Kid Calhoun (32 page)

Jake made a husky sound in his throat when she arched upward under his hand.

Her head fell back as she offered herself up for his gentle torment.

“What do you feel, Kid?”

“It … hurts,” she whispered in a ragged voice.

“Shall I kiss it to make it better?”

“Yes, Jake. Yes!” She gave a tiny, wild cry as his lips claimed her flesh.

Anabeth’s shaking hands clutched at Jake’s hair as she succumbed to his slow, teasing touch. Her body bucked beneath his hand. Voice trembling with need she begged, “Please, Jake.”

She didn’t know what she wanted, but Jake did.

“You want me here, sweetheart?”

He captured her moan of pleasure with his mouth, and bit lips already swollen with passion.

“You taste so sweet, girl.” He made a thick sound as he claimed her mouth.

Anabeth took a shivery breath as his tongue thrust deeply, penetrating her mouth, just as his finger penetrated her below.

She cried out in sensual surprise, and Jake absorbed the sound with his mouth. Anabeth shivered uncontrollably, and her hips sought out the cradle of his thighs.

Jake’s breath came in sharply as she reached down to touch the shape of him, hard and throbbing in her hand.

Anabeth whimpered softly as she realized the violence of his need. Her hips moved sinuously upward, and Jake made a thick sound of pleasure.

“Don’t, sweetheart. Stop.”

“Why, Jake? I want you. I …”

Anabeth caught herself before she said the words. Jake didn’t want to hear that she loved him. Nothing was more likely to make him leave her. “I need you,” she whispered instead.

The harsh groan seemed torn from Jake’s throat.
His gray eyes glittered in the moonlight. He shifted his muscular weight so that he could touch her, but she couldn’t touch him, settling a heavy thigh across her legs to hold her captive for his hungry mouth, his slow, loving hands.

He drank in her sudden gasp as he slipped two fingers inside her.

“God, sweetheart, you’re so small!” But she was slick and wet and ready for him. Jake sought out the small bud of pleasure with his thumb.

Anabeth made a breathless sound of protest that was taken by Jake’s mouth as it claimed hers.

“That’s right, Kid,” Jake murmured. “Come with me.”

Anabeth arched wildly beneath his tormenting hands. She gripped the bunched strength in his shoulders and whimpered softly as his mouth forayed to her ear and then down her throat.

“Jake, I want—I need—”

Eyes dark as smoke found hers in the moonlight. “What do you need, Kid? Tell me.”

“I need … you … here.”

She reached down between them and covered his powerful hand with trembling fingers.

Jake took a shuddering breath. Her sensual honesty made his pulse leap dangerously.

“Please, Jake.”

A deep, animal sound escaped Jake’s throat. He slipped his fingers out of her and lifted himself over her, pressing against the feminine portal with the tip of his shaft.

Anabeth gasped as he sheathed himself within her.

Jake drank in her sudden cry of pain as he broke through her maidenhead. Once he was seated completely, deep inside her, he held himself perfectly still.

“Are you all right?” he whispered huskily.

Anabeth felt full, but the ache was still there, unsatisfied.
She threaded her hands in his hair and pulled his mouth down for her kiss. She found the scar on the side of his mouth and lightly traced it with her tongue. Then she slid her tongue along the seam of his lips and slipped it inside his mouth. The moment her tongue touched his, her body arched against him.

Jake made a thick sound of pleasure and grabbed her hips to hold her still. “Don’t move, Kid.”

But Anabeth’s body arched under him as his warm flesh rubbed against her mound, creating a feeling of pleasure so intense it was almost pain. Her fingernails dug crescents in his shoulders as her body thrust upward, seeking the pleasure that was beyond her grasp.

Anabeth’s sensual thrusts made Jake’s pulse thrum. He found a nipple and suckled hard, feeling her body arch with desire. He began to thrust slowly, steadily, holding the bucking woman beneath him, tasting her flesh with a hungry mouth, drinking in her animal cries and coming back for more.

Anabeth’s body tightened as she sought desperately for the satisfaction that eluded her.

