After Sundown (32 page)

Even before she completed the thought, she knew. There was only one person who would do this, who would understand how much this gift would mean to her.

Who would care enough to claim the child she had lost. To give her baby a name.

Tears filled her eyes.
He cared about her
. Maybe he couldn’t bring himself to say the words, but he cared.

Annie remained there for a moment, very still, and felt as if her heart were healing and breaking at the same time.

Then she rose and went to find him.

“L
ucas?” Annie was out of breath by the time she closed the jail’s front door behind her. She had run most of the way. The setting sun cast long, slanting shadows across the furnishings and rugs in the main room.

He came out of her suite, still wearing his coat and hat. “There you are.” He looked relieved, and a bit puzzled. “I went to find you at Rebecca’s and she couldn’t tell me where you’d gone, she was crying so hard. What’s wrong?”

Annie shook her head, a tear running down her cheek.

“What is it?” He walked over to her, his expression concerned now. “What have you been running from?”

“Not from,” she said breathlessly. “
To
.”

That was all she could get out before she started to cry.

“Annie?” He reached out to cup her cheeks in his broad hands. “What’s happened?”

“I-I found... your gift.”

“Oh.” He only sounded more confused, his voice becoming gruff as he brushed her tears away with his fingertips. “I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known it would make you cry.”

His caring words and concern for her only made her ache even more. She leaned forward and rested her cheek against the hard muscles of his chest, her tears dampening his shirt.

“Annie.” He hesitated a moment before he wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sorry.”

“No,” she said painfully, trying to make him understand. “I... I’m...” She struggled to put her feelings into words. “Nobody’s ever given me a gift that meant so much to me, Lucas.” She closed her eyes. “
I’ve
never mattered to anyone that much.”

His arms tightened around her, and even through the heavy fabric of his shirt, she could feel his heart beating hard.

And his voice had become unsteady. “Annie, there’s something I need to tell you.”

He tilted her head up with one hand, his gaze dark as he looked down at her. She didn’t prompt him when he hesitated, when she saw the emotions in his eyes. She knew he wasn’t used to expressing his feelings in words.

Gently, he set her away from him, clearing his throat.

Then, finally, he spoke. “I’m not taking you to Missouri when the passes clear in the spring. I’m setting you free.”

She stared up at him in astonishment. “Setting me... free?” she repeated blankly.

“It’s the only way I can keep you safe.”

He stated it calmly, as if it were a perfectly simple, clear, logical idea. Then he took off his hat and coat and turned to drop them over the back of the settee.

She was stunned.

He was letting her go.

He was letting her go?

“But Lucas, I’ve decided I’m going back to Missouri with you in the spring.”

“You... what?” He turned toward her, his brow furrowed. “What do you mean, you’re going back to Missouri?”

“I’m going back to St. Charles to stand trial.” She trembled as she said the words aloud for the first time. “I don’t want to run from the law again. I don’t want to live the rest of my life being afraid, always looking over my shoulder. I-I thought you would be happy.”

He looked anything but happy. “I am not
taking
you back to St. Charles. You’re going someplace safe.”

“But where would I
ever
be safe? Lucas, I would have to spend the rest of my life hiding, and lying to everyone I meet. I can’t
do
that. Not anymore.” She reached up to touch the silver locket that rested over her heart. “Not after the kind of life I’ve known here, the kind of... caring I’ve known here.”

“
Annie
.” He shut his eyes, a muscle flexing in his tanned cheek. “You can’t stay in Eminence. You know that’s impossible.” He looked down at her again, shaking his head. “I’ve talked to Holt. It’s all planned. You’re going to Canada.”

“You and Daniel have it all...” She couldn’t seem to catch her breath. “Lucas, if you try to help me, there might come a time when you would have to confront another lawman—maybe even
shoot
another lawman—to protect me. I can’t ask you to do that.” She clenched her fists. “I won’t.”

“So your solution is to go back and let them put you on trial?”

