Lawless (11 page)

“Cal,” she said in a pleading voice that cracked a little. “Harder.”

“I’m going to give you what you need, don’t worry.” He cupped her breasts and squeezed a little as he dropped a kiss on her shoulder, his mouth lingering in a tantalizing slide up to her neck. “Help me in.”

For a moment she wasn’t really sure what he was asking. “What?”

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In a thickened tone, he suggested, “Take me in your hand. Show me what you want.”

She reached back between her open thighs, wrapping her fingers around his erection and positioning it at her vaginal entrance. As he pushed forward, she sank backwards, and his entire length slid into her. Blissful pulses swept through her body, both from his possessive entrance and the simultaneous caress of his hands over her breasts.

He moved, pulling out until he almost slipped free and then sinking back in so she felt the press of his stomach against her bottom. “Hell, yes,” he muttered. “It’s so good.”

In her mind she echoed that sentiment—the sensation different in this position, but Cal was right, there was something primal about it, something a little wild and reckless.

As his thrusts grew harder, his hands moved from her breasts to her hips, holding her in place for each hard plunge.

Laurel felt it the moment he lost control. Hard arms wrapped around her and he pushed deep, the pulsing force of his orgasmic rush flooding her, filling her passage with hot liquid as he gasped her name. They stayed that way until his mouth moved to her ear and she heard him whisper, “You didn’t come. My apologies, ma’am. I’ll take care of that right now.”

There was a sense of disappointment when he withdrew and she gave a small cry of surprise as he deftly flipped her over on her back. Silver eyes glimmered and then he lowered his head, taking her mouth in a searing, hot kiss. At the same time his slipped his hand between her legs. Long fingers moved gently, finding the right spot with unerring accuracy, and he began to rub in slow erotic circles.

The bewitching joy of it made heat wash through her body, the subtle pressure of his touch just right so her already sensitized body began to tremble. She moaned into his mouth, spread her legs shamelessly wider, and let him bring her to the brink of rapture with those skillful, manipulative fingertips. She found that peak quickly, shuddering against his tall body, her arms going around his neck as she clung to him and cried out.

Cal held her easily in the circle of one arm as they lay skin to skin in the aftermath, both sated and languid.

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Fingers wet with her fluids and his sperm trailed up her torso, lazily circled one taut nipple and then touched her chin, tilting her face up so he could look in her eyes. “I’m not interested in debating principle right now, but tell me something, sweetheart. Are you going to lie to your family about where you’ve been and who with? I’m damned curious to know what you’re going to tell them.”

The question made her pause. As always, Cal knew exactly how to disconcert her, how to unsettle her world. The warm comfort of his arms was belied by both the question and the uncharacteristic hint of open emotion in his eyes.

What did he want her to say? She had the feeling he didn’t even know the answer.

As always, the truth seemed best. “I’ve been thinking about it.” She smiled at the understatement of that admission. It was almost
all
she thought about. There was no way to help the hesitation, because of the chance she was taking, but after a moment she said simply, “I’m hoping you’ll consider staying on at Snowy Peaks. My family will welcome you.”

A small tremor went through him. Nestled against him as she was, it was impossible to miss. “Laurel, you know I can’t.”

“Why not?”

He blew out a breath and loosened his intimate hold. “Jesus, girl, you know there are about one million reasons why, the first one being I’m
Cal Riker.
That’s a name synonymous with trouble, take my word on it. Your family loves you I’m sure, but you’ve got your head in the clouds if you think for a minute they want an outlaw like me within a hundred miles of you.”

She sat up and gave him a level look. “I love you. That’ll be enough for them.

Besides, is there some reason anyone needs to know just who you are besides the two of us? Cal Riker can disappear. It’s a name, nothing more. The man you are exists and that is enough for me. Bury your past and start over, Cal. Colorado is a good ways from Texas. No one will know you.”

