Authors: Stolen Ecstasy

Hannah Howell (2 page)

BOOK: Hannah Howell

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“That’s a bald-faced lie,” she snapped. “You were just standing there cowering, Sheriff. I took your gun to try to stop those bandits taking what little this town has.” She did not like the way the crowd kept advancing on her.

“You expect us to believe a mite like you was thinking of taking on five outlaws?” growled one man in disbelief.

“Pull the other leg,” mumbled another angry voice.

“You was helping them and they left you holding the bag.”

“Ain’t no honor amongst thieves.”

“Wait a minute,” she cried as she was grabbed by two men in nightshirts. “Mama!”

Charity held a fine lace handkerchief up to her face, tears glistening in her eyes as she followed the man dragging Leanne toward the jail. “I should have suspected something like this,” she wailed. “I should have seen it. She’s always been so wild. When I found she’ d snuck out tonight . . .”

“Snuck out?” Leanne squawked in outrage and nearly tripped as she was yanked up onto the boarded walk before the jail.

“I thought she’d gone to see a man,” Charity continued as if she had not been interrupted. “Young hearts can be foolish. Never did I suspect that she was meaning to rob us blind. I have clasped an adder to my bosom.”

“How the hell would you know that?” Leanne snarled as she was thrust into a cell and the doors clanged shut. “You’d never notice a mere adder with all the rest of the snakes you’ve clasped to your bosom over the years.”

There was a collective gasp of outrage from the gathered townspeople. Leanne glared at them all. They all knew that the men who boarded at Charity’s house did not pay for an empty bed. She supposed it was simply shocking because she, a desperado, had given voice to the truth. Neither would they appreciate someone they had always considered an outsider slandering one of their own. Although she knew it would help her cause not at all, she looked at them with contempt.

“And while you hypocrites are standing here priding yourselves on catching one tiny, unarmed female, your money is disappearing into the hills.”

She turned her back on them, went over to the cot, and sat down. A great deal of muttering was followed by the sound of people shuffling out of the jailhouse. Wrapping her cloak around herself, she lay down.

Disbelief warred with despair. She simply could not believe all that had happened to her. No one could possibly have so much go so completely wrong in so short a time. It had to be impossible. It had to be a nightmare.

She pinched herself then cursed at the very real pain that assailed her. For a moment she fought the crushing weight of deep despair. She was not sure there was any way to get out of the predicament she found herself in.

Why had Charity helped to put Leanne into jail? It seemed to be an excessively spiteful act. Clearly Charity still thought that Leanne had lured Clovis into her bed. There would be no convincing Charity that Leanne would never want anything to do with such a poor speciman of humanity.

Or perhaps Charity hoped to hide all that had really happened, Leanne mused. It must have occurred to Charity that some awkward questions would be raised when people noticed that her daughter was suddenly gone. After all, she was now a little too old to be exiled to school. Charity’s accusation took care of the loose ends very neatly. People would now sympathize with Charity over a child gone bad. Since so few townspeople had taken the time to get to know Leanne, it was a story that would never be questioned.

Leanne suddenly realized that she was completely alone. She had no one to turn to, no one to help or defend her. The woman she had always thought of as her mother was not her mother. Somewhere, previously unbeknownst to her, she had a father, but he had handed her to Charity and never looked back, simply paying Charity to keep her. Leanne doubted the man would be delighted to hear from her now. No, she thought as she gave up the fight to hold back her tears, he would consider her a burden well shed.

She wallowed in misery for a while, feeling extremely sorry for herself. Even reminding herself that she had one good friend who would come to her aid did not raise her spirits. There was no way to get in touch with him. O’Malley was either secluded in his hunting cabin in the San Juan Mountains or home at his ranch, wherever that was.

A soft sound brought her out of her misery a little. Her ears told her it was the cell door being unlocked. Slowly she turned towards the door, then tensed.

Sheriff Martin’s thin frame was silhouetted by the light outside the cell. His pale hazel eyes were fixed steadily upon her and there was a look in them that caused her to shiver with distaste and fear. She knew she would soon be fighting him just as she had fought Clovis.