“It’s the only way to clear my name! I have to go back and face a judge and jury, and just tell the truth—”

“And hope for the best? You’ll end up spending the rest of your life in prison. Or worse—”

“It’s either risk that or spend the rest of my life as an outlaw.” She turned away, taking off her coat and throwing it over the settee next to his. “I have to prove that I’m innocent.”

“There
isn’t
any way to prove that you’re innocent, damn it.” He came up behind her, turned her to face him. “Annie, I’ve thought it through. I’m sending you somewhere safe. Then I’ll appeal to the court, try to get the charges dropped—”

“You’ll have a hard time doing that without me there. How are you going to explain where I went? Tell them I escaped?”

“No,” he said adamantly. “That would only make things more dangerous for you. I don’t want anyone sending out a posse to hunt you down. I’ll tell them you’re in protective custody—and it’ll be the truth. Holt will be with you. He’ll look after you—”

“Lucas, you can’t
do
this.” She pressed her fists against his chest, appalled at the sacrifice he was willing to make for her. “Have you thought about what it might
cost
you? If you let me go instead of taking me in... they could take your badge. You could lose your career, your reputation, everything that—”

He cut her off with a curt shake of his head, a fierce look in his eyes. “That’s a chance I’m willing to take.”

She stared up at him, stunned by the depth of his feelings.

His feelings for
her
.

“And what about your family?” Her voice wavered.

“I’ll try to explain, try to make them understand.”

She rested her forehead against his chest. “They’d never understand. Lucas, they’d never
forgive
you.” She couldn’t let him risk so much for her. “You could even be thrown in
jail
for letting a criminal walk away free—”

“You’re not a criminal. You’re
not guilty
of the charges against you.”

“And I have to go back to Missouri and
prove
that.”

He let her go with a frustrated curse, turning away. “I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation.
I
want you to escape and
you
insist on going back to Missouri—”

“Yes. Because it’s the only way.” Tears blurred her vision. “Lucas, I don’t want to do it, but I have to. Because I want the kind of life I’ve had here, in Eminence. With the people I care about. Like Rebecca and Daniel and Katja and...”
You
.

He turned toward her, his gaze stormy.

“I’ll lose all of that if I run.” Her voice almost broke. “I’ll lose everything. And I’m so
tired
of running, Lucas. My whole life, I’ve been running away from people who might hurt me. I have to stop running and stand up for myself.”

“But you could lose everything if you go back,” he said hoarsely. “Those people you’ve been running from might condemn you to a prison cell forever. They might even sentence you to hang. Have you thought about that?”

She nodded solemnly.

“Annie...” He shut his eyes as if he couldn’t bear to look at her anymore. “I admire the hell out of you for being brave enough to want to go back, but you
can’t
.”

“I don’t feel very brave,” Annie admitted, her voice shaking. “I never wanted to set foot in St. Charles again. The idea of facing a courtroom full of people who will look at me with contempt, who’ve despised me since I was a little girl... it’s terrifying.”

He closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms.

“But I
have
to go back.” She pressed her cheek against his chest, shutting her eyes, feeling his heartbeat. “I have to face them. It’s the only way I’ll ever really be
free
.”

“I can’t let you do it.” His words were stark, raw.

“Lucas, please, I’m so afraid. I can’t do this unless you... unless you’ll be there.”

He drew her closer, surrounding her with the strength and warmth of his embrace. “I don’t want
you
to be there. I don’t want those people anywhere near you. I won’t let them hurt you.”

She slid her arms around his back, holding him as tightly as he held her. “So you’re sending me away,” she whispered. “For how long?”

He didn’t answer for a moment. “As long as it takes to get the charges dismissed and the bounty dropped.”

“Months... maybe years.”

“I don’t know,” he admitted gruffly.

Annie knew. He might
never
be able to get the charges and bounty dropped. She would be on the run—and he would be half a world away. His career as a lawman in ruins, his family lost to him forever. Maybe even under arrest himself.

