Blaze of Glory (5 page)

Molly swallowed back the lump in her throat and went to embrace him. He shook his head and refused to touch her again. “No, Molly. No more pleasure until you tell me why you agreed to marry another man.”

I didn’t.

The truth was on the tip of her tongue but she held back. “What business is it of yours? You’re a married man. I suppose I could ask the same of you. I could demand to know why you married someone else but I understand it’s none of my business.” She cringed. “God, Jonathan, what just happened shouldn’t have been…”

His gaze narrowed. “Who told you I was married?”

“The grapevine.”

He turned his attention back to the food he’d been preparing and filled two plates. The gruff manner in which he thrust one of the plates at her left Molly backing up. “Eat.”

“I’m fine.”

“I said, eat.”

She let out a laugh but was far from amused. “And I said I was fine.”

“Woman, you’re damn lucky I don’t get a notion to take you over my knee for almost gettin’ yourself killed. Don’t push me on this. Eat.”

Her jaw dropped. “Jonathan MacSweeny, how dare you talk to me like that?”

“I’ll talk to you any way I see fit. Go get dressed. The smell of your quim is making my cock so hard I can barely stand it.”

“Jonathan!”

He took his plate and slammed it down on the table. Eggs and bacon scattered about as he stormed out the back door. Not one to stand around and take being yelled at with a smile on her face, Molly went after him. She rushed out behind him as he headed for a water trough.

“Hot damn!” Eli called out, drawing attention to himself as he stared at her. “You’re naked.”

“I’m not naked.”

Jonathan pointed at his cousin. “Avert your gaze now, if you want to keep your eyes in your head.”

“Jonathan!”

He ignored her and she held back from knocking him on his ass with her magik.

“What the hell do you want?” he asked, his gaze on Eli.

Eli glanced at her and drew his lower lip in. “Mmm, I, umm, want…erm…I forgot.”

“Molly.” Jonathan rounded on her, his golden eyes ablaze. “Go in the house. Now.”

She stood her ground. “No man orders me around. Not even you.”

The spark of a challenge lit in his eyes and she knew he wasn’t anywhere near done trying to issue commands. His nostrils flared as he pointed at the house. “You have two seconds to get that tight twat back into that house before I fuck it. Now go!”

Eli’s eyes widened. “Did he just say twat?”

Molly glared at Jonathan before taking hold of his white shirt and pulling it over her head. She threw it at him and turned in a slow circle. “Last time I checked, I wasn’t wearing your stamp brand so stop treating me like you treat cattle.”

There was a loud thump and a groan. Molly glanced at Eli’s horse. It was missing something vital—Eli. He stood slowly, his gaze fixed on her as he dusted off his rear. “Sweet Mother of All That is Sacred, woman you are…you’re…damn.”

Jonathan growled and rushed her. He had her up and over his shoulder before she could even blink. He delivered one hard slap to her ass cheek, leaving a stinging burst of pleasure moving through her lower region. He did it again, this time varying the spot a bit.

“Jon! Ouch.”

The second he pressed his lips to her bare butt cheek, Molly gasped. Jonathan growled, the sound so very much like a shifter that Molly couldn’t stop the shiver of fear as it shimmied through her.

“Don’t be afraid of me, Molly. Don’t ever be afraid of me. I may be madder than a badger in a trap about you running around in the buck but I’d never harm you.” He slipped his hand between her thighs and slid a finger into her pussy. “I will punish you in other ways. Ways that’ll leave you beggin’ for me to let you come.”

She slapped his muscular back and instantly regretted it as additional cream flooded her hot channel. “Put me down!”

“No.”

“Jonathan.”

He ignored her and stormed back toward the house. Molly grunted and threw her weight enough to make Jonathan lose his hold on her. She fell free of his grasp and darted away from him. He was hot on her trail in seconds, snaking an arm around her waist and jerking her against his body. Molly shoved back as hard as she could, knocking Jonathan off his feet. As he fell, he took her with him.

Cold water greeted Molly and Jonathan kept hold of her. Shocked, she drew in a mouthful of the water. It took a moment to realize they’d fallen into the water trough. Unable to help herself, Molly burst into laughter as she turned in his arms. He was soaked, his dark hair lying in his face as his head came up and out of the water.

Molly laughed harder and he gave her another swat on the backside.

“Think this is funny, do ya?”

“I do.” She grinned and wiggled on him, keeping the front of her nearly nude body pressed to his. “Very funny indeed.”

His gaze went to her lips and she bent, feeling the need to kiss him.

Eli approached, doing his best to walk without looking in her direction. It wasn’t working very well for him. He held the discarded white shirt in his hand. “Molly, I know Jon’s being a fool but could you maybe think of getting dressed. I’d like to be able to look up sometime today and I need to speak with ya.”