Sitting up slowly, she glared at him, putting all her sudden hatred of the male species into that look. He faltered briefly and she branded him a coward in her mind. Most any male would find such a tiny woman easy pickings. She had made the mistake of thinking that the low-life who would try to force her was a rare breed and easily avoided. It was now becoming clear that they were as common as cockroaches.

“Remove yourself,” she commanded and a strange imp inside of her almost laughed when he started to obey.

“You haughty bitch,” he snapped, angered by his reaction to her imperious manner.

“Swamp slime.”

If he wanted to trade insults, he had picked the wrong partner, she mused. There was nothing he could say that she could not match or better. She knew it was not a skill to be particularly proud of, but, when one was barely five feet tall and only one hundred pounds, one’s choice of weapons was severely limited. It was a talent that also aided her in hiding her fear, and her dear friend O’Malley had always told her that that was important.

“You nearly ruined everything.” Glaring at her, he cautiously approached her.

Understanding dawned quickly and Leanne nearly gaped. The sheriff had not simply been too afraid to face the outlaws, he had been part of the robbery. He had obviously been standing watch for them when she had sauntered up to him.

You really stumbled into it this time, Leanne,
she told herself. She could not even count on the law to help her now. The law was Sheriff Martin and he, more than anyone, needed a scapegoat. Even if she could find some evidence to clear herself, he would swiftly eradicate or suppress it.

“I see,” she murmured and looked at him with contempt hardening her usually soft lavender eyes. “Such a brave man you are, letting a small, innocent female shoulder the blame for your abuse of the town’s trust.”

He flushed with anger. “I told you to go home. You were too stupid to listen. You got what you deserved.”

She leapt off the cot and sprinted out of reach as he lunged for her. Her dash for the open cell door was halted when he tripped her up by the crude but effective tactic of grabbing her cloak and yanking. He lunged for her again, but she rolled out of the way. Scrambling to her feet, she readied herself for his next move.

“This will hardly enhance your reputation, Sheriff.”

“And just who are you going to tell?” He smirked as he stalked her. “And who’d care? Or believe you?”

That struck home. The very fact that she was in jail showed that no one really cared. They certainly did not believe her.

“I would think that a crime as monstrous as the one you plan would be visible. I’ll fight you every inch of the way. I suggest you leave me, Sheriff, before you do something you will sorely regret.”

“Just listen to you,” he hissed. “You think you’re some kind of princess, don’t you? Been off to a fine Eastern school and think you’re better’n us. Well, you ain’t, darlin’, not for all your highfalutin ways. When I’m done with you, you won’t be holding that little nose up so high.”

Even as she searched for some kind of weapon to use against the man stalking her, Leanne wondered if his words explained why the whole town was against her. They thought she held herself above them, looked down on them. If they did, Leanne could think of nothing she had done to make them feel that way. She knew in her heart that she did not act like a snob. Though she could become aloof when she faced animosity, she knew she had tried very hard to be friendly.

He sprang at her again. And this time, her evasive move was foiled by her long hair. She cried out when he grasped it and yanked her towards him. The pain in her scalp brought tears to her eyes. For a moment it was hard to see her assailant well enough to strike at him as he wrestled her to the floor of the cell.

She felt bile sting her throat as he mauled her, his hands inflicting pain and revulsion as he tried to get to her flesh. She cried out as the front of her nightgown tore. By sheer willpower, she stopped herself from being violently ill when his mouth roughly assaulted her bared breast.

“You’re going to give me what you’ve been giving Clovis,” he growled as he struggled to pin down her hands.

“I gave Clovis nothing.”

“That ain’t what he’s been saying. Tight and hungry, he said,” the sheriff panted. “Always wanting it. Said he was wearing himself out trying to service you and your ma both.”

“Clovis is a filthy liar. He snuck into my bed tonight while I was sleeping.”

She was frustrated in her attempts to use her long nails on his face. When he shifted position a little to push up her nightgown she found another tactic to use. She had tried to use it on Clovis, but he had guessed what she was up to. Now she knew she would have to be more subtle.

Forcing herself to ignore the man yanking up her nightgown, she concentrated on moving her leg into the right position to strike. O’Malley had told her it was a man’s weak point, that if she was in trouble she should strike there and strike hard. As soon as her leg was properly placed, she did just that, ramming her knee into the sheriff’s groin with all the power she could put behind the blow. The man above her screamed and she found herself released.

