Beauty and the Beasts [Bride Train 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (16 page)

You want trouble, Gabe Downey, but not until the sun is down and the back door of the bakery kitchen is locked, with you and Sarah on the inside.

“This is not the end of it,” she growled. “I will have my bakery.” She looked a lot like a cantankerous old mule his mama used to ride. Calculating and cunning, with a hint of the devil erupting when you least expected it.

“Sarah, if you want your bakery that bad,” said Frank, “find a husband.”

“I thought you were on my side!”

“I am. I think you’ll be far safer, and happier, if you’re married.”

“Married? Argh, you men!” She spat the words out like bullets. She glared at Frank, Gabe, and then Barstow. “I’m going to get ready to spend the night in
my
bakery!” She turned so fast her skirts whirled around her ankles. She stomped past Gabe, heading for the hotel.

Frank, hands on hips, shook his head slowly at her stiff back. He smiled with what looked like admiration. “Women. They make your life miserable, both from being there, and being gone.”

“Amen to that,” said Barstow drily.

The three of them watched Sarah open the door to the hotel kitchen. She looked in their direction, saw them still watching, and stuck out her tongue. She slammed the door behind herself, leaving them alone with the wind.

“You’ve got your work cut out, boy,” said Frank to Gabe, chuckling.

Barstow, still looking at the kitchen, shook his head. “With a hellcat like that, I see why it takes three men to keep a wife in line.”

“In line?” Frank snickered. “Those valley men are so happy that their wives just crook a finger and all three come running.”

Barstow winced. “Hope none of ’em give my wife ideas.” He and Gabe shook hands. “If I can help you with that spitfire, let me know.”

“I think we can handle her.”

Barstow met him eye to eye. “We? You got two partners, like those other ranchers?”

Gabe nodded. “Luke Frost plans to marry Sarah. He thinks she’ll come to her senses and realize what a catch he is.”

“Tonight is Gabe’s turn to, ah, guard the lady,” said Frank. He waggled his eyebrows. “I hear Oz rode home with a big smile this morning.”

Heat seared Gabe’s face. He glared at Frank, who cackled like a hen ready to lay a turkey-size egg. “Sheriff, did this interfering old man tell you about what almost happened to Miss Unsworth on Saturday night? Why we have to guard her?”

“Yep. That’s one of the thoughts I’ll be ironin’. Good night, gentlemen.”

Barstow headed for the jail, and Gabe turned back to more important matters. The hotel kitchen’s curtains fluttered as someone peeked out. He waved and they were shoved closed. He laughed, his heart lighter.

“If you weren’t so old, I’d want to kill you for telling the new sheriff about tonight,” said Gabe mildly to Frank, who laughed again. “Instead I’ll ask for advice. You and Mary have been married longer than anyone I know.”

“This’ll be your first time with a woman?”

Gabe’s ears burned at the question. He cleared his throat. “Is it that obvious?”

“You always have a watchfulness about you, but you seem far more on edge tonight, like you’d jump out of your skin if someone yelled
boo!
” Frank sank onto the wooden bench with a sigh. “It stinks to be old.” He stretched out a leg, rubbing the calf. “So enjoy life now, while you’re young.”

“That’s a piece of good advice I plan to follow tonight.” Gabe swallowed hard.

“Use your instincts, but let her guide you. And for God’s sake, make sure she comes first.”

Gabe pulled at his suddenly tight collar. “Oz, ah, mentioned that shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

“Glad to hear it. Means she wasn’t too badly hurt in that whorehouse. I swear, if that Tierson was alive, I’d have Ross flay him for days for what his greed did to that girl, and all the others. I wish I could be here to bring in the jackals that attacked Molly. She was only sixteen at the time!” He clenched his knobby fists as best he could. “Thank God for Rosa and Lily. Without their help, Molly and Sarah might have killed themselves in shame, like so many others.” He closed his eyes and sagged against the window. “I’ve seen too much. Finding what was left of Molly’s mother was the last straw. I’m ready to do nothing but listen to the laughter of my grandchildren.”

“I know what you mean about seeing too much,” said Gabe, his voice raw.

“You know, or are you just saying that?”

Gabe shook his head. Even now, years later, tears pricked at his eyes. He’d thought he’d never speak of it, but the time was right.

