Lawless (17 page)

Stop Cal? Well, he probably had a point but she was still hopping mad.

And grateful.

So grateful.

He was alive.

But he could have died.
Oh God
.

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Emma Wildes

The sun felt good on her shoulders and she stopped shaking a little. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she asked, “What happened?”

“Rollins was hell bent—and I mean that literally—on facing off Cal.” Will shrugged.

“Doesn’t seem to me like there was a choice.” He added quietly, “I’m going to say when I saw them there…well, I understood why Cal has his reputation. I don’t think he even understands fear, or if he does, he hides it well. And he’s fast, all right, like a bolt of lightning. Rollins didn’t have a chance.”

“Pa said John Evans isn’t going to say anything.” She tried to picture Cal in a cell and felt her stomach churn.

“John can judge a man, just like the rest of us. If Cal wants to stay here, to marry you and raise a family, I think John is all for not having to worry about Cal Riker any longer.

Cal Smith is fine with him.”

“Do you think so?”

“Indeed, I do.”

Laurel stopped, even though they had just walked a short ways, and she turned around. “Mind if we go back? I need to talk to him.”

Will gave her a mischievous smile. “You aren’t going to hurt him or anything, right?

I was more worried for him when we came in than when he faced Rollins this morning.”

“I wanted to skin him alive,” she admitted.

“He noticed too. I think he got a little pale there for a minute. He wasn’t at all afraid of Rollins but he sure seemed leery of telling you what happened.” Her brother chuckled.

“I take it back, Cal Riker does understand fear.”

“As long as he doesn’t forget it,” Laurel said tartly.

Will sobered and looked at her. “I don’t think that’s likely. He told me you’d finally given him a reason to live, Laurel.”

“Now he has two,” she replied, growing more certain every passing day she carried a child.

“What a very lucky man,” Will observed.

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Lawless

“We’re both lucky,” she whispered, remembering the gentle clasp of her lover’s arms and poignant power of his kiss. That first night, under the brilliance of the stars, when he ordered her to not trust him yet held her so tenderly, she’d
known
.

“We both are,” she repeated quietly and turned to go back to the house.

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Emma Wildes

Cal moved across the room in bare feet and gently lifted the sleeping baby from his wife’s arms. His daughter made a soft sound of protest but subsided back into slumber, her long lashes against her chubby cheeks. The exhale of breath showed just a froth of milky bubbles at the corner of her rosebud mouth.

He took the corner of the blanket and gently wiped away the residue of her feeding, laid her in the cradle and then moved back toward the rocking chair. Laurel had also fallen asleep, her profile pure in the dim moonlight, her breast still bare from nursing the babe, the ivory fullness more generous than before her pregnancy, her slender form serene in repose.

Hundreds of times he’d admired a glorious sunrise, a clear, cold mountain stream as it poured over mossy rocks, that one electrifying moment as he saw a mountain lion poised on a ledge, all magnificent power and wild energy…but nothing moved him like Laurel’s perfect beauty. When she held his child, well, that took it all to a level he never imagined.

As gently as possible, he bent to gather her up.

“Cal.” Her voice was husky with sleep, her smile accompanied by the flutter of her long lashes.

“She’s sleeping.” He deposited his wife in the bed, crawled in beside her and slipped his arms back around her. She curled into him, voluptuous, soft, her fragrant hair against his cheek.

“Hmm.”

He laughed quietly. “What does that mean?”

She stirred, her breath warm against his bare chest. “I think it means I like being next to you. I feel like…like this is exactly where I belong. Even that first awful night, I felt safe with you holding me.”

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Lawless

He knew what she meant. God alone understood how much he knew it. His mouth brushed her temple. “I fell in love with you then.”

“You gave a good impression of acting like I was nothing but a nuisance.”

“Well, what did you expect from the lawless Cal Riker?”

“Not what I got, that’s for sure.” She gazed up at him, her eyes luminous.

“And what did you get?” He ran the pad of one finger along the curve of her lower lip in a slow caress, his heartbeat quickening.

“A lover.” She snuggled closer. “A husband. The father of my children.”

