The Marshal's Rebellious Bride (9 page)

“Be careful what you say about her,” Keno warned.

Morgan studied the slick-looking gambler-turned-saloon
owner for a second. “You don’t think she’s a mite touched in the head? She flew
into town in a damn balloon. She brought a passel of critters with her, named
after each of us.”

Keno shrugged but looked less antagonistic. “Still…”

“You can calm down, brother. Morgan won’t admit it,
but I do believe he’s falling for our baby sister.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Morgan
protested. “She drives me nuts. I make her nuts.”

Taos walked closer, grinning, ignoring what he had
said. “Let me tell you, there were sparks flying all over the place between
them yesterday. And I’m not talking about those from his hand landing on her
bottom.”

“Don’t remind me about having spanked her when I’m
standing all too near this balloon. I’m feeling like burning her butt all over
again.” He had been considering it ever since they’d started manhandling the
blasted balloon. He couldn’t get over the way his gut churned every time he
thought about what could have happened to her.

“I can sure understand that. Toying with that notion
myself,” Taos admitted. “But you two… well, I don’t know, I just sense there’s
something powerful drawing you two together.” He studied Morgan closer, cocked
his head. “I saw how she looked at you, even when she was arguing with you. She
never looked with such strong feelings at Ace Tanner. Not that I can remember,
anyway.”

“We’ll find a way to get along.” He refused to say
anything more about whatever feelings he had for Whiskey. Fact was he didn’t
know how he felt about her other than being constantly annoyed. “Now if you’re
finished picking at me, we need to go and make those wedding arrangements. I
want this whole situation settled before I head back to Texas the end of July.”
They all knew he’d gotten a wire telling him to report back to duty.

“I still think you need to—”

“Timing isn’t right.” Morgan held Taos’ gaze. “While you
were looking at that empty building with Keno, I was sitting in a back corner
of your saloon drinking and avoiding people. I overheard a pair of cowboys
passing through town talking about Marino.”

He sucked in a frustrated breath. “They’d run into him
in Denver. He’d been mean and drunk and telling everyone that he was going
after Hanging Judge Rydell. ‘
Gonna
end his evil
ways.’ they quoted.”

He thinned his lips before adding, “After that, Marino
claimed he’s heading this way, coming after me.”

The man’s threat didn’t really worry him personally.
The idea of what danger it might put Whiskey in as his wife did worry him.
Still, she’d be surrounded on the ranch by loyal ranch hands and her brothers
were here as well. But he’d like to draw Marino away from the ranch for their
showdown, which was another reason he couldn’t quit the marshals just yet.

Taos looked every bit as mad as he felt. “Your father
can take care of himself. He’s one mean
sonofagun
.”

There wasn’t a doubt about that in Morgan’s mind. He
nodded. “True enough. But Marino’s got a powerful lot of hate for my old man.
The judge hung
Rafe’s
no-good brother.” He knew the
younger Marino had more than deserved hanging. He also knew his father could
watch out for himself and had been doing so for a lot of years. He was a hard
man, a cold man, a man few dared to take on, including him.

“It’s not the judge or even yourself you’re worried
about down in Texas, is it? It’s Tyler.” Taos had stiffened with the knowledge.

Morgan ground his teeth. Yes, Tyler was his other
weakness. He didn’t want his son caught in the middle of some kind of showdown
down in Texas. He didn’t want Marino anywhere near his son.

He clenched his hands, tried to breathe easier. “I
wired Chase a while ago to bring Tyler up to Kansas. He’ll be safer here at the
ranch.” At least he sure as hell hoped that would be the case.

“Your brother’s a good man. He’ll get Tyler here all
right. But you could turn in—” Taos said determinedly.

He shook his head. “I can’t turn in my badge and
settle down anywhere until things are finished between Marino and me. I’m
taking him in, dead or alive. Dead would suit me just fine.”

Taos nodded in acceptance. Keno, too, who had been
quietly listening, nodded in grim agreement.

With one last look at the balloon, Morgan started
walking toward the end of the street and the town’s church. “Time to take care
of this wedding matter.”

Chapter 4

“Taos, you stop it right now!”

At the furious sound of Whiskey yelling at her
brother, Morgan stepped out of the barn where he’d been working on some tack.
Only it wasn’t her brother that had the spirited woman riled. The nutty mule
with one eye was in the midst of trying to open the corral gate. Again. He’d
heard from her brothers how the ornery critter had already escaped twice at
night. The brothers were tired of going after him and bringing him back to
their frantic sister. He hadn’t helped with the chore because he’d spent the
last two days out on the far range mending fences. Basically, he’d been
avoiding her. He’d needed some thinking time. He had more worries circling in
his head now than ever before and she was a big part of them.

“If he’s so hot up to leave, you ought to let him go.”
He tipped his hat brim low against the mid-day sun. The day was another
sweltering one.

She turned to glare at him, put her hands on her hips.
“He doesn’t really want to run away. He’s just bored.”

“Bored?” She was even nuttier than the mule.

“He’s used to me riding him every day or so, but I’ve
been too busy. He’s feeling cranky about being ignored.” She reached to pat the
side of the mule, who had finally given up on nosing the latch undone.

The mule swiveled its head around, bared big teeth and
moved his mouth close to her arm.

She moved out of his reach not seeming at all
concerned.

Morgan was, though. He immediately started forward,
fury lengthening his strides. “Damn animal tried to bite you! He’s dangerous.
Get the hell out of there.”

She merely shook her head, the sun glistening off her
red-brown hair even more with the movement. “Taos would never hurt me.” To
prove her point, she edged closer and gently stroked the mule’s long nose. Now
the beast seemed happy at her touch.

