at the touch of his lips on her shoulder. “I don’t need a doctor.” “We’ll see.” He brushed her hair to the side and kissed her neck. “I plan on taking real good care of you, buttercup.” A bath would work miracles. The last one she had was at the ranch the day after she arrived. With Jack always sniffing at her skin along with kissing and licking at her, she felt a greater need to be cleaner than she ever did before. He let go and went to the door. “I’ll be right back.” She dabbed the wound with a dry cloth until he returned a minute later. Those seconds gave her the time to let her senses return. The wistful pleasures of the flesh and the entrenching delight of her soul dissipated and in their stead, she let her mission and goal encompass her thoughts. The half-breed Guerrero stacked up reasons for him to join his ancestors. Killing innocent people, murdering her brother and sisterin-law, and now getting her and Jack shot put him in line with the aim of her gun the next time she saw him. She had killed once and she was positive she could do it again since meeting the vile man. She wiped her mouth with the rag as if his kiss had been the last to grace her lips. “Here you go.” Jack popped through the door with a shirt in hand. “What’s wrong?” She put her fingers over her mouth and shook her head as if it would dispel the trauma that Guerrero may have gotten his way with her if Jack hadn’t come along. It was the first time she’d ever felt truly stripped of all power. “TJ?” He stepped forward and put his hand on the side of her face. His thumb floated under her eye. “It’s nothing.” She twisted her face away from his grasp. “He slobbered on me and I thought… if you didn’t come…I—” “You don’t have to thank me, sweetness. Remember, I told that gambler I staked a claim to you. Guerrero isn’t about to get anything I haven’t gotten first.” He flipped a shirt over his shoulder and carefully bandaged her arm with a clean rag.

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“That should do,” he said and held the shirt open for her. “Put this on.” TJ swallowed down the lump of emotions in her throat. She didn’t understand Jack and his enamored pursuit of her. She never looked more like a hobo than right then. “It’s my spare.” He flapped the garment at her. “A might bigger than what you wear, but it’s clean.” “You need your shirt.” She pushed his hand away. “I’ve already washed my other one and it’s hanging on a branch almost dry. You won’t have to worry I’ll stink like a polecat.” “I cut the front open on it.” “I’ve had shirts torn worse.” He snapped the shirt at her again and held it up. “I’ve never said one word about not liking the way you smell,” she blurted out too quickly, and a cocky grin formed beneath his inky moustache. She liked his self-assuredness and she very much favored the way he kissed her. Yet, they had to go. Heaving a sigh of resignation not to get more involved in the hugging and kissing with him, she held out an arm to put on the shirt. Jack folded it closed and took her old shirt away. All was done with a discreet exchange, retaining some modesty they had momentarily lacked. While TJ buttoned up the shirt, Jack carried the pot outside to dump. It left her alone with her thoughts. Her fingers touched the buttons to the shirt. She wondered what he’d say if she took the shirt back off. Would he be shocked to see her standing naked in the middle of the room, waiting for him to hold her? She wondered about intimacy as well. She couldn’t see herself stripping before him, yet he had already been to the very recesses she tried to protect from him. TJ fingered open the top button of the shirt, and then undid another.

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Chapter Thirteen Emily came in the cabin and TJ quickly redid the buttons to the shirt. She pretended she was just putting it on. With a smile on her lips, she turned to the stove to start making breakfast. Once Jack and Henry came in, she had the food ready. “How do you feel?” Jack put the back of his hand to the side of her neck. She closed her eyes and absorbed the tender caress he gave to her jaw. “I’m all right. Sit down and eat.” Harvey and Jack carried on a conversation they apparently started outside. They debated the influx of new people in the west. Harvey was opposed, while Jack thought it was good for the country. “Diversity in people can’t be bad.” Jack swirled his fork on his plate and shoveled in a mouthful of eggs. Yolk stuck in his moustache, but only for the length of time it took him to wipe it away with a napkin she left next to his plate. “Yeah, but folks tend to mess up the area with fighting when there’s too many of them.” “Harvey, it sounds like you don’t cotton to having people around.” “A few is nice from time to time. Like you and your missus.” TJ blushed at the nod and smile Jack directed her way. Emily finished her breakfast first and went outside. “Sit down, darlin’.” Jack got up and held his chair out for her. “You’re doing too much.” She sat because she was tired. “Did you eat?” he asked.

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“No, I’m not hungry.” She watched him move to the cook stove. “What are you doing? If you wanted more to eat, I could have made it.” “I’m fixing you something, sugar. Got to keep up your strength.” “You got a right nice man there, Mrs. McCay.” Harvey commented as he rose from his chair. “I got some chores outside. I best be seeing to them.” She didn’t watch Harvey leave. Her gaze stayed on the domesticity of Jack cooking her a meal. On the trail, she wouldn’t have thought anything about it. “Here you go.” He sat the plate in front of her. It almost made her cry when she looked at the smiling face he made with fresh berries in her pancakes. “You eat up and I’ll get the horses ready to leave.” She gobbled up every bite of food. His sweetness overwhelmed her into complacent silence. After she ate, unfortunately alone, she cleaned the kitchen area. It gave her a chance to think more about Jack and just how she would get rid of him. Liking him upset her lifestyle. It made her reasoning weak and her determination to stay independent strained. “All ready, TJ?” He looked at her emerging from the cabin. “Yes.” They left Harvey and his quiet life behind. TJ experienced a mild regret as they traveled farther from the place. For a little while, she had a glimpse of what it could be like to live with Jack in a normal fashion. “That sure was some good cooking, sweetness. You never fail to surprise me. Very domestic, aren’t you? Seems to me you might like that better than riding all over the countryside getting shot at.” Jack rubbed his gut and laughed. “Are you looking to get a wife, Jack?” Emily asked from her spot behind him. “Emily!” TJ gasped. “What? He’s really nice, not bad to look at, and he even smells pretty good.”

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“How old did you say you were?” Jack chuckled. “She’s a baby!” TJ pulled up on her reins and spun her horse around in front of his. For a minute, she thought she’d made a mistake, as his gelding danced at the intrusion of her mare in his space. “Jumpin’ jack rabbits, woman.” Jack held a hand back safely preventing Emily from falling off. “Can’t you ever take a joke?” TJ rode off. She shouldn’t have let him get to her. Emily’s suggestion of Jack as husband material surprised her. It was almost as if the girl read her thoughts. No sooner had Jack mentioned her sudden domesticity than TJ recognized it for herself. She had wanted to cook breakfast that morning. Because of him and the exceptional caring he gave her, she had a compelling urge to treat him nice. Reaching into her saddlebag, she took out a half-used cigarette to smoke. Glancing back, she saw Emily and Jack talking low—about her she assumed. She stuck the cigarette between her lips and fished for a match in her pants pocket. “TJ, she wants to ride with you.” Jack rode up alongside her. She dropped the match and flicked the cigarette to the ground. “Come on.” She held her arm out for Emily to change horses. Jack rode ahead and she watched him. “I’m sorry.” Emily hugged her. “I didn’t mean to start a fight between you two.” TJ patted the small fingers around her waist. “Jack and I rub each other the wrong way sometimes.” “He said the same thing, but he said it didn’t make him hate you.” “Emily, I don’t hate Jack. I just hate the way—” “You don’t like the way he makes you feel all funny inside, do you?” “How do you know that?” “He likes to touch you and you always push him away.” “It’s not proper of him, that’s why I push him away.” “I think it’s ‘cause you like him and you’re afraid he might not like you as much.” Emily hugged TJ’s waist. “Jack says he likes you a whole bunch and if you’d ease up on him, you might enjoy him liking you.”

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“How old did you say you were?” TJ repeated Jack’s joke in a different fashion. “Thirteen tomorrow,” she replied cheerfully. “You’re more grown up than you pretend. Except don’t go thinking you’re old enough to play matchmaker and get me and Jack to make a happy home for you.” “Are you still going to send me to your uncle?” “That, I may reconsider. I have some things to work through first before I can make a big decision like that.” Jack rode back toward them. “I found us a place to bed down for the night.” “Night?” TJ looked up. “We have a lot of daylight left.” “I’m tired.” He patted his shoulder lightly as if his wound hurt. “Be nice,” Emily whispered. “He really likes you.” “I guess I’m tired too.” TJ rode up next to him. “I hope it has running water.” “Nice size pond if you’ve a mind to go swimming. And if that doesn’t sit well with you, it also has some nice patches of thick green grass to lie on and get cozy with me.” “Don’t you ever rest those ideas?” “Nah, what fun would that be?” They rode in silence the rest of the way to Jack’s idyllic spot. Emily slipped off the horse and ran down to the water. She pulled off her shoes, lifted her dress, and waded up to her knees. Her giggles were poignant tugs at TJ’s heart. “She looks a lot like you—the pretty shape to her nose, the beautiful blue green eyes that sparkle when she’s happy, and a smile that makes a man proud to be able to protect her.” TJ dismounted and stood to watch the delight in Emily’s face. Jack’s hands found their way to her waist. They both watched the child with a silent understanding at the innocence. She didn’t know about Jack’s life and she didn’t feel like she could tell him what she missed of her childhood.

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“That’s how that girl always needs to greet a day,” he told her. “Don’t let her have a reason to miss what you did, sweetheart.” She turned in the circle of his hands on her hips. She didn’t like the way he read her thoughts and knew her emotions. The sweet words always disrupted her claim on indifference. “Just how long do you reckon on tagging along behind my spurs?” “I don’t rightly know. Once I’m on the scent, I don’t give up easily.” He lowered his head and kissed her lightly. “And honey, you smell real good, except when you’ve been smoking a cigarette. I’d like to be chasing after your skirts, but I’m not real picky about the duds you’ll have on when I wear you down. “Oh?” “Nah, I’m just interested in what they cover.” TJ laughed, pleasantly tickled by his breath on her neck. He just plumb wore her out when it came to avoiding his seductive advances on her virtue. Surprisingly, he made her feel feminine. He backed off when she really needed him to and no matter how much guff she gave him, he kept a steady stream of sweet words coming. He’d been so right in his conclusion it would bring her around. She hadn’t felt like a woman much over the years. That he chose only to see her as one had a great appeal to her insides. “Turn around,” TJ ordered him. “Emily and I are going to get washed up better than we can do out of a bucket.” “Oh? And you don’t think I might want to scrub a bit of trail dust from myself?” Jack wrinkled his nose at her and sniffed the air. “I might need it worse than the two of you ‘cause if that ain’t a polecat I have hitching a ride on me, then I’ll take a guess it’s me.” “Don’t try to make me believe you’re all that concerned with cleanliness.” TJ took off her guns and vest. “Men in general often stink to high heavens so’s it brings a burning tear to my eye.” Emily giggled as she ran up to them. “Maybe you should just take the time and get to know me better. It could be I don’t like dirt caking my skin so I itch like a dog with fleas.

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Maybe I’d rather smell like some perfumed whore than a hog that’s rolled frequently in a pigsty.” He hitched his thumbs in the front of his pants. “Fine.” She picked up her guns and strapped them on. Her arm waved at the water. “Please, Mr. McCay, do have a bath and we’ll be all the happier for it.” Jack undressed down to his skivvies. Emily turned away, but TJ stood unmoving and observant even though she felt a slight heat prickle her skin right up to her cheeks. “Do you like what you see, Tessa Jane?” He grinned and waded into the pond. TJ watched him dive under the surface. Her heart beat faster, her palms perspired and her insides tingled. Jack’s rich dark skin and the black hair on his chest drew her gaze from the fact his cotton long-johns were not very concealing on the shape of his rump or the bulge in the front. He had a well-worked body without a dumplin’ pouch. She liked the firm muscles rippling under his taut hide and her desire to touch him escalated with the same investigative curiosity as he had with her. “I thought you two were going to get washed up?” He swam farther out to the middle of the water where the sun sparkled on the surface. “When you’ve finished and dressed. It’s not proper for us to join you, even though you showed no consideration by undressing in front of us like a saddle tramp.” “Come on, TJ. You can’t deny you liked watching. How about it, Emily, you coming in, or are you too shy to show me your unmentionables?” “It’s kind of cold.” “And here I thought you wanted to go swimming.” He feigned a hurt expression. “I went through all this trouble to find you ladies a pond and now one says, it’s too cold and the other is being shy.” He swam back toward shore. “I’m not shy.” TJ’s eyes widened at his continued advance. “No? Then, I reckon you’ll be watching me come up there and get you.” “Emily, turn away,” TJ ordered.

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Jack strolled out of the water with no shame. She glanced at the wicked twinkle in his eye. He trudged steadily toward her and she couldn’t move. Wet long-johns clung to every contour of his body, including the crotch. He smiled at her, and then turned and scooped up Emily. “Jack, please don’t,” TJ bid. “She only has the one dress and if you get her all wet, she’ll have nothing to wear.” Jack nodded and put Emily down. “What’s your excuse?” He swiftly turned and swung TJ up in his arms. “You have a dress all bundled up in that saddlebag, don’t you?” “Jack, don’t you dare put me in that pond. Jack, I’ll kill you if you drop me.” She coiled her arms tighter around his neck, putting her face close to his. The water lapped near his knees and when it got to his waist, he stopped walking. “Kill is a strong word for a joke.” “You know I wouldn’t, so don’t look at me as if I’m crazy.” She stared at his blue eyes mere inches from hers. They were wonderfully happy just like he seemed to be all the time. Her gaze lowered, not out of shyness, but the awareness of his mouth. The dusky pale bottom lip was more exposed than the thinner top one hedged with his black moustache. “TJ, you truly do amaze me. You surprise, and you tease, and then out of nowhere you get riled by the smallest thing. You leave me guessing how far I can—” She kissed him. She desired to feel his hot breath mingling with hers and she went for it. “You talk too much and that’s what riles me,” she told him when he drew back. “You never know when to just keep quiet so a person can think.” She reattached her lips to his and he complied with her need for silence. He gave her every bit as much as she required in the meeting of their lips nibbling and suckling each other’s. “Kissing, again,” Emily groaned from behind her.

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Jack tried to stop, maybe save her some dignity, except she needed kissed with the desperation of never being loved. She ignored Emily’s comment and her snickers. Her niece could learn one thing from her— take what you want. Jack’s hums tickled her throat and she drew her lips back from his. “That was—” She pressed her mouth back to shush him. “Okay, so I like kissing. I like kissing you a whole lot,” he groaned. “If all you wanted was to be kissed, why didn’t you say so?” “There you go talking again,” she purred in the spaces she left for them to take a breath. The communication continued with muted moans of passion, mingled in the one hum between them. She fingered the wet tendrils of his black hair as her arms slackened their death grip on him. He’d not drop her in the water when she allowed him to kiss her. “Emily, if Jack drops me in this cold water, you toss his guns in.” She gasped as Jack heaved her in the air and let go. TJ come up from the water in shock. She tackled Jack without warning and took him under. They sprang up for air and she saw the wary expression he had of her mood. He expected her to be angry, but she couldn’t find an ounce of it inside her. She smiled and Jack’s heart-warming laughter corkscrewed around her like a seductive lariat. “Like I said before, you never cease to amaze me.” He pulled her close and kissed over her wet face. “Jack,” she pulled away, “you shouldn’t do that when Emily is watching. It gives her the wrong impression.” A sudden wave of mothering took root that made her consider her actions in front of her niece. “I’m going to take that to mean you don’t like the timing, but the rest of you is agreeable.” He rubbed the back of his hand on her wet cheek. “Think what you want. You usually do.” She splashed water at him and waded to shore. Her speed was hindered by the weight of her trousers, her shirt, but mostly her boots.

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Drenched, she tromped over to a log and dropped her gun belt. “TJ, do you think it’s all right if I go swimming with Jack? Pa let me go with him,” Emily asked. “If you don’t mind Mr. McCay seeing you in your undergarments, I reckon you can go.” “I don’t care.” She smiled and hurried to take off her dress. TJ cleaned and dried her guns while watching Jack and Emily laughing. He genuinely did like the girl and that he took the time to bring Emily to her after she ran away from home, did make her understand a little about Jack. It was rare that she met men who had any regard for the safety of children unless they were their own. TJ built a hot fire meant to get everyone dry. Jack had the least problem as he only had on his long-johns. She made them a stew from jerky and beans. What the plain, stick to the ribs food lacked in taste would give them the strength their bodies needed. However, Jack had another plan. “Here we go.” He put broken up pieces of wild onion and other weeds in the pot. “No need to be skimpy with the flavor.” “You didn’t put anything poisonous in there I hope.” She watched him take a taste from the wood spoon. “Nope.” He sipped at the hot liquid. Then dipping in the pot again, he blew on the third sampling before holding it to her lips. “Try it. See if you want me to add more.” She looked at him suspiciously and then opened her mouth. “Mmmm, that’s good. How did you learn which plants could be used as herbs?” “A very smart Indian woman. She kept me well fed.” He tasted the soup again. “She always said I’d need to know this to make a woman appreciate me on the trail.” TJ already found herself appreciating him for many things. They were in conflict with her disposition, yet she could change. She had the desire from the time she decided to head home and face her brother. The lonely trail, the men she chased, she wanted peace in her life. “You can add more,” she told him. “This woman, she was special?”

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“Very special.” “Do you see her often?” The way he rolled his blue eyes up to look at her made her look away. He knew what she asked without her having to ask bluntly. “She died a number of years ago.” “I’m sorry.” “Me too, honey.” He stirred the contents of the pot. “I think it’s enough. Give it a couple more minutes and it’ll get stronger in flavor on its own.” ZY It was late by the time they finished talking and cleaned up after their meal. The full moon hung low and bright in the sky, Surrounded by glittering gems. The stars winked and bid her to push herself to the limit of all she wanted. Emily wouldn’t wake. The child slept peacefully oblivious to the night sounds. TJ studied Jack’s outline. He lay stretched out like the dead. He too had a peaceful expression on his relaxed face. For all his teasing and cajoling, his kisses were very serious. The night before had begun something she wanted finished. The memories of the hotel room and his lust-driven quest over her body stirred every nerve in her. He had touched and tasted of her flesh like no other, and left an impact of a great longing she tried to ignore all day. The foreign experience she sought with him made her apprehensive as if she had misinterpreted all the signals he gave. Rejection would be devastating. She never put herself out there for anyone to hurt unless she was prepared. And there was no way to prepare to laugh off something emotionally personal. TJ wondered how long it would take Jack to do what she wanted doing. She’d seen men go upstairs in a saloon to a whore’s room and return ten minutes later with a self-satisfied grin. Longer would be okay because Emily was not a problem with her unconscious pattern of sleep. When TJ was sure Jack was asleep, she stood up and removed the dry dress and undergarments. She paced in front of the fire, supposedly

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with the plan to warm herself. She didn’t want to startle Jack with her cold skin. Looking at the place he picked out to lie down, she started to convince herself the arrogant man knew she’d come to him. Slow, quiet, and slightly shaken by her unusual agenda, she hunched down next to him. Cautiously, she knelt, and it seemed for the longest time she just watched him sleep. He snored lightly, and as he twitched and smiled with his dreams she considered maybe not waking him. Was she in those dreams, she wondered. He had been in hers. The cooler night blanketed her with a chill. Her fingers hovered over his chest, neared his face, and snapped back when he made an obscure noise that might have been a word or it might have been gas. How to go about waking him became a problem. She considered giving him a poke in the ribs, but that could get her shot. Saying his name might scare him out of his skin and also get her shot. Then there was the obvious—the reason she hunkered down trembling nervously. She wanted kissed and more. With a hand on each side of his head, she lowered and planted her mouth over his. She made several feathery sweeps over his lips letting the moustache tickle her face.

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Chapter Fourteen Jack found the dream all too real and reached up to hold onto the loving woman. He woke, discovering his arms around TJ. His caress found the glistening naked skin of her and he didn’t question what she wanted. The demands of his body rose to the occasion with a swift joy. “Hey, sugar.” He pulled the leather tie from her blonde hair to let it drape them in a shadow. She tasted good, too good for only kissing. The fact Emily was no more than twenty feet from them should have held him back. Only he found it difficult to push away the naked vixen when she adoringly ensconced herself over him. He inhaled sharply to the bump of her fingers on his denim encased cock. “Honey, you’re trembling.” Beautiful, breathless, could she be frightened? Did she think he would turn her away? He ignored where her fingers rubbed and he carefully rolled her over on her back to the blanket he saw she’d brought. “Sweetness, Emily might…wake up.” He groaned low as TJ took her kisses down his unshaven neck. “Oh God, Tessa Jane.” “She sleeps like the dead. Nothing wakes her and you know it.” She breathed hotly on his skin and twisted her head to look up at him from beneath his jaw. “You don’t want me anymore?” Want. He had wanted her far too long it seemed and he fought the prime reason. She could hogtie him, put him over her saddle and lead him anywhere by the way she had him enamored by her presence. So why was he resisting? Honor. The good old fashion virtue that he hadn’t held much regard for since he laid eyes on her.

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“I suppose,” she walked her fingers around his ear and circled the rim lightly, “I can go back to my place,” she purred biting his chin, “way over there.” She extended her arm and pointed. Jack held her slender bare arm and kissed the outstretched limb from finger to shoulder. Moving from there to her neck and further, he kissed every delectable inch of her face. TJ worked all his buttons loose. His belt, his trousers, she prepared everything to be shucked off in an instant. “Honey, you’re the prettiest thing I’ve ever touched.” He licked the perspiration from her chin and found a puddle formed in the hollow of her throat. Sipping from the well of velvet, he kissed, licked, and sucked over the top rim of her breast. “Mmmm.” TJ hummed with delight and then moaned. The exhilaration he felt with her pleased tones pushed him down to nudge his nose along the inside of her breasts. “You’re about as sweet as a summer morning on a lazy day.” He lapped at her sweet flavored belly. Bathing her skin with soft, suckling kisses, he enjoyed her as any man might. She shivered with the tickle of his moustache and his panting puffs of air sweeping her body. He circled and sucked at her nipples. The tips were stiff and reddened from the tug of his teeth. She arched up in anticipation and he inhaled the rosy peak of her breast into his mouth. He moved to her other nipple and circled the dusky areola with a flicker of his tongue while his thumb rubbed in the saliva he’d left on her other swollen breast. “Jack, please.” She wiggled her hips. He slid his caress to her triangle of ringlets between her legs. The moment his finger dipped, rubbing over the knot of her clit, she shimmied against the touch. “Easy, my little filly, easy does it.” He fingered every pleat of wet flesh. Each pass he pushed into her folds, her whimpering cries escalated. Her hips gyrated and at first she’d hunt for the place she wanted his touch. Then she drew away as if it were too much for her to handle.

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Jack kissed her hard, muffling her whines. They couldn’t take a chance Emily would wake. TJ continued to rock into his palm long after he knew her climax ended. She wanted more than the one awakening stimulation and he rose up from her. On his knees between her legs, he stripped off his vest and shirt. Her hands were there helping insistently. He shoved his trousers off his ass and down his thighs, and leaned over her glistening body. “I’d like the playing to last all night, but we only have a few hours before sun up and Emily might wake.” Her face shined beneath the glow of the full moon. The nod of her head let him know she hadn’t changed her mind. Her eyes were a liquid beauty staring up at him with emotions he couldn’t read. Rather than ask her what tumbled through her adorable head, he went with silence. He lowered and watched her shut her eyes. She appeared frightened, nervous, as if she’d get hurt. He shook away the momentary brush of concern. If there was one thing he’d give Tessa Jane, it would be a lot of gentle loving. He cared for her a great deal more than he planned. TJ lay in utter fear she’d do something wrong. She had no idea there could be more than the mating like two dogs. He’d stick his cock in her and after a bit, take it out. She had to nod as if she understood since her stubborn nature wouldn’t allow her to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was the first man she was ever with. Somehow, it seemed humiliating enough to be a virgin. Jack lowered. The hardness, now unleashed, brushed the inside of her thigh and suddenly, she was petrified. Of all the things to fear, she didn’t want Jack to know she wasn’t as tough as a steel railway spike. “Are you cold?” He rubbed her shoulder, her breast, and he stopped at her stomach. “Tessa Jane, honey, you’re shaking.” “I’m nervous, okay? Maybe I am afraid Emily will wake up. What will she think of me?” She put a hand over her eyes not wanting him to look at her. “I’m a terrible person to be her guardian. I can’t control her. I can’t understand her. I’m just not right for raising children.” Her mind

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went wild with emotions. Her thoughts rampaged to subjects other than the immediate one with Jack above her. “What kind of woman can I teach her to be when—” “Relax, sweetness. She hasn’t budged.” He kissed the back of her hand. She couldn’t even say what she should have told him before this moment. The words, I’m a virgin, stuck in her throat. Her prattle about raising Emily while Jack hovered, ready to impale her was ridiculous. “I think you’re exactly the right person to raise Emily. No one could do a better job.” Babbling and blubbering like a baby, she nodded to his words. He had a way of calming her. His charm swept her up from her descent into a crazy despair and she wanted him to love her. She sucked in her breath as he stroked between her legs. His fingers rubbed and parted her. The scorching sensation riveted her to the spot. She couldn’t shy from his touch over the sensitive areas and of course she tried. She drew her leg back to dig a heel in and push herself from him and stopped her retreat instantly. She whimpered as the sensation aroused her insides. Jack held her leg up with her knee bent. “Jack, what are you doing?” she whispered. He slid down and put her leg over his shoulder. “Oh God, Jack, don’t.” The protest went weak as his head went between her legs. He licked through the pleats of flesh and touched her with the tip of his tongue. He cupped her breasts and fingered her nipples. The frenzy of her emotions made her breathe in ragged gasps. “Jack, stop,” she squirmed. “Jack, please.” She opened her mouth again and not a sound came out. It lodged in her chest. She plunged her fingers in the tangle of his black hair and held him between her legs. The kisses and sucking drew her hips higher. TJ thought she’d faint from pure ecstasy.

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Rainbows formed in her thoughts and shattered with a grand rapture. She twisted uncontrollably, panting in bursts of exhaustion until she came to the pivotal climax he forced from her. On an inhale, she froze. Stars couldn’t be as bright as the blinding pinpoints of light behind her eyelids when she squeezed them tight. A maddening delight raced through her limbs. When it finally died away, she sighed heavily with a relief it was over. Only she didn’t want it to end and had no reason to suspect Jack had just begun to devil her with his lust. TJ slipped her hands to his shoulders. She massaged strained muscles in his neck. He retraced his path up her middle, lingering to lave her heated breast. His kisses reached her mouth and took her breath away with soul-deepened passion. “I could love you,” he murmured against her lips. Her heart stalled and she refused to believe the statement was anything more than words from a man always full with empty compliments. She spread her hands over the muscles in his back. Her body felt like an inferno of heat licked flames to scorch every one of her limbs. Jack massaged up and down her while he drifted like a cloud. “You know I never suspected.” He pecked small kisses to her kissswollen lips. “Suspected what?” she squeaked nervously. She didn’t think her movements were that obviously lacking in the making love department. She prepared to push him away if he teased her with his cussed meanness. “That you liked me enough for this.” He pushed his erection inside her just a bit, warming her to the idea of what would follow. “The way you ran hot and cold, Tessa Jane, I began to think you really weren’t interested in me or maybe any man. Geez, Tessa Jane, you’re tight. Relax darlin’.” Relaxing seemed the furthest thing she could do while he stretched her open.

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“What makes you think I like you? This is something even the lowest of creatures do.” She responded with a touch of frustration for her discomfort. “It’s instinct, part of nature. We could be wolves mating.” “Did you know wolves mate for life?” His hips continued to poke the tip of his maleness into her. “Then I guess they’re more advanced than humans.” She didn’t understand his need for conversation at a time when he should just get on with what he was doing. Men were normally pigs and given any one of her past encounters with them, they would have completed the task within minutes. That’s what she wanted from Jack while she still had an ounce of nerve left. Talking created second thoughts. Jack stopped moving. Her titillated body burned feverishly for him. He stared hungrily at her and her heart soared with exciting emotions. He thrust in a little and pulled out. “You fit me, sugar.” She put her hands behind his head and drew his mouth down to hers. His sweet talkin’ would make her cry when she needed strength. He tried to kiss her tenderly and TJ took control. She kissed him hard until her lips numbed. “Ease up, darlin’.” He pulled his head back. “Do you want me, Jack?” “You know I do.” “Then get on with it.” She demanded, needing him to be all man right down to his cussed insensitivity. Jack pressed into her slowly and she bucked at the pressure. A sharp pain raced through her body. The kind that made her feel like a woman, instead of a human hovering in a sexless existence. She bit into his shoulder, stifling her erupting scream. Something ripped inside her and it didn’t seem right, except vaguely she recalled someone saying it hurt the first time. “Damn!” Jack swore. He stopped moving and she didn’t know what to do. Slapped with a new set of facts about TJ, Jack took a breath. “Darlin’.” he murmured apologetic kisses over her face.