Scrambling to her feet, she stared at the writhing, swearing sheriff in some surprise. She cursed softly when she saw that his twisting body was between her and the open cell door. Cautiously she started by him but he lashed out with his hand and nearly grabbed hold of her ankle. She danced back out of his reach. To her dismay, he got to his feet, ready to renew the attack despite his pain.

A chill went down her spine as she faced the slightly crouched man. She was shocked to see that his pants were half undone. She also saw that, while lust still glinted in his eyes, so did fury. She knew he would do his best to make it hurt now.

“You filthy bitch. You’ve probably ruined me.”

“Unfortunately, I doubt it, but I will if you come any nearer. Perhaps not before you rape me, but sooner or later. It will be my life’s work to see that you lose what you abuse women with.” She smiled coldly when he hesitated in his advance, checked by her icy threat.

The only thing in reach was the slops bucket. As she reached for it, never taking her gaze from the sheriff, she decided it would have to suffice as a weapon. Even as he charged her, she grabbed the bucket and hurled the contents over him. He screamed in horror as the last prisoner’s waste landed all over him. It did not stop him, however, only enraging him so that Leanne had to swing the bucket itself at him. It made a satisfying clang as it struck him. She continued to beat him with the bucket until she had driven him into the corner of the cell. Once he was no longer between her and the open cell door she threw the bucket at him and ran.

She could hear him swearing and stumbling after her as she darted out of the jail. She glanced behind her to see how close he was and ran into what felt like a brick wall. Strong hands grasped her by the shoulders and she stared dazedly up into the masked face of the bank robber called Hunter.

Chapter Two

H
UNTER STARED DOWN AT THE GIRL
. H
UGE
lavender eyes bright with fear stared back at him. His gaze flickered over her body and stopped at the sight of one bared breast. He felt as if someone had just hit him full in the stomach—hard. It was a small breast; its ivory fullness would probably snuggle just nicely in the palm of his hand. The pink tip hardened in the cool night air and he felt his mouth water. He even started to bend towards it when he heard Martin’s stumbling approach. Immediately brought to his senses, he tugged the girl behind him and drew his pistol, even as Martin came out of the jail.

“What the hell are you doing here, Hunter? Give me that bitch.”

“No. I’m taking her with me.”

“Not until I’m done with her.”

The sheriff took a step toward him. Hunter grimaced and took a step back. The girl, pressed to his back, matched his retreating step.

“You stink, Martin.”

“That whore threw the shit bucket at me.”

Although he never ceased to watch for any sign of danger, Hunter waited as the sheriff staggered to the horse trough and pumped water over himself. The small, unofficial posse that was stumbling around ineptly in the dark had been easy to elude, but there was always the chance that there was someone with skill and courage left in town. Looking at the dripping sheriff, Hunter decided it would take more than a rinse to clean the man off and lessen the stench clinging to him.

“Damnation, I’ll never get clean,” the sheriff grumbled.

“You never were,” muttered Leanne from her safe position behind the tall, broad-shouldered outlaw. She pressed her lips together when the outlaw sent her a quick glance that clearly told her to be quiet.

“Let me at her, Hunter.”

“She goes with me.”

“What the hell for?”

“Try thinking, Martin,” Hunter drawled. “She knows too much. Someone just might start listening to what she has to say.”

“No one’s going to listen to that haughty slut.”

“I can’t take that chance.”

“Then just wait ’til I’ve had her and you can take her where you want.”

Hunter felt the small woman pressed to his back shudder. “There’s no time. I suggest you start thinking of a way to explain her absence.” Still keeping an eye on Martin, Hunter tugged the girl forward and looked at her. “You’re coming with me.” When he tugged her towards his horse, he felt her fight his pull and looked at her.

Leanne stared up at him, seeing little of his face save narrowed obsidian eyes beneath dark, frowning brows. He was an outlaw. Whatever he intended to do with her, it would not be good. He had to be over six feet tall and was all lean, hard muscle. There would be no fighting him. She would be mad to ride off into the night with him.

Then again, she mused, if she stayed she had to deal with the sheriff. She had been thrown in jail, accused of robbery, and no one was interested in defending or listening to her. She could easily find herself transported to the territorial prison—or worse.

