Rue Allyn Page 18

  Kiera’s grip on the pistol butt tightened as her mind’s eye saw Herbert bleeding at her feet. Her thumb slipped off the safety three times before she managed to cock the revolver. Remembered scents — acrid smoke, metallic blood, exotic perfume — attacked her. Her entire body tensed, and breath clogged her throat. In total panic she finally fired the gun.

  The shot went wide and high. Her arms dropped, and the pistol fell from her hands as tremors moved up her limbs to occupy her entire body.

  Ev’s strong arm came around her. His heat encompassed her, chasing away the chill she’d been shaking too hard to feel. Her heart rate settled.

  Beside her, Colonel Brackett bent and retrieved his revolver. “I’ll be damned. Pardon me, miss. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. I doubt very much that anyone could fake such fear.”

  Kiera waited for the colonel to ask why she couldn’t steady herself. Waited for his decision to arrest her again and send her to San Francisco to be tried for a murder she’d been too deep in shock to prevent. She should have known she couldn’t escape, that not even the truth would free her from the past.

  “Me neither,” Ev spoke over her head. “Least ways not until the first time I saw Kiera try to fire a gun.”

  “Miss Alden. I believe you’ve proven your innocence sufficiently. I officially declare this a mistrial and will publish announcements of your innocence along with notice of the new suspects.”

  Kiera raised her head. “Thank you Colonel.”

  “C’mon Kiera. Let’s go back to the hotel. I want to talk to you in private.”

  Ev was looking down at her in a way that indicated he had more than talking in mind. She grinned. “By all means.”

  “Muh’Weda, Boyd, do that favor I asked, and we’ll see you tomorrow.” Ev swept her away before any more words could be exchanged.

  Van Demer passed them on the way, but surrounded by his escort, he didn’t speak.

  • • •

  “I’ve wanted to get you alone and keep you there since the moment I first saw you.” He closed the door of his hotel room, locking it behind him.

  Kiera studied his face as Ev reached for the buttons on her shirtwaist. The light in his honey brown eyes mirrored the joy in her heart at being free, at being with him.

  “You did not,” she teased. “You wanted me in chains. Manacled and hobbled, so you could control me until you could get rid of me.”

  “Hmm,” he mused as his fingers spread the open plackets of her shirt, tracing the aureoles that she knew showed through her chemise’s thin lawn. “Doing my job doesn’t mean I didn’t want you. ‘Sides, you gotta admit, you were a bit of a wildcat at our first close encounter. Since I plan on encountering you real close, manacles might be a good idea right about now, but hobbles would just get in the way.”

  She would have smiled, but he chose that moment to flick her nipples to aching life. “Ohh.”

  “Yeah, ohh.” His gentle growl purred against her lips just before he plundered her mouth with devastating skill.

  The world swayed. A maelstrom of sensations spread through her. He seemed to touch her everywhere at once. The whirlwind started and ended with his mouth, and only his arms kept her anchored to sensation-dizzied reality.

  When he lifted away, deprivation made her want to beg. She found herself on the bed, naked and turned a pleading gaze to him. “Plea … se … ”

  He tossed away the last of his clothing as she stuttered to silence. His raw beauty strangled her words, but it was the emotion in his eyes that stole her breath. Could he possibly feel so much for her? Her heart spilled over with love for Evrett Quinn. What he felt for her didn’t matter. She would love him for as long as she lived, even if she had to let him go.

  She raised her arms in welcome.

  Wordless, he lowered himself to her, kissing her cheeks, her nose her eyelids, and finally her mouth. Her hands worshipped his body — memorizing every shape, imprinting every texture, savoring every taste and scent. This much she would have always.

  Desire writhed in her belly, momentarily satisfied only when his hips settled between her thighs. She wanted him inside her, pounding into her, compelling her response.

  But he only teased, stroking her liquid hot seam with his erection, nudging open her slick swollen folds, torturing her throbbing nub.