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He reasoned the way she clung to him, she didn’t want to stop. Rocking gently against her, he tried to tenderly make their coupling easy for her. “Tessa Jane.” He didn’t say more when her fingers pressed against his lips. He rocked against her gently, and bruised her lips as he left the sound of his release echoing in the cavern of her mouth. Those struggled moans of ecstasy were laced with hers and it made everything more special. His attachment to her went further than the physical attraction. A humbling experience could be a fine weakness to a human’s resolves. With TJ staring at him as if she read his questioning mind, he felt she had no answers. He moved off her and she scooted away, taking the blanket as a shield. She gathered her clothes from the ground and disappeared into the darkness. He felt the empathic pain of her embarrassment and it left him ashamed. A woman’s first time should be special, romantic and certainly not down in the dirt. From the darkness he heard her sobs. They tore him up inside, even though rightfully, he shouldn’t have any guilt for her nakedly crawling onto him first. Jack got his pants back in place and paced the outskirts of where TJ vanished into the shadows. He waited, afraid to intrude, and at the same time wondering if he should do something to comfort her. When she finally appeared, she swept past him as if he were nothing more than a stranger on a trail. No, he was less than a stranger because most would at least acknowledge the other. “Tessa Jane?” “You can feel privileged, Mr. McCay. You’ve done something no man has been able to do.” “If I’d known…if you said you were…Geez woman, what do I say? It was your decision.” “Rest easy, Jack, it was bound to happen eventually and I’m glad it’s all over with. Next time I have a hankering to be mounted by some man,

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I’ll understand all of what happens when he aims to have a good time.” She spread her blanket out and lay down in her place by the fire. “The next time…some man…?” He stared at her in disbelief. Her cold, harsh words came too soon after he poured himself into her. “Just so you know you’re no man’s good time when it comes to that sharp tongue and sour disposition, honey.” “I didn’t hear you complaining.” He should have stayed understanding, but the woman riled him. She let the sweetness of her inner soul out, encouraging him to fall in love with her. Angrily, he wanted to spit the foul taste from his mouth of being used by her. Her sweet body hung on his breath and clung to his flesh like unwanted perfume. “I’m glad to be of service to you, Miss Creager.” He went back to his place, but it wasn’t to sleep. Nothing could be further from his mind than drifting off and forgetting how much he wanted to hold her. While he didn’t think he could sleep, he did. TJ’s loud crack of nastiness woke him before dawn. The sound violently disturbed the quietness and he bolted up and rubbed a hand over his face. In the flickering campfire he saw her fumbling with a small pot. “You know, if you gave us another thirty minutes of sleep, you’d be able to see what you were doing.” He set his hat on his head and stood to stretch his one arm, while his other was too painfully sore to move. “I couldn’t sleep any longer.” TJ’s shriek when she spilled the coffee didn’t get on his nerves as much as it upset him. He went to sleep angry with her and he didn’t have the right. “Here, let me get that, sweetness.” “Don’t call me that!” she snapped and jumped away from him. “I don’t want you to call me any of those names. I’m not anything like you’re pretending I am and you know it.” Jack stooped down and retrieved the pot from the dirt. “Can’t you two be quiet?” Emily groaned. “It’s the middle of the night.”

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“It’s the middle of morning.” TJ’s bark made even Jack jump. “It comes at sun-up everyday so get use to it and get up.” “Emily, do as your aunt said and get up,” Jack ordered and looked back to make sure the girl was moving. “TJ, watch the pot while I drain last night’s coffee.” He walked off to the woods and when he came back, TJ handed him a tin cup with hot coffee. He smiled thinking how sweet it would be to have her serve him coffee every morning and then his burst of laughter caught them all off-guard. “Sorry, private joke,” he explained, not wanting to speak his thoughts. TJ had a very short fuse on her temper and for him to make light of her unordinary domesticity again would most definitely make her explode. “What’s so funny?” Emily bounded over to him and held his arm. “It’s not important, sprite.” He patted her head. “Are you all bright and cheery like this every morning?” “It’s from her mother. Thaddeus was never good to talk to in the morning,” TJ interjected. “Pa was always happy!” Emily shouted. “Easy there, missy. She didn’t say it to be mean.” He hugged Emily. “Most men are grumpy in the morning, sprite.” “You’re not.” “I said most, not all. I suppose for others it comes from working a long hard day and sleeping a very short night. It wears on a man…and a woman.” He glanced toward TJ. She had a hard life fending for herself far too long and it showed. At twenty-two years old—no, today she was twentythree, he reminded himself—she had a tan face, weather-beaten around the eyes and mouth, and her hands had calluses. He considered wishing them both a happy birthday, but decided to wait until TJ had a better disposition. TJ finished her coffee with a grunt and slung the cup letting the remaining coffee grounds toss to the fringe of forest. The sun crested the

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uneven horizon and she suddenly smiled. Jack took the cup from her hand and put his other hand on her shoulder. “Something nice pass through that pretty head of yours?” “I told you nice words don’t work on me.” She picked up her saddle and tossed it to her horse’s back. “Oh, I know, but then I think you protest too much.” He circled an arm around her waist and kissed her cheek while she cinched the saddle. “Jack!” She glanced around to see if Emily saw him. “Don’t do that again.” “Just do it in the dark, sweetness?” He grinned. “If that’s how you like it.” “You’re vulgar,” she hissed and swung at him. Jack caught her hand. “Watch the shoulder, TJ, and you didn’t think I was offensive last night or if you did, I’d have to say you liked it.” Her eyes welled up with tears. Jack cupped her chin. “Don’t cry, Tessa Jane… and don’t try to tell me you weren’t going to. That evidence is clearly beginning to leak out.” He brushed a thumb over the tears on her cheek and licked his thumb. “Whatever your feelings are about last night, I’m sorry. I should have known to take things slower.” “Here’s my stuff, TJ,” Emily announced. Jack turned TJ away. “I’ll take that, Emily. You think you can go bring my saddle over for me?” “Sure.” She smiled and ran off to get his belongings. Jack kissed the back of TJ’s head. “I’ll keep her busy for a few extra minutes while you pull yourself together. I know last night was a big change for you. It was a big deal for the both of us. Don’t go imagining I don’t care about you.” He rubbed his cheek against the side of her head for a moment longer and then he went to help Emily.

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Chapter Fifteen TJ dried her eyes and looked over at Jack joking with Emily as they rolled up his blanket. Just when she thought she had figured him for a jackass where a woman’s feelings were involved, he changed course. He wasn’t anything like other men. Early on, she figured his aim had been to tag along and get Guerrero for the bounty. The only problem with her theory was he traveled in the opposite direction to take Emily home. Had he become a friend? How would she recognize that fact? She’d never had actual friends, the kind that helped no matter what. Were there really people that were reliable, trustworthy, and didn’t care what you said or did, yet continued to stick by you? “You two ready to get on the trail?” she finally called, feeling better. “Sure are, buttercup.” She smiled at him. He had a way about him that surprised the hell out of her and for the time being, she’d adjust to accommodate him in her life. Jack brought the saddle and the blanket all rolled back into a tight bundle. “Did you decide which way it is we’re heading?” “I’m still taking Emily home. Mary Simpson will keep her until I get back.” She gave Emily a stern look. “And you will stay right there.” Emily shrugged. “I guess if you’re coming back.” “I said I was, didn’t I?” “Okay then, all settled. Tonight we’ll have a real bed, sprite.” Jack announced. “Town can’t be more than a half day’s ride.”

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TJ slipped her foot into the stirrup, lifted her leg over the saddle, and settled down in the seat. Emily chattered openly as usual, telling Jack a million things about her dog that never did show up in the few days they were at the ranch. She told him everything about home. Then as if something had turned her into the incorrigible brat she was, she took to a new topic, and one TJ wasn’t at all happy with. “When Aunt TJ comes back home for me, will you come too, Jack?” “We haven’t even gotten you there and you’re already worrying over whether I’ll be back? I think we should take things one day, one step, and one problem at a time,” Jack answered. Problem, TJ thought. What problem? He couldn’t think she planned on him being around forever. She sure hoped he didn’t think she believed now that they had been intimate he had to do right by her. Oh how she’d love to paddle the tar out of Emily and her devious little scheme to butter Jack up and take him home like a puppy. “Wouldn’t it be nice if Jack came to live with us, Aunt TJ?” “I’m sure I could use a hired hand if he wants to work from sun-up ‘til sundown, seven days a week, all the weeks of the year,” she replied, remembering he said something about liking to be lazy and not thinking for a moment he would even consider going home with her. Emily continued on her earlier course of telling Jack about the ranch as if he really might go there to stay one day. It was nice to have Emily happy. It was even agreeable to ride alongside Jack with his hungry blue eyes undressing her. “Look, a town!” Emily exclaimed, cutting into their quiet ponderings. “Right good size one at that,” Jack said. As they neared, a large gray boulder had a greeting painted on it. “Welcome to Happy Flats,” Emily giggled. “You think the people are friendly here or what?” TJ nodded to a man that tipped his hat and smiled. “Beautiful, you might be the classiest thing these fellas have seen in a long time.” He tipped his hat to a couple of young ladies on the sidewalk.

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“Something pretty catch your eye?” TJ refrained from sounding as if she cared and nodded to another gentleman. This one she smiled at and made sure Jack noticed her added effort. “As a matter of fact I did.” He turned his gaze to the banner they rode under. “Huh, they’re having a party tonight.” “Founder’s Day Celebration,” TJ read. “Can we go?” Emily looked around Jack’s arm. “Sure, if you promise the first dance with me. I don’t want to have to wait out all the young men that’ll swarm around you like bees to a pretty flower.” “I promise.” Jack stopped his horse in front of the hotel and held his hand up to catch Emily’s descent. He flipped his reins over the hitching post. “I have an errand to take care of, TJ. You get us some rooms and I’ll be back shortly.” Her mouth dropped open to protest only because she suspected he was on a new scent and she didn’t like it one bit. She felt like the old bruised apple not good enough for a pie while Jack went straight for the apple fritters walking through town. “Isn’t tonight going to be fun?” Emily danced around TJ. “If you want to have the first dance with Jack, it’s okay with me.” “He didn’t ask me, he asked you.” She took Emily’s hand. “Let’s get a room and a long hot bath.” A dance was the last thing she wanted to think of. While she could wear a dress and look the part of a woman, she hadn’t any call to act like one. As they checked in and went to the room, she made a firm decision. Jack could take Emily to the party and she would stay in the room. Then let him try to flaunt his strut like the head rooster in town, she smiled. “What’s our room numbers?” Emily asked. “Number six and number seven.” “Do I get my own room?” “I only got two rooms.” She unlocked the door to room six. “Can’t you share with Jack? You did at Mr. Adams’s place.”

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“That was different. We didn’t know anything about Mr. Adams and we wanted him to think we were married.” “Why?” “So Mr. Adams wouldn’t feel as if we were a threat.” “I think Jack liked it. He’s awful cheery when he gets around you.” She giggled. “He likes kissing and hugging you. I also think you ought to be nicer to him or he’s going to leave us.” “Emily,” TJ put a hand to her niece’s shoulder, “don’t get too attached to Jack. He’s not going to be around forever.” “He might be if you would stop chewing his head off every time he wants to be nice to you. He’s so sweet on you he makes me laugh ‘cause of the silly faces he makes when you’re around.” “Regardless of Jack’s facial expressions or his wishes, you and I’ll sleep in here, and Jack will sleep in the room next door. Pretend is over with. Don’t you dare go calling him Pa in front of anyone either.” “Don’t you think he would make a good pa? He sure acts like one.” She bounced on the bed. “I don’t know.” TJ pulled the ties from her hair and raked her fingers through the knotted tangles. “Maybe he just likes to tell people what to do.” ZY Jack held his hands behind his back as the door opened. “Ladies. The clerk says you have the room keys.” He strolled in and set several packages on the bed. “She only got two rooms and she won’t let me have a room to myself,” Emily complained. “Oh? Maybe I can change her mind if I wine and dine her tonight.” “You can take Emily to the dance,” TJ said and continued to tug at the snarled mess her hair was in. “I’m going to bed early.” He picked up the key on the table and held it to Emily. “Go next door for a few minutes.” He picked up a package and went to the hall with her. “Got you some new clothes,” he whispered. “Happy birthday, sprite.”

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“New, for me?” She took the package. “Oh thank you, Jack!” She hugged his neck and kissed his cheek. “And this is from your aunt.” He pulled a small bracelet from his shirt pocket. “She asked me to pick something up for you and I know how women love jewelry.” “It’s so pretty.” “I wouldn’t go thanking her tonight. Save that for in the morning to get her out of the grumpy mood she seems to always wake in.” “I will.” “Okay, go on with you and put them on in my room while I convince your aunt to put on the new ones I got her.” He shut the door, circled the room and watched TJ’s reflection in the mirror. He stalked her, stared, and then stepped back when she came at him. “What do you want from me?” she demanded. “I want to dance with the prettiest lady in town tonight.” He folded his arms over his chest. “I’m sure you can mange that. You do have a charm about you.” “You’ve noticed. Good. Very good. However, my problem is the prettiest lady in town is holing up in a hotel room for the night without giving me a chance.” “Jack, I don’t want to go.” “If you have a good excuse, maybe I’ll agree you shouldn’t.” “I can’t dance.” “You can’t…” He started to laughed and stopped when he saw she was serious. “How can you not know how to dance?” “Outlaws prevented me from doing something normal like learning.” Jack held his hands up. “I’ll teach you.” She raised a perfectly arched golden eyebrow. “Maybe I don’t want to learn.” She tried to walk around him but he grabbed her and spun her around. “It’s simple. Follow my lead.” “Jack, please.”

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“You know how you asked if I saw anything pretty in town? Well I did. I saw a very nice dress in the window of a shop and I bought it for you.” He motioned to the package on the bed. “Got you all the under things to go with it, too.” “You bought me a dress?” She bit her bottom lip and looked around him at the bed. He heard the excitement in her voice. “I bought you a new shirt to wear with your trousers as well.” He took a step forward. “One…two…three,” he said with each step. TJ watched their feet until he lifted her chin. “Trust me, honey. One…two…three. One…two…three.” She followed his lead for fifteen minutes until he bumped into the dresser and she bumped up against him. Her gaze mirrored the longing he felt. “Will you go to the party with me, Miss Creager?” “Yes.” She smiled and nodded. “I’ll meet you out front at six o’clock?” “That’s not for four hours. I was thinking we could go get something to eat at the restaurant, take a stroll outside of town and—” “…do what we did last night?” Her words were fused with irritation. “Lovely thought, sweetness, but I was going to say show Emily a good time.” He pushed his hat back from his forehead. “You really think that’s all men want to do with a woman?” “All the men I’ve encountered.” She slipped free of his hands and walked to the window. “Tell me the women in saloons don’t only think of money when getting a man to their room. It’s what you thought when you first saw me.” “I’ve been meaning to apologize for that. If I hadn’t had so much to drink—” He stopped when she looked at him suspiciously. “No, that’s not exactly right. I saw you playing poker and right then, long before I had too much to drink, I wanted you. Therefore, I suppose your assessment of men is fairly accurate. We’re lechers and not to be trusted.”

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TJ picked up one of the parcels on the bed. “You bought me a dress. Kind of the same thing as giving me money, isn’t it?” “Now you’re not going to hold that against me. I just figured you’d like something clean. I know I would, that’s why one of them packages is mine.” He grabbed the one in her hand. “This one as a matter of fact, the bigger one is yours—more clothes and all.” “How did you know what size?” She fingered the knot in the twine holding the brown paper folded closed. “There was a young lady there about your size. I asked her.” “Not a proper thing to ask a lady.” She took a knife from her saddlebag and cut the twine. “Was she pretty?” “Nope.” Jack wasn’t going to open that box of trouble. He had already seen the green devil dance in her eyes when he looked at women as they rode into town. She could protest all she wanted to about him not meaning anything to her, and it may be true. However, if there was one thing he did learn over the years, women who even hated you didn’t want you to think anyone was prettier than they were. TJ folded open the brown paper wrapping up the clothes. The dress was an ivory satin trimmed in pale green. It was about the finest thing he’d ever seen and by the glow in her eyes, she appeared to think so too. “You better go if I’m going to be ready by six. I’m still going to have that hot bath.” “I’ll meet you in the lobby.” He opened the door. “You want Emily to go with me?” “No, send her over here. I’m going to need her help with something.” TJ lifted the dress. She carefully spread it out on the bed. With it, came a chemise, a corselet, pantalets, underdrawers, stockings and shoes. High-button, store bought shoes. These were not hand-me-downs or something fashioned by some Indian on the trail. They weren’t reworked, resoled used ones, and they weren’t boots. TJ fingered the pearl buttons down the sides and took a mental count of ten. The polished leather shined like a mirror. Inside she found a buttonhook, and excitement began to get the better of her. New shoes were like a treat in

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her younger years. As giddy as she felt, she knew the feeling hadn’t passed. Hurriedly she tugged off her boots and stretched her damp wrinkled feet. She wanted to try them on, except she paused to look at her tired aching feet all dingy from being in her wet boots. Not that it made a difference whether Jack had tossed her in the pond or not, she would still have pulled her feet out and found the skin puckered from sweat, and the creases of her toes blackened by dirt. She held her hands up and looked at the dirt under her short nails, the calluses on her palms and the rough skin over her knuckles. She stood up and looked in a mirror. “What could he possibly see in me to desire?” She scrutinized the details of her face and a tired woman looked back. “Look, Aunt TJ.” Emily swirled into the room in a new set of clothes. She dumped her others on the floor. “Jack said I looked all grown up.” “Take them off. Take them off right now before they get dirty. You and I are going to get a bath and go to that party looking cleaner than we have in a long time.” “We just went swimming in that pond yesterday.” “You went swimming, I was dunked. Besides, that’s not the same thing as using soap and scrubbing the dirt out of the cracks.” She helped unbutton the dress. “And look at this mop of hair. If it doesn’t get washed soon, you’ll have mud frogs making their home in the filth.” “Do you think my hair is as pretty as yours?” Emily twirled a strand while TJ untangled the ribbon knotted in the back. “I think prettier once we get all the burrs and dirt washed out.” She sat on the side of the bed and looked at Emily. “Your hair is just like your father’s.” “And yours. You and Pa have the same color.” “I suppose we do.” She touched her lifeless hair, recalling how it felt back when she’d had it all washed and pinned up. “Jack likes your hair.” Emily bounced up and looked in the mirror. “He likes to touch it all the time.” “I believe he thinks it’s like a rope he can hold onto when I try to get away.” She held up Emily’s old dress and tugged it over Emily’s head.

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“I suppose you want I should go get the man downstairs to bring the washtub?” “Yes. Tell him we’ll need lots of hot water.” She looked in the mirror. “A whole lot of hot water,” she repeated, rubbing the black mark along her hairline.

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Chapter Sixteen The sign hanging over the bathhouse tilted to one side. It read one bath, one shave, two dollars. Jack entered, prepared to leave looking and smelling cleaner than he had in all his life. TJ mentioned she didn’t mind the way he smelled, but then she dealt with a lot of unsavory characters who probably didn’t even know what a cake of soap was and in comparison, she apparently thought he stunk fine. “Howdy, mister, you come for a bath, a shave or both.” An old man hobbled over to him from a rocker. “Both. I have two ladies to escort tonight and I want to make a good impression on them.” He sat his parcel of new duds on a bench and took his hat off to hang it on a peg. “Then you’ll be wantin’ your clothes washed as well.” “No, got me some new things, but if you could get my hat cleaner, that would round things out right nicely.” “Yes, sir. Come this way.” The man took him into another room. When he emerged an hour later, he rubbed a hand over his smooth jaw, combed down his trimmed up moustache and put on his dusted off hat. He checked the time and strolled on down to the nearest saloon to wile away the remaining time until he would pick up TJ and Emily. Even knowing what TJ would be wearing had him nervous. She’d worn a dress before, but each time he closed his eyes, he pictured her in the britches, the torn shirt, and guns riding her shapely hips. He took up playing poker and while he won some hands, most of the time he lost because his concentration lingered on the time. He didn’t want to be late. Women hated a man to be late. TJ would especially be

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upset if she thought for a minute she came second to anything other than her. When it was time, he hurried to the hotel. The crowds had increased and he had to do a considerable amount of searching to find TJ. The familiar dress became his focal point on a woman not facing him. The long curled tresses were much brighter than TJ’s, but when she turned, he pushed his way through the throng of people to get to her. His low whistle turned heads. “You shine up better than a new penny.” “Is that to mean I wasn’t so good to look at before?” “If you recall, I’ve declared all along how beautiful you are, sweetness.” He took her hand and folded it in the crease of his elbow. “However, I do think some gents will be hard to keep at bay from my lady tonight.” “You look nice, too, Jack.” TJ rubbed a hand over the front of his dark brown leather vest and stopped at the pocket. “I transferred everything.” Her fingers folded over the edge and flipped back up after touching her stocking inside. “I told you, it’s mine. And what I stake a claim to stays mine until I’m ready to let it go.” He put a hand over hers hoping she understood he wanted to be around her for an indefinite amount of time. She turned her head. “Emily, Jack’s here.” Emily left the boy she was talking to and paraded over to them. “Ladies, I do believe I’m going to be the envy of every fellow here from the age of twelve and up.” He grinned proudly and escorted them outside. “Everything I can see fits. What about what I can’t see?” “Everything fits me just fine, Jack,” Emily piped up skipping off to look at candied apples. “TJ, is everything the right size?” “Yes, and I especially love the shoes. Impractical as they may be, it’s the first pair I’ve had with buttons.” She beamed with pride and put her foot out, showing him how they looked.

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“Then I’m glad I bought them instead of the practical boots I looked over. This way you’ll know I find you a little more special than just a trail partner.” He touched her cheek. She smiled and he moved his hands to her shoulders, down her arms, and took her hands. Lifting her arms, he looked down the front of her. “And then there’s all this froufrou of pale lace and ribbons that brings out the color in your eyes.” “You like this better than me looking like a mule skinner?” She laughed. “It was quite selfish of me, honey.” He pulled her close, gripping the trim, waspwaisted lady with tempered restraint. “I want every man’s envy when they see I’ve got the prettiest lady in town.” She put her fingers to his face. They swept his clean shaven jaw creating a spark of heat. She rose up on her toes and kissed him near the corner of his mouth. “Thank you, Jack,” her sweet voice whispered. “It was very nice of you for whatever reason, selfish or not.” “Shall we go get Emily a candied apple before she faints staring at them?” “Yes. That’s an excellent idea.” “You sound like you might want one, too.” “It’s been a long time.” She hugged his arm. “Maybe later, right now, I want to enjoy a leisurely stroll with an attractive man.” He glanced down. Her beaming smile displayed a youthful exuberance he wanted to kiss and savor. The idea of whisking her into a room had all the merits of a lust-driven man. Tonight he wanted to court her the way she deserved. Her happiness pushed him toward many new goals for his future. Jack led her along the walk. He saw a part of TJ begging to be romanced. If he did one thing right, he knew how to treat a lady. His mother would have skinned him alive if he wasn’t a gentleman otherwise. “What shall it be, sprite?” Jack put a hand on Emily’s shoulder. “Do you want a candied apple or that first dance?”

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“The apple!” “Emily, that’s not polite,” TJ scolded. “You promised Jack the first dance.” “I don’t mind,” he interrupted. “That is as long as her aunt fills the vacancy in my arms.” He didn’t need an answer and bought the biggest apple coated in a hard candy glaze. “Thanks, Jack,” Emily mumbled, trying to bite into the apple. “Don’t go breaking all your teeth.” He patted Emily’s head. “We’ll be out there if you should need to find us.” TJ gasped as he swung her around and led her into a crowd of dancers. She looked down to watch her feet. “I’m up here.” He lifted her chin. “I’ll step on your feet.” “No you won’t. You’re naturally graceful.” He clenched his jaw when her foot landed on his. “See.” “We’ll go slower.” She shuffled along well once he had her going for a while. He knew with practice, TJ would be good at whatever she set her mind on. “Where do we go from here?” Jack asked. “I don’t know, I’ve—” “You still want him dead, don’t you?” “Guerrero, yes…of course, yes, I want him dead. He killed Emily’s parents.” The town had constructed a platform raised three feet from the ground to make a dance floor. He took TJ to the side and leaned on the rail. She leaned on it next to him and then moved away to look at her dress with a worry she might get it dirty. It was a side of her he also liked, that feminine quirkiness that emerged unexpectedly. “Lay out the plan, TJ, so I don’t make a mistake.” Folding his arms over his chest, he waited for her to tell him what she wanted. He learned to let her give the orders, because things went much smoother between them if they weren’t fighting each other.

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“First thing in the morning I’ll send a telegraph to let Mary know Emily is with me. Then I’ll take Emily to Mary’s place. It will put a big time disadvantage to catching up with Guerrero, but I can’t very well bring a child with me.” “Do you think you might try the word we? I mean just once, I’d like to hear you settled with the fact I’m coming with you. Whatever our parts are in bringing Guerrero in or killing him, I plan on splitting the bounty fifty-fifty with you.” He watched the people having a good time and wondered if anybody else there had to deal with big problems. “Fifty-fifty is a fair deal. But it’s not the money, Jack.” “I know.” He draped an arm over her shoulders. “First thing after you send the telegraph, we’ll leave.” “Yes, we’ll leave.” She smiled. “Now can we have a smidgen of fun? It may be the last we have for a long time and there’s this dashing fella that bought me this gorgeous dress that I’d hate to waste by standing still.” “I promise you’ll have nothing but fun, from now ‘til morning, darlin’.” He spun her out to the floor liking the very young and feminine side of her that emerged again. “Until bed because I will be sleeping with Emily.” “Have it your way, sweetheart. However, just know, I’ll leave the door unlocked should you have a need to talk or anything else that comes to mind.” He twirled her around until all they had left in them was laughter. “I’m hungry,” TJ eventually declared. “Do you see Emily?” Jack surveyed the area, trying to spot the pretty blonde-haired replica of TJ. “After supper, we should buy her a piece of cake as way of—” “Oh my God, her birthday, Jack. I completely forgot and I didn’t get her anything.” “I took care of it for you.” “You? Has she been pestering you about getting her something? I’ll wring that little—” “The other day when I found her looking for you, she told me about her birthday.” He took the gold necklace from his pocket and held it up in front of TJ’s face to let her see the jewel-encrusted pendant.

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“Jack, that’s too expensive for her, I couldn’t possibly give this to her. She’d lose it or something would happen to her for wearing it.” Jack smiled and unfastened the clasp. He reached behind her neck and reattached the chain. “I already gave Emily a bracelet that she’ll be thanking you for in the morning. As for this trinket, this is my present for you. Happy Birthday, Tessa Jane.” “Jack?” Her fingers rubbed over the emeralds. A burst of giddiness burbled out and she covered her mouth. “How did you know?” “Emily. She said your birthday was the same day.” “It is, but she never told me she remembered that.” “She’s a smart little lady.” He held her hands. “Shall we go find her now and get some food?” “Oh, Jack.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “I love it, thank you.” “Hmmm, your affections can be bought? That’s something for a fella to remember.” He chuckled and squeezed her enough to lift her off her feet. “Put me down before you get me all rumpled,” she insisted. “There’s Emily over by the horse trough talking to that boy.” She held his arm and they walked toward Emily. “I’m not going to kiss you.” Emily’s voice squeaked sharply. “I don’t care if you did buy me a licorice whip.” Jack’s pace quickened. He let go of TJ’s arm when he saw Emily kick the boy in the shin. Then he ran toward her when the boy’s arm pulled back to hit her. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it in time. Emily ducked the punch and the boy fell haphazardly forward into the horse trough. “Emily, are you all right?” Jack took hold of her arm. “He thought I ought to kiss him for a piece of candy. I tried to explain that was impolite since I just met him.” Jack reached a hand out and fished the boy from the water. “You all right, boy?” “Is you her pa? I didn’t do nothing wrong.” He coughed.

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“You better find your folks and see about getting dried out.” He walked the boy away from Emily and TJ. “I suggest the next time for all your trouble you just steal the kiss, the consequences are the same.” The boy’s eyes widened. “Jack!” TJ took his arm and pulled him away. “What? They are, aren’t they, Emily? If that little whippersnapper kissed you without asking, you would have still kicked him in the shins, wouldn’t you?” She nodded. “See, TJ, she’s a Creager and you can’t tell me that don’t make you proud.” He took her arm and Emily’s. “Enough talk, let’s go see what vittles these folks have cooking on that spit.” “It’s a couple of hogs,” Emily said. “They even left the head on so the eyes are lookin’ right at you when they turn it.” “Maybe they have some pecan pie. That would hit the spot just right for me, I reckon.” He stopped when a man blocked his path. “You tell my boy to steal?” the man angrily asked. Jack looked around the man to the boy standing with his hands in his pockets. “It was a joke.” Jack’s jaw stopped as the punch the man threw collided with it. “You ain’t got no business to go tellin’ my boy to steal.” The man went to swing again and TJ stepped in between the men. “Your son demanded a kiss for a piece of candy he gave Emily. Jack was teasing him,” she explained. “He only told him the next time to steal the kiss.” “Is that what you want for your little girl, boys and men to paw her willy-nilly?” he exclaimed. “Charles, what is going on?” A woman hurried across the street. “Evelyn said you were fighting.” “This here fella told Mark to steal.” “Ma’am, Jack was teasing your son,” TJ started. “He fell in the water trough and—”

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“I’ve never heard of such a thing, making fun of a little boy because he accidentally fell in the horse trough. You should be ashamed of yourself. They are young impressionable children that look to our guidance, not our ridicule.” “I didn’t tell him to steal!” Jack said again. “Jack, can I go?” Emily whined. “I’m not hungry. I had that apple and a licorice whip Mark bought me.” “Sure, sprite, go on… and stay out of trouble,” Jack ordered. “Ma, can I go too?” Mark asked. “Yes, dear.” The woman brushed back the hair on the boy’s head and turned back to TJ. “It’s girls like your daughter that lead boys astray.” “You couldn’t be more right, ma’am.” Jack took TJ’s arm. “Sorry for the bother we put you through. We’ll be going now.” “You did notice Mark went with Emily,” TJ whispered to him. “Yep, that’s why I agreed with the woman. Emily is surely leading that boy astray and I don’t want to get ambushed again by the big bruiser that punched me.” She put her hand up to his jaw. “Does it hurt?” “Only when you’re not kissing it better.” He smiled and put an arm around her shoulders. “But I figure that ought to wait or leastwise that shrew will preach a sermon about our obviously sinful souls. It’d be a shame to tell her it’s called having fun. I don’t believe the woman knows the meaning.” “I do.” She laid her head on his chest. “I want to thank you, Jack, in case I forget later. I haven’t had fun like this in a very, very long time. You’ve gone to extra lengths to make Emily happy and she needs that. I can’t believe how well she’s dealing with her parents’ deaths. When my sister Libby Sue died, I completely fell to pieces. I ran away from home and lived with an Indian who taught me how to hunt the man down, and take care of myself.” “You and your sister were close?” He stopped her before she got to talking about killing a man. For as much as he saw her capable, he recognized she also had a soul that had been greatly affected by her choice.

