Montana Sky (37 page)

Her body bowed back, shuddered while Ben's fingers dug into her pumping hips. She knew what to expect now, that
explosion of pleasure ramming into pleasure, the assault on the system that could come like lightning or linger like dew. Yet still it was always a shock, this violent intimacy and the need that always, always bloomed.

She felt him erupt, the final hard drive of him into her, and the glorious burst of heat. The orgasm struck like an arrow winging through her system, and pinned to him, filled with him, she welcomed it.

“Willa.” Ben drew her down so they could tremble, slick flesh to slick flesh. When he could speak more than her name, he turned his lips to her throat. “I've wanted to hold you like this all night.”

A little foolishness like that always warmed her, and tied her tongue. “You were too busy eating to think about this.”

“I'm never to busy to think about this. Or you. I do think about you.” He lost his hands in her hair as he turned her mouth to his. “More all the time. And I worry about you.”

“Worry?” Beautifully relaxed, she braced herself on her elbows and looked down at him. She loved to find his face in the dark, pick out feature by feature. “About what?”

“I don't like not being right on hand with all this going on.”

“I can take care of myself.” She brushed the hair back from his face. Funny, she thought, how the tips of it always looked as if they'd been dipped in wet gold dust. Funnier still how her fingers always itched to touch it these days. “And I can take care of the ranch.”

“Yeah.” Almost too well, he thought. “But I worry anyway. I could stay tonight.”

“We've been through that. Bess likes to pretend she doesn't know what's going on up here. I like to let her. And . . .” She kissed him before she rolled lazily to her back. “You've got your own ranch to run.” She stretched. “Saddle up, McKinnon. I'm done with you.”

“Think so?” He rolled atop her to prove her wrong.

 

W
HEN A MAN TIPTOES OUT OF A DARKENED HOUSE
,
HE
mostly feels like a fool. Or very lucky. Nate was debating
which course to take when he opened the front door and came face-to-face with Ben.

They stared at each other, cleared throats. “Nice night,” Nate said.

“One of my best.” Ben gave up, flashed a grin. “So, where'd you park your rig?”

“Back of the pole barn. You?”

“Same. Don't know why we bother. There's not a man on this spread who doesn't know what we're up to with those women.” They stepped off the porch, headed toward the barn. “I keep wondering if I'm going to get shot at.”

“Adam and Ham have this shift,” Nate pointed out. “I try to time it that way. They're not so trigger-happy.” He glanced back toward the main house, Tess's window. “And it might be worth dodging a couple bullets.”

“I worry about a man who says that.”

“I'm thinking I'll marry her.”

Ben stopped dead. “Something's buzzing in my ear. I don't think I heard you right.”

“You heard me right enough. She's banking on going back to California in the fall.” Nate shrugged. “I'm banking she won't.”

“You tell her that?”

“Tell Tess.” Amused at the thought, Nate let out a muffled hoot of laughter. “Hell, no. You have to be cagey with a woman like that. Used to running the show. So you make her think everything's her idea. She doesn't know she's in love with me, but it'll come to her.”

Talk of love and marriage was making Ben's gut churn. “What if it doesn't? Come to her. What if she packs up and goes? You just going to let her?”

“Can't lock her up, can I?” Nate took out his keys, jiggled them in his palm. “But I'm betting she stays. And I've got some time yet to work on it.”

Ben thought of Willa, and how he'd react if she suddenly got it in her head to pull up stakes. He'd have her hog-tied in record time. “Don't think I could be as reasonable.”

“Well, push hasn't come to shove yet. I've got court the next day or two,” he added when he climbed into his rig.
“Soon as I'm able, I'll swing by with that picture.”

“You do that.” Ben paused by his own rig, looked back toward the main house. No, he didn't think he could be reasonable if he was in love. On the drive home he told himself, several times, that it was a good thing he wasn't.

J
ESSE HAD IT ALL WORKED OUT
.
OH
.
HE
'
D BEEN WILLING
to wait, be patient. Be reasonable. After all, if he held out till fall, he could sweep up a lot of money along with his wife.

But now the little bitch thought she could go off and marry that Indian bastard. He'd studied on it and knew that if he let that happen, legally he'd get zilch. So he couldn't let it happen.

If his aim had been a little more true, he'd have taken care of Adam Wolfchild already. The opportunity had been there, but the son of a bitch had gotten lucky. And since Wolfchild hadn't been alone, Jesse hadn't risked waiting around for another chance at him.

He was sure there'd be another opportunity. Just a little window of luck was all he'd need. But spring work, and that damn slave driver Ben McKinnon, kept him tied at Three Rocks while his adulterous wife was out buying wedding finery.

So if he couldn't get to Wolfchild, he would damn well get to Lily. He'd have to make her sorry she'd messed with
him and ruined his plans for cashing in on her inheritance, but that would be a pleasure.

He'd hoped to cash in on a lot of things, he thought as he drew another queen to go with his other two ladies. But it was time to move on. And he was taking Lily with him.

“I'll see your five,” Jesse said, smiling easily at Jim across the poker table. “And bump it five.”