She glanced down at Jonathan and dipped her head quickly, stealing a kiss even though she knew better than to do it. Putting her hand out, she remained still until Eli placed the shirt in her palm. She stood slowly then, letting the water stream off her naked body. Pure animal lust shone in Jonathan’s eyes as he stared up at her.

“Yer playing a dangerous game, woman,” he warned.

She held the shirt to her chest, knowing it did little to cover her. “Funny, I’d think the man doing all the starin’ now might be the one playing the dangerous game since he’s married and all.”

“Who’s married?” Eli asked, his back now turned to her.

With a question on her brow, she stared down at Jonathan, waiting for him to speak up. When he merely grinned mischievously, elation swelled in her. “The grapevine was wrong?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, water glistening on his bare chest. “The grapevine was most certainly wrong.”

“If you’re fixin’ to have at it, could you maybe wait until I’m gone?” Eli asked, holding his hat in a death grip in front of him. “And I should prolly speak up and be the voice of reason here. While Jonathan may be a bachelor and unmarried, Molly you’re promised to another. There.” He gave a curt nod. “I said my piece on the matter.”

Molly let out a slow breath and extended her hand to Jonathan. “Breakfast is getting cold.”

He shot a knowing look at his cousin and the next thing she knew, Molly was lying flat on him, his hands kneading her ass cheeks. His lips met her neck, making her breath catch. He sucked gently, nibbling on the tender flesh. “Mmm, woman, I have missed you something fierce.”

She smiled in spite of herself, her hands going to his scruffy jawline. “You’re all wet, MacSweeny.”

Fire lit in his eyes. “So—” He squeezed her ass cheeks again. “—are you.”

“Eli is watching us,” she reminded him.

With a shrug, he drew in a deep breath, his eyelids fluttering. “You wear my scent still.”

Still?

She stiffened. “Jon?”

He silenced her with a gentle kiss. When he ended it, she nearly begged for more but held back. Jonathan stood with ease, lifting her with him. A true show of just how powerful the man was. He kept her pulled against him, using his body to shield hers as best he could.

“Cousin,” he said. “Give us just a bit, would ya?”

“This really can’t wait, Jonathan,” said Eli, still facing the other direction.

“Molly?” Cole’s voice boomed around them. “Where the hell is she?”

Jonathan squeezed her to the point she thought she might pop.

Cole stormed up near Eli and stopped, his gaze whipping to her and Jonathan. His eyes widened. “Molly?”

Knowing Cole would ask more questions than she was willing to answer at the moment, she put her hand out, hoping to minimize them. “Your jacket, please.”

He shimmied out of it quickly and tossed it to her. She caught it with one hand and Jonathan kept her close, continuing to glare at Cole. She slipped on the jacket and attempted to step away from Jonathan. He had other plans.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded of Cole.

With a sly smile, Cole tipped his hat. “I’m here to gather my fiancée. Kindly take your shifter fucking hands off her and we’ll be on our way.”

Eli reacted quickly, putting his body directly in the path of Cole just in time to stop Jonathan from being able to get to him as he charged forward. Molly rushed him and tugged on his large forearm, pulling with all her might. “Jon, stop.”

“Ah, the legendary Jonathan MacSweeny in the flesh,” Cole said sardonically. “I’ve heard so much about you. Too bad I’m underwhelmed with the reality.”

“Cole,” she scolded. “Enough.”

Cole’s gaze narrowed on Eli. “You tell her yet?”

“Tell me what?” she asked, still tugging on Jonathan. It was a lot like trying to move an iceberg with her pinky finger. So not going to happen.

Eli hung his head in shame. “No. I was fixin’ to but well, yeah.”

“Tell me what, people?”

Cole grunted. “That runner escaped. His band of outlaws helped him and, Molly, the reward on your head doubled.”

Jonathan snarled and tossed his hands into the air. Claws emerged from his fingertips. “No one is fucking touching her. Not now. Not ever again.”

His resolve and fierce need to protect her warmed her heart. She eased her arms around his waist and hugged him from behind. “Jon, please. I’m fine. I’ll hunt him down. He won’t get far.”

Spinning, he grabbed her shoulders, exercising extreme caution. “Woman, are you mad?”

“Yes,” Cole answered for her frankly. “Totally and completely. That’s beside the point. We’ve got another problem. Gerald Wilson is trying to bring charges of fraud against your father because he figured out Lynn wasn’t you during the whole brouhaha. Man said he was going to petition the law the county over to retrieve you from the Sheriff here.” Cole touched his sidearm. “I will put a bullet in that man’s forehead if he even looks at you. Know that now.”

Jonathan listened to the resolve in the marshal’s voice and knew the man meant what he said. He wanted Gerald dead almost as much as Jonathan did. A piece of him wanted to like Cole, if for no other reason than his desire to rid the world of dickheads, but the fact he was engaged to Molly negated all else. “Gerald isn’t takin’ her from me. No one is,” he said, almost daring Cole to contradict him.