“We came back from the war. Luke still had a bit of fever.”

“I hear you and Luke grew up together.”

Gabe nodded. “Luke was raised as a golden child. The oldest of four and only boy, his mama insisted he could do nothing wrong.” He didn’t say who was blamed for everything, no matter what harebrained schemes Luke got into. “Luckily, my mama thought differently. She had a switch with his name on it, and used it.”

“She had one with your name on it, too?”

“More like three or four.” Frank laughed when Gabe winced. “Ma wasn’t anything like the ladies Luke was raised to marry. They always looked and acted perfect when he saw them, with practiced looks and calm voices. Never touching, or saying how they really felt. My family wasn’t anything like that, though we’ve served for his family for generations.”

“You don’t talk like a servant.”

Gabe shrugged. “Luke was the only boy, a couple of months younger. We were raised together, with the same tutors. I had a whole mess of older brothers, but I shared Luke’s room. I thought of his little sisters like they were my own.”

As always, the thousand-ton weight hit his chest whenever he thought of it. He fought to breathe, blinking fast to keep the tears in. It didn’t work.

“Ah.” Frank looked down the street. “All of them?”

Gabe nodded, his throat too raw to speak.

“Did they survive?”

Gabe shook his head. “The bastards murdered them after they finished,” he rasped. He concentrated on breathing until his chest and throat relaxed enough that he could talk. “They knocked Luke’s mama on the head first thing and figured they’d killed her. She bled a lot, but came to after they left. My brothers, just returning from the fields, heard her screams when she saw what they’d done to her daughters.”

“God damn them, every one!”

Gabe stared blindly into the street while Frank fumed beside him.

“Luke’s mama lived just long enough to tell us it was our neighbors, the Gatlins,” said Gabe. “They were always jealous of the Frosts, but were too lazy to work for it themselves. We figured they were the ones that killed both my parents, and Luke’s father, just before the war. I think this is part of Luke’s problem with Sarah. He won’t let himself care enough about her in case something like that happens to her, like his ma and sisters. And because he feels guilty and ashamed about not protecting them, he wants to wrap Sarah up and keep her safe. And she wants to be independent so she doesn’t have to need a man.”

Gabe looked at his fingernails. “We heard that the Gatlins headed west when they lit out. If any of us see them, they will die. Slowly, and with as much pain as possible.”

“I’ve been a lawman most of my life, but I’d make damn sure I never caught you for that.” Frank sighed. “What am I saying? I’m too old to run after anyone more than three years old.” He rubbed his leg again.

Now that he’d gotten the story out, Gabe’s heart felt lighter than it had in a long time. Since they came to Tanner’s Ford, in fact. Maybe it was talking about the horrors he’d seen, or maybe it was knowing Sarah wanted him in her arms. He would die before he let anyone hurt her. So would Oz, and Luke. But they didn’t have Luke’s guilt to complicate things.

Gabe knew he couldn’t have prevented the attack on Luke’s sisters. Luke thought it was his own fault, that if he’d been there, they’d be alive. But bad things happened and, unless you killed yourself because of it, you had to go on living with the horrible memories. He, Oz, and Sarah had moved on from their pasts. But not Luke.

Gabe leaned over, forearms on knees. “I didn’t plan to spill my guts, especially about Luke. It wasn’t my story to tell.”

“Son, over the years I’ve heard damn near everything, and passed very little on. But you told me
your
story, not Luke’s.” Frank waited a moment before continuing. “I figure you love Sarah.”

“Love?” Gabe choked out a laugh. “My heart pounded and my gut ached when I kicked down that door and saw her for the first time. A tiny little woman in a thin shift, all big eyes and long hair.” He took a moment to breathe. “When I picked her up and she curled against my chest, trusting me to protect her, I knew there’d never be another woman in my life. If that’s love, then my answer is yes.”

“You’d give up the ranch for her?”

Gabe thought for a few minutes before answering. “If it came to that, and I had to take her away from Luke and the Circle C, then again I say yes. Luke’s my partner and lifelong friend, but Sarah is my life.” He looked down the street without seeing anything. “I don’t know why, but I can’t see living without her.”

Frank hauled himself to his feet. “The only advice you need is to tell her you love her, but only when she’s ready to hear it.”