  Her hands found his buttocks, pressed, squeezed, tugged.

  He refused to be moved. He nuzzled each breast then suckled her into raging madness to have him fill her.

  She would not be denied this last pleasure. Tilting her hips, she impaled herself and prompted a heart clutching thrust from him. He groaned and thrust again and again and again. Each plunge pulled her higher into the madness, each pull dragged her deeper into a longing to be with him. Her body answered his.

  Twisting, lifting, caressing, she brought him closer and deeper. His thrusts came faster, harder. She lost all sense of the world. There was only Ev. There would always be only Ev.

  He filled her gaze, her body, her heart.

  “Say my name, Kiera.” It was a plea and a song.

  “Ev, Ev, Ev … ” she sang in response, until response became a soul deep scream of joy.

  Somewhere, far from the bed and their joined bodies, Kiera sailed with Ev in a heaven of ecstasy — a delight so blissful it must be eternity.

  But eternity was short lived. Too soon she became aware of his weight as he shifted from her, his breath as it slowed, his warmth as it soothed. She battled despair to grip the feelings, sensations, love until the moment when they faded to memory.

  “I love you, Kiera Alden. Please, marry me?

  Knowing he asked the impossible, she believed him. In these minutes of shared passion, he would of course lay claim to that deepest of emotions. As much as he felt, she was certain he didn’t mean the words. His background had convinced him he couldn’t settle down. A few bouts of lovemaking wouldn’t really change that. Would it?

  She studied him for long moments, wondering if he was ready to put down roots, raise a family, grow old together, and knowing that she couldn’t ask him to give up his work. Neither would she give up her dreams of a home, even if it didn’t include a family. “I can’t, won’t, wander with you.”

  She cast her eyes downward.

  His finger beneath her chin urged her back to look him in the face. He smiled. “I asked you to marry me, not go gallivanting all over the wilderness. You’re still planning on getting your sisters to come west and settle Smoke Valley with you, aren’t you?”

  She nodded.

  “You want them to have homes to come to?”

  Another nod.

  “After that fire, you’ll need someone to tote and carry with you, build and plan with you, yes?

  “Yes.” She whispered afraid any sound louder would shatter the fragile hope growing in her heart.

  “I’d like to be that man.”

  “What about being marshal? You told me once that your daddy was a wandering man and settling with your mama destroyed them both.”

  “I’m not my daddy, and you sure as heaven aren’t my mama.”

  She smiled and kissed him. Maybe she had a chance for complete happiness. They’d talk more, but only after she loved him into tomorrow.

  Later, as she drowsed toward sleep Ev stirred, settling her snugly in his arms.

  “You never answered me.”

  “I got distracted.”

  “Me too, but I need to know. Will you marry me?”

  “I’ll tell you in the morning.”

  • • •

  Pounding on the door woke Ev from heaven-induced slumber. Curled beside him, Kiera stirred to wakefulness.

  “Marshal Quinn,” Muh’Weda shouted through the door. “There’s folks from San Francisco at the depot asking about Dabai’Waipi. They mentioned a person named Duval. I couldn’t make out everything ‘cause I was headed away from the train station.”

  Kiera leapt from the bed and began a frantic search of
the room for her clothing.

  Ev rose and put a hand on her shoulder as he reached for his pants. “You’ve got plenty of time to find your clothes. I won’t let them take you anywhere.”

  “I don’t see how you can stop them. Colonel Brackett’s already gone back to Fort Sanders, and you’re only one man. Ev, I know these people — they make Big Si look like a temperamental child. Duval and her cohorts would kill you in front of witnesses without blinking, then get me or some innocent accused and convicted of the deed.” She found her chemise and slipped it on over her head.

  “You don’t know for certain that it’s Duval or anyone associated with her who’s waiting downstairs. It could be your sister.” He pulled his pants on and started to button them.

  “I don’t plan on finding out. I want the San Francisco business settled, but not now. Not until I have legal representation, can control the situation, and can draw Duval’s fangs. Edith couldn’t have gotten here so quickly from San Francisco; could she?”