“Is that so?” Cole asked.

Molly touched Jonathan’s chest lightly, having an instantaneous calming effect on him. “Jon, Cole, no fighting please. I have enough violence in my life as it is. I don’t need the people I love doing it too.”

She loves me?

Jonathan swayed and then stiffened, standing upright. Jealousy flared as he realized her comment implied she loved Cole as well. No mate of his was going to be with anyone but him.

Mate?

He sighed. Fighting the pull was pointless. His body knew who she was to him. So did his mind. He was just being bullheaded.

Steel steeds approached, pulling an iron wagon, and his stomach coiled. Eli glanced back at him, obviously guessing who was in the wagon.

Three local whores Jonathan used to find release twice a month with. He tensed as he realized Molly would see them. Didn’t matter that she was engaged to another man. He wanted her and only her and this could jeopardize his chances of making that so.

“I’ll head ’em off,” his cousin said, partially under his breath.

“Head who off?” Molly questioned.

Cole glanced at the wagon, peering slightly. A calculated smile slipped over the man’s face. “Is it me, Sheriff, or are those women from the whorehouse in town? I could have sworn they’re the same ones I passed late last night. The same ones who tried to convince me I really did want a fuck, a suck and a shave.”

Molly’s anger rolled off her in waves. So much so that Jonathan actually had to take a step away from her. His beast was concerned for its safety too. The woman was most certainly a hellcat. He expected her to blow her lid and kick up a fuss. When the look of rage on her face gave way to hurt, his chest tightened.

“Molls,” he said, reaching for her.

She jerked away, going straight to the arms of the marshal. Cole held her close, all the while glaring at Jonathan. “You don’t deserve her,” the man mouthed.

“Yoohoo,” one of the whores yelled from the wagon. “Sheriff, you ready for a good time?”

Molly touched her lower stomach and paled. “I’m going to be sick,” she said, rushing off.

Eli turned and punched Jonathan in the face so hard and so fast that it knocked him off his feet. Stunned, he rubbed his jaw as he pushed to his feet. “What in tarnation was that for?”

Eli’s chest heaved. “He’s right. You don’t deserve her.”

“How the hell was I supposed to know Molly would be here when they showed up?”

“You knew she was coming to town,” stated Cole. “You came sweepin’ in knowing you’d not let her marry Gerald. You had to know you’d be bringing her back here.”

The man was right.

It made Jonathan dislike him even more.

Cole grunted and shook his head. “And to think Molly carried a torch for someone like you all these years.” He stormed off in the direction Molly had gone.

Eli’s look of disgust reminded Jonathan the whores were even closer.

“Get rid of them for me. Please.”

His cousin gave a short nod and Jonathan went in search of his woman.

Molly bent her head, refusing to let Cole see her cry. He stood silently near her as she clutched the jacket tightly around her body.

“Want me to shoot him?” Cole offered.

She laughed through her tears. “No, but can I reserve the right to change my mind later?”

“Of course.” Cole winked. “Offer stands.”

She wiped her cheeks, sniffling still. “He wanted to know why I’m marrying you.”

“Guess that means you didn’t tell him the truth then, huh?”

Fixating on the ground, she shook her head. “I would have but the whore thing was too much. It’s bad enough I thought he was married for the last several years. Coming home to find he’s into keeping company with women like that is almost worse than seeing him happily married to someone.”

“I can’t say he’s made much in the way of a positive impression on me, Molly, but I’ve spent long enough with you to know it’s him you cry out for in the middle of the night and it’s his scent you wear.”

She stilled. Jonathan had said something similar. “What do you mean?”

Cole shuffled his feet, his thumbs hooking in the belt loops of his jeans. “When I first met you, you had a certain something extra in your scent. Something only another shifter would pick up on. Since I’ve got some shifter blood in me, it was noticeable to me. I thought it might have come from the rape. I didn’t want to believe any man who could do that to you could be your mate but you were so adamant that Jonathan wasn’t a shifter that I couldn’t help but assume it was Gerald.”

She shivered at the idea of ever wearing Gerald’s scent.

“But meetin’ Jonathan in the flesh, I can say with all certainty that it’s his scent you wear. He started the claiming process on you already, Molly. A shifter male doesn’t do that with just anyone and they sure the fuck don’t do it if they don’t want to be with that woman for life.”

Molly tried to wrap her mind around what her longtime friend was saying. “No. Jon must have accidently done that when he was saving my life. He doesn’t want to spend his life with me.”

“Right, so he just keeps looking at me like he’s wantin’ to rip my head clean off because he’s bored. Got it. Couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the fact I’m the man you’ve been with for almost eight years now.”

The way he said it made it sound as if they were an item. She let out a long, slow breath. “I need to head to town and straighten this mess out with my father and Lynnette.”