He stared at her, his expression difficult to interpret. “You have the damnedest imagination, sweetheart.”

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A lack of an outright refusal was promising. As calmly as possible, she pointed out,

“I don’t think it is a wild idea in any way. The only people who know who took me out of the River Bend camp are the men who kidnapped me in the first place and Gabe. Not one of them is likely to talk about it, so that problem doesn’t even exist. We can easily come up with a plausible story for how you rescued me and a new name. Maybe eventually you can even get in contact with your family, at least to let them know you’re safe. A new identity wouldn’t be hard, and how many chances are there that anyone would ever recognize you?”

“Laurel, I—”

She interrupted doggedly. “My father has talked often enough about a partner on the ranch, someone to share the responsibility with my brother when Pa’s too old to do it anymore. It’s a big place and I know Will would be more than happy to include you, especially if you were my husband. They were going to offer it to Wes, but you’d be better at it anyway.”

Husband. There. She’d said it. Out loud. In front of Cal.

How often, she wondered with a glimmer of nervous amusement, had anyone seen Cal Riker disconcerted. Naked and glorious, his muscular body gleaming in the glow of the dying fire, he reclined on the disheveled bed next to her and didn’t say a thing, his lips just slightly parted. Under the thick fringe of his lashes, his silver eyes were hard to read.

What could she do? How could she cajole, influence, convince him? She leaned forward so their mouths were a scant inch apart. “I can promise you one thing. As Cal Riker, or whoever you decide to be, I’ll be a very accommodating wife to that man.”

It was possible she’d just made the mistake of a lifetime. Not because she had just essentially proposed to the infamous Cal Riker, but because she had just risked losing him.

“Is that so?” His gaze held hers, but he didn’t smile in complement to the teasing words. Instead his lashes drifted downward as he leaned in and closed the small gap between them and gave her a heart-stopping, tender kiss. Soft, warm and so poignant she www.samhainpublishing.com 79

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felt the sting of tears against her lids. She kissed him back with growing urgency and when he rolled her to her back, she accepted him in the cradle of her parted thighs, well-aware he liked to end serious discussions with lovemaking, but also knowing that though he always touched her with care, this time it was different.

Maybe he was actually thinking about her idea.

***

The fire had sputtered out and he knew he should get up to stir the coals and get it going again, but instead Cal simply stared into the pitch dark of the cabin, unwilling to relinquish the precious burden resting against him.

Yes, burden, he thought as he felt each soft inhale of breath as Laurel slept in his arms. A proverbial cross, a weight he never asked for, never imagined.

God, he loved her.

Loved
her.

It hurt. It seared his soul. It chopped down his defenses, so carefully built up over the past years, like they were nothing. How could one slender slip of a girl do so easily what dozens of hardened men hadn’t been able to do?

He was pretty sure she’d just killed off Cal Riker, for even though he knew it was the most foolish romantic idea on the face of the earth, he was willing to assume a new identity if it meant keeping her.

It was a harebrained plan, he told himself.

Or fucking brilliant
, an inner voice speculated.

Was it possible? Could he invent a new name, a new man, one worthy of a beautiful, giving wife, maybe even a family? She wanted to marry him and the realization humbled him in a way that made his throat tight. Cal blinked and tightened his arms around the woman sleeping so peacefully next him, as if holding her closer would help him sort out his emotional turmoil.

Introspection was a demon for a man like him, but maybe the possession was just an inevitable part of this process he’d never been through before. He didn’t think about life 80

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if he could help it, and certainly didn’t sit around pondering love. Hate he knew about.

And revenge, death, violence…all the things that made him who he was.

Was.

Laurel had already changed him, that he’d realized the first time he made love to her.

It was frightening he’d ever let her crack the carefully constructed shell that protected him from feeling anything but cool, calculated decision-making.

And liberating too, though he hesitated to believe freedom from his past was really possible. The trouble was, he’d already gone so far, maybe he really wasn’t Cal Riker anymore.