  “Then wait here and let me find out exactly what’s going on. If it’s as bad as you think, I’ll send Muh’Weda up the back stairs to get you out.”

  Unintelligible shouting came from somewhere outside the room. The pounding resumed, and the doorknob rattled.

  “I should leave now.”

  “Trust me.”

  The door banged open. “Get your hands off her!”

  Two pairs of wide eyes turned to stare at the auburn haired virago standing in the doorway.

  “Edith!”

  “Edith?” Ev asked. Kiera flew from his grasp into her sister’s arms.

  “Oh, Kiera. I was so worried that we wouldn’t get here in time.”

  “How did you find me? How did you know I was in trouble? Where’s Mae? Grandfather? Who’s he?”

  Ev followed Kiera’s glance to the very tall, broad, blonde man standing behind the woman Ev figured was Edith Alden. Behind him, Ev could see Boyd, Muh’Weda, and the worried landlord lingering in the hallway.

  Drawing herself up, Edith suddenly became a dignified matron. “Kiera, this is my husband, Dutch Trahern. Dutch, my sister Kiera Boudicca Alden.

  The man followed his wife into the room. “Miss Alden, I’m mighty pleased to meet you. Edith has told me a lot, and … ” he eyed Ev suspiciously. “I believe we can help resolve things so you can go home to Boston.”

  Kiera smiled. “Call me Kiera, please. As for resolving anything, I’m not so sure.” She cast a glance at Ev — who was beginning to feel a bit like a bug under a glass. “Why don’t you and Edith go to the café down the street — Boyd can show you the way — and order breakfast. Ev and I will join you in a few minutes.”

  Edith narrowed a chilly gaze on Ev. “Are you sure you want to stay with this man?”

  “I’m certain.” The love in her voice soothed Ev’s nerves a little. Finding him in bed — or the next thing to it — with Kiera wasn’t exactly the best way to impress a prospective sister-in-law.

  “Very well, but if you aren’t at the café within fifteen minutes, we’ll come looking for you.”

  • • •

  “Madame Duval’s returning to New Orleans?” Kiera was amazed at the tale Edith told of how she went to San Francisco to find Kiera then found a peck of trouble and a husband instead.

  Edith nodded and swallowed some coffee. “We’re also certain that all charges against you will be dropped, since Madame Duval left a signed document clearing you of any involvement in the murder of that man.”

  Kiera’s eyes went wide. “You mean she confessed? Why did the authorities allow her to leave?”

  “She didn’t exactly confess, but she made clear that you are not the blonde woman the authorities are seeking.”

  Kiera sat back on her bench, leaning against Ev. His arm circled her shoulders. “Well that’s one less complication we need to worry about.”

  Edith and Dutch looked from Kiera to Ev and back.

  “Are there other complications?” asked Edith. “We need to leave for Boston with all possible speed. Grandfather is gravely ill — in a coma — due to a carriage accident. Mae and I were searching his desk for money to pay the doctor and I came across information about you being in San Francisco. He’d hired Pinkertons to follow you and never told us. What Mae doesn’t know is that I found a copy of his will. He’s leaving his entire estate to the Boston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals unless one of us has a child in the next two years.”

  “That’s absurd, and horrifying, and just like Grandfather.”

  “If he’s in a coma, what’s the hurry in returning?” asked Ev.

  “Edith left Boston at the end of June. It’s nearly August,” responded Dutch. “Some patients remain in comas for years, and some die quickly. No one knows if Carlton Alden will die or wake up.”

  “I want to get back to Boston before either event can happen. We need to have that will changed, and the best chance of doing that is while Grandfather is alive but unable to oppose us. However, our only hope of success is to have all three of us present and united in the effort.”

  “I understand the urgency now, but there is a small problem,” Kiera looked at Ev.