“Lynn’s staying at Parker’s place. I’m less than thrilled by that but it is what it is. That doctor doesn’t much seem to want to let her out of his sights. For now, she’s safe and sound. And your father deserves whatever happens to him.”

“Cole.”

“Molly,” he mimicked. “The guy is trying to marry you off to a man who raped you.”

“It’s within in his rights,” she said, hating the truth of the law.

Cole lifted a brow. “No. It’s not. See, when the good Sheriff started the claiming ritual with you, he took the place of decision-maker in your life, Molly. At least according to pack law. You and I both know pack law overrules human law in cases of mating and pack hierarchy.”

She thought about what he was telling her. “Wait? Jonathan decides who I can and can’t marry now?”

“No,” Cole said with a grin. “Jonathan is, for lack of a better word, your fiancé for life, regardless if you want him or not. You’re promised to him in the eyes of the pack. And, Molly, yesterday when you shared your power with him, you acknowledged his claim on you.”

“Meaning?”

“You’re his and I think you know that.” Cole came to her, pulling her against his frame. He kissed her temple. “If you’re not ready for him and all he’ll bring into your life, say the word and I’ll whisk you away from here. He can go on thinkin’ you want to be with me and you can go on hiding from the world.”

“I’m not hiding,” she snapped, already knowing it was a lie.

“Right.” Cole cupped her face. “How many men have you let touch you like this in your life, Molly?”

She opened her mouth to speak.

“Since Gerald did what he did to you, how many men have you let this close to you?”

She trembled. “You and Jonathan.”

He trailed his hands lower, going for her breasts. She let him. “And this? How many have you let do this? Just us?”

She nodded.

When Cole made a move to slip his hand between the jacket and her legs, she caught his wrist. He kissed her forehead. “And how many men have you let touch you here?”

Tensing, she exhaled slowly. “J-Just you and Jonathan.”

Cole seemed surprised by the news she’d allowed Jonathan that many liberties with her.

“It happened this morning.”

“Are you all right?” Concern coated his words. “Physically and mentally?”

“Yes, Jonathan would never hurt me.”

“Molly, aside from me, the last man who touched you intimately did so without your permission. I think it’s safe for me to ask if you’re mentally all right with having Jonathan doing it.”

She pulled free of Cole’s embrace. “Jonathan’s touch is nothing like that monster’s. Nothing at all!”

“Never said it was,” added Cole. “But it’s good to hear as much from you. I’d have shot the prick for sure otherwise. Still might. Though, him thinking you and I are a couple might be punishment enough.”

She eased her arms around his waist, her cheek going to his chest. While in the past they had been intimate, it had more or less been to use one another for sex. The love she felt for him stemmed from their friendship. At some point along the line, Cole had become like family to her. As had Lynnette.

Cole lifted her long, soaked hair and twisted it, wringing some of the water from it. “Molly, tell me you were really ready to come back here and face your father, Gerald and most importantly Jonathan.”

She nearly said yes without thinking but stopped. “I’ve spent a long time becoming someone who can stand up for myself. I’m ready to face my father and that monster Gerald.”

“And Jonathan?”

“I thought I was, I really did.” She choked up. “When he was laying there on that were-coyote, all I could think was if he died, I wanted to die too. Look at me with him. I’m so green with jealousy that I nearly lost what little bit is still in my stomach at the idea of him beddin’ down with whores.”

“I’ve been there,” Cole confessed. “You know I have. When you met me, I was a mess. You helped to turn that around. Speakin’ from experience here, sometimes a man has to be a man regardless and it’s easier to do what needs to be done with someone you have no attachment to than it is to lie with someone who can twist your heart all up.”

Was he defending Jonathan’s actions? Cole had never been a saint. In fact, he’d had a thing for loose women, liquor and gambling when she’d first crossed paths with him. Under all of that bravado lurked a good man. A man with a past he didn’t care much to talk about but with a future that looked better with each passing day. His judgment was one she trusted fully.

He tilted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Molly, he didn’t go and get hitched while you were gone. That’s sayin’ a lot. If I’m right, and I think I am, he waited for you as best he could. He’s still a man—more than a man, really. He has needs. They weren’t being met by you.” He stopped her protest with a well-timed finger to her lips. “You weren’t ready to be that for him. You needed time to heal in more ways than one. All I know is he means something to you. A whole lot of something. It was hard for me to come to terms with that and, frankly, I don’t see what it is about the man that attracts ya to him but I gotta think nature had a hand in it too.”

She couldn’t help but smile. A tiny gust of wind made its way up the back of the jacket, moving over her exposed backside. She groaned, embarrassed. “Ohmyword, I stood naked in front of the man and his cousin without a care in the world.”

“Should you feel the need to do so now, know I won’t be objecting any.”