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“Yes, we were. We were best friends.” Jack led her to an unoccupied bench in front of the barbershop and leaned on the porch post to listen. “She was pretty. She was sweet. Libby Sue was the kind of person everyone got along with and I think you would have had a lot in common…more than you and I do.” She fingered the folds of her dress not looking up, avoiding him. “Why do you think that?” Jack shifted and took the couple steps over to squeeze on the small bench with her. “I think we get along perfectly.” “We always disagree.” “We make conversations interesting and that makes life less boring. Besides, I believe happiness can only be achieved by having some level of sadness to compare it to.” “We…we…” “Can’t think of anything else that’s not right between us, can you?” He touched her cheek, stroking the curve to the side of her face. “We like each other and you can’t deny that. We don’t know each other but we can guess what the other wants to do or say. Most of all, we are attracted to each other and there’s nothing like kissing or holding someone who wants the same.” TJ’s lashes lowered as he moved in to press his mouth to hers. “Have I told you how exceptionally beautiful you are in a dress?” “Yes.” Her warm breath fanned his face as he closed the space. “I’d like to always see you in a dress.” He bowed lower. “Or out of one.” “That too.” He brushed his lips over hers. “Jack, we’re in public.” “And since when haven’t we lived dangerously?” He journeyed from her delicious mouth to her satin smooth cheek. “This is different.” She purred, stretching her neck and allowing him, to suck on the pulse in her neck. “No one knows us here.” He drew back and smiled. “We’re in the shadows and as far as that lad’s parents are concerned or anyone else in town, we’re married.”

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He held the side of her face and pushed his kisses up to her delicate earlobe. “You’re very inventive with reasoning.” “As much as I need to be, darlin’.” He moved his head and rubbed his nose against hers. “I look for opportunities and you haven’t been open to giving me very many.” She leaned in accepting his kiss. He enjoyed her lips with a longing to have her as naked as the night before. She smelled wonderful and it felt good to hold her. How could he think of anything as long as she rubbed a hand up and down his side? The woman had wiles she didn’t even know about. “I reckon I should go fetch us a plate of food before we discover it’s all gone,” he said as their lips parted. The vibratory hum of her breath pushed all kinds of triggers on his body. He throbbed from head to toe and the energy rippling through him needed a release. “You don’t want to kiss me anymore?” Her hand dropped into his lap and hit a highly sensitized spot. “Hell no!” He jumped up from the bench.

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Chapter Seventeen TJ’s eyes widened at the quickness of his answer. “No, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just… Damn, Tessa Jane, I think you like doing this to me.” “Doing what?” “You know very darn well, what. You keep roping me in with your little seductive traps and then blaming me for going beyond a boundary I don’t know where the line is to.” She laughed, understanding what he meant. “I promise, Jack, it’s not intentional. And you are to blame.” “Oh?” “You know you are, so don’t go looking so innocent eyed. What is there not to know about me anymore? You’ve managed to get me to drop my guard.” “You don’t let it down very long.” “But enough to make me vulnerable.” He smiled and came back down to the bench. “Tessa Jane, you’re a remarkable woman, and I hope to know even more about you in the future.” “Only if you start sharing something about yourself. You hardly ever mention your family, where you’re from, or anything that lets me know what your weaknesses are.” “One day I’ll give you a whole passel of background information on me. For now, I think we should be thinkin’ on the food.” She nodded and watched him go off to get them something to eat. While her gaze followed Jack’s moves around the food concessions, her hand clutched at the pendant around her neck. She had thanked him,

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but it didn’t seem to be enough. The magical wonder of his kindness demanded more and she didn’t know how to give him anything from an emotional standpoint. When Jack came back, she thought he surely must have invited others to join them by the looks of the food he carried. “Here, take this quick.” He nodded to his left hand. “Watch, it’s hot.” “I’ll say.” TJ sat it on the bench and took another plate from him while he held the two glasses of lemonade. “Does it look like enough?” He picked up the plate and sat next to her. “No, would you get me more?” She laughed when he hopped up immediately. “I’m kidding, Jack. You could feed a dozen people on what you brought back.” “You’re small and I’ve seen small ladies eat their healthy share.” He pulled a napkin from his pocket and handed it to her. “What happened to the hog on the spit?” She glanced at her plate filled with fried chicken, buttered bread, and beans. “The beast isn’t ready.” “He looked ready. I saw people carving portions off.” Her question made him squirm and she pressed to know more. “Are you squeamish about a large dead animal cooked whole?” “No, of course not, I… The truth is I don’t rightly like the thought of a pig wallowing in his sty, getting covered in his own dung, and then me eating him.” TJ suppressed her snicker with her fingers pressed to her lips. Sounds of amusement still snuck out and Jack gave her a reprimanding glare. “I’m sure they washed the animal before cooking him.” “And that’s another thing. It’s a male and everyone should know a butchered, un-castrated hog makes the meat taste bad.” “The meat is stronger flavored, not bad.” “I just don’t like it, all right?” “All right, Jack.” She smiled.

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Little intricacies of his nature added to the appeal of knowing every detail about him. His likes and dislikes, included. TJ had many things to think of and the way her feelings toward one man had to rest at the back of her mind. “How much time do you think we’ll lose in looking for Guerrero after we take Emily home?” She lifted a piece of fried chicken with the napkin so her fingers didn’t get greasy. “A week or better. I imagine it all depends on where Guerrero is headed next.” “I wish we didn’t have to take Emily home. It would have been so much simpler.” As they ate, she watched the dancers. Her body tingled thinking how she and Jack must have looked to some. With Emily around, people would believe they were married. She didn’t refute it to the boy’s mother because it did make the affection between them less noticeable. Her heart thumped with the idea that someday she could be married. It hammered her ribcage even harder with the notion Jack was probably as ideal as any man could be for her. After eating, they danced some more and strolled the moonlit night. In her past, when a man looked at her a long time, TJ had been wary of his intent. Mostly of being shot. She told Jack how vulnerable he made her, but when he said, “trust me” she whole-heartedly did. If it were a mistake, then she’d suffer down the road. This night she had a chance for something good she could carry in her memory. “I’m going to bed now.” Emily rushed up to them when they came from the shadows of another doorway. “That’s a good idea, sprite.” Jack kissed the top of her head. “Pleasant dreams.” TJ smiled, nodding her agreement with Jack’s wishes for her niece. Once Emily hurried off, Jack took TJ back to the party and whisked her around the melee. He ended up absconding with her into a darkened corner—a shadowy alley where no prying eyes saw him kissing her. “You’re incorrigible.” She laughed. “And you love it.” His mouth captured hers.

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She slumped against him and let the air of happiness expel into his kiss. His tongue curled with hers and they made a game of thrusts and sucks on each other. The flavor of fried chicken clung in his moustache, but it wasn’t what made him delectable. By midnight, the crowds moved on toward home. Not ready to give up her time with Jack, she considered alternatives. They had managed to avoid arguments and it felt nice. “Tired?” he asked. “Not really.” She tried to hide the yawn as it tattled on her lie. Jack pretended not to notice. He picked up her hand and rubbed her fingers. “We could go to the hotel, do something there.” “I think I’ve made myself clear on our sleeping arrangements.” “Oh I know, I wasn’t suggesting—okay, I was hoping, can’t blame a man for trying.” “I don’t know, Jack, it seems that’s all you have on your mind.” “Only with you, sugar, only with you.” He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. “What would you like to do?” “How about we get a real drink?” She glanced sideways at the saloon. “In there?” “I’ve been in them before, remember.” She smiled. “I’ll never forget.” He offered his arm and she readily took it. “I won’t forget I saw you clean three men out of their money, either.” “Skill, Mr. McCay, you don’t think I’ve acquired my fortune by claiming bounties alone, do you?” She coyly batted her lashes. “Fortune, huh?” He chuckled. “I should think if you had any fortune at all, the last thing you would be doing is riding the range in search of men to kill. I’d like to think somewhere in that hardened heart of yours, you’d like to settle down with a man who would love you.” His statement gave her a shiver. It was too personal and too near a thought that jumped in her head every time he smiled at her. “If you’d like to play a few hands, I’ll stop short of emptying your pockets.” She steered the conversation away for the unsettling topic of marriage.

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The saloon wasn’t nearly as crowded as TJ expected when they went inside the open doorway. Whatever swinging doors it once had, were gone, and all that stood in their place was the opening with a couple rusted hinges. To lock the place up would mean closing the inside door and something about one of those closed seemed less inviting. A saloon without a clear escape was like the walls of a jail and TJ had seen them enough times. She’d spent a few nights in them as a guest for drunken disorderly, though she felt railroaded by those small town sheriffs. Then there were the many men she deposited in them like money in a bank. She looked to Jack alongside her and somehow she saw thoughts in his face. He scanned the room and, taking the lead, went to a nice table in the corner with a few men and a deck of cards. “Howdy, gentlemen.” Jack tipped his hat. “You have any objections to me and my partner joining your game.” “No, don’t reckon we do.” The man looking the most rumpled answered glancing up at Jack. TJ took a seat opposite Jack and sat before his politeness jumped out and he held the chair for her. “A lady?” the man questioned. “Is there a problem with that?” She coldly readied for a challenge. “Nah, guess not, as long as you got the cash and you don’t go crying when you lose all your money,” he answered. “Deal ‘em, Frank.” TJ took to playing with a little more aggression than usual. She reveled in her success for a while but eventually lost the desire to show Jack up in front of the other men. “Ah, my luck has changed!” Jack exclaimed. “Looks like that’s it for me, boys.” TJ stood up. “Jack, I’ll be at the bar when you’re done losing all your money.” “And that doesn’t look none too soon for me, honey.” He chuckled at her groan. Jack enjoyed poking her with a stick and she didn’t really mind. It kept her sharp and they both needed that if they were going to successfully bring Guerrero in for justice.

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She had a problem with the way he looked at her when he didn’t think she noticed. She had a big hole, right in the middle of her heart. It took a long time to mend. The death of Emily’s parents reinforced that gap, but she liked to think Jack could be the cure. His peaceful smile sometimes made her extremely happy. Walking over to the bar, she sat to watch him. She loved the way he felt comfortable being silly around her. However, the boyish charm reminded her of the better part of her youth she missed. She didn’t have a chance at innocently flirting with boys. She felt old and cheated. Anger built and she thought about Guerrero. He cheated Emily of a lot also. “Well if a long time, don’t come up short!” Marshal Pullman sat down next to her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were following me, Martin.” “Same small world, TJ, and I have the same territory to cover as you do.” He motioned for the bartender to set them both up with a round. “You’re all gussied up like a bride on her wedding day. The occasion can’t be for this dusty town’s party is it?” “Actually it is. I’m here with family.” She liked the way it sounded. “Oh and here I thought you was a loner, never even suspected you had a family.” “I suppose you figured I crawled out of the dirt and sprung up like some weed then?” “No, I gathered you were just alone, that’s all.” He lifted his glass and took a drink. “You hear about Guerrero escaping?” “Yes.” “Are you going to try for that bounty?” “I might, but let’s not talk business tonight.” She poured him another drink. “If you noticed I’m pretending to be a lady this evening.” “I see…and in a saloon no less.” They both laughed at the ridiculousness of it. The conversation carried over to other outlaws and an hour passed before she knew it. Jack’s boisterous laugh lifted her head from time to time and she saw him over Martin’s shoulder.

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“I supposed I should get going. I need to get me some sleep. It was good seeing you again. Take things slow and careful.” He stood and tipped his hat. “I’ll be seeing you, Miss Creager.” He began to turn, paused at the whoopla at the table in the corner, and then moved on. TJ didn’t want to turn around to see Jack winning or that he might be boring a hole through her back. It would serve him right if she got up with the handsome Martin Pullman and walked out the door. “Hey there, sweet thing. Ain’t you about as pretty as a bed and a bottle of whiskey.” A man grabbed her arm. TJ rolled her eyes and turned her head toward him. “Would you pardon me one second?” She smiled and batted her lashes. “Then me and you’ll go up to a room and make the bed dance?” He lifted a hand to her neat coiffure. She had spent a great deal of time and work, with Emily’s help, putting her hair up in a fashionably stylish way to impress Jack and she wasn’t about to let the clod next to her ruin it. TJ got up from the stool and opened her reticule. From inside she produced her derringer and pointed it at the man. “Touch me again and the next place you’ll be laying your sorry hide is six feet under.” The man glanced around with a nervous twitch to his hand. From the corner of her eye, she saw Jack rise to his feet. No doubt with a hand on his holstered revolver. “Sorry, ma’am, don’t know where my manners are tonight.” He tipped his hat to her. The stillness of the room slowly returned to the chatter and TJ tucked her gun back in the worn cloth satchel tied to her wrist. “We all forget to be human after a few drinks late at night. How about I buy you a drink before you go on home?” The man raised a brow and sat. TJ cocked her head to look Jack’s way. She sat and gave him an appreciative smile for his willingness to assist. She admired his quick realization that she could handle her own situation. He conformed to her

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in some instances, yet she still had a lot of work to do in training him. Training him, she thought with a laugh in her heart. She didn’t want an obedient puppy. She actually liked Jack the way he was and if anyone needed to make concessions and adjustments to their attitude, it was her. Could she? Probably not. Would she try? Maybe. In many ways, it seemed worth the effort to be a little more feminine and let Jack have pride in protecting her. He was after all, a man, and a right nice looking one at that. TJ talked to the bartender about trivial things and after the first man had tried making his advance on her unsuccessfully, no others gave her a glance. “Honey, it’s sad to say, I’m not such a rich man after tonight.” Jack put his arms around her and a hand over her reticule. “What say you and me go to my room and you pretend not to want to take that little pea shooter out?” He kissed her cheek. TJ elbowed him in the ribs and he backed off. “Come on, Tessa Jane.” He sat on the stool and put a hand on the small of her back. “Do you always have to be a thunderstorm and rain on the good times we can have?” “First off, you’re drunk and second, you have the manners of a vulture.” She pulled his hand away. Jack tipped his hat back. “I’m not so drunk as all that.” He snaked an arm around her waist. “I don’t want to harness you like a wild wind, honey.” TJ leaned toward him and cupped his smooth cheek. In all their conversations, she didn’t ever remember telling him how her father compared her to the wind. It stirred her heart for a moment for him to make mention lightly of something unlocking a deeply embedded emotion. She wanted very much to succumb to his wants and hers, except him drunk and her tired made her think it might not turn out as sweet as it sounded. “You sure do look pretty tonight,” she whispered. “If you didn’t win all my money and then lose it, or drink like a dry creek bed, you may have gotten your wishes.” She smacked his cheek lightly. “But on the chance

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you’re not as soused as you appear, you try to remember I’m very good with a gun.” “You know how to take all the fun out of an evening.” He picked his hat up from his head and brushed back his sweaty thick mane. “I recall a lady saying all she wanted tonight was fun.” TJ downed the remainder of her bourbon and slid from the stool. Her fingers brushed at the folds in the dress and then nudged Jack’s arm for him to be gentlemanly and put out his elbow. “It’s three in the morning, Jack. Last night is over with and we have places to go.” Her fingers curled around his bicep and stroked his tense muscle. “Don’t worry, some sleep and you’ll forget all about wanting me.” They walked out of the saloon and Jack pulled her around the corner of the building. His hands were tempered restraints she didn’t fight. “Listen to me, Tessa Jane, and you listen hard. I’m doing everything in my power to abide by your rules. But know that I was raised to respect women, those who knew their place anyway.” He rubbed at her arms agitatedly. “By breaking rules of convention, you’re asking me to overlook my better breeding and—” She smiled, seeing him lost in the confusion of the liquor. “What on earth are you talking about, Jack?” she finally asked, relieving the frustration in his muddled mind. “You damn well know what I’m trying to say.” “I suppose I do, but you’re drunk and eloquence is wasted unless you understand half of what you’re trying to say yourself.” “You make me want to care about you and while you don’t like it, I like it even less,” he charged. “Sometimes you’re as cantankerous as a clean hog unable to roll in the mud. On the other hand, I’ve never seen a woman prettier than a wagon full of gold, and it burns a hole right through my middle when I can’t touch you.” TJ’s insides fluttered. Her heart skipped a few beats. He always said the nicest things in the most round about way. She was definitely a sucker when it came to the sweet words he used on her. When she exhaled the trapped air in her lungs and her heart began its nervously happy beat, she surrendered to his attempt at seducing her.

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“Jack, are you going to waste all your kissing time on babbling?” His jet-black brow wrinkled in confusion and she slipped her hands up the front of his chest, gave a little frown and then laughed. He looked at her just as she liked, caught off guard and dumbfounded. The caring woman often trapped inside her slid an arm around his waist to give him support. “Can’t remember what to do from one minute to the next, can you?” She shook her head, amused. “Let’s get you to your room.” “Sweetness, that’s the best idea you’ve had so far.” His arm lifted to her shoulders. “Yes, Jack, and its called sleep.” She leaned her head against him and enjoyed the slow walk to the hotel. Jack staggered a little to the left and a bit to the right. She tightened her hold to steady him, and at times, she thought he faked his intoxication. Not that it mattered. He understood her and she him. They were more alike than opposite, and once they captured Guerrero, she considered a different kind of pursuit of a man. Once to his hotel room door, TJ let him go. “Goodnight, Jack.” She rose up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. His breath smelled of whiskey, his skin the traces of a nice soapscented cleanliness. It appealed to her and she inhaled him one last time before easing back. “You know you can come sleep with me.” He cupped her face. “You are a mighty fine looking blanket warmer.” “Now I know you’re drunk.” She laughed. “Sleep would be the last thing you’d let me do.” “I don’t know, could be I’d pass out before I could get nary a boot off.” His hand slid down her arm and caught her hand. “It happened before.” She remembered that night he spoke of quite clearly. Still, she shook her head no. “Come in, Tessa Jane.” He tugged at her to change her mind. TJ’s heart lurched with the inducement of his pleading hold. She looked back to her door. In a shack, on the prairie, anywhere seemed okay. The hotel left her feeling civilized and proper.

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“You are tempting.” She folded her arms around his neck. “All shaved and smelling like laundry day is very nice.” She sniffed his collar again. Jack grabbed her head, held her face, and kissed her. “You taste good, Tessa Jane, I don’t think you realize just what you do to me.” “We both taste like whiskey and I know…” She didn’t know anything anymore and that’s what scared her most. “Goodnight, Jack.” She slithered from his grasp and went to her room. “We leave at dawn.”

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Chapter Eighteen Jack waited for TJ to get safely behind her door and then went in his room. Tossing his hat on the chair, he leaned forward with his knuckles on the dresser and looked at himself in the mirror. “Drink too much again, Jack,” he told himself, “and you’ll be blurting out you love her. Like some sod farmer looking for a wife, you’ll tell that woman you can’t live without her and then how will you feel when she kicks dirt in your face?” The click of his door had him straighten up and wheel around to the intruder. The revolver shot up from his hip, leaving the holster without touching the worn smooth leather. When he saw TJ, it went back in just as effortlessly. “I knew you couldn’t resist my offer, honey.” He grinned as she flew to him. TJ’s panicked expression sobered him up and wiped the smile from his face. “She’s run away, Jack.” She shoved a piece of paper in his hand. “Emily’s gone and run off because of me!” “It just says she’s going back home.” “Keep reading. She overheard us at the party talking about the delay in us finding Guerrero with taking her home.” “That was a lot to have heaped on her. So, TJ, do we track Guerrero or Emily?” He hated that he didn’t seriously know her answer. “Emily, of course. How could you ask such a thing?” Her voice cracked. “Come on, TJ, you’ve not held back when it came to that hardnosed shell you have. Sometimes I don’t think it’s a shell at all, but an iron

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backbone underneath that soft shape that doesn’t let you care about people.” “You’re blaming me?” Rushing back to her room, she shucked off her dress and unfastened the corselet. It left TJ standing in her undergarments. Jack shut the door and leaned on it while she finished changing her clothes. She made it hard to think in her stripped-down attire. “I don’t blame you. I just think somehow this could have been avoided if you had never left home. That girl needed some stability and you were it.” He watched her pull the shoes off and stuff them in the saddlebag. “You sure do sound angry about something. It can’t be because of my relationship or lack there of with a niece I haven’t see since she was a toddler.” She pulled the pins out of her hair and let it fall about her shoulders. He had noted she’d taken considerable pains to form the cascade of curls into a neat pile on top of her head. She may have done most for herself, but he liked thinking she did it for him. The proper thing to do with her beautiful new dress would have been to pack it in a trunk or hang it neatly in a wardrobe. Yet, everything she owned had to fit in her saddlebags. He watched her fold and roll the dress into a tight little bundle. TJ flipped her hair back over her shoulder and looked up at him. For what, help? She wouldn’t ask. “I just don’t like that she’s afraid she’ll be stuck in an orphanage,” he continued saying. “You showed up and she latched on out of a desperate need to belong to someone again. She lost her mother and her father. As far as she knew, for that whole month before you got there, she thought she had no one.” He tried not to take in the slender shape of TJ parading about the room in her chemise. She lifted one leg and then another to put on her pants. He had all the pleasures of holding her close and naked. Now he had the divine delight of seeing her in the whole package. Only she was covering up all her curves and limbs with men’s clothing. The most

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feminine thing left was the waterfall of sunlight blonde hair swirling down to her waist. “She won’t go to an orphanage.” She tugged her denims up. “And stop looking at me like that or I’m going to shoot you somewhere you won’t like.” “You were meant to be looked at.” “She has other family.” She ignored his comment. “I even told Mary Simpson just where my uncle was in case something happens to me.” She tied the leather thong around her thigh to hold the holster in place. “Don’t you think maybe she’s frightened of losing you?” He stepped forward and lifted her hair as she struggled to get the shirt on and keep her long golden mane out of the way. “She hardly knows me. No one does.” “Because you won’t let anyone.” He grabbed her wrist and held her still. “You of all people should know how she feels about losing family. You should have been a role model of how to deal with it and you’re teaching her that vengeance is the answer.” “Let go of me, Jack.” “Why, what’s the rush?” “She’s a little girl. I can’t let her go all the way home on her own. Something could happen to her.” She slung the saddlebag over her shoulder, but as she passed him, he took it from her. “I’ll carry it.” He pushed her out the door. “Go on, we’re still in this together.” “Fine, I’ll pay the hotel bill,” she directed. “You fetch the horses from the livery.” Jack had the horses out front when TJ came rushing from the hotel. Her grace never ceased to capture his attention. Even as she slipped a foot in the stirrup, caught hold of the saddle horn, and swung her leg over the saddle. She landed gently even though her speed suggested she might hit hard. She kicked her horse’s flanks and without a glance back, she rode out ahead of him. They moved swiftly in the direction they had been traveling all along.

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He didn’t think it would take them long to find one little girl on foot. The torn piece of dress hanging from a branch changed everything. Jack snatched it off with the note attached. “What is she up to?” TJ rode up along side him. “You ain’t goin’ to like this.” He handed her the message. “No dañarán a la pequeña muchacha si McCay me satisface cara para hacer frente. Guerrero,” TJ read. “He writes very well.” “He ain’t lacking in intelligence that’s for sure. He went to school and did better than all right.” Jack pushed back his hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead before readjusting the black felt. “He has Emily and wants to exchange her for you,” she said quietly. “Why?” “Appears the man has a plan to kill me,” he grumbled. “I guess he didn’t cotton to me trying to get him hanged for his crimes.” “But he doesn’t say where he’ll be?” She read over the message again. “How will I find her?” “I think this is our clue.” Jack hopped down from his horse and picked up a feather. He tipped his hat back and shielded his eyes to look into the sun in the east. “Feather Cliffs.” TJ pulled out her gun and checked the cylinder. Jack knew her thoughts, capabilities, and one word from him would start another long and tedious argument he’d lose. “Ready?” He remounted and looked at her to give the go ahead. “Lead the way.” TJ followed the trail behind him, giving a wide space in case of an ambush. The ride took them into ravines of less than safe surroundings and it took them through passes too close to see where they headed or what waited for them at the end. “You really think Guerrero is going through all this trouble to get even with you?” she asked. “Why not, what else does a killer have to do with his life?” They rode for as long as they could before giving a rest to the horses. At the creek, he saw TJ staring at the mountain range. “He’ll take her somewhere others don’t go, won’t he?”

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“Yeah, he’ll do that much, I’m sure.” “Jack, what if we’re… What if he’s already killed her? I don’t know that I can handle that kind of news.” “You, my dear lady, can handle anything life throws at you, so don’t think anything different.” He swallowed, hoping she believed him. ZY Hours crept by with slow cautious steps. When TJ heard the hiss of a rattlesnake, it moved quicker than she could draw her gun and shoot. The dangerously large snake’s strike went right for Jack’s horse. Her shot hit the snake dead on, except in all the commotion and noise, the horse reared in defense of its own life. Jack’s blue eyes widened as the gelding continued to go back. Over the saddlebags, the bedroll, and the rump of the animal, he tumbled off his horse in a chaotic fashion. There was nothing to hold onto, nothing to grasp to prevent his fall. “Jack!” TJ screamed. The sound came out raspy from the dryness of her parched throat. Her heart beat like an Indian war drum. Jack’s fall took him over the edge of the cliff one way, and the horse another. She jumped down from her horse and ran to the rim, to that deadly precipice, and her eyes closed. She didn’t want to look. She didn’t want to think. But she had to know and her lashes flipped up to look over the side. “Jack!” He lay motionless on his back. TJ had a tremor ripple through her at the prospect he was dead. She froze with trepidation. She never had to worry over anyone other than herself and thinking of Jack dead distressed her greatly. She shook her head and willed the awful sensation of hysteria to go away. Her body went cold and her limbs trembled. Shock squeezed the very breath from her lungs. The dizziness created by her racing blood made her stagger. Then she saw him move, not a lot, a finger, and she claimed the hope-filled signal as an answer to her prayers.

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“Jack!” she yelled down to him. “I’m coming. I’ll get a rope and I’m coming down to you.” She ran to her horse and fetched the coil of rope. The length looked about right to get down the side of the sheered off cliff. After securing it to a boulder, she got the canteen and her saddlebag. She saw the bright red streak of blood across his face and if need be, she’d rip her new dress into bandages. Each foothold, she took with care. Loose rocks broke free and dropped close to Jack. TJ had little experience with rope climbing. It never seemed necessary before. “Jack?” She set the saddlebags aside and opened the canteen. Splashing the water on his face did nothing and she leaned over to put her head on his chest. His heart beat strong. If he had broken bones, she couldn’t tell. The few cuts she washed off were no more than scratches he could have gotten riding through the brush. Sliding her fingers around his face, she traced every curve. Nicely tanned, elegantly shaped, she gave more time to studying it than she had to any man. Her observances of men were usually for the danger they presented. Jack too, in a different way. The only moves she deemed necessary to watch on Jack were his affectionate embraces. It didn’t matter how much she tried to shrink away, he kept at her. His endless chatter laced with sweet words bonded her to him. He’d be the last to ever hear her admit, he wore her down. It seemed hours she sat with his head in her lap before he moved. Try as she might, she couldn’t rush the slow awakening. The clouds overhead darkened the day with threatening rain. “Jack, can you hear me?” She stroked his jaw. His eyes opened. “Who are you?” “Very funny, Jack.” She pushed him to sit. “Do you feel like you broke any bones?” She poked him in different places to get a reaction if he had any. “I hurt from head to toe, lady.” He got up and bent several directions. “Don’t reckon nothin’s busted though.”

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“Good. It’s fixing to rain and I’d like to see us up there instead of on this ledge.” She took the rope first and looked up the long way she had come down. She glanced back to Jack rubbing his head and she dropped the rope at the first sign of blood in his palm. “What happened?” He wiped his hand on his pant leg. “You club me over the noggin?” “Turn around,” she demanded and poured some water on another piece of cloth from her saddlebag. “I should have left you here with the time we’ve wasted,” she grumbled, knowing she’d never be able to do it. “Ouch, that hurts, lady.” He turned around to face her. “And how in the hell did I get down here?” TJ watched him gazing up and then down the ravine. She’d seen men talk crazy from whiskey. She’d seen the old Indian she knew babble incoherently after smoking a pipe. However, Jack was neither at the moment. She put a hand to his arm wishing for a hug to wipe the worries from her advancing thoughts. Jack’s stare twisted her belly in a knot. His want of her clearly showed in his expression. The first time, she found it rude and exhilarating. Since then, she’d grown accustomed to his appraisal of her. He made her toes curl in anticipation of his kiss even though she liked to keep him back from actually doing it at times. Now as he licked his lips and assessed her, it was with the return of his lecherous disregard of her feelings. “So, have we knocked knees or will this be our first time.” He grabbed her bottom and ground against her. “You’re a sweet little filly.” “Jack, stop.” She twisted in his arms. He bent his head and kissed her hard. He held her tighter than a tree holds its bark. “Come on, you little wild cat. You’re the one that’s battin’ them lashes over the prettiest gems I’ve ever seen.” He caught the back of her head and stared at her. “Jack!” she shouted and squeezed a hand on the shoulder with his bullet wound. “Jack, do you even know me?”

