River Bound: Bound and Tied, Book 3 (2 page)

He slapped her bottom once more, removed his hanky from his pocket and wiped the moisture from his dick before he tucked it into his trousers. “I didn’t hurt you too much, did I?”

“Not at all.” Rosalyn reached for her drawers, drawing them up over her stinging, damp bottom, the rawness still sending ripples through her. James always worried about her, taking care of her and treating her like prized porcelain. It had probably taken a lot for him to spank her the way Dalton used to. The two men had almost gotten into a fight over it once. She straightened her skirts and faced James. “What now?”

He stared at her for a long moment, his eyes searching her face as though looking for something and not finding it. His lips pressed into a thin line. “Now we catch a thief, and you’re going to help me.”

Dillon Green, formerly known as Dalton Black, sat in the gaming room, an unlit cigar between his teeth, his coat and tie perfectly pressed, the handlebar mustache and neatly trimmed beard a new addition to his latest disguise. He’d given the law a year to lose interest in him. A year he’d spent in hiding, gambling in Colorado, building a fortune in the mining towns, dodging bullets and preachers and searching for the woman he loved. He’d had enough.

He wanted his life back. He wanted the life he’d envisioned the night he’d asked Rosalyn to marry him—a house, a family, a beautiful wife with unusual appetites in his bed every night.

If he wanted his life back, he had to return to where all his troubles began. The Mississippi River and the Marie-Dearie. Someone had stolen the U.S. Army soldiers’ payroll and hidden it in his cabin on the Marie-Dearie almost a year ago exactly to this date. He’d found the bag of gold coins when he’d gone back to his cabin for the engagement ring he’d stashed beneath the white iron bed. With Rosalyn waiting up on deck, he hadn’t had time to figure out who’d put it there or why. He’d taken it with him and stashed it beneath a loose board in a toolroom along the way, hammering in a nail to secure the floor. With the gold temporarily concealed, he’d continued on his mission to ask Rosalyn for her hand in marriage.

That night, the infamous Madame Rosie, otherwise known to him as Rosalyn Smythe, had promised to be his wife. What should have been the happiest night of his life hadn’t gone according to his plan. As soon as she’d accepted his proposal, all hell had broken loose.

A marshal and six rabid deputies had stormed the riverboat docked at Memphis, searching for Dalton Black, who was wanted for the murder of two soldiers and the theft of the payroll they’d been in the process of transporting to Fort Riley, in Kansas Territory. With a lynch mob ready to hang first and ask questions later, Dalton had no real choice but to kiss his fiancée goodbye and jump overboard into the Mississippi River.

Which left a fortune in gold onboard the Marie-Dearie and a murdering thief who’d framed Dalton for the crime. A year later, as wanted posters faded and with the public’s memory dimming, Dalton had returned to reclaim some semblance of his life.

First he had to catch a thief, then he’d turn in the money and the thief to the marshal. When he’d cleared his name, he’d find Rosalyn. If she’d still have him. Dalton had already purchased a ranch down in Texas with his winnings from Colorado and hoped to take his lovely bride there.

“You gonna stay or hold?” the dealer asked for the second time.

Dalton shook the cobwebs from his head and tossed two cards on the table. “Hit me twice.”

The dealer flung two cards at him, facedown. Dalton arranged them in his hand and slapped five more gold pieces on the pile in the center of the table. “I’ll see you and raise you three.”

The gentleman across the table stared at him for a long moment over the top of his cards, his eyes narrowing. Then he spread his cards, fanning them out for all to see. He had a full house to Dalton’s three of a kind.

The winner grinned and scraped the pile of coins at the center of the table toward him, and began stacking them, ready for the next round.

Dalton chewed the end of the cigar. His heart wasn’t in the game. Being on the Marie-Dearie brought back too many memories for him to concentrate.

He leaned forward. “Well, sir, it’s been a pleasure losing to you.”

A hand clamped down on his shoulder. “Oh, don’t give up so easily. Not when you have fresh purses to empty,” a familiar voice said.

Dalton sat down hard and looked up into the smiling gray-green eyes of his old friend James. He almost jumped up to hug the man, but then he remembered he was supposed to be Dillon Green, unknown to the likes of the notorious bounty hunter, James McKendrick. “By all means, join us. I can be convinced to take your money.”