His steps slowed and he watched the tender way she
dealt with the mule. He could almost swear the animal was smiling in pleasure.
He wondered what the touch of her small, soft hand would feel like against his
face or on his…

He froze.
Shit.
This was exactly why he’d kept his distance from her. She played with his good
sense. She made him think about things that he shouldn’t be thinking about, at
least not until they were married.

Annoyed, he shifted his focus to the britches she had
on that he didn’t like and had gone back to wearing. That didn’t help him much.
Now his thoughts turned to wanting to pull them down to warm that sweet bottom
of hers for no particular reason. After that he’d…

Shit! Shit,
shit, shit!

He fought to get his wayward thoughts under control. “I
reckon your brothers told you we made arrangements with Reverend Chester.” He
hoped to hell that she couldn’t see how his body had reacted.

“You shouldn’t have bothered.” The look she shot his
way was nearly hot enough to fry him, and, oddly, it made him even harder.

“The wedding is three weeks from today.”

He walked right to the other side of the gate. Her eyes
were so green, grass green. And there was a spattering of freckles over the
bridge of her nose that he hadn’t noticed before. “You need to get to town and
see about your dress.”

She ignored him and turned away to bend over to pick
up the curry brush she’d dropped when she’d discovered the mule trying to
escape. The tempting sight of her taut backside fully facing him now had him
sweating. He decided right then that he needed to torture her as much as she
was torturing him. “I’ll take you on a buggy ride later. We can eat down by the
river. Talk some.” Okay, maybe that would end up torturing him more than her.

The announcement had her jerking up and gaping at him.
“Maybe I don’t want to go on a buggy ride with you.” Her cheeks were pretty and
pink. Her eyes mirrored confusion.

He blew out a breath. “You’ve got to be the most
contrary woman. Here I’m trying to court you a bit before we get married—”

“I
don’t
want you to court me,” she snapped, cutting him off. “I
do not
want to marry you. Do. Not.” She stretched up to her full
height, still far shorter than him. “I just want you to sell me the ranch and
leave.”

He watched her skunk come waddling across the corral,
stopping to rub his furry body against her legs. She bent down to scoop him up
in her arms and hug the offensive critter. The skunk snuggled close and all but
purred in happiness. It riled him that every damn animal on the ranch—including
his own persnickety horse—seemed to desire, and get, attention from her.
Yet she had absolutely no use for him. Damn hard on a man’s ego.

“I’m
not
selling out to you. But if you want to have decent say in the running of this
ranch, you’re going to have to marry me.”

She puffed up and her ample breasts drew and captured
his focus. “This is all so unfair! I’m the only member of the family who really
loves this ranch. It’s my home.”

He saw the anger in her eyes, the pain. “I’m not
kicking you off the place. I’m offering to share it with you.”

“You’re willing to share with me on
your
terms,
as your wife
. Why can’t we just be partners in the ownership? Share
the decisions.”

He looked at her and didn’t see just a business
partner. He saw a beautiful, spirited young woman. This was the woman who crept
into his dreams at night on a regular basis. She was a woman he would never be
able to work with on a daily basis and keep his hands off of.

“My terms are the only ones we can both live with.
Trust me,” he said solemnly.

“They’re the terms
you
can live with,” she protested. “My terms are sharing the running of the ranch,
although most of it could be your part. I am more interested in taking care of
the livestock.”

He stiffened. Every time she talked about that he
envisioned some crazed horse stomping on her, some pea-brained cow trampling
over her. He was certain that when he married her, he could keep her busy with
taking care of the house, taking care of him and Tyler. She wouldn’t have time
for the nonsense of tending to injured or sick critters. At least that was what
he sure as hell hoped.

“Marriage, Whiskey. I’ll only settle on marriage.” He
could be as stubborn as her, but he’d begun to think he’d met his match.

“Why do you insist on this ridiculous marriage thing?”
She looked steadily at him
,
her eyes
glistened with moisture
.

Tears? Hell
no!
He couldn’t deal with a woman crying,
except when she should be, after a well-deserved bottom burning. Otherwise…
well, hell.

He looked beyond her to the house and said, “Because
it’s for the best. I owe Taos. He asked me to do it and I promised I would.”

In truth, he wasn’t so sure that really had much to do
with why he wanted to marry her now. He admired the way she stood up for
herself, even though it aggravated him as well. She was a damn fine looking
woman, too. He was fairly certain she would be every bit as energetic in bed as
she was in everything else she did. Mostly he’d just decided he wanted her for
his wife.

She huffed and drew his gaze again. The tears were
gone now. “You silly men and these ‘death bed’ promises. Taos was wrong to ask
that of you. You were wrong to make such a foolish agreement.”

Before he could object, she added, “He didn’t die,
thank the good Lord. Whatever manly pact you two made should be void. You don’t
have to marry me. I can—no matter what my brothers think—take care
of myself, just like Aunt Mae.”

He studied her for a few seconds. Mulishness set her
chin. In spite of what she’d said, there was vulnerability in her eyes, pain
and sadness, too. He knew that she’d loved once and been hurt deeply because of
it. She didn’t want to take a chance on it happening again. They both knew he
was a bad risk. He still wore a badge and intended to for some time yet. Any
number of men could decide to come after him to make a reputation. And Rafe was
a definite threat to any kind of peace and happiness in his life.

“I won’t hurt you.” The words slipped out of his mouth
before he could stop them. He meant them, though. He would do everything within
his power not to hurt her. He’d stay alive. Now, with her, with the ranch, with
Tyler coming here…well, he had more to fight to stay alive for than ever
before.

She blinked at him, appeared surprised at the force of
his statement. He thought he saw a flicker of hope, too. Longing. Maybe she
didn’t dislike him nearly as much as she tried to show. He gave her a final
glance filled with determination before he turned back toward the barn.