“Jake … I need …”

“What do you need, Kid?” he grated.

“I don’t know!” she cried.

But Jake knew. Slow, hot, hungry, his body thrust into hers. His hands caressed the woman, shaking and wild beneath him. He thrust his tongue in rhythm with the joining of their two bodies.

Jake felt her body clenching around him, felt the tension building in her until it exploded in a series of volcanic shudders, wringing cries of pleasure from her throat.

Jake’s body thrust powerfully within her until at last he spilled his seed, claiming her for his own.

Jake heard Anabeth’s shuddering sigh as her
clenched muscles relaxed, totally exhausted by the violent coupling.

He slipped to her side and pulled her close, wanting to feel her warmth. He kissed the heavy fringe of dark lashes feathered on her cheeks, causing her to make a soft, murmurous sound of pleasure.

His throat was thick with feeling, and he had to clear it to speak. “I …” Jake was reluctant to speak the words of love that described his feelings. But he would not deny himself the pleasure of touching her, of holding her, of joining himself to her—for however long they were together.

Anabeth’s hand slid across Jake’s sweat-slick body to his hip. “That was …” She sighed. “I can’t describe it. Beautiful. Amazing. Incredible. Unbelievable.”

“You liked it, huh?”

Anabeth’s breath puffed across Jake as she released a throaty chuckle.

The pad of Jake’s thumb slid across her kiss-swollen lower lip. “A man doesn’t want to talk at a time like this,” he said in a husky voice.

“What does he want to do?” Anabeth asked in an equally husky voice.

“He wants to …” But sleep wasn’t at all what Jake wanted to do right now.

His lips sought hers. A gentle taste, a softly passionate claiming.

Anabeth whimpered softly. “Jake.”

His name sounded like a prayer. He took a shuddering breath. “You’ll be sore,” he said bluntly. “We have to stop this right now.”

“I don’t hurt, Jake. But I ache. Here.” She took his hand and laid it low on her belly.

Jake groaned and slid a finger into her. She was wet and ready. He felt every beat of his heart pumping
blood to his extremities, making him pulse with need.

Anabeth reached out to touch Jake tentatively, innocently. He jerked as her trembling fingertips caressed him.

“So soft,” she said in a breathless voice. “And so hard.”

Jake’s throat released a low, very masculine laugh. “You’re crazy, Kid.”

She grinned impishly up at him. “Crazy for you,” she teased.

He saw the wary look in her eyes, as though she had said too much. He dragged her into his arms and held her tight.

“We’re both crazy,” he said. “But somehow I don’t want to be sane right now.”

His mouth found hers again. He felt her body tremble with need, felt his own body’s shuddering response.

This time he joined them quickly. His body thrust into hers hard and fast and deep. His mouth claimed an already swollen nipple and he bit and soothed the hurt, suckled hard and strong with all the need he felt to swallow her whole, to make her a part of himself so she could never go away and leave him alone.

He made a raw sound as his body climaxed within her. He was aware suddenly that her legs surrounded his hips, that her heels dug into his buttocks, forcing him more tightly against her, keeping his pumping body buried inside her as she arched upward.

He caught her hoarse cry of pleasure with his mouth as his body emptied itself deep within her.

Neither of them had the energy to move, but Jake knew the cool night air would chill them unless they sought shelter. He picked her up and carried her the length of the valley.

When they arrived at the stone house he joined her in the big brass bed that had been hers alone.

With his woman in his arms, with no thoughts of Claire or gold or dangerous outlaws, Jake fell deeply, soundly asleep.

Jake woke the next morning with a frown etching his brow. He had a vague feeling of unease, but he couldn’t identify its source. He rolled over and realized he lay sprawled across Anabeth Calhoun’s bed. He remembered that he had made love to her twice by the pond and once in this bed in the middle of the night. Now he was alone.

“Kid?”

She didn’t answer. He swore under his breath when he realized he had left his clothing by the pond. He sought out his saddlebags for more long johns, some jeans, and a wool shirt. He had also left his boots at the pond, so he pulled a pair of moccasins from his saddlebags as well.