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It jarred him back and she grabbed his arm afraid he’d fall from the ledge. “Remember? Like what?” He pushed her back to the sheered off rock wall. “I know what you hide beneath men’s clothes.” He lowered his head. “But what I can’t recall is if you’ve told me your name.” TJ stomped the heel of her boot onto the toe of his. “You have to be serious!” “Damn, woman.” He hopped back and she grabbed his vest to keep him from mindlessly backing off the cliff. “Keep your hands off.” She stared up at his puzzled blue eyes. “I’ll shoot you if you so much as lay one finger on me without my permission. Do you understand?” “I’d just as soon touch a rattlesnake than touch you.” He pried her free. “Let’s get off this ledge and then you can tell me what the hell it is I’m doing here with you.” Jack went up first and she waited until he hoisted himself over the edge before she started up. His hand gripped her wrist and his strength easily pulled her up without effort. “We’re up, now how did I get here, and who are you?” He looked around and took the reins of the one horse. “We haven’t time for games, Jack.” She looked over the side of the cliff where his horse had gone over backwards rearing from the snake striking his legs. The ugly sight turned her already nervous stomach. She wheeled away from looking at the horse dead in the ravine. For the first time in a long while, she thanked God. He had spared Jack the same horrible fate as his horse. She might argue with Jack most of the time, but they got along in spite of their differing opinions. She’d never harm him and she truly believed he’d never hurt her. “What’s your name, honey?” “This is just great.” She placed her hands on her hips. “You really can’t remember who I am?”

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He shook his head. “I know you’re right fine to hold when you’re out of those clothes and you like to…to… I don’t know, sugar, maybe it’s not you I’m remembering at all.” She didn’t like he might confuse her with some other woman. However, short of stripping down and saying “there, am I the one you love the taste of? Am I the one that…” What was she doing to herself? “Emily, do you remember Emily?” She put her saddlebag over the horse. “Nope, can’t say I do. Is that your name?” “No, it’s my niece. We were going to Feather Cliffs to find her.” She put a foot in her stirrup. “Where’s that?” He held the reins as she climbed up on the horse. “And I wish you’d tell me what I’m doing here.” Large raindrops hit his face as he stared blankly up at her. “Get up here, Jack, and we’ll find a place to bed down for the night.” She took her foot from the stirrup and leaned forward. He swung up and sat behind the saddle. “Bedding down sounds like a right good idea.” His hands went around her waist and fit up under her breasts. “I think we could have a good time anywhere.” He squeezed and kneaded the front of her while whispering in her ear. “I’d like to know everything about you under these duds.” “Jack, don’t, please.” All that went through her mind was how good it felt to be touched by him, and yet, she didn’t want to be touched unless he knew her. Nevertheless, the possibility that Jack’s memory could come back quicker if she submitted to what he wanted was the only reason she didn’t fight to enforce her point. “You wouldn’t really shoot me, now would you, precious?” He took the reins and pulled her back into the crook of his arm. “What’s your name?” She stared at him, wanting him to remember her on his own. “TJ Creager.”

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His mouth covered hers and TJ’s arm naturally folded over his shoulder. Her fingers caught the fringe of sweat-dampened hair at the edge of his hat. She scratched her short nails against his skin. Where’d she leave her gloves she wondered in between his kiss osculating over hers with an uncontrollable amount of lust. The horse shifted around in agitation to their moans and then Jack stopped and sat her upright in front of him. “Let’s find that spot you were talking about. I’m a marshal, right?” “You were.” She rubbed his hand over her stomach. “You quit a few days ago to find a killer named—” “Guerrero.” He filled in. “Why are we together?” “I’m a bounty hunter and I’m after the same man. He kidnapped my niece Emily.” She pointed to an outcropping of rocks that they could stay dry under before the big droplets of rain got heavier. “That’s too bad. The half-breed will no doubt have already raped and killed her so why are you bothering to look for her. You’re a woman and I can’t believe for a minute you’re any kind of bounty hunter.” TJ shivered with the grim picture he described. “Guerrero left a note saying he’d exchange her for you.” She slid off the horse when he stopped. She waited for Jack to tie the horse to a tree limb and then they both hurried to the shelter. The rain came heavier so that by the time they ducked beneath, they were very wet. “Don’t tell me I agreed to this swap?” She didn’t answer. His expression didn’t look overly favorable to agreeing. “The hell I’ll let you hand me over to that butcher for some little girl.” Jack took off his vest and spread it over a flat rock to dry. “Write her off. She won’t be much more than a ghost when he gets through with her.” TJ hit him. She balled up both her fists and pounded him until he fell back, holding onto her. “We had a plan, you said she’d be all right, and we’d get her back. You lied to me,” she cried, struggling in his grasp. “I hate you. I hate you, Jack McCay, and I should have left your sorry hide on the side of that cliff.”

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TJ couldn’t fight him anymore as her crying escalated and commanded all her strength.

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Chapter Nineteen “Hey, don’t go doing that. All right already. If I said we had a deal, I’ll not back out.” He smoothed a hand over her head and held her tighter to stop her from shaking all her bones loose. He didn’t know her, but he felt her pain and knew he had to help regardless of the fact that Guerrero scared him. She hiccupped a sob and lifted her head. “Really, you’re not just saying that because I said I’d kill you?” “Really.” Jack grinned. “And I don’t believe for a second you’d kill me.” He didn’t think he’d ever see a woman prettier than this one, even crying, she was better than a sunrise. He wasn’t exactly sure what it was about the gritty side of her personality, but he couldn’t say he wholly disliked it. “Can you stop crying? You said there was a plan, so let me hear it.” His arms remained locked onto her when she tried to move from him. “I asked you to stop the bawling like a newborn, never said for you to get up.” He shifted over and stretched an arm to reach the bedroll. She fit the rolled up blanket under his head and he heard her sniffle, resigned to stay in his arms. “Do you know how to get to Feather Cliffs?” she asked. “Never heard of them or maybe I—” Jack paused and the name came as a familiar phrase except it wouldn’t come to him as to why. “No, I guess I don’t know anything about them,” he finally confessed when everything seemed too fuzzy to decipher.

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“Then we have a big problem,” she sighed heavily. “I don’t know where to go. You said you knew the way and now you can’t even remember your own name.” “It’s Jack.” He chuckled and felt her stiffen. “Sorry, you’ve called me it enough times, I assumed that was right. Jack McCay?” “Yes.” “Nope, doesn’t sound right.” He mulled it over. “Are you sure?” “Yes, I’m sure.” “If you say so.” “Someone knows those hills. I’ll find a town, a homestead, somewhere in this area someone knows where Guerrero’s hangout is.” “Then I guess you don’t need me no more. As soon as we get to town you can hunt for your niece and I can—” “You said you’d help me.” “That was when I thought you had a plan. You don’t know where to go or what to do. I ain’t about to wander the country with you looking for a little girl. I told you she’s probably dead. You need to get yourself on home. Get a husband and have a passel of young’uns. That’ll make up for the loss of one.” He wondered if it really sounded as bad as he felt the statement must be. He couldn’t explain why he fought empathy for the woman when he felt things like lust for her young, firm body. “I have a husband. You’re my husband, Jack.” “The hell you say!” He sat up and looked at her from behind. It did make sense as to why he had the urge to kiss her all the time. That would be the right thing for a married man to do with his wife. However, it didn’t explain why she fabricated the complicated lie beforehand. “I do say, so you see, you can’t just go wandering off, leaving me behind. You’re Emily’s uncle and you’ve got to go after her. She’s my dead brother’s child and we’re all she has.” She put a hand to his face. Then she unbuttoned her vest and discarded it. She unbuttoned the wet blouse and he pushed it down her shoulders. He wasn’t sure he could believe he had a wife, but if he did, he understood why he wanted this one.

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The cotton chemise hid nothing and he lowered his head to suck in the wet fabric over her rounded breast. He kissed a slow winding trail to her neck and gripped a fistful of her rich silky blonde hair to hold her head and stare at the beautiful turquoise eyes. She panted breathlessly and he proceeded quicker to her mouth. The peach lips were wet and inviting. Her tongue rolled with his, her sips took lingering swirls to his cheeks and back to his mouth. Her voice broke the spellbound moment. “Jack, I need you.” She arched in his arms giving him room to work his way from kissing her mouth to her neck. He traveled the length, licking and devouring the moisture from her pores, not wanting to miss a thing. Helping get the chemise off her shoulder, he kissed across and down her arm. “You were hurt, darlin’.” He kissed around the scabbed over wound. “You saved me from Guerrero.” He progressed down between her breasts. Jack kissed every piece of clothing from her. He hunted to find every place that tickled, making her hum like a windmill spinning on a gentle breeze. Minutes turned to hours and yet hours seemed all too short. Her hands made a continuing fanning motion in the hair on his chest and then went exploring. The tips of her pink budded fingers swirled patterns. They eventually followed the rutted grooves of muscle in his stomach. “I like the way you’re hard all over.” She giggled making him laugh. The time seemed endless, a seamless transition from playful examinations to serious, strenuous, and the soulful nuances of love. TJ’s passion equaled his verve when the physical joining climaxed. They were rocking in the crescendo of a violent culmination and words outlining love were spoken, whispered, and felt. TJ twisted beneath him and clung fiercely as they peaked and rode the winds of their private storm. Jack continued to plunge into her tight cunt until he softened. The wonder of her cries mesmerized him. The beauty of her lissome body, rising up and crashing to his, drew his very thoughts to forever. For all

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eternity, he wanted to have her rapturous cries in his ears. Until the day the world stopped, he could enjoy his life spinning around hers. “Jack,” she gasped in short sputters. “Jack.” “You’ve got to be about the most precious thing that belongs to me, honey.” He pressed his words into her mouth. The rain continued outside of their shelter and it was the music of romance. It gave a tranquility they relaxed to within each other’s arms. “I feel safe with you,” she murmured. “And I like feeling safe with you.” Jack rolled to his side and held tightly to the gal whose sweet whispers tickled his ear. Her whole body heaved and he didn’t want to let go of the framework of the most special thing he ever hoped to hold. Something mysteriously triggered a memory and he hung on to it with both hands. “I wish I remembered more of our life together.” Jack kissed the side of her nose. “Were we… are we happy?” “Yes.” He felt her shiver. “Are you cold, sweetie?” He lifted the bedroll out from under his head and shook it open. “I don’t need a sick wife.” He draped it over them and tucked it around her. He couldn’t stop caressing her and eventually she fell asleep. He followed her into his dreams. “Jack!” she screamed. He bolted upright, wide awake. “What’s wrong?” She visibly trembled and he pulled her against him. “It was a dream.” She sat patting her chest rapidly. “Sounded more like a nightmare.” He rubbed her back and she relaxed under his care. “I figure we should get dressed now if you want to get an early start.” He gave her one last kiss to the side of the head and got up. Jack pulled his pants up and sat on a rock to put on his boots. He went slowly while watching TJ’s dressing habits. He felt something familiar and right when he made love to her. It seemed wrong not to have

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any recollection of the shapely passionflower he had caressed for hours. He thought maybe if he put more time into studying her actions and listening to her voice he could place her in his life. ZY By night, they reached a small town made up of a saloon, a restaurant, a church, a general store, and a few small houses. Overall, the place looked like many towns. This speck of civilization in the arid hills of the Texas territory had nothing special to differentiate it from any other small place. “We’ll go to the saloon,” TJ directed. Jack tied the horse to the wood-railed hitching post and put his hands on her shoulders. “I don’t know as I like my wife going in this sort of place.” He rubbed over the small balls of her shoulders. “You met me in a saloon.” She laughed. “I married a whore?” “No!” She twisted around and put a hand on his arm, a gentle reassuring touch. “No, Jack, I was playing poker.” “You?” He shook his head in confusion. “I reckon I shouldn’t be too plumb surprised since you dress like a man.” “I haven’t any money. Give me what you got and I’ll go win us a decent amount for a room, a meal, and another horse.” “I think I should be the one to do the gambling, sweetpea.” “I’m better at it than you.” “You don’t say?” He lifted an eyebrow. “Seeing how I can’t remember and you’re my wife, I reckon I’ll have to trust your say so.” She reached inside his vest and pulled out his billfold. “Six dollars?” She folded it and unbuttoned her shirt to tuck it inside her chemise. “You haven’t any hold back, say in your boot?” “I had my boots off last night if you remember. I didn’t find any money in them.” He stuck his fingers in his vest pocket and tugged out something silky. “What’s this?” A woman’s stocking unfurled.

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“Put it away.” She stuffed it back in his pocket. “It’s mine and you’ve been carrying it around like some trophy.” “For what?” “For winning me.” “If I won you, why the trophy? Seems having you would be the grand prize.” Forget about that now.” She looked at the six dollars in her hand. “I guess I’ll make do with this.” She headed for the saloon door and he followed. “Can you wait…away from me?” she asked. “Why?” He fastened his hands to his hips and looked suspiciously at her. “You make me nervous.” She rose up on her toes and kissed him. “Please, Jack.” Her lashes fluttered, her irresistible smile charmed, and he found himself nodding. His wife dazzled him and he wondered how much of their household she ran instead of him. It triggered an uneasiness he didn’t like. If he had any other basis to say no to her plan, he would. “Here.” She gave him back a dollar. “Get a whiskey and drink it slow.” “Drink whiskey slow?” He looked at her incredulously. “I figure I have a vague notion I’d like it better taking it all in one gulp.” He pushed the saloon door open for her. “Then get something else. I don’t care if it’s a sarsaparilla. Just drink it slowly as if you were nursing the last drop of water in the desert.” He gave her a nod of understanding. “Behave yourself,” she ordered in a low whisper, and left him immediately. Jack steered himself to the bar. He plopped down on a worn stool and gave a glance to TJ’s direction where he saw her join three men playing cards at a table in the middle of the room. “Whiskey,” he told the bartender. The mirror over the back of the bar gave him a vantage point of watching her without looking as if he was. Her gambling habits intrigued

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him. Her air of independence alarmed him more, and he kept a watchful eye on her personal safety. The weakness of his wife’s emotions was for a kidnapped child and not herself. It seemed charitable on her part, yet how had he managed to get hooked up with a woman who asserted to be a bounty hunter? When did they get married? Why? No, he didn’t need to know why. One look at her sweet face, one listen to her soft musical voice, one touch of her silky hair, and one glance at those turquoise eyes solved the mystery. He had found himself a special treasure in a country hot on the trail of gold. He got hitched to keep the woman his for all time. It was the only reason he could think of and it didn’t appear to be anything less than a perfect choice. “Under the denims and leather, the girl’s a real looker,” the bartender commented. Jack’s urge to make a lewd comment in conjunction to the bartender’s disappeared at the thought of protecting TJ’s virtuous gender. “She’s my wife.” He downed the whiskey. “Then you’re a lucky man to have her, because she’s cleaning out my regulars.” He wiped his rag over the bar, snickering with some amusement to his own thoughts. Jack swiveled around on the barstool and looked at TJ’s arms arc over the table to sweep the pot of winnings to her. He liked he had something fine in his life even if he couldn’t remember most of it. “Bartender, pour me another shot, and then take the bottle to the lady.” He pushed his glass forward. “Maybe she’d like to loosen their pockets a little more by loosening their wits.” “That’ll be—” “See my wife. She’s the one with the purse strings.” He snatched the bottle from the bartender and poured his own shot. “Don’t worry, she’ll pay you.”

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TJ kept one eye on Jack and the other on her game. She saw the tall lanky bartender amble toward her with a bottle of whiskey and four glasses. “Your husband said you’d be settling up?” he said to her. “Gentlemen, the drinks are on me.” She handed the bartender the money and took the bottle to do the honors of pouring. Once her fingers wrapped the glass and she tilted it up toward her mouth, she gave Jack a warning stare not to get too ahead of her game. Her attention shifted to the swinging doors and it brought an instant smile. Marshal Pullman strolled across the room toward her. She remembered when they met. She had such a hard time convincing him she didn’t purposely kill the man that murdered her sister. Now here they were on their third chance meeting in the space of a couple weeks when in the six years they knew each other it only happened a few times a year. “TJ Creager!” He grinned. “I see you’re back in the trail duds, but are you managing to stay upwind of trouble?” “Hello, Marshal Pullman.” She stood and offered her hand. “Is that any way to greet a long time friend?” He tugged her to him and planted a kiss on her too fast for objections. Jack cleared his throat from behind and the marshal turned around. “Marshal Pullman, I’d like you to meet—” Flustered by the suddenness of the marshal’s kiss, she didn’t know what to say. He had never done that before and she didn’t know how to respond. “…her husband,” Jack said gruffly. TJ snaked her arm around Jack’s. His tone suggested he might do something irrational to protect what he claimed he owned in her. “Excuse me.” Martin didn’t look surprised. He offered to shake Jack’s hand. “This must be some of the family you were telling me about in Happy Flats?” “Yes,” she lied. She watched Martin’s hand suspended in the air for a full thirty seconds for Jack to shake it. He didn’t because in his eyes, he saw a man kiss his wife. The tension in the arm she held throbbed with some kind of

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confused anger. The kiss lit a fuse to a stick of dynamite. She hoped to hang onto Jack tight enough to prevent him from retaliating against the effrontery he felt he experienced. “I hadn’t any idea TJ went and got hitched. She always struck me as a wild filly, no man would lasso.” Pullman retracted his hand. “I don’t recall a lot about that time, but I’d like to imagine she did the chasin’ and ropin’.” TJ let go of Jack’s forearm and slid her hold behind his back. She locked her fingers to his waist where she could put her hand in a naturally obstructive position near his revolver. If ever a man bristled from pride and jealously, Jack did and she didn’t need him doing anything rash. “Martin, would you like to join us for a drink?” “Okay and I’ll buy.” He went to the bar to get them a bottle. “Don’t go letting other men kiss you again.” Jack rubbed his thumb over her lips as if it could undo the deed. “We’ll argue about that nonsense later.” She pinched him. “It was just a friendly gesture between friends.” She gathered her money from the table. “Goodnight, gentlemen.” They grumbled and moaned, but they weren’t anxious to cause a ruckus over the loss of their money as she left with two very imposing men flanking her. TJ took a seat on the far side of the room. Jack stood sentry until Martin sat down with the bottle and the glasses. “I don’t believe I caught the name?” The marshal declared sitting opposite them. “Jack McCay,” Jack answered. “McCay, huh? Has a ring of familiarity to it.” The marshal eyed him a little more carefully. “Jack was a U.S. Marshal, too, from Silver Springs, Martin. As a matter of fact he retired last week to do bounty hunting with me.” TJ went to lift her glass, but found a need to hold onto Jack for support and she slid her fingers into his open hand on the table. “McCay, yes! You caught Guerrero and those numbskulls they got at the fort let him get away. I was told he headed—” Martin paused and

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lifted his glass. “You two are going after Guerrero for the hefty reward, aren’t you?” “It’s one reason,” Jack replied. “Guerrero murdered my brother and his wife.” TJ filled in the information for Martin. “I was after him and—” She realized her mistake. If Martin or Jack put together a timeline, next would be the question about how many days they had been married. “Jack hadn’t come home yet and I met him along the way. My brother’s daughter followed me, and before Jack and I could get her home, she ran off on her own.” “Guerrero kidnapped her,” Jack added. “You think she’ll still be alive?” Martin poured them each another drink. TJ’s fingers tightened on Jack’s and he squeezed them gently. “Guerrero has a bit of a grudge against me from a long time back and he’s left word he’ll swap Emily for me.” Jack swept his thumb over the back of her hand. TJ looked at him, not understanding the long time back statement. She could only guess Jack was trying not to let on that he’d lost his memory. “Martin, do you know where Guerrero hides out in the hills? I’ve heard Feather Cliffs, except that’s a mighty big territory to travel on narrow paths through the rocky terrain without having some clue.” “Sorry I don’t know. If I wasn’t already on other business, I might have been able to help track him with you. However, I haven’t known you to come up short on the tracking or trailing a man. I’d probably be more hindrance than help.” “Thanks, Marshal,” Jack pulled her hand closer to his chest. “But I’d say we’ll not want you around when we catch up to the outlaw. The reward is fat and to have you go capturing him for your dollar a day job would be a waste.” “I can understand that, McCay.” Martin smiled at TJ.

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She lifted her hand to cover her mouth as she yawned. She didn’t need to force one. Bone weary, she could sleep for a week. Martin’s questions were making her nervous. She couldn’t have him blundering into her plans with Jack. “We should get some sleep, Martin. It’s been a long day, for me and Jack.” She stood and despite Jack’s chagrin, she hugged the man she considered a friend. “I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon since we’ve made somewhat of a habit of it now.” “Yes, I’m positive we’ll be running into one another again, real soon.” “Once I have Emily back, we’ll be going home. Stop by and visit if you get over that way.” “I definitely will, TJ. Take care of yourself, though I reckon that old Indian you lived with taught you a good deal in that area.” He picked up her hands and held them out to look down the length of her. “Really, McCay, if possible you should keep this lady in fancy dresses and lilac water all the time.” “TJ wears what she likes.” Jack folded his arms over his puffed up chest. TJ smiled at Martin. Jack may have sounded liberal, but his stance displayed a pumped and puffed-up male. Like a rooster scratching for a cockfight, he knew when to crow and when to squawk. Right now, he gloated over the fact, she was his. How she’d like to knock him off the top rail of his corral. “Goodbye, Martin.” TJ positioned herself next to Jack and nudged him to produce manners she knew were in his stubborn hide. “So long, Pullman.” Jack stretched his hand out and shook Martin’s hand. “See ya around sometime.” TJ put her head against Jack’s shoulder as the marshal left. “It was odd running into him again. At least he remembers me,” she muttered more to herself than addressing Jack. “Did you have a thing for the marshal?” he asked. “He not satisfy you in the sack?” “Sometimes you’re obnoxiously crude!” she hissed, and left him to go see about a room.

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Jack strolled over to the foot of the staircase and waited. When she went to him with two keys, his brow furrowed. “If you’re thinking of sleeping in a separate room, forget it. I ain’t about to let you in a room with a bed and a window for lover boy to show up.” “The marshal is a friend and nothing more.” She started up the stairs. “He looked at you as if he knows only what I should know about you.” He jogged up behind her. Jack’s breath rode hot on her neck. He trailed close on her heels as they climbed the stairs. She didn’t know what she was thinking when she got two rooms. Jack would naturally find it odd his wife planned to sleep in a separate room. “There were two rooms available and the bartender wasn’t sure what the conditions of either would be. I’m going to check which has the bigger bed.” She unlocked the door and stepped in the room. “Looks adequate, don’t you think?” “He bedded you, didn’t he?” TJ turned and slapped him. It humiliated her to have him treat her like a whore he found in some mud town saloon.

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Chapter Twenty Jack knew immediately he had said the wrong thing when TJ’s eyes watered. What was wrong with him? He knew somewhere inside his fool mind he had been the only one to know her intimately. “I’m sorry, honey.” He reached for her. She dipped. He dived. He had to corral her in the corner of the room. Taking hold of her arms when she tried bolting again, he spun her around and they dropped on the bed tangled together. “I remember a night on the trail where you came to me an innocent young woman.” “Jack, you can recall that night?” Her struggles to get free stopped. “Sorry, TJ, it’s all I have right now. I shouldn’t have been a jackass downstairs with your friend.” His fingers wiped under her eyes and across her cheeks. He kissed her soft lips and her responsive hum sent shivers down his spine. The more he kissed her, the more they both wanted. She tugged his buckle to get his gun belt off and he helped. Everything came off while kissing absorbed the minutes like a dry sponge soaked up water. The bed made everything much more comfortable and enjoyable. The passion flared and the intimacy deepened to new levels. Jack rolled TJ over on her belly. He kissed the sleekness of her back and shoulders. “That feels good,” she sighed. “My muscles ache from that rope climb.” “I guess I owe you something for that.” He massaged the tension in her knotted up muscles. While he rubbed and pressed his fingers into her skin, he planted kisses in succession

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downward. Her firm rounded buttocks quivered to the sweep of his lips over them. She lifted with his hands on her hips and once he had her up on her knees, he moved close behind her, wedging his cock into the crack of her ass. “You don’t mind if we try something new, do ya, darlin’?” “New?” “I haven’t come at you from behind before, or maybe I have.” He glided his hand up and down the center of her back. “No, we…I haven’t been in this position before.” She sounded nervous and he reached between her legs and massaged the wetness. He caught the dew of her heated center on his fingers and smeared it over the head and shaft of his cock. He touched her again, parting the way to enter. A ripple of an involuntary tremor wiggled her ass back to him. The coolness of her supple bottom pressed his warm groin. Too close for him to enter her gapping passage, he pushed her forward and fit up into the opening. “Jack, are you sure this is right?” “Lean down more,” he instructed. She flattened to the mattress with her hips aimed up. It left her at the right angle in which he could slip into her slick tightness. A delicate “ah” parted from her with a gasp. In and out, he pumped. Deep and gentle, he probed. TJ’s moans triggered his speed. Each time she let out a long, strangled cry, he flexed his hips and shoved his cock further into the scorching depths. Her body glistened with the clinging dew of her exuding pores. The momentum increased. Her body bucked back against him and he met her urgency. “Uh,” he grunted, coming closer to a climax. She made sounds, muffled by the bedding her face pressed into. He reached under and tweaked her nipple with tender pinches and gentle tugs. He wanted her to feel what he did. He wanted her satisfied to have him as a husband and a lover.

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Her twitters ascended with punctuating flinches of her body. Her insides clenched on his thrusting shaft. Her cries grew louder, but not louder than the headboard thumping the wall. He banged into her faster. The room vibrated with the ricochet of echoing sounds they created. “Jack, Jack please,” she cried. Her plea elicited a fervid liquid heat to discharge and he pumped heavily into her core. He pummeled the hell out of her backside trying to rid himself of the burning lust heaving through his lungs. In one last battering ram of his hips, he locked up and trembled. Then he dropped down and pulled TJ to her side in front of him. “Damn, woman, I think you could kill me with your lovin’ body.” Her fingers curled around his hand and tugged it to her lips. She made a sound much like a sob, but no crying ensued. He gathered her closer and shut his eyes to rest. Exhausted, she snuggled tighter in the niche he made for her alongside him. “Jack, you mentioned several times about knowing Guerrero from a long time ago. How do you know him?” Her fingers made small circles in the hair on his forearm that held her. He thought for a minute and shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s just a feeling I get.” He kissed her temple. “Get some sleep, honey. First thing in the morning, we’ll see what we can find out about Feather Cliffs. We’ll find our niece.” “Thank you, Jack.” He smiled, feeling happy to hear the loving tone of her voice. Like a thick wool blanket, her sleepy sigh warmed him. He stared at the cracked ceiling in thought. The bright moon outside the window illuminated the room. The stars twinkled carefree and he tried to remember one thing about his past. Anything would have been helpful, yet racking his brain became an endless cause. TJ fell asleep in the middle of talking about her childhood and he liked what he learned about her. He hoped it would bring back his memory of the good times they had together. She didn’t seem the type who talked about herself too often.

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When she stirred in his arms, he released his hold, allowing her to roll over on her side. It wasn’t until she flopped over with a muted whine, that he realized she was having a nightmare. “TJ, honey, wake up.” He shook her gently. “TJ?” “No, no, oh God no…Jack!” “What’s wrong, honey? We’ll get Emily back.” He sat up when she did. “Jack, I…Jack, I lied about—” He sat, watching her get off the bed. She picked up his shirt and put it on, choosing to hug it closed rather than buttoning it. Then she paced the room like a jailed prisoner waiting for a hanging. “TJ, come to bed and don’t worry about anything you’ve told me you think you should change the story to. It can’t be important… Well, unless you want to recant that you and marshal—” “No!” She rushed to the bed. “Oh no, Jack, it’s only ever been you.” “Then nothing else matters to me.” He pulled her down to him. “I care about you very much.” She nuzzled her face to his. “Don’t ever forget that, Jack, please tell me you won’t ever forget I’m so very fond of you.” He noted the word love was very evidently missing from her statement. It crushed his ego to believe he may have never heard his wife say I love you. Jack moved his hands to the front of her and slid them inside the shirt she wore. Her velveteen skin quivered with excitement and it enlivened all parts of him. He brought her down and on her back. His lips never left hers as he positioned between her legs and drove his pulsing cock into her wetness. Slow and easy, he made love to her soul. He held still through every quaking orgasm she experienced. Her hips met his with the urgency to gain momentum. The rhythm rose, their kiss froze along with every other muscle. Jack shook, riding the earthquake tremors of TJ’s climax. In the muted whispers of her breath, wheezing with the fevered grip of her arms around his shoulders, he thought for a second, he believed he heard her voice whisper something close to loving him. He turned his

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head and caught her mouth in a kiss with all the passionate need of her he could extract from her heavy gasps. “I never thought I’d enjoy this so much,” she said amused. “What’s that, dearest?” “Sex.” “Why, did you think only men can enjoy the oldest form of pleasure?” “I don’t know what I thought. I didn’t have anyone to discuss this sort of thing with and then, well then there was you.” “I gave you a hard time, I sense that about my character and I’m sorry if I forced you into something you didn’t want to do.” “No one forces me into anything.” She brushed her fingers over his moustache. “You encouraged me with a persistence I wanted to surrender to.” Jack gripped the shirt she still wore and pulled it together. He buttoned it midway leaving a gap wide enough for his finger to stroke between her breasts. “I think sleep is best for you.” He laid back and drew her down with him. “No more nightmares, okay?” “I’ll try.” She stretched her neck up, kissing him firmly. “Remember I’m here and I’ll protect you. I know you figure you can take care of yourself and I believe you can, but give me a little reason to be a man.” Her hand cupped gently over his cock and rubbed. “I think you’ve proved how much of a man you are to me. I’m not likely to forget.” Her fingers crept up his middle to his chest and then to his jaw. “I’ll never forget how you make me feel special.” They fell back into the tender kisses of lovers until Jack squeezed her with his affectionate ending hug. “Why don’t you tell me about the Indian you lived with?” “I was sixteen, set on vengeance and he taught me about surviving on my own in a man’s world. Do you really want to know all this?” “I guess I don’t rightly need to know the details now since you must have told me before but I would like to hear about when we got married.”