“We only have one for now.” He glanced over at the crib near the bed. Sarah slept quietly, her angelic face peaceful in the subdued light. God, he’d never dreamed he’d love anyone, much less the staggering depth of his feelings for his wife and daughter. In the three months since Sarah’s birth, he’d found himself captivated, entranced by one very small female, even to the point of changing her diapers.

Cal Riker. Wiping a baby’s bottom. That was a facet to the legend no one would believe.

“I’m going to guess that will change.” Laurel gave him a provocative smile. “We’ll have more babies if I have anything to do with it.”

“Is that a challenge?” he asked, bending his head to kiss his gorgeous wife.

“Maybe,” she murmured against his mouth.

“I have a reputation of not backing away from one.”

She wound her arms around his neck. “I know. I kind of counted on that.”

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About the Author

To learn more about Emma W
ildes, please visit http://www.emmawildes.com
. Send an email to Emm
a at mailto:[email protected] She
loves to hear from readers.

Look for these titles by Emma Wildes

Now Available:

Riding West

Coming Soon:

The Face of the Maiden

To win the woman of his dreams, Parker takes matters into his own hands. And finds out
the West is wilder than he ever imagined!

Riding West

© 2007 Emma Wildes

Just take her.

The advice seems radical, but Parker West is desperate. Try as he might, he cannot convince Celia Evans to marry him in the usual way, even after five years of courtship.

Kidnapping her is drastic and rash, but he figures he has little left to lose.

Even though Celia is furious at being summarily tied up and carried off to the mountains, she finds she likes the sparks that fly when the normally cool Parker shows his more assertive side. At his secluded cabin, she finds out exactly what it means to be a woman, and that what she fought against all along is true: Under his normally reserved exterior, Parker is the lover of her dreams.

And when riled, he can give a girl a very wild, intensely pleasurable ride.

But there’s a range war simmering, and the threat on the horizon takes the form of one very vindictive, crooked rancher. He wants Celia all to himself—and will stop at nothing to get her…

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Riding West: The flask hung suspended in his fingers.

Parker watched, fascinated and incredulous, as the woman in front of him calmly let her dress slip off her creamy shoulders.

It worked
!

He wasn’t good at bluffing, or at least he didn’t think he was, but this outrageous gamble had actually paid off. The very idea Celia believed he’d force himself on her was a little insulting, but then again, he’d done his best to convince her he would. When her mother had come to visit his folks a few days ago and taken him aside, he’d been a bit humiliated when she’d brought up his ill-fated marriage proposal. Mrs. Evans had diplomatically discussed a more straightforward approach with her independent and

headstrong daughter. He’d listened, too, frustration, both emotional and sexual, making him open to any suggestion.

Even this drastic one.

If Celia ever discovered her own mother was the one who told him to just take her off somewhere and be a little more persuasive in a physical way, she would be livid.

On the other hand, he was grateful as hell.

In a few moments shoes, stockings and petticoats were also in a heap on the floor. A telltale flush of embarrassed pink in her smooth cheeks, Celia stood in her thin cotton shift and lifted her chin. Her long-lashed eyes, so lovely and blue, showed her usual challenge. “I thought you were going to undress.”

His mouth had gone entirely dry and Parker swallowed, remembering his role as forceful abductor with difficulty. When he spoke, his voice sounded hoarse. “You aren’t finished. Take it all off.”

Her upper teeth sank into the softness of her lower lip, but she didn’t look away as she pulled free the ribbon at her bodice. The material gaped open, exposing the tantalizing swell of high, full breasts. Celia eased the garment down her arms and over the curve of her slim hips until it pooled at her feet and she was completely naked.

All he could think was that in his entirely male fantasies about this particular moment—and he’d had plenty—he hadn’t done her justice. Her skin was flawless ivory, her limbs long and supple, and her firm breasts had a lush ripeness in comparison to the slender dip of her waist and length of her legs. He couldn’t help but stare, his heated gaze examining the soft rose of perfectly shaped nipples and then slipping lower, to the small dark gold triangle at the juncture of her thighs. “Oh my God,” he said involuntarily.