“I really have little choice,” she murmured.

“None at all,” Hunter replied.

He mounted, then held his hand out to her. She allowed herself to be pulled up behind him and struggled to hold her cloak closed over her torn gown. Once behind him she wrapped her arms around his trim waist and tried very hard not to think about what she was doing. When he started off at a gallop and showed little sign of lessening that pace, she pressed her face against his back and concentrated on simply holding on until they got wherever they were going. She prayed that she was not riding to her death.

Glancing down at the small, pale hands clutching his shirt, Hunter wondered how he was going to get out of this mess. Taking her along was dangerous not only for her but for him and all he was working for. Unfortunately, it was also dangerous to leave her behind. He was trapped and he hated that.

By taking her with him, he had saved himself the worry of her talking, but now he had taken on other worries. He would have to watch her and watch out for her. From what he had seen, she was a pretty little thing, so he would also have to watch his men.

Recalling his reaction to that brief sight of her breast, he grimaced, admitting he would have to watch himself too. It was just another complication he did not need. Complications could result in failure, and he had little taste for that. In this matter, success was vital.

His luck had been running bad for the last year and, just when he had let himself think it was taking a turn for the better, it went bad again. The tiny lady clinging to him could easily be the worst turn of luck yet. However, no matter how hard he thought about it, he could not think of any place to put her where she would be both safe and silent. His first robbery could not have gone more awry short of capture and an immediate lynching.

When they stopped, Leanne peered around him and grimaced. His four outlaw companions sat around a small campfire. It seemed very arrogant of them to camp so near to town, but she admitted that they were in little danger. The posse could stumble right over these men and not realize it. It was fortunate that no other outlaws had discovered just how vulnerable the town was.

Warily, she slid from the back of the horse, still trying to hold her cloak together.

“What the hell’d you get her for?” one of the men growled.

“I explained that, Luke.” Hunter’s voice was soft but chilly as he tugged Leanne closer to the fire. “Sit.”

Leanne sat and studied the four outlaws crouched around the fire. The one she had shot glared at her. He was a short, burly man of average looks. The one named Luke was also burly, but he was just plain ugly. Tom was big, almost as tall as Hunter, and broad. He had a look in his dark eyes that made her shiver. The last man was ineptly bandaging Jed’s foot. He was just average—average looks, average height, and average build. They were all unclean, unshaven, and unsmiling.

“If you’re so worried about her talking, shoot her.” Luke spoke with a cold, matter-of-fact voice.

“Here now,” Jed said, his face revealing his shock, “you can’t be shooting women.”

That Jed was the one to speak out against shooting her surprised Leanne. That Luke suggested such a thing did not. What really bothered her was that Hunter seemed to be thinking over the suggestion.

Handing her a tin cup filled with strong coffee, Hunter drawled, “Simple, but not too smart.”

“Why not?” Luke growled. “Surest way to shut her up.”

“True. However, it’s also the surest way to bring a hell of a lot of men after us.”

“They think she’s a thief.”

“Doesn’t matter. You don’t kill women. So far we’re only thieves. Let’s keep it that way. ’Sides, the fact that she’s accused of helping us is one reason she’ll shut up. We’re going to help settle her some place safe from the law. She’s got a choice between us and jail. That’s good enough.”

“So you mean to drag her all the way to Mexico with us?” When Hunter nodded, Luke growled, “Well, if we’re stuck with her, we might as well make good use of her.” Luke was already reaching for her as he spoke.

Leanne was as startled as Luke when Hunter drew his gun. For one long, tense moment the two men just stared at each other. Then Luke retreated a step. Although the situation frightened her, Leanne was relieved at this sign that she was not going to become entertainment for the outlaws. She knew it did not mean her virtue was safe from assault, but it did seem to indicate that she would not be subjected to the horror of multiple rape.

“She’s mine, Luke.”

“You mean you ain’t gonna share her at all?”

“That’s exactly what I mean. I took the risk of going back for her. I claim her.”

“Fine then,” Luke snapped. “She’s yours. Don’t expect no help keeping the stupid bitch in hand.”

“I won’t.” Hunter slowly put his gun away and then began to sip his coffee.