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“Ah…not too long ago.” She twisted until she was scooted further under the blanket. “I think I’ll try and get some sleep. You’ve plumb tuckered me out so I don’t think I’ll dream of anything anymore tonight.” Her reluctance to speak about their wedding day brought him some concern. He put a hand to her arm, wondering if maybe he shouldn’t make her tell him about their past together. ZY No one in town could tell them anything about Guerrero or Feather Cliffs. TJ saw the day passing quickly with no information, no clue or lead to go on for a direction until she saw the old Indian sitting outside town. They were just leaving the livery with Jack’s new horse when an Indian man appeared. “Hello. Do you need help or something?” TJ jumped down from her horse. “You need my help,” he replied. “Your man is confused and I can guide you to his spirit before the thunderbird comes to devil’s kiss.” “Come on, TJ. He’s crazy,” Jack grumbled impatiently. TJ looked to the sky. The thunderbird was thought to bring lightning and rain. She couldn’t see it as a possibility. However, if the old Indian said it, then she had more faith in that then her eyes. She didn’t know anything about what devil’s kiss meant. “Where do we need to go?” She ignored Jack. He pointed to the horizon. “I meet you at the base of the eagle’s beak,” he instructed. “I don’t understand.” TJ studied the horizon and the jagged line of craggy hills. “The tall peaked mountain in the middle.” Jack pointed to the umber shaded hills. The Indian got up and walked in the same direction they went. She wanted to ask him to ride with her, but he had his pride much in the same way as the old Indian she knew years before. Jack didn’t argue with her about accepting the Indian’s direction. It felt different, lonely, and she didn’t like making all the decisions

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anymore. She had grown accustomed to him having a say in everything else they did. Several hours passed as they went through the easiest parts of their journey into the cliffs. They rode with only the sounds of their animals and nature. The click of horseshoes on rock, the rumble of a storm in the distance back-dropped TJ’s rambling thoughts. Many times she rode a trail alone without idle chatter to hear her own voice. It seemed better to be part of nature than an intrusion on it when using the elements as tools for guidance. When the Indian stopped, she and Jack dismounted, seemingly in a place with nothing to offer except more dirt and rock. The burnished rust of weathered clay encompassed them in a gorge. The rough, weatherhewn surfaces of granite shaped the hills. In it all, she looked where the old Indian did. “You smoke in there,” he commanded Jack. “Smoke?” Jack’s head turned from looking at the cave entrance to the Indian. “I don’t reckon you mean a cigarette, do you? TJ, he wants me to smoke, how ‘bout rolling me a cigarette?” She cocked a brow not finding him funny. “All right, so he didn’t mean a cigarette.” Jack cautiously inched his way to a gap in the rocks. The Indian took a long pipe hanging from a gold sash around his waist. TJ guessed the bit of fabric was a remnant of some soldier that served in the army. It would be hard to tell if it were Confederate or Union. Besides the sash, the Indian wore a gray woolen Confederate jacket with missing sleeves. Mismatched clothing with his weathered face reminded her of the scarecrows she and her sister Libby Sue used to put together to keep the birds out of the garden. It never really worked. “Go on, Jack, what can it hurt?” TJ forced the pipe in his hand and shoved him in the narrow crevice. “I don’t know. It’s dark and who knows what’s living in there. Can’t I smoke this out here in the sunlight, fresh air, and the safety of seeing what’s coming at me?”

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The Indian’s head slowly swung from side to side. “Smoke and shadows free the mind.” TJ posted her hands on her hips. She could shoot Jack in the ass, but it probably wouldn’t get him moving in the right direction. “Can I go with the big baby?” she finally asked. She expected Jack to object and honestly thought the Indian would say no. She would have if the question were reversed. When he nodded, her eyes widened. She didn’t really want to go in the dark cave. Creepy things like spiders and snakes hung out in those kinds of gloomy places. Unfortunately, she never let fear back her down from anything. She especially wouldn’t let Jack see she feared the unknown as much as he did. TJ knew a little about the sweat lodges and freeing the mind thing. Jack would rendezvous with the spirits and supposedly, his thoughts would get reacquainted with his spirit. It could be scary or it could be peaceful. Either way, she didn’t relish the idea of being caught in any nightmare he might have. She had plenty of her own to deal with. “Do you really think this is necessary?” Jack looked back at her with a worried frown. “Yes, if it’ll help.” She took his hand. “I’ll go first if it makes you feel any better.” She tugged him just inside the entrance, hoping he’d at least do the man thing again and insist he should be first. They were in a cave. Why not look for the caveman mentality he often liked to flaunt? “Well?” Jack said from behind her. “I’m just thinking. Maybe you’re right and this is silly.” She squeezed his hand when she heard what she thought was a snicker. “I don’t think being cautious is funny, Jack.” “Oh, get out of my way.” He hauled her back behind him. “Put your hand on me so I know where you’re at.” She grabbed his shirt, happy he finally took the hint. She heard the click of his gun’s hammer. Her hand already rested on her gun. It was hard to say what they’d find living in the cave. Snakes no doubt, but a mountain lion brought a greater hesitancy.

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“You think this is far enough?” Jack whispered. “Yes.” He struck a match and lit the pipe. “Damn, this is awful.” He choked. “How much do you figure I should smoke?” “How should I know? All of it I reckon.” She turned slowly to listen to the silence and the echo of sounds they made in the dark. All she could see was the red glow of the pipe when Jack inhaled. “You know this is ridiculous don’t you?” He continued to cough and sputter. “I’ve seen what old Indians can do. Believe in the magic and maybe it’ll work.” She spun to the tumbling of some pebbles behind her. “Do you hear anything moving?” “Nothing except what’s in my head.” “Jack!” she shrieked in surprise. His hand landed on her chest and then slid away. “Darlin’, I don’t feel good.” His hand glided up to her shoulder and down her arm. “You don’t think this stuff is some old Indian’s way of poisoning unsuspecting white men, do ya?” “No.” She examined him by touch and guided his gun back into the holster at his side. “Come on and sit down.” The pipe dropped to the ground first. TJ barely had a hold of him as he began to fall. His legs buckled and she got him to the ground quickly. It was strange to find herself right back in the same position as when he had hit his head. Once again, she sat cradling him in her arms while he lay almost lifeless. Fighting off the frightened panic lurking in her thoughts, she smoothed her fingers over Jack’s moustache and lips as she talked to him. “You know, I often think I’d like you more, quiet like this. It keeps you from saying something asinine to me. The only problem is I think we get along better when communicating. It might not be the peaceful sort some people do, but it works for us.” Arm weary, TJ shifted to lay Jack’s head in her lap after the first hour passed. The quietness was made up of a gentle stir of air through the tunnel and their tranquil breathing. TJ’s fingers combed through his

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damp hair. A million things went through her mind about him. Even in the dark, his face remained painted in her vivid memory. Many times without his knowledge, she had studied his features. The dimples in his cheeks were always there, his smile however, made them more prominent. Her hand rasped along his jaw, and while he needed a shave, she couldn’t help finding him attractive with the peppering of black stubble, shadowing the lower half of his face. “I’ve met other men as handsome as you, you know. I tell you this because I don’t want you thinking because you’re so darn cute, it’s reason enough for me to have a hankering to keep you around.” She put her hand on his chest over his heartbeat. “I’ll even confess, only because you can’t hear me, that you do use the right amount of pretty words on me. That combined with your persistence is paying off for you, Jack. I hope you don’t stop too soon.” Another hour passed. TJ wondered if she should try to wake him, yet with past experience as a guide, she knew the Indian ways were always slow and unrushed. The sudden rattles of a snake was a short sound. TJ had been sitting with her gun in her hand ever since Jack passed out. When the sound came again, she took one shot and then a second. Jack jolted and his hand practically slapped her face. “Welcome to the land of the living.” She laughed nervously, relieved. “Can you remember me?” “TJ.” He moaned and sat up. “Damn, my head is about ready to explode. What were you shooting?” “A snake and I’m not sure that I killed it. I’d advise we get out of here.” No sooner did she make the suggestion than Jack had her under the arms, lifting her to her feet. “I don’t know what that Indian put in that pipe, but it left me with a hangover worse than any bottle of bad whiskey ever has.” “Do you remember your past?” She handed him his hat. “I remember you said you’re my wife.” He swept a hand over his head to set his hat in place with his hair back. “Then it didn’t work.” She disappointedly went to her horse.

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“Guess not.” “What do we do now?” She put a foot in the stirrup and froze in place with Jack’s hands on her waist. “We’ll find Guerrero, I promise.” He kissed her cheek before hoisting her up on the saddle. “I said we’d get Emily back and I meant it.” “I suppose I put too much into that Indian’s magic.” She looked down at him. “Silly, huh? I’m usually a see-it-to-believe-it person.” “A little faith, a smidgen of hope, these aren’t silly, TJ. Never give up and never step aside of a chance, no matter how absurd it seems.”

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Chapter Twenty-One Jack mounted his horse and clucked to the animal. He winked at the Old Indian and smiled a thank you as he rubbed his throbbing temple. He hated peyote. It may do the trick in restoring a man to his senses, but the lingering effect would last for hours. He rode out to take lead, figuring they had lost time. With the place he had in mind to sleep for the night, they couldn’t have set a better schedule. The short ride would be the easiest. In the morning, they’d have to take the cliffs at a risk he never let worry him. He hoped TJ would be up to the challenge of the Devil’s Kiss. Jack made no hesitations in his choice on which paths he took. He wondered how long it would take TJ to question his route. Each fork in the trail, he took with many recollections. He couldn’t have known any place better than the one in which he grew up around. “Here we are,” he looked back and smiled, “home for the night.” “I don’t want to stop yet. We don’t know where to go and there’s a little daylight left.” “This is as nice a spot as you can find to sleep for the night. We’ll leave before the sun even thinks of coming up in the morning. You can build a fire and I’ll fetch something for dinner unless you wanted to get it.” “No, go ahead and get something preferably without fur. I’ll take care of the horses and—” She turned around and looked at him. “Don’t worry, I’ll find you something right nice.” When he came back to their camp, his first reaction was to ask the woman what she had done with his trail lady, TJ. She sat in front of the fire, her hair unbound, and looking sexier than a French lady on a

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playin’ card. She had the place looking better than the room they slept in the night before, and she turned their bedrolls into a single pallet with all the earmarks of a very comfortable and unchallenging night. “Fresh snake,” he announced. “Snake?” TJ took the long fat rattler. “Couldn’t you have gotten some kind of bird?” “Bird! I knew you had something in mind when you didn’t want fur. But as you didn’t specify, this will have to do. Besides, when that fellow wandered into my line of fire, let’s just say I had a hankering for a vengeful meal.” He rubbed the back of his head where he still carried a knot on his skull from the fall he took over the cliff. It surprised the hell out of him that he lived. “Sounds fair.” She smiled and began skinning the snake. Dinner turned out to be better than he thought she could do. It seemed TJ had more talents than a magician. He took stock in her qualities and appreciated every last one of them. After they ate, she handled cleaning up while he stretched out on the bedroll and passed the time with her in his imagination. Hours danced by and Jack dozed. At times, he leaned on his elbow and watched TJ. She paced their cozy camp until she neared exhaustive collapse. She kicked at rocks and slapped bugs that had the gall to bite her when she wasn’t in a very good mood. He waited and held his tongue, figuring she’d wear out eventually. Except it grew late and they both needed sleep. Jack pushed himself up and pulled her to him. “You need to rest, honey.” He held her around the middle as she tried to wiggle away. “I can’t.” She pushed at the vise he had locked her in. “It’s been days since that killer took Emily. I don’t even want to think what he may have done to her, yet I can’t stop my mind from working through every scenario as if it were the worst of my nightmares.” Jack led her to the double bedroll she had made up for them. Having her as a wife, looked to have a great deal of benefits. Once he got her quieted next to him, he kissed her affectionately for a long time.

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“Get some sleep, sweetheart, and when you say jump, I will.” It only took one crack of thunder for Jack to draw his revolver up in the air. He had left it in his holster behind him until TJ fell asleep. Then taking a good grip, he held it while his arm lay over her. “Put it down,” she whispered sleepily and pulled his hand down. “It was thunder.” “Oh.” He placed the gun on the ground in front of her and snuggled against her back. The lingering scent of smoke clung to her hair and he thought of all she had put up with in allowing him to tag along. Like some dog on the scent, he followed the woman for not much more reason than to be with her. He couldn’t get enough of her wisecracks or sweetness. When she wanted to take Emily home, he should have set out on Guerrero’s trail. He may not have caught the man, but he might have changed the events leading to Emily’s abduction. “We should seek some shelter before the rain starts.” TJ squirmed in his tight hold to roll toward him. “The Indian said before we saw the thunderbird.” “I didn’t see it.” “Maybe because you weren’t looking.” She cupped his cheek in the low light of the dwindling campfire and he watched her eyes twinkle. “If you’d take your eyes off me once in a while, you’d see a lot more about what goes on around us.” Jack’s brow wrinkled in puzzlement. He knew everything that needed knowing, yet he felt as if what he thought and what she was speaking about were completely different topics. Her fingers glided around the outside of his ear and stroked behind. She always felt good in his arms. He rubbed a hand over her clothes and down to her bottom. He could undress her and she’d not deny him, this he had learned of her most recently. Her fear had her clinging to him for all the wrong reasons and he always took advantage. “Come on, sugar, let’s get us up and on our way.” He climbed over her and went to fix them coffee.

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TJ packed up their meager supplies while he worked at fixing them something to eat. “Are you ready for your coffee, sweetness?” He handed her a cup. She took one sip and went back to buckling on her guns. “I’ve got a mighty fine looking wife, but tell me, when we get Emily back will you do me a favor and wear a dress once in a while?” TJ looked up and smiled. “I haven’t a dress.” “I’ll buy you another.” He rubbed his jaw wondering if she noticed his slip. He’d been doing a fair job at keeping her believing he couldn’t remember anything. Now that he could, it was hard not to refer to their past together. The dress had been such a big deal to her and it was his first major blunder of not letting on he could remember everything. “I’d like that.” She bent down and picked up her hat. “Emily’s got a good head on her shoulders. When I picked her up on her runaway trip from home, she really was as brave and as cussedly independent as you are. She’ll get though this okay.” He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle as he heard himself sabotaging his secret. “Then we’ll return to our cozy home and settle into a quiet life back on your ranch where you can take care of me like a proper wife, Tessa Jane.” Quicker than he could blink, she drew her gun out, and shot the ground close to his boot. TJ knew she hadn’t told the amnesic her full name. Putting that with other little things he said, she decided he was faking his loss of memory. Jack yelped from the surprise and jumped back. “Geez, TJ, you could have shot me in the foot.” She spun around and aimed the gun at him. “How could you play such a game with me?” “Game?” “Your memory. You pretended to lose your memory, why?” “I didn’t pretend.” “Then how long, Jack?” Her eyes narrowed. “How long since you got it back.”

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He wiped a hand over his mouth and moustache. “What gave me away?” “I told you my name was TJ, not Tessa Jane.” She lowered her arm when he squatted down to sit on a rock. “The story about Emily running away, a new dress, and other things.” “You’ve been keeping a tab, haven’t you, darlin’?” “I was hoping your memory was returning.” “I remembered everything when I came out of the cave.” He pushed his hat back and looked up at her. “So, I’m your husband now? Ain’t I one henpecked man letting you lead me around by my balls?” “You were going to leave me and it was the best I could do to prevent you from deserting me.” “Put the gun away and come down here.” He pointed to the spot in front of him. TJ shook her head. “I tricked you with reason. You tricked me for fun.” Jack got up and walked to her. “Give me that.” He took the gun from her. “Now that’s the last time you go threatening to kill me. The next time you draw on me, either hit me dead center of my chest or I’m going to paddle your bottom as if you were a child.” “You wouldn’t!” “I would.” He spun the guns in his hands until they landed in her holsters. “Now, how about you give me a kiss and we’ll call it even.” Holding her chin, he bowed down and brushed her nose with his. “Tessa Jane?” She pecked his lips quickly. “There.” “I think my pretend wife did a better job. One real kiss or I’m not moving from this spot.” She pressed her mouth to his and waited for him to hold her. She wanted to be held by the man who knew her. All the time he couldn’t remember, she had a terrible knot in her stomach—afraid he’d never be the same. Now, as her mind quickly went through the time spent since he came out of the cave, it made her angrier than a disturbed bear that he could

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play such a rotten trick on her. His arms didn’t come and he turned away. He had the gall to laugh when she groaned with a minuscule of disappointment. “You know,” he put a foot up in his stirrup, “you don’t surprise me too much anymore. It’s almost as if we really were an old married couple.” “If that was so, then you’d be better at keeping on my good side.” She hopped up and planted herself in the worn seat of her old saddle. “You have a good side?” He rode over to her and leaned. “Show me, Tessa Jane.” “Show you what?” She goosed back her head and looked under the brim of her hat at him. He always had a way of prickling her senses. The calm way in which he regarded her was frightening and nice. He wasn’t a man easily upset or angered and it seemed from outward appearances they were total opposites. Inside, where feelings mattered, Jack was a kindred soul and it drew her like a magnet. “Lean over here and show me your better side.” He smiled encouragingly. “Come on, I dare you.” TJ’s lips pinched. Jack’s smile, always so genuine, made her smile too and she leaned toward him. She reached out, folding fingers behind his neck, and she kissed him. TJ kissed him with every ounce of love she had in her for his generous unwavering faith he could tame her. He made her believe it and she hoped to God, it wasn’t a mistake. “Mmmm,” he hummed. “If I didn’t know you as I do, I’d almost think you enjoyed that.” TJ jerked from him and he snatched up her hand. “I’m teasing you.” “I knew that.” “Tessa Jane?” He tugged her arm. The horses unsure of the commotion got antsy and he let go. She rode away and he rode up alongside her. “So what do you say to the two of us—” “No!” “Honey, if you’d let me finish a sentence then—”

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“I’m not giving into any more of your… your…depraved attentions.” Spittle flew from her lips. Jack grabbed her reins and put a halt to her horse. “I was going to ask if you don’t think the two of us could have a truce in the bickering and upsets.” “Why?” “Because, while you’re very attractive when you’re as mad as a tripped over sleeping snake, you’re even more stunning when you have a smile on that gorgeous face.” He let go of her horse. “I’d like a peaceful ride with that woman for a change. Besides, I think you waste a lot of energy on getting riled. You’ll need that spunk when we catch up to Guerrero. Emily’s wellbeing should be your goal instead of trying to stay angry with me over every little thing that bothers you.” He was doing a fine job upsetting her. TJ wanted to berate his assessment because it was the one thing she was good at besides hunting down outlaws. “Okay.” She quietly gave in. “Guerrero can’t be trusted and we can’t just ride into his hideout. I’m going to take you somewhere safe to wait for Emily.” Jack started to explain. “How will she find me if you have me in hiding?” “It’ll be tricky.” “It’ll be dangerous,” she corrected. “I can take care of myself, Jack. Rethink whatever plan you had and include me going with you. That killer took my niece, he shot me in the arm, and he shot you in the shoulder. I don’t take any of that lightly.” “Thank you.” He looked over his shoulder at her. “For what?” TJ cocked her head, puzzled. “Including me in your list of reasons, it’s the first time you’ve said you cared about me.” “That’s not true!” she declared. “I’ve always… I know I must have told you… why should I have? You’re lucky I sat on that ledge with you for hours and spent all that time in that cave. You’ve done nothing but hold

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me back from getting to Emily. I hope today you can finally get me there without more delays.” “One delay, we have to stop for one more night. It’s going to take us all day to get close to where Guerrero will be.” “And where exactly is that? I mean, maybe if you explain I can find the place myself if something happens to you again.” “Great, TJ, you’ve completely taken what I thought was some sign of concern for me and turned it around to be concern for you. I guess I was real lucky to be the only one to know the trail, otherwise you would have really long forgotten me on that cliff, huh?” “You wanted peace between us, Jack, and you’re not living up to your end of the truce.” She waited for an answer and when he didn’t say anything, she rode up next to his horse. “I like you, Jack, and I care what happens to you. Is that clear enough?” “Maybe.” He kept his gaze forward. “Jack?” She didn’t want to fight with him. His gaze warmed her and his smile told her everything was still good between them. “Guerrero is in a canyon on the other side of this hill. It’s not hard to find so if I go and get killed, snake bit, or whatever, you’ll find the way.” “I do care about you.” He nodded his acceptance of her statement. “Look.” TJ stopped her horse and pointed to the rise of smoke from a distant ridge. “We’re being followed. Do you think it’s a trap?” “It will be some of Guerrero’s men trailing us.” He pushed his hat back. “Guerrero doesn’t need to sneak up on us.” “Are you sure? Maybe he’s killed Emily and figures we would think so as well.” She kicked her scabbard loose from the coil of rope that blocked her easy access to the rifle it sheathed. “Last night they could have come into our camp and killed us and you didn’t tell me. You knew we were being followed and kept it a secret?” “We were invited to the showdown, remember?” He looked back. “And Guerrero wants the pleasure of killing us himself. Any men following are strictly to keep us from changing our minds and turning back.”

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“If he really has Emily, what would make him think I would change my mind?” “He has no conscience, TJ, and he assumes it is the same of anybody. To him, you or I could simply say the hell with the girl and leave her to him. Don’t worry, you can see the distance they keep is quite far. They’re actually not supposed to let us know they are there, but Guerrero can’t get good men to follow him like he used to. Those men are the dregs that have let him lead them like blind sheep.” Jack moved on. The path narrowed in places that had them walking their horses in single file. The gravelly surface made each step important. When TJ’s horse spooked from another rumble of sand and pebbles cascading above their heads, she thought for a second, she was going over the side. Jack’s arm around her was a relief. He snatched the reins to the horse and handed them back to her when the horse stilled. He moved on, but only a few more feet and stopped at the narrowest ledge she’d ever seen. “Oh, we can’t get around there.” “We can and we will. I’ll go first. Just take slow steps and don’t let your horse spook.” “Jack, I can’t. My horse can’t possibly fit along that ledge.” Thunder clapped in the distance and TJ jumped back. “Easy, honey.” Jack held her arm. She looked over the edge. The sheered off cliff went straight down for a long, long ways. “If either of us falls, we’re dead.” She heard her voice echo in the canyon.” “Yeah, well that’s why this spot is called Devil’s Kiss.” “Fitting name I reckon for an eternal damnation,” she wheezed. “There has to be another way. I don’t feel good about this. Not after what that Indian said.” “Why, his omen was good. He said if I got my memory back, we’ll get past this.” “Yeah, but he said before the thunderbird.” She looked at the sky. “It’s already thundering and the rain is bound to start any minute.”

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“Then let’s not stand around here lollygagging.” She watched Jack walk the rim with his horse. Each crunch of gravel, every clink of a pebble, she held her breath. “Come on, TJ.” He looked around the horse he led. She nodded and began walking her mare. With a crack of thunder, the earth moved. It vibrated dirt loose from between the cracks in the rocky surface. She hummed to calm her herself more than to comfort her horse. Jack disappeared and she tried to keep her concentration on the ledge. She inched her feet along. Her horse nudged from behind, trying to push her to go faster, she assumed. “How you doing?” Jack asked. She looked up and saw him. “Walk natural, Tessa Jane.” “I can’t. This scares the shit out of me. I don’t come up in the hills. I ride the flatland, the desert, and ground that don’t scoot out from under my boots.” The sky rumbled and the first spits of rain hit her face. TJ turned to her horse and she hit a patch of loose gravel that sent her downward. “Jack,” her shriek caught in her throat. She hung over the edge with her fingers tight on the reins and her reliance went toward the horse holding still. Jack’s strong grip wrapped her wrist. “I got you.” He pulled her up and she leaned against the stony wall. She smacked the surface, angry and scared. Jack rubbed her back and didn’t say anything. She didn’t know if his silence was good or bad. She turned and gave him a nod that she was prepared to move on. She needed off that ledge, and quick. He took her hand and she held tight. She followed him and didn’t look at anything other than his back until they reached his horse. “How did you get around your horse?” She looked at the animal calmly standing on the precipice no wider than two feet.

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Jack gently stroked his horse’s rump and eased along him, holding the mane as he walked on the tips of his boots along the edge, back to the front. “Oh Jack, please don’t do that again. If that horse even flicks his tail, you could go over the side.” If she thought the path was narrow, it got worse. Her horse refused to move and she couldn’t blame her. “Jack, I can’t get her to budge.” TJ held her breath when Jack squatted and looked through his horse’s legs to see her problem. Every pebble echoed like a falling boulder into the canyon. “Let her go.” “I can’t leave her here.” TJ curled her lips inward between her teeth and cringed while watching him walk that dangerous lip, passing his horse again. “I’ll take her. You go up in front and lead my horse.” “Please, Jack, I can’t go past the horse the way you do.” She hated the way fear made her muscles ache from tension. “It’s easy.” “I’m stiff and tired. How far does this ledge go?” He looked up. “We’re about half-way.” She also glanced up at the twin peaks of rock overhead. They reminded her of the devil’s horns. Staring upward made her dizzy and when she stepped back, it was accidental. “Careful.” Jack pulled her up against him. She let go of her grip on his clothing and moved ahead of him. “Ready?” He held her arm as she shuffled her feet along the lip. “You can let go.” She twisted her fingers into the horse’s mane. “If he moves, I’ll shoot him.” “He’s pretty quiet, TJ.” Thunder rocked the mountain, at least in her imagination and she held still, waiting for it to pass.

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“Wait up a minute,” Jack instructed and she looked around, watching him get a rope tied from her horse’s bridle, to a ring in the saddle on his horse. Faster than she moved, Jack made walking the rim of the Devil’s Kiss seem like a stroll in a pasture. “There, she either comes with us, or they both stay behind.” “We can’t leave them.” Jack took the reins and nudged her to go. “Don’t worry, she’ll follow him.” He grinned. “Sometimes, women know their weaknesses.” “And now you know one of mine. I think you took this route to scare me.” She stopped when his hand touched her hip and slipped around to her belly. “I’d never do anything to frighten you, TJ This is the only route except for a very long one around the mountain and we need to take the shortest trail to Emily, right?” “Yes.” He lowered and kissed her cheek. “I’d protect you with my life, Tessa Jane. That’s a promise.” She twisted around and kissed him on the mouth. His one arm drew her against the length of his hard body. He made her feel much better and she walked away, as if the clouds carried her around the last bend of the ledge. “I can see the end of this.” She glanced back and smiled at him. Suddenly, her feet went out from under her. She dropped down, slipping from the precarious edge and falling into the emptiness below. Except, her descent jerked to a halt. Jack had a grip on her shirt and she had fingers latched onto a jutting rock. He tried lifting and her shirt pulled free of her waistband and belt. She twisted in her dangling position and the chemise torn open at her belly. Sharp stone edges scratched her skin. “Here we go,” Jack jerked her up.

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She threw a leg onto the ledge and hugged his boot with relief to lie at his feet. He finished dragging her up and she pushed her hands against his solid chest appreciating his strength. “No, don’t hold me.” She kept her hands on him. “Just don’t.” Jack gave her the couple minutes to catch her breath and strengthen her nerves. She wanted to be hugged, she really did, except she wanted off the narrow path first. “I’m ready.” She spread her fingers and patted his chest. “And I’m all right.” They finished the walk around the Devil’s Kiss and reached the point where the path widened. Soon it turned into the hill, taking them away from any dangerous edges. “My horse?” She looked back. “She did as well as you, sugar.” Jack put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her. He lifted the canteen down from his saddle and opened it. She took one sip when he offered it. “Drink some more. Surprisingly there’s a spring where we’re going.” “Guerrero wouldn’t have poisoned it?” She took another drink. “He can’t. It feeds right through his camp. No water for us would mean none for him, and he likes his little hideaway.” “Where are you from? You know a lot about this place.” “I was born south of here, not far at all. I traveled this area a great deal in my younger days.” “You’re not exactly old, Jack. You make it sound as if you have lived two lifetimes already.” She watched his eyes take on a distant look as if he recalled a sad memory.

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Chapter Twenty-Two Jack scanned the hills as they traveled another few hours. The last thing he wanted TJ to worry about was whoever followed them. He really didn’t think they’d bother them. He knew too much about how Guerrero thought and how he would wait for Jack to join him to finish playing his sick game. “You know a lot about Guerrero. How, Jack?” He looked at her voicing what rumbled in his head. “It’s from long ago.” He squatted down and traced a finger along the tracks of the horses that came before them. “Guerrero’s riding with four men, probably Mexican and one horse is riding heavier. It could be the one that’s carrying Emily.” TJ crouched down alongside him and looked at the tracks. “It also could be the man riding that horse is a Mexican fattened on the food he stole from the farmers he killed.” “Let’s try thinking on the better side of the fence.” He rose up in front of her. He took her hand and led her to his favorite spot in Feather Cliffs. With a babbling stream and a tree he remembered as being smaller, it also gave them privacy. “This is nice.” She tossed her hat off and knelt down by the water. “You’re sure we’ll be safe here?” Jack knelt down next to her and scooped up water to drink first. Then he held his hands to TJ’s chin. “Yes. Haven’t I kept you safe up until now?” She leaned and sipped the puddle in his palms. With a tap to the underside of his hands, the remainder of the water splashed his face.

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“I reckon you’ve done a good job if you think you should take all the credit for my wellbeing.” Jack grabbed her arms before she could get away. He kissed her harder than usual as her giggles infused more than passion into their devil-may-care moment. It had been a long day, a weary journey on hardtack and water. Nevertheless, with bellies growling for nourishment, their hearts yearned for something else. “I do care about you,” she breathed into his kiss. “Very, very much.” “I know you do, honey.” He held her head in the palms of his hands. “While I’m all for dropping down here in the dust with you, I think we could use a meal.” “I think we could use a bath.” She laughed and wiped his face with her wet bandana. He watched when she leaned back on her feet and stood. Her finger glided over the leather of her gun belt. She unbuckled it and tossed it aside. His eyes widened as she unbuttoned her shirt. “Excuse me, but should I be shucking these duds?” Jack’s brow lifted. He tugged on the front of his shirt. “Only if you’re thinking on washing up.” She pulled off a boot and hopped on one foot trying to get the other off. “Need help?” He put his hands out to pull. TJ leaned on a boulder and held her foot up. The boot came off in his firm tug and she progressed to sliding her pants down. One leg lifted and then the other. Her denims were chucked over to the pile of her other clothes. Jack held his breath. TJ waded into the ankle deep stream of water, wearing only her undergarments. She let him know just how cold it was by her child-like squeal. He hurried to undress and then joined her. “Too bad we ain’t got a bar of soap.” Jack waded the few steps in and rubbed TJ’s shoulders. “Of course, I hear using mud works wonders for scrubbing the skin.”