“Too rich for me.” Ned Tucker tossed in his cards, belched, and got up to get a fresh beer. He was comfortable at Mercy; he found Willa a fair boss and enjoyed the company of the men. He gave the bear the men had wrestled into the corner a rub on the head for luck. Not, Ned thought, that it had done him a damn bit of good at the table that night.

He shook his head as Jesse pulled in another pot. “Sumbitch can't seem to lose,” he said to Ham.

“Got enough luck to shit gold nuggets.” But Ham decided to try his own. “Deal me in this hand. I've gotta take over for Billy outside in an hour. Might as well lose some money first.”

An hour, Jesse thought, as he took his turn at deal. Billy and that know-it-all college boy were on shift now. Neither one of them would be much challenge to him. He would give the game another ten minutes, then make his move.

He lost one hand, folded on another, then pushed back from the table. “Deal me out. Gonna get some air.”

“Make sure Billy don't shoot you,” Jim called out. “That boy's mind's on town pussy and he spooks easy.”

“Oh, I can handle Billy,” Jesse said, and shrugging into his jacket, he strolled out.

He checked the time. He'd studied the workings of Mercy carefully enough to know that Adam would be giving his horses a final look for the night. The main house would be settled down, and Lily would be alone. He took the Colt out from under the seat of his rig. You could never be too careful. Tucked it into his belt and moved through the shadows toward the pretty white house.

It would go like clockwork, he mused. Lily would cry and plead, but she'd come easily enough. She always did
what she was told. If not quick enough, after the first smack.

He was looking forward to that first smack. It had been much too long.

He tapped his belt, moved quietly toward the rear of the house.

“That you, J C?” Cheered by the prospect of company on his shift, Billy came forward, rifle lowered and on safety. “You skinning the guys back at the bunkhouse again? What are you doing out here?”

Jesse smiled at him, slid the gun from his belt. “Taking what's mine,” he said, and smashed the butt of the Colt down. “No reason to shoot you,” Jesse said as he dragged Billy into the bushes. “And it makes too much noise. You just stay out of my way now, or I might change my mind.”

He crept to the back door, quiet as a snake, and looked through the glass.

And there she was. Sweet little Lily, he thought. Sitting at the table drinking tea and reading a magazine. Waiting for her Indian lover to come stick it to her. Faithless bitch.

The rumble of thunder threw him off a moment, made him look up at the starless sky. Even the weather was on his side, he thought with a grin. A nice rain would be fine cover on the trip south.

He turned the knob slowly, stepped in.

“Adam, there's an article in here about wedding cakes. I wonder . . .” She trailed off, her gaze still glued to the page, but her heart thudding. Beans was growling under the table. And she knew, even before she gathered the courage to turn, she knew.

“Keep that dog quiet, Lily, or I'll kill him.”

She didn't doubt it. He looked the same—even with the darker hair, the length of it, the moustache, he looked exactly the same to her. Those beautiful eyes slitted mean, his mouth frozen in a dangerous smile. She managed to get to her feet, put herself between Jesse and the dog.

“Beans, hush now. It's all right.” When he continued to growl, she watched in horror as Jesse took a gun from his belt. “Don't, please, Jesse. He's just an old dog. And they'll hear you. They'll hear if you shoot. People will come.”

He wanted to kill something, felt the urge bubbling up. But he wanted it quiet more. “Then shut him up. Now.”

“I—I'll put him in the other room.”

“You move slow, Lily, and don't try to run.” He liked the feel of the gun in his hand, the way the butt curled neatly into his palm. “I'll hurt you bad if you do. Then I'll sit right here and wait for that Indian you've been spreading your legs for. And I'll kill him when he walks in.”

“I won't run.” She took Beans by the collar, and though his pudgy body was tense and he strained against her, she dragged him to the door and through it. “Please put the gun away, Jesse. You know you don't need it.”

“Guess I don't.” Still smiling, he slid it back in his belt. “Come here.”

“This is no good, Jesse.” She struggled hard to remember everything she'd learned in therapy, to stay calm, to think clearly. “We're divorced. If you hurt me again, they'll put you in jail.”

He laid a hand on the butt of the gun again. “I said come here.”

Closer to the door, she thought. There might be a way to get through. She had to get through to warn Adam, everyone. “I'm trying to start over,” she said as she walked toward him. “We can both start fresh. I never did anything but disappoint you, and—” She cried out, not in shock but in pain, when he slapped her backhanded across the face.

“I've been waiting to do that for more than six months.” And since it felt so good, he did it again, hard enough to send her to her knees. “I've been right here, Lily.” He gripped her hair, yanked her to her feet by it. “Watching you.”

“Here?” The pain was too sickeningly familiar, made it too hard to think. But she did think. Of murder, of madness. “You've been here. Oh, God.”

Now the fear was paralyzing. He used his fists, she told herself. Just his fists. He wouldn't rip people apart.

But all she saw when she looked in his eyes was blind rage.