After that Leanne found herself virtually ignored. She took the time to covertly study the man who held her life in his hands. He was lean in face and body, almost too lean. His aristocratic nose gave him an air of breeding and haughtiness she thought totally out of character considering his chosen profession. As she noted how his dark, faintly arched brows tended to be mostly set in a frown, she realized that his dark eyes were circled with surprisingly long lashes for a man. It was an oddly soft feature on an otherwise hard face. That harshness was emphasized by the stubborn set of his jaw and the way his fine mouth was now drawn tight.

She wondered about the anger, even bitterness, she sensed in him. She was not the real reason for his anger, she was sure of it. She was an annoyance, a momentary problem. His bitterness was caused by far more than that. She would not even try to imagine the reasons for it. One thing she had learned in her life was that it was not easy to understand another person’s emotions or the reasons behind them.

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted when Hunter took her empty cup from her hands and asked rather curtly, “What’s your name?”

“Leanne. Leanne Summers.”

“I’m Hunter. That’s Luke, Tom, Charlie, and Jed.”

Only Charlie and Jed nodded. Tom and Luke simply stared at her. The coldness of their looks chilled her and she surreptitiously sidled closer to Hunter.

“What were you doing roaming the streets in the middle of the night?”

Though it was not really any of his business, she replied, “My mother kicked me out of the house. Although, actually, she isn’t my mother. She said she isn’t even blood-related, just an aunt by marriage. Told me that while she was kicking me out of the house.”

“Your mother kicked you out in the middle of the night?”

“I just said she wasn’t my mother, although I always thought she was. She used to claim to be.”

“Why would you think it and why would she claim it if she wasn’t?”

“Because my father paid her to play the part, or so she claimed. She also said he hadn’t paid her in three months.”

“And that’s why she kicked you out?”

“No. She has men friends, you see. Her latest is Clovis. Well, Clovis decided to tiptoe out of her bed and try to get into mine. She believed him when he claimed I had tempted him.” She scowled as she thought of the injustice of it all. “That’s ridiculous, because if I was going to do any tempting I certainly wouldn’t do it with ugly old Clovis.”

“Ah, she thought you were stealing her man,” Charlie said.

Leanne realized she had a larger audience than Hunter. Although Luke and Tom seemed bored, Charlie and Jed were listening avidly. She felt herself blush then decided it was too late to stop her tale. “Yes, she did. Or maybe she just realized that she had to get one of us out of the house, and she wasn’t about to throw out Clovis.”

“All that doesn’t explain how you ended up at the bank.”

“Well, I got to thinking she had no right to throw me out without throwing my things out as well. According to her, my father had been paying her, so his money probably bought my clothes and all. I was after the sheriff so that he’d get her to give me my clothes. He was outside the bank, standing there quaking and peering in the windows or down the street.”

“Told you he was spineless,” Luke muttered.

“Spineless or not, he accomplished what Watkins said he would. Watkins didn’t claim his brother was any hero.” Hunter looked back at Leanne. “And?”

“He just kept telling me to go home. Then I decided to see what he kept looking at in the bank and I saw you robbing it. I told him to do his job and, when he wouldn’t, I took his gun. He raced on down the street and I did the stupidest thing I’ve done in a long time. You know the rest.”

“And the townsfolk didn’t believe you?”

“No, and the one yelling the loudest about me being guilty was my mother or my aunt or whatever she is.”

“Why’d she turn on you? Don’t seem right, kin turning against kin,” Jed muttered.

“I think she saw it as a good way to explain why I was out on the street at such an hour. It made a better story than her booting me out without a cent, without even any shoes. Now folk’ll give her all sorts of sympathy. She’ll like that.”

“And the sheriff?” Hunter asked quietly.

“What about the sheriff?”

“What happened with him?”

“I think you know what happened with him.” She shook her head. “Clovis has been telling tales and the sheriff was dumb enough to believe the cockroach. I dread to think how many others in town believe him.”

“You expect me to believe all this?”

“Why not? Why would I make up such a ridiculous tale?”

He shrugged. “You might have been out with some man.”

“I almost wish I had been. I doubt I could have gotten into any more trouble.”

“Perhaps we should take you to your father,” Hunter mused aloud.

BOOK: Hannah Howell

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