“No.” She lifted her gaze to his. “No,
I
have to make this choice, Lucas.”

“You’re going to Canada,” he said flatly, “and that’s final.”

Tears brimmed in her eyes as she smiled up at him—standing there so tough and strong, so determined to wrestle the situation under his control. So much a hero.

But he couldn’t rescue her. Not this time.

“I understand why you want to protect me.” She brushed her fingertips over his cheek. “I know how important it is to you—”

“No, you don’t.” His eyes burned into hers. “You don’t know how I... damn it,
you
are important to me.
You
.” His voice became strained. “God help me, Annie, I have tried so hard not to...” He lowered his head. “Not to...”

His mouth covered hers in a searing kiss.

Annie’s breath became a moan under the sweet, hot pressure of his mouth, the friction of his beard-stubbled jaw against her skin. She felt her heart racing, felt her tears spilling down her cheeks. Her fingers clenched in his shirt. The muscles of his arms went taut as he shifted his hold on her, buried one hand in her hair, his tongue rough silk against hers as he deepened the kiss—branding her, claiming her.

His possessiveness sent sparks sweeping through her, set fire to her blood. Her arms tightened around him and she responded with a feeling that was wholly new to her. More than desire, deeper than caring, stronger than need.

He embraced her as if he would bind them together body and soul—until no force of law or man could tear them apart.

As if he would make her his, tonight and forever.

“Yes,” she sobbed when he lifted his head, saying it again as he trailed sharp, urgent kisses along her throat. “
Lucas, yes
.”

With all her heart, she wanted one night, one moment that was completely their own.

One memory to cherish when she was taken away from him.

He lifted her in his arms and carried her down the dark hallway to the suite they had once shared.

The bedroom was cloaked in shadow, the day’s last light long vanished beyond the barred windows. He didn’t take the time to light a fire in the hearth or even a lantern, letting go of her just long enough to lay her on the bed and yank the heavy drapes closed across the windows. Turning, he took off his boots and unfastened his gun belt, his gaze never leaving her. She began unbuttoning her dress, held out her arms as he returned to her.

And then he was beside her, pushing the covers back, sinking onto the cool sheets with her. She drew him close, sighing his name. For now, for tonight, they belonged to each other, and nothing could come between them.

Tonight, she would dream of what could be, if only dreams could come true.

His body against hers was the only warmth she needed, the light in his eyes more than enough to chase the darkness. His fingers made quick work of the fastenings on her dress. She unbuttoned his shirt, opened his trousers. Hands slid over bare skin as their clothes landed on the floor. She ran her fingers along the corded sinews of his arms, the angles of his shoulders, the muscled expanse of his back. He was so lean and hard and powerful, made all of steel.

And he trembled at her touch.

Their mouths met again and again, their kisses impatient, fevered.

He grasped the lacy edge of her camisole, lifting it over her head, tossing it aside. Her breath caught as he cupped her bared breasts in his hands, as the tips drew tight. Moaning, she turned her head and noticed a flash of silvery moonlight in the mirror that filled the opposite wall, just enough light seeping around the curtains for her to glimpse their reflection—the two of them together in the shadows, bodies entwined on the bed, her pale curves nude except for the pantalettes bunched around her hips, his muscled body poised over her.

Her rushed intake of breath made Lucas turn his head. Their gazes met in the mirror.

Her breathing had become shallow and fast, but she didn’t look away. Neither did he. Both of them watched, transfixed by the erotic image as his hands shaped her breasts, his callused fingers rough against her nipples... as he bent his head to taste and lick and tease. Fire twisted through the very center of her body. Her small, sharp cries were almost lost beneath his low groans.

She couldn’t look away, watching in the mirror as he suckled her, her back arching, her hand plunging into his hair to hold him close against her. He slid one hand down over her waist, the curve of her hip, her bare thigh in a slow, hypnotic caress. Her whole body felt flushed and feverish, taut with need, with anticipation.