Marshal of Hel Dorado (24 page)

 
    
 
 
“Would
it be better if I had been with someone else?” Hurt and confusion colored her
words. Jealousy, fierce and possessive, stabbed him.

 
    
“No.” He closed her mouth with his own
before she said anything else foolish. “Don’t say that. Don’t think that.”

 
    
Her eyes blinked at him, her swollen lips
teased him and her cheeks were red from the whiskers. He would leave her raw if
he didn’t shave.

 
    
“I don’t understand.”

 
    
“I know, minx.” Regret sighed through him
and he forced himself to ease her away, sliding one hand to her thigh. “Let go
now.”

 
    
“Did I do something wrong?”

 
    
He groaned at the question. She was killing
him.

 
    
“No, Minx.” Her legs loosened as he urged
them apart. Her body slid down his as he set her on her feet, threatening to
shatter his dubious sense of control. He cupped her cheek, tracing the outline
of her lips with his thumb. They were soft, pliant and full.

 
    
From his kisses.

 
    
His chest threatened to puff out. He wanted
to kiss her until she lost all conscious thought. Forgot about anything or
anyone else. He had to let her go. He reached up to capture her hands from his
hair, cradling them in his between them.

 
    
“I shouldn’t have kissed you.” He apologized.

 
    
“I didn’t mind.”

 
    
Sam closed his eyes.

 
    
She really wasn’t helping.

 
    
“I know I’m not any good at it, but if you
let me practice, I could get better…”

 
    
He cut off her words with his hand over her
mouth, glaring. “You did nothing wrong.

 
    
Minx.
Dammit.
” The jingle of a bridle was his first warning and he cut his gaze away
from her.

 
    
“Ho the cave!” The cheery voice of his
brother carried through the diminishing rain as Micah rode into view, his horse
picking its way carefully up the stone slope.

 
    
Micah’s trail coat was plastered to him and
the brim of his hat flattened around his head, shading the bruise on his face
that mirrored Sam’s own. Scarlett made a little sound next to him and then
fled, deeper into the cave.

 
    
He should have thumped his brother harder.

 
    
I
t
was late afternoon and the clouds peeled back to reveal the sun dipping low on
the horizon when Kid aimed his horse northeast. The soggy landscape befitted
his mood. Time with Caroline had eased the edge of his resentment. He would
have preferred heading back to Dorado, but Cob had given him letters for his
father, which meant a ride to the main house.

 
    
Unfortunately that meant seeing his father.
Kid let the gelding set his own pace. He was in no hurry. The damp air was
cooler, the rain having washed away the heat. If he idled long enough, his
father might have left the main house for cards with the men or some other
pursuit.

 
    
Whatever it was his father did when he
wasn’t dressing Kid down for wasting his time. If he was truly fortunate, he
could leave the letters at the house and steal a bunk for the night, be gone at
dawn before his father rose.

 
    
He was less than a mile from the main house
when he saw the wolf. The beast was huge, sandy colored and very familiar.

 
    
Kid frowned.

 
    
The soaked wolf padded along at a trot,
heading in the direction of the house. Tension corded in his muscles and he
tapped his heels to the gelding’s sides, urging him to a canter. Kid freed the
rifle from the saddle harness, looping his reins over the pommel. The horse
obeyed his leg signals, rapidly overtaking the wolf.

 
    
As one, he brought the rifle up and the
horse spun, planting itself in front of the wolf. The great beast lifted his
head, lips curling back off a set of impressive teeth.

 
    
It was the same damn wolf.

 
    
“Hold it right there.” He locked his legs,
bracing his heels against the stirrups. The rifle rested on his shoulder and he
sighted the wolf, but smoothed his finger flat away from the trigger.

 
    
They were here for Sam’s redhead.

 
    
The wolf growled, a low, rumbling
get-the-hell-out-of-my-way noise that had his gelding sidestepping a pace
before Kid urged the horse back.

 
    
“No. This is the Flying K and you’re not
just racing in there.”

 
    
Undeterred the beast took a step forward.
Kid kept the gun steady.

 
    
“The gold has been returned and I informed
the Marshal.”

 
    
The wolf sneezed, a derisive sound.

 
    
“Yeah, I know. He wasn’t impressed. But
he’s not my father.” The words were even.

 
    
There were too many children, animals and
women on the property to just let the wolf run where it wanted. The wolf eased
forward and Kid tightened his grip on the rifle.

 
    
“I don’t want to shoot you.” He informed
the wolf, who sneezed its derision again. The wolf paused, head lifting, nose
quivering against the air. “Yes, you’re close. No, you’re not going to the
house. I gave you my word and I meant it. I will tell them.”

 
    
He wasn’t sure how he understood the wolf,
but he could see the calculation in its hot, yellow eyes. It was pissed. That
rage wasn’t going to be eased by a few words and it sure the hell wasn’t turned
aside by the rifle.