Gabe coughed out a sarcastic laugh. “And how will I know that?”

“Your head is screwed on right, son. You’ll figure it out.”

Gabe stared absently into the distance as Frank hobbled away.

Yeah, he loved Sarah. He figured Oz wasn’t far from it either, though the man wouldn’t admit it. Luke, now, that was different. Gabe’s mama loved his pa and all her sons with a fierce intensity. She’d hug her boys and wallop them as often as she figured they needed it. Other than when he and Luke wrestled, the only time Luke was touched by another person was when Gabe’s mama walloped him.

To Luke’s father, everything was business. He didn’t even allow a pet in the house because it would cost money that could go into something useful. Would Sarah mellow him enough to admit he needed a caring touch? Something had to change before Luke would unbend enough for her to consider him as a potential husband. Maybe having her live with them would help.

One thing was certain. Partnership or not, he was not going to lose Sarah. Luke needed sons, but if Sarah needed a husband and she refused Luke, Gabe would marry her in a heartbeat.

Sarah followed Oliver toward the bakery kitchen. Though Gabe was at least three steps behind, she could feel his heat. Or maybe it was her heat, caused by knowing he was there. Last night she’d been eager and demanding. They went at it so fast that Oz never noticed her scar. Tonight she had to be slow and sure. Sophie, knowing and approving of her plan, had helped her carry a real mattress from the hotel that morning.

She touched her left hip. If Gabe kept the lantern lit and took his time, he would discover her shameful mark. She swallowed her worry. It was part of her, something she could never erase. She’d put it behind her, as she had her life before Tanner’s Ford.

While she was furious at temporarily losing her business, it wouldn’t stop her from seducing Gabe. In fact, it made her more determined. When he came to the kitchen to escort her to the bakery after her confrontation with Sheriff Barstow, his face and ears burned red. She figured it wouldn’t take much to convince him to be seduced.

Her step faltered. Maybe she’d wait and see if Gabe planned to seduce her?

Sophie said to let him lead the way while guiding him toward her special spots. That wouldn’t be a problem tonight. She was wound so tight that every inch of her body burned. Last night with Oz was wonderful, but tonight would be magic. She would show this tender, gentle giant the joys of a woman. It would erase all the ugliness of her own seduction.

“Let me get the door.”

She waited for him to open it. Oliver ran past her ankles, but Gabe blocked the doorway, lantern held high, and looked around the room.

“What are you doing?”

“Making sure it’s empty.” He ushered her through and then shut the door. He slid the bar home with a thud.

“Is that to protect me, or to make sure we’re alone?”

He choked. She waited. “Both,” he whispered. He kept his back to her.

The lone window was high up. No one could see anything. She’d bathed earlier in Sophie’s room, using rose-scented soap. When she dressed, she’d left her skin bare underneath one layer. She quickly unbuttoned her blouse. He waited, the vein in his neck pulsing. Did his cock throb as hard as her pussy?

She pulled her blouse out from her waistband and opened it wide. She walked up behind him and leaned forward until her naked breasts lay against his lower back.

“Sarah,” he croaked. “What are you doing?”

“Can’t you tell?” She wrapped her arms around his chest as far as she could reach. “When was the last time you had a near-naked woman hug you?”

He groaned. “Never.”

“If you take off your shirt and turn around, you’ll know what it feels like.”

“What are you doing?”

“Seducing you?”

Gabe’s back muscles tightened.

“I want to kiss you, and have you kiss me. All over,” she whispered. “And then I want you to do wonderful things with me. Things that will make me forget everything bad that happened today.”

She hadn’t thought his heart could pound any faster. His trembling increased as well. He dropped his head.

“I’ve never been with a woman. I don’t want to disappoint you.”

“You could never disappoint me, Gabriel Downey.”

He turned his head, though she could see only the corner of his eye.

“I want you, Sarah. More than almost anything in the world. But you have to tell me you’re sure.”

She released his chest and shuffled around until she could see his face. Her blouse draped, covering her front. His eyes widened as he down stared at her. His nostrils flared. His mouth opened as he panted. She did the same in order to get enough air.

His dark-brown eyes stared deep into hers. She held up her left wrist. He watched her undo the buttons. His Adam’s apple bounced as he swallowed hard. He switched his gaze when she did the same with her right wrist.