Bride Gone Bad

“What I don’t know I don’t like.” Lucky glanced at Tempest as they rode east.

She sighed, looking at him and shaking her head. “I’m not sure I understand anything anymore. We went on a simple mission to find an artist, but it turns out he’s far from simple. I thought I’d seen the last of the TSPT, but Mrs. Bartholomew appears and burns down the saloon. I thought I knew where to find Haig, but now he’s in the wind.”

Lucky chuckled. “Put like that, I’m not sure how much I know, either.”

“It’s discouraging.”

“No. It’s life. If you’re set on doing something, no telling how many boulders will roll onto your path.”

“I suppose you simply push them out of the way and keep going.”

“As best I can.”

“I don’t feel much like going forward. I’m tired. I’m hungry. And I’m sore.”

“You’re just letting down. I could use a break, too.”

“But we can’t stop. Haig is getting away.”

“That’s not my main concern now.”

“No?”

“What if he’s set outlaws or gunslingers behind him to slow us down or stop us?”

“He’d have to know about us first, wouldn’t he?”

“Remember how you felt watched when we left the Bend?” He didn’t mention the web he’d noticed back there, or how he now felt it slowly constricting around them.

“I remember those feet pointing toward us.”

“Most folks would’ve known we were heading to Burnt Boggy.”

“And word could’ve spread.” She rode closer to him. “You’re making me uneasy.”

“I don’t mean to frighten you, but we need to be cautious.”

“My eyes are wide open.”

“If we’re all headed to the same place, there are two ways we can go. The Military Road or the Fort Towson Road. The Military Trail is more direct.”

“So that’s what he’ll take?”

“Most likely.”

“If we rode hard, could we catch him?”

“Our horses can’t take it. We’ve already traveled all day and part of the night.”

“What can we do?”

“Haig can’t get there much ahead of us. Not unless he has fresh mounts waiting for him at intervals.”

“What if he does?”

“Nothing we can do about it.”

“I don’t like it.”

“A lot of forces are in play. We need to be rested to deal with them.”

“I hope you’re saying we can find a cozy place to spend what’s left of the night.”

“I’ve got a spot in mind. And I want us off this main road. I know a trail that’ll cut off some time and take us to the Military Road.”

“Lead on.”

A little later, he saw the narrow trail he wanted and turned down it. Animals used the path more than humans, so it was overgrown in places. Yet it was ideal for their purposes. He followed the trail along its twists and turns around high grass and clumps of thorn bushes. He could hear Tempest following him. She was so much more than he could have guessed when he’d first seen her. Yet he’d known she was going to impact him. He’d resented it then, but not now. She was part of his life and destined to be much more. She belonged to him and he’d fight to keep her.

As he rode farther onto the land and deeper into the night, he kept watch for the special place he had in mind. He hadn’t been there in years, but he doubted if it had changed or if many folks had found it.

Finally, he saw the sheer slabs of limestone that at some point in the distant past had been thrown up in an upheaval to form the sides of a small box canyon. From the outside, it looked like nothing more than a jumble of rock surfaces stained and pitted from rough weather. He skirted around tall trees and thick scrub until he found the entrance. He guided Miko through the narrow space between two slabs of vertical stone. He glanced back, waiting until he saw Tempest follow him inside the canyon mouth.

To make sure they were safe, he rode around the enclosed area and checked for animals and humans. Soon he was satisfied that they were alone. He dismounted near the entrance. He stacked and wedged several large rocks into the opening gap to keep their horses inside and any intruders outside. He left Miko grazing on a patch of grass, and then led Anna over to the gelding.

He reached up to help Tempest dismount. As she stepped down, he put his hands around her waist and steadied her on the ground. She leaned back against him. For a moment, they simply stood together. She turned and put her arms around his shoulders. He hugged her close, feeling the heat of her, smelling the violet scent of her, touching the generous curves of her.

She tilted back her head to look at him, eyes silvery in the moonlight. He pressed a soft kiss to the tip of her nose, and she smiled at him. That was all it took to set him on fire. He felt a surge of heat rip through his body to ignite his cock. He stroked down her back and grabbed her butt with both hands. He held her body in place as he ground against her, so hot and hard he could think of nothing but pummeling her depths and hearing her cry his name.

When she moaned and dug her fingertips into his shoulders, he pressed a savage kiss to her lips, delving deep with his tongue, tasting and sucking and biting as she writhed against his body, twining one leg and then the other around him as if she would climb him in her frenzy to get closer.

He lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist, pressing hot kisses across his face and down his neck. He tried to unbutton her blouse, but his fingers were clumsy. She pushed his hands away, quickly freed the buttons, jerked off her blouse, and threw it to the ground. Still she had on too many clothes. He felt desperate to get at her skin. He massaged her breasts through her chemise and felt her nipples harden to taut peaks against his palms. Still, he wanted more. He pushed up the fabric and caught one nipple with his lips while he teased the other with his fingers until she cried out with desire.

Feverishly, he licked and sucked and nibbled from one breast to the other, unable to get enough. He felt starved for her. When she thrust her fingers deep into his hair and pulled up his head, he saw her as everything a man could ever desire. And then she attacked his mouth, moaning as she bit his lips, thrust deep, and twined her tongue with his own. She rode him, clasping him with her thighs as she undulated against him and he massaged her butt. Still, there were too many clothes between them and he grew hotter and harder with each moment of frustrated passion.

She tore her mouth away, gasping. “I want, I want, I want—”

“I’m dying for want of you.”

She clutched at his shirt, trying to tear it open, pushing and pulling at him with her entire body. She threw him off balance. He staggered, went down on one knee still holding her, and then fell prone on his back with her straddling him. As he looked up at her, moonlight turned her into a mysterious goddess . . . as women have always been to men.

And his clouded senses began to clear. This frenzy was not the way to initiate her into the rites of love, nor connect her to his Rattler clan.

One of them had to be strong. She was lost in her spiraling need and caught in a trap she didn’t know was about to spring shut. He was the only one of them who understood the importance of their actions. He would make her initiation perfect for her, even if she cursed him now.

“Wait.” He clasped her hands between his own.

And she snarled.