 
    
Kid really didn’t want to shoot the animal,
but as huge and beautiful as it was, it was also deadly.

 
    
“Just give me a little…” He didn’t have a
chance to finish the sentence, between one blink and the next, the wolf
gathered itself and lunged upwards. The horse let out a scream of panic, no
amount of training preparing it for the weight of such a predator striking it
from above.

 
    
The earth rushed up to meet him, driving
the air out of his lungs. The gelding raced away, wet grass and mud spraying up
from his hooves. Kid stretched out his hand for the rifle that landed a foot
away, but paused as teeth filled his vision.

 
    
The wolf leaned over him, hot breath
washing over his face. The animal vibrated with a low, demanding snarl. He, not
it, wanted Scarlett.

 
    
“I don’t know where she is, exactly.
Sam—the Marshal—brought her here to keep her safe from the yahoos in town when
I was out hunting your gang.” Kid remained still. The wolf wasn’t wild. He
wasn’t entirely sure what the hell it was, but wild or not, it was better not
to make it any angrier than it was.

 
    
The wolf’s muzzle threatened closer, before
it trotted over to the gun and picked it up in its teeth. With one toss of his
head, he sent the rifle skittering several feet away to thump in the wet earth.

 
    
“Can I get up?” He asked, aware that
despite its size, it was faster than he was and could just as easily tear out
of his throat. The wolf made low sounds, circling him, pacing and finally
falling back a step or two. Kid took the permission for what it was and sat up
slowly, but he stayed on his ass even as the moisture soaked through his pants.

 
    
His chest burned with the movement and he
glanced down, unsurprised to see bloody score marks from the wolf’s claws had
shredded through his shirt. Blood welled up from the slashes.

 
    
So much for the new shirt Mrs. Carson
pressed on his before he left.

 
    
The wolf scuttled closer, whuffling at the
bloody injuries.

 
    
“I’ll live,” he answered. The wolf paused,
cocking its head to the side. “No, I have no idea why I understand you.”

 
    
The animal’s mouth closed and while still
impressive, he at least looked less deadly without the teeth bared. Kid winced
as he pulled the shirt apart to get a better look at his chest.

 
    
One bloody swatch cut down his breastbone
to the top of his stomach. Any further and he could have been disemboweled. The
wounds wept blood. Stripping the jacket off, he pulled the rest of the shirt
free and wadded it up into a ball to press against his chest.

 
    
He looked back at the wolf. “Who are you?”

 
    
It said nothing, but he had the sense of
the red-haired woman and the need to get to her.

 
    
“You’re a friend of hers. I got that. I
meant you. Who are
you?
” He hadn’t
told Sam about the wolf the first time because he’d hardly believed it himself.
But with the great beast pacing back and forth three feet away it was hard to
deny it. The animal was more than just an animal.

 
    
The image of Scarlett flooded him again.
The force was brutal. The need to get up and get moving. Find her.

 
    
Find her now.

 
    
Kid was halfway to his knees before he
caught himself.

 
    
“Stop.” He held out his hand. The wolf
lunged forward, fur and snapping teeth, driving Kid back to his ass.

 
    
“Easy!” He had to yell it over the angry
noises vibrating off the wolf. “You need to listen to me. That horse went
straight for the barn. When he comes in rider less they’ll come looking for me.
That means more men, more guns. They aren’t going to pause before they shoot
you. I’m trying to help you so back off.”

 
    
The words penetrated the wolf’s fury and he
circled away. His movements were stiff and jerky, as though barely containing
the temper gnawing away at his insides. Kid could appreciate the fury, he’d
experienced it a time or two himself.

 
    
He watched the wolf watching him. He wasn’t
going to shoot so magnificent a creature.

 
    
He wasn’t going to let anyone else shoot it
either. Everything about this bank job smelled to him.

 
    
He’d seen the vault. It wasn’t damaged. He
didn’t know how the girl got the gold out, what the gang had to do with a wolf
or how they were all linked together.

 
    
“There’s a cabin. About a mile that way.”
He pointed directly north. It was away from Mrs. Carson’s and away from the
main house. The cabin had belonged to foreman once upon a time. But when his
wife and children died from the fever, he’d fallen into a bottle and never
climbed back out. Few liked to live this far from the main house, Mrs. Carson
being an exception, so it sat, empty and unused.

 
    
“Go to the cabin. Wait there. I’ll go find
your woman and bring her to you.”

 
    
The wolf froze, staring at him.

 
    
“I swear. It might not be till dawn. I have
to get her from the house, but I will bring her.

 
    
But you need to decide now. The way the
horse bolted, he’s back and they’ll be out looking.”

 
    
Kid wasn’t sure how long he sat there,
waiting for the wolf to decide. He sure the hell didn’t know how he understood
when the wolf did make a decision. The animal’s lips curled back. A reminder. A
threat.

 
    
A promise.

 
    
“By dawn.” He pledged. “I swear.”