Her blush intensified, turning her cheeks scarlet. “I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said tartly.

“So you should, sweetheart.” With effort, he lifted his gaze back to her face and repeated, “So you should. You are more than beautiful, Celia.”

“Thank you.” Her slim throat rippled as she swallowed. “But quite frankly, Parker, I’ve never stood in front of anyone in my life without a stitch on and it isn’t exactly fair you’re still fully dressed.”

He was rock hard already, his cock so stiff it felt like he was going to burst out of his jeans. Considering her innocence, she was about to get an eyeful, but he was more than happy to oblige. Her easy acquiescence was a little unexpected, for he’d thought she would be more resistant, but who was he to argue. He stood and swiftly unfastened the gun belt around his waist, setting it on the table before he went to work on his shirt. “Let your hair loose.”

There was a brief flare of irritation in her gaze over the autocratic tone of his voice, but she complied. When she lifted her arms to untie the ribbon, her lush breasts rose and quivered slightly in provocative invitation.

He tossed his shirt on the floor and fairly jerked off his boots. Stifling a groan when he opened his jeans, he pulled them down his hips and stepped free. Celia made a small noise—a swift inhale of breath—and she stared at the rampant length of his erection, swollen and high against his stomach.

“My enthusiasm over being here with you is darned obvious, isn’t it?” He moved toward her in a long, slow step, not wanting to scare her to death. “I’m pretty much this way every time I’m around you and it isn’t the least bit comfortable, I promise you.”

She looked startled, her gaze traveling from his stiff penis up to his face. “You are?

Why didn’t you tell me?”

That question was so illogical, he had to laugh. “What exactly was I supposed to say?”

“You never even
tried
to do more than kiss me once or twice.” She actually sounded a little miffed over it.

“Of course not. A decent man isn’t supposed to take advantage of a woman who isn’t his wife.”

Her hair was a curtain of shimmering gold down her back, the tumbled curls reflecting the firelight and framing the delicate features of her face. Dark blond brows rose but she didn’t step away when he reached for her. “Then perhaps you’d better put your pants back on, Parker West, for in case you’ve forgotten, we’re not married.”

“We will be.”

He pulled her close and cut off her undoubtedly caustic reply by lowering his head and capturing her mouth. The sensation of her nude body pressed against his was more intoxicating than anything he’d ever experienced, her lips warm and soft. She was right, he hadn’t done more than attempt a few chaste embraces, mostly because he wanted her so damned bad he didn’t trust himself to stop when he should. When he exerted gentle pressure and she complied and parted her lips, his tongue slipped between and he felt the jerk of her surprise as he began to explore her mouth.

He was both relieved and pleased she’d obviously never been kissed so intimately, for he certainly wasn’t the only man dangling after the gorgeous Miss Evans by a long shot. She was generally considered the most beautiful girl for hundreds of miles in this section of Colorado, and her three brothers and formidable father kept a pretty close eye on any man that came sniffing around. Luckily, Parker was good friends with the whole family, otherwise he could count on them wanting his blood for what he was doing right at this very minute. When he’d talked to Celia’s father before his doomed proposal, Gerald Evans had welcomed the idea of him as a future son-in-law.

Her tongue tentatively touched his as she responded, and the palms of her hands slid over his bare chest upward, so she could clasp her arms around his neck and press against him tighter.

Parker was pretty sure at that moment he had died and gone to heaven.

He broke the kiss, the throbbing in his cock and the ache in his testicles making him wonder just how long he would actually last once he was inside her. He kissed the fragile line of her jaw, the small hollow beneath her ear, and whispered, “Let’s get into bed.”

When a clumsy governess from New York meets a lonely, bitter rancher, more than her
heart will fall.

The Treasure

© 2006 Beth Williamson

Ray Malloy is a single father in an age when every child has two parents. Abandoned by his shallow wife, he struggles to find the balance between being a father and being a successful rancher. At the end of his rope with his wild child daughter, he hires a governess from New York to teach his daughter, Melody, to be a lady.