“Now you're coming with me, and you're going to be
quiet and do just what I say.” In case she didn't understand his meaning, he gave her hair another vicious yank. “You mess with me, Lily, I'll hurt you and anybody else that gets in the way.” He continued to talk, his face close to hers. In the other room the dog was barking wildly, but neither paid attention. “We're going to take a nice long trip. Mexico.”

“I'm not going with you.” She took the next blow, reeled from it, then shocked them both by leaping forward, attacking with nails, teeth, fists.

The force of her headlong rush rammed him back against the counter, and pain bloomed in his hip where it struck the edge. He howled when she drew blood from his cheek, too stunned to strike back until she'd raked his face a second time. “Fucking cunt!” He knocked her back into the table, sent her pretty teacup flying.

The dogs howled like wolves and scratched madly at the door.

“I'll kill you for that. I'll fucking kill you.”

And he nearly did. The gun was in his hand, his finger on the trigger vibrating. But she was staring up at him, not with fear, not with pleading in her eyes. But with hate.

“Is that what you want?” He dragged her up again, held the barrel to her temple. “You want me to kill you?”

There had been a time she might, out of sheer weariness, have said yes. But she thought of her life here, with Adam, with her sisters. Her home and family.

“No, I'll go with you.” And wait, she promised herself, for the first chance to escape, or to fight.

“Damn right you will.” He closed a hand over her throat, shook her as blood stung his eyes. “I haven't got time to make you pay now, but you wait. You just wait.”

He was trembling as he pulled her to the door. The shock of her hurting him, actually hurting him until the blood ran down his face, had rocked him badly. The time he'd wasted dealing with her when she could have come along docile as a cow left him jittery.

He barely noticed that it wasn't rain falling from that dark sky, but snow. While the thunder still raged. Thick, heavy flakes danced in front of his eyes so that he didn't see Adam
until they were nearly face-to-face and he was looking at a rifle.

“Let go of her.” Adam's voice was calm as a lake, without any of the fury or fear rippling the surface. “Lily, step away from him.”

Jesse shifted his grip to her throat, his arm over her windpipe. The gun, still in his hand, was at her head. There was no calm in him. He was screaming, “She's my goddamn fucking wife! Get the hell out of my way. I'll kill her. I'll put a bullet in her brain.”

He heard a gun cock and saw Willa step forward, coatless, snow covering her hair. “Take your hands off my sister, you son of a bitch.”

It was wrong, everything was wrong, and the panic made Jesse's finger tremble. “I'll do it. Her brains'll be splattered on your shoes if you take one step. You tell them, Lily. Tell them I'll kill you here and now.”

She could feel the steel pressed into her temple. Imagine the flash of explosion. She could barely breathe through the grip on her throat. To stay alive, she kept her eyes on Adam. “Yes, he will. He's been here, all the time, he's been here.”

Jesse's eyes fired. He looked like a monster with the blood oozing down his face and his lips peeled back in a wide, challenging grin. “That's right. I've been here, right along. You want me to do to her what was done to the others, you just stay in my way.” His lips curved in a dazzling smile. He was in charge again. He was in control. “Maybe I won't gut her, I won't lift her hair, but she'll still be dead.”

“So will you,” Adam said, and sighted.

“I can snap her neck like a twig.” Jesse's voice rolled and pitched. “Or put a bullet in her ear. And maybe I'll get lucky.” He increased the pressure on Lily's throat so that her hands came up in defense to drag at the obstruction. “Maybe I'll get off one more shot, right into your sister's gut.”

“He's bluffing, Adam.” Willa's finger twitched on the trigger. She'd put a bullet in his brain, she thought grimly. If Lily would just move her head another inch, just shift
over an inch, she could risk it. But the damn snow was blowing like a curtain. “He doesn't want to die.”

“I'm a fucking Marine!” Jesse shouted. “I can take two of you out before I go down. And Lily's first.”

Yes, Lily was first. “You won't get away.” But Adam lowered his rifle. Rage, pride, weren't worth Lily's life. “And you'll pay for every minute she's afraid.”

“Back off, bitch,” he ordered Willa, and tightened his grip so Lily's eyes rolled up white. “I can break her neck as easy as blinking.”

Helpless, every instinct raging against it, Willa stepped back. But she didn't lower the gun. One clear shot, she promised herself. If she had one clear shot, she'd take it.

“You get in the rig.” He pulled Lily with him, moving backward, his eyes jumping from side to side. “Get in the fucking rig, behind the wheel.” He pushed her in, shoved her across the seat, keeping the gun high and in plain sight. “You come after us,” he shouted, “I kill her, slow as I can. Start the goddamn thing and drive.”

Lily had one last look at Adam's face as she turned the key. And she drove.

With hands that trembled, Willa lowered the rifle. She hadn't taken the shot. There'd been a moment, just an instant, and she'd been afraid to risk it.

“God. Dear God. They're heading west.” Think, she ordered herself. Think. “The cops can put up a roadblock, stop them if he tries for the main road. If he's smart, he'll figure that and go into the hills. We can be after them inside twenty minutes, Adam.”

“I let her go. I let him take her.”

Willa gave him a hard shake. “He'd have killed her, right in front of us. He was panicked and crazy. He'd have done it.”