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“Really?” She bent down and brought up a handful of wet gritty sand and clay. “Okay, you first.” She slapped the handful to his bare chest. Jack held her hand over his heart and lowered his head to kiss her. From there, he lost time to the caresses of her fingers upon his skin. It didn’t matter where she put them, he felt the tingling heat of her passion burn through to the center. He tugged open the ribbon closing her chemise and wiped the mud over her breasts. “We’re supposed to be getting clean.” She bit his chin playfully. “And I’m making sure we don’t miss a single spot on you.” He peeled the wet cotton down her arms and flung it ashore with her other clothes. He hugged her to him and mopped the mud over her back and up to her neck where he held her hair gathered up to keep it free from the dirt. “Don’t worry. I’m more than willing to rinse you off.” He bunched the hair against her head while kissing her. “Jack?” She pushed at him slightly. “Tomorrow I’ll get Emily back, Tessa Jane.” He stroked her cheek, soothing the sad expression. They both had Emily on their minds, and one more night, he needed to keep TJ from thinking on it too much. He knew more than likely, if Guerrero hadn’t killed Emily, he was raping her. It made him sick to think on it. TJ threw herself at him. He voiced her fear and suspected she tried as hard as he did not to dwell on the bad. Jack rinsed the mud from her skin and took his time swirling his fingers over all her curves. From the sweep of her hip inward to her waist, he followed up to her breasts dripping with water. Her nipples were chilled into small beads. He tasted them each in turn. “Are we clean enough?” she asked with a devilishly sweet smile. He grinned and scooped her up in his arms knowing just want she wanted to do. “I reckon we’re good enough to do what you’re planning.” “And just what is it you think I’m planning?”

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“Sweetness, I didn’t lose the memory of us in that room over the saloon. You told me flat out, you liked sex.” “Are you trying to embarrass me?” “On the contrary, I’m hoping to remind you that I like it as well.” “What else do you like?” “You.” “Jack, I mean, what do you like while we’re like this?” “What is it you have a hankering to know?” He carried her sopping wet to the where he had a blanket spread out for them. “I don’t know. You’re always in control of me when we… and you know just how to… you make me feel good and well, I don’t know what you like.” “Anything you have a mind to do, I reckon will curl my toes, sweetness.” “Jack!” “What I like is your lips and hands on me wherever you’ve a mind to put them.” Her fingers traveled around his back and up into his hair. “Then I guess I’ll explore and find out for myself what you enjoy.” “I’m all yours, honey.” It made him feel funny inside to say those words to her, but her smile made it worth it. “You don’t weigh much more than a feather, so how is it you’ve survived brawling with uncooperative outlaws?” he asked to get off the subject of why her eyes glittered in a commitment sort of way he was liking. She put her feet down and pulled him down to her. “I used cunning, Mr. McCay.” She pushed him and she sat next to him. “I used what I am.” Her fingers scratched over the muscles in his chest and traced circles around his hard nipples. “But you never—” Delicacy was imperative when questioning a woman about exploits and he knew she’d never had any other than him so he forged ahead. “You didn’t do the naked dance before me and that I know for a fact.”

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“I guess you would say I teased a man.” TJ bent over him and licked one of his nipples. “Nothing else? Nothing like this?” He moaned with her lips chasing after his heartbeat. Her soft, yet firm kisses on his chest spiraled and descended around his navel. It was far beyond anything he ever had a woman entertain on him. “Jack, until you, I’ve never been kissed.” “What about Pullman?” He lifted his head and looked down at her. “I saw him kiss you.” “Strangely, that’s the first time he’s ever done anything like that and I don’t know why.” “Because you’re kissable.” “No I’m not.” “Yeah, you are.” He put his head back on the ground. “Now kiss me some more.” Jack groaned when she sucked on his chest. Her tongue took paths women generally didn’t bother to journey. She kissed a trail to his abdomen and ventured lower. “Has anyone ever told you, Mr. McCay, that you have an artistically formed body?” She giggled as his belly jumped beneath her lips when he laughed. “Artistically formed, huh?” “Well, pretty isn’t the right word.” She kissed lower. “How about exquisite, stunning, or maybe you’d prefer irresistible.” Jack stiffened. The minx had her lips in a region dangerously desperate. The beast in him would emerge. She didn’t appear surprised by the rise in his temperature or his eager cock. “You can use whatever words you’d like while doin’ what you’re doin’, sugar,” he voiced with a gravelly shortness of breath as she stroked the one thing making him oblivious to talk. He moaned as her thumb rubbed his slightly flaccid cock. Her interest lingered there, stroking, and teasing him harder. “Grows quicker than a weed, doesn’t it,” she mused. “You hold the power and the weakness of a man.”

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Her fingers wrapped the shaft. “Oh God, Tessa Jane!” He ground out an excited exclamation as she kissed, suckled, and licked over the head. “Do you want me to stop?” She teasingly pulled her lips away. “Hell no!” he rasped. Each caress brought Jack to an edge of insanity. Her lips slid down, taking him into her mouth. She pulled up and drew away. She had quite some skill to her grip twisting his shaft on each plunge and pull. “Darlin’, no complaints, but where the hell did you learn to—” “Suck your cock?” “Uh-huh.” He threw his head back with the nearing of his heated release. “Very vocal men I captured. They seemed to have a fascination with describing in detail what they wished I would do to them. They even said I could do it while they were tied up.” “You do any of them the favor?” “No.” She sat and gave him a frown. “All right, sugar, I believe you. Now go on back to what you were doing.” She shook her head. “Aw, come on, my heavenly angel, I didn’t mean anything by asking.” TJ swung her leg over him as he’d seen her do many times on a horse. Seeing the pink center of her delicious cunt dried the spit in his throat. “You missed the horn, darlin’.” “The what?” She looked puzzled at first. “Oh.” The way she nestled that moist spot on his belly jerked his erection around like some banner on a windy day. Then when he breathed again, she rose up, slid back so his shaft traveled beneath her and sprung up in front like a saddle horn. “Is that what you mean?” “Sort of.”

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“Is it possible for me to… ah, get on from here?” She gave him an adventuresome smirk while her fingers rotated around the tip of his cock. “Absolutely, honey, lift up.” He held her hips and guided. “That’s it, sweetness, be gentle.” She sank down on him. Her fingers fanned his chest and she lowered more. “This is awkward and embarrassing.” Jack lifted his hand to her breasts. “You have delicious tits.” He squeezed and pulled on them. “Sure, I say this is embarrassing and you act like this is normal.” “Rock your hips.” He closed his eyes and groaned when she did. He fondled her nipples and resisted looking at her blushing face. Her movements increased in tempo and he chanced bringing her down closer. She paused. “Don’t stop,” he whispered. Lying on him, she resumed rolling her hips, riding him harder. “You feel good.” He pulled her bottom lip into his mouth and let it snap away. “Real good, Tessa Jane.” She didn’t speak in words. Moans and trills of excitement squeaked out of her. Faster her lithe body rubbed and jounced. The creamy heat of her spending trickled over his balls. Jack lifted his head and nipped at her swaying breast. He caught one of her distended nipples and gently nibbled. TJ’s moans of pleasure increased and her orgasm peaked Letting go of her berry red nipple, he sat up and put a hand to the back of her head. His mouth met hers with force. His body shook, trying to release the fire in his vein. He held onto her and rolled her to the ground. Her fingers raked up and down his back as he thrust into her. She gripped his ass and pulled with each flex he made toward ejaculating. “Jack,” her sultry voice repeated his name urgently. “Jack.” He tried speaking and a grunt pushed from his lungs as he heavily discharged himself into the depths of her body.

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He’d forgotten their surroundings and looked up as if he should take some consideration they were in a bad situation. “Did you hear something?” TJ’s worry made her words shaky. “No, honey, just stretching my neck.” Involuntarily, his body jerked against her. She smiled, apparently liking the unexpected thrust. “Can I ask you something without getting shot, elbowed or smacked?” “I can hardly move. I think you’re safe.” She ran her nails lightly down his back until they touched his buttocks. “Of course, there are always my claws.” She laughed, scratching playfully. “What do you want to know?” Her strokes glided up until they dropped into the groove his spine made between flanks of muscle. “Why’d you cry that first time, Tessa Jane?” He brushed his fingers along her temple, humbled by the glow in her turquoise eyes. “You didn’t during, why after?” “I don’t know. I guess if I had to pick one thing, it was because I thought you had regrets.” Her fingers traveled in brushstrokes of agitation over his shoulders. She lowered her gaze and it seemed she was afraid of what she already saw. “And here I thought you were the one that regretted what we did. Just as you suggested, I was honored. Not by getting you under me, but by you wanting me to be the man you gave up your virginity to. I’ll never regret being with you, Tessa Jane. And I’m sorry if I made you feel forced into it.” Her mouth twisted up in a quirky smile. “I don’t usually have regrets on any decision I make and if you recall, you barely had a say.” “That’s true. You jumped me like a dog in heat.” TJ’s brow rose. She laughed, and then she cried. She cried like a colicky baby. Awful sounds of anguish and pain wracked her against him. The stress of many things obviously caught up with Tessa Jane Creager.

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“Shush now, we’ll get Emily back safe and sound.” He lifted and pulled her with him. She cried hard and it seemed as if what she may have held back for years finally caught up to her. He knew it would only be a matter of time before her toughness cracked and in a way, he felt at fault for showing her it was all right to care about people. “We’ll not stop looking for her, I promise, sweetheart. I swear you’ll get her back.” Her sobs broke his heart. This wasn’t the woman made of tough leather and stone. He liked the woman in her, and as much as he had looked to be the one taking care of her needs, he liked her independent strengths. “Come on, Tessa Jane. You’ll take Emily home, give her the life you both deserve, and hopefully remember me with fondness. I’ve had a good time getting to know you. You’re one hell of a woman and don’t you ever let anyone tell you different.” “Jack, please stop.” “Only if you stop balling like a big baby. I bet no big, brawny outlaw ever made you cry,” he teased. “No and they never will.” She brushed at her tears, swiping them from her cheeks like she would if they were pesky gnats. Jack cuddled her tenderly and let her have some freedom from his embrace. She stroked his cheek and fingered over his moustache. Every ounce of affection from her drew him deeper into many regrets and they all involved letting TJ go after Guerrero in the first place. If wishes could reverse bad judgment, he would have hogtied the woman and taken her home. He would have found someway to convince her that chasing any man out of vengeance could only turn bad. Emily’s abduction was almost the worst. As if it was clearly written on his face, he heard TJ question the very thing he hadn’t wanted to consider. “When you couldn’t remember who you were, you said some awful things about what Guerrero would do to her. Tell me truthfully, will he hurt Emily?”

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“I don’t know. I pray to God every day he doesn’t. I like the kid and really would hate for anything bad to happen to her.” He put his chin on the top of her head as he hugged her. Jack rocked her slowly from side to side. He’d seen her tears in the past and he had heard her cry. Each time it near tore his heart in two for her suffering. If anything went wrong and Emily died, it would kill all the strength in TJ. “You know, if someone should come along and see us, they’re going to be pretty shocked.” He tried to lighten her mood. “Let them.” Jack picked up his shirt and put it around her shoulders. “I don’t like to share.” He covered her up and looked around, wondering if whoever followed them had gotten too close. “You don’t think they’ll try anything tonight, do you?” She tipped her chin up and let her head fall back into his hand. “No. Guerrero has special plans for me and he’ll not risk me changing my mind in coming to him.” Jack fit his mouth to hers. Her arms tugged at him to join her back in their enmeshed repose on the bedroll. “Greedy woman, aren’t you?” He traveled her face like a map he had memorized. “Very.” She sighed heavily. He kissed her in all the right places that moved her to the positions he wanted her. It wasn’t long before they’d accomplished moving the earth beneath them and the heavens above. The only thing left of the night was the dawn. When they should have slept or ate, they indulged in a little more of what remained of their desperately ill-timed romance. ZY “Ready?” Jack raked back his hair and capped it with his black felt hat. Attractive was the one word TJ had never had an opportunity to say or think about. He epitomized the word that should have no image. His eyes twinkled with such genuine happiness she enjoyed looking at him

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for no other reason that to soak up the joy he got out of a day. It seemed something unobtainable for a great number of years for her. She forgot for a second about the loneliness she suffered. When she started to go to him, she stopped, realizing how she had used him. Her attraction to him seemed off kilter when compared to how she let him come with her to find Guerrero. She needed what he knew and she couldn’t tell him how sorry she was. She clung to him out of desperation and fell in love with him for letting her take advantage of his kindness. He forced her to think of wanting to have a home and a family. She wanted it with him. He was where she had been aimed for years. He was always there waiting for her to find him. All she needed was for Jack to love her completely. “TJ?” Jack had finished tying the leather of his holster around his thigh when he looked up because she hadn’t said anything. Tears surfaced while pondering. He saw them and she could have kissed him for ignoring them. He saw her close to a breakdown and knew they didn’t have time for it. “Have we got everything packed up?” He turned away. “It’ll take about an hour to get to the camp. Before that there’s the place for you to wait for Emily. I want you to stay there too. No following me. I don’t know what will happen. I can’t have you spying and trying to take control. I promised you half the bounty and I’ll stick with that agreement if I live through it.” “I don’t care about the reward, Jack. I just want Emily back. You can kill Guerrero and leave him for the vultures for all I care at this point.” She tugged her gloves on and slipped her foot into the stirrup. “Let’s go.” Jack took her a short ways around the mountain and stopped. “This is where you’ll wait. I’ll get Emily on a horse and send her out of the canyon up to you. As soon as she gets here, you’re to leave.” TJ didn’t say anything. She didn’t like his plan but wasn’t going to argue it. “Do you understand me?” His eyes narrowed and darkened like a storm. “I’m not deaf and dumb.”

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“TJ?” “I’m to wait here, get Emily and leave you behind. I understood everything perfectly.” She snapped. “Do you think I’d honesty delay in getting my niece to safety?” “As long as we’re clear what the other is going to do. I can’t go in there thinking one thing and worrying over another.” “You know me well enough now, Jack. I can take care of myself so you go do what you need to do to save Emily,” she told him. “Then think on saving yourself, okay?” He nodded and rode off to the descending trail. She sat for thirty minutes giving him a fair enough head start and then she followed. There was no way in hell he was going to leave her behind, wondering, waiting, and worrying what was going on. He said what he had to and she inasmuch told him that she’d be doing what she wanted to. If he did know her, as he should have, then he’d know she’d be his shadow. “So, my cousin has a fondness of little girls?” Guerrero grinned at Jack’s approach. TJ clutched her chest. From the hiding place in the rocks, she stayed crouched with her gun in hand. She waited to hear Emily’s voice, yet all thoughts froze in her head as she learned why Jack had known so much about Guerrero. It angered her in ways she didn’t understand. Jack had a despicably malicious killer for kin and didn’t tell her. She had asked pointblank questions, and he skipped around them as if he was the villain.

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Chapter Twenty-Three “Where is she?” Jack held both his guns out from his body and slowly swung them around at the men that watched him. He kept his eyes trained on Guerrero for any signal that would cause the mix of Apache braves and Mexican bandits flanking him to take a chance at getting him. “Come out and show yourself.” Guerrero reached behind the rock and pulled Emily out in front of him. “Pretty, isn’t she?” The back of his fingers slid down Emily’s dirty, tear-streaked face. “Did he hurt you?” Jack asked her, hoping the lascivious way in which his cousin caressed the girl’s stomach didn’t mean what he thought it did. She shook her head to answer since the gag in her mouth wouldn’t allow her to speak. “Hurt this precious little sparrow?” Guerrero pulled Emily against him and banded his arm around her chest. “Apaches don’t hurt women unless they fight our needs and this one was very cooperative.” Jack’s rage grew. He watched Guerrero tease him by fondling Emily. “Untie her, Guerrero, and let her ride out of here on my horse or so help me, I’ll shoot you between the eyes without a moment’s thought to me or the girl dying,” Jack told him. “Once she’s gone for thirty minutes, I’ll put away my guns and then you can do your worst to me.” “Where’s the white woman that you follow like a squaw?” He glanced around the rocks. “She’s too brave to let you come alone.” “Maybe, but I left her in town and she doesn’t know how to get here, that’s why I want Emily to have thirty minutes to get away.” Jack

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couldn’t take his stare from Guerrero. “Now are you going to untie her or are you afraid she’s a threat?” Guerrero pulled his knife and brought it up to the rag tied tight across Emily’s mouth. “Easy does it, cousin, I don’t want her to have the slightest mark,” Jack cautioned. Guerrero carefully cut the bindings from Emily’s tear stained face. Her brave stance and gaze made him proud. Once her wrists were free, she rubbed them a second. “Go,” Guerrero ordered, giving Emily a hard shove. “Come over here to my horse, Emily,” Jack told her. “It’s all right, he’s got me now and you can go.” Emily walked slowly. She had all the wariness her aunt did. She knew neither of them was safe at the hands of a band of renegades. When she reached him, her arms went around his middle and he wished for all the world he could hug her trembling body and promise her she’d forget everything. Only he kept his arms up and extended to wave the guns around at the small group to keep the men still. “Get on the horse, sprite, follow the trail and get to TJ.” “What about you, Jack? He wants to kill you.” She backed away. He saw the making of another woman emerging from the girl—the spitting replica of her aunt including the hardcore strength. “Don’t get mired in worrying about me, missy, you just git.” He needed her to go quickly. He saw his cousin’s patience growing thin. Emily got on the horse and turned it from him. “Jack?” “Go on and tell that aunt of yours it was fun while it lasted.” He didn’t hear the horse move and he couldn’t look. “Go on, Emily, you’re wasting time, and TJ’s only going to get antsy waiting.” The horse snorted in his stance and then he clip-clopped away. Guerrero stood calmly as if he had the edge. Jack’s only problem would come in the fact that while he made TJ promise to stay behind, she was TJ, and orders didn’t sit well with her unless she gave them. With no plan, he’d have to wait for her move first and then hope she allowed him a way to escape.

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Jack figured five minutes had gone by before Guerrero spoke. “You took me to the soldiers and wanted them to hang me,” Guerrero said as if it disappointed him. “You broke the law. Not only the law of white men, you’ve angered the great spirits. You’ve killed innocent people like that little girl’s parents. There’s no way to save your soul. But if it makes you feel better, I never wanted them to hang you. If there was another place, another way, I would rather you not die.” “None of the whites are innocent and our grandfather should have explained that better to you. I await death bravely.” “Yeah, right, you don’t believe that malarkey anymore than I do. It’s never a good day to die and you know it. If that were the case, you would have taken your punishment like a man.” “I do not believe in white man’s law and it has no merit for my existence.” His voice rose slightly. “Our grandfather taught me compassion, respect, and tolerance. He tried to teach you the same.” Jack thought of his Apache grandfather. He was a great man and while many braves wanted war, he fought to live in peace. His death in the end gave him the only peace he’d ever really known. “He didn’t mean it to include whites.” “I’m more white than Apache or did you forget?” Jack smiled. “I thought even you would be smart enough to see that by the clothes I wear, the people I choose to associate with and the job I took on ten years ago as a U.S. Marshal.” Guerrero grunted and turned his back on Jack. The first shot from TJ had the men scrambling, including him. He ducked behind the first boulder and began his trek over the rocks to escape while TJ kept shooting her rifle. Dust, rock, and dirt popped from over his head as he dodged the volley of bullets trying to kill him and TJ. He wanted to be upset by her interference, however she seemed to do a fine job in getting him out of a fix he felt doomed to die in.

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“Hey, beautiful.” He dropped behind a rock and took over blazing away at the outlaws with his revolvers while TJ reloaded her rifle. “What took you so long?” “You could have told me he was your cousin,” she yelled over the rock she sat next to. She scooted to a new place and put her rifle into the crook of two boulders for a steady aim. “It wasn’t important.” He took another shot and slouched down when he couldn’t see anyone moving. “Maybe it wasn’t, but what kept you from telling me?” “Perhaps because I thought you’d see me as something less desirable. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve heard a woman spit with disgust to hear I have Apache blood in me.” “That wouldn’t matter to me.” “I wasn’t ready for you. I didn’t cotton to the notion you might look down on me as some low crawling critter you despised. You seemed to have enough problems believing I sincerely care about you.” “I detest criminals. I loathe renegade Indians, Mexicans, and white men equally. I abhor all men that treat women with contempt for their ability to think. Not once have I ever put you in any of those categories.” He continued to watch for Guerrero and any of the other men. Satisfied they were gone or dead, he slid down with his back against the rock. “Okay I was wrong in not telling you. A man who lives with the fact he has family ties to killers doesn’t always like publicizing the fact, you know. It would put me in a—” “It embarrasses you?” She looked over at him. “There’s no reason to be ashamed of your heritage.” “It’s not that, honey.” He saw movement and started shooting again. “It wouldn’t make my job too credible if it were known I’m Apache. How many people do you think would believe I wasn’t on their side when homesteaders are attacked by men like Guerrero?” He scooted over next to her. “We need to think on moving soon. Emily is alone and I know I

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should have told you this before, but someone did follow us up the trail closer than I first thought.” “You should have said something.” She pushed up from the rock and made her way around the boulders behind her. “TJ, I’m sorry. I should have told you I thought we were being watched, but… Well, you weren’t doing altogether that good thinking about Emily. I didn’t want to add to your worries.” “That’s why you mentioned someone coming along and seeing us last night.” She stopped and lifted her rifle over his shoulder and took another shot at the men scrambling around below trying to get their horses. “They weren’t that close, I don’t think.” “You don’t think!” “Guerrero’s men weren’t going to close in on us while their leader was waiting on us.” He squatted down and let her take over. Gravel overhead rained down and TJ ducked, automatically covering his head at the same time. Jack looked at her. He had a great longing to close his mouth over hers with an everlasting kiss. However, Emily was out there, heading down a trail they all needed to be on. “Time to go, honey.” He put one gun in his holster and pulled her up with the free hand. “Where’d you leave your horse?” She nodded to the trail and they hurried to get out of there. It was only a short ride to catch up to Emily. Jack watched TJ hug the girl so tight he thought she might break her bones. “You came for me.” Emily cried hugging her aunt. “It was something to do,” TJ joked, and wiped a hand over Emily’s dirty face. “What was I supposed to do, brat, let that outlaw take another one of my family members?” Emily buried her face in TJ’s chest and cried harder. “Did he hurt you?” TJ asked Emily. Jack didn’t hear the answer and if Emily didn’t say, he’d keep his guesses to himself. He looked on from a distance to give her time alone with her aunt. From TJ’s hardcore exterior, a gentler woman emerged, a very loving woman who held a child for as long as they both needed.

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“TJ, I think we should go now,” Jack finally interrupted, not wanting to give Guerrero time to regroup his men. “Remember, there was someone following us and they’ll not be far behind after hearing all the shooting.” “You’re quite right, McCay,” a voice said, and they all looked to the side of the cliff. “Marshal Pullman?” TJ’s mouth tried for a smile except the gun in Martin’s hand had given the scene a serious complication. “It’s Mr. Pullman, TJ. Like your friend there, I too gave up my badge for the life of being a highly paid form of law. I heard McCay retired before I ran into you both. I did the same when I figured the two of you joined up to find Guerrero. You know the reward is up to ten thousand dollars on that killer?” TJ pushed Emily behind her. “Martin, this isn’t the way bounty hunters operate. If you were hoping to steal our bounty then you’re out of luck. Guerrero got away.” “Then Jack can lead me to all the other hiding places he knows his cousin might go in these cliffs.” Martin grinned. TJ looked back at Jack. His secret wasn’t as secret as he thought. However, Jack’s unwavering gaze never strayed from watching Martin. “Yeah, I know you are just another half-breed like him. Your mother was raped by a white man and Guerrero’s mother married a Mexican bandit. Those stories still make for good campfire tales in Mexico.” Martin laughed. TJ waited to hear Jack dispute everything about his mother, but he didn’t. He stood silent and she wasn’t sure what to do. Always ready for every imaginable situation when on her own, she couldn’t think right. Jack was a liability to her thought process and with Martin goading him into a fight she couldn’t prevent, it left her mute. “So, Jack, you think we can find Guerrero together? Naturally, the ladies will come along as my insurance that you don’t try anything funny.”

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“What makes you think they mean anything to me?” Jack’s voice cut into TJ like a cold winter night. “I brought TJ just because she would have followed anyway.” “Sorry, Jack. I sort of watched the show last night.” Martin’s grin grew larger. “She’s a real lovely woman undressed.” TJ gasped. The things she did to Jack and the way he reciprocated were very personal and private. “What? Embarrassed that I found you did have a soul?” Martin exclaimed. “You did have me wondering over the years. When I saw McCay making you whimper and wail like a two-bit whore on a Saturday night, you fixed my curiosity. You rode the bronc and he broke you.” Horrified, TJ went for her gun. Before she shot, Jack’s gun went off from behind her and Martin’s went off in front. She watched Martin’s eyes widen in shock as he fell back. She turned away and covered Emily’s face. “Don’t look.” Then TJ’s gaze went to a quiet Jack. She let go of Emily immediately when she saw him collapse. “Jack!” TJ dropped down on her knees next to him. She lifted his head and looked around for something to stop the blood from gushing out of his chest. “Emily, come here and hold this.” She took off her vest and folded it into a square to put it over the hole just below his collarbone. “I want you to push down as hard as you can on this and don’t let up until I get back.” She jumped to her feet and hurried down the path, up into the rocks where she left her horse. She grabbed a canteen and at the same time, a hand went over her mouth. Guerrero’s return should have been expected, but she had been so caught up in Jack’s injury, she lost her perspective of the imminent dangers. “I really didn’t want to kill you,” Martin said, dragging her away from the horse. Surprise struck her when the butt of Martin’s gun slammed into her head. She knew she should have checked to make sure he was dead.

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Chapter Twenty-Four Jack gurgled on the build up of saliva in his mouth. He turned his head and spit. “Where’s TJ?” he asked Emily. “She went to get something at the horse, but it’s been at least a half hour,” she cried. “Did you see or hear anyone?” He worked at sitting up. Emily’s head shook and she sniffed up her sob. Jack pulled her hand and the compress away from the pain in his chest. “Damn.” He took off his gun belt, and jerked his regular belt free from the loops. “Help me get this around my chest and shoulder.” They worked at getting his vest and then his shirt off. Using the shirt as the new compress, he had Emily fasten the belt to bind the cloth tight. It went beyond reason why he was still alive, but he knew his shot at Martin had missed. Maybe he clipped him, maybe not. Regardless, the man wouldn’t be dead and with TJ missing, it was anybody’s guess as to what was happening to her. With Emily’s help, he got up. “Hand me the guns, sprite, and let’s go find your aunt.” He moved slowly. The pain in his chest streaked like a lightning bolt racing through his flesh. They headed up the trail and when Jack found the horse, he found TJ and Martin. “Get down and crawl under those rocks. Don’t come out until I call you, okay?” He waited until Emily had herself safely tucked away. When his attention turned back to what Martin was doing, he had trouble believing his eyes. The man had staked TJ face down, spreadeagle, on the only patch of dirt amidst the rocks. She was stripped of the

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clothes on her upper body. Martin squatted next to her and sadistically rubbed the barrel of his gun up and down her bareback. “Look at them, TJ, red ants can bring a cow to her knees and kill her. How many it takes, I don’t know, but you’ll have more on you than you can number in a matter of minutes. Indians like to tie their victims right over the mound, but shoot, I’ll get bit that way. This is much easier and safer for me.” “Hold it right there!” Jack stepped out and before Martin could react, Jack shot him between the eyes. Martin fell forward and the perfect round hole in his forehead made sure he was dead. “Emily!” Jack called for the girl’s help. He painfully made his way to TJ and dropped to his knees next to her. Martin’s crash with the ground disturbed the red anthill and the swarm of bugs spread quickly. TJ struggled and cried against the gag in her mouth as the tiny ants gnawed on her with a voracious and merciless assault. Jack worked at the binds holding her down and brushed away the ants at the same time. When she was free, he pulled her away to a stony surface where Emily joined them carrying a blanket from the horse. He wrapped the blanket around TJ while she hugged him and Emily. Jack held both women. They sat for a long time in that position— minds blank with exhaustion and bodies too weary to move. If Emily hadn’t spoken up, Jack and TJ may have never given up their quiet embrace. He had used up just about all the energy he had left. “TJ, what are we going to do about Jack?” Emily asked, lifting her hand covered in blood. “I don’t know.” “The old Indian.” Jack breathed heavily. “It’s too far.” TJ hugged him. “We’ll give it a try,” his hand came up to push between them, “unless you want to shoot me like a lame horse.”