The man across the table snorted. “Not the way
you’ve
been playing.”

Dalton stuck his hand out to James. “Dillon Green, nice to meet you.”

James took his hand, no spark of recognition glimmering in his eyes. “James McKendrick.”

Had his disguise been that good? Couldn’t James see through it to his old friend? A bit disappointed, Dalton nodded to the man opposite him. “The gentleman who has been relieving me of my money is Ephraim Gotlieb.”

The other man shook hands with James and gathered the cards. “You want to deal?”

James shook his head. “No, but I know someone who’s quite good at it, if you don’t mind making it an even foursome.”

“The more players at the table, the more money I’ll take home.” Gotlieb chortled, looking around the room for the mystery player.

Dalton turned in his seat, his breath catching in his throat as a woman wearing a go-to-hell red dress cut low over her bosoms stepped into the gaming room. Her glossy black hair and bright blue eyes bored a hole right through his heart.

Rosalyn.

She didn’t walk across the floor, she eased her way through the crowded room, her body swaying in all the right directions, catching every male eye as she passed.

She stopped at the table, her brows raised, her lips in a hint of a smile. “Gentlemen, mind if I join you?”

All three men stumbled to their feet. Gotlieb got to her chair first, pulling it out for her to sit. “Please. Join us.”

Joy warred with anger as Dalton took his seat next to Rosalyn. He shot a glance at James, the smirk on his lips undeniable. His disguise hadn’t been that good. James had known exactly who Dillon Green was, and he’d enlisted Rosalyn’s help in surrounding him. What was their game?

Dalton lowered himself into his chair, his mind churning. “Mr. McKendrick. If my memory serves me right, you’re a rather notorious bounty hunter, are you not?”

James tipped his head. “You have a fine memory. Your friends and family must be so proud.”

Not to be distracted, Dalton leaned forward. “Tell me, are you after anyone in particular at this time?”

James nodded at the woman across from him. “I’m only here for the company of a lovely lady. If I should catch a wanted man in the meantime, I’m certain the lady would forgive me. Am I right?” He reached across the table to take Rosalyn’s hand and kissed the tips of her gloved fingers.

“Most certainly. Especially a man who would lie, cheat and steal a fortune, then leave his so-called
friends
behind as if they meant nothing to him. I’d have no problem whatsoever if he chose to hogtie, whip and hang the beast.”

Gotlieb handed the deck of cards to Rosalyn, whose smile lit the room with its width and brilliance.

Rosalyn shuffled the cards three times, handed them back to Gotlieb to cut the deck, then she expertly dealt each player a hand of poker.

Dalton’s heart hammered against his ribs. This was the strong, determined woman he’d fallen in love with. The Rosalyn he’d asked to marry him, knowing full well her background, her ownership of a brothel in Memphis and her love of multiple partners and rough play in her bed. He’d been more than willing to share her with James until he’d discovered he wanted more from Rosalyn than a quick romp. Somewhere between his trips up and down river gambling, he’d fallen for this woman. When he realized it, he wanted to change his life, own his own piece of land and raise a few cows and kids.

All with Rosalyn. If not for the little matter of a stolen cache of U.S. Army payroll, he’d have been living that life, loving his wife for the past year.

Instead, she sat beside him, showing off some of her best attributes.

Hell, every man in the room stared at her, their tongues lolling like those of a pack of hungry dogs.

Anger pushed aside the joy that had originally welled in his chest upon seeing her enter the gaming room. “What shall we bet for?”

“We can start with a single gold piece.” Gotlieb smacked a coin into the center of the table.

Rosalyn reached into her cleavage and removed a small coin purse. From it she selected a gold piece, placed it on the pile and lifted her cards to study them.

“What brings you to the Marie-Dearie, Mr. Green?” James asked.

“Oh, yes, please, pray tell.” Rosalyn stared at her cards as though Dalton’s answer meant nothing more than polite conversation.

“I came to settle an old debt.”

Rosalyn’s light laughter grated on Dalton’s nerves. “And how does a gambler settle a debt?” Her gaze pinned him. “By stealing from Peter to pay Paul?”

Dalton bit down hard on his tongue, willing the heat in his neck to cool. He tossed two cards on the table. “Hit me.”

Rosalyn’s eyes narrowed and her knuckles turned white on the deck she held.

