Renegade Bride (45 page)

Mariah cherished the feel of his heated lips on hers, his hands moving across her back, and the hard strength of him that would be forever emblazoned in her mind. His lips slanted across hers, settling more deeply against her mouth, filling her mind, and senses and heart. One kiss, one kiss and he would go; a shadow on her soul. Forever. Forever.

Behind them Buck nickered a warning. Too late—too damn late—Creed looked up to see Seth Travers standing not ten feet away, a look of utter disbelief written on his face. Creed pulled away from Mariah with a curse.

"Mariah... Creed," came Seth's stricken whisper. "My God!"

Chapter 23

Mariah's hand went to cover her reddened mouth. "Oh, my God. Seth."

Seth stared open-mouthed at the two of them, his fists working at his sides.

"Seth, it's not what it looks like," Creed began lamely, knowing any excuse he could offer would sound like a blatant lie.

"Jesus," Seth whispered in a breathy hiss. "And I didn't even see it... didn't even suspect." His bewildered, accusing look went back and forth between Creed and Mariah and he shook his head. "What a damned idiot I am. I should have known."

Creed took a step forward. "Seth."

"Son of a
bitch,"
Seth snarled in dawning realization.

Creed reached out in a helpless gesture. "Seth, let me try to—"

His face darkened. "My
friend!
The man I trusted with my life, with my
woman."
A cough rattled through him, but he didn't seem to notice.

"We were saying goodbye," Mariah told him in a small voice.

A bitter laugh escaped him and his lip curled. "Goodbye? Is that what that was? That's... that's a hell of a goodbye kiss if you ask me."

Creed lowered his eyes, unable to bear the accusation in Seth's. His fingernails dug into his palms.

Then, Seth nodded as if he had suddenly figured it all out. He stared at Mariah. "It was him, wasn't it? He's the one you were talking about when you said you couldn't marry me. Isn't he?"

Mariah faced him, silent, her mouth quivering and her eyes bright with tears.

"Isn't
he?"

"Yes. But—"

Seth took two steps and threw a punch at Creed's jaw so unexpectedly, it connected with a smack of bone and flesh, knocking Creed nearly off his feet. His black hat went sailing to the ground.

"No!" Mariah cried, covering her mouth with both hands.

Pain rocketed up Creed's jaw and stars flashed in front of him. Staggering to a stop, he wiped a hand across his mouth and it came back bloody. He shook his head to clear it, but Seth forced him to back up as he came toward him again. Creed dropped his hands deliberately to his sides, showing him he didn't mean to fight.

"You bastard," Seth growled, his eyes bright with hurt. "How could you do it? You knew how I felt about her. You knew."

He shook his head helplessly. "I never meant for it to happen. You've got to believe that. I'm sorry. So sorry."

"You're sorry, all right. You're the sorriest excuse for a friend,"—Seth's fist smashed into Creed's shoulder, once, twice, driving him backward—"I've ever known." Creed took the bruising punches like a man who believed he deserved the punishment. Horrified, Mariah watched, unable to stop it.

"C'mon, c'mon, you bastard," Seth baited with teeth bared. "What happened on the way from Benton anyway? Did you only kiss her, you son of a bitch, or did you screw her, too?"

Mariah gasped. "Seth!"

Anger worked its way up Creed's throat. "Stop it, Seth," he warned between gritted teeth. "Don't say another word you'll regret. I'm leaving tonight. It's over between her and me. It's been over since before we got here. I'm not going to fight you."

"Oh, yes, you are." His fist connected again with Creed's stomach and despite his readiness for it, the punch knocked the wind out of him and sent a sickening pain radiating through his torso. He doubled over, grabbing his gut.

"Seth, stop, for God's sake—" Mariah pleaded, grabbing his arm.

He whirled, throwing her off and she stumbled backward. "For God's sake? What about my sake? What about me, Mariah? Did you think about me when he was—Jesus, did you think about me at all?"

She shrank back from his wrath, hardly able to believe it was the same man she'd known all her life, unable to bear the pain of betrayal in his eyes.

"Dammit, Seth—" Creed warned in a half-groan as he straightened. "Leave her alone. It wasn't her fault. It was... mine. I seduced her."

"Creed, no," Mariah cried.

Seth advanced on him again, ignoring Mariah. "I'll just bet you did, you rutting bastard. What's the matter, wasn't Desiree Lupone enough for you? Did you have to go and make a whore out of my woman, too?" He started to throw another punch but this time Creed deflected it with his steely arm.

Rage shadowed his eyes. "Shut up, Seth. Or I swear to God, I'll—"

"What? You'll hit me? C'mon. I want you to try, Creed, because, frankly, I feel like killing you." He launched himself at Creed and sent them both crashing into Buck. The gelding snorted in fright, tossing its head, and sidestepped the two bodies that had fallen under its belly.

Seth's fist found Creed's cheek with a dull smack, grinding his head back against the straw-littered ground. Creed groaned, grabbing two handfuls of Seth's white collar in his fists. Creed threw him off balance with a well placed knee and Seth rolled off him, giving Creed time to stagger to his feet.

There was dirt and straw in his hair, and Creed's face bled from two nasty cuts. Swaying on his feet, a hot green flame of fury burned in his eyes. He released the leather holster thong around his thigh and unbuckled his gunbelt, dropping it to the ground. "Damn you—"

"That's a good one..." Seth swung again, but this time Creed ducked and landed a telling punch of his own in Seth's unprotected belly. He doubled over, clutching his stomach with one bloody hand, coughing and gasping for air.

