Wild Lilly (22 page)

She bit her lip. “What’s that?”

“Marry me.”

A smile as warm as the joy in her heart blossomed on her lips. “Really?”

“Yes, really. Good Lord, woman, did you think I came over here just to pleasure you like the wanton wench you are?”

She splashed water in his face and tried to get out of the tub. He pulled her slippery flesh back and settled her bottom against his manhood, which became very happy to have her there.

He slowly traced a finger over her puckered nipple. “I planned on coming over here and doing whatever I could to get you to marry me. But when I saw you in your robe, all warm and delicious, I couldn’t help myself.”

She tried to be angry with him, but it was impossible. “Yes, Paul McGregor, I will marry you.”

“I want to come East with you and meet your family and apologize for not asking their permission first.”

“I never understood that,” she grumped. “I’m the one marrying you. Why should it matter if they say yes? It’s not like my mother is going to be the one having to deal with your stubbornness for the rest of her life.”

He snorted and nipped the side of her neck. “Stubborn, am I?” His finger continued to torment her nipple, distracting her and sending delicious darts of pleasure through her body. “Besides, I’d like to see where you grew up. Walk around Hartford with my fiancée, the most beautiful woman in town, on my arm.”

“Of course.” She smiled at him and slowly brushed her lips over his. “I would be proud to have you meet my family.” He went stiff behind her and his tension made her worried. Had she said something wrong?

“Thank you,” he said in a gruff voice and pressed his lips to her temple.

She twisted in his arms, darting her tongue into his mouth in a bold stroke and pulling back with a wicked grin. “Don’t thank me yet. You haven’t met my mother.”

***

Lee Krisp sat back in his saddle and watched by the light of the lanterns as Hank’s body swung on a rope from a tree limb. Next to him, a couple of his men and the sheriff watched in silence.

“Found a suicide note in the bunkhouse. Hank didn’t want to go to jail for what he did to Miss Brooks. He knew I was going to make him turn himself in tomorrow morning. Poor bastard took his life rather than rot in a jail cell.”

The sheriff didn’t say anything. The leather in his saddle creaked as he rode closer to the corpse. “He’s got some rope burns on his wrists. Know where they came from, Mr. Krisp?”

“Yep, we had him tied up in the bunkhouse so he couldn’t get away. Seems like he tore his wrists up trying to escape.”

“Escape so he could kill himself?” The sheriff didn’t look at Lee as he speculated, merely watched Hank’s body swing in the night breeze.

Lee shrugged his shoulders, the nickel-plated guns on his belt gleaming in the lantern light. “He was a tortured soul.”

The sheriff spit a wad of tobacco against the edge of the tree. “Cut him down and give him a decent burial. I’ll be keeping my eye on you, Mr. Krisp. People seem to have a lot of accidents around here. Especially your wife.”

Lee held his accusing gaze. “My daughter, Mina, will be coming to visit me in a few weeks. I’d sure hate to have anyone disturb her with mean-spirited gossip. Might want to pass around word that anyone that so much as looks wrong at my girl is going to have me to answer to.”

The sheriff’s expression hardened. “I’ve known Eunice my whole life. I would never do anything to upset her daughter.”

Lee rounded his horse and yelled to his men. “You heard the sheriff. Cut the poor bastard down and give him a proper burial.”

With a last glance back, Lee’s lip lifted in a snarl. “Remember my words, Sheriff, and pass ’em around for my wife and daughter’s sake.”

Lee rode back to the house and met his new foreman at the door. “Has my guest arrived yet?”

The short, chestnut-haired man nodded and adjusted his gun belt. “She’s waiting for you in your study.”

Eunice watched him from the top of the stairs, but he ignored her and tossed his hat to the maid before entering the study.

Still dressed in her dance-hall costume and tied to a sturdy dark mahogany chair, the Spanish whore tried to yell at him through the gag in her mouth. He briefly wondered how his men had grabbed her without being noticed.

Lee nodded to one of the men, who moved from his place behind the woman and pulled a large bowie knife out of his boot. He turned it in the light before her terrified eyes.

“Welcome to my home, Miss Juanita Lopez.” He watched with satisfaction as her skin lost its color and shock made her expression go slack behind the gag. “Oh, I’m sorry. You don’t go by that name anymore, do you? Not after that nasty little incident down in Texas where you slaughtered the man who killed your husband. Dirty affair, that. I heard they are still looking for you and offering a nice reward for your capture.”

If looks could kill, he thought, he’d be a dead man where he was standing. “Take off her gag.”

Lee walked closer and took the knife from the ranch hand. He examined the blade while she licked her lips and coughed. “What do you want?”

“I want to know where Miss Brooks is, and I want to know if Mr. McGregor’s with her.”

“How would I know?”

She tried to bluff him, but he could see right through her. Lightning-quick, he pressed the blade to her throat and the purple feather comb in her dark hair trembled. “I know you’re his whore, and I know he was in your saloon tonight. So unless you want me to send you back to Texas missing your nose and ears, you better talk.”

The men behind her shifted as she gave a bitter laugh. “I used to be his woman. He threw me away like garbage for that blonde bitch. He was going to ask me to marry him.” The men all laughed and she snarled at them. “I know it. Then that spoiled bitch came and stole it all away from me.”

The hate and ice in her voice made him pause. “Do you know where they are?”

“I know they’re leaving town, but I have no idea where they’re going.” She shifted in the chair and glanced behind her. “If you could untie me, I think I can help you...for a price.”

Lee cut the ropes himself. “How?”

“I know Paul. I know how he thinks. I know what his weaknesses are. I could help you abduct the
puta
and bring her back to Caldwell. By the time I’m done with her, she’ll be begging to sign anything you want.” Her smile was filled with cruelty and her eyes sparkled with hate.