All he knew, as he lay there in the darkness, was he didn’t think he was cold enough any longer to ride away from her.

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The shout made him look up, and Will narrowed his eyes, focused on the horizon. A lone horse crested the top of the hill in the distance, and it took him a minute to realize it had two riders.

Golden hair gleamed in the fire of the setting sun and though he’d been praying this moment would actually happen, for a long heartbeat he just stood there, unable to move or believe it. One hand convulsively jerked off a glove and he dropped it without thought by the corral fence.

John had sworn Laurel would come back to them. But as someone who had witnessed and shared his parents’ pain and worry, Will hadn’t actually believed it, he realized, as relief washed through him.

“Rider comin’, boss.” One of his hands made the laconic observation. “Nice hoss.”

“I see that. Damn, do I ever. You all finish up here, will you? I’m going to go greet them.” He strode off, down the lane that wound up to the house, his booted feet feeling as if he walked on air. They got closer, the big horse moving smoothly, and Will couldn’t help but let a big smile break out over his face as he saw his sister’s wave.

She’s safe
.

On the heels of that thought was the knowledge he didn’t recognize the man bringing her home. He hadn’t expected to, but it was unsettling to see her ride up with a perfect stranger and know they’d been together for weeks. Who the hell was he?

“Will!” They trotted up and Laurel slid off without help, running forward to fling herself in his arms. He hugged her tight, pulled back, took one look at her flushed face and realized something with astonishing clarity.

Not only was she safe and apparently unharmed, she looked…happy.

After being kidnapped by a gang of rough, vicious men, his sister looked happy.

What the hell
?

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His gaze narrowed in on the stranger now watching them with an impassive expression from the back of his horse. The earlier observation was true, it was a magnificent animal, a rangy bay with clean lines and a sleek coat. Expensive saddle and tack, he realized as he took a rapid mental inventory, though the man was dressed in worn jeans and a plain shirt, his hat shading his features just enough Will couldn’t quite get a good look. Still holding Laurel, he nodded, just a brief tilt of his head, and the man gave him the same quick gesture of acknowledgement in return.

His sister noticed and pulled away. She took a small step back, looking lovely as ever but disheveled in a very wrinkled pink dress, the smile fading from her lips. “This is Cal Smith. He…he helped me after the train robbery and now he’s brought me home.”

She’d never been a good liar.

He was going to need a few more details than that simplistic and unconvincing explanation, but he was still grateful, no matter what exactly had happened. Will stepped forward and reached up, offering his hand. “Much obliged, Mr. Smith. You have no idea what you’ve done for my family.”

After a small hesitation, the man took it. “You’re welcome.”

The faint hint of irony in the response didn’t escape him and suddenly Will had a fair idea he was pretty in the dark over what was actually going on. The handshake was puzzling too. The stranger had an interesting grip, his fingers like velvet over steel, strong but well-kept. No chopping wood or mending fences for his sister’s savior, instead his hands were tended—carefully so. Will felt a flicker of curiosity and turned to Laurel.

“Ma and Pa have been frantic. You’d better get up to the house right away.”

She didn’t move. “I’m sorry everyone has been worried, but I’m fine.”

Fine
…and apparently gun-shy of leaving him alone with her escort. Will said with conviction, “Laurel, they need to see you right away. It’s been pretty tense around here since we got the news you were abducted. Trust me on this, sis, and move along. Smith and I are right behind you. Let me show him where he can stable his horse. I’m sure he’ll be invited to stay for supper but don’t make them wait another minute, please.”

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His sister still hesitated a moment, until Smith said in a cool Southern drawl, “Your brother has a point.”

She turned then with a small nod, and gathering her skirts in her hands, lifted them enough she could run toward the house. Will watched her hurry along for a moment, not sure how to handle his emotions, and then cleared his throat and glanced up. “You from Texas? I’d know that accent anywhere.”