"Enough!" Creed rasped, standing spraddle-legged before Seth. "Enough. Don't make me hit you again."

Seth's head came up and he glared at him through the hank of blond hair that had fallen across his eyes. "You already hit me below the... belt... you bastard, when you took my woman. I know you fight dirty. Let's see you try without that... that jezebel standing behind you."

Mariah staggered back a step, as if he'd hit her physically. "Oh God, please... please..."

"Even God can't help him now," Seth slurred, and she watched in impotent horror as he lowered his head and tackled Creed, sending him crashing against the lodge-pole rails of the fence. The wood splintered under their combined weight and the rail crashed down. The horses penned there herded toward the far side, eyes white with terror as the two men landed in the dirt.

Seth and Creed pummeled each other bare-knuckled about the head, shoulders, and stomach in sickening, meaty thuds. Back and forth it went, the two men rolling from one side of the paddock to the other trying to knock each other senseless. They banged against the livery wall, collapsed against a spare carriage wheel, and came dangerously close to the hooves of the frantic horses prancing in the pen.

Finally, they rolled back under the fence. Creed snapped Seth's head back with a well-aimed blow, sending him sprawling sideways in the dirt. In the next second, Seth dragged himself to a standing position, but Creed was slower to get up, groaning as he rolled to his feet.

Several men tumbled out of the barn doors, drawn by the sound of the fight. More followed, filtering into the yard beyond the circle of lantern light.

"Here, now," Hasty called in disbelief, "what's going on, you two?"

"Stay out of it," Seth ordered, waving the old man away with one arm as if drunk. "This... is between me... and him."

Hasty shot a look at Mariah and his expression descended into a scowl. Helplessly, Mariah turned back to the two men she loved.

"Get up," Seth demanded, his chest heaving. "I'm not finished... with you... yet, you low-down, stinking polecat."

Creed's breath, too, came in puffing gasps. "You're gonna... have to do better than that to... to keep me down."

Tears streamed down Mariah's face. She could see no end to it until they killed one another and it seemed that was just what they intended.

The two men circled each other like wary alley cats, waiting for an opening. Their faces and knuckles were raw and bloody, their clothes torn and filthy. Seth swiped the blood from his mouth and sent Creed a killing look. "I should have let you... hang, you bastard."

Creed's eye was half-shut and he blinked to clear his vision. Sweat streamed down his face and dampened his shirt. "
Oui
?" he rasped, chest heaving like a blown racehorse. "Why the h-hell... didn't you? Nobody... asked you."

Seth shook his head. "Damned if... I c-can remember." He flailed at him, too weak anymore to do much harm, but it didn't take much at that point to hurt Creed. He grunted with the blow to his chest, back-pedaling to keep his balance. He came back swinging, his fist connecting with little strength against Seth's stomach. It was enough to send Seth to his knees holding his ribs.

Creed shook his aching hand, cradling it to his battered chest. His wobbly legs refused to cooperate with his brain, and he fell against the trunk of the cotton-wood, clutching it for support. Sliding down the rough bark, he sprawled with his back against the base, too tired to move, too damned sore to even attempt it.

By now, the crowd they'd drawn had grown. Several men went immediately to Seth, who had lowered himself to the ground and rolled onto his back.

Torn between the two of them, Mariah went to Creed, who sat alone in the dark, his head tipped back against the tree. His eyes were closed. Cuts ravaged his cheek and mouth, sending rivulets of blood down his face and under the choker. His knuckles were crimsoned and split and a walnut-sized swelling had already started on his right hand.

"Oh, Creed..." she moaned, "dear God, look at you."

Holding up his left hand, he stopped her just short of touching him and shook his head, his breath still coming in raspy bursts. "Don't... if you ever mean to... hold your head up in this town again... don't come near me. Go to Seth. He needs you."

"You need me. You're hurt."

He squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth. "No, I'll be... all right." He motioned to Seth with a slight lift of his chin. "His heart's b-bleeding all over the ground."

What about yours? she wanted to say. What about mine? His final rejection stung like salt on a festering wound. There was no undoing what had been done. She could see that in the accusatory looks the men sent her when it became apparent what, or rather whom, Creed and Seth had been brawling over.

She looked back at Creed, the man who still thought first of her and Seth after all that had happened, and her heart swelled with love.

Impossible, unwanted love.

Slowly, she got to her feet, pressing a hand to her churning stomach. "I'm so sorry, Creed. I wish I..." She didn't finish. What could she say to make up for the terrible damage?

Nothing.

He winced, shifting his back against the cottonwood bark and turned his face away. "Go, dammit."

Her feet felt weighted with lead as she walked over to Seth. He lay on his back in the middle of the yard, being ministered to by Hasty and two others. They sent her a hard look, but she gave it right back, daring them to lash out at her. It was all a well played ruse. If they'd spoken to her, she would have crumbled. Instead, they removed themselves a few feet away to give her and Seth a moment to talk.

He held straw in his hair and blood in his mustache from a split lip that was already swelling. She dropped down beside him and tentatively reached out to touch the one spot on his jaw that wasn't bruised.

Sensing her, he opened his eyes and stopped her from touching him by clamping a hand around her trembling wrist. "Why? Why, Mariah? I loved you. I thought—"

She shook her head, helpless to answer that simplest of questions. "I don't know. I'm so sorry. So, so sorry. I never meant to hurt you this way. I tried to tell you. It just..."