Stroking his mustache, Lee considered her words. “Why should I give you any money to help me? My not turning you in for the reward money should be enough.”

Crossing her arms beneath her impressive breasts, she smirked at him. “Because I don’t trust you. If I come back with the bitch and you give me enough money, I can disappear forever. Do you think I like selling my body? Do you think I enjoy not having my own home? I used to own one of the largest ranches in Texas, and now I’m reduced to this.” She plucked at her dress with distaste.

Silence filled the room as Lee considered her. “I have a friend that owes me a very large favor. I don’t trust you,” he ignored her sneer and continued, “enough to let you jaunt out there alone and try to grab Miss Brooks. You’ll work with whoever he picks for this and give him the information he needs once we find out where the two love birds are headed.”

Nodding to the chestnut-haired foreman, he ordered, “I want men at the train station, the telegraph office, and the coach station. Find out where they are going and spread some coin around if you need to.”

“Can I have the bitch when you’re done with her?” Low and soft, the woman’s voice held more menace than a scream.

“Depends on what you plan to do with her.”

The deadly beauty flashed her teeth in what couldn’t be mistaken for a smile. “Mr. Krisp, if you know what happened in Texas, then you know what I do to people who hurt me.”

He nodded to Estrella. Despite the giant mess Hank left him, things were turning out better than he’d thought. Now he had the perfect person to frame for Lilly and Paul’s murder, and there was no way it could be traced back to him.

Chapter Fifteen

Decisions

Lilly stretched her arms above her head and sighed. The caress of the smooth sheets rubbing against her legs felt decadent. Last night was the best night’s sleep she’d had, ever. A large hand warmed the skin of her thigh, tightening when she attempted to leave the bed and put on her yellow cotton dress.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Paul asked in a sleepy growl as his other arm secured her waist and pulled her back against his chest. His skin was warm from sleep, and she traced her hands over the muscles of his biceps.

“Breakfast,” she whispered against his lips. “I don’t know about you, but I’m really tired of buffalo meat. Oddly enough, I didn’t get a chance to eat last night.”

He pulled the covers back over them with a huff. Tucking them under her chin, he cuddled her close. The morning sun shone through the lace curtains and the light brought out the red highlights in his hair as it cast a pattern over the bed.

“Paul?”

“Hmm.” His hand traced a light path down her spine, and over the swell of her hip.

“We have to get up.”

“Why?”

“I need to send a telegraph to my family letting them know we’ll be coming out to visit.”

He tickled his fingers along her ribs, inching his way to her breasts. She squirmed and pushed his hands away. “Paul, stop that. Pay attention to what I’m saying.”

“I am.” Soft lips began to graze against her jaw, kissing a line down to her neck.

“Paul, I’m...a little sore after last night.” She closed her eyes and hid her face in the pillow.

“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He lay on the pillow next to hers and gently stroked the freckles on the bridge of her nose. “I love you.”

She felt the heat flood her face and ducked her head. “I love you, too. And if you ever accuse me of being unfaithful again, I’ll shoot you with your own gun.”

He laughed and held her close. His cock grew hard against her belly as she pressed against him, slowly parting her legs and rubbing her swollen pearl over the base of his shaft. The sensation of him, slick and hard against her core, was maddening. The head of his cock rubbed over the hard nub, sliding between her nether lips in a gentle rocking motion.

“I thought you were sore,” he murmured against her mouth.

Each little movement of her hips made the throb between her legs deepen. Soon, her cream covered his length and he grabbed a handful of her bottom, pulling her harder against him. He moved her so he pressed against the entrance of her body. The head of his cock felt so big, just barely going into her pussy.

“Do you think you can be gentle?” she asked, as the tip of his erection pushed into her. He smiled at her and proved he could be devastatingly gentle when properly motivated.

Two hours later, a very relaxed Lilly waited in line at the telegraph station. The office was small, but busy. A line of people waited to relay their information across the United States. While they waited in line Paul told her more about his family, including his siblings that she hadn’t met. Paul’s eyes shone with pride as he talked about his brother and sister. The way he smiled at her made her heart flutter in her chest and desire flush through her body.

When they reached the front of the line Lilly smiled at the harried looking operator and carefully relayed her message. “Dear Mother and Father, I am coming home with my fiancé and my business partner. We will be there in six days. Love, Lilly.”

The man took down the information in shorthand. He repeated her telegram back to her and looked at Paul’s hand, held in her own.

“I take it congratulations are in order?” He returned Lilly’s smile as she beamed.

“Miss Brooks has agreed to do me the honor of being my wife.” Paul ran his thumb over the back of her hand.

She felt rather scandalous this morning. It seemed as if everyone could see in her face what she and Paul had done. It didn’t help that her hair was a mess and she wore the same wrinkled dress from last night. A glance behind her showed a few people smiling at the pride in Paul’s voice. At the back of the line, a dusty cowboy appeared annoyed by the delay.

“I need to send one as well,” Paul said while giving her a secretive smile.

“All right, let me get a new telegram.” The operator waited with his pen poised above the paper.

“Dear Catherine, I will be in Hartford with my fiancé in a fortnight. We will come up to Boston with her business partner on Thursday. Love, Paul.”

“Your sister,” she asked with a merry grin.

“Yep. She lost her husband two years ago to tuberculosis. I think it’ll cheer her up to have some company from back home.”

“Anything else I can do for you folks?” The operator interrupted, giving the growing line behind them a meaningful glance.

“That’s all we need. Thank you.” Paul paid the operator and took a copy of his letter.

Tucking a stray curl into her yellow bonnet, Lilly said, “Well, there’s no turning back now.”

He laughed and helped her down the curb. “Oh, so the telegraph makes it official? Well, I suppose you don’t want this ring, then.”