The instant he stepped outside the door he spotted Dog.

“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be keeping an eye on her.”

Dog howled. It was an awful sound, full of pain and aching with loneliness.

Jake felt the hairs stand up on his arms. “What’s wrong, boy?” Jake searched the horizon for the danger he could feel all around them. “Where’s the Kid? What’s happened to her?”

Then he saw the sheen of blood on the dark fur. At the same moment, Dog swayed and collapsed.

Jake was beside the animal in an instant. He smoothed his hands over Dog’s fur and found several knife wounds in his side. It was the first time he had ever touched the animal.

Dog whined and licked his hand.

Jake felt a well of tears in his eyes. “Dammit, no! You can’t die, you mangy animal!”

He wasn’t sure Dog would even let him help without turning vicious. But he had to try. He picked up the animal, but instead of biting him Dog lay quiet in his arms. Jake carried Dog into the house and laid him gently on the floor. He grabbed one of his shirts from his saddlebag and tore it into strips.

“No time for stitches now, but this ought to keep the wounds closed and stop the bleeding. You’ll have to wait for the rest, boy, until I find the Kid.”

Jake performed his makeshift surgery as quickly as he could, knowing that he had to leave Dog and go find Anabeth. He felt a killing rage by the time he left the stone house wearing his gunbelt.

Jake searched the length of the valley with narrowed eyes. The outlaw gang was here somewhere. He had known he and the Kid were living on borrowed time. That time had run out.

Jake knew the only reason Dog would have approached any human close enough to get stabbed was if he had been protecting Anabeth. Which meant that she was in deadly peril. He followed the trail of blood Dog had left, keeping to the shadows of the cliffs.

Jake moved slowly, sniffing the wind, listening for the echo of the slightest sound that didn’t belong to the valley. He reached the other end of the valley without finding the Kid, knowing somehow deep in his gut that she wasn’t there.

He found the spot where she had been stolen. There
was blood on the ground and signs of a violent struggle. But was it all Dog’s blood? Had the Kid been hurt? Jake felt his insides clench. Cold gray eyes searched the rim of the valley. He knew Rankin was up there somewhere, waiting for him.

Jake followed a narrow deer trail he soon realized led up out of the valley. He had nearly reached the top of the cliff when a voice he recognized called out to him across the valley.

“I’ve got the girl, Kearney. I’m willing to trade her for the gold. She won’t tell me where it is. But I figure if you want to see her alive again, you will.”

“You lay a hand on her, Rankin—”

“Don’t waste your breath with threats. The gold for the girl, Kearney. That’s the only deal I’m going to make.”

“Jaaaake!”

Anabeth’s cry of pain made Jake roar with rage. “Rankin! Leave her be! You’ll get the gold! Just tell me where you want me to take it!”

“You bring it out of that valley, hear? You bring it right to me!”

“Where? Damn you, where?” Jake shouted.

Rankin stood on the rim of the valley, too far for Jake’s handgun to do any good. “Over here, Jake.”

“I want to see her, Rankin. Before I do anything, show me she’s all right.”

Rankin turned to look over his shoulder and a moment later Solano appeared with Anabeth. Her hands were tied, but otherwise she looked fine. Jake saw the bloody rag tied around Solano’s arm and realized Dog had gotten in a few licks of his own.

Rankin grabbed Anabeth by the hair and said, “Here she is, Kearney. You have a piece of this yet?” He ran an insulting hand down across her breasts all the way to her belly. “Better-lookin’ than your average whore, eh, Kearney?”

Jake gritted his teeth, refusing to be baited into responding. Rankin wasn’t going to hurt the Kid—yet. Jake would make sure the outlaw paid for every bruise on Anabeth Calhoun’s body.

“I see her, Rankin. You just make sure you’re waiting for me when I get there with the gold.”

“I’ll be here,” Rankin said, “till sundown. Then I think maybe I’ll have to get some sleep. I bet the girl can warm up a man’s blankets pretty good. What do you think, Kearney?”