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“You’re too bullheaded to die.” She got to her feet and pulled to help him up. Jack forced himself to walk for TJ’s sake. They had one horse which no one rode. When they reached the small tranquil pond, he couldn’t go any further. TJ couldn’t even last long enough to get herself to the ground as she dropped from him. “TJ, Aunt TJ?” Emily was on her knees and Jack laid down next to her. “I’ll be all right,” TJ answered weakly. It had been less than an hour and Jack noticed how red TJ looked. He couldn’t say anything because neither of them could do for the other, and to frighten Emily seemed pointless. The pond had a familiar calmness and while Emily scrounged up something to eat from the saddlebags on his horse, TJ checked his wound. The bleeding had stopped and that should have been good. “I’m so tired.” She lay down. The ants had infected her system with their poison and it didn’t look good for either of them getting help. They’d never get past Devil’s Kiss in their condition. “Take care of Emily,” TJ murmured on her last breath before sleep. Jack rolled over and put a hand to her face. It glowed red like an evening sunset and scorched his hand like a hot griddle on a Sunday morning. “TJ?” He shook her face. “Tessa Jane Creager, open them beautiful eyes and look at me,” he demanded. Emily squatted down next to him. “I best see if I can find that Indian you was talking about.” “You can’t go alone. There are dangerous places on the side of the cliffs.” “I’ve already been past them to get here, remember? You can’t go and Aunt TJ has done passed out from the fever.” She pulled Jack’s guns from his holster and reloaded them. “You just make sure Guerrero don’t get past you and I’ll be all right.” “Emily—”

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“Don’t tell me I can’t go. You’re too weak to hold your head up, let alone stop me. I’m the only one here that can do this.” He watched her walk over to his horse. He noticed her slight limp, but she was in the best condition out of all of them. She hopped up with the agility of a child and the strength of her aunt. “I just wanted to say good luck, sprite. I know you can do it.” He smiled at her frown and surprisingly he knew what it was for. “You’re grown now, Miss Creager. I’ll expect to see you real soon.” It was the best he could offer, a warning and encouragement. Headstrong and as brassy as her aunt, Emily was their best chance at survival. He’d not deny her a shot at helping them and herself. Once Emily rode off, Jack looked at TJ with a renewed energy. He couldn’t let her down by up and letting them die without a fight. “Come on, honey.” He grabbed her under the arm and dragged her the ten feet to the water. Leaving his guns on the bank, he took another hold of her. Attempting to cool her feverish skin, he dragged her into the water. In case he passed out or died, he positioned her in a shallow area. Taking a spot next to her, Jack kissed her and closed his eyes. “Honey, you’re the best thing that has ever come into my life.” ZY Jack thought maybe he had slept for ten or fifteen minutes but something was strangely wrong with the scene above his head. It was dark, gloomy, and he’d admit it to anyone if asked, he was scared. “I’ve gone to hell.” “Jack?” Emily’s face popped up over his and she kissed him. His eyes widened because it wasn’t a kiss of a kid. It was a young lady who squarely planted her lips on his and pressed a tight, firm, and centered kiss so he’d not soon forget it. “Emily, am I dead?” She smiled and shook her head. “You’ve been passed out for five days solid.”

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“Tessa Jane?” He sat up and saw her lying on another pallet of furs in the softly lit cave. “She got a fever. It’s finally gone, but she’s not moved nary a finger.” Jack put a hand to the ache in his chest. He had some sort of goop and leaves plastered to his skin, but he didn’t want to think of that now. He grew up on Indian medicine, some worked, some didn’t. “TJ, honey, open your eyes.” He fingered the red splotches marked by tiny white pustules, the remnants of the ant bites on her face and neck. “Sweetheart, it’s Jack.” He lifted her up and held her in his arms. For hours, he hummed and rocked her while Emily sat and looked on. “My mother use to sing to me before bed,” Emily commented. “Mine too, but I’ve pretty much forgotten those songs. They were Apache lullabies.” He smiled and rubbed his chin on TJ’s head. “Why did she sing Indian songs?” Emily’s eyes widened as she leaned closer. “Because she was an Apache Indian.” He told her not wanting there to be any secrets left unsaid. “You’re teasing me. You don’t look like an Indian.” She giggled. “That’s because my father was white. I guess I took after him more than I did my mother.” He stroked TJ’s face and along the side of her neck as he spoke. He wondered what his children would look like with TJ. Would she even want her own children? Did he? It wasn’t anything that had him up at night worrying over. It certainly wasn’t his choice alone. Yet now that he had time, the notion stuck that he might just like the prospect. The fact he wasn’t at all careful with his intimate time with her proved from the start, he had looked for a way to trap her into marrying him. TJ woke coughing. “I’m sorry about your mother,” she whispered against his chin. “It must have been awful for her to be used by a man.” “Emily, can you go find the old Indian for me.” Jack sent her off, not wanting her to have to listen to a conversation that might upset her. He kissed the side of her head.

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“She was willing, honey. The man just didn’t want to marry her because she was an Indian girl.” “Then how did the story start that Guerrero told?” She looked up at him. “She was young, very spirited, and extremely vengeful. She told that lie to get even because he hurt her by his rejection. She felt used and coming from a tribe of ill-tempered Indians I figure she thought he should be in as much pain.” He lifted the canteen and held it to her dry cracked lips. “Was she the woman you told me about when you put wild weeds into the stew?” “Yes. Why?” “No reason.” He smiled thinking how much he needed to hear her concern about his affections for another woman. “What happened to your father?” “I don’t know. She never said who he was, and I reckon I never cared. I had enough of my own problems seeing how I was a little more white than my cousins wanted to tolerate.” TJ sat up and stretched her arms. “I ache from head to toe.” She turned and put a hand to his chest. “You’re all right?” “Yes, and when you’re up to it, I think we need to get going. Emily says that we’ve been asleep for five days. That’s long enough to homestead the place and I don’t rightly cotton to living in no cave. Are you up to traveling a bit?” “I’m up to a whole lot more.” Jack grabbed her as she swayed in her attempt to get to her feet. “Slow down, sweetheart. You just woke up from a mighty long sleep.” He got up and kept a hand under her arm. “How did we get here?” She moved slowly. “I seem to be missing everything from the time those ants were nipping at my skin until now.” She scratched at the blisters. “No, I do remember we got to the water and I thought I was going to die.”

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“Emily found the old Indian. I don’t know how they got us past Devil’s Kiss and I reckon we don’t want to know.” “You let Emily go alone?” “If I didn’t, we’d probably be dead, and she’d be alone with two corpses.” He took her arm. “It was the only chance we had.” “What about Guerrero? Now that we know Pullman followed us, then Guerrero is practically alone and it makes him vulnerable. “Forget about him.” TJ jerked on her arm free from his grip. “We can’t let him get away. Not after what he did to Emily.” “We don’t know that he did anything to her.” “I know, Jack. I saw it in her face.” “Guerrero can wait until another day. You take Emily home and leave him up to me.” “No. I’ll leave Emily here with the old Indian and help you find him. We’ve lost five days and you don’t know what direction he’s gone. He’ll kill some other family before we can blink and I don’t want to be a part of that.” She walked out of the cave into the bright sunlight and shielded her eyes. “TJ, we can’t save the world from killers.” He followed her. “Not at the expense of ourselves.” He reached for the rifle she pulled from its sheath on her saddle and she turned it on him. “That doesn’t sound like a philosophy that should be coming from a lawman.” She held the gun steady. “It makes me think that maybe I’ve been wrong about you all along. Pullman saw you as something you are—an Apache. What was the capture of Guerrero for, to prove something to the town’s people before you quit protecting them and started a new career as an accomplice to your cousin’s crimes? Maybe you wanted him to see you were more like he was and live down that you were white?” “I’m no longer a marshal and my outlook has a more personal territory to cover, namely getting you and Emily safely out of Feather Cliffs,” he answered, not understanding why she distrusted him now. “I’d never have anything to do with Guerrero and I don’t have anything to

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prove to him or my tribe. Everyone that ever meant anything to me from that tribe is dead. Now lower that gun before you accidentally shoot me.” TJ’s hesitation irritated him enough that he stalked over to her and grabbed the gun from her hand. He didn’t bother to put it back in its sheath. Instead, he tossed it on the ground. Her revolvers were still in their holster, which she wasn’t wearing yet and she stood defenseless. Jack grabbed her around the waist. “Let go of me!” He hauled her over to a rock he sat on for two reasons. One was to conserve his strength and the other was to bend her over his knee. “I told you if you ever pulled a gun on me you better kill me or I was going to paddle you.” “Jack, let me go or I really will kill you,” she screamed. Jack walloped her on the seat of her pants three times. Not so hard that it hurt, but she’d sting enough to likely not forget he was a man of his word. “Now tell me I’ll never look down the barrel of any gun in your hand again.” He held her as she struggled. “Convince me, TJ, or you’ll lie across my knee like a disobedient child all day.” TJ never felt such acute humiliation before. Luckily Emily hadn’t come back with the Indian. “I hate you!” she growled through gritted teeth. “It’s an acceptable statement for the moment, yet I still don’t hear you telling me that your guns will never be aimed at me again. It’s called manners and if I have to paddle you again, it’ll be much harder and a lot longer until you learn to act like a respectable lady instead of an immature child.” “Oh! You no good, rotten… Okay, I promise never to aim another gun at you! Now let me up!” She flew off his legs. TJ fetched her holster and looked at the guns. Quickly, efficient in her movements, she strapped them on and gave Jack one last look of vexation before looking for Emily.

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Her niece stood at a safe distance from her and Jack. She was wideeyed. The worried expression on her face made TJ remember Emily’s sufferings. The old Indian stood next to her and appeared unconcerned. TJ nodded her thanks to the man and took the reins of her horse from a tree branch. “Come on, Emily, it’s time we got on the trail for home.” She picked up her hat and swatted the dust off with her hand. Jack grabbed her arm. “We need to talk.” “We’ve nothing to say to each other, Jack. The journey we’ve shared is over and it’s time to take the fork in the road. You have a nice life.” The words came out before she could stop them. She searched his face, wishing he’d kiss her one last time. It was horrible how she had bound love and hate up into a stubborn mess she couldn’t get out of on her own. Yet, as she watched his eyes darken and his forehead wrinkle, his mouth tightened with a similar stubbornness. “I thought maybe now that you weren’t a frustrated virgin, you wouldn’t be so blasted cantankerous. I guess I was wrong,” Jack blurted out. “You take what you want from a person and that’s it, no giving anything of yourself back. You ran out on your brother, you wanted to run out on Emily, and now you want to run off from me. The kid was right, you’re mean and you don’t care about anybody but yourself.” TJ swung to slap him. Somehow prepared, he caught her wrist and then the other. “Let me go. You have no right to say any of those things about me.” “No, maybe I don’t. It wouldn’t be fitting for me to talk to a lady like that, yet you’ve not shown me an ounce of ladylike behavior since we’ve met so let’s not sugarcoat any manners you did have, now.” “I—I can be a lady if I had the luxury of someone to take care of me, but I don’t. I’ve had to make my way in this world and the only way I know how is the way I’ve grown accustom to.” She struggled to be free. “Then marry me and you can have that comfort. I’ll take care of you.” He twisted her arms behind her back. “Well?” TJ shook her head. “I won’t marry you and become a slave to your house like some squaw.”

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“I don’t have a house. I’d get you one if you want it, but I think you’d prefer to live at your old ranch.” “I won’t marry you so you can get my land either.” TJ couldn’t understand why she argued with him. He offered up a commitment to her and she threw it back without a single consideration. “Then what would make you marry me, Tessa Jane, love? Neither you nor I know what love really is, but we are good together.” “You’re a fool to think I even want to love you.” Jack released her. “Fine, I give up. You go your way and I’ll go mine.” He walked toward his horse and TJ ran for hers. Emily looked down with worry. “He said he’d marry you. What’d ya go and tell him to git for?” she asked. “Jack couldn’t have put his feelings toward me any plainer. He thinks maybe we could be good together. He wants to tie me to him for one reason only and I won’t be a willing participant where his urges are concerned. He’s looking to settle down and have someone wait on him hand and foot and I won’t be a slave to any man.” She got on the horse in front of Emily. “He’s been right decent, TJ. He asked you to marry him. That must mean he wants to stay with you,” Emily argued, her blue eyes watering with the sudden upset of what they all assumed would come next. Even TJ had let the idea wander in her thoughts of Jack going home with them. She clucked to the horse and they set off down the trail. “He was sweet on you and you’ve ruined everything.” “All the sweetness in the world, drizzling over me like syrup on flapjacks might have softened my heart, but it doesn’t make me stupid. He wanted one thing from me and he got it.” “What was that?” “You’re all grown up, right?” “Yes.” “Then listen well. Men chase a woman for one reason—sex. Once they get their way, they don’t care about anything else.”

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TJ stopped her horse and closed her eyes. She shouldn’t have said anything. “Emily, when you were with Guerrero, did he hurt you?” She pulled Emily’s hand up and held it to her chest. “A little.” “Oh honey, why didn’t you tell me?” She twisted in the saddle and hugged her. “I’m all right.” “Are you sure? You know you can tell me. It’s nothing to be ashamed of if he forced you.” TJ kissed her forehead. “I love you, Emily. I love you more than I can ever tell you.” “You love Jack, too. I know you do and he wanted to marry you.” TJ understood Emily’s disappointment. She turned back around and nudged her horse. “He didn’t want to marry me for the right reason. Now hold on, we’re not looking back. I want to put as many miles between Jack McCay and us as possible.” “Stubborn as Pa, you is.” “You are,” TJ corrected. “When I get you back to Miss Simpson’s school, I’m going to pay her to tutor you in proper English. I can’t have you hanging around talking like some street waif from the city. It’ll embarrass the hell out of me to have people think I’m raising you as an unschooled heathen.” “You’re not going to take me to that uncle of yours?” Emily asked in surprise. “No. Who’ll muck the stalls and cook? I don’t like to cook.” “But you cook real good… real well, Aunt TJ. Jack said you were the best he ever had.” TJ reached a hand alongside and patted Emily’s leg. “Jack isn’t part of our lives anymore so his opinion doesn’t mean anything. Don’t worry we’ll do real good together.” “Real well,” Emily snickered. “Yes, very well indeed.” She rubbed Emily’s hands as they snaked tighter around her middle.

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This would be a big undertaking, a ranch and a child to care for. Jack would have been the perfect fit if he had asked her in some way that made it sound more like he wanted to care for her than as if it might be a continuing obligation he felt compelled to do.

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Chapter Twenty-Five Jack pushed back his hat and sat on the ridge watching TJ ride the trail down Feather Cliffs. He thought of her on Devil’s Kiss. The terror in her expression each time she nearly fell from the death walk made his heart stop. His chest tightened with the ache he had in letting her leave him. He should have followed, just as he had from the start. She didn’t mean the things she said and he knew it. Instead, he turned his horse back toward Guerrero’s camp. Unfinished business was just that and TJ was right, they couldn’t let Guerrero get away and hurt anybody else. He looked down as he rode past Pullman’s decaying body. The heat and vultures worked fast with their destruction. For most people, he would have decently buried the remains. This one, he didn’t give a moment’s thought to trying to bury. He pulled up on his horse when he heard the snort and shuffle of another horse not far from him. He slid off his saddle quietly and listened to the wind. TJ muddled his brain from the second he met her, to notice any sounds outside the bounds of normal was not as instinctive or sharp as they once were. “You aren’t so quiet.” Guerrero laughed from above him on a jutting rock. Jack spun around and caught his cousin flying through the air. They rolled on the ground in a wrestling match that took them close to the edge of the cliff. Dirt billowed up in a dust storm from heir flailing limbs. Guerrero held Jack by the throat over the side and the black felt he wore went floating off into the vacant air.

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“I liked that hat,” Jack growled and flipped his cousin over on his back. “I’ve had that hat a mighty long time and I had it broke in just right.” “White men are vain dogs,” Guerrero grumbled, “silly squaws that preen themselves to attract a woman. You had a woman in your hands and should have taken her by force if she was not willing. But I watched you let her go. She struck you, and you let her ride away proud of her bravery and the coup she gathered.” “I let her go because I am a man. I don’t force women to like me if they don’t. Unlike you, I can attract a woman and make her willing with gentle words. You were schooled and know that when spoken, the word is a mighty weapon.” Jack twisted and fell off Guerrero. “Then you should have told her the words you knew she wanted to hear.” The corner of Guerrero’s lip curled up, pleased that he got a reaction from Jack. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jack’s heart beat faster than the lie he told. “She was waiting for you to say you loved her and I heard you argue your way out of it like some little boy ashamed. What shames you more, McCay, that she had you trained to do her bidding like a pet dog or that she discarded you as a worthless half-breed?” Guerrero rolled away and was up on the balls of his feet rapidly, producing a knife from the sheath in his leather leggings. “I didn’t argue it. I told her I didn’t know what it was. My mother didn’t show me love because she was hurt by love. I figured I should be cautious about tossing around sentiments I know little of when it comes to a woman. As for the shame of anything, I think you are the one that has always felt ashamed of who you are. I learned that more than anything from Tessa Jane. Who we are is only what we want for ourselves and no one can make us into monsters because of our ancestry. She had nothing against who I am as long as I’m a decent fella.” “Decent, ha! You have the blood of your coward father who was unable to show respect for your mother and take her to be his wife. Your

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mother fixed him good, didn’t she? Made him flee that town before the whites strung him up for touching an Indian squaw.” Guerrero tried to anger him and, in the process, hit upon something painfully clear. Jack held out on TJ because he was afraid of being hurt like his mother. “You’re right,” Jack confessed. “I should have told TJ. She had a right to know I love her as much as the sun loves to shine on the earth. I made her think it and believe it all those times I held her. And then I let her go away thinking it was a lie.” He rushed his cousin, hoping for the advantage of timing. Guerrero swung the sharp bladed knife and caught Jack in the arm. The new pain on top of the one in his chest, took its toll. He heard TJ’s words clear in his head, “big baby”. He smiled thinking how he promoted that a little more than need be to let her feel in charge. Jack managed to move away enough so when the second swing came, it only sliced his sadly tattered shirt. His knife, used for cleaning his dinner and cutting a rope or whatever else, was in the saddlebag of his horse that went over the cliff. He hadn’t had a chance to replace it or any of the other personal items he carried. Razor, dry socks and even his pocket watch were gone. He looked at Guerrero and honor prevented him from drawing his gun. His cousin wanted to fight hand-to-hand and he obliged, even though Guerrero had the advantage of experience with a knife. Guerrero lunged and Jack grabbed his wrist. The fierce struggle weakened Jack, but his need to see TJ again gave him strength. Her image and that of Emily’s bruised face, forced his hand, and suddenly all went still. Jack held his cousin upright as they looked to the knife twisted between them. The handle protruded from Guerrero’s belly. Warm red liquid oozed from the wound and Jack felt sick. He had killed before in the line of duty as a U.S. Marshal. Some were strangers and some were men he’d met in passing. His grandfather’s blood ran through his veins

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as much as Guerrero’s and he never anticipated the strange feeling he got as his cousin’s life drained by his hand. He stared at Guerrero’s dark brown eyes and waited a long time before pulling the knife out. Shock, pain, the man was a murderer and Jack couldn’t hate him as he should because of that one thread of humanity in him. Compassion, empathy, or pity, Jack didn’t want to label it. “Things could have been different between us,” Jack said sadly. “I could have even loved you as cousins should if you would have let me.” “You are white,” Guerrero mumbled sinking to his knees, “it was never meant to be.” “I was blood through our grandfather and the ancestors that came before him,” Jack charged, angry that even in his death, Guerrero would not allow a sliver of acceptance. “I would have taught you how to live amongst the whites and survive.” “It is in my Indian blood to fight the change of the country,” he whispered hoarsely. Jack lowered him to the ground. “Then maybe nothing could ever have been different because I always thought helping the change come was far better than fighting it with uselessness. You can’t hold back the wind, Guerrero, you can’t even harness it.” He looked at the calm expression on his cousin’s dead face. “You can only embrace and love its wildness and hope to enjoy the time you have reaping the goodness from its power.” Jack rose up and touched the wound in his chest. The old Indian had fixed it up fairly well and while he ached with a soreness of which he only got on his rump after days of sitting a saddle, he figured he would live. He examined the cut in his arm and found it not more than a scratch that stung like a snakebite. Again, it was something he would live with. He looked down at his cousin. The Indian in him considered giving Guerrero a burial and letting his spirit go in peace. The thought of what Guerrero did to Emily gave him enough incentive to ignore tradition. Besides that, the reward offered for him dead or alive, would benefit life. ZY www.samhainpublishing.com

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The old wood rocker creaked on the porch floorboards as Tessa Jane sat and drew the woolen shawl tighter around her shoulders. The winter winds seemed to be coming early and she hoped they had put up enough hay for the few cows she bought to start a herd. Bounty hunting days were far behind her and she forgot what it was like to sleep in a saddle. It felt better than she anticipated. She saw her life ahead enjoying the peace and tranquility as she never thought possible. Jack had changed her in a good way. She became a better person because of the affection he lavished on her with tireless persistency. His motives may have always been in his favor, but the results were the same. Even taking on family responsibility like an adult came easier now that she and Emily had found common ground. She and Emily talked a lot on the way home and resolved they were different than other people. That entitled them to do things their way, whether conventional, traditional or purely inventive. They shunned church at first, not because of Tessa Jane’s loss of faith, just her lack of socializing. Once she accepted how her life would be, she took on the world with the strengths she gained from her past. It didn’t take long for her and Emily to wear out the newness of each other’s company. Then they sought outside stimulation. That meant going to church, to socials, and visiting neighbors on a regular basis. Their parading to church and visits were not done lightly either. Emily’s dressmaking took on a surprisingly skillful venture into the dressmaking business as neighboring women asked to have garments made. The ones Tessa Jane and Emily wore were like advertisements for the quality of her work. Creager women were always strong and work minded. The horse and rider approaching had Tessa Jane jumping up from the chair. The sewing that sat idle in her lap fell to the floorboards. She took in a calming breath, picked up the cloth and then leaned on the post watching Benjamin Lafferty ride into her barnyard. He carried Emily’s early Christmas present across his saddle. “Afternoon, Miss Creager.” Benjamin tipped his hat to her before getting down from his horse. “I brought the puppy as you asked.”

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Tessa Jane walked slowly to the barnyard. Her heart still thumped hard from her false alarm. Every rider who approached her ranch gave her such a hope it seemed to knock the wind out of her. Instead of less, it hurt more that Jack hadn’t come. When things should have gotten easier, they felt like fresh afflictions plaguing her sanity. “Good day, Mr. Lafferty. Emily is going to be thrilled.” She took the little creature and cradled it in her arms. Ever since they came home, Emily had missed having her dog. Whether he ran off, was killed, or someone in their travels took him, Tessa Jane figured they’d never know. She hadn’t actually realized how much the dog meant to her niece until Emily made a cross and put it aside her parents’ graves. It helped her to let go and woke Tessa Jane to the purpose the dog could have in helping Emily live with her parents’ deaths. “He’s a hefty little dear, isn’t he?” Tessa Jane nuzzled her face to the soft bundle of fur. “I told ya, Miss Creager, them pups eat more than my horse. You best be thinking about raising one whole steer to feed the fellow for a year, ‘cause come next summer, he’ll be about the size of a horse.” “Emily!” she yelled, keeping her back to the house. “Emily!” she shouted again when she got no answer. Her manners slackened in the wake of her own excitement as she shouted a third time in front of Benjamin. “What is it?” Emily finally replied with irritation. “I was just getting that pecan pie out of the oven and you almost made me drop it.” Tessa Jane turned slowly. “I thought you might want your Christmas present early.” Emily’s eyes widened and went teary as she jumped unladylike down off the porch and ran to her. “He’s for me?” “You said you wanted a dog, didn’t you?” Tessa Jane smiled and handed Emily the black and tan puppy. “Now you have a dog.”

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“Oh thank you, Aunt Tessa Jane, oh thank you so much.” Emily’s one arm reached around her neck and squeezed a hug while she kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” “All right, that’s enough. Mr. Lafferty will think I’m wickedly mean to you and this is the only nice thing I’ve ever gotten you.” She shooed Emily back. “Anybody that’s met you, Miss Creager, would never think for a second you were anything but a kind loving woman to take up raising your niece as if she were your own daughter.” “Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. If you’ll come with me, I’ve got those saddlebags in the barn for you in exchange for the puppy.” She led the way. “Doesn’t quite seem a fair trade, Miss Creager. I mean I had to get rid of them pups anyway and I feel like you’re getting the short end of this here deal.” He took the saddlebags she handed over. “I have several more, Mr. Lafferty, and haven’t any place to go to use them. Besides, to see the smile and hear the laughter of Emily has much more value to me than the saddlebags.” She stepped back out of the barn. Her hand rested on her belly as she felt the movement inside. She laughed with the giddiness she always felt when her baby moved. It excited her and seemed to somehow keep hope alive in her that Jack would show up one day. Benjamin looked at her and she steered his attention back to Emily. “That pup is going to be spoiled by her.” He looked and they both smiled at Emily’s laughter. Emily held the puppy by the front feet and danced him around. When she stopped and kissed him, he lapped at her face as if it were the tastiest thing he had ever licked. Her niece was happy. It was the one good thing Tessa Jane had besides the impending birth of her child. If she never saw Jack again, she lived everyday with the happiness she reaped from knowing he gave her something far more precious than the emerald pendant he put around her neck. “I’ll go up to the house and see what I have for him to eat,” Tessa Jane told Emily. “But from now on, the little mutt is your responsibility.”

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“Yes, ma’am!” Emily hugged the dog and cuddled it up against her face. “Mr. Lafferty, we have fresh pecan pie and coffee, would you like to join me for some?” Tessa Jane smiled. “No, sorry, Miss Creager. I have some other pups to deliver, though I thank you kindly for the offer.” He stooped down to pet the pup’s head. Tessa Jane took long strides across the barnyard and suddenly the uneasiness of not being alone came over her. Her head snapped up at the snort of a horse and the squeak of a saddle someone sat in. She had no guns on her and her hand went slowly to her stomach. There was no reason to be worried she tried to assure her quickening heartbeat. Pullman was dead and Guerrero wouldn’t dare come after her. “You look about as pretty as the start of a perfect day.” Tessa Jane’s chest tightened, her lungs seized up with a pressure she could barely handle, and she put a hand up to thump a start to her stalled heart. A blend of elation and anger were the evil duo attacking her brain again. “What are you doing here, Jack?” She twirled around, not hiding the fact she was far enough along in pregnancy for it to be very noticeable. She glanced over at Benjamin and Emily in front of the barn. They were laughing and attempting to teach the puppy some trick of fetching a stick. “I came to see how you were.” “I’m fine.” She clenched her fists in the folds of her skirt to hide her nervousness. Finely dressed as if he were going to church, Jack looked good in his crisp black shirt. His string tie hung perfectly straight. His black leather vest was clean and shiny instead of dulled by trail dust. “And I can see Emily is happy. I’ve missed her.” He rubbed at his jaw. “Yes, we’re both doing fine.” She repeated wishing to touch his cleanshaven face and ask him to love her. “I see and he is…” Jack jerked his head toward the man, “he’s nice to the both of you?” “Benjamin Lafferty is a very decent man. He just brought—”

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“It’s nice to see you found someone to get you in a dress and settle you down,” he interrupted. “You really do clean up awfully nice, TJ.” She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn’t. The power of speech was gone. It was tangled with the upheaval of emotions and she was afraid he wasn’t there for her as much as she tried to believe he was by his presence. He had to say it first, but he wouldn’t, and she couldn’t. Because Jack thought she was married, she realized that he never knew her heart as she had wished he could. He’d not figure the baby was his and she wasn’t going to tell him if he didn’t even want to fight to have her. He had pursued her like the last piece of candy in the bottom of a bag. He took greedy advantage of her allowances and he didn’t stop being extremely nice to get his way. “Jack!” Emily waved. He nodded in her direction. “I brought this for you.” He took an envelope out of his vest and tossed it to Tessa Jane. “What’s this?” She opened it and looked at the wad of money inside. “I caught up to Guerrero. He’s dead and that’s half the reward.” “But why are you giving me this. I didn’t help. I wasn’t there.” She bit the inside of her lip. “We could have captured him together but I wouldn’t let you. It doesn’t mean you don’t deserve half. Use it to raise your family. I hope you’re happy, TJ, and I mean that. You’re the finest woman I know and I want nothing but the best for you and Emily.” He sat still a minute. Tessa Jane’s throat went dry as Jack’s eyes watered. “God, you’re beautiful, Tessa Jane. Inside and out, you’re perfect.” He swung his horse away from her and she watched him ride away. Her voice froze while her mind shouted for her to tell him what was in her heart. “Where’s Jack going?” Emily ran up to her. “He didn’t say hello to me.” Tessa Jane watched intently as Jack put more and more distance between them. His horse loped across the pasture. Very soon he’d hit the tree line where she’d lose complete sight of him. It would be the last she

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ever saw of Jack McCay. That would be certain since she let him believe she was married. “Well, is he coming back? I want to tell him everything we’ve done and show him my puppy,” Emily said. “He’s not coming back.” She held a hand up to her lips. They trembled and caught the salty tears rolling down her face. “Why not? What’d you say mean to him now?” Emily’s eyes misted. “You didn’t tell him to git again, did you?” “I didn’t say anything mean. He just stopped to see how we were doing and to give me some money from the reward he got for capturing Guerrero.” She didn’t bother to give Emily details. “We’re fine and…and, oh damn, get my horse.” Tessa Jane bit her lip and stomped her foot, hating her own stubbornness. Emily ran for the barn without question. Tessa Jane couldn’t let Jack leave her. She had made the mistake once. “Oh hurry, Emily,” she murmured, keeping her gaze on Jack. She didn’t known where he’d head and she couldn’t let him get too far away. She didn’t ride as much with her added girth and she couldn’t go leaving Emily alone while she tracked the man down. A couple minutes later, Emily rode the horse bareback from the barn. “I’ll go,” Emily said. “But—” “I ain’t getting down, Aunt Tessa Jane. You got that new dress on and I don’t want you to go hurting the baby if you fall.” “But I need to go. I let him believe I was married and that the baby is someone else’s.” She stood next to Emily’s leg. “He left because you lied?” She looked at her shocked. “No I didn’t lie. He thought it up by himself and I just didn’t say anything. Just hurry and get to him. I want him to know the baby is his.” “I’ll tell him.” Emily smiled. “I’ll tell him we need him and he can’t leave.”