Dalton almost laughed. She flipped two cards on the table and dealt one to James and three to Ephraim.

Ephraim pitched two more gold coins into the center, his face alight.

Dalton couldn’t begin to remember what he had in his hands, not with the lovely Rosalyn so close he could reach out and touch her.

She dug in her purse, a pout forming on her luscious lips. “Well, I fear I’m out of gold coins. I hate to fold when I have such a wonderful hand.” She tugged at the chain around her neck and unclasped it in the back. Then she lifted the pendent from her shadowy cleavage and laid it across the pile of gold. “Would you let me bet this in place of a gold piece? Surely it’s worth something to you. It has no meaning left to me.”

Dalton leaned closer. The pendent was not a pendent at all, but the ring he’d given her the night he’d asked her to be his wife.

Chapter Two

Rosalyn’s hand shook as she laid the ring on the stack of coins. She straightened, her brows arching as she stared across the table at Dalton.

The gambler’s poker face held steady, but based on the familiar twitch in his jaw, her barb had struck home. “I have no issue with the lady’s ante.” His tight smile never reached his eyes, their slight narrowing barely detectable.

“I know a woman who would love to own such a trinket.” Ephraim fingered the ring. “Right pretty little thing.” He nodded. “I’m in.”

The side of James’s mouth quirked upward. “I’m in.”

“Very well.” Rosalyn spread her cards on the table, a full house.

James laid out his cards. “Beats my three of a kind.”

Ephraim chortled. “Four of a kind.” He slapped four eights and a five of clubs on the table, his grin spreading from ear to ear. “The little woman will be beside herself.” He reached for the pot in the middle.

Dalton’s hand clamped down over the other man’s. “Not so fast.” He laid his cards on the table, his gaze not on the man or the money in the center of the table, but on Rosalyn. “Royal flush.”

Ephraim sat back, his lips twisting. “Well, now, doesn’t that beat all?”

“Yes, it does.” Dalton slipped the ring in his pocket and scooped the rest of the kitty onto his side of the table. “Care to wager on another round?”

“I’m out.” Ephraim stood, stretched and glanced around. “The room sure has cleared out all of a sudden. I imagine it will be only moments before the captain rings the dinner bell, don’t you think?”

Dalton nodded. “It’s about that time.”

James stood. “Mind if I join you, Mr. Gotlieb?”

“I’d be honored.” Ephraim held the door for James.

James paused on his way out. “If you should need anything on your journey, Miss Smythe, don’t hesitate to ask…anything at all.” He winked and left the room.

When it struck her that she’d be alone with Dalton, Rosalyn jumped to her feet. “I might just join the gentlemen at dinner.”

A hand grabbed her wrist and yanked her to a stop. “No.”

“No?” She stared down at the strong fingers gripping her. “Unhand me, sir.”

“You can stop your little act. We’re alone now.”

“Then please excuse me, as I had no intention of ever being alone with a scoundrel such as yourself ever again.” She tugged at the wrist he held.

With one yank, Dalton threw her off balance. The slight rocking motion of the boat accomplished the rest, tipping Rosalyn off her feet and sending her crashing into Dalton’s lap.

Anger warred with desire as the unique scent of Dalton wrapped around her in an enticing web. She fought her natural instinct to snuggle closer as she had in the past, when she’d practically crawled into the man’s skin. They’d been so perfect together—both flawed, world-weary entrepreneurs, making their livings in the best way they could.

He’d never held it against her that she’d owned and operated the Rose Palace. She’d taken over the business from Madame D’Neau when the older woman had retired and moved back east to Boston. Dalton had been gambling since he ran away from an orphanage at the tender age of twelve.

Dalton threaded his hands into Rosalyn’s hair, upsetting the ringlets she’d spent half the afternoon perfecting.

“Why are you here, Mr. Green?” she asked. “To continue your path of lying, cheating and stealing from others? I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d cheated at that hand of cards. Stealing is second nature to you, is it not?”

“Silence woman,” he growled.

“I will not. I have an opinion and a right to speak, just as well as you do. Despite your arrogance, it might behoove you to know you aren’t the only person in this world with a mind of your own.” Rosalyn knew she was prattling on, but she couldn’t stop herself. The feel of him beneath her bottom brought back far too many recollections of making love with this man. “I will not be treated like a horse to be roped and reined in at her master’s whim.”