  He saw a plea for understanding in her expression; a plea that had him worried she’d refuse his proposal. He wanted her to be his wife, but whatever her decision, he’d support her. He squeezed her shoulder and nodded.

  She smiled. “Ev’s asked me to marry him, and I’ve accepted.”

  Edith’s mouth thinned. “You can’t just go marrying the first stranger you meet. Dying or not, Grandfather will never change his will if we both defy his choices for us.”

  Dutch laughed. “Didn’t realize I was a gesture of defiance.”

  Edith cast him a fulminating glance. “You know better. However, I won’t have that old man … ”

  Ev saw that Kiera would have intervened before Edith’s temper lit off, but Trahern enveloped the elder sister in a tight embrace and kissed her to silence.

  Edith’ face was bright red when Dutch finally released her.

  “Ev isn’t exactly a stranger, and I don’t need Grandfather’s money.”

  “You don’t?”

  “No, she doesn’t,” interjected Ev. “She happens to own a sizable chunk of Wyoming Territory, a chunk that sits smack on top of a gold field.”

  “You own a gold mine?”

  “No mine yet, just placer gold, but enough to settle my sisters there in comfort and security and restore the town that a fire in Smoke Valley destroyed.”

  Edith laughed out loud. “That’s hilarious. Wait until Mae finds out? You will come with us to Boston, won’t you?”

  “We’d be happy to, as soon as Ev can get someone to take over his marshal’s duties here.” She looked at Ev, who nodded agreement.

  “That’s wonderful. However, as for moving to this Smoke Valley of yours,” Dutch cleared his throat and looked at Edith. “We’ve got ties to San Francisco, Edith. We can’t just up and move to Wyoming.”

  She studied him. “We can work that out later. Right now we have to arrange a wedding.”

  “It’s already arranged.”

  All eyes turned on Ev.

  He looked at Kiera. “Just in case you said yes when I proposed, I had Muh’Weda ride to Fort Sanders and bring the Colonel back here to perform the ceremony this morning.”

  Kiera kissed him. “I do love you, Evrett Quinn. Let’s go get married.”

  About the Author

  Author of historical, contemporary, and erotic romances, Rue Allyn fell in love with happily ever after the day she heard her first story. She is deliriously married to her sweetheart of many years and loves to hear from readers about their favorite books and real life adventures. Learn more about Rue at http://RueAllyn.com.

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  More from This Author

  (From One Moment’s Pleasure)

  Oakland Point, California, July 1870

  Weaving her way through the crowds thronging the Oakland Long Wharf railway terminal, Edith Marietta Alden of the Boston Aldens finally attracted the attention of a lanky Chinese man with a large wooden pushcart. By means of hand gestures and a few carefully enunciated words she indicated he should transfer her sturdy, metal-bound trunk from the baggage car to his trolley. While she waited she studied her surroundings and tried not to gawk. She remained optimistic about finding her middle sister despite what she saw. San Francisco was not the Golden Gateway her guidebook claimed, but it was exiting.

  Ash from the puffing engines coated the depot walls. Bells clanged, porters and railway officials yelled a confusing mix of questions and instructions in a variety of languages. At the top of their lungs vendors cried their wares: souvenirs, foodstuffs, parasols, flowers, even slippers for the comfort of travelers. An amalgam of scents — meat, herbs, burning coal, and unwashed bodies — nauseated any traveler inexperienced enough to inhale deeply. Edith quickly learned to take shallow breaths. She knew every city had its seamier elements, but she would not let masses of people, dirt, and unending cacophony crush the hope she’d nurtured over the long journey from Boston.

  “Is all bags, Missee?” The porter looked at the claim check then at Edith.

  She scarcely heard him over the din but shook her head and gestured to the two cases resting on the platform at her feet. “No, no. These two carpet bags as well.”

  “Good. I get.” The man bent forward and lifted the bags.

  As he straightened she saw his eyes go wide. He tossed the cases at something behind her then, pushing his cart before him, ran toward the depot’s main entrance.