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“No! Don’t you dare say one single word that would give him the impression we need him. Just tell him if he knows the right three words, I’ll marry him.” “Geez, that’s mushy.” “Emily, please?” Tessa Jane begged. “I’ll send that mutt home with Mr. Lafferty if you don’t get that horse moving.” Emily clucked and gave the horse a kick to the flanks. She raced across the pasture as fast as light. Tessa Jane bit her thumb and waited. Fear swelled as she watched Emily catch up to Jack. She had done it again. Now there may be no opportunity to change her ultimatum. She wanted Jack back whether he said he loved her or not. She’d love him enough for the both of them. It would be enough just to have him around. “I’ll be seeing you, Miss Creager,” Mr. Lafferty said from behind. “Oh, I’m sorry for ignoring you, but I have some important business to take care of with that man. Thank you for bringing the puppy.” She clasped his hand. “Thank you so much.” “You’re welcome.” She went back to watching Emily catch up to Jack. She wished she could hear what Jack said to the news. She prayed for God to please help her remain strong if Jack’s decision wasn’t the one she wished so hard for over the past months. “Jack!” Emily puffed riding up along side him. “Where you going in such a hurry?” “Oh I don’t know. To find a life, I guess.” He wiped the back of his hand over his face to make sure there were no visible signs of tears he had trouble holding back. Tessa Jane accused him of being a big baby and he didn’t want to reinforce that idea by showing Emily what might be construed as something unmanly. “Aunt Tessa Jane wanted me to give you a message.” “Oh, did she have something to rub my nose in? Kick some dirt in my face? Or tell me I’m a—”

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“You two are funny,” Emily giggled. “There’s a boy in town that likes to argue with me and Aunt Tessa Jane said it was ‘cause he likes me.” “Boys are like that sometimes when they haven’t a clue at how a girl feels about them. It’s self-preservation against letting a girl hurt a boy’s heart.” “Is that why you and Aunt Tessa Jane always argued? So neither of you would get a hurt heart?” She looked at him for answers he didn’t have. “Maybe, now tell me, what’s the message?” “She sent me to tell you the baby is yours and she’s not married. She also said if you know the right three words to unlock her heart, she’ll marry you.” She stopped her horse when he did. “Is that so?” The weight of a forsaken world had been lifted and allowed him to breathe. TJ wanted to be his wife and all for the reasons his cousin told him. “Do you know the words?” Emily asked. “I can tell you them, because I really don’t want you to leave.” “I know them, sprite.” “Are you going to say them to Aunt Tessa Jane so you two can get married?” “Would you like that?” He looked over at her. “Sure I would. Aunt Tessa Jane may not want to tell you we need you, but I’ll tell you. It’s a whole lot more exciting when you’re around and I love you as much as I love her.” “Emily, that’s about the nicest thing I’ve heard in a long while. If TJ will marry me, then you can be sure I’ll not go anywhere far from either one of you ever again. I love you very much and whether we’re always together or apart, you remember that, okay?” “Should I go back and tell her?” “No. She made me wait. It’s her turn to stew awhile.” He chuckled, turning his horse around. “Tell me what you’ve been up to.” They rode slowly back toward TJ. Emily chirped away about as fast as a roadrunner could run or a tumbleweed tumble. His thoughts moved

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just as quickly as he swallowed the whole package deal. Marriage to a woman he loved, a baby on the way that he fathered, and then Emily, she was as bright and fresh as a summer day. He’d enjoy having her as his niece. “Aunt Tessa Jane got me a puppy today.” Emily said. “That was the man that brought him that you saw. How could you think Mr. Lafferty was her husband? He’s too skinny and too shy. He’s a nice man and all, but she’d never marry that kind of man. She needs someone who can tell her what to do once in a while like you used to do.” “You keep calling her Aunt Tessa Jane, what happened to calling her TJ?” He tried not to look across the pasture at Tessa Jane. “Oh, she don’t go by that anymore. We discussed it on the way home. She said that was a different life and she was a different person when she went by TJ. She thought it would be more ladylike to use her Christian name. She said people remembered her that way. If you ask me though, I think she got to liking it from you.” “I called her Tessa Jane just to rile her, but don’t go telling her that. It didn’t matter what she wanted to be called, I would have used something different to make her see how much more special she was to me than anyone else.” “I don’t think I’ll ever understand the way boys talk. If you thought she was so all fired special, why didn’t you just tell her?” “I did many times and she believed it less than when I showed her. One day you’ll understand and if you want to get a boy to tell you his feelings quicker, you tell him yours first. It’ll step him back a might, but in the end, he’ll fess up.” “You think I should do that with Billy Myers? I sure do like him, but he makes me mad all the time.” “You haven’t a thing to lose, sprite. He either really doesn’t like you and this way you’ll know for sure. Or he does like you and you’ll know. It’ll make life easier on the both of you.” “Aunt Tessa Jane’s not so mean anymore, except when it comes to my chores. I think she gives me stuff to do just so she can get mad if I take too long in doing them.”

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“It might be. I bet she needs some sort of outlet for the stress she’s under.” Each step his horse took, he thought of the baby Tessa Jane carried. It unraveled his thoughts to see her pregnant. It knotted his stomach to go through the details of it being his child. He was going to be a father. Elated more than any man had a right to be, he worried he wasn’t ready. Getting married was even a worse notion when he took in the fact it would be to a woman that scared the hell out of him with her wildness. “You two get along better?” he asked with only a mild interest in the conversation. “Yeah. She likes to do lots of stuff. Climb trees and—” “In her condition?” Jack looked from Emily to Tessa Jane standing in the barnyard waiting for them. God, he couldn’t wait to hold her again, but how could he marry the untamed and spirited woman and domesticate her to some convention. “No. She didn’t know at first and then after about a month she was getting sick all the time, still does, but not nearly so often. She went to the doc and he told her she was going to have a baby.” “She must have pitched a fit.” He tried to imagine the expression on Tessa Jane’s face. Would it have been outraged astonishment or that same joy he felt right now? “No, she smiled the whole way home. She does that a lot, but then sometimes, she gets a strange sad look like she might cry. I know she missed you ‘cause sometimes when she thought I was asleep, I heard her talking to herself. At first, I thought she was crazy, but then I figured out, she was lonely. I’m real good company, but not like you I guess.” Jack smiled. “Intuitive young lady, aren’t you? Don’t you worry about that, I plan on keeping the sad look away from her all the time.” He pushed his hat back a little to get a better view of Tessa Jane. “Did she talk about me at all?” “No. What’s she going to say? That she’s going to have a bastard baby by a low down skunk.” Emily gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth. “Tessa Jane said that about me, didn’t she?”

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“I heard her talking to Mrs. Bass. That was the teacher, Miss Simpson I was living with before. She got married a couple months ago. Anyways, I wasn’t supposed to be listening, but I did.” She shrugged. “I also heard her say she wished things between the two of you were different.” “What else did she say?” He figured it couldn’t hurt to go into the situation loaded with all the information he might need, in case Tessa Jane tried to change her mind about what she wanted. “I don’t think I better say.” “That bad, huh?” Emily grinned and rode on ahead. She rode past Tessa Jane to the barn. Jack stopped in front of Tessa Jane, keeping a solemn expression on his face. “Why’d you change your mind about letting me believe that you were married?” he asked. “I’m sure this will come as a surprise, Jack, but I have matured. You had a lot to do with that. You surprised me by showing up and I couldn’t think, thus my reason for having her fetch you back. I did want you to know the baby is yours. Some men wouldn’t care one way or the other, but I thought—no, I know you’d want to know if you had a child. I know you said it didn’t matter that you didn’t know your father, however, I got the impression it left an impact on you that maybe you aren’t aware of. I don’t want that for our child.” “You’re right.” “I want the baby to know you as a father.” “Then we’ll get married and I’ll take care of you, Emily and our child.” He swung a leg over his horse and dismounted. “No, Jack, I won’t marry you because of the baby.” “Are we going to have this argument again?” He walked toward her. “What happened to maturity?” “Are you just as pigheaded as the last time I saw you? I don’t need you. I’m capable of raising our baby alone. I’ve taken care of myself and Emily just fine. One more child can’t be hard. I don’t want you here feeling trapped and resenting us years down the road because you felt

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obligated to do some noble thing like marrying me. Come when you can or want and we’ll be here.” “If I were that pigheaded man, I’d crush you to me and not stop kissing you until you were ready to say you’d marry me. However, with my son involved, I don’t want him squished.” He put his hands on his hips vexed by her stubbornness and he wasn’t going to let her talk either of them out of the fact they belonged together. “Emily said three words would unlock your heart. Is that true?” Tessa Jane nodded. “I need you.” “Those aren’t the words, Jack.” “Why, does it bother you to know that I really do need to love you, Tessa Jane Creager?” The air rushed from her lungs as she flew into his open arms. “Oh, Jack, why couldn’t you have told me that six months ago?” She hugged and kissed him. He smelled of soap and horse and everything else that was nicely him. If she were blind, she’d know his scent. “Maybe I could have if I thought you would have believed me.” “I would have.” She lied to prevent anymore hurt coming between them. “Are you sure you wouldn’t have said I used it to control you or some other hokey reason.” “You know me too well.” She laughed. “Maybe I would have and maybe I wouldn’t, but now we’ll never know. What I’m interested in at this moment is are you going to ask me to marry you instead of telling me it’s what you’ll do?” “Nope, I asked you once some months back and I was turned down flat. A man can only take rejection so many times before he expects a little give to oblige his ego.” “You don’t want to marry me?” She pulled back, but didn’t move from his hands on her hips.

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“I didn’t say that and you know it’s not true. Women I’ve known in the past were nothing more than tumbleweeds that crossed my path, while you, sweetness, are my path. I’ve stuck to it regardless of the barriers you put up and I think it’s time I get you to build a bridge for me.” “I’m not above taking the initiative.” “That’s good to know, however it comes as no surprise since that night you crawled into my arms as naked as a newborn. You always were a forthright, strong minded woman. Don’t let me hold you back if you care to ask me something.” “Jack McCay, will you marry me? Be the father of my children, run my ranch, be my friend, my husband, and my lover?” “Geez, Tessa Jane, that sounds like a lot of work. You’ll have to make the offer a touch better than that. I think the deal maker is,” he grinned cocking his head, “just three little words.” “I love you. I love you more than you can ever imagine.” “Are you sure this isn’t some plan to get free labor out of me?” “You don’t have to do anything.” Her fingers played, no fretted, over his arms with nervous concern. She stood close to him wanting everything to be perfect between them. “Come on, sweetheart, don’t look so serious.” Jack embraced her briefly with a light brush of his lips to hers. “It’s a right fine offer you’re making. Does cooking and cleaning come with your offer?” TJ pursed her lips, wanting to hit him, but she held back because she knew deep down, he really did want to marry her. She heard it in his voice and felt it in his arms. “Yes and I’ll even have your babies.” She pulled away to look down at her stomach thumping and then lifted her gaze back up to look at him. “I think you’ve got yourself a deal.” He put a hand to her face. “I knew I could never harness the wind, honey, but I’ve never wished for anything more than to make you my wife for real.” His kiss wasn’t another light brush. It wasn’t a passionate lustful moment. Jack kissed her with a profound reverence sealing their love.

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His lips meshed with hers and moved in a long tender oscillation over her entire face. “Are you sure this is what you want, Jack?” She put her forehead against his lips praying he didn’t say no. “Let’s see, a ranch, kids and a wife that will take care of me. I believe I said I liked that idea once before.” He laughed as her face screwed up. “Don’t worry, honey, I’ll enjoy all that as well as keep you happy. You will let me be the man of this family once in a while, won’t you?” “Oh, Jack, I love you so much it hurts when I think how I almost lost you by my stubbornness. Can’t we share being boss?” She hugged him tight, kissing his nose, his cheeks, and his lips. She couldn’t stop as tears began forming. They weren’t the ones from sadness. These were joyful tears she didn’t mind shedding in front of him. “You mean when you yell, I shut up?” “Something like that.” She smiled. Happiness couldn’t have oozed more out of a bee with a full honeycomb. TJ thought of her father and mother as she clung to Jack, elated she would have the same kind of love her parents shared. She had never wanted anything more and she finally had it. “Sounds okay to me, now how about pointing me in the direction of our bedroom? We’ve got some time to make up shaking a headboard.” He scooped her cumbersome body up with his wonderfully powerful arms. “Jack, I’m six months swollen with a child.” “I understand it won’t bother the baby in the least.” He swung her around. “We’ll see just what new positions we can make work for us.” “Are you sure?” It had never come up in a conversation with the doctor. She had asked lots of questions about what to do and not do while she was pregnant. Intimacy with a man was not something she thought she might have to consider. “Would I endanger my own child?” “I don’t know, Jack. I’ve never heard of a woman—”

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“Indian women have no qualms about it right up until the baby comes. I promise, it will be all right, but if you prefer not to, sweetheart, I’ll understand.” “Wait,” she instructed. “Emily! Emily!” she called. “You stay in the barn with that dog until Jack comes and gets you. We have some serious, very serious business to take care of and we don’t want to be interrupted.” “But—” Don’t argue,” Jack cut in. “Or I might change my mind about becoming your uncle.” “I’ll stay out here, Uncle Jack.” She beamed. “Uncle Jack. I like the sound of that.” TJ kissed his cheek. “Honey, I like the sound of your voice free of fears. I also like the dress. Just how often do you wear one?” “Every minute, of every day, from now on, unless you remove it.” She sighed into his kiss. Her hand pushed the door shut once he carried her inside. “Then get used to being naked a lot,” he advised and set her on the bed in the room she directed him to. “If you promise to… Oh, Jack, I’ve missed you so much. Don’t ever leave me.” She clung to his neck and cried. “Come on, darlin’, don’t do that now. It’ll spoil everything.” She sniffled up everything and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry, I just… Sometimes I can’t help crying over the silliest things.” “Someone should have told you women that are expecting a baby get upset a lot.” “I’m not upset, I’m in love.” “Me too, Tessa Jane.” He cupped her face and kissed her. “I’ll love you so well, you’ll never forget it.” “You already did.” She pulled him on the bed next to her and placed his hand over the thump in her belly. “Your son has been reminding me of the loving we already shared.” Jack bent over and kissed her round belly through the clothes. Then sitting up, he pulled her against him and tucked her head beneath his

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chin. “I love you, Tessa Jane, and I don’t really care if it’s a boy or girl. I won’t ever leave you and I don’t want you to ever worry over anything. I’m going to take care of you for the rest of my life or take care of the part of you that’ll let me. You’re a hard woman to do for, but I’m up to the challenge.” “You never gave up and it’s what I liked about you the most. You never lost your temper or got really angry even though I made your life hell. Through all the bad times you showered me with affection.” “Which you fought all the way.” “Not all the way as I have evidence of.” She put her hand over his on her gravid belly. “I’ve loved you for a very long time, Jack, and I’m sorry I wasted time in letting you know that.” “I’ll take the blame. I didn’t help by pursuing you like a wild stallion after a filly in season.” He chuckled and rubbed her belly. “I reckon you were in season though.” She nodded and floated back in his arms. “Jack, I’ve never been afraid in my life more than when Guerrero had Emily or that day on Devil’s Kiss. I didn’t fear dying then, I was scared of not ever having enjoyed love before I died.” “Tessa Jane, don’t ever think about Devil’s Kiss again. If there’s one thing I know, we won’t be suffering eternal damnation. I anticipate something more akin to everlasting love.”

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Epilogue “You name her, Jack.” Tessa Jane handed the baby back to him. “I didn’t produce a boy. Therefore, it’s only right you name her.” “How do you figure?” He looked at her, concerned she’d worry over the fact she birthed a girl instead of a boy. “Because it may be the last chance you get in having a say. This makes three women you’ll have to live with.” “Two women and a daughter who’ll adore me.” He grunted. “She’ll do anything her pa asks.” He kissed the baby on the forehead and then leaned to kiss Tessa Jane. “Sweetness, I told you before it didn’t matter whether you gave me a boy or girl and I want you to know, I’m proud just to have a healthy child and that you’re all right.” “I love you, Jack. Next time I’ll try for a boy.” “Boy or girl, it won’t matter, Tessa Jane. I’ll love you and them no matter what.” “What do you think we should call her?” She rubbed her finger on the baby’s cheek. “Libby Sue McCay sounds good to me.” She gripped his sleeve. He saw immediately the happiness expressed in her face before she pressed her tears to his arm. “It is what you wanted to name her, isn’t it?” He kissed into her damp curls. Thankful she had an easy birth compared to some he had heard tell of over the years. “How did you know?” “I know you, my love. I’ve always known you had a sentimental heart. What sixteen year old girl takes the law into her own hands, if it isn’t for love?”

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“Jack, when I don’t think I could love you any more, you prove me wrong.” “Oh and you know how I love doing that, especially since you don’t let me be right ninety-nine percent of the time.” He put Libby Sue down into Tessa Jane’s arms. “It’s nice to take all this time for ourselves, however we have a young lady anxiously waiting to come in and see you.” “Jack, you, Libby Sue, and Emily are the best things I could have ever added to my life.” “I keep telling you that every day.” He grinned. “I have something to ask you to do for Emily.” “You know I’d do anything for that girl.” “Could we adopt her?” “Why? She’s our niece and that already makes her legally ours.” “Since we married and my name changed to McCay I think she feels left out. She knows we love her, but I don’t want her to ever worry it’s not as much as we love our own children.” “Then how about I ask her what she thinks of the idea.” “Thank you, sweetheart.” He smiled. “You know I miss the old TJ sometimes. Her sassy temper, the unexpected way she’d take my head off because I teased her, and the fiery way her turquoise eyes danced when I looked at her.” “Jack, let Emily in before I shoot you in the foot and give you a reason for being slow to tell her the news.” “Oooo, that’s the lady I fell in love with. You don’t have to hide her all the time because I do have a way to tame her.” Jack’s hand went to the door handle. “And how is that?” “I load a conversation with lots of pretty words and it’s like magic.” He chuckled and opened the bedroom door. “Is everything all right, Uncle Jack? You were so long.” Emily stood wringing her hands. “All those waiting to see the new filly, come on in.” He waved an arm to the open doorway.

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Emily hurried in and stood next to the bed until Tessa Jane lifted an arm to hug her. “I love you, Aunt Tessa Jane.” “I love you too, Emily, and this precious bundle is your cousin.” “She’s so little and pink.” Emily touched the thick black hair on her head. “Is she going to look like Uncle Jack?” “Some, I reckon. She does have his hair color.” She hugged Emily. “Jack has something to ask you.” She looked up at him. “Emily, Tessa Jane and I have talked it over, and while we are your aunt and uncle, and it makes us family, we’d like to adopt you and make you our daughter. Now we’ll understand if you prefer to be a Creager, after all, it’s as important a name around here as any.” “You really want me as your daughter?” She wiped her eyes. “Instead of my uncle, you’d be my pa.” “Strictly in the legal and practical sense, yes, however I’d never ask you to forget your parents.” “But if I wanted to call you Pa, it would it be okay?” Tessa Jane started crying before Emily and nodded emphatically to Jack that it was all right. “Uncle, Pa, call me whatever you like as long as you don’t call me late for supper.” He laughed, flicking a finger at her nose to make her giggle. “Aunt Tessa Jane?” She turned around and touched the baby’s forehead. “It’s perfectly natural for you to want to have a Pa. I want you to be happy.” “I know, but if I call him Pa, would you mind if I stopped calling you Aunt Tessa Jane as well?” “Stop? You’re not going to call me something strange. Jack said whatever, but he was joking.” “I’d like it just fine to call you Ma and Pa. I mean if I’m going to be legally your daughter, then I want everyone to know it. That includes calling myself Emily McCay. How will anyone know I’m your daughter if I don’t?”

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“She does have a point, honey, can’t go confusing the neighbors.” Jack put his arm around Emily and hugged her. “I see no point in waiting until the adoption is final either, Emily McCay. You are officially our daughter.” “What’s her name, Ma?” Emily bent down to look closer at the baby. “Emily McCay, meet your new sister, Libby Sue McCay,” Jack answered seeing Tessa Jane’s emotions render her speechless. “After her sister, I think that’s nice, Pa.” She wiped her face and hugged Tessa Jane. Jack reached between the two. “Come on, Libby Sue, I don’t need you to learn their weeping and wailing ways.” He picked the baby up. “You’re going to grow up and set them straight about how a man should be looked upon as lord and master. He should be pampered, served and… hey?” He turned around when a wet washcloth hit him on the back of the head. “She may not have the Creager name,” Tessa Jane said, “but that treasure has the Creager women’s blood no matter what our last name is.” “I’m doomed.” Jack sank down, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I take back what I said earlier, Tessa Jane. Next year, woman, I want a son. We’re going to balance out this family right quick.” He was met with more laughter and looked down at his daughter in his arms. A thousand more like her… like his wife, wouldn’t be too many. “I promise I’ll give you as many children as you want, Jack.” Tessa Jane crawled up behind him and cradled his arm with the baby in it. “We’ll have a good life together.” “We will at that, darlin’.” Jack kissed her. “Emily, how about you go fix us some lunch and I’ll help your ma get cleaned up?” “Then will I get to hold the baby?” “Yes.” He got up and slipped Libby Sue into Tessa Jane’s arms as she sat back on the bed. Then lowering down next to her, he put an arm around her shoulders. “You okay with Emily wanting to call you Ma?” “Don’t make me cry anymore, Jack.” She nuzzled her face against him. “I couldn’t be happier.”

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“Have I told you in the last ten minutes, how long I’ll love you?” He lifted her chin and stared into her wet eyes. “It’ll be nothing short of forever, sweetness.” “You better mean that because I’ll shoot you if you ever stop.” She laughed under his ticklish breath on her neck. “I love you,” she whispered as he caught her mouth. “Forever, Tessa Jane?” He stroked lightly along her temples. “Much longer, Jack, so very much longer.”

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About the Author To learn more about Brenda Williamson, please visit her at www.BrendaWilliamson.com. You can also send an email to Brenda at [email protected]. To keep updated on her upcoming releases, join Brenda’s newsletter at www.BrendaWilliamson.com/Newsletter.htm You can also hang out and talk to Brenda along with other readers and writers. www.groups.yahoo.com/group/BrendaWilliamsonRomanceParty/

Look for these titles by Brenda Williamson Now Available: Sword of Rhoswen Wolverton Blood

Coming Soon: A Beautiful Surrender One Bashful Lady A Desperate Longing

The night before Christmas, a deadly blizzard traps a lawman and a madam with a price on her head in a deserted town with a sadistic outlaw hell-bent on revenge.

Christmas Showdown

© 2006 Janette Kenny Available December 19, 2006 at Samhain Publishing High-class madam, Katherine Winter, caters to wealthy men and vows nobody in her Kansas Bordello will suffer the abuse she endured in the horrific marriage she’d escaped one deadly night. She can choose her lovers, but longs for one who can match her in bed and out. Her senses tell her Daniel Creed is the man she's longed for—a man with a dark secret like herself, a man who'd do anything to protect what’s his. But he's a lawman, and dallying with him is playing with fire. Sheriff Daniel Creed has known Katherine Winter is the husbandkiller on the wanted poster since she came to his town. The reward he'd get for turning her in would make him rich, but something about the aloof beauty stirs longing inside him. But there's no future for a halfbreed gunslinger hiding behind a badge and a wanted woman except life on the run. So he keeps his mouth shut, figuring the most he can ever hope for is to love the lady from afar—and protect her. He never banked on the bounty hunter from his past hunting down Katherine, then setting the town ablaze to force Daniel into a fiery showdown. Enjoy the following excerpt for Christmas Showdown. He stared into the swirling wall of white until his eyes damn near crossed. Just when he was sure it’d been a trick of the dying sun, fingers of light danced over the ghostly drifts and sprayed a rainbow of color on his window glass. Daniel pressed his nose to the freezing pane and stared down the street. What the hell? Lights glowed in the upper window of the two-story house at the end of town. He shouldn’t give a damn if someone had taken refuge at the

Coterie, but the fact remained it was still her house of pleasure. And he was still the sheriff, sworn to protect the people and property of Campaign, anyway that the law or his whims saw fit. Daniel took the pot of beans off the stove and shrugged into his sheepskin coat. He jammed his hat down low, turned his collar up and grabbed his Winchester rifle before pushing his way out of the jail. A blast of frigid air smacked him upside the head, stealing his breath away. He bent his head to the wind and pushed on. Daniel reckoned if he stayed close to the buildings and plowed through the knee-high drifts, he wouldn’t get lost in the blinding snow. But even the short time he was out, ice needled his face till he couldn’t feel it. Each breath he took set his lungs on fire. In the first floor of the Coterie, Daniel saw a lone light pass before the parlor window. A thin plume of smoke rose from the chimney. Yep, somebody sure as hell had made themselves at home in Katherine’s bordello. Daniel left the safety of the buildings and struck out down the street. The big two-story house was nigh invisible in the snow. He trudged through drifts nearly up to his crotch. His hands and feet grew numb, his vision glazed. At the end of the boardwalk, he stared up at the Coterie some hundred feet in the distance. The bottom of the house was dark, but lights glowed from the upper window. Her room. How many nights had he stood here, hoping to get a glimpse of Katherine? Daniel kept his eye on that window and forced his boots to plow through the crippling snow. An hour seemed to pass until he pulled himself up onto the front porch and pounded on the door, something he’d only dreamed of doing. He tried flexing the fingers of his right hand around his rifle, but he couldn’t tell if they moved or not. Shit. If whoever was inside was bent on trouble, he’d be dead before his frozen hand could get off a shot. Not that it mattered. If he was outside much longer, he’d be a goner anyway. He’d never make it back to the jail.

Through the ice clinging to his eyelashes, he saw the curtain on the door move. A second later it opened, and Daniel stared down the barrel of Fin O’Brien’s pocket pistol. “By the saints,” Fin said as he lowered the .38, his weathered face drained of color. “Bring yourself in, and a Merry Christmas to you, Sheriff.” Daniel staggered inside the near empty house, noting a fire burned in the hearth. “What the hell are you doing back here?” Fin frowned. “Why indeed.” A whisper of violets teased Daniel’s nose a heartbeat before he heard the soft swish of skirts on the steps. He looked up into eyes as bright and clear as a spring day. “Good evening, Sheriff.” Katherine glided down the stairs, her smile an odd mix of welcoming and wary. “I didn’t dream anyone would still be in Campaign.” “Nobody in town but me, and now you two.” Instead of dark red curls piled high on her head, her hair hung to her waist in a wavy curtain he longed to run his fingers through. Instead of eyes lined with kohl and cheeks rouged, her face had that fresh wholesome look. Damn, Katherine Rose had to be on the dark side of thirty like him, yet she looked young and vibrant and so damned sexy that he wanted to howl at the moon. What the hell was going on here? Had he died and didn’t have the good sense to know it? “When did you get back?” he asked. “An hour or so ago.” Katherine clutched the woolen shawl about her narrow shoulders, slowly taking his measure and kindling that fire that had never died in him. “You’ll catch your death if you don’t get out of those wet clothes.”

One part gambler, two parts charmer, Trevor Malloy has finally met his match.

The Gift

© 2006 Beth Williamson Available November 21, 2006 at Samhain Publishing Book 5 of the Malloy family series. Trevor Malloy loves women of all shapes and sizes. When he bets a small fortune on a hand of poker only to lose to a lady gambler he can’t seem to charm, he finds himself beholden to a woman for the first time. Adelaide Burns refuses to fall under Trevor’s spell and is determined to make him pay every cent he owes her—in muscle and sweat. Like sparks from flint and rock, Trevor and Adelaide nearly set the sheets on fire. Together they find heaven in each others arms, fight for Adelaide’s saloon, and face a future that only the luck of the cards will tell. Enjoy the following excerpt for The Gift: Adelaide woke with grainy eyes and a restlessness she hadn’t felt in years. Last night’s win echoed in her dreams, or rather, Trevor Malloy did. That damned green-eyed gambler and his amazing smile. She hauled herself out of bed with a groan and slipped on her favorite purple silk robe. She needed coffee. She felt so out of sorts, she was surprised she didn’t fall down the steps. When she got closer to the kitchen, she smelled fresh coffee and her mouth watered in anticipation. The door swung open against her hand and Adelaide fell forward. Straight into Trevor Malloy’s arms. Sweet heavens. Softness met hardness. Calluses met silk. Adelaide’s world tilted as she slammed into a man who made her remember life outside her saloon. Remember that she was first and foremost a woman. A woman who had been long without a man. Her breasts pressed into his chest and his hands landed on her ass. “Whoa there, little filly,” he whispered.

Adelaide shivered as his breath skipped across her skin. Goose bumps ran down her neck, straight to her nipples. Naked beneath the robe, she knew he felt every curve, every inch of her body. His chest was like granite, his hands like hot mitts, his scent filled her. She breathed deeply, inhaling his essence—a heady mixture of man and a hint of arousal. His or hers, she wasn’t sure. Their body heat mingled and moved together. Adelaide was suddenly very, very awake. “Red?” Trevor’s voice reminded her of just how close they were, and just how unclothed she was. “Let go of me, Malloy.” She pushed at his chest until he released her and helped her stand. His gaze drifted to her breasts, which swung free beneath the purple silk. To the nipples poking out like floozies waving howdy. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “You have work to do. I’m sure Dustin already has a list of chores.” She kept her voice as firm as possible, although she felt nearly breathless from the encounter. “Yes, ma’am. I’m on my way.” He held the door open wide so she could come into the kitchen completely. With a cocky salute to her, he blew a kiss to Marybeth and left. Adelaide took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “You watch yourself with that one, Miss Adelaide,” Marybeth warned while shaking a wooden spoon. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.” Adelaide ignored the harrumph and went straight for the coffee. She knew exactly what she was doing. Trevor Malloy wasn